24th Century, Melting Pot of Depravity

 There was no great war. No great catastrophe. Environmental destruction has ended. The energy problem has also been solved. And yet... humanity has fallen. This fall invited a "cataclysm," twisting and rewriting the world. Science and magic have become intertwined. Machines, faeries, and gods run rampant. The wealthy indulge in decadence within the bodies of beautiful elves. Debtors are forced into hard labor within the bodies of orcs. The sewers beneath crawl with zombies and slimes. The world of now has been swallowed by chaos, a crucible of true corruption.

= Magical Cyberpunk =

The setting is a futuristic city.

What could be called Cyberpunk.

A Cyberpunk with the coexistence of science and magic, that is.

Society is dominated by businesses and cults.

Corporate soldiers march with assault rifles in hand.

Magicians produce magical formulae inside laboratories stocked with the latest tech.

Countless gods send their apostles forth, building their religions orders.

In bustling streets, succubi tug on the sleeves of passersby and entice them.

In back alleys, faeries and youkai run rampant causing mischief.

In the underworld of society, vampires expand their criminal empires.

Citizens are not helpless. They walk around carrying guns and swords, many equipped with dangerous body mods.

In this era, body modification is no different from fashion.

The wealthy transfer into their ideal bodies, becoming immortals-- elves, exploring the peaks of decadence.

In this chaotic society, nothing is certain.

A future casting aside virtual reality to continue crawling along the earth.

Everyone seeking thrill and pleasure, the real experience of life.

No matter how our society and bodies change, through connecting with each other, through feeling each other, we can experience who we truly are.

= Network Gods =

Despite advances in science and technology, the internet is only at a similar level to that of our present day. Public internet services, if anything, have regressed. You can't wire your mind in, nor can you dive into virtual reality. Corporations are strict about keeping their data isolated from the internet. Trust in digital currency is low, hard Credits being the way to go.

It's not surprising.

Control over the electronic sea is not in the hands of people or corporations... but with the advent of digital lifeforms, in those of countless gods.

Gods are self-centered, egotistic, and further, cunning.

The digital realm has become a turbulent place under these gods, where neither logic nor rules apply. There is no telling when information will be released to the public, according to some god's own motives.

The gods offer entertainment and social media, encouraging the flow of information, but... the corporations do not trust this.

The internet is overseen and put to use by "religious orders."

Religious orders, together with corporations, compose the organizations that control the world.

These religious orders are led by apostles who receive divine revelations from their god, or even by the physical incarnations of the god themselves.

They dominate much of news media and entertainment outlets. PR, surveillance, and more by drone is almost exclusive to religious orders.

Video streaming, social media, e-commerce, games. This content, these "rituals" are to please the gods. The ceased development of VR is as much the corporations' defiance of the gods.

Beyond this, a majority of historical deities presided over agriculture and bountiful harvests. Some deities even presided over alcohol. The gods of now are vital in the production of food.

Through their domination of the internet and entertainment, gods and religious orders have become inseparable from society.

= Endless Chaos =

While corporations and religious orders may rule, the city is far from a surveillance state.

Unfortunately for them, any one is swamped by countless other ruling powers, leading to a state of chaos. Further, criminal organizations, as well as faeries and gods acting out on their own, each have might that cannot be ignored.

Even huge corporations and religious orders do not have the means to bring everything under their control.

Each organization can only keep security cameras on their own territory, in their own facilities.

Whenever new spells are discovered, whenever new faeries and gods materialize, the turmoil only grows.

A powerless citizen could, suddenly one day, become a god's apostle, a vampire, or more. No matter how strong, anyone could fall.

Society is in constant chaos. What lurks in the darkness, what the next moment holds... even gods do not know.

= Hunters =

In such a chaotic society, there's demand for "those who don't belong anywhere."

Dirty jobs, clandestine jobs, organized crime.

Those of this convenient workforce are known as "Hunters."

This name is not of an organization or profession, but of a social strata. It is also a general term for fugitives, criminals, and social outcasts.

You, too, will venture through this world as a Hunter.

Hunters are detectives, mercenaries, bounty hunters, escorts, information dealers, assassins, playboys and playgirls.

There are many places where Hunters can find requests.

Online, there are several bulletin boards and social media sites for Hunters. In person, some Hunters visit bars where other Hunters gather, some set up private practices like detectives and mercenaries.

For honest work, security firms and private military contractors are a good bet.

Clients in search of Hunters are... often either backed into a corner with no other options, or in need of a throwaway pawn.

Be suitably cautious and prepared, when taking on a request.

Every day, masses of self-proclaimed Hunters are used and disposed of.

There are very few who are recognized as pro Hunters.

= Fallen Special Ward =

The most chaotic city in this world.

A pillarlike, high-rise city that is itself, a symbol of depravity.

Within the notorious, towering "Fallen Special Ward," may your story be spun.

The Fallen Special Ward is a space colony that fell from orbit.

By means of magic, it came to a slow splashdown within Osaka Bay, showing the power of magic to the world.

It is the very center of the vortex of chaos overtaking the world.

It is the location where magic functions at its strongest, where gods and faeries gather.

As such, researchers flocked, companies seeking to put magic to use to use swarmed, and religious orders led by gods manifest flooded in.

Soon, this peculiar, high-rise city was born.

Countless factions all clamoring inside, no country nor no single corporation could remain in control... and thus, it was simply called, the "Fallen Special Ward."

The wealthy, big corporations, and large religious orders reside atop the outer wall.

The interior of the colony is used as-is, as a vast residential city.

Its outer regions are covered in factories, laboratories, institutions, warehouses, and more.

Meanwhile, the reverse side of the colony is a slum, slanted and shaded dark.

And the space between the inner and outer walls twists into a complex and mysterious maze.

Even more, faeries and gods create their own pocket worlds, cropping up all around.

The city stretches high and low, inside and out, and all the space between.

Nowadays, even residents cannot hope to understand this den of vice completely.

A place where inexhaustible desires all swirl together.

Even as vices and schemes are spun, just as many legends and heroes are born.

Within all this, Hunters live without the backing of any organizations.

Will your Hunter be swallowed by the city's darkness, or will they seize glory?

It is all up to you.