Anime: Passive Inheritance System

"...Alright, today's quest log has been updated. Then, Mr. Kai, I wish you an enjoyable dive."

At the 30th floor of the Divine Eagle Military Professional Management Company headquarters, a woman from the logistics department in a white lab coat smiled in greeting, then activated the dive equipment.

Lying on a cold metal bed, Kai was slowly pushed into the machine as the sound of neural link initialization echoed in his ears.

It had already been more than two months since he rescued Yuna and the others from the wild dungeon on the 40th floor of Aincrad. Although her life had been saved, the risk hadn't disappeared. Especially in situations that deviated from the original story, where everything was unpredictable, Kai's current daily task was to stay by Yuna's side and make sure no unexpected accidents happened.

"Also, Mr. Kai, you're probably planning to spend the whole night in-game again today, right? Then let me wish you a Merry Christmas Eve in advance."

The staff member's voice came from outside the dive device, causing Kai to raise an eyebrow.

If not for that, he might've forgotten today was December 24th. Tomorrow would be Christmas.

Had time flown by so fast?

He gave a soft "mm" in response and scenes from the original story began surfacing in his mind.

[START]

A silver-white cursor flashed before his eyes, interfering directly with his optic nerve. Kai took a deep breath and lightly tapped the button.

The next moment, a multicolored loading light filled his vision.

…

Aincrad, 24th floor, Panareze.

A marshland-type floor almost entirely covered by water. The main settlement was a large artificial island connected by slender bridges to many smaller islands. Toward the north stood a scenic island with an enormous tree.

The tree trunk grew from the island's center and would take dozens of people holding hands to wrap around it. Its massive canopy spread like an umbrella, covering the entire island and some of the water around it.

Twenty meters above the ground, a tree branch nestled in thick foliage glowed faintly. A moment later, the light faded, and a black-coated light-armored swordsman appeared atop the branch.

Opening his eyes, he saw tufts of creamy white clouds drifting across the blue sky in the distance. Kai couldn't help but feel a little awed. Even though this was a death game where one's life was truly on the line, the scenery it offered far surpassed the real world. If not for being trapped in Aincrad, most players would've fallen in love with this place.

Unfortunately, under the control of Kayaba Akihiko, a madman scientist, this virtual utopia had become a nightmare that swallowed lives without mercy, all just to fulfill one man's ideal. Using tens of thousands of players' lives as sacrifice, he forged a "true isekai" filled with death and violence—this floating castle in the sky, Aincrad.

Shaking his head to dismiss the thought, Kai flipped off the branch and headed toward the central island.

At the east side of the teleport plaza, inside an inn named "Traveler," Yuna sat at a table idly plucking at a lute.

"Ding—"

The inn's front door opened and the bell above it chimed crisply.

Scanning the first floor of the inn, Kai immediately spotted the girl sitting at a nearby table.

"Yo, morning, Yuna."

Greeting her cheerfully, Kai walked over and pulled out a chair to sit down.

"Mr. Kai, you're surprisingly punctual."

Yuna smiled, but there was something subtle in her tone. She tapped her fingers lightly on the table.

"Ding dong!"

A system notification rang out as a white window popped up, showing a digital time display:

[8:00:53]

"Though we agreed to meet at 8, I've actually been waiting here for half an hour."

Seeing her slightly puffed cheeks and seemingly upset expression, Kai wasn't sure how to respond.

Since saving Yuna from the interrogator two months ago, he had proactively asked her to team up with him to assist in combat, mainly because of her unique "Chanting" skill.

Though the boy named Nautilus objected to his request at the time, Yuna herself readily agreed.

For the past two months, Kai had been taking Yuna around floors 30 to 35 to hunt field monsters. They agreed to meet here at 8 this morning. What he didn't expect was that Yuna would show up a full 30 minutes early.

Though he technically wasn't late, making a girl wait that long did call for some sort of apology...

He opened the system window, pulled two apples from his inventory, and handed one to her with a friendly smile.

"You probably haven't had breakfast yet, right? Here, take this."

"Eh? Apples again… Mr. Kai, can't you bring something new for once?"

Seeing the apple, Yuna's face fell under her hood, but she still took it and began munching away.

After spending two months together, she'd grown used to two things always with Kai: the one-handed straight sword on his hip and the apples that filled his backpack.

Since they were in a party, Kai had shared his entire inventory into the public items section, so she could see his bag's contents clearly.

Apples, apples, more apples… only a few crystals for emergencies sat in a corner of his bag.

Putting the clues together, Yuna had come to a conclusion:

This weird swordsman really loves apples.

Kai's logic was simple. Compared to cake or bread, fruit was more convenient and quicker to eat—even usable in battle. Apples, among the more efficient fruits for stamina recovery, were ideal.

Coming from the pressure-filled dungeons where survival was key, Kai was a hardcore efficiency maniac. Food just needed to restore stamina, nothing more.

So before setting out with Yuna for monster hunting, he bought a massive stack of apples and stuffed them into his bag.

"Speaking of which, it's Christmas Eve tonight. Mr. Kai, do you have any friends or close ones to spend it with?"

Nibbling her apple, Yuna suddenly looked curious. "Like a girlfriend or maybe a wife...?"

"Nope."

"Eh?! For real?"

Seeing the genuine surprise on Yuna's face, Kai gave a wry smile.

"Of course it's true. Why do you ask?"

"Hmm... well, Mr. Kai seems like a working adult, right? So I just wondered what kind of person someone as skilled as you would date." Then she paused and flashed a mischievous smile. "So you're still single? What a surprise."

"…Sorry for disappointing you."

Rolling his eyes, Kai finished his apple and stood up from the table, heading toward the exit.

"The raid team reached the 49th floor today. Since you're so energetic, how about I take you to the front lines?"

His slightly cold tone made Yuna chuckle.

"Mr. , are you mad?"

"Why would I be mad?"

Looking back at the cheerful girl trailing behind him, Kai's eyes grew a little wistful.

When he first arrived in this world, it was midsummer. Now it was Christmas Eve. He wondered how the white-haired brat, Lili, and Miss Syr were doing.

And Hestia… that loli goddess who had lived for over a million years yet still remained so naive.

"Mr. Kai…?"

Seeing the deep longing flicker across Kai's face, Yuna was taken aback.

"I'm fine. Let's go."

Pulled from his thoughts by her voice, Kai took a deep breath, restored his expression to calm, and strode toward the teleport plaza.

Watching his lonely figure walk off, Yuna felt a strange tightness in her chest.

Placing a hand over her heart, she realized she didn't like this feeling at all.

"Hey, Mr. Kai!"

She jogged up and peered around his side to meet his eyes.

"If you've got no other plans tonight, I could keep you company."

"…You?"

Caught off guard by her serious face, Kai then smiled and nodded. "Sure."

…

"That's bad! Really bad! Yuna, why did you bring him here?!"

At dusk, the clouds were tinged red by the setting sun.

Outside a family-themed restaurant on the 36th floor, Nautilus was panicking. He tried to talk Yuna out of letting a certain man attend the Christmas party, glaring through the restaurant's glass at Kai, who was already seated inside.

"Nautilus, Mr. Kai is our savior. If not for him, you wouldn't even see me again. Why can't I invite him to Christmas?"

Hands on hips, Yuna stared at Nautilus, clearly annoyed. "Or is it that now that you've risen in rank, you're looking down on people?"

"No! That's not it!"

Seeing the determined look on his childhood friend's face, Nautilus felt like he'd been betrayed.

"If that's not it, then it's settled. Besides, spending Christmas alone would be too pitiful for Mr. Kai, right?"

"…I just feel pitiful myself right now."