Fortunately, this world allowed people to put on clothes the same way they did in reality, instead of simply choosing an outfit, confirming the equipment option, and having it appear on their bodies instantly.
Of course, that was possible too.
When Asuna was too tired or too lazy, she would use that convenient method to put clothes on or take them off, saving herself the trouble of actually dressing and undressing.
"Th-That outfit is okay?"
"Mm."
Kain seemed satisfied, and Asuna let out a breath of relief.
The clothes looked as if she had gone out and bought them, but that was not actually the case. Asuna had made them herself.
She had maxed out her Tailoring skill long ago, and she had the materials on hand, so she had simply gone outside to make them.
As for Mr. Kain's measurements, she had not needed to take them on the spot. After watching so many of his livestreams, Asuna more or less had a grasp of them.
Still, she had been too embarrassed to measure him directly, and too embarrassed to make the clothes in front of him, so she had been nervous that they might not fit.
Suddenly, Asuna's expression changed.
The light around them had shifted without warning, and in a very unnatural way.
She immediately walked to the window, pulled open the curtains, and pushed the window wide.
The scene outside left her frozen.
"How could this be…"
The house Asuna was in right now was not her room at the Knights of the Blood Oath headquarters.
After defeating the boss and returning to headquarters to deal with the follow-up matters, she had come to the little cabin she had built here on the twenty-second floor.
The cabin stood in a scenic place, in an area where monsters did not spawn.
And according to what she had been told, the AI girl named "Yui" might be somewhere on this floor, though she had yet to be found.
But now, beyond the open window, Asuna did not see green grass. She could not see her small flower garden or vegetable patch. She could not see the lake in the distance.
What she saw instead were familiar town buildings.
"The Town of Beginnings…"
The words slipped from her lips in a dazed murmur.
Her entire house seemed to have been transported directly into this town.
This probably was not some random anomaly. It had to be deliberate. It was most likely the work of Kayaba Akihiko, the developer of SAO.
That meant Mr. Kain's arrival had already been noticed by him, and the thought made Asuna tense with unease.
Then a system notification suddenly appeared.
She summoned the message at once and found a very special mail waiting for her.
It definitely was not from a player. It looked like a system message, or rather, a GM message.
A message from Kayaba Akihiko.
When she opened it, Asuna stared in surprise.
There was not much content. Only a few simple words.
He would wait for him on the hundredth floor.
Asuna was sharp enough to understand what that meant.
Kayaba Akihiko wanted Kain to fight his way up from the first floor.
She immediately told Mr. Kain about the message.
"Then I'll fight my way up."
Clearly, Kayaba intended to collect information on him through his battles with the monsters.
And Kain believed that going up would not be as easy for him as it was for ordinary players. In all likelihood, Kayaba would prepare special arrangements for him.
"What is it?"
Kain noticed Asuna staring at the space above his head in shock, as if there were something strange there.
"A red cursor."
Asuna's voice came out helpless and uncertain.
In SAO, moving objects usually had cursors above them.
Ordinary players had green cursors. If a player's cursor turned orange, it meant that player was a criminal—someone who had committed system-recognized crimes such as theft, assault, or murder.
Players like that were often wanted. Some NPC shops would also react to them with hostility, refusing to sell them anything or charging higher prices than usual.
If such players were caught, they were usually imprisoned by the guild known as the Army. Very few people would kill them.
Unless someone was utterly vile, most players who had received a normal moral education still could not bring themselves to kill another person.
Over the past year, there had been several incidents where orange players attacked other players, stole their belongings, and even formed guilds around that kind of behavior.
But there was another type of cursor too: red.
A red cursor represented combat status.
In other words, it meant the target could currently be attacked.
This was a safe zone, yet apparently, combat still seemed possible here.
If some player without a sense of danger came up and attacked Mr. Kain, Asuna could already imagine the result.
Mr. Kain was not the type to indulge fools. Wouldn't they just end up getting killed?
At that moment, Asuna clearly sensed Kayaba Akihiko's malice.
The red cursor could also make people misunderstand Mr. Kain as an NPC monster, which would make them much more likely to act on impulse.
After all, he would be an NPC, not a real player from reality. Killing him would carry far less psychological weight.
SAO did have bandits and other wild monsters, after all.
"Mr. Kain, I'll contact the commander right away."
If the commander came over, his reputation and strength should be enough to intimidate the other players and keep them from doing anything reckless.
"Mm."
Kain did not immediately tell Asuna the truth.
If Kayaba Akihiko came down himself, that would save a great deal of time.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Kain. The commander seems to be busy right now."
He had replied, but she could not confirm when he would come down unless Asuna gave him more specific details. But how was she supposed to explain this?
"Reply to him with this: I have a way to fulfill his wish for another world. Not this virtual one."
Kayaba was clearly still wary. He might even suspect that revealing himself would expose him.
So Kain simply threw out bait.
"Huh?"
Asuna looked somewhat confused by the message she was being asked to pass on.
Still, Mr. Kain knew information about her world. Maybe those words would touch on some wish hidden in the commander's heart. So she passed the message along.
Less than three seconds after the message was sent, an abnormal change suddenly occurred.
A line of text appeared out of thin air directly in front of Mr. Kain.
I will wait for you on the hundredth floor.
Kayaba Akihiko was apparently worried that Asuna had not relayed the earlier message properly, so this time he simply stated it outright.
What about the commander's reply, then?
There was still no answer.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Kain. The commander may be busy and hasn't noticed the message."
"He already replied."
He replied?
No, he had not. There was nothing in her friend list—
Asuna suddenly understood.
Her face changed dramatically.
No. No way.
"Commander Heathcliff is Kayaba Akihiko? H-How is that possible?"
It was hard to believe.
As the vice commander, Asuna had interacted with Heathcliff many times. He seemed stern and reserved, but he was also someone worthy of respect.
It could be said that without him, the current pace of clearing the game would have been cut by at least half, and the number of sacrifices would have been unimaginable.
How could that be possible?
But Mr. Kain had no reason to lie to her.
When she connected it with what had happened the last time she contacted Miss Kuroneko, she remembered asking about it again. When Miss Kuroneko learned that Asuna had joined the Knights of the Blood Oath, she had still refused to tell Asuna the truth, but those emotional messages had clearly hinted at something.
So Kayaba Akihiko had been this close all along.
Miss Kuroneko had been worried that if Asuna learned the truth, she would get agitated and approach him immediately, and might be silenced for it.
This had to be a joke.
(End of Chapter)
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