LINK VRAINS

LINK VRAINS ( Rinku Vureinzu), standing for "Link Virtual Reality Artificial Intelligence Network System", is the Cyberspace that Virtual Reality Duels take place in the Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS anime. It is described as "a cyberspace constructed with the latest technology".

Duelists use D-Boards to Duel and are used to ride the Data Storm. Some Duels conducted here are done so under the Speed Duel rules instead of the Master Rules. The Data Storm disappeared five years prior to the beginning of the story, and reappeared under unknown circumstances when Playmaker challenged a Knight of Hanoi to a Duel. When a Duelist is in LINK VRAINS, their physical body is enshrouded in a blue sphere.

Inside LINK VRAINS, a mysterious hacker group that hacks via Dueling has appeared: The Knights of Hanoi. Their goal is to destroy the "AI World" known as Cyberse that exists somewhere in the depths of the Network.

Duel Interface
The Duel interface possess a high-tech appearance. Cards are generally hidden and only become visible when the player is making a move, and cards that are dropped will disappear and reappear as necessary. If a card with multiple effects is activated, a selection appears and rotates upon the options available until the user declares their chosen effect.

Avatars
While in LINK VRAINS, Duelists can take avatar forms. While in these avatars, they can also use pseudonyms. Because of this, the Duelist's real identities usually are unknown. Avatar forms can also give the Duelists special abilities such as forming energy whips. The use of avatars is optional, as some Duelists like Go Onizuka opt to forgo them. Avatars can also be non-humanoid, such as with the case of Frog, Pigeon, and Eagle. It is also possible to have duplicate avatars, as seen when multiple individuals copied "Playmaker's" appearance to impersonate him, and when Emma Bessho assumed "Blue Angel's" appearance to lure "Playmaker" into LINK VRAINS.

On the other hand, some avatars do not seem to be available for public use, as Go Onizuka had to seek help from SOL Technology to get the Knight of Hanoi avatar in order to lure Playmaker out.

Events
LINK VRAINS was filled with a wind which Duelists used to Duel and ride D-Board's in Speed Duels. However it disappeared along with peoples memories of it. Inside the wind was said to contain another world called Cyberse.

At some point following the disappearance of Cyberse, the data material which was taken and placed into the network had been reduced. This resulted in a reduction in the network's efficiency by more than 30%.

LINK VRAINS became a place where the top Duelists and Charisma Duelists went. Master Duels took the place of Speed Duels due to the absence of Data Storms. At one point during Duels which involved GO and Blue Angel, the Knights of Hanoi attacked with "Cracking Dragon". They begun to attack users which resulted in accounts being deleted. Playmaker appeared and saved Blue Angel from an attack.

Ai, who was taken as a hostage by Playmaker, unlocked data material from Cyberse to bring back the wind and Speed Duels. Playmaker then commenced a Duel against the Knight. After defeating the Knight of Hanoi, Playmaker became famous and widely regarded LINK VRAINS' hero. Multiple reporters such as Frog and Pigeon attempted to find him to get a scoop, but they only found several "Playmaker" impersonators. At the same time SOL and Hanoi became determined to capture Playmaker in order to recover Ai. The Data Storm Ai started remained behind, but Speed Duels were not allowed so anyone attempting them had their accounts suspended.

At one point, Yusaku was able to see and sense Revolver within the network while not logged in.

Wanting to take on Playmaker for taking his spotlight, GO entered the network disguised as a Knight of Hanoi only for Playmaker to see through the disguise. As himself, Go Dueled Playmaker but suffered defeat.

Blue Angel was seen within LINK VRAINS and was turning down Duels from other challengers. She landed on a building and challenged Playmaker to a Duel in front of the public. Shortly after, Specter, pretending to be a fan, said to Blue Angel that he wished for her to beat Playmaker and sent the "Dark Angel" card into her before disappearing. Blue Angel's memory seemed to have been erased afterwards. Thanks to Ai, Playmaker entered into the network to Duel a Knight, however it was Blue Angel. Playmaker accused Ai of tricking him, however he said there was a faint sign of Hanoi in her deck due to the presence of "Dark Angel". The two begun their Duel.

Blue Angel was quickly able to reduce Playmaker's LP thanks to her Trickstar deck, however as the Duel continued after she drew "Dark Angel", Hanoi's influence tried to take over, only for Blue Angel to resist several times. Upon being forced into a pinch, Blue Angel looked at her hand and finally fell victim to "Dark Angel". Her personality changed and begun screaming with pain and tears in her eyes. Playmaker quickly won the Duel to stop Blue Angel taking mental damage, knocking her into a coma as a result.

After Blue Angel was infected by the Hanoi virus, the network became more busy. Blue Angel also suffered criticism over social media. At some point, Ghostgirl turned LINK VRAINS into a trap for Playmaker. Ghost Girl later entered LINK VRAINS as Blue Angel in disguise and called out to Playmaker. Playmaker followed despite knowing it was a trap. Upon entering, he knew that the "Blue Angel" he was following was a fake and was then trapped. The trap dragged him down into a church-like room where the real Blue Angel lay. Ghost Girl then revealed herself to Playmaker. Still trapped, Akira appeared and demanded that Playmaker tell him what happened to his sister. Playmaker tried to tell him the truth but Akira didn't accept the answer. He then manifested an object around his wrist and this was used to tighten the restrains on Playmaker.

Shortly after, Revolver appeared and told Akira the truth that Hanoi had infected Aoi with a virus and only a Hanoi program could remove it. Revolver demonstrated his power of being able to control the Data Storms and said he could destroy LINK VRAINS if he wanted to, but he didn't care about doing so. He demanded that Playmaker Duel him, much to the annoyance of Akira. He also stated that if that Playmaker beat him, he would give the program to Akira. Akira agreed and freed Playmaker. As Playmaker left to Duel Revolver, Akira asked if he could trust him. He also said what he did to him was horrible and presumed Playmaker hated him. Playmaker responded by saying he didn't, and that he only hated Hanoi.

Revolver and Playmaker exchanged blows in a Speed Duel but it resulted in a DRAW. Revolver and Playmaker then entered into a Data Storm and begun a Master Duel.

Revolver pushed Playmaker into a pinch thanks to his "Fire Prison" which was sent from by his father, Dr. Kogami inside the network. Playmaker was able to eventually defeat Revolver. After his defeat, Ai went to "eat" the program from Revolver and this resulted in Revovler's arm being deleted. Ai then went back in for more but Revolver was lifted away by a beam. Revolver vowed to Duel Playmaker again.

When back in the Knights base, Revolver met with Kogami and gained a new arm while talking. Kogami wondered if Revolver lost his way when Playmaker bought up the incident from ten years ago and told Revolver not to worry about it, but if they couldn't capture Ai, he would need to use his final plan.

Frog and Pigeon meet up with Ghost Girl to obtain footage and a interview with her on a data file. Frog transferred his and Pigeon's future bonuses to pay for it, much to the shock of Pigeon. The two then begun to create a show to broadcast within a editing room made for them by the higher-ups within the network. The files were deleted by Yusaku when removing anything to do with his Playmaker identity online.

Ghost Girl and Playmaker met inside the network to Duel. Pior to this, Ghost Girl had sent a Duel offer to Playmaker with the stakes saying that if Playmaker won, Ghost Girl would give him the "backdoor" to SOL Technologies Data Bank and that if Ghost Girl won, she would obtain Ai. Playmaker beat Ghost Girl and obtained the file to allow him into SOL's data bank.

Later inside VRAINS, Hanoi appeared and started putting Duelists into a coma. Go's friend Makoto was made a victim by Dr. Genome which made Go enter LINK VRAINS and confront the Knights while disguised as Playmaker. Inside, Revolver stated that a thousand people have joined Hanoi but only for their own self gain and their hatred for VRAINS and not for the Cyberse cause that Revolver and the other higher-ups fight for. Baira and Faust appeared and spoke about Kogami's plan. "Playmaker" battled some Knights without the need for Dueling by knocking them off their D-Boards. Genome appeared and knew Go was hiding under the disguise which made Go reveal himself.

Go beat Genome eventually and gained the Removal Program needed to wake up Makoto. He, Playmaker and Blue Angel all met but Blue Angel quickly departed. Go and Playmaker then teamed up officially to take down some more Knights. A young boy was inspired by the two and entered LINK VRAINS but only to find the experience was more intense then he had expected. He was chased by a Knight but Playmaker intercepted the Knight to Duel him. The boy embarrassingly was forced to log out. Kitamura unleashed his army of AI Duelists onto an incoming wave of Knights. The AI Duelists took down several Knights but Baira and Faust turned up to turn the tide. They quickly dispatched the army.

Blue Angel took on Baira after she threatened LINK VRAINS. Baira was able to counter Blue Angel's deck but eventually Blue Angel won the Duel. As Baira was about to lose, she was reminded of her past thanks to Blue Angel. This prompted her to release the Another cure and wake up all the Duelists who had fallen into comas.

Naoki Shima made his debut in LINK VRAINS as Lonely Brave after being frustrated by the lack of commitment to help from his Duel Club. Inside, he was impressed by LINK VRAINS but was quickly challenged to a Duel by a Knight of Hanoi. Lonely Brave was able to win the Duel and changed his name to Brave Max. Faust then kidnapped Naoki in real life to get Playmaker to Duel him inside the network.

Faust and Playmaker Dueled with Faust saying that the Ignis couldn't be trusted. Regardless Playmaker defeated Faust, freeing Naoki in real life. This now left all three high-ranking members of Hanoi in a coma inside the Knights base. This event left Yusaku wondering about Ai and his motives.

The official news was that the Knights had left the network but according to Akira who spoke to Emma, each division of SOL Technologies needed more operators and programmers. He thought this mean the Knights weren't gone but in fact in hiding with their leader. Emma entered LINK VRAINS to find out more. Inside she used her various gadgets to locate a entrance to the LINK VRAINS "sewer" where unnecessary data went including "fireflies" which scanned the network. She was joined by Playmaker who followed her. Prior to this, Playmaker and Ai had sensed something via their Link Sense.

Inside the "sewer", the two came to a fork in the road. Ghost Girl checked her equipment and it showed that she should go right. Ghost Girl and Ai took part in a game where whoever drew the best looking card from her deck, would choose which path they went down. Ai drew "Fake Trap" and due to the fact of its appearance, Ai automatically lost. Emma chose to go right leaving Playmaker and Ai to go left. Playmaker said Ai was tricked and that the deck contained nothing but ugly cards. Playmaker felt his Link Sense again and a creature emerged from the sewers, chasing the two down. Ghost Girl reached the Reprocessing plant and her "fireflies" pointed her to a platform. Emma used the rope on her Duel Disk to swing to the platform and Revolver was waiting for her. Revolver blocked all exits and also stopped Ghost Girl from logging out. They begun a Speed Duel.

Ghost Girl lost to Revolver and was sealed away to become part of the Tower of Hanoi. Revolver mocked Playmaker before departing. Afterwards Hanoi's plan begun as a giant tower emerged inside the network.

LINK VRAINS was shut down by SOL upon the tower appearing. It emerged that the tower was connected to the underground erasing plant, which in return would allow Hanoi to erase the entire internet which would have catastrophic results around the world. They would also have only six hours to stop it as each hour, the tower would gain a ring and would be complete once all six are set. Inside users were turned into data along with LINK VRAINS beginning to be erased. Kitamura entered the network and discussed about joining Hanoi with Revolver as he feared since Hanoi took complete control of LINK VRAINS, he would no longer get a promotion. Revolver referred him to Duel Spectre to see if he was good enough to join. Spectre beat Kitamura and despite his pleas, Spectre turned Kitamura into data. Yusaku, Go and Aoi all logged into the network and the three united. Playmaker told them to leave as it was too dangerous but the two refused as they wished to stop the Tower of Hanoi. Blue Angel met Spectre and they begun a Master Duel as the Data Storms had vanished due to the tower.

Spectre begun to mock Blue Angel as they Dueled despite Blue Angel trying to understand Spectre through their Duel. A young boy avatar dressed as Playmaker fooled Pigeon and Frog due to his likeness. The boy was saved by the real Playmaker from an attack and was told to log out as he told him to trust him. The boy agreed and wished Playmaker luck. Despite a brave battle, Blue Angel was defeated by Spectre and knocked out upon landing on the ground.

As Playmaker made his way to the tower, Spectre and Playmaker met on a bridge and begun a Duel with Spectre announcing he was apart of the Hanoi Project, just as Playmaker had been. Elsewhere Akira entered the network to save Blue Angel upon finding her body unconscious in the real world. Akira was trapped by Kogami in a cage and was told if he touched the bars, he to would lose consciousness. The two spoke about Kogami's past and once Kogami left, Blue Angel was turned into data. The data emerged with Spectre as he used it to prove his threat to Playmaker.

Hazards
Similar to Action Duels, Dueling in LINK VRAINS can bring real dangers. Any physical harm a person suffers while in LINK VRAINS transfers to their real bodies. Being forcefully expelled from LINK VRAINS after taking too much physical damage can also cause psychological damage. Additionally, Duelists are usually shown to be physically exhausted when logging out of VRAINS and sometimes they fall asleep quickly after a Duel.

When The Knights of Hanoi attacked LINK VRAINS, their "Cracking Dragons" deleted the accounts of anyone engulfed in its flames. When Playmaker fell off his D-Board, Ai said that a fall from that height could've killed his real body had he not been rescued by Blue Angel. Duelists usually fall of their D-Boards when they lose a Speed Duel. However Playmaker has shown to be able to transport himself back onto his D-Board if he has enough time to aim at the D-Board. It is currently unknown whether anyone else can do this as well.

The Knights of Hanoi can hack into cards in order to take control of their users, as seen with "Dark Angel". The affected card can then implant a virus into the victim, which makes them unable to log out, leaving their physical body in a comatose state.

According to Emma Bessho, when people Log Out from LINK VRAINS they can't Log In again for some time.

Security
LINK VRAINS is guarded by security bots. They can give orders and capture people in virtual nets if they disobey. They also have the power to ban accounts.

Following Akira's demotion, Kitamura took charge of security. He created AI Duelists to take down hacker. and later sent them to battle an army of Hanoi soldiers.

Trivia

 * Several locations in LINK VRAINS are noted to have similarities to real life locations, such as Paris and Italy.
 * LINK VRAINS is somewhat similar to the Neurons VR world from the TRANSCEND GAME manga. The only difference is that to access Neurons, it is necessary to wear a large egg-shaped headpiece device while the user remains in the real world; to access LINK VRAINS, however, the users are fully digitalized and encased in a blue half-sphere (thus enabling them to physically enter the digital world), but said users can also receive real damage if they are too careless.
 * LINK VRAINS appears to be able to change colour and brightness of the "day" as Ghost Girl and Playmaker's Duel took place under street lamps.