It was just a Boss monster that acted purely based on the system's calculations, but Asuna could see the obvious fear in the Death God's bloodshot eyes. The Death God that was forced back by Stripey was already frightened by Stripey's strength. Coupled with the fact that it was immortal, the Death God was now completely afraid of Stripey.
"Fire Evasion, Raging Flames Dash!" Ban, whose entire body was wrapped in a fire vortex, rushed forward in the air with a loud sound. This move was the big move of the fire PM in the Pokémon world that he had copied. The Death God seemed to be afraid and raised his scythe in front of him, taking a defensive stance.
Facing the Grim Reaper, Stripey swung his scythe with all his might. The scythe in Stripey's hand that was spewing flames collided with the Grim Reaper's scythe that was raised high in the air. Both of them stopped in an instant.
Just as Asuna was thinking this, Stripey's scythe moved again. The immeasurable heat seemed to burn and cut through metal, and the glowing blade bit by bit ate into the scythe's handle. Stripey's long hair, armor, and black trench coat flew back as if they were about to be torn apart. Sometimes, huge sparks flew out and dyed the maze bright orange.
Finally…
The Grim Reaper's scythe broke into two with a loud bang. In the next moment, the scythe that had turned into a pillar of flames exploded with all the energy it had accumulated up to now and slashed at the center of the Boss 'face.
“……!”Asuna and Yui could not help but squint because of the powerful aura of the fireball that appeared in an instant. They raised their arms to protect their faces at the same time.
The fireball exploded at the same time as the scythe was swung down. The red lotus-like flame vortex engulfed the Death God's huge body and flowed into the depths of the tunnel. With a loud sound, one could hear its miserable cry before it died.
When Asuna and Yui opened their eyes that were closed because of the blinding flames, the boss had already disappeared. The passage was filled with small flames that were swaying and making crackling sounds. In the middle, only Stripey stood with his head lowered, and he only had the Uchiha fan in his hand.
The surface of the sickle that was stuck in the floor began to glow with fire, then slowly melted and disappeared.
Asuna, who had finally recovered her strength, slowly stood up with her rapier instead of her walking stick. Yui was a little late as she stood up as well. The mother and daughter staggered a few steps closer to Stripey.
" Ban..." Asuna called out Ban's name in a hoarse voice. Ban quietly turned around and asked Yui,""Have you recovered your memory?"
A smile appeared on Yui's small lips, but her big, dark eyes were filled with tears. Yui looked up at Asuna and Stripey and said calmly,""Dad…Mom…I remember everything…"
The safe zone in the deepest part of the underground maze of the Black Iron Palace was a complete square. There was only one entrance, and in the middle was a polished black stone cube table.
Asuna and Stripey sat on the stone table, watching Yui silently for a few minutes after she said that she had recovered her memory.
For some reason, she looked very sad, which made Asuna hesitate to speak to her. In the end, she made up her mind and said,""Yui…do you remember now…? About my past…"
Yui continued to lower her head for a while, then nodded vigorously. She was still crying, but she smiled and moved her small lips.
"Yes... Stripey, Asuna-I'll explain it to you now.”The moment she heard this cautious tone, a bad feeling gripped Asuna's chest. She helplessly believed that something had ended. In the square room, the words of the knot slowly began to leak out...
"This world known as the 'Sword and Sword Divine Domain', is governed by a huge system. The name of the system was Cardinal, and it could control the balance of the world based on its own judgment. Besides, Cardinal was designed with the concept of not needing human maintenance. The two main programs were used to correct each other's errors, and then countless subprograms were used to make all the adjustments in the world... The balance between the AI of monsters and NPCs, items, and currency were all operated by the program group under the Cardinal's command. However, there was a mission that had to be carried out by humans. The trouble caused by the mental state of the players can only be solved by humans…Therefore, we originally prepared dozens of staff…"
" GM..." Mark murmured softly. He knew Yui's identity and had even mentioned it to Asuna.
"Yui, so you're the game manager…? The staff of ARGUS?”
Yui remained silent for a few seconds before she shook her head gently."…Cardinal's developers wanted the system to be responsible for taking care of the players, so they created a program. Using the features of NERvGear, he could monitor the mental state of the players in detail, visit the players with problems, and listen to their voices…Mental state management. Support Program (Mental Health Care Counseling Program), MHm Trial 1, program code 'Yui', which is me…"
Asuna gasped in shock, unable to understand what she had just heard.
"Program…? Is it AI…?" After Asuna asked the question in a hoarse voice, Yui maintained her sad smile and nodded.
" In order to prevent the players from feeling discordant, I was also given the ability to imitate emotions. This is all fake... including these tears... Miss Asuna, I'm sorry..." Tears kept flowing out of Yui's eyes, turning into particles of light and dissipating. Asuna took a step forward and approached Yui. Yui reached out her hand, but she shook her head slightly, as if to say that she was not qualified to accept Asuna's hug.
Asuna still couldn't believe it, so she forced herself to say,""But…but didn't you lose your memory? Could this happen to AI…?”
Yui lowered her gaze and continued,"... Two years ago... on the day of the official start of operations..."
" I don't know what happened either, but the Cardinal gave me an order that forbids me from interfering with the players 'actions…This means that I can only continue to monitor the players' mental state without being allowed to have any physical contact with them.”Asuna reflexively realized that the " unexpected command " came from the sole game manager of SAO, Hayaba Akihiko.
Yui should not have any information about this person. A pained expression appeared on her young face as she continued," The state can be said to be extremely bad…Almost all players are shrouded in fear, despair, anger, and other negative emotions at any time. Sometimes, there will be people who fall into a crazy state. I should have rushed to the players to listen to their voices and help solve the problem…but I couldn't take the initiative to contact the players…The contradictory situation of having obligations but not being given power caused me to accumulate mistakes and gradually collapse…"
At the bottom of the quiet underground maze, there was only the soft sound of Yui's vibrating silver thread. Asuna and Stripey could only listen to her in silence.
" One day, I was monitoring as usual when I suddenly noticed that two players had different mental values than others. The brainwaves were a frequency that I had never received before. Happy…stable…but it was more than that…I was curious about what kind of feelings they had, so I continued to observe the two of them. When I watched their conversation and actions, an incredible desire arose in my heart. That wasn't the flow of work…but I wanted to go to those two people's side…I wanted to talk to them directly…Because I wanted to be closer, I materialized in the system management device closest to the player's house where the two of them lived every day and wandered around. I might have almost malfunctioned at that time…"
"Is that the forest on the twenty-second level?”Yui slowly nodded.
" Yes, Stripey, Asuna... I've always wanted to... meet the two of you... When I saw you in the forest... I was so happy... It's strange, isn't it? There shouldn't be such a thing... I'm just a program..." Yui, whose tears kept falling, shut her mouth. Asuna, who was hit by an indescribable disgust, clenched her hands in front of her chest.
"Yui…you're a real AI, right? "You have true intelligence…" Asuna murmured. Yui tilted her head slightly and replied,"You're not stupid.""I…I don't know…I don't know what's wrong with me…"
At this moment, Stripey, who had been silent all this while, took a step forward."Yui is no longer just a program operated by the system. That's why she can express her hopes.”
Then, Ban asked in a gentle tone,"What is your wish?"
" I... I..." Yui desperately stretched out her slender hands towards the two of them." I want to be with you forever... Daddy... Mommy...!"”
Asuna didn't wipe away her tears. She ran to Yui's side and hugged her little body tightly."We have to be together forever, Yui.”
Stripey also hugged Yui and Asuna.""Ah ah…Yui is our child! Let's go home, we want to live together forever…"
"Yes!" Yui smiled blissfully. Then, Ban pondered for a while before slowly saying,"Then…from now on, you will be called Yui…Uchiha-Yui!”(Yui's other translation was called 'Wei')
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]