52 Destiny Coins, roughly equivalent to the value of twenty-six Rurikawa's—though using the young maid as a unit of measurement is a bit strange.
Ryu was absolutely ecstatic!
Recalling the days when he would clutch the coins in his hand, hesitating over every decision, wishing he could split a single coin into eight pieces to spend, the satisfaction he felt now looking at the skyrocketing numbers was beyond words.
And this wasn't even the final reward!
Ryu had only stopped the progress of the main SAO story (Aincrad), but there was still great potential to be mined from stories within the same worldview.
The boss of the 'Fairy Dance' arc, Sugou Nobuyuki, was a poor imitation of Akihiko Kayaba who went down a path of madness out of jealousy for the genius's achievements;
The boss of the 'Phantom Bullet' arc was a remnant of the SAO player-killing guild, [Laughing Coffin];
The heroine of the 'Mother's Rosario' arc, Zekken, relied on medical and VR technology that came from Akihiko Kayaba's legacy;
And the prototype for the Fluctlight machine in the 'Alicization' arc was developed by Kayaba's classmate based on his research.
—That's right, a certain mad scientist was the 'absolute center' of this story, and if Kirigaya Kazuto's tale hadn't been forcibly extended, it would have concluded perfectly after the first two arcs.
Shutting down SAO directly affected only the first two arcs (plus Phantom Bullet at most). The latter three stories could have been spun off as independent tales even with a different protagonist, because their cores were actually Sinon, Zekken, and Alice (the Fluctlight AI).
In other words, Ryu could still farm another wave of gold coins!
Akihiko Kayaba's three classmates—Kōjiro Rinko, Higa Takeru, and Sugou Nobuyuki—had long since been located by Ryu, who had people watching them as well, precisely to control any chain reactions.
The first two could be utilized, but Sugou Nobuyuki was a special case:
As the most 'memorable' boss of the main story, although he acted like a clown in front of Akihiko Kayaba, he was still a major character and had some value.
Ryu was pondering how to twist his life.
What? Sugou hasn't done anything yet, so there's no reason to move against him?
—Does Ryu look like a reasonable person?
It's far easier to destroy someone than to save them. For characters he liked, Ryu might put in some effort, since saving them also counts as 'changing their destiny'.
But Sugou? Unless he was gender-bent into a white-haired, red-eyed beautiful girl, Ryu had no reason to look out for him!
'These two are extremely valuable talents. Background checks have already been done. Have someone contact them and meet their demands for compensation as much as possible. Just say that Akihiko Kayaba wants to work with them.'
Ryu assigned the task to Ruri, 'But as for this last one, Sugou Nobuyuki... let me think.'
'Sugou? The researcher from [Rect]? I remember he's also a classmate of Akihiko Kayaba's.'
Ruri opened her tablet, accessed the archive, and searched for a moment, then pondered while touching her smooth, delicate chin.
'His 'security' level is quite high. Is there something special about him?'
'As a researcher, his talent can't compare to Kayaba's, and his character is equally inferior... He has no real value. I'm just simply interested in him.'
'Interested?'
Ruri said in surprise, 'For Lord Ryu to be... huh? There's a new message. It's from the security department.'
The maid stopped mid-sentence, shifting into work mode to read the document's contents seriously. Her brow slowly furrowed, and she stole a glance at Ryu, an indescribably emotional expression appearing on her face.
'Did something happen?'
'Yes, Lord Ryu.'
Ruri let out a breath and replied in a tone of utter humility and admiration, 'Just as you predicted, that Sugou Nobuyuki is indeed trouble!'
'...Huh?' Ryu looked up and blinked.
'After the SAO servers went offline, that guy used his position as a senior researcher at [Rect] to copy the core data of the 'NERvGear' chip amidst the chaos, under the pretext of emergency repairs.
Although he didn't manage to get [The Seed], he did extract the artificial intelligence engine... A classic case of corporate espionage.
Our people have already apprehended him, and the data has been successfully intercepted. No other leaks have been discovered for now. Also, we've traced a secret account of his with financial ties to some funds in the United States.'
Ruri's voice was cold, 'If it was just his own doing, we wouldn't need to worry, but if the higher-ups at [Rect] are pulling the strings, then that company can no longer be trusted.'
'It has nothing to do with the Yuuki family. It's just Sugou acting on his own. I'm not surprised at all that he'd do something like this.' Ryu was surprised for a moment, but also felt it was perfectly normal.
That guy Sugou Nobuyuki is a despicable person by nature, with ambitions that don't match his abilities. It's perfectly normal for him to try and stir up trouble.
But as I said, scientists aren't secret agents. Neither he nor Akihiko Kayaba realized they were being monitored long ago. The moment they acted, they were walking right into a trap.
'Lord Ryu, did you foresee all of this happening today?'
Ruri, however, felt Ryu's image was becoming ever more profound and inscrutable. 'Before this, there was nothing noteworthy about Sugou. He was nowhere near as dazzling as Kayaba... Yet you noticed him early on, saw through his true nature, and have been laying this plan all the way until today?'
Ryu was silent for a moment, scratched his cheek, and didn't answer the question.
Instead, he said, 'In that case, there's no need to trouble the security department any further. Just deal with him according to the rules for traitors.'
'A traitor?'
Ruri's eyes narrowed as she said seriously, 'I understand.'
'Traitor'—in the Kuse family, this word carries a special meaning.
Once this word was used, it meant they weren't going to resort to the law through conventional channels, but would instead enact private punishment on the person.
On the surface, Japan is a capitalist country, but its core still retains a great deal of feudal ideology, especially regarding relationships of personal dependency (the class system). A family like the Kuse clan couldn't manage such a large conglomerate without strict family laws.
(Of course, those eligible to be subjected to family law were generally core members and mid-to-high-level executives.)
Although Sugou Nobuyuki was an employee of [Rect] and a confidant of the Yuuki family, not a vassal of the Kuse clan, so private punishment shouldn't apply, since Lord Ryu had said so, Ruri naturally wouldn't get caught up in the details.
Besides, she didn't need to handle this sort of thing personally. The 'Kuse' name had always been kept clean; professional experts were responsible for matters in the dark.
Ryu had spent so many years in Tokyo, so much money, and supported so many people—wasn't it all so they could be useful when necessary?!
After this, Ruri assigned the task to her subordinates, who in turn contacted a yakuza organization called the [Inukin Group].
The man named Sugou Nobuyuki completely disappeared from society, a certain underground idol group gained a new member, and Ryu earned another two Destiny Coins—but that is a story for another time.
---
Why did things turn out this way?
Akihiko Kayaba sat watching the beautiful, dream-like sea of clouds in the distance, lost in deep thought.
He had been trapped in the network for a whole day. All means of communication with the outside world were gone, leaving him to wait alone in his personal space.
Although he had plenty of models for dungeons, weapons, and monsters stored on his server, so it wasn't exactly boring, he couldn't calm his mind no matter what.
He had now placed himself on the garden platform of a floating fortress, sipping black tea while contemplating the day's events.
With his intellect, he only needed to sort through the facts to guess eighty to ninety percent of the truth:
No one could breach his system so easily and completely, which meant the problem had to be with the hardware. It was like playing a game when your opponent just unplugs your network cable—no matter how skilled you are, you have no power to resist.
But the question was, who had the ability to 'unplug the network cable'?
The Americans? They had indeed always wanted to apply his quantum technology for military purposes.
The Japanese police? A bunch of failures who needed high school students to solve their cases. They couldn't possibly have discovered his death game in advance.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs? Even more useless than the police...
[Rect]? The Kuse Group? Even if they had discovered there was a problem with him, they should have stopped him before the game launched, not let the situation spiral out of control and allow the losses to escalate.
Why would a capitalist intentionally ruin their own cash cow?
Then... was it a personal enemy?
Searching his memory, he couldn't think of anyone he had offended, or rather, such people didn't even register in his eyes. As a true genius, he had never opened his heart even to his assistants and classmates.
As for someone who could have sensed something was wrong with him... could it be Rinko?
Because I could never return her feelings, did she come to resent me?
—From beginning to end, Akihiko Kayaba never considered the possibility of it being Ryu.
In his view, Ryu didn't understand technology at all; it was impossible for him to have trapped him so perfectly.
Ding-a-ling~
A clear, pleasant notification sound rang in his ear, and Akihiko Kayaba instantly perked up.
Someone's logging in!
To be able to enter my private space at this time, it must be an external physical connection. Could it be that the mastermind is—
Watching the light and shadow gradually solidify on the platform, Kayaba's eyes widened in utter disbelief.
'Kuse Ryu!'
________________________________________
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