Sword Art Online Aincrad - VOL 2

CHAPTER 4

The next morning was even colder than usual.

I was rubbing my hands together as I entered my workshop, and I wasted no time pulling the lever on the wall to stoke the fire. The water wheel thunked and clanked like always as I held my hands up to the warm furnace. Given the weather, I couldn't help but worry about what would happen if the creek outside ever froze solid.

After a minute, I came back to my senses with a start and checked my in-game scheduler. I had eight orders due today. I had to get working soon, or the day would be over before I knew it.

The first order was a lightweight longsword. I stared down my list of available ingots, found one that matched the budget and specs of the customer, and tossed it into the furnace opening.

My skills with the hammer and available selection of metals were so great these days that my work output was a constant stream of high-level weapons. Wait for the ingot to reach the right temperature, place it on the anvil. Select the hammer, swing it hard.

But when it came to one-handed longswords...nothing I'd made surpassed the sword I made back in early summer. This made me both frustrated and happy.

The sword I'd infused with all the pieces of my heart was likely on the front line today, cleaving foes left and right. Every once in a while, I got to hold it to the grindstone, and unlike normal weapons, it seemed to grow more translucent with use, not the other way around. It almost made me think that rather than losing numerical stats, it would eventually shatter like a crystal when it wore down.

But that was likely far off in the future. The current frontier was the seventy-fifth floor. That sword needed to last much longer in its rightful place: Kirito's right hand.

I only realized that I'd reached the necessary number of strokes when the ingot emitted a red glow and began to morph. Watching the magic moment with bated breath, I reached out to appraise the brand-new blade.

"It'll do, I suppose," I muttered, then placed it on the worktable. Time to find the right ingot for the next weapon. This one would be a two-handed ax with long reach...

Well after lunchtime, I finally finished the last of the orders and rose to my feet. I rolled my head slowly and let out a great big yawn. A small photograph hung on the wall caught my eye.

Me and Asuna, our shoulders touching, peace signs in the air. Next to Asuna and a half step behind was Kirito, smiling awkwardly. We'd taken the picture just outside this shop. About half a month ago—when they came to inform me of their marriage.

Anyone could see they were made for each other, but it had taken them six months to reach that point. It was irritating to watch them stumble, and I'd had to lend a helping hand at several points. So, I was overjoyed to finally hear of their union...along with just a little twinge of pain.

That night still pops up in my dreams all the time. That magical night, sparkling like a jewel amidst two years of doldrums. It was like an eternal fire keeping the warmth in my chest alive, even after five months.

"And despite myself..."

I muttered silently, tracing the photo with a finger. For considering myself such a pragmatic realist, I'd never realized what a romantic I was at heart.

"...I've been in love with you ever since."

I gave the photo one last tap and turned around. It happened just as I was leaving the studio, wondering if I should fix myself a late lunch or just eat out:

A sound effect I'd never heard before rang out far above my head, deafeningly loud. It was an alarm, ringing like a bell...I looked up at the ceiling first, but it seemed the sound was coming from much farther away, echoing down from the floor above.

I rushed outside to see what was happening and was awakened to something even more unexpected: The NPC helper that had been manning my desk every single day since I'd opened the store had vanished without a sound.

"...?"

I stared at the space she normally inhabited, wide-eyed, but she showed no sign of returning. Whatever was happening was serious business.

I fell out of the front door, only to be frozen in my tracks by something even more shocking.

The flat, metallic gray lid of the floor above, several hundred feet over my head, was completely covered in giant red words. I could make out a repeating pattern of two different pieces of English: WARNING and SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT.

"System...announcement..."

I recognized this sight. I would never forget it: It was the exact same scene we'd all witnessed two years ago, on the day that this became a game of death. It had been plastered behind that massive avatar as ten thousand helpless souls learned the rules that would become their new lives.

After a few seconds frozen still, I finally looked around and saw plenty of other players looking up at the warning in shock. Something about the sight struck me as off, and I quickly realized why.

There wasn't a single NPC walking the street or selling goods in the area. They must have all disappeared at the same time my storekeeper did...but why?

The blaring alarm suddenly stopped. After a brief silence, a soft female voice emerged, just as loud.

"This is an important message to all players."

Unlike the voice of Akihiko Kayaba two years ago, this voice was artificial, electronic. It was obviously a system announcement, but SAO seemed to be designed to remove all possible traces of human management, and this was the first time I'd ever heard it. I swallowed and listened up.

"The game is switching to forced management mode. All monsters and items will no longer spawn. All NPCs will be recalled. All players' HP will be fixed at maximum value."

Is it a system error? Some kind of fatal bug?

My heart was gripped by anxiety. But then—

"As of 14:55 on November Seventh, Aincrad Standard Time, the game has been cleared," the system proclaimed.

The game had been beaten.

For several seconds, I didn't understand what that meant. The other players around me were similarly baffled, their faces frozen. At the following words, they all leaped into the air.

"All players will now be logged out of the game. Please stop where you are. I repeat..."

An enormous cheer rose instantly. The ground—no, the entire castle of Aincrad—shook.

Players embraced, rolled on the ground, thrust their fists into the air, and screamed.

I didn't move. I didn't speak. I just stood in front of my store. In time, I lifted my hands to cover my mouth.

He did it. Kirito did it. As crazy as he always was...

I was certain it was him. The front line was only the seventy-fifth floor, so only Kirito could do something as insane, reckless, and impossible as this.

Somehow, I thought I felt a whisper at my ear.

I kept my promise...

"Yes...yes...you finally did it..."

Hot tears sprang into my eyes at last. I didn't wipe them away. I lifted my right arm into the air and jumped up and down wildly.

"Heyyy!!" I cupped my hands to my mouth, shouting at the top of my lungs, as though to reach his ears many floors above.

"Let's meet up again sometime, Kirito!! I love you!!"

(The End)