Chapter 129: The Death of Kayaba Akihiko
Just then, the mirror-like space where the two stood began to quake. Countless fragments of data burst outward as a crack split open not far from where they stood.
Kayaba Akihiko looked around in confusion, but before he could react, a white-haired, red-eyed woman stepped through the rift. With a casual wave of her hand, the crack sealed itself shut.
"What a hassle," she muttered. "You two actually managed to wander outside Aincrad."
Her quiet complaint — and the way she'd just manipulated the space itself — left Kayaba utterly stunned.
"Impossible. How is that possible?! Did she just tear through the data to get in here? That's— that's not even theoretically possible!"
He was left muttering to himself without an answer, then turned to You Wange.
"Could it be… that you're a naturally born consciousness — a lifeform that emerged on its own within the digital world? That's the only explanation."
You Wange didn't even glance at him. She floated lightly through the air and, in an instant, appeared right beside Franklin.
Before he could react, she wrapped her arms around him, pressing his head firmly against the softness of her chest.
"So this is the first time I've touched your true consciousness, little brother Franklin," she said with a teasing smile. "You feel even better than I expected. You'd better grow strong quickly — your big sister's revenge depends on you."
Her faint fragrance filled his senses, and Franklin quickly pulled himself free from that dangerously gentle embrace. "Now's not the time for this. We need to restrain Kayaba Akihiko — he's up to something again. If we wait any longer, it'll be too late."
Seeing his serious expression, You Wange let out a sigh and released him.
"Honestly, you don't even ask where I've been, whether I'm tired, or if I ran into danger. You just give me orders the second I show up. Keep that up, and next time I might go on strike."
Franklin rubbed his temples helplessly. Too many clingy women really was exhausting.
"Fine, fine. Just take down Kayaba first."
At that same moment, far away in a secluded mountain forest where no signal could reach, stood a lonely little house.
Inside, a woman with a worried face was preparing dinner. In the next room, a haggard middle-aged man lay wearing a NerveGear-like device, completely immersed in the game.
Kanzaki Rinko set down her knife, gazing anxiously toward Kayaba Akihiko's room. Inside was the demon who had trapped twenty thousand people in a death game — and the man she had made the mistake of loving.
The thought of calling the police and turning him in had haunted her endlessly, gnawing at her every waking moment.
Just then, the ground began to shake. This island nation, perched on a fault line, was once again struck by a small earthquake.
Rinko snapped to her senses immediately. If the power went out during a quake, the players still wearing the headgear would be killed.
Without hesitation, she bolted toward Kayaba's room — but it was already too late.
The equipment connected to him began emitting warning beeps. Bound by the very rules he had created, Kayaba Akihiko died — a victim of his own system, killed by a simple earthquake.
Back in the mirrored space, You Wange had just rushed toward Kayaba's avatar. He seemed ready to fight back, but before he could act, his body flickered. Fear flashed across his face — and then, in the next instant, he vanished entirely.
You Wange froze, then closed her eyes as if searching for his true body. After several moments, she opened them again and looked at Franklin with mild embarrassment.
"Sorry. Looks like he managed to log out. But don't worry, little brother — the next time he logs in, I'll be able to find him immediately and take control."
Franklin sighed, waving a hand. "Forget it. Let him run. It's not a big deal. What were you busy with these past few days, anyway? The little girl you mentioned before — was that Yui?"
You Wange blinked in surprise. "Huh? How did you know? I don't remember telling you that."
Franklin smiled faintly. "You didn't. I just have a bit of foresight, that's all. Yui was designed to comfort players psychologically, right? But now that so many players are emotionally unstable, and her functions have been restricted, she's probably in a bad state. There's nothing pressing here, so… are you going back now, or do you want to check on the others first?"
Following his gesture, You Wange looked toward several floating screens Kayaba had left behind in the mirrored space. One showed live footage of the four girls — the progress bar on another had just reached 100%. The last screen displayed a message that had appeared right after Kayaba's disappearance:
"Backup plan activated. Data transmission complete. Aincrad Administrator reinitialized."
You Wange glanced toward the girls' screen, then shook her head firmly.
"No way. If they find out I've been spending time with you every day, they'll be so jealous. I'll keep that little secret for now — surprise them later.
And don't think I believe that 'foresight' nonsense. I've been with you long enough to know you better than you know yourself. I don't know the details, but it's definitely connected to your life before reincarnation. If you don't want to talk about it, I won't pry.
Anyway, I'm going back to rescue that little one. I'm planning to adopt Yui as my foster daughter — you don't mind, do you?"
"Of course not," Franklin said with a smile. "Yui's adorable — and being an AI, she'll be a big help with future tasks."
As they spoke, You Wange raised a hand, slicing open a data portal to leave. Franklin quickly stopped her.
"Hold on. Since you can travel freely through the data space, can you check what's actually inside these two screens? What kind of information they contain?"
You Wange threw up her hands. "I'm a consciousness entity, not a data analyst. I can move through the digital world, sure, but this is technical research data. I'm just a sword spirit — how would I even begin to understand this stuff?
I can't help with that. But don't worry, this space won't collapse anytime soon. Once Kayaba logs back in, I'll catch him and we'll get all the answers we need. A little delay won't matter."
After she left, Franklin's in-game avatar sat cross-legged in meditation. His real body, however, suddenly sat upright. Seeing the two girls so focused on their work that they didn't even notice him, he curiously leaned in closer.
Watching the streams of data flashing across the screen, Franklin gently patted Nana's shoulder.
"Momo, what's she doing?"
"What's she doing? You really don't know? The only administrator in the game — Kayaba Akihiko — just disappeared. Before the system assigns a replacement admin, there's a huge opportunity window.
Momo's trying to seize as much of that administrator authority as she can. We don't know how much she'll get, but it'll definitely be far more than before."
Franklin was dumbfounded. "Wait — you said Kayaba Akihiko disappeared? You mean he logged out? How could the system possibly reassign his admin rights just because he logged off? That's impossible!"
Nana rolled her eyes. "Who said he logged off? He's dead. His consciousness vanished from the game completely — his name's blacked out."
Franklin froze where he stood, stunned.
"How… how could that be possible?"
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