Accel World Vol 1 Chapter 7 (2/2)

If he operated his Neuro Linker and disconnected from the hospital’s network, he could disappear from the matching list. But, Kuroyukihime, whose brain waves were being monitored, couldn’t do that.

Of course, they weren’t connected to the Global Net, so people couldn’t limitlessly intrude from the outside. But, if there was a Burst Linker in this hospital—and if they activated Brain Burst, saw «Black Lotus» and challenged her to a duel—

The unconscious Kuroyukihime would without a doubt be hunted.

No, it couldn’t be so convenient, there was no reason for a Burst Linker to be in the same hospital. At this hour, there shouldn’t be anyone going in and out of the hospital anymore, and if there were a Burst Linker besides Haruyuki and Kuroyukihime currently connected to the hospital’s network, their name would also have to appear on the matching list.

So there’s no need to be impatient.

Haruyuki tried to tell himself that. However, the sweaty feeling running over his avatar’s round hands didn’t go away at all.

No—not yet. I’m still overlooking something.

What if…there was a Burst Linker who was in a position to know that «Black Lotus», Accel World’s largest bounty, had sustained serious injuries and was hospitalized, and would even know which hospital she was in?

After trying to keep thinking that “There couldn’t be such a person”, Haruyuki opened his eyes wide along with a profound shudder.

There was. There was just one such enemy. «Cyan Pile».

A mysterious enemy whose true ident.i.ty could only be traced through the virus they had put in Chiyuri’s Neuro Linker. At this point, it could only be said that they were someone at Umesato Middle School.

And Kuroyukihime’s accident had already been notified to the school. When the cause was Araya driving and plunging a car without a license into her immediately after being bailed, this was already big news. By now, this topic would without a doubt be coursing through the gossip network of the Umesato Middle School students.

The hospital she was staying at wouldn’t be specified yet. If her admirers from among the lower-year female students or her fan club members knew about her hospital destination, they would be rus.h.i.+ng through here in throngs by now.

But—the teachers would already know. Like that, it was just a matter of time before it spread among the students. If well-wis.h.i.+ng students were to appear in great numbers and «Cyan Pile» was mixed in among them, picking him out would be difficult.

It was…inevitable.

Haruyuki dropped his shoulders crestfallenly, and sat next to his blue frozen real self.

Kuroyukihime was fighting for her life right now. Considering that, it was a fact that she wouldn’t be able to fight in «duel» yet.

Fortunately, challenging the same opponent to a duel was limited to once a day. Until Kuroyukihime’s condition recovered, it would be alright if she was defeated once or twice and lost some points—

No—idiot me!! What did Kuroyukihime say back then!?

Haruyuki clenched both his fists, and stood up with a rush.

The final command she used to save Haruyuki, «Physical Full Burst».

The compensation for using that transcendental effect, which accelerated not just one’s consciousness but also the physical body, was the loss of 99% of one’s Burst Points.

Most likely, if the current Kuroyukihime, whose Burst Points were on the verge of annihilation, were to lose even once against the lower-level «Cyan Pile», her Burst Points would become zero all too quickly.

And at that instant, Kuroyukihime’s Brain Burst would be forcibly uninstalled.

To that person…to Kuroyukihime, who kept fighting just to struggle to reach the goal of Level 10, that was nearly synonymous with death.

I can’t allow that to happen, I absolutely won't let just that happen. I can’t allow «Cyan Pile» to battle Kuroyukihime even once.

Kuroyukihime risked her life to protect me.

That’s why this time, I’ll protect it. That person’s other half.

From this moment on, I’ll watch the hospital’s entrance without a wink of sleep. With the resolution to consume all my points if I have to, I’ll accelerate every time an Umesato student appears, find «Cyan Pile» and challenge him.

And then—I’ll beat him. I’ll beat that guy who’s on the verge of exhausting his points and banish him from Accel World eternally.

“I’ll protect you. I’ll definitely protect you.”

In the blue world where there was only himself, Haruyuki spoke out.

“Because…I…I have something I have to say to you. When we meet again. That’s why, this time, I’ll fight.”

Turning his eyes towards the direction of Kuroyukihime, who should be laying on the other side of the blue wall in front of him, Haruyuki declared that firmly.

Returning to reality by giving the Burst Out command, Haruyuki hugged his knees and sat down sideways on the bench, wrapped the blanket around his body and stared fixedly on the entrance to the left inside the hallway.

There were other entrances within the hospital, but one had to authenticate their Neuro Linker at this entrance in order to connect to the hospital’s network. So «Cyan Pile» should definitely appear there.

The time was half-past ten at night.

The chances of them appearing at this hour, when visiting hours had already pa.s.sed, was low, but the enemy was also cornered right now. If they aimed at Kuroyukihime while she was in an unconscious state, they could certainly start attacking as soon as they learned the name of the hospital.

Haruyuki operated his Neuro Linker and set the awakening alarm at the highest volume. With this, if he was close to falling asleep, it would ring at a practically deadly level of noise and wake him up.

This was the first time in Haruyuki’s life that he stayed up to such a late hour at night.

However, he never found himself bored, let alone sleepy. Haruyuki kept turning his wide-open eyes to the dim light of the entrance most of the time, and occasionally glanced at the miniaturized video window of the ER.

The white form of Kuroyukihime lying in the capsule bed didn’t even twitch, but Haruyuki distinctly felt that she was going through a desperate battle there.

Do your best. Do your best.

Every time Haruyuki looked at the video, he prayed that inside his heart. He and that person were connected through their respective Neuro Linkers, the hospital’s network and also the Brain Burst program. That’s why his prayer should surely be answered. Haruyuki unquestionably believed that.

Around 2 AM, the worried-face nurse came with a paper cup of coffee to see how he was doing. Declining milk and sugar, the taste of the black coffee he drank for the first time in his life was so bitter that it stung his tongue.

At 5 AM, the first light of dawn s.h.i.+ned through the entrance slightly. After hesitating briefly, Haruyuki dashed to the toilet and then returned full circle to the bench after coming out in the shortest time in his life.

6 AM. As the staff who came and went on this floor increased here and there, Haruyuki strengthened his vigilance even more.

7 AM. The night duty staff that had finished their work were going home one after another. That nurse handed another cup of coffee and a sandwich, and then left as well while leaving warm words to him.

8:30 AM—

After the late night staff at the reception desk had been changed, the automatic door of the hospital's front entrance opened.

As if they had been waiting for that, several people, mainly elderly patients, came through the entrance.

Feeling more alert than before, Haruyuki opened both his eyes fully and stared fixedly at the flow of patients.

Even if one said that already half a year had pa.s.sed since he entered school and that it was a small-scale school with only three cla.s.ses per grade, he couldn’t remember the faces of all the students at Umesato as expected. When he saw the faces of young people he was uncertain of, he didn’t hesitate to accelerate and check the matching list.

As he continuously strained his concentration, the digit of the digital time indicator in the corner of Haruyuki’s vision slowly, slowly changed, seeming to laugh at him.

Thirty-five minutes. Forty minutes.

Kuroyukihime hadn’t gotten out of her serious condition yet. Of the twelve hours the doctor had told him, more than ten hours had already pa.s.sed.

Please regain consciousness quickly. And release the cerebral monitor.

Haruyuki desperately prayed.

Once more—once more, I want to me that person in the accelerated world for just the two of us.

And I’ll say it this time. My feelings. I’ll speak honestly from the bottom of my heart.

8:45 AM.

At last, Haruyuki saw a face that was familiar before his eyes for the first time since he became vigilant.

For an instant, his breath was caught—and then, he let it back out without a long sigh of relief.

That face wasn’t just familiar. It was one of the two faces he had seen for the longest time in this world.

That tall and slender figure with good posture was wrapped in mature velour’s jacket and chino-pants. His hair, which had an airy feeling, s.h.i.+ned a transparent brown in the morning light.

So he came…

Haruyuki removed the tension from his shoulders and smiled a little.

“Hey, Taku! Over here!”

As Haruyuki overly loud shout pa.s.sed through the hospital from the hallway to the entrance, Tak.u.mu—Mayuzumi Tak.u.mu suddenly stopped his right leg while stepping forward.

It seemed that he hadn’t noticed Haruyuki yet. His eyes turned left and right from the furthest inside the entrance, and then finally turned straight towards the hallway that was connected to the emergency room.

He made eye contact with Haruyuki who had gotten off the bench and waving his hand, and then—

Tak.u.mu inclined his head a little, and blinked intensely several time.

And then, he gave his usual bright and cheerful smile.

After quickly raising the right arm of his navy-blue jacket, he tapped his blue Neuro Linker with his finger.

‘Wait until I’ve been authenticated by the hospital’s network’, is what Haruyuki immediately guessed from that. At the same time, he smiled, thinking ‘What a methodical guy as usual’.

Regardless of whether the goal of visiting the hospital was for a check-up or to visit a patient, it was a national regulation in all hospitals that one must sign in their Neuro Linker to the hospital’s network while walking through the entrance, and then show one’s ID at the reception desk and get a name tag.

However, one has to stand and wait at the entrance for only thirty seconds until the strict authentication is finished, so there’s not much difference if one saves time by moving while it does so. Actually, when Haruyuki came here last night, he didn’t stop running even for a moment until he reached the front of the ER, so the authentication had ended after Kuroyukihime had disappeared to the other side of the door.

But it seemed that Tak.u.mu didn’t intend to commit even that kind of trivial violation of regulations. Even while looking at Haruyuki with a frustrated face, he stood in the middle of the entrance and waited for the sign-in completion.

Then, as if he suddenly noticed something, Tak.u.mu turned his body to the side.

His eyes turned to the direction of the automatic door, and he put his left hand over his mouth as if he were calling out to someone in a loud voice.

As Haruyuki thought ‘Did Chiyuri also come?’, he also tried to look through to the other side of the front entrance.

Just before his gaze left Tak.u.mu. A faint uneasiness came upon him.

Tak.u.mu, who had good conduct unlike Haruyuki, was shouting inside a hospital?

Rather using his hand in place of a megaphone, it was as if—his mouth. And the words he was issuing from there.

To Haruyuki, it seemed like he was trying to hide them.

At that instant, the uneasiness changed into a shudder. A needle of ice pierced straight through Haruyuki’s spine.

Even as his eyes widened and he stood upright, several thoughts flashed through his mind at the same time.

I—Why did I conclude that that guy, that «Cyan Pile», was a student at Umesato Middle School?

Of course, because he put that virus in Chiyuri’s Neuro Linker. Because he was using Chiyuri as a stepping stone, and attacking Kuroyukihime like a ghost from somewhere within the school’s local network.

But. What if he made that Backdoor for the sake of accessing it from the Global Net? In that case, the suspects wouldn’t be limited to within Umesato Middle School, but extend across the entire country.

However, at the same time, a new filter to narrow the suspects down appeared.

Why Chiyuri? Of course, because she was within easy contact for him.

Someone outside the school, who is the closest to Chiyuri. Someone so close to her side, that he could direct connect to Chiyuri’s Neuro Linker. There was only one person who fit these conditions. Someone who, right this instant, was standing just twenty meters in front of him—

The instant his thoughts reach that point, Haruyuki’s mouth moved automatically and sent the command.

“Burst Link!!”

—The boy who was both Chiyuri’s childhood friend and boyfriend. Tak.u.mu.

Bas.h.i.+!!

A cold and dry froze the world.

Ahead of him, Tak.u.mu, with his left hand in front of his mouth, hardened into blue.

But, that wasn’t true. Within that palm, Tak.u.mu was also reciting the command at the same time. And his consciousness was being accelerated in a different frozen s.p.a.ce from Haruyuki.

You? It was you? No way. Impossible. Why. Why?

Even while he made incoherent shouts in his mind, the right hand of Haruyuki’s avatar flashed to the top of the virtual desktop at the highest possible speed.

Right at this instant, Tak.u.mu should also be doing the same thing. Activating the Brain Burst console, and waiting for the update of the matching list. And then, like touching a dropped fruit, he would click on the name «Black Lotus» and challenge her to a duel.

Before that happened, Haruyuki had to challenge «Cyan Pile».

Haruyuki clenched his teeth, opened his eyes wide, and stare at the searching indicator of the matching list.

With a ping, there was his own name at the top. «Silver Crow».

Next, the beloved person he had to protect. «Black Lotus».

And then last, the name of the enemy he had to defeat finally appeared as a real string of characters for the first time before Haruyuki’s eyes. «Cyan Pile».

Be in time————!!

While sending out that scream with all his body and soul, Haruyuki clicked the name at super-speed and hit the duel command from the window with a pop.

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