Episode 1: Wh★ 2 L/sten (Part 1)
... The world twisted, then dissolved into a blinding white. One moment, Tsugumi was screaming in the echoing underpass, the pain of Ao's erasure tearing through her. The next, she appeared in a blank place, an infinite expanse of stark, unsettling white. There were no walls, no ceiling, no floor that she could discern, only an endless, featureless void of nothingness. "Ao..." She whispered slowly. Her expression was now lifeless. The fire of her rage had burned out, leaving only ash. The depth of her sadness had hollowed her out, leaving an empty shell. Ao was gone. Not just defeated, not just sent to another area, but truly, irrevocably gone. Erased. She word they were so afraid of. The word echoed in her mind, a cold, mocking refrain. Erased. For what? For nothing. She had won. They had fought through impossible odds, had overcome the ultimate Game Master, and for what purpose? Ao was still gone. Her sacrifice, so selfless, so utterly Ao, seemed to have achieved noth...
