Chapter 15
November 7th, 2024
Everyone stopped and stared in shock and confusion as the spectacle unfolded.
"K-Knight commander?" Rizea stammered. "Wh-why do you have system protection?"
"Think. Since the very beginning, he's always been stronger than me. Always faster. Always a higher level. It doesn't make any sense. He sits on his ass all day. Nobody has ever seen him train. So, do you know how he's keeping up? It's because he's adding levels while nobody's looking," Shiraki explained.
I racked my brain for a moment, trying to understand what he could have been referring to. Had he found a way to exploit the game and give himself free levels? No, that couldn't have been it. An exploit like that would have been found by now. So what did Shiraki mean when he said...
Just as I was trying to come up with possibilities, everything clicked into place at once.
Benjin was usually the one planning the boss battles, going into incredible detail, picking up on things nobody else did. He was always the first to memorize a bosses attack patters, even when there was no pattern to speak of. During the last battle, he fought near flawlessly, which should have been impossible for any normal player. Which could only mean one thing. Benjin was the furthest thing from a normal player.
"Oh my gosh. Y-You are Akihiko Kayaba, aren't you?" I exclaimed.
The room erupted with questions from all the confused players. Many try to stand to confront him, but where too exhausted and fell right back down to the ground.
Benjin sighed, shaking his head with a smile. "I had hoped to keep that hidden a little while longer."
Knight Commander Benjin of the Knights of the Bloodoath, was actually the creator of the NerveGear, as well as the core programmer and brains behind Sword Art Online. The reason for his immortality made all the more sense. He wasn't exploiting the game. He was the Game Master.
"What?! Why the hell are you here?! Remi shouted. "You got stuck here too?!"
"Well, yes, but I wouldn't go as far as to say that I 'got stuck'. I chose to be here," Benjin replied.
"It's obvious, Remi. There's nothing worse than watching someone else play a game. He created this world. Now he wants to play God in it." Shiraki state.
With another sigh, Benjin swiped open his menu, which looked very different from ours. There were many more options, and more importantly, his log-out button looked operational. With a few button taps, all of us became completely immobilized, and a paralysis symbol appeared below my HP bar.
"What is this?! I can't move!" Raigen exclaimed.
"Kayaba!" Shiraki shouted.
"I'm impressed you figured it out, truly. Though I suppose if anyone were to figure it out, it would be you," Benjin acknowledged.
"So, what now? You gonna kill us all to keep your little secret?" Shiraki asked.
"Of course not. That would be inhumane," Benjin responded.
"Let us out of the game! You can do that, right?!" I pleaded.
"Well. Technically, yes. Sword Art Online was designed to log out every user when the boss on floor 100 was defeated. When I was defeated. However, I cannot log you out myself," Benjin explained.
If he died? Did he not want this world to exist if he wasn't in it?
"Fine then. I'll just have to kill you myself," Shiraki declared.
"I trusted you, Benjin! You bastard!" Rizea shouted.
The look in Shiraki and Rizea's eyes was like something I had never seen before—a combination of determination and anger. These two really had every intention of killing him.
Benjin stood there for a moment before speaking again. "Very well. I'll make you a deal. A very simple deal. System command! Disable immortality!"
With a flash of white light, a pop-up appeared above his head saying
"I just disabled the system protection on myself. The two of you are a formidable duo, so here is my proposal to you: If the two of you can beat me in a duel, you win. Sword Art Online will be cleared, and everyone in Aincrad will be logged out then and there," Benjin proposed.
"And if we lose?" Shiraki questioned.
"Nothing changes. To escape, players will need to beat me on floor 100. The only difference is that you two won't leave this room alive. So, what say you?" Benjin replied.
"Don't do it, Shiraki! He is the damn Game Master! Think this through!" Raigen warned.
"I have," Shiraki said firmly.
"Miss Rizea! Please! He's going to kill you!" I begged.
"So be it then," Rizea resolved.
"We've made up our minds, Kayaba. We accept your challenge," Shiraki affirmed.
With a few more button presses, Benjin deactivated the paralysis on them. The two of them stood up and drew their weapons.
"No!" Remi cried out.
"You idiots!" Zuzu shouted.
"Osaka. In case this is the last time we talk, I have to tell you something," Rizea said, turning to me with tears in her eyes.
"Azura hasn't been training. S-She died a week after joining up. A training op gone bad. I was going to tell you at my wedding, but I couldn't do it. I couldn't bear to see your face if I told you," Rizea confessed.
"I already knew that!" I yelled, my voice echoing through the cave.
"Her name has been greyed out on my friends list for months. I knew she was dead. Thank you for trying to hide it, though. Even so, you need to apologize! I want a full-course meal, as well as that shortcake you owe me! I won't forgive you otherwise, so don't do this!" I insisted.
"One day, I promise, I'll take you out for that meal, and I'll make you that shortcake. Just...not today," Rizea said.
The two lovers began charging up sword skills, then rushed towards the heavily armoured man.
"Ravenous Assault!" Shiraki shouted.
"Blizzard Storm!" Rizea cried.
With a yell, both activated the corresponding sword skills and attacked Benjin. He blocked their attacks with ease, unsurprisingly. He invented them. He knew all the combos.
He moved his shield, absorbing all the attacks before slamming Rizea in the head with it and stabbing Shiraki through the stomach with his sword, taking about 20% of his HP in one strike. It didn't stop them, though. Still stunned, Rizea rushed back into the fight as Shiraki tried to flank Benjin from behind. But Benjin turned to Shiraki, slashing him several more times and taking a ridiculous amount of HP off him. The battle reached its final stage in a matter of seconds.
"Shiraki! Your HP is low!" Rizea warned.
"7%, I know," Shiraki grunted.
"Then heal!" Rizea urged.
"No time," Shiraki replied.
He looked down at the ground, clenching his fists in anger. But when he spoke again, his voice was shaky. He was scared.
"I...I'm sorry, Rizea. It's over," Shiraki admitted.
"I'm afraid you're right, Shiraki. It is over. I did enjoy our duel together though, even if it was rather short. You both fought bravely. At least you can both die knowing that you tried," Benjin said.
Rizea's head wasn't in the game, and Shiraki was fighting so hard that he was exhausted. He couldn't even lift his sword.
It couldn't end like this. The battle only lasted a few seconds, and neither of them landed a single clean hit.
Come on, Osaka! Move!
"Goodbye, Shiraki," Benjin said, raising his sword above his head.
Rizea tried to rush him, but he kicked her aside. As Benjin approached, Shiraki didn't move.
"End of the line, huh?" Shiraki smiled with what little energy he had left. "Damnit. After coming all this way, this is how it ends? Hurry up, then. Get it over with," Shiraki said, closing his eyes.
If there's anything I've learned in my time in Aincrad, it's that willpower is everything. Though not a direct stat, your will decide the events that would happen around you. If you're angry, there's a higher chance monsters will aggro to you randomly, even if you're not doing the most damage. If you're lonely, taming a beast becomes easier. If you had a strong enough will, there was nothing the system could do to keep you down. Breaking through the system's limitations was only a matter of how badly you wanted it.
Benjin swung his sword downward, and the blade made impact—but not with the intended target.
Finally, I broke free from my paralysis and sprinted towards Shiraki to push him out of the way. Everything went horribly wrong. I mistimed my jump—a fatal mistake. Rather than pushing him, I accidentally landed in front of him, right as the sword came down. The whole room went silent for a few seconds, and even Benjin seemed shocked.
"Oh god." Remi muttered, horrified.
I looked down at the large red line that ran along my stomach, nearly bisecting me. The sight of it made my blood run cold.
"NO!" Bertrand cried, his voice cracking in despair.
"SHIT! Osaka! Osaka, look at me!" Shiraki yelled, rushing over to me. He crouched to the ground and rested my head on his knees. It was at that moment that I noticed my HP draining rapidly, with no sign of stopping.
"I'm so s-scared. I-I don't want to die," I whispered, my voice barely audible. Tears rolled down my face as I lost control of my body. The pain was unbearable, yet the fear of what was to come overshadowed it.
"Does anyone have a potion?! Hand it over! Now!" Rizea yelled, her voice trembling with urgency.
"It hurts," I whimpered, barely able to speak.
"Over here!" Raigen shouted, waving a hand, seemingly having partially broken free from the paralysis.
Rizea rushed over to him, leaving me with Shiraki. My life was slipping away. I reached up and grabbed his arm, digging my nails into his skin. He looked down at me, his face etched with fear as he tried to hold back tears.
"Incredible," Benjin mused. "The will power mechanic was only ever a concept, which I ultimately scrapped. I never had any way of calculating the parameters. It looks like it was added somewhere amongst the code. How, I'm unsure."
Shiraki's face twisted with rage. "You shut your god damn mouth, you piece of shit!"
As the world around me blurred, I began to think about my situation. Unless Rizea could get a potion in time, I was going to die. On this sand, in a dark room, I would die without ever seeing my mother and brother again. The thought was unbearable. Would it be quick? Would it hurt more than it already did?
"S-Sh-Shiraki? A-Am I g-going to die?" I stammered, struggling to form the words. "I don't w-want to die."
"No! You aren't! You're gonna be fine, alright?! RIZEA?! Where's the goddamn potion?!" Shiraki's voice was desperate, cracking with emotion.
My vision darkened as it became harder to keep my eyes open. Before I shut them, I saw tears welling up in Shiraki's eyes.
"D-Don't cry," I whispered, trying to comfort him.
His breathing grew more rapid, his attempts to hold back his tears failing. "RIZEA! RIZEA, HELP ME!" he screamed, his voice breaking.
"I got it!" Rizea called out, sprinting back towards us with the potion in hand.
With my last bit of strength, I raised my arm to place my hand on his cheek, but it was too late. I felt the last remnants of life slip away from me. My grip on Shiraki's arm loosened, and my hand flopped lifelessly to the ground. Everything went dark, and then I saw it: crystals, everywhere. A red screen appeared in my vision with the words "
In the moments following my death, I found myself in a strange, spectral form, floating above the scene. My body was weightless, translucent, and eerily cold. I could see through myself, a ghostly figure hovering above the battlefield.
Below me, the group mourned, their faces twisted with grief and disbelief.
"O-Osaka..." Bertrand choked out, his voice thick with emotion.
"No. No! No! No no no no!" Kuram wailed.
"Osaka! Why?!" Rizea cried, tears streaming down her face.
"Osaka, no!" Remi whispered, her voice barely audible, as if speaking louder would make it more real.
"You bastard. You fucking bastard!" Shiraki spat, glaring daggers at Benjin.
"NooooOOOOO! YOU BASTARD! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU, YOU PIECE OF SHIT! I'M GONNA TEAR YOUR FUCKING HEART OUT! YOU'RE DEAD! DEAD!" Raigen's voice rose to a hysterical pitch as he screamed.
As I watched from above, I felt a mix of emotions. Tears streamed down my spectral face, and I realized that, despite the sadness, I had made an impact on these people. I had lived a life that mattered, at least to them.
I thought of Bertrand, the stubborn bull who just wanted to play the game and become stronger, and Zuzu, the wannabe princess who always kept things interesting. Remi, who taught me a few shield techniques even if I never used them. Then there was Kuram, the barkeep with the voice of an angel. We made a pretty good team selling weapons, and eventually, he let me live in the tavern we earned together. And Raigen, my Uncle Raigen, the first player I met and my protector throughout it all. Rizea, the prettiest girl in all of Aincrad, who made cookies with me once a week. Sometimes, we'd make them double chocolate chip. And Shiraki, who was supposed to be cool, calm, and collected but turned out to be none of those things. What he was, though, was my saviour, my knight in shining armour. Finally, I thought of Kikina, the smith who picked me up after the Wolves of Night. I wouldn't have made it this far if not for her, and I didn't even get to say goodbye.
As I floated there, watching the chaos unfold below, the rage in Shiraki and Rizea's eyes finally boiled over. They charged at Benjin once more, their attacks wild and uncoordinated. They were fighting with pure emotion, their minds clouded by grief and anger. Their attacks were predictable, their movements sluggish. Rizea struggled, taking a few light slashes, while Benjin charged up another sword skill. Shiraki barely jumped out of the way in time.
"RIZEA! GET OUT OF THE-" Shiraki shouted, but it was too late. Rizea took the full brunt of the attack and was sent flying backward. She tumbled across the floor, her HP plummeting to zero before Shiraki could reach her. In a flash of blue light, she was gone, her body dissolving into tiny crystals.
A ghostly form appeared beside me. It was Rizea, her face stricken with sorrow. "Osaka. I'm sorry!" she cried, hugging me tightly. "Just, close your eyes, hon."
"I'm scared! I don't want to die!" I sobbed, burying my head in her chest. Even as I tried to follow her advice and close my eyes, the timer in my vision ticked down relentlessly. 3:16.
Another sound echoed through the dungeon. The sound of leather being cut. I look down and see the source. Benjin's sword had completely penetrated Shiraki's chest. With that, the Hooded Swordsman's HP began to deplete, though he didn't move. He remained still, accepting the defeat.
"I am sorry, Shiraki. I had hoped it would be you who defeated me on floor 100. Unfortunately, it's time to face reality. You're not the hero you think you are," Benjin said coldly.
For a moment, Shiraki seemed resigned to his fate, but then something changed. He gritted his teeth, a newfound determination in his eyes. "You think I'll just let you kill me? That easily? No. Screw your system! I'm not done yet!" he growled, defiance dripping from his words.
In a move that shocked everyone, Shiraki grabbed Benjin's sword and pulled himself further along the blade, causing his HP to drain faster but bringing him closer to Benjin. "Huh?" Benjin muttered, surprised.
With a final, desperate surge of energy, Shiraki ran the rest of the way up the sword, shoving his own blade into Benjin's throat. "I... don't believe it," Benjin gasped as his HP dropped.
With his last breath, Shiraki whispered, "Checkmate."
Both their bodies disappeared in a burst of light. A large notice appeared in the sky, followed by a trumpet fanfare. The message read:
A silver light enveloped me, and suddenly, we were transported away. As I looked around, I found myself standing on a white platform high in the sky. To my left stood Shiraki, and to my right, Rizea. The horizon was painted in hues of orange, and in the distance, I could see Aincrad. The castle, once our world, was now crumbling before our eyes. A voice from behind us broke the silence.
"I was certain that it would all come to an end eventually, but I didn't see it happen this way," the voice said.
Turning, I saw a man standing at the edge of the platform. It wasn't Benjin, the avatar we had come to know, but Akihiko Kayaba himself. He looked unremarkable, just an ordinary middle-aged man in a worn lab coat.
"What about the other players?" Shiraki asked, his voice edged with concern.
"Don't worry," Kayaba replied. "Approximately 10 seconds after my HP dropped to zero, all remaining 5,962 players were logged out. Well, 5,958. We're still here."
"And the dead?" Rizea's voice trembled.
"The 4,038 players who died, as I said at the beginning, now cease to exist, both in the virtual world as well as the real one," Kayaba explained.
I felt a chill run down my spine. "A-And us? What happens now? I've only got 53 seconds left!" I watched the countdown continue ticking.
Kayaba glanced at me, his expression unreadable. "Well, I was beaten, so you will be free to go as soon as Aincrad completely falls apart. You can ignore that timer."
We had every reason to be furious at him. He was responsible for the deaths of over 4,000 people, and yet, I felt no anger towards the man. It seemed none of us did. Maybe we left all our hatred and rage back in the crumbling castle.
"What's happening to Aincrad?" I asked, unsure how to talk to the man.
"The servers on the 4th floor basement of ARGUS that are running SAO are currently purging all data. This world, and all record of it is being deleted. We only have a short time left. Do you have any other questions you wish to ask? I don't believe I'll be answering any questions when this is over."
Shiraki's voice cut through the silence, filled with frustration. "Why did you do it, Kayaba? You're the greatest mind of this century. You had it all. You created the impossible. I looked up to you. So why? Why make this world?"
Kayaba sighed, a faint, almost wistful smile crossing his face. "It's almost funny. My motives sound so...childish when I think about it. I don't expect you to believe me, but I created SAO...because of a dream I had when I was a boy. A dream about a floating castle in the sky with 100 floors. Each floor was different. They all had a town, lakes and rivers as well as caves. It was a beautiful place."
"You let 4,000 people die for your dream?" Rizea's voice was a mix of disbelief and anger.
"To be honest, until now, I never really considered the repercussions of my actions. I see the effects now," he admitted, his tone devoid of emotion.
We all sat on the edge of the platform, watching the world we had spent two years of our lives in crumble away. It was hard to describe the feeling. Euphoria? Relief? Or something darker, like longing or sadness? It was a mix of everything. The fear of death was gone, and we were finally free to return to the real world. I could see my mother and brother again. But at the same time, this world had been our home for two years. We had shared so many memories and met so many people. Now, it was all disappearing before our eyes.
Kayaba's voice broke the silence. "There's a certain beauty in the destruction, wouldn't you say?"
I turned to the others, feeling a sudden pang of sadness. "W-We should all find each other IRL. If that's okay with you both."
"Yeah, that's a good idea," Rizea agreed.
"Yeah, sure. Guess we'll need to share our real names," Shiraki said, a small smile playing on his lips. "My name is Satoshi Hirakoga. I turned 18 back at the start of the year, and I live on the outskirts of Tokyo."
"I'm Rizea Uchima. I'm 17, and I also live just outside of Tokyo," Rizea added.
Shiraki raised an eyebrow, recognition dawning on his face. "Uchima? I knew you looked familiar. Jesus Christ, you really are a princess."
Rizea rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. My father only owns like, three companies."
"Yeah, and one of them is RECT. They literally provided all the funds to make the NerveGear. But enough about that. You used your real name as your in-game name? Pfft. Have you never played a game before?" Shiraki teased.
"Hey!" I protested.
Shiraki sighed, shaking his head. "Oh, don't tell me."
"My name is Osaka Yuzo. I'm 13, as of yesterday. I live in a small village, probably close to you guys," I confessed, feeling a bit shy.
Kayaba's expression softened. "I saw the profile registration data. Someone had registered their birthday as 2011."
I nodded. "I thought I messed up. It came up with a message saying—"
"Awaiting approval. Yes, I know," Kayaba interrupted. "I set the systems to flag any registrations with a birthday set after 2007. I wanted this to be a 15 and up experience. I didn't want to harm young children. Even so, there were only two accounts with a birthday before 2007. One for February 19th, 2008, by a player named Kikina, which would have made her 14 at the time of launch. And another, November 6th, 2011. You'd just turned 11 on launch day. Believe me, I sat there, thinking about it. I wracked my brain for a day, wondering if I should approve the accounts. Ultimately, I gave in since there were only two."
The castle continued to collapse until all that remained of Aincrad was a memory and an empty space in the sky where it once stood.
"This is it. The world of Sword Art Online is being deleted. You should probably get going too. I have business to attend to before the authorities break down my door. Goodbye, players. Congratulations on clearing the game. I wish you all the best of luck," Kayaba said, his voice fading.
Before I could say anything more, my vision turned white, then faded to black.
At first, I thought it was part of the game, but then I realized my eyes were closed. I forced them open, but my vision was blurred. I laid still for a few moments, trying to make sense of everything, before attempting to move. Struggling to lift my arms, I finally managed to do so. As my vision cleared, I looked down at my sickly white skin and poked my face. It felt strange. Was I... back in the real world?
With great effort, I lifted the large NerveGear helmet off my head. I tried to place it to the side, but it slipped from my hands, slamming onto the floor. I reached across to my bedside table for my glasses, but there was no table.
I tried to sit up but ended up rolling off the bed and crashing onto the cold tiled floor. The impact knocked the wind out of me, and I could only draw in a small amount of air. It was impossible to stand, but I had to keep trying. I grabbed a metal pole beside me for support. Slowly, I pulled myself up to my knees, then to my feet. Walking felt like the hardest thing I'd ever done. Likely due to my muscles being heavily atrophied. Looking over, I saw the pole was an IV stand on wheels. I slowly pushed it along and stepped out of my room. But as soon as I entered the hallway, my legs gave out, and I collapsed with a loud thud.
I hadn't spoken in so long, I'd almost forgotten how. My raspy throat burned as I tried to get someone's attention.
"Nu-Nurse," I croaked out, barely above a whisper. But someone must have heard me fall, because a nurse rushed over.
"Oh my god! Y-You are—Everyone! Quickly! One is up! An SAO player is awake! She needs medical attention right now!" the nurse called out.
Blurry figures suddenly surrounded me, lifting me onto a stretcher. As they pushed me down the hallway, my senses were overwhelmed. The bright lights burned my eyes, and the sounds of cars and phones were deafening. That could only mean one thing: I had made it out. Sword Art Online had been cleared. It was all over now...
...right?
End of Volume 1