Twilight Moon

Previous Episode

In the hospital, Rena's blood pressure is dropping. However her brain is still active so she must still be logged into the game.

Inside the game, Rena repeats over and over that she is dead. Aura then greets her and tells her to open her eyes.

Elsewhere, Shugo tries to explain that since Rena cannot log out, she must be in the World somewhere. He is certain that this is more than a coincidence, and by finding Rena, she will then regain consciousness in the real world.

Reki has been investigating the incident and found evidence of a forced entry at one of the gates. Unfortunately, whoever sent the monster deleted every bit of information relating to the monster's existence. Reki also explains that there are numerous players other than Rena who have fallen unconscious in the real world with no trace of logging out. Balmung explains to Reki that he must do everything he can to find out why this is happening. Meanwhile the hackers get together to figure out what their next move should be.

Sanjuro explains that four years ago, an incident took place that had numerous people falling into comas just like Rena's. This began to be known as the 'Twilight Incident'. Many users were harmed in the process, and The World went through a critical stage. It was then that a group of players led by Kite and Blackrose figured out how to save "The World" and the people that were in a coma. Although to cover the trails of what happened four years ago, CC Corp decided to delete the information from that time so nobody would know about what happened back then. When asked about how he knows so much about the events four years ago, Sanjuro replies that both he and Balmung were part of that .hacker party. He also noted that whoever devised this incident probably knew about the incident four years ago and that they also know that the bracelet is the only thing that could stop them.

The four hackers are now in "The World" and are looking for Shugo and the others. When they cannot find any trace of them, they decide that they must be in some secret hideout and that they can easily wait until Shugo makes himself known. Inside the hideout, Balmung comments the enemy has known about Shugo and Rena since they first got there and he needs to be more careful from now on. He tells Shugo that he cannot keep running all over the system shouting Rena's name. Upon hearing this, Shugo gets upset and he logs out.

In the real world, Shugo has a flashback to when he and Rena as kids. She told Shugo of the rabbit in the moon which, helps lost travelers find their way. Whenever a traveler is in danger, the rabbit comes to help. Shugo vows that whenever Rena is in danger, he will become the rabbit and lead her home.

Aura is still trying to get Rena to open her eyes and when she finally does so, Rena asks if she is the rabbit. Aura says that she is not and tells Rena her name. Rena then asks if she was the one that gave Shugo his bracelet and Aura says she is. Thinking that everything is back to normal, Rena tries to logout only to find that she cannot. Aura explains that when she was defeated by the monster, an idea was put into her subconscious, the idea that she is dead. Aura explains that she is not the first person to experience this and many other souls inhabit their area. However, if Rena stays in the game in a too long, her body in the real world will die. Rena reaches out to touch Aura, but her hand goes right through her. It is then that Aura explains that she is only a shadow and all that Aura can do is wake her.

Shugo logs in and decides to search for Rena by himself. Although, he does not realize that everyone is watching him search. When one of the hackers observes him logging into a field, they decide to create a monster to defeat him. As the monster attacks, Sanjuro quickly steps in to protect him. Shugo then explains that he does not want them to destroy the monster. Since, the hackers have some program set up that opens up a gate when a monster is defeated by capturing the monster, they can then analyze that connection and maybe they will be able to save Rena. The two fight and just when Shugo starts his data drain, Komiyan teleports in receives the data drain himself. Unfortunately, Shugo does not have enough skill points to try the attack again. So Balmung tells Mireille to heal him while Ouka, Balmung, and Sanjuro try to hold off the monster. When Shugo is healed, he starts to attempt another data drain, but before he could trigger the attack, the Cerulean Knights show up and delete the monster despite Balmung's orders not to. Shugo tries to stop Kamui and she strikes him down.

When the creature is deleted, Kamui is confronted by Balmung. At this time the hackers are impressed that CC Corp can delete their monsters with ease. Shugo is upset because his one chance at finding Rena is now lost. Balmung tells Kamui that they ruined their plan to rescue everyone that was in a coma. Kamui smugly replies that Balmung just wanted to rescue his new lover. Shugo replies that "There is no way Balmung can be Rena's love”. Kamui replies that she already has a new lover and Reiki shows. Before the Cerulean Knights leave, Kamui tells Balmung that the Cerulean Knights are now in charge of this matter and that decision has been handed down by CC Corp's upper management.

Balmung is shocked about how CC Corp transferred the matter to Kamui and she says if he has a complaint, he should send an email. Before Kamui leaves, she says she will still love Balmung but he needs to stay out of her way. Shugo demands to know why all of this took place, and why they ruined his rescue plan. Balmung tells him that the Cerulean Knights are CC Corps counter-net terrorist force. It is their job to protect the systems and unmask any terrorist threats. They do not care about anyone else. Shugo asks about Rena, and Balmung says it is not their responsibility to search for missing players. Shugo says that since Balmung works with these guys, can he pull some strings and try to find Rena? Balmung says it is already too late and the sword cannot win against the heart.

Shugo gets mad and screams "Stop joking around!" This causes an immense explosion around him which shocks everyone. He is thinking about Rena as he looks at the moon in hopes that the rabbit in the moon will help him find her.