When we first heard from Yuriier that the monsters in this dungeon possessed stats equivalent to the Sixtieth Floor, and that massive "Boss-class" entities had been sighted in its depths, we thought dismissively, "We'll manage somehow." However, when we learned that this dungeon lay directly beneath the "Black Iron Palace," astonishment gripped us all.
We advanced through a corridor filled with damp air, suggesting nearby subterranean waterways. Soon, both Kirito's "Searching" skill and mine began picking up multiple reactions. Football-sized "Scavenge Toads" lurked in the shadows, their red eyes gleaming. It seemed the dungeon teemed with these creatures, much like the crab-type monsters we had encountered earlier.
"── Hop!"
"Ooooh──!"
Such monsters posed no threat to Kirito and me, as we were both now above Level 90. Eager to shake off the rust from our recent downtime, we swung our swords and spears with precision. This overwhelming display of power left Yuriier stunned, while Asuna and Alice looked on with slight annoyance at our showing off. Yui, meanwhile, cheered us on cheerfully.
"Do your best, Papa! Uncle!"
Originally, I intended to leave Yui at the church while we descended, but she insisted on coming. Thus, we formed a high-level protection detail—the five of us, including Yuriier—to escort the rescue mission for Sinker. Despite her lost memories, this child possessed a remarkably brave heart; she showed no fear toward the monsters.
"── I'm sorry. Even though I asked for your help, I've left all the fighting to you..."
"Don't worry about it. We're doing this of our own ward── and besides, we're collecting the loot."
"Heh, and what exactly dropped for you?"
"Let's see, for example── this."
Kirito materialized an item: a piece of raw meat that looked like an animal's leg. It was the meat of a "Scavenge Toad," dozens of which we had just slain.
"I've never tasted toad meat in SAO. Listen, Asuna, when we get back, cook this──"
"No way!"
Asuna shouted, her face pale. She snatched the meat from Kirito's hand and hurled it far behind her. In the darkness of the corridor, the sound of digital data shattering echoed as the item vanished.
"Aaah──?! What a waste...!"
"I am never cooking something that disgusting!"
"Well, they might look foul... but don't they say the best meat comes from the strangest-looking creatures? At least try one bite and then──"
"Mitsuki is right! I won't give up, Asuna!"
"... You, don't tell me you──!"
Asuna quickly opened her menu. Checking the shared storage between her and Kirito, she found massive quantities of "Scavenge Toad" meat hidden there. She promptly deleted every single piece.
"W-wait, Asuna?! How could you do that to precious ingredients...!"
"There are plenty of other meats!"
"I'm sure it's delicious! Just try it──!"
"Why do you still have more?! Get away from me! If you're so insistent, eat it yourself, Kirito!"
Even after marriage, these two hadn't changed a bit. I thought this as I stealthily slipped some toad meat into my own inventory, planning to ask her to cook it the next time I visited them. I thought I was being subtle, but as soon as the meat entered my storage, Asuna's gaze snapped toward me.
"── Alice, check your inventory too. Mitsuki might be hiding some meat."
... How did she catch me?
"... Mitsuki, confess immediately."
"N-no, I have no idea what you're talking about...!"
"You'd better admit it now. Alice can check your inventory too!"
Upon hearing Asuna's words, Alice and I tilted our heads in confusion.
"... And why do you think I can check Mitsuki's inventory?"
"Huh? Isn't the inventory shared between you as a married couple... huh?"
After a few seconds of silence, Kirito and Asuna's screams echoed through the dungeon.
"Whaaaat?!"
"Wait, does this mean you two── haven't married yet?!"
"It's not that we haven't... we might have just forgotten about it."
"You two seemed so close in the short time we didn't see you, so Asuna and I were certain that you..."
"Yes, I thought so as well..."
It wasn't just Kirito and his friends; even Yuriier had assumed Alice and I were already married. Though, in my opinion, the "newlywed aura" was far stronger with Kirito and Asuna.
"It... it isn't a problem! Even without a formal marriage system, it doesn't mean the relationship between Mitsuki and me will sour...!"
"That's true, but..."
"... Well, maybe this choice suits Alice specifically?"
"... Because she's 'Solo Alice'?"
Kirito cracked a poorly timed joke. Asuna promptly stomped on his foot with her heel, making him yelp in pain. Seeing this, Yuriier couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"── Ah, the Big Sister laughed for the first time!"
Yui saw this and laughed happily as well. It was the same pure smile she had used to encourage me back at the log cabin. This child seemed to find joy simply by seeing those around her smile. Even if she was a child—or perhaps because she was—those feelings were incredibly precious. I truly hoped she could grow up maintaining that purity.
We resumed our journey. Just as the monsters shifted from aquatic creatures to the "horror-types" that Asuna loathed, a small light appeared ahead. I focused my "Searching" skill and identified a green player cursor inside. That had to be the Safe Zone at the deepest point.
"Sinker──!"
As we ran behind Yuriier, who had dashed ahead, my "Searching" skill suddenly blared an alert of an approaching high-level enemy. Simultaneously—
"Yuriier──! Don't come any closer! That corridor has──!"
Sinker's scream erupted from within the Safe Zone. Hearing that, Kirito and I accelerated to our absolute limit!
Kirito grabbed Yuriier and plunged his sword into the ground to grind to a halt. I pressed the tip of my spear against his blade and pushed with all my might, creating a sudden brake that sent heavy sparks flying. In the next instant, a massive blade swung down right before our eyes. The wielder of this lethal weapon, which was slowly being raised again, was a massive Grim Reaper floating in the air. Its name: "The Fatal-scythe."
This was clearly the Boss-class monster Yuriier had mentioned. Asuna and Alice joined us after leaving Yui in Yuriier's care, and we all readied our weapons.
"The space is tight, but if it's only Sixtieth Floor level, then──!"
── Then the four of us can defeat it. That was how Asuna intended to finish her sentence.
I was the one who dealt the finishing blow to the Sixtieth Floor Boss. That Boss was the "annoying" type that relied on various special attacks and changing patterns, rather than raw power. So I thought we could manage now that our levels were higher. But this monster was different...!
"── Kirito, can you see it...?"
"... It's no use. No matter how I look at it, the result is the same."
The name displayed above the Reaper's head was blood-red. This meant its stats were significantly higher than ours, even for Kirito and me at Level 90. More importantly, that was all we could see. The HP bar that should appear when fighting any monster was completely hidden by the system. Only one fact was clear: "This thing is extremely dangerous."
"... Asuna, run to the Safe Zone immediately. Leave with everyone using Teleport Crystals."
"What──?!"
"Alice, you too."
"Mitsuki, even you are saying this──?!"
"This monster's power is likely equivalent to the Ninetieth Floor. We can't beat it even together."
"The Ninetieth?! ── Then come with us...!"
"We'll buy some time. We'll follow you immediately, hurry!"
Teleporting with "Teleport Crystals" takes a second or two of delay to designate the destination and complete the process. If a player is attacked during that time, the teleport is canceled.
While I tried to convince a hesitant Alice, the Reaper drew closer. We had to move fast, or it would be too late...!
"── Asuna."
"Fine── Yuriier, please look after the child!"
"Damn it... you guys──!"
"It's coming──!!"
The Reaper raised its scythe. In response, the four of us crossed our weapons to try and defend with everything we had. However—
"G-aaah──!"
The blow from the great scythe, far heavier than it appeared, shattered the defense of four elite front-line players with ease, tossing us aside like pebbles. We all slammed into the walls and ceiling. Our HP dropped by nearly half from a single hit, sending a chill down our spines.
"Damn it...!"
── Get up! Get up and fight! Or you'll lose everything again!
I tried to stand, forcing a body that trembled from the impact, but my limbs wouldn't obey. It was the same for Alice, Kirito, and the others; we were literally on the brink of death in the blink of an eye.
At that moment—
"── No, Yui!"
"Come back here──!"
The terrified screams of Yuriier and Sinker suddenly rang out. When I turned my gaze toward the sound, I saw a small girl walking toward us behind the blue light of the teleportation process.
"Yui── run away, quickly!"
"Yui! Stop this foolishness!"
"Yui!"
"Run, Yui, please!"
She certainly heard our voices, but Yui didn't move. She stood facing the terrifying Reaper head-on. The Reaper raised its scythe to harvest the little girl's soul──!
"── It's okay. Papa, Mama."
She spoke those words with such calm and stability that we involuntarily stopped closing our eyes. Simultaneously, a massive shockwave and purple light erupted. When we looked, the Reaper's scythe hadn't reached Yui's body; instead, a resolute purple barrier had blocked it.
As the Reaper recoiled, unable to withstand the shock, a system message appeared above Yui's head.
── "Immortal Object" ──
When I saw those words, I didn't understand their meaning. Yui── that child was an "object" or a "digital entity"? Impossible. I tried to reject the reality before my eyes.
Yui's body rose into the air automatically. When she spread her small hands, fiery sparks gathered from nowhere── forming a long sword enveloped in flames, its length more than twice Yui's own height.
With a fluid motion, Yui readied her sword, then swung the flaming blade down on the Reaper──!
The Reaper tried to resist at first, but the moment the scythe it used for defense was cleaved in two, the flames devoured its body. With a death cry that sounded like a sickening laugh, the fire surrounding the Reaper shrank── then exploded into tiny particles that vanished into the air. The terrifying Reaper was gone, leaving only a small girl standing silently before us.
"Everything... I remember everything now. Papa, Mama──"
We took refuge in the Safe Zone. There, Yui told us the shocking truth.
Everything that makes up this world—Sword Art Online—is managed by a self-operating system called the "Cardinal System." This system handles all the tasks that humans (Administrators) would normally perform, such as system maintenance and game balance adjustment.
For example, the monsters that appear in the field, the amount of money they drop, the item drop rates, and the AI of Non-Player Characters (NPCs)── all of that falls under the control of programs that Cardinal thinks up and runs automatically.
Cardinal's duties weren't limited to normal world management; the system was also supposed to handle the mental health care of the players who were forced to live here.
"Mental Health Counseling Program, Prototype Model 1, Codename 'Yui'." This was the truth of the child before us—Yui.
When Yui entered this room with Yuriier, she touched a mysterious marble-like object sitting in the center. This object was a "Console" used by Game Masters (GMs) to access the system from within. Once she connected to it, all her memories returned, and she could speak fluently. She even told us that the emotions she had shown were merely "artificial emotions" generated by an emotion simulation program designed not to arouse player suspicion. We had no choice but to believe. Yui was not a human from the real world like us; she was an AI created by the system.
"── But... can an AI suffer from amnesia? If Cardinal manages this world, Yui's memory should have been repaired immediately as a system error..."
"... Two years ago, right as the official service began, Cardinal prohibited me from any intervention toward players. I don't know why. Back then, I had no choice but to continue monitoring the psychological state of the players only──"
── The situation grew worse day by day.
With every person who died, and with every day that passed in vain, feelings of fear, despair, anger, and hatred accumulated within the players. Negative emotions bred more negative emotions and spread rapidly, driving some to madness. Originally, I should have approached every player before their condition deteriorated, but Cardinal's orders were absolute. I had to fulfill my role as a mental health care AI while simultaneously obeying the non-interference order added later. This contradiction caused errors in the program. Because I continued to monitor the negative emotions of roughly 10,000 players trapped in Aincrad, the errors accumulated within me, and I began to collapse internally.
"But at that time── I noticed players who possessed psychological parameters completely different from the rest. The four of you. You were surrounded by feelings of joy, peace, and various other emotions. They were so warm and kind... As I continued to monitor you, I felt a desire to meet you. But even you were pursued by negative emotions. When I detected the largest and darkest negative emotion yet, I fled from my monitoring duty and wandered onto the Twenty-Second Floor. I felt that if I did, I might meet you one day... It's strange, isn't it? I'm just a program; I'm not supposed to feel something like that...!"
"── Even so, you eventually reached Kirito and the others. Your defiance of Cardinal's absolute orders was of your own will. You aren't just an empty entity moved by the system. You... you truly possess──"
I couldn't arrange the words overflowing from my heart. Instead, Kirito finished the thought.
"── Yui. You're now able to express your desires in your own words. So tell us── what do you want, Yui?"
"I... I──!"
She raised her bowed head and reached out her small hands as far as she could.
"I want... I want to stay with you always...! Papa, Mama...!"
"── Yui!"
Asuna couldn't hold back and embraced Yui tightly.
"Yes... we'll stay together always, Yui...!"
"Yes... Yui is our child."
Alice and I placed our hands on the shoulders of the three sharing their embrace and tears. Although the time we spent with her was much shorter than theirs, Yui's presence had become immense for us too. I offered a silent prayer that this family could spend peaceful times together.
"But... I'm sorry. It's too late──"
However, what Yui said next was the cruelest truth of the situation.
When Yui accessed the system console, she summoned the "Object Eraser"── that flaming sword── and erased the Reaper that had been placed to protect the console. From Cardinal's perspective, this act was a massive deviation from her original role in "Player Mental Health Care." The system would consider a mere AI program using GM privileges as unauthorized. Yui's program was now undergoing a system check by Cardinal, and the result was—
"── Because I violated Cardinal's orders, I will be considered a foreign object harmful to the system... and I will be erased immediately."
"── What?!"
"E-erased?── Impossible... isn't there any solution?"
Alice muttered beside Asuna, who gasped in shock.
"Papa, Mama. Mitsuki, Alice── thank you. This is where we say goodbye."
"No── I don't want to! Our story has just begun?! we were going to live together... happily...!"
As if mocking Asuna's bitter cry, Yui's body began to gradually turn into particles, fading from the edges while surrounded by light.
"It can't be... don't go, Yui!"
"Yui!"
Kirito grabbed Yui's hand, and she, in turn, squeezed his. But no matter how strong the desire, Yui's fading did not stop.
"When I'm beside Papa and Mama, everyone smiles── please. Continue helping everyone in my place... and share joy with them."
"I don't want to... I can't...! Without you, Yui, I won't be able to smile...!"
"... Please, Mama... smile──"
Her hand, which had nearly vanished like mist, gently touched Asuna's cheek. When Asuna tried to grab it, she caught only air. When she opened her tear-filled eyes, there was no trace of that innocent little girl.
Asuna burst into tears and threw herself into Alice's arms, whose blue eyes were also brimming with tears.
"── Damn it. I will never accept this ending──"
I gritted my teeth and turned toward the still-active console. I began tapping rapidly on the virtual keyboard, and another keyboard appeared beside me; it was Kirito.
"Cardinal...! Don't think everything will go your way...!"
The GM privileges linked to this console were likely still active. If we could enter the system from here just as Yui did...!
A massive window appeared on the console, and several system files opened simultaneously. I identified one and dived into the sub-tabs until a file containing massive amounts of data code appeared. It must be here...!
I watched the codes moving at a terrifying speed. Usually, one would get dizzy from such speed, but I could clearly see every code flowing from bottom to top.
"── Found it!"
"Alright, leave the rest to me!"
Kirito selected the code I found and entered several new commands. A loading bar appeared on the window.
"Fast... please, let us be in time...!"
The moment the bar reached its end, a mysterious shockwave erupted, throwing Kirito and me away from the console.
"Mitsuki!"
"Kirito!── Are you both alright?"
I ignored the slight pain in my head from the impact and looked at Kirito lying beside me.
"Kirito, what happened?!"
"Yes... it worked──"
Kirito said this and extended his closed hand toward Asuna. When Asuna placed her hand under his, a small, teardrop-shaped crystal fell into it.
"What is this...?"
"Before Yui's activated GM privileges disappeared, I detached Yui's core program from the system. This crystal is its physical manifestation── it is, in other words, Yui's 'Heart'."
Inside the crystal, a small white light pulsed steadily. Just touching it sent a warm feeling through the soul. Asuna instinctively realized that Yui was truly here.
"This item will be saved in the local memory of my NerveGear as environmental data. So even if this world disappears when the game is cleared, Yui's heart won't be lost. It might be difficult to return her to Yui's form there... but I'm sure we'll meet again."
"I see── that's wonderful... thank you, Kirito...!"
"── Mitsuki, thank you too. If you hadn't found Yui's program quickly, we wouldn't have made it."
"So that's how it is... I was able to── this time── truly save her..."
That smile Yui showed before vanishing—that expression mixing tears and joy—went beyond mere emotion simulation. Even if the tears or the smile were products of a program, the underlying feeling was undoubtedly Yui's own, gained from her life with Kirito and the others. In that moment, Yui was no longer just a program to me; she had become a real human—an irreplaceable member of my dear friends' family.
I had failed to save so many. So many souls had slipped through my outstretched fingers. Now, I felt for the first time that I had truly saved a life.
That charming little girl I met by chance had ultimately dispelled some of the regret that had lived within me in this world.
── It seemed to me that Alice was not doing well. This was confirmed after we returned to our home on the Twenty-Second Floor and finished dinner.
Usually, our meals were filled with pleasant conversation, but this time, silence reigned. She didn't seem to eat much either. It was natural for her feelings to change after what happened, but I felt the reason wasn't just Yui's absence, but something else entirely.
I decided to talk to Alice as she prepared for bed.
"── Alice. About... is there something bothering you?"
"... What a sudden question."
"No, I mean... you seem different than usual. I feel something strange── if there's something on your mind, please tell me. As you told me before, I also want to be of help to you."
I didn't know if I could do anything, but I at least wanted her to feel comfortable. My sincerity seemed to reach her, as Alice sighed deeply.
"... I can't hide anything from you── Mitsuki, don't say anything... and just do what I tell you on the menu."
"H-huh... fine..."
I waved my right hand to open the menu and began operating it as she requested, while she opened her own. We followed the pop-up tabs from the options, diving deeper──
"── This setting, at the bottom of the list."
"The bottom... what is this?"
What Alice pointed to was an icon called "Ethics Code Off Setting." Ethics Code── after a moment's thought, I understood the term.
"W-wait, Alice, this is──!"
"It's okay!── You promised not to say anything... please."
"... First, can you tell me why you suddenly thought about── ah, disabling this setting? Don't rush, tell me calmly."
Although I hadn't known of this setting's existence until now, I understood what she aimed for once I grasped its meaning. Because I understood, I wanted to listen to her seriously. This wasn't a decision to be made recklessly.
"... I'm worried... Am I truly human?── And will I stay with you even after leaving this world?"
"What are you saying── Alice is human, without a doubt."
"── And how can you prove that?! No one knows my past, not even me!── Maybe I'm just a fake entity created by Cardinal like Yui...!── I don't know who I am...!"
Alice's hands, gripping my shoulders weakly, were trembling. This was the fear she had been hiding within and fighting all along. Because of meeting and losing Yui, that fear had amplified until it reached a breaking point.
"I don't want to... I don't want to forget you, Mitsuki...! And I don't want you to forget me...! To have these feelings, these memories, and everything vanish—I can't take it...!"
I couldn't stand seeing Alice shed such bitter tears, so I embraced her tightly. I wished I could take all the pain tearing at her chest onto myself.
"── It's okay, everything will be fine. You're human, just like us. I will never forget you. And I won't leave you alone. The days we spent together in this world, and my feelings for you, none of it will disappear── because we will surely meet in the other world."
"But I don't know what will happen to me there... If I return to the original world, I might forget everything about you── and about Asuna, Kirito, and everyone. I might hurt you... I can't bear that... so──"
Suddenly, Alice gathered her strength and pushed me back onto the bed.
"So, please── so I don't forget you no matter what happens... I want you to engrave your existence deep within me... and I want to engrave my existence within you... I want a bond that never fades, even if the world ends...!"
She said this and operated her own menu, pressing the button to disable the Ethics Code.
"Alice..."
Alice remained above me, looking directly at me with eyes that resembled blue sapphires. I saw in them anxiety, fear, and intense longing. She was lost in her future, trembling alone in a cold place. She was searching for an existence to comfort her and give her warmth. And── she had chosen me to be that person.
... To be honest, I would be lying if I said I never felt "that desire" since I began living with Alice. But I thought it was technically impossible first, and secondly, I hesitated to look at her that way, she who had saved my heart.
Now that all those barriers were gone, what should I do—rather, what did I want to do?
I asked my heart again. I love Alice. I want to be of help to her. I want to support her. To protect her── I want to love her with everything I have.
I took a deep breath and operated the menu still glowing in the corner of my vision.
Under the confirmation message "Do you want to disable the Ethics Code?"── I pressed the "O" button.
"Mitsuki... ah──?!"
With a soft cry, Alice lay down on the bed. The situation reversed, and I was above her this time. Since we were about to sleep, the room lights were off. The moonlight streaming from the window illuminated Alice's face as she looked up at me with tearful eyes. The beauty of her moving expression made me catch my breath.
"... About that, if I lose control of myself, I apologize."
What a fool I was; I should have said something more reassuring! I swallowed the urge to scream at myself. As if Alice had read my mind, she laughed softly.
"... Instead, you, Mitsuki, must accept all my feelings seriously, agreed?"
As her hand touched my cheek and guided me to her, we became, on that day, one body and one soul.
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