28 Chapter 28

The day was still bright when Nao arrived at the 22nd floor teleport gate.

Recalled again about what just happened before, he could felt something inside, so he closed his eyes and sighed a bit.

Opened his eyes slightly again after muse about something, he said simply inside, with half-closed eyes, 'Killing, huh. . . .'

Shook his head to brushed off the thought, he looked around the village and said softly, "Well, what to do now? The day would be ended pretty badly if it continued like this." He sighed again after said that and walked away from the village.

After he leave Kirito and Silica there, Nao went back to the town alone and used the town's teleport gate to teleport back to where his house was at, the 22nd floor. He wanted to ease his messy feeling because of what just happened today, so he went back right away here.

What he did before was murders after all, so even though he didn't mind about it much, there's still a bit . . . . um . . . bad after taste? left inside of him as a human being.

They deserved what they've got after what they did, kill many players just for fun, torture them and all, but still, after all of it was did and done, he wasn't a machine, one that would never felt anything after did something like that. So the bad after taste left inside was quite a normal thing for him, though he looks just fine from the outside.

He thinks about it again after some time, and mumbled "Still, thinking about it carefully, this is my first time killing in both life, right? Though the bad after taste was left inside, and I could felt it clearly, but other than that a bit of feelings, I didn't felt anything and was just fine." Nao mumbled along the way.

He keep walking in silent for a long time with an expression as if his mind was in a trance because of the thought.

After the long silence, he crossed his arms and said, "I heard that after killing someone for the first time, I would felt a horrible feeling or something like that, but I didn't feel anything like that aside from the bad after taste I feel right now."

He looked at the sky for a while and said, "Is it because of the [Mental Resistance]?" He paused for a while and continue, "Or is it because of something else?"

He thought about it, wondering about how could he didn't feel any pressure or any other uncomfortable feelings at all, after killing someone for the first time.

But after thinking about it, he thought that either way, it was a good thing for him because this way, he could kill anyone who deserve it without any hesitation.

Nao was walking on the pathway slowly for a while, before finally ended arrived around the big lake not long afterwards. He looked at it through his mask and could seen a few fishermen there, fishing on the lake with their fishing rod in their hand.

"Fishing, huh. Well, it's not a bad idea. Let's fishing around here then, and refresh my mind a bit." Nao said after thinking about it.

He then put off his mask and headed to the shore of the lake. When he arrived there, he takes out from his item storage, his fishing rod and the fishing chair along with it. Throw the bait to the lake, he sat on the chair waiting for the fish to be hooked by the bait.

Haku flies down from his head after that, yawned cutely, then curled on his lap as soon as it landed on it, as if knowing that it would be a long time before the fish was hooked by the bait.

Nao smiled faintly when looking at it, he then rubbing its head gently with his other hand and it purred blissfully because of that. Nao's smile widened, and unknowingly by him, a little chuckle was out of his mouth, thinking about how cute this creature was.

Timed passed after that and the night slowly approaching, and Nao ended spent the rest of his day there, fishing with Haku on his lap. Nishida also stopped by after a while and the both fishing together after that while chatting about many thing while on it.

Nao suddenly remembered his talk with Sebas before, so he asked Nishida, who works in a network operator company, about the internet connection related things. Nao also knew that he always feels a bit worried about his job, so Nao invite him to work with him. Nishida had experience about that kind of job, so it's not a bad thing to offer him a job which related with internet connection.

Of course Nishida thinks that he was joking at first. His reaction was a normal one, though. After all, a fifteen-years-old boy offered him a job suddenly out of nowhere, so of course he won't take it seriously.

But after Nao explained to him that he was serious and talked about all of it more thoroughly, he started to think about it carefully, and in the end, he said that if the Tohto Broadband Connection, the company he was working for right now, fired him after the SAO incident was ended, he would gladly accept Nao's offer and work for him.

Nao didn't mind about that, and after nodded, he told Nishida his real name along with the way how he could contact him in the real world.

Nishida also did the same and told Nao his real name, though his name right now was already his real name and only told Nao his family name.

They keep talking and fishing together before the day slowly getting dark, so the both of them called it a day and decide to went back.

Nao was walking on the pathway leading to his log house right now, with Haku perched on top of his head.

He walked leisurely for a while before halted suddenly when he almost reach the location of his house. He could sense someone's presence around his house.

He always keep his sense spread, his house was outside the village after all, made it uncovered by the [Area] effect of the village. Because of that, monsters and red players still could came at this place freely as they wish without restriction.

And just now, Nao senses, which was spread out, caught a presence of someone around his house. So he stopped for a moment and carefully felt it better to know who it was.

Nao stood still there for a while before suddenly, he opened his eyes widely, then blinked it several time in confusion.

Question mark could be seen clearly from all over his face, which also filled with confusion.

Regain his sense again soon after that, he didn't waste any time and ran at there to see it with his own eyes.

He was in front of his house already in a jiffy. He could finally seen with his own eyes, a girl, laying unconscious there, in front of the door of his house, with white dress and long black hair.

Nao stood still there didn't move at all, couldn't believe what he seen with his own eyes. He looked at her with wide eyes while his mind was flooded with many question at once.

He know her, clearly! But it was precisely because he know her that he was very surprised seeing her here, in this time.

'How could she was here? More importantly, why now? Isn't it too early??!! And why she collapsed right in front of the door of the house?????' He said inside his mind, but no one know the answer for now.

Many thought ran through his mind before suddenly, 'Ah!!' He snapped back and shook his head hardly, 'Why the hell I just stood still here like an idiot!!!' He said inside and walked towards her hurriedly.

She was already in that state even from the moment Nao could senses her presence before, so no one know just how long she was laying unconscious in front of his house.

Nao picked her up from the ground and could finally seen her face clearly when she was on his arms.

"Yui . . ." Nao blurted out her name soundlessly and thought, 'How could you are here? And right now on top of that.' Nao really confused right now.

Yui was indeed should have appeared on this floor, but not in front of the house. She should be appeared in the forest around this floor and seen by some carpenter after that. On top of that, not in this time, so she appeared here in front of the house made Nao really confused.

Nao shook his head again afterwards, carried her in his arms and opened the door of the house. He decide to just think about all of it later, so he went right away to the bedroom to let her rest for now.

Nao put her on his bed carefully and blanketed her after that. Because Nao never expected that Yui would appeared this soon, so he hasn't prepared another bed yet and couldn't help but just let her rest on his bed for now.

'I realized it just now, there's really no cursor and HP bar on her, huh.' Nao said inside.

In SAO, every "living being", like NPC for example, had cursor on them, green in color for most of them like the one that every player had at first. Even monster had one on them, as a sign for a quest or for a reference to the monster's power when compared to the player's level.

But Yui in front of him didn't have both of it, the cursor or the HP bar on her, made her looks like a normal human in the real life.

Nao sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, 'Many thing happen today . . .' He said inside and looked at the ceiling.

He looked at Yui again and murmured, "AI, huh . . ."

'But It's really an amazing thing, to think that a Top-down-type AI, not only ignored the main system's instruction, but also disregarding the already inputted data along with it and act on her own will.' Said Nao inside.

From the story Nao knew, according to how they work, there are two different types of AI. One was Top-down-type AI and another one was Bottom-up-type AI.

The majority of AI right now was the Top-down one, where human need to input the data and information first before the AI could execute the order. They act according to the data inputted and programmed into them. So they work really just like a program, even though they really interactive and all, they need data input for that.

While the other type was the Bottom-up-type AI, which was the type that would be developed by RATH in the future. This type of AI not really need input of the data or information intentionally into it because they could learned all of it naturally as time passed, like how human learn from experience as they grow up.

They act according to what they learned and experienced. So they more human-like than the Top-down one because of that. Well, to begin with, they had system structure which was copied from a human fluctlight's structure, so it was obvious that they are more superior in that regard.

Their difference was, one answer B after A data was "inputted", while another one was, answer B after the A data was "learned". One need data to be inputted while the other learned the data instead, normally just like human.

Because of that, as a Top-down-type AI, Yui normally should be act according to the data programmed and information inputted to her. But right now, she didn't and still get out from her place inside the system.

That's why, even though Nao knew all of this from the story, he still amazed after thinking that as a Top-down AI, Yui act on her own will and disregard Cardinal's system instruction as her superior in the system.

'She was undoubtedly affected by the mental state of the players, but how could she affected by it was unknown. Is it just because she was responsible to monitor the mental state of many players inside the game. Or is it because since the game became a death game, she could just monitor the players mental state, which was filled with despair and fear mostly, and could did nothing.' Nao said inside and muse about it.

From the story he remembered, added with all what already the clones and him learned about Cardinal System until now, Nao knew that at first, Yui was a Mental Health Counseling Program, which was a sub-program of the Cardinal System. She could be said a feature and was the safety measure created for SAO.

Not like the Amusphere, which had a feature that could logged the player out of the game forcefully when their mental state was unstable, like experience an excessive panic and all, or when their heart beat reach an alarming rate, as the safety measure, the Nervegear, as its previous generation, didn't have that feature. It was created to trap the player inside to begin with, so a mechanism like that was contradictory to its creation purpose.

But the game and the console was products meant to be sold, so they still need some safety measure, to obtain "safe products" certification mark, got the permission to be sold and all from the authorities, before it could be launched.

That's why a Mental Health Counseling Program, Yui was created, as the safety measure like the "forcefully logged out" feature of the Amusphere.

But Amusphere feature was a default setting of the console, while Yui was a program or sub-program of the system, The Cardinal System. So to adjust it, one only need to access the system and all of it would be done. While it would be more complicated and hard to do so in Amusphere case.

As an AI of the Mental Health Counseling Program, her task was to approach the player who was in an unstable state of mind, calmed them down and make them regain their sanity again, prevent them from experienced a traumatic experience.

Yui was tasked to monitor the mental health of the players inside the game and she did all of that through the ability which Cardinal System had, the brainwave-reader.

She was its sub-program after all, so Yui shared a few thing with it, like language module, and Yui also had limited access to some of its ability, like the brainwave-reader, to be used in her tasks to monitor players mental state. Though when the game start its first service, Cardinal System prevent her to do her tasks, made her could only monitor their broken mental state and could do nothing about that.

Nao knew that Yui's condition right now was in a damaged state. Continuously monitor and read thousands of mental state or brainwave-pattern, which was mostly in unstable state filled with despair, fear, anger, insanity, misery, all of it at once but could do nothing for more than a years, of course she would be ended overloaded by all of it, corrupted and damaged like now.

After corrupted and damaged, she attracted by Kirito and Asuna and approach the both of them . . . .

'Wait!!!' Nao snapped out of his thought and blinked his eyes several time after realized something.

'To begin with, she appeared in the story was mainly because attracted by the two, right?' Nao said inside.

'No! To be more exact, what made her approached them was her overwhelming curiosity about the two's mental state, which was at that time, could be said filled with happiness and joy, different from what she always seen, the despair, insanity and anger ones.' He said inside while pinch his chin.

He looked at Yui again who was laying on the bed peacefully and think about it, 'If that was the case in the story, then what happen now also must be the same, right? She even came right away to this house, so . . .' He tries to remember about anything that might be attract her to this house.

Because he was alone with Haku, he only use the house to sleep and was very rarely stay at the house. He would be around the lake, fishing or stroll around when he was on this floor. So he couldn't remember anything that might be the one that attracted her to this house.

'Well, I always felt very relaxed in this house, but is the brainwave-pattern from relax feeling enough to attract her?' Nao tilt his head thinking about it and said again inside, 'And on top of that, I couldn't remember any special moment in this house. After all, aside from sleeping, I usually just forge something here, like the rapier I forge five da-' He felt like could heard a 'click' sound from inside his head.

Nao opened his eyes widely in realization and turn his head at Yui fastly, 'Could it be, . . .' He thought still with wide opened eyes looked at Yui.

'Is she attracted by my brainwave-pattern when I forged a rapier?' Nao thought.

About five days ago, he forged a rapier for Asuna after got the ingot from the dragon's den. Remember that his one of his [Weapon Forging] skill just completed recently, he decide to forge the a rapier for her.

At that time, he remembered that after the clones analyze the Cardinal System, they found its ability to read brainwaves-pattern and imprint it on something. So Nao want to tries to make the system read his brainwaves-pattern and imprint it on the rapier he was forged at that time.

Nao imagined many things related to happiness, joyfulness, also hope at that time to the point that, he even casted a magic that usually he used to strengthened his imagination when using [Imagination Creation Magic]. Made the imagination stronger and he could felt it clearly, in hope that those brainwaves-pattern of feeling would be imprinted on the rapier.

Nao sighed then chuckled a bit, 'I made it to make the system imprint it on the rapier but in the end, it was attract her instead.' Nao smiled wryly and looked at Yui on the bed.

Reach out his hand and while smiled warmly, he caressed her head gently. As if she could felt it, though she was still asleep, Nao could seen that Yui smiled slightly. Nao felt a bit surprised at first, but just chuckled at it while still caressing her head.

He was laying beside her afterwards and said, "You are always alone there, watch them suffer but could did nothing, right? You must be suffered too because of that . . . . . but it's alright now, because you're here with me right now and not alone again." Nao said that with a very small and soft voice like whisper. He smiled warmly again at her, caressed her head, then closed his eyes slowly and cast the sleeping magic to fell asleep.

Nao couldn't seen it, that right after he closed his eyes and fell asleep, her smile widened, her face also filled with happiness and a tears could be seen trickled down, fell on her pillow.

The both of them, together with Haku who was curled and sandwiched by them, asleep sleep through the night.

No sound could be heard, except the sounds of their breath along with the tranquil sound of the night that passed slowly accompanied them.