Chapter 37

"Finally, let me show you all the proof that this world has become your only reality. Inside each of your inventory menus, I've prepared a gift. Please take a look."

Asuna followed his instructions, her finger swiping downward almost instinctively. The players around her mirrored her action, and a chorus of electronic chimes echoed across the plaza.

Tapping the inventory tab on the main menu that appeared, the list of items displayed a gift at the top, just as Kayaba had mentioned.

The item's name? "Handheld Mirror."

Muttering to herself about why he'd give her something like this, Asuna tapped the name and selected the materialize option from the pop-up window. With a glowing sound effect, a small, square mirror appeared in her hand.

Reflected in it was a sharply defined yet youthful face.

In the next moment, a wave of blue light flashed over every player, including Asuna. The glow lasted only two or three seconds, but when their vision cleared, they were surrounded by strangers.

The handsome, polished avatars had vanished. Many players stared in shock and disbelief, exchanging bewildered glances with their companions. A single question reverberated across the plaza:

"Who are you?"

Then, realization hit. They frantically touched their own faces, peering into their mirrors.

What they saw was their real-world selves.

Asuna's hairstyle shifted slightly, her features softening into a younger, more tender version of herself, though she remained largely recognizable. Naoki, glancing around casually, noticed several players who'd gone from female avatars to male bodies—a common sight, and one he understood. After all, he too preferred playing female characters in games.

It wasn't that male characters weren't fun; female ones just felt like a better deal.

But the players around him were wailing in despair.

Most of them had tweaked their appearances to some degree—everyone nudged their looks up a bit, right? It wasn't unreasonable. Yet now, they were all exposed in their true forms.

Before Naoki could react further, a player beside him gaped in surprise. "How come you haven't changed at all?"

The speaker was a plain-looking, middle-aged man with a noticeable paunch, his bloated figure almost comical.

Naoki shrugged. "This is just how I look in real life."

The man fell silent. Not just him—every male player within earshot went quiet.

For a moment, an eerie stillness hung around Naoki.

What do you do when there's a ridiculously good-looking guy nearby? Sure, they're popular with the opposite sex, but often, they're shunned by their own. When someone's attractiveness towers over everyone else, most people don't outright reject them—they just instinctively keep their distance.

No one wants to admit they're outclassed.

If the gap is tolerable, they might try to hassle the standout—nothing overt, maybe just ignoring them or jeering at key moments to watch them squirm. As more join in, it escalates, sometimes spiraling into full-blown bullying.

In Japan, that's how it works. School bullies target three types: the good-looking but standoffish, the high-achieving but aloof, or the good-looking and high-achieving but unapproachable. In short, they pick on the ones who don't fit in—those with shaky confidence.

Kayaba's voice pressed on, unwavering.

"You must be wondering why. Why would Akihiko Kayaba, the developer of SAO and NerveGear, do this? Is it a massive terrorist act? A kidnapping for ransom?"

Up until now, Kayaba's tone had been flat, emotionless. But now, a flicker of feeling crept into his voice. Even Naoki had to admit—Kayaba had an undeniable charisma.

Naoki knew a bit about the young genius.

Akihiko Kayaba, renowned as a quantum physicist and prodigious game designer, was the mastermind behind NerveGear's foundation and SAO's creation. He'd planted the seed that reshaped the world: The Seed.

An unremarkable-looking man with the power to change an era.

Yet he'd chosen this path.

"None of those are my goal. In fact, I no longer have any purpose or reason at all. If you're asking why… it's because, to me, this situation is the ultimate goal. I invented NerveGear and created SAO to build this world and watch it unfold. And now, all my objectives are complete."

After a brief pause, Kayaba's cold voice echoed through the hall once more.

"…That concludes the official tutorial for Sword Art Online. To all players—I wish you luck."

His final words lingered with a faint echo before fading away.

The massive crimson cloak rose silently, its pointed hood dissolving into the system message blanketing the sky. Shoulders, chest, and limbs sank into a blood-red ripple, leaving only a widening wave behind. Then, just as abruptly as it had appeared, the sky-spanning message vanished.

The sound of wind swept over the plaza, mingling with the distant BGM from an NPC band on the town streets, steadily stirring the players' senses.

The game returned to normal—or so it seemed. The only difference was that some of its rules had shifted.

The ten thousand players finally reacted as they should.

Chaos erupted—overwhelming noise burst from every corner, shaking the plaza.

The moment the red barrier around them vanished, Naoki grabbed Asuna's hand and bolted without a second thought.

Still dazed, Asuna was yanked along by the boy, who fired off a private message to Kirito.

Naoki: Move it—grind mobs. You want Suguha crying over your corpse? Split up, it's more efficient. Ping me if you need anything.

Kirito: …

Kirito barely had time to process before the message hit him. His pupils shrank, he swallowed hard, and he grabbed Klein's arm. "Let's go—grind mobs, now."

But when he turned, he saw a girl with short purple hair and a cute, delicate face.

She was striking—purple eyes like gleaming amethysts. But her frame had shrunk from nearly two meters tall to about 1.65 meters, throwing Kirito off.

Feeling the warmth of her hand in his, he swallowed again.

It wasn't his fault. Aside from holding his little sister's hand growing up, he'd never been this close to a girl.

Not that he could help it—blame his shut-in older brother, dragging him into games all the time and turning him into an otaku.