Chapter 93: Asuna's Feelings
Asuna continued to gaze up at the unchanging sky today, just as she always did.
How long had she been imprisoned here?
Even though she firmly believed that Hachiman would come to save her, her days remained idle, with nothing she could do but sit and wait.
At that moment, someone spoke to her.
"You still wear that sorrowful expression, as if on the verge of tears, Titania. But it's precisely that sadness that makes you most beautiful."
"Don't call me by that strange name, Oberon—no, I mean, Sugou-san."
Sugou shrugged and kept speaking.
"Honestly, when will you finally open your heart to me?"
"You dare say that after locking me in this place? That day will never come."
"Are you still hoping someone will come to rescue you? Speaking of which, a few days ago, two young men who seemed to know you visited your hospital room."
Asuna's expression instantly changed upon hearing that, and Sugou clicked his tongue in boredom.
"So, one of them is the source of your hope, huh? Is it the hero Kirito? Or your cohabiting partner, Hachiman?"
'Even though I believed Hachiman-kun was okay, knowing that he's alive and even found the hospital where I'm staying...'
"So it's Hachiman-kun, huh? How enviable."
Sugou quickly caught the slight change in her expression and deduced that Hachiman was the one she was pinning her hopes on.
"But since that day, he hasn't come back to the hospital. Even when I told him I was going to marry you, he just responded indifferently. You couldn't tell he cared at all."
"Hachiman-kun… acted indifferent?"
"Yup, what's wrong with that? Disappointed? Sorry to hear that."
Though Sugou pretended to be indifferent, his twisted expression betrayed his real feelings. But Asuna was thinking of something else.
'Hachiman-kun must've been furious. But what's this about marriage? I need to make him reveal the truth.'
Asuna deliberately put on a dejected face and asked:
"By the way, what marriage are you talking about?"
"Why, the one between you and me, of course."
"…Hah?"
The statement was so absurd that Asuna dropped her act and reacted honestly.
"That reaction hurts, you know. Like I said, I'll be marrying you while you're still unconscious. By the way, I already got your father's approval."
'Looks like Father has given up on me.
But there's no way a furious Hachiman-kun would allow this so easily… and judging from that expression just now…'
Asuna flatly denied him:
"You're lying."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because the moment you mentioned Hachiman-kun, your face twisted with hatred. If everything had gone smoothly, you wouldn't be making that face."
"Tch. You're really not a likable woman."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"What an unlovable woman.
Fine, you're right. That brat did something behind the scenes.
The president originally agreed, but soon after revoked the engagement. But it's only a matter of time. After all, when and how you wake up is completely up to me."
"You think things will go that smoothly?"
"If they do, I'll become the heir to the Yuuki family.
Then I won't have to worry about the plan being exposed.
And even if it fails, my research is practically complete.
I'll just sell the results to another company and vanish.
How's that? Perfect plan, right? You and your friends made excellent research material."
From his words, Asuna realized that he had never had any genuine feelings for her.
"So I'm just an accessory, huh?"
"Exactly. To me, you're just a beautiful toy. But since I've got you, I intend to enjoy you thoroughly."
As Sugou licked his lips, Asuna resisted the urge to retch and pressed on:
"What are you trying to do? With your talent, what exactly have you been researching?"
The word "talent"
seemed to please him, and Sugou started to boast:
"Finally acknowledging my brilliance? This is a revolutionary breakthrough that surpasses even FullDive technology."
"?"
"This technology shouldn't be wasted on silly games. Its essence is to manipulate thought, emotion, and memory by feeding the brain an overwhelming amount of virtual signals."
"That's insane!"
"All the major nations are researching this. And I'm ahead of them all. Know why?"
"…"
"Because it requires large-scale human testing. And the SAO server management gave me an idea—wasn't there a stockpile of test subjects right before my eyes?"
Asuna clenched her fists, barely containing her fury. Sugou, seeing her reaction, grew even more smug.
"Kayaba was brilliant, but a fool.
He wasted his genius on creating game worlds.
As a researcher, he was third-rate. He couldn't even reach my heels!"
"You were Kayaba Akihiko's junior?"
"His system was certainly elegant.
I couldn't alter the SAO servers directly, but I could hijack a portion of the data into this world. I've been waiting so long for this moment—thanks to you and your friends' stellar performances!"
Asuna muttered bitterly:
"So we helped you…"
"Exactly. I'll forgive the rude treatment from the other day.
Thanks to those stupid kids, my memory manipulation research took a huge leap forward—it's like a god's domain! Hahahaha!"
Hearing the word "memory,"
Asuna imagined the worst.
"…You didn't tamper with my memory, did you?"
"Oh? You noticed? That's right. No matter how much you resist, it's pointless.
When you wake up, these memories will be wiped, and you'll be left with only one feeling—love for me."
"Disgusting."
Asuna finally dropped all pretense.
"I don't want a puppet version of you either. But if you continue to resist… well, I don't mind violating you in this world. Of course, I hope to avoid such a scenario, being a gentleman and all."
Suppressing her fear, Asuna thought that once her father knew, he would surely stop this.
She summoned her last ounce of courage and asked:
"Does my father know about all this?"
"How could he? Fewer than five people know. Otherwise, it'd be a pain to split the profits."
"You're scum."
"Sorry, time's up. Next time we meet, I hope you'll be more obedient, my Titania."
After Sugou left, Asuna collapsed onto her bed and hugged herself tightly.
"So disgusting. But I must not give in.
I have to observe carefully and find every possible escape route. Hachiman-kun must be trying to rescue me too. I'll keep fighting."
Even if the enemy held total control in this world, Asuna swore never to give up.
"Cheer for me, Hachiman-kun…"
To keep her will to fight alive, Asuna kept whispering Hachiman's name.
—And at that moment, Hachiman himself—
"Hey, Kirito! What the hell is going on!?"
"Weren't we supposed to spawn in the Spriggan capital? Why are we falling from the sky!?"
"Yeah, that's how it should be…"
The two of them were now experiencing freefall from the sky together.