"Let's start with how we cleared the seventy-fifth floor," Hachiman began.
"That's it!" Kikuoka said, leaning forward eagerly. "We knew you'd reached the seventy-fifth floor, but the game clearing so suddenly was completely unexpected. The higher-ups have been hounding me to find out why."
Kikuoka's excitement suggested he'd been under pressure. Hachiman took a breath.
"First, I don't really want to talk about this, but…" Hachiman hesitated.
"You don't have to share anything uncomfortable," Kikuoka said gently.
"No, it's not that," Hachiman clarified. "It's just… kind of my dark past."
"Oh, because you were one of the top three players?" Kikuoka said. "Like, the three heroes?"
Hachiman blinked, confused. "What? We were called the Four Heavenly Kings."
"What?!" Kikuoka exclaimed. "Really?"
Yui-no-neesan stared at Hachiman, clearly hearing this for the first time.
"You were monitoring levels, right?" Hachiman asked.
"Yeah," Kikuoka said. "Our data showed you, Asuna-san, and Kirito-kun as the top three. Was there someone else?"
"Ah, I see…" Hachiman said, realizing the discrepancy.
"Got a guess?" Kikuoka pressed.
"There were two major factions in the clearers," Hachiman explained. "One was the Dragon Alliance, led by Lind. The other was the Knights of the Blood Oath, led by Heathcliff. I joined them on the seventy-fifth floor as their strategist, with Asuna as vice-commander."
"Oh," Yui said, piecing it together. "The red-and-white outfit in your wedding photo—is that the Knights' uniform?"
"You got that data too, huh?" Hachiman said. "Yeah, that's my strategist uniform. The role was vacant until the seventy-fifth floor, so it caused a bit of a stir among players."
"Strategist suits you," Kikuoka said. "So, the fourth 'King' was likely Heathcliff, right?"
"Yeah," Hachiman confirmed. "The Four Heavenly Kings were Heathcliff the Holy Sword, Asuna the Flash, Kirito the Black Swordsman, and me."
"Hold on, Hachiman!" Yui interrupted. "Don't dodge it! Try again!"
"Ugh, fine," Hachiman groaned. "Hachiman the Silver Shadow."
"Silver Shadow? That's cool!" Yui said, grinning. "Gotta share this—spread the word!"
"No, stop! Please, especially don't tell Yukino!" Hachiman pleaded.
"Scared of Yukino-chan, huh?" Yui teased. "Fine, I'll keep quiet."
Hachiman sighed in relief. "Alright, back to the story. So, Heathcliff wasn't on your radar, right?"
Kikuoka, tapping at a device, nodded. "Yeah, no record of a player named Heathcliff."
"Of course not," Hachiman said. "Heathcliff wasn't in a hospital, so you wouldn't have his data."
"Not in a hospital?" Kikuoka said, eyes widening. "You mean Heathcliff was…"
"Yep," Hachiman said. "Heathcliff was Akihiko Kayaba himself."
"I see," Kikuoka said, stunned. "We could only pull data from NerveGears in hospitals, so we couldn't track someone outside. That explains it."
Kikuoka gestured for Hachiman to continue.
"On the seventy-fourth floor, a rogue group forced us to fight the boss with a small team," Hachiman said. "That's not critical, so I'll skip it."
"If you say so," Kikuoka said.
"Kirito's skill carried us through that fight," Hachiman said. "He became a hero after that. The real issue came next."
"Go on," Kikuoka said, intrigued.
"After the battle, Asuna wanted a break from the guild to think things over," Hachiman said. "Part of it was because one of her escorts went rogue that morning. She went to confront Heathcliff, and he challenged her to a duel—win, and he'd let her leave."
"Classic dramatic flair," Yui said, chuckling.
"I was already suspicious that Heathcliff was Kayaba," Hachiman said. "So I had Kirito take Asuna's place in the duel while I observed. At the end, when Heathcliff was about to lose, he used a system assist move—something only a Game Master could do. That confirmed he was Kayaba. Acting like I hadn't noticed was the hard part."
Kikuoka and Yui exchanged looks, awed by Hachiman's cunning.
"You figured out Kayaba's identity mid-game, mostly on your own?" Kikuoka said.
"I had reliable allies," Hachiman said. "Without them, it'd just be a hunch."
"Still impressive," Kikuoka said.
"I'd agreed to join the Knights if I lost the bet, so I did," Hachiman continued. "Right after, that rogue escort—a stalker-type—tried to kill me. Luckily, I'd gotten intel he was part of a PK guild, so I trapped him and sent him to the prison."
Yui burst out laughing. "Hikitani-kun, you're too much!"
"Good informants helped," Hachiman said. "That incident led to me and Asuna getting married, so we took a break."
Kikuoka glanced at the wedding photo. "So that's when this was taken."
"Yeah," Hachiman said.
"But that's recent," Kikuoka said. "How'd you jump to clearing the game?"
"It's complicated, so I'll keep it simple," Hachiman said. "During our break, I made a plan to take down Kayaba after the seventy-fifth floor boss. I discussed it with my allies, and we went into the boss fight."
"A plan, huh?" Kikuoka said.
"I directed the fight to chip away at Heathcliff's HP," Hachiman said. "I figured his HP couldn't drop below half due to system settings. We got it close, and Kirito launched a surprise attack, exposing Heathcliff's immortality."
Kikuoka tilted his head. "He was immortal, but you beat him?"
"I bet on Kayaba's personality," Hachiman said. "Once exposed, he wouldn't wait for us to reach the hundredth floor. I figured he'd propose a duel—win, and we'd clear the game. It was a gamble, but it paid off."
"And you won?" Kikuoka asked.
"Kirito fought him," Hachiman said. "We were paralyzed, but I'd planned for that. The duel got rough—Kirito was losing. Asuna and I jumped in early. She shielded Kirito and died."
"What?" Yui and Kikuoka gasped, confused.
Hachiman clarified. "SAO had one revival item, usable within ten seconds of death. That meant there was a ten-second window before the NerveGear fried a player's brain."
"Makes sense," Kikuoka said.
"I let Heathcliff stab me, then held him in place," Hachiman said. "Kirito was stuck in a post-skill cooldown. Heathcliff went for him with his shield, but I'd told another player, Nezha, to attack from range. Nezha's hit disrupted Heathcliff's move."
"You had backup plans," Kikuoka said, impressed.
"Kirito couldn't move yet, but I told him to break the system's limits and strike through me," Hachiman said. "He did—impossibly—and pierced us both. Heathcliff and I died, and SAO was cleared."
Kikuoka and Yui sat in stunned silence. Hachiman's meticulous plan, bolstered by luck and sacrifice, had saved over six thousand lives. Asuna's selflessness, Nezha's precision, and Kirito's defiance of the system left them in awe of these young players' resolve.
"I… get it now," Kikuoka said. "That was an incredible fight."
"Honestly, we got lucky," Hachiman said.
"Luck's part of strength," Kikuoka said. "You saved thousands. Be proud."
"Yeah," Hachiman said. "But the fight's not over."
"Can I report this first?" Kikuoka asked. "Let's take a break."
"Sure," Hachiman said.
"Sorry, I'll be back," Kikuoka said, stepping out to send his report.
Yui sat on the bed, peering into Hachiman's eyes. "You're too close, Yui-san," he said.
"Your eyes are full of resolve," she said. "You've become a good man, Hikitani-kun!"
She clapped him on the back. Hachiman felt a quiet pride at her approval.
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