Han always seems to have a bit of trouble relating to women, but when it comes to persistent-world online games, he's the greatest hero player there is. Even greater than his steadfast gaming buddy T, who does better than Han with real females. When World of Hartz comes along - a breakthrough, totally-immersive gaming experience - Han thinks he can use his online talents to solve his real-world problem by scoring with the hottest girl in the game. His growing reputation as the best Hartz player leads to a job offer from the game developer. Once on the inside, he finds out that there is a lot more going on than fun, games and chasing girls. A web of power, politics and international conspiracies - plus a game so addictive that it destroys lives - add up to the ultimate challenge for Han as he fights to save his friends and his world.

Terrence Walker started drawing comics in the late 80's for small local newspapers in Arizona. With the advent of the Amiga computer, he soon transferred his drawing ability into the digital realm doing 2D, followed by 3D graphics and animation. This quickly lead to a successful career in video games, television and VFX and animation for film.

Having worked in organizations such as Rainbow Studios and Westwood Studios, Terrence Walker has been credited with the roles Graphics, Sound, Box & Content and Programming on various game titles including many in the popular Command and Conquer series (Electronic Arts) and Microsoft's Motocross Madness (Microsoft).

The Dawn of the new millenium gave rise to Terrence Walker's first foray into the realm of independent animation and the release of his ground-breaking anime project, Understanding Chaos. Followed by the independent production Shadowskin, this new effort gained him notoriety on the internet and in the CG community. It even earned him a visit and tour of his favorite anime studio, Production I.G. in Japan. This started his career down a new path.

Terrence is currently in talks with a number of Japanese studios about distribution of his projects, and gearing up for a new independent anime project aimed specifically at the Asian market.

English Version By: Terrence Walker

Han
Han is basically the ultimate gamer. He's the guy that finishes the 40-hour RPG in 7 hours. While he may be a master with the game controller in his hand, he is a little awkward when it comes to life, particularly in dealing with girls. Having grown up with his mind wrapped around every major game system that ever was, the subject of games is usually the first thing out of his mouth when he speaks. That tends to send prospective girlfriends pounding the pavement in the other direction. Now that he is deep into the Hartz game system, he can shine like the hero he has always wanted to be, and he now plans to use his skills to get the hottest girl in the game.

T
T is Han's childhood best friend. Neither of them can remember a time when they weren't together. T uses his expertise as a web designer to maintain a computer game news and information site that was the biggest in the business before Hartz showed up. Being more business minded than his buddy, he lets Han handle the game reviews and entertainment aspects of the site. Now that they both live together in the video game capital of the world, T can spend his time doing what he does best ... chasing women.

Shadow
Though very little is known about Shadow, one thing is certain -- he is an incredibly skilled hacker. He is also the third and very secretive partner in the video game website run by T and Han. Because of his skill, he has no problem getting the most inside of inside information from some of the largest game companies in the business. Even with the Hartz system and all its security and copy protection, Shadow seems to be able to appear anywhere in the system and do just about anything.

Machiko
Machiko is more of a casual gamer than the others. In fact, it is through spending time with her best friend Erica that she ends up playing the Hartz system so much. Because she can become anyone or almost anything in the system, she is really beginning to enjoy it. Her characters are often very different from her real world personality.

Erica
Erica is a beta tester at Ketsugawa Computer Entertainment, meaning she gets paid to spend all her time playing Hartz. While she doesn't think very highly of her appearance, she doesn't much care what others think of her, either. She tends to create characters that look exactly like her, even down to her glasses, which don't necessarily fit in a fantasy game.

Junya
Junya runs a Hartz-oriented game store called Game Zen, and he's only 9 years old. Of course it's his parents store, but they don't know the first thing about games or, for that matter, business. Junya believes the store would burn down in moments if he wasn't there to supervise. Because his parents are strict about his work ethic, they don't allow him to play the Hartz system unless he is doing a demo for a customer. He is very good at getting customers to take a demo.