Just finished reading the new chapter of the Chaos Zero Nightmare event story that got released today together with the Sereniel character (the first limited character in the game) and whoa, it was packed with new info. While it resolved the immediate crisis, it also added lots of extra details that need to be cleared up.

The story continues from where we left off, with the director of Kaguya Pharmaceutical explaining the situation at their "Laboratory 0". Turns out they were building a replica of Protos to be able to mass-produce individuals who could go through the Chaos without losing their path like the protagonist.

Of course, there were human experiments, lots of failures, and the usual deal of "things went wrong," causing the laboratory to be almost entirely destroyed when Haku (one of the replicas) went rogue and started devouring everyone around him (including the former director of the laboratory). The plan is to destroy Haku and stop him from creating further danger.

Everyone is repulsed by the actions of the company, but they decide to still go with the plan as there is no doubt that Haku needs to be taken care of. Sereniel, a friend of Yuki, appears on the scene too to help, and we get a few flashback scenes showing that she was probably the "Patient 0" of the laboratory.

She was saved from death by injecting Chaos Monster blood into her, which caused her to become this strong. She still feels sad about the events and even asks the protagonist, "Would you kill those contaminated by Chaos in any case?" This is likely a way to refer to herself indirectly.

During the exploration, they find two other specimens that are not really aggressive called Narja and Gaya. They decide to keep them alive and under Sereniel's watch. I honestly thought to myself, "Oh, these two are going to die later, aren't they?" but turns out I was wrong.

They actually survive the event (even if Narja was injured in the battle), and now I am actually quite interested in seeing if they can become playable characters in the future or at least partners. While I love normal-looking characters, having some variety with their Chaos-corrupted looks could be interesting...

During the final scene, the protagonist has a series of visions that are cryptic but seem to indicate that there is something about him linked to Chaos. It hasn't been developed much yet, though, so I guess we will see more of it in the future seasons of this event (they already announced this is going to be a seasonal thing).

Also, there was no progress on the Kurokage possession with Chizuru, nor much with the Primonium (that got damaged in the battle) with Yuki. These are all threads that are left to be continued at a later stage. I am curious to see how quickly the company can get things back under control, as they technically have to rewrite the main story at the same time...

Gameplay-wise, Sereniel is insanely good. You can think of her as a premium Mei Lin. She generates lots of cards at 0 cost that you can spam on the enemy, breaking the toughness bar very, very quickly. I am probably going to use the special material on her and give her the first uncap as it looks like a solid investment.

I will go back to farming materials to max her out now and wait for the next update in the future. Hopefully, they won't make us wait too long!