My SAO adventure is wrong, as expected

Chapter 41 – Graduation at Sobu High School

Today was the graduation ceremony of Sobu High School. It had been one year and three months since Hachiman got trapped in SAO.

Yukino had been accepted into the country's top university.

Yui had finally gotten into a private university in Tokyo.

Iroha had served as the student council president for two consecutive years, seemingly the first time this had happened since the school was founded.

Komachi had successfully entered Sobu High School and was now participating in student council activities.

It seemed she would be taking on a leadership role next year.

"Ms. Hiratsuka, thank you for all your guidance over the years."

"Sensei! Thank you so much for everything!"

"Mm, I'm glad both of you got into university safely. I had hoped I could send off one more smiling student..."

The three of them were reminded, almost in unison, of Hachiman, who should have been present today. The mood grew somber.

"What are your plans after this?"

"Yes, the three of us are going to visit Hikigaya-kun's hospital room together with Iroha-san."

"I see..."

"Would you like to come with us, Sensei?"

"There's just too much work today. I'll make a proper visit another time."

Hayama and Tobe had gone around visiting people who had interacted with Hachiman, collecting messages for him.

With the message book in hand, the three girls headed to Hachiman's hospital room.

Yukino, Yui, and Iroha had already gotten into the habit of visiting Hachiman as a trio.

Whenever something happened at school, one of the three would inevitably say, "Let's go report to Hachiman," and that had become their routine.

The sight of them taking turns talking to the unresponsive Hachiman had become a daily scene in the eyes of the hospital staff. The doctors and nurses all looked upon them with gentle eyes.

"Hikigaya-kun, we graduated today."

"We did it—graduation!"

After placing the message book as a decoration in the room, Yukino skillfully hid a can of coffee in the bottom drawer of the bedside cabinet.

Yui stood on tiptoe, hanging a paper crane wind chime on the IV stand.

Iroha stood in front of a mirror, fixing her bangs.

"If Senpai suddenly opened his eyes and saw how pretty my makeup is today, he'd probably fall unconscious again for another three months."

"More importantly," Yukino said, placing a copy of her graduation certificate under Hachiman's pillow, "Hikigaya-kun's survival record in the game is remarkably stable."

Her fingers traced the steady line on the monitor.

Suddenly, her eyes caught her reflection in the screen's glare—the angle was eerily similar to how a certain someone used to curl up in the corner of the Service Club room.

Yui suddenly pulled a Polaroid camera from her bag. "Let's take a commemorative photo!" Before the other two could react, the camera had already clicked cheerfully.

In the photo that slowly emerged, the boy wearing the VR headset slept as peacefully as ever, while the three girls' figures blurred into a glowing haze due to a shaky hand.

"Retake! Let's make Hikigaya look cool this time…"

"Yui-san, you're going to use up all the spare film."

"It's fine! When Hikigaya wakes up and sees hundreds of blurry photos, maybe he'll grumble, 'Miss Dango's photography skills are still as bad as ever.'"

Iroha suddenly leaned in toward the bed, her fingers hovering over the boy's messy bangs. "Senpai's hair needs trimming." She turned to Yukino, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Wanna bet on whether he complains about Yukino-senpai's black stockings or my manicure first when he wakes up?"

"I bet he'll say, 'The disinfectant smell reeking of normie vibes is suffocating.'" Yukino replied as she subtly jotted down a memo on her phone: "Contact hairdresser."

When Komachi entered the room carrying a laundry basket, she was greeted by a surreal sight: the student council president applying hand cream to her brother, the queen of the normies adjusting his oxygen mask, and the cold and aloof Yukino-senpai tweezing loose threads off his white coat one by one.

"Everyone…" Komachi's demon horn headband trembled. "Is this a real-life version of Beautiful Boy Idol Factory?"

"Just practicing service club activities~" Iroha shook her nail polish. "If Senpai wakes up and finds his hands more manicured than an idol's, he might actually cry from emotion."

Yukino cleared her throat to change the subject. "Komachi-san, you're running for student council secretary next year?"

"That's right! My goal is to become the youngest ever—"

"—youngest tyrant in Sobu High's history?" Yui's unexpected quip made everyone freeze. Then laughter erupted, drawing the attention of a patrolling nurse.

Komachi wiped away tears of laughter from her eyes and suddenly pulled four game pamphlets out of her bag. "Everyone, wanna try ALO? We can have meetups in the virtual world!"

A few months ago, the company that developed SAO, ARGUS, went bankrupt under massive debt.

The server management of SAO was transferred to RECTPROGRESS, a company that launched the next-generation NERvGear. As part of the launch, they released a game using replicated SAO servers: ALfheim Online, or ALO for short.

On the cover, fairy wings refracted rainbow light. Yukino's fingers paused on the tagline: "Data Inheritance from Sword Art Online."

Yui excitedly flipped to the race introduction page. "Wind elves would suit Yukino-chan! Fire spirits go great with Iroha! I'll be a cat demon…"

"I'll have to decline," Yukino said crisply, closing the pamphlet. "Gathering in a virtual world…"

"But Yukino-senpai," Iroha waved her phone, "Ms. Hiratsuka just emailed. She pulled the limited edition Fairy Queen skin."

Just then, there was a knock at the door. A man entered the room.

"Oh, everyone's here."

"Mr. Kikuoka, good morning!"

"O-ohayou."

Seijirou Kikuoka worked in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, in the division that managed virtual spaces.

Kikuoka had visited Hachiman's hospital room many times since the SAO incident and was familiar with the four girls.

Judging by how smoothly he played along with Yui's greeting, his social skills were top-notch.

"Hello, Mr. Kikuoka. Any updates?"

Kikuoka paused slightly as he wiped his glasses. "As for rescuing Hikigaya-kun, at this point, the only thing we can do…"

"We still just have to wait for the game to be cleared, huh?" Komachi's voice was as light as a whisper.

"I'm really sorry I can't be of more help."

"Not at all. Just the special school you've prepared for my brother's return is already more than enough."

Komachi had learned from Kikuoka that if Hachiman returned, the government planned to establish a special school for the SAO victims.

Knowing the effort he put into this, she expressed her sincere gratitude.

"This is already the limit of what I can do… I'm sorry," Kikuoka said, staring down into his teacup. The clink of ceramic against the glass table echoed crisply.

Haruno Yukinoshita leaned against the armrest of the sofa, twirling a strand of her flaxen hair. "So? You didn't come here just for tea, did you?"

"I happened to have business in Chiba," the man in a suit said, glancing at the tightly closed room upstairs.

"Mr. Kikuoka, you've been dropping by a lot lately…" Komachi leaned forward in her single-seat sofa, the hem of her school skirt brushing the table's edge. "Could it be that you're visiting all the families of the trapped players?"

"Well…" He rubbed his nose with a finger. "Actually, I've only approached players considered strategically valuable for clearing the game."

"Strategically valuable?" the girls repeated in sync under the lights.

"Yes, for example—" Kikuoka pulled a hologram projector from his briefcase, projecting floating data on the wall. "As of this morning, 52.7% of SAO players remain in the starting town. About 1,200 active players are on the 35th floor. As for Hikigaya Hachiman-kun…"

"Where's my brother?" Komachi gripped the hem of her skirt so tightly her knuckles turned white.

"He appears to be part of the elite clearing team—about 100 members in total. Judging by his level, he's in the highest-ranked organization."

"My brother's in the top-tier clearing team."

"In addition, he's frequently accompanied by two players."

"Two?"

"Yes. One is the highest-level male player in SAO. The other is the girl I mentioned before—someone he's been with since the beginning. A young lady. The three of them currently hold the top three rankings in SAO. Hikigaya-kun is ranked second."

"A very cute young lady, same age as Hikigaya-kun."

As everyone eagerly asked questions, Kikuoka hesitated before deciding to share what he could.

Yui dropped the Polaroid camera in her hands.

The developing photo showed everyone with blank, stunned faces.

Iroha, smiling stiffly, snapped a cotton swab in half. "Could you tell us more about this 'young lady'?"

"She wears pure white armor in-game and is called 'The Flash.' Incidentally, it seems she's always seen by Hikigaya-kun's side. According to eyewitness reports, they were spotted in the flower fields on the 52nd floor…"

"Flower fields?" Iroha asked with a sickly sweet smile as she opened a new cotton swab wrapper. "What kind of flowers? Lavender? Roses? Or maybe…"

The sound of the plastic crinkling in her hands was enough to make teeth ache.

"Ahaha, well…" Cold sweat visibly beaded on Kikuoka's forehead. "Speaking of which, that young lady, in real life…"

Clack. Yukino shut the paperback novel she always carried.

"Hikigaya-kun… you better give me a proper explanation when you return."

"Don't tell me Hikigaya's dating that girl..."

"While I basically support an expanded candidate pool for my brother's future bride, I can't decide without meeting this one."

"Komachi! Betraying your future sister-in-law already!?"

"Iroha-senpai probably still ranks as 'a slightly closer underclassman' in my brother's heart..."

After completing Hachiman's status check, Kikuoka said goodbye to the four and left.

As dusk fell, the group left the hospital and went their separate ways.

Back at the Yukinoshita residence, a strange blue glow filled the study.

Yukino had begun researching ALO. When her phone suddenly buzzed, she nearly spilled her hot cocoa on the keyboard.

The caller ID showed it was her sister, Haruno.

Since Hachiman got trapped in SAO, the sisters' relationship had improved a lot.

"Yukino-chan~ Guess where your big sis is starting work tomorrow?" Haruno's voice was syrup-sweet. "Hint: It's related to a certain tsundere boy stuck in a game~"

Yukino moved her phone 10 centimeters away from her ear. "If it's RECT Corporation, then mother must've…"

"Eh?! How did you know?" Haruno yelped. "Don't tell me you've awakened psychic powers? Can you predict next week's lottery numbers?"

"Sis," Yukino interrupted her. "That lady from the Yuuki family…"

"Oh, you mean Miss Asuna?" Haruno's tone suddenly turned serious. "I saw her at last year's Christmas banquet, that graceful young lady in a white dress. Though I hear in-game…"

Yukino's fingers hammered the Enter key. "What about in-game?"

"She's called 'The Flash'~" Haruno drawled, prompting Yukino's hand to twitch. "And she's ranked in the top three female players."

Hearing that, Yukino froze. A top-three female player… wasn't that Hachiman-kun's…

"So she's with Hikigaya-kun? I understand your anxiety, but all we can do is focus on what's in our control."

"I'm not… anxious or anything…"

Listening to her sister's words, Yukino suddenly realized something.

"…You knew this all along, didn't you?"

"Well, our intel department's analyzing the same data~" Slurping sounds of bubble tea came through the phone.

"Why tell me now?"

"Because you haven't answered my calls! It's been three days! My LINE messages are still unread!"

"…Sis."

"Yukino is so scary! Anyway, I'm hanging up now. Starting next month, I need to prep for RECT's onboarding."

"Honestly… good luck with the job hunt."

"Oh right—Yukino-chan, happy graduation."

"…Thanks—for everything."

That night, their LINE group exploded with over 99 messages.

[Normies Must Die (Iroha)]: Emergency meeting! Who the hell is that 'Flash-something' girl!?

[Dessert Queen (Yui)]: Maybe she's an NPC? Like a princess or something?

[Long Black Hair Is Supreme (Yukino)]: According to Chapter 3, Article 5 of the ARGUS employee manual, NPCs cannot appear in speedrun rankings.

[Normies Must Die]: Yukino-senpai, why do you even have that manual?!

[Demon Sister (Komachi)]: Wanna log into SAO now? (Just kidding.) Maybe we'll run into big bro~?

[System Message: Long Black Hair Is Supreme has uploaded "SAO Beginner's Guide (Revised Edition).pdf"]

[Dessert Queen]: Since when did you write that, Yukino!?

[Long Black Hair Is Supreme]: Just now.

Moonlight sliced through the blinds, casting shadows in the room.

Yukino's laptop screen reflected her slightly flushed cheeks.

In the browser history, a page titled "SLO Couple Quest Guide" had been quietly buried, forever sealed when she hit the shutdown button.