Arterial of Origins: Chapter 1 Walkthrough

&lt;&lt;&lt; Back: Prologue

After-School Activity
Despite your plans, after school you learn that Akari's gone off to talk with Narumi about something.
 * Head past the girls to Akari's location, where you'll walk into a one-sided argument about club resources. This will add friendship events for both Akari and Narumi to the list.
 * As soon as you step into the hall, Madoka scents a scoop and latches onto you. Run for the exit, but on your way to the shopping district she'll cut you off anyway (apparently she outran the monorail or something).
 * At the shopping district, Madoka will show you the restricted area, obscured by black fog. The group spots Masoho at the scene. This adds a friendship event for Madoka.
 * After Madoka leaves, you automatically go back to the alley and discover that the portal is still there. Overriding Akari's reservations, the group goes in; after taking a look around, they decide to explore more thoroughly - but they need to equip themselves properly first.
 * While Kaito arranges things, a couple of other destinations open up for Shuya and Akari. Meet up with Masoho at one and Madoka at the other, with another scene playing on the way (Akari drags Shuya off to a pastry shop, and the girls happen to see and think it's a date).
 * Meet up with Kaito again to learn that MHI "might" be connected with what's going on. It's too late to continue with the plan now, so the group decides to head home, then sneak out and meet up again later in the night.
 * On your way back home, the game center will open up, although at this point only a few opponents are available. Your deck at this point is probably too weak to make much headway, although that will change soon.
 * Once Mirai goes to bed, meet Kaito again and then head to the shopping mall to load up on weapons. However, you won't be able to afford much, and what you can afford isn't worth it.
 * Meet Akari at the station, where it turns out that Narumi is also out and about this late at night. You'll get a couple of new, slightly more powerful cards for Akari and Kaito as well.

Otherworld Redux

 * You now have the ability to replicate enemy cards, which will be a major source of deck-building for a while. Any enemy card that Shuya personally defeats in combat can be added to your collection after winning a battle.
 * Your card options are pretty limited this early; few cards have any real staying power, so attack strength takes priority. Especially desirable cards for replication are the rocks-and-girders card (5 atk, 4 health) and the blue insects (which can be boosted to 7 atk).
 * The immediate task is to explore. The large monster to the northeast can't be fought just yet. Head for the other target points on the map.
 * The Deadbeat dungeon is open at this point, if AP01 is installed.
 * After attempting to attack the large monster to the east, one of your destinations turns out to be the parking garage of a building which you can enter.

GO.I.S.BILL

 * Inside the garage you find another one of those floating cubes. Kaito touches this one, and you end up taking it with you.
 * On 1F you'll meet your first powerful roaming monster (marked by the red exclamation point; Requiem Siren モノ #548/549). She'll be a bit much for you without some serious additions to your deck, but you're almost guaranteed to run into her. Luckily, running away is as easy as picking the option from the menu.
 * At the target point on 1F you'll set off the alarms, leading to Kaito being separated from the group by emergency shutters. You'll be given control of Kaito for the time being.
 * Kaito's leader card causes you to draw 1 card each time it defeats an enemy.
 * Head upstairs via either exit (enemies are weak, but continually respawn) and to the target point. Kaito will discover his enhanced speed and gain another new card before getting in another fight.
 * The enemy leader here sits in back and summons lots of minions, so take advantage of the cards' special abilities. One lets you deal a free point of damage after moving to the front, while the other gains an evasion buff if you sacrifice a card from your hand.
 * After the fight, the group is reunited again. Akari, unwilling to spend the entire game as the one constantly being rescued, insists on touching the cube herself.
 * Once you've joined up with Kaito again, there's nothing left but to return to the real world for now.

Testing Your Powers
Next: Chapter 2 &gt;&gt;&gt;
 * The next day, Kaito will suggest that the two of you cut class and go explore the other world some more.
 * If you do, you can take him to see Masoho at the orphanage, but there's really nothing else to be gained - no new areas open up, and Shuya won't attack the large monster without Akari in the group.
 * Head back towards the school to run into Akari (who yells at you for running off on her).
 * Otherwise, attend school normally, have lunch with the girls, and then prepare to head to the other world afterward.
 * Either way, returning to school will allow you to complete Madoka's first friendship event.
 * Once the group is together, heading to the other world will put the game in open exploration mode.
 * Some new enemies (with new cards!) have appeared on the map.
 * You can now return to town, sleep, and go to school in a normal cycle.
 * Several friendship events can be completed by waiting a few days here.
 * The arena has a tournament on Sundays.
 * To recruit the 3 Append 1 characters you must complete the arena and do events with those characters before killing the Stuck Dragon.  (If you completed the first two Append 1 characters' events, the third Append 1 Character will be available in Chapter 2 after a few school events )
 * Attacking the large enemy on the city map will advance to the final stage of the chapter.
 * If you wait a couple of days, you'll be able to complete your current batch of friendship events by visiting with people around the school. Mirai will have one event at the shopping mall after talking to her in the hallways at school.
 * Once you're ready to finish, attack the boss standing out in the street. Akari's freezing ability will be unlocked, and you get a new (and much more powerful) card for her.
 * This boss has two special abilities: one is that cards in the back row will also take damage if the card in front is attacked, and the other is to reduce the ATK of any human card by 2 if it's parked in front of the boss.
 * You can compensate for this in a couple of ways. One is to save up on BP and outfit your Kaito cards with knives. Another is to focus on using strong Inorganic or Creature cards, whose attack power will be unaffected.
 * Since the boss starts in the front row without guards on either side, do as much damage as possible in the first round.
 * Tremors go through the city when the boss dies; to stabilize it again, you need to collect five more cubes like the one you've already found.
 * Three can be found on the main city map.
 * One more is in the GO.IS building's 2nd floor, behind some enemies.
 * The last is in the NTD building (where the portal is).  As you enter you'll find a discarded jacket (no idea who it belonged to) containing the keycard for the building's elevator, allowing you to go straight from the first floor to the 6th.
 * A locked door will keep you out of the 7th floor, and another will keep you away from the roof.  At the marked locaton on 8F, the floor will give way, dumping Shuya and Akari into the level below.  There's a brief scene where they take cover in a narrow alcove to avoid a monster.  Afterward, Kaito shows up and tells you that he's found another key.
 * Head up to the roof and grab the last cube.
 * Dangerous Monster Ticket Master (#550/551) is at the top once you have Flight.
 * Once you have all the cubes, return to spot where you fought the boss to wrap things up.
 * Afterward, the group makes a promise never to return to the other world; they've had enough trouble there already.  Before leaving, Akari pulls Shuya aside to "apologize" for all the times Shuya's gotten injured protecting her, leading to the game's first H-scene.