"Hey, look at that sword..."
"It seems to be the weapon of that independent Sword Saint on the Knights of the Blood's wanted list."
"You are the red-named player Tenya?!"
The army recognized Tenya's identity and immediately retreated in fear.
Perfectly demonstrating what it means to bully the weak and fear the strong.
"Don't be afraid anymore!"
"So what if he's a red-named player?"
"In the safe zone, he can't possibly kill us, right?"
Thinking of the game's safe zone setting, the army's arrogance flared up again.
"Stupid and ignorant trash. The so-called rules are meant to restrict the weak."
Tenya leaped up, but his target was not the army, but the building above.
Enhance!
He charged a strike and cut off a corner of the building.
"Wh-what?!"
The army members' eyes widened. A huge shadow covered them. It was the severed corner of the building, falling from the sky and crashing heavily onto several players.
Bang!
Being low-level, they took a critical hit to the head and their health instantly dropped to zero.
Thump!
The three players who were jumping around the most were instantly crushed to death by the building's stones.
"Ah?!"
"How is this possible?"
"This is clearly a neutral safe zone, how can players be killed?!"
The remaining players were all scared pale.
"So that's how it is…"
"Tenya-kun didn't attack the players directly, but attacked the building."
"By using the falling building, he can cause damage to players."
Mito's eyes lit up, and she quickly analyzed the secret behind it.
This was like when players climb buildings and fall from a high place, they take fall damage and their health decreases.
Being hit by a building would also use this set of calculation formulas.
In a sense, it could be considered a realistic physics engine.
"Hurry up and scram!" Asuna angrily scolded the army.
The army members didn't dare to say a single harsh word and were immediately scared shitless, scattering and fleeing.
"Seriously, why are there bad people like this even in the game world?!" Silica was full of indignation.
"There is no clear boundary between reality and virtual. It doesn't change human nature."
Tenya somewhat understood Kayaba's actions.
To personally create a world and witness human joy, sorrow, anger, and hatred.
"Everyone's heart…"
Yui was suddenly stimulated and began to mutter to herself.
"What's wrong, Yui? Did you remember something?"
Asuna and the others' attention returned to Yui.
"I don't belong here…"
"I've always been alone, staying in a very dark place…"
Yui's eyes were tightly closed, her expression pained.
"Waaahhhh!"
Yui trembled all over and let out a painful cry.
The space around her showed a strange distortion.
"Yui!"
Asuna was startled and immediately hugged her tightly.
"Mom, I'm so scared…"
"Mom…"
Yui leaned into Asuna's embrace and fell asleep.
"Just now…"
"What was that?"
Mito's expression changed slightly.
"I think I saw it too…"
Silica looked towards Tenya.
"Program error."
Tenya, through the insight of his Magic Eye skill, saw the momentary change in Yui's body.
"Program… error?"
"What does that mean?"
Silica looked confused.
"Program…"
"Could it be that Yui is…!!"
Mito, who was a top student in reality, quickly thought of a possibility, and her eyes widened involuntarily.
"No matter what she is, she is my child!"
Asuna also vaguely realized something and hugged Yui tightly with both hands.
"Let's find a place to rest first."
Tenya and his group took Yui to an inn.
"So, what exactly is going on?"
Only Silica was kept in the dark, completely clueless.
Tenya explained concisely.
"Eh?!"
"Yui is actually an AI in the game?"
Silica, upon learning the truth, was greatly startled.
Asuna and Mito, who were nearby, still felt it was unbelievable after hearing Tenya's confirmation, even though they had some premonition.
"Then Yui, could she be…"
Mito frowned.
Since Yui was originally designed as an AI to guide players, was it possible that she was controlled by Kayaba?
"No, that possibility is not high."
"Kayaba developed Aincrad with the goal of creating a real world."
"The artificial intelligence within is also generated based on certain algorithmic logic."
"Even the developer cannot arbitrarily change the AI's parameters."
"This is also why, when the game opened, Kayaba could only manually disable part of the AI's program, and could not completely seal it."
Tenya analyzed seriously.
Speaking of which, if he spent so much effort creating such a highly intelligent AI and then manually controlled it, it would be quite meaningless.
"How awful!"
"To treat Yui as a puppet!!!"
Asuna bit her lips, feeling very indignant.
Through their time together, she had developed a deep affection for Yui.
She firmly believed that this emotion was real, and definitely not a string of cold code.
"Whether artificial intelligence counts as a form of life is already touching upon real-world ethical philosophy."
Mito expressed that she could understand Asuna's feelings.
"The most pressing matter is that we still need to find Yui's heart…"
"Which is the backend of her sealed program."
Tenya said in a deep voice.
"Finding Yui's heart…"
"This, can it be done?"
Asuna looked worried.
"That's right!"
"Since Yui's original design was an AI to guide players, then according to the original game version, she should appear in the starting town on the first floor, guiding new players on their way."
Mito keenly analyzed the key point.
"Correct."
"Based on my guess, there must be an operable program backend hidden somewhere on the first floor."
Tenya made his judgment based on what he saw in the anime.
"Alright, let's investigate first to see if there are any hidden areas on the first floor that we don't know about." Asuna nodded.
They posted a reward for information. Not long after, they really did get a piece of useful information.
"Black Iron Palace?"
"Isn't this where we cleared the first floor boss?"
"I didn't expect there to be another labyrinth hidden here."
Tenya and his group arrived at the location on the map.