The Apathy of a Gamer

This part is shorter than the first, but I had no choice but to cut it here. With the content of the chapter, this was the only coherent place to choose for the narrative to remain consistent. I apologize for the inconvenience. Webnovel just doesn't like me.

I hope you enjoy the rest of the chapter.

Patreon: 3sper

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The NerveGear slowly turned itself off as the man awoke from his slumber. He felt groggy, an overwhelming amount of exhaustion hitting him. Now wasn't the time to sleep. He needed to understand a few thing and why things had played out the way they did. His mind raced as he thought over the events leading up to his murder.

In the morning, his guild had breakfast while they planned their pathing through floor six. Having been the head director for the game, he already knew the layout of every floor. He already had the perfect path they could follow.

Once he'd introduced it to the rest of them, they all cheered and began chanting his name. It had been awhile since he'd had such a childish rush inside him. It was honestly a refreshing experience.

Thanks to his knowledge and leadership skills, the guild was growing fast. It was even faster then he had predicted it would be. He didn't expect so many people to look at him for guidance after his guild defeated a floor boss and unlocked a new floor.

It hadn't happened when he led the raid on floor four. Although when he thought about it, that Asuna girl had stolen the show over there. Unfortunately, she denied his invitation to join his guild when he asked.

Such a shame. She had great talent as a leader and would make an excellent second in command. She insistent that she didn't need a guild, but he hadn't planned on giving up on recruiting her yet.

He also didn't plan to get executed, but that only goes to show how unpredictable SAO truly was.

Truth was, he wanted his character to take the hero role and lead everyone to victory. The sole reason he named himself Hero was to do exactly what everyone had suddenly expected of him. He just didn't think it would be so soon, or as challenging.

One of the biggest challenges were the questions everyone was asking. Specifically, the questions involving his equipment.

Simply put, they were cheated items. Their stats were beyond those a player could get and would level up alongside him. Throughout the game, he would never need to upgrade.

Kayaba had spawned with an extended inventory without the need for the «Extended Weight Limit» skill, naturally higher avatar stats upon leveling up, enough col to buy out over half the properties in the game, and his equipment.

It was a lot, but as long as no one knew about the col, inventory, or directly saw his stats, then it should have been fine. Although extremely, extremely rare, items that level up with a player did exist in the game, so his armor could be explained away. He even had a cover story to back up how he got it.

Unfortunately, that story would have led to an unforeseen problem.

The story was that he had found two secret areas on floors four and five. The first would be where he found his armor and the second would be for the weapon. The secret areas on those floors did indeed exist and would corroborate his story if anyone ever fact-checked him.

He had "picked those areas clean," as the kids would say. There was nothing left inside of them. What no one else knew was that those areas were alpha testing rooms that had been empty to begin with, which were deleted before the beta was released. He snuck them back inside SAO last minute, just in case he needed an alibi.

Although it worked, it was short-sighted. His powerful equipment swiftly breeded a new problem.

People wanted to know if he knew about other secret areas with strong equipment that he could lead them to. He certainly did, but exposing those areas to the public would go against why they even existed. They were meant to be secrets found only by the daring and vigilant.

Most players had terrible equipment and when they looked to him, they only saw greatness. Kayaba wanted people to look at him in awe, but after claiming he didn't know anymore, those looks turned to that of disappointment. They really wanted, or rather needed, better items to survive. A lot of beta testers had been hoarding the best gear, leaving most others with the scraps.

It was like everything he envisioned himself being was getting challenged directly. It wouldn't be very heroic of him if he decided not to help.

Playing into his new persona, he would try his best. With the extra pressure added onto him as the guild leader, while also labled as the hero who would guide them through the death game, his efforts needed to be doubled.

Fortunately, no one was selfish enough to try and make him share his own items. A few had been daring enough to ask, but thankfully his supporters defended him. Wanting to avoid those events reoccuring, he figured out a solution to avoid doing so.

Rather than lead his guild to secret areas by creating a ruse and pretending to stumple upon them, Kayaba would instead obtain rare items from rare monsters. Rare monster spawns, field bosses, floor bosses, all of them. Whichever they were dropped from, he knew how to obtain them.

Every bit of information about SAO was ingrained into his brain. From the lowest floor to the highest, he knew everything. There were no surprises. That's why he would be able to find them.

Buying them from other players would also be fine. Money was no object to him and most players were starved for col. If they happened upon one, he would gladly pay premium for it.

As Kayaba was about to make a proposition to his guild, he stopped himself. He quickly realized that there wouldn't be a point to bring everyone along and get the items together. The reason they were even asking for help was because they didn't want to be in as much danger. If he brought them along, he would only put them more at risk. If they began hunting bosses and one or more of his guildmates died, he would lose a substantial amount of respect.

He couldn't have that.

Therefore, he didn't tell them anything. Instead, his plan was to go alone and defeat them. Since he would heal an unlimited amount of times with a voice command, there wasn't any danger of him dying and losing his avatar.

First get the rare item upon killing a monster that dropped one, then slowly ration them out to everyone in the guild. Kayaba would hold onto them at first, give it time so that it would seem believable when claiming that he bought it, or was donated to them by a friend or ally.

If worse came to worse, he could access the full abilities his administrator privileges. He was already using a fair amount of commands regularly, but he had yet to truly turn on administrator mode. That was a last resort and he never truly wanted to do so.

It was a failsafe in case he needed it. Only under specific circumstances would he ever consider activating it. The main one was bad luck.

For example, there was a monster on every floor that had an astronomically low chance of appearing with an equally hard chance to kill. He didn't wanna have to wait around hoping to get lucky, so he'd just spawn the item in without having to. That's what Kayaba had already done for the rare monster on the sixth floor.

Depending on the amount of rare enemies he would fell, he may have to access his privileges to level down. The experience points from so many rare monsters and bosses would make him too powerful, even by his own standards.

The Cardinal System did have a property built system inside it where it could generate its own content. However, those mechanics hadn't been fully utilized by SAO and he didn't want to spend the time messing around with it now that the death game had launched. He would rely on the items already coded in the game, rather than trying to create new ones by manipulating the Cardinal System.

With his ideas thought of, Kayaba was ready to kill «Wiron the Giant Sea Beast». He had chosen this boss because it was one of only four field bosses that didn't guard the floor boss dungeon. Most players didn't want to take the extra risk, or at least weren't desperate enough to this early. The boss was the perfect opportunity to get a rare item.

It had been harder than he expected, but he eventually managed to slip away from his guildmates. He had given them the day off so they were free to do what they wanted. That cleared away the majority of them, but the more lively ones wanted to continue clearing.

Going off what beta testers would know, he ordered them to do a quest that would weaken «The Irrational Cube». This particular floor boss had influence over the entire floor, rather than just its boss room. To proceed, players must first weaken it before they could challenge it.

That information had got him an opening to get away. Instead of simply spawning the last attack bonus in, he headed out to take on the field boss. Because field bosses were so rare, if he spawned the «Golden Trident» and someone else had already beaten and received it, that would put him in a very bad spot.

If the beast had in fact been slain, then he hoped to find the player and buy it. He didnt worry about making up an excuse. He was the leader of the top guild. Having lots of col was expected.

A voice command disabled tracking via friends list. After placing a marker that said he was in his inn room, he set out. Once «Lake Talpha» got into view, Kayaba drank an «Antidote» and slogged through the murky water.

Upon reaching the lake's center, Kayaba was happy to notice that it hadn't been cleared yet. His build wasn't designed to take on these types of beasts. It was a good opportunity to get some experience fighting a foe that countered him.

It was only when the fight neared its end when everything went wrong.

The last thing Kayaba ever expected while fighting Wiron was for another lone player to go through the poison mist and steal his hard work from under him. In just a couple seconds, his kill and the last attack bonus had gone to that boy in black.

Irritation was the first word that came to mind. It was the first time Kayaba had experienced the emotion while inside of SAO. Not even working on the game tirelessly throughout development had gotten this rise from him. He was actually surprised.

Regardless, it was an experience he could do without. Kayaba had been taking a risk going out to do this alone and now another player knew he was here. Not just that, his sole reason for doing so was robbed right in front of his eyes. He didn't recognize the small boy, looking to be in his early teens. He was obviously a beta tester if he had come here alone.

However, these were the rules of Sword Art Online. Stealing another players kill was par for the course and he was no exception. He surpressed his aggravation and approached the child with the intent to barter with him. The boy used a sword and appeared to be alone. There wasn't a guild tag over his name, either. He would have no need for the «Golden Trident».

Perfect, then he would sell it... or so he thought.

Quite stubbornly, the boy turned his nose up and refused him. He couldn't fathom why. The boy had no need for such an item, so why would he hang onto it? Was this what the young ones referred to as trolls?

Kayaba's irritation manifested itself once more, this time greater. Not letting the brat get the better of him, he insisted the boy sell it, asking him to name his price. One million col was his response.

He didn't think twice. Kayaba would pay a billion if it meant he never had to see the kid again. He sent a trade request, but the brat insisted on pushing every single one of his buttons.

He didn't trust the system to complete his trade fairly?

How moronic.

Anger had slipped out and he had to reel it in quick. This kid may have been a little demon, but he wasn't foolish. Despite his snide remarks and bad temperament, he could see intelligence hidden in those black orbs.

Not wanting to spend anymore time around him, Kayaba took out one million col from his inventory for an in-person trade, just like the kid requested. He tried to be tricky, asking for the col before even bothering to take out the trident. He argued with him and the boy thankfully listened, taking it out.

"...I see, that's why." Kayaba croaked through his dry throat, having been in-game for so long. He finally realized what brought upon his death.

He had commented on the boy's armor. Specifically, he had said the word "defiance."

Something as simple as that shouldn't have been grounds for death, but clearly that boy was crazy. Even if it was a hunch, to kill someone so mercilessly without any hesitation...

"...No, he knew. It wasn't a hunch." Kayaba denied, coughing hoarsely. His voice cracked, not having spoken for so long. He needed to drink water before speaking again. His muscles ached as he slowly took the NerveGear off his head, sitting up.

With that one piece of information, that boy figured out his identity.

The reason why was simple. The defiance armor set were equipment pieces obtained from a secret dungeon. He recognized it immediately and hadn't commented on it. His brain had accepted that fact unconsciously without actually processing what it meant.

It meant that a player had found the secret dungeon on floor one.

In fact, this wasn't the first time. There had been a player in the beta test who found it. Apparently, he had been rather popular. Once the real version of Sword Art Online was released, that player was sure to grab the armor set again.

That player's name was...

"...Kirito." The name spilled out of Kayaba's mouth, through the strain in his throat.

Kirito.

He remembered that player quite well.

Observing the beta testers, it was clear that Kirito was the stand out. He was far and away the best player who took part in it. It wasn't just his skill, but his knowledge and mind were just as exceptional.

Considering his past accomplishments and high status, he would have figured the boy would have tried to play the role he had. Thinking back on it now, he understood why Kirito didn't.

If he recalled, the boy was rather introverted and secretive. The reason why he wouldn't have told anyone about the Defiance armor set is because he wouldn't want anyone else having it.

Therefore, only Kirito himself was supposed to know about it and its location. What set him off was the fact that Kayaba had known.

Still, Kirito appeared to be a young man. He was likely still in his early teens. Kayaba hadn't expected to die at all, much less to someone like that. Either combat between players was always that ferocious, or Kirito was unrivaled in the art.

The murder in that boy's eyes was something else. His gaze held an unnatural focus and fury he'd never seen before.

Kayaba knew right there that he would be seeing that gaze again at the top of SAO, inside the Crimson Palace on floor one hundred. A smile graced his lips as he thought back on the final blow Kirito landed on him.

Somehow, the boy was able to do something he thought was impossible. He was skilled enough to break the rules that were set in the Cardinal System.

The last attack Kirito had used changed the direction of where his sword was coming from. Rather, he was able to stop his sword skill before it completed and start another one instantly.

'Fascinating...' It appeared as if someone had already mastered Sword Art Online. A technique that was outside of the system's detection wasn't something just anyone could do. One on that level was simply incredible.

The boy was truly exceptional, albeit in a terrifying way.

Managing to finally get up on his feet, Kayaba hobbled his way over to the door. His hand was only able to reach for the knob, before it opened on its own.

"Y-You're awake?" The woman stuttered, her eyes widening in surprise. Kayaba nodded in confirmation as he tried stepping around her. That only annoyed the woman, her surprise dropping into a scowl as she stepped in front of him, blocking his path. "No you don't. Tell me why you're out so early." The anger in her eyes only grew. "Did you quit? Did you give up? Did you realize that your dream is a stupid waste of time? Are you going to let all of those kids out now?!" Her words got louder the more she spoke, fists balling up beside her.

Kayaba shook his head, ignoring the sounds of her grinding teeth. He stopped her before she could continue. "Water..."

His struggling voice seemed to placate her fury, at least for now. She grabbed his wrist and dragged him to the couch in the other room, practically throwing him onto it. The man couldn't put up much of a fight in his state. It had been roughly two months since Sword Art Online officially launched. His body's health had heavily deteriorated.

Though he had weakened severely, Kayaba wasn't exactly a healthy or strong man to begin with. He wouldn't have been able to put up a fight regardless.

The woman left the room and quickly retrieved a glass of water, holding it out to him. He accepted it weakly and she waited for him to finish drinking before questioning him again. "Well...? Tell me why exactly are you back out here and not... there."

Her words were filled with disgust. She held the SAO Project in contempt and in extension, him. The look of scorn in her eyes always made him second guess his decision. Truly, it was a miracle that she hadn't turned him in. Anyone else in the world would hand him over to the authority's without any hesitation or remorse.

But she wouldn't. Not with the love she still harbored inside her heart.

Rinko Koujiro was Kayaba's junior in college, where the two met. They got along well and she ended up working under him on the SAO Project. At first they were friends, soon blooming into lovers.

Ex-lovers, now.

"I was killed by a player." Kayaba stated simply, finishing the glass and handing it back with a lanky arm.

"You... were killed?" A small look of surprise crossed her face. "But then why aren't you... Oh, I get it. You're a coward." Koujiro snarled, realizing why the man was still of the living.

If you died inside Sword Art Online, you would die in real life. That fact held true for everyone there.

Except for him. The game's creator.

Kayaba didn't deny her. Looking at it that way, she wasn't wrong. However, he saw it a different way. "It was insurance. If things didn't work out the way I planned, I could try another approach."

"Insurance? How can you sit there and say that when all of those kids are dying! You think they have insurance?!"

"Of course not. Why would they? Sword Art Online was designed to feel like another world. For that world to become real, you must be able to live your entire life there. You must also be able to die."

Smack!

Koujiro withdrew her outstretched hand, tears welling up in her eyes. "Why... why do you get to make that decision for them? Why do you refuse to play by your own rules? It isn't fair!"

The man cupped his cheek, pain spreading throughout his fragile skin. "No, it isn't. I'm the one who created Sword Art Online and I have access to all of the commands. Why wouldn't I use them?"

Another slap smacked across Kayaba's other exposed cheek. "You just want to play God in another world and use kids as your guinea pigs... You're sick."

Kayaba's hands now carassed both sides of his face, a frown denoting his pain. "No, adults are also inside Sword Art Online."

She raised her hand to hit the man once again, restraining herself by a hair. "Stop messing around and let them go." Koujiro's face trembled as she struggled to hold back her emotions. "This is enough. Let's end it here, you've played God for long-"

"We've discussed this already, Rinko. My goals aren't as simple as that. I have no intentions to play God."

"Bullshit!" She shouted at him. "Then why did you log in under that stupid name?! What exactly were you trying to do?!" Her remarks made Kayaba grimace. He turned away, unable to look her in the eyes. Koujiro sneered, turning away from him in disgust. "Stop trying to live this stupid fantasy. It. Isn't. Real."

"...You're right."

Koujiro's eyes shot open, a gasp leaving her. The woman's heart pounded inside of her chest, hoping to have heard him correctly. "W-What? What did you just say?"

"You're right." Kayaba repeated, acknowledging her claim.

Hope burgeoned inside of Koujiro. She almost didn't believe what she heard. Maybe now, he would-

"It was foolish of me to try and play the hero by becoming the center of attention. I have to be more careful, not playing all of my cards from the start. I should take my time and spread them out through the game's life."

As quickly as they came, her hopes were immediately dashed. It felt as if she had been shot through the heart, just like when he had first told her his plan.

"T-That's what you took away from this? Have you even been listening to me?!" She already knew the answer.

No, he hadn't.

He hadn't considered letting the victims go for a second. Rage filled the empty void inside her chest, fists clenching hard enough for her knuckles to turn white. Kayaba slowly looked her dead in the eyes, completely lacking any sort of compassion. A single sentence left him.

"If you care so much then why don't you free them?"

She froze. Her rage iced over, her heart jumping up into her throat. The perpetual dread she felt daily that had temporarily calmed after his awakening had once again grasped her in its clutches.

Every time she thought about it, a piece inside of her died.

Koujiro had the power to save them. Kayaba wouldn't be able to stop her, even if he tried.

All it would take is a couple clicks on the computer next to his bed, or even a phone call to the police. The incident would be over just like that, the remaining victims waking up without any risk of death. A single minute of work and the whole crisis would be over.

Yet, she couldn't do it.

No matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't pull that trigger. Koujiro could pretend that she was trapped. That the bomb inside her chest, close to her heart would explode if she tried anything.

However, she already knew it would never happen. She wasn't at risk of death and wouldn't even be at risk with the law. Yet, she still couldn't pull the plug.

And he knew that.

"B-Bastard... y-you bastard... h-how dare y-you?" Koujiro lost her voice, barely able to whisper. Tears poured from her eyes as she slumped to her knees. Her hands came up to her face, sobbing in both remorse and self-pity.

Kayaba didn't pay her any mind. He pushed himself off the couch, walking past her without so much as a glance. He needed to think about what his next move was.

He couldn't make the same mistakes as before. He still wanted to play using the same style and take a leader position. It couldn't be as the hero, or at least, not exactly.

Eventually, he would take the role as the villain. It was supposed to be an ironic twist ending, but that idea would have to be scrapped. From the start, it hadn't been all too bright. With how careless he was, it was no wonder it inevitably failed.

Giving himself a bunch of powerful equipment from the jump was a misplay. He may have accomplished a lot and gathered many other players around him. However, it created an almost equal set of problems. If he were to have proper success, it would have to be built up over time, just like accumulating rare items would.

Using a younger avatar was also a mistake. He had wanted to imitate the role of a typical hero in a coming of age story. Young, handsome, smart, strong, and a leader. That had been a bit too on the nose. Not only that, it made people respect him as a person less.

With age comes experience. Many were thrilled to follow him, but at least half had questioned his competence at one point or another. Kayaba spoke direct and confident, but it wasn't enough to rid their doubt. The older players weren't very pleased trusting someone younger than them with their lives.

Entering his room, Kayaba sat down in front of the computer console. Here, he could directly access the contents of Sword Art Online without having to log in. He popped open the player logs, scrolling to find his player name, Hero.

As he thought, it was grayed out. Of course, he had the power to revive the avatar and even log back in with all of his items. Going through with that would be foolish for obvious reasons. He scrolled down further until he found the name of the player who had killed him, Kirito.

There were many things he could change and effect from the computer. Both the world and the players were at his mercy. If he so wished, Kirito would die with a click of his mouse, vanishing without a trace.

"Don't even think about it." Koujiro's voice snapped Kayaba's gaze away from the computer and towards her. She stood in the doorway with unbridled hatred in her puffy red eyes, as if she truly wished he would keel over right there on the spot. Tears stained her cheeks as she spoke menacingly, "I won't let a coward hide behind a computer to kill someone."

Ignoring her hatred, Kayaba's eyes flickered as he understood what she was referring to. "I wouldn't go out of my way to seek revenge. My advantages were far beyond any other players and yet I still lost. I have no one to blame but myself." Even if she hadn't stopped him, he wouldn't have attempted to kill anyone from out here.

He had no intention of playing God.

Besides, Kirito would likely play a crucial role in the future of SAO, ending the game after defeating him on floor one hundred. That was probably Kirito's intent when he had chosen to face off against him. He knew the boy wouldn't hesitate to do so again.

She stood there watching him, unable to act on her desires to stop him. Instead, she clenched the doorframe hard enough for it to creak. As long as she didn't interfere with him, he didn't care if she watched.

Clicking off the player log, Kayaba mulled over his new character as he went into the skill list. One of the icons in particular caught his attention.

Unique Skills.

There were only a few inside of SAO and they would only be given to a single player under a specific set of circumstances. The prerequisites were very technical and the Cardinal System used a lot of data to keep track of them.

Before Unique Skills could even begin appearing, the players must have reached floor fifty and unlock the teleport gate there. It was then where the conditions for Unique Skills would be checked. If the prerequisites were fulfilled, that player would get the skill. Afterwards, that skill would no longer be obtainable, regardless if other players fulfilled the same prerequisites.

There was one skill that caught his eye.

The Divine Blade.

It was a sword and shield skill that went perfectly with his own style of combat.

That's what he would go for.

Slowly build up a reputation over time, slowly formulate a guild and gain credibility, slowly grow his character so that he doesn't get found out. With enough effort, the skill would eventually go to him without the need to cheat.

Now he needed a new name.

The character he decided on would be a bit older than himself. Not old enough to be elderly, but old enough to show experience and command respect. In retrospect, it was a childish idea to name himself Hero. The name couldn't be as cliche as that. It needed to sound both mature and strong. Kayaba pondered on many before eventually landing on one.

Typing it into the computer, he gave the newly created avatar the ability to access administrator privileges, just in case he needed them again. Kayaba felt satisfied with his work as he confirmed the settings.

Heathcliff.

That would be his new avatar.

He wouldn't log in just yet. He was tired and needed to sleep. Running around in a new character would exhaust him more than he was currently able to handle.

Sobs echoed lowly into the room as Koujiro slumped back down onto the floor. Kayaba took a glance at the NerveGear laying next to him before pulling up the covers and closing his eyes. It wasn't the first time she had cried like this.

She would stop eventually.

A couple days later inside of Sword Art Online, a single chiming blue light would appear at the center of the «Town of Beginnings». This player would be known as Heathcliff.

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Probably not as exciting as the first part, but the chapter wasn't written to be consumed in two parts. Again, I'm sorry it had to be split this way. I just keep exceeding the word count per chapter. I'll try to dial it back some, but no promises.

Thanks to all my Patreons again. The more support I can garner, the faster I'll try to release chapters.

Thank you for reading. Have a good day.

Patreon: 3sper