Haruyuki is short, fat, and unpopular. One day, the beautiful Kuroyukihime invites him to join her for lunch, where she introduces him to a new world: the world of Brain Burst, a secret fighting game which, through the virtue of the VR-enabling Neurolinker device, accelerates the player's perceptions to a thousand times the normal speed.
Very few people have the capability to play this game, and for those that do, it is very valuable: the ability to accelerate the thinking can be used on demand, giving them up to thirty minutes of perceived time in just 1.8 seconds of real time, allowing detailed plans to be formed, apparently in an instant. But using the acceleration ability costs points which can only be earned by fighting other 'Burst Linkers' and taking away their points.
Kuroyukihime has brought Haruyuki into this exclusive group because she needs his help. A Burst Linker has been hunting her, and knows her true identity. She fears an attack in the real world might be used to facilitate an attack in the game world. With Haruyuki's help, she hopes to discover the identity of the other Burst Linker and protect herself.