Kayaba Akihiko's phone suddenly rang. He glanced at the caller ID and immediately knew who it was.
Besides Rinko Jindai, his junior and girlfriend, no one else knew this private number of his.
"Kayaba Akihiko, have you lost your mind?!" Rinko Jindai's furious voice rang in his ear.
"I haven't."
Or rather, Kayaba Akihiko had never been calmer than he was now.
"You trapped ten thousand people in your Death Game, and you call that sane? Stop this nonsense and let them all out! You've already caused 213 deaths!"
"This is my dream. I won't let it end like this. Besides, the only GM Authority isn't in my hands right now," Kayaba Akihiko said.
"Hah, who the hell are you trying to fool?"
"Miss, I can testify for Kayaba Akihiko. He wasn't lying." A third voice suddenly came through the phone call, even though there should have only been two people on it.
"Also, I need to discuss matters concerning SAO with Kayaba Akihiko next. Could you please excuse yourself?"
The instant he heard that voice, Kayaba Akihiko's eyes widened. He could tell that it seemed to belong to the person who had stolen his helmet and account.
Kayaba Akihiko quickly scanned the basement around him, but found no sign of an intruder.
"Hey, hey, hey, where are you looking? Look at your phone." The voice came again, this time clearly from his phone.
Kayaba Akihiko instinctively looked down at it. Then, before his horrified eyes, a ghostly figure emerged from his phone.
Before Kayaba Akihiko could react, the ghost rapidly expanded from small to large.
Smack!
The ghost slapped Kayaba Akihiko away, then steadily caught the phone before it hit the ground and stood inside the basement.
He had been slapped through a network cable?
Kayaba Akihiko lay sprawled