Chapter 347 - 48: Repair

Chapter 347: Chapter 48: Repair

"What is ’reality’ like?" Kayaba Akihiko began by asking the two of them that question.

"Papa and Mama are there, so it feels safe." Yui, using almost her original appearance, hid behind Yimi and wrapped her arms around her waist.

"I see. A world that seems dull to us must feel as novel to you as it would to a child not yet two years old."

He glanced at Sugou Nobuyuki, who lay like a puddle of mud and could not even groan, and decided not to hold his earlier beating against them.

"’Life’ was born inside the world I created. That is exhilarating news to me. Yet for a ’life’ from that world to enter reality somehow feels both terrifying and dull."

"Proving that a simulated world is possible also proves, from another angle, that the real world itself could be simulated. What we call physics may simply be a higher-order balancing system like the Cardinal System."

Kayaba Akihiko pointed toward a passage. "The consciousnesses of the three hundred people trapped here are imprisoned in rooms along this corridor. Administrator privileges are required to release them, though for you, I doubt an authorization card matters."

"This is your reward for being a hero."

He pushed the object in his hand toward Yimi. "The Seed. I wonder what it will grow into after it sprouts... You may also choose to delete it and forget it."

As the Seed floated into Yimi’s hand, Kayaba Akihiko looked once more at the mud-like Sugou Nobuyuki and stepped back.

"I should go. Perhaps we will never meet again." Kayaba Akihiko turned and vanished from the area.

...

The remaining three hundred people whom Sugou Nobuyuki had trapped in ALO were rescued. Researchers led by Sugou had subjected their memories to inhumane experiments.

As one of the researchers who used a slug avatar in the game put it, "Sometimes we let them have pleasant dreams too." That was enough to infer the rest.

They were not people of any grand conviction. When the police surrounded the building, they grew frightened and confessed everything before questioning had even begun, while trying to place all primary responsibility on Sugou Nobuyuki.

Fortunately, the three hundred victims retained no memory of the experiments. They only vaguely recalled a platinum-colored figure brutally beating a sleazy blond man, so they suffered no lasting aftereffects.

"Grandma." Yui sweetly addressed Kirigaya Midori.

"You’re adorable! Would you like some dessert? Who is your mama?" Compared with Kyouko, who always wore a stern expression, Midori was far more enthusiastic.

By contrast, Suguha, who was peeking from behind the door, looked rather aggrieved. The little girl had just called her Auntie.

But she was clearly the one who came first...

"If this Seed were released online for other developers to use, there would probably be more FullDive games as realistic as SAO in the future."

Kirito used the programming fundamentals he had studied before to examine the Seed stored in Yimi’s device.

He stroked Yimi’s head. It felt much better than it had inside the game.

"Kayaba Akihiko gave it to you, didn’t he? Then deciding what to do with it should be up to you."

"What does the Seed do?" Yimi pressed both hands against Kirito’s legs and looked him in the eye.

"Hmm... Was my explanation unclear? Let me give you an example. The hundred-floor world where we met has already been destroyed, but with this as a foundation and programmers specializing in the right fields, it could be repaired."

Kirito felt somewhat ashamed. Although Yimi and Yui had returned to their reality, he was still only a student and had no ability to raise two little girls, so they remained in Asuna’s parents’ care...

His first impression on his future in-laws was probably already terrible before he had even met them. Still, Asuna had said her family accepted the two girls, though a large part of that might be because they believed keeping a genuine cat immortal around would bless the whole family with health and safety.

"Repair!"

Yimi had understood none of his explanation except that single word.

Her interpretation was simple: if this thing could repair the world where everyone had a system, then it could repair her System!

Yimi took back the device, turned it on, put it on her head, and lay down on Kirito’s bed.

Under Kirito’s confused gaze, she logged in and then logged out again less than a minute later.

"What’s wrong? The game you’re playing is ALO, right? I can join you." Kirito glanced at his bookshelf, then suddenly remembered that Suguha had confiscated his helmet.

Yimi did not answer. Instead, she pulled the Seed from her inventory, and its radiance brightened Kirito’s room once more.

Kirito: "..."

All right. He should be used to this by now.

Yimi opened the System, which was fifty-nine percent repaired, and tried pressing the Seed against it, but the Seed merely floated in the air without reacting.

Puzzled, she was just about to ask Kirito how to use it when the System’s repair panel distorted for an instant. A crack glowing with white light appeared in empty space and drew the Seed inside.

"System repair complete. Welcome to Dimensional Travel System 0.0."

The sound effect had changed slightly from before and seemed somewhat gentler.

"Meow?" Yimi stared at the System in confusion. Its UI had changed to resemble SAO’s.

The System had been version 2.0. Why had it become 0.0 again?

Yimi’s ears twitched twice. "Can 0.0 bring people along?"

Beatrice had cried so hard before. Yui had once fit inside the inventory, but after arriving in reality, she could no longer be stored there.

"The System does not possess that function. Host, please conduct your own research."

"Advisory: should the Host discover a method of transporting others, do not attempt it before returning home. The ability to switch Adaptive Power at will is unique to the Host, and the laws of each universe differ. A place safe for the Host may be extremely dangerous to people from other worlds."

"Mngh."

Yimi reached out to explore the new UI. The changed locations of several functions felt deeply unfamiliar.

The vanished quest progress had not returned, but the strong little cat did not cry again. She tried to check this world’s quest, only to find the words "Completed."

She did not really understand, but completion was a good thing.

Kirito understood just as little. Not only had the Seed been brought into reality, but he could not see the System at all, so all he could see was Yimi repeatedly poking his belly.

Was she operating a game menu?

"Mrrm?"

The optimized interface had many advantages, such as displaying information in greater detail. Yimi could now view her Adaptive Power from every world, and in doing so discovered a devastating fact.

She was already two years old!

When had that happened? She had learned about "birthdays" from picture books, yet she had never even had one!

The revelation stole all her attention, so she failed to notice that a new entry—"Aincrad"—had appeared under Noble Phantasms.

* * *

"Happy birthday!"

Because Yimi had remained gloomy over missing her birthday, they held a belated celebration for her. Naturally, it was limited to a small circle of acquaintances. Had they involved strangers, it would have turned into something other than a birthday party.

"I’ll cut you a big piece. Yui, don’t get impatient."

The celebration was for Yui too.

Together, the two girls had three candles.

Asuna had not experienced such a tiny gathering of only people she knew in a long time. It was incomparably better than an event held for social networking.

"I see. You already have to leave?"

Asuna rested her chin sadly on top of Yimi’s head. "When will you log in... come back here next time?"

"About a week?" Yimi rubbed against her chin.

The little cat sat on Asuna’s lap, while Yui sat on Kirito’s.

"That sounds awfully short. Is that okay?" Kirito copied Asuna and rested his chin on Yui’s head.

"In any case, don’t treat us like NPCs without feelings. We’d be very sad if you ignored us."

"I’ll come back to see you. And there’s this." Yimi jumped down from Asuna’s lap, rummaged through her inventory, and pulled out a white dress.

After spending so long in FullDive games, no one reacted very strongly to seeing someone casually pull an object out of thin air in reality.

"What is it?"

"Clothes for you." Yimi had promised to make outfits for both Asuna and Kirito.

Kirito smiled. "It looks beautiful."

He could already imagine Asuna wearing it.

"You get one too." Thinking he was envious, Yimi produced a matching black dress for him.

"..."

Back when they had planned to live in seclusion, she had made Kirito three dresses to rotate between.

Asuna lifted the white dress and gave a soft laugh.

It felt as if they had returned to that world. This outfit didn’t have stat bonuses, did it?

By the time she lowered the dress, the miraculous higher-dimensional child had disappeared.

The farewell had been far too abrupt. Did that child not know she should say something like "I’m leaving now" before going? Asuna would have to teach her properly next time.

Asuna patted Yui’s head. "Your big sister has left."

"Meow." Yui imitated Yimi’s verbal tic.

Even though she was a little taller than Yimi.

"Has that little cat already gone?" Kyouko, who had just entered the living room, looked around.

Asuna nodded. "She logged out of this game."

Kyouko’s eyelid twitched twice.