-1818- Konno Yuuki

Indeed, it is something like a dream machine for the medical field.

Although it hasn't been put into actual use yet, and the only thing that has been shown to the public is just a codename, if it were to be practically applied, the help it would bring to the medical field would be enormous.

Of course, when it was first proposed, it faced many challenges.

After all, not to mention the next-generation full dive machine, AmuSphere, which had several safety measures applied to it, resulting in only mild sensory blocking, even the first generation NERvGear couldn't eliminate the severe pain from a scalpel incision. Although NERvGear was purer than AmuSphere, the body still had sensory feelings, so the spinal cord would still have reflex reactions. It couldn't be used in anesthesia. The rest of the aspects were the same. The electromagnetic pulse output power was too low, and the CPU was energy-saving, causing some issues with processing speed.

If it was for entering the VR world, the specifications should be enough.

However, when it came to using lenses to instantly present the real environment, meaning to achieve augmented reality, its functions were still insufficient.

But such problems could be solved.

As long as the output power of the full dive machine was strengthened, the pulse wave-producing components were made denser by several times, processing speed was improved, and then integrated with a bed that could cover the entire brain and spinal cord, then as long as this machine could be mass-produced and installed in most hospitals, it would revolutionize the entire medical environment.

Almost all surgeries would no longer require anesthesia, and it might even be possible to communicate with patients diagnosed with locked-in syndrome. Even if the brain's thinking part was normal but the part controlling the body was impaired, preventing the patient from expressing themselves, the machine could connect to the depths of the brain, so even if the body couldn't move, the patient could still return to normal society through the VR world.

So, after mobilizing national resources for urgent development, the world's first medical full dive machine — Medicuboid — was born.

However, its birth was certainly not smooth.

Because of the turmoil caused by the death game incident involving NERvGear and the public opinion calling for the complete sealing of full dive technology, even though the experimental version of Medicuboid had been completed and moved into hospitals for clinical trials, no one was willing to use it, especially when it was based on the terrifying NERvGear.

Moreover, no one knew what long-term exposure to the dense electronic pulse waves would do to the brain. Due to the dangerous conditions, it was extremely difficult to find willing patients for the experiment. This machine was never practically applied.

The so-called Medicuboid wasn't a successor to AmuSphere, but rather an extension of NERvGear, and this fact alone made many people fearful.

However...

"Three years ago, the only hospital used for the Medicuboid experiment, Yokohama Port North General Hospital, found volunteers."

After saying this, Yui did not speak further.

But Asuna seemed to have understood something and her face began to pale.

"Could it be..."

Asuna's lips trembled slightly.

"Relax."

Rozen, who had already anticipated Asuna's reaction, reached out and patted Asuna's hand.

"Looking like that, even if you see Yuuki, she won't be happy, you know?"

Rozen's words made Asuna bite her lip.

Asuna tightly grasped Rozen's hand with great force, as if to suppress the sorrow rising in her heart, her eyes welling with tears.

Seeing Asuna like this, Rozen did not say anything more.

This was a hurdle Asuna would have to face sooner or later.

"Drive faster."

Rozen coldly said to the driver, Kikuoka Seijirou, making him smile bitterly.

"I'm already driving as fast as I can."

Saying that, Kikuoka Seijirou stepped on the gas and increased the speed.

The car sped through the streets toward the distant destination.

...

Yokohama City.

This is an important city in the Tokyo metropolitan area, one of Japan's three major metropolitan areas, located in the southern part of the Kanto region, facing Tokyo Bay to the east, and bordering cities like Yokosuka. It is also connected to Kawasaki City to the north, and is an international port city in Kanagawa Prefecture, serving as the administrative center of the prefecture. It is one of the largest cities in Japan by population and is often considered Tokyo's outer port.

The hospital is located in the Tsuzuki district of Yokohama, surrounded by green hills. Though not particularly tall, its wide wings and surrounding gentle hills give people a sense of being far from the city.

The building still looks quite new, with its brown ceramic tile walls shining under the winter sunlight.

Passing through the clean double-glass automatic doors and into the brightly-lit lobby, a nostalgic scent of disinfectant fills the air.

Inside the lobby, mothers holding children and elderly people in electric wheelchairs move about, while the counter at the end of the wide space is relatively quiet.

Rozen, Asuna, and Kikuoka Seijirou made their way to the counter.

"Hello."

Kikuoka Seijirou stepped forward and addressed the nurse at the counter.

"I have an appointment with Dr. Kurahashi from the second internal medicine. Could you please inform him?"

Saying this, Kikuoka Seijirou handed over an identification card.

The nurse at the counter took the card, glanced at it, and her expression changed slightly. She quickly stood up and informed the head nurse, who then called Dr. Kurahashi to notify him.

After a while, a male doctor dressed in white walked over quickly.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

The man who approached was a short, slightly plump doctor in his early thirties, with a bright, wide forehead, wearing glasses with thick frames. He looked like someone who had recently joined the hospital.

"I'm Kurahashi, the attending physician in the second internal medicine."

Dr. Kurahashi glanced at the group and said.

"I'm also the attending physician for Konno Yuuki."

Upon hearing this, Asuna spoke up first.

"Konno Yuuki...?"

Asuna murmured.

In response, Kurahashi smiled slightly.

"That's the Yuuki you all know."