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Published at 23rd of January 2023 06:14:04 AM


Chapter 88

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With a single click, the sliding door opened. What was revealed beyond it is a skinny teenager trying to stand up from his bed. The cause of that nightmare, Nervegear, is placed on the side of the bed.

"Who... are you..?"

The boy tried to speak, but his voice is hoarse. It is due to his year and a half of inactivity, which is the result of his long period of inactivity.

"Eh? You haven't fully woke up yet?" Shiro asked with a playful voice.

Hearing this, he immediately guessed who he was, even if his vision is still blurry.

"Shiro..."

"Anyways, what are you planning to do?"

"I'm going... to make... a phone call."

Since Kirito and Asuna had known each other for a long time, it is natural for them to make plans as to how they'll contact each other. One of them would be calling her brother's phone number.

"A phone call? Here, you can use mine."

"Thanks."

Taking out his 700 Points smartphone, he opened the calling app before passing it to Kirito. With it, he could now sit down peacefully.  His clouded vision got better after a minute, allowing him to dial the numbers correctly.

While Shiro laid his back on the wall, the call had finally connected.

"Hello? Who is this?"

On the other side, Yuuki Kouichiro, Asuna's elder brother, answered his phone while he kept running. It is unexpected that just today, RECT's server shut down. It is also the server responsible for running Sword Art Online.

Since he worked for the company, he received the news firsthand and rushed to the hospital where Asuna resides. He also messaged both of his parents before he left the company building and drove his car.

"Is this Kouichiro-san?"

"Yes? Who are you?"

"I am Kirito, Asuna's... friend."

Kirito doesn't want to come off as someone ridiculous on their first meeting. After all, it'll be awkward if he suddenly hangs up upon hearing that they're husband and wife.

"Kirito? Why does it sound like an in-game name..?" Kouichiro asked before realizing something.

"You... You are a player from Sword Art Online?"

"That's right."

To be honest, he found it surprising at first. But then, it also reassured him further that everyone from that game logged out.

"Asuna... You're with her when you logged out?" He asked.

"Yes. It happened suddenly, so I would like to talk with her now."

Hearing this, Kouichiro mulled over this request for a while before agreeing. After all, it's only a talk. He also recalled something in the server's database, in which "Kirito" is a part of the highest leveled players in the game.

Since his mind is in a mess right now, he couldn't think properly. Only now did he calm down as he arrived in the hospital's reception desk.

He put his side on hold as he filled in the visitor's log.

Meanwhile, Shiro said something nerving to Kirito.

"You better look out for some shady guy besides her."

"What do you mean..?" Kirito asked.

To that, Shiro only smiled at him. Though, Kirito already expects some trouble from his tone alone.

Thankfully, the call connected once more. A familiar voice rang out from the other side.

"Kirito-kun?"

"Asuna..." He heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing her voice. His worries were almost gone, if not for what Shiro had said to him earlier.

While they spoke to each other, he said, "Asuna, be careful on some suspicious guys around you."

"Un." Asuna paused for a while before asking, "Is there something wrong?"

"Well... Shiro said something about a shady guy near you."

"A shady guy..?"

At this time, another person is on the front door.

"Nobuyuki." Kouichiro greeted him.

"I rushed here as soon as possible. Is Asuna alright?"

"Yes, but you'll have to wait for a while."

"Why?"

Kouichiro only smiled as he thought of Asuna's happy expression upon hearing the name of "Kirito". That's why he left them alone to talk.

"She's talking to someone."

"Is that so..."

Meanwhile, Asuna heard this from the inside.

"A shady person... It should be Sugou." She said with a firm voice. Kirito could even feel her anger on the phone.

Since there's only a few times when she got that angry, he took this seriously.

In the end, they talked for ten more minutes before ending the call.

"Right, here's your present." Shiro said while he took out a silver box encased with a black exoskeleton. It looked like a scifi-object as a result.

"Present?"

With a single tap on top of it, a holographic screen appeared.

"A hologram..."

"That's right, but what's more important is this."

After some swiping and tapping, Yui appeared on the screen.

"Papa?"

"Yui..!"

Shiro passed this cube to his hand. He then continued explaining, "This is a . You only have to know that it's made out of very special materials, allowing it to store hundreds of millions of data qubits. You can think of it like an artificial brain."

Hearing this, he couldn't help but to pay attention to this small cube more.

"You can access its controls by activating the holographic panel. With that, you can bind Yui to other devices while she mainly stays here. Though, you can also make her leave, but her processing power is gonna take a huge dip."

To Kirito who majored in Computer Engineering, he at least understand its basic functions.

"Thanks."

"No problem. Anyways, I gotta go." He paused for a bit before he added, "Yeah, you shouldn't show it to anyone else."

"I won't."

Shiro then waved his hand as he headed for the exit. Just as he's about to open it, someone beat him to it. When the girl saw Kirito who woke up, she exclaimed, "Onii-chan..!"

She didn't mind Shiro as she headed straight for Kirito. 

This is one of the effects that Shiro had discovered when he taught Eiji and Yuna. While his charm may mesmerize single people, those who has a romantic relationship would only admire his appearance and not get affected by it.

Perhaps, his charm runs on a much complex rule. Though, he felt happy upon knowing this. 

It feels good to know that there's a group of people that wouldn't bother him much.

Before closing the door, Shiro suddenly said, "It's Sugou Nobuyuki."

Kirito's eyes widened while he was being hugged by Suguha, but he showed his appreciation with his eyes.

As he left, his 'little sister' couldn't help by wonder.

"Onii-chan, who is he?"

"He's a friend that I made in the game."

"Is that so..."

While Kirito stared at her, a thought flashed by his mind.

'What would be her reaction if I introduce Asuna to her...'

Unknowingly, he dug a hole for himself.

*****

Fact #45: In Terra, there's originum arts that involves astrology. Astesia, an operator in R.I., used to have this. Just like the normal fortune teller, she receives a 'reading' that would predict someone' future. Add to that her record of always being correct, she was one of the best astrologers. However, it would also weaken the moment someone contracts oripathy. Astesia caught this, thus her astrology became weaker. It really made me wonder if originum is some high-leveled energy source that interfered with foretelling. Like, Lord of the Mysteries had this, right?

PS: LoTM has many outer gods out there (The ones that had their Sefirot stolen by the "Creator"), thus making me wonder about this.





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