Alicization Running Read online

  Copyright

  SWORD ART ONLINE, Volume 10: ALICIZATION RUNNING

  REKI KAWAHARA

  Translation by Stephen Paul

  Cover art by abec

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  SWORD ART ONLINE

  ©REKI KAWAHARA 2012

  All rights reserved.

  Edited by ASCII MEDIA WORKS

  First published in Japan in 2012 by KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo.

  English translation rights arranged with KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo, through Tuttle-Mori Agency, Inc., Tokyo.

  English translation © 2017 by Yen Press, LLC

  Yen Press, LLC supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.

  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact the publisher. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

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  First Yen On eBook Edition: July 2017

  Originally published in paperback in April 2017 by Yen On.

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  The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.

  ISBN: 978-0-316-56101-3

  E3-20170615-JV-PC

  CHAPTER TWO

  PROJECT ALICIZATION, JULY 2026

  1

  Up above, the pale-white moon was visible through the window, intersected into four pieces by the window sash.

  The sylph capital of Swilvane in southwest Alfheim was shrouded in the thick curtain of night, and most of the businesses were locked up tight. Even the number of players moving along the main street was slim, given that it was four o’clock in the morning in the real world, the least active period of the day.

  Asuna looked from the window back to the table and lifted her steaming mug. The dark tea stimulated her tongue with virtual heat. She didn’t feel tired, but after three days of not getting decent sleep, there was a dull weight sitting inside her head.

  She closed her eyes and traced her temples. The sylph girl sitting next to her noticed, and worriedly asked, “Are you all right, Asuna? Have you been getting proper sleep?”

  “No, I’m all right. What about you, Leafa? You’ve been running all over the place.”

  “I’m fine. My real body’s getting plenty of rest on my bed right now.”

  They both grimaced, realizing that their respective claims of good health sounded hollow and false.

  This was the virtual home owned by Suguha Kirigaya’s Leafa avatar in the world of ALfheim Online (ALO). A lamp that flickered in different colors cast light on the gleaming, rainbow-shell walls of the circular room, giving the scene a fantastical feeling. The pearl-white table at the center of the room had four chairs around it, three of which were filled.

  The third character present, a girl with ice-blue hair and triangular ears, steepled her fingers and warned, “If you keep pushing it, you won’t be sharp when it really matters. Even when you can’t sleep, just lying down and closing your eyes makes a big difference.”

  This was the cait sith avatar of Shino Asada, only six months old in game time. She called her Sinon, the same name as her character back in her “home” game of Gun Gale Online (GGO).

  Asuna glanced at Sinon and murmured, “I know…When the meeting’s over, I’ll borrow a bed here and sleep. If only sleep magic worked on the players themselves.”

  “If only my brother were sleeping in the rocking chair over there. That would do the trick,” Leafa said. Both Asuna and Sinon broke into smiles but without much heart behind them.

  Leafa set down her cup on the table and took a deep breath, getting serious. “Well, let’s get started. First, the information that I managed to find out today—I mean, yesterday. The short answer is that I didn’t find any positive evidence that Big Brother was taken to the National Defense Medical College in Tokorozawa. Yes, the records show that he’s in the brain surgery ward on the twenty-third floor, but they have the entire floor completely shut off from visitors, not just his room, and there’s no record of any ambulance arriving during the expected period of time. Yui hacked into the security-camera footage just in case, so we can be certain about that.”

  “Meaning…it’s quite possible that Kirito is not at the NDMC hospital at all?” Sinon asked. Leafa nodded.

  “It’s hard to believe that it could be true…but it’s simply crazy that his own immediate family isn’t even allowed to see him…”

  She shook her head. A heavy silence sank onto the room.

  Leafa’s older brother, Kirito—real name Kazuto Kirigaya—had been attacked just two days earlier, on June 29th, by Atsushi Kanamoto, also known as “Johnny Black,” on the run for his part in the Death Gun incident.

  On the streets of Miyasaka in the Setagaya ward of Tokyo, not far from Asuna’s house, Kanamoto injected Kazuto with a dose of toxic succinylcholine. It rapidly paralyzed his muscles and arrested his respiration. They put him on a ventilator in the ambulance, but the lack of oxygen sent him into cardiac arrest as well, and by the time they had arrived at nearby Setagaya General Hospital, he was pronounced DOA.

  Whether it was the skill of the ER doctor, the hardiness of Kazuto’s vitality, or some combination of astrological luck for the two that day, their efforts at resuscitation succeeded in bringing back a faint heartbeat. As the drug broke down, he eventually resumed breathing on his own, and thus Kazuto miraculously returned from the brink of death. When the doctor finished his work and explained the situation to Asuna, she had nearly passed out from relief—but could not accept what he told her next.

  He said that Kazuto’s heart had been stopped for over five minutes, which raised the possibility of brain damage. She would have to steel herself for the potential of lasting mental or physical disability—perhaps even a permanent vegetative state.

  The doctor concluded by saying they wouldn’t know anything for sure until he got an MRI at another facility, and anxiety and fear descended on Asuna a second time. She managed to call Suguha and explain the situation, and the moment Kazuto’s sister arrived, she burst into tears again.

  Eventually, Midori Kirigaya, Kazuto’s mother, arrived at the hospital straight from her workplace in Iidabashi, and they spent the night on the bench in front of the ICU.

  On the morning of June 30th, a nurse explained that he was no longer in critical condition. Asuna and Suguha stopped at Asuna’s home nearby, while Midori went back home to Kawagoe to get their insurance forms and other items.

  The two girls showered and informed their schools of their absence that day, and both lay down in an attempt to sleep. They dozed and woke several times over the next few hours, trading comments here and there, until Midori called Asuna at around one in the afternoon.

  She flew to the phone and learned that, sadly, Kazuto was still unconscious. They had transferred him to NDMC, closer to Kawagoe, to run tests and offer more advanced treatment options. Midori said an ambulance would take him over, and she would follow in a tax
i once she’d cleared up some paperwork. Asuna replied that they’d head to the new hospital at once.

  Right around 1:40 PM on the 30th, the comatose Kazuto was loaded into an ambulance that left the emergency bay of Setagaya General Hospital. The hospital’s security cameras had caught that much, as confirmed by Yui.

  According to the records, that ambulance arrived at the hospital of the National Defense Medical College in the city of Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, at 2:45 PM of that day. Kazuto was instantly ushered to the brain surgery ward on the 23rd floor, given an MRI, and was undergoing observation. Both Asuna and Suguha believed this account without suspicion—until they had visited that hospital late at night two days ago and were refused access to him or even remote footage of his bed.

  Asuna pondered what Leafa had just said, then nodded.

  “We know for certain that Kirito was taken out of the hospital in Setagaya in an ambulance. And there’s a ‘Kazuto Kirigaya’ in the records of NDMC…but no one has seen him there, and there’s no sign of him on the security footage. If his ambulance was heading somewhere other than NDMC…and assuming it isn’t some kind of clerical accident in the patient data…”

  “Then it’s intentional falsifying of information. In other words…an abduction,” Sinon finished calmly, her pointed ears twitching. “But if that’s the case, does it mean the ambulance itself was a fake? EMT uniforms are one thing, but could they really summon a vehicle out of thin air?”

  Leafa answered, “I asked Recon, since he likes cars, but he says it’s impossible for any amateur source to mock up a fake ambulance that would fool a real medical facility, and even for the pros, it takes a ton of money and time. Nobody could have predicted that Kanamoto would attack Big Brother in Setagaya at that very moment, and it was only eighteen hours between when he was brought in and when he was transferred out…”

  “So it would have been physically impossible to prepare a fake ambulance after they learned Kirito had been attacked,” Asuna concluded.

  Sinon continued, “But if that’s the case, could someone have had this fake vehicle ready the entire time, waiting for a target—any target—and it was just Kirito’s bad luck that he got nabbed…?”

  “That doesn’t seem to be the case,” Leafa said, ponytail waving as she shook her head. She paused, then explained, “Normally, when patients are transferred between hospitals, the outgoing hospital calls the district medical center for an ambulance dispatch. But according to Yui, no one actually placed that call, and yet the ambulance arrived right on time. Seems like everyone at the hospital just assumed one of the others made the call. And yet, the staffers in the ambulance itself knew he was headed for NDMC in Tokorozawa, as well as the patient’s name. The nurse who was on standby when they showed up said so.”

  “…Then it really was a planned abduction designed just for Kirito…”

  “Which means the culprit was someone who had access to that information the moment he was admitted to the hospital and could dispatch a real ambulance for their own purposes,” Asuna concluded. The other two nodded a second later.

  Their hesitation stemmed from a fear of combining too many assumptions. Asuna felt the same way about it. After all, if their hypothesis was true, it meant they were dealing with someone with at least as much influence as the Fire and Disaster Management Agency that operated the ambulance system.

  A part of them hoped it really was just their imaginations running wild.

  Perhaps Kazuto really was receiving treatment at the National Defense Medical Center, and they couldn’t see video of him because it would interfere with the sensitive machinery, and the lack of ambulance footage was the result of simple camera malfunction…Common sense said this was more likely to be true. And Kazuto and Suguha’s own mother, Midori, had to believe the official record, of course. This fuss about kidnapping and falsified information was just a bit of group paranoia from a trio of extremely concerned young girls. There was no crime, Kazuto was being treated, and very soon they would hear back that he was awake again…

  But a part of Asuna, separate from her common sense and logical judgment, was painfully aware that something was happening. That same feeling had to be occurring within Kazuto’s sister, Leafa, as well as Sinon, who had been through a battle of life and death with him, too.

  They didn’t think that Kanamoto’s succinylcholine attack on Kazuto was part of this mysterious plan, but it had most certainly been used to the abductor’s advantage once it happened.

  “…Whether it’s an individual or a group, I’m going to consider whoever did this to be the enemy,” Asuna proclaimed with firm finality.

  Sinon looked surprised, then recovered and grinned. “Actually…I was pretty worried that you two would be really depressed about this. After all, he’s Leafa’s big brother and Asuna’s, well, boyfriend…I mean, he’s unconscious, and now missing on top of that…”

  To her surprise, Asuna realized that she really wasn’t as defeated as she’d thought. And she’d cried her eyes out for so long that first night…

  Leafa clutched her hands together in front of her chest and protested, “But…we are worried. And yet, while I was horrified to learn that Big Brother might not be at the hospital, a part of me also thought, I knew it. I just knew that he was getting involved in something major again…that he was carrying on somewhere I couldn’t even imagine. That’s what happened with SAO, it’s what happened with Death Gun…and it’s probably what’s happening now…”

  “Yeah…I agree,” added Asuna, once again reminded that she couldn’t match Suguha’s instincts about Kazuto in terms of sheer length of experience.

  “Kirito’s on his own somewhere, fighting like he always is. Which means we need to fight in our own way,” she said, and eyed Sinon. “You don’t seem too depressed about it, either, Shino-non.”

  “Er…well, uh…in my case, I fully believe that the only person who can beat him is me, so…” Sinon mumbled weakly. Asuna gave her a critical glance, then decided to return to the topic at hand.

  “Anyway…even based on the ambulance incident alone, we can assume the enemy is extremely powerful.”

  “What if we take this up with the police? Maybe if we have an officer escorting us, the hospital will be forced to at least show us some remote video of him,” Sinon suggested sensibly, but Asuna shook her head.

  “Both the time of Kirito’s arrival at NDMC and his transfer to brain surgery are right there on their server. All the data say that he’s there. The police aren’t going to act on a suspicion of abduction solely because there’s no video of him arriving. Especially not if we have to explain how we know that…”

  “Because Yui hacked into their system,” Sinon said with a snort. “Oh…but in that case, what if we checked the interior camera network at the hospital, not just the exterior bay cameras? If we can find any shots of the room where Kirito’s supposed to be staying…”

  “The problem is, the interior security is on a different system than the exterior. It’s extremely well-defended, and even Yui can’t get in there,” Leafa pointed out sadly. She had spent the entire day researching Setagaya General Hospital and the National Defense Medical College, which were far apart. Even with Yui’s help on her phone, the travel alone had been very exhausting.

  Asuna had wanted to join her, of course, but now that Kirito’s medical condition was stable, she wasn’t allowed to stay out of school for a second day. Instead, she had transferred some electronic cash charged to her phone over to Leafa for taxi fare. Obviously, she didn’t have much success focusing on class.

  Kazuto’s absence at school was simply labeled illness, so none of their classmates knew about the attack, not even their close friends Rika Shinozaki (Lisbeth) and Keiko Ayano (Silica). The guilt of hiding half the truth from her worried friends was tearing Asuna apart on the inside.

  But after talking to Leafa yesterday morning, she had come to a decision. Until they had at least determined whether Kazuto was at NDMC or
not, the details of the incident would remain with them and Sinon only.

  The reason for Sinon’s inclusion was her presence at Dicey Café just before the attack and her connection to the Death Gun incident. On top of that, her calmness and intelligence were a huge boost to their efforts. Those sniper’s instincts continued to serve her well in the world of ALO.

  Asuna said, “Our greatest weapon is the fact that we know Kirito better than anyone else. So let’s take a step back and think. If the enemy’s target was Kirito all along, what would their motive be?”

  “I hate to say it, but if they were after ransom money, they would go for you, Asuna. And we haven’t had any contact from the culprit?” Sinon asked. Leafa shook her head.

  “No calls, no e-mails, no letters. Besides, it’s too elaborate to be a kidnapping for personal gain. My brother’s not such a big shot that he’s worth preparing a fake ambulance to kidnap him from the hospital.”

  “That’s true…Well, I don’t like to consider this, but could it be a grudge? Can you think of anyone who might have it in for Kirito…?”

  Asuna shook her head slowly. “I’m sure that there are other survivors of SAO who hate him for throwing them into prison there. But which of them would have the finances and connections to pull off a stunt like this…?”

  For a moment, the face of Nobuyuki Sugou flashed through Asuna’s mind—the man who had attempted to run his own grisly tests on former SAO players until Kirito got the police to arrest him. But he still had to be behind bars. The fact that he’d been preparing to flee the country meant they would never offer him bail.

  “…No, I can’t think of anyone who would go this far.”

  “So if it’s not for money or for revenge, then…hmmm…”

  Sinon looked down for a while, brushed the pointed tips of her ears with her fingertips, and hesitantly offered, “Well…this is just a guess with no evidence behind it…but if the enemy is going to the length of kidnapping Kirito for reasons other than money or hate, then it probably means they absolutely need him at this moment. Or need something about him. Something he possesses…some ‘attribute’ of his, in gaming terms. Can you think of what that might be?”