Chapter 2

Kayaba Akihiko is the creator of the neural drive and full immersion technology, as well as the infamous game Sword Art Online, where thousands of players were locked up on the first day of release, making it impossible to exit the game on their own, as well as not allowing you to remove the helmet from the player from the outside, without destroying the user's brain.

The media has already expressed a lot of thoughts about this, but no one has determined his true intentions, and the players still remain locked in the world of the game.

In fact, over the past 2 years, thanks to the collected data, he almost managed to finish the first working version of the" soul translator " or STL technology.

First of all, this technology allows you to create worlds of an unprecedented level of detail, indistinguishable from the real one.

In addition, STL accelerates the human mind, so the time spent in the simulation can be several times longer than the time that has passed on the other side.

However, an endless stay in this state without harm to health is impossible.

The maximum value that a user can withstand is 1 day = 4 years.

This effect is achieved with the help of light vibrations, and the "soul" of a person and the basis of the mind is considered as a quantum computer.

The last function for which the technology got its name is the ability to copy, transfer and reformat a person's consciousness, which can also be used to create NPCs that will be absolutely identical in their behavior to living people.

...

March 6, 2024.

56th floor.

Field headquarters under the leadership of the Knights of the Blood.

A few minutes before the start of the discussion of tactics in the upcoming battle with the floor boss, a small squad of 4 people arrived at the player-occupied area.

"Phew, I thought we wouldn't make it!" Shiro breathed a sigh of relief.

"If someone hadn't taken us on a useless adventure through a' super-secret ' dungeon, we might have gotten here yesterday. Hiori gave me a murderous look, then turned away.

"How long are you going to be mad?" Who knew that the only loot would be some incomprehensible crap. – I checked the inventory again just in case, but nothing seems to have changed since then.

Inventory < Consumable items < [???]

"It's so fucked up that you can't even interact with it," Reagan added.

"Haha, that's right. Shiro chuckled slightly.

"It seems to be starting, let's go.".. I'll try to find out something about it later. I said as I saw the men heading for the cave entrance.

Before we reached the meeting point, we noticed a man in impressive plate armor standing on the left side of the entrance.

Even from a distance, the man looked very familiar, but he didn't seem to notice us yet.

"Hey, isn't that the leader of the roars, Heathcliff?" Hiori blurted out with a faint glint in her eyes.

- Exactly! But who is holding the meeting? Shiro asked, and peered inside the cave.

Just at that moment we heard a small altercation:

"- Lure the boss from the fields to the village.

"No, wait! Can you imagine what will happen to the residents then?

"That's what we're counting on, while the boss is killing the NPCs, we'll attack and finish him off."

- NPCs are not objects, not trees or rocks, they are…

"They what?" Alive? Just objects…

"And besides, no matter how many of them you kill, they'll come back."

"I don't support your plan…

"Today's operation is under the command of Asuna, the deputy leader of the Blood Knights, so they will obey my orders."

"Interesting subject, isn't it?" – it took us a moment to realize that the question was addressed to us, but then we noticed the interested look of the man at the entrance.

- Yes, what is there to discuss, they are NPCs and in VRMMO NPCs, just programs-slaves of the system. Hiori blurted out with a slight sneer.

- Perhaps, but is their life worth nothing, then what are the players better?

"If it weren't for the fact that our deaths in the real world, at the whim of that mad Kayaba Akihiko, depend on the game, would you still have your opinion?" Heathcliff spoke again, but it was hard to tell from his face what he was thinking at the moment.

I was afraid to say something wrong, not so much because of the unusual topic of conversation, or the desire to really find the right answer, but because of the extraordinary "pressure" felt from this person.

No wonder they call him the strongest…

"Otherwise, it doesn't matter, I already know the answer. The man straightened his cloak and headed towards the camp of his guild.

When we came out of our stupor, we noticed that the meeting had already ended, and we joined the others.

...

A few months later.

November 7, 2024.

Somewhere in the sky above Aincrad.

Well, that's it, I think, and it was only the boss of the 75th Floor.

I'm sorry... but wait, where am I?

I opened my eyes and found myself standing right in the middle of the sky above the huge 100-story fortress that we had been in for more than two years.

Ah, that's right, I heard that after you reset the health scale, you don't die at the same time.

It seems that this way the system makes it possible to use unique items for resurrection, although I have not even met them yet, so there is still no hope for this.

And how many were there? Ten seconds?

One…

Two…

Three…

It's obviously been more than that, come on…

But it's still weird, why am I still here?

It's not that I want to disappear quickly, but I don't want to give myself false hope while I'm stuck in this strange place.

I hope the others are more fortunate than I am.

As I knew, I shouldn't have gone to the front line...

...

75th Floor.

The Boss room.

At the same time, although after killing the boss, the surviving players revealed the true identity of Heathcliff - Kayaba Akihiko, this did not greatly affect his plans.

Right now, their" fateful " duel with Kirito had just come to an end.

Before the" plot " death, Heathcliff briefly studied the latest system notifications, and a slight grin appeared on his face.

You have a new system message [10] <

World No. 1 seed activated:

…

World No. 4 seed activated:

…

World No. 8 seed activated:

World code: S1-N0-B1.

STL technology: Supported.

User Interface: Disabled.

World type: Earth.

Development scenario: Set.

Capacity: 1/1.

Management: Autonomous.

World status: Calibration of the main parameters.

…

World No. 10 seed activated:

…

Somewhere in the sky above Aincrad.

Suddenly, the whole world began to collapse, the debris falling and disappearing, splitting into code particles.

I watched this picture in bewilderment.

The last thing I heard that day was the system voice:

"On November 7, at 14: 55, the game was completed!"

"Oh, what?" I thought at that moment.

Except, a moment later, I wasn't there.

…

The installation was completed successfully.