ZERO Phantom Pain (Novel)

Previous Title	Current Title	Next Title
.hack//SIGN	.hack//ZERO	Games Tetralogy .hack//Liminality .hack//Another Birth .hack//XXXX New Novelization 「.hack」

.hack//ZERO Vol.1 フアントム・ぺイン .hack//ZERO Vol.1 Phantom Pain
Languages	Japanese
Publications	1st Volume
Release Dates	May 30, 2003
Author	横手 美智子 Yokote Michiko
Artist	川島 旅順 Ryojun Kawashima

.hack//ZERO was a light novel series written for Project .hack. The series was set after the events of .hack//SIGN, but took place prior to the events detailed in the Games Tetrology. The story was planned to span of three volumes, but only the first was ever published, leaving the story in indefinite hiatus. The first volume was called .hack//ZERO Vol.1 Phantom Pain (Japanese: .hack//ZERO Vol.1 フアントム・ぺイン, Hepburn: .hack//Fantomu Pein). The second volume had the subtitle .hack//ZERO Vol.2 Mind Gauge, but never was officially released. The third volume's title has never been made public knowledge.

Synopsis

Volume 1 follows a Long Arm player character named Curl. Curl is played by a troubled young girl whose behavior offline is starkly contrasted by how she acts when playing 「The World」. The first novel was only published in Japan and has not been officially released in any other languages. A retelling of the novel's general story beats is shown in .hack//LINK.

Characters

Online

Curl† (カール, Kāru)	Alph¤ (アルフ, Arufu)	Sieg (ジーク, jiーku)	Subaru (昴, Subaru)
Balmung (バルムンク, Barumunku)	Orca (オルカ, Oruka)	Sora (ソラ, Sora)‡	Aura (アウラ, Aura)

Production

Notes

^†The name カール can be romanized as "Carl," "Karl," or "Curl." The Player Character is named after the snackfood, so this wiki uses "Curl" despite the common usage of "Carl" in western fan spaces.
^¤ Alph was initially romanized as Alf in the Games but the Terminal Disc uses Alph. Both the English translation of the games and Another Birth mistakenly refer to Alph as a boy.
^‡Sora's name in Zero uses ソラ rather than the characters (楚良) used in SIGN.

Translations

• Unofficial Translation Baka-tsuki