AN: Before we start, I'd just like to comment on a few things. Anyway, the reason why I started this is because I'm not so keen on the story of .hack/link, being some kind of travel through time and doing all the stories all over again, save for the last part of the game (I think it's the last part, but i've never played so I don't really know). Also, I'm not such a big fan of Tokio. He's a nice main character and all, but it's just that I'm more on favor for Haseo. Don't get me wrong, I think LINK's a great game, and I would buy it if i just had a PSP, but I just wished that it could've had a fresh new story, and then put some returning characters in it.

.Hack/Link/Rephase vol. 1
Phase 1: Welcome back...to "The World"

A blue sky. That was all he could see as his eyes familiarly gazed at the wide stretch of azure paired up with a calm breeze. He was rarely like this, but after that morning, he'd suddenly reminisced about numerous things. The word 'college' popped in his mind over and over again like a broken record. He was just one more year away from that word now that he'd started his last year in high school. At the moment, he felt a lot of things, but was irritated over the fact that he simply couldn't stop thinking about it.

Fortunately for the young man, a chime had suddenly rang from his computer, distracting him long enough to brush away the thought for now. On the monitor, the message 'Installation complete' was seen in bold letters in a familiar looking background that had 'The World R:X' imprinted on it. After three seconds, the rectangle disappeared, and a much larger one enveloped the screen. At that, the teenager slowly sat on his chair, wore a visor over his head, and grabbed a black controller right next to him. In a moment, a short flashy opening sequence played, and the login screen popped up in front of his eyes.

It took the boy less than 5 seconds to type in everything, but when he did, his eyebrow raised in confusion as he read a sudden message displayed.

"Please insert L.I.N.K.-002HASEO" He muttered to himself as he took off the visor. Looking to his right, just on top of a few music CDs, he spotted the black disk that had apparently been mailed to him with an unknown sender. The only information shown to him was a letter that said 'please wake up, your courage is needed again', and on the back, another which said "002"

In every angle, it seemed suspicious, but this wasn't the only odd happening that the teen had encountered. About thrice, he'd seemed to daydream to such an extent that it already seemed real. In those 'visions', he was in a dark space with a white figure with long flowing hair. With a familiar voice, the girl would always say, "Please wake up, your courage is needed again"

He stared at it for another five seconds, and then picked it up with his hand. "Well...won't know 'till we try" He said with a tone filled with suspicion.

The computer gave out a short beep once the disk was placed, and the login screen had suddenly skipped to what he thought was the 'character selection' screen. What was different, however, was that a character was slowly forming even though he hadn't even done anything yet. His curiosity got the better of him, and he continued to watch as a 3-D, human-like figure was being developed. First, the hair, which had been colored white and given a hairstyle very familiar to the eye. Speaking of eyes, his character was given crimson red orbs that slowly opened, staring right back at the player.

From then on, the process quickened. Black stylish leather clothing was placed around the body, leaving only a small part of his shoulder exposed. The other was ordained with a dark steel gauntlet. Finally, a red scarf was placed around the neck, and with that the character had been completed. On the 'name' textbox, a word which slightly widened his eyes could be seen.

"...Haseo..."


In a flash of swirling lights, the character known as Haseo had entered a lively city with buildings that seemed more advanced than what he remembered. A small notification appeared with the words 'Arc Resum', the name of the area. Looking behind, a slight nostalgia hit him as he looked at a floating Chaos Gate. The only difference was that it looked more grandeur this time around. The city took on a clear blue sky, a good number of plants and trees, and a statue at the very center of the city. The buildings were a bit like those of present time, but made to still keep that 'fantasy' look with strange engravings and at a few times, odd shapes.

After looking around for a moment, Haseo soon remembered something he was to do once he'd logged in.

"She told me she'd be waiting at Arc Resum's Chaos Gate..." He thought to himself, checking around the area. The Chaos gate was situated in a high corner of the city, and players could even see the whole landscape which was said to be very lively during the evening 'time' of the game. Actually, the city itself was floating in mid-air, so a player could also get a good glimpse of the sky around them from the Chaos Gate area.

Just then, Haseo had spotted a familiar looking person sitting by a silver colored bench. Just by looking at the character's name made him smile a bit.

"Atoli?" He said as soon as he was close enough. The girl quickly spun her head towards the voice, recognizing it the moment she heard it.

"H-Haseo!" The girl exclaimed before quickly standing up to her feet with a warm smile. "I-I'm so happy to see you again after all these months! How was the Course Training program overseas?" She asked, being polite, but she really just wanted to express how happy she was to see one of her closest friends again. A month after the Cubia incident, Ryou Misaki, the player behind the savior of "The World", took a seven month program abroad with the suggestion of his parents, as well as his own personal preference. This program concentrated on things like business and other things aimed at making someone more independent.

"It was so-so, I guess," He answered with a shrug and crossed arms before noticing the appearance of the girl in front of him. "By the way...your PC looks a lot like it did back in R:2" And that it did, with a few differences like a slightly different hairstyle, a white beret which was much smaller than the headwear she had before, and some articles of clothing here and there which still took on a green colored theme.

Atoli chuckled in response, "I could say the same about your PC. Um...didn't you tell me you were going to make your character look as 'far back' as possible from the original Haseo so that people wouldn't notice? And, even your PC name is the same"

"About that..." Haseo mumbled as he squinted one eye in suspicion at the disk he'd used earlier. "This might sound a little off, but I found this black disk right on my table when I finally got back to Japan. I ended up using it, but now I can't even change characters, let alone even create another character for my account" At that, Atoli twitched in surprise.

"A-a black disk? Do you mean the one with the numbers "008" on a letter that was included?"

"What? So you got something like that too?" Haseo tilted his head downwards in deep thought. "Mine was 002 though. But still...it spells 'suspicious' in every way you look at it. If it was from CCcorp you'd think there'd be some kind of mention"

"Then what about Zwielicht?" Atoli added, but the word didn't seem to ring a bell for Haseo, and the blond girl could see that. "Zwielicht is another group CCcorp is working with for this game, and there are rumors going around that they're the cause of the game's very early release. I think the word is actually german for Twilight" Haseo was surprised he didn't know about that, but he did just get back to Japan a few days ago and there were still a few things to take care of, including the new school year. Surprisingly though, 'The World R:X' was released the same time when most schools would resume classes. Most guessed it was a marketing strategy to get more players since students would get together again to talk about various things.

"I'm guessing she read the whole background story for this game too. Maybe it'd do me some good to browse it...but then again, maybe not. I'm still pretty busy"


Even after taking a few minutes to make theories based on what was going on, neither of the two could figure much out. They decided it best to just play the game for the time being. After all, it'd been quite awhile since they'd done anything together. There was supposed to be some kind of scheduled event right about that time, so the two waited at the center of the city which was a wide circular area surrounded with the tallest buildings present.

"Attention, new players of The World R:X!" A man suddenly shouted, gaining the attention of all the players in the vicinity, impatient or not. There was something odd and familiar about the person up front, especially the voice. It took the two awhile, but they suddenly remembered whose voice it was. "Thanks for joining up on the very first day! To show our appreciation, we'll be giving out a special prize to anyone who can complete a certain event the fastest! All you have to do is go to the Delta Siegfried area and head up to the Beast Temple there! But be careful, if you don't proceed with special caution, you'll be asking for it!"

Already, the players were talking amongst themselves and forming parties to get ready. But first, Haseo and Atoli went over to the announcer to talk to him.

"Hmph, so you're here too, huh?" Haseo smirked with a raised brow, and the person immediately recognized who he was talking to. "Haseo! Whoa, it's been awhile! How've you been?" Without a doubt, it was the former phase of 'propagation', Kuhn, although the character was dressed completely different from how he was remembered, the name was still as always.

"So-so, I guess" The black-clad teen replied, "I see you're still working for CCcorp. I gotta say, I'm pretty impressed by how fast you guys released this, seeing that it's got a truck load of new features. Even the battle gameplay's kicked up a notch. I still haven't tried it for myself, but to be honest I'm a little bit curious"

"Hey, that means a lot coming from someone like you. Thanks!" The lively man said, and the former PKK felt a vein throb on his forehead.

"Wait, what do you mean someone like me?"

"Oh, N-Nothing at all. Anyway, be sure to teach this guy the basics, Atoli. I'm counting on you" He said and Atoli responded with a quick nod of her head. "Well, I'd better get going now. I've gotta make sure the event runs smoothly. See ya later!"

Hearing that, Haseo suddenly checked his companion's status. Turns out she was already level 5, meaning she's had even a tiny bit of practice with the game already. "That's kinda depressing...I'm feeling like a noob now"

It didn't take long for Atoli to realize what he'd meant. "I-I'm sorry! I was waiting for quite awhile, so I thought I'd go for a quick round with some people. I hope you're not angry..." She said, fiddling with her fingers in a nervous manner.

"Huh? Why would I be angry? I feel kind of relieved that you'd wanna try out something by yourself for a change. Anyway, you think you could ask those people to help us with the event?"

Atoli had momentarily stopped to think about what Haseo had just said. She was surprised, but then she knew that it was probably because she hadn't seen him in awhile. They'd exchange mail or text messages, but it's nothing compared to seeing someone face-to-face.

"I already sent them a short mail. They said they'd be here in a couple of- oh, there they are!" Atoli said, pointing over towards two people. One of them was a dark skinned girl with bright pink hair which looked short from the front, but actually had a long and thin ponytail. Her clothes, and a few bits of armor were colored in a majority of pink although her lower torso and shoulders were bare. Her companion, on the other hand, was fully equipped with either thick clothes or armor. His hair was white in color, and had an overall charismatic look about him.

"Hey, thanks for inviting us again, Atoli!" The pink haired girl said with a casual wave of her hand before glancing at the blond's companion. "Haseo...so he's the one you were talking about?"

Atoli nodded, "Yes! He's also played in R:2 like me" From there, the dark skinned girl scanned the boy from top to bottom with squinted eyes, as if staring into his very soul, much to Haseo's discomfort.

"Hmm...you know, I've heard of a PC with the same name as yours who just happened to be in R:2 as well. You that guy by any chance?" She asked with a grin and an all knowing tone, but thankfully Haseo had come up with a last minute excuse for the said question.

"Uh, n-no, of course not. I just liked the guy's character model, so I decided to make mine similar" But for a last minute excuse, a part of him felt degraded and stupid for having said that. "Damn...what the hell did I just say? I'd never copy anyone like some wannabe...even online!"

Sensing some irritation in the boy, the pink haired lady smiled and changed the topic. "Well, sorry for the trouble. I didn't mean any harm by that. Anyway, name's Blackrose, and this over here's Balmung. It's nice to meet you. We were waiting for two other friends of ours, but I don't know what's keeping them so long"

He wasn't sure, but Haseo had spotted somewhat of a twitching eye on the charismatic man's face as he heard the phrase 'two other friends'. Also, hearing those names unconsciously caused him to dig through his memories, swearing that he'd heard those names somewhere before. But no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't find the answer he wanted.

"At any rate..." The PC named Balmung spoke out, "We should probably head to the event area now. It wouldn't really be wise if we missed it" From that tone alone, both Haseo and Atoli could tell what kind of person this is. The adjectives that spun around their thoughts were 'serious', 'reliable', and in Haseo's eyes, 'suspicious', but that was just how Haseo was: Skeptical.

After the group had exchanged member addresses, they proceeded to the infinitely spinning Chaos gate. However, it seemed as though Blackrose and Balmung were exchanging whisper messages to each other.

"That's gotta be them, no doubt about it" Blackrose said, and the white haired man nodded in reply.

"The description matches...but we still need to confirm one more thing" The conversation seemed to go towards a serious route, but a giggle from the pink-clad woman was about to change the tone of the chat completely.

"I can tell you're still mad at them. C'mon, don't hide it. It's written all over your face"

"I'm not about to comment on that..."


One of the minor changes in the game was the new 'keyword expansion system' or K.E.S. wherein players can find keywords scattered throughout major or 'plot' oriented stages. These words can be used to make sentences like in previous revisions of The World, but the catch is that not all words can be combined together, and many require specific words to go first or after. Sentences can go up to even more than 5 words if a player has collected the right words. Rewards for completing special sentences include unique item events, permanent upgrades, and other perks.

On the topic of classes, there was a wider range than the last revision, and they were much more unique in qualities. Haseo's class was derived from the popular adept rogue, made famous by Haseo himself. This class was called the 'Cross weapon' class. Characters under this are given specific, and somewhat rare, base weapons. The reason being that these weapons have slots attached to them for connecting the base with other weapon parts. There is a large drawback to this class just like the adept rogue. The weapons and parts, being almost rare items, are hard to come across, and the class itself has relatively weaker starting stats as well as slow job progression. The base weapon he'd picked were twin blades. They're actually the weakest of the bases, but have the most slots and enable the use of aerial combos.

Atoli's class was that of an 'Illuminate Healer' or 'Illuminate' for short. Just like the Harvest Clerics of R:2, the Illuminate are the main healers of the party. They only concentrate on lightning spells now, so they're weaker than the former harvests in terms of attacking strength, but are significantly more efficient as their main role as the caretaker of the party. They make use of sphere rods or spears, but most choose to go with the former.

'Vane Crusher' is the class that Blackrose uses. They are one of two classes that can perform a 'crash' move which is basically a powerful swing that brings an opponent to the ground and temporarily stuns them. Many of a Vane Crusher's skills contain a crash move before, after or in-between skills. They are said to be the ground experts for their ability to keep a foe stunned to the floor. They are capable of handling the largest and heaviest of weapons.

Finally, Balmung uses the 'Blade Brandier' class, the only class crossed over from R:2, and a class capable of performing an air combo although they are much more efficient than any other class in this aspect since they have many skills that leave an enemy airborne.

Haseo and co. had used the word 'Siegfried' on the chaos gate and were immediately transferred to a mansion-like area, portraying a large courtyard with an azure sky overhead.

When it was time, Kuhn's voice could be heard from somewhere in the current area. "Alright, let's kick it in gear. This event is designed to help all you players get a head start on the level grind. If you've just started playing, you'll notice a notch up in the battle system called 'continuous assault'. In a nutshell, A lot of the fights you'll encounter will be in chains, meaning after you beat one batch of enemies, another group will most likely come running in based on the area from your keywords. Well, enough of the chatter, I'll be sending each of your parties to separate locations, so good luck!"

In a flash, each and every party in the vicinity was transported to a random location. Some were sent to the rooftop, others stayed in the large courtyard, but Haseo's party was sent to a place very distinct from the rest. This being a room humongous in size, for a party of four at least, filled with crystals of all sizes floating all over the room. Before they knew it. enemies had already appeared. They were creatures that resembled plants, with flowers as headwear, and arms that seemed like thorny vines. They were only level 3, so it wasn't much to worry about.


Before they'd even entered the area, Atoli had explained beforehand another change in the battle system: parties. Parties could now have up to 4 members, however, it was required that one member be in 'support' phase, meaning that this character's speed and defensive capabilities are lowered, but special bonuses are given to each class. For example, an Illuminate will be able to raise the party's defense (excluding the illuminate) as long as he/she is on support, and will gain even more as the character grows. The support system, however, is useless to 'cross weapon' classes because they don't receive any bonus whatsoever.

Blackrose begun the fight by smashing a giant blade onto the ground, stunning a few enemies long enough for her to launch them up in the air with a strong swoop. With that chance, Balmung leaped into one of the foes and struck it three times before charging his sword. "Swift Sabre!" He exclaimed before slicing the foe in half with a mid-air blue horizontal slash.

Haseo reciprocated, juggling an airborne enemy with many strikes before rocketing the opponent to the ground with both blades. The enemy wasn't beaten yet, so he smashed the opponent with an X-shape slash upon landing. To his surprise, the foe was still alive, but not after a quick lightning bolt struck it. Looking back, Haseo caught sight of the blond Illuminate who'd just cast that spell.

"Tch...I finally remember just how messed up level one is" He sighed before his body was momentarily surrounded in a yellow light, meaning he'd gone up a level. "Hm? Well, that was quick. I guess it's what Kuhn said about this event" But before he could say anymore, his senses suddenly caught an enemy heading towards the healer. Atoli spun her staff quickly to repel the vines aimed at her then sent another shock at the plant, this time being finished off by a quick thrust from Haseo. The last thing he'd realized was that the movements of the characters were much more flexible and faster. Even the healer of the group could fend off attacks with good reflexes.

Before they knew it, the third group had arrived, but this group was condensed into one single giant enemy. It was the same plant-like creature, but about seven times the size of the former. By now, Haseo had reached level 5, but his party members were at higher levels. Atoli was at 7, and Blackrose at 11, but Balmung was already at level 17 and hadn't leveled up at all.

Everyone attacked at once, starting off with a few lightning bolts, then a mighty swing from Blackrose that pushed the enemy back. Haseo dashed towards it, moving left and right to dodge any incoming vines before he climbed up its arm and directly struck the plant, causing it to fall over on its back. The attack wasn't damaging at all, but his experience in R:2 made him comfortable with the controls. By then, Balmung had already used the crystals in the room as leverage to jump as high as possible. With a short grunt, he lunged himself like a bullet towards the downed plant and finished it with a powerful thrust, creating a loud burst of blue energy that emanated from the sword.

It seemed that both players behind Blackrose and Balmung were also experienced when it came to battles, making Haseo even more skeptical about his sort of deja vu feeling.

"Wow, you two were amazing!" Atoli began, "Even though your levels aren't that high, you made everything seem so easy!"

"Well, you guys weren't so bad yourselves" The pink haired PC smiled as she rested her hand on the hilt of her sword. All there was to do now was wait to be transported out of the area, but for some reason, nothing was happening. After another five seconds, the stunned silence was suddenly interrupted with a sparking sound.

"What the?" Haseo muttered, checking his surroundings as the glitchy sound continued to echo throughout the room. The sound grew louder and louder until finally, fragments of data began to form in front of them. It didn't take long for them to finish merging, and the group could now see a concrete form. To put it simply, these characters were nothing short of corrupted. Every part of their bodies had bits and pieces that almost looked like they were chipping off.

With a grin, Blackrose gripped the hilt of her sword even tighter. "Looks like they're here" and immediately the colossal blade shone a bright light before changing completely. When the light vanished, the sword was more bluish in color, and had a more radical design with edges and spikes all over the blade.

Beside her, Balmung had suddenly sprouted what had looked like majestic white wings. "Hmph, I'll cut you down with one strike"

Neither Haseo nor Atoli could halt their surprise at that very moment. because they'd been away from any strange event for so long, they'd almost forgotten the feeling when faced with things like this. But now, they'd been dragged into another mess which may not be so easy to get out of.

"Just what the hell's...going on here?" Haseo silently said to himself. Atoli didn't say anything, but judging from the look on her face, their thoughts weren't so far apart.


AN: And that's the end of the first chapter. I'll try to explain more on what's happening next time. For this chapter, I just wanted to give an introduction on the game's new features, as well as bring a few characters back. I'm still anxiously waiting for an opportunity to bring Kite back, and Tokio of course. It wouldn't be .hack/link without 'em. There's a good chance I'll introduce kite in the next chapter as well as Shicksal, but I'm still unsure of Tokio although I've already thought up a plotline. And if you're wondering, this doesn't have a blackrose/balmung pairing. It's just that i wanted to use those in the intro chapter. Not sure why, but i just felt like it lol. Anyway, please review! Comments and suggestions make me feel really good even though it's criticism. Just knowing that the readers are really paying attention to the story is very fulfilling to me, especially with the effort i put into them.