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 shined 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 shine 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 and middle

fingers 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..."

I subconsciously made a noise. A strong pain pierced the throat

that hadn't been used in two years. But I didn't care about that in

the slightest. I opened my eyes widely and said one word, the one

name that appeared in my mind.

"A...su...na..."

Asuna. The pain that was etched onto my heart flared up once

again. Asuna, my beloved wife, who watched the end of the world

together with me...

Had it all been a dream...? A beautiful illusion that I saw in a

virtual world...? These confused thoughts suddenly appeared in

my mind.

No, she did exist. There was no way that all those days we had

spent laughing, crying, and sleeping together had been a dream.

Kayaba had said— "Congratulations on clearing the game Kiritokun, Asuna-kun." He had definitely said that. If he had included me

in the list of survivors, then Asuna should have came back to this

world as well.

As soon as I thought this, my love and my yearning for her

overflowed inside me. I wanted to meet her. I wanted to touch her

hair. I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to hear her voice calling my

name.

I strained all the muscles in my body and tried to get up. Only then

did I realize that my head was strapped down. I fumbled around

with my fingers before finding a belt clasp below my chin and

undoing it. There was something heavy on my head. I used both

my hands and barely managed to take it off.

I sat up and stared at the thing in my hands. It was a smooth, deep

blue helmet. A wire of the same color stretched out of a long pad

at the back and went all the way down to the floor. It was—

NerveGear. I had been stuck in that world for two years because of

this. Its power had been turned off.

My last memory of it had been that of a shining helmet; but now

the color had faded. Bits of it had come off and you could see the

metal alloy that it was made of.

All my memories of the other world were held within this— I was

suddenly seized by this thought and caressed the surface of the

helmet.

I suppose I would never be putting this on again. But it fulfilled its

purpose really well...

I muttered in my mind before placing the helmet on the bed. The

days when I fought together with it were already a thing of the

past. There was something else I needed to do in this world now.

I was suddenly aware of the noises outside. When I strained my

ears, I could hear various sounds, as if they were telling me that

my hearing had finally returned to normal.

I definitely heard the voices of people talking and shouting. I also

heard the sounds of hurried footsteps and the wheels of beds as

they were moved.

There was no way to know if Asuna was in this hospital. SAO

players came from all across Japan, so the chances of her being

here were low. But I would begin my search here. No matter how

long it took, I would definitely find her.

I pulled the blanket off of me. There were numerous cords spread

across my weak body. Maybe they were electrodes placed to slow

down the degeneration of my muscles. I managed to pull all of

them off. An orange LED flickered on the panel at the edge of my

bed and a loud alarm went off, but I ignored all of this.

I pulled the IV drip needle out and finally freed my body. Then I

placed my feet on the floor and slowly applied my strength in an

attempt to stand up. My body rose bit by bit, but it felt like my

knees would give way any minute and this made me smile bitterly;

my superhuman strength stat was nowhere to be found.

I grabbed onto the IV drip stand for support and finally managed

to stand up. Looking around the room, I found a folded hospital

gown on the same tray as the basket of flowers and put it on.

After completing these simple movements, my breath was already

ragged. The muscles that I hadn't used for two years were already

protesting with pain. But I can't complain so easily.

Quickly, quickly. I could hear a voice urging me to keep going. My

whole being longed for her. My fight wasn't over until I had

Asuna— Yuuki Asuna in my arms.

With a tight grip on the stand instead of a sword, I leaned my body

against it and took my first step towards the door.

([Sword Art Online] 1 The End)