The Tsuki Project
In July 2017 a 17 year old boy went missing in Canada. All he left behind were a couple of confusing notes. A couple of weeks later police found his lifeless body in a wooded area near a creek. The boy was a supposed member of an online suicide cult called THE TSUKI PROJECT. So let me take you back. Back to where and when it all started.
The Birth of Belief
4chan, r9k. A user on this board named Tsuki would reply to a thread where he began to explain the concept of what he called SYSTEM SPACE, which Ill be explaining later. This theory he proposed seemed to resonate with a lot of users on the board, with many of them starting to adopt this belief as their very own. And with some support of fellow anons, the Tsuki Project was born.
Cult Origins
Shortly after, Tsuki opened a thread where he began registrations for the project. To register all you needed to do was write down a code that Tsuki provided on a piece of paper with a small drawing. You then needed to upload a picture of this to the thread. And just like that, you would be registered to the project. Surprisingly, registrations began flooding in. In short time, the project amassed a pretty decent following enough so that the following month Tsuki launched a website for the project called SYSTEMSPACE.NET and transferred registrations from r9k to his site.
Systemspace Explained
So what is Systemspace? The best way to understand it is to look directly at the original description from the now-defunct official website.
According to the site, a date known as the life purge was set for July 1st, 2017. If a person did not register for the Tsuki Project before this deadline, then upon death, their soul would shatter, meaning they would never reach the alternate reality promised by Systemspace. They would not make it to a world known as LFE.
Project Forums
Over time, the project began to grow with registrations coming in daily. From this traction, a Discord server and forum launched. On the forums, most users would discuss many aspects of Systemspace, such as AURORA and LFE. But a handful of users discussed darker topics, with some even stating plans to commit suicide after the purge dates. For these few individuals, Systemspace was much more than a community, it was a cult. Around this time, people began referring to it as 4chans suicide cult. Tsuki knew these discussions were being held and told many in the project that if they were going to commit suicide, they must get rid of all mention of the project to avoid possible media backlash or damage to his reputation. Eventually, Tsuki updated a section of his site to say:
''THIS DOES NOT REQUIRE YOU TO KILL YOURSELF. YOU SIMPLY NEED TO DIE (FROM ANY CAUSE) AFTER THE DEADLINE. WE IN CHARGE OF THIS PROCESS WOULD LIKE FOR YOU TO LIVE LONG AND HAPPY LIVES BEFORE THIS!''
However, a contradiction in the concept of Systemspace was that if you developed dementia or brain damage in any way, your soul would fail to transfer, prompting members to commit suicide as a surefire way of transferring successfully. We dont know if any members actually followed through, and if they did, they made sure to dispose of anything tying them back to the project. Except one case...
Tragedy Struck
The boy who supposedly had ties to the group wiped his hard drive clean before he went missing, removing anything that could tie him to the project if he was involved. But there was something else. The confusing notes. These notes, found in his room, mentioned LFE. This confirmed that he knew about the project and the concept of Systemspace. Claiming the project drove him to this fate is a disrespectful statement, but the possibility of it being a motive still lies. Due to lack of information, this cannot be confirmed, so respectfully, Ill leave it at that.
Backlash
When news started circulating in the community, Tsuki was under a lot of pressure. In a supposed leaked email, he stated:
''I just hope you understand the weight of this. This is not only a past I would like to forget, to leave behind, and one I regret deeply considering its outcomes. It's also perfect blackmail material. I have been backstabbed practically every time I dared to be truly open to the community. I have been blackmailed, doxxed and more. And well, I deserve every bit of it. Causing a death is something I'll never be able to truly live with.''
If the email leak was authentic, it shows Tsuki felt remorseful, given the chance that his project caused the death. But like I said, nothing can be 100 percent confirmed.
The Project’s Closure
With the project now surrounded in more controversy than before, this marked the beginning of the end for the Tsuki Project. This, coupled with Tsuki supposedly doxxing some members, an alleged bitcoin scam, and parts of Systemspaces lore plagiarized from the anime REWRITE, eventually led to the sites closure. It remained closed for year, until recently...
The Project Today
Under the domain classic.systemspace.network, the site has been brought back, and it seems the purge date has been set to 99 days.
Closing Remarks
So what can we conclude about Tsuki? Was his theory about alternate realities correct, or was he just insane? One Reddit comment I found sums it up pretty well:
“The creator is probably some Terry A. Davis type; highly intelligent, but mentally unstable.”
You can't deny the website’s design is unique, definitely something I have not seen before. But the concept of Systemspace at times feels so far fetched. Coupled with the fact parts were plagiarized from an anime, the theory of Systemspace begins to tear at its seams. In my opinion, I do think it was somewhat of a cult. Some actually believed in Systemspace, and many supposedly died from it. It was all ruled by a dictator.