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New .hack Novelization

Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 4:05 pm
by Kuukai
I didn't see a thread about this yet.

http://www.cc2.co.jp/hack_novel_kite/

In honor of .hack's anniversary and Last Recode, there is a new web novel telling the story of the first 4 games from Kite's perspective. It's called 新約小説「.hack」 (New Novelization ".hack") which isn't a very exciting name but it contains some interesting tidbits. I'm not going to translate all of it, but I thought I'd share what I find while skimming it, and there are a few parts I did want to translate.

About the Harald scene in Liminality:
-He had traveled from Berlin to a country town near Nuremberg to visit her gravesite. There's still no sense of if this scene is a flashback or happening during 2010.

About the Pluto's Kiss Incident:
-Creil Air Base: F1C fighters' networked autopilot programs refuse pilots' commands and enter the same landing route, causing a collision.
-St. Louis: Locomotive's speed indicator malfunctions due to errors in the networked control system, causing driver to speed the train up, launching 4 train cars off a curve and into the Mississippi River. 21 dead, 75 injured.
-The government's reaction:
A rare tumult and commotion filled the Oval Office.

The 44th President of the United States, Jim Stonecold, listened as report after report was brought in.

Since being inaugurated to his post seven years ago, his record included creating the World Network Council (WNC) and drafting bills relating to the Internet.

He tried to adapt the rapidly growing Internet to the needs of the country so aggressively that he was derogatorily called names like "Net General." He was supposed to have succeeded.

But, what was happening now? The net fell silent, communications ceased, accidents multiplied, and no one could grasp the whole picture.

Voices cried out this and that. It was as if this room where the best of the best were supposed to be assembled had turned into a Babel.

"It looks like a virus infection"

"Ridiculous, a virus during this immaculately clean Administration.

"An aircraft has crashed."

"A communication is in"

"The security exchanges"

"We're had no contact"

"Status report ASAP"

The Director of National Intelligence approached him.

"Mr. President, it's awful!"

"Could anything be more awful than this?"

"The automated retaliation missile system is active."

The Director's words silenced the Oval Office.

"Impossible, how could this happen?"

"The computer concluded that the government was under attack and had been destroyed. It is preparing to launch against hostile nations."

"Stop it."

"We can't issue the order. Our communication system itself is dead."

Stonecold became speechless.

Unbelievable. Of all things, for something like this to happen during his tenure. It was so directionless his head wasn't able to process it. Who would do such a thing? Who should we make it?

Oh God.
Also Tokuoka is in it!
Image

Re: New .hack Novelization

Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2017 10:22 am
by Falions
Makes me glad to see Tokuoka back in action after all these years. Is he just slyly saying hello to Kite?

Re: New .hack Novelization

Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2017 5:15 pm
by Xu Yuan
Whoa, whoa, whoa! Tokuoka met Kite's player at some point?!

Re: New .hack Novelization

Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2017 12:15 am
by Lindz
Kite met Tokuoka?

FANSERVICE much?

Like c'mon. Tokuoka was mentioned by description in Another Birth, but neither Black Rose nor Mistral (who had mentioned him off-hand) actually met the guy.


btw. Vol.2 is upon us. They dropped Chapters 23-27 yesterday and now the chapters are under their own seperate Vol.1 / Vol.2 tabs!

Re: New .hack Novelization

Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2017 10:45 am
by Falions
I'm glad they're speeding along. Hopefully this one actually gets a physical release! I would love to see .hack in book stores overseas again. Nothing brought me more joy when I was younger than to go to my local store and see yet another new .hack novel or manga.

Re: New .hack Novelization

Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2017 2:37 pm
by SSJScygoku
^-^ so much awesomeness in one novel,really hope they make physical copies of Bullet and this~

Re: New .hack Novelization

Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2017 12:57 pm
by Kazetrigger
I'm working on translating this entire novel on my .hack//Translate website.

We shall find out so much from this. Veronica Bain also gets mentioned.

Re: New .hack Novelization

Posted: Sun Aug 13, 2017 11:38 am
by dotelias
Thank you Kaze for translating this :)

Re: New .hack Novelization

Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2017 10:32 pm
by Lindz
Infection: 22 chapters
Mutation: 20 chapters
Outbreak: 10 chapters (so far)

Its possible Outbreak could be done within the next 2 weeks (main storywise its pretty much the shortest of the bunch), leaving 5 others to get through Quarantine if they want this to end just as Recodes being released. Probably not but it should for sure wrap up before the end of the year!

I wonder how much into irl Kite they're going. Do we get to know his family and offline friends, his exam results, and other things like Another Birth did for BlackRose o.o?

Re: New .hack Novelization

Posted: Sun Oct 08, 2017 11:43 am
by SSJScygoku
@.@ I was looking through the .hack//Fanbook and the first few chapters are in it~

Re: New .hack Novelization

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 1:23 pm
by Xu Yuan
So...

Image

Skeith is chasing after Lios, who is on an R2 motorbike, with Kite behind him and Helba in the back seat while Balmung rides a Noble Grunty and looks on in trepidation....

Is it safe to say that this novel is no longer canon?

Re: New .hack Novelization

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 10:32 pm
by Lindz
I dunno if this was it supposed to be canon in the first place? Its just another retelling of a story that was told a buncha times already. Introducing new stuff an going its own path was prolly the only way to keep it interesting. An they get some marketing for Last Recode outta it to. Getting close to that release date an suddenly "Look its everyones favorite Skeith! And motorcycles! Wouldn't it be fun to play a game with those?"!

The G.U. novelization very much went its own path. G.U.+ and XXXX were their own things to. Heck, XXXX already showed us RL Kite years ago! Maybe a Link 2 will come along an throw this version of the story a bone like it did those others.

Alternatively: for all those wishing IMOQ got remade - this novelization is a warning. You'll get your wish via monkey paw an end up with a bastardized version lol

Re: New .hack Novelization

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 11:17 pm
by Kuukai
It's actually Skeith Zero, the combined form of the Phases seen in ZERO and referred to here by Helba as "The 'Origin Terror,' the Eight Phases's primordial... zero" It's Morganna's final effort to stop them. Not exactly canon to the games, but about the same as Corbenik's death throes and fits into the existing universe. Plus that picture is awesome.

Re: New .hack Novelization

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 12:46 am
by Xu Yuan
So this is after Corbenik's been defeated? (Speaking of such did she still have her //LINK death speech in this?) Honestly, that makes a lot of sense since this is likely what //ZERO was meant to be leading up to (and what the //ZERO is probably referring to) I would guess that they planned for something like this in the original sense but scrapped it for one reason or another, ending the game with a Drain Heart session on the party before Aura sacrifices herself.

Re: New .hack Novelization

Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 8:49 pm
by Kuukai
Yes, this is after Corbenik was defeated. Things appear to be unfolding a little differently.

Re: New .hack Novelization

Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2017 3:11 pm
by Lindz
An just like that its over O.o? My estimations were way off since Vol.3/4 were like a 1/3rd shorter than the first two. Whats up with that?

Vol.1 - 22 chapters
Vol.2 - 20 chapters
Vol.3 - 13 chapters
Vol.4 - 14 chapters