A deep brown liquid, steaming, slowly dripped from a fine flannel filter. First came scattered drops, then a gentle trickle, soon pooling into a surface like black jade, rippling with a rich aroma.
"Usually, I have the maids do this sort of thing. It's rare that I have to entertain a guest and do it myself, so please don't mind."
Ryu hummed a little tune, easily pouring a cup for himself and another for Akihiko Kayaba.
"However, I'm quite confident in my coffee blend. I can guarantee it tastes good."
"..."
"What's wrong? Do you prefer tea over coffee?"
Ryu sat on one side of the stone table, leisurely crossing his legs with an air of complete ease.
Even though this was someone else's personal space, he acted as if he were the master of the house.
Across from him, Akihiko Kayaba couldn't relax no matter what. He held the cup but didn't move.
"You... Mr. Kuse, did you plan all of this?"
"A fine flavor..."
Ryu took a long look at the coffee as its ripples gradually subsided before finally turning his attention back to the mad scientist.
"I wonder, what 'all of this' are you referring to?"
"Everything!"
Akihiko Kayaba's brows furrowed. "Knowing my plan in advance and making me walk right into your trap. Although I don't know the situation in the outside world, I assume you've already taken control of my body, haven't you?
Not only did you shut down the entire server, but you also forcibly hacked into my personal space. That's not something that can be done overnight. It must have taken long-term preparation, and you would have even needed my personal passwords and biometric information to pull it off.
I'm not surprised you have that capability, but... I never revealed the truth about SAO to anyone. How on earth did you find out?
Besides, if you already knew, why didn't you stop me sooner? If you had, SAO could have been released normally, couldn't it?"
"You really took me for a simple businessman." Ryu looked him straight in the eye with a smile. "Even if SAO bombed, it would only be a loss of some initial investment. As long as the 'NERvGear' technology is in my hands, a mere game is nothing."
"So that's what you were after from the very beginning." Akihiko Kayaba exhaled, his suspicions confirmed.
"Hyping up the concept of SAO was just a diversion, wasn't it? What you really want to break into is the 'education sector,' right?"
"Education and healthcare. For now, those are the two main areas."
Ryu said admiringly, "If this were truly rolled out on a large scale, it goes without saying how convenient it would make education. Those poor people lying in hospital beds could also experience the sensation of having a healthy body through this machine.
Finding their purpose in the online world, even socializing, getting married, finding a job—giving them a complete life.
Isn't that a wonderful thing?"
"That kind of thinking is too extravagant for a capitalist."
Akihiko Kayaba met Ryu's gaze. "If you realize such a marvelous world, how much profit will you and your family gain from it? It must be an astronomical figure, unimaginable. It might even touch upon deeper levels of power."
"Contributing to society and pursuing personal ambitions aren't mutually exclusive. You, of all people, should understand that best, shouldn't you?"
"..."
Kayaba lowered his head in silence, then suddenly looked up. "When did you start scheming against me? How did I slip up?"
Night had fallen. The jade table between them emitted a faint green glow, as romantic as fireflies. Above, the sky twinkled with countless stars, and a long river of stars stretched across it, a beautiful sight.
Ryu thought for a moment, then shrugged slightly. "Just assume I can see the future."
"...As expected of you. To think you could notice a flaw even I wasn't aware of."
Hearing this, Akihiko Kayaba naturally assumed Ryu couldn't be bothered to explain it to him—and objectively speaking, the gap in their capabilities was indeed vast.
He sighed and said to himself, "It's true. There's no such thing as a truly flawless plan in this world, especially when collaborating with a genius like you who has the instincts of a beast. I was too naive. I underestimated you!"
"Think whatever you want." Ryu pursed his lips.
It wasn't that he was unwilling to be honest, but there was simply nothing to say.
"I have one more question: How did you get all the players to log out?"
Akihiko Kayaba stared directly into Ryu's eyes, as if trying to discern something.
"My design for the 'NERvGear' was that once the helmet is on after the service starts, it can't be removed. Each helmet has a hidden program. Even if the network or power is cut, the internal backup battery will still fry the user's brain.
By shutting down the main server, you've only trapped me in my personal space. But those players... you wouldn't just ignore them. Otherwise, the sudden death of ten thousand people would be an earth-shattering scandal.
Tell me, how did you crack my program and free those people?"
"You've misunderstood. Your encryption methods were quite perfect. Even a top-tier team of hackers couldn't crack it—it was enough to make those experts question their very existence."
Ryu said lightly, "Fortunately, I wasn't counting on them entirely from the beginning. In the end, the helmets were removed by physical means."
"Impossible! Forcibly destroying the helmet would trigger the self-destruct program—"
"It wouldn't. Or rather, even if it did, it wouldn't be a big deal."
Ryu tapped a few times in the empty air. A flicker of light and shadow followed, and a news interface appeared, swiped over in front of Akihiko Kayaba.
It seemed to be a press conference. A few balding middle-aged men wore expressions of deep sorrow and regret as cameras flashed incessantly.
"Regarding this incident, we are truly, deeply sorry!!!"
Shwaa~
The perfectly synchronized bow once again triggered a flurry of camera flashes, and a headline appeared on the interface:
["NERvGear" Internal Power Supply's Actual Output is Only Seventy Percent of What Was Advertised, Greatly Diminishing Player Experience. Rect Corporation's Subordinate Suppliers Hold a Press Conference to Issue a Collective Apology]
"..."
Akihiko Kayaba looked at Ryu, speechless.
Now he understood everything. No wonder Ryu was so composed. From the very beginning, he had neutered the foundation of the "death game"—the microwave power of the killing machine itself!
The sample Kayaba received was undoubtedly a quality product, but the ones sold on the market were all defective. Ryu had even found the people to come out and bow in apology ahead of time...
Blaming problems with a new game and new hardware on shoddy, corner-cutting suppliers—that reason was just so "Japanese"!
The news media and the general public would never suspect a thing!
"Was all this necessary?" Even someone as calm as Kayaba couldn't help but crack a little. "Setting up this whole scheme must have cost an incredible amount of manpower and resources. Was it all just to watch my ridiculous performance? To go to such great lengths just to play a game of cat and mouse?!"
"You need to calm down."
Ryu said sternly, "None of this was just to embarrass you—I hold you in high regard, Dr. Akihiko Kayaba."
He glanced down at his coffee and couldn't help but admire it. "The flavor of this drink is even richer than in reality. Even details that are difficult for the five human senses to capture can be perfectly rendered by the 'NERvGear'.
This is such outstanding technology. Please have some self-awareness.
It would be a terrible waste for a brilliant mind that appears only once in a century to be cooked by microwaves. I couldn't bear to let something like that happen, no matter what. I had to stop your suicidal tendencies... My methods may have been a bit crude, but how else could I have protected you?"
"Protection?" Akihiko Kayaba sneered. "You mean imprisonment, don't you? You just can't bear to part with the economic value I create. You just want to use me like a slave!"
"I don't need to prove anything to you."
Ryu's smile didn't waver—he did indeed have that thought, though he planned to implement it more gracefully, giving Akihiko Kayaba the treatment a scientist of his caliber deserved.
"Stay here and cool off for a couple of days. If you get bored during that time, you can try this."
Ryu tossed a USB drive to Kayaba. As it reached his hand, it transformed into an expanded virtual panel.
"...What is this?"
Akihiko Kayaba gave it a cursory glance, and his pupils instantly contracted in shock.
"This equation... Hey, what in the world is—"
By the time he looked up, Ryu's figure had vanished without a trace. He had no choice but to resignedly continue studying the contents of the USB drive.
The more he looked, the more frightened he became, even breaking out in a cold sweat.
"Kuse Ryu, where did he... Impossible, this is even more advanced than my own research?
To think there's someone in this world who surpasses me... Ugh!"
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