Phase 1: For You, the Replaceable Ones

Phase 1: For You, the Replaceable Ones (代わりのいる君たちへ) is the first story arc in.

Introduction
''Thank you for waiting so long for us to prepare. Now, I will finally start up the game.

However, are you sure about this? This is merely my personal opinion, but I believe the difficulty level is quite high, given the present circumstances.

Still, I am well aware that you know the joy of achieving victory, especially over conditions such as that. This is a considerably high tier of difficulty, after all.

Your opponent is already fully prepared.

Plot
The Battle Standard Festival begins with an air show from each of the Five Great Factions. Soon after, each kette participating in the Festival is introduced. Meanwhile, three mysterious Kings consult with Jestress about inciting an apocalyptic event on mankind.

The Festival concludes without incident. The participating Gauntlet Knights enjoy an afterparty at a virtual onsen hosted by Warcat. The Gauntlet Knights make an oath to maintain their friendship. Amidst the celebrations, Miyao Mitake witnesses a vision of an altered version of himself that describes brutal ways in which he will kill Lingji and Koshka. Miyao ignores these visions and attempts to enjoy the party. Some time later, Jayden senses Miyao at an arcade and attempts to talk to him. He learns that Miyao has a second personality named Meow that is responsible for his great abilities as a Gauntlet Knight. Jayden develops a crush on Meow and struggles with treating Meow and Miyao as different people.

A variety of international issues come to a head at once as a result of the Three Kings. Seshat comments that the international tensions could lead to a fourth World War. While in a virtual room with Gunhild and Lilja, Koshka's Kizuna begins to malfunction and she repeatedly says "help" and "caution" in Russian. Gunhild and Lilja leave after Koshka glitches out of the room. It is revealed that Koshka is currently being operated on by scientists as part of an experiment. Meanwhile, Vier Dreissig shows a man seeking eternal youth around her research facility. She initially implores that he join another researcher who had already devised a flawed version of eternal youth but learns that the researcher had hanged himself. Vier leaves the room, giggling. She reveals to the man a secret hatch at the bottom of the facility that she believes contains an isolated spacetime 1,000 years in the future.

Toujirou uses Selcom technology to extract classified information from drunk executives. On December 1st, various international conflicts come to a head and it seems to many that war is imminent. Toujirou meets with his son, Miyao Mitake, and explains that a fourth World War is inevitable. Shortly thereafter, the Gauntlet Knights are thrown into military missions. At Miyao's behest, each Gauntlet Knight kette completes their mission without casualties. Meanwhile, Seshat interrupts a meeting at the ABN Saint Florian International Airport and subdues an underling named Mr. Gray.

AOU

 * Miyao Mitake
 * Jayden
 * Gunhild
 * Chloe Ironside
 * Koshka
 * Lilja
 * Okonogi

COU

 * Lingji Liu
 * Momotake
 * Aysha
 * Sujatha
 * Rukhshana
 * Andry

ABN

 * Leah
 * Fatma
 * Stephania
 * Naima
 * Stanisław
 * Naomi

ACR

 * Noor
 * Gannet
 * Mariana
 * Rethabile
 * Ishak
 * Abdou
 * Seshat

Other

 * King of Sorrow
 * King of Ridicule
 * King of Fury
 * Jestress
 * Vier Dreissig
 * Toujirou Mitake

Trivia

 * Upon it's initial release, video streaming was only permitted up to the seventh chapter.