03x35 - Heartless Choice

[bunniefuu]

Have you ever had a
premonition about death?

A premonition about death?

When I was less experienced,

and either the previous dark general
or the one before him easily defeated me,

I thought that might be it for me.

But you brought back his head
quite some time ago.

You haven't had any since?

You know, I can't really remember.

But why would you ask
me that so unexpectedly?

Surely Your Eminence
is free of such sensations.

You don't understand, do you, Bercouli?

It's every day. Every day, I sense death.

Every morning when I open my eyes...

No, even in my dreams.

And why is that?
Because I still don't control everything.

Because I have enemies who are still alive.

And because the possibility of a new enemy emerging
at some point in the future is always looming.

Well, well...

Being the pontifex certainly isn't easy,
huh?

Your Eminence...

I think I finally understand
what you meant now.

Heartless Choice

Here, Senpai.

You look a bit healthier today,
Kirito-senpai.

And you have a good appetite!

Perhaps sleeping beside four beauties
did him good!

I see.

The enemy from the real world
really has some unique strategies.

Emperor Vecta is taking a risk.

This is w*r.

Unlike the outsider, little Asuna, this is no time
for us to feel sorry for the forces of darkness.

We have to take this chance.

Chance?

That's right.

Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!

Have your people climb across ropes cast
over the chasm to reach the other side.

I don't care if there are casualties.

You're to enforce the tightrope walking
no matter what.

They're dying in vain!

Not for the five tribes of darkness's long-cherished
goal, the invasion of the Human Empire...

but for something called
the Priestess of Light!

Hurry! Hurry up!

Before something else comes to get in
your way! Just make it over, all of you!

Enemy att*ck! Protect them!
Protect those ropes at all costs!

They're only a small force!
Don't let them get near the ropes!

Stop!

So this... So this is w*r, huh?

How can you call this a battle?

No way did they endure all that
grueling training just to die like this!

Forgive me. Forgive me, all right?

Just as I suspected, the AI of the Human
Empire units appear to be slightly superior.

No.

Strictly in terms of adaptability,
they're in a different class.

Don't mess up, Critter.

Tuesday, July 7, 2026 12:05 AM Ocean Turtle

Syncing of the Underworld
and the real world times is complete!

What?

Hey, is this for real?

Are they crazy? A PvP with life-like
human avatars AND realistic v*olence?

You mean we can like,
cut off arms and heads and stuff? No way!

No restrictions? Hell to the yes!
The developer is adventurous!

I'm so signing up for this beta!

I'll let you have the dark knight accounts.

Go on and m*ssacre the Human Empire Army
to your heart's content!

Oh, no!

Daddy and Mommy are in danger!

Tuesday, July 7,
2026 3:02 AM Shino's apartment

Incoming Call

Kazuto Kirigaya

Sinon! It's Yui!

Y-Yui?

I'll explain later!

Get ready to go out right now,
leave your apartment, and get into a taxi!

I'm sending the address and the
fastest route to get there to your phone!

A-A taxi? To where?

Please hurry! Daddy
and Mommy are in danger!

Tuesday, July 7,
2026 3:02 AM Kirigaya residence

Um... can you take me to Minato Ward
in Tokyo, please?

Sorry, Mom. I promise
that I'll rescue Big Brother, okay?

It's already been ten hours since Ms.
Asuna logged into the Underworld, huh?

Which means that about a year
should have gone by over there.

Was the World End's Altar that far
from the Human Empire?

M-Mr. Kiku! The phone!

Sub Control Room. This is Kikuoka.

U-Uh, that's the Rath main location
STL Development headquarters, right?

This is Hiraki at the Roppongi Branch.
We have a problem, or should I say,

something odd is going on.

Someone from outside Rath just showed up
without an appointment.

Outside? You mean clients?

No. It has nothing at
all to do with clients.

And they don't look to be anything
but high school girls.

And there's two of them.

D-Did you say high school girls?

Yes.

And they asked me to contact Seijiro
Kikuoka of Rath headquarters right now,

to tell you to check
the Underworld FLA rate immediately.

I-It's the same? Since when?

N-Names! Did those girls give their names?

Uh, yes! Actually... This is
going to sound crazy, too,

but... Tuesday, July 7,
2026 4:34 AM Rath Roppongi branch

There's no way it's their real names.

Uh, let's see. They told me to tell you
that it's "Sinon" and "Leafa."

I mean,
they look totally Japanese to me, but...

Tuesday, July 7,
2026 4:40 AM ALO New Aincrad Floor 22

For crying out loud.

Damn him, he had to go off on his own
and get mixed up in some trouble again?

A virtual world created by the SDF,
and an honest-to-goodness AI named Alice?

But that's so beyond the realm of a game!

Not only that, but they're going to load her
into a fighter jet and make her wage w*r?

Apparently, for now, Rath intends to use that technology
in demonstrations both domestically and internationally.

But my guess is that
the attackers occupying the Ocean Turtle

have a more specific application in mind.

Who the heck are these attackers, anyway?

It's extremely likely that the U.S. m*llitary
or a U.S. intelligence agency is involved.

Th-The U.S. m*llitary?
You mean the American army?

If Alice were to fall into the hands
of the U.S. m*llitary,

in the not-so-distant future, she'd most likely
be deployed in battle as an unmanned AI w*apon.

I'm sure Daddy and Mommy
want to prevent that, if nothing else.

Because...

Because Alice...

is proof that all VRMMO worlds,
beginning with SAO,

and the people who lived in them,
really existed,

and she's also the fruit of massive amounts
of time, material, and mental resources!

I am convinced beyond a doubt that the
true objective created by the Seed package

is none other than the birth of Alice.

Throughout countless connected worlds,

so many people have laughed,
cried, grieved, and loved

and because the radiance of their souls resonated,
a new form of humanity was born in the Underworld.

Daddy. Mommy. Leafa. Klein.
Lisbeth. Silica. Agil. Sinon.

As well as so many other people. It was from the
cradle woven by your hearts that Alice was born!

Yeah. That's true, isn't it?

We're connected to all of it.

Time, people, and our hearts, too.

Like a huge river.

Don't worry... Yui.

We'll go save Kirito and Asuna.
We're definitely going to save them.

So please don't cry.

You heard her!
You should've come to us sooner, Yuippe!

There's no way we'd ever abandon Kirito!

We owe that guy big time, after all.

We should pay him back a little now,
at least.

Everyone, thank you so much!

Thank you so much.

Still, 30,000 VRMMO players diving
from America? It could even be 100,000.

And they'll all side with the enemy
against the Human Empire, huh?

What if we exposed the experiment or
the att*ck on the American VRMMO sites,

and asked them not to take part
in the fake beta test?

The reality is that this is w*r for a secret
between the U.S. and Japanese militaries.

If we were to give off any hint of that,
it could very well backfire.

Posting "Your opponents are real humans, so
please don't k*ll them," wouldn't help, huh?

Well, then all we have to do
is take a page from their book!

By making our own
notification site for the beta test.

If the Rath guys give us accounts of equal level,
we can drum up 30 or 40,000, just like that!

But there is one problem, you know.

What problem?

The time difference.

Right now, it's 4:30 am in Japan, meaning
the period with the fewest connections.

On the other hand, in the U.S., it's 12:30
noon in LA, and 3:30 PM in New York.

There are way more
active players over there.

Agil is right about that.

We couldn't hope to gather
anywhere near 10,000 people right now.

If we were to use accounts
of the same level as the enemy,

our chances of holding our own
would be extremely low, I'd have to say.

But aren't any more of the god account
that Asuna used, are there?

Not that we have time
to level up from scratch like Kirito did.

So it's game over, huh?

No.

Accounts do exist.

Accounts far more powerful in terms of level and equipment
than the default accounts being used by the enemy.

Wh-Where are they?

The very accounts you're logged in with
at this moment!

Data conversion!

All of you,
as well as scores of other VRMMO players

must convert the characters that you've trained
throughout the Seed worlds into Underworld accounts.

I get it! Never thought of that!

That said, this particular method
does have a few problems.

Tuesday, July 7,
2026 5:02 AM ALO Neutral City Arun

This is neither a lie or a joke.

Soon, tens of thousands of American players
will unknowingly dive into the Underworld,

a virtual world based on the Seed created
by a certain Japanese research company,

and they're going to m*ssacre
everyone who lives there!

The residents of the
Underworld aren't mere NPCs!

They share the same
emotions and souls as us!

Please lend us a hand to protect them!

Everyone, please convert your
existing character data to the Underworld!

Lisbeth, I know that you and your friends
wouldn't joke around this early in the day,

and the fact that Kirito hasn't logged in for more
than ten days means this is no trivial matter. But...

To be honest, I find it hard to believe.

AIs with the same souls as humans,
with the U.S. m*llitary out to seize them?

Both scenarios are far too unrealistic.

Moreover, didn't you also just say that
there'd be several problems with conversion?

Would you mind explaining
what those issues are first?

Yes.

The Underworld...

isn't being operated
as a normal VRMMO game.

Which is why diving into it
will present some problems.

First of all,
the Underworld has no operational UI.

In other words,
you can't log out of your own accord.

The only way to log
out is to "die" in-game.

But that would trigger yet another problem.

The Underworld has
no built-in pain absorber.

If you take enough damage to drop your HP to zero,
you're likely to feel the most excruciating pain.

And finally...

at this time, the developers are unable
to operate the Underworld.

Which means that
once you've converted your character data,

there's no guarantee it can be
converted back to the original game.

In some cases,
it may even end up in character loss.

Hold on a second.

What's up with that?

Loss?

Give me a break!

D-Don't give us that!

Character loss, you say?

So if they're lost,
are you guys going to make good?

Or is this just a trap to weaken us,
tribe by tribe?

I'm sorry! We won't be
able to compensate you.

We're keenly aware that money can't buy
the characters you've raised until now!

That's why we're pleading
with you! To help us.

To help our friends who are desperately fending off the
American att*ck in the Underworld, even as we speak!

These friends you're talking about,
you mean SAO survivors, don't you?

You can't fool us! We know that you former SAO
players all secretly look down on the rest of us!

What do we care about invasions,
artificial intelligence, or souls!

Don't waste our time with all this talk
about bringing the real world into a VRMMO!

You guys can deal with
that kind of thing yourselves!

Just you survivors,
celebrated even in real life!

It didn't work.

My words weren't enough
to get through to them at all.

That's right,
this is happening in the real world!

Like you said, those of us who came from SAO might have
the tendency to blur what's real and what's virtual!

But I swear to you, we don't think of
ourselves as heroes, or anything special!

This girl and I...

we attend a school
made up of only survivors.

The students there have to undergo
counseling once a month, no matter what.

We get asked all these
uncomfortable questions.

And they make a lot of kids take meds
against their will.

We're all part of the government's
potential criminal watch list.

And it's not just the students at the returnee
school who are being treated that way.

All VRMMO players are looked upon that way,
more or less.

As if we're dead weight
that doesn't contribute to society.

People who refuse to face up to reality,
not paying taxes or social security.

Some people even argue that the
m*llitary draft should be reinstated,

so we can be forced to serve.

But there's one thing I
know! And I believe it!

That reality is right here!

This world, as well as the countless
virtual worlds connected to it,

in no way are they make-believe refuges!

For me, this world is the reality
where I have a real life,

real friends, real encounters and partings,
and real smiles and tears!

Don't you all feel the same way?

Aren't you all doing your best because
this world is your alternate reality?

And yet, if it's just a game,

if you abandon it
because it's nothing but a virtual fake,

then tell me, where is our truth?

All these worlds that we've grown came together
just like this World Tree and started to bud.

And caused this flower
called the Underworld to bloom.

Well, I want to protect it.

Please!

Please... help us.

Dark Territory Northern Chasm

All right! On to the sixth rope!

Next time: Ray of Light.