.hack//Liminality

The story starts with a middle-aged man getting beat up outside the CC Corp building by two thugs. During the beating, one of the thugs tells the middle-aged man to give up his dream. The middle aged man says that it isn't a dream and that CC Corp is in on it. Then the scene then flashes to Ishikawa, Japan where an ambulance is taking 2 kids to a hospital after they both fell into a coma while playing a game. The girl (Mai Minase) is able to recover, but her friend (Tomanari) is still in a coma. As time passes, eventually Mai goes back to school. While at school she is stopped by the middle-aged man and he introduces himself as Junichiro Tokuoka. Junichiro wants to know if they were playing a game just before they went into a coma. Eventually, Junichiro tells Mai that six other people in Japan are in a coma after playing "The World" and he needs Mai's help because he wants to recreate the exact playing conditions that originally caused both Mai and Tomonari to go into the coma. Mai tells Junichiro that his login name is "Sieg" and his password is "Maiminase". Once Junichiro has this information, they decide to head back to the place where both Mai and Tomanari went in the coma. Only this time, Junichiro will play as Sieg. While both of them are logged into The World, Mai senses that something on the field is coming after them. She tells Junichro to run, but Tokuoka can't hear anything but the game music. Mai persists that something is there coming after them. Mai rips off her headset and tries to get Junichiro to stop playing the game. By this time, Tokuoka is so hooked into the game and there is only one way to get Tokuoka out and that is by smashing the computer. After the computer is destroyed, Tokuoka is lying on the ground not moving. When Tokuoka wakes up, he realizes that there is something different about The World and that together they are going to find out what is going on.

You're in their WORLD now! Who is Aura? What is the Book of Twilight? Why did your friend, Orca, fall into a mysterious coma? As the outlaw player, Kite, you're on a mission of truth. Take a journey into a virtual world where anything is possible, and nothing is as it appears. Fight your way through contaminated levels of cyberspace as you take on and eliminate enemies, and unlock codes that will allow you to gate travel to even more environments - all in a desparate attempt to discover who or what's behind The World.

The second of the four OAVs starts off with Junichiro is stuck in traffic. Since the traffic is so bad, Junichiro telephones Yuki (One of Tomanari's email companions from the first episode) and notifies her that he is running late. While waiting to meet with Tokuoka, Yuki sees a ferris wheel and a department store. Seeing how she has a few hours to kill, she decides to go see a movie. During the movie, the film goes snowy and the words "The World" flash on the screen. Shortly after, the alarms start to go off and the movie abruptly ends. Moments later there is an explosion, traffic abruptly stops, and all cell phone connections are severed. Back inside the movie theather, the crowds are directed to leave the building. However at this time, the shutters above the doors are being lowered and soon everyone inside the movie complex including Yuki are trapped. As Yuki tries to escape from the building, she bumps into a kind lady. Together they try to escape from the building, but they soon find out that all of the emergency exits have ceased to work. After exploring around the building looking for a way out, they soon find out numerous stoves have been left on and if they aren't turned off, a fire could start engulfing everyone in it. They realize they have only one option left, they have to pry open an elevator shaft and slide down the elevator cables. After a few moments, they finally pry open the elevator shaft and climbed down the cables. Upon reaching the ground floor, they find out that a truck has smashed through the building and that this must be the second coming of Pluto's Kiss. Eventually, power returns to the city and Yuki and Tokuoka finally meet. During the meeting, Mai calls Tokuoka and mentions that The Would is based upon the Epitaph of Twilight. Yuki mentions that Kyo is an expert on the subject and that Tokuoka should meet with her right away.

The Saga Continues... As the outlaw player, Kite, you're on a mission of truth. Take a journey into a virtual world where everything is possible, and nothing is as it appears. Fight your way through contaminated levels of cyberspace as you take on and eliminate enemies, and unlock codes that will allow you to gate hack to even more environments - all in a desparate attempt to discover who or what's behind The World.