**Shfff—tap… rustle… mmhmm…**
—"Onii-chan… Onii-chan… wake up…"
The voice was soft, trembling. Accompanied by hands that shook him gently, as if trying to pull him from an invisible abyss.
Kirito recognized it instantly, even before opening his eyes. It was a voice that had accompanied him for as long as he could remember. His cousin, Suguha.
Upon opening his eyes, he saw her in front of him. Suguha was leaning over the bed, her brow slightly furrowed and her eyes shining with concern.
Her face had the softness he always remembered. Her cheeks, slightly flushed with worry, contrasted with her lips pressed into a line that tried not to tremble.
Her black hair, straight and shiny, fell in loose strands over her shoulders. A few rebellious locks slid down her forehead, naturally framing her expression.
Her large, expressive eyes reflected a mix of tenderness and anxiety. They were of that deep hue that seemed to contain shared memories, long silences, and unspoken promises.
She wore simple yet warm home clothes. She had on a slightly loose pastel cotton t-shirt, with sleeves that barely reached her elbows.
The round neck revealed part of her collarbone, and the fabric seemed to have been washed many times, as if it were her favorite garment for staying at home.
Her shorts were made of soft fabric, with a discreet pattern, and the white laces barely peeked out from underneath.
Everything about her conveyed closeness, routine, and that kind of intimacy that is only built through years of living together.
—"Are you okay, Onii-chan?"
She asked, noticing that he was looking at her without saying anything.
—"Did you have a nightmare?"
—"A nightmare…?"
Kirito repeated, still disoriented, as he slowly sat up, transitioning from lying down to sitting on the edge of the bed.
—"Yes… you were crying."
Suguha said, backing up a bit, with a look of doubt.
—"And in your dreams, you were saying the names of… Vaelinne and Lyrielle..."
She fell silent for a moment, then added in a lower voice:
—"Are they from Underworld? Important people you left behind? Maybe… you miss them."
**Shhh—tap… drip… mmh**
Kazuto brought his right hand to his face. It was wet. It was true.
—"..."
He didn't respond. He just looked around, bewildered. His room. His desk. The computer still on. The morning light coming through the window. Finally, his eyes landed on the mirror.
And there he was. His reflection. His dark eyes.
(—"They're not blue…")
He thought, feeling something inside him break and mend at the same time. A mix of joy and sadness enveloped him, prompting him to act in that precise moment.
**Fffft—grab… thmp—gasp…**
—"Uwaa! What are you doing, Onii-chan? D-Don't do that, it embarrasses me…!"
Suguha shouted, blushing, as she was suddenly hugged tightly by Kazuto. He wrapped both arms around her, without a hint of shame, as if he didn't want to let her go. She raised her hands, unsure of what to do with them, caught in a moment she hadn't expected.
**Thmp—grip… fsshh**
But Kazuto didn't let her go, despite her agitated movements. He drew her in even closer, closing his eyes, as if that embrace were the only real thing.
**Shift… mmh—tap…**
Suguha, gradually regaining her composure, tried to push him away gently.
—"Really… what's wrong with you all of a sudden? Please, let me go, Onii-chan… huh?"
**Drip… shhh—tap… mmhmm…**
She couldn't continue. She felt his tears falling on her shoulder. And when she looked up and found his dark eyes, with no other intentions, she lost the strength to resist.
Especially when she heard him say:
—"I've missed you so much, Suguha…"
**Fsshh—tap… thmp… mmhmm…**
She, surrendering to the embrace, stopped resisting. Her hands, which had just moments ago been pushing him away, now wrapped around his waist timidly. She returned the intimate gesture, averting her gaze so he wouldn't see her flushed face.
—"I don't know what's going on with you… but it doesn't matter."
—"Thank you, Suguha..."
Kazuto said softly, as his mind began to process fragments of memories. His expression grew darker, as if each second there returned a part of himself… and also the weight of what was lost.
...
**Thmp… shift—fsshh… khmm—tap…**
A few more minutes passed in that position, uncomfortable for Suguha, before he, with some reluctance and reluctance, released her.
**Fssh—step-step… mmh—khhmm…**
As soon as she felt him let go, Suguha quickly moved away from the bed, standing up to avoid another hug. At that moment, she pretended to cough with a fist over her mouth and said:
—"Ujum… Now can you tell me what's wrong, Onii-chan?"
But instead of answering directly, Kazuto asked:
—"Suguha… can you tell me how much time has passed since they took me out of Underworld?"
She looked bewildered again, tilting her head slightly, though she didn't refuse to answer:
—"Did you forget already? It's been more than a month since that happened… and they took you out along with Asuna."
**Tap… mmh—fsshh…**
—"A month…?"
Kazuto brought his hand to his chin, trying to process it. But he didn't remember anything from that month… nothing. And that absence confirmed what he feared. His face darkened again.
Suguha, noticing the change in his expression, felt that something was wrong. She sensed that those scattered thoughts and that surprising question were the result of erased memory fragments… memories of Underworld.
—"I was trapped… in Underworld. I couldn't get out."
—"What?"
**Fsshh… thmp… khh—mmhmm…**
Kazuto calmly got up from the bed, pulled off the blanket, and began to tell her what he remembered. As he spoke, his account became clearer, more solid. It was as if, by saying it out loud, his mind was reconstructing it and clarity was becoming more palpable.
—"Haaah… What am I going to do with you, Onii-chan…"
Suguha sighed, with a mix of resignation and relief.
—"This happens to you for getting into so many virtual worlds. You don't even know in your dreams what's real and what isn't."
Kazuto noticed that she wasn't taking it seriously. He shook his head and turned to observe his room more closely. And then he saw it: inconsistencies. Details that didn't fit.
Before he could say anything, Suguha spoke:
—"Doctor Higa told us that both you and Asuna could suffer some side effects… from having erased your memories of Underworld."
Her face showed understanding, but also doubt. She looked at her Onii-chan as if seeing him for the first time.
—"At least… do you remember what happened this month?"
—"I don't remember anything, Suguha. Nothing at all."
Kazuto firmly shook his head. Then he added:
—"But I remember everything else. Including the more than 250 years I lived in Underworld."
—"What? That's not right… You shouldn't remember anything from those 200 years…"
Suguha became worried seeing that he was speaking without a joking tone. His eyes had no trace of playfulness.
**Fsshh… thmp—khh… tap… mmhmm…**
Alarmed, she took her phone.
—"I have to call someone… Asuna? Alice? No… I know! Doctor Higa. He said that if this happened, we should call him immediately…"
**Ffft—step… thmp… shnk—tap…**
As she searched her contacts on her mobile, Kazuto quickly approached and snatched the phone from her hands.
—"Why are you taking my phone? Give it back, Onii-chan!"
—"I won't. I don't want to hear the voice of that scum who locked me in Underworld, not even in my dreams."
Kazuto said firmly, glancing at the clock.
(—"Not a minute has moved since I woke up.")
He thought painfully.
—"You're crazy, Onii-chan. It seems like you still haven't fully woken up… Give me my phone back! Right now!"
**Fsshh—thmp… khh—tap… tap**
Suguha lunged at him with the agility of a kendo champion. But every time she was about to reach him, Kazuto skillfully pulled it away. The game repeated itself over and over.
**Ffft—mmh…**
—"When did you become so fast and agile?"
**Fsshh—tap…**
—"When I got trapped in Underworld, dear Suguha… when I got trapped."
**Thmp—fsshh… khh—shift…**
**Thmp… khh—tap… tap**
Kazuto moved agilely around the room, dodging Suguha without ever turning his back to her. She, determined to get her phone back, chased him with determination, but every attempt was thwarted by her Onii-chan's precision.
**Hhh—hahh…**
—"This can't be!"
**Ffft—mmhmm…**
She exclaimed between gasps.
**Khh—tap…**
—"You weren't this fast before!"
**Fsshh—thmp…**
Kazuto smiled, still moving. His body responded as if he were still in combat, as if Underworld had not entirely abandoned him.
**Ffft—step… thmp…**
Suguha, seeing that she had no chance in speed, changed strategies. She cornered him near the bed behind her back, where he paused for a moment, evaluating his options.
**Khmm—tap…**
—"Do you think I only know kendo?"
He said proudly, moving closer with determination.
—"My grandfather also taught me to defend myself with bare hands in special cases."
**Thmp—tap…**
**Ffft—grab… thmp…**
Without waiting for a response, he grabbed her wrist firmly, twisting it behind her back. At the same time, he tried to hit the leg that was supporting Kazuto's balance.
**Fsshh—shift…**
But just before succeeding, he moved his leg a few inches. The blow barely grazed him.
—"Huh?"
**Thmp—fsshh… khh—grab…**
Taking advantage of Suguha's imbalance, Kazuto turned his body precisely, flipping her onto the bed and trapping her wrist in an inverted position.
—"Kyaa!"
**Ffft—mmhmm…**
His body fell on top of hers, immobilizing her in less than a second.
**Khh—hahh…**
Suguha was bewildered. She didn't understand how it had happened. Her face, completely red, reflected a mix of panic and embarrassment. Even her ears were burning. She didn't even care about her phone, which was beside her on the bed.
—"I give up! I give up! Please, let me go, Onii-chan!"
She shouted with a trembling voice, looking at Kazuto with puppy eyes.
**Khmm—whisper…**
Kazuto leaned closer to her ear, in an intimate, almost whispered voice:
—"Thank you, Suguha… for giving me such a pleasant and cheerful dream..."
Suguha blinked, not fully understanding. But then Kazuto lifted his gaze towards the clock.
**Tick—tick…**
[7:00 AM.]
Time had frozen since he woke up here.
**Bzzzz—beep… beep…**
The clock began to sound loudly. An alarm that hadn't been there before.
**Fsshh**
Kazuto turned towards the window. There was no longer a landscape. Only an intense white light, growing second by second.
I had understood it almost from the beginning:
(—"All of this…")
It had only been a dream.
—"Haaah."
**Fsshh—glow… dissss**
He sighed as the light enveloped him. The room faded away. Suguha, her voice, her warmth… everything disintegrated like fog.
And so ended the last refuge of his mind.
*****
**Tzzzz—clik… fsshhhhh**
Kirito slowly opened his blue eyes.
**Bzzzt… plink…**
The first thing he saw was the familiar ceiling, the one he had gazed at for so many years. But his gaze did not fixate on the shapes, but on the light descending from the lit lamps. They turned on automatically at 7:00 a.m., like a silent whisper reminding him that a new day had begun.
(—"It was that same light...")
**Shffff—tap…**
He thought as he raised his right arm and extended it towards the light source, partially covering his still sleepy eyes. The brightness was annoying, but also necessary, since there was no sun he could see… And this time he had not awakened on a work table, nor surrounded by blueprints or codes.
He was lying in the same bed that had held him for more than fifty years—excluding, of course, the years shared with Asuna—in the same room that he… In the same room he had called home within the Hidden Library.
He sighed deeply.
The dream he had just had left him with a soft, persistent sadness. If he could count the number of dreams and nightmares he had about returning to his world, he would have already written an entire book. Most revolved around Asuna. Others, around his friends, his family, his memories. But this time it had been Suguha. His cousin. His soul sister. He missed her too.
(—"The mind can resist... but feelings are another story.")
He had learned it once again. Dreams are not controlled. They are reflections of our desires… or of our deepest fears.
**Shhh—tap…**
He ran his hand over his forehead, processing that thought. He still felt the residual warmth of the dream, as if a part of him refused to fade away.
For the first time in decades, Kirito had decided to sleep well. More than eight hours. To recover his mind. He had succeeded, but at a price: the dreams had brought him intense emotions. Joy, sadness, bitterness, pain, anticipation... and above all, uncertainty.
(—"It's not easy to concentrate with so many things that could happen...")
—"Haaaaah…"
**Krrrk—tap… shff**
With one last long sigh, he stretched his virtual body and got out of bed.
**Thmp-thmp-thmp**
He walked barefoot to the wardrobe, searching for a towel and a clean change of clothes for the day that was beginning.
Several days had passed since his farewell to Vaelinne and Lyrielle. Almost a week. But out there, in the outside world, barely a day had gone by. The time difference between Underworld and the Hidden Library was brutal. But also necessary. And beneficial.
He had used those days not only to rest but to review every technical aspect of his plan. Silent tests, meticulous adjustments, precise simulations. He didn't want to leave anything to chance. Not when the stakes were his life. His existence.
(—"I can only control certain limits... the rest...")
**Thmp—rustle…**
He shook his head as he took the clothes. He didn't want to keep thinking beyond what he could handle.
And yet, he knew that chance remained part of the game. Part of the bet.
**Crrrk—thmp-thmp**
With everything needed for the bathroom in his hands, he headed to his room door. The floor creaked beneath his bare feet.
(—"Today is the day...")
The day when everything would be decided. Once and for all.
*****
**Fsshhh—hummm… pfffft**
Steam filled the bathroom like warm fog.
**Plonk… shhhhhh**
Kirito was submerged from the chest down in the white bathtub, sitting calmly. The name "bathtub" barely fit, as it resembled more of a mini jacuzzi: it could easily accommodate four people. A decision made by Asuna, not so much by him.
**Gloop… tik… tik…**
The water was at the perfect temperature: hot enough to relax the muscles, gentle enough not to dull the mind.
—"Hhhhmmm…"
He closed his eyes.
(—"Lover of bathtubs...")
"Plink… drip…"
He thought with a small smile as he remembered another facet of his beloved, who was no longer there. At first, it had been difficult for him to share that habit as a couple, but nothing that a little insistence on his part and some time couldn't transform, even that initial embarrassment.
(—"In the end, it was she who took the initiative to invite me to bathe together…")
We all change over time, whether we want to or not. Some a little, others a lot, depending on the situation and mindset.
A shy person can become so brave that it's hard to believe they are the same, as if they were a twin forged by experience.
Or someone who pretends to be good, upon receiving sincere and kind treatment, can stop pretending and become genuine… or not.
In the end, it all depends on that person. But a change will happen; that cannot be avoided.
Nothing stays still forever. Neither tiny stones nor gigantic continents that have moved over the millennia. Much less people who feel and reason, regardless of their origins.
**Rrrrmm… shhhhhh**
**Gloop… glup…**
Kirito, immersed in deep thoughts, submerged completely. For a few seconds, he remained beneath the crystalline waters of the bathtub before surfacing to take a breath.
(—"I can't help but think that all of us who were and survived the death game, Sword Art Online… we were never the same as when we entered…")
He thought again about his past and the radical change he and the other players had to go through.
(—"We were forced to adapt to survive…")
**Plop… drip…**
He reflected a bit more on that past and how that was the first time someone had put him in a situation of real death, along with almost 10,000 other players.
**Swish… plink…**
(—"Once again I'm in a similar situation, but different… I'm alone…")
Kirito pulled his hand out of the hot water, observing the great realism of this world and how his virtual body could feel even better than in the SAO game.
(—"It feels more real… but just as lethal to my life…")
Without a body to return to in the real world, a death here would also be the definitive end.
…
It was a battle of greater wit and caliber. At first glance, impossible to win. Because the final boss was not a gigantic or unexpected monster. No. It was the world itself, and its invisible yet present cage like the air, with multiple facets.
(—"Sword skill doesn't matter now… This has demanded more than that…")
His blue eyes showed a strange calm as he looked ahead, not focusing on anything in particular. But his internal struggle was fierce. A battle against himself.
He thought about everything that could go right. Every calculation, every simulation, every adjustment he had perfected over the past years. But he also remembered what he told Vaelinne and Lyrielle before saying goodbye:
(—"There's nothing 100% certain in something that has never been done in history…")
**Splash… shhhhhh**
That thought made him frown. He lifted a hand and splashed water on his face, as if trying to erase the anxiety that was beginning to seep in.
(—"Thinking too much won't help me now. I need to be in my best mental state for this to work…")
**Fsshh—whummm…**
Kirito opened his eyes. The steam continued to dance over the water. During those days, he had avoided speaking to himself aloud as much as possible. Every time a negative thought arose, he redirected it, contained it, and transformed it into focus.
**Crrrk… drip… drip**
After spending a few more minutes, he slowly sat up after washing himself calmly. He got out of the bathtub, took the towel, and when he finished drying his body, he picked up the change of clothes that was on the sink table. He stared at it in his hands.
**Rsss… shhh—fold**
It was an outfit mostly black, with blue and white tones.
(—"A classic color…")
He thought, as it was his favorite color and the one that had identified him since he started the death game.
**Shff—tap…**
Kirito dressed calmly. First the underwear, then the black pants, made of firm fabric, perfectly fitted to his body. They had no adornments, but there were dark blue lines running along the sides in parallel, like marks of a path he had already traveled.
**Rrrrip…**
The shirt, also black, had a modest collar and thick fabric, with barely visible white seams on the shoulders and chest. It didn't shine, but when he moved, it revealed a discreet pattern: a blue line descending from the collar to the center of the torso, like a thread of memory.
**Fsshh—click**
On top, a short jacket of the same shade, with reinforcements at the shoulders and white edges on the cuffs. On the back, two parallel lines in pale blue crossed vertically, as if marking the axis of his decision.
**Crrrk—step…**
**Crrrk—step…**
The black polished boots creaked slightly as they adjusted. They were not worn out, but neither were they new.
(—"What nostalgia…")
He said to himself as he looked at his reflection in the mirror and how the outfit fit him. He felt as if he were seeing his past self, the one who prepared every time he was about to risk his life against a floor boss.
(—"But there's no sword as my main weapon…")
Then he looked down at what was on the table.
(—"Just this…")
**Thmp… frsss**
It was a tiny box that he took and tucked into his jacket before heading to the bathroom exit.
(—"Before everything… I have to eat…")
**Crrrk—click**
He thought as he opened the door, reflecting that this meal would be the last in Underworld, whether everything works… or not.
*****
**Clack—whirr… hissss**
The waffle iron closed tightly. Kirito, standing in front of the small kitchen of his home in the Hidden Library, poured the batter with precise movements, not spilling a drop. The steam began to rise, perfuming the air with a sweet, toasted aroma.
**Drip… bloop…**
The bubbling coffee was ready. Kirito watched it for a few seconds before turning his gaze back to the waffles he was making.
**Tsshh—crackle…**
The waffles were slowly browning. When he opened the lid, the heat escaped like a sigh. He placed them on the plate.
**Fssss—drizzle…**
The honey fell in a perfect spiral over the crispy surface.
**Tap… thmp…**
Kirito paused for a moment after finishing everything. He looked at the plate, the coffee, and the waffles with honey in silence, although with thoughts.
(—"The first food upon returning to Underworld will also be the last…")
**Crrrk—slide…**
As he took the plate and sat at the table, now emptier than ever, he began to reflect on the choice of this meal.
—"Itadakimasu."
**Clink… scrrr...**
After saying those words, he took a bite with his utensils: knife and fork.
(—"It's very good...")
He had no doubt about his tremendous improvement in cooking, and like the girls, he really preferred to make something with his own hands rather than relying on a system that delivered everything on a silver platter.
Kirito was not entirely against using them to improve life a bit or out of necessity, but relying completely on them… that was another story.
(—"It would be a crutch and not a help...")
He shook his head at the thought of what his culinary skills would be if he had left everything to the system's food exchange for all those fifty years. And there were more than enough books to do so, and there would be plenty, as it would only be not even 1% of everything, not to mention that new ones were automatically generated.
If he had fallen into the temptation of doing it, he certainly would never have this talent for cooking that filled him with a certain pride, in addition to having discovered a new passion that brought him joy and relaxation...
(—"I must not stop thinking this way... no matter what...")
Letting everything be solved by just pushing a few buttons was not progress, as it was always the way out of everything. Because there will be moments that will force you to do things for yourself, and if you are not prepared for it… let's say the price can be very high.
**Sip… clink… russs**
Already halfway through the waffles, which were delicious, he took his coffee cup and brought it carefully to his lips, while lowering his head in reflection and with the other hand touching the jacket where he had stored the box.
(—"No system in this world would have traced a path or brought me to where I am now…")
The fact that he had created a possible way out by himself had helped him to advance and think outside the box… or prison, in his case.
Today might seem like a normal day. A shower, a breakfast, an ordinary routine. But nothing was further from reality. Every step he had taken, every gesture, every silence… everything had been part of the plan.
Soon he would get into a machinery that he had built himself. A structure that contained his will, his knowledge, his digital soul. But in the end… it would be Higa who would have to outsmart to survive.
And according to his simulations, what awaited him would be nothing pretty. Not pleasant.
(—"I don't have to overthink it...")
Once again, Kirito shook off his thoughts, which were going down paths that would disturb the peace he had fought to maintain until now.
**Clink—scrrrr—gulp**
So, in a brief moment, he finished the rest of the waffles with honey and the coffee that awakened his mind even more.
He automatically washed what he had dirtied, knowing that no one would ever use those plates again.
**Russs—pat… step**
After drying his hands, he walked to the living room and stopped in front of many paintings he had made himself.
(—"Too bad I can't take them with me where I'm going…")
He thought with regret, before focusing on them one last time.
—"..."
In the old portraits alongside Asuna, his eyes were dark. Days from many years ago. Days when he laughed without thinking about tomorrow.
For example, one of them was the one where he had Asuna on his back, wrapping her arms around his neck and smiling with excitement, eyes closed, while he smiled knowingly with dark eyes in front, holding her from her thighs so she wouldn't fall due to her lively movements.
**Shhh—glint… blink**
The glass of the frame served as a reflection, and the sapphire blue eyes synchronized with those of the painting, as if replacing him for a moment in the image before returning to normal. At that same instant, he felt a disconnection between his past self and his current self.
(—"I never imagined being in a situation like this.")
**Shht—step**
Again, he didn't want to think too much, so he diverted his gaze to the other paintings in the room.
Portraits of friends, family. Some faces were still alive. Others were not. Some inhabited this world. Others, the world he wished to return to.
In all of them, he appeared with his natural dark eyes, but there was only one that was different and new:
He, Vaelinne, and Lyrielle, sharing a dinner, laughing together. The scene was here, in his home. It was a dinner like many they had had over the years together, but unlike the other paintings, in this one his eyes were blue and not dark. And it was strange to see the contrast with the other portraits.
(—"They were certainly a great support for me...")
He thought with a slight smile recalling that those same women had asked him for a copy of that particular portrait, and he agreed with only one condition:
Change the location where it happened.
They accepted, and in the end, each took a modified copy, set as if it were in the cathedral, just before his departure with Asuna, and he with his dark eyes. An intentional detail, so that no one would suspect.
In contrast, he kept the original.
(—"It's better to move on to the future... and not anchor myself so much to the past...")
**Step—step—creak**
With a more focused mind, and seeing that it was already time, he started heading to the exit of his home.
**Crrrk—crrrk—moan… hush**
The door resonated when he opened it, as if it cried one last time for its owner who was leaving never to return.
**Thmp… grip—fsshh**
Kirito looked back as he tightened his grip on the door, and said in a very low voice:
—"Thank you for giving me shelter one last time during these fifty years... old friend..."
**Thmp—click—dim**
With that farewell word, he decisively closed the door… leaving his home, which turned off its lights upon feeling no more of its last owner.
**Thmp-thmp-thmp**
While Kirito, without looking back, headed to the place where everything he had built awaited him.
Where the great plan would begin and his leap into the real world.
*****
**Thmp… step—step… hushhh**
Kirito walked firmly down a slightly wide hallway. On both sides, shelves filled with books rose to heights impossible to reach with the eye. However, his eyes did not linger on any of those details. He just walked through that endless corridor that became increasingly dark.
**Fsshh—tap…**
Finally, upon reaching the end, he found himself in front of a light-colored wall. Smooth, without obvious marks, it appeared to be a dead end. But he knew its secret.
—"..."
**Tink… tik—click… shhhhnk**
He extended his hands and began to touch certain points in a precise sequence. Each touch activated a small block that shifted with a subtle sound, like pieces of a hidden puzzle.
(—"Now different...")
**Krrnk—click… click… fzzzt**
Upon completing the sequence, he moved the blocks again, this time in a different order, as if closing the pattern with a personal signature. Without that signature, it wouldn't be enough to enter just two distinct sequences, but three. And if he made a mistake again, one more would be added.
The process would repeat up to a maximum of ten attempts, which would force access to be unlocked from a remote location.
***Tick… tick… hum…**
Of course, he knew all the sequences. He had memorized them for safety, aware of what he kept inside.
He had taken precautions. He was not sure that Vaelinne and Lyrielle would completely reject the idea of staying in the library. That's why he designed this access as an extra layer of protection.
(—"It never hurts to be cautious...")
Kirito thought seriously, knowing the grave consequences of a mistake in his long-term plan.
**Rrrrmm—thmp… trrrrkk…**
**Grrrrnk… shhhhhh—grrrrnnk**
Then, the wall trembled violently, enough for him to feel it in his feet. A deep, resonant sound echoed in the space. Then, slowly, the structure began to open from the center to the sides. Not violently, but solemnly. As if recognizing the only one who had permission to enter its interior.
Fsshh—glow… hum
Light filtered from within, illuminating his figure in the dimness. It was not natural light, but the illumination of the hidden laboratory: the heart of his plan. The place where he had worked for fifty years, assembling his puzzle little by little, until reaching something close to perfection.
**Plinnn—clack…**
At that moment, another sound marked the end of the opening: an entrance about two and a half meters tall inviting him to cross the threshold.
—"…"
But Kirito did not enter immediately. This time he was not doing it to refine the machinery or adjust his plan. Now he was entering to begin his new beginning... or the end of his life.
(—"There's no second chance for me if this fails...")
He felt the same feelings as before entering a final boss room, where the back doors did not open until one of the two died in combat. Where the emergency teleportation stones did not work.
—"Haaaah..."
After taking a deep breath, he entered with a more confident step.
**Tap… tap… click—crrrrk**
As he crossed the threshold, he slid his hand along the thick right wall, touching specific points.
**Rrrrmm—thmp**
He activated the closure. The entrance sealed behind him with a metallic sound and the final creaking of the stone.
Now he was inside.
**Clang—step… hum**
Kirito was welcomed by a metal bridge leading him to the center of the room, which he crossed without stopping. The ground beneath his feet vibrated with a silent energy, as if recognizing his presence.
The large room was neither square nor rectangular, like most rooms in the worlds. This, which he had created, was spherical.
A perfect white dome, completely closed, without windows or visible exits.
From afar, its walls seemed smooth, inert. But as he approached, hundreds of small embedded points were revealed: spherical crystals, almost imperceptible, distributed with mathematical precision.
Each one served a function.
Each one was part of the system.
**Zzzmmm—tick… wissss**
His first steps inside made the room react.
**Bzzzz—shhh—shhh**
The lights intensified slightly. A subtle buzzing filled the air. And, if someone had a trained ear, they could distinguish an even more delicate sound: the scuttling of tiny legs across the surface.
**Tktktktktk…**
They were the golem spiders.
**Crrrk—crawl—click**
Small, almost invisible from a distance, but present in every corner.
The same ones he had created during years of work.
The ones he had sent as spies to the kingdom.
The ones now ready to fulfill their final role.
**Whirr—beep… blink**
Stuck to the walls, they watched with their camera eyes. They followed every step of their creator with absolute attention.
**Clack—click**
**Krrrk—clank… hisssshh**
The bridge Kirito was walking on retracted behind him, disappearing completely as he approached the center of the room.
There stood a circular platform, elevated exactly at the epicenter. The administration terminal that had accompanied him up to this point awaited him, despite its limitations. For the last few years, it had been moved from his secondary home in the library to this place for his final work.
Above the terminal, suspended by articulated arms, were the golem hands. The same ones he had shown to Vaelinne and Lyrielle during the tests days ago. They were positioned with fingers down, as if ready to write a command, to execute the complex protocol.
Surrounding them, four or five spiders stayed close, directly connected to the table. Their legs were embedded in specific slots, allowing them to communicate with each other and with the system. They were the eyes of the hands. The sensory network that ensured coherence and precision in writing without errors.
In the exact center of the table was a reader with an unfilled slot, circular in shape and opaque in appearance. It was the core. The trigger. The beginning of it all.
A little further ahead, a small white elevation rose with clear stairs. On it, a three-meter tall crystal white stone shaped like an inverted diamond pointed upwards with its sharp tip. As if defying gravity, a metallic gray sphere floated above the tip.
Additionally, connected to the diamond-shaped stone, there was a white spherical crystal joined by lines of the same material to a small elevated base right next to it. In this half-meter crystal, there were two lateral surfaces where the hands of a specific person fit perfectly.
The pale color of the stone indicated that it was already receiving energy. Below the platform and throughout the room, the power channels extended like invisible but present roots, distributing power to the entire system.
And if one looked up, they would see that the diamond with the gray sphere pointed directly at another crystal white diamond with its tip facing down, and to four smaller ones, each one and a half meters, located on the sides of the room. As if the six formed a closed circuit between heaven, earth, and the center.
**Clack—thmp**
Kirito, finally reaching the circular platform, stopped. Behind him, the last sound of the bridge being fully retracted echoed, fulfilling its purpose. If someone looked back, it would seem as if it had never existed.
(—"Fifty years for everything to be ready...")
He thought while contemplating his work, the fruit of his ingenuity, research, and knowledge put into practice. Something he never believed capable of creating by himself, with a single purpose: to escape from a cage impossible to escape.
**Clnk—step-step**
He set off again towards the center of the circular platform, arriving at the core of it all. The heart of his plan.
**Click**
In front of the terminal, he touched a hidden button on the side, which made everything ready for the real procedure. This time it was not another small-scale simulation.
**Bmmm—whuuuuummm…**
The room emitted a small pulse that expanded from that point to traverse the entire structure, as if he had thrown a stone into a calm lake.
(—"Good... Everything has reacted as it should...")
**Tick… blink—fsshh**
He thought upon seeing that there had been neither delay nor error. Then he reached into his black jacket pocket and pulled out the small box he had brought from home.
**Clack… hiss—click**
Without further delay, he opened the box by slightly lifting the lid.
**Whummm… glint—zzzt**
Inside rested a sphere, covered in runes that stood out even more under the room's lighting, giving it a certain mystery to the observer. It was the exact size to fit into the reader next to the terminal. It was the starting key, which also contained the information of his memories and consciousness, so that the golem hands could do their duty next without remorse for what would happen to him afterwards.
(—"Here is my final work... Live or die, this is decided now...")
**Tap… blink**
He thought while taking the tiny sphere and gazing at it close to his eyes, observing it one last time.
Kirito took a deep breath once more, watching it for a few more seconds, knowing that once he placed it there would be no turning back. Time would begin to run. The system would activate and give him a very brief moment to take his place... which would seal his life, for better or worse.
**Grrgg... Grrgg**
He squeezed the stone between his hands, as if wanting to transmit his luck and will to it, to help him succeed.
(—"I have done everything I could... It's time...")
**Shhhhnk… grip—clack**
His eyes sharpened as if he were about to draw his swords for a fight to the death. With all his determination, without hesitation, he placed the stone in the slot of the reader before him.
**Zzzzt—glow… hum**
The runes began to glow. The reader did too.
**Krrrnk… tik—tik… shhh**
The golem hands reacted with a slight movement, as if waking up. They moved their ten fingers in a sign of testing.
**Bmmm—whuuuuummm…**
And then, like a shockwave, a vibration ran through the room once again. Small at first, then more intense.
**Fsshhhhh—climb… pulse**
It rose up the walls, reached the ceiling, and returned to the one-and-a-half-meter sphere waiting for Kirito.
Everything was in sync.
Everything was in motion.
**Step—step… fsshh—climb**
Not wasting any more time, Kirito quickly walked towards the white elevation. He climbed the steps and positioned himself in front of that divided sphere, where he was to place his hands.
**Thmp… touch...**
And without thinking, he placed them firmly. The touch was cold, surely due to the time and the room's atmosphere.
Kirito stood there, mentally counting the seconds. One by one. Until reaching zero... as if it were the start of a rocket launch to the moon.
(—"5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0...")
**Whummm—clank…**
**Click-click-click-click-click**
At that moment, the golem hands began to move. The spiders connected to the system reacted in perfect coordination. The codes began to flow.
**Bzzzt—ping…**
A line of text appeared on the terminal screen in English, clear and direct:
{> Subject detected. Confirm initialization sequence? [YES] / [NO]}
The golem hands, guided by the memories contained in the stone of the reader and by the sensory network of the spiders, did not hesitate.
**Clack—tap**
They wrote without delay:
{> [YES]}
**Fzzzzmm—glow… crackle**
The sphere where Kirito had placed his hands shone more intensely. The white became purer, more alive.
**Zzzzt—pulse… hisssshh**
On his sides, blue sparks began to travel the structure from the base, ascending like veins of energy until they reached his hands.
Zzzzt—Fzzzt—click... hummm
Kirito felt how the initial cold changed. The surface seemed to adhere more strongly to his palms, as if it were holding him.
There was a magnetic attraction, like iron and magnet... He could no longer pull them away. The system had accepted him. It had sealed him.
**Ping—beep… flicker**
At that moment, a new line appeared on the terminal:
{> Confirm full Fluctlight link? [YES] / [NO]}
**Clack—tap**
The golem hands wrote again:
{> [YES]}
**Zzzmm—shock—crackle**
**Zzzzap—crackle... bzzzt**
An electric pulse coursed through Kirito's body from his hands to his head. The intensity forced him to scrunch his face. It was not like in the simulations. It was not like in the tests. This was real. And it hurt.
He felt how his being, his consciousness, his essence... was being held from the sphere. Not just his hands. All of him. As if the system were absorbing him, recognizing him, integrating him.
(—"This is the point of no return...")
He could not help but think that upon seeing his state.
**Ping—pulse—glow**
The terminal confirmed with surgical precision:
{> Fluctlight link successful. Awaiting next instruction.}
**Tktktktk—Click-click-click-click-click—clack**
The golem hands, as if they understood the hidden language of the system, wrote a new command with speed and accuracy:
{> Deep scan request: locate Light Cube containing linked Fluctlight.}
**Fzzzzmm—hum—sync**
The system accepted the order without resistance.
Kirito, still with his hands embedded in the sphere, felt a new sensation coursing through his body.
At first, it was as if thousands of ants were walking on his skin, inside and outside.
Then, that sensation disappeared...
And was replaced by something worse.
**Thmp—grit—strain**
—"Krrrk...krrrr"
A sharp pain, as if an invisible hand were squeezing his physical heart, forced him to clench his teeth.
It lasted only a few seconds.
But it was enough for cold sweat to run down his back.
(—"And this was just a scan...")
He thought, with his mind projecting the hell that would come after.
**Ping—beep**
The terminal displayed the result:
{> Light Cube located. Fluctlight match confirmed. Awaiting next instruction.}
**Tktktktk—Click-click-click-click-click—clack**
The golem hands, guided by the data on the screen, wrote a new order:
{> Initiate separation protocol: extract Fluctlight from Light Cube container.}
The system did not respond immediately.
For two seconds, it analyzed the order.
And then, as if it understood the gravity of what was being asked...
**BZZZZT—ALARM—FLASH**
A warning appeared on the screen, in intense red letters, accompanied by an alarm that resonated throughout the room.
**WEEEOOO—WEEEOOO—WEEEOOO**
Kirito turned towards the terminal, his face tense.
He knew he was walking on a tightrope.
And that below there was no net.
Only an abyss that would swallow him whole... with his life as the main course.
{> ⚠️ WARNING: Separation may cause irreversible damage to Fluctlight. Risk of disintegration due to lack of stabilization. Proceeding may result in total loss. ⚠️}
**Tktktk**
The golem hands ignored the warning.
As if the system had no authority over them.
As if the risk had nothing to do with their creator.
**Click-click-click-click-click—clack**
They wrote a new order:
{> Execute separation in 5 seconds. Override warning. Begin stabilization protocol.}
**Ping—link—sync**
At the same time, another screen activated.
It communicated directly with the technology in the room.
A parallel system that began to prepare measures to prevent the worst-case scenario.
**Tktktktk—sync**
**Click-click-click**
The golem hands, executing multiple tasks in parallel, wrote a new command to synchronize both orders within the five-second countdown. The objective was clear: to save Kirito's Fluctlight from possible disintegration.
**Fwooosh—hmmmm... glimmmer**
The crystal sphere where Kirito was held began to shine more intensely. The light was so strong that it forced him to squint.
**Ping—ping**
Both orders appeared on the screen, ready for execution.
The system issued one last warning, asking if the user wished to continue despite everything.
**Clack—tap**
{> [YES]}
The golem hands, programmed by Kirito to write with superhuman speed, responded without hesitation.
As if he were doing it himself.
But without emotion.
Without tremor.
After confirming the command and syncing it with the stabilization task, a countdown appeared on the screen:
{> 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…}
**Beeeeeeep**
A long beep, like the sound of a heart monitor when the heart stops beating, resonated in the room.
**Fffft—drop**
(—"...")
Kirito felt, for a fraction of a second, that he was falling.
As if his body were sliding into an unknown place.
But it was just a mental image.
An instant that never happened.
The relief was short-lived.
A deep discomfort took hold of his entire being.
As if he had gone from a comfortable bed to a rough, pointed stone surface.
Still, he knew that, despite everything, he was on the right track.
His Fluctlight was exactly where he wanted it.
**Shhhh—dim... pulsate...**
The crystal sphere reduced its intensity.
**Fwip... glow...**
And in the center, Kirito could see a small blue light.
**Swoosh... whisper...**
It moved smoothly, as if it were alive.
(—"I did it… I'm in sync...")
Thanks to his creation, he had perfectly executed a trapeze artist's jump:
Letting go of the first trapeze in the heights…
And without failing, grabbing the second right in front of him.
That was, more or less, what had happened with his Fluctlight.
(—"Higa hasn't realized… thanks to the time difference between both worlds…")
That was one of the benefits of being there.
And he knew it.
Then he thought about the following: the extraction, transformation, and compression of his Fluctlight.
**Click-click-click-click-click—clack**
As if the golem hands had read his thoughts, they began to execute the new command.
No longer to the terminal system, but to the laboratory system that Kirito had created to take the technology to its maximum level.
**Ping**
The system requested better stability for the subject's Fluctlight.
For the next thirty seconds, the process took place.
The sensation in Kirito improved.
The pain decreased.
The discomfort became bearable.
**Tktktktk**
As those thirty seconds passed, the hands did not remain idle.
They continued writing the next command:
The extraction.
(—"Now I'm between life and death…")
Kirito thought, clenching his teeth from the pain. However, his confidence and the strength in his eyes had not diminished; on the contrary, seeing the initial results intensified them.
He only wished that his endurance —and his mind— would not falter in the face of what was to come.
No matter what comes next.