Sword Art Online: Faithful Hymn

Chapter 36: Investigation

Once we arrive at the top floor, the elevator door in front of us open, allowing both Shino and me to see the long hallway that leads towards the bunch of tables and capsule where Yuna was trapped in. While both Shino and I walk towards the open area of the room, I can hear Shino's voice ring my right ear.

"Shoji? You have said that you met up with Asuna, Lisbeth, Yuuki and Kazuto before. Since I also belong to that friend group, why have I never seen you before, let alone never heard of you before?" That indeed is a great question. I could also ask her why I have never heard of her, although it wouldn't be a big surprise for me to not know her. I only hooked up with all of these people in a total of four, maybe five days. I can't imagine how long Shino must know all of these people already.

"Well, I guess you can say I popped up from nothing. I am an SAO survivor, and was traumatized for a long time after my beloved one died. I then found happiness again with the creation of Yuna, who made my life whole again. But I know Kazuto, Asuna, Lisbeth and Silica from school." After my explanation, Shino looks at me with glimmering black eyes. She then looks in front of her, seeming that not much distance has passed since we got away from the elevator.

"You know, I wish I joined SAO too, and met all of you as well. When SAO launched and got declared the death game, I was alone for three whole years until I met Kirito in Gun Gale Online. I had a friend, but turned out to be quite the foe at the end." Shino tells me. This leaves me with questions. Why would Kazuto join GGO in the first place? I don't know much about the game, but what I do know is that the world is filled with gunpowder and bullets, not swords.

"Gun Gale Online? That doesn't sound like a game for Kazuto to play. Why would he join it?" Shino then looks down at the floor, letting me know that nothing good can come out of her mouth. "He joined because he got tasked with solving a crime within that game. I don't know if you're familiar with it?"

As response, I shake my head.

"In short, there was a man named 'Death Gun' who could kill players via the game in real life as well. That's why Kirito joined GGO. We eventually became friends, and we figured out how Death Gun could kill his victims in real life as well. The group behind the killings are behind bars now, with one of them still being loose. Back in SAO, they all were members of the guild: Laughing Coffin, except for my so called friend, who ended up being a murderer as well."

Laughing Coffin, the infamous guild back in SAO who killed people for fun. No one knew their real intentions for murdering people without a second thought. I've crossed swords with them before, and managed to defeat them in battle most of the time. That guild was one of the main reasons why I did not want Yuuna to go outside of villages on her own. Nautilus had the exact same thought about this.

"Yeah, I remember that guild. I rather don't talk about that, if you don't mind." I tell Shino, who fully understands my reasons.

We then finally arrive at the room where Tetsuhiro and I saw Yuna for the very first time. Compared to the first time we met however, the tables are filled with blueprints and paper, meaning that things have happened in the meantime.

"Shino, please look for evidence regarding changes in behavior. You'll take the right table, I'll take left." I command the girl, who understood her task. She gets to work, and so do I. There really are all kinds of things in here, from single papers, to blueprints, to small books. Some are regarding development itself as a whole, while other things are more specific. I assume that the books can be ignored, since there would be no need in writing a book when you purposely change an AI's behavior over time.

Around 3 minute pass, and we both haven't found a single piece of evidence yet, until Shino shouts something at me. "Shoji, I might have found something!" I quickly move over to her, with Shino revealing a couple of small notes regarding 'Memory Candy'. I have heard of this before. It's the candies that Tetsuhiro gave me two days after I took Yuna out for a 'test run'. I have given Yuna two candies in total until now. The first time was while we shared our first real kiss, and the second time was while we were having a great time, so to speak.