Dahlia, the deepest mystery of VRChat. We will explore the secrets of this world, which is now taking on a new dimension.
Notice: The following text is a translation, reorganization and publication of a public article edited by Takaomi, published on (https://www.moguravr.com/vrchat-dahlia/), translated by Quieter using a translation AI, with permission.
Hello, I am Takaomi from ”VRChat World Exploration Club”.
"Virtual DEEP Walk" is a project that introduces many "DEEP" cultures and spots that exist in the virtual world by Mogulive. This time, we would like to introduce the "Dahlia Series" a group of works that are particularly bizarre, and could be said to be one of the greatest mysteries in VRChat.
By the way, have you ever seen these symbols in the VRChat world?
Some of them are placed as decorations, while others require some kind of gimmick to appear. In fact, these symbols used to be placed in various worlds.
But no one knows what this mark is.
All we know is that it is related to something called "Dahlia". There seem to be several patterns in the design, but all the worlds with this mark are related to Dahlia, or have been created by people who are fascinated by Dahlia.
There used to be many Dahlia worlds on VRChat, including "Dahlia Bar (Dahlia)", "Hidden Dahlia", "Jacket+ ⋔⟒⋔⍜⍀⟟⏃⌰", etc. There are said to be more than 50 of them. All of them are of high quality and many of them are characterized by a sense of fear and anxiety.
What they were created for, what Dahlia is, and so on are all shrouded in mystery. There are several authors, but they are rarely seen on VRChat, and no accounts can be found on Twitter.
Who is making them and for what purpose?
The Dahlia series is loved enthusiastically by some people for its mysteriousness and eeriness. To learn more about the appeal of Dahlia and the truth behind its hidden mysteries, I interviewed "Quieter" who has been sharing his thoughts on blog and Twitter and has even had contact with one of the people involved with Dahlia.
The Mystery and Appeal of "Dahlia" as Told by a Searcher
----Thank you very much for your time today. First of all, can you tell us how you first met Dahlia?
It all started with a world called "cat tail."
That day I was surveying the recent developments of the many BARs in VRChat. Among them, I happened to stop by "cat tail".
As I was checking out the overall decor and design, the construction of the Bar, and the beverage presentation, I spotted something out of the corner of my eye that caught my attention at that moment. There was a sticker on the door that read, No entry staff only.
But this kind of expression was not uncommon.
I had seen it in other worlds before, so I immediately lost interest in it, thinking it must be some kind of private area. But in my daily routine of "first of all, open all the doors in the world, push the buttons, lift the objects," I came into contact with that " I touched the "off-limits door" in my daily routine. Naturally, I thought the door would be locked, but it was not, and it opened without a hitch.
As I wrote in my note about what happened next, the room beyond the door was a material loading dock, with a large loading door.
On an office desk were a few small items, a gun, a butcher knife with blood stains on it, and a tape recorder.
When I touched the tape recorder, my vision was disrupted, the world started to lose color, a mark appeared on the loading door. And behind me, a body bag filled with something was hanging from the ceiling
I was so overwhelmed by the bizarre sight that I tried to go back inside the store, but the door through which I had entered was stuck and didn’t open. I thought to myself, "This is not good." There was also a keypad next to the loading door with a series of mysterious symbols, but I was unable to solve the cryptic riddle and left for the day.
----It's quite an intense experience.
At that time, I felt a very stimulating sensation of detachment from the ordinary to the extraordinary.
I wanted someone else to experience this, so I showed it to ”Shikise” who is my friend at VRChat. Then he said that he had seen this same mark on other worlds.
After this, I was to land on the Dahlia world "LIFE ON MARS?" which I later rated the highest in Dahlia 1.0.
As the name suggests, it was a simple world with a scene reminiscent of Mars, with only a few artificial modules set up on a desolate red earth. The environment, objects, lighting and sound were very carefully detailed, and although it was simple, the quality was very high.
As it turned out, where the same mark was located was quite far from the spawn location, in a place where one would have given up and turned back in the usual case.
It was an extremely large cube, made all the more massive by the fact that it was in the middle of an empty red ground. The mark which was also huge was drawn in the middle of the cube.
The bizarre sight was also disturbing and it was just as the huge structure was about to close in on us. The ambient music up to that point began to fade into the shadows, and a noise-like sound like someone was sobbing in a room separated by a single wall and unable to communicate, began to envelop the area.
I remember the experience well. ”Disturbing" would be the best word to describe it.
The feeling of everyday life being eroded and peeled away. After all, when we got to the Cube, there was only one portal there for PCs, and we were Quest users at the time, and therefore could not go further.
----I see. So that's how your journey of Dahlia consideration began.
Yes. How big is the world of Dahlia? How many people are involved? I began to consider these questions from a collecting point of view.
Later, when I began to realize that the Dahlia series of worlds was a grand riddle structure with a dark side motif, I found beauty in it.
I spent my days digging up information about Dahlia from within the internet, both domestic and international, exploring world motifs, searching for the meanings and sources of texts and songs in the worlds, identifying the people involved, looking for commonalities among the worlds, common symbols used, creator habits, and so on.
In time, some people became interested in the same thing and started to investigate, and I especially enjoyed sharing information, confirming facts, and making predictions with my friend “Anomalocaris（あのまろかりす）” and others in order to get closer to the truth of Dahlia, which has not yet been clarified.
I also had the opportunity to hear the opinions of people who had been interested in Dahlia long before I became interested in it, especially "cloma," whose original research list was very useful and a great help to my subsequent search for Dahlia.
I am sure that my study of Dahlia has been further advanced by my association with people who share the same viewpoints.
----Through the mystery of Dahlia, you have also met like-minded people.Can you introduce some of the worlds in the Dahlia series?
For sure. First is ”Dahlia Bar”.
You may know this world as it was often used for club events.
In fact, there are two cryptographic locks in this world, and Dahlia inquirers will surely challenge this mystery.
However, the lock could not be solved only with the information in this world, and hints had to be obtained in other Dahlia worlds. After solving the lock, a room like a culmination of Dahlia worlds exists.
The "Lost Signal" world had the greatest impact. When the environment is deteriorated by touching the heart in the center, a new pattern appears on the black board, and when the seemingly dot-and-line pattern is analyzed as Morse code, letters of the alphabet appear, indicating that the theme of this world is "hell".
And next is "Hidden Dahlia", which I recognize as a world in a "temple" position. A huge architectural structure with a mysterious atmosphere. Here, the "throne room" exists at the end of a mere "one-pixel door" that can never be reached unless you know how to get there.
This is believed to be the seat of the "FLOWERS", a group deeply involved in Dahlia.
There are various other worlds, such as "The Platform (El Hoyo)," "Woo-jin's Penthouse," and "Brutalist Office," which have the themes of "poverty, class, and satiation," "revenge," "exclusion, and the underworld," respectively. These indicate that Dahlia World is created with the theme of the "negative aspects" of human beings.
----I have been to Hidden Dahlia, but I didn't know there was such a “one-pixel door”. I know there is also a memory crash gimmick in that world that forces VRChat to shut down.
I think those systems were probably staged for danger and were trying to "overload the real PC" to transcend VR and fictional barriers as an effect.
----It is amazing that they would go to such lengths for the sake of production. It is said that there were more than 50 Dahlia worlds, but who was the creator of those worlds?
We know that 17 people who call themselves "FLOWERS," which was mentioned earlier, are involved in this project. Among them, "JACKET+" "Hydrangea+" "ZION_" and "@Nectar" were appointed as world producers.
However, in February of 2022, almost all of these worlds about Dahlia were erased and no one has access to them.
At the same time, a world called "Farewell" was released, declaring the end of the previous Dahlia world and that the four aforementioned people were the official Dahlia administrators, and that the rest (those that survived the disappearance) were not official Dahlia worlds.
Without any clarification, it suddenly disappeared from existence.
----I was aware of the disappearance of the Dahlia world, as it was a hot topic of conversation at the time, but I was shocked to learn that dozens of worlds had been closed to the public at once.
What was it like for you who loved Dahlia?
It was something I had been following obsessively, and it was a great loss. But in a way, as an observer of the story, I was also happy.
Up to that point, Dahlia had already been completed by the time I became interested in it within VRChat, and to put it bluntly, I had been looking at Dahlia from the perspective of like an archaeologist tracing the ruins of the past, but with the great stream of the disappearance of the whole thing happening right in front of me, the story was truly I think I got the sense that it was breathing right beside me, and that turned into joy.
After that, I began a new examination of why it disappeared, whether it had to disappear, and whether it had really disappeared.
If it meant that it did not come back completely, I was thinking of building a world from scratch, citing the core elements of Dahlia.
In the midst of all this, the world "Another Version of the Truth" quietly appeared in July 2022.
In this world, published as "Black Dahlia 2.0", it is written that the "end of the Dahlia world" mentioned in "Farewell" was a lie by "Hydran", one of the ringleaders, and that "Hydran" is trying to destroy this newly started "Black Dahlia 2.0” he must be stopped before he does so.
----Dahlia has rarely revealed its contents in the past, but you clearly tell the story in Black Dahlia 2.0.
Dahlia 2.0 is a live content that is just getting started.
Mysteries are being revealed and new mysteries are being created, and we are in the midst of a whirlwind.
Now may be the best time to observe Dahlia and ride its wave.
As I have discussed, with the appearance of Dahlia 2.0, the disappearance of the Dahlia 1.0 world may come into play as an element in the story.
The world we have seen so far (1.0) is a counterfeit front world of Dahlia, and I feel that in this 2.0, a bare-bones back world that can no longer be counterfeited will develop. I feel that this is the case.
For VRChat users, it may be easier to understand if we compare it to "Yotsumi Frame's thing".
Anyway, the current situation is so much fun for people like me who have been following Dahlia since 1.0 that I am itching to find out what the next action is, even at this very moment, today.
However, perhaps new users may find it hard to get into.
But, which I will tell for the first time here at ....... "3.0" may be too big an expression, but there is a story beyond 2.0 prepared for us. In order to get there, I am also struggling.
In fact, I wanted to keep it a secret so that I could enjoy it in secret, but I am telling you this story in the belief that many people will become interested in Dahlia in this way, and that this will further enrich the world of Dahlia.
The Japanese name for Dahlia is "天竺牡丹".
Black Dahlia is "黒天竺牡丹".
And now a new term "放射冠(Corona Radiata)" is being observed in Dahlia 2.0.
I myself am excitedly accumulating analysis and predictions on what this keyword means, and what will appear and be clarified in the world that will unfold there.
----I am very interested to see how Dahlia will develop in the future, and how it will end up.
I am glad to hear you say so. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude and respect to しきせ, Cloma, あのまろかりす, Tae Hyun, Veskas, Hayase Asakura, qchan949, rocksuch, Atori, (titles omitted), and all others who have helped me in my search for Dahlia, and with whom I have pursued Dahlia. Above all, I would like to express my gratitude and respect to Dahlia itself, which still continues to create a place for the unknown and for contemplation.
----Thank you very much for your time today.
A new door opened and a mystery yet to be revealed.
The day after this interview, a new world, "The Four of Us are Dying," was released on VRChat, with information that would bring us closer to the truth about Dahlia and hint at new developments.
Can we stop Hydran before Black Dahlia 2.0 is destroyed?
Since the story is progressing in real time, it is impossible to predict what will happen next, but as Quieter says, "Now is the time to ride this wave".
Currently, there are only two officially confirmed worlds, but if what is written in "Farewell" is false, then there may also be a Black Dahlia 2.0 world created by someone other than "JACKET+", "Hydrangea+", "ZION_" and "@Nectar". Perhaps there is already a significant clue hidden in one of the worlds.
The Dahlia world has been confirmed to exist at least as early as 2020. I am really looking forward to its future development. I hope that you, the reader of this article, will observe this Dahlia mystery. If you are skilled, you may want to try to solve the mystery. It seems that Quieter already has some information at ....... If you find anything, please let me know.
This is the "Virtual DEEP Walk" brought to you by “VRChat World Exploration Club”. See you again somewhere in the virtual DEEP world.
「Another Version of the Truth」
「The Four of Us are Dying」
(Requires a PC-connected VR headset and a high-spec PC)
The VRChat World Exploration Club Magazine features interviews with people who are creative with VRChat, world introduction articles, and more! Please check it out as well (Japanese only).
Interview and text by Takaomi
Photo: provided by Quiteter, partly taken by Takaomi
Notice: The following text is a translation, reorganization and publication of a public article edited by Takaomi, published on (https://www.moguravr.com/vrchat-dahlia/), translated by Quieter using a translation AI, with permission.
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