I want to talk about the "Well-Holed" arc from the recent anime *ID: INVADED*. The story is set in a modern-day Japan plagued by a constant stream of mass murders and bizarre, gruesome crimes. Using a special device, investigators can access the "Id"—the subconscious world and killing intent of a criminal—allowing the protagonist to dive into these worlds, find clues, and solve cases. Various serial killers appear in the series, but one particular culprit is known as the "Well-Holed." The Well-Holed abducts victims and locks them inside a coffin-like enclosed space, putting only a flashlight and a camera inside with them while broadcasting a live video of the victim slowly weakening to the entire world. A new Well-Holed victim appeared, and a live broadcast started. The victim was a high school-aged girl. Shocked to realize she had become the target of the notorious Well-Holed, she forced a smile at the camera and promised to do her absolute best until her limit. This time, they finally managed to extract residual thought particles, so the protagonist immediately dived into the Id. Inside the Id was an apartment completely engulfed in flames. The protagonist was instantly caught in a backdraft and died. Dying in the Id forces the protagonist back to the real world. Even if he dives into the same Id again, he cannot carry over his memories (that's just how the system works), so the protagonist dies over and over again. Though he has no memories while inside the Id, he remembers everything once he returns to reality. It doesn't physically harm him, but experiencing death repeatedly takes a massive toll on his mental state. Even so, to save the girl, the protagonist dives over and over again. On a later attempt, he finally reaches a room where a girl who looks identical to the victim is sitting. When he speaks to her, she testifies that the old man living in the house opposite theirs had been staring at her the whole time. The culprit wasn't the real Well-Holed, but a copycat. The police immediately raided the house of the man living across from the victim in the real world. The man was in the middle of watching the girl's video broadcast on his computer. The police pinned the man down and discovered the entrance to a basement. Inside the basement was a large barrel. In the video, the girl was growing extremely weak and was in critical condition, but she still barely had consciousness. The police hurriedly opened the lid of the barrel. Inside was the decomposed corpse of the girl. The video had been pre-recorded, and the girl had actually died months ago. The protagonist, who had promised the girl inside the Id that he would definitely save her, felt utterly crushed when he received the report.
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