Miracle Summoner

"AIDS..."

Kikuoka Seijirou murmured the disease's name, causing Asuna to feel a dizzying sensation, making it hard to breathe, as her whole body seemed frozen, and she could barely react.

Rozen also lowered his gaze, saying nothing.

Only the voice of Kurahashi continued.

"Now, AIDS is not as terrifying as society once thought. Even if someone is infected with the human immunodeficiency virus, as long as treatment starts early, the HIV virus can be suppressed for up to 10 to 20 years. With proper medication and thorough health management, it is even possible to live a life almost indistinguishable from life before infection."

He paused briefly, then sighed and continued.

"However, the survival rate for newborns infected with HIV is much lower than for adults. This is an undeniable fact. After Yuuki's mother, during the cotton season, learned that her whole family had been infected, she seemed to have considered suicide with her entire family. But her mother, a lifelong Christian, chose to fight the disease after surviving the initial crisis with the help of her faith and her father."

In other words, Yuuki has been destined to fight against the virus from the moment she was born.

She has never had a healthy body, only the presence of death always by her side.

"After escaping the most dangerous period, the small-framed Yuuki was able to grow up safely, even attending elementary school. Although for a child, taking large doses of medication regularly was extremely difficult, and the nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors were drugs with strong side effects, Yuuki still believed that one day her illness would be cured, and she kept working hard, maintaining perfect school attendance and consistently ranking at the top of her class. She also had many friends, and even though she knew her fate, she still wore a dazzling smile."

Wasn't that the natural thing to do?

Even now, Yuuki still carries that cheerful and lively smile. Why wouldn't she have had that smile in the past?

Unfortunately...

"Yuuki's status as an HIV carrier was discovered when she was in the fourth grade of elementary school, and for some unknown reason, some of her classmates' parents found out. Rumors quickly spread. Even though the law clearly prohibits discrimination against carriers of HIV, not everyone in society is kind. Protests against her attending school started, along with calls and letters filled with malicious pranks. Despite her parents' best efforts to restore the situation, they had no choice but to move. Yuuki had to transfer to another school."

Kurahashi looked at Yuuki, who was lying on the gel bed, with an increasingly heavy expression.

"Although even after that, Yuuki still bravely went to the new school every day, the harsh reality was that from that point on, her CD4 count, the index used to measure immune system health, began to drop drastically."

What does that mean?

It meant Yuuki's condition was worsening.

"Due to the decline in immunity, she became highly susceptible to viruses and bacteria that would normally be easily fought off, and Yuuki developed a complication called pneumocystis pneumonia, followed by a Candida esophagitis infection. She was admitted to this hospital, which happened about three and a half years ago."

Kurahashi turned to look at Asuna.

"However, what is admirable is that even in the hospital, Yuuki remained full of energy. She always had a smile, saying, 'I will never lose to this disease,' and she never complained, even during painful tests."

At this point, Asuna's eyes began to well up.

Then, Kurahashi pointed to the full dive machine that Yuuki was using.

"It was around this time that a huge commotion arose in society due to the events triggered by the NERvGear. The Medicuboid, a medical version of a fully immersive machine, was brought into this hospital for clinical trials. But it was very difficult to find patients willing to participate in the trial. When I learned of this, I suggested to Yuuki and her family to become participants in the experiment, hoping that it might provide a chance for survival."

And so, Yuuki became a subject for the Medicuboid experiment.

"Because the Medicuboid is an extremely sophisticated machine that requires careful maintenance, it needs to be used in an environment free of dust, bacteria, and viruses in the air. The patient must voluntarily enter a sterile room, greatly reducing the risk of infection. That's why I suggested that Yuuki and her family accept this experiment, but it also meant that Yuuki could never leave the sterile room, nor could she have direct contact with anyone. So, Yuuki has been living inside the Medicuboid ever since."

Kurahashi's words caused Asuna to pause her breath.

"Ever since?" Asuna asked. "Does that mean...?"

Asuna looked toward Rozen.

Rozen met her gaze and nodded coldly.

"Even though the Medicuboid is a medical-grade full dive machine, as long as it's a full dive machine, Yuuki—or rather, Konno-san—can fully immerse herself in a simulated world. This is one of the advantages of the Medicuboid. The patient doesn't have to lie in a dull hospital bed all the time. Once the body is entrusted to the doctors, they can live their life in the simulated world, eating, drinking, and playing like a normal person, and even going on adventures in the game. There are many benefits."

Rozen spoke lightly.

"I think from the moment Konno-san entered this sterile room, she must have hardly returned to the real world. Perhaps, it's more accurate to say that she could no longer return. Apart from a few hours each day for collecting data, she must have been living in various virtual worlds, almost twenty-four hours a day, continuously in full dive."

Upon hearing this, Asuna finally understood.

She understood why Yuuki had an even greater aptitude for full dive than the SAO survivors and a higher level of integration with the simulated world.

It was because Yuuki had been living in the simulated world for years.

Three hundred and sixty-five days a year.

Twenty-four hours a day.

Without rest, almost all the time spent within it.

Unlike the SAO survivors, who only spent two years in full dive, and once SAO was cleared, no one could continue living in the virtual world for twenty-four hours a day.

But Yuuki was different.

Yuuki's full immersion time had lasted for three years.

Longer than any SAO player.

This is why Kirito would say—"You've completely become a resident of this world."

This is why Rozen would say—"There are some people who also treat the simulated world as the real world to live in."

Both had already known about the Medicuboid, and so they deduced from Yuuki's incredible full dive aptitude and her ability to integrate with the simulated world that she was not a SAO survivor. They figured out that Yuuki was a patient who had to undergo Medicuboid treatment.

And they knew that Yuuki had no choice but to accept the Medicuboid experiment.