Apocalypse

The Apocalypse (大災害 Dai Saigai) (also referred to as the Catastrophe, Revolution, May Incident, and Third World Fraction) refers to the event on May 3, 2018, that trapped all players who were logged into the popular MMORPG Elder Tale inside of the game. It was triggered by the release of the game's 12th expansion pack, Novasphere Pioneers, effectively trapping over 30,000 Japanese players and several hundred thousand other players worldwide.NHK's Official Log Horizon website (nhk.or.jp)
The NPCs, the People of the Land, were also affected by this incident as they suddenly gained memories, personalities and backgrounds. Other changes include the fact that the People of the Land no longer give out quests. This effectively leaves the Adventurers with nothing to do. Since survival itself is extremely cheap, (average of 35 Gold per day), there is little incentive for them to venture out beyond their cities and earn more money. As a result, the Adventurers must deal with overwhelming feelings of despair and boredom. Many of them resort to killing other players, (PKing), just to pass the time. This in itself is pointless as Adventurers will re-spawn after dying.
With the Adventurers of Akihabara now governing themselves and creating new foods and inventions, the People of Land are now envious of the formerly 'disorganized mob' and are competing with each other to attain those benefits.
==Notes==
* At the beginning of the anime, most of the characters in Log Horizon don't seem to dwell very long on pondering how they became trapped inside of the game (or even whether they're inside the game or instead in a parallel universe that resembles the game).  However, in the light novel, Shiroe and Naotsugu spend quite a while considering these two options and discussing the possible implications of each.Log Horizon Light Novel: Volume 1, Chapter 2
**In the West Wind Brigade manga, the effects of the Apocalypse on the players is also shown; Isami is most notably distressed, and an unnamed player is mentioned to have attempted suicide in order to try and escape the game but failed.
==References==
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