.hack//SIGN

- Season 1

(2002)

Tsukasa, a Wavemaster-class character in the online game "The World", finds himself unable to exit the game. While meeting with fellow players, he attracts the attention of a conflict mediation guild, the Crimson Knights.

After receiving a player-killing Guardian monster from an unseen entity, Tsukasa is led to a hidden sector of the game in which a sleeping girl resides.

Subaru, the leader of the Crimson Knights guild, meets with Mimiru, Bear, BT and Sora to discuss Tsukasa's activities and a possible connection with a rumored all-powerful item: the Key of the Twilight.

Despite restrictions placed upon his character, Tsukasa has been logged into the game for 10 days straight, and rumors fly about a player-killing monster running loose. At Sora's suggestion, Subaru and the Knights declare Tsukasa a wanted player throughout "The World".

Crim, an old acquaintance of Subaru, returns to the game after a long absence. Meanwhile, Sora tips off the Crimson Knights on how to lure Tsukasa into their grasp.

Subaru manages to negotiate a truce between Tsukasa and the Knights. But there is another problem: an invincible, player-killing monster independent of Tsukasa is reported to be creating havoc.

Mimiru encounters a weak yet adventurous newbie player, A-20, who goads Mimiru into taking her into a challenging dungeon for unknown reasons. After a verbal scuffle, Mimiru ruminates upon her own motivation for playing "The World".

Mimiru, after careful consideration, resolves to do anything she can to meet Tsukasa again and be near him as much as possible. BT and Crim discuss a partnership to gather information on the Key of the Twilight.

An elite hacker proves instrumental in the quest for the Key of the Twilight, and Tsukasa gets stuck with a sick Grunty.

Are Bear-s own shortcomings as a father the root of his concern for Tsukasa? Clues are revealed as the search for the Key of the Twilight continues.

Mimiru, Bear, and Tsukasa join forces before embarking on a non-fighting quest.

Tsukasa discovers Aura, an advanced AI, being held captive.

Everyone is getting anxious about finding the Key of the Twilight and with Tsuaksa gradually becoming more involved in wanting to log out of the world, they feel that now is the best time to act. However no one knows exactly where to go. However Sora mentions that he is able to contact the great hacker Helba. After contacting Helba, he says that she wishes to talk to Bear and that he wishes to meet him. Bear sets off to the dungeon described by Helba and when Bear gets to the bottom dungeon, Helba teleports in and relays the message that she might be able to help find...

Crim and BT go to a mysterious castle to search for the Key, followed by Sora. Thanks to the code that Helba gave them, Bear, Tsukasa, and Mimiru also reach the castle. But traps line the way, and there seems to be an evil atmosphere to the place ...

This episode, we give you a summary of the story so far.

Bear and Mimiru have returned to the real world. However, Tsukasa seems to be AWOL. Mimiru wonders what will happen to him if he dies in this virtual world in which he can still feel pain.

Tsukasa is back in The World, but he's a shadow of his former self and his personal memories seem to have disappeared. Meanwhile,Crim refuses BT's request to meet him outside The World.

Subaru finds herself with a tricky problem on her hands: Ginkan is taking more and more initiatives behind her back. He has even sent a request directly to the system administrator without telling her. Could this mean war?

Subaru must bring herself to break up the group of Crimsom Knights. As she ponders her decision, she remembers the first time she met Crim and the events which led to the creation of the Crimsom Knights. She also recalls Crim's departure after a disagreement with Ginkan.

Sora and BT enlist Ginkan's help in their search for the Key of the Twilight. Meanwhile, Subaru becomes more and more attached to Tsukasa. He offers to show her his secret place.

Subaru still can't find Tsukasa, though not for want of trying. Her only hope now is that someone knows his secret place. Meanwhile, Bear has uncovered the identity of the man they saw in the mystrious castle: he is Harold Huick, the creator of The World.

Despite the traps laid out for them, Bear, Mimiru and Subaru manage to find Harold Huick's incarnation, who tells them his secret. But the mysterious entity which was using Tsukasa seems determined to stop the secret getting out.

Helba has invited all players to meet up. Everyone answers the call except for Sora, who wants to carry on going it alone, and Tsukasa, who is still traumatized by recent experiences. Will he manage to find within himself the courage he needs to join his companions?

After going through Helba's door, our little group, joined at last by Tsukasa, find themselves in a strange world in which multicolored replicas of Tsukasa are floating around!

Tsukasa feels the entity's anger rising and persuades the group to log out of the Net Slum as fast as possible. But the entity hasn't finished with them yet and it sends a monster to eliminate them.

Will Tsukasa, Subaru and Mimiru manage to find each other, despite the traps laid by the entity in this unknown realm? And will they at last be able to get back to the real world?