Half an hour later, back at the Peninsula Manila room

"So… You're trying to tell me that the projected cost of the trip is likely going to double from this point onward?" Shitori's voice spoke loudly from my phone as I had put it on speaker.

"Yeah… Ai said she was going to talk to you personally, but she's gone off with our friend to get a massage," I told him, looking back at Vincent, who was still trying to decide what he wanted for dinner. "I figured the sooner I talk to you, the better. So, in case you get caught off-guard by the increase in the already high expenses of our trip, now you know."

"You know, this trip was only supposed to be between the two of you…" His voice quaked, giving me a sense of foreboding. "This was supposed to be your one wish that you spent with my daughter, but it seems I may need to take two of your five now."

"I-I understand… That's fine," I stuttered out, both happy and sad at the same time. "I-I don't mind at all. After all, this was already an expensive trip to begin with."

"Pfft. Hahahahaha!" Shitori laughed loudly on the other end of the phone, confusing me greatly. "You can relax, Katsumoto-kun. We don't care about the expenses. If you're really worried about how much you guys are spending, then let's just set the unofficial limit to be one-hundred-million Yen. That should be enough money, no?"

"I-I hope so, hahaha…" I laughed nervously, anxious about the amount of money I was confirmed to be holding. "Anyways, that's all I wanted to call about. Sorry for disturbing your sleep."

"Oh, it's fine. I wasn't in too deep of a sleep. Just make sure my daughter is enjoying her time there. Don't want all of this money to go to waste now do we?"

"No sir. Have a good night to both you and Okaa-san."

"And a good night to both you and Ai."

I reached over to the table and ended the phone call with my father-in-law. I slumped back on the couch, and at the same time, Vincent hopped onto the spot right beside me and tossed the menu towards the table like a frisbee.

"Your father-in-law sounds nice. I mean, he's letting you guys go on this uber expensive trip. How was it when you first met him and your mother-in-law?"

"Jeez… Don't even go there. We may seem all happy and friendly now, but that definitely wasn't the case the past few months," I shuddered.

"Alright then… I won't intrude too much," he laughed before letting out a sigh. "Anyways, if what you said about getting anything on that menu is true, then I guess I'll take the angus rib eye steak with some champagne. Either champagne choices will do for me."

"I'll go place the order then…"

I called the hotel's room service, placing the order that the four of us wanted and scheduling it to arrive in an hour when the girls were back. Upon confirmation of the order, I hung up the phone and sat back down with Vincent. We sat there silently for a bit before he finally spoke.

"How did you and Ai-chan meet? Was it in the real-world, or was it in Sword Art Online?"

"How do you know if I was in SAO?" I asked him. "I never even mentioned that game to you."

"Oh come on, I'm not that dumb. I knew that with how much I got you addicted to video games that you couldn't pass up that opportunity of a lifetime. While it did become a death game, the news actually just made me even more jealous. Living life in a different world with the threat of death still remaining. It's weird to say it out loud, but I'm sure you could relate. Anyways, I knew because of your ALO avatar. Even after it got shut down, I kept myself updated on articles regarding the virtual reality genre. I heard that ALO also got shut down temporarily because the company utilized two-hundred or so SAO victims for their experiment without permission. It relaunched soon after under the Ymir company and they allowed former SAO players to use their avatars which were basically their real-life appearances."

"Ah, so that's how you figured it out. I guess I'm not surprised since ALO doesn't allow regular players to do the same. Yeah, I thought Ai asked her father to implement it into the game, but it turns out even she didn't know about it."

"Wait, what? Her father is one of the developers of the game for Ymir?"

"Not exactly… Her family owns the Ymir conglomerate with her father being the president. They bought ALfheim Online from RECT Inc after their subsidiary RECT Progress got shut down from the inhuman experiments they were conducting. They're originally just a Japanese defense contractor, but expanded to cover other fields like medicine, technology and game development."

"No wonder why you guys are spending money without a care in the world. Anyways, how was your SAO experience? Did you enjoy playing the role of «The Reaper of Sorrow» in there?"

I quickly turned my head, growing alert of his words. He too was looking at me though his face looked more relaxed that I thought it would be. My mind and body raced as I began wondering as to how Vincent knew that moniker. While I was also called that in ALO, I don't think it was ever publicly spread that I was in SAO too.

"Relax… I'm not here to pry as to why you were playing the role of virtual reality Jack the Ripper. Well, actually, I guess I am."

"How do you know about that? I was promised by the government group doing the SAO investigations that my name would be cleared from their records, and that I'm pseudo-pardoned as I was 'manipulated' by Kayaba Akihiko"

"Well, that doesn't mean regular people who were connected with the events will keep their mouth shut. It was quite a rare and difficult find though since it's on the dark web of all places. There were less than a handful of articles recounting events regarding the masked killer, and one small Reddit-like thread specifically about you. However, I don't think you should worry too much. The people you find in the dark web are already quite shady, so they either praised you or defended your name which isn't really a good thing either. The name Mortifer was brought up, but they were more interested in your motives of killing rather than punishing you for it. At the same time, they seemed curious as to why the government wanted to cover it up, but deduced that the government just didn't want to cause mass hysteria and make the people go on a witch hunt for you."

"Well, I guess it aligns with what my brother told me back then. But jeez, I didn't think you would be my stalker, nor would you be so good at it."

"Stalker? That's kind of ironic coming from a trained assassin."

"Hah… Touche… Nonetheless, no, I didn't enjoy playing that role. I was forced into it. Halfway through the game I… I…"

Upon trying to recall the events of the Night of the Forest, the Voices started acting up. They were always there, lurking in the back of my head and more prominently in my sleep, but it was the first time in a while since it's acted out like this. Vincent saw the visible discomfort I expressed but his blank expression remained on his face. Regardless of what he was thinking, I continued on.

"I laid witness upon my friend's suffering while a group of three players forced themselves unto her. I don't exactly remember what it was that made me hesitate to begin with, but I blamed myself for what happened to her. As soon as I heard her scream, I lost control. In order to protect my friend, I murdered those three players, not even remembering their faces nor their names. But, as soon as my adrenaline wore off and my mind began processing what I had done, I couldn't handle it. I beat myself up for being so weak while at the same time scared of what I was capable of doing when my emotions take over. I ran away from my friends, and at the same time, Kayaba Akihiko found me and used my weaknesses against me."

"What did he do to you?"

"I was basically put on a trial. Much like how Heracles had to complete his twelve labours to atone for his sins, I had to face and conquer my fears if I wanted to extinguish the darkness inside of me. In the end, it was all in vain. Everything was just a ruse to make me physically stronger but mentally weaker. I almost died multiple times, and even temporarily lost my memory after a microwave burst damaged my hippocampus. When I wandered around as an amnesiac, I was used as a weapon by SAO's PK-guild, «Laughing Coffin». I only managed to break free from their grasp after having almost killed my own friends as they were my targets at one point. But, by the time I had regained my memories and began recuperating, much of the damage was already done. I don't remember the exact number at the time, but I had definitely killed at least fifty players. By the end of the game, eighty-nine players were killed. To most, I was still the serial killer they believed me to be, but there was a small group who knew different. However, even if I was being manipulated against my will, it didn't change the fact that I did kill some people voluntarily, and that I killed people period."

"And what was your reasoning for killing those people?" Vincent questioned, making me confused.

"Reason? Well, I didn't really have one when I had no self-control."

"But for the victims who died when you were in control… What was your reasoning there?"

I looked at Vincent, who was staring intently at my eyes as if trying to enter my mind. I didn't understand why he was so curious about my reasoning when it really didn't matter. It doesn't change the fact that I killed them.

"Why does it matter?"

"It matters a lot. What if all of the victims you willingly killed weren't innocent and actively sought to do wrong in the world?"

"But it still doesn't change the fact that I killed them, along with the innocents I killed whilst being manipulated."

"Stubborn as ever… Aren't you?" Vincent sighed before getting off the couch. "Come on, stand up. Let's have a sparring session, you and me."

"Excuse me?" I looked at him, bewildered as to how our conversation got to this point while also wondering why he wanted to fight me. "You said you wanted to spar with me?"

"Come on, it'll be fun. You've fought a whole bunch of people before, but never me. There's a first time for everything, no?"

My bewilderment continued to rise as I watched Vincent stand up and start moving the furniture around to create more empty space. I vividly remembered the kid who got beat up at school for being different than the rest, yet now he wanted to fight against me despite knowing first-handedly the combat training I've gone through. True, he was no longer the scrawny kid I knew back then. He was a little bit smaller than me, around Zed's height, but his build was quite identical to mine. Even so, that wasn't really enough of a reason for him to fight a black belt in Kyokushin. However, when he finished creating an adequate space for us to fight, he turned around to face me, expressing an unusual confidence I had never seen before.

"Are you ready, Reaper of Sorrow?" Vincent taunted as he stanced up and raised his fists. Upon getting into his stance, I knew that he wasn't joking about the fight, nor was his confidence just a bluff.

I had thought the muscles he gained had been from a late bloom in his puberty along with consistent exercise and weightlifting. However, when he entered his stance, the origin of his well-defined muscles became apparent. Amatuer fighters would typically never care about their footwork, nor have their fists raised up enough to protect their face. Vincent's left arm protected that entire side of his head while the other arm was in a more aggressive, ready-to-punch stance but still close to his head for protection. In addition, his head was tucked, protecting his chin from possible upper-cuts. His feet were lined up in a straight line with his back foot angled outwards. The fact that he looked very comfortable in his stance gave me all the information I needed to deduce that Vincent's muscles weren't from just regular exercise or weightlifting. It was from being in constant and regular fights or spars with opponents, and his weapon of choice was his Muay Thai.

While I would typically say no to a fight unless I was provoked, I became highly interested at the fact that Vincent had learned a martial art discipline, and his stance and aura gave off the feeling that he wasn't some inexperienced fighter either. At the same time, I wanted a tough challenge. Being out of practice in my real body for many years, I knew that I would be a little sluggish. While my durability remained, my power has whittled down. In addition, Muay Thai was a much more effective martial art compared to Kyokushin, both defensively and aggressively. If it weren't for the fact that there were no reputable and affordable dojos nearby, I wouldn't have taken Kyokushin and had chosen Muay Thai instead. Nonetheless, I stanced up, making Vincent smile from my response to his request, resulting in me smiling as well.

"I would say no headshots since we're on vacation and we don't want to leave any visible marks, along with the Kyokushin rule of 'no punching the face', but let's go all out. I'm sure you can take it."

"Oh, don't worry about me... I'm not the one with a pretty face to lose here…"

Vincent quickly took a coin out of his pocket and flicked it into the air towards the tile floor. He quickly stanced back up, and the two of us waited for the coin to land. The moment seemed to last a lifetime, but when that coin clanged against the hard marble surface, Vincent was the first to make a move.

He exploded towards me with his right knee aiming for my stomach. I quickly deflected it with my left knee, keeping my right foot grounded as to not get pushed back. At the same time, I crossed my arms in front of me to protect myself from any upper-body hits while at the same time pushing Vincent backwards to create space. Once I created a little bit of space, I landed hard with my left foot before pivoting on it to perform a counterclockwise roundhouse kick. Vincent ducked under my foot, and proceeded with a right-leg kick of his own directly at my turned back. Despite the hard kick he did little to no damage due to the high durability training style of Kyokushin. I didn't even flinch nor budge from that kick of his. Realizing his lack of power, Vincent retreated and created quite a bit of distance between us.

"Damn… Feels like I'm hitting a tree." he laughed out loud.

"Well, that is part of our training in Kyokushin." I responded before closing the distance myself.

I went in with a swift left jab to his chest which was blocked by his elbow, but I quickly followed with a right cross towards the same place. He effortlessly blocked with his other elbow this time, making my fists strain from hitting the bone directly. I tried to trip him with a powerful kick to his left leg but he stepped back in time. With my right side vulnerable for a split second, he went for a powerful left cross followed by a right cross, but I easily dodged both. That's when he did something I didn't fully expect. He went for a left hook that I dodged, but he continued with his swing, bringing his upper-body closer to the ground. At the same time, he swung his right leg behind himself before bringing it over his body. He pivoted with his left foot at the same time. The punch was simply a feint to distract me from seeing his spinning wheel kick. Had I moved forward earlier to utilize the opening he created, I would be in range of getting hit. I took another step back to dodge the attack before quickly moving in to give Vincent a hard kick to his arm. Although he blocked it, he was still pushed back a few steps due to the power.

"As always, you put up a good fight. If it wasn't for the fact that I know you had a 4th Dan Black Belt, I probably would've underestimated your power and sturdiness. You would probably give some of my friends a good beating." Vincent chuckled. "Speaking of which, what happened to getting a 5th Dan?"

"I was still too young at the time to be considered a 5th Dan. Even if my master advocated for me and supported me, the organization just wouldn't let a sixteen-year-old to become a 5th Dan when you usually have to dedicate at least twenty-five years just to get one. At the same time, with what happened at the time, my mindset worsened. If I had stayed, I would've dishonored the dojo and given it a bad rep."

"Well… I don't blame you… It was a hard time during those few months…"

Vincent jumped towards me, his right elbow raised high and aimed straight at my head. While I could take the hit, I knew it would rattle me up so I dodged it instead. Before I could counterattack, Vincent performed a flurry of punches aimed at different places of my body. Most punches were aimed at my torso, but some were aimed at my arms so that he could push them away and prevent me from blocking. I blocked all attempts aimed towards my head, though in return, I took a number of punches to my torso. The repeated blows started adding up, causing me to ache slightly. Noticing that he was on the full-offensive, I decided to go for a counterattack. Instead of blocking his ongoing flurry of punches, I went for a powerful uppercut to his solar plexus. Reacting to my sudden vulnerability, instead of blocking, he too went for a power attack with a right cross aimed at my face. Neither of us braced ourselves for the hits but instead put more effort into our punches.

Our attacks landed at the same time, and both effectively caused us to stop the fight. I was blinded by the flash momentarily before my vision slowly faded back into reality. The shockwave rattled my brain but it didn't seem to have caused a concussion. If anything, Vincent was the one who was experiencing the most pain. He was crumpled up on the floor and trying to recover himself but unable due to the pain. He clutched his stomach area, trying to regain his breath as I knocked most of it out of him. I could've kept going with the fight but Vincent was in no condition to. Seeing that I won by technical knockout, I fell down on my butt and sat alongside Vincent, trying to make sure I didn't hit him too hard.

"We're back! The food is here too!" I heard Ai's voice shout from the entrance.

The dual doors swung open, revealing a joyful Ai and a shy but relaxed Katherine. Right behind them was the bellhop with our cart of food. Panicking, I tried to gesture for Vincent to get off the ground but he was still trying to recover his breath.

"Hey, Katsumoto, Vincent, where are you guys? And what happened with all of the furniture?!"

The two ladies appeared before us and looked at us with confusion and shock. The bellhop, probably concerned as to why the room's furniture was out of place, saw us as well and decided to just leave immediately. The two ladies instantly dropped their stuff and rushed over to us.

"What happened?! Your nose is bleeding!" Ai exclaimed, making me bring my hand up to my nose and noticing the amount of blood that was leaking.

"Baby, are you okay?" Katherine asked Vincent.

"Yeah… Yeah I'm fine…" Vincent finally spoke. He raised his body from the ground but he was still clutching his stomach. "You definitely won that fight. I couldn't do anything against you. But damn, it really did feel like I was fighting a tree the entire time."

"Hopefully I didn't damage any of your organs with that hit, but at least we fought with empty stomachs. You'd probably be puking right now."

"Stop the English! What happened here!" Ai cried out.

"Vincent and I just sparred for a bit. We'll be fine by tomorrow morning, don't worry. But come on, let's eat."