Tanabata Event

"Wishes do come true, especially during the Tanabata Festival!"

- Mireille

The Tanabata Event (七夕) was an event created by System Administrator Balmung to celebrate Tanabata Night in The World.

Event
The event was held at the field Δ Milky Way River. Participants first engaged in the traditional custom of writing down wishes and tying them to the branches of a tree. Then they moved into the river itself, where they took place in a reenactment of the Tanabata legend of the annual meeting between Orihime and her lover Hikiboshi. A random female player was chosen as Orihime, and the rest of the players had to race across the river to reach her. The first player to reach her won the event.

.hack//Legend of the Twilight (Manga)
Shugo and his part decided to take part in the event after reading its event notice. After writing down their wishes they prepared for the race. To everyone's surprise Rena was chosen as Orihime. Ouka and Mireille were able to secure an early lead, but got sidetracked by the appearance of a rare event monster. Struggling through the water Shugo noticed Komiyan III taking an early lead, not wanting him to reach Rena he used his Twilight Bracelet to Data Drain him into a fish. Suddenly the event monster returned and tried to attack Shugo, luckily Balmung (had had forced his assistant Reki to manage the event) appeared and defeated it with a single attack. After taunting Shugo, Balmung headed towards the finish line with Shugo right behind him. The two reached the stage at the same time, resulting in a photo finish. Though Shugo was eventually declared the winner (having beaten Balmung by just a few pixels) Rena declared Balmung her Hero and thanked him for saving Shugo. Upset over his weakness Shugo swore that he'd become stronger, unaware that Aura had been watching the entire event from the sky above.

.hack//Legend of the Twilight(Anime)
After being taunted by Komiyan III for not knowing the Tanabata Legend, Shugo decided he'd enter the event to impress Rena. After writing down their wishes Shugo's party prepared for the race. To everyone's surprise Rena was chosen as Orihime. The beginning of the race was chaotic, as Ouka, Mireille, and Komiyan III attempted various methods to get ahead. Suddenly a Data Bug appeared from the water, and began wreaking havoc amongst the players. Balmung and Sanjuro entered the battle and managed to hold the beast off long enough for Shugo to finish it off with a Data Drain, Komiyan was accidentally hit by the attack as well and was transformed into a fish. Concerned about Rena, Balmung and Shugo ran to her position, inadvertently winning the event. However before the event could be finished the field began to bug out, and Balmung ordered everybody to log out of the field.

Trivia

 * Hotaru also participated in the event, but in both cases was forced to withdraw early. In the manga, she was unable even to leave the shore because she was harassed by crabs. In the anime, she proved unable to swim; Shugo took her back to shore himself but temporarily fell behind the other contestants as a result.
 * In the anime, the field for the event was Δ Distant Azure River.
 * Tanabata, the holiday this event was celebrating.