Accel World: Dusk Robber

by Reki Kawahara

  The reply this time, took a bit of time.

  “...No. The legion I belong to, before and from now on, there is only one.”

  “Then... that is.”

  While involuntarily lifting up his head, Haruyuki asked the question that he really wanted to.

  “The name of that legion is... perhaps, «Nega Nebulas»? And then, the person you asked to cut off your legs is...”

  “«Black Lotus». Stronger, more noble, and kinder than anyone, my one and only friend.”

  The somewhat quiet, yet song like beautiful echo answered, and made Haruyuki nod lightly.

  “It would be that... I thought. You... somewhere, towards that person...”

  “That is an old story.”

  As if to cover Haruyuki’s words, those short words descended from the bed.

  “Long, long ago old story. There... sleep already, Karasu-san. Tomorrow is an early day.”

  As if to refuse any more conversation, he heard a quick sound of rolling over.

  ‘—— I want to hear more. Of old times, about that person.’

  Even with that kind of feeling, however at that time an intense force weighted on Haruyuki’s face.

  He left his body to the visiting warm darkness, and Haruyuki sank down into the abyss of deep sleep.

  The next moment, his head hit the floor with a clank, and he unwillingly opened his eyes.

  ‘What was that, I was still sleeping, who pulled my pillow away’, with that thought he lifted his upper body up. Then, through the fully open curtains, the sky with beautiful orange and purple dye made him closed his eyes into slits.

  “Whaa... already, morning...!?”

  “That is right. Good morning, Silver Crow.”

  When he moved his face to the sound, he saw the shape of Sky Raker returning the pillow that should have been pulled from under his head to the bed. She was already dressed in her white hat and one piece.

  “Go, good morning... Umm, right now, what time is it?”

  After his inquiry from greeting, the sky color avatar silently pointed towards the kitchen. The small brass color table clock on the cabinet by the wall, its needles showed it was 5am. If the time he lay down yesterday was soon after sunset, then he calculated that he slept for a full ten hours, seemingly without any dream.

  However, for sure his head was refreshed as if being thoroughly washed with cold water. On the other hand, it could be said to be that he did not recall ever waking up this invigorated. Furthermore, no more than 30 something seconds passed in the real world.

  “...I see, sleeping here, might be a pretty good use of points...”

  After he involuntarily muttered, Sky Raker smiled.

  “There is the risk that your head might be cut off while sleeping though.”

  “...Whaa.”

  “It’s too late to hold your neck now. You did not wake up even after I called you five times.”

  ‘—— So that’s why she resorted to the roughness of pulling away my pillow’. With that understanding, Haruyuki lowered his shoulders.

  “So, sorry. I will wake up properly next time.”

  However at that point, Sky Raker returned a smile with deep meaning, then drove her wheelchair towards the door.

  The Unlimited Neutral Field in the morning, shone a different kind of beauty from the evening. The attribute was still «Wilderness», but the reddish brown rocks in morning sun, seemed like huge ruby gemstones.

  The wheelchair moved with squeaking sounds through the grass wet with morning dew, then arrived at the north side bench where their talk last night was, and stopped. Haruyuki went beside her, and this time stood still while waiting for Sky Raker’s words.

  The original «Nega Nebulas» member, now accelerated world’s hermit, and level 8 Burst Linker, took a deep breath, then said with a more strict sound.

  “Silver Crow. Then, from now on, you will start the training for «Mind Power».”

  “Ye... yes, please take care of me!”

  Haruyuki made a deep bow with his head.

  Controlling the avatar with an image, called the «Incarnate System», learning that was his only remaining hope. However many days or weeks it takes, he will absolutely learn it.

  With that determination burning, Hong Kong made kung-fu movie training scene BGM played in his head, as Haruyuki waited for his first instruction.

  —— However.

  “...Even saying so, the essence of mind power could be expressed in one word. If that was understood, then anyone can use it.”

  “...Ye, yes?”

  Sky Raker’s smoothly continued speech, made his knees bent.

  “...Ju, just one...? Is that, secret learned then have full mastery?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Please teach me, that.”

  Naturally, after he said that.

  “Fine. However, when you meet me next time, only then.”

  As if to return that answer, he hurriedly took a step closer.

  “N... no, until you teach me, I will not return to the real world!”

  “Not met, when we meet, did I not say that? That means...”

  There she paused and waved her hand, so Haruyuki took another step closer.

  With the sky color hair swaying, the elegant avatar’s right hand softly touched Haruyuki’s back ——.

  “Like this.”

  And pushed him in a horizontal direction.

  “Whaa... Oo... oops...”

  Haruyuki stumbled on the grass one, two steps.

  On his third step, he stepped on air.

  “...Wha.”

  “I wish you good luck, Karasu-san.”

  The smiling Sky Raker shape, went far away above. To be exact, Haruyuki’s body, dropped out of the top of the 300 meters high tower.

  “Wha... wai... waa...”

  He flapped both hands like wings in panic, but of course that had no effect. Like that, he was pulled by the virtual gravity and free fall straight down ——.

  “Wa... a... a ——”

  Haruyuki died.

  Chapter 11

  One hour later, he was resurrected.

  Death in the Unlimited Neutral Field was very strange indeed. The surrounding scenery changed to a black and white monochrome, his body became transparent like smoke, and could gently move around, but could not go beyond a ten meter radius from the death position.

  A small digital number was carved in the center of his view, starting at 60:00:00, and when it became zero, finally the field colors and the avatar body itself was recovered.

  While looking down at the pretty big crater he made, Haruyuki said the first thing he thought of.

  “...It seems like 100% without doubt that she is Kuroyukihime senpai’s friend...”

  And then he held both hands at his waist, and looked up at the towering vertical rock wall —— old Tokyo tower in front of him.

  “...The next meeting, that means... means...”

  ...Climb to the top. Would be what it meant.

  After shaking his head, he sighed deeply. Something like this was said, ‘The lion throwing its cub down a bottomless ravine’, but that probably should be story about it being a Good Job staying alive after being dropped.

  However, unlike the lion, Haruyuki’s avatar has two skillfully moveable hands. More than that, his body is as light as possible, and power is as the words said can go through rocks.

  “...I will climb.”

  He whispered as if saying to himself, and Haruyuki held both hands into fists.

  Even if it was a 300 meter continuous vertical rock wall, it was not a smooth flat surface like glass. There were numerous gaps where hands and feet could cling to, and it should be possible to dig small holes.

  Planning to carve his determination at the beginning, he lowered his waist, and held his right hand at waist level.

  “Uryaa!!”

  The punch that was thrust out with that psyche, bore a hole deep into the reddish brown rock, and sank in
about 20cm deep.

  He put his right foot there solidly, lifted his body up, then Haruyuki’s left hand held onto a crack a bit higher.

  Moving his sight left and right, and after drawing the starting route in his head, he lifted his avatar up with just his left hand. Towards the step he aimed for, this time the tip of his left foot was firmly set.

  Actually, climbing like this in the virtual space, was not his first time. Carrying a rifle in jungle and mountainous terrain shooting games, climbing cliffs like this was a worthy strategy for blindsiding the enemy team. In order to gain that tactical advantage, he even borrowed rock climbing VR training software from the library.

  The trick for free climbing is, to precisely imagine the optimal route at the start, and do not stick too close to the surface of the rock.

  Looking ahead to the limit of his vision, with where and how to place his four limbs drawn in detail in his thoughts, Haruyuki continued to climb the rock wall in a steady pace.

  As if it was a race, the sun that dyed the eastern sky red also inched its position upwards. The color of the morning glow eventually disappeared, and the sky was changed to a eerie yellow.

  How many holds he had grabbed onto, he had already forgotten. The top was melted into the sky so it could not be seen, and if he looked down, the ground should be far away. However he did not look towards his feet even once, and while facing the sky, he innocently and honestly challenged the cliff. He was mostly not conscious of it himself, but the concentration that he put to various «Games» like this, was without doubt mostly the only and greatest ability of the person called Arita Haruyuki.

  That well-honed nerve, captured the slight shaking of the air from far away. It was a sign of the gusts that was a feature of the Wilderness stage. Immediately, Haruyuki’s both hands thrust into the cracks in the rocks and firmly held on, with his body tightly close to the surface.

  A few seconds later, the atmosphere shook with a rumble, and a strong gust that was like a giant blowing came attacking Haruyuki as if to shake him off. However, while not even feeling any fear, Haruyuki calmly waited for the wind to stop. Since, the slender and slippery body of Silver Crow without any protrusion should offer no resistance to the wind. That meant Haruyuki believed that he would not be blown away by just wind, and it was actually like that.

  The nasty giant finally gave up, and after Haruyuki took a small breath, he again continued the ascent.

  At the time that the sun reached straight above, and started leaning slightly west.

  Finally, the tip of the rock wall that seemed to continue infinitely, drew a sharp arc in the sky. The tip of that cylinder, was the top where Sky Raker waited.

  The distance should still be over 100 meters. However at this pace, he should reach it before night time. Now that he thought about it, Sky Raker’s “So that you can remember well the stew’s taste” words, and the smile she showed after Haruyuki said that he would wake up properly tomorrow, were probably predictions that Haruyuki could not climb this old Tokyo tower in one day.

  ‘—— I will show you that I can reach the top today!’

  With that determination, however with no carelessness, Haruyuki attacked the rock surface using steady movements. The wind gusts that changed direction in the afternoon, came attacking with increased frequency, but all of them passed by with Haruyuki sticking to the wall.

  The sky’s color slowly became more saturated, and the climb that started at dawn soon reached nine hours. He was indeed starting to feel tired, and as he ground his teeth in frustration, Haruyuki’s nose captured a slight floral scent. Furthermore, the spring’s noise, and the faint blue light of the portal also reached his ears and eyes.

  Soon. Just 20, no, 15 more meters.

  If he finished climbing on his first try, then even Sky Raker should be shocked, so Haruyuki enthusiastically increased his hands and feet speed ——

  —— At that time.

  Something he had not felt till now, a ‘Ring Ring’ kind of high resonance sound shook the atmosphere. The echo from unlimited number of bells being sounded from far away at the same time, made Haruyuki lift his face up, and look at the eastern horizon.

  And then he groaned.

  “Ah... not good...”

  Coming into his view, was what came falling down from the sky, the shine of the aura that gently caressed the earth.

  It was a «Transition». An ultra large phenomenon that changed the attribute of all of Unlimited Neutral Field.

  Haruyuki quickly looked back, and started climbing the wall surface at double the speed he had been going till now. Occasionally his limbs slipped, and he felt a cold sweat, but his fingers grabbed hold of a gap while in danger and held on. Without waiting for his heart to calm down, he again jumped towards his next hold.

  As if to hurry Haruyuki on like that, the aura closed in at tremendous speed from the east, and the bell sounds grew louder. The surfaces that were caressed by the seven color light curtain had the reddish brown wilderness colors dispersed in a poof, and was reborn in a new form. That was right, it was refreshing this world. After the «Transition», the Enemy that were killed were replaced, and the stage that was destroyed was repaired. There was no Enemy around this tower, but the latter was a problem. If he was caught in the aura, then the holes that Silver Crow’s sharp hands thrust into the rock wall, would probably ——.

  “U... O...!”

  Haruyuki shouted, and the final distance were mostly climbed while running on all fours.

  However, he was five meters short.

  Numerous bell sounds pressed against his ears, and the seven color shine painted all of his view, and in the next instant, Haruyuki’s hands and legs were thrown away from the wall with a repulsive force that could not be denied.

  “Shitt... Nooo...”

  He clawed the air with his hands, trying to get close to the wall once more, but that effort was also in vain.

  “Wa... a... a... ——”

  Haruyuki died again.

  After he was resurrected one hour later, the world was already covered by sunset, and it was no longer the red wilderness.

  The ground was made up of properly arranged stone pavement. And then the old Tokyo Tower in front of him was, changed to a bluish black shining metal plate jointed steel tower. It was the «Demonic City» stage.

  “...”

  Haruyuki slump down to sit on the hard stone pavement, and gave a deep sigh. If this was a normal game, then at this point he would hit his pillow in his room for distraction, but right now he could not logout, and he did not have the energy for it.

  However, for his first try, he almost climbed to the top. Sky Raker seemed to have sounded like this training would take weeks, or at worse even longer. If it was like that, then he could say that he had done pretty well. He strongly held his two fists with, ‘I will absolutely climb it next time’.

  He really wanted to tackle the wall again right now, but thought that it would not be possible at night. Planning to challenge it again the first thing tomorrow morning, Haruyuki sneaked into a suitable building in the surrounding, and lay down at one side of a safe looking room.

  It might be recoil of concentrating for nine hours continuously, he was suddenly attacked by a strong drowsiness, and without the chance to feel hungry, Haruyuki fell straight into sleep.

  However, in the third morning of his dive in the Unlimited Neutral Field.

  Haruyuki’s eyes popped out from sudden shock.

  Last night he was careless and did not notice it, but the Demonic City stage’s old Tokyo Tower was similar to Sunshine City where he fought Chrome Disaster, both made up of smooth and hard steel plates. Since there were no windows, there were also no ladders. Instead of that, not a single crack where his fingertips could hold onto could be seen. That meant, there was no way for him to climb it.

  “...Then, I can just make my own holes.”

  He muttered, then after knocking on the steel with his fingertip.

 
; Like yesterday, Haruyuki punched using his held fist with all his strength.

  And then jumped up as he screamed.

  “Ouch... ch ——-!”

  The sharp pain that was increased two times of the lower field, made him hold his right hand while jumping around, and he stared at the place he hit, but the bluish black wall did not have a single dent. Indestructible object —— that could not be, but probably it was not possible to open a hole without a heat ray or drill, and of course Silver Crow was not equipped with something like those.

  “...Does that mean I have to wait for the next «Transition»...”

  He cursed while grinding his teeth, but how many days later would the next aura visit be, and whether the next time will be a destroyable attribute, he had absolutely no idea. The sudden sense of frustration, made Haruyuki slump down to his knees.

  That head, was suddenly hit by something with a thump.

  “Huh!?”

  When he jumped up in consternation, he saw that a white cloth bag was dropped there. He quickly looked up, but the steel color spire extended infinitely into the gray sky, and no one could be seen.

  However that bag was dropped by Sky Raker’s hand, which Haruyuki had no doubt. He picked it up in amazement, untied the knot, and found out that inside contained a large round bread, and a small piece of paper.

  At that moment, he was immediately attacked by a virtual empty stomach feeling, so Haruyuki bit into the large bread as the lower half of his helmet slid up with a hum. It was plain bread with nothing inside, but even so he thought it was somewhat warm, fragrant and incredibly delicious, so he was absorbed in eating.

  Soon half of it was gone, then Haruyuki finally turned the paper around, and read the words written there in elegant handwriting.

  —— [The mind power training had already started. Yesterday, why were you not blown away by the wind, please think about that.]

  “...Huh?”

  After reading it once, he could not grasp her intent at all.

  This wall climbing, was actually before the «Incarnate System» training, or put another way something like basic training, which Haruyuki understood. Even in Kung Fu movies, before the master taught martial arts, wasn’t there a lot of stair climbing?