In a future governed through the lens of a camera, where people eat synthetic food and pursue an online existence in lieu of physical contact, a group of children begin meeting up in the real world. The aloof Ayumi Kono, the genius hacker Mio Tsuzuki, and the socially awkward Hazuki Makino set out to find the fourth member of their group, Yuko Yabe, who has gone missing. With the help of Myao Rei, an unregistered citizen proficient in martial arts, they are able to find Yuko. However, when their situation takes a sudden turn for the worse, the group stumbles headlong into a dark mystery that challenges everything they know about their world. Virtual reality. Murder. Werewolves. And teen girls! In a future where nothing is as it seems, can old legends come true? In the near future, humans will communicate almost exclusively through monitors, making real interaction a rarefied and weak occurrence for those living in a near totalitarian society. In this new world of communication, children are only allowed to interact personally on school grounds. So when a serial killer starts slaughtering junior high children the communication routes go under further surveillance. And despite all the safeguards put in place to avoid physical interaction, the killer's latest victim turns out to have been in contact with three young girls: Tsuzuki Mio, a certified prodigy; Makino Hazuki, a quiet but opinionated classmate; and Kouno Ayumi, her best friend. And as the girls get caught up in trying to quell curiosity under such terrorist scrutiny, Hatsuki learns that there is much more than meets the eye of their monitored communications.