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“I'm guessing even the number layouts are exactly the same as in Stachion's square…” Asuna whispered, her voice hoarse. “We should have solved the puzzles in Stachion, then come to this room by the end of the day. That was the minimum requirement for fighting this boss…”
“But how would we…?”
‘…know that?’ I tried to say. But I remembered looking up at these doors from the other side and seeing the grid pattern on the relief. It was a nine-by-nine grid. If I had just made the connection to sudoku, I could have remembered about the teleport square in Stachion.
#
Wait… I looked at Asuna’s profile as she stared at the puzzles. Had she…given up? I hadn't heard her sound so hopeless since the first floor dungeon. Asuna was no gamer, but it was frequently clear that she was a fair bit more intelligent than I. If she couldn't see a way out, there probably wasn't one. Guilt washed over me and my shoulders slumped. I was the reason she was here. I had kept her away from the main group, selfishly believing I could keep her safe myself. Actually, thanks to my completely off the rails Curse of Stachion quest, I was the reason everyone was here. I'd gotten Argo to convince the DKB and ALS to run to the boss chamber while Asuna, Miya and I were chasing Theano.
At some point, Asuna had turned towards me and we were now staring at each other. I didn't know if she could read my expression or thoughts, but her features and eyes were soft. Nothing like the fierce determination I usually saw when we were in battle. She didn't really look sad, just resigned to a fate she had been expecting since the true nature of this game had been revealed to us.
I started to look down, but I made myself focus on her eyes. I had to find some way to get us all out of here, or at the very least, get her out of here. Think…think… numbers on the Irrational Cube, sudoku puzzles on the back of the doors…did we have any hope of surviving a purely defensive battle for however many hours it took us to solve them all? And that was just to allow us to escape. How long before we could mount a second attempt on this boss after such a frustrating retreat? Was it even possible to solve all the puzzles at the Stachion square and make it here in the same day?
I continued gazing at Asuna’s face and spoke with as much confidence as I could muster. “Asuna, we can't give up.”
She held my gaze and responded. “What can we do?”
Without fully realizing what I was doing, I closed the distance between us and placed a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes widened, but she didn't react otherwise. “It doesn't matter if it seems hopeless. We have to try solving those puzzles and getting everyone out of here.”
“...But that will take-”
“I know, but we have to try!”
She jumped a little and I felt a twinge of regret for yelling, but she quickly recomposed herself and that determination crept back onto her face. “You're right. I can't believe I was ready to give up so easily.”
She lightly pulled my hand off her shoulder and I flushed, finally realizing what I'd done, then she held a fist out between us.
I swallowed my embarrassment and returned the fist bump. “Let's do this.”
I spun around towards the fight as I drew a deep breath, ready to get everyone's attention and inform them of the plan. Instead I was met by Theano and Miya, who had apparently been patiently watching our exchange. Miya stepped forward.
#
“Do we just need to solve the puzzles, Kirito?”
“You…you can solve this?”
“Yep!” she chirped, much more appropriately for her age now that her mother was around again. She trotted up to the door and reached for the puzzle in the bottom-right corner. Her finger traced the empty spots with dizzying speed until she settled on one glowing space to tap. When a window appeared with all the digits to choose from, she picked a seven. The other spaces disappeared, replaced by a single large seven. It took her a total of ten seconds.