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In .hack//Infection, Kite's friend Orca invites him to play The World. In the first dungeon they visit, they encounter a girl in white, Aura, being chased by a humanoid monster. Aura tries to entrust Orca with an item called "the Book of Twilight", but the monster attacks him, crashing The World's servers. Kite's player discovers that Yasuhiko, Orca's player, has fallen comatose after the attack, and resolves to discover the cause.[18] Kite meets BlackRose, who takes him to a cathedral where they are attacked by a headless swordsman. The legendary player Balmung appears and defeats it, but the monster revives itself as a Data Bug.[5] The Book of Twilight then activates, altering Kite's character data and giving him the Twilight Bracelet. He uses its Data Drain to correct the swordsman's code, allowing Balmung to kill it. Balmung accuses Kite of causing the viral infection spreading through the game, and leaves.[19] Kite and BlackRose decide to cooperate to help the coma victims. After investigating a number of leads, Kite and BlackRose track down Skeith, the creature that put Orca into a coma. They defeat Skeith, but it transforms into a larger enemy called Cubia, from which they escape.[20]

In .hack//Mutation, Kite and BlackRose encounter system administrator Lios, who declares Kite's bracelet to be an illegal hack.[21] He tries to delete Kite's character data, but fails due to Kite's data being encrypted by the Book of Twilight. Helba intervenes, and convinces Lios to observe Kite for the time being.[22] Lios directs them to an area where they find Innis, a monster with powers similar to Skeith's. Upon defeating Innis, Kite receives an e-mail from Aura, who reveals that she is an AI. They travel to an area to meet her; but Cubia attacks them, and they repel the monster with difficulty.[23] Short on leads, they contact Wiseman, who is intrigued by Kite's bracelet. He suggests that Skeith and Innis are based on the "Cursed Wave", an antagonistic force featured in the poem Epitaph of Twilight, upon which The World is based. Wiseman helps grant them access to Net Slum, a place known as a paradise for hackers and wandering AIs. Upon arrival, another Cursed Wave monster called Magus attacks them. They defeat it and return to the Root Town, where they discover that the computer virus has spread to The World's main servers and into the real world.[24][25]

In .hack//Outbreak, Balmung realizes that he cannot end the situation on his own, and joins Kite's quest.[26] BlackRose tells Kite that her brother became comatose under similar circumstances as Orca, which renews both characters' determination.[16] Wiseman formulates a plan to combat the Cursed Wave, enlisting Helba's assistance. Their teamwork destroys the Wave monster Fidchell, but the aftermath causes networks in the real world to malfunction.[27] Aura contacts Kite again, but their meeting is cut short by Cubia's reappearance. Lios, observing Cubia's power, agrees to join Kite, Helba, and the others to combat the Cursed Wave.[17] In the resulting operation, the team pools their resources to defeat another Wave monster called Gorre, with no repercussions in the real world.[28]

.hack//Quarantine sees the current server becoming increasingly unstable. To fix the problem, Helba replaces it with a copy of the Net Slum.[29] At the bottom of a dungeon, Kite encounters Mia, a member of his party. He discovers that Mia is actually another Cursed Wave monster named Macha, whom he reluctantly defeats.[30] Meanwhile, Cubia grows stronger, and Kite's team barely fends off its latest attack. In contrast, Operation Orca is a success as they destroy Tarvos, the next Wave monster. Kite seeks the advice of Harald Hoerwick, the creator of the game who survives beyond death through his AI incarnations. Aura appears and hints that Cubia is the "shadow" of Kite's Twilight Bracelet.[31] Cubia ambushes them and destroys the AI Harald. In their final battle, Kite recalls Aura's hint and has BlackRose destroy the bracelet, causing Cubia to fade away. Without the bracelet, the final Wave member, Corbenik, attacks the party in Net Slum Root Town. With the aid of the spirits of the coma victims, Kite penetrates Corbenik's barrier. Aura sacrifices herself to end the battle, restoring the network to normal and reviving all the coma victims.[32]