Like many others, Yuuki Asuna was still standing in place, bewildered and at a loss.
The panicked and chaotic sounds around her didn't seem to affect her at all.
It wasn't until someone accidentally bumped into her that she came back to her senses.
The eerie figure in the sky had already disappeared.
The other party's announcement had ended.
From today on, the ten thousand players present would live in this world.
If they wanted to escape, they would have to clear this massive floating castle "Aincrad."
And now in this world, the resurrection mechanism had been canceled. Once HP reached zero, their brains would be cooked by microwaves and they would die.
What kind of joke was this?
Many people didn't want to believe it, but Kayaba Akihiko had imported news reports from reality, showing everyone that real society was indeed in panic due to the players being imprisoned.
There were even cases where people had forcibly removed virtual headsets, really causing deaths.
Of course, it was possible that this news was fabricated by Kayaba Akihiko to deceive everyone.
"Wh-what kind of joke is this? Clear a hundred floors?"
"According to beta testers on the forums, it took almost half a year to clear just six floors"
"Half a year for six floors? How long would a hundred floors take?"
"Yeah, and during beta testing, players died an average of over a hundred times, and now we've lost the resurrection mechanism. What kind of joke is this!"
Such conversations reached her from all around, making Yuuki Asuna's heart even heavier.
At this difficulty level, would they have to spend their entire lives in this world?
Suddenly, thinking of something, Yuuki Asuna's eyes, which had seemed to lose their luster, regained their brightness.
There was still the "Interdimensional Channel." If this thing really wasn't part of SAO, then it might be able to help her escape this situation.
She would immediately talk to Black Cat and ask for more specific information.
Since she knew it took two years to clear the game, that meant she had a lot of understanding about this game world, so perhaps she could provide shortcuts for clearing it.
[Asuna: Black Cat, could you please tell me the information you know about SAO? Especially about clearing bosses
Fallen Saint Black Cat: About that, I probably can't provide too much information to you. Because the novels and anime didn't write things very clearly, except for individual stages, and even if I tell you some boss characteristics, they might not necessarily be correct. The information in the novels on my side might differ from the real world you're in ]
She could feel Black Cat being very cautious, careful that if the information she revealed was wrong, it would harm her terribly.
Asuna could understand this.
However, she still hoped Black Cat could tell her what she knew, and she would reference it carefully.
She also hoped Black Cat could tell her information about players—for example, which players were particularly skilled, what situations might cause accidental deaths, so she could help them avoid those.
This way, they could gather more powerful players to clear this death game.
Oh right, Asuna also thought of one situation: might there be GMs among the players?
These people would constantly monitor players' progress, and if they discovered players had found some bug—a way to escape the game or clear it through exploits—they would inform Kayaba Akihiko to fix it.
So Asuna immediately raised this question.
[Fallen Saint Black Cat: Ah, you could say there is, or you could say there isn't ]
This answer was very vague and ambiguous, making Asuna feel that Black Cat was also hesitating about something, struggling with something.
Suddenly, a possibility flashed through Asuna's mind.
Black Cat had said that Kayaba Akihiko's desired dream was to have a fantasy world adventure.
So Kayaba Akihiko couldn't just stay as an observer watching everyone play, right?
He would also participate to properly realize his wish, right?
This meant—
[Asuna: Is Kayaba Akihiko also mixed in among the players?
Fallen Saint Black Cat: Uh ]
Good, this reaction confirmed that Asuna's speculation was correct.
[Asuna: Who is he? What's his ID? ]
Black Cat fell silent.
[Fallen Saint Black Cat: I can't tell you. Um, just like with Madoka earlier, telling you early isn't necessarily a good thing ]
Asuna could understand this—she was worried Asuna would lose her rationality and directly confront Kayaba Akihiko, only to be killed by him directly.
As for telling more people so everyone could pressure him, that probably wouldn't work either. At worst, Kayaba Akihiko would abandon his original identity.
[Fallen Saint Black Cat: And I hope you don't leak the news that a GM might be mixed among the players either
Asuna: Why? ]
Not telling specifically who was understandable, but not even saying this much, not letting players be vigilant that he might be right beside them and could kill them—this was somewhat puzzling.
[Tendo Civil Security Company: What else could it be? Of course it's human suspicion—everyone would suspect each other. Especially when emotions reach extremes, that would be interesting. Before finding Kayaba Akihiko, players would probably start mutually suspecting and slaughtering each other ]
This answer came from this person, making Asuna's face turn pale. She had thought the concern was that this would make Kayaba Akihiko hide more carefully.
This meant she would probably have to keep this secret alone.
[Fallen Saint Black Cat: Regarding all the game information you want, Asuna, I'll organize it, but remember, it's only for reference!!!
Asuna: Yes, thank you ]
Then they discussed Magical Girl Madoka's situation, ultimately deciding to deceive that Madoka for now.
They would tell her there existed a bad guy named Kyubey who would trick girls into signing contracts, getting them to sell themselves through deception.
Just like those talent scouts—if he encountered Madoka, he might deceive her into debuting as an idol with a magical girl style.
So they would just have Madoka be careful about this.
She didn't need to worry about possibly being forcibly kidnapped and feel anxious all day. She just needed to understand not to casually believe what others said. This way, until Madoka truly encountered Kyubey, she could attend school normally.
Of course, if she encountered Kyubey, they emphasized she must tell everyone, and then they would reveal the truth.
[Asuna: Um, what is this livestream showing? The camera seems to have never switched, staying on one continuous shot centered around that deep purple-haired sister ]
Since the discussion was mostly finished, Asuna finally paid proper attention to this livestream.
Initially she thought it was just broadcasting some "work"—a biochemical apocalypse type—but gradually she felt something was off.
[Busujima Sword Style: This is a live broadcast of my world ]
Oh, I see.
Wait, live... live broadcast?!
This ID "Busujima Sword Style" was that beautiful sister with deep purple long hair, and the livestream was real?
Those were really zombies and such?!
That person's world was experiencing such horror!!!
...
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