Chapter 25

The air had a smell.

That, more than my continued consciousness, was the first

surprise.

There was an enormous amount of information flowing into

my olfactory glands. The piercing odor of disinfectant. The sunny

scent of dry cotton. Sweet fruit. And my own body.

I slowly opened my eyes. The powerful beam of light seemed

to pierce the back of my brain, and I quickly squeezed my eyelids

shut.

After a while, I slowly opened them again. There was an interplay of various colors. Belatedly, I realized that it was fluid blocking my sight. I blinked, trying to clear it away, but the fluid kept

coming. Tears.

I was crying. Why? There was a sharp pain in my chest that

told of deep, agonizing loss. I felt as though I could hear someone

calling out from a distance. I squinted against the light and tried

to brush away the tears.

It seemed that I was lying on top of something soft. I could see

what looked like a ceiling. There was a grid of off-white panels,

and some of them were glowing, lit by something behind them.

There was a metallic slit in the side of my vision. Probably a respirator. It was emitting air with a low groaning sound.

…A respirator. A machine. That shouldn't be here. Even the

most proficient blacksmith couldn't fashion a machine. And even

if it really was what it appeared to be, in Aincrad there was no

electricity to—

This wasn't Aincrad.

I opened my eyes. That train of thought had finally woken me

up. I tried to bolt upward—

But my body wouldn't listen. I had no strength. I raised my

shoulder a few inches but immediately sank back down, pathetically weak.

I could move my right hand, though. I drew it out of the light

blanket that had been placed over my body, raising it in front of

my face.

For a moment, I couldn't believe that the startlingly thin limb

in front of me was actually my own. This bony thing could never

swing a sword. When I looked closely at the sickly pale skin, I saw

countless soft, downy hairs. Purplish veins were visible beneath

the surface, and fine wrinkles bunched around the joints. It was

so incredibly realistic. In fact, it was so…biological…that it didn't

feel right.

Some kind of injection catheter was fixed into the inner joint

of my elbow. A thin cord ran out and up into a clear packet on the

left, hung on a silver mounting rack. The packet was about 70

percent full of an orange liquid, dripping with a steady rhythm

through a nozzle into the tube.

I moved my left hand, which was splayed next to my body, trying to find some sensation in it. I seemed to be lying on a bed

made of some kind of high-density gel material. It felt slightly

cooler than my body temperature, chilly and wet to the touch. I

was naked, directly on top of it. A long-lost memory came back to

me: a news segment from years ago, describing a product just like

this one, a new development for patients who were bedridden for

long periods of time. It protected against skin inflammation and

broke down bodily waste.

I tried looking around now. The room was small, the walls the

same off-white as the ceiling. There was a large window on the

right with white curtains. I couldn't see beyond them, but the yellow-tinged light passing through the material seemed to be sunlight. At the left foot of the gel bed was a metal tray cart, on top of

which lay a rattan cage. A large bouquet of flowers in subdued

colors was placed inside the cage—this must be the source of the

sweet scent. Behind the cart was a square door. It was shut.

Based on the information I'd just gleaned, this must be a hospital room. I was lying in it, all alone.

I focused again on my right hand, still in the air. On a whim, I

held my index and middle fingers together and swiped downward.

Nothing happened. No sound effects, no menu window. I tried

it again, harder this time. And again. Nothing happened.

Which meant this wasn't SAO. Another virtual world perhaps?

But the overwhelming amount of sensory information I was

picking up spoke urgently of another possibility: the real world.

The one I'd left two years ago, the one I thought I'd never see

again.

The real world…It took me quite some time to fathom what

that truly meant. For years, the world of swords and battle was

my reality. It was hard to believe that world was gone, that I was

no longer there.

I was back.

But there was no rush of emotion or joy with that realization.

Only confusion and a faint sense of loss.

This was my reward for beating Kayaba's game. Even though

I'd died, turned to nothingness, accepted my fate, and even felt

satisfied with it.

That's right—I was fine with it all ending there. In the midst of

that fierce light, I'd disintegrated, evaporated, become one with

the world, with her…

"Ah…"

The sound tumbled out. There was a sharp pain in my throat; I

hadn't used it in two years. But I wasn't even aware of that. I

opened my eyes wide, trying to mouth the word, the name that

came to me.

"A…su…na…"

Asuna. The pain that burned deep in my chest came back.

Asuna, my beloved, my wife, the woman who had stood at the end

of the world with me…

Was it a dream? A beautiful illusion I'd witnessed in an artificial world? For a moment, I wasn't sure.

No, she was real. We'd laughed together, cried together, fallen

asleep together—those things weren't a dream. Kayaba had said,

"Congratulations on beating the game, Kirito and Asuna." I heard

him say her name. If I was included among the players who survived, Asuna must be as well.

The moment I realized this, my love and overwhelming longing for her exploded within me. I want to see her. I want to touch

her hair. I want to kiss her. I want to hear her voice.

I summoned all the strength I could and tried to sit up. For the

first time, I realized that my head was being held in place. I felt

under my chin and unlocked a tough harness I found there. There

was something heavy on my head. Using both hands, I was able

to pull it off.

Once in a full sitting position, I looked at the object in my

hands. It was a streamlined helmet in navy blue. Cables the same

shade of blue extended from the long pad on the back of the helmet and down to the floor.

It was a NerveGear. This is what kept me connected to that

world for two years. The unit was powered off. If memory served,

there were gleaming lights that lined the outside when it was running, but now it was dark, the edges of the helmet flaking off and

the alloy base exposed.

Inside it was all the memory of that world. I stroked the front

of the gear, lost in thought.

I'll probably never wear you again. But you were good to

me…

I laid the headgear down on the bed. At this point, my struggles with it were just a memory of the distant past. There were

things for me to do here now.

It seemed like there was a commotion in the distance. I focused my ears, and as though my hearing was finally coming back

to normal, various sounds jumped out at me.

I could hear a great number of people talking and yelling.

Footsteps thumped hastily outside the door, and gurney wheels

clattered by.

I didn't know if Asuna was in this hospital. The people playing

SAO were from all over Japan, so the probability that she would

just so happen to be in this building was slim at best. But this is

where I'd start. No matter how long it took, I would find her.

I ripped off the thin blanket. There were countless cords attached all over my gaunt body. The electrodes on my limbs were

probably meant to stimulate the muscles to prevent atrophy. I

painstakingly removed each one. Orange lights on a bedside

panel flashed on, and a high-pitched alarm sounded, but I ignored it.

I pulled out the IV, then swung my legs to the floor, finally

free. Slowly and gently, I tried to stand. Quavering, I managed to

support my weight at first, but my knees soon gave way. I had to

laugh. I could really use that strength stat again.

On my second attempt, I was able to stay on my feet by leaning

on the IV stand for support. I looked around the room, then spotted a patient's gown on the lower shelf of the cabinet that held the

flowers.

Just the act of putting it on left me breathless. My limbs,

which had been still for two entire years, were all screaming in

protest. But I couldn't give up now.

Faster, faster, I told myself. My entire body needed her. My

fight would not end until the moment I could hold Asuna in my

arms again.

I gripped the metal stand like my trusty sword, giving it my

weight, taking the first step to the door.