The players really were slaughtering one another inside the Boss room on the Fifty-fifth Floor.
Half an hour later, however, Kibaou had completely broken down and was kneeling on the floor.
"Please… let me live."
Asuna ignored Kibaou's shameless pleading from beside her.
The man had realized he truly could not kill her. Her HP was completely locked, granting her a form of immortality.
So in an instant, he had turned into this pathetic sight, sobbing and begging without the slightest shred of dignity.
Asuna had no attention to spare for him now. It had already been confirmed that whenever one point disappeared, regardless of who had caused it, one player would inevitably vanish.
At this point, fewer than a hundred points remained. The Fifty-fifth Floor probably accounted for about a third of them.
The next second, that nauseating voice disappeared.
She paid a little attention and saw that Kibaou's figure had vanished as well.
About a minute later, only one point remained.
There were still ten people left on the Fifty-fifth Floor, all of them players from the second wave who had gained the right to log out.
Then who did the final point belong to?
Asuna had a rough idea.
It was probably the player Heathcliff—Kayaba Akihiko himself.
This time, Mr. Kain stood in place and waited for the attack. Kayaba, meanwhile, seemed prepared to charge, his body already lowered into position.
After Kayaba Akihiko took a deep breath, he seemed ready to pour everything into one final strike.
The next second, he moved with lightning speed and crashed into Mr. Kain.
Dust billowed up, making it difficult to see what had happened.
As the dust gradually dispersed, the dark silhouettes that barely came into view seemed to show both weapons piercing through their opponents, the blades protruding from each other's backs.
When the dust cleared further, it seemed that was exactly what had happened. Both sides' weapons had run through the other's body.
"Is it a draw?"
"No. Kayaba Akihiko lost!"
Argo answered Lisbeth with absolute certainty, her voice barely able to contain her excitement.
The next second, the greatsword that had appeared to pierce through Mr. Kain fell to the ground.
If it had truly pierced him, it should have been stuck in his body.
The fact that it had fallen meant it had been a visual misjudgment.
It was like looking at someone from the side rather than from the front. If that person held a knife and stabbed toward themselves, it would look from the side as though they had stabbed their own body. But from the front, the blade had actually passed by their waist.
"Six thousand seven hundred eighty-three to zero. I really did lose… completely."
Kayaba Akihiko gave a bitter smile in the live broadcast window, leaving Argo stunned. Even she had not expected that result.
"Six thousand seven hundred eighty-three to zero?"
Lisbeth's eyes went wide as well.
"So Kayaba Akihiko didn't land a single hit? Asuna?"
Silica widened her adorable eyes and looked at Asuna.
"Yeah."
At that moment, Asuna felt as though the weight that had nearly crushed the breath out of her had finally dispersed.
If that was the case, then all the players who had disappeared should have been logged out.
"Huh? Eh?"
"Ah?"
"Asu—"
Their panicked voices cut off abruptly. The figures of Asuna's friends vanished before her eyes.
Only she was left in the area. The sight startled her and filled her with a trace of unease.
But when she saw that the figure in the live broadcast was still there, a sense of safety welled up in her again.
Then her field of vision suddenly changed.
It felt just like using a Teleport Crystal.
When her vision returned to normal, the first thing she saw was that deeply reassuring figure.
Her gaze then shifted to someone else—the commander of the Knights of the Blood, Heathcliff, who was actually Kayaba Akihiko.
"Did everyone else really log out?"
Asuna still could not help asking.
"They logged out. As for the possibility you were worried about, where some players' consciousnesses might be intercepted and transferred into another game, I've already dealt with that as well."
Kayaba Akihiko knew what the girl before him still wanted to ask, and his follow-up finally allowed her to relax.
As for how he knew about that, it was because the young man in front of him had told him—told him a piece of information that had shaken him deeply.
If that information was true, and if the other party's origin was truly what he claimed, then the dream Kayaba Akihiko wanted to realize would no longer be false.
"What about the people who died before?"
"I'm sorry."
Those words extinguished the tiny shred of hope Asuna had still been holding onto.
That meant the deaths of more than three thousand players had been real.
Ah?
Her vision suddenly blurred. The images around her became unreal.
Her sight gradually darkened, making her panic and fear rise sharply.
Instinctively, she reached out in search of safety. And the person who made her feel safest was Mr. Kain, standing beside her.
Like someone drowning, she clumsily threw herself toward him.
She caught him. That sense of safety returned—
No.
Her vision vanished.
At the same time, it felt as though she had caught nothing at all. Asuna was thrown into utter helplessness.
No.
No, no—
"N-No…"
"Asuna? Asuna!"
Someone seemed to be calling her real name. The voice was trembling with excitement and carried a faint sob.
It sounded like her mother.
It seemed to be right beside her. Asuna wanted to look, but everything was black.
Why was it black?
Suddenly, a crack opened in the darkness.
As that opening widened, Asuna faintly saw a figure in front of her.
"Asuna."
"Mo… Mom?"
"It's me, Asuna."
Asuna—no, Yuuki Asuna—blinked again, and her vision became a little clearer. She finally saw the familiar figure before her.
It was her mother.
In the past, her mother had always been a strong career woman, a stern woman who rarely smiled. This was the first time Asuna had ever seen that almost tearful expression of joy on her face. There were even faint traces of tears at the corners of her eyes.
Asuna looked past her mother at the rest of her surroundings.
She was in a hospital room.
Aside from her mother, there were other people present as well—doctors and nurses.
In that case, after being trapped in the virtual world for more than a year, she had finally returned to reality.
She tried to sit up, but discovered she could barely summon any strength. Her entire body seemed paralyzed, and panic rose inside her.
"Don't rush. You've been lying down for too long. Your body needs time to adapt before you can move properly."
Her mother, seeing her condition, explained it to her, and Asuna let out a breath of relief.
Then she suddenly remembered something.
Mr. Kain.
She did not see him.
She immediately entered the Hyperdimensional Channel, just in time to see a special system prompt.
Should "Golden Toilet" be formally allowed to enter this world?
That was the system prompt, and there was even a countdown.
If she did not choose, it would automatically be rejected.
Asuna immediately forced herself to get up with all her might. Before her mother could react, she staggered and rolled straight off the bed.
"Asuna!"
"Mom, help me. Take me to the window. Let me see outside."
"I understand. Don't get worked up."
With her mother's support, Asuna came to the window and looked out at the scenery beyond.
Where?
There.
Yes, there. Almost no one would notice that place.
She immediately confirmed it.
Mr. Kain would appear there.
(End of Chapter)
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