Chapter 128: First Encounter with Kayaba Akihiko
Momo didn't say another word and began typing rapidly on the strange keyboard before her. Though the view was still from Lala's first-person perspective, the previously shaky vision gradually began to stabilize.
Lala and Asuna were taking turns attacking in sync, keeping a massive green-skinned Goblin King locked in a staggered state. Mith was fending off a group of elite monsters on her own, while far in the distance, Bulma provided steady support with a long blue bow.
"Don't let Kayaba Akihiko's messed-up mission get out of hand. I'll leave it to you guys — Lala and the others don't look like they can hold on much longer. I need to go help them."
Seeing Momo nod in response, Franklin immediately lay down on the floor and re-entered the game. The moment his vision cleared, he couldn't help blurting out in shock —
He had respawned right at the spot where he had just died. Not far from him, a white glow of data shimmered as Radius's avatar reappeared and charged at him again.
This time, Franklin kept calm. Recalling the boss's attack pattern, he rushed straight toward it. Clearly, close combat was the best way to suppress this enemy.
He effortlessly dodged the boss's beam strikes, slashes, and thrusts. Even the massive vines that attacked from three directions were cleanly severed. In close quarters, Franklin moved like a ghost — flickering in and out of sight, steadily whittling away at the boss's HP bar.
In just moments, he had already cut down half of its health. Franklin was beginning to dream about landing the final blow when a loud crash snapped him back to reality. The boss suddenly threw aside its two enormous weapons and lunged barehanded at him.
Franklin narrowly dodged the grasping hand, stepping onto its arm and sprinting up toward its upper body. His sword of guardianship flashed repeatedly, and in a blink, another full bar of HP disappeared.
Before he could reach its head, Radius let out a thunderous roar that sent Franklin flying. Seeing the boss make a grasping motion in the air, Franklin was momentarily confused —
Then the ground and walls shattered around him, and massive stones surged toward him as if gripped by an invisible hand.
Luckily, Franklin reacted in time and raised his protective barrier. The stones crushed together around him, but he remained unharmed.
An instant later, a huge hand seized him and squeezed tightly. His blue stamina bar plummeted rapidly until it hit zero. The boss slammed him hard against the wall — his HP dropped to the lowest point, and its glowing eyes fired twin beams straight toward him.
A flash of teleportation light — and Franklin vanished from the Ruby Palace.
When his vision cleared again, he found himself facing a disheveled middle-aged man in a white lab coat, who stared at him in disbelief.
"Who are you? How could you possibly appear here?"
Looking around, Franklin saw an endless mirrored space stretching in all directions. But what caught his attention most was the screen in front of Kayaba Akihiko, displaying the ongoing battle.
The boss's stats on the screen showed that the originally level-13 mini-boss had been boosted to level 30. The four girls were already exhausted, barely managing to stay on the defensive.
Frowning deeply, Franklin suddenly charged at Kayaba Akihiko. The man's brows also furrowed, but after steadying his emotions, he tapped a few times on the screen beside him.
In an instant, his form changed — his clothes turned red and white, and he now held a sword and shield.
To Franklin, who was dashing forward at full speed, everything suddenly slowed down. With the system's visual assist, Kayaba's movements became lightning-fast — his shield and sword struck out, sending Franklin flying in one swift motion.
"Who exactly are you? How did you bypass the game's deepest-level security system? Even after dying, you weren't killed by the NerveGear."
Franklin didn't answer. He was attempting to use the sword of guardianship in his spiritual sea to summon You Wange.
Direct combat clearly wasn't the answer — strategy was. He could only hope Lala and the others could hold out a little longer.
Seeing Kayaba's growing impatience, Franklin finally spoke slowly.
"I'm not from your world. I didn't enter this game through your NerveGear. Even if I die inside, I won't actually die. As for how I got here — it's because I managed to steal part of your system's permissions."
Kayaba's skeptical gaze lingered, but Franklin went on, "Instead of interrogating me, why don't you explain why you created this death game in the first place? What do you gain from it? Or is it just some kind of twisted hobby of yours?"
The way Franklin looked at him — like one would look at a pervert — made Kayaba's chest tighten slightly.
"No. I did this for the future of Japan. Only by forcing these lifeless youths to regain their vitality can this country have hope."
Franklin burst out laughing. "Are you kidding me, old man? Just look at them — those four girls are in the prime of their youth, and you're letting them die over and over again for your sick experiments. And you call that helping Japan's future? What a joke."
His words cut deep, leaving Kayaba speechless. With a wave of his hand, he instantly lowered the boss's level back to normal.
"You're right — I was wrong about that. But creating this death game was, in itself, the right thing to do. Now that you're here, those four girls no longer matter."
On the screen, the four girls struck together, finally slaying the level-13 Goblin King before collapsing to the ground in exhaustion. Only then did Franklin turn his full attention back to Kayaba Akihiko.
"You're quite the man — able to bow and yield when needed. I'll give you that. You really do have ambition. But your thinking is too simplistic. A small island nation might rise for a moment, but it will inevitably face reckoning. Instead of fantasizing about saving your country's future, you should think about how your people will survive when that reckoning comes."
Kayaba frowned, staring intently at Franklin. "What do you mean by that?"
Franklin smiled — not just at Kayaba's feigned ignorance, but also because he had successfully established contact with You Wange.
"Did your country really think that erasing all records of your past invasions from history textbooks would make that history disappear? Or that keeping your youth ignorant of it would bury it forever?
I'm a young man from Huaxia. And I can tell you this — that's impossible. You will be held accountable. It's only a matter of time."
Upon hearing Franklin's words, Kayaba let out a long breath. Though he was a scientist, not a historian, he still remembered that dark chapter of history.
His frown slowly eased. Then, he bowed deeply to Franklin.
"I was too short-sighted. From a broader perspective, you're right — my efforts have been misguided. But with your warning, I think there's still a glimmer of hope for Japan's future… thanks to my death game."
No longer paying attention to Franklin, Kayaba began furiously typing, searching through files, downloading and merging data.
A progress bar appeared on the screen before him. Watching it climb rapidly, Franklin's frown deepened.
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