While playing The World, the most popular online game on Earth, a boy named Kite watches his friend Orca take a hit meant for him and fall into a real-world coma. Determined to find out what happened and pull Orca back, Kite logs back into the game and starts digging through its depths, crossing paths with the celebrated veteran Balmung and a hot-tempered newcomer called BlackRose. What looks like a simple rescue mission keeps turning up signs that something is deeply wrong with the game itself.