D.Y.N. Freaks Volume 1 is a manga volume that collects chapters #1-3 of D.Y.N. Freaks. It was written by Jin Haganeya and published by Fujimi Shobo in 2013.
Synopsis[]
Case No. 01: "The Haunting"[]
While hanging out in a classroom, Azana Hatsumi had a discussion with her friends Muu and Kurumi Kuruya, involving an urban legend about a faceless killer living in the abandoned hospital on the outskirts of Y City; leading to them investigating the area. Upon breaking into the hospital, the faceless killer seemingly murdered Muu by impaling her head with a katana before facing off against Kurumi. Failing to run away, Azana tripped over and tried to call the police but was interrupted by a faceless version of Muu grabbing her arm. The faceless killer saved Azana by impaling Muu's head again, taking off his mask to show that he is a man with a face underneath.
Muu quickly recovered, revealing her true identity to be Yoguruma Mugen, a Freak known as "Infinite Chromata" that possesses the power of the evil god Yog-Sothoth, who had been tampering with Azana's memories. Kurumi was also being manipulated by Mugen, transforming into a monstrous form and using his tentacles to attack the man, whose real name was Narukami Chikage. In retaliation, Narukami used the Mask of Nyarlathotep to take the form of the Haunter; defeating Kurumi shortly afterwards. Meanwhile, Azana discovered the Asylum, a medical institution for the prevention of "Hell Hazards".
Case No. 02: "Twilight Zone in School"[]
The doctor from the Asylum explained to Azana that the universe is ruled over by Evil Gods, with the organization being dedicated to protecting human civilization from them. The evil gods use their "Color" to infect the bodies and minds of humans like a virus, turning them into inhuman entities known as Freaks. Amongst the Freaks was Kurumi, who had been infected by the "Color" of the sea god Cthulhu and turned into "Spawn of the Deep". Meanwhile, Narukami got into a fight with Mugen; although Narukami managed to chop her head off, Mugen was unfazed and initiated her ability "Embryo Phantasm" by opening her left eye.
Sent back to the classroom where it all began, Azana and Mugen were reliving the conversation they had earlier before being interrupted by Narukami, restoring Azana's memories of everything that just happened. Narukami explained that Mugen used her ability to warp time and space to drag them into her dimension, as well as adapting Azana's past to her needs. Once sealed away by the Asylum, Mugen broke free with her 13 Relics of Evil Gods, also known as "Artifacts" that reproduced "Color", being scattered throughout Y City. Although Narukami managed to retrieve Kurumi's Artifact, the Asylum's goal was to defeat the remaining twelve Freaks hidden in the city and collect all the Artifacts.
When Mugen summoned the ghosts of the school to attack Azane and Narukami, they managed to escape while riding Narukami's magical vehicle called the Hunting Horror; however, they got completely lost after the halls were distorted into a twisted road-like structure. Mugen attempted to erase them out of existence but would be defeated Narukami with the Silver Key. After returning to their universe, Narukami arrested Mugen and sealed the power of her left eye. Despite this, Mugen was overjoyed to spend some quality time with Narukami in her cell, much to his annoyance.
Case No. 03: "The Edge of Darkness"[]
Back at school, Azana returned to her daily life where she heard her classmates discussing some strange occurrences from last night, making her wonder if the Freaks were involved with the activity. Shortly afterwards, Narukami took Azana to the Asylum's headquarters, located in another dimension, in order to figure out why Mugen came into contact with her. During the interrogation, Mugen's thought process was incomprehensible but Narukami insisted that she was scheming something, as dragging Azana into the situation could not be coincidental. Azana was placed under Asylum surveillance due to coming into contact with an evil god, with Narukami protecting her from any harm. After returning to Y City, Azana held onto the D-Phone, an Asylum exclusive terminal with a tracking system.
While in her cell, Mugen teased Narukami with the possibility that Azana might be one of the 13 Horrors, as well as berating him for being a mere dog of the Asylum, despite technically being a Freak himself. Narukami became infuriated, exclaiming that he was still human as long as his soul remained intact. Meanwhile, Azana got caught in a battle between two Freaks, a bulky man wearing a black suit and a bloody bandaged woman wielding a chainsaw. The man shot a hole through the woman's body, demanding her to hand over the "fragments"; leading to the woman summoning a dragon with the Naturom Demonto. Although the woman did not have the fragments that he was looking for, the man had no intentions of sparing her and summoned a giant robot arm to attack the dragon.
Mythos Connections[]
- The first and third chapters are references to the similarly-named scenarios of the role-playing game Call of Cthulhu.
- The second chapter is named after the television series The Twilight Zone, which had an episode based on Stephen King's short story "Gramma", featuring the Necronomicon.
- Y City is based on Yatoura City, a fictional location featured in the works of Ken Asamatsu, including his horror novel The Temple on the Gates.
- The 13 Horrors is a reference to the Japanese title for the scenario supplement Blood Brothers.
- While using the Silver Key, Narukami said that he will execute the authority of King of Ilek-Vad.
- Narukami's face turned into a form with the three burning eyes when he was being taunted by Mugen from her cell.