The next morning, Hachiman and Kazuto were summoned by Yosino, riding in a car to an unknown destination.
"Where are we going, Yosino-san?" Hachiman asked.
"Didn't I mention? Daishi Café," she replied.
"Daishi Café, huh?" Kazuto said.
"Egil gave us a rough idea of the place yesterday," Hachiman recalled.
"If we get the exact location, that's not bad."
The car stopped beside a building.
"Here we are!" Yosino chirped. "Come on, you two, out you go. Tsuzuki, I'll call you later for pickup."
"Yes, Lady Yosino," the driver replied.
The trio exited and followed Yosino into the building.
"There it is," Kazuto pointed.
"Daishi Café, right on the sign," Hachiman confirmed.
"First time in a place like this. Kinda nervous," Kazuto admitted.
"Same. First time at a bar, though we can't drink yet," Hachiman added.
"Let's go in," Yosino urged.
Egil greeted them with a grin. "Yo, first time meeting IRL, huh?"
"Yup. Hachiman Hikitaya," Hachiman introduced.
"Kazuto Kirigaya," Kazuto followed.
"I'm Andrew Gilbert Mills. Nice to meet you both," Egil said.
"An…drew?" Hachiman blinked.
"Gil…bert?" Kazuto echoed.
"Just call me Egil, like always," he laughed.
"Got it," Hachiman said.
"I'll stick with Kirito," Kazuto added.
"And I'm Argo, as usual," a voice piped up.
They spun around to find Argo casually perched on a counter.
"Sit down, you two," Argo said.
"Right," Hachiman mumbled.
"Argo, Yosino-san called you too?" Kazuto asked.
"Nah, I'm the one who called her," Argo grinned.
"Really, Yosino-san?" Hachiman asked.
"Yup. Big talk today, so I booked the place," Yosino said.
Their faces paled.
"W-Wait, booking the place to punish us?!" Hachiman stammered.
"I didn't say anything! It was all Hachiman!" Kazuto protested.
"Kirito, we're in this together, right? Buddies?" Hachiman pleaded.
"Nice to meet you, Hachiman-san, was it?" Kazuto teased.
"Traitor!" Hachiman groaned.
"Relax, you two," Yosino laughed. "I'm not mad over that. Today's about the program stored in Hachiman's NerveGear."
"Oh," Hachiman said.
"Right!" Kazuto exclaimed.
They sat at the counter, faces serious.
"The program from Akihiko, right?" Hachiman confirmed.
"Exactly," Yosino said. "Argo finished analyzing it, so we're here."
"What's this about?" Egil asked.
"You weren't filled in," Hachiman said. "After rescuing Asuna, we ran into Kayaba. Here's what happened…"
Hachiman explained the encounter to Egil.
"Kayaba's legacy, huh?" Egil mused.
"Might still be out there, working," Kazuto added.
"Argo, your report," Yosino prompted.
"Right," Argo began. "In short, it's a VRMMO seed."
"VR?" Hachiman asked.
"MMO?" Kazuto echoed.
"Seed?" Egil said.
"Yup. It's a program that lets Cardinal System, which needs massive servers like SAO or ALO, run on smaller ones. Plus, it's got tools to develop games on it," Argo explained.
Kazuto nodded. "So, like RPG Maker for VRMMOs?"
"Close enough," Argo said.
"So, with minimal setup, we could make SAO or ALO-level VRMMOs, right?" Hachiman asked.
Argo nodded, adding, "There's more. Games made with this program allow character transfers between them. Non-negotiable. Three months after a game launches, you could move an ALO character to it for a 'New Game Plus.' You can return to ALO too."
"Cross-compatibility? That's huge," Kazuto said.
"If this spreads, it'll change the world," Argo said.
"So, Hachiman-kun," Yosino said, unusually serious, "what'll you do?"
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"This program could revolutionize gaming, medicine, even military applications. You own it. You decide its fate."
"I… own it?" Hachiman murmured.
"Even at a low license fee, you'd be a billionaire," Yosino said. "Your 'I don't wanna work' dream comes true."
"What…?" Hachiman gasped.
"Choose wisely. Your name could go down in history," Yosino said.
"My name in history?!" Hachiman exclaimed.
"Your name in textbooks," Kazuto teased.
"On exams?" Hachiman groaned. "Sorry my name's hard to remember…"
"That's your concern?!" Kazuto laughed.
"Joking aside, it's that big," Yosino said.
"Right, so…" Hachiman began.
"Nope," Yosino cut him off.
"I didn't say anything yet!"
"You were gonna pawn it off to me, weren't you?"
"Caught me…"
"For free, no less," she added.
"Yosino-san, are you an esper? Got telepathy or something?" Hachiman asked.
"Oops, busted? Should I spill your fantasies from yesterday?" Yosino teased.
"Wait, no, please, I'm sorry, won't happen again!" Hachiman begged.
"That was a joke… but you were fantasizing?" Yosino smirked.
"…" Hachiman froze.
"Hachiman…" Kazuto said.
"What, Kirito?"
"Hachiman…" Egil echoed.
Kazuto and Egil flanked him, clapping his shoulders with wide grins.
"Stop it! Don't look at me like that! Argo, put the phone down! Don't snitch to Asuna!" Hachiman yelled.
"Sharp eyes, Haa-bo," Argo chuckled.
Hachiman panted, then calmed himself with a deep breath. "If—hypothetically—we licensed this publicly versus leaking it anonymously, what's the military impact?"
"Big players already have VR tech, so not much," Yosino said.
"Smaller nations might benefit, but it won't spark a global crisis," Argo added.
"Alright. Then make it anonymous. Spread it worldwide," Hachiman decided.
"You sure?" Yosino asked.
"Yeah. I don't know what Akihiko wanted, but it's mine now. I say share it."
"Got it. Argo, you're up," Yosino said.
"On it," Argo replied.
Hachiman added, "Oh, Yosino-san, why not switch ALO's Cardinal System to this program? It'd dodge licensing issues, cut ties with Rect, and make game transfers easier. Win-win, right?"
Yosino pondered. "Rect's not charging us, but that could avoid future hassles. Argo?"
"Got it. I'll handle it," Argo sighed.
"Sorry, I know you're busy," Yosino said.
"Busy with what?" Hachiman asked.
"Trade secret. I'll tell you when I can," Yosino winked.
"Right, no spoilers," Hachiman agreed.
"Get me more tech talent, boss," Argo groaned.
"We're pulling decent folks from Rect Progress's old team," Yosino said. "I'm meeting them next to secure staff and set things up fast. Some ex-Argus people too. Here's the list."
Hachiman couldn't see it, but Kazuto snatched the list, stared, and looked up. "Yosino-san, take me and Hachiman to that meeting!"
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