Ground Report

A 43-year-old Japanese piano teacher could face five years of jail or a fine of up to $5,000 for, essentially, the murder of her online husband from the game “Maple Story.” The woman was enraged after the man, who was married to her in the game but not in real life, abruptly broke off the online relationship, so she signed on to his profile with his identification and password and terminated his avatar in May, the Associated Press reports.

An avatar is an online representation of a real-life person.

“I was suddenly divorced, without a word of warning. That made me so angry,” a police official quoted the woman as saying.

Police arrested her on Oct. 23 and she is being charged “with illegal access onto a computer and manipulating electronic data,” according to the AP.

Her online husband, a 33-year-old office worker from Sapporo, Japan, had reported the crime and death of his avatar to police. He claimed to have “raised” the avatar for more than a year, Sky News writes.

“Maple Story,” like the popular computer game “Second Life,” creates a virtual world that mimics real life. The game boasts more than 50 million subscribers, “who buy new clothes and gameplay enhancements from an online shop and can even ‘earn’ a wedding,” according to Sky News.

 

Background: When ‘Second Life’ becomes real life