The air was a mixture of numerous odors.
The fact that I was still alive shocked me.
The air that flowed into my nose was bringing in an abundance of information. First came the stinging smell of disinfectant. Then came the smell of sun-dried cloth, the sweet aroma of fruits, and the odor of my own body.
I slowly opened my eyes. For a moment, it felt like two powerful white beams of light pierced deeply into my mind, so I quickly shut my eyes again.
Sometime later, I hesitantly tried to open my eyes again. A myriad of colors danced across my pupils. It was only then that I noticed that there was a large amount of liquid covering my eyes.
I blinked in an attempt to get rid of them. But the liquid kept flowing out. They were actually tears.
I was crying. Why? There was a fierce but deep feeling of pain and loss within my heart. Voices continued to echo within my ears, as if someone was calling my name.
I squinted my eyes against the strong light and finally managed to get rid of the tears.
It felt like I was lying on something soft. I could see something akin to ceiling tiles above me. There were rows of smooth, beige colored panels, several of which shined softly as if there were lights behind them. From the edge of my vision, I could see a metallic vent, where air was being blown out with a low sound.
An air conditioner... in other words, a machine. How could something like that be here? No smith could make a machine no matter how high their skill stats were. If what I saw was really a machine— then this place wasn't—
It wasn't Aincrad.
I opened my eyes widely. My mind was fully awoken from just that one thought. I hurried to raise my body—
But my body wouldn't listen at all. I couldn't apply any strength. Although my right shoulder went up by a couple of centimeters, it immediately fell back down.
Only my right hand managed to move. I raised it onto my body and then brought it in front of my eyes.
For a moment I couldn't believe that this emaciated arm was mine. There was no way I would be able to hold a sword with this. When I inspected the sickly white skin more closely, I could see countless tufts of body hair covering it. I could see the blue veins below the skin and the wrinkles at the joints. Everything felt frightening; it was so realistic, so biological that it felt abnormal.
On the inside of my wrist, a piece of tape held a needle in place, which had a long cord connected to it like it was used to inject something. My eyes followed the cord and came upon a transparent package that was held up by a silver stand. The pack was still two-thirds full with some orange liquid, which dripped away at a steady pace.
I moved my left hand and tried to grasp my sense of touch. It seemed that my entire body was naked and lying on top of a bed made of some high density gel material. Because its temperature was slightly lower than my body's, I could feel its coldness slowly creep up to me. Suddenly, a memory surfaced in my mind; I once saw on a news broadcast that this type of bed had been developed for patients who couldn't move. It had the ability to prevent infections to the skin and break down disposed bodily wastes.
I looked around at my surroundings. It was a small room. The wall was of the same plain white color as the ceiling. There was an extraordinarily large window to my right with white curtains drawn over it. I couldn't see the scenery outside, but I could see the yellow sunlight shine straight through the fabric. A four-wheeled metal trolley parked to the far left of the gel bed, and a rattan basket laid on top of it. A bouquet of plain-looking flowers was inside the basket, which seemed to be the source of the sweet aroma. Past the trolley was a closed, rectangular door.
Based on all of this information, this place should be a hospital ward, and I was the only one here.
I returned my gaze to my raised right hand and suddenly thought of something. I waved my right hand with my index and middle fingers pressed together.
Nothing happened. There was neither a sound effect nor a menu screen. I waved again with a bit more strength, then again. The outcome was the same each time.
So, this really wasn't SAO. Then was it some other virtual reality?
But the information flooding through my five senses already shouted to me that there was another possibility. This— was the real world. It was the world I had left two years ago and never expected to see again.
The real world— It took me a long time to understand the meaning behind these simple words. For me, the world of swords and battles had been my only reality for a long time. I still couldn't believe that the other world was no longer there, that I was no longer in that world.
Then, have I returned?
—Even when I thought of that, I didn't really feel happy or anything. All I felt was a bit of confusion and a sense of loss.
Was this the reward that Kayaba had mentioned for clearing the game? I had clearly died within that world and my body had been completely erased. I had accepted that. I even felt content about it.
Yeah— It would have been fine if I had just disappeared like that. In that bright light, dissolving, scattering, and then melting away with the rest of the world, together with her—
"Ah..."
I subconsciously made a noise. A strong pain pierced the throat that hadn't been used in two years. But I didn't care about that in the slightest. I opened my eyes widely and said one word, the one name that appeared in my mind.
"A...su...na..."
Asuna. The pain that was etched onto my heart flared up once again. Asuna, my beloved wife, who watched the end of the world together with me...
Had it all been a dream...? A beautiful illusion that I saw in a virtual world...? These confused thoughts suddenly appeared in my mind.
No, she did exist. There was no way that all those days we had spent laughing, crying, and sleeping together had been a dream.
Kayaba had said— "Congratulations on clearing the game Kirito-kun, Asuna-kun." He had definitely said that. If he had included me in the list of survivors, then Asuna should have came back to this world as well.
As soon as I thought this, my love and my yearning for her overflowed inside me. I wanted to meet her. I wanted to touch her hair. I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to hear her voice calling my name.
I strained all the muscles in my body and tried to get up. Only then did I realize that my head was strapped down. I fumbled around with my fingers before finding a belt clasp below my chin and undoing it. There was something heavy on my head. I used both my hands and barely managed to take it off.
I sat up and stared at the thing in my hands. It was a smooth, deep blue helmet. A wire of the same color stretched out of a long pad at the back and went all the way down to the floor. It was—
Nerve Gear. I had been stuck in that world for two years because of this. Its power had been turned off. My last memory of it had been that of a shining helmet; but now the color had faded. Bits of it had come off and you could see the metal alloy that it was made of.
All my memories of the other world were held within this— I was suddenly seized by this thought and caressed the surface of the helmet.
I suppose I would never be putting this on again. But it fulfilled its purpose really well...
I muttered in my mind before placing the helmet on the bed. The days when I fought together with it were already a thing of the past. There was something else I needed to do in this world now.
I was suddenly aware of the noises outside. When I strained my ears, I could hear various sounds, as if they were telling me that my hearing had finally returned to normal.
I definitely heard the voices of people talking and shouting. I also heard the sounds of hurried footsteps and the wheels of beds as they were moved.
There was no way to know if Asuna was in this hospital. SAO players came from all across Japan, so the chances of her being here were low. But I would begin my search here. No matter how long it took, I would definitely find her.
I pulled the blanket off of me. There were numerous cords spread across my weak body. Maybe they were electrodes placed to slow down the degeneration of my muscles. I managed to pull all of them off. An orange LED flickered on the panel at the edge of my bed and a loud alarm went off, but I ignored all of this.
I pulled the IV drip needle out and finally freed my body. Then I placed my feet on the floor and slowly applied my strength in an attempt to stand up. My body rose bit by bit, but it felt like my knees would give way any minute and this made me smile bitterly; my superhuman strength stat was nowhere to be found.
I grabbed onto the IV drip stand for support and finally managed to stand up. Looking around the room, I found a folded hospital gown on the same tray as the basket of flowers and put it on.
After completing these simple movements, my breath was already ragged. The muscles that I hadn't used for two years were already protesting with pain. But I can't complain so easily.
Quickly, quickly. I could hear a voice urging me to keep going. My whole being longed for her. My fight wasn't over until I had Asuna— Yuuki Asuna in my arms.
With a tight grip on the stand instead of a sword, I leaned my body against it and took my first step towards the door.
([Sword Art Online] 1 The End)