-1639- The overwhelming regret

Logging out in ALO isn't something players can do freely and without concern.

While there are many occasions when players need to log out immediately, if the game company allowed unrestricted logout behavior, players could simply escape from any crisis by logging out. This would make the game practically unplayable.

As a result, most fully immersive games have some restrictions on logging out, and ALO is no exception.

For example, players can log out instantly and safely only when they are within their race's territory. Outside of their territory, however, even if players log out, their in-game avatars remain in place for a period of time, vulnerable to attacks from others.

Because of this, players in the wild usually find a safe place to log out, or they take turns guarding each other. One player stays to keep watch until their companion's avatar disappears, only then logging out themselves to ensure absolute safety.

Right now, Rozen and Leafa found themselves in just such a situation.

"I'll stand watch for you," Rozen volunteered. "Next time, it'll be your turn to stand guard for me."

Hearing this, Leafa thought for a moment but quickly nodded, as if deciding there was no need to fuss over such a small matter.

"I'll leave it to you, then."

"Go ahead."

After a brief exchange, Leafa opened her main menu, navigated to the logout option, and clicked it.

The next second, Leafa closed her eyes and lowered her head, as if falling into a deep sleep, becoming motionless.

At that moment, the player controlling the "Leafa" avatar had logged out, leaving behind only a shell in the game.

Rozen smiled knowingly as he looked at the lifeless avatar, then turned around and scanned his surroundings with idle boredom.

Meanwhile, the player controlling "Leafa" returned to the real world and woke up in her bed.

---

"Mmm…"

In a room filled with a girl's fragrance, the one lying on the bed let out a soft hum and slowly opened her eyes.

What greeted her was a familiar ceiling.

On the ceiling was a giant poster, an enlarged and printed image taken from a screen capture.

The poster depicted a beautiful fairy girl with a ponytail flying freely through the endless blue sky, accompanied by a flock of birds.

That fairy girl was Leafa.

And the girl on the bed was the player behind the "Leafa" character.

The girl, with shoulder-length black hair and a curvy figure, was named—Kirigaya Suguha.

Yes, Leafa was Suguha—Rozen's sister.

Suguha slowly raised her hands and took off the game device she had been wearing on her head.

The device was a circular crown made of two connected rings, resembling an all-encompassing pair of goggles. Compared to the full-head-covering NerveGear, it was much thinner and far less restrictive.

This was the AmuSphere, the second-generation full-dive machine developed by the electronics manufacturer RECT.

After removing the AmuSphere, Suguha stared blankly at the ceiling for a moment, then smiled.

It was a beautiful, silly, and joyful smile.

"Finally..." she whispered. "I can finally meet nii-san in the virtual world and play a game with him."

The thought made her clutch her cheeks and kick her legs excitedly, unable to contain her happiness.

If Kirito were here to witness this, he would probably refuse to believe his own eyes.

The sister who had once hated games with a passion now not only had her own full-dive device but had also spent an entire year playing games—a fact he could never have imagined.

But this was the reality.

Suguha started playing games a year after the SAO incident happened, exactly one year ago.

Before that, games had only been an object of hatred to her, something that took her brother away.

And this wasn't just because of the deadly SAO incident—it went back even further.

Until the age of seven, Suguha, Rozen, and Kirito had shared a very close bond, one that even their neighbors admired.

Especially with Rozen. After becoming an adopted member of the Kirigaya family at the age of four, he had taken great care of Suguha, who was only three at the time.

Since their grandfather, who was still alive at the time, didn't know how to care for children, and their parents were often away on business trips, young Kirito couldn't be expected to handle everything alone.

Thus, Rozen essentially became the babysitter for both Kirito and Suguha, taking care of them daily—though he often grumbled about it.

Thanks to Rozen's constant care, the bond between the three of them grew strong, and both Kirito and Suguha became very attached to him.

Back then, Suguha followed Rozen around everywhere, never leaving his side. This shows just how close they were.

Because of this, Suguha admired Rozen from a young age.

Even though he was only a year older, he always took care of his siblings.

Despite being so young, he excelled academically and always ranked at the top, impressing everyone.

Rozen's intelligence reassured the family, who trusted him to look after his younger siblings and doted on him.

With such a perfect older brother, little Suguha naturally looked up to him with admiration.

But everything changed when she was seven.

That year, both Rozen and Kirito gave up kendo, creating a deep rift between them.

After quitting kendo, the two immersed themselves in computer games, as if trying to satisfy some long-suppressed desire, distancing themselves from Suguha, who continued her kendo training.

To Suguha, her brothers' world was incomprehensible, yet they were fully engrossed in it, leaving her behind.

Because of this, Suguha developed a deep aversion to games, and the distance between them grew.

She came to resent games, viewing them as the reason her brothers drifted away from her. As a result, she often spoke harshly to Rozen and Kirito, and their relationship became increasingly estranged.

In truth, Suguha felt lonely and longed to talk to her brothers again.

She especially wanted to reconnect with Rozen—playing together, chatting, and listening to his stories about that weird Chaldea and automatons like they used to.

She wished he would watch her kendo matches and cheer her on.

But none of that ever came to pass.

Then, the SAO incident happened.

When Suguha saw Rozen asleep, entangled in wires, wearing the dreaded NerveGear, she cried uncontrollably for the first time in her life.

The thought that Rozen might never wake up filled her with overwhelming regret.

Why hadn't she tried harder to bridge the gap between them?

Why had she let such trivial things drive them apart?

They could have remained so much closer.

And so, Suguha developed a desire to explore the world that Rozen and Kirito loved so much.

"I want to see the world inside the game…"

That thought changed the course of her life.