Ye Chi picked up the long knife on the ground and stood up on crutches, and Kirito and Asuna also got up a little later. The two staggered a few steps closer to the girl.

"Knot...... Clothes ......"

Asuna called out her name in a hoarse voice, and the girl turned her head silently. A smile appeared on the small lips, but the large, dark eyes were filled with tears.

"Dads...... Mom ......" (Damn, how do I feel that this is not right...... ）

"I remember it all......"

The deepest safe area of the Black Iron Palace's underground labyrinth is a complete square. There is only one entrance, and in the center is a polished black cube stone table.

Asuna, Hachi, and Kirito sat on the stone table and looked at Yui wordlessly. Yuriel and Xinka had already left earlier, so now there were only four people left.

After saying that her memory was restored, Yui remained silent for several minutes. Her expression looked very sad for some reason, and Asuna hesitated to speak to her, but finally made up her mind to speak:

"Yui...... Do you remember......? About my previous ......"

Yui continued to keep her head down for a moment, then nodded vigorously. Still crying but smiling, little lips moving.

"Yes...... Livingslater ...... Asuna ...... Kirito, I'll explain it to you now. ”

The moment she heard this cautious tone, a bad premonition gripped Asuna's chest. She was reluctantly convinced that something was over.

In the quadrangular room, Yui's words slowly began to flow out.

"This world, called Sword Art Online, is governed by a huge system. The name of the system is "Cardinal", and it can control the balance of the world based on its own judgment. And Cardinal was originally designed with the concept that no human maintenance is required. Correct errors with two main programs, and then use countless subroutines to make all the adjustments in the world...... The balance between the appearance of monsters and NPCs, as well as the appearance of items and currency, is all operated by a group of programs under the command of Cardinal - however, there is one task that must be performed by humans. Troubles caused by the player's mental condition can only be solved by humans...... Therefore, the staff of dozens of people was originally prepared......"

“GM……”

Kirito muttered softly.

"Yui, are you ...... game manager? ...... the ARGUS staff?"

Yui remained silent for a few seconds before shaking her head slightly.

“…… Cardinal's developers wanted to leave the task of taking care of the players to the system, so they tried out a certain program. Take advantage of the features of NERvGear to monitor the psychological state of players in detail, visit players with problems, listen to their voices...... "Mental State Management". Support Program (MentalHealthCare-Counseling Program)", MHCP Trial No. 1, program code "Yui". That's me. ”

Overly surprised, Asuna gasped, unable to comprehend what she had just heard.

"...... program? Is it AI......?"

After asking the question hoarsely, Yui kept a sad smile and nodded.

"In order not to make the player feel incongruous, I was also given the ability to imitate emotions - it's all fake...... Including these tears...... Miss Asuna, I'm sorry ......"

Tears continued to flow from Yui's eyes, and the particles of light dissipated. Asuna took a light step and leaned over to Yui's side. The hand stretched out, but Yui shook her head slightly, as if to say that she was not qualified to accept Asuna's hug.

Asuna still couldn't believe it, so she squeezed the words out.

"But...... But haven't you lost your memory......? ...... this happen with AI?"

“…… Two years ago...... On the day of the official operation......"

Yui lowered her gaze and continued.

"I don't know exactly what happened, but Cardinal gave me orders other than they were supposed to be. All interference with the player is prohibited...... This allows me to constantly monitor the player's mental state without being allowed to make specific contact. ”

"Kayaba Jinghiko ......" Ye, who had not spoken all this time, slowly said the person who issued this order.

"Yes...... The state can be said to be - extremely bad...... Almost all players are shrouded in negative feelings such as fear, despair, anger, etc., and sometimes there are people who fall into a state of madness. I should have rushed to the side of those players to listen to them and help solve the problem...... But I can't reach out to the players...... The paradox of having obligations but not being empowered caused me to accumulate mistakes and begin to fall apart......"

At the bottom of this quiet underground labyrinth, only the subtle sound of Yui wafting like a silver thread vibrating. The three of them could only listen to her in silence.

"One day, I was monitoring as usual and suddenly noticed two ...... No, to be exact, two pairs of players have different spirit stats from others. That brain wave is a frequency I haven't received so far. Glad...... Safe...... But that's not all...... I wondered what kind of feelings it was, so I continued to observe the two men. As I watched their conversations and actions, I felt an incredible desire in my heart. That's not how it works...... But I want to go to those two people...... Want to talk to them directly...... Wanting to get closer, I wandered around every day with the closest system administration to the player's house where the two of them lived—thankfully they knew each other and lived in the same area during this time...... I was probably almost out of order by then......"

"Does that mean the forest on the twenty-second floor......?"

Yui nodded slowly.

"Yes, Livingslet, Asuna, and Kirito and Lizbet...... I've always wanted to...... With the four...... At least two of them meet...... When I saw you in the forest...... I'm really happy...... It's weird, it's not supposed to happen...... I'm just a program......"

Yui, whose tears kept falling, closed her mouth. And Asuna, who was shocked by some indescribable disgust, clasped her hands in front of her chest.

"Yui...... You're a real AI, right? You have a real intellect......"

Asuna murmured, and Yui tilted her head slightly and replied:

"I ...... I don't know...... I don't know what happened to me......"

"Yui...... You've already passed the Turing test, haven't you? No one but yourself realizes you're an AI...... You already have intelligence, you have passed the Turing test, you have your own soul ......" Ye Chi said slowly, with a tone that could not be refused.

"Yui is no longer just a program operated by the system, so I can express my hopes." Kirito stepped forward again and said.

Then he asked in a gentle tone:

"What is Yui's wish?"

"I ...... I ......"

Yui desperately stretched out her slender hands towards the three of them.

"I want to be with you forever...... Father...... Mom ......!"

Asuna didn't wipe away the spilled tears, and ran to Yui's side and hugged her little body tightly.

"We're going to be together forever, Yui."

Ye Chi wrapped Asuna outside, and then Kirito had no place left...... I can only stroke Yui's head.

"You're the child of the four of us...... It's always ......" Ye Chi's tone was already a little choked up—this was very rare.

"Well...... Mommy and Dad...... But...... It's too late......"

"How so?"

Kirito asked in a bewildered voice:

"What's going on...... Too late means ......"

"I can regain my memory...... It's because of the relationship ...... that I came into contact with that stone."

Yui's gaze looked into the center of the room, and she pointed to the black cube sitting there.

"When Miss Asuna asked me to hide in this safe area, I came across the stone by chance, and I learned that it was not just a decorative object...... Rather, it is to enable the GM to connect to the management device set up by the system in an emergency. ”

Yui's words seemed to be hiding some kind of command, and several beams of light suddenly appeared on the black stone. Then there was a bang, and a blue-white virtual keyboard appeared on the surface.

"The boss monster just now should be regarded as a bodyguard configured to prevent players from approaching here. I used this control device to connect to the system and called out the "Object Elimination Device" to destroy the monsters. At this point, Cardinal's error correction function was used to repair my broken language function...... This also meant that Cardinal was starting to notice me, which had been put on hold. Now that the core system is checking my program, it should soon come to the conclusion that it is a "foreign object" and eliminate me. Already...... I don't have much time......"

"How...... How can you ...... like this?"

"Isn't there any way? For example, get out of here......"

Yui just remained silent, smiling in response to the trio's words. Tears slid down Yui's white cheeks again.

"Mom and Dad, thank you. We're here to say goodbye. ”

"Don't! I don't want that!"

Asuna screamed for her life.

"It's just the beginning! From now on, we will be happy...... Let's live together happily......"

"In the dark...... In the long agony that has no end...... Only my father and mother are ...... to keep me alive."

Yui looked directly at Asuna, and a faint glow began to envelop her body.

"Yui, don't go!"

"It's okay...... As long as moms and dads are around...... There must be more people coming out of the shadows, right? ”

"From now on...... Just ...... You're guarding everyone in SAO for me......"

Yui's black hair and one-piece dress began to dissolve from one end into a dreamy light particle like morning dew. Her smile gradually became transparent and her weight gradually became lighter.

"Don't! I don't want it! I can't laugh if Yui isn't there!"

Yui, enveloped in the overflowing light, smiled, and reached out her disappearing hand to caress Asuna's cheek.

- Mom, laugh a ......

As the whisper echoed in Asuna's mind, an even more dazzling light flew out. When the light was gone, there was nothing left in Asuna's arms.

"Whoaa

Asuna, who could no longer control herself, shouted. He fell to his knees on the stone floor and cried like a child. The tears that bounced off the ground mixed with the fragments of light left by Yui before disappearing.

", how can you accept such an ending...... Ye Chi gritted his teeth unwillingly, "Kirito, you save the data, I'll delay the deletion!" The one that has just been deleted should only be the interactive interface that started to be deleted first, and the deep data must still be there! ”

"Understood!"

Ye Chi pounced on the keyboard, pressed a few keys, called out another keyboard, and then crackled on it.

Kirito did the same.

Redundant data is added, flow direction is induced, and undeleted data is copied...... Fighting against the host and main program of a game alone is equivalent to using the mantis arm as a car, and can only delay the pace of deletion.

But that's the limit of what can be done.

Ye Chi was suddenly struck by lightning of unknown origin, and while being slashed upside down, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

Won.

Yui ...... Saved......