After playing SAO for more than a year, my health points entered the red danger zone for the first time and stopped there.
By the time the defeated leader exploded, leaving behind only the bag, there wasn't even a single Recovery Crystal left in my item bar. I had never been so close to death. However, I didn't feel any joy or peace of mind after surviving such a close call. Instead, he felt disappointed. Why did I survive?
As I slowly sheathed the sword, the remaining pouch also turned into light and disappeared. The items dropped by the boss should all be in my window. He exhaled and waved his trembling hand to call out the window.
The new item bar was filled with an annoying number of item names. Weapons and armor, gems, crystals, and even ingredients. I carefully scrolled through the window of all kinds of items, looking for only one thing.
A few seconds later, that thing came into my sight too simply.
Its name was the Holy Crystal of Soul Return. My heart was beating violently, and it felt like a part of my heart that had been completely paralyzed for the past few days-for the past few months-was suddenly bleeding.
Could he really…bring Sachi back to life? In that case, the souls of Kita, Tetsuo, and the players who had lost their lives in SAO were not destroyed…?
Perhaps she could see Sachi again. Just thinking about it made my heart tremble. No matter what kind of curses I would receive, no matter how much I would be reprimanded for lying, this time, I would definitely hug her with these two hands, look straight into her black eyes, and speak from the bottom of my heart. It's not that you won't die, but that I will protect you. Just for this, I will definitely work hard to make myself stronger.
After several failed attempts due to my trembling hands, I finally managed to materialize the Soul Returning Saint Crystal. Floating on the window was an egg-sized gem that was extremely beautiful with seven-colored light.
[Thank…Thank…]
I called out her name and tapped on the gem. I selected the description on the menu, which displayed a simple explanation in familiar font.
Choose to use it from the automatic menu of the item, or hold it in your hand and shout [Resurrection: As long as it is used within the time period (about 10 seconds) between the death of the target player and the complete disappearance of the effect light, the target player can be revived.
About ten seconds.
Nothing could be clearer and more callous than these words that seemed to have been added on purpose, announcing to me the fact that the dead Kachi would never come back.
About ten seconds. This was the time from when the player's health points dropped to zero and the virtual body began to scatter until the NERvGear emitted electromagnetic waves and destroyed the player's brain in the real world.
I couldn't help but imagine the moment when Yuki's body disappeared and her NERvGear burned its owner to death in just ten seconds. Yuki must be in pain, right? What was she thinking in those ten seconds? Cursing me in all sorts of ways…?
[Ahhh
I let out a beast-like cry.
He grabbed the Soul Returning Saint Crystal floating on the window and smashed it into the snow with all his strength.
[Ahhhhh…Ahhhh!]」
As he roared, his boots stepped on the gemstone. However, the gemstone only sparkled without any pain or itch. It did not even have a scratch, let alone crack. I used all my strength to roar. I stuck my hands into the ground and grabbed the snow with my fingers. Finally, I continued to roar.
Meaningless. Everything was meaningless. Regardless of whether I died in fear and pain, or if I challenged Santa Claus, no, if I lived in this world, there was no point in imprisoning ten thousand people here. Now, I have completely understood that this is the only truth.
I don't know how long this lasted, but no matter how much I shouted, I didn't feel like crying. I'm afraid it's because my virtual body doesn't have this function, right? Finally, I tiredly stood up and picked up the Saint Crystal I buried in Xue Shen before heading back to the original transfer point.
Only Klein and the members of Wind Forest Volcano remained in the forest. The members of the Holy Dragon Alliance had completely disappeared. I made sure that Klein and the others hadn't lost any of their numbers as I walked towards the curved sword operator sitting on the ground.
Klein was the only one who was as exhausted as I was. I surmised that he would probably join forces with the Holy Dragon and engage in a one-on-one duel. However, I didn't feel any emotion in my heart.
The curved saber envoy heaved a sigh of relief as he watched me approach. His expression also softened. But when he saw my expression, his lips immediately stiffened.
[…Kirito…]
I placed the Saint Crystal on Klein's knee.
[This is a resurrection tool, but it cannot be used on people who have already died. You can use it to save the next person who will die in front of you.」
After saying this, I was about to walk to the exit, but Klein grabbed my coat.
[Kirito…Kirito…]
Two streams of tears ran down his stubble-covered cheeks. I looked at him in surprise.
" Kirito... you... you have to live... even if everyone except you dies... you have to live until the last moment..."
I took my coat from Klein, who was crying and repeating the words 'live on'.
[Goodbye.]
With that, he walked out of the Lost Forest.
I don't know how I managed to walk back, but when I came back to my senses, I was already back in the hotel room on the 49th floor.
It was around three in the morning.
I thought about what to do next. In the past month, although the resurrection tool that was my motivation to survive did exist, it was not what I was pursuing. In order to obtain that, I became a fool who was obsessed with experience points. I was laughed at by others and in the end, I lost my precious friendship.
After considering it for a while, I decided to fight the leader of this floor at dawn. If he won, he would immediately challenge the boss of the 50th checkpoint and then fight the boss of the 51st checkpoint.
I can't think of any other ending that would be suitable for the stupid clown. After making the decision, I relaxed. I sat on the chair, not looking at anything or thinking about anything, waiting for morning to come.
The moonlight that shone through the window changed its position bit by bit, and was finally replaced by a thin gray dawn. Although I didn't know how many hours I hadn't slept, it felt pretty good on the last morning after the worst night.
When the clock on the wall pointed to seven o'clock and I was about to get up from my chair, an unfamiliar alarm rang in my ears.
He looked around the room and could not find anything that could be the source of the sound. Finally, in the corner of my vision, I noticed that the purple symbol that urged me to open the main window was flashing continuously. Then, I waved my finger.
The light was emitted from the item window, which was the shared page between Yuki and Yuki. There were time-limited activation items stored there. I scrolled through the list in confusion and found the message recording crystal that was activated at a fixed time.
I took out the crystal erasing window and placed it on the table.
After tapping on the glowing crystal, he heard the nostalgic voice of Kachi.
Kirito, merry Christmas.
When you heard this, I thought I was already dead. Because if I'm still alive, I'm going to take this crystal out the day before Christmas and tell you these words myself.
Erm…Let me explain to you why I recorded this message.
I probably won't live for long. Of course, I never felt that the Black Cat Group, including Kirito, was not strong enough. Because Kirito was very strong, the other members were also getting stronger.
How should I explain this…Recently, in another guild, my good friend died. She was a coward like me, so she only hunted in a safe place. However, she was unlucky and died when she was attacked by monsters when she was alone. After that, I thought about a lot of things and finally figured it out. In order to survive in this world, no matter how strong his companions were, if he didn't have the will to live, he couldn't do it.
To be honest, I've been very afraid since the first time I walked into the practice area. In fact, he did not want to leave the Town of Beginnings at all. Although I was very close to the members of the Black Cat Group in real life and everyone was very happy together, I just hated going out to fight. If he continued to fight with this kind of mood, he would die one day. This wasn't caused by anyone, it was my own problem.
From that night onwards, Kirito told me every night that there was absolutely no problem and that he would definitely not die. If I die, Kirito will blame himself and refuse to forgive himself. That's why I wanted to record this message. Because I wanted to tell Kirito that it wasn't your fault. The problem is with me. The time will be set for next Christmas because I want to at least try to live until then. I want to walk on the snowy street with you.
Actually…I know how strong Kirito is. Because when I woke up in Kirito's bed, I saw the window you opened from behind.
Although I've thought about it, I still don't understand why Kirito hid his true level and fought with us. However, thinking that you might tell us yourself one day, I didn't mention it to anyone else…When I found out that you were very powerful, I was very happy. After knowing this, as long as I'm by your side, I can sleep peacefully. Besides, it might be very important for you to be with me, which makes me very happy. If that was the case, it would make sense for a coward like me to climb to the top.
Well…Actually, what I want to say is that even if I die, Kirito will still work hard to live on. Live and watch this world until the end. Please help me find the meaning of creating this world, the meaning of a coward like me coming to this world, and the meaning of me meeting you. This is my wish.
Uh…it seemed like there was still a lot of time left. This can record a lot of things. Well, since it's a rare Christmas, I'll sing a song. Actually, I'm quite confident in my singing voice. Let's sing 'Red Nosed Elk.' Actually, I wanted to sing some cool songs like " Winter Wonderland " or " White Christmas ", but unfortunately, I only remember the lyrics of this song.
Why did he only remember the Red Nosed Elk? The night before, Kirito told me that no matter who it was, they would definitely be able to do something for others. Even for someone like me, there's still a reason for me to stay here. When I heard these words, I was very happy and thought of this song. For some reason, I feel like I'm the elk and you're Santa Claus…If I have to say, I feel like a father. My father ran away from home when I was young, so every night when I slept next to you, I thought, could it be that this is how my father feels? Well, then, I'm going to sing.
Mr. Moose with a big red nose
Always teased by everyone
But that Christmas
Santa Claus said so
Your shining nose is very useful on the dark night road
Mr. Elk, who was always crying, smiled tonight.
... You're like a star that's always shining on me at the other end of a dark path. Goodbye, Kirito. It's great to meet you and stay by your side.
Thank you.
Goodbye.
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