-1681- A series of impact

This day once again caused a nationwide sensation.

"Miracle! The return of the victims!"

"Three hundred lives return in a single night!"

"The true end of the death game!"

"The biggest surprise, two months late!"

Headlines like the ones above continuously appeared across the internet, becoming widely known to the public.

When SAO was cleared and thousands of people returned from the death game, the fact that three hundred players remained unawakened caused a huge stir.

Now, two months later, all three hundred players have finally awoken, and this news sent the entire country into a frenzy—it was only natural.

Thus, not only did this spread online, but various news reports began to cover this matter as well.

However, what followed after this caused an even bigger uproar.

"According to insiders, the reason why the three hundred SAO survivors woke up two months later is due to illegal experiments."

When this report came to light, many people were moved.

The public had no idea why these three hundred players had been unconscious for two months.

Even the government was unaware of the situation; otherwise, they would have intervened.

Now, the truth behind this matter was finally revealed.

"The fully immersive game interfaces, NerveGear and AmuSphere, concentrated electronic pulses on the cortex of the brain, sending simulated environmental signals. If these restrictions were removed, it might be possible to control functions outside of sensory processing in the brain."

"In other words, thoughts, emotions, memories, and so on could be manipulated and controlled artificially."

"This required a large number of test subjects."

"The mastermind behind this idea targeted the SAO players."

Because this was a human brain experiment, such inhumane testing was not allowed, and the risk of exposure was extremely high.

To avoid major consequences, Sugou Nobuyuki decided to conduct the experiment in a virtual world, using the SAO players who had already been victimized. He waited for SAO to be cleared, then used routers to transfer the three hundred players to ALO and conduct the experiment.

This was the real reason Sugou Nobuyuki had imprisoned the three hundred players.

Even though imprisoning Asuna was driven by Sugou's personal desires and evil intentions, his true goal was to obtain the technology to freely manipulate the human brain, and for that, he exploited Kayaba Akihiko's invention, the innocence of the players, and the resources of RECT to conduct inhumane experiments in secret.

This matter was unknown to Yuuki Shouzou, and even most people at RECT were unaware, as only a few people, including Sugou, were involved in this covert operation.

Sugou Nobuyuki hoped to complete this experiment and obtain the technology, which would make him immensely wealthy and possibly establish ties with foreign research organizations and governments, propelling him to success. Ultimately, he aimed to control the world using this technology and become an all-powerful ruler, capable of doing anything he desired.

The first step of his ambition was to start with the Yuuki family.

Sugou intended to make Asuna the first successful test subject. After the technology matured, he planned to use it on Asuna, controlling her mind so that she would become loyal to him, marrying him and securing his position as the heir of RECT, thus taking over the entire company and turning it into his wealth.

If everything went according to plan, this would definitely become a reality.

Sugou, using whatever resources he could exploit, challenged human morality and greedily moved step by step toward his goal.

Unfortunately, Rozen's appearance shattered his ambition.

Because of Rozen, Sugou's plans to marry Asuna were disrupted.

Because of Rozen, Sugou's rampage in ALO was stopped.

When government agents raided Sugou's hideout, they were shocked to find him dead, wearing the full immersion device. His face was twisted with fear, pain, and despair, his eyes wide open, and his expression was terrifying.

After a medical examination, it was determined that he had died from severe mental stress, which led to the collapse of his brain's neural activity, extreme fluctuations in his cardiovascular system, and ultimately heart failure.

As for Sugou's accomplices, they were arrested because of the evidence found on Sugou's phone and computer, which contained records of their communications. They were all brought to justice.

Such a significant event was bound to cause a sensation.

Although the government assured the public after professionals analyzed the situation that using full immersion technology for brainwashing was only feasible with the NerveGear and that countermeasures could be developed, the three hundred players who had been used as test subjects had no memory of the experiments. There were no lasting brain injuries or mental disorders, and after receiving proper treatment, all of them could return to society without issue. Despite this, the public still felt a deep sense of fear over the potential consequences of full immersion technology.

The SAO death game incident, followed by the ALO brainwashing experiment, completely pushed immersive technology to the brink.

As a result, industries connected to this technology suffered massive setbacks.

For example, RECT, unable to avoid responsibility, announced its dissolution. The headquarters suffered significant damage, and there was a major shake-up in the management, with the CEO and other top executives being replaced. VRMMOs, including ALO, also faced the same fate and were shut down one after another.

The consequences of these events continued to unfold, causing considerable turmoil.

However, none of this concerned Rozen anymore.

After informing Kikuoka Seijirou about all of Sugou's crimes and leaving him to handle the situation, Rozen distanced himself from the matter entirely. No matter how much turmoil erupted in the world, it no longer concerned him.

After all, these were all inevitable events that Rozen had already foreseen.

Although, with Rozen's intellect, he could have prevented it all, he had no desire to stop it.

"To prevent anyone from following in Sugou's footsteps and triggering another powder keg, causing the government and relevant authorities to take preventive measures, it is necessary for this event to escalate."

Therefore, Rozen allowed the situation to develop and focused his time on other matters.

For example, helping Asuna recover.

In order to help Asuna return to a normal life, Rozen worked hard.