DMMO-RPG / Real World
A DMMO-RPG is an immersive game in which one dives into a virtual world through the brain's nanocomputer network, the "neuron nano interface"; in Satoru Suzuki's 2138 the Earth's environment has collapsed and megacorporations rule in all but name.
- DMMO-RPG = Dive Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game; using a neuron nano interface and a dedicated console, one plays in a virtual world as if in reality
- Under the "Cyber Law," taste and smell are completely removed in virtual worlds and touch is restricted; forcing others into a game without consent is treated as kidnapping for profit, so logging out is easy
- Environmental destruction in the early 22nd century collapsed primary industries, food riots and coups paralyzed politics, and megacorporations seized the judiciary, legislature and executive
- The sky is covered by black smog and gas masks are needed outdoors; the wealthy live in fully controlled environment cities called "arcologies," while the poor are worked like worker bees
- Compulsory education has been abolished, and merely finishing elementary school makes one a "winner"; Satoru Suzuki's parents worked themselves to death to put him through school, and after elementary school he became a salaryman
- According to the novels' timeline: the five-sense immersion system was born in 2079 (Web novel setting), the first DMMO-RPG in 2104 (Web novel setting), and the European Arcology War broke out in 2118
- The only entertainment for the poor is indoor games, and to players the DMMO-RPG is practically reality itself
- Comparison of reality in the light novel and the Web novel: the light novel's Satoru Suzuki is an elementary-school-educated salaryman, the Web novel's a high school graduate; the Web novel has no "abolition of compulsory education" or "environmental collapse," and Ainz is not moved by the New World's nature
- Lack of sunlight has killed plants and decimated birds and insects; river water is a strange color, and tap water is drinkable only with a purifying filter; agriculture has moved to domed cultivation, food is expensive, and the poor live mainly on processed foods and supplements eaten solely for nutrition ("The World of 2138" at the end of manga Vol. 3)
- The police are a mere formality and public order has deteriorated, but since being fired means you can't survive, most people still work obediently; street children live in the sewers (side story-040); to Satoru Suzuki "rain" is something that smells sour (side story-041)
- Guild members' real-world identities: Touch Me is a police officer living in an arcology, Shijuuten Suzaku is a university professor, and Yamaiko is an elementary school teacher inside an arcology; the author says there may be schools equivalent to middle school, but only a small elite can attend
- YGGDRASIL launched in 2126 and shut down in 2138 after 12 years; in the Web novel setting, immersion systems were simplified in 2089 so that ordinary households could own them
Notes
The light novel's dystopian reality setting appears almost only in "The World of 2138" at the end of manga Vol. 3 and in the anime bonus novels; the Web novel's real world has none of these descriptions, and Satoru Suzuki is a high school graduate.
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