Ren's story is easily the saddest of all cast of characters. Ren has a little sister named Ryo, who is terminally ill. Desperate and out of options, he gives in to Phantom's proposition to become a Duelist, and participate in battles on the promise that Phantom would grant his wish to cure his sister. Waka tries to warn Ren that Phantom's duels defy the laws of nature and can have dangerous repercussions for the universe, but he's so determined to save his poor sister that he ignores her warning and pushes forward. Mikoto later asks him about his wish, in which the player can decide whether to tell her about Ryo's condition or say that it's nothing important. Choosing the second option leads into the bad endings. Ren decides to run away to Phantom, who tasks him with one more battle if he wants to see his wish granted, however, he informs Ren there is another Duelist who has the same wish as he does, and it must be a duel to the death. Ren races to the hospital to see Ryo only to run into Mei Orisaka, a Teen Idol who Ryo admires, who is also taking part in Phantom's game to cure her disease. The two Duelists try discuss to themselves at the roof of the hospital about the conditions of their last battle, since neither of them can forfeit and must fight each to the death to save Ryo. This path has two possible outcomes based on the player's performance:
If the player lost a match and continued from a Game Over: the scene follows with Ren asking Mei to look after Ryo as he reluctantly decides to run away from it all to prevent hurting Ryo if either one of them dies. Mei tries to talk Ren out of it, but he would rather see Ryo live a happier life even if he's not a part of it and ran, leaving his poor sister without older brother's support.
If the player did not lose to the prior matches: the scene instead follows with Ren and Mei arguing over going through with the fight, which Ryo overhears as she walked in on their argument. Struck with grief from the thought of losing Ren or Mei, Ryo pleads them to stop, but neither of them can give up their wish to save her. Ryo then decided that she would rather be a goner rather than seeing Ren, Mei, or anyone else getting hurt or killed for her sake, so she stepped on the each of the rooftops and after a few last words with Ren and Mei, she ended her own life by falling off the roof.
Ria's ending is no slouch either. After killing Tokiya (if the player lost an earlier match and continued)/M (if the player did not lose any prior matches), she finally gets her wish and avenged her mother death... but at what cost? She gave up her high-paying job and spent a long time trying to find her mother's killer. Ria broke down in tears realizing that there's nothing left in her life.
