“And well… how did things go with the
Asuna enquired, and Sinker changed his expression.
“Kibaou and his followers were expelled. I really should have done that much earlier… With my personality of being bad at arguments, the situation kept getting worse… —I even thought about disbanding the Army.”
Asuna and Kirito rapidly opened their eyes in surprise.
“Well, I have… just about made up my mind on that.”
“The Army had become too huge… I’ll be breaking down the guild, and creating a more peaceful organization for mutual aid once again. Just breaking it down and abandoning all of it is just irresponsible after all.”
Yuriel softly held Sinker’s hand, and continued in his stead.
“—We believe we will be distributing the assets that the Army had accumulated thus far to not just the members, but equally among all of the inhabitants of this city as well. We’ve caused such trouble up till now after all… Sasha-san, we’re really sorry.”
Yuriel and Sinker suddenly gave a deep bow, causing Sasha’s eyes to blink with surprise within her glasses. She frantically waved her hands in front of her face.
“No, that’s too much. The children had received help from the good folk from the Army in the field too, after all.”
With Sasha’s candid denial, the place was filled with gentle laughter once more.
“Well, putting that aside…”
Tilting her head, Yuriel spoke.
“The girl from yesterday, Yui-chan… how has she been…?”
Asuna met glances with Kirito, and replied with a smile.
“Yui had— returned to her home…”
She softly moved the finger on her right hand to her breast. There, a thin necklace, which had not been there up till yesterday, gleamed. At the tip of the exquisite silver chains, a pendant, of silver as well, hung down, with a large clear gem shining within it. Brushing the teardrop-shaped jewel gently, a slight warmth seemed to have spread to her fingertips.
At that time—
After Yui was covered in light and vanished, beside Asuna, her tears falling endlessly as she knelt on the stone paving, Kirito gave a sudden shout.
“Cardinal!!”
Raising his moist face, Kirito gazed at the ceiling of the room and screamed.
“Don’t you dare think that it’ll always… go as you like!!”
Firmly pulling himself together, he abruptly jumped at the black console in the middle of the room. He dexterously struck at the holo-keyboard still displayed. Her surprise pushing away her sorrow for just an instant, Asuna cried out as she looked on in wonder.
“Ki- Kirito-kun… What are…!?”
“If it’s still… If it’s still now, I might be able to intrude into the system with a GM account…”
Before the eyes of Kirito, continuing to hit the keys as he muttered, a huge window appearance with a beep, and the radiance from the strings of characters rapidly scrolling past illuminated the room. While Asuna watched over him dumbfounded, Kirito entered in several more commands in succession. A small progress bar window appeared, and at the moment the horizontal bar reached all the way to the right end—.
The whole of the console made from the black rock suddenly flashed bluish-white, and immediately following that, Kirito was sent flying with an explosive sound.
“Ki- Kirito-kun!!”
Panicking, she inched up to him, fallen onto the floor.
Shaking his head as he pulled his upper body up, Kirito gave a thin smile within his haggard expression; he faced towards Asuna and extended his closed right hand. Not understanding what was going on, Asuna followed suit, holding out her hand.
What had fallen from Kirito’s hand into Asuna’s, was a large crystal made in the shape of a tear. In the middle of the elaborately faceted stone, thump, thump, a white light was blinking.
“Th- This is…?”
“…Before the root authorization activated by Yui was cut off, I desperately tried to disconnect Yui’s program source from the system, and converted it into an object… It’s Yui’s heart; in the middle of that…”
After having said just that, Kirito tumbled onto the ground, as though he ran out of energy, and closed his eyes.
“Yui-chan… you’re… in there, huh… My… Yui-chan…”
Once again, her tears poured out endlessly. Within that blurred light, as if to answer Asuna, from the center of the crystal, it twinkled with a single strong thump.
They reluctantly waved towards Sasha, Yuriel, Sinker, and the children, and the cool wind, infused with the scent of the forest, greeted Asuna and Kirito as they returned to the twenty-second floor from the teleport gate. Though it was a mere three days trip, it felt much longer than that, and Asuna took a deep breath of air.
What a vast world—
Asuna thought about this mysterious floating world once more. On each and every one of these countless layers, there were people living on them, passing each day with tears and laughter. No, painful events were likely to be more common for most of those people. But still, everyone continued fighting their own battles day after day.
The place where I should be…
Asuna gazed over the path leading to their home, and looked up at the base of the floor above next.
—Let’s return to the frontlines. She suddenly thought thus.
In the near future, I cannot help but take up my sword once again, and return to my own battlefield. I do not know how much longer will it take, but I will fight until this world is finished, to let everyone to show their true smiles once again. To grant happiness to everyone— That was what Yui had wished for.
“Hey, Kirito-kun.”
“Hmm?”
“If the game is cleared, and this world is gone, what will happen to Yui-chan?”
“Aah… Well, it might be stretching the capacity a little. I’ve converted her to a part of environmental data for the client program, and saved her into my NERvGear’s local memory. On the other side, it might be quite difficult to unpack it as Yui… but it should be possible somehow.”
“I see.”
Asuna turned her body about, and hugged onto Kirito tightly.
“Well then, let’s be sure to meet up with Yui-chan again on the other side. Our very, first child.”
“Yea. Definitely.”
Asuna looked down, at the glittering crystal in between the couple’s chests. Mama, do your best… She seemed to hear that faint voice, from deep in her ears.
(End)
Red-nosed Reindeer (Aincrad 46th Floor, December 2023)
Part 1
«Vorpal Strike» flashed through the darkness, and with its blood colored light two giant insect monsters’ HP went to zero.
Confirming with my peripheral vision that the polygons had scattered, I withdrew my sword just as I unfroze, and turned around to block an attack from big, sharp jaw. I then used the same «Sword Skill» to finish it off; it made a Giii cry before tilting backwards and dying.
This heavy single-handed attack skill first appeared in my list just three days ago, when my «Single-handed Sword Skill» reached level 950, and it was surprisingly convenient. Even though the skill has such a long cool-down player freeze period, its reach is double that of the actual blade; and the fact that its power is comparable to a two-handed heavy pole-arm is more than enough to make up for its shortcomings. Of course, if used in battle against other players, they would read the timing immediately. But the simple movements of the AI monsters cannot counter it. You can simply spam it and blow away groups of enemies with deep red light effects.
Having said that, after continuously battling for an hour under this weak torch light, I did indeed feel my concentration waning. I can no longer react and counter their big, biting jaws or acid mucus as well as earlier. Though they attack in large numbers, these monsters are not small-fry. This habitat is only three floors below the front line on the 49th floor, and these are very powerful monst
ers. Even though this is within the safety margin when considering level differences, if a massive swarm were to attack and surround me, my HP would quickly go down to the yellow zone.
To brave these dangers and come to a floor that has already been cleared, there could only be one reason. This place is the most efficient way to earn experience points out of all the currently known training locations. These giant ants that come from caves around the cliff here have high attack power, but their HP and defense are both very low. As long as you can continue to avoid their attacks, you can quickly take down a lot of these monsters. But as mentioned earlier, once under attack and surrounded, you may not even be able to hold your ground, thereby leading to death, so this area cannot be seen as a suitable training zone for solo players. Because this is such a popular place, every party is only allowed one hour to hunt. I was the only solo player there. Even now, there are familiar faces from various guilds lined up at the valley entrance. There should be a row of bored expressions that look as though they were stamped on. If it were just impatience, that would be fine. But strongly team spirited players thought of me as “Strongest Idiot” or “Anomic Beater” – but, of course I didn’t know about that.
My left side timer display showed 57 minutes. I decided to finish up after clearing the next wave of monsters. I took a big breath and waited, in order to squeeze out every last bit of concentration.
As ants approached from both left and right, I faced towards the one on the right, and threw a dagger to stop its movement before killing the one on the left with the triple attack skill «Sharpnail». As I turned around, I used
After running the thirty meters of the ant valley in five seconds, I rolled out of the small entrance before finally releasing my breath. Gasping for fresh air, I wondered if this pain was just mental or if my real body also stopped breathing. In any case, I felt my stomach cramp up, and unable to bear this degree of nausea, I dropped like a rag onto the frozen winter ground.
The sound of many footsteps reached my ears as I lay on the ground. Even though these are people I know, I can’t even say hello to them. Feebly waving my right hand to bid them onward, I then heard a rough voice and a big sigh.
“My level and yours have already grown apart, so I won’t join in the action today. Listen up. Don’t let the circle formation collapse, and constantly be mindful of the people around you. Make that you don’t act shy if you encounter anything dangerous, just shout to me for help. And also, flee immediately when the queen comes out.”
After receiving their leader’s directive, six or seven people answered with a “Yes!” or “Ho!”, and the rustling footsteps gradually moved away. I breathed heavily a few times, and after finally getting my breath under control, I propped myself up with my right hand and leaned on a nearby tree.
“Catch!”
I gratefully caught the healing potion, flicked the cork open with my thumb, and drank it greedily. Even though the taste carried a hint of bitter lemon juice, I thought it was delicious. I tossed the empty bottle to the ground, watched it emit a small red light as it disappeared, and looked up.
Cline, who was the leader of the guild «Fuurinkazan» that I had met at the beginning of this death game SAO, still wearing his vulgar bandana, opened the mouth that was above his scruffy beard and said:
“Kirito, no matter how you put it, this is more than a little absurd. Just when did you come here today?”
“Eh… around 8 p.m.”
After I replied in a hoarse voice, Cline showed an exaggerated expression of dissatisfaction.
“Oi, oi, it’s already two in the morning, you’ve been here for six hours already. At this kind of dangerous training zone, if you use up your strength it will be an instant death.”
“It’s fine. I can rest for up to two hours when waiting.”
“If nobody comes then you plan to keep on fighting!”
“That’s exactly why I chose this particular time to come. If I came during the day then I might have to wait five or six hours.”
Cline mixed the sound of being flabbergasted with the phrase “You idiot”. He then unhooked his katana from his waist, and sat down heavily in front of me.
“…well, regarding your strength, from the first day of SAO I understood it without a doubt… what’s your level at now?”
To be able to keep secret stats such as the level is a player’s lifeline. To not ask is therefore an unspoken rule in SAO. But up till now there’s been no reason to hide it from Cline, so I answered honestly.
“Today I got to level 69.”
The hand rubbing his chin stopped suddenly, and the eyes that were half-covered by the bandana opened wide in shock.
“…hey, are you for real? Since when were you ten levels higher than me – and, I don’t understand it. Lately your leveling speed has been too unusual. You must have been training even during the time of day when the training areas are sparsely populated with any players. Why do you have to go this far? I don’t want to hear any of that……”for clearing the game”. Even if you become even stronger by yourself, the clearing pace will still be determined by strong guilds like KoB.”
“Don’t mind me; I have become a level-a-holic. Just getting experience points makes me feel good.”
Seeing me say that with a shameful smile, Cline countered by putting on a serious expression.
“Don’t joke around… even I know how exhausting it is to grind like this. To play solo is incredibly taxing on the mind…even if your level is approaching 70, to be alone in this area is definitely not safe. You want to take risks, but you must have a limit too. What’s the point of leveling in a place like this where you can die at any moment?
Fuurinkazan is a guild with a core of Cline’s friends from before SAO. Its members are a gang that dislike unnecessary meddling and, its leader, Cline, is no exception.
This guy is a good person, but for this kind of man to be concerned to this extent about an anomic beater like me, I’m afraid it might be because he must, for I can understand what his reason is. To help Cline, who isn’t very good with words, I opened my mouth with a smile.
“It’s fine, you don’t need to pretend to be worried anymore. You want to know if my target is the Flag Mob, right?”
Flag Mob is set up to be a monster for quest completion. It will either once every few days or sometimes hours, but once in a while a unit will spawn that is very close to the Boss Monster, so of course its strength is no joke. Thus, to defeat it, players will usually form parties as big as the ones with the Boss as the target.
Cline bluntly revealed a hard expression and rubbed his jaw.
“…I wasn’t particularly trying to find that out…”
“You don’t have to hide it anymore. The fact that you bought information regarding my purchase of intelligence on the Christmas Boss from Argo…this information I also bought from her.”
“Say what?!”
Cline opened his eyes wide and was speechless.
“That Argo fellow… Her nickname, Rat, is not just for show.”
“That girl would sell any information, even her own stats. Anyways, we know that each other’s target is the Christmas Boss, and I’ve already bought all the current information that can be acquired from NPC. So, you should know that I will earn experience points like this indefinitely and no matter what kind of advice is given I will not have a reason to stop.”
“Ah… my bad. That is something I would reject too.”
Cline removed his hand from his chin and scratched his head, continui
ng.
“It’s 5 days until Christmas eve… every guild is the same, they all want to increase their combat ability before the appearance of the Boss, even if only a little. But in this kind of freezing night, idiots who lock themselves up in training areas are rare. But…luckily our guild has almost ten people, we would have good chances even if our target were the Boss. You know, since it’s «Once a Year» big Flag Mob, this is not something you can hunt alone.
“…….”
Unable to object, I looked down at the light brown, dry wild grass.
One year after SAO started, before the second Christmas, a rumor began to spread throughout Aincrad. A month ago, NPCs on every floor started to talk about the same quest.
It is said that during the Month of the Holly[5], that is midnight on December 24, in some forest under the branches of a huge tree, the legendary monster «Nicholas the Apostate» [6] will appear. If you can defeat it, you will get all the treasure from the big sack it carries on its back.
Even for strong guilds that always only go after dungeons, this time they showed big interest. They understand that treasure, money and rare weapons will help a lot during Floor Boss fights. If we say that this is the SAO system, which has thus far only taken things from players, giving good-hearted Christmas presents, then how could anyone not accept?
But a solo player like me had, at first, no interest in this rumor. Without even Cline saying it, I already knew that this opponent was not a match for a mere single player. And besides, with the money I get from game-clearing, if I wanted to, I could even buy a house. Most importantly, I don’t want to, as a result of fighting the Flag Mob that everybody wants to fight, become famous, and get unnecessary attention.
But two weeks ago – my feelings made a sudden 180 degree turn after hearing an NPC’s information. After that, I came to this popular hunting ground every day, under the laughter of others, and leveled like crazy.
Cline, who has been keeping quiet with me, said in a low voice:
“So it’s related to that information after all – The «Resurrection Item».”
Sword Art Online - Volume 2 - Aincrad (Side Stories) Page 20