Part 28 (1/2)

Asuna was crying too. Her sparkling tears rolled down endlessly like small jewels before evaporating.

”I was really happy. The time I met Kazuto-kun, and lived together, was the most enjoyable time in my entire life. Thank you... I love you...”

The end of the world was right in front of us. The steel castle and the endless sea of clouds had all been erased by the bright light, leaving only the two of us behind.

Asuna and I hugged each other tightly, waiting for the final moment.

It felt as if our emotions were being purified by the light. All that remained inside of me was my love for Asuna. I continued to call out her name even as everything was being unraveled and scattered.

Light filled my vision. Everything was being covered by the pure white veil and disappeared after becoming tiny particles of light. Asuna's smile mixed in with the overflowing light that engulfed this world.

-I love you... I love you- Her voice rang out like the sweet chiming of a bell as the last of my consciousness disappeared.

The final line that separated us disappeared and we became one.

Our souls seeped into each other, combined, and then scattered.

Finally, we disappeared.

Chapter 25.

The air was a mixture of numerous odors.

The fact that I was still alive shocked me.

The air that flowed into my nose was bringing in an abundance of information. First came the stinging smell of disinfectant. Then came the smell of sun-dried cloth, the sweet aroma of fruits, and the odor of my own body.

I slowly opened my eyes. For a moment, it felt like two powerful white beams of light pierced deeply into my mind, so I quickly shut my eyes again.

Sometime later, I hesitantly tried to open my eyes again. A myriad of colors danced across my pupils. It was only then that I noticed that there was a large amount of liquid covering my eyes.

I blinked in an attempt to get rid of them. But the liquid kept flowing out. They were actually tears.

I was crying. Why? There was a fierce but deep feeling of pain and loss within my heart. Voices continued to echo within my ears, as if someone was calling my name.

I squinted my eyes against the strong light and finally managed to get rid of the tears.

It felt like I was lying on something soft. I could see something akin to ceiling tiles above me. There were rows of smooth, beige colored panels, several of which s.h.i.+ned softly as if there were lights behind them. From the edge of my vision, I could see a metallic vent, where air was being blown out with a low sound.

An air conditioner... in other words, a machine. How could something like that be here? No smith could make a machine no matter how high their skill stats were. If what I saw was really a machine- then this place wasn't- It wasn't Aincrad.

I opened my eyes widely. My mind was fully awoken from just that one thought. I hurried to raise my body- But my body wouldn't listen at all. I couldn't apply any strength. Although my right shoulder went up by a couple of centimeters, it immediately fell back down.

Only my right hand managed to move. I raised it onto my body and then brought it in front of my eyes.

For a moment I couldn't believe that this emaciated arm was mine. There was no way I would be able to hold a sword with this. When I inspected the sickly white skin more closely, I could see countless tufts of body hair covering it. I could see the blue veins below the skin and the wrinkles at the joints. Everything felt frightening; it was so realistic, so biological that it felt abnormal.

On the inside of my wrist, a piece of tape held a needle in place, which had a long cord connected to it like it was used to inject something. My eyes followed the cord and came upon a transparent package that was held up by a silver stand. The pack was still two-thirds full with some orange liquid, which dripped away at a steady pace.

I moved my left hand and tried to grasp my sense of touch. It seemed that my entire body was naked and lying on top of a bed made of some high density gel material. Because its temperature was slightly lower than my body's, I could feel its coldness slowly creep up to me. Suddenly, a memory surfaced in my mind; I once saw on a news broadcast that this type of bed had been developed for patients who couldn't move. It had the ability to prevent infections to the skin and break down disposed bodily wastes.

I looked around at my surroundings. It was a small room. The wall was of the same plain white color as the ceiling. There was an extraordinarily large window to my right with white curtains drawn over it. I couldn't see the scenery outside, but I could see the yellow sunlight s.h.i.+ne straight through the fabric. A four-wheeled metal trolley parked to the far left of the gel bed, and a rattan basket laid on top of it. A bouquet of plain-looking flowers was inside the basket, which seemed to be the source of the sweet aroma. Past the trolley was a closed, rectangular door.

Based on all of this information, this place should be a hospital ward, and I was the only one here.

I returned my gaze to my raised right hand and suddenly thought of something. I waved my right hand with my index finger and thumb pressed together.

Nothing happened. There was neither a sound effect nor a menu screen. I waved again with a bit more strength, then again. The outcome was the same each time.

So, this really wasn't SAO. Then was it some other virtual reality?

But the information flooding through my five senses already shouted to me that there was another possibility. This- was the real world. It was the world I had left two years ago and never expected to see again.

The real world- It took me a long time to understand the meaning behind these simple words. For me, the world of swords and battles had been my only reality for a long time. I still couldn't believe that the other world was no longer there, that I was no longer in that world.

Then, have I returned?

-Even when I thought of that, I didn't really feel happy or anything. All I felt was a bit of confusion and a sense of loss.

Was this the reward that Kayaba had mentioned for clearing the game? I had clearly died within that world and my body had been completely erased. I had accepted that. I even felt content about it.

Yeah-it would have been fine if I had just disappeared like that. In that bright light, dissolving, scattering, and then melting away with the rest of the world, together with her- ”Ah...”