Chapter Fifty-Three: Accelerator and Comforting His Daughter

  The weather is nice today, and so is my mood, so I'm going to bed late!

  After resolving the Smile of the Coffin, Yagumo's life had thoroughly calmed down.

  The smiling coffin was attacked by the strategy group, and even the president PoH was sent to prison. The entire orange guild in SAO hid like a frightened bird, and for a time, the law and order environment in the game improved significantly.

  Although there are still some fish that have escaped the net in the smiling coffin, those little rascals can no longer stir up any big waves.

  Because I promised to help out with the strategy group's boss fight, the entire SAO strategy started going very smoothly.

  Time flies, and it's been several months again.

  The time has come to March 2025.

  Asuna also upgraded from "Junior High School Student's Wife" to "High School Student's Wife", of course, only in terms of age.

  At this point, SAO has already been cleared up to the 99th floor!

  In the original work, when the raid party defeated the 75th floor boss, Kirito discovered that Heathcliff was actually Kayaba Akihiko, leading to an earlier final battle.

  This time, however, there was Kirito's involvement with Yui, and he had never dueled Heathcliff before, so he didn't suspect him beforehand.

  Without a doubt, and considering Yui's strength was far superior to Heathcliff's, Kirito never thought that "Heathcliff is actually Kouzuki Rinko".

  Although Kirito had suspicions that Yui was actually Makoto Shinkai, these doubts were ultimately suppressed deep within his heart.

  After all, he and Yakumo Sumeragi are also friends.

  In fact, Kirito has almost fallen into Lisbeth's gentle trap.

  Not long ago, Kirito had already married Lisbeth in the game.

  Of course, those who attend the wedding are also their friends who often gather together.

  At that wedding, Kirito used the White Sword, Elucidator, which Lisbeth had made for him, along with his previous weapon, to issue a challenge to Byakuya Kuchiki.

  The result was obvious, even with the use of Dual Blades, Kirito was still no match for Yui's opponent.

  If it wasn't for Yagumo's water release, Kirito wouldn't have been able to turn Yagumo's HP gauge yellow.

  After being thoroughly defeated by Yakumo Mokuro, Kirito finally let go of the thought in his heart that he had been chasing after Yakumo Mokuro's pace.

  That's too perverted, it's basically something a human can't accomplish, okay?

  As for why Yakumo Mukuro is so powerful, everyone has always been very puzzled.

  "Oh? It's because I'm also a martial artist in real life, so I'm very skilled at fighting and that sort of thing."

  Baiyun Mo said so.

  As for the explanation of Yakumo's ink, although people still found it unbelievable, they reluctantly accepted it.

  Similarly, in addition to being impressed by Yaiba's unwavering strength, the crowd was also astonished by Kirito's first revealed unique skill "Dual Blades".

  Adding Kirito's "Holy Sword" and Yui's "Falling Star", there are already three unique skills in SAO.

  Xie Zikui did not reveal his identity at the 75th floor as in the original work, and the strategy group arrived at the 99th floor with the help of Yiyun Mo.

  The hope of clearing the entire SAO is now within sight.

  All players, including those who originally lived at the bottom and waited for rescue in a numb state, had their hearts, which were originally shrouded in darkness and despair, gradually become brighter.

  However, although almost all the players were excited about being able to log out of SAO soon, Yui's parents, Yuzuru and Asuna, who had been taking care of her, noticed that Yui's enthusiasm had not been high lately.

  Although in front of them, Yui still made an effort to show a happy face, but how could Ayane and Asuna, who had been Yui's parents for so long, not notice their beloved daughter's abnormality?

  It's night.

  After dinner, looking at Yui sitting in the courtyard staring blankly at the bright moon in the sky, Hachirou and Asuna exchanged a glance, both seeing concern in each other's eyes.

  "Get dressed."

  When she heard Yayumi's call, Kudou regained her composure and hopped over to Yayumi, opening her arms wide. Her small body flew into Yayumi's chest like a swallow returning to its nest.

  "Dad!"

  Looking at Kiyoi's small face rubbing back and forth on his chest, Yagami Takeru asked in a soft voice, "Kiyoi, have you been troubled by anything lately?"

  Yui's body froze.

  Something's wrong!

  Yasna leaned forward, gently stroking Jingyi's head and softly said: "Is there something on your mind? Tell Daddy and Mommy, okay?"

  Yakumo Moku could feel it, Kechirase's arms wrapped around herself tightened a few degrees.

  He raised his head and saw that both Yagumo Kuro and Asuna's eyes had become teary.

  Asuna's heart suddenly became flustered and she busily comforted Yuuki.

  "Yi Yi, don't cry, whatever it is, tell Mom and Dad, we'll definitely help you!"

  Tears glistening with moonlight dripped from Jieyi's eyes and landed on Bayunmo's arm, creating a beautiful teardrop.

  "Dad......Mom......"

  "Yui... Yui wants to be with you all forever..."

  As soon as Asuna heard Yui's words, she let out a sigh of relief and gently stroked Yui's head with a warm smile.

  "Don't worry, Yui. Even if you clear the game, Mom will still be your mom and Dad will still be your dad. When you return to reality, Mom and Dad will definitely come find you."

  "No, it's not like that..."

  Kokoro buried her head in Yakumo's chest again and pushed against him with all her might.

  "After clearing the game... Yui will be gone... Can't be with dad and mom anymore..."

  Ayase's hand stopped.

  Actually, after such a long time, Asuna more or less guessed Yuki's identity.

  Kazuki might...not be human!

  "Yui, have you remembered what happened before?" asked Yakumo Moku.

  Kasumi felt the stiffness of Asuna's palm on her head and burst into loud sobs.

  "Waaa... Wuuu... Wuuuu..."

  After a long while, Bayun Mo finally comforted Jie Yi.

  The little girl sniffled, gazing at Bayun Mo with tears in her eyes, the affection in her eyes enough to melt the hardest steel in the world.

  "Dad, Mom... Kayaba Akihiko originally created the 'Mental State Management Support Programme', test subject number one, an AI responsible for managing and caring for SAO players' mental states."

  Aisna's eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at Yui.

  Although she had long suspected that Yui might not be human, Asuna's heart was still greatly shaken when she heard the truth from Yui herself.

  "Kazuki... Kazuki... you're not human..."

  Her eyes dimmed a bit, and Jie Yi lowered her head.

  "Not long after the game started, Yui was ordered by a control AI with higher authority to stop providing psychological counseling services to players. I had no choice but to become an observer, watching the players' every move and monitoring their mental values."

  "At first, the situation was particularly terrible, with every player being dominated by anger, despair and fear in their hearts..."

  "My original duty was to rush to these players' side and provide them with psychological counseling, but I was deprived of this right..."

  "In this case, the constantly accumulating program errors finally made me completely collapse..."

  "One day later, I inadvertently discovered Dad..."

  "Unlike other players, Dad had no negative emotions inside him, which caught my attention. Later on, Dad and Mom lived together, and the strong positive emotions they emitted made me yearn for it."

  "I... I wanted to be by Dad and Mom's side... then, something happened, I don't know what, and I ended up outside, where I finally met Dad..."

  "Daddy...... Daddy...... Mommy......"

  Watching Yui cry in his arms, Yakumo Tsubasa gently wiped away the tears on her small face.

  "It's okay, Yui."

  "Huh? Father?" She lifted her head and looked at Yakumo Sukehiro with a sorrowful and puzzled expression.

  "Dad... aren't you ashamed that Yui isn't human?"

  Yayoi Moku shook her head and said in a soft voice, "Why would Daddy dislike Yui? Whether Yui is human or program, isn't she still Daddy's dear daughter?"

  Turning her head to look at Asuna beside her, who also had a smile amidst tears, Yui lowered her head and gently bumped foreheads with Asuna.

  "Mom thinks so too..."

  "Daddy... Mommy... Jieyi, Jieyi loves you so much... Waaahhh..."

  It wasn't until Yui had finally calmed down that Yakumo Mokou said something that shocked both Yui and Asuna.

  "Jie Yi, you have to believe in Daddy, Daddy can make it possible for you to live with Mommy and Daddy in real life too."

  Aisya and Yui looked at each other in silence for a long time.