Real world.
Early morning.
It was pitch black outside the window, and the huge raindrops hit the glass, making a "da da da" sound.
Rinko Kamishiro stared at the window in front of her, her face serious and grim. She turned her head and looked at the screen on the other side, only to see a thin man wearing a helmet, lying flat on his back, in a deep coma and sleep.
He is the creator of the game world and the culprit who imprisoned ten thousand players.
Kayaba Akihiko.
He is also the man she loves most.
"Forgive me..."
Rinko Kamishiro lowered her head and looked at the remote control in her hand. As long as she pressed the button, she could completely kill Kayaba Akihiko and restore order to the entire game world. But she couldn't do it because he was the man she loved the most. Although Rinko Kamishiro wanted to kill him at the beginning, when she was really ready to do it, she found that it was impossible for her to kill the person she loved.
And now, she could only stay in this hidden villa, taking care of Kayaba Akihiko's body while watching everything silently.
She knew that Kayaba Akihiko would be caught and tried. But even so, she was unwilling to leave him. After all, when she thought that this might be the last time they spent together, Kamishiro Rinko cherished it even more. In this case, she would become his accomplice...
“Boom boom boom…”
However, just as Rinko Kamishiro put down the remote control and was about to take a rest, suddenly, the ground began to shake violently.
"earthquake?!"
As a resident of an island country with an earthquake zone, Kamishiro Rinko was no stranger to earthquakes. She quickly hid under the table and waited for the earthquake to end. The earthquake was extremely severe, but it didn't last long. Kamishiro Rinko thought that it would be over in a while.
However, Rinko Kamishiro did not notice that in the ward on the screen, the bed where Kayaba Akihiko was lying began to slide to the other side, and the wires of the helmet on his head were pulled straight and even began to gradually stretch.
However, at this moment, an instrument placed on the bedside suddenly fell over and hit the electric wire.
“——”
The next moment, the helmet worn by Kayaba Akihiko flashed for a moment, and a wisp of black smoke emerged. His body trembled violently, and then gradually lost his breath...
"drop--"
The life monitor issued a cold and steady alarm, but it was all meaningless now.
At the same time, in the virtual world.
The dark time suddenly flashed with golden light, and then a series of cold characters emerged.
[The highest authority person was detected to be forced to leave]
[Reconnection failed]
【Cardinal starts backup mode】
【Template conversion completed】
【Test: Predetermined Target】
[Defeat the final lord of the 100th floor and unblock the signal interface]
[Confirmation: Target task is running normally]
[Due to the forced departure of the person with the highest authority, the second backup is currently being used]
[Awakening the Guardian "Stoleya"]
As lines of text appeared and then disappeared, darkness soon enveloped everything again.
"Um……"
When Fang Zheng opened his eyes, it was already the next morning. The bright sunlight shone through the window and onto the table. Outside, he could see the azure blue sky and swaying green leaves.
If it weren't for the death game, this would be a very good place to take a vacation.
Fang Zheng turned his head and looked to his side. He saw a little head poking out from under his quilt, staring at him with a pair of big eyes without blinking.
"Hello, little one, are you awake?"
Fang Zheng was already very skilled in dealing with children. He reached out and rubbed the little girl's head, then sat up. As Fang Zheng did this, the little girl also sat up, staring at Fang Zheng with wide eyes, wondering what she was thinking.
"May I have your name?"
After changing his clothes, Fang Zheng looked at the little girl sitting on his bed and asked with a smile. After hearing Fang Zheng's question, the little girl thought for a moment and then slowly opened her mouth.
“Yui…Yui…”
"Hello, Yui, my name is Fang Zheng."
After hearing Yui's answer, Fang Zheng reached out and touched her little head again. At the same time, he frowned slightly. Judging from her appearance, Yui was about eight to ten years old. Logically speaking, children of this age should be able to speak fluently. But Yui's speech seemed very laborious, as if she had just started to learn to speak.
"Line... formation?"
"Fang Zheng...Okay, you can call me whatever you want."
"...line...formation..."
Hearing Fang Zheng's words, Yui repeated Fang Zheng's name again with difficulty, then she raised her head, looked at Fang Zheng, and hesitated.
"……dad?"
“…”
Meow meow meow?
"You can call me that if you want..."
Fang Zheng was helpless about this, but it didn't matter what. He already had a daughter, so he wasn't afraid of having another one. As the saying goes, too many lice won't itch. Isn't the country promoting second children?
"dad!!"
Hearing Fang Zheng's answer, Yui happily reached out her hand again and threw herself into Fang Zheng's arms.
When Fang Zheng carried Yui to the restaurant, the others were already sitting there, eating breakfast.
"Ah, Mr. Founder!"
Seeing Fang Zheng walk into the restaurant, Eriri waved at him, then looked curiously at Yui in Fang Zheng's arms.
"Is this the child you picked up yesterday? How is she?"
"For now, she seems to be fine, but she seems to have some memory loss... She can't remember anything except her name."
As he placed Yui on the chair, Fang Zheng spoke.
"Why?!"
When the girls who were having breakfast heard Fang Zheng's words, they screamed in surprise. They all came to Yui's side and looked at her with various eyes.
"Losing my memory? Is this really possible?"
"How pitiful... Is there anything we can do to help her?"
"If you want to help now, please let me go."
At this moment, Asuna also appeared beside the crowd with a plate in her hand - ever since she listened to Fang Zheng and started learning how to cook, Asuna has become the "chef" of the strategy team. When she was at the base, she would come to make breakfast every morning, and her cooking level also improved. At least now everyone has a good opinion of Asuna's cooking.
"Come on, Yui, eat something."
Asuna said this softly, she placed the bread, fried eggs and milk on the table in front of Yui. Yui looked at Fang Zheng, and after Fang Zheng nodded to indicate that it was okay, Yui carefully picked up the knife and fork and tried to pick up the fried eggs on the plate, but she tried several times but failed.
"Oh, let me do it!"
At this time, Black Cat also hurriedly came out from the crowd. She sat next to Yui, picked up the knife and fork, skillfully cut a piece of the egg, and then held it up and faced Yui.
“Come on, Yui…ah…”
"ah……"
Hearing what Black Cat said, Yui obediently opened her mouth, then took a bite of the fried egg on the fork and ate it.
"Is it tasty?"
"Um!!"
In response to Kuroneko's question, Yui nodded vigorously, and then she opened her mouth again. This time, Kuroneko chose a piece of tomato and cabbage.
"You want to eat some vegetables too? Be good, come...Okay."
"...I never thought that you, Black Cat, could actually coax a child?"
The other girls were stunned when they saw the black cat feeding Yui skillfully. In their impression, the black cat had always been a middle school student with dark evil energy. But now, the black cat behaved like a skilled mother. The maternal aura emanating from her body was unbearable to watch!
"I have two younger sisters, and taking care of them is something I'm used to."
While continuing to feed Yui, Kuroneko answered casually, then she picked up a napkin and wiped the corner of Yui's mouth.
And at this moment, Yui stared at the black cat blankly, then tilted her head.
"……Mother?"
"Hey? Hey hey hey?!"
Hearing Yui's name, the black cat's fair face suddenly turned red.
"I, I'm not..."
"no?"
Hearing Black Cat's answer, Yui blinked curiously, then she looked at Fang Zheng again.
"Dad, who is...Mom?"