You have to admit, Kayaba Akihiko had some serious nerve.
Last time he got caught, but instead of giving up, he became even more ambitious, wanting more players to experience this [real world] with him.
That is, if your character dies, your life ends too.
Although it's a game world, it can also be considered another world!
And dying in another world is real death, right?
When you travel to another world, do you have infinite lives?
No way, very unlikely~
Not everyone is a high school student.
So Kayaba Akihiko treats this game world like the real world.
The experience is nearly perfect, just like the world in the Alicization arc.
Since the new SAO has Integrity Knights and even cooperated with the military, achieving this level is understandable.
In three years, many things are possible.
Including all the NPCs, Kaito thought they were very well-developed, not just random but fixed dialogue as one might imagine. On the contrary, NPCs had emotions like real people.
When meeting up with Mika in the royal capital, he saw some players deliberately teasing NPCs, getting scolded and even chased away by nearby NPCs.
And later?
Some female NPCs even came up to talk to Kaito.
Over 20 million people...
These weren't NPCs; they were real people.
Kayaba Akihiko completely disregarded the massive upheaval this incident would cause to the world.
What?
He's already achieved mechanical ascension?
Oh, then never mind.
His physical body is dead. Even if the military police react and want to arrest him, he's already gone. At the same time, the core program must have been taken with him.
As for the real Kayaba Akihiko, after three years of research, he probably finally found a way to more perfectly 'travel' to the digital world.
What a ruthless person.
Ah no, a ruthless person is just ruthless. Kayaba Akihiko has a bit more knowledge than a ruthless person, mastering the mysteries of mathematics and physics, so he's a werewolf.
"Huh? Why can I log out?"
Ako, on the other hand, asked Leafa curiously.
Including Mika, she thought maybe Leafa was too much of a newbie and couldn't find the logout option.
Kaito, standing nearby, didn't explain and couldn't be bothered to. He just sat back and watched the plot unfold.
After all, it was highly probable the plot would repeat itself.
Sure enough…
10 minutes later, many players had discovered they couldn't log out. After everyone was automatically teleported to the initial spawn plazas of various [Main World] regions, they were all complaining and guessing.
The plazas were too crowded, so they stood in the streets.
With over 20 million people, the numbers were quite large.
At this time, some noticed that all NPCs had disappeared. Additionally, the sky gradually changed from dusk to blood red.
Until a figure in a red robe, like the Grim Reaper, appeared before everyone.
What followed was the familiar scene: announcing that everyone was now in a death game. If their character died again, it wouldn't be a level penalty but real death in reality.
'Hehe, didn't see that coming!'
'In the NerveGear 2.0, I still secretly added something!'
'What do you call a surprise?'
'This is a surprise!'
A mirror to reveal true forms, one for each person. All equal, all exposed!
Only Kaito, Mika, and Ako had no changes because they simply hadn't customized their appearance.
Leafa, unfortunately, changed from a blonde girl back to a black-haired girl. Her hair also went from long to short. Aside from that, no other changes!
'Wait!'
'Why did the water-attribute slimes get bigger!?'
'Unexpected, someone actually reduced the size of the water-attribute slimes!?'
"Ladies and gentlemen, before I leave, let me add one more feature as my final gift."
After saying these last words, Kayaba Akihiko disappeared. Kaito curiously checked the system interface.
Sure enough, a new feature had been added. Upon checking, he learned it was a phone function.
Players could call from the game world to their helmet, talk with family, or even link to the network for video calls.
As for why Kayaba Akihiko did this, either he still had a conscience, or he was just bored. After all, this feature would eventually appear anyway, and it was one of the inevitable features.
Sometimes, when having fun in the game world, you might call home.
It's very normal.
After the announcement ended, Leafa felt terrible as expected. Feeling sad, she called her mother, explained her situation, and the mother and daughter cried together over the video call.
Later, Kirito and Eugeo, who came looking for her, also fell into silence.
This incident was way too serious. The entire outside world was also in turmoil. Countless news stories about the new SAO forcibly occupied the front page of every software, even frantically popping up windows, ensuring even those who didn't want to know found out.
Then they learned...
A full 25 million players from around the world were trapped in the game world.
This time, it wasn't just an earthquake for the world; it exploded with the shock of several nuclear bombs.
"Huh? Master, you can log out?"
"Yes. Perhaps our helmets are different from yours. Our helmets are probably our own homemade products, forcibly connected to this game."
Kaito explained before Mika could speak. They wouldn't mention the chat group, and since they were from different worlds, this explanation was appropriate.
"Unfortunately, even if we log out, we can't help you."
After thinking for a moment, Kaito added this sentence.
Leafa, Kirito, and Eugeo looked at each other and nodded, indicating they understood.
It was good that they could log out, but clearly, they used different helmets to achieve this.
But they didn't; they all used the game-bound NerveGear 2.0 helmets!
Besides clearing the game, they had no way to successfully 'log out'. If the network was disconnected or power was cut for too long, they would die.
"Maybe it's inappropriate for me to say this now, since my situation is a bit different from yours."
"But instead of being sad, silent, and fearing death here, my choice is to follow the game's rules and clear all 100 floors."
"Although I don't know if my character dies whether I'll really die, or if my character will revive, from now on, I will also take this seriously."
"Just like traveling to another world, becoming the hero in a novel, leveling up, getting stronger, and finally defeating the boss, successfully returning home."
These words weren't just for Leafa and the others, but also for the surrounding players.
They were also immersed in the same atmosphere. After Kaito said these words, those with passion would naturally step forward.
Of course, there would inevitably be those who still feared death and chose to stay.
This was only human. No one had the right to blame them.
Among them...
A girl with dark brown hair, carrying a longbow, chose the path Kaito intended to take.
She couldn't keep running away anymore.
Similarly, there was another mother-daughter pair not far away, Yuki Kyoko and Yuki Asuna!