บท 432: -427- I shall grant your wish
While in the real world, Rozen had seen photos of Kayaba Akihiko in the news, magazines, and various websites, and he was familiar with Kayaba's appearance.
Kayaba Akihiko was an average-looking man with short hair, often dressed in a shirt, trousers, tie, and a white lab coat, portraying the appearance of a researcher.
This description was entirely different from the man named Heathcliff who stood before Rozen now.
However, for someone like Kayaba Akihiko, who could be considered a deity in the context of this game, changing one's appearance was a simple task.
Just like all players, he could alter his appearance during the early stages of the game, not resembling his real-world self.
To avoid exposing his identity, Kayaba Akihiko had modified his virtual avatar to look completely different from his real self, making it a straightforward task.
Therefore, even though the face before Rozen was entirely different from his impression of Kayaba Akihiko, he had to accept the reality.
Heathcliff was indeed Akihiko Kayaba.
As they watched the chaotic battlefield ahead, one individual remained calm, conducting organized commands, while the other displayed indifference, as if observing the struggling test subjects in the cage he had created, appearing both aloof and filled with pity.
To be honest, Rozen despised that expression very much because it always reminded him of unpleasant memories from the past.
If it weren't for the current situation, just this alone would be enough for Rozen to confront Heathcliff.
Even though Rozen was intelligent and understood that mature individuals didn't act impulsively, he couldn't help it – even the smartest people have their tempers.
Unfortunately, Rozen was someone with a strong temper.
If it weren't during the strategy battle, even if it meant getting an orange player status, Rozen would have drawn his sword against Heathcliff.
However, for now, Rozen had to suppress his emotions about to erupt and continue giving calm commands to the players.
Otherwise, the front line would surely collapse, and Kirito, Klein, Agil, and other players were at risk of dying at the hands of the Skull Reaper, and even Asuna could be in danger.
For their sake, Rozen had to restrain himself. However...
"I have a question,"
Heathcliff asked as if he hadn't noticed Rozen's emotions.
"You've already discovered my identity, so why haven't you exposed me?"
It seemed that this had been a question on Heathcliff's mind lately.
After all, it had been two full weeks since the incident with Kuradeel, and Rozen had had plenty of opportunities to reveal Heathcliff's identity.
With Rozen's status as the leader of the clearing group and his reputation in SAO, if he had come forward to accuse Heathcliff, Heathcliff would undoubtedly have been in the hot seat.
But Rozen hadn't done so.
"For this reason, I've been thinking about your intentions for the past two weeks. Although I came up with several conclusions, not a single one survived; I kept debunking them myself,"
Heathcliff casually explained, revealing the reason for his elusive behavior during these two weeks.
"Why haven't you exposed me?"
Heathcliff's gaze fixed on Rozen, devoid of curiosity or enthusiasm, only driven by a simple desire for knowledge and the pursuit of answers.
It indeed suited the identity of a scientist, but unfortunately, it was something Rozen disliked.
Pursuing knowledge regardless of others and solely seeking results, wasn't this behavior just like those ruthless magus?
During the command phase, Rozen gave Heathcliff a lukewarm response.
"That was just suspicion, not confirmation."
Indeed, up until that point, Rozen had only harbored suspicions about Heathcliff's identity and hadn't definitively confirmed that he was Kayaba Akihiko.
Otherwise, Rozen wouldn't have requested a leave of absence to think it through carefully.
However, that was in the past.
Heathcliff knew...
"Three days ago, in the underground labyrinth of the Black Iron Palace, you found the central control device located at its deepest level, didn't you?"
Heathcliff revealed this matter, causing Rozen's eyebrows to raise slightly, but he remained unsurprised deep down.
"Well, it seems you found out."
To this, Heathcliff merely responded with a faint smile, revealing Rozen's secret.
"Nevertheless, you using the control device to access the management system and look up the list of administrators, that I am aware about."
Heathcliff continued.
Yes, it was true.
The day after Yui's memories were restored, Rozen had returned to the underground labyrinth of the Black Iron Palace.
After evading the pursuit of the Fatal Scythe, he had finally made his way back to that room and used the control device left there to find the list of game administrators.
While accessing the control device required an administrator account, Yui possessed administrator privileges to fulfill her duties within the system when necessary.
So, Rozen had asked Yui to provide him with the administrator account to access the control device.
This was a rather risky endeavor.
According to Yui, the system had a self-check function. If someone used administrator privileges to perform unauthorized actions, they could risk having their account deleted.
In SAO, where death was a real consequence, that was essentially a death sentence.
However, Rozen's actions were not against the rules. He merely wanted to find out which administrator accounts currently existed within SAO.
He did so successfully and found an ID at the top of the list with administrator privileges — "Heathcliff."
It was Heathcliff.
With this confirmation, Rozen knew that Heathcliff was, indeed, Kayaba Akihiko. However, Heathcliff wanted to understand something further.
"After confirming my identity, why didn't you expose me?"
Heathcliff was unaware of Rozen's own considerations.
For instance, Rozen still had his own goals in this world, which included collecting powerful familiars.
Given this purpose, recklessly revealing Heathcliff's identity might lead to unnecessary trouble.
After all, Heathcliff was essentially invincible in this world. If he were to use his administrator privileges in response to having his identity exposed, it would only cause problems for Rozen.
So...
"I want to face off against the 100th-floor boss and defeat it with my own hands," Rozen said, seemingly with a smile that was difficult to interpret, possibly genuine or not.
"Is that so?"
Heathcliff chuckled.
Unlike his previous indifference and calmness, this laugh seemed to express genuine amusement at an unexpected and intriguing answer.
"And in that case, I shall grant your wish,"
Heathcliff's smile transformed into something unsettling as he spoke.
"According to the plan, I will become the 100th-floor boss."
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