On March 16, 1975, shortly after the events of Ground Zeroes, Venom Snake fell into a coma. When he eventually awoke almost nine years later, on February 26, 1984, a nurse noticed him having woken up and quickly alerted a doctor who informed Venom Snake about his medical condition and later told the latter that he had to leave as he was being looked for by enemy forces.

Venom Snake met a mysterious patient going by the name Ishmael who claimed to be an acquaintance of his and attempted to help him to his feet. Ishmael injected Venom Snake with Digoxin to give him some ability to regain his motor functions. During his nine year coma most of his muscles atrophied, and "Big Boss" was forced to slowly crawl. As they approached the elevator they encountered a child wearing a gas mask. The child immediately levitated and passed through the ceiling as the elevator exploded, violently throwing them to the floor. A disoriented Venom Snake witnessed a ghost-like figure out of the fire. He quickly retreated with Ishmael in another direction, attempting to escape the hospital as a military chopper was searching the area around the building. Venom Snake and Ishmael managed to commandeer an ambulance but end up crashing it shortly thereafter. As Venom Snake crawled from the crashed ambulance, shortly after Ishmael wakes up seeing ocelot who then takes him to an motorbike with an new set of clothes with ocelot shortly going back to ambulance to get venom snake through its broken front window, he was once again confronted by the gas mask wearing child who summoned a huge flame in the shape of a humpback whale which engulfed an attack chopper which was advancing toward them. Venom Snake somehow managed to escape and was eventually picked up and rescued by Ocelot. The two then escape on horseback while being pursued by a fiery apparition of a demon riding a unicorn.