Book / Novel
Description
In a future where the four super-corporations known as the Big Four have driven national governance out of most of the world, human society is divided into strictly ranked zones and ruled by technological advancement and moral decay. The widespread implantation of auxiliary brain computers into the human body has become commonplace, enabling hyperconnected digital life but also creating new vulnerabilities. Into this world steps Alicia Arkwright, a petite young girl with pale blue eyes, long golden hair tied in twin tails, and a natural figure that draws unwanted attention. She is a one-in-a-million Cyber Mage, or Neuromancer, capable of hacking into the neural implants of others and manipulating the digital realm with ease. Working as a freelance detective registered with the corporate governing body known as Seraph, Alicia tackles cases ranging from missing persons to corporate espionage, operating under the alias the Cyber-Brain Wizard.

Alicia is approached by an office worker named Sakura with a seemingly straightforward request: find a missing artist and his daughter. The trail leads Alicia to the artificial island Neo Maihama Art Liberation Special Zone, a lawless and decadent corporate enclave. There she encounters the Ink-Painted Nightmare, a mysterious digital phenomenon that blurs the boundaries between cyberspace and reality, driving victims into madness. As she investigates, she is ambushed by a masked swordsman wielding a high-frequency vibration blade and practicing the Tai Kiden Shinryu style, a martial art designed to counter cyber-enhanced foes. This swordsman, Yagyu Hyoe, challenges Alicia to uncover the truth behind the nightmare and the hidden agenda of the island's corporate masters.

The investigation draws Alicia into a web of betrayal, exploitation, and dark secrets. She must navigate a world where technology can be weaponized against the mind and body, where the lower classes are pawns in corporate games, and where even her own skills may not be enough to survive. The narrative is a hardboiled cyberpunk thriller layered with action sequences, philosophical musings on a hopeless world, and explicit adult scenes that explore themes of power and submission. The first story arc, spread across two volumes, follows Alicia as she confronts the Ink-Painted Nightmare and its connection to the missing artists, culminating in a confrontation with the swordsman and the forces behind the island's corruption. A subsequent volume, The Solitary Shadow Must Die, continues Alicia's battles in the digital underworld, deepening the lore of the Seventy-Two Electronic Archdemons known as the Goetia Numbers and expanding the scope of the conspiracy.
Information
Goetia Shock
ゴエティア・ショック
Type: Book / Novel
Date: 06/20/2024
Categories
Genre
Action
Settings
Sci-Fi
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Comment(s)
Staff
  • Story
    Kento Dokuzu
  • Illustration
    Nekosuke Okuma