While the players on the upper level were celebrating for having conquered another floor, a crucial attack was also going on on the lower level.
In the underground labyrinth area of the "Black Iron Palace", outside the room with the GM control device, the battle in the second round has entered a stalemate.
Moving at a speed that exceeds the dynamic vision of ordinary people, sparks and red scratches are constantly appearing around the Death boss.
Unable to pinpoint Yuuki's location, this boss-level boss had no choice but to wave his sickle angrily and continuously destroy the surrounding buildings.
"This is……"
Covering her small mouth and exclaiming, Yui couldn't understand what she was seeing, or in other words, she couldn't find any corresponding phenomenon in her database.
From the back of the person who accidentally landed on the buffer, what the little girl saw was a blond girl whose body was constantly overflowing with blue data particles. Her movements were completely different from those before.
(Could it be that Yuuki... also has GM authority?)
This is already the only answer in Yui's little mind that can explain herself.
…
The white light kept slashing at the enemy's body, and the death boss's health bar began to retreat rapidly.
(The body is very light....)
The long sword dancing in his hand became faster and faster, and the frequency of sword skill activation had unknowingly surpassed the eleven-hit combo.
(The power is also rising...)
The sword blade with the afterimage collided fiercely with the Death Scythe, and for a moment, Yuuki, the player, had the upper hand.
She fired a powerful bullet and flew away the boss's scythe. Yuuki, who had seized the opportunity to win, did not stop her attack.
(One word now!)
At this moment, the unified "consciousness" broke through the original peak and reached the limit, exerting a power beyond the rules set by the system.
He waved the long sword in his hand vigorously, and at least twenty long scratches appeared on the unstoppable Death God.
The boss let out an unwilling roar, his body began to stiffen, his hands trembled, and finally exploded into blue fragments in a white light.
…
"call……"
Yuuki exhaled and took back her weapon, looking at her hands as if she was recalling the situation just now.
The last series of attacks must have surpassed the eleven consecutive attacks of "Virgin Psalm".
According to this game, this should be considered a new "sword skill"?
But being able to achieve this level also shows that her "consciousness" has completely adapted to this world.
The golden color began to fade from the tips of her hair again. Yuuki, who slowly walked back to Yui, found that the little girl seemed to be in a difficult position and stopped talking several times.
Knowing that she must still be a little confused, Yuuki smiled and stretched out her hand.
"Let's go, this is not a place for chatting."
"..."
"Um……"
Gently holding the catkins in front of him, a smile appeared on his small lips again.
Located in the deepest safe area underground of the Black Iron Palace, there is a square room with only an obsidian-colored stone table placed in it.
Sitting side by side with Yuuki on the stone table, after a moment of silence, the little girl finally couldn't hold back and asked her question in a low voice.
"...Excuse me, do you also have GM authority?"
The innocent Yui who was used to talking about 'mom' all of a sudden made Yuuki slightly uncomfortable with her sudden change of words.
"I'm not a GM."
After hearing the little girl's words, the Jue Sword Girl, who could roughly guess why she asked such a question, shook her head.
"Yeah……"
Her expression was obviously lost. The little girl sitting on the stone table folded her legs and hugged her knees.
"Yui...have you recovered your memory?"
"……Um."
Yui answered Yuuki's question with a soft hum, and with this as the starting point, Yui slowly explained her identity.
——"Mental Condition Management Support Program", MHCP Prototype No. 1, program code "Yui".
This is the origin of Yui.
Although Yuuki already knew this, she still listened quietly to what the little girl said.
"…So, in order to prevent players from feeling incongruous, I was also given the ability to imitate emotions by the developers of the "Cardinal" system. Whether it is sadness or a smile, everything is fake...even if
Now……"
Halfway through, the little girl's voice gradually became choked with sobs, and tears filled her eyes.
"..."
"Yui, do you really think so?"
With a gentle tone that surprised even herself, the girl who had been the listener spoke out to comfort her.
"Even if your feelings are really 'imitation', the memories spent together will never lie."
"——!"
Putting her hand on the little girl's head and stroking it gently, Yuuki smiled sheepishly.
"After all, I have been your 'mom' for two days, haven't I?"
"whee……"
As if she thought of something, the little girl wiped her eyes and smiled slightly.
"...Actually, I've always wanted to meet you, Yuuki."
"...?"
After a short pause, Yui, whose mood improved, began to explain again.
“After the game started, although I was prohibited from interfering or contacting the players by ‘Cardinal’, I still fulfilled my obligation to monitor the players’ mental status.”
"At that time, everyone's mental state was really bad, but among all the frequencies, only one person's brain waves were completely different from the mental values of other people."
"That's you, Yuuki."
Looking at the girl next to her with curiosity, Yui continued.
"It's just that in the process of trying every means to contact you, I was eventually overwhelmed by the accumulating errors, and the program gradually began to collapse."
"In order to slow down the speed of collapse, I had to hover in a place where the player values are relatively stable."
"So the moment I saw you, I was so excited that I couldn't bear the impact of the information, which caused my own program to be damaged again."
(...Really...that's what happened...)
After hearing Yui's explanation, the reason why she wandered around Yuna was also explained.
And Yuuki finally understood the origin of her ‘obsession’ towards him.
"...But Yuuki, why do you know that I will regain my memory after coming here?"
He tilted his little head and spoke again. This was what Yui didn't understand the most.
Since you are not a GM, how would you know that there is a control device here that can be connected to the GM's authority?
"Ah, this."
The smile was a little weird, and Yuuki gave Yui a vivid analogy.
"Because, I have a "Plug-in"."
It’s just that what we are referring to here is definitely not the kind of plug-in in the conventional understanding.
——The fifty-fifth floor of "Aincrad", the headquarters of the Blood Alliance Knights.
Completing the strategy for the 74th floor is something everyone should be happy about.
Only this time, the situation seems to have changed differently.
In the conference room, Kirito, who had returned to the headquarters to file a lawsuit, stood blankly in front of Heathcliff, with a shocked expression on his face.
"...What exactly do you mean, Captain."
Gritting his teeth and squeezing the words out of his mouth, the young swordsman spoke word by word.
"It seems that what I said was not clear enough?"
In stark contrast to Kirito's expression, the silver-grey-haired young man calmly repeated what he just said.
"Kirito, I am Kayaba Akihiko."
"——!!!!"
From the moment Yuuki stepped into the GM management room, someone's script seemed to have shifted again. (To be continued)