Ame Infinite

 

Chapter 16

Asuna told me that she had been monitoring the map while waiting for me in Grandum.
The moment Godfree's signal disappeared, she ran out of the city and had crossed the five kilometers that took us an hour to cover in just five minutes. When I pointed out that it was a figure which exceeded the dexterity stat limits, she answered with a slight smile:
“It's the power of love.”
After we returned to the guild HQ, we told Heathcliff what happened and asked him if we could temporarily leave the guild. When Asuna explained her reason as "distrust of the guild," Heathcliff thought in silence for a while, but gave us permission nevertheless. Then, he said one last thing with a mysterious smile on his face:
“But you'll return to the battlefield soon enough.”
By the time we left the HQ, it was already evening. We held each others' hands and walked together to the teleport gate plaza.
Neither of us said a word.
As we walked amongst the black shadows of the iron towers and the orange light that came from outside the floating castle, I wondered just where Kuradeel's hate had come from.
There were quite a number of people who enjoyed committing crimes in this world. From thieves and robbers to the cold-blooded murderers of «Laughing Coffin» like Kuradeel; rumors claim that the number of criminal players already exceeded a thousand. People thought of them as natural occurrences like monsters now.
But when I thought about it, I still felt that they were a very strange group. It should be obvious to everyone that harming other players was an act that would undoubtedly hurt the chances of clearing the game. In other words, it meant that they didn't want to leave this game.
Yet after meeting Kuradeel, I didn't think this applied to him. He didn't help or obstruct the clearing of the game; he had merely stopped thinking. Neither reminiscing the past nor looking forward to the future, he simply tried to fulfill his endless desires, which resulted in the growth of his vile intentions—
Then what about me? I couldn't confidently say that I was seriously focused on clearing the game. It would be more accurate to claim that I habitually explored labyrinths only for experience points. If I fought only to strengthen myself, to feel the pleasure of superiority, then somewhere deep down within myself, did I also not want this world to end—?
Suddenly, it felt as if the iron plate beneath my feet had begun to sink. I stopped walking and tightened my grip on Asuna's right hand, which I had been hanging onto.
"...?"
Asuna tilted her head and looked at me. I lowered my head and spoke as if I was talking to myself:
“...No matter what happens... I'll make sure that you... return to that world...”
“...”
This time Asuna tightened her grip.
“When the time comes, we'll go back together.”
She revealed a smile as she finished.

We had arrived at the teleport gate plaza without realizing it. Only a few players were walking about in the area, huddling against the cold wind that foretold the coming of winter.
I turned to look directly at Asuna.
I thought that the warmth which radiated from her strong will was the only light that guided me towards the right direction.
"Asuna... Tonight... I want to be with you..."
I said this without thinking.
I didn't want to be away from her. The close encounter had induced a terrifying fear of death that I had never felt before, one that couldn't be shaken off even now.
I would definitely have nightmares if I slept alone tonight. I would dream of that person's insanity, his sword digging into me, and the feeling of stabbing my right hand into him; I was sure of it.
Asuna stared at me with wide eyes, as if she understood the reason behind my request—
Then, with her cheeks blushing red, she nodded slightly.


Asuna's house in Salemburg, which I was visiting for the second time, was still luxuriously decorated; yet this time it greeted me with a comfortable warmness. The objects that were distributed around the place displayed the owner's outstanding taste. But despite this, Asuna said:
“U-Uwa— it's so messy here. I haven't been back here much these days and...”
With a "hehe" laugh, she smiled sheepishly and quickly cleaned up the scattered items.
“I'll make dinner quickly. Just read the paper or something and wait.”
“Ah, okay.”
I sank into the sofa after watching Asuna remove her battle gear, put on an apron, and disappear into the kitchen. Then I picked up the large newspaper that was on the table. Although we call it a newspaper, it's merely a collection of rumors from those players who traded information. But since this world lacked forms of entertainment, the newspaper became a precious source of media with many subscribers. The paper only had four pages, and I only glanced casually at the first page before tossing it aside out of irritation. This was because the title page headline was the duel between Heathcliff and me.
[New skill Dual Blades user crushed by Holy Sword]
Beneath the headline was a picture of me sprawled out on the ground before Heathcliff, taken through the use of Record Crystals. One could say that I had only added another page to the undefeated legend of Heathcliff.
Well, maybe they would stop bothering me as much if their expectations of my skill drops... I helped myself find an easily acceptable excuse. Then, as I started to look through my inventory list, an enticing aroma wafted out of the kitchen.
The dinner entrée was a steak made out of a cow-like monster's meat and served with Asuna's special soy sauce. Although the ingredients' rank wasn't that high, the flavoring was simply perfect. Asuna watched me with a wide smile as I stuffed the meat into my mouth.
As we sat across from each other on the sofa and drank tea after finishing dinner, Asuna became quite talkative for some reason. She spoke endlessly about topics like which brand of weapons she liked and which floors had famous sightseeing locations.
At first I listened to her with surprise, but then Asuna suddenly fell silent, which caused me to get worried. She sat absolutely still and stared at her teacup as if she was trying to find something. Her expression was extremely serious, almost as if she was preparing for a fight.
“...Hey, what's wrong...”
But before I could finish speaking, Asuna clanked her teacup loudly onto the table, then shot up from her seat and announced:
“...Okay!”
She walked over to the window sill, touched the wall to open the Room Control Menu, and suddenly turned off all the lights. Darkness covered the room immediately; my scan skill's support ability automatically kicked in and replaced my normal sight with night-vision mode.
The room was dyed in a dim blue light, and Asuna was shining white from the lampposts' light which came in from the windows. Although I was confused by her behavior, her beauty still caused me to hold my breath.
Her long hair that seemed dark blue, her slender, white arms and legs that stretched out from under her tunic, they all reflected the weak light and looked like they were glowing.
Asuna silently stood by the window sill for a while. I couldn't see her expression very well because she had lowered her head. She also held her right hand against her chest and seemed to be hesitating about something.
Just as I was about to ask what was going on, Asuna began to move her left hand. Her thumb and forefinger moved through the air, and a menu window appeared with an accompanying sound effect.
In the blue-tinted darkness, Asuna's fingers moved across the glowing purple menu window. It appeared that she was manipulating the left menu, which controlled the player's equipment.
As soon as I thought that, the knee-high stockings that Asuna was wearing disappeared, and the elegant curves of her legs were laid bare before my eyes. Her fingers moved again, and this time her short, one-piece robe was taken off. I couldn't help but open my mouth wide and bulged my eyes until they were round; my mind had fallen into a complete stop.
Asuna was now wearing only her underwear. Small white cloths which barely managed to cover her chest and waist.
“D-Don't look... this way....”
She said, her small voice trembling. But even though she said this, I still couldn't shift my eyes away.
Asuna tried to cover her chest with her hands as she wavered; but after she raised her head and looked straight at me, she lowered her arms gracefully.
I received a shock that felt as if my soul had left my body and could only watch her with a blank expression.
The word "Beautiful" didn't even begin to describe her. Her skin that was tinged with blue light particles was soft and sleek. Her hair seemed as if it was made from the finest silk. Her breasts curved so perfectly that it appeared, ironically, as if no graphic engine in existence could generate it. The curvature of her legs that started at her slim waist made one think of the gracefulness of a wild animal.
It was impossible to believe that her appearance was only a 3D rendered image. If I were to describe it, it was like a sculpture made by God with life blown into it.
The data collected by the Nerve Gear from the calibration step of player registration determined the body tone of the players' avatars. With that in mind, one would call the existence of such a perfect body a miracle.
I kept staring at her almost bare body as if my soul had left my body. If Asuna hadn't covered herself with both arms and opened her mouth to speak, I would have kept standing like that even an hour later.
Asuna's face was so red that I could tell even in the blue-tinted darkness of the room. She lowered her head and spoke:
“K-Kirito-kun, take your clothes off too.... It's em-embarrassing for me to be like this by myself.”
After hearing that, I finally realized the meaning behind Asuna's actions.
In other words, she took what I said— that I wanted to spend the night with her, in a deeper sense than what I meant.
As soon as I understood that, I also fell into an endlessly deep panic. As a result, I committed the worst mistake in my whole life up until now.
“Err... No, you see, I just thought...that it would be good, if we stayed to— together in a room tonight...”
“Eh...?”
As I responded stupidly with my honest thoughts, it was Asuna who froze with her mouth wide open this time. Then, an expression of intense anger and embarrassment spread across her face.
“You... You...”
Her clenched right fist revealed an almost visible killing intent.
“Idiot—!!”
Asuna's fist, which had accelerated to a speed that utilized all of her dexterity stats, was stopped just barely before striking my face by the Crime Prevention Code and released a loud noise and a spray of purple sparks instead.
“A-Ahh—! Wait!! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Forget what I said!”
I tried to explain while frantically waving my hands about to Asuna, who was about to throw her second punch without paying any attention to me.
“I'm sorry, I was wrong!! Bu...But, anyway, can you... like... actually d-do it...? In SAO...?”
Asuna dropped her attacking stance and was a bit taken aback, although still furious. Then she asked:
“You, you mean you don't know...?”
“No, I don't...”
Then, Asuna's expression changed suddenly from one of anger to one of embarrassment, before she explained in a small voice:
“...That is... In the options menu, all the way on the bottom... there's an option called «Ethic Code Off».”
It was the first time I had ever heard of such a thing. I'm sure this wasn't available during the beta test, nor was it mentioned in the manual. To think that this was another price that I had to pay for playing as a solo player and not having any interest except fighting.
But this information raised a new question that I couldn't help but think about. Since I still hadn't fully recovered my ability to think straight, I unintentionally said it out loud:
“...Have... Have you ever done it before...?”
Once again, Asuna's iron fist erupted in sparks right before my face.
"O-Of course not, you idiot—!! I just heard about it from the other girls in the guild!!"
I hurried to kneel down on the ground before her and apologized endlessly. It took several minutes before I finally managed to calm her down.

A single candle atop the table stayed burning; its thin rays of light made Asuna's skin glow faintly as she slept in my arms. I ran a finger gently down her white back; the warm and smooth feeling that traveled up from my fingertips was absolutely intoxicating.


Asuna slowly opened her eyes and looked towards me. She blinked twice and then smiled.
“Sorry. Did I wake you?”

“Yeah. I had a strange dream. One about the real world...”
She continued to smile as she rubbed her face against my chest.
“In the dream, I wondered if entering Aincrad and meeting you had all been a dream, and I was really afraid. It's a relief... that it wasn't all a dream."
“You're a real strange one. Don't you want to go back?”
“Of course I want to. I want to go back, but I don't want everything that has happened here to disappear. Although... it took us a while... but these two years are precious to me. I'm sure of that now.”
Asuna suddenly switched to a serious expression and grabbed my right hand, which I had placed on her shoulder, then brought it to her chest and hugged it tightly.
“...I'm really sorry, Kirito-kun. I should... I should have resolved it myself...”
I breathed in and then exhaled deeply.
“No... Kuradeel's target, the person who made him that way, was me. It was my fight.”
I nodded slowly while looking into Asuna's eyes.
Tears formed in her hazelnut eyes as Asuna silently pressed her lips against the hand she was holding. I could feel their soft movement.
“I'll also... bear it with you. Every burden that you have, I'll carry them with you. I promise. I'll definitely protect you from now on...”
This was—
The line that I couldn't say even once up until now. Yet in this moment, my lips trembled, and I could hear the sounds unveiling themselves from my throat, from my very soul.
“Me too.”
A very thin voice reverberated across the air.
“I'll protect you too.”
Although these were simple words, I had said them in such a pathetically quiet and unreliable manner. I smiled bitterly as I held up Asuna's hand and said:
“Asuna... You really are strong. You're far stronger than me..."
After hearing that, Asuna blinked several times and then smiled.
"No, I'm not. I usually hide behind other people in the real world. Even this game wasn't something that I bought."
She laughed as if she had just thought of something.
“It was something that my older brother bought, but he had to suddenly leave for business; so I got to play with it on the game's opening day. He was really disappointed about that. He must be really angry now that I've occupied it for two years.”
I thought that Asuna was even unluckier to have come here in his stead, but I just nodded.
“...You'd better get back quickly and apologize.”
“Yeah... I'll have to try harder...”
But Asuna trailed off weakly as she said this, casting her eyes downward as if she was afraid of something and then moving her entire body closer to me.
“Umm... Kirito-kun, I know this is contradicting what I just said... but can we leave the front-lines for a bit?”
“Hmm...?”
“I'm scared somehow... We finally managed to convey our feelings, so I feel like something bad will happen again if we go to the front-lines straight away... Maybe I'm just a little tired.”
I brushed Asuna's hair back silently and nodded so meekly that I surprised even myself.
“Yeah, you're right... I'm, a bit tired too...”
Even if the numbers didn't change, the battles that we fought day after day accumulated plenty of fatigue that couldn't be seen. That's especially the case for situations as extreme as today's. Even a strong bow will break if one pulled on it excessively. We definitely needed a break.
I felt the impulse that drove me to fight relentlessly drift further away. Right now, I only wanted to deepen the bond between the two of us.
I wrapped my arms around Asuna, then buried my face in her silky hair and spoke:
"On the northwestern part of the 22^nd floor, amongst the forests and lakes... there's a small village. It's a good place with no monsters. They sell a few cottages there. The two of us can move there together... and then... "
Asuna looked at me as I stopped talking.
“Then...?”
I managed to move my frozen tongue and kept talking.
"...Let's, let's get married."
The perfect smile that Asuna showed me that moment, I would never forget it for the rest of my life.
“Okay...”
She nodded slightly as a large teardrop ran down her red cheeks.

Chapter 17

There were four types of relationships that two players could have within the SAO system.
First was two people who didn't really know each other. The second was friends. People who had listed each other as friends could send short messages to each other no matter where they were. They could also search for each other's locations by map.
The third was guild comrades. Apart from the above benefits, they also gained a slight increase in their stats when they partied with members of the same guild. However, they had to give up a bit of the Col they earned as a sort of tax to the guild.
Up until now, Asuna and I were friends and members of the same guild, despite the fact that we were taking a break from the guild. But we had decided to enter the last type of relationship.
Marriage— although getting married was very simple. Once one person sent the proposal message and the other person accepted it, then they were married. But the difference between marriage and friends or guild members was incomparably different.
Marriage in SAO meant the sharing of all information and items. One could see the other's stat window at will, and even their inventory windows had fused into one. In others words, it was entrusting one's most important safety nets to their partners. In Aincrad, where betrayals and fraud were common, few went as far as marriage even amongst the closest couples. Of course, another important reason was because of the extremely unbalanced male-female ratio.


The 22^nd floor was one of the most sparsely populated areas in Aincrad. Since it was one of the lower floors, it was especially large; but most of it was taken up by the forests and the numerous lakes that were scattered around the area; therefore, the living area was so small that it could be called a hamlet. Monsters seldom appeared on the field, and since the difficulty level of the labyrinth was exceptionally low, the level was cleared in three days and most players didn't remember much of it.
Asuna and I decided to buy a small, round cottage within the woods on the 22^nd floor to live in. Even though it was small, it still cost a considerable amount of money to buy a house within SAO. Asuna offered to sell her house in Salemburg, but I was strongly against it, because selling such a perfectly furnished house would be far too regrettable. So in the end, we gathered all of our rare items and sold them with the help of Agil, which managed to provide just enough money to buy the house.
Although Agil said with a sad expression that we could use the second floor of his shop if we wanted, I thought that spending a newly-wed life within a merchant shop was far too tragic. Furthermore, I didn't even want to imagine what would happen once the fact that the all-famous Asuna had gotten married became known. I thought that we should be able to spend our days peacefully on the sparsely populated 22^nd floor.
“Uwa— What a beautiful view!”
Asuna leaned forward, out of the window in our bedroom; although it was called the bedroom, there were only two rooms in the entire house.
The scenery outside really was breathtaking. This was near the edge of Aincrad, so one could see the glittering lakes, the green forest, and the wide-open skies all at once. Because we usually lived with a stone ceiling about one hundred meters above us, the open skies gave us an inexplicable feeling of freedom.
“Just don't fall off while you're looking at the scenery.”
I stopped organizing the household items and wrapped my arms around Asuna. This woman was now my wife— as I thought that, the warmth of bright sunlight in the winter, the marvelous feeling of wonder, as well as the surprise of how far we had gone all rushed me at once.
Until I became trapped in this game, I was just a kid who went to school and then back home without any goal in life. But now, the real world had become a faraway past.
If— If this game was cleared, we would be able to return to the real world... that was what all the players, including Asuna and I, wished for. But I couldn't help feeling anxious whenever I thought about it. I unconsciously began to apply strength to my arms that were around Asuna.
“It hurts, Kirito-kun... Is something wrong...?”
“S-Sorry... Hey, Asuna...”
For a moment I stopped talking, but I had to finish asking.
“...Our relationship, is it only in-game...? Is it going to disappear once we return to the other world...?”
“I'm going to be angry, Kirito-kun.”
Asuna turned around and looked at me with her eyes full of emotion.
“Even if this was just a normal game rather than this strange situation, I still wouldn't like another person so casually.”
She squeezed my cheeks with both her hands, and then said:
"I learned something here, and that was to keep trying and never give up. If we make it back to the real world, I'll definitely come find Kirito-kun again, and I'll still like you."
How many times have I marveled at Asuna's honest and strong heart? Or maybe mine was just too weak.
But even if I was the weak one, it was still all right. I had forgotten for such a long time how comfortable it was to depend on someone else and have them depend on me. I didn't know how long we would be able to stay here, but at least we were away from the battlefield during this period of time—
I let my thoughts wander and concentrated my feelings on the softness and the sweet smell that filled my arms.

Chapter 18

The float attached to the fishing line hadn't moved even once. Drowsiness invaded my consciousness as I watched the dancing sunlight reflected off the sparkling water ripples of the lake.
I made a huge yawn and pulled up the fishing line. Only an empty silver hook on the end shined in the light; the bait that I had put on it was gone.
Over ten days had passed since we moved to the 22^nd floor. In order to gather food each day, I had erased my two-handed sword skill, which I trained briefly in a long time ago, and exchanged it for the fishing skill. I began to imitate Taikoubou [1] in fishing. But for some reason, I just couldn't catch anything. The training score had just passed 600, so I didn't expect any big catches, but I thought that I should have at least caught something by now. Instead, I simply spent day after day wasting the cases of bait that I bought in the village.
"Gah, this is so annoying..."
I muttered my complaints, tossed the fishing tackle aside, and then threw myself onto the ground. The wind that rushed over the water was icy cold, but the overcoat that Asuna had made me with her sewing skills kept me warm. Asuna was still in the middle of training that skill, thus the coat wasn't as good as clothing from the NPC stores. But since it was useable and kept me warm, there weren't any problems.
It was now «The month of the Cypress» in Aincrad, which meant it was November back in Japan. Although it was almost winter, fishing in SAO didn't have anything to do with seasons. Maybe it was simply because I had used up all my luck on getting my beautiful wife.
As my thoughts reached this, my entire being was filled with happiness, and a wide smile spread across my face. Then suddenly, a voice reached my ears.
"How did you do?"
I leapt up in surprise and saw a man standing there as I turned around.
He was wrapped in thick clothing, including a hat with ear flaps, and had fishing tackle in his hands just like me. But the surprising part was his age. No matter how I looked at it, he seemed at least fifty years old. The eyes behind metal framed glasses showed the age of a senior. Amongst the hardcore game addicts of SAO, it was extremely rare to see someone so old. Actually, I had never even seen one before. Maybe—?
“I'm not an NPC.”
He smiled bitterly as if he had read my thoughts, and then slowly descended down the slope.
“S-Sorry. I was just wondering...”
“No, it's fine. It's understandable. I'm most probably the oldest player here.”
His healthy body rocked as he gave a hearty "Wa-ha-ha" laugh.
“Excuse me.”
He said as he sat down next to me. He took out a bait case from his hip, then awkwardly opened a pop-up menu, retrieved his fishing rod, and put the bait on it.
“My name is Nishida. I'm a fisherman here. In Japan, I worked as the head of maintenance for a company called the Tohto Broadband Connection. I'm sorry but I don't have my business cards with me.”
He laughed again.
“Ah...”
I could mostly guess the reason for why he was in this game. Tohto was a network operator company that had been cooperating with Argus. They were responsible for taking care of the network that linked to the SAO servers.
“I'm Kirito. I moved here from the upper levels a while ago. Nishida oji-san... must have been... maintaining the SAO network connection...?”
“I was in charge of it.”
Nishida said as he nodded. I looked at him with a complicated feeling. This meant that the man had become entangled in everything here because of his job.
"Haha, my superiors said there was no need to log on, but I can't be fully at ease until I see my work with my own eyes, and because of an old man's worries, I became like this."
He swung his rod with an amazingly smooth motion as he said this, and one could tell that he had the professional mastery of a skilled fisherman. He also seemed to like talking, as he kept on going without waiting for a response from me:
"Other than me, there are around twenty to thirty other old men who ended up here due to various reasons. Most of them are living safely in Starting City, but I enjoy this far more than simply eating three meals a day."
He lifted his fishing rod a little.
"I searched endlessly for good rivers and lakes, and finally came up all the way to a place like this."
“Oh, really... Well, there are almost no monsters on this floor.”
Nishida just smiled at what I said without answering. Then he asked me:
“Well, are there any good spots on the upper floors?”
He asked.
“Hmmm... Well, the 61^st floor was entirely a lake, well, more like a sea, and they say one could catch huge fish there.”
“Ohh! I better go there sometime.”
At this time, the float of his fishing rod began to quickly sink. Nishida wasted no time in pulling it in. It seemed that his fishing skill level was pretty high, as well as his actual ability to fish.
“Woah, it's huge!”
As I strained to lean forward, Nishida calmly reeled in the fishing line and quickly pulled up the shimmering blue fish. The fish flapped in his hands a few times and then vanished into his inventory.
“Amazing...!”
Nishida gave an embarrassed smile as he raised his head to reply:
“It's nothing. All you need to do here is raise your fishing skill.”
Then he added while scratching his head:
“But, even if I can catch them, I still didn't know how to cook them properly... I wanted to eat sashimi or grilled fish, but I can't do anything without soy sauce.”
“Ah... Yeah...”
I hesitated for a moment. We had moved here to avoid other people, but I figured that this person wouldn't really be interested in rumors and gossips.
“...I know of something that tasted a lot like soy sauce...”
“What!?”
Nishida leaned closer with his eyes shining behind his glasses.

As Asuna greeted my return and saw Nishida, her eyes went wide with surprise, but then she smiled and said:
“Welcome back. A guest?”
“Yeah, this is Nishida oji-san, a fisherman. And—”
My voice trailed off as I turned towards Nishida and was unsure of how to introduce Asuna. Then, Asuna smiled at the old fisherman and introduced herself:
“I'm his wife, Asuna. Welcome to our home.”
She nodded confidently.
Nishida was staring at Asuna with his mouth open. Asuna was dressed in a plain long skirt, a hemp shirt with an apron, and a headscarf on top. She looked very different from the imposing warrior image of her as a KoB member, but her beauty didn't change.
After blinking several times, Nishida finally came to his senses and said:
“Ah, ahh, I apologize. I was mesmerized for a moment. I'm Nishida. Sorry for intruding upon you like this...”
He scratched his head and laughed.
Asuna applied all of her impressive cooking skills on the huge fish that Nishida had caught, and brought it onto the table after turning it into sashimi and grilled fish with soy sauce as a seasoning. As the aroma of the handmade soy sauce wafted through the house, Nishida widened his nostrils with a look of delight on his face.
It tasted more like a yellowtail with just the right amount of oil rather than a freshwater fish. According to Nishida, you needed to have at least 950 points in fishing to be able to catch it. After a brief conversation, the three of us focused on eating with our chopsticks.
The plates were empty within the blink of an eye, and Nishida sighed with an expression of bliss as he held a cup of hot tea in his hands.
“...Ah, that was very satisfying. Thank you. To think that soy sauce actually exists in this world...”
“Oh, it's handmade. You can take some back with you if you like it.”
Asuna retrieved a small bottle from the kitchen and handed it over to Nishida. I thought that it was a good idea not to tell him the recipe. Asuna then smiled and said to the grateful Nishida:
"Don't worry about it; you also brought us such a good fish."
She then continued:
“Kirito-kun never caught anything.”
At this sudden attack, I simply sipped on my tea in silence before responding:
“The lakes in this area are all too hard.”
“No, not really. It's only the lake that Kirito-san was fishing in.”
“Eh...”
What Nishida said made me fall speechless. Asuna grabbed her stomach and began to laugh without stop.
“Why did they set it like that...?”
“Well actually, in that lake...”
Nishida lowered his voice before continuing, so Asuna and I leaned forward.
“I think the local god lives there.”
“Local god?”
As Asuna and I echoed each other, Nishida smiled, pushed back his glasses, and then kept talking:
“In the village item shop, there is one bait that's much more expensive than the others. I was curious about its capabilities, so I decided to buy it once to try out.”
I swallowed instinctively.
“But I couldn't catch anything with that bait. After trying it out in various locations, I finally thought of taking a shot at that high-difficulty lake.”
“Did, did you catch something...?”
“Well, something took the bait.”
Nishida nodded deeply, and then his expression became one of regret:
“But I couldn't pull it out with my strength and ended up losing my fishing rod to it. I only managed to see its shadow during the last moments. It wasn't just huge; one could call it a monster, but in a different sense from the ones that appeared in the fields.”
He spread his arms wide apart. This was probably the reason behind his meaningful smile when I said, "There are almost no monsters on this floor."
“Uwa, I want to see it!”
Asuna exclaimed as her eyes sparkled. Then, Nishida caught my gaze and said:
“So I have a proposal— Do you have confidence in your strength stats Kirito-san...?”
“Well, it should be alright...”
“Then how about we fish for it together?! I'll hold it until it bites and then leave the rest to you.”
“Hmm, so we'll «Switch» while fishing... Would that be possible...?”
I tilted my head to the side.
“Let's try it, Kirito-kun! It sounds interesting!”
Asuna said this with "excitement" written all over her face. But, it was true that I was also quite interested.
“Then let's have a go at it.”
As I answered, a smile spread across Nishida's face.
"That's the spirit, wa-ha-ha."


That night.
After exclaiming, "Coldcold," Asuna crawled into the bed, then pushed her body against mine and made a sound of satisfaction. She blinked sleepily and then smiled as if she had just thought of something.
“...There are so many different people here.”
“He was interesting, wasn't he?”
“Yeah.”
Asuna then suddenly removed her smile and muttered:
“Up until now, I had only fought on the upper floors. I had completely forgotten that there were people who lived normal lives...”
“I don't mean that we're special; but since we're on a high enough level to fight on the front-lines, I suppose it also means that we have an obligation to them.”
“...I had never thought about it like that... I always felt that becoming stronger was just a way to survive.”
“I think that a lot of people are going to be counting on you from now on. Of course, that includes me.”
“...Except, with my personality, hearing these kind of expectations only makes me want to run away.”
“Oh you.”
As Asuna pouted in dissatisfaction, I stroked her hair and hoped for this life to continue for a while longer. For Nishida and the other players, we have to return to the front-lines at some point. But at least for now—
Based on the messages that Agil and Klein had sent me, I knew that they were having a hard time trying to clear the 75^th floor. However, I believed from the bottom of my heart, that the most important thing to me right now was this life with Asuna.

Chapter 19

Three days later, Nishida informed us in the morning that he was going to fish for the local god. Around thirty people would be there to watch, as it seemed that he had told his fishermen friends about this.
"This is troublesome. Asuna... What should we do?"
"Hm~mmm..."
To tell the truth, we weren't all that happy about this. We had come here to hide from the gossipers and Asuna's fans, so we were a little hesitant about appearing before so many people.
"How about this?!"
Asuna gathered her hair and pushed it up. Then she covered her face up to her eyes with a huge scarf. She didn't stop there and pressed some buttons on her menu window to put on a plain overcoat.
"Y-Yeah. Pretty good. You look like a proper farmer's wife."
"...Is that, a compliment?"
"Of course. In my case, they're not going to recognize me as long as I don't equip battle gear."


Before the sun even rose, I walked out of the house with Asuna, who was carrying our picnic basket. She could have just called it out when we got there, but she insisted that it was part of the disguise.
Today was warm for an early winter day. After walking through the forest of huge pine trees for a while, we could finally see the sparkling water between the trunks. A lot of people had already gathered there. As I approached nervously, a familiar stout figure waved to us as he laughed.
"Wa-ha-ha, it's a relief that we have such great weather today!"
"Hello, Nishida oji-san."
Asuna and I nodded our heads. He told us that the assembly of people here from various age groups were all members of a fishing guild that Nishida ran. We greeted everyone nervously, but it seemed nobody recognized Asuna.
Putting that aside, Nishida oji-san was far more active than I imagined. He must have been a good team leader within his company. The atmosphere was already spirited, as the group had been holding a fishing competition before our arrival.
"Eh~ so, today's main event will finally be starting!"
Nishida loudly announced this as he walked towards us with a long fishing rod in his hand, and the spectators cheered in excitement. I looked at the fishing rod he was carrying, my eyes tracing down the pole without much thought before the item at its end surprised me.
It was a lizard, an abnormally large one at that. It was as long as an adult's forearm. Its poisonous-looking red and black skin shone as if to emphasize its freshness.
"Hiiiii—"
Asuna noticed it even later than I did, and her expression froze as she took several steps back from it. If this was the bait, then what we were trying to catch must be unbelievable.
But before I had any time to ask, Nishida turned towards the lake and raised his fishing rod. With a short shout, he swung it in an impressive form, and the huge lizard drew an arc in midair before falling into the water with a large splash.
Fishing required almost no waiting time within SAO. Once you put the bait in the water, either a fish took the bite within a few dozen seconds, or you lost the bait. We swallowed involuntarily as we watched as the line sank into the water.
After just a few moments, the fishing rod twitched several times. But Nishida didn't even move an inch.
"It's, it's here Nishida-san!"
"It's still too early!"
Behind Nishida's glasses, the two eyes that usually belonged to a good-natured grandfather were shining with light. Nishida continued to watch the end of the rod without moving as it twitched.
Then the rod jerked harder.
"Now!"
Nishida strained his small body backwards and pulled the rod using his whole body. I could tell the rope was really tight just by looking at it, which also gave off a twanging sound effect.
"It took the bait!! I'll entrust the rest to you!!"
I cautiously pulled the rod that Nishida had handed over, but it didn't even budge one bit. It felt as if the fish hook had caught onto something embedded into the ground. I looked back at Nishida, worried if the fish had really bitten, and then within the blink of an eye—
The rope started pulling into the water with a burst of power.
"Ahhh!"
I quickly dug my feet into the ground and pulled it up again. The strength-applied gauge quickly went past the normal mode.
"I-Is it okay to strain this?"
I asked Nishida as I worried about the durability of the fishing pole.
"It's of the highest quality! You can pull on it all you want!"
Nishida nodded, his face already red from excitement. I corrected my grip on the rod and then pulled with all my strength. The fishing rod bent around the middle and became a huge U.
As each player levels up, they can choose to raise either strength or dexterity. Axe-users such as Agil would opt for strength, while rapier-users like Asuna would focus on their dexterity. Although I was a normal sword user and raised both of them, my personal preferences prioritized dexterity somewhat more than strength.
But I seemed to be winning this tug of war, most probably because my level itself was so high. I slowly stepped backwards, steadily forcing the huge thing out of the water.
"Ah, I can see it!!"
Asuna leaned over the water and pointed to it. I was leaning backwards and further away from the lake so I couldn't check. The spectators got louder and rushed forward to look into the water, which quickly deepened as it left the shore. I couldn't suppress my curiosity and focused all of my strength to tug at the fishing rod.
"...?"
Suddenly, something startled all the spectators that had been leaning over the water. Each one of them took a few steps back.
"What's wrong...?"
Before I even finished talking, they all turned around and ran away. Even Asuna and Nishida ran past me from either side with white faces. I was about to look back towards them when— the weight lifted from my hands and I fell down on my backside.
Ah, did the rope snap!?
As I thought that, I threw the rod away and ran towards the lake. At that moment, the glittering water surface of the lake suddenly surged upwards.
"Eh—!?"
I froze on the spot with my eyes wide open, and at this moment I heard Asuna's faraway voice:
"Kirito-ku——n, it's dangerous——!!!"
When I turned around, I saw Asuna, Nishida, and everyone else had already gotten up the embankment that rose from the edge of the lake, which was quite far away from me. I could hear the water splashing loudly behind me as I finally began to understand the situation. Then, with a feeling of uneasiness, I turned back around.
The fish was standing.
To be more precise, the creature was like a Coelacanth [2], a cross between fish and reptiles, except this one leaned more towards the reptile side. It stood there on the grass with its six powerful legs and looked down upon me as water streamed off it like waterfalls.
I said "looked down" because this thing was at least two meters tall. Its mouth, which seemed like it could swallow a cow whole, was positioned just a bit higher than my head with a familiar looking lizard leg sticking out of it.
From either side of this ancient colossal fish's head, two basketball-sized eyes met with those of my own. A yellow cursor appeared automatically to mark it as a monster.
Nishida had told us that the local god of this lake was a monster in a different sense from those that appeared in the fields.
How was it different? This thing was a monster in every sense of the word.
I forced a smile and took a couple of steps backwards. Then I turned around and scrambled off. The huge fish behind me gave a thunderous roar and then started following me with steps that shook the ground.
I pushed my dexterity stats to the limit and ran as if I was flying. I reached Asuna within a few seconds and complained loudly:
"Th-Th-That was unfair! Running away by yourself!!"
"Uwa, thisisn'tthetimetobesayingthatKirito-kun!"
I turned around and saw the huge fish running towards us with an impressive speed despite its sheer size.
"Ooh, it's running on the ground... So it's a dipnoan[3]...?"
"Kirito-san, this isn't the time to be saying pointless things like that!! We should run away quickly!!"
This time it was Nishida who shouted in fear. The dozens of spectators were in a state of shock from the situation, and quite a few of them were sitting on the ground with blank expressions.
"Kirito-kun, did you bring your weapons?"
Asuna said as she brought her head right next to mine. Yeah, it would be pretty hard to get everybody ordered enough to escape in this sort of situation—
"Sorry, I didn't..."
"Oh well, I don't have any choice then..."
Asuna shook her head as she turned to face the huge fish that was nearing us. She quickly manipulated the menu with a sure hand.
As Nishida and the other spectators watched with surprise, Asuna took off her overcoat and scarf with her back to us. Her chestnut hair danced wildly in the wind as it reflected the sunlight.
Although she wore only a grass-colored long skirt and a shirt of hemp cloth, a rapier shone at the left side of her hip like a mirror. She drew it with her right hand, and the sword gave a clear ringing noise as she waited resolutely for the huge fish to come.
Nishida, who was standing beside me, finally got back to his senses and shook my arm while shouting:
"Kirito-san! Your, your wife is in danger!!"
"No, we can just let her handle this."
"What are you saying!? I-If that's what you're going to say, then I'll..."
He snatched a fishing rod from a nearby companion and prepared to rush to Asuna with a tragic expression on his face. I had to quickly stop this old fisherman.
The gigantic fish didn't slow down one bit. It opened its huge mouth, which was lined with countless sharp teeth, and threw its entire body at Asuna as if trying to swallow her whole. Asuna turned the left side of her body away from the fish while her right hand flew out with a silver-white light streaming behind it.
A blinding flash of light erupted from the fish's mouth with an explosive sound effect. The fish was thrown high into the air, but Asuna hadn't even moved from her spot.
Although the sheer size of the monster induced fear, I had guessed that its level couldn't be very high. There was no way that a monster from such a low floor, especially one from a fishing-related event, could be that strong. After all, SAO was a game that kept to the normal pattern of online games.
The fish fell onto the ground with a crash, its HP greatly reduced by Asuna's attack. Then, Asuna mercilessly launched into a chain of consecutive attacks worthy of her title «Flash».
Nishida and the other spectators watched wordlessly as Asuna activated one skill after another while she stepped gracefully as if dancing. Was it Asuna's beauty or her strength that mesmerized them? I thought that it was probably both.
As Asuna swung her sword with a presence that overwhelmed everything around her, she saw that her opponent's HP had gone into the red zone and jumped back to widen the distance between them. After landing, she went straight into a charge attack. She dashed towards the fish, leaving a trail of light behind her as if she was a comet. It was one of the highest level rapier skills: «Flashing Penetrator».
With a sound effect similar to a sonic boom, the comet penetrated the fish from its mouth to its tail. As Asuna skidded to a stop, the huge monster behind her fragmented into numerous bits of light and scattered. There was a loud smashing sound which created a huge ripple on the lake's surface.
Asuna sheathed her rapier with a *clink* and walked nonchalantly over to us. Nishida and the other fishermen were left with their mouths gaping wide open, unable to even move.
"Hey, good job."
"It's not fair, making me fight by myself. You're buying lunch next time."
"Our money is shared data now."
"Oh, right..."
As Asuna and I went on with our relaxed conversation, Nishida finally managed to blink and open his mouth.
"...Ah, that was surprising... Madam, you, you're really strong. This might be a bit rude, but how high is your level...?"
Asuna and I looked at each other. Staying on this topic for too long might be dangerous for us.
"Be-Before that, look, the fish dropped an item."
Asuna pressed a couple of things on the window and a silver fishing rod appeared in her hands. Since an event monster had dropped it, it was most likely an unsellable rare item.
"Oh, ooh, this is!?"
Nishida received the fishing rod with sparkling eyes. All the spectators became interested in this as well. Just as I thought that we had managed to safely avert this crisis...
"Are...Are you Asuna from the Knights of the Blood...?"
A young player took several steps closer to Asuna and stared intently at her face. Then his face brightened.
"Yeah, you are! I've even got a picture!!"
"Ah..."
Asuna forced a smile and took a few steps back. The spectators then doubled their excitement.
"It's, it's an honor! To be able to see Asuna-san fighting so close up... Oh yeah! Can, can you give me an autogra..."
The young man suddenly stopped talking and then shifted his gaze between Asuna and me a few times. He finally muttered with a surprised expression:
"Are...Are you two... married...?"
It was now my turn to force a smile. As both of us stood there with unnatural smiles plastered on, shouts of anguish rose up all around us. Only Nishida continued to blink without any idea of what was going on.
Our secret honeymoon ended like this after only two weeks. But maybe we should consider ourselves lucky to take part in such a fun event at the end.
That night, we received a message from Heathcliff, requesting us to take part in fighting the 75^th floor boss.


The next morning.
As I sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the ground, Asuna, who had finished getting ready, walked over to me while the iron soles of her boots clanked against the ground.
"Hey, you can't be like this forever."
"But it's only been two weeks."
I replied childishly and raised my head. But I couldn't deny that looking at Asuna in her white-red knight uniform for the first time in a while was very attractive.
Seeing as we had temporarily left the guild, we could decline the request. But the last line of the message, that "some people had already died," laid heavily on our minds.
"Well, we should at least go listen to what's going on. Come on, it's already time!"
As she tapped me on the back, I finally stood up with reluctance and opened the equipment screen. Since we weren't part of the guild right now, I put on my familiar black leather coat and a minimalistic set of armor, then slung my two swords onto my back with the scabbards crossing each other. The heavy weight on my back felt like they were complaining about being left in the inventory for so long. With a quick movement, I drew them slightly and then sheathed them again; a high and clear metallic sound rang through the room.
"Yeah. This appearance suits you best."
Asuna smiled and hung onto my right arm. I looked back and bade farewell to our new home, which we were going to be away from for a while.
"...Let's get this over with quickly and then come back."
"Yeah!"
We looked at each other and nodded. Then we opened the door and stepped outside into the cold winter air.
At the gate plaza of the 22^nd floor, we found Nishida waiting for us with a fishing rod in his hand. We had told only him the time when we were going to leave.
"Could we talk for a bit?"
I nodded to Nishida's request, and the three of us sat down next to each other on a bench in the plaza. Nishida started talking slowly as he stared up towards the upper floors.
"To tell the truth... until today, stories about how people were fighting to clear the game on the upper floors sounded like they came from another world... Perhaps I had already given up on the thought of leaving this place."
Asuna and I listened to him silently.
"I think you already know this, but the IT industry progresses almost daily. I had started this career when I was young, so I was able to keep up with the industry back then. But now I had been out of the field for about two years, I figured it would be impossible for me to catch up now. Since I don't know whether I could return to my old job or not, or if I would be treated as a hindrance and simply tossed away, I thought that it would be better for me to keep fishing here—
He stopped talking and formed a smile on his old, wrinkled face. I didn't know what to say. I suppose I couldn't even imagine all the things he lost when he became imprisoned in SAO.
"I also—"
Asuna suddenly started talking.
"Until half a year ago, I also thought about those sorts of things and cried by myself every night. As each day passed here, it felt as if everything: my friends, my family, going to college, everything related to the real world was being ruined. I always dreamed of the other world when I slept... I thought that all I could do was to get stronger quickly, to clear this game faster, and the only way to do so was to fanatically train my weapon skills."
I looked at Asuna in surprise. Although I never paid much attention to others before... but I never felt anything like this from her during all our interactions. Well, this wouldn't be the first time that I had guessed someone's personality wrong...
Asuna caught my gaze and smiled briefly before continuing:
"But on a day about half a year ago, after I had just teleported to the city on the front-lines, I saw someone taking a nap on the grass of the plaza. He looked as if he was at a pretty high level, so I got angry and said, 'If you have time to kill here, go into the dungeon and try to clear some more of it...!'"
Then she covered her mouth with her hand and laughed.
"Then that person unexpectedly replied, 'It's the best season in Aincrad, and the weather setting is really good too. It would be a shame to go into the dungeon on a day like this.' Then he gestured to the space next to him and said, 'Why don't you take a nap as well?' He was so rude."
Asuna stopped smiling; her eyes became distant before she continued:
"But what he said surprised me. I realized that 'this person was actually living properly within this world.' He didn't mind losing days in the real world and instead focused on experiencing each day within this world. I discovered that there were actually people like this, so I sent away the other guild members and tried laying down next to him. Because the wind felt so good... just the right warmth for people, I fell asleep. I didn't have any nightmares that time. It was probably the first time I had such a good sleep since coming to this world. By the time I woke up, it was already in the afternoon, and that person was looking at me impatiently. That person was him..."
As she finished, Asuna tightly grasped my hand. I felt extremely embarrassed. I did sort of remember something like that, but...
"Sorry, Asuna... I didn't mean anything that deep by it; I just wanted to take a nap..."
"I knew that even if you didn't tell me!"
Asuna pouted, then she turned back towards Nishida with a smiling face before continuing:
"From that day on... I went to sleep thinking of him, and as a result the nightmares went away. I found out where his hometown was and would set aside some time to go see him every once in a while... Then I began to look forward to the coming of each day... When I realized that I was in love, I was so happy and swore to treasure this emotion. That was the first time when I thought that coming to this world was a great thing..."
Asuna lowered her head, rubbing her eyes with her gloved hands, and then took a deep breath.
"Kirito-kun is the meaning behind the two years of my life spent here. He is also the proof that I'm alive and the reason for looking forward to tomorrow. I had put on the Nerve Gear and come to this world in order to meet him. Nishida oji-san... It might not be my place to say this, but I think you've definitely achieved something within this world. There is no doubt that this is a virtual world, that everything we see and touch is an imitation created from data. But to us, our hearts do exist within this reality. If that's true, then everything we're experiencing here should also be true."
Nishida blinked continuously and nodded several times. His eyes were moist behind his glasses. I was also trying my best to hold back my tears.
It was me, I thought. I was the one who was saved when I couldn't find the reason for being alive, whether when I was in the real world or after I came to this one.
"...Yes. Yes, you're right..."
Nishida looked up at the sky again and spoke.
"What I have heard here is also a priceless experience. Having caught a five meter fish is also one... It seems that my life here hasn't been meaningless. It was not meaningless at all."
Nishida nodded once and then stood up.
"Ah, it seems that I've taken up too much of your time. I firmly believe that if people like you are fighting to free us, then we should all be able to return to the real world soon... Although there's nothing that I can do to help, I could at least encourage you and cheer you on."
Nishida held our hands and shook them.
"We'll come back. Please keep us company when we do."
As I promised with my index finger, Nishida nodded with a huge smile as tears streamed down his face.
We firmly shook hands with Nishida and then walked over to the teleport gate. As we entered the space that shimmered like an illusion, Asuna and I looked at each other and then opened our mouths at the same time:
"Teleport— Grandum!"
The blue light that started to cover our vision erased the image of Nishida as he kept waving at us.

Chapter 20

“The scouting party was wiped out—!?”
We were greeted with this shocking news when we returned to the KoB headquarters in Grandum for the first time in two weeks.
We were currently on one of the higher floors of the iron tower which served as the headquarters and inside the conference room with the huge window where we had talked with Heathcliff last time. Heathcliff sat at the center of the huge semi-circular table, dressed in his usual long robes. The other leaders of the guild sat on either side of him, except this time Godfree wasn't present.
Heathcliff clasped the bony fingers of his hands together in front of his face and nodded slowly with a deep frown.
“It happened yesterday. Mapping the 75^th floor labyrinth took quite a long time, but we were able to finish it without any casualties. Although I had expected that we would have a hard time defeating the boss...”
I did have a feeling that something like this might happen. The reason was that, of all the labyrinth bosses, only the ones from the 25^th and 50^th floors were extraordinarily large and powerful, which resulted in heavy losses from both of those fights.
The fight against the two-headed giant on the 25^th floor virtually annihilated the elite troops of «The Army», which was the main cause of their decline as an organization. When the six-armed monster, which looked like a metallic statue of Buddha, launched a fierce assault during the 50^th floor battle, numerous players had been frightened into teleporting away without permission and nearly caused the front-line to collapse. If the reinforcements had been even a little late, we would have faced another total wipeout. As a matter of fact, the person who had held the line by himself during that battle until support arrived was right in front of me.
If an exceptionally strong boss awaited at every twentyfifth level, then it was very likely that this boss would be the same.
“...So, I sent a scouting party of twenty men consisting of members from five different guilds.”
Heathcliff continued in a monotone. Since his eyes were currently half-open, it was impossible to discern his emotions behind those copper-colored eyes.
“They had scouted with utmost care. Ten of them had stayed outside the boss room as reserves... but when the first ten entered and reached the center of the room, the gates closed just as the boss appeared. According to the reports of the ten who waited outside, the doors stayed closed for over five minutes, and nothing they did, including lockpicking or bashing the door, had any effect. By the time the door had finally opened—”
The edge of Heathcliff's mouth became tense. He closed his eyes for a moment and then continued.
“There was nobody in the room. The boss and the ten men had all disappeared. There was no sign of teleportation. They didn't return... and I sent somebody to check the death list on the metallic monument inside Black Iron Castle for confirmation...”
He didn't say the next part aloud and simply shook his head. Next to me, Asuna held her breath and then managed to force out in a small voice:
“Ten... people... How did this happen...?”
“An anti-crystal field...?”
Heathcliff nodded briefly to my question.
“That's the only explanation. According to Asuna-kun's report, the 74^th floor was the same, so it's highly probable that every boss room from now on would all have anti-crystal fields.”
“Damn it...”
I cursed. If emergency escape was impossible, the chances of people dying due to unexpected circumstances were drastically increased. We won't produce any casualties— that was the most important guideline to follow while clearing the game. But it was impossible to clear it unless we defeated the bosses...
“It's become more and more like a true game of death...”
“However, we can't give up on clearing this game just because of this...”
Heathcliff closed his eyes and then spoke in a quiet but determined voice:
“In addition to the anti-crystal field, the room also blocked the exit as soon as the boss appeared. Since this is the case, we can only attack it with the largest team of players that we can command and coordinate. I originally didn't want to call you two back since you had just gotten married, but I hope you can understand our dilemma.”
I answered with a shrug.
“We'll help. But I will be putting Asuna's safety as my top priority. If a dangerous situation arises, I will be putting her before the rest of the party.”
Heathcliff smiled in an almost unnoticeable manner.
“One who wishes to protect another is capable of unleashing the greatest strength. I look forward to your achievements on the battlefield. The assault will begin in three hours. Thirty-two people, including you two, are expected to participate. We will meet in front of the teleport gate in Collinia on the 75^th floor at one o'clock. You are dismissed.”
As he finished, the red paladin and his men stood up and left the room.


“Three hours— What should we do?”
Asuna asked as she absentmindedly sat down on the steel bench. I simply watched her in silence. Her body which was covered by a white combat uniform with red decorations, her long and silky hair, her sparkling brown eyes— she was as beautiful as a priceless gem.
When she noticed that I kept looking at her without shifting my gaze, Asuna blushed and asked with an embarrassed smile:
“Wha...? What?”
I hesitantly opened my mouth:
“...Asuna...”
“What?”
“...Please don't get angry and listen to me. This boss fight today... could you not take part and wait here for my return?”
Asuna first stared at me, then she lowered her head with a melancholic expression and said:
“...Why are you saying this...?”
“Despite what Heathcliff said, we simply can't predict what will happen in a place where crystals can't be used. I'm really afraid... when I think about it... that something will happen to you...”
“...You want me to wait in a safe location while you go somewhere that dangerous by yourself?”
Asuna stood up and walked towards me with confident steps. Her eyes were aflame with passion.
“If I did that and you didn't return, then I'd commit suicide. Not only would I lose my reason to keep living, I would also never forgive myself for simply waiting here. If you want to run away, then we'll run away together. If that's what you want to do, then I'm fine with it.”
She finished talking and touched the center of my chest with the fingertips of her right hand. Her eyes softened and a soft smile appeared on her face.
“But, you know... Everybody taking part in today's battle is afraid, and they all want to run away. Yet, despite the fear, they still agreed to join. That's because the leader and Kirito-kun... because the two strongest people in this world are leading them... that's what I think... I know that you don't like to bear responsibility. But I hope that you'll try, just this once, not only for them, but also for us... So we can return to the real world, so we can meet again; I hope we can try our best together.”
I raised my right hand and clasped Asuna's hand softly. The feeling that I didn't want to lose her flooded out from deep within my heart.
“...Sorry... I, became weak for a moment. To tell the truth, I really wish we could just run away together. I don't want you to die, and I don't want to die either. We don't have to...”
I gazed into Asuna's eyes and kept on talking:
“It's fine if we can't return to the real world... I want to go on living with you in that forest lodge. The two of us... forever...”
Asuna grasped her chest with her remaining hand. She closed her eyes and frowned, as if she was trying to endure something. Then, a dejected sigh escaped her lips.
“Yeah... It really is like a dream... It would be great if we could do that... Spending each day together... forever...”
She stopped here and bit her lip as if she was letting go of a hopeless wish. Then she opened her eyes and looked up to me with a serious expression on her face.
“Kirito-kun, have you ever thought about it...? About what's happening to our real bodies right now?”
I was struck speechless by this unexpected question. It was probably something that every player here wondered about. But since there was no way of contacting the outside world, it was useless to think about it. Although everyone was scared, they also avoided confronting this question.
“Do you remember? That person's... Kayaba Akihiko's introduction at the beginning of the game. He said that the Nerve Gear would permit two hours of disconnection. But the reason for that was...”
“...To move our bodies to the proper medical facilities...”
Asuna nodded as I muttered this.
“Then a few days later, everyone had been cut off for about an hour, right?”
Something like that had definitely happened. I had looked at the disconnection warning and worried about whether or not the Nerve Gear would kill me in two hours.
“I think everybody had been moved to hospitals then. It's impossible to take care of a comatose person for years in a normal household. They most likely moved us to a hospital and then linked us back up again...”
“...Yeah, I think you're right...”
“If our bodies are just lying on a bed, managing to stay alive only through the numerous cords connected to them... I don't think that they'll remain safe in that situation forever.”
I was suddenly overtaken by the fear that my body was starting to fade away; I hugged Asuna to confirm our existence.
“...In other words... regardless of whether or not we can clear the game... there will always be a time limit...”
“...And this time limit will differ from person to person... Since talking about «the other side» is a taboo here, I haven't discussed this with anyone else... But you're different. I...I want to spend my whole life by your side. I want to go out with you for real, get married to you for real, and then grow old together. So...so...”
She couldn't continue. Asuna buried her face in my chest and let the tears flow. I slowly stroked her back to help her finish her words.
“So... We have no choice but to fight right now...”
My fears didn't actually go away. But how could I give up now when Asuna was doing her best to open up our future while trying so hard to keep herself from collapsing.
It's alright— It will definitely be alright. As long as we're together, it will definitely—
I strengthened my arms and hugged Asuna tightly to get rid of the eerie feeling that threatened to overtake me.