Inside the brightly lit room, Silica was wearing the gear Kai had just given her. A light green chestplate wrapped around her body, and her feet were adorned with crimson short boots with dragon-scale patterns. A single-wing silver pendant glinted faintly under the light.
She held out her arms and admired her new look. While she couldn't feel the strength of the equipment directly, the elegant design alone made it far superior to any armor she'd worn before.
All of it lent without asking for anything in return… Mr. Kai is truly a kind person.
Thanking him again silently, she swiped her right hand to bring up her equipment list and summoned one last item:
[War Dagger]
As her finger tapped the item name, she felt a slight weight at her left hip. Looking down, a dark blade now hung in its sheath.
She drew it. The deep black blade matched the hilt, and crimson veins crisscrossed its surface with a sense of power.
It was heavier than her previous weapon—at least half again as much. Since she hadn't focused on strength when leveling up, wielding it felt somewhat cumbersome.
She raised the dagger to eyebrow height and took a combat stance. A faint green glow of the system's sword skill shimmered along the blade.
Seeing the glow of the upper-tier short sword skill Piercing Arrow, Silica relaxed slightly. She successfully activated it once by following the system's guidance, then dismissed her gear.
Even in a full-dive game like SAO, it had standard MMO mechanics. If a weapon's level requirement exceeded the user's level, the player couldn't trigger sword skills no matter what.
After unequipping, Silica lay on the bed wearing only her underwear. Staring at the wooden ceiling, she recalled the drunk apes in the Forest of Wandering.
Despite her level advantage, she had been pushed to the edge. If not for Pina's sacrifice… she'd probably be dead.
Burned from the inside out by her NerveGear… a horrible death…
Everything that had happened a few hours ago remained vivid.
The dim forest at dusk, the heavy-breathing apes, their crude clubs, and Pina's sorrowful gaze before death…
"Pina…"
Silica curled up on the wide bed, once shared with her warm companion. Now, alone, she felt lost.
She rolled restlessly and finally took out a blue feather from her inventory.
Pina's Heart—just seeing the name made her chest ache.
"Pina…"
She held the feather in one hand, clutching her chest with the other, but the pain didn't ease.
As she whispered the name, the tip of the feather suddenly swayed gently, as if joyfully responding.
Seeing it move, her strength left her. Overwhelming sorrow churned in her chest, and tears flowed freely, soaking into the bedsheet.
As she wept, a soft knock came from the door, followed by a familiar voice.
"Silica, is now a good time?"
"Ah… y-yes! Just a moment!"
Startled by the knock, Silica—long used to living alone—hurriedly returned the feather to her inventory. She wiped her tears and got out of bed.
Bare feet tapped against the wooden floor, quick and unsteady.
She reached the door, took a deep breath, and opened it.
Kai, having just heard the footsteps, was greeted by the sight of the door opening—and froze.
"You're… staring kind of hard..."
Silica saw he was only wearing a black cloak and no weapons. Although she knew players couldn't hurt each other, she still felt a bit of relief.
But seeing his stunned expression, she instinctively stepped back.
"Is… is there something wrong with how I look?"
"Uh…"
Kai opened his mouth, trying to find the right words, but failed. Finally, with a very awkward expression, he said:
"You… seem to not be wearing anything."
"Eh?"
Silica blinked. Then her face turned bright red in an instant.
"Eeep! D-don't look!"
Panicking, she screamed and crouched down with her back to him, forgetting to even close the door.
If anyone walked down the hallway now, they'd see everything…
Her bare, smooth skin glowed like jade under the candlelight.
Tsk… This level of detail… Kayaba Akihiko, you're definitely a man of… vision.
Kai took two hesitant steps forward and quietly closed the door.