Chapter 84: What

“I see… then, Shengzai, close your eyes for now—I need to fix my clothes.”

He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but he always felt that when he said he hadn’t seen anything, Suguha hadn’t been as happy as he’d expected—was it because she didn’t believe him?

To preserve what little dignity he had left in his fangirl’s eyes, Shengzai obediently closed his eyes upon hearing Suguha’s words.

Previously, Suguha had rushed over and hugged him; if he hadn’t closed his eyes, the moment she stood up, he’d be treated to another full view.

Seeing that Shengzai truly followed her instructions, closing his eyes and not even once sneaking a peek, Suguha’s heart grew strangely complicated.

Shengzai was still as trustworthy as ever—though that made Suguha happy, the fact that a man could remain composed in such a situation made her wonder: was she just not attractive enough?

Every time they changed clothes in PE class, her classmates always said she had a great figure, incredibly alluring to boys.

Could it be… that Shengzai preferred petite types?

If that’s true, what should I do? Growing small to big might be possible—but how do you make big become small?

“Suguha, are you done yet?”

Just as Suguha was lost in her thoughts, Shengzai’s voice finally interrupted her daydream.

Realizing she’d just been thinking about something terrible, Suguha spoke with an unnatural tone: “Shengzai, you can open your eyes now.”

Shengzai opened his eyes again and saw Suguha’s flushed face, but he paid no mind to her odd behavior—he began checking his own condition.

He should’ve checked his status the moment he awoke, but the first thing he saw was so shocking it shattered his focus.

He removed the various devices stuck to his body, gently clenched his fists, and felt his heartbeat and pulse—the tangible sensation of being alive fascinated him.

Most SAO players trapped for two years lay bedridden; though kept alive by nutritional fluids, all of them were emaciated.

But Shengzai, likely due to power sharing, had physical attributes far beyond normal humans—he was slightly thin now, but nowhere near as skeletal as Kirito.

After sleeping so long, though he felt ravenous, Shengzai knew his current physical condition utterly dwarfed what it had been when he first entered the game.

Watching Shengzai, clad only in shorts, get out of bed on his own, Suguha’s face showed clear surprise.

She remembered that when she visited Kazuto in the hospital that morning, her brother—who’d also lain bedridden for two years—still needed help to sit up.

Yet here was Shengzai, in the exact same situation, already able to get up and move freely.

Suguha couldn’t even understand how someone who hadn’t moved in two years could have such well-defined muscles.

Blushing, Suguha stole a glance at Shengzai’s eight-pack abs, then suddenly remembered something and said: “Shengzai, you must be starving—let me go cook you some porridge.”

Without giving Shengzai time to refuse, Suguha dashed downstairs, her footsteps echoing.

She felt if she stayed in Shengzai’s room any longer, she wouldn’t know where to look.

Watching Suguha flee the room in flustered haste, Shengzai remained calm and accepted her kindness without protest.

One, he was genuinely starving; two, he wanted to test something alone.

“Spirit Summoning: Azure Dragon—Kang Jin Long!”

As a glow appeared in Shengzai’s room, the newly formed spell array was quickly shut down as he frantically cut off his spiritual energy output.

“Awesome! I thought I couldn’t use supernatural powers from other worlds here—but turns out I was overthinking it.”

In Sword Art Online, those game worlds were one thing—but if I can use these powers in the real world too, what’s the difference from playing a god-mode game?”

The summoning array glowing and vanishing wasn’t a failure—it was Shengzai deliberately cutting off the energy flow.

He’d already confirmed what he wanted to verify; there was no need to actually summon Kang Jin Long into his room.

Otherwise, Kang Jin Long’s size would’ve burst his room apart—and likely terrified Suguha downstairs.

Besides verifying his spirit summoning ability, Shengzai was also surprised to find that Golem’s “Damage Nullification” hadn’t triggered.

If “Damage Nullification” had activated, consuming life force to negate instant death, he’d be left weak and drained.

Yet now, besides feeling ravenous and slightly stiff from long inactivity, Shengzai felt no other discomfort.

During his final battle with Maochangjingyan , it wasn’t self-sacrifice that drove him—it was his certainty: even if he died with the enemy, he wouldn’t truly die.

In SAO, when the HP bar emptied, the helmet emitted a pulse that destroyed his brain.

This “instant death” directly targeted Shengzai’s real-world body—so Golem’s “special effect” should’ve triggered without doubt.

In other words, even if his HP hit zero, Shengzai’s real body wouldn’t be killed—that’s why he dared to go all-in against Maochangjingyan .

Shengzai had already prepared to expend some life force to activate “Damage Nullification.”

But the result was clear: Maochangjingyan may have cheated a little, but in the end, he still had some honor—he didn’t destroy Shengzai’s brain just because his HP hit zero.

After doing a few simple stretches to gradually adapt to his body, he heard Suguha’s voice from downstairs.

Because he hadn’t eaten in so long, Suguha had cooked the porridge extra soft.

But Shengzai knew Suguha’s cooking skill was only slightly better than his and Kirito’s—if she tried anything more complex, it’d be too much for her.

Due to extreme hunger, Shengzai finished every last drop of the large pot of porridge Suguha had cooked.

Though surprised by his increased appetite, Suguha was delighted to see every spoonful gone.

“Suguha, I’m going out for a walk to stretch my legs and digest.”

“If you’re heading home, just close the door behind you.”

After eating his fill, Shengzai glanced at Suguha washing dishes in the kitchen and said he wanted to take a walk.

Suguha had just opened her mouth to say she’d join him, but when she stepped out of the kitchen, Shengzai was already gone.

(End of Chapter)