Yuuki Asuna couldn't figure it out.
What exactly was a "doujin"?
She thought it over, but still couldn't understand why a word like that would make her famous.
[Fallen Angel Kuroneko: @Mr. Golden Toilet, you know "Doujin Asuna," right? Explain it.]
Kuroneko clearly didn't want to say it, and that reluctance only made Asuna more uneasy.
Was it something serious? Something tragic—like Puella Magi Madoka Magica?
Serious enough that Kuroneko couldn't even bring herself to spell it out?
[Mr. Golden Toilet: "Doujin Asuna"? What's that? I know the story of Miss Yuuki Asuna's world, but I've never heard that nickname.
Fallen Angel Kuroneko: Don't play innocent. Your typing gives you away. Say it—how many have you read?
Mr. Golden Toilet: How many what? What are you even talking about? Kuroneko, be clear.
Fallen Angel Kuroneko: Heh. Doujinshi. The R18 kind. Asuna's. Don't tell me you haven't seen a stack.
Mr. Golden Toilet: Oh. I "three-six-zero" get it now. So that's where "Doujin Asuna" comes from. But I really haven't read any.
Mr. Golden Toilet: I have read a tiny bit of Kuroneko's, though.]
Even Asuna understood now.
Because of how she was raised, she didn't touch otaku culture—but that didn't mean she knew nothing.
The moment she fully processed what they were saying, her face went burning red.
[Asuna: Um… l-let's not talk about d-doujins… Could you tell me what's happening in my world instead, Kuroneko?
Fallen Angel Kuroneko: Right. Almost forgot. Asuna—what's your situation? How far are you in SAO? What floor?]
So she really did know.
She knew Asuna had logged into Sword Art Online (SAO).
[Asuna: The VR game Sword Art Online (SAO)? I just logged in. I was only doing the initial trial.
Fallen Angel Kuroneko: What?! N-no—hurry, log out! If you can log out, do it now! Don't play this game! It's a death game! If you die in there, you die for real—log out, now!]
The sheer urgency in those messages made Asuna feel like someone was right next to her, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her.
Die in-game… die in real life?
That sounded too absurd to be true.
Besides, the game had gone through testing before launch. If a bug like that existed, there was no way it could be kept quiet.
Still, even if Kuroneko sounded unbelievable… logging out first wouldn't hurt.
She could always talk after she was out.
So Asuna immediately brought up the main SAO menu and raised her right hand—index and middle fingers straight—then swept them downward, the standard gesture to open the system window.
A long, violet-glowing panel appeared.
Asuna stared at it—and then scanned the options again.
And again.
…Huh?
What?
Had she remembered wrong?
Was the log-out button somewhere else?
She searched, and as the seconds passed, her face drained of color.
No matter how many times she checked, she couldn't find "Log Out."
[
Asuna: Um… I-I can't find the log-out button.
Fallen Angel Kuroneko: No way… Then it's over. It's that guy—Kayaba Akihiko. The developer did it on purpose. He shut off log-out. He's trapping all of you in there.
]
Trapped?
That couldn't be right.
If Asuna stayed logged in too long, her family would come into her room.
They'd force her off—pull the headset right off her head.
[
Fallen Angel Kuroneko: Don't think they can just take the headset off and save you. If they remove it, you die on the spot.
Fallen Angel Kuroneko: There's a component in the headset that fires a high-output signal and destroys your brain.
]
Asuna went even paler.
[
Asuna: Kayaba Akihiko did this? Why trap tens of thousands of players? What's the point?
Fallen Angel Kuroneko: The point is to make you play. He's got this "dream," like he wants to be the protagonist in a novel—cross into another world and go on a fantasy adventure.
Fallen Angel Kuroneko: So he built this game… but a game is still just a game. To make it "real," he turned it into reality: in this world, if you die, you really die.
Fallen Angel Kuroneko: The only way to end the death game is to clear it—beat the game.
Asuna: He… he's insane.
Fallen Angel Kuroneko: Yes. He's sick in the head. A straight-up psycho.
]
Even so—if tens of thousands of people were trapped in a VR world and dying, the government wouldn't just stand by.
There would be rescue attempts. There had to be.
But then—
[
Fallen Angel Kuroneko: Asuna, don't assume you'll be rescued soon. In the plot I know, it takes about two years before the game is barely cleared.
Fallen Angel Kuroneko: And in that time… thousands die.
]
Asuna's body trembled.
Thousands… dead?
And two years to clear the game?
Which meant the outside world couldn't break them out.
Meaning she might have to survive two years in this place.
And here, she didn't know anyone.
Not a single familiar face.
She'd have to live through it alone?
[
Asuna: M-maybe it's a system bug. Maybe they'll fix it any minute.
Fallen Angel Kuroneko: If only.
Fallen Angel Kuroneko: Listen—next, the mastermind should show up. You'll probably see it soon.
Fallen Angel Kuroneko: Everyone will be forcibly teleported back to the central plaza of the Town of Beginnings. Kayaba will appear in the sky in a creepy form and tell you the truth.
Fallen Angel Kuroneko: He'll announce you're trapped, you can only log out by clearing the game, and if you die here—or if someone removes the headset outside—your helmet will trigger and destroy your brain.
]
So… all she had to do was wait.
Wait and see whether that "mastermind" really appeared.
Whether—
A bell rang.
The sound rolled over the Town of Beginnings' central plaza, and at the same time a blue pillar of light swallowed Asuna whole.
A chill went straight through her.
The light drowned out everything until she couldn't see, couldn't orient herself—then it faded.
Her vision returned.
And the world had changed.
She was in the central plaza.
A sea of people packed shoulder to shoulder—players everywhere.
The crowd erupted into confused chatter.
Most people assumed it was some kind of announcement event, a special program, maybe a launch-day spectacle.
And Asuna heard it, too—voices saying they couldn't find the log-out button.
The atmosphere tightened.
Panic edged into the noise, and the plaza felt like it might boil over at any second.
Then Asuna's pupils shook as she looked up.
The sky had turned a deep, blood-red hue—ominous, like the entire world had been stained.
At the center of that red, something thick and viscous gathered, like an enormous drop of blood.
It swelled, shaped itself—
And became a giant wrapped in a dark crimson cloak, looming in the air above them.
Exactly like Kuroneko said.
"Players. Welcome to my world."
The voice was low and heavy, and Asuna felt her heart sink.
If it were just a GM doing theatrics, those words might have been nothing.
But this wasn't that kind of atmosphere.
This felt… wrong.
Not like an event.
Like a declaration.
Like a god speaking down to insects.
"My name is Kayaba Akihiko, and I am the only person who can control this world."
Asuna's hope collapsed another step.
The developer himself. Logged in. Acting as GM.
And speaking like a terrorist who had seized hostages and was savoring the moment.
Please.
Stop.
Don't say it.
Don't say the thing I don't want to hear—
Asuna begged silently.
(End of Chapter)
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