The Apocalypse.In medias res Shiroe, Naotsugu and Akatsuki find themselves ambushed by a pack of briar weasel monsters. Following a game update some time earlier, a confused Shiroe finds himself in the District of Akihabara inside the Elder Tales video game. Also donning his in-game character, he encounters other panicked players and all find themselves unable to log-out. Accessing his game menu, Shiroe quickly makes contact with his friend Naotsugu and later, the assassin—Akatsuki. The next day, the trio meet with Maryelle of the Crescent Moon Alliance guild learn that the teleportation gates across all the Japanese game districts have been taken offline in addition to the start of a widespread guild recruitment campaign to deal with the changes of the recent "Novasphere Pioneers" update. Afterwards Shiroe and co. discuss the possible outcomes of an in-game death and head into the Archive Tower Forests where they are ambushed by the pack of briar weasels. After some initial difficulty, they are able to overcome the ambush by physically moving their bodies to attack rather than relying on their preset attack commands. Elsewhere, a mysterious figure watches as a girl called Serara makes a panicked call to Maryelle while being chased by two players.