"This guy's attack should be something the size of the body, be careful with range and power!"

"Don't tell me!"

As he spoke, Kem drew his sword, held it in both hands, and launched an attack on the Ice Serpent, which pierced through the clouds and flew with a roar.

Spiegel's weapon is the same as Shina's bow and arrow, but unlike Shina, it is a short bow known as a "short bow" that excels at the ability to fire a critical blow between long and medium range. Personally, this is a weapon that feels like an assault rifle like the FpS.

However, due to the nature of the weapon, even a long-range weapon must be attacked at close range, so there is always a danger of being attacked by the enemy. For this, it is necessary to improve the AGI and always try to be able to leave as quickly as possible, but Spiegel's state and skills are strongly linked to AGI, as if he is well aware of this.

"Because of that, Spiegel's speed is the best among us." When fighting, he stands at close range without a melee weapon, showing a bizarre gameplay of shooting enemies like a sword mountain, giving it a sense of reliability.

Spiegel raised his short bow with great speed and shot arrows like a rain of arrows at the huge driftwood-like ice snake dragon flying in the sky. However, all the arrows shot were repelled by the cold carapace of the Ice Serpent, and Spiegel retreated in surprise.

"This guy's arrows are dead!"

"It's not like that, maybe the physical defense on the side of the shells is ridiculously high."

Even when I was in SAo, there were many times when I had to fight monsters like this. At times like these, though, there's a weakness that's almost hidden, and I can fix it by attacking there. However, the situation is completely different now.

Admittedly, it is a game similar to SAo, but you can fly in the sky like this, and when you encounter an enemy with high physical defense, you can decide whether to attack with the same countermeasures or completely different countermeasures, all right.

"Everyone, prepare for a magic attack! Find a gap to unleash a magic attack! That's the guy's weakness! ”

"Got it! Leave it to me if you attack with magic! \"

As we swung our sword in SAo, Kaim, who used more magic to fight than a sword, nodded, put away his weapon, and began to chant out of sight of the Ice Serpent. Although his voice was loud enough to be crushed by a blizzard, he read the words firmly and lined them up in front of him.

Then, when the Ice Serpent sensed the sound and finished, a ferocious green tornado enveloped the Ice Serpent's body, slicing it into pieces. High Wind Attribute Area Magic "Tyrant Hurricane" - The Ice Serpent Dragon slashed by it let out a scream, and its body emitted a red effect, greatly reducing the "health bar". Sure enough, magic attacks are a weakness.

\"Alright, let's attack with magic! \"

As my command echoed through the snow, all three of my companions raised their voices at the same time. Lilan is no longer our Yuichi force against monsters.

In the battle with the Ice Serpent Dragon Fritzmold in the Snow Plains, although the opponent was a huge monster, only me, Keim, Spiegel, and Diabel had enough advantage in the battle. If you encounter such an enemy when you were in SAo, you would have taken a lot of damage without Lilan, but now you don't take any damage at all, and you can fight a few people.

Through this, we were able to feel our own growth, and most importantly, I could feel that SAo itself was a very difficult game.

No, first of all, that game is a dead or really dead game, so the lack of that pressure is probably the main reason. Although I told Lilan that Game of Death was too cold, I did feel that way.

Friesmod was furious, unleashing a magical attack that breathed in a beam and gathered chill, but while we dodged it all, he focused on attacking the parts that were not protected by Friesmode's shell, and his stamina dropped dramatically.

As this seemingly one-sided battle continued, Friesmold's health bar turned yellow in the blink of an eye. Well, just when we thought it was a little longer, Friesmode suddenly let out a loud roar in the sky, causing a lot of screams all around.

I covered my ears and closed my eyes due to the deafening volume, but the roar didn't last long, it stopped after just a few seconds. When I immediately looked up, Friesmode's body was wrapped in something resembling a red aura, and his face became even more hideous.

Kem saw the change in Friesmode's appearance and warned the crowd.

"I'm in a state of rage! Your moves will become active and your attack power will increase, so be careful! ”

"Wow, does this guy have that too?"

Unlike in SAo, the monsters in ALo have a characteristic that they become excited and angry when their HP bar turns yellow or their status is abnormal, that is, when they judge that their lives are in danger.

Enraged monsters become extremely active and have increased attack power, which makes them very troublesome. Also, since the attack pattern may even change while enraged, it is often difficult to capture the enraged monster in battle.

But on the other hand, enraged monsters may lose their defenses, so this is also an opportunity to deal a lot of damage and defeat them all at once. In fact, so far, we've defeated many monsters by targeting them while they're in a berserk state. - One of them, Diabel, saw the angry Friesmold and shouted loudly.

"Now that the enemy is enraged, the defense should be reduced.

\"！ Diabel!! \"

As soon as Diabel finished speaking, Friesmold became furious and began to charge at an alarming speed. In front of her was Diabel, who made a stern voice. A panicked Spiegel immediately shouted to dodge, but Diabel suddenly put on his shield and held his sword in both hands, and did not move.

- When we were a little impatient with what we were going to do next, Freesmolde said it was his chance and rushed towards Diaberu, who couldn't move. The next moment it was about to crash into its massive body, Diabel flew out of Friesmod's attack range and flew into his belly at a speed worthy of teleportation.

Then, holding the sword, his body rotated vertically at high speed, cutting at the soft belly of Friesmod, like a train, in a continuous high-speed motion.

Frismod probably didn't expect that in addition to being able to dodge the onrushing attack, he also received a spinning slash counter, and Friesmode's abdomen emitted a blood-red effect, letting out a scream, losing his balance, and splashing a large amount of snow. Piled up and falling into the snow. A strong shock wave accompanied the roar, and thick snow clouds flew up, slightly obscuring Friesmod's body.

- Although we didn't expect to fight back against Friessmolder, the three of us were speechless, and Diabel's screams immediately rang in our ears.

"What are you doing! Your opponent has fallen, and this is your chance to attack! ”

"Oh, I see!"

After hearing the words of the person who acted unexpectedly, we came to our senses and flew to the place where the Ice Serpent Dragon had fallen into the snow smoke. When I sliced through the snow smoke that wrapped around its body and came to the belly-down Ice Serpent Dragon, I unleashed both sword skills and magic.

"Tea, ahh!!hh

As I roared, I swung my sword alternately to the right, horizontally, and diagonally, constantly slicing through the abdomen, the weakness of the Ice Serpent Dragon, as if dancing. As soon as the 16-combo fencing skill "Starburst Stream" that had existed since SAo exploded, Friesmode made a fragile sound, and at the same time, his health dropped significantly, indicating danger, which was about to turn red.

"How's this!!"

Spiegel then rushed forward, raised his short bow, climbed up the body of the ice snake dragon, and shot a rain of arrows. Due to the tactics that only Spiegel had mastered so far, countless arrows pierced, and part of the abdomen of the Ice Serpent instantly turned like a sword mountain, and its health finally rushed red.

"This is the end!"

Finally, the Wind Attribute Fairy Kem arranged a long string of words vertically, and when they all lit up, a green tornado, larger than the Ice Serpent Dragon's body felt when it was first scratched, turned into an Ice Serpent and wrapped it. Around the monster's body, the carapace and muscles were cut off, as if they were about to be cut into small pieces. "Tyrant Hurricane" is one of the strongest secret methods of wind-based magic, and can only be used by wind-type elves.

After activation, the Ice Serpent fell to the ground again, reducing the already red "health bar" to very little, and it was already in a state where it could be defeated with just one more blow. Blow.

"This is the end!!"

Then, finally, the fairy knight Diabel, who had shattered the flying Ice Serpent Dragon, swooped into the air with a sword blade pointing downwards towards the Ice Serpent's head. Perhaps noticing the sound at the time, the Ice Serpent moved its face to confirm Diabel's attack. As if this was the last struggle, cold air gathered in his mouth and tried to release his killer "Frozen Breath", but before that, Dilberu's sword had reached the front of the Ice Serpent.

The fairy knight's entire sword pierced deep into her eyebrows.

The movement of the Ice Serpent Dragon completely stopped, and the surrounding wind, snow and wind also completely stopped, and the snow field, which had become a battlefield, was shrouded in silence, but soon, this silence seemed to be broken. I saw that the Ice Snake Dragon of the Eyebrow Knight Immortal collapsed fragile in place, and its body turned into a pale blue figure, which immediately exploded into countless glass shards and disappeared.

There was silence again, but just a moment, a loud and high-pitched victory sound rang out out of thin air, praising the boss for defeating the Ice Serpent Dragon in the sky (congratulations!!). ), the character appears.

- We completed the mission with no casualties, and all four of us were in good condition.

"Okay, this time it's over safely, hard work!"

"Well done everyone!"

"Well done everyone!"

"Good! Today you won too! Good job! ”

Everyone encouraged each other in this battle, and as we approached, a window appeared in front of me. The content was to announce that they had obtained loot, and that they had a name that I had never seen before, "The Great Ice Shell of the Ice Serpent". Looking around, no one reacted as if they had received an item, and it seemed that this item was something that only players who received the quest could get.

Kem noticed that I was Yui, the one who reacted differently from the others, and shouted at me.

\"Ah, Kirito, do you have something? \"

"Yes. It's like a piece of his shell. Judging by the name, it may have been used to make weapons. ”

"But the final finishing touch is Diaberu, right? But is the person receiving it Kirito? \"

"Maybe, but it seems that the person who receives the task can get it, and I can turn this around."

Then I turned my face to the fairy knight who had been with me since SAo. Unlike when SAo, the rules of ALo this time seem to be that only the person who accepts the quest can receive the item, not the person who kills the boss, but the mVp of this battle is clear, it is Diaville.

With that gorgeous spinning counterattack, he shot down the Ice Serpent Dragon, and even blocked it, and it's not an exaggeration to say that he was the one who contributed the most at the time. Such Diabel is the player who deserves to get this item.

"Diaville"

"What"

"I'll do it. This is the final attack bonus. ”

Diaberu must not have imagined that he would suddenly receive the item.

\"Ugh. What did you say suddenly? That's what you get. \"

"That being said, Dilberu was definitely the hero of this fight. If you bring it here, you might be able to craft a new one-handed sword. \"

"Is it really good?"

"It's okay, look, don't hesitate, take it."

With that, I manipulated the item window, selected the loot from the missions I had been given, and clicked the send button. When I named Diabel as my destination and sent it out, a project window appeared in front of Diabel, and his eyes were set on it. Soon, Diabel's face became a little unclean, sometimes looking at me, sometimes at the prop window.

"Is it really okay?"

\"You say it's okay. You see, I have Lilan. It doesn't matter if I don't have a rare item. Take it, Diabel. \"

"Diabel, you should take it. Now Kirito has five super rare items in a row, which are Lilan and Shino, so you can take all the contents of Kirito's item box if you want. That's about it. \"

"Oh, hey, Kem. No matter how you ask, if this happens, what am I going to do in this game from now on? ”

When Diabel starts arguing with Keim, who suddenly interjects, he bursts out laughing. As Keim and I rolled our eyes blankly, Diabel smiled.

"Okay, I'll appreciate this thing."

"Yes, please do that."

After saying thank you again, Diabel accepted the handover of the item I had sent and closed the window. At the same time, what appeared to have been stripped from the Ice Serpent disappeared from me. Immediately after, Spiegel, who had not spoken, opened his mouth.

"Now, let's hurry home. It's nearly dusk. ”

"Heck, that's right, this game doesn't fit reality and time."

When I open the state etc in this ALo, there are twice. One is real-time and the other is in-game time. In order to respect the playstyle of various players, this game is not synchronized in real-time like SAo, and often has a big difference from the real world.

The current ALo time is shown as 11:15 AM, but if you look at real world time, it is displayed at 6:10 PM. It's already dusk, and it's time for Naoba to prepare dinner and wait. As Spiegel said, it's time to get back to the real world.

"Alright, everyone's tired, let's go back to the city."

After saying that, they all nodded, spread their wings, and flew into the sky. After that, I also grew wings, jumped into the sky, and began to fly towards the World Tree City, where my base is located. Perhaps it was because the owner of the snow-capped mountain had fallen, and the snow-capped mountain was no longer as windy as it was when we came, and the sky of the snowy fields and snow-capped mountains had cleared, and the snow shimmered rainbow-colored in the sunlight.

Yggdrasil city playtime is 11:20 a.m., and real-world time is 6:15 p.m

We leave the snowy mountains and return to the World Tree City, the city located at the foot of the World Tree in the game. Although it was already dusk, there were many players and NPCs in the city, keeping the excitement before going to the mission. We have to leave once, but neither do the other players. No, on the contrary, it's time to play.

As I made my way through the towns where players came and went, and reached the central square, I turned to look at my friends.

"Alright, student users, it's time for you to get out of here, what are you going to do after that?"

"I'm still logged in. From now on, I have a date with Araki. It's still a long time before dinner. ”

"Huhu, it seems that your relationship with Yuki is deepening.

"Don't be stupid. You're not in that kind of relationship with Yuki! \"

Until now, Kem had been a non-realist, but when I was at SAo, he was exposed to ALo and eventually discovered that he was a body that could save AIDS patients. You saved Yuki.

It's the same when he was at SAo, but Yuki seems to be happier when he talks about Kem than when he talks to other people, and he spends a lot of time partying with Kem. The other party himself doesn't seem to realize this, but I guess Yuki is about to develop a relationship with Kaim.

\"I see, I see. Then enjoy it now, Kem-kun. So, it seems that only I quit. \"

"No, I'm leaving now, because I have something to do, and I have to go back now."

"It was Spiegel who stepped up." According to his teacher, Alice—the doctor-patient relationship, to be exact—he seemed to be a student of our age, and he was going home at the same time as me. It must be time. - VRmmo is taboo to ask people for details, so I didn't ask anything.

"I see, Spiegel should go back before me, thank you for accompanying me to complete today's mission."

"Well, there will be an update tomorrow, see you in our new continent!"

With that, the silver-haired shadow fairy Spiegel waved his hand lightly and hurriedly left us, heading to the large inn that World Tree City was proud of. Well, from now on, I'm going to go to that room and exit.

Just as I was thinking this, the fairy Kaim in Japanese costume also said "It's been hard today", and then the wings appeared and disappeared into the sky above World Tree City. Kaim is basically not the kind of person who lies and cheats people, so I guess he really has a commitment to Yuki from now on.

- Although they all say that I am Riajutsu, in the eyes of the people around me, even Kem, who has a good relationship with Yuki, is completely worthy of Riajutsu. And, according to Lifa, Miss Sakiya, the lord player of the Elven Territory, likes Kem's personality and abilities and seems to be both dependent and close.

Hearing the story of that guy, I used to manage the Knights of the Blood Oath in the world's largest guild, and now I have been reduced to such a player, it is strange, regret and a little sadness arise spontaneously.

I swallowed my mixed emotions as I called out to Diabel, the water fairy who had stayed.

\"What is Dilberu going to do now? \"

"I'm going back to Wendina territory. There are a lot of players who want to learn how to fight from me. \"

"I see, just like when I was in the Holy Dragon League."

"Yes, the Holy Dragon Alliance is gone, but the current situation is somewhat similar to what I felt when I was in the Holy Dragon Alliance, and I didn't dislike it, on the contrary, it was quite comfortable." ”。

The same is true of the man Dilberu. When we fought side by side with SAo, he was the leader of the Holy Dragon Alliance, a grand guild on a par with the Knights of the Blood Oath I led halfway through, but now he is the leader of SAo, and he's back in the player's place. Time.

Also, Diabel spends more time leading other players in the guild than fighting alone. So I'm not used to being alone, and I thought I was in trouble, but Diabel was attracted to people in the first place, and even now he is attracted to other people just like when he was in the Holy Dragon Alliance. Wendeon Race. He seems to be adored by the people.

"My ideas are basically unfounded."

"That's good. Since it's about Diabel, I don't think it's going to be easy to do after the Holy Dragon Alliance is disbanded. \"

\"I'm not that weak. By the way, I'll be back in Wendini territory soon. Tomorrow is update day, so please log in, Kirito. \"

"That's it, I'll go with Lilan, comrade-in-arms, log in well."

As I said this with a smile, the fairy rider Diabel let out a \haha\ laugh, and then light blue translucent wings appeared on her back, jumped into the sky like Kem, and walked in the direction of Wendina. Territory. I walked towards it. As a result, I was the only one who went to the Snow Ice Snake Dragon Quest just now.

Then I open the status screen again and check the playtime and real-world time. Because I'm talking to Keim, Spiegel, Diabel and I, five minutes have passed, and the time I want to quit has passed.

"Well, me too"

"Hey, Kirito. \"

Suddenly I heard a voice behind me, and I turned my head in surprise. Unlike the other fairies, she has white-gold wolf ears on her head, an equally white-gold wolf tail at the base of her buttocks, and a well-dressed, waist-length blonde red-eyed girl standing beside her. Place your hands on your hips.

- I called out the name of my partner from SAo, who has the ability to transform into a boss dragon of the upper species, named Fafnir, "Holy Wolf Dragon".

"Isn't this a rebirth?"

\"Ah, yes. It seems like you were on a mission not so long ago, but is it over? \"

\"Ahh Everything I wanted to accomplish before the release of "Hellfheim" had been accomplished. What's going on with your sudden appearance? \"

"I came back with the teleportation crystal, and everyone else said it was time for dinner, and as soon as the mission was over, I teleported to the hotel, and then exited. That's Lifa. ”

"yes, he's been busy cooking since he came back from reality, and now he makes most of our meals."

\"I see, I see. So, is that including you? \"

"Lilan must want to go on an adventure with me from now on." But I also have to go back to the real world like that Lifa. I used to think it was creepy, but a few months after ALo started, there was a player who died of exhaustion because he was too focused on ALo and didn't eat much.

After hearing this story, Lifa/Naoba began to say, "I won't let you do this." Let's get back to reality then. "I made this rule at home. So if you're late, Naoba will get angry. I had a feeling of wanting to explore with Lilan.

"Well, I'll have to go back too, but I'll be back after dinner, and I'll do the task then. Hmm, it seems like the update started at 12pm, and I probably won't be able to log in anytime soon. ”

"There's no need to force yourself to do tasks, on the contrary, from tomorrow onwards, there will be a lot of new activities, shouldn't you have a good rest now and prepare for tomorrow?"

"What?" I thought Lilan would definitely want to go on an adventure with me, but he said he would take a break tomorrow. Just like in SAo.

"That's true, but ALo isn't a game of death, don't worry too much, I'm glad."

"It's been a long time, but I can't seem to shake that feeling. I should know that this game is a safe game, but it was strange when I heard that you guys were going out to fight the boss. Although no one died today I heard that you went out to crusade the boss quest\"

As he spoke, his partner lowered his head, and his face suddenly became gloomy. Indeed, Lilan had been there since the beginning, and he knew many parts of that world where he had seen many players die. So, even though he escaped from that world and came to a world where no one died, his senses were still the same as they had been at the beginning.

I didn't understand the feeling - I thought so, and put my hand between my partner's head and the wolf's ear. The next moment, my partner looked up in surprise.

"No one is going to die, Lilan. That's why you don't have to carry that much of a burden on your shoulders either. I told you at the beginning that this is a game of space fiction and you can already die. ”

"That's right, and there's"

"So you don't have to worry so much. But as a partner, I'm glad I can worry about you. Thank you. ”

Hearing me say this, the blonde girl in SAo, who looks like a wolf dragon, let out a slight grunt, and then laughed. It's hard to say when he was a wolf dragon, but now I can understand his expression and what he was thinking.

"I'd be happy if you said that. Tomorrow's update is complete. ”

"In that case, I'll borrow your power again. I'll rely on you, man. ”

"Ah, leave it to me.

Hearing my partner's reliable words, I let go of his head. Starting tomorrow there will be various quests, and powerful bosses will appear at the same time. To deal with such a person, the power of the boss nemesis Lilan should be reliable.

And the thrill and enjoyment of fighting with the boss as a human dragon is definitely stronger than SAo!

"I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's update. I'm going to rest today to prepare for tomorrow. ”

"That's good. Then Kirito, tomorrow we will face the new continent. \"

"Of course. Good night, Lilan. ”

Hearing my partner say "good night", I left the square and went to the First Hotel in World Tree City, where Spiegel also went, lay down, carried out the cancellation order, and returned to the real world.

"I can't stay in this world for a while, huh?"

Not only in VR, but in mmo?? When there is a big update to the whole game, no one can log in, and any player who tries to log in to the game will be logged out.

This is something that can be said for Lilan and Yui, they are AI, and they are players, but their home is the game itself and must go back. Even if the master logs out, the world will continue to move.

For some reason, Lilan didn't like it.

"At the very least, it would be nice if we could update while the AI was still able to log in"

If you look around, you'll see a lot of players walking back and forth, talking about quests, monsters, and items in the words of a typical MMO player. I am sure that when the time comes, they will be forced to withdraw. The faces of the players who had received the forced offline notice appeared behind his eyelids, and Lilan smiled bitterly unconsciously, but at the same time, he could also imagine the moment when the players' faces were filled with joy.

"I think there will be more interesting things tomorrow.

He muttered in a voice that no one could hear, and when he opened the window to find out where his sister Yui and their whereabouts, Lilan made his body tremble. When I was still at SAo, there were monsters of great power behind me, as well as sinister people like Alberridge and "Smiling Coffin Luffin Coffin" running around.

"What's behind you?" And it's not just a player.

"Who are you!?"

In his scarlet eyes, a figure appeared, and he screamed and turned around. She is about the same height as Asuna and Shiina, but her long chest-length hair is a strange mixture of gold, silver, and jade, and her white and green kimono is distinctive. Wearing a costume that cannot be called a shrine. Dressed in a girl's costume or battle suit, wearing a cuirass, bird's leg-like boots, and a jade-colored vein-like pattern on the mask, this is a strange woman wearing a mask to cover her face.

"If that's all I think he's just a player, I'd think he's just a player." However, on the female player's back, translucent green wings will always appear, indicating that she is a wind type elf. Although it was not in flight.

Moreover, he exudes a strange aura that is completely different from the players around him. Lilan cheered up and snorted.

"Who are you?"

The strange female gamer didn't say anything, and because she was hiding behind a mask, I couldn't even see her facial expressions, or even the color of her eyes. I was right there.

"Are you really a gamer? Why cover your face with something like this? ”

The next moment, the masked wind fairy didn't say a word, spread his wings, and flew straight into the sky at high speed. Lilan wanted to chase him for a moment, so he let the red fairy wings that the salamander could produce appear on his back, but by this time, the masked wind fairy had disappeared. There, Lilan purred softly again, folded her wings, and remembered the masked wind elves.

"That Breezy is weird." Although only the player can see it, the aura emanating from that body is not only the player's. So I felt that Vashak Casals and Alberich were as close as natural enemies when they were at SAo.

But as a result, they failed to return from that world. That's why I don't belong in this world. Even though tomorrow will be the biggest update since the game began, Lilan finds herself feeling a strong sense of unease within herself.

"What the hell is this?"

Lilan stared at the sky where the masked Windfairy vanished.

"Dedicated to all viewers who live in front of television sets all over Japan. From now on, Tomorrow TV will conduct an emergency broadcast tomorrow. In order for as many people as possible to see the TV broadcast, please cooperate with the audience in front of the TV. ”

At 6:30 p.m. the day before the "Alfheim Online" update, I was back in the real world and staring at the TV with my sister Naoba.

After completing the tasks I wanted to accomplish before the update with my trusty companions like Diabel, Kem, Spiegel, etc., I disbanded the party and had a casual conversation with Lilan in the plaza before heading to the Inn in World Tree City. Came out and returned to the real world.

I left the room as usual, walked down the stairs, met Naoba-san at the restaurant on the first floor, exchanged greetings of "welcome home" and "I'm back", and sat down on the chair at the dining table. Straight leaves of the dishes lined up in a row. times

Naoba makes my favorite dish – beef stew. With this in mind, I turned on the TV and was about to put the goulash in my mouth with a spoon when an accident happened.

\"What's this, what are you talking about!? \"

The TV is playing a television station called "Tomorrow TV". The content is a holiday news program, and the content is the daily content of the day's weather, the course of events, whether there is an accident, etc. News programs that seem to represent a peaceful Japan seem to be available on any TV station.

Naoba and I watched while we planned to go to dinner. It was supposed to be like this, but suddenly there was a noise on the TV screen, and I stopped unconsciously.

When the TV is about to be scrapped, there is often a noise on the screen, I thought that the TV had reached the end of its life, he seemed to understand his mood, and said: "It's just that the signal is not good." "Say it again, so don't worry."

It is true that I have been watching TV so far and occasionally there is noise due to a temporary deterioration in the signal condition, and this is not the end of its life, but it has been a while since I implemented the TV tuner. Passed. After thinking about it calmly, I didn't think it was strange to make noise, so I stopped worrying about the TV for the time being.

It was supposed to be like this, but there were sounds on the TV screen one after another that seemed to be complaining about the malfunction, and finally there was a sandstorm on the screen. Naoba, who claims not to worry, probably didn't expect a sandstorm to happen, so he was surprised.

Immediately afterward, the scene suddenly cuts to an eerie scene in a 2D news studio, where an announcer with a 2D anamorphic illustration speaks in a mechanical voice.

"Today, I have to make an important announcement to all viewers who will watch TV tomorrow. We are on the TV news tomorrow morning that Japan will participate in overseas events-"

The two-dimensional announcer with a mechanical voice continues to speak in a flat tone. The video made it clear that this wasn't what the TV guys were doing, and my heart was going to be in turmoil.

"What is this, what are you talking about?"

\"Why is this brother\"

I immediately turned to my sister, who was also staring at the TV. He had a panicked look on his face, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing on TV. It's like something unexpected happening in ALo or something.

"Su Gu, do you know anything? What is it? This is obviously not done by the TV station! ”

\"Brother, this is a 'fugitive' 'fugitive' attacking the TV station! ”

I was stunned by the words that came out of my sister's overwhelmed mouth. "The Broken Man". In the past, it was just an existence that could easily shake up the online world, but now it has turned to unilateral, forceful attacks against the police, the media, and even politicians, such as exposing the information they want to hide. , the existence of a threat has plunged Japanese society into chaos.

We meet the "runaway man" at SAo and become hostile to him. The "Fugitive" is given by the real name of Nobuyuki Sugo / Alberridge. Ostensibly, Asuna's father is one of the leaders of Lector and is the boss, and he deceived many players before using Lilan to destroy the Smile Coffin.

However, we fought him on the 100th floor of Ayn Grant and emerged victorious. In this way, Sugo will go to hell, and Japanese society should be completely rid of the threat of "fugitives".

If so, is Sugo still alive!? \"

"That's not true! Because at that time, Sugo was in Lilan! \"

"Ah, Asuna said she saw with those eyes, and the body was found.

"But why is the [Crasher] still attacking?" He's gone!? ”

When my sister looked at me in confusion and made a mechanical sound in my ear, I immediately took out my smartphone and showed SNS. If you try to show the complaints of netizens there, you will see "Tomorrow the god of justice will appear on TV", "[Destroyer] Kita——!! "Our Lord God has appeared!! "Something like that." , written the way you like.

Looking at how it is written, I am sure that the identity of this strange video, which will be broadcast on TV tomorrow, is "The Fugitive".

"[Runaway] why, why?"

"Brother, is it Hannibal!?"

True, the "broken man" is not to blame. Of course, Sugo, who is the "Broken Man", created an organization called mnemosyne during SAo and used the players there as material for his own experiments, but when he is finally cornered, Sugo "Hannibal" tells us. He acted under the direction of Hannibal's presence.

That's when we learn that the "fugitives" are not the masterminds of the incident, but the poor victims who are forced to dance in the palms of Hannibal's presence. That is, the culprit of the events of the "Broken Man" is not the "Broken Man", but Hannibal.

Sugo was not a "runaway" from the beginning. It was because Hannibal came into contact with him and inspired him in many ways that he became a "runaway" capable of making such a move. In other words, if Hannibal instilled the same thing in another person and taught it, that person would also immediately turn into a "runaway".

"Hannibal created a new "fugitive" !? ”

"I can only think so, but maybe"

"Perhaps?"

"I think Sugo created an AI and let it do it.

Indeed, Sugo has the technology to transform existing AI into combat AI, which is why he was able to become the leader of Rector. I wouldn't be surprised if I could create my own artificial intelligence.

I'm sure what Naoba is trying to say is that before being defeated by Lilan, Sugo created an AI to attack the media, and the attack on Tomorrow's TV was due to that AI. But-.

"This morning's news reports say that the Japanese event is being held in France, but there is a problem with that. In fact, at this event, there was a group that committed a crime.

"We deliberately cut it out and reported it as if nothing had happened."

The two-dimensional announcer narrates this morning's news in a mechanical voice. In other words, in order to broadcast this, it is necessary to watch this morning's news, quickly process the information, select the right information on the Internet, organize it, prepare machine sounds and images, and create a video.

"It's unlikely, but it's not something that other AI can do."

"Is this something that AI can do? If there's an AI that can do that, it's Lilan or Yui"

Then I felt a chill down my spine. Perhaps out of curiosity, Yui, Strea, Liran, and Jupiter consulted the "fugitives" and imitated them——。

No, but they couldn't do it – I instinctively operated my smartphone and called my partner who lives in the online world, driven by two thoughts. Within seconds, the phone stopped and I heard a voice.

"Hey, and people? What's wrong? ”

"Lilan, can you hear me? What are you doing now? ”

"What, I'm eating at a restaurant in World Tree City. Yui, Strea, and Jupiter are nearby. \"

"I see, all the AI is there."

"Dad, what's wrong?"

"Kirito Yeho, I heard you——!? \"

"Kirito-san, what's going on? \"

I kept hearing voices, so I knew Lilan's message wasn't a lie. I put my phone on hands-free mode and put it on my desk, turned to the TV, and saw that the 2D announcer was still exposing the falsification of this morning's news.

"Calm down, listen, Lilan. Tomorrow the TV is broken and a strange broadcast is being played.

"Runaways"? What are you talking about, Kato? The "broken man" was then in hell. So it doesn't exist anymore. More importantly, what happens when a TV station is hacked? Is it true

I don't think he ever thought about the reappearance of "The Fugitives", and just after he heard Lilan's confused voice, he heard Yui's calm voice.

"Sister, it seems to be true. When I was browsing SNS just now, the keyword "violent man" and the information about "violent man" that will appear on TV tomorrow are all over the sky.

"Lie! But at that time Alberich was defeated by Lilan!? I can't believe I'm alive! \"

I could hear Streya's astonishment. The reason why Jupiter's voice was not heard in that situation was probably because Alice was already in Alice's storage room at the time, and the information was cut off.

"It should be. But Rover will be on TV tomorrow. ”

"It can't be, right? I thought it might be the AI left by Sugo. Do you know about Lilan, Yui-chan, Strea-san, and Jupiter-kun? \"

"That's impossible, Mr. Lifa. We just ate like that, and haven't seen the news this morning. \"

"And, if you can do that, there's only Lilan here.

。 Jupiter, I, and Yui couldn't do that. Also, there are people who can benefit from hacking things like TV stations. \"

"No..."

"They're basically not lying, so what they're saying must be true." As Stre said, no one here would benefit from hacking into a television station that broadcasts news. They don't judge right and wrong as extremely, like Sugo or Hannibal, and they are artificial intelligence capable of thinking right. As I thought at the beginning, there was no culprit among them.

"I'm sorry to doubt you. Then, the appearance of the 'fugitive' is definitely not the legacy of Su Gou. ”

"Dad, let me ask you again, the TV was cracked today, was it? By the "Fugitives".

\"Ah, yes. What's wrong, Yui? \"

"I feel like I know what's going to happen. We did stop Nobuyuki Sugo, the "fugitive".

However, what we stopped was the "Runaway", who was like an end organ, and we didn't succeed in stopping the original Hannibal. As long as Hannibal continues his activities, I believe that countless "fugitives" will continue to be born. ”

"After all, my daughter's thoughts are quite similar." We defeated Hannibal's emissary named "The Fugitive" - he didn't seem to realize that he was one of those forced to dance in Hannibal's palm - and we didn't hunt down Hannibal himself. Tower. As evidence, it is also unknown why Hannibal took such an action.

What I do know, however, is that a new "broken man" is born, at least not that the "broken man" is dancing in the palm of Hannibal's hand, as well as in online society, mass media, police, politics and society. In the business world, everything is in Hannibal's hands. The political and financial circles, the police, and the mass media only grasped the "Broken Run", but they did not know that Hannibal existed, let alone that the "Broken Run" was cooperating with Hannibal.

I don't know what Hannibal's intentions were. But to cause such a large amount of chaos, which in itself must have been Hannibal's intention. Everything went according to Hannibal's expectations.

"Because we are the ones who know that the 'Crash Man' is acting under Hannibal's orders."

\"No, and people. We are the ones who know Hannibal himself. It seems that the "fugitives" did more than just proclaim the existence of Hannibal. \"

"Of course, if this happens, Hannibal will immediately erase them, and if ordinary people try to approach Hannibal, they will immediately be forced to dance on the palms of Hannibal's hands and somehow dispose of them."

"That's probably what Alice said, Kirito-san. \"

I reacted to what I heard from Yupit, who didn't say much because she was being pushed by Yui, Lilan, and Streya.

"Yes, when I talked to Mr. Alice about Hannibal, I got such an answer. I thought it was going to be disposed of, and it used to be like that. ”

"I can't say for sure. Sugo asked Hannibal for help, but Hannibal did nothing. Probably because Sugo is no longer needed. And now the new "escapees" do not know that they are only being used by Hannibal, but act under the command of Hannibal

Naoba and I turned to the TV again. A deformed two-dimensional announcer who feels even more stupid is shown on the screen, speaking out of the speaker, in a machine voice like a reading software, about the actual situation of a scam news program.

According to what I heard from Naoba, after being attacked by "fugitives", the news program began to tell only the truth, but it was cracked into this, this morning's news content and so on. The matter has come to light, and it is likely that there will be more cases of deliberate falsification of information.

The two-dimensional announcer, who had been talking, suddenly stopped talking, and we both thought, "Wow? ”

"This concludes today's emergency broadcast. We still accept complaints and protests. In order to improve the broadcasting of our station, we solicit the opinions of our viewers. ”

At that time, the studio where the two-dimensional anchor was located finally disappeared from the TV screen. As soon as it was released, the color screen that stopped playing was reflected, and there was no sound at all. - at the very moment when the attack of the "fugitives" ended.

"Is this the attack of the Runaways" just now? \"

\"yes. When my brother went to SAo, a lot of these things happened. I think tomorrow the TV station will do amazing things. \"

"It's definitely a fuss and I wanted to report it to Alice, but I don't know what's going on."

"Oh, and then again, I haven't seen Miss Alice lately.

\"That's right. "The last time I saw Alice was when the SAo survivors were having a party at a bar in World Tree City. Alice may not have logged in since then. \"

Listening to Naoba and Streya's conversation, I was taken aback.

Alice/Alice has now disappeared from our view, but Shino and I know what Alice does in the real world. However, among my friends, only Shino and I knew about it, not even her children Lilan and Yui.

"Ah, that, Sugu and Yui don't know Alice San's background. Actually-\"

For the first time, I told outsiders what Alice Serizawa, a psychiatrist and artificial intelligence scientist, was doing. When the story ended, Naoba let out a surprised voice.

"Hey! Teacher Alice, you're back to working on artificial intelligence. ”

"yes, it's been months since she said that, she's doing AI now, and she didn't tell me which company was doing it."

\"I see, Yui's brothers and sisters continue to be born in places we don't know\"

"I see, since there are more brothers and sisters, shouldn't you be happy? Especially the third daughter, Streya. ”

From the speaker-like smartphone placed on the table, Strea, the third female AI she created, can be heard with a voice of confusion and dissatisfaction.

"Eh, eh. I would be unhappy if my sister or brother was born when I wasn't looking. We can't meet and we can't live together! \"

"It's a pity, though. At this point, if I talk to Ms. Alice, she may be able to give me some good advice. \"

I agree with Naoha's disappointed voice. If I could ask Alice something at a time like this, I would hear some kind of plan, and she might come up with a way to get close to Hannibal. In fact, I tried to come up with something on my own, but there were still a lot of things I couldn't compete with Alice, and most of the time I couldn't do anything about it.

By the way, in order to hear Alice's voice, Shino seems to have tried to call several times when she thinks Alice has finished her work, but every time she connects to the answering service, she can't talk to Alice. No.

And, according to Shino, Alice says that she often logs in to ALo, but hasn't logged in since the party. Shino was very disappointed at the time, but when I told her that the research Alice was doing might be that difficult, she managed to listen.

I'm sure Airi's job is pretty much the same as that of Lilan, Jupiter, Yui, and Strea, or the AI development that improves on them, and she can't do that unless she becomes alienated from us. Something like that. The other party probably thought that he would be able to buy time to do ALo, but he couldn't.

"But I've relied on her since SAo. It's time to stop relying on her. Besides, the "fugitives" attacked me at that time, so let's fight it together. I thought about it for a moment, but now the Fugitives aren't attacking, so I don't think Alice is going to give you a particularly good answer. \"

"That's true, but after all this happened, I was afraid that the 'runaway' would attack me again."

"When the time comes, it's just a matter of working together again. Instead, what you should be worried about is the delay in ALo updates due to the appearance of the "broken man". If the "broken man" were to appear on television tomorrow, there would be no doubt that every aspect of Japanese business would be on high alert. Rector should be one of them. \"

Hearing the words of their partner on the mobile phone screen, the two said "ah" again. Tomorrow is the day of the ALo update, but something like this has happened on TV, so it's not surprising that the update has been delayed. I've been looking forward to it!

"Oops, no! Are you ready to renew the New World!?

\"Then, we can only hope that the update will not be delayed any longer\"

I nodded at the voice of my partner Lilan, and prayed in my heart with Naoba that ALo's renewal would go smoothly. It was then that I realized for the first time that the impact of an abusive attack would be severe.

"It's finally here, Svartjärfheim, the floating continent of the Black Elves!!"

The first thing I heard was the voice of the partner girl, and her voice seemed to be very excited. All users, including me and Naoba, are worried that tomorrow the TV will be attacked by a "broken man" and REcto will be completely affected and stop updating ALo. That's what I did the day after tomorrow.

"Alfheim online" has been successfully updated to bring us players Svart Alfheim, a continent with an almost infinite amount of new elements.

The reappearance of "Honkai Man" in Japanese society surprised me and made me feel a certain unease, but the implementation of the new world made all my troubles disappear as if I had forgotten all my worries. He launched Amusphere and jumped into the virtual world of Alfheim online.

In the fairytale world of ALo, my partner Lilan, my daughter Yui, and my friend Strea are all waiting for this moment with joy on their faces, just like me and Naoba/Leafa. Welcome to us.

It was there when I went to the portal with them. A new city that did not exist until yesterday is called the "Rhine, the capital of the sky". Without hesitation, we chose a city we had never seen before and teleported out. A shroud of blue light envelops our vision and body, and when it finally clears, a sight we have never seen before leaps into our field of vision.

Some of the fantastical buildings, which are basically made of stone, come in a variety of sizes and shapes, reminiscent of ancient ruins, and medieval Europe, although different from ancient ruins, have many stalls that are reminiscent.

In ALo, players of countless different races, such as Salamanders, Elves, Gnomes, Water Diners, Imps, Springrigans, Casey, Pucas, Leprechauns, and more, come and go in towns that are completely different from World Tree City.

"Great! Is this Svart Alfheim! ”

"The floating continent where light and darkness meet, and its largest urban Tiandu line, seems to be here.

I nodded to Lifa's whisper as she looked around. There are tens of thousands of ALo players in Japan, and there are also players who log in from overseas, so there are already 100 million people who have logged in to ALo, and they are looking forward to this update as much as we do, and that's what I did. Because everyone gathers on the Kowloon East Line like this, there will definitely be such congestion.

However, when I looked around again at the players gathered around me, I found that there were many more people than I had imagined, and I was as surprised as Lifa was at how many of them. With so many people, it seems that the weight of the player will cause the floating continent to fall to the continent below.

"Ah, finally found. Kirito! \"

In the midst of the excitement of the players excited by the updates and the scenery of the unknown area, we heard familiar voices and we all turned our heads at the same time. A girl with white light blue hair, a dark green combat uniform, big feral cat-like ears on her head, and a tail on her buttocks, suffocating in the crowd, left and walked over to us.

As soon as I saw the girl in front of me, I felt happy in my heart, and Yui's eyes lit up.

\"Shino! \"

"Mom!"

"Kirito and Yui, it's still early. I just logged in. \"

"Oh yes. And it's not just me and Yui. Lilan and Strea were also there. ”

Hearing me say this, Shiinaa smiled at her SAo companions, Lilan, and Strea behind her. I'm sure he's happy to be able to meet him well in the New World.

"Lilan and Strea are here too, aren't they?"

"Of course.

"Thank goodness Shino is here too.

"There are indeed so many people.

It is true that so many players log in, some players take precedence, and some players often drop out, but this ALo is the thickest in Japan, and the game is in charge of REcto, and he has a line, so the line will not drop even if it is just a little fast. In fact, Rector himself said in the ad that one of ALo's selling points is that the line never drops.

"Don't worry about this, after all, it's a REcto game where Asuna's father is the boss." It's a subsidiary of that company to be exact, but its thread is the thickest in all of Japan. So you won't be forced. \" Exit. ”

"I hope so, but"

\"Ah, found it! Kirito-kun, Shino——! \"