Am I the only one streaming Sword Art Online on the entire internet?

“Ywwuyi…na?” The girl repeated Yuna’s name with great difficulty after Sorin, then looked at Sorin, “Papa!”

"Tell me honestly who else you have outside, and how come you even have a child?" After hearing Aiweixin's words, Youna immediately looked at Suolin with a subtle look in her eyes, her tone chilling, "Why does this child call you 'Dad' right away?"

"How would I know... Besides, in the original MTG storyline, Ivyxin wasn't born from Solin and Nashili; Solin created her himself." Solin waved his hand frantically, explaining, "No, no, no, there must be something wrong here."

"Don't worry, look how scared you are." Yuna laughed when she saw Sorin's nervous and flustered state, and then ruffled Sorin's head of silver hair that had suddenly stood up. "I was just joking, but this kid's behavior... is really strange."

"Papa?" Aiweixin looked at Suolin with some confusion, then, seeing the close interaction between Suolin and Youna, she suddenly nodded and turned her gaze to Youna, "Mom?"

"This child is so sensible." Suolin suddenly smiled when he heard Aivixin say this. "Don't worry, we will always take care of you."

"And if possible, I won't hand you over to Rainbow Squad, I promise."

He didn't say those words aloud, but kept them to himself.

120. Like Secret Reasoning

First, Avacyn doesn't have any cursor above her head. In the game SAO, both players and NPCs have corresponding colored markers above their heads. Second, her way of being and existing differs greatly from NPCs; she's like a newborn toddler—naive but quick to learn. Most importantly, the name Avacyn only appears in the Magic: The Gathering storyline, and it's highly unlikely that a native NPC here would have that name.

After a simple, meticulous deduction, Solin confirmed one fact: this Aivisin was very likely what Grace had said—a nascent AI equipped with the Cardinal system, that is, artificial intelligence.

His reason for not handing Ivy over to the Rainbow Team was simple: he didn't want this innocent and naive girl to become a killing machine, even in counter-terrorism operations. Besides, if he didn't say anything or broadcast it live, the Rainbow Team wouldn't know he had discovered such an AI.

“So here’s the problem: even if I slack off all the time, I still have to be on the front lines when it’s time to work, and so do you.” Solin looked at Aivixin, then at Youna, and suddenly became conflicted. “Then who will take care of this child is still a problem, isn’t it?”

“Hmm. So I think we should find her real family or something first, after all…” Yuna had just suggested a method she thought was appropriate when Sorin interrupted her.

“She has no relatives, or rather, her form of existence is rather unique.” Solin’s expression suddenly turned serious. “Did you notice any significant differences in your interactions with others during our conversation just now?”

"...Aside from the child's slightly stuttering speech, there's no other noticeable difference. Is there a problem?" Yuna pondered for a moment, then asked doubtfully, "Could it be that there's something wrong with the child himself?"

“Alan Turing, the father of artificial intelligence, once proposed a method for testing AI: have unsuspecting subjects converse with both humans and AI. If at least half of them cannot distinguish between the human and the AI, then the AI ​​can be considered to possess basic artificial intelligence.” Solin explained the situation to Youna in the simplest terms possible, then hugged Aivisin, with whom he felt an instinctive closeness. “And Aivisin’s current situation is that even if you had anyone else test it, without their knowledge, no one could possibly say it’s AI. Do you understand what I mean?”

Although Aiweixin heard everything Suolin said, it was difficult for her to understand so much at once. She looked at Suolin helplessly, her expression somewhat confused.

"So... she's an NPC?" After listening to Sorin for so long, Yuna came to a conclusion that made Sorin both laugh and cry. "Even if she's an NPC, she still has parents in the story, right? Can't we send her to her real parents?"

“Someone once said there’s a Mariana Trench between the thinking of arts students and science students, and now I believe it.” Solin rubbed his forehead in exasperation again, then tried to explain with a few examples. “Let’s put it this way, have you seen Terminator?”

“No, I’ve never been really interested in those movies that come out one after another like a TV series,” Yuna shook her head and replied.

"...Alright, I'll try to explain it in a simpler way. Kayaba Akihiko not only researched the NERvGear, a machine that can be described as a miracle, but he also created an artificial consciousness. In other words, she is a program that Kayaba Akihiko created out of thin air, but she truly possesses the ability to think and learn, as well as a large degree of autonomy. Do you understand now?"

"I think I understand a little bit now. So what you mean is..." After listening to Sorin's long explanation, Yuna nodded as if she understood, and then asked.

“But it’s also strange. I feel that if Kayaba Akihiko really wanted an AI to develop independent consciousness, then it should have been placed in a family, not wandering around in the wilderness like this.” Sorin said, then fell into thought again. “So she might have played an important role in the original SAO, but in that case, she shouldn’t be an AI whose mind is not yet mature. Not necessarily an older sister figure, but at least a little girl who can speak fluently. What’s going on here…”

The situation is now quite delicate. Sorin doesn't want to hand over the AI ​​to the Rainbow Squad, but neither he nor Yuna have the energy to raise a daughter like this. In addition, Ivy's identity or function is still a mystery, which seems to have led to a deadlock.

“Perhaps we could try starting from certain floors to look for clues about her background? Like we did when we uncovered those more hidden missions before.” Seeing that Sorin had been deep in thought for a long time without saying a word, Yuna offered a feasible suggestion first. “After all, I really can’t bear to leave this poor child alone here, no matter what she is, don’t you think?”

“Of course, this is my daughter.” Sorin said this with a strange sense of pride. “In a sense, I should thank Kayaba Akihiko for this little one. Of course, gratitude is one thing, but I’ll give him a piece of my mind if I get the chance after I get out.”

"...It should be called our daughter," Yuna replied weakly. "Have you decided where you want to go first?"

“I’ve made up my mind. Let’s start from where it all began.” Sorin confidently unfolded the map and marked a point on it with his quill pen. “Just think of it as walking that path again.”

"You mean..." Yuna looked at the map that Sorin had just taken out of his inventory. The map showed terrain that all players were very familiar with, as well as place names that seemed to transcend time and space—the Town of Beginnings, Torbana...

“That’s right, let’s start from the first floor. After all, this is part of the memories.” Solin put away the map, changed into his full set of equipment, and then took out the outfit that Yuna had worn in the lower floors for Ivy to wear. However, when Solin used Ivy’s system interface in her place, he discovered a small problem.

“Little A.vaxyn has a system page, but it’s a little different from ours.” Solin pointed to A.vaxyn’s window and said that at the top of her window was [A.vaxyn-MHCP001], and below that were only two options: [Equipment] and [Settings]. “Yuna, help her change her clothes. I’ll excuse myself for a moment.”

He put Ivy on the ground and tried to leave, but something tugged at his sleeve.

121. The Most Precious Gift God Has Given Me (Bonus Chapter 21/75)

"What's going on?" Suolin turned around in confusion and found that Aiweixin was tightly gripping Suolin's sleeve with her fair little hand.

"Please don't leave Ivy, Daddy." Although Ivy had only met him for the first time, she inexplicably trusted him, or rather, clung to him. While this could be explained by things like a fledgling's first impression, something just felt off.

"Yuna, what do we do now?" Sorin looked at Yuna with pleading eyes. After seeing the latter suddenly turn her head away, which was not a response at all, he could only sigh. Then he raised Aivixin's small hand, pressed the button to remove all equipment, and then helped her put on the entire [Blue and White Porcelain] set piece by piece.

He suddenly noticed something: the upper body of the [Blue and White Porcelain] set was supposed to be a short jacket, but on Ivyxin, it had become a backless dress. This equipment seemed to offer far less protection, resembling more of a fashion item than normal armor, and Sorin guessed that this might be a compromise made to accommodate certain special skills.

“Let’s go, it seems like it’s still a long way to get back to the main city from here.” Solin took Aivixin’s hand and then pushed open the door. “Speaking of which, I’ve been out of the public eye for so long, guess how many people still use the story of me being a serial killer to slander me?”

"There probably aren't many left. But I heard that those red-named players have started to become active again." Yuna said with some concern, holding Ivy's hand on the other side.

Thorin had been wondering about this for a while: what kind of ability did that PoH have to always manage to conjure up wave after wave of red-named players? It reminded him of the Rice Legion from back in the day. However, their perspectives were different. Thorin was a Horde player back then, but now, when dealing with these red-named players, he always thought: This PoH is practically as powerful as the Three-Season Rice Legion.

“I already said, that PoH is a stray dog, he ran into me, Biss.”

Although Sorin said that, he had always been troubled by the issue of red-named players. Currently, over three thousand people had died in SAO, with at least five hundred of them killed by red-named players. Now he understood: when Sorin was about to kill those surrendered red-named guild leaders, it was probably Yura who rescued them.

The main force fighting against red-named players has now changed from the previous frontline strategy team to the new Aincrad Liberation Army, formed by Ya Wang and the MMOTODAY team. Of course, Ya Wang has also asked Sorin for help many times because of these matters. Just as Sorin finished speaking, he saw Ya Wang's private message.

"Brother Suolin, I need to trouble you with something again. Could we discuss it in detail on the first floor?"

“Okay, I also have something to do on the first floor, I’ll be there in half an hour.” Solin raised his left hand to reply to Ya Wang’s message, his feet still moving. “Avixin, can you remember anything from the past?”

“Once upon a time… um…” Ivy stopped in her tracks, seemingly deep in thought, then suddenly clutched her head in pain and squatted down on the ground, her voice growing weak, “I’m sorry, Dad, Ivy can’t remember anything, I can’t remember anything at all.”

"Don't force yourself if you can't remember. Come on, let Daddy carry you." Suolin sighed inwardly, then squatted down and gently rubbed Aivixin's forehead before picking her up in his arms. "Hold onto Daddy's neck, and relax... that's it."

"I didn't realize you were so good at taking care of children." You Na looked at Suolin with a subtle glance and exclaimed, "But this child is really attached to you. I was the one who found her first."

“When I was little, I would occasionally help out at the local church school. Maybe that’s where I developed those skills.” Sorin looked up at the sky, and he felt a little wistful when he recalled those times. “The children there were about the same age as Ivy, or even younger. I would tell them about what I learned at school, or talk about life and ideals.”

“Some of them were orphans, abandoned in the alleyways, and then picked up and raised in the church by the old priest there. Sometimes they would cry and ask me why other children had fathers and mothers, but they didn’t. I could answer many things at the time, but I couldn’t answer this kind of question at all. I could only hold them like this and comfort them with words that I myself didn’t believe.”

"So when I saw Ivy Xin like this, the first thing that came to mind was those little brats, even though I was only 13 years old at the time." Solin sighed and ended his recollection with this sentence. "And let me tell you a story about a vampire and the world he protects."

"That's quite a leap, isn't it? Why are you talking about your past one second and then turning into a myth the next?" Although Yuuna had gotten used to Sorin's way of speaking, which involved sudden topic jumps and random jokes, she still couldn't help but complain every time. "But you really have a lot of experiences. I always want to say that."

"People with rich experiences often live tough lives, only to realize after they've weathered those storms that those experiences are invaluable assets. But those who can't endure them often freeze or starve to death in the winter when a ruble that could buy a car suddenly becomes worth only a bag of flour... I'm getting off-topic."

Suolin replied with a hint of melancholy, but his tone became playful the next moment.

"Let's continue with the vampire story. The vampire's name is Thorin Markov, which is my ID. He is a very powerful Planeswalker who can travel to many different timelines. In order to protect his homeland Innistra while he travels, he created an angel to take on this responsibility for him, and that angel's name is Ivyshin."

Yuna and Ivy, who was comfortably nestled in Sorin's arms, listened attentively as Sorin recounted the entire story of the Planeswalker from Zendica to the Shadow of Innistrad, until the very end when he told the tale of the unfortunate vampire Planeswalker being sealed inside a stone statue.

Of course, after telling the story, the two holding the child had already walked to the portal to the main city.

"So that's the story. It sounds plausible, but it feels so cruel. Killing your own daughter and then being sealed in a stone by your former lover... But the coincidences seem a bit too obvious. Your game ID has always been Sorin Markov, that's true, but I really don't understand why Ivy Shin called you 'Dad' right away. This isn't the world of MTG."

After listening to the whole story, Yuna was in a daze for a while before suddenly asking a question.

“How would I know? But one thing is undeniable.” Solin’s tone suddenly became unusually firm. “Avixin is the most precious gift God has given me. I can try to find out about her background, but I will not give her to anyone.”

"And what about me?" Yuna asked, feigning jealousy, after hearing Sorin's evaluation.

"You are God, don't be silly."

122. The Place Where It All Began

The teleportation effect of this portal was changed once in the middle of the game. Now, from Thorin's first-person perspective, the teleportation effect is similar to the effect when changing floors in a temple in Warframe. Of course, this is particularly unfriendly to players who get motion sickness.

"Transfer - The Starting Town!"

The scene before them was like cavalry, which took a long time to transform into infantry. Although the town of Beginning was still relatively normal at this time, the people living here were still immersed in the hellish scroll woven from the blood-red sky, the eerie giants, and the terrifying declarations when the server opened more than a year ago.

He, Sorin, had witnessed the current state of the Beginning Town more than once, always alone, so he didn't bring Yuna along to see it. The Beginning Town still housed about two or three thousand players, who lacked the courage to fight monsters and could only eke out a living in the town's safe zone, barely surviving on jobs unique to the town but with incomes far exceeding their labor costs.

That's normal. Those who are willing to fight hard in this deadly game, even if they can't be the top players on the front lines, can at least live a decent life. But those who are unwilling to fight hard can only be like the man Sorin just saw, standing under a tree waiting in vain for a fruit worth only five kol to fall to the ground so he can pick it up and sell it.

Therefore, the stronger players would gather closer to the front lines, while the slightly weaker ones would be active on the lower floors. As for these... they were concentrated on the first floor, or rather, concentrated, because they simply didn't have the courage to pick up their swords and leave the Town of Beginnings, let alone use the portal to go to the upper floors. Don't forget, although this place looks realistic, it's still a game; you won't get any money if you don't fight monsters.

"In other words, this place is basically a slum, which is why I was very reluctant to come here." After giving a long introduction, Sorin concluded with this sentence, "Of course, I admire Mr. Ya Wang for being able to stay in this place and encourage more people to pick up their swords and fight, even though they can hardly keep up with the pace of the front line."

"But no matter what, there must be a reason why I did this. At least the heroes who dare to go out and fight monsters with real weapons and the cowards who cower in the safe zone are not treated the same in my eyes, don't you think, Brother Suolin?"

Just then, a thick, strong hand suddenly patted Solin on the shoulder. Solin turned around and found a man with small eyes and a cactus-shaped haircut standing behind him, greeting him quite warmly.

"Please don't pat my shoulder so hard next time, I have a child with me," Sorin said, frowning slightly. Ya Wang turned to face Sorin and saw a little girl with the same hair color as him nestled in Sorin's arms.

Aiweixin, who had been sleeping, was startled and groggily raised her head, winking at Suolin.

"Daddy, what's wrong?" Her voice was still so childish and clear, though it was also filled with drowsiness.

"It's okay, Ivy, that was just Daddy's friend. Go back to sleep, nothing will bother you." Solin smiled and rubbed her hair against Ivy's little face, then gently rocked her, using herself as a cradle.

"She is you and...you two have such grown-up children?" Ya Wang stared at Suolin and You Na in disbelief, pointed at Ai Weixin, and stammered out half a question, only to be shut down by You Na's three consecutive denials: "I'm not, I didn't, don't talk nonsense."

"Just tell us what you need us for, Ya-o. And this is a game, not reality. Do you really think Kayaba Akihiko would include things like ejaculation, erection, and pregnancy when he made this game?" Sorin said, clearly annoyed. "I picked up Ivy, and seeing how free you are, I think maintaining order here... wouldn't be too much trouble for you?"

Of course, as soon as Sorin finished speaking, he was punched several times by Yuna, whose face turned bright red.

"What are you saying, Sorin! There are children here!" After venting for a while, Yuna took a couple of breaths and protested in a very weak voice.

"Don't say anymore. This morning I led a team to arrest four red-named individuals and put them in jail. To be honest, I still don't have the same decisive mindset as you, Brother Suolin, who can kill without hesitation. This has made our progress particularly difficult. Of course, I didn't call you here today to ask you to help us arrest red-named individuals. It's about something else."

Ya Wang looked helplessly at the two big shots showing affection in the street, shrugged, and then took out a rather special green crystal to show it to Solin.

"This is a scene recorded by one of our people. He was on the upper level and saw this scene—someone killed a player in the safe zone."

"Within the safe zone? Isn't that just a duel kill? We can just look for players with the 'Duel Winner' badge afterward, or..." Sorin had just guessed this far when he asked hesitantly.

"There's no such thing as a duel winner. Let's go to our headquarters first; the screening will be better there." Ya Wang deliberately kept him in suspense before leading him towards his base. The current Aincrad Liberation Army is actually a joint organization, its full name abbreviation being ALS&MTD. The latter is naturally the result of MMOTODAY, the famous Japanese MMORPG strategy magazine, joining their ranks.

The decision-making body of this composite guild consisted of Sinka and Yuriel from the original MTD, and Ya Wang, the former guild leader of ALS. Sorin had initially thought this collaboration was problematic; given Ya Wang's unwillingness, or rather, lack of athleticism, it was easy for him to leave MTD penniless and isolated. However, he later reconsidered, realizing that MTD had no reason to do such a thing, and besides, Ya Wang wasn't stupid.

Of course, it seems that this guild with its unusual combination is developing quite well, as can be seen from its particularly large guild headquarters. Ya Wang led the two and a baby into the conference room, where Sinka and Yuriel were already standing.

"Long time no see, you two." Sinka greeted Solin and Yuna politely, then looked curiously at Ivy, who was lying obediently in Solin's arms. "This is..."

"My daughter, please watch the video first. If you're curious, I can bring her here to play often in the future." Solin waved his hand, then held his breath and focused his attention on the large screen in front of him.

123. Murder Case Within the Industry