"Hey, hey—"

"Hey, what's going on with this picture!"

“…… I said, Kirito, can you at least report your name?"

"I don't have that kind of time!

“…… It's going to take a little while. Can you come to my shop?"

"I'll go right away, I'll go now!"

He Ye hung up the phone without waiting for the other party to answer, and then rushed out of the room with a change of clothes.

After taking a shower in the shortest time, I put on my shoes and rode a bicycle without blowing my hair in the mirror or looking at it. She had never thought the familiar road to the station was so long.

Akil's café--bar is located in a narrow alley in Okachimachi, Taito-ku. The whole thing is made of wood that resembles charcoal ash, and only a metal billboard hangs from a small door to indicate that this is the location of the store. The name of the store is engraved on the two dice-shaped billboards.

The door was pushed open at the same time as the dry bell of [Click] sounded, and the bald man in the barcase looked up and grinned. At the moment, there are not half customers in the store.

"Yo, it's coming so fast, black female swordsman~"

“…… Your shop is still so deserted. It was able to survive the previous two years. ”

"Don't be wordy, our business is doing well in the evening. ”

The two of them had a cordial conversation as if they were back in that world.

And the night is last month, try to get in touch with Achill.

I got a list from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications with the real names and addresses of all the acquaintances I wanted to know.

Although players like Klein, Nishida, or Sirika and Lizbet want to meet them again, they must also have a lot of things to deal with and adapt to in the real world, so Kazuya decided to contact them every other while.

However, Clyde has never heard of them, maybe because of the identity of the other party, right?

Soldiers, or mercenaries, anyway, the person who was asked about Clyde was also divided, maybe there was something hidden, right?

At the same time, when he learned that his real name was Andrew Kilbod Miluz, he also ran a store in the real world, and he felt like this was the case.

He is African-American by blood, but he heard that his family had lived in Tokyo since his parents' generation, and it was only when he opened this café--bar in Okachimachi, which he was familiar with, when he was twenty-five years old.

Not only did the business prosper, but he also married a beautiful wife, but when he was about to start a good life, he became a captive of SAO. When he came back two years later, he didn't think the store would still exist, but his wife kept it alone. It can be said to be a very touching true story.

In fact, there seem to be a lot of regular customers here. Because of the careful cleaning, all the utensils in the all-wooden shop look very shiny, and although there are only four tables and a bar in the narrow shop, there is a rather comfortable feeling wafting around.

Kazuya sat down on a leather-cushioned stool, wasting his time even ordering coffee, and immediately began to question Achill about the photo.

"What the hell is going on with that picture?"

The shopkeeper didn't answer Kazuya's question right away, but just reached under the bar, took out a rectangular box, and slid it towards Kazuya.

And the night stopped it with his fingers.

The palm-sized box was clearly a game software. ’

Trying to determine what kind of gaming platform it belonged to, he immediately noticed the logo of [AmuSphere] printed in the upper right corner.

"I've never heard of this hardware ......"

“【AmuSphere】。 We developed it when we were still in another world. It's the successor to NERvGear. ”

“……”

When Kazuya looked at the trademark symbols that simulated two rings with mixed feelings, Akyle simply added some explanations.

After such a big incident, NERvGear, although it is called a demon machine, still can't stop the market demand for completely stealth game consoles.

Only half a year after the SAO incident, the successor of the well-known company pat its chest to ensure that [this time it is absolutely safe] began to be sold immediately, and when they were imprisoned in another world, their market share had surpassed the inherent fixed-point game consoles. Its successor was [AmuSphere], which also released many games of the same genre as SAO, and gained quite a lot of support around the world.

I basically already know these things, but because I can't arouse the interest to play the same type of game, I don't know much about the details.

"Is that VRMMO too?"

Kazuya picked up the box and stared at it. The illustration on the box shows a huge full moon looking up from the depths of the forest.

With this gold disc as a backdrop, a teenager and a maiden pair fly through the sky with swords. They are dressed in an orthodox fantasy style, and a pair of large transparent wings grow from their backs. Underneath the illustration is a very elaborate logo for the name of the game - "ALfheim Online".

“ALf…… What do you mean......?"

"Elf...... It feels so gentle. Is it a peaceful MMO?"

"Then you'd be wrong. It's a hard game to get started in a sense. ”

Achill smiled as he placed the steaming cup in front of Kazuya.

"What do you mean by hard to get started?"

"It's a super skill system. A lot of attention is paid to the skill of the players. And PK is encouraged. ”

"Super ......"

"It seems that there is no such thing as [rank]. Although it can be used repeatedly to improve various skills, even if you keep fighting monsters, your attack power will not increase much. Combat is also based on the player's athletic ability, so it's like a SAO with no sword skills but magic. I've heard that the visual image and motion accuracy are close to the level of SAO. ”

"Wow...... That's remarkable. ”

Kazuya pursed his mouth and whistled silently.

That floating city of Aiengrunte is a product that the crazy genius Akihiko Kayaba has poured all his energy into building.

I couldn't believe that there were other programmers other than him who could create VR worlds of the same level.

"What is that encouragement PK?"

"Players have many race of goblins to choose from when creating their characters, and different races can kill each other. ”

"That's really hard to get started. This kind of game is specially made for a small group of people, even if the production level is high, it will not be popular. ”

After Kazuya finished frowning, a smile appeared on the corner of Akyl's thick mouth.

"I used to think so, but now it's very popular. I heard that it was because I was able to [fly]. ”

"Can you fly......?"

"Because it's an elf, it has wings. What kind of flight engine is equipped in it, and after getting used to it, you can fly freely without a joystick. ”

After its release, there were many VR games with flying titles, but all of them were flying with some kind of device in the game. As for why there is no game where the player can fly, the reason is quite simple, it is because humans in the real world do not have wings.

In an imaginary world, the player's body would be able to perform the same movements as in the real world. But on the other hand, what humans can't sit in the real world can't do in the game. Even if they have wings on their backs, they don't know which muscles to use to move them.

In SAO, in the second half of the game, Clyde, herself, and Asuna can make flight-like movements because of their super jumping power, but that is only an extension of the jump after all, and it is still different from free flight.

"It's amazing to be able to fly. How do you control your wings? ”

"I don't know, but I've heard it's quite difficult. Beginners seem to be flying with one hand manipulating the stick stick. ”

“……”

Kazuya had the idea of taking on a challenge for a moment, but immediately took a big sip of hot coffee to dispel it.

"- Well, I know the game in general. Now back to the subject, what's going on with that picture. ”

Achill took out a piece of paper from under the bar cabinet again and placed it in front of Kazuya's eyes. That's glossy photographic paper for photocopiers. It has the photo that Kazuya cares about very much.

"What do you think?"

Elki asked, and after staring at the photo for a while, he said:

"It's really like ...... Asuna ...... No, if Clyde had been here, he would have been able to perceive something with his powers of observation. ”

"After all, people are soldiers.,It's not good to have a little reconnaissance~ Also,Because it's an image file taken from the game screen, the resolution is not high......"

"Tell me, where the hell is this?"

"Fheim Online inside. ”

Achill took the box from Kazuya's hand and placed it on the bar counter in turn. The game content and graphics are carefully arranged on the back of the box, and in the center there is an aerial view of the entire world. The various races cut the entire circular world in a radial shape, and in the center stood a huge tree.

"It's called the World Book. ”

Achill said with a click, tapping on the illustration.

"The player's goal now is to reach the castle above the trees one step ahead of the other races. ”

"Isn't it possible to get there with a flyer?"

"I've heard that there is a so-called air time, and you can't fly all the time. So players won't even be able to reach the bottom branch of the tree. However, there are a few stupid people in each place, and there are five people who stack Arhats in order of height, and then use rockets to break away and head towards the branches. ”

"Hahaha, I see. It's stupid, but it's a good idea. ”

"Hmm. Their plan was a success, as they were already very close to the branches. Although it was still a little worse in the end, the fifth man took several pictures in the air in order to prove the altitude he had reached. Among these photos, there seems to be a very strange image. I heard that I photographed a huge birdcage on the World Tree. ”

"Birdcage ......"

Kazuya frowned at the ominous feeling in his words. Imprisoned...... Words like this flashed through my mind.

"When you zoom in on that picture, it's what you see. ”

"But it's an official game, right? Why did Asuna ......?"

Kazuya picked up the box and stared at it again.

Then look under the rectangular outer box. The name of the game manufacturer is RECT PROGRESS.

"Hey, what's wrong with you, Kirito? ”

Damn, is that guy?!How dare you imprison my best friend·······

"It's okay...... Achill, are there any other photos, like the [SAO Returnees] other than Asuna are also imprisoned in this [ALfheim Online] or something. ”

After hearing Kazuya's question, the shopkeeper squeezed a wrinkle into his thick brow mound and shook his head.

"No, I haven't heard of that...... I think if there is such a photo, you can be sure that the person is locked inside. So that I won't call you, but the police. ”

"Uh-huh, that's what I'm talking about......" Kazuya lowered his head.

If she could, she would especially like to find Clyde now, because only his help can save Asuna herself.

However, Clyde ······

Where the hell is he now?

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