Ep. 2: Hermit seeks corrupted players while Asumi recovers from long gaming session

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Hermit awakens in a strange area where players are corrupted by AI, hiring Geek to create a list to identify them. In the real world, Asumi and Eri wake up in a hospital after playing too long, though Asumi experiences tingling in her right hand. Sakuya finds Hermit’s original list and, with Iori, is contacted by Reiko Saeki, the player behind Shamrock. Shamrock reveals the list compares player haplotypes to a deceased American boy from seven years ago. Hermit overhears this, becomes enraged, and destroys Geek’s bar. Shamrock demonstrates the list’s hacking capabilities, showing Sakuya is a compatible donor. Suddenly, data bugs overrun the Mac Anu, causing a dead tree with caged players to grow into town. Corrupted Eri attacks Sakuya, but Shamrock uses an area attack to kill the players in the zone, forcing them out of the game before the bugs can kill them.