-1679- [ Seed of the World ]

When Rozen chose to log out, he thought he would immediately wake up in his room, lying on his bed.

However, Rozen was wrong.

After a flash of light, Rozen realized that not only had he not logged out, but he had also entered a space as dark as a black hole, with an incredible amount of starlight twinkling around him.

"Where is this...?"

Rozen immediately furrowed his brows.

But soon, Rozen understood why he had entered this space.

The reason was simple.

"Although I know you have important things to do, before that, let us meet for the last time."

This voice suddenly echoed into Rozen's ears, as if it were coming from a very distant place.

At the same time, Rozen's memories were awakened by this voice.

Because this voice, Rozen was somewhat familiar with.

In the world of SAO, Rozen had heard it many times.

"Kayaba Akihiko..."

The owner of the voice was none other than Kayaba Akihiko.

"Long time no see."

With these words, a figure dressed in a white coat slowly emerged from the dark space in front of Rozen, like someone walking out from the very blackness itself.

Who else could it be but Kayaba Akihiko?

Rozen fixed his gaze on Kayaba Akihiko and narrowed his eyes.

"I didn't expect you to come to this world as well."

Rozen spoke lightly.

Rozen had never imagined that Kayaba Akihiko would show up here.

What surprised him even more was that Kayaba Akihiko would contact him under these circumstances.

"Aren't you afraid that by appearing in front of me, you'll give away some clues and that I might provide them to the police, exposing your whereabouts in the real world?" Rozen said with a faint smile.

Currently, Kayaba Akihiko's whereabouts were still a mystery, and the nation had mobilized almost all of its forces to find and arrest him, the most notorious criminal since the founding of the country. One could imagine that if Kayaba Akihiko revealed even the slightest clue, he would be found immediately and thrown into jail.

Under such circumstances, choosing to appear in front of Rozen could only mean one thing: Kayaba Akihiko was still the same Kayaba Akihiko, audacious as ever.

But in this case, Rozen had actually misunderstood.

"Even if I am found in the real world, it no longer has anything to do with me," Kayaba Akihiko calmly replied, his voice still magnetic and distinctive, with a calm expression on his face.

"No longer has anything to do with you?" Rozen was momentarily stunned.

Looking at Rozen like this, Kayaba Akihiko, just like Rozen had earlier, spoke lightly.

"A long time ago, I decided that when SAO collapsed, I would end my life."

"When the world of SAO collapsed on November 2024, the existence known as 'Kayaba Akihiko' died with it."

Hearing these words, Rozen's eyes narrowed slightly.

If that was the case, then who exactly was this Kayaba Akihiko in front of him?

Could it be...

"It seems you've guessed it," Kayaba Akihiko smiled rarely. "Although I chose death, before I died, I used a machine that I had modified after completely altering the Full Dive system to perform a high-density scan of my brain, causing my brain to burn out and die, just like the players who died in SAO."

When he spoke those words, Kayaba Akihiko showed no sign of guilt or regret. Instead, it was as if he had simply done what he needed to do, fulfilling his own sense of inevitability.

The way he killed those players in the death game was the same way he chose to end his own life.

Kayaba Akihiko just wanted to explain that.

The only difference was...

"My method of scanning had less than a one-in-a-thousand chance of converting my memories and thoughts, the electrical signals in my brain, into digital codes, thus turning my brain into something akin to a computer, allowing my consciousness to exist within the network."

Kayaba Akihiko spoke in this manner.

"Now, I am nothing but the echo and shadow of 'Kayaba Akihiko,' an existence that only lives in the network, in imaginary worlds, in game worlds."

Because of this, Kayaba Akihiko had said that his real-world self was already dead, and that the current him had nothing to do with it anymore.

If anyone else had known this, they would have been shocked and horrified.

But for someone like Rozen, who had seen so many mysterious and inconceivable phenomena, it wasn't particularly surprising.

In a word...

"You escaped from the real world into an imaginary world, didn't you?" Rozen scoffed and said, "I've seen people flee the country to escape crimes, and I've seen people hiding in the shadows to evade capture, but I've never seen someone escape from reality by running into the network itself. You've really pioneered a whole new way to escape justice."

As he said this, Rozen's tone carried a hint of sarcasm.

Kayaba Akihiko didn't mind.

"My purpose was completed when that floating city collapsed. Since that's the case, I have no reason to remain in the real world."

Kayaba Akihiko lifted his gaze and looked at Rozen.

"If you hate me, hate that I trapped you and your companions and a thousand other players in a death game, making you endure two years of torment, and thus want to punish me, then I can only apologize."

His words seemed apologetic, but there was no actual remorse in them.

To this genius scientist, he was merely doing what he thought needed to be done, fulfilling his dream, without any sense of guilt or remorse.

Of course...

"It's not exactly an apology, but as a gift to someone I once crossed swords with, I'll give you this."

With that, Kayaba Akihiko raised his hand.

In his hand, a glowing object had appeared out of nowhere.

It was a crystal, with an interior that seemed to contain a universe, with nebulae swirling and stars shifting, dazzling and radiant.

The crystal was egg-shaped, and completely transparent, allowing one to clearly see the universe's movement and the nebulae inside.

Kayaba Akihiko waved his hand, and the glowing object flew gently into Rozen's arms.

"What is this?" Rozen instinctively caught it and asked in surprise.

"This is the Seed of the World."

Kayaba Akihiko answered emotionlessly.

"The Seed of the World?"

Rozen mused.

Kayaba Akihiko's voice became distant.

"I don't know whether it will help you, nor do I know what kind of result its appearance will bring."

"Now, I leave it to you. How you choose to use it is up to you."

"I hope that someday, we can meet again in some corner of an imaginary world."

"Well then, farewell, Hero."

With those words, Kayaba Akihiko's figure vanished without a trace.

Rozen looked at the empty dark space and stood in silence for a while before his figure also disappeared.

As for the crystal Rozen was holding, it disappeared with him.

The dark space collapsed, and this conversation became a dream.