I, the spiritual mentor of beautiful girls from all over the world

"...I'm fine." Yukino Yukinoshita came to her senses, picked up her teacup, and took a sip of the cold black tea, trying to use the bitterness to clear her mind.

"I'm just thinking about how to use this... 'huge sum' of money reasonably."

She deliberately emphasized the words "huge sum of money".

Hachiman Hikigaya's lips twitched.

(Here comes Yukino Yukinoshita's classic "correct" mode. Even though her mind is a complete mess, she insists on pretending everything is under control. Women, what troublesome creatures.)

Meanwhile, in the corner, Kasugano Sora, who had been quietly playing on her phone, quietly raised her eyelids and glanced at the clock on the wall.

I'll see my unnie in two more hours.

……

In the teachers' office, Lynn was enduring another kind of torment.

"Teacher Lynn! This is a premium corn sandwich from my hometown of Hokkaido, please accept it!"

"Ms. Lynn, are you free tonight? I know a really good barbecue restaurant, it's on me!"

"Lin! En! You rascal, how many things are you still hiding from me?!"

Hiratsuka Shizuka roared in a low voice, looking frantic. If it weren't for the large number of people in the office, she probably would have already delivered a powerful punch and been suppressed for two hours.

Lynn yawned, giving a "you guys are so annoying" look to deal with her colleagues' excessive enthusiasm and a woman's fiery glare.

He missed those ordinary afternoons before the crisis broke out, when he could quietly sleep on his desk.

This bustling daily life stands in stark contrast to the cold, fourteen-day countdown in his mind.

This world is like a giant ship about to collide with an iceberg.

The passengers on the ship were still cheering and celebrating their victory at a ball, unaware that real terror was just around the corner.

He was the only person on the ship who heard the sound of the iceberg breaking apart.

trouble.

(Chapters 70 and 77 were both taken down, which is frustrating, but chapter 72 was released. Don't worry, the everyday world won't collapse. The fewer updates today are because I've been revising the outline and detailed outline. This chapter is a transitional one; you can see that the writing style has become lighter recently.)

Chapter 79: The Fourth Disciple of Another World! Welcome to the Afterlife!

seven days ago.

When the bells of Aincrad rang, announcing the official start of this world, it was still a sea of ​​jubilation.

However, all players discovered that the "Logout" button had mysteriously disappeared.

Data codes that stain the sky blood red.

When the man who called himself "God"—Kayaba Akihiko—appeared above everyone's heads as a huge and merciless ghost in a crimson cloak—

The jubilation turned into deathly silence.

"Welcome to my world."

That cold, emotionless voice was imprinted directly into the souls of ten thousand players through the system.

"I think you've all noticed by now that the logout button has disappeared."

"But this is not because the game has a bug."

"To reiterate, this is not a game bug, but the true nature of 'Sword Art Online'."

"From now on, you will not be able to log out on your own. The only way to leave this world is to complete this game."

"But please note that in this world, the meaning of 'death' will no longer be the virtual concept you are familiar with."

"Once your HP reaches zero, your brains in the real world will also be completely burned out by the high-power microwaves emitted by the NERvGear (neural link device)."

"Simply put, dying in a game is a real death."

……

Life in the real world is like a train with its tracks laid out for her, running precisely.

It is heading towards—a top university, towards the future the family hopes for.

As for her, Yuuki Asuna, she was ruthlessly thrown off the platform by this train simply because she borrowed her brother's NERvGear out of sheer curiosity.

"No Cole Coins, no room."

The innkeeper, the NPC made of data, looked at her with a cold, unchanging, programmed gaze and uttered the most basic rule of the game.

The heavy wooden door slammed shut behind her, plunging her into a cruel and unfamiliar world.

In the plaza, the ghost of the man who called himself "God"—Kayaba Akihiko—in his crimson cloak had not yet completely dissipated.

His declaration, "To die in a game is to die for real,"

Like a maggot clinging to a bone, it still echoes in the air, mingling with the suppressed cries of the surrounding players, weaving a web called despair.

Now, another, more real fear has seized her.

A burning pain shot through her stomach; hunger felt like an invisible hand twisting at her internal organs.

A strong wave of dizziness washed over her, her vision went black, and she nearly fell. She could only barely keep her balance by holding onto the wall beside her.

It was at this moment that she felt that abnormal weakness coming from inside her body!

She raised her right hand with trembling hands, and gently swiped it in the air to bring up her status bar.

Then, her pupils suddenly shrank to the size of pinpoints.

My gaze was fixed on that long green strip that represented life.

—It's not full!

In the few short seconds she was watching, the rightmost pixel disappeared silently!

She finally understood.

Kayaba Akihiko, that devil, left no one with the option of hiding in the safe zone and eking out a living!

Hunger is not a state here, but the slowest and cruelest form of execution!

Staying here will only lead to the inevitable end, as one watches helplessly as their life force is drained away bit by bit in endless hunger, ultimately turning into a pile of cold data fragments in despair and numbness!

A powerful will to survive gripped her heart instantly, almost crushing her reason.

No! She wants to live!

She couldn't just die in this strange place; she wanted to go back, back to the world that belonged to her!

The only way is to leave the safe starting town and fight those ferocious monsters to gain experience and Kol coins.

This thought did not bring any relief called "hope," but rather, like a bucket of ice water, it roused her from the excitement of survival and pushed her into another equally profound abyss of despair.

It felt like being pushed directly from a cage where you were waiting to be boiled to death in lukewarm water into a bloody, life-or-death arena.

The outcome may be death, but the process... requires her to personally stain her skin with blood!

But she's just a high school student, not a soldier!

Her clean hands, accustomed to holding pens and playing the piano, were now being used to wielding cold swords, piercing monsters' bodies, and facing fangs and claws that could tear her apart at any moment.

The thought itself made her feel waves of physical nausea.

She paced back and forth at the entrance of the starting town, hesitating for the entire morning.

Finally, another sharp pain came from her stomach, like an invisible hand pushing her out of the door that symbolized safety.

She had been wandering aimlessly across the grassland all day, each step feeling like walking on a knife's edge, filled with fear of everything around her.

She dared not go far, yet dared not stop, like a headless fly, wandering cowardly and pathetically on the border between life and death.

"Gulu——々々!"

A low, furious roar came from not far away.

Asuna looked up blankly.

Not far away, a monster far larger than an ordinary wild boar was staring intently at her with its blood-red eyes, spewing out two thick plumes of white breath from its nostrils.

Above its head, a line of scarlet text floated.

[Rampaging Wild Boar]

Oops.

Her mind went blank, leaving only those two words.

As mentioned in the beginner's tutorial, never provoke any monster whose name has the word "Rage" in its prefix.

She gripped the initial rapier given to her by the system at her waist, a weapon she had never wielded even once, her palms covered in cold sweat.

escape.

Must escape.

But my body felt like it was nailed to the spot, my legs felt as heavy as lead and wouldn't obey my commands.

The ferocious wild boar pawed at the grass with its hind hooves, and the next second, like an out-of-control truck, it charged towards her with a stench.

The sounds of wind, grass clippings, and the monster's heavy breathing whistled in my ears.

Time seemed to be stretched at this moment.

She could clearly see the sharp, outward-facing fangs, which gleamed with a chilling light in the pixelated sunlight.

Ah... I'm going to die.

[And so, in the most foolish and pathetic way, they died at the hands of a wild boar made of data.]

She didn't even have the courage to resist.

She gave up thinking, closed her eyes in despair, and let out the last, weak, and short scream of her life.

……

The expected excruciating pain did not come.

The chilling sensation of the body being torn apart and dissipating into countless blue fragments did not appear.

The world fell into an eerie, warm silence.

Asuna Yuuki slowly opened her eyes, which had been tightly closed due to fear.

The sight before her completely shut her down.

There are no grasslands, no monsters, and no false sun here.

She was in a room that looked incredibly cozy.

A soft, comfortable off-white sofa sits on a natural wood coffee table, where a cup of steaming black tea sits, and a faint, comforting lemongrass scent fills the air.

Warm light streamed down from the ceiling, illuminating the entire room as if it were afternoon.

Where...is this?

Paradise?

A young man wearing a white shirt and black casual pants is sitting on the opposite single sofa, holding a book in his hand, looking relaxed.

He looked to be in his early twenties, with soft, slightly wavy black hair, a handsome face, and a gentle demeanor. His eyes, which held a hint of languor, were calmly looking at her.

"It seems you are the newcomer who just 'died' on the grassland."

His voice, like the feeling he gave off, was gentle and calm, yet carried an undeniable certainty.

"Welcome to the 'Land of Temporary Soul Retention'."

...dead?

These two words struck Asuna's chaotic thoughts like a heavy hammer.

Her heart skipped a beat.

wrong!

She subconsciously reached out to raise her hand and trace that familiar interface in the air.

She wants to see her HP bar!

However, as she traced her finger through the air, nothing happened.