Accel World - Volume 20 - Chapter 1

1

Haruyuki’s daily school commute was a 1.6-kilometer walk, so it wasn’t much of a challenge for him to walk a kilometer or two on any other occasion. It was exactly one kilometer to Nakano Central Park, so the walk wouldn’t burn through too much of his energy—or so he’d thought.

“Hey, Haru. You’re looking kinda pale,” Chiyuri Kurashima said as she walked to his left. She stretched out a hand to his forehead. “You’re not getting heatstroke, are you?”

“I-I’m okay.” Haruyuki hurriedly shook his head. “Totally fine.”

From his right, Kuroyukihime offered him a thermos. “Mm. I’m pretty sure you’re not getting enough water. Drink this.”

“N-no, I’m really okay,” Haruyuki politely refused before glancing around and adding under his breath, “I mean, walking around like this, of course I’m gonna be pale…”

It wasn’t just Chiyuri and Kuroyukihime to either side. Ahead of him, members of Nega Nebulus’s Four Elements—Fuko Kurasaki, Utai Shinomiya, and Akira Himi—were walking alongside each other, while to the rear, Ash Roller, aka Rin Kusakabe, was sticking close to him, and even farther back, the Petit Paquet group—Shihoko Nago, Satomi Mito, and Yume Yuruki—were giggling and chatting.

All of which was to say, Haruyuki was completely penned in by the armed convoy of the Nega Nebulus girl squad, which had grown explosively as of late. When he cast his eyes about for his close friend and other rare male of the group, he found Takumu Mayuzumi in conversation with Magenta Scissor (aka Rui Odagiri) at the very tail of the group.

That looked like its own minefield, but still, Haruyuki wasn’t going to let himself get beaten down by the unbearableness of it all. He’d no doubt get an earful from every direction if he described the feeling as “lying on a bed of needles,” but the real issue for him was the looks he was getting from passersby and the secretly raised eyebrows at someone like him walking along in the middle of a group of beautiful girls.

No, no, no. It’s all in your head, he told himself as he once again scanned his surroundings. You’re just self-conscious. People don’t pay attention to other people.

The party was walking along a municipal road that stretched out east to west along the JR Chuo Line overhead rails. Washed out and pale in the bright sunlight, the redbrick sidewalk had been widened in the 2030s and was more than enough to accommodate them all, and from the trees that rose up on either side of the generous road, cicadas were belting out their summer song. Beneath the trees, students of all ages smiled as they walked to and fro on their way home from school.

Their joyful smiles could be attributed to the fact that the rainy season was finally over and summer vacation was starting the following day. But Haruyuki couldn’t bring himself to look directly at their faces no matter how he tried, and so he cast his gaze downward, launching the map app on his virtual desktop.

Nakano Central Park was a mixed-use facility to the northwest of Nakano Station. It was bigger than the shopping mall on the lower floors of Haruyuki’s condo, with a wide variety of tenants, so it was bustling even on the weekend. The majority of schools in the city had their closing ceremonies today—Saturday, July 20, 2047—so the park would be incredibly crowded with students and families.

As a general rule, Haruyuki didn’t do well in crowds, but today at least he was grateful for them—and that was because the full rosters of the Black Legion, Nega Nebulus, and the Red Legion, Prominence, were gathering in the park that day. The black side had a total of twelve people, including Rin, who was temporarily joining their number; the red side was expected to exceed thirty people. No matter how big the facility, a group that large would stand out if the place was deserted, inevitably leading to all of them being cracked in the real.

The Legion Master of Prominence, the second Red King, Scarlet Rain, aka Yuniko Kozuki, and the deputy Blood Leopard, aka Pard, aka Mihaya Kakei, were already out in the real to the majority of the black members, so in the worst case, there shouldn’t be anything like a PK clash. But even so, there was more than a little resistance to them exposing their real selves to an opposing Burst Linker group.

Haruyuki understood this. The values of high rankers like Kuroyukihime, Fuko, Niko, and Pard were remarkably different from those of other young people their age, most likely because of the unfathomably long hours they’d spent in the Accelerated World. While they didn’t judge people based on appearances, they were especially harsh on the field of psychological warfare. This tendency was widespread among nonveteran Burst Linkers as well, and about the only one who sneered at Haruyuki to his face, calling him a “pig,” had been Dusk Taker/Seiji Nomi when he fell to the dark side. And with his careless eating habits, it was Haruyuki’s own fault that he was so round and pudgy, so at the very least, he figured he was mentally prepared to endure open stares or laughter and come out with only a few hit points of damage.

I thought I was, but here we are…He turned his gaze back to the three-dimensional map. The two wings of Nakano Central Park—South and East—were built so that they enclosed the entire area. There were food shops facing the park on the first and second floors of both buildings, so the members of Prominence had probably split up and were on standby in several of those restaurants.

There were fifteen of them in total, and there was no guarantee that members from the Promi side would be present in the one that Haruyuki and his friends went into. He didn’t think that side would be able to guess they were Burst Linkers at first glance, but things would get pretty uncomfortable for both sides once the meeting ended if people next to each other gave the Burst Link command at the specified time.

Here, Haruyuki belatedly realized he had a question. “Um, Kuroyukihime?” he asked the older girl. “That reminds me. Why are we all going out of our way to go to Central Park for a meeting with Red? Usually two people are the starters, and then everyone else dives as part of the Gallery. So aren’t the starters the only ones who need to go to Central Park? Isn’t it the same if all the other participants are somewhere in Nakano One?”

“Mm. Well, that is true.” Kuroyukihime nodded and then glanced at the group walking ahead of them. “But I would feel bad sending Fuko alone to Central Park as our starter. And since this battle is limited to members of both Legions in the Gallery using the park’s local net, we do actually need to gather at the location in the real.”

“Um. But…” Although mostly convinced, Haruyuki kept at it. “The duelers have the right to forcibly remove any of the Gallery, so couldn’t they just clear out any outsiders after the duel starts?”

“Now look, Haruyuki. That would basically be the same as declaring to the world that Black and Red are planning something,” she said. She threw him a wry smile, but it soon grew brooding. “Until the Territories with Oscillatory start at four, we absolutely cannot let them get wind of the merger between Nega Nebulus and Prominence. If the White King learns of it, she very well might suspect we’ll attack Minato Ward Area Three today. If our attack is leaked beforehand, they’ll naturally focus the full might of the Seven Dwarves in Minato Three. In the worst case, Cosmos herself might show up. I have faith in your abilities, but if that happened…”

“You can’t, Sacchi.” Ahead of them, Fuko Kurasaki whirled around and cut their legion leader off. While signs of the usual soft and gentle Raker Smile lingered, her silent rebuke was understood by those in the know to be quite firm. “‘Even if the White King might show up’—that’s all the more reason that you can’t go to Minato area. Whatever happens with Nega Nebulus, so long as you, at least—so long as the Black King—are in good health, we can come back. However many times it takes. But…”

Next to Fuko, Utai Shinomiya picked up the thread in her text chat. UI> IF SOMETHING HAPPENED TO YOU, SA, WE WOULD DEFINITELY NOT BE ABLE TO GET BACK UP AGAIN THIS TIME. NEGA NEBULUS IS A LEGION MADE UP OF PEOPLE WHO LOVE YOU AND COME TOGETHER FOR YOUR SAKE. THAT HAS NEVER CHANGED.

Even Akira Himi, who was normally extremely short-spoken, chimed in, touching the red frames of her glasses. “Fu’s exactly right. Today’s Territories are definitely not the final battle with the White Legion and the Acceleration Research Society. It’s the first in a prolonged series of battles. It’s a fight we can’t afford to lose, but if we do, we’ll pick ourselves back up. However many times it takes.”

“……”

Kuroyukihime said nothing in response to her generals, a serious yet pained look on her face.

At some point the members to the rear had also stopped talking, and the entire party had stopped moving.

Fuko was the first to open her mouth, the smile on her face somewhat dry. “In the old days, this would be when Graph said something ridiculous to cheer us all up.”

UI> HE’S SO ANNOYING WHEN HE’S AROUND, BUT SOMETHING’S MISSING WHEN HE’S NOT. THAT’S GRAPH FOR YOU.

“If we’re not careful,” Akira said with a completely straight face, “he’ll sense with some mysterious power that we’re talking about him and appear before us even though we really didn’t ask for him. Let’s watch our tongues.”

The strain finally left Kuroyukihime’s face, and she let out a small sigh. “I suppose. It’s true that I’m in quite the fighting mood today. Perhaps I hadn’t realized how deeply provoking it was to see Cosmos at the school festival last month.”

“That’s right, Kuroyukihime. Please have faith in us today and wait in Suginami for a report!” In his heart, Haruyuki silently congratulated himself for having the wherewithal to say the right thing at the right time for once.

“Aaah, totally like you, Haru!” Chiyuri retorted mercilessly. “Even at a time like this, you can’t say ‘have faith in me.’”

Kuroyukihime and the Elements shared a laugh, followed by the Petit Paquet crew and even Takumu in the rear of the group. The moment the laughter started to die down, a hand stretched out from behind Haruyuki.

“Uh. Um.” Rin Kusakabe hesitantly looked for a chance to speak, poufy hair tied in two small bundles at the back of her head.

Somewhat surprised, Kuroyukihime blinked a few times until a smile stretched across her face. “Kusakabe—ah, Rin. Today, you’re a member of Nega Nebulus. You don’t have to raise your hand every time you want to speak.”

“O-okay. Um. I was listening. And I had this thought. Now.” Rin looked serious as she spoke in her usual halting way. “If. The White King had really. Wanted to provoke Kuroyukihime when. She came to the Umesato school festival…That would mean. Her goal was to draw Kuroyukihime into a fight with the. White Legion. Right?”

“Mm.” Kuroyukihime exchanged glances with Fuko, Akira, and Utai before nodding slowly. “Yes…that’s what it would mean. If she hadn’t shown up then and acknowledged that she was the one behind the ISS kits and also the leader of the Acceleration Research Society, we wouldn’t have been able to get Grandé and Knight to cooperate in carrying out the attack on Minato area.”

“And right before she turned into a butterfly and flew away,” Haruyuki started, as he dug back into his memory of that day nearly three weeks earlier, “she said she was looking forward to the time when you would stand before the White King of your own will…” He felt like the cries of the cicadas and even the heat of the summer sun faded away as he simply remembered how the White King—Transient Eternity, White Cosmos—looked when she charged into the Black Legion meeting in a simple dummy avatar in the middle of the school festival.

She’d been ready to fight both Kuroyukihime and Niko with that dummy avatar, even though it would have had essentially no battle power. Even though she knew that according to the level-nine sudden-death rule, if she lost there, she would lose all her points and be forever banished from the Accelerated World. He shuddered at the memory.

A small hand grabbed tightly onto the hem of his shirt as Rin started to speak again. “I trade with my brother in the. Accelerated World, so my memories of duels are. Usually vague…But weirdly. I remember. That one very well. Even though the White King didn’t look. Hostile or angry at all, I was. Afraid of her. It was like she could. Read every single one of my. Thoughts. I’m sure it’s impossible. But there’s no chance…she figured out that we’re. Attacking Minato area in the Territories today?”

Kuroyukihime and the Four Elements pursed their lips once more.

The White King had marched into the school festival alone and confirmed their suspicion that she was the leader of the Acceleration Research Society. She’d obviously had a purpose in doing so, and if that purpose was to make Nega Nebulus attack Oscillatory Universe, then Haruyuki couldn’t deny that it was possible she was expecting an attack on the location of the White headquarters, Minato Area No. 3.

If she was, the defense team for the area would be a formidable lineup of Oscillatory’s most elite members. According to the information file Kuroyukihime had prepared, the White executive branch, the Seven Dwarves, were naturally part of this elite, but even the rank-and-file members looked to be fierce warriors. Haruyuki had no intention of admitting defeat before they even fought, but it was a fact that their chances of victory would drop off against such a defensive line.

The late-July sun burning down on them, the party fell into an oppressive silence in the middle of the sidewalk.

“This sure isn’t like you,” came a voice from the rear abruptly, and Haruyuki lifted his face.

The speaker was a girl in a short-sleeved sailor uniform with asymmetrical bangs, the Burst Linker who had been the cause of many of Haruyuki’s fiercest fights. She was also Nega Nebulus’s newest member, having only just joined the Legion that very day: Magenta Scissor/Rui Odagiri.

A faint smile bleeding onto her beautiful, shadowed face, Rui made her husky voice heard once more. “The Nega Nebulus I know isn’t the kind of Legion to get freaked before a fight. You’re always saying once you accelerate, the only thing you can do is fight with all you got and all that. You’re not actually trying to tell me you can scrap the whole thing if you haven’t accelerated yet?”

“Of course not. If we pulled back here, I can’t imagine what the Red King would say,” Kuroyukihime replied, also smiling, and took a deep breath before straightening up and announcing, “Even if, hypothetically, Oscillatory is anticipating the Territories attack, they can’t have foreseen that it would be today. Systemwise, the areas separating Suginami and Minato—Shibuya One and Two—are green territory, and the White King couldn’t possibly guess that they’ll be transferred immediately before the Territories with no contest. Not to mention that it’s beyond the realm of imagination that Nega Nebulus and Prominence would merge to not only double our battle force, but triple or quadruple it. If we can do even one thing they don’t see coming, we will have a chance at victory.”

The former members of Petit Paquet nodded as one, and the other members joined them.

“Master,” Takumu began from beside Rui, “I was a member of Blue Legion, Leonids, until nine months ago, and I took part in the Territories then, too. The Blue Legion won by a long shot in terms of numbers, but even against them, Nega Nebulus always had one thing that put them on top: the element of surprise. This Legion has the strength to turn the tables in any situation, no matter how difficult. And that’s a strength that’s impossible to see coming.”

Here, for some reason, he glanced at Haruyuki, and then he turned his gaze back on Kuroyukihime. “Even if Oscillatory Universe has figured out every detail of our strategy, even if they’ve prepared every possible countermeasure, Nega Nebulus won’t go down so easily. Not a chance.”

“Oh-ho-ho!” Chiyuri chirped. “You’ve really started talking Negabu style, too, huh, Taku!”

Takumu pushed up the bridge of his glasses as though embarrassed, so the entire party burst into laughter once again.

“It’s just as Takumu says.” Kuroyukihime nodded firmly and brought the impromptu roadside meeting to a close. “Even supposing Oscillatory concentrates all their battle power in Minato Three, that doesn’t mean we’re doomed to fail. And even if we are defeated, that does not spell the end of everything. I am utterly and thoroughly vexed that I cannot take part myself, but I will wait and have faith in your victory. Now let’s head off toward our first mission. Everyone, disconnect from the global net!”

At this, Haruyuki finally noticed that they were nearly at the border between Suginami and Nakano. If they kept walking with global connections on, every member of Nega Nebulus would appear on the matching list for Nakano Area No. 1, and any Burst Linker who happened to check the list would wonder what was going on.

He hurriedly reached up and cut the global connection on his Neurolinker. The 3-D map he had open switched to offline mode, and the real-time traffic information disappeared. Swiping the map away, he looked up at the pure, blue summer sky. The anxious desire to flee had faded from his heart at some point, and in its place he felt prebattle nerves and a hint of excitement rise up.

Five minutes later, they were at Nakano Central Park, which was even busier than he’d expected. A number of cafés and fast-food joints stood on the north side of the mall that faced Shikinomori Park, but every one of them was jam-packed with young people and families. Some even had lines stretching out the door.

Given that it was currently 1:50 PM and the meeting with Prominence started at two, they didn’t exactly have the luxury of wandering around looking for a restaurant that could seat them all. Panicking, Haruyuki went into crisis mode, but for some reason, Kuroyukihime and the others were as relaxed as ever.

“Uh. Um, Kuroyukihime? Everywhere’s jammed with people,” Haruyuki started, his voice somewhat shrill.

“Don’t get flustered, Haruyuki.” Kuroyukihime grinned. “I expected it would be busy today.”

“S-so then, did you make a reservation?” he asked anxiously.

Rather than replying directly, she snapped her fingers. “Supply troops, you’re up!”

“Roger!” the Petit Paquet group—Shihoko, Satomi, and Yume—barked in immediate response. Haruyuki looked closely and saw they were carrying bags and baskets.

Looking resolute, Shihoko saluted and pointed toward the park spreading out to the north of the mall. “We have already found a suitable location, Commander!”

“Good! Then we move!” the commander shouted in response.

Haruyuki chased after them, wondering what exactly this little performance was all about.

Shihoko walked ahead to lead the entire party to the base of a broad-leaved tree rising up in the center of the park. Around the trunk was a plaque informing them that it was a beech tree. The large canopy cast plenty of shade across the green lawn, and a pleasant breeze brushed over Haruyuki’s skin once he stepped into the large shadow.

Satomi pulled a large tarp out of a bag and flapped it out over the grass. Instantly, Shihoko and Yume were fixing the corners with small pegs before encouraging the rest of the Legion onto it with a unified “Please sit!”

Chiyuri took off her sneakers and then stepped onto the tarp, followed by the rest of the girls’ squad. They sat down in a circle, and Haruyuki and Takumu added themselves to one corner.

Once seated, Haruyuki’s attention was immediately drawn to the two baskets set down in the center of the circle. If they were playing picnic, then he would assume the baskets had tasty treats inside, and he would further assume that these had been handmade by Shihoko and her friends, members of their school’s cooking club. He further concluded that they would be receiving them shortly.

Following this train of thought, Haruyuki was unconsciously inching closer to the baskets when he was suddenly yanked back by the collar. “Hrnk!” Groaning, he turned to find the angelic Raker Smile.

“Not yet, Corvus. That’s for after the meeting.”

“Hy-hyaah.” Bobbing his head up and down, he looked at the bottom right of his virtual desktop and saw that it was 1:58 PM.

Right about now, the Red Legion Burst Linkers would also be waiting somewhere nearby. Haruyuki surveyed their surroundings. There were several other groups of people their age picnicking in the area, each of which looked quite suspicious to him.

“Come now! If you keep whirling around like that, they’ll figure out who we are, Haruyuki,” Kuroyukihime scolded.

“S-s-s-s-sorry.” Haruyuki shrank into himself and then followed Takumu’s example by sitting formally on his knees on the tarp. He straightened up, clenched his stomach, and took a deep breath.

“All right, then. I’ll check the matching list first,” Fuko offered calmly. She then called the Burst Link command and quickly closed her eyes. “Right now, every Burst Linker on the list is a part of the mission today.”

“That sounds about right,” Kuroyukihime remarked. “If you were looking to duel in Nakano, you’d head for Area Two around Broadway. And while Central Park is equipped with a local net, it’s a completely family-oriented facility, so most Burst Linkers stay away. Which is exactly why we chose this location.”

“And in the event that there is someone in the way, we can pick a duel and neatly beat them back from the local net, hmm?  ” Fuko spoiled Kuroyukihime’s technical explanation with a smile, and then composed herself in a manner befitting a deputy before lightly bringing her hands together. “Now, then. Thirty seconds left. Everyone except Rin, connect to the Central Park local information net. Sorry to leave you out, Rin.”

“No, it’s. The only way this. Time.” Rin shook her head vigorously at the apology from her usually strict parent. “I’m in GW. If I show up, it will put everyone in Promi on guard.”

“We’ll soon let you know how it goes,” Fuko said, winking. “Just hang on for one point eight seconds.”

“Okay.” Rin nodded, and the rest of the party moved as one onto their virtual desktops.

Haruyuki selected the target net from the list of networks that popped up and connected. The Central Park logo was displayed in his field of view, and windows opened up showing assorted coupons and the seating availability at the various shops, but he quickly got rid of these.

The digital numbers in the bottom right of his view were steadily marching toward two PM. He’d been in this situation any number of times before—and this time, he wasn’t even going to actually duel. Still, he was overcome with a nervousness he’d never felt before. He clenched both hands into tight fists.

Haruyuki had gotten the Brain Burst program from Kuroyukihime and become a member of Nega Nebulus last fall. Although a great many things had happened in the nine months since then, the power structure of the Accelerated World, divided and controlled by the six Great Legions, was basically unchanged.

However, the world was about to change significantly, starting with the meeting today. It wasn’t just that Nega Nebulus and Prominence were going to merge and become a major Legion with territory straddling Nerima, Nakano, and Suginami. If they could succeed in stripping Oscillatory Universe of its right to block the matching list in the Territories later in the day and have the Leonids’ Coba-Manga sisters confirm the presence of Acceleration Research Society members in Minato area, the Accelerated World would be plunged into war, setting the White Legion against an allied force of the five Great Legions. The difference in numbers was overwhelming, but their opponent was the White King, and to get to her, they had to face the terrifying battle power of the Armor of Catastrophe, Mark II. The war would be a hard one.

His heart’s desires were to rescue his friend Wolfram Cerberus, now that the Acceleration Research Society had forced him to join with the Armor, and to get back the thruster from the Red King’s Enhanced Armament Invincible, currently the vessel for the Armor.

If he could achieve these two goals, the plot of Kuroyukihime’s tormentor the White King and her Acceleration Research Society would necessarily fall apart. This would be their highest-level, most difficult mission so far, but if he just had faith in his other half, Silver Crow, the duel avatar he’d worked hard to train; his Legion comrades, the players he’d built such strong bonds with; and his own self, whom he’d come to hate just a little less lately…If he just gave it everything he had, they would definitely…absolutely…

At 1:59:59 PM, Fuko called the acceleration command. A second later, the flaming words A REGISTERED DUEL IS BEGINNING!! blazed up before his eyes and carried Haruyuki’s consciousness off to an instance of a world.