She lowered her finger from the LED, tracing a line on her brother’s cheek. During the long coma, Kazuto’s muscles began to wane, and that razor-thin line gave his profile an exceedingly feminine gloom, despite his originally androgynous impression. Even his mother joked, calling him, the family’s «Sleeping Beauty». His face was not the only part that thinned. His whole body had grown thin and worn out—he was in a pitiful state compared to Suguha, who had been training in Kendo from a young age—his body weight now was obviously insufficient. She wondered, if this kept up, would he be reduced to nothing...? Recently, she had been seized with such a fear. However, Suguha had been struggling against the possibility of crying while in the hospital room since a year ago. At that time, a member of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication’s «SAO Incident Countermeasure Team» had informed them. A government official—with long forelocks that draped over his black edged spectacles, and wearing somewhat respectful clothing—informed them in a blurry voice: That her brother’s «level» was standing at the top few percentages of the whole group within the game—that he was constantly going to the dangerous front-lines to battle and was one of the few capturing players. It was confirmed that today as well, her brother was fighting in a battle adjoined with death. That was why Suguha would not cry here. Apart from that, she thought of holding his hand to cheer him on. “Do your best.... Do your best, Onii-chan”. As always, Kazuto’s bony right hand was wrapped by both of her hands—as she prayed earnestly in silence, a voice suddenly came from behind her.