After changing the wet utensils and drying ourselves with a towel, we sat down on the sofa in the living room. Shino said, "I'll make something that will warm your body." Then he was cooking the soup while we sat face to face on the couch.

"Can you tell me what happened, then?"

The girl wiped her hair with a bath towel and looked at me and replied.

"First of all, I want to tell you my name. I'm Yuuki. What about you? ”

After hearing the girl's name, I pointed to Yui who was sitting next to me and Lilan who was sitting on my shoulder.

\"I'm Kirito, this is Yui, and I'm Lilan on my shoulder. \"

With a gentle smile, Yuuki says "Nice to meet you" to Yui and Liran. Just when I thought he was a very atmospheric person, Shino brought a tray with three cups of soup on it and placed it on the table in front of us. I immediately picked up one of them and handed it to Yuki.

\"Well, I'm Shino. Well, please eat something warm. \"

"Haha, thank you for your warmth."

Ariki took the cup handed over by Shino, tilted the cup to his mouth, and drank the soup while making a sound. Within seconds, he had swallowed everything and removed the cup from his lips, looking completely relieved.

\"Nyaha I am resurrected because my body is cold. \"

"That's good"

As I spoke, I put the soup that Shino had cooked into my mouth. I knew it was corn soup from the thick yellow soup and the aroma, and it slowly became hot. It seems that Yui is the same, and she drank the corn soup in one gulp and breathed a sigh of relief.

Immediately after, Shino sat down on a large sofa next to us that could only seat one person, and shouted to Yuki.

"So, what the hell is going on with you that you're like this? Is it because the transition crystal is malfunctioning or something? ”

Yuki clasped his hands on his chest and made a pose of thinking about something.

"I have something to confirm, where is this? I know it's in VRmmo. ”

"This is the 22nd floor of Ayn Grant. \"

"Ayn Grant? \"

"yes, yes, in a game called Sword Art Online."

The next moment, Yuki's face became extremely surprised.

"This, Sword Art Online!? In Sword Art Online, if the game is over, you will die in real life!? ”

From that reaction, I understood that since two years ago, Yuki has stopped coming to this world like Shino. Or rather, it was because I had a conversation with Shino, who didn't exist in this world.

"If you have that reaction, you're not in this world from the beginning."

I turned my face to Shino, but Shino didn't say anything and nodded. I received instructions that this person is the same person as me. Immediately after, Yui whispered to me.

"The name of Yuki-san is not in the diary from two years ago.

\"I see, it's the same as poetry\"

I turned to face Yuki. \"

"So, Araki, please tell me how you got here, or what you were doing before you came here.

Yuki nodded.

"I had been playing a game called ALo before I came here."

Arlo? Sounds a lot like SAo, but is it an abbreviation for some kind of online game?

"Is it an online game?"

"Yes. It's a game called "Alfheim online" but when I tried to play it, I launched the app, and when I started linking, it wasn't where I had logged out before, but in Kirito's arms. Hey, is this really SAo and not ALo? ”

It's the same as Shino and Alice. This person was also captured by SAo, who had arrived in the online world, and was kidnapped into this world. SAo is a game with kidnapping abilities.

The thought of Akihiko Kayaba creating a game that traps people in it and even has the ability to kidnap people swells up in my heart.

"Indeed. The name of this world is "Sword Art Online", and the name of this place is Ayn Grant. It is a demon game that kills dead players even in real life and will kill those who connect to the internet to travel to the world. VR world. This is a world where conditions can be abducted. ”

"Hey, do you want to scold people in the online world? Is that really the case? ”

"yes, you actually sneaked into a game called ALo, but you fell into SAo, I see. \"

Yuki's expression changed, as if he had seen something terrible.

"This kind of thing is possible, so, if I have zero health in this world, will I die in real life?"

"That's the way it is, I think it's a very shocking thing, but since I've been brought into this world, the rules of this world apply."

Yuki bowed his head. ALo is definitely a game that doesn't have the killing power of SAo, so it's kind of a substitute that can be played casually. If you try to dive into the water to play such a mediocre, stress-free game, and then hear that you are in the devil's game that you talk about in the news, you will want to despair, and if you are not good enough, you will go crazy. Eventually, it might

"Yuki, are you okay? \"

The moment I touched Yuki's shoulder, Yuki raised his head.

"Hey Kirito, I can't connect with the outside world here. I promised to play with someone important in ALo, and then I sneaked in, but I'm sure of that person, and I'm surprised I didn't come. That's why I emailed that person"

Yui shook her head.

"It's a pity that this world is completely isolated from the outside world, and I can't get in touch with the outside world, so I can only try to escape"

Yuki grimaced as if he realized something.

"Then again, I saw a news item on the Internet that people trapped in SAo can escape by clearing customs, do you really do that? \"

"Ah, so far, we've reached the 60th floor, but it's still quite a long way from the 100th floor, and the game is getting harder, he says it's going to be a long time before we get to the 100th floor." Floor. Not bad either

After Yuki lowered his head, he immediately raised his head.

"Can I work with you?"

We were surprised by Yuki's sudden words.

\"Hey, is this true, Yuki? This is not a game you play, this is a game where demons kill players, and if you are hit, you will die. It's not something you should be playing. \"

Yuki turned her face to me. He had a serious look on his face.

"I don't play games for fun. ALo or other games. Moreover, the world is a killing game, isn't it? This kind of thing must end as soon as possible. I think games make people happy. "I can't kill you."

"Of course, Araki is not wrong in what he said. "Games are not meant to limit people, let alone kill people. Although this world is a living world, it is a game after all, a world that kills demons.

There's nothing wrong with this world having to end, it's a sparkle in the hearts of all the players who take it.

"Moreover, I am very confident in my own strength, and if this world is a game of fighting monsters, I don't want to lose."

I thought he was a swordsman because when Araki came down, he had a sword hanging from his waist, but since the sword was not very good, I didn't think he was a strong swordsman.

"Really? How strong are you? ”

\"I'm also known as 'Absolute Fist' in ALo. You're going to duel and see, right? \"

Ariki smirked, but if it's within range, your HP won't decrease even if you fight, so you can confirm the strength of your opponent. It seems that Yuki wants to join the capture group, so it's just right. Yuki's eyes are sincere, but if it weren't for his abilities, fighting on the front line would be extremely dangerous.

"Alright, then let's go to a wide area of the city, and I'll go there and see what I'm capable of. I don't play games for fun, it's swords. ”

"Okay. In exchange, if I win—"

"Uh, are you going to make a bet?"

"It's not fun unless you bet, isn't it? If I win. ”

Yuki pointed at me. He opened his mouth with a serious expression.

"Buy me the best restaurant in the world!"

Yuki's words almost shocked me, Shino, and Lilan to the point that their backs softened. With such a serious expression, I thought he would ask me to give him all his stuff or give me all his money, but I didn't expect him to ask me to treat him to the best food in this small town in the world. I didn't even look at it. Or rather, it's a fairly light bet, hey.

"What's that?"

"It's not like that at all! Food is a very important element even in VR, isn't it? I've come to a world where if you lose, you're going to die, but it's not like I'm not interested in food."

Yuki was right. "If you lose, you'll die, but there are a lot of dishes that don't exist in reality, and you can eat Western food at a cheaper price than in reality." I think I can understand why the minutes invited me to rice.

"Got it. So if I defeat you Yuki, can you tell me something about you? \"

Yuki looked at me blankly.

"I want to know myself."

"yes, just like you announced that you were our companion as soon as you came, you should know a little more about your companion, and the person you said you were going to email to, that's how it feels." Like, isn't it? ”

Yuki lowered his head slightly and shook his head.

"No difference"

"Well, that's the rule. If I win, you talk to me. I'll talk to you about yourself. ”

Yuki nodded awkwardly, not knowing where the good mood just now went. Immediately afterward, Shino came to me and whispered to me.

\"Kirito, are you okay?" \"

\"Ah, that's okay. Yuki is not a bad person, just like you, Lilan, Diabel, and Klein, he has a serious face and is willing to cooperate with us. Araki is a nice guy. If there is a ki, he is a bad person. If so, Lilan might be wary and attack, but Lilan wasn't like that. ”

"That's fine, but that girl looks delicate, but I wonder if she's really okay?"

"In my heart, I also feel that you are vulnerable." However, although Shino is so delicate, since he wields a dagger and calmly holds a bow that is difficult for ordinary people to use, then Yuki must feel the same way.

"Well, if you duel him, you'll understand. But Araki may be really strong. Or rather, he looks like Asuna. \"

\"To Asuna? \"

"Yes. Even Asuna is stronger than you might think from the outside. Maybe, but I think the same is true for Araki. So I'm sure you can trust her power. \"

"I hope so..."

When he looked at Yuki with those eyes, he saw Yuki's eyes sparkle, as if he really wanted to fight. I think I like the look of the fight to match that figure.

\"Well, Yuki. Then let's go to the village and duel, shall we? \"

"It's okay, are there any rules?"

The duel in this world is a complete settlement mode that fights until the opponent really dies, and it is a half-life settlement mode that ends when one side's health is halved, and the one who hits first wins, but both sides are first. If you don't, there are three first-hit settlement modes that can be won by halving health, but the safest of these is the first-hit settlement mode.

No matter how many levels you open to, if the first attack is solved, "when the HP becomes half, the judgment is over, and the battle is over", so the HP will disappear and you will not die. In addition, if the power of the technique or attack is too high, the health will really disappear and you will die, so it is extremely dangerous.

"Let's play a one-hit duel mode, in this case, the team that hits first wins, but if one of them fails to attack, the opponent's health will be reduced until the health is halved, the attack detection disappears, and then the opponent's HP is halved wins.

"Okay, so be it. Then you won't lose HP. \"

"I see, okay, now that it's decided, let's go out."

When I stood up, I got out of the car with an excited Yuki, Shino with a worried face, Yui with a look of incomprehension, and Lilan to the venue on the 22nd floor. Maybe it's because a different world from ALo is unfolding, and Ariki looks at the venue on the 22nd floor with shining eyes, as if enjoying the scenery.

Yuuki says he doesn't play games for fun, but that doesn't mean he doesn't like it. No, maybe Ariki sees ALo, a world that is not a death game, as a different world from the real world. Just like us, acknowledging this world, the death game created by Akihiko Kayaba is another world.

"If Ji really is that kind of person, maybe he will get along with us. I felt like I had more real friends, and my heart was beating with it.

As soon as I thought so, I arrived at a town on the 22nd floor of the security zone, and in terms of size, I arrived at a place equivalent to a village.

Once there, look around, there is only a street tree, a few buildings, if you want to talk about wells or something, enough for a duel. If you're here, even if it's the first duel, you won't be involved with anyone, so you should be fine.

"Well, there doesn't seem to be a problem here. Let's get started, Araki. \"

"Alright! So, how does the duel begin? ”

I immediately opened the menu window, brought up the duel item, selected the first attack final mode, and sent it to Araki. Immediately after, Yuki opened the menu window with a familiar gesture and turned his gaze to the contents. Probably, but there will be a sentence asking if you agree to the duel, and a "yes" button and a "no" button to decide whether to accept or not.

"I just sent you a duel request.

"No problem, let's go early!"

"Before I do, I'll have to make sure." Under the first hit settlement rule, when the HP is halved after continuing to attack, the attack judgment and the HP phenomenon judgment will disappear, and the HP will not disappear, but if the power is too great, if you launch an attack and are hit by it, your HP will disappear, and you can't say that you have the possibility of death like in reality. I had to tell him not to use techniques that were too strong.

\"Before that, Ariki, I want to say one thing, but I won't use very powerful techniques. \"

"Uh, why?"

"As I said earlier, in this game, if your health disappears, you die instantly. Whether in this world or in the real world, there can be situations like over-damage and your health may drop to 0. If this happens, you're both going to be in trouble, so try not to use strong tricks, and of course, I will do the same. ”

"Well, in that case, I'll protect you."

Just when I thought she was a very empathetic girl, Yuki manipulated the window with a familiar gesture and clicked the "Yes" button to display it. The next moment, the sound of the countdown sounded in our ears, and we all had our weapons ready. Sure enough, Yuki isn't a monster and doesn't look like a terrible enemy, so it's better not to dual-wield and fight with a one-handed sword.

Then, when the countdown was over and the sound of the duel beginning ringing in each other's ears, I kicked at Yuki.

He sank and ran like a dragon in the air while kicking the ground, and when he came to Yuki, he twisted his body and attacked Yuki with his sword from the right side.

In the next moment, Yuki stretched out the sword in his hand and collided with mine. The spark effect spread, and both of their faces were illuminated red. I see, Yuki's reaction speed seems to be fast enough to match my speed. At this point, I understand that Yuki's arms are quite high. However, the battle has only just begun.

He turned his body in one breath, approached Yuki again, and instantly switched the sword to his left hand, this time attacking from the left side, but the corners of Yuki's mouth showed a thick smile, as if he had read the action. Then, he swung his sword again and flicked my sword back.

He temporarily grabbed the sword that had slipped from his hand with his right hand, and when he turned to face Aruki, he was surprised to see that Aruki's face was there. Are you saying you can follow me, someone who can move in frames? This Yuki is no ordinary thing.

Just as I was thinking this, Yuki's blade flew into my face. In an instant, he turned into a twisted shrimp pose, grabbed the tip of Yuki's sword in front of him, and then kicked off Yuki's arm with a somersault in a fighting game, breaking Yuki's posture, and then turned over and corrected the posture. , kicked the ground, this time aiming at Yuki's abdomen from the side, and swung his sword.

This attack will hit Nakaki - I thought so, and Araki regained his posture and stabbed his sword near the abdomen, blocking my sword.

The swords collided again, and the sparks scattered again, illuminating the bodies of the two. At that time, Araki's strength was even stronger than I had imagined, and the impact of the sword flowed to my hand through the blade and hilt, and a feeling similar to numbness spread throughout my right hand.

Ariki probably felt the same shock, but Ariki didn't even change his expression, and I hit my body with my sword.

The first attack failed, so the fight continued until the health was halved. And now, my health has dropped slightly, and there is a gap between me and Yuki, who is still full of blood.

"I didn't expect to hit the first hit." According to the guy who has been dueling with me until now, when I was fighting, it seemed that the sword curtain was magical, and it was pressed by it, exposing the gap, and I lost like this, but Yuki didn't get any pressure at all, and he and I were evenly matched.

"No, I don't know if they're really evenly matched, who's on top and who's down." But I don't think it matters. Because it's been a long time since I've had such an interesting fight. The battle with Yuuki was so much fun!

"Wow!!"

The body that was shaken by Yuki's attack regained its weight, and after landing strongly, he kicked up with a ground-breaking momentum, quickly approached Yuki, succumbed to his speed, and slammed towards Yuki with his sword.

Sure enough, Aruki couldn't read this, so he raised his sword and tried again, but my sword hit Aruki like a flash. Eventually, I was able to deal damage to the body of a girl named "Absolute Sword" and reduce her health. However, this battle will continue until my health is halved, so this is not the end of it.

Maybe he and I had the same idea, and Yuki reversed his stance with a sharp look, and when he struck out again with the light in the sword, I also covered my sword with the light and slammed it down.

A loud explosion and a shockwave came out, setting up a thick cloud of dust around them, and I instantly understood what was going on, and when I jumped into the cloud of dust and pushed forward while tearing, I immediately saw Arki's appearance, and this time I didn't let the sword shine, and slashed at him from above.

Aruki immediately raised his head, saw me, raised his sword to fight back, and the moment I saw the effect of the spark, I instantly landed on Aruki's sword, turned over, and hit Aruki's sword from directly above again. Slam.

Now this one is like an app for air combat with Lilan, fighting alongside Lilan when it's not a boss fight. I kicked Lilan in the back, then jumped up and sliced through the enemy, then I kicked Lilan in the back, and it flew to my destination, but was moving at an alarming speed, and in a frame of time, it flew into the air again - it couldn't be like this. I never thought it would be useful.

Maybe it's because he can't read my movements anymore, and Yuki loses his balance, creating a big gap. However, for Yuki, who has an astonishing reaction speed, it can be rebuilt in less than a tenth of a second. Hit it in front of it!

"Look!"

Just as Aruki's head was about to explode, Aruki regained his balance and his body deflected to the right, as I expected. The tip of the sword didn't graze Ayuki's head, but rather his shoulder, only slightly reducing his health, but the moment I landed, I rushed towards Aruki like a glider.

Yuki aimed at me motionless, firing a series of stabbing shots, but I dodged them all. Then, he jumped into Yuki's arms while slamming his sword several times in a row.

If you use a sword skill, you can increase your strength and speed, but when the sword skill is activated, it will reveal your flaws, so don't use it. And just as I was about to hit Naki with the last shot, Yuki, who had been hit, suddenly turned around, flicked my sword away, and turned to attack. What the hell did it come about? Is this just an attack? Or swordsmanship? If it's just an attack, you can block and parry, but if it's a sword skill, there's no way to block.

Yuki's attack speed and attack power are higher than any player I've seen so far, and the power varies widely. If you receive something like this, in the blink of an eye, this health will be halved, and the duel will subside.

(Wait?) ）

This strange high output, reaction speed, combat effectiveness, I feel as if I have seen it somewhere. It feels like you're not using the same Nerve gear, but some kind of special hardware. It's very similar to the people around me, I don't think this feeling is Shino? The hardware used by Shinon is certain

"Hahahahaha!!"

With Yuki's roar, I regained consciousness and looked back ahead. There, Ariki tried to stab the sword at me, but didn't let it glow. Non-sword attacks With this, you can block them in the future Just as I thought so, Yuki's sword pierced into my body.

Was it beyond my reflex speed - just as I was about to think so, my body had erupted with ten stabbing blows, spark-like effects flying and flickering in front of my eyes. Just when Yuki was about to launch the final blow, the eleventh blow, as if to break through it - the moment my HP was halved and the game was over - Yuki was a little surprised.

"Ahhh

Yuki's movement speed slowed down significantly, and there was a confused expression on his face, as if he had lost his usual state. No, the tempo may not actually have changed, but for me it has apparently become slow motion. Now I can dodge Yuki's sword and even bounce it off. Of course, it's okay to add a blow.

I crouched down to dodge Yuki's approaching sword, and then poured all my power into the sword, turning my body with the sword. The sword wrapped in a strong centrifugal force bit into Yuki's abdomen, and a definite reaction spread throughout his body from the blade.

"Wow, ah!!h

I shook off my sword, as if I was going to throw away something stuck in it. A thick cloud of dust rolled up, but Yuki's blown body burrowed into it and eventually disappeared.

It's about Yuki, he'll immediately regain his balance and rush in - I thought so as I waited, but Araki's attack didn't fly, and just when I was disappointed, the dust clouds cleared. Ariki appears to have collided with a nearby building and is trapped on the ground in front of him.

Before you know it, the duel is over - and the winner is me.