In the Land of Leadale

Plot summary

In Japan, a VR-accessed multi-player online fantasy role-playing game (VRMMORPG) named Leadale, which offers a very liberal customization system, has become immensely popular in recent years. A young girl named Keina Kagami, rendered permanently paralyzed and on constant life support, uses this game from her hospital bed to interact with the rest of the world. When she unexpectedly dies after her life support shuts down during a power outage, she finds herself transported into the game world of Leadale, in the body of her personal avatar Cayna. To her surprise, she also finds out that 200 years have passed in Leadale since she last logged into the game, a period in which the seven kingdoms she knew were devastated by war and re-organized into three new kingdoms: Felskeilo, Helshper and Otaloquess.

As Cayna begins making her way in this new world and meeting the three NPC children she had created in the game, she finds out that her death sparked rumors that ruined Leadale's reputation and caused the game to be shut down. However, several other players also ended up trapped inside the game as well, some of them for years. The current kingdoms are also increasingly plagued by attacks from high-level monsters, all stemming from Leadale's abrupt cancellation, which made them go rogue inside this world. What's more, after she re-encounters her former in-game mentor, Opus, she learns that Leadale was specifically created to help her out of her isolation following her accident, but was commercialized afterwards. The game had, however, an unfortunate bug which displaced the minds of several players into the virtual Leadale world. After Keina's death, Opus synchronized the game system with her new elven soul, essentially making it into a real living world.

However, the cancellation of Leadale also meant that it was necessary to restrain the game's ultimate challenge elements, the Event Monsters, which have taken a life of their own. They were sealed inside the ruins of the former Brown Kingdom's capital, now known as the Abandoned Capital, but the barrier has begun to fray. Soon, all the players stuck inside the game must unite to stem a tide of unprecedented proportions which threatens to lay waste to the world of Leadale.

Characters

Players and Skill Masters

Cayna (ケーナ, Kēna) / Keina Kagami (各務桂菜, Kagami Keina)

Voiced by: Eri Yukimura (Japanese); Xanthe Huynh (English)

Originally the 17-year-old daughter from a wealthy Japanese family, Keina was rendered a permanent hospital patient on life support for several years by a terrible accident in which her parents were killed. When her life support fails in the midst of a game session, Keina dies, but her mind is uploaded into the world of Leadale as her RPG avatar Cayna, a powerful Black Kingdom high elf mage (in-game level 1,100). In Leadale, she specializes in magic, and as an elf, she can also communicate with plants, which makes harvesting plant materials in her presence an unsettling undertaking for her.In the game, Cayna is a member of the Cream Cheese guild, which consist of Limit Breakers and some of the more eccentric players. She had also attained the extremely rare title of being one of twenty-four Limit Breakers and the third of thirteen Skill Masters, who act as assistant game administrators and are capable of bestowing other player characters with free skills at will. When demands for these services kept mounting, Cayna was forced into seclusion, and the subsequent creation of several Guardian Towers to make those players actually earn these skills was initiated. After meeting Opus in Leadale again, she is shocked to discover that for some reason, Opus bonded her soul to the game's matrix after her death, essentially making her the game's living central processor and heartpiece. The assimilation took two centuries to complete, at the end of which time Opus arranged for her reawakening in Marelle's inn.Cayna is infamously known under the bynames Silver Ring Witch (銀環の魔女, Gin Kan no Majo) and Ferocious Firepower, from the trademark power-boosting magical item she received upon becoming a Skill Master.

Opus (オプス, Opusu) / Opusketten-Shultheimer Crosstettbomber (オペケッテンシュルトハイマー・クロステットボンバー, Opekettenshurutohaimā Kurosutetobonbā) / Rin Kuzuhara (葛原 林, Kuzuhara Rin)

Leadale's thirteenth Skill Master and a Black Kingdom demon avatar (level 1,100) of a player ostensibly installed by Leadale's administrative company to observe the game and report any bugs or malfunctions. His accumulated knowledge of the game's and its players' procedures has made him a master strategist, earning him the nickname "Leadale's Kongming". Like Cayna, he was a member of Cream Cheese and also served as Keina's mentor when she had first entered the game. Crescent Moon Castle, his Guardian Tower in the kingdom of Helshper, is a reflection of his penchant for sadism, as it is riddled with all kinds of deadly traps; hence it is known as the House of Murder and Malice.It is only much later, after Cayna meets Opus in Leadale again, that she learns that Opus is actually one of the Leadale game's original creators and administrators named Rin Kuzuhara, who once visited Keina at the hospital to introduce her to the game. He was also responsible for the restructuring of the lands of Leadale into three new kingdoms and the exile of the Event Monsters into the Abandoned Capital after the game ended its service. Some time after their reunion, he raises Cayna's level to 1,109 and gives her a set of new special abilities.

Summons and Familiars

Kee (キー, Kī)

Voiced by: Yui Otagiri (Japanese); Laura Post (English)

An AI support unit created by Keina's uncle to assist her after she was permanently paralyzed. After her rebirth in Leadale, Cayna is still able to access it (consequently, only she can perceive and interact with Key, although later Opus is later found to have that ability as well), and it serves as her advisor and protector.

Li'l Fairy (妖精ちゃん, Yōsei-chan) / Kuu (クウ, Kū)

A game character appearing as a type of familiar, this tiny, green-haired fairy was bequeathed to Cayna by Opus when she sought his Guardian Tower out. Because of her nature, initially only Cayna and the other players stuck in Leadale can see her. After Opus prompts her, Cayna eventually names the fairy "Kuu" (as a counterpart to Kee), thus giving her a material form. It is later revealed that Kuu is a manifestation of the Leadale game's subsystem installed into Cayna.

Roxilius (ロキシリウス, Rokishiriusu) and Roxine (ロキシン, Rokishin)

Voiced by: Nanako Mori (Roxilius) and Hisako Tōjō (Roxine) (Japanese); Jacob Hopkins (Roxilius) and Amber Lee Connors (Roxine) (English)

A werecat pair of butler and maid (both level 550), and originally NPCs summoned by Cayna's magic while playing the game on Earth; Roxilius was created by Cayna, but Opus added Roxine as a gesture of his twisted humor. Upon first summoning Roxilius some time after her rebirth in Leadale, Cayna discovered that Roxilius inexplicably did not disappear after his summoning duration had expired, so she also summoned Roxine to have them both take over the daily chores in her newly founded household. While Roxilius is well-behaved and polite, Roxine is confrontational, arrogant and sharp-tongued, especially against Roxilius. This rivalry habitually results in bitter duels between the two, which Cayna must break up on an all-too regular basis. Their names are a reference to the number 64 (六十四, rokujūshi), which stands for Keina's birthday on June 4.

Kingdom of Felskeilo

Skargo (スカルゴ, Sukarugo)

Voiced by: Daisuke Ono (Japanese); Chris Niosi (English)

A male high elf priest (level 300), and Cayna's first child, adopted via the game's Foster System, which converts unused alternative player characters into named NPCs when adopted by an active player. He is specialized in healing magic, and is highly revered in the kingdom of Felskeilo due to his radiant personality, which usually manifests his moods in an illusionary aura of flowers (a peculiar but essentially useless special effect added by the game's administrators). However, he also has an unbelievably huge mother complex.

Mai-Mai (マイマイ, Maimai)

Voiced by: Kaori Nazuka (Japanese); Veronica Taylor (English)

A female high elf archmage (level 300), and Cayna's second child. She tends to be a bit airheaded and exuberant, especially about her mother. Formerly a magician at Felskeilo's royal court, she now occupies the position of headmistress of the local Royal Academy. Married twice, she had fraternal twin children with her first husband.

Kartatz (カータツ, Kātatsu)

Voiced by: Tomokazu Sugita (Japanese); Keith Silverstein (English)

A male dwarf shipwright (level 300) at the wharfs of Felskeilo's capital, and Cayna's third child. While he is the most level-headed of his siblings and loves his mother, he does not enjoy being treated like a child in public, keen to preserve his image as a tough, no-nonsense boss. He is also responsible for "baptizing" (i.e., physically disciplining) new recruits and unruly elements among Felskeilo's royal knights.

Luka (ルカ, Ruka)

Voiced by: Kanon Takao (Japanese); Lizzie Freeman (English)

A pre-adolescent human girl who originally lived in a Felskeilo fishing village near one of the Guardian Towers, the Palace of the Dragon King. Her village was eradicated when an undead Event Monster released a death mist on the settlement, turning its inhabitants into zombies; Luka escaped that fate because she was inside a magically warded storehouse. After being rescued by Cayna, Quolkeh and Exis, she is taken in by Cayna as her new adopted daughter.

Kingdom of Helshper

Caerina Sakai (ケイリナ・堺, Keirina Sakai)

Voiced by: Azusa Tadokoro (Japanese); Erin Yvette (English)

Mai-Mai's older daughter, a young elf who is the captain and combat instructor for the Knights of Helshper.

Caerick Sakai (ケイリック・堺, Keirikku Sakai)

Voiced by: Tomoya Takagi (Japanese); Landon McDonald (English)

Mai-Mai's younger son, an elf merchant in Helshper and owner of an intercontinentally very successful business named Sakaiya.

Idzik (イジク, Ijiku)

Voiced by: Taku Yashiro

Caerick's son, Cayna's great-grandson and Sakaiya's deputy master.

Lux (ルクス, Rukusu), Sunya (スンヤ, Sun'ya), Dogai (ドガイ, Dogai) and Latem (ラテム, Ratemu)

A family group of Helshper engineers in Caerick's employ who came to Lytt's village to study a water-drawing mechanism Cayna had invented for the villagers' comfort. While Lux, Dogai and Latem are dwarves, Sunya is a human; additionally, Lux and Sunya are a married couple, Dogai is Lux's apprentice, and Latem is Lux's pre-adolescent son from a previous marriage.

Kingdom of Otaloquess

Sahana (サハナ, Sahana)

Sahana is a high-elf player avatar and Cayna's adopted sister.

Sahalashade (サハラシエード, Saharashiēdo)

Sahana's daughter through the game's Foster System, Cayna's niece, and the reigning queen of the kingdom of Otaloquess. Her prime duty is to watch the barriers around the Abandoned Capital, the former capital of the Game Era's Brown Kingdom which is now a haven for powerful monsters. She, as well as her prime minister and captain of the royal knights, are oddly aware of their true natures in the Leadale game.

Cloffe (クロフ, Kurofu) and Clofia (クロフィア, Kurofia)

Two brother and sister werecat spies from the kingdom of Otaloquess (level 80). Similar to Roxilius and Roxine, Cloffe, as the male, is polite and composed, while Clofia is very aggressive and temperamental.

Others

Keisuke Kagami

The younger brother of Keina's father and the owner of the company who created Leadale, who became Keina's guardian after her parents' death. He has a daughter named Ako.

Igdukyz (イグドゥキス, Igudōukisu)

An evil minor devil subservient to Leadale's Lord of the Night, also known as the Dream God. His body has the shape of a roughly humanoid tree, with a human skull floating inside a hollow in its trunk. Considering himself a sculptor, he has the unsavory habit of reshaping living human beings into gruesomely bizarre works of "art", and creating art which twists the minds of anyone beholding it.

Drekdovai (ドレクドバイ, Dorekudobai)

Igdukyz's partner, a huge black-scaled, six-armed Demon Dragoid.

Media

Light novel

In the Land of Leadale is written by Ceez and illustrated by Tenmaso. Originally serialized online on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō website between November 2010 and December 2012, Enterbrain began publishing the series in print in January 2019 under their Famitsu Bunko imprint. Eight volumes have been released so far. Yen Press licensed the series in North America.

Manga

A manga adaptation illustrated by Dashio Tsukimi and composed by Ryō Suzukaze began serialization online via ASCII Media Works' Dengeki PlayStation Comic Web website in July 2019. Seven tankōbon volumes have been released so far. Yen Press has also licensed the manga in English.

Anime

On February 22, 2021, an anime adaptation was announced. At "Kadokawa Light Novel Expo 2020", it was revealed to be a television series animated by Maho Film. The series is directed by Takeyuki Yanase, with scripts overseen by Kazuyuki Fudeyasu, character designs handled by Toshihide Matsudate, Eri Kojima, and Kaho Deguchi, and music composed by Kujira Yumemi. The series aired from January 5 to March 23, 2022, on Tokyo MX and other networks. The opening theme song is "Happy encount" by TRUE, while the ending theme song is "Hakoniwa no Kōfuku" (Happiness in a Miniature Garden) by Azusa Tadokoro. Crunchyroll streamed the series.

On January 13, 2022, Crunchyroll announced that the series will receive an English dub, which premiered on February 16.