Prologue

"— Asuna, have you heard of «Zekken»?"

Hearing Lisbeth's voice, Asuna stopped typing and looked up.

"A player's number? Are you starting a sports competition?"1

"No, no." Lisbeth shook her head and smiled. She drank a little

from the steaming mug on the table and continued.

"It's kanji, not katakana. It's written with zetsu(絶) from zettai(絶

対) and ken(剣) from sword, Absolute Sword."

"Absolute... Sword. Is that a new rare equipment or something?"

"No, no. It's a person's name. A nickname... or alias, so to speak.

Nobody knows the character's real name. Anyway, Absolute Sword is

very strong. We don't know who started using this name, but this

person eventually ended up being known as Absolute Sword.

Absolutely invincible sword, peerless sword... I guess that's what it

means."

Very strong. It really piqued Asuna's interest when she heard this.

It goes without saying that she was really confident of her sword

technique. As an Alfheim Online player, she chose to be an Undine

which focuses on supporting with healing magic, but her previous hotbloodedness would occasionally arise leading her to unsheathe her

1 Cloth bibs with an a person's number(ゼッケン) and Absolute Sword(絶剣) are both

pronounced as 'zekken'

rapier and charge into enemy formations. Thus, she got a completely

inelegant nickname like 'Berserk Healer'.

She actively participates in every month's tournament. Having

been accustomed to ALO's three-dimensional battles, Asuna is on par

with other strong players like the Salamander General Eugene and the

Sylph Lord Sakuya. It's impossible for her to disregard a new strong

player's appearance.

After saving her completed biology report, Asuna closed her

virtual keyboard, picked up the mug next to her and filled it with hot

tea with a tap of her finger. She sunk into the wooden chair which grew

out of the floorboards and got into a position where she can listen

seriously.

"And...? This Absolute Sword, what is this person like?"

"Let me think..."