"Hey, Kirito, how do you work these wings?" Hachiman shouted, plummeting through ALO's sky.
"No clue!" Kirito yelled back.
"No standard trick for this?" Hachiman asked.
"Focus on your back or something!" Kirito said.
"Alright, let's try," Hachiman said.
"How are you so calm?!" Kirito snapped.
"Just do it!" Hachiman shot back.
"Fine! Move, wings!" Kirito roared.
Whether the heavens heard Kirito's cry, their fall slowed slightly.
"Did it work?" Hachiman asked.
"Got it!" Kirito said. "Hachiman, focus hard on flying—forget the wings!"
"Got it. Fly!" Hachiman commanded.
Instantly, their descent slowed visibly, and they managed to hover in midair.
"Nailed it," Hachiman said.
"Knew it," Kirito said.
"What's the deal?" Hachiman asked.
"Think about it," Kirito said. "Even if humans had angel wings, they'd be too heavy to fly. These tiny wings shouldn't work either."
"Hm, so?" Hachiman said.
"The wings are just for show," Kirito said. "The key is your intent to fly. I guessed right."
"Makes sense," Hachiman said. "Physics don't mean much in games."
"It's all about mastering intent," Kirito said. "There's a controller, but who has time for that?"
"Practice it is," Hachiman said. "Let's descend slowly."
"Roger," Kirito said.
They glided down cautiously, landing with heavy sighs and slumping to the ground.
"Man, that was intense," Hachiman said.
"Who sets a spawn point in the sky?" Kirito said. "Nothing in the manual or articles mentioned this."
"Let's figure out what we can do," Hachiman said. "How do you open the menu?"
"Same as SAO," Kirito said. "We're at base level, so probably not much to see."
They tensed, checking the logout button first.
"There's a logout button…" Hachiman said.
"Yeah, it's there," Kirito confirmed.
"Honestly, I was kinda freaked," Hachiman admitted.
"Same," Kirito said. "I'm good now."
"Alright, let's check skills," Hachiman said.
When they opened the skill menu, their jaws dropped.
"What the…" Hachiman said.
"This makes no sense," Kirito said.
Their skill values were near maxed out. They stared in silence until Kirito spoke. "Hachiman, these numbers look familiar to you?"
"Funny you say that," Hachiman said. "Same here."
"SAO's final skill values?" Kirito asked.
"Identical," Hachiman said.
"Your take?" Kirito asked.
"ALO and SAO must share the same format," Hachiman said. "Our NerveGear data probably overwrote the defaults."
"Look at this gold," Kirito said. "We're loaded from the start."
"HP and MP didn't carry over, though," Hachiman said. "Different format, probably."
They reviewed their skills thoroughly.
"What about items?" Hachiman asked.
"No way," Kirito said. "We're in starter gear—straight from the manual. If items carried over, we'd look different."
"Let's check," Hachiman said.
They opened their item menus, hopeful but braced for disappointment. As expected, their hopes were dashed. Kirito sighed, and Hachiman echoed him.
"All corrupted except starter gear," Kirito said. "Yours too?"
"Yup, total wipeout," Hachiman said.
"Should we delete them?" Kirito asked.
"Probably," Hachiman said. "Could be flagged as a bug. Gotta do it."
"…Yeah," Kirito said.
They hesitated over the delete button. The glitched items, though unreadable, held memories. Still, they had no choice. With heavy hearts, they pressed delete, watching their inventories empty, and let out deeper sighs.
"Kinda hurts, doesn't it?" Hachiman said.
"Guys have that collector instinct," Kirito said.
"You're better off," Hachiman said. "A standard sword works for you. My Achtfaust… it's not here, is it?"
"Probably not," Kirito said. "Find a substitute."
"Same format, though," Hachiman said. "Maybe it exists?"
"Don't cling to hope, Hachiman," Kirito said. "Let it go."
"Damn it…" Hachiman said, eyes misty.
Kirito glanced at the skill menu, then remembered something. "Hey, Hachiman, my Dual Blades skill is gone. How's dual-wielding handled here?"
"Oh, forgot to mention," Hachiman said. "You can dual-wield one-handed weapons without restrictions."
"Seriously? That's a relief," Kirito said.
"Wait," Hachiman said, realization dawning.
"What?" Kirito asked.
"I can dual-wield too," Hachiman said. "A dagger in my left hand solves everything. Might need practice, though."
"Nice, Hachiman!" Kirito said. "Problem solved!"
"Achtfaust was a makeshift dual-wield setup anyway," Hachiman said.
"Oh!" Kirito exclaimed.
"Now what?" Hachiman asked.
"Didn't you have a special folder for items?" Kirito asked.
"You're right!" Hachiman said. "Yui and Kizmel's gems were stored separately. Where is it… Here!"
"What's inside?" Kirito asked.
Hachiman opened the folder, heart pounding. "Look, Kirito—no corruption!"
He showed Kirito the screen, buzzing with excitement.
"No way!" Kirito said. "Tap them both!"
Hachiman tapped Yui and Kizmel's gems. Kizmel's gem didn't respond, but Yui's glowed, scattering feathers as a figure formed.
"No way!" Hachiman said.
"It's Yui, just as she was!" Kirito said. "You did it, Kirito!"
As the light faded, Yui stood before them, unchanged from SAO.
"Yui! Yui!" Hachiman called.
Yui opened her eyes slowly. "Papa…?"
"That's right, it's Papa, Yui!" Hachiman said.
"Papa!" Yui cried, leaping into his arms, beaming.
"We're together again!" Hachiman said.
"All thanks to Kirito," Hachiman added.
"Congrats, Hachiman!" Kirito said.
"Uncle Kirito?" Yui said. "You're here too!"
"Been a while, Yui," Kirito said.
"I knew we'd meet again!" Yui said. "Papa, where's Mama?"
"Yui, Mama's trapped in this world by someone," Hachiman said. "Will you help us save her?"
"Mama's… trapped?" Yui said. "Of course, Papa!"
"Can you sense Asuna?" Kirito asked.
"She's not nearby," Yui said. "That's all I know."
"Alright," Hachiman said. "Answer what you can. Where are we? And why isn't Kizmel waking?"
"Hold on, Papa," Yui said, pressing a hand to her ear, scanning the system.
After a moment, she explained, "Papa, this seems to be a copy of SAO's servers."
"No way," Hachiman said. "Not just the format, but the servers too?"
"The core programs and graphics are identical," Yui said.
"Our skills match SAO's final values," Kirito said. "Is that okay?"
"No system issues," Yui said.
"And you being here?" Hachiman asked.
"I'm classified as a Navigation Pixie," Yui said. "Other players shouldn't see me like this, so I'll switch forms, Papa."
"Alright," Hachiman said.
Yui shrank into a ten-centimeter fairy, fluttering around. "So cute…" Hachiman said, poking her gently. Yui giggled, ticklish, then flew happily around him. Kirito watched, intrigued.
Yui landed on Hachiman's shoulder. "Sorry, Papa, I didn't finish explaining."
"Right," Hachiman said. "Anything else?"
"About the AI named Kizmel," Yui said. "Unlike me, she has no compatible form here, so she's dormant. She'll wake if a suitable form is introduced later."
"Got it," Hachiman said. "Sleep a bit longer, Kizmel." He carefully stored her gem.
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