Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

November 7th, 2022, 12:55 PM

I stared at the digital clock on my bedside table, counting down the seconds until I was transported to another world.

It had been a long time since I had been this excited for anything—to be honest, I didn't think I’d ever been. My heart was pounding in anticipation as my fingers fiddled with the long strands of black hair brushing down past my shoulders. In just a few short minutes, the official launch of Sword Art Online was starting. I’d counted down the days since the Beta Test, my first taste of the game, had ended. Now the full release was finally here.

I faintly heard Suguha call, "I'm heading out!" from downstairs, but I was too distracted to mind. Memories of the Beta Test, how exhilarating it had been, and the feeling of freedom I’d gotten addicted to, flooded my brain. I couldn't help the grin spreading across my face—I was embarrassingly excited over a video game.

It wasn't a video game, though, or at least not just that. It was a whole other world, a chance for Kirigaya Kazuto to become Kirito, for me to leave my real life behind, if only for a while. Sword Art Online, the first Full Dive VR game, designed from the ground up as an immersive fantasy MMO set in a mystical floating iron castle with 100 world-like floors, all brought to life through the NerveGear, the world’s first Full Dive hardware. There wasn’t anything else like it out there—not yet.

A small beep from my clock roused me from my reverie. 12:58. Almost time. 

I lay down on the bed, sliding the NerveGear over my head and closing my eyes. Almost time.

As I stared at the ceiling, I couldn't help but feel that this was the path I was meant to take, that some twist of fate had led me to this point and I was just seeing it through. The feeling charged through my veins, and as I heard the last beep signaling it was 1:00 PM exactly, I opened my mouth and said the two words that finally sealed that fate:

"Link Start."

Two hours later, I had completed my avatar, loaded in, found a freeloader newbie, and impulsively agreed to mentor him. Klein had approached me as I was heading out of the Town of Beginnings and literally put his head down and begged me to show him the ropes. I didn’t normally play with others, but what the heck. New game, new day, new me, I might as well give it a shot. So I agreed, to Klein’s joy.

We headed out onto the nearby fields to hunt boars after we’d properly introduced ourselves. That was where we found ourselves now, swinging swords and chatting. It had taken Klein a minute to get the hang of sword skills and fighting in general, but Full Dive was always a curveball for newbies. It was almost 3:30 when we started hunting in earnest, nearly two and half hours post-launch.

Making my avatar had taken me nearly half that time. I was proud of how it turned out. It didn't look that different from me IRL, but was just a touch taller, a touch more androgynous, the hair just a bit longer, and looked just a few years older; a grown adult.

Klein was a character, that was for sure. His avatar was in his early twenties or so, he was dressed in red with a red and yellow headband around his head of long dull pink hair. He had a scruffy goatee, warm-toned light skin, and generally looked a shade too close to ‘wandering bandit’. Personality-wise, though, he was loud, energetic, and always on the move, and managed to keep it from ever being annoying. He just came off happy and excitable instead, like an overactive puppy.

I snorted at that thought, attracting the man in question's attention. "Hey! What're you laughing at while I do all the work?" Klein said, bringing his sword down to finish off yet another boar.

I waved a hand. "Sorry, my bad. It's just…" I paused a second. "You remind me of a golden retriever puppy or something." I raised my sword again, dashing towards another unsuspecting boar victim.

"The hell's that supposed to mean?!" Klein shouted, chasing after me. "I'm not some frickin' dog, you asshole!"

I dodged a charging boar, laughing softly. "I didn't mean it like that, geez."

Klein slashed at another boar, grunting as he did. "Then what did you mean?"

“Your personality.”

“That’s not any better, jackass!”

I laughed again, letting a smile creep onto my face. “I dunno, you act so energetic and excitable, it was all I could think of.”

Klein let out a whoop as another boar exploded into multicolor shards and a ding told us that he’d leveled up. He looked over at me. “I mean, I guess that’s not as bad, but still. Could’ve thought of a nicer comparison, dude.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“That makes it sound like you’re not gonna consider it at all!”

“I have no idea what you mean.”

The two of us paused for a second staring at each other, then both burst into laughter.

It took Klein a minute to get his cackles under control and wipe the tears from his eyes. “Oh man, you’re real funny.”

I just shrugged and looked away, a little embarrassed.

Klein snapped his fingers. “Oh, right! I’ve got some old buddies I’m meeting up with later, d’you wanna come with? They’re pretty rowdy, but I think you’ll get along great!”

I hesitated. I was flattered Klein wanted me to meet his other friends, and seemed to consider me a friend too, but I wasn’t exactly thrilled at the prospect of getting thrust into a group of strangers right away. “Uh, maybe not today? Some other time sounds good, though, I’m not trying to blow you off or anything.”

Klein just waved his hand. “Hey, no worries! If you like, I could bring just one or two of ‘em so you don’t get dumped in the middle of all of us,” he said, still grinning.

I exhaled, and a warmth spread in my chest as I smiled. “Thanks, Klein. That might be nice.”

He gave me a thumbs up. “Of course! Here, add me as a friend in the meantime, I’ll message you when I figure out what’s up.”

I swiped at the menu a few times, and soon Klein’s name had been added to my friend list. I noted to some surprise that it wasn’t my first friend in-game. One other name sat on my friend list—Argo. Staring at it for a second in confusion, I realized friends must have carried over from the Beta Test. 

I suddenly felt a bit silly getting so confused over it and a bit guilty that I’d forgotten about Argo. We weren’t best friends or anything, but we’d gotten to know each other during the beta and traded info and items a few times. Argo had proved herself to be a frighteningly resourceful player, to the point that she was my first stop whenever I ran into a wall progressing. Her icon glowed green for online right now, and I idly wondered what she was up to.

Klein’s voice pulled me from my thoughts. “Oh man, it’s almost 5:30! I should get going.”

I turned to face him. “Got somewhere to be?”

Klein nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, I got a hot date with a delivery pizza. I thought ahead and ordered it before I dove, it’s supposed to get here at 5:30.”

I felt my mouth water—I hadn’t realized it could water in virtual reality. “I should’ve thought of something like that. Guess I’ll have to go scavenge in the kitchen.”

Klein snorted. “Like I’d wanna waste time making food on a day like today. We got exp to grind!”

“Yeah, rub it in. If I’m lucky maybe my sister’s back and scraped something together.”

Klein perked up. “Oh hey, is your sister gonna play SAO?”

I shook my head. “Nah. I’m pretty sure she only knows what a NerveGear even is because of me. She’s not really into gaming at all.”

“Aw man, I was hoping to recruit someone else,” he said, rubbing the back of his head. I tried not to laugh at the way he drooped. “All good.”

My mouth quirked up into a smile. “Sorry, you’ll find someone. Besides, she has barely any free time since she’s always doing club stuff. She’s way too busy for an elementary schooler.”

“Hmm, I see,” Klein said, stroking his beard like a weirdo. “If she’s your kid sister and she’s in elementary school, that means you’re not that much older, right?” A smug glint flashed in his eyes.

I slapped his shoulder. “Hey, I’m not that young!”

Klein smirked. “Yeah, what are you, thirteen?”

I felt a blush running across my cheeks. “Fourteen! I’m not some kid, I’m less than two years off from a motorcycle license!”

Klein paused for a moment, then burst into laughter. I felt the heat across my face, shaking my head in a useless attempt to calm down. After a few seconds, Klein’s laughter finally died down. “Oh man,” he said, rubbing his nose, “that’s a good one.”

Seeing the glint in my eyes, he threw up his hands. “Hey, hey, I’m not making fun of you, promise!” he said. “It’s just—why your motorcycle license? That’s such a specific thing to pick as what makes you an adult, y’know?”

“I just—I just think they’re cool,” I said, painfully aware of the stammer in my words and the way my voice wavered. “And getting that means I can go places without having to take the bus or get driven or anything, and…” I trailed off, staring at my boots.

There was a beat, and silence. Then, I felt Klein’s arm around me his hand in my hair as he ruffled it affectionately. “What the heck is with that, giving a serious answer,” said Klein, “I was just giving you shit! This is what I meant when I said you’re more of an adult than me sometimes.”

I just shook my head, still feeling the heat in my cheeks.

Finally, Klein released me. “Alright, I gotta go get my pizza,” he said. “I’ll talk to you later, dude!”

“Yeah, see you later,” I said, waving a hand. I turned away, also preparing to log out, when I heard Klein’s hesitant voice from behind me.

“Hey, uh, where’s the logout button?”

The next few minutes were a blur. I swiped desperately at the menu, looking for the button that should have taken me back to the real world. The empty space where it should have been made my skin crawl as I stared at it. No matter what Klein or I tried, nothing worked, and contacting the admins got us nowhere, too. I was so distracted in my panic that I barely noticed when blue light flashed around me and I was forcibly teleported away.

The square at the center of the Town of Beginnings greeted me, the wide open space rapidly filling with what seemed like every player in the whole game. As the massive courtyard began to swarm with people all of them started chatting, squabbling, and arguing about what was going on. I felt the crowd press in around me, felt the pressure from it and the sweat beginning to form on my forehead, felt my heart rate begin to rise.

I felt it spike when blood began to leak from the sky. It flowed down, pooling in front of the crowd of thousands of players. A metallic stench filled the air, and I shivered in horror as it reached my boots, slowly surrounding them.

From the pool of blood at the very back of the city square, something began to rise. A gigantic cloaked figure—no, an empty cloak with nothing beneath it. It billowed and flowed, blood running off it in waves and rivulets. Eventually, it came to a stop floating above the square, and although I couldn’t see its eyes, I somehow knew it was looking down at all of us.

The enormous thing began to speak, its voice echoing all around us. “I WELCOME YOU ALL TO THE WORLD OF SWORD ART ONLINE,” it said, its words low and distorted, put through some kind of filter. “I TRUST YOU ALL HAVE BEEN ENJOYING YOUR FIRST FEW HOURS IN AINCRAD. I AM KAYABA AKIHIKO.”

Kayaba Akihiko. The founder and lead designer at Argus, the one whose vision brought SAO to life. I shivered. The temperature felt like it had dropped ten degrees. 

“MANY OF YOU HAVE LIKELY NOTICED BY NOW THAT THE LOGOUT BUTTON IS GONE FROM YOUR MENU,” Kayaba continued. “THIS IS NOT A MISTAKE.”

A horrified silence fell over the square, as the audience digested his words.

“THERE IS NO WAY FOR YOU TO LEAVE THE GAME. FURTHERMORE, ANY OUTSIDE ATTEMPT TO REMOVE YOUR NERVEGEAR WILL CAUSE THE CIRCUIT TO OVERLOAD, DESTROYING YOUR BRAIN AND KILLING YOU.”

The enormous cloak figure swiped a sleeve through the air in front of it, giant displays of news feeds, headlines, and videos appearing in its wake. All of them were about the ‘Sword Art Online Incident’, describing what Kayaba had just explained. Real footage of people being moved to hospitals, families watching and crying, and reporters announcing the rising death toll played out in front of our eyes.

“I HAVE BROADCAST A MESSAGE TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD INFORMING THEM AS SUCH. TRAGICALLY, HOWEVER, SOME WERE EITHER TOO IGNORANT OR TOO FOOLISH TO LISTEN. TWO HUNDRED THIRTY ONE PLAYERS HAVE DIED SO FAR, DISCONNECTED BY THEIR LOVED ONES,” the voice said, though it said so in an almost gleeful tone. I realized with horror that Kayaba was enjoying this.

I felt a touch against my hand. Looking down, I saw Klein’s hand grasping my own. “Suddenly I’m real glad I’m a single dude living alone,” he muttered weakly, still transfixed by Kayaba’s words and staring horrified at the newscasts.

I shivered and gripped Klein’s hand back. I didn’t want to think about what would happen when Suguha found me.

“THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY FOR YOU TO ESCAPE. PLAY THE GAME, CONQUER EACH FLOOR, AND ASCEND TO THE TOP OF AINCRAD, THE 100TH FLOOR. IF YOU CAN CLEAR THAT FINAL FLOOR AND BEAT THE GAME, EVERY REMAINING PLAYER WILL BE RELEASED,” the voice said.

Tangible relief spread through the crowd at the revelation that there was a way out, a way to get free. That hope was soon drenched in cold water.

“HOWEVER,” the voice said, dripping with malice, “IF YOU DIE IN AINCRAD, THE NERVEGEAR WILL OVERLOAD AND KILL YOU IN THE REAL WORLD AS WELL.”

I was pretty sure Klein’s grip on my hand was going to leave a bruise later.

“AND ONE LAST THING,” said Kayaba. “A GIFT FOR YOU ALL, TO REVEAL YOUR TRUE FORMS.”

A handheld mirror materialized in front of me. Confusedly taking it with my free hand, I examined it. Long black hair, deep purple eyes, light brown skin, and a young, rounded, and girlish face. I looked the same as ever. Then, I abruptly realized—I looked like Kazuto, not Kirito.

I glanced around in shock, abruptly realizing that everyone else’s appearances had changed as well. Klein’s pink-haired, frankly sleazy-looking avatar was gone. Instead, he was replaced by a young man in his early twenties with short and wild muddy red hair, warm brown eyes, scruffy features, and a little goatee to match. Some deranged part of my brain contemplated that I definitely liked him better like this.

Klein looked down at me (and he had to look down, now that I’d shrunk to my real height) and opened his mouth to say something, though he still hadn’t relinquished his grip on my hand. Kayaba’s voice echoed around us once more before he could say anything, though.

“I EXPECT GREAT THINGS FROM YOU ALL,” Kayaba said. “OVERCOME THESE CHALLENGES, ASCEND THIS CASTLE.” The cloaked figure raised its sleeves, as though spreading its arms wide.

“WELCOME TO YOUR NEW HOME. AINCRAD AWAITS.”

The enormous cloak abruptly lost its form, floating down and sinking into the pool of blood. In turn, that blood seeped into the cobblestones and disappeared like a bad dream, the sky slowly lightening from dark red back to blue.

Panic broke out in the square once all traces of Kayaba’s presence had disappeared. People were screaming, yelling, crying, and grabbing at each other, the sound crashing down like a physical force. I felt everything happening through a fuzzy filter, tinny and far away. My limbs felt numb, my head aching.  Nevertheless, I began to tug Klein along and clung tightly to his hand as I desperately fought to get out of the square.

I rested my head against the brick behind me as I leaned up against the alley wall. We’d managed to escape the initial chaos, and I’d led us blindly through the Town of Beginnings to some back alley who knows where in its street maze. I felt ice cold, like everything around me was a world away and there was a frigid river running just under my skin.

Suguha was going to kill me. Either literally, by thoughtlessly ripping off the NerveGear and accidentally frying my brain, or later, whenever I got out of this game, probably throttling me for being such a stupid nerd and getting caught up in a fucking death game, of all things.

If I survived. 

I was somehow one of the top players of the Beta Test and semi-confident in my abilities, but beating the entire game without dying a single time was a huge task. That wasn’t even taking into account the players around me, how few would likely be willing to put their lives on the line to escape, and how many of those few would die before they reached the end. Thinking about that too much made my stomach turn and threaten to crawl out through my throat.

I was going to have to do something to protect people, to get them out of here, to use my position as a Beta Tester for good, to wash away the bad taste of having played a part, however small, in bringing this nightmare into virtual reality.

This was bad—I had to get a grip. I didn’t have time for this. 

I breathed deeply, stretching the fingers of my left hand out as far as I could and then clenching them, repeating the action a few times. 

Then I slapped myself in the face.

“Whoa, dude. You good?” Klein’s voice came from beside me as my cheek stung. I turned and saw his face was etched with concern and alarm.

“Yeah, just—calming myself down a little,” I said, my voice quiet and catching a little. I rubbed my cheek, the sting numb against the ice beneath my skin.

Klein looked like he wanted to say something, but kept his mouth shut. I was glad for that, for once. Pushing myself off the wall, I kept my breathing close in check. “We need to hurry,” I said.

“Well, yeah. I ain’t about to be stuck in this stupid game for the rest of my life.”

I shook my head. “No, I mean we need to hurry now. If we go now, we can make it to the first town, farm some good exp, beat a couple of quests, and get a solid start before everyone else starts progressing.”

“I guess, but why all that rush? Mobs respawn and quests are individual. How will a few hours make a difference?” Klein looked at me with soft eyes. “I can’t leave my other friends behind like that. You could come with us, help us along and we help you. Seems like it’d be a lot safer than running off like this.”

“I—I can’t,” I said, trembling and shivering from the awful cold. “It’s going to get so ridiculously crowded soon, and everyone is going to be on edge and arguing to the point where no one’s gonna make any progress leveling it’s so chaotic, and some of the best quests have cooldown timers, and finding one-time secrets and quests and chests and getting Last Attack bonuses is going it to be even more important now, and—“ 

My voice cut off as I choked up. Traitorously honest once more, the deranged part of my brain supplied that I still couldn’t stomach the idea of playing with other people, and I couldn’t stand asking someone else to be responsible for my life.

I couldn’t help but feel that this was the only path I could take, like some sort of twisted fate had led me here and I was just seeing it through. It was a sick feeling, it brought tears prickling behind my eyes and unvoiced screams and burning bile crawling up my throat, but I knew that I’d never be able to take Klein’s offer. I just wasn’t that person.

“Look, if I’m doing this, I’m doing this,” I said, staring down at Klein’s boots and not meeting the man’s eyes. “And that means I have to go.”

Klein didn’t say anything for a long moment. My fists were clenched tight, flinching slightly when he spoke. “We won’t keep you waiting long.”

“Huh?” I said, raising my head to look at him.

Klein was staring at me, determination set in his brow. “My friends and I won’t keep you waiting. You go on ahead, and I’ll get the rest of ‘em together. We’ll catch up with you before you know it, okay?” He smiled a little. “Besides, if I gotta pick someone to lead the way for the rest of us and get all those secrets, you’re not bad.”

I swallowed the rush of emotions charging up through me back down. “Thanks, Klein.”

“Don’t mention it. Just…” Klein met my eyes and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t die out there, you hear me? You gotta stay alive.”

“Same to you,” I said, my voice cracking.

Klein squeezed my shoulder, and turned to leave. I tried to think of what to say to see him off.

“Hey, Klein?” I said. 

He turned. “What’s up?”

“You look way cuter like this.”

Klein managed a chuckle. “So do you,” he said, then stuck a hand in the air as he turned a corner.

And then he was gone, and I was alone.

“What is wrong with me?!”

I was standing in front of a house in the middle of Horunka, the first village, with my head in my hands and a furious blush on my face. Not even the first day in this stupid game was over, and I already said something weird and embarrassing. Stupid Klein looking actually good IRL, stupid me entertaining these stupid little puppy crushes—I had to get a grip, he was too old for me!

I shook my head and looked up. There were more important things to do than feel mortified. I’d made good time from the Town of Beginnings, and I was pretty sure I was the first to reach Horunka. The sun was going down, though, and there was still more to do. 

Namely, the quest available in the house in front of me: Secret Medicine of the Forest.

It was a simple quest. A old woman’s young daughter was struck by illness and needed medicine. Specifically, a piece of the flower of one of the carnivorous Nepenthes Plants that filled the nearby forest. Basic fetch quest stuff—go kill mobs until one with a flower appears, then hope the item drops.

Unfortunately, simple wasn’t the same as easy. The flower could only be obtained from specific enemies and had a frustratingly low drop rate, and the Nepenthes were borderline relentless. Manageable in small numbers, but deadly in groups, especially when they got a chance to use their poison attack.

To make things worse, unique Nepenthes Plants that had a fruit would spawn frequently. If one was damaged at all, it would instantly summon a massive horde of other Nepenthes, a near-certain death sentence unless you had the luck of the gods. Worst of all, the fruit was positioned to not easily be visible from the front, blended in with the rest of the plant, and was also the exact same color as the flower needed for the quest.

So I just had to fight through a ridiculous number of poisonous carnivorous plants and search for one with a flower that might not even spawn—and might not even drop one once killed, I learned during the Beta—all while desperately trying not to damage any that had a fruit, or risk death. With no backup.

Easy.

Twenty minutes later I had accepted the quest and was standing in the forest outside town, staring down a group of carnivorous plants. Daylight was almost completely gone and the forest was dark, only a last few orange rays of light streaking through the leaves and illuminating the overgrown brush.

I hated the Nepenthes. They were unnervingly tall, their mouths a little too weirdly human for my liking. I’d take boars or kobolds any day. I lunged for the nearest one, drawing my sword and slashing downwards.

The plants whipped around, lashing out with vines and chomping with teeth they definitely shouldn’t have. I stepped backwards to create space as we traded blows and activated Slant, the whitish blue glow from my sword shining against my face briefly in the fading light. The characteristic hum and vibration of a sword skill filled my ears and limbs, guiding me.

I let myself be pulled along by the system guide, my sword flashing out at an angle and slicing clean through the weak point where trunk met stem of the plant before me. It burst into countless multicolor shards of ethereal glass and faded into light before vanishing, dead. 

The sword skill finished and I felt my body stiffen for a moment, the normal recovery afterward that prevented you from acting just for an instant. As soon as it ended and the skill came off cooldown, I stepped left and closer to one of the remaining attackers. My sword cut through the dim light twice, shattering the Nepenthes to glass and pixels.

When the third Nepenthes lunged for me, I sidestepped it and activated Vertical. The hum ran through me and down to to the point of my sword, leading it along as it sliced clean through the plant for the finishing blow.

I lowered my sword and exhaled. No flowers, and nothing to do but keep at it until one showed up. I glanced up at the sky, noting that the last light had faded entirely and the forest was dim. It’d probably be past midnight by the time I got back—I was gonna be here for a while.

“Hey.”

Caught off guard by a human voice, I started. A teenager around the same age as me with plain leather armor, brown hair, and dark eyes with a serious gleam was standing nearby. “You’re doing Secret Medicine of the Forest, right?” he said, his voice flat and a little nasally.

I eyed him cautiously. “...Yeah, why?” I answered eventually, hand still grasping my sword evenly.

The boy shook his head. “Look, I’m guessing we’re both Beta Testers, yeah? You’re here for the Anneal Blade. I want to work together.”

“I don’t know…” I said, a little uncertain. I’d just gone and rejected Klein, and I didn’t really have any interest in working with anyone else, least of all someone I literally just met out in the field outside town. 

That said, I really did need an Anneal Blade. It was the best sword you could get on Floor 1, hands down, and it was pretty viable even up through Floor 3 with upgrades. It was the sword I had decided from the start I was going to use to get through the first few floors.

“I’m not looking to party up long-term. We’re both hunting for a flower, yeah? So we help each other out, kill plants until we both get one, then go our separate ways. This quest is hard enough as is,” he said, shuffling a little.

I thought for a second. It would speed things up, especially since Coper was also a Beta Tester and seemed like he knew what he was doing. There wasn’t really a reason to refuse, especially if he was willing to casually part ways after. I nodded. “Alright. Just this quest. I’m Kirito.”

The boy nodded, not smiling. “Coper. Nice to meet you.”

As it turned out, Coper was very good.

The two of us made short work of the seemingly endless spawns of plants around the forest, cutting through them one after another. Coper kept up with me relatively easily, and we barely spoke as we wordlessly aggroed, flanked, and defeated monster after monster.
 
Right now, though, we were taking a short rest. Two hours had passed and there were no signs of any flowers—I was starting to worry we’d be there all night. I glanced over at Coper, noticing that he was starting to get tired too. We’d had a long day.
 
I examined my temporary companion a little closer. Coper was leaned up against a tree, nearly hidden in the deeper shadows beneath the leaves. The moon shone overhead, but only a few traces of its light pierced through the canopy and illuminated the forest floor, leaving small pools of moonlight scattered around. The boy himself stood with his arms folded across his chest. His brown hair almost covered his eyes, but I could see they were narrowed and scanning the environment. His shield was still strapped to his arm, and his sword was sheathed but in easy reach.
 
To be honest, as much as I acknowledged Coper’s skill, something struck me as off about him. I was pretty sure he was younger than me by a year or so, but that wasn’t the issue. It was in his eyes and his face. A look would flash across his face every so often, especially when he thought I wasn’t looking. Something somewhere between determination, desperation, and obsession.

I was no stranger to those emotions, mind. Far more comfortable with them than I should be, in all likelihood. But something about the way Coper’s face would still and his brow would furrow, the light disappearing from his eyes, made me pause. It made me wonder if maybe Coper was desperate enough to put himself in danger.
 
I shook my head. It wasn’t going to do me any good to overthink things and start psychoanalyzing every person I met. I needed my head in the game. Pulling up my menu, I glanced over my gear and status. All good.
 
I glanced up at Coper. “Ready to keep going?”
 
Coper straightened, nodding. “Yeah. Let’s get this over with.”
 
We both drew our swords, and I scanned for the nearest Nepenthes. I charged as soon as my eyes landed on one, activating Horizontal as I did. A hum ran through me, pale blue flashing along the length of my blade.

The color of a sword skill’s glow was determined by your weapon. I suspected it was just as much for style as it was to prevent players from guessing what skill was coming based on color alone. Almost every starter weapon shared the same weak pale blue glow, as my basic longsword and Coper’s basic shortsword did.

 I could have grabbed a bronze sword from Horunka, which would have given me a slight boost to damage and a dull red glow, but I’d rather save the Col since I’d have an even better sword by the end of the night. 

Hopefully.
 
The familiar hum and vibration run through me as I slashed out towards the Nepenthes. It was quiet and subtle, in the back of my head, but it was there. Listening to it and hearing the rhythm of a battle was the best way to find your fighting feet in Aincrad. My sword connected with plant matter, and a slight jolt ran through my arms as I sliced it in half. Stopped by the recovery only long enough for the glass shards to begin to fade, I dashed through to the next Nepenthes.
 
I blocked a vine with my sword, then swung it downwards to ward the thing back. Behind me, I heard Coper call out “Switch!” I jumped backwards, watching as Coper charged in from the side and stabbed the thing twice in its flank, finishing it off.
 
Switching technically wasn’t a skill, more of a hole in the mechanics players figured out how to exploit. As it turned out, whenever the player attacking a monster abruptly changed, the monster would pause briefly as it processed the change and new threat. Players took to using that brief moment as an opening to strike, calling for a switch every so often to keep monsters off balance. It had the added bonus of rotating between front-liners, spreading damage more evenly and giving them a chance to heal. 

For his part, Coper executed it flawlessly.
 
“Thanks,” I called out. Coper just nodded, not looking at me.
 
Both of us glanced up to see another Nepenthes shuffling towards us. This one, though, had a bright red fruit hanging off of it. I tensed. “Remember, don’t hit the ones with fruit,” I said. “Let’s back off.”
 
Coper paused for a moment, before nodding. “Right.”
 
Before either of them moved, though, I glanced behind Coper and saw another Nepenthes, this one angling back and puffing up—a clear tell it was about to spray poison. Driven on instinct rather than thought, I dashed forwards and stabbed once with my sword, activating Horizontal and slicing clean through the weak point at its stem before it could spit. While the Nepenthes were uncomfortable and could hit pretty hard, they were low-health monsters. I barely even had time to register that this one had a red flower blooming on top of it before it shattered into glass, leaving only a small bud behind.
 
I crouched down and picked it up, blinking in surprise. “Well, that’s one down,” I mumbled. Turning back to Coper, I started to speak. “Hey, Coper, I got one. We’ll keep—”
 
I was cut off as I realized Coper was standing in front of the fruit Nepenthes, holding his sword. He was staring at me. Or rather, he was staring at the flower bud in my hand.
 
“Hey, what’re you doing?” I said nervously. “That’s not—”
 
Coper cut me off. “Sorry, end of the line. I need that Anneal Blade.” He raised his sword, swinging it in a single vicious motion down towards the fruit Nepenthes.
 
I felt my throat close up and my whole body stiffen. Why did he have to do this? Did he not realize it would just get both of us killed? The realization that Coper was actually trying to kill me crashed down onto me as a horrible howling rang out, followed by the sound of countless plants beginning to move.
 
I wanted to shout something, anything, to curse or scream, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t move at all. Fear and anguish and confusion rooted me in place. I knew from experience the two of us were already surrounded, but I couldn’t even bring myself to turn my head to look.
 
Instead, I stared transfixed as Coper stepped backwards and slowly faded from view. “Just had to be this way,” echoed his now disembodied voice. A piece clicked into place in my head. Hiding. Coper was planning on using the Hiding skill to escape, leaving me to die so he could take the drop. And it wouldn’t work.
 
“You idiot!” I screamed, “Hiding doesn’t work on monsters that don’t rely on sight!”
 
It was too late. Nepenthes swarmed Coper, and the last thing I heard was the younger boy scream. “Wait, stop, get back! NO!” There was the sound of shattering glass, and the Nepenthes turned.
 
I threw a hand over my mouth as I felt my stomach heave. A quiet sob escaped through my fingers, my whole body icy cold. A terrible chill seeped into my bones and permeated my whole body, freezing me in place and shaking me to my boots. It ground my thoughts to a halt, the unbearable reality before me all that I could be aware of. I bit the inside of my cheek, and the dull sting thawed the frost and barely dragged my thoughts back into shape.
 
Sword arm hung limply at my side, the noise still echoing in my ears. I raised my head and stared the horde of carnivorous plants before me. I slipped the quest item into my pocket and gripped my sword with slick, unsteady hands. I took a breath in as the Nepenthes closed in, and pushed everything but my sword away.
 
Breathe openly, but not too deeply. Relax your muscles, let the tension out. Keep your eyes open, and have a complete awareness of your surroundings. 
 
The plants were close enough to begin to lunge for me. Falling back on habits I hadn’t practiced in years, I raised my sword as a pale blue glow illuminated the enemies around me. Gnashing mouths and dripping poison surrounded me. I stamped my foot down and let out a growling scream, lunging forward.
 
And lost myself to the hum and glow.

 
I wasn’t sure how long it had been. It might have been two minutes, it felt like two hours. When I finally returned to my senses, I was alone. The forest had gone quiet, the last of the Nepenthes defeated, at least for now. No sign of what had happened here just moments ago remained—no bodies, no blood, nothing. Nothing but me.
 
As I finally processed that the battle was over, that I’d survived, I was hit by a wave of exhaustion. I collapsed onto my back, sword falling onto the forest floor beside me. A small ding drew my attention over to a system notification overing next to me.
 
Prerequisite met: Survive in combat for at least 5 minutes while below 20% HP
Skill: [Battle Healing] Acquired!
 
“Wait, below 20% HP?” I said, confused. 

I glanced over at my health bar and realized that I only had a fraction of it left, a handful of HP and maybe one solid blow away from death. A shiver ran through me as I realized exactly how close to death I’d come, and I reached out with a shaking hand to dismiss the notification.
 
Then the pain hit.
 
As the adrenaline wore off, I was suddenly overwhelmed by pain, red hot stings, stabbing, and aching from all over my body. Not quite what I guessed a real fatal injury would feel like, but not far enough off to make me feel better about it. Glancing down, I saw I was covered in glowing red wounds. Sword Art Online didn’t show blood, and rendered damage as glowing neon red gashes, cuts, and holes. It was almost more unsettling in a way, given that SAO was a hugely realistic simulation in almost every other way.
 
SAO’s pain simulation didn’t feel anything like this, though! As I gasped on the forest floor, I tried to think. During the Beta Test, pain had been a dull, faint tingling—designed to make you aware that something was attacking but not cause any real discomfort. And though it scaled with damage, even the most serious of wounds didn’t ever hurt like this.
 
“Kayaba, that—” I groaned, words cutting off with another grunt of pain. It had to have been Kayaba. He must have changed the pain scale when he turned it into a death game. 

I shivered as I thought of what else might have changed since the Beta.
 
I forced myself to my feet and slowly placed one foot in front of the other. I had to move, to leave before even more Nepenthes showed up. I stopped myself from looking behind me to where Coper had been. Forced myself not to think about what happened. Not to think at all.
 
As I emerged from the forest, I couldn’t stop the tremor in my hands.

Moonlight fell upon Horunka. The village was dead silent as the clock ticked ever closer to midnight and the end of the first day. I stood in front of the house once more and pushed open the door with heavy steps and unsteady hands.

The inside was lit only by a crackling fireplace. The small rustic sitting room was empty save for a single occupant, slowly rocking back and forth in a rocking chair by the fire. The woman glanced up at me, weathered face blank with surprise. 

“Oh, my,” she said. “Can I help you?”
 
“I have the flower,” I said, my voice raspy.
 
The woman’s dark eyes lit up and she stood from her chair. Stepping slowly across the cramped room, she took my hands in hers. “Oh, truly?” she said. “Thank you!”
 
I wordlessly took out the Nepenthes Flower from my inventory and handed it to the woman. Her eyes grew misty as she looked at it, taking it from my hands reverently. “It really is the Nepenthes Flower,” she said. “With this, my daughter will surely recover!”

I looked away, not meeting her gaze.
 
The woman shuffled up the stairs, long brown skirt ghosting above the steps as she ascended and entered her daughter’s room. I followed hesitantly, entering in behind her as my boots clunked on the wood floor. The room itself was even smaller than I remembered—a bed, a chair, and not much room for anything else, all cramped wattle and daub walls and ramshackle furniture. The young girl in question, only nine or so, lay on the bed, her face feverish and her forehead covered in sweat.
 
Something about her made the back of my neck tingle. She shouldn’t. She didn’t look a thing like Suguha. As I stared at her, though, my palms grew clammy and my lip trembled until I bit down on it.
 
The woman took a seat in the chair by the bed, muttering something to her daughter that didn’t quite reach my ears as she stroked her forehead. Taking a mortar and pestle from next to the bed, she began to grind the flower up into a paste. 

I stood in the doorway watching her feed the crushed plant to her daughter, my eyes locked on them and my jaw clenched. I looked on as she whispered words of encouragement, rubbed her daughter’s back as she struggled to sit up and swallow. It made me think of home. The thought floated through my head—what was everyone there doing right now?

I clamped down on it quickly before it swallowed me.
 
Not even a minute later, the medicine took effect. The girl’s sickly complexion disappeared, and she sat up. I could see that the two were talking, could see their mouths moving, but somehow I couldn’t hear a word they said. Why couldn’t I hear them? All sound seemed to die before it ever reached my ears. I could see the daughter crying, hugging her mother. I could see the mother’s sheer relief at her daughter’s recovery.

Would mine be that relieved? Would Suguha?
 
I clenched my hands into fists as they trembled.
 
Eventually, the woman turned to me, her voice tinny and distant. “Thank you, swordsman,” she said. “Please, take this as payment. We have no use for it here, and I believe it will serve you better.” She handed me a longsword, all too familiar to me.
 
The Anneal Blade. A plain steel sword with an arrow-straight blade, reinforced guard, simple black leather grip, and round pommel. The best sword on this floor, and a powerful contender for the next three. The sword I’d nearly died to get.
 
The sword Coper had died trying to kill me for.
 
“Thank you,” I whispered, taking the sword. As the woman bid me farewell, I turned and left just short of running.
 
I held the sword in a death grip as I stumbled out into the street, heart pounding and eyes prickling. Scenery blurred and my body shook as I bolted into the town’s sole inn, not even looking at the NPC as I tossed out the Cor for a room for the night. Dashing upstairs, I threw the door closed behind me and locked it.
 
I was alone. In addition to all towns being Safe Zones, inn rooms couldn’t be broken into and were completely soundproofed when locked. I was the closest thing to safe I had been since the start of the game.
 
The fragile dam inside me broke.
 
I collapsed to the floor, clutching the Anneal Blade to my chest as a wailing sob clawed its way out of me. My knees ached as they slammed into the floorboards, but it felt distant and fuzzy. My hands were locked around the sword as I gripped it to my chest so tightly they trembled. I gasped for breath in between choked cries, and my whole body shook as tears streaked my face.
 
I curled up in on myself, my forehead crashing against the floor and resting there. The icy chill from before was back, enveloping me in a frigid embrace as I heaved cry after cry into the floorboards. “Why?!” I wailed. “Why me, why this, why?!” My voice was hoarse and the words blubbery with tears, distant in my chilly ears. 
 
“Why—“ I choked, “Why is this happening?” No reason revealed itself no matter how I cried. I slammed my forehead into the floor once more as the ice gripping my heart thickened around me, whether as armor or a prison.
 
“Why did he have to die?” I said, my voice barely croaking the words out as the ice finally covered my heart. 

The strength began to leave my limbs, the sword I had paid for with a life clattering to the floor with a thud. I remembered the old woman, holding her daughter close with tears of relief in her eyes. Had Coper’s parents heard the news? Had they felt this ice even more frigidly than I had?
 
The silent room provided no answer, the world around me seeming to mock me with its reality. Eventually, my tears dried up. My thoughts came to an end, and a bone-deep, overwhelming exhaustion overtook me.
 
Dragging myself into the bed, I closed my tear-stained eyes and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Chapter Text

November 14th, 2022, 11:30 AM
Floor 1

One week had passed since the death game began.

I slowly fell into a rhythm. Exploring, completing quests, grinding for exp and materials, and moving on to another part of the floor. It wasn’t easy per se, but I began to relax as the days became more familiar and the battles more routine.

The Anneal Blade in particular helped with that immensely. I’d upgraded it to +2 by now, and the sheer stat gap between it and anything else was something to be reckoned with. It was a real comfort, a partner that had my back even as I threw myself alone into battles designed for full parties.

I’d made my way closer to the far northern end of the floor as I progressed, opposite the Town of Beginnings. The far north was my and everyone else’s goal, where even from a distance the Labyrinth could be seen towering into the sky. Somewhere in there lurked the floor boss, our key to the next floor.

The 1st Floor covered a wide variety of terrain in its vast expanse of more than thirty square miles, including plains, forests, lakes, and even fantastical island-like raised plateaus. For now, I was staying in a tiny lakeside town, still some distance from the Labyrinth.

I’d finished most of the quests in the area, couldn’t find any other secrets or treasure worth looking into, and was considering moving on to the next region. I’d been fighting and traveling near non-stop for the past week straight, though, and decided to give myself a break.

So I’d gone fishing.

I tended to be very focused with what skills I leveled up. I mainly focused on One-Handed Swords, Searching, Hiding, Parry, and Battle Healing. There were a handful of others, like Leather Armor and Throwing Knives, but I didn't use multiple kinds of weapons, didn't use shields, and wasn't a crafter or artisan, so my list was shorter than some.

The one skill I found myself drawn to outside of my existing ones was Fishing. I liked fishing. It was quiet, relaxing, and best done alone in my opinion. Sword Art Online had a wide variety of fishing spots throughout its floors, including an array of both real fish and many more fantastical ones new to Aincrad.

So, although it was technically Monday and not the weekend, I decided to spend a lazy weekend morning fishing. Plus, I could sell whatever I caught to the fishmonger in town and earn a bit of extra Cor.

I'd been at it for almost two hours, an impressively large collection of fish in a pair of large wooden buckets beside me. I didn't need the buckets, sure. I could just put the fish in my inventory, and it didn't change anything, but I liked doing it, dammit, and I was allowed to have the little things for once.

So it was, as I sat on the edge of the dock casting into the lake, when I was abruptly startled from my meditative state by an unexpected voice.

"I should've known I'd find ya fishing," it said, right next to me. I flinched a little, accidentally jerking my lure out of the water for a moment.

I turned to find a girl standing next to me. Around my age, she had short, fluffy bright blonde hair, light hazel eyes, tan olive skin, and three brown whisker-like markings drawn on each cheek. She was several inches shorter than me, small and wiry with a rounded face.

She looked a bit different from how I remembered. This time around, she wore high-waisted baggy brown pants, a tight-fitting black crop-top that left her lower torso bare, black fingerless gloves, a green bandana tied as a scarf around her neck, and a brown mantelet with sleeves and a hood. Her Beta avatar had been a bit taller and bulkier and had green hair, but the whiskers were a dead giveaway.

I smiled. "Hey Argo," I said. "Good to see you too."

She grinned at me, all bright eyes and mischief. "Good to see ya, Kii-bou. Haven't since the Beta." She looked me up and down, nodding to herself. "You look about how I expected."

I wasn't sure whether to groan or smile at her use of 'Kii-bou'. It was a nickname she'd given me back in the Beta, an offhand joke that stuck. "…I wasn't sure what to expect, but you look good, Argo," I said. I tried to ignore the way her grin made my heart skip a beat. It was fine.

She beamed, plopping down next to me. "Thanks! But seriously, a week into a death game and you're fishing?"

I shrugged. "I needed a break. Plus, the weather's nice. Not too cloudy, not too sunny." I gestured upwards with a free hand. 

Weather was a strange thing in Aincrad. It was generated according to an environmental algorithm, but it varied by region. On top of that, some regions like the 1st Floor matched season with the real world. Others, though, had a fixed season, like winter, summer, and so on. Today, we got a perfect blend of that mid-November chill with sunny warmth, broken up with cloud cover that made you taste the brisk wind on every inhale.

Argo stared at me for a moment, then chuckled. "S'pose you're right. The other Clearers would have a fit if they heard, though."

"Clearers?"

"It’s what people’re are callin’ the folks leading the charge to get us outta this mess. You're one of the ones who's gotten the farthest right now."

I nodded, not entirely surprised. I'd made good time the past week. "Argo the Rat back in action, then?"

Argo was an info broker. Any bit of info you wanted, from material drop locations to quest guides to boss attack patterns, she would tell you—for a fee, of course. She was impressively good at it, too, evidenced by the nickname she’d been given.

She nodded. "Yep. Info's gonna be even more in demand now that we don't have internet access or forums or anything."

I grunted in agreement. "I'll be counting on you."

Argo watched me for a moment as I drew back and cast my line out into the lake. The two of us sat like that, watching my line sway and bob on the glittering waves. When she spoke, her voice was quieter. 

"I know I said it earlier, but it really is good to see you. It's…" She hesitated. "It's nice to see a friend. I feel better about the chances of us getting through all of this with you around."

It was probably the most vulnerable I had seen her, though admittedly we’d only been friends for a month in the Beta. I turned to her, and although her face was relaxed, her eyes were tense. "I'm glad to see you too," I said quietly. "The past week’s been a lot."

She was the first person I could trust that I'd seen since Coper happened. That alone made me genuinely relieved to see her. On top of that, I wouldn't be caught dead admitting it, but Argo was pretty much my only friend, in-game or out.

Unless you counted Klein, but that was… complicated.

I shook aside my thoughts. "How are you doing?” I asked. “We’ve had one heck of a week.”

Her eyes dimmed as she looked down at the water. "I'm hanging in there," she said, her voice low. "Hard to feel too good about anything, though."

"We'll get through it," I said quietly, starting to reel as something bit on the other end of the line. “You don’t have to do it alone.”

Argo looked over at me. "Thanks," she said, giving me a lopsided smile. “You’re a real sweetheart sometimes, Kii-bou. How're you holding up?"

I thought about it. I was doing about as well as could be expected.

Well. As long as I didn't think about anything that had happened, or was happening. Or much of anything at all.

I shrugged. "I'm managing. That's what the fishing is for."

Argo snickered. "Should I get you one of those 'I don't need a therapist, I have a fishing rod' shirts?"

"I might actually die."

The two of us laughed together, enjoying the morning sun. I dragged a new catch, a glittering rainbow trout, out of the water and dumped it into my bucket. The clock read five minutes to noon—time to wrap things up.

Standing, I offered Argo a hand. "Walk with me while I go sell these?" I asked, picking up the buckets after hauling her to her feet.

"Gee, romantic first date, Kii-bou," she said, giggling as I flushed and rolled my eyes. "But sure, why not. Got something I need to talk to you about anyway."

"Oh?” I raised an eyebrow as we walked away from the lakeshore, back towards the village. "What's up?"

Argo’s face became more serious. I recognized that face—it was her Business Face, the Rat. “There’s a quest I want you to look into for me,” she said. “With pay, ‘course. You down?”

I nodded. “What’s the quest?”

“There’s this set of ruins over just north of the lake, swarmin’ with kobolds. Turns out, there’s a quest related to the boss over there, NPC dialog mentioned it being the Kobold Lord’s former lair. Problem is,” she groaned, “I’m not high enough level to do it alone, I can’t very well go and ask someone else to do it for me, and the idiots fighting to be head of the Clearers are pushing for the Field Boss raid to happen later today.” She glanced over at me. “Do you see the problem?”

I tilted my head as we came to a stop in front of the fishmonger’s stall. “Sure. One question: why can’t you ask someone else?” Swiping open my menu, I started selling the fish.

She stared at me blankly like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I’m a businesswoman, Kii-bou,” she said. “I’ve got a reputation to maintain and a whole new one to build with the newbies. I trade people information for a price—if it got out that I was going up to folks asking to do quests for me, they’d start tryin’ to wheedle free info or quest locations outta me, claiming they want the same treatment.”

I nodded, finishing up selling fish and closing the menu. “That makes sense. But why me?”

“You’re high level and I trust ya. You’re not the type to blab about gettin’ free stuff from me. So you get plenty of quests and info sent your way as part of helping me out with work, and I get a minion to run and do quests I can’t for me.” 

I grinned as we stepped away from the fishmonger. “Cool, I’ve always wanted to be a minion.” Seeing Argo’s amused disbelief, I chuckled. “Alright, I’ll go check out these ruins. Where am I headed?”

Argo swiped at her menu a few times and materialized a paper scroll before tossing it to me. Map data in tradeable item form. I accepted it and glanced at where my own map now showed a small pin a short distance north of the lakeshore where we stood. A notification informed me I had a new quest:

Quest: [The Lord’s Old Lair]
Investigate the old castle ruins and search for signs of the Kobold Lord.

“We should head out soon, Field Boss raid starts at five,” Argo said, fiddling with her menu.

I nodded. “I’ll try and make it back by then, but no guarantees.”

Argo gave me a little salute. “See ya, Kii-bou. Don’t go dying on me, alright?” she said, turning to walk away.

Smiling as she left, I stretched my arms. It was time to go questing.

The ruins in question were a now-collapsed castle sunken into the surrounding swamp, crumbling stone walls totally overgrown and towering spires long since collapsed. I could see from a distance that a pair of kobolds dressed in ragged armor guarded the entrance. Two Ruin Kobold Scouts—lizard-like humanoids with reddish skin and pinkish underbellies, long rabbit-like ears, ragged chainmail, and unnaturally glowing bright purple eyes. 

I sighed. Not a challenge for me now that I’d hit level six the day before, but work was work. 

Time to get my hands dirty.

I drew the Anneal Blade and took a breath, pulling the sword back horizontal to the ground and lowering into a crouch. It began to emit its trademark weak azure glow as I lunged forwards, unleashing Rage Spike. The hum filled my ears as the grass blurred under my feet, my lunge carrying me from my spot amongst the trees to in front of the twin kobold guards.

The kobold let out a noise of surprise as my stab pierced its breastplate, before shattering into light. The other kobold hastily grabbed its axe, swinging it down at my head.

As the recovery for Rage Spike finally ended, I snapped my sword up, blocking the axe overhead. We struggled for a moment before I pushed the axe off me, slashing across the kobold’s torso.

We exchanged blows for a moment before I grit my teeth and paused, purposefully letting the axe slash down my left arm. Pain erupted along my forearm, but I powered through, slashing my sword through the kobold’s head and finishing it off.

I flexed my arm, exhaling and wincing. Unfortunately, skills leveled up by being used. Normally that was fine, and every skill in my kit would raise to the max level of 1000 eventually on their own. The nature of Battle Healing meant that leveling it required repeatedly taking damage and healing it over time, though. 

I wouldn’t call myself a masochist, but when it literally meant life and death, I couldn’t afford to pass up leveling the skill when I could.

“You did always say pain was the best teacher, right, grandfather?” I said aloud.

My health bar ticked back to full and I turned to the castle doors, a giant wooden pair now rotting and weakened with age. I pushed them open, eyes alert for danger.

As the doors swung open, the interior of the castle yawned open before me. It really was nothing more than ruins at this point—any of its former stateliness, imposing presence, or sturdiness had been eroded away by vines, mud, and rain. The stone floors were cracked and weathered, and the walls were fully collapsing in at places. The upper floors were almost completely caved in—only the first floor and underground areas remained even partially intact. 

The main doors opened into a courtyard, dominated by a dried up fountain filled with stagnant, muddy water. Several adjacent annexes were visible through collapsed walls, and a set of stairs in the back led downwards into the basement.

Before I could explore, though, I had to deal with the three kobold scouts standing by the fountain.

I closed the gap in a flash and slashed twice at the kobold closest to me before purposefully stepping back. The other two both swung their axes out to catch me, but my backstep carried me just short of the edge of their reach, allowing the two attacks to graze me and slice chunks off my health.

Ignoring my stinging wounds, I charged and unleashed a Horizontal. The attack shattered my first target into pieces and caught the second kobold in the side on the backswing. I yanked my sword back just as the recovery ended and blocked an axe swing from the other. My eyes flashed between my two enemies.

The left kobold moved first. I lunged forwards around its slash and whipped a Vertical through the right kobold’s shoulder. I watched as it reeled from the blow, my sword still wedged in its chest. 

Seconds counted down in my head as the other kobold closed in behind me. The instant my recovery ended, I whirled, tearing my sword from the kobold’s chest and slamming it into the other’s axe, sending it spinning onto the floor.

They disintegrated at the same time, fading to nothingness.

I nodded to myself, noting that my breathing was still kept even—some habits never changed. I noted that my health bar hovered a bit above three quarters and reached for a health potion, then hesitated. I’d inevitably run into more kobold scouts around here and go through the exact same process again. Better to save the potions and let Battle Healing do the work for now, I decided.

Battle Healing really was an indispensable skill, especially for solo players. Healing in SAO was almost entirely limited to time-consuming potions, so in-combat health regen was incredible. Unfortunately, it wasn’t active outside of combat, but that was a small price to pay. 

That thought reminded me that my health wasn’t getting any higher standing around, and I moved to leave. Three paths were open to me. A cluster of rooms to the right, a similar area to the left, or the basement straight in front. 

“Left, right, or straight?” I called, to the empty room. When no response came, I shrugged. “Left it is.” 

I approached the left wall and moved to step through it before freezing, my foot hovering above the rubble awkwardly.

A length of string so small I could barely see it stretched across the open gap in the wall at ankle height. It connected to something on either side of the inside of the wall, based on what I could see. My blood froze and I forced myself not to flinch or tremble as it registered in my mind.

Very, very slowly, I lowered my foot away from the tripwire, only letting out a breath once my foot was back on stone. I tried to ignore the cold sweat on my back and shook myself a few times. Standing back several paces, I grabbed a stone off the floor, aiming carefully and tossing it through the string.

As the stone broke through the string, a sharp click echoed through the silent castle and a volley of arrows shot past the collapsed wall, slamming into stone and clattering onto the ground out of sight. A barrage that large was enough to be near-deadly at this level.

I groaned. “This is why I hate kobold lairs,” I mumbled, activating Searching as I stepped through the opening. My eyes glowed with a green light and I glanced around, scanning for any more traps or enemies in the area.

Nothing appeared, and I sighed heavily. I was going to have to check every room, now, just to be sure I didn’t step on a pressure plate and get turned into a pincushion. 

Grumbling unkind words to kobolds under my breath, I advanced towards the next door through the small, decrepit room.

As I continued to advance I grew increasingly frustrated. Nearly every room was trapped, but none of them even had anything in them! Just rotting wood, collapsed stone, and moss-covered floors. No enemies, no chests, no bits of lore for me to obsess over with Argo.

Finally, I arrived at what seemed to be the back room of the left annex. As soon as I entered the room, my eyes sharpened. Jackpot.

Two Ruin Kobold Troopers stood at the back of the room. Flickering torchlight glittered off them, drawing my eyes to the wooden chest sitting behind them. My eyes still glowing green, I confirmed there were no traps and fully entered the room, sword drawn. Troopers were larger, bulkier, and tougher than their smaller scout cousins, and although they shared the same glowing purple eyes the two here were no exception. They drew their axes and stormed towards me, so I steadied my breathing and ran to meet them.

Ringing clangs echoed around the small room as I deflected their axe blows, stepping backwards from the force of them. Troopers were several levels higher than scouts, and had the strength scores to show for it. Grunting, I gripped my sword tightly. This was going to take a minute.

The two kobolds attacked again, and for a moment I traded blows with them. Furious clashes resounded as I raced to bring my sword up to block each blow and carefully step out of range.

Each time I parried one of their attacks, I was forced another step back, and I soon found my back approaching the wall. I moved decisively and knocked aside another axe blow, dashing past while I still had room to move. Pain blossomed where the other kobold took the opportunity to land a hit on my back, but before they could attack again I spun around, slamming a Vertical down onto its head.

That kobold shattered before me, and I only just managed to get my sword up in time to block the other’s attack. No longer outnumbered, I deflected its attacks with ease, before dashing in and finishing it off with a Slant. My health bar still sat above the yellow as I lowered my sword, but I frowned. I’d taken more damage than I’d have liked.

“Well, hopefully there’s no groups of troopers larger than two around here,” I said aloud as I opened the chest. “Just Cor? Really?” 

I stashed it in my inventory anyway. It was a fair chunk of change, but I was hoping for a better armor drop or some nice materials.

Hopefully the rest of the ruins had something better to offer.

Argo had a very bad feeling about the boar.

It wasn’t that it was the first field boss they’d faced, it wasn’t that she could really actually die if they screwed this up, and it definitely wasn’t that Kirito wasn’t here. No, her problem lay with the landscape before her.

The rolling plains behind her led up to a vast river that cut all the way across the 1st Floor. It rushed past at a breakneck pace, tumbling over and crashing against the jagged rocks peeking through the surface of the water.

Small whitecaps had formed on the waves rushing by, and occasionally one would form large enough to send a spray as it crashed head-on into a stone or collided with the rocky riverbank. When they did, the late afternoon sunlight sparkled though, scattering tiny rainbows through the air. Then it was swept away along with anything else careless enough to fall into the river, soon to be dashed against the rocks all the same.

The only reliable method of passage was the land bridge across it some distance in front of Argo, stretching out from the field she stood in, over the river, and arriving on the other side where a thick maple forest filled with further dangers lurking awaited.

Her problem with the gorgeous scenery in front of her was that there were only five people in sight, counting her. Five people to take on one stupid gigantic boar standing directly in front of the bridge. That on its own wouldn’t have been awful—field bosses really only called for a full party of six to defeat, assuming proper coordination and preparation.

Which meant they were only one short, and while the King Boar was stupid and stubborn and tanky as all hell, it was also a very gentle introduction into fighting bosses. It only had two HP bars to go through, most of its attacks were obvious and easy to dodge, and it didn’t really have many tricks up its sleeve.

No, the thing that was setting off Argo’s warning bells was the folks she was stuck partying with.

Her four compatriots were split. Two of them seemed fine, generally likeable even. Diavel was a guy in his late twenties with fairer skin and long blue hair. He was charismatic and a pretty decent leader, though he had a bit too much pretty-boy energy for Argo to fully endorse that.

Next to him stood Agil. He was a bald, heavily built man nearly a foot taller than Argo with a brown goatee and cool dark skin. If Argo had to guess, he was older than all of them, probably in his mid-thirties. He had a calm, amenable demeanor, and seemed happy to let Diavel do the leading.

Then there were Lind and Kibaou.

Both of them seemed around the same age as Diavel. Lind had light skin, shoulder length brown hair, slightly stouter and broader features, but his narrowed brown eyes gave Argo the shivers.

Kibaou, on the other hand, had warm light brown skin, spiky orangeish hair, and an attitude. He was loud, aggressive, and seemed determined to prove something, though hell if Argo could figure out what. 

He and Lind wouldn’t shut up.

“I’m telling you, how bad can it be?” Kibaou said, his nasally voice so loud he was almost yelling although it was his normal speaking volume. “It’s just one boar with no adds, right?”

Lind sighed, exasperated. “It’s still a boss mob, it would be safer to wait until we have a sixth party member at the very least.”

“What sixth party member?” Kibaou said, swinging an arm around to a whole lot of empty field. “There ain’t no one else coming, dumbass.”

“I am not a dumbass!” growled Lind as he stepped forward angrily. “You’re the one being an idiot here!”

“Please, you two,” said Diavel, raising his hands placatingly and stepping between them. “Let’s think this through, all right? It’s true that waiting for a sixth would be safer,” he said, nodding to Lind, “but it’s also true that no one seems to be coming,” he added, glancing at Kibaou. “For now, why don’t we share our levels and equipment so we can figure out if we’re well prepared enough to take on the boss?”

Kibaou and Lind both seemed to deflate a bit and grumbled, but they agreed. As they did, Argo caught Agil’s gaze as he rolled his eyes, and the two chuckled for a moment before turning back to the others.

“You’re only level five?” Kibaou was saying, sneering at Lind. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?” 

Yeah. The boar was definitely the fuckin’ least of Argo’s worries.

“Why did I have to say anything?” I grumbled as I trudged through the basement. The rest of the castle had contained absolutely nothing more interesting. Another couple of chests with Cor in them, a lot of collapsed rooms, and a whole bunch more kobolds. I had vainly hoped that the lower floor contained some better loot or at least something more fun.

No such luck. The basement had been filled with equally mediocre rewards, equally frustrating traps, and more stupid kobolds. It was damp, mossy, and generally depressing, dragging down my mood and dampening the noise as I slowly moved along. A layer of murky water that came up to my shins flooded the floor, forcing me to carefully pick my way through.

The torches were few and far between down here, the light of the sun blocked off save for the bits of the roof that had caved in. My eyes strained as I walked. I was forced to take it slow to avoid any more traps, to my frustration. I had a feeling I was nearing the end, and was eager to be done with it.

A large stone door appeared through the gloom at the end of a hall, flanked by torches. Keeping my sword close at hand, I used my other hand and shoulder to slowly force the door open. Stone doors were heavy, as it turned out, and I had to put all my weight behind it to get it moving. 

It swung open to reveal a flooded hall where a handful more torches flickered along the walls, illuminating mossy stone and water rippling over the stone floor. The water came up to the edges of my boots, and I grimaced as I slowly slopped my way through it. At the far end I could see the dark shape of a throne of some sort.

As I moved closer, it came into view—a stone throne covered in moss and mushrooms at the far wall, which was itself dominated by an enormous mural. In the chair sat yet another kobold, this one even bigger than the troopers and wearing moss covered armor as it lounged upon the throne. 

It stood, glowing purple eyes locking on me as it drew a large talwar. I stopped in my tracks as the water around the throne abruptly shifted and three kobold Troopers rose from where they had apparently hid beneath the surface, drawing their axes. As they did, the stone doors slammed shut behind me, and a two-layered boss health bar appeared in my vision along with a name. The Kobold General.

“Uh oh,” I said.

The troopers charged at me first, axes swinging for my neck. I dashed backwards only to find my movements slow and sluggish in the calf-deep water. Two axes whistled through the open air in front of me, but one slashed across my upper chest, leaving a burning red line. I began to furiously parry and retaliate against each of the kobolds’ strikes. We shaved scratches off each others’ health bars, my teeth clenched and eyes narrowed in concentration.

Then, it all fell apart again. 

The Kobold General leapt forwards, slashing in a large downward stroke with his blade. I stumbled backwards, barely avoiding the strike as it sent a splash of murky water up. I lunged to the side using the spray as cover, and unleashed a series of slashes followed by a Vertical.

Before the skill could land home, though, the talwar came swinging into my field of vision and slammed against my sword, the force of the blow sending it spinning away from the trooper. It drove me back several steps and my left foot landed oddly. An axe whizzed over my head as I splashed down onto the floor.

I scrambled desperately backwards, my hands and feet scrabbling for any purchase on the slick, submerged stone tiles as muddy water began to soak through my clothes. Several more axe blows grazed me as I stumbled to my feet, sending flashes of pain running across my skin.

Just as I managed to get my bearings again, the General was upon me. 

Its talwar slammed into my blade, nearly tearing it from my hands again. The impact numbed my fingers, and another axe blow along my arm from a trooper sent a fresh bolt of agony coursing through.

I was in a very, very bad situation. The doors were locked, and I didn’t have any teleportation crystals. We wouldn’t even get access to them until Floor 6! I was outnumbered, surrounded, fighting on awful terrain, and alone. I needed a new plan fast, or I was dead.

The General’s attack patterns were very similar to the basic patterns of the Kobold Lord’s from the Beta, the 1st Floor’s boss. One thing was different, though—it would step in to parry blows that seemed close to finishing off one of the troopers, protecting its soldiers.

I could work with that.

I began to fall into a pattern of dodging the General’s attacks, now I knew what I was looking for. Slash, dodge, parry, retaliate, and repeat. My health bar was growing steadily lower, though, and I was running out of time as it slipped from green into yellow. So the moment I saw the General pause, I moved. I made to slash at the most heavily wounded trooper, and sure enough, the General moved in to parry.

Grinning fiercely as it fell for my feint, I abruptly shifted course and unleashed a Vertical against the trooper next to it, my sword biting deep into its shoulder. For a moment we hung like that, the instant of paralysis before a burst of movement. 

I ripped my sword out of the trooper sideways with a Horizontal, moving just in time to use it to parry the General’s windup swing, aimed to take my head off.

The trooper shattered into glass as our swords clashed. The General growled as I dug my heels in and forced it back a step. Before I could press the advantage, the other two Troopers jumped in, their axe blows biting into my arms and dropping my health into the red.

"Time for Plan B," I said.

I kicked with my right leg, splashing water up into the kobolds’ eyes. I dashed backwards, using the Hiding skill and reaching for a healing potion. The General’s eyes locked onto me after only a moment once the spray splashed back down into the water, but it was all the time I needed. The potion was down my throat and the empty bottle thrown aside as it shattered, my health beginning to creep back up into the yellow.

Potions healed over time, though, and their effects ended when you took damage. I needed to buy time. 

Backpedaling, I tried to keep myself out of the reach of the three kobolds dashing towards me. They caught up in seconds and I only barely parried their attacks, putting all my energy into defense as my health slowly crept higher and higher.

Sword clanged against axe again and again, the clashes against the talwar sending sparks flying in the dark room. I grunted each time I blocked it, the General’s strength outpacing my own by far. I just needed to hold them off a little longer. My health was solidly back into the yellow, nearing the green.

The General seemed to realize I was healing, and took a running leap towards me, slashing downwards once more in a huge arc. In its desperation to interrupt me, though, it got careless. I sidestepped the blow and swept my leg out, knocking the General to the floor. I couldn’t pass up this chance. Lunging, I drove a Rage Spike into the wounded trooper’s breastplate, shattering it. 

The other slashed an axe blow across my back, dropping my health back down to yellow, but the trade was worth it. As the General rose to its feet, I clashed with the last trooper, finally launching a Slant into its neck and killing it.

Now it was just the General and me. We clashed furiously, longsword on talwar. He had me beat in reach and power, but I had the edge in speed. So I kept close, refusing to let up or back off, using the length of his blade against him.

Furious crashing sounds resounded through the hall, bouncing in warbling waves off the watery floors as we continued to battle. My health was still creeping down steadily, but it had slowed from a worrying pace to a slow crawl thanks to Battle Healing.

I took the first health bar off the General after what had felt like an eternity. It leapt backwards, letting out a furious cry as its eyes glowed red. It lowered the talwar to a ready position behind it, an ominous red luminescence surrounding the blade.

“Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me,” I said in disbelief.

The General unleashed Fell Crescent, a single lightning-fast sword skill that surged forwards with a downwards blow. I desperately blocked as the strike slammed into me, forcing my sword against my chest and knocking me backwards several feet. The force rattled my teeth and crushed my ribs. I fought to pull air into my aching lungs as I struggled to focus through fuzzy vision. The General leapt towards me, seeking to follow up on its opening.

It could use sword skills. Why had I assumed it couldn’t use sword skills?! The Kobold Lord could! Just because it hadn’t yet didn’t mean it couldn’t!

Cursing my own stupidity, I furiously tried to stave off the General’s assault, trading blows with it even as my knees grew weak and my vision continued to come in and out of focus.

A fierce bout of blows rang out, both of us forsaking time-consuming sword skills for a rapid flurry of regular sword attacks in attempts to push the other off balance and create an opening. My health was dropping faster now, into the red, but I held my ground and put everything behind my sword. The Anneal Blade’s damage was well beyond anything else in its class at this point, and the General’s second and final health bar began to plummet faster with each strike I landed.

It was a furious race to the finish, a deadly dance of speed that neither of us were willing to lose. Each of us covered in glowing red wounds, we neared the end of our ropes. The General began to grin triumphantly as my health bar crept ever closer to empty. 

It was going to win.

So I stopped.

I dashed forwards and took the sword strike it swung at me as it carved my health bar down to a tiny sliver. As it towered over me, I smashed the hilt of my sword down onto its wrist. It wasn’t enough to make it drop the sword, but it recoiled, pausing. That was all I needed.

The Anneal Blade glowed a pale, brilliant azure, and the Horizontal strike I unleashed cut through the General’s torso, bisecting it. Our eyes met for a fraction of a second before it burst into glass.

Silence returned to the room. The sound of it shattering faded slowly, carried by the water. After a long moment, I dropped my sword and fell to the ground, panting as I stared at my health bar.

2%. That was all that was left.

The General had really pushed me to the edge. I thanked my lucky stars and the gods that I was still alive. One more mistake and I wouldn’t be. 

I was going to have to be more careful in the future. I didn’t have healing or teleportation crystals, a reliable failsafe in any bad situation, and wouldn’t get them till Floor 6. I needed to get stronger, to come up with more backup plans in case something like this happened again.

I wearily drew a potion from my inventory and drank it, watching my health slowly crawl back up into green. The raging pain radiating from my wounds dissipated, fading like it was never there. 

I dragged myself to my feet, and although my wounds had healed, I felt exhaustion wash over me in a heavy wave as I moved to inspect the mural behind the throne.

It depicted the Kobold Lord seated on the same throne, passing a talwar to the kneeling General in some sort of ceremony as they were surrounded by other kobold soldiers. One in particular stood out, waiting in attendance to the Lord and holding a sheathed sword I didn’t recognize. 

I frowned. What exactly did this mean for the boss battle? We already knew the Kobold Lord used a talwar in its second phase from Beta experience, that was nothing knew. I supposed that this was probably just for the purpose of giving new players a hint that the Kobold Lord used a talwar, and a sneak peak at its attack patterns and such via the General.

I turned my attention to the reinforced treasure chest behind the throne instead. “Now that’s more like it,” I said, unable to help the massive grin on my face as it opened. I was greeted by a pile of Cor, and both a new set of boots—featuring increased water mobility, I noted with bitter amusement—and a set of sleek black gloves. Grabbing my loot, I swiped open my menu to equip my new shoes as I slid the gloves on. I could just put the shoes on, but then my socks would get wet.

As I did I noticed the time—the field boss raid was starting soon. 

I groaned. Technically I had told Argo I might not make it, and they’d probably be fine. The Boar King wasn’t much to deal with, honestly. I had a strangely bad feeling about the situation, though, one that crept in my gut and crawled like a chilled ice cube through my throat. 

I couldn’t place it nor say exactly why, but I grumbled complaints out as I closed out of my menu and trudged out of the basement.

Time to go help kill a giant boar.

Argo’s bad feeling turned out to be spot on.

The King Boar raised its head as the five of them approached the land bridge, letting out a bone-shaking roar as its health bars appeared in view. Argo readied her claw gauntlets, taking a deep breath. Nothing to do now but kill the thing.

“Remember, keep an eye on your health bars and call for a switch when you get low!” called Diavel. “Kibaou is paired with Lind, and Argo is paired with Agil. I’ll step in wherever help is needed. Be confident in yourselves—we can defeat this thing!”

A series of affirmative grunts, war cries, and shouts rose up from their group as they charged into battle. The King Boar opened with a stomp attack, slamming its front hooves down and sending a shockwave out in an area. 

Argo dodged it nimbly, dashing forwards. “I’ll take the lead!” she called to Agil. “Back me up, alright?”

“You got it!” he called out in his baritone voice, hammer at the ready. 

Argo dove into the boar, slashing along its flank with her claws. At the same time, Kibaou arrived on the other side and began his attack. Diavel had taken the front, blocking with his shield while watching over them.

“Be careful not to overextend!” he called out, slashing along the boar’s cheek with his sword. Argo grunted in affirmation and continued to dig her claws into the beast.

It wasn’t about to just sit there and let them kill it. It whirled in place and let out a roar, using its bulk as a weapon before aiming to gore Argo with its tusks. “Switch!” she called out, jumping backwards. Agil charged in a flash, weaving around the tusk attack and slamming his maul into the boar’s front leg.

The King Boar’s health began to plunge even more rapidly as Agil continually smashed his hammer against its hide, the crunching sound resounding out rhythmically. He quickly drew the boss’s attention with his damage output, and it whirled to face him, aiming for a tusk attack as it kicked towards Lind with its back legs.

“Switch!” Agil called, backpedaling rapidly. Argo was moving before he even finished calling the word, tearing her claws along the boar’s flank and leaving glowing red wounds in her wake. It let out a terrible roar and reared back, preparing to slam its front hooves down. She was already gone, though, coming to a stop next to Agil as the shockwave fell harmlessly short of them.

“Not bad,” Agil said with a grin, holding up a fist. Argo made a show of glancing at his fist, then glancing at her own hand covered by a clawed gauntlet. Agil blinked and then laughed, Argo’s own chuckles joining in.

Shaking herself, Argo took a breath and kept her eyes sharp as the battle continued and they threw themselves back into the fray. The boar continued to stomp around, occasionally bashing one of them and knocking a chunk of health off. She continued to weave in and out, switching and healing as necessary, gaining confidence with each claw strike she landed. 

When the King Boar’s health dropped dangerously low it let out a fierce roar, abruptly charging forwards through their arty and forcing them to scatter. Argo threw herself to the side as its feet thundered past, scrambling to her feet. She glanced at Agil, who was readying for the next attack.

The boar charged back again, thundering past with renewed fury. Kibaou let out a whoop. “Time to make boar steaks!” he shouted, charging towards where it stood.

“Wait!” shouted Diavel, a note of worry entering his voice for the first time. “It hasn’t finished the pattern!”

Lind dashed out and seized Kibaou by the collar, dragging him backwards away from the boar. The two got out of range, but retreated too far back. The boar’s aggro abruptly changed, its beady eyes locking onto Argo with a snort.

“Oh, fuck,” she said.

The boar trampled towards her with terrifying speed. Caught off guard, Argo didn’t quite manage to clear the attack’s area.

The boar’s front leg slammed into her. It crushed her chest in and drove the breath from her lungs, tossing her away and sending her rolling along the grass for what felt like miles before she came to a stop as her whole world erupted in agony.

The world tilted as her vision flickered. Her heart hammered painfully against her aching ribs. She was vaguely aware of voices shouting at her, but her ears rang with a terribly and any noise was lost to the sound. She struggled to stand, and she could feel the boar getting closer with each ground-shaking step. Was this what a stun effect felt like with the pain limiters off?

A hand abruptly dragged Argo to her feet. She blinked her eyes, her senses returning as she stood. Her vision cleared, and she found herself staring at a lithe figure in a dark coat and loose black pants front of her, longsword in hand. Dark purple eyes stared back, and her stun-addled brain finally processed who it was.

“Are you okay?” Kirito asked, his ever-quiet voice nearly drowned out by the thundering of hooves towards them.

“Yes!” she squeaked, her voice uneven and frantic. “Boar!”

Kirito nodded. “I got it, don’t worry.” 

He turned, holding his sword with both hands. His eyes narrowed in concentration. Argo saw the King Boar charging towards them again, Kibaou, Lind, Agil, and Diavel running in the boar’s wake. Kirito ignored all of it and relaxed into a ready stance, sword held horizontally above his head.

Kirito struck out when the Boar was upon them, his sword clashing against its right tusk and ringing clear over the rush of battle. The sword glanced off of it, parrying the boar’s charge and redirecting it past him. He lashed out with a Horizontal before it could fully pass him, though, standing still and letting the boar drag itself along his sword and slice open its flank. 

The burst of light that flashed forth showed a critical hit. As the boar stumbled past them fully and crashed to the ground, it began to glow brightly before shattering into countless shards of glass rapidly fading into light.

Kirito exhaled, and Argo mirrored him, feeling her lungs against her aching ribs. The first field boss of the game had been defeated with no deaths. 

“Thanks for the save,” she said, fishing a potion out of her inventory. “Stuns have gotten fuckin’ nasty since the Beta.”

“No problem,” Kirito said, sheathing his sword. “You would’ve been fine if that guy hadn’t screwed up the aggro.”

Argo shrugged. “Yeah, but what ifs are what ifs. ‘preciate it.”

Kirito flashed her a small smile and opened his mouth to say something, but the arrival of the rest of the party cut him off.

“Good job, everyone!” Kibaou proclaimed loudly. “Or I would say, but we didn’t even kill the thing. Thanks, new guy, but we had it handled.”

Agil stepped in before Kirito could even respond. “Oh, can it. We wanted a sixth anyway, and the exp got shared, so don’t get pissed about it. You okay?” he asked, addressing Argo.

“Yeah, thanks,” she said, giving him a smile. 

“No problem, sorry I couldn’t do more to help you out,” he said, rubbing his head.

Argo waved a hand. “Hey, no worries. You did plenty as is. You’ve got a good arm with that maul.”

Agil grinned, his face splitting apart into a beaming smile. He stuck out a fist down to Argo as he did. “Thanks! You’re that info dealer folks have been talking about, right?”

Argo removed her gauntlet and bumped her fist into his, grinning back. “That’s me. Argo the Rat at your service! Got something you’re looking for?”

He shook his head. “Nah, not right now. I’m planning on speccing into a merchant once we hit the next floor or two, though, might come to you with a question or two about that.”

Argo nodded sagely. “I’ll keep an ear out for any info that might be handy. Here, add me as a friend so you can contact me later.” She winked as she swiped open her menu. “Just remember, nothing’s free!”

Agil smiled with good humor. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he said, as a friend request popped into her menu. He turned to Kirito, who had been standing silently a few steps back from Argo as the two talked. “Thanks to you too, by the way. That was great timing on your save.”

“Hm? Oh, uh, no problem!” Kirito said. “It was mostly just luck anyway.” 

He spoke quietly, one hand grasping his other arm where it hung at his side. He seemed to be distracted by… Kibaou? Argo glanced at where Kirito’s gaze had been sitting and found Kibaou, now speaking to Lind and Diavel as they argued about something again.

Agil shrugged. “Hey, good luck is a character quality in my book.”

Kirito nodded, and the corners of his mouth tugged into a smile. He stepped a little closer to Argo and Agil—and away from Kibaou, she noted—pulling in on himself a bit. “I… should get going soon,” he said softly.

Argo nodded. “Yeah, no point sticking around and listening to those two go at it for another twenty minutes. Anything good for the Last Attack bonus?”

He shrugged. “Same as the Beta. Unique leather armor.”

“Could’ve at least given us something cooler,” she grumbled. “Ah well. Let’s get outta here, yeah?”

Kirito nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

“We’re heading out Agil, but you know where to find me if you need anything!” she said, giving the big man a wave. 

He returned it, turning to Diavel to say something. Satisfied, Argo set her eyes ahead. With Kirito in step behind her, she crossed the bridge, eager to see what lay beyond.

Chapter Text

November 28th, 2022, 2:37 PM
Floor 1

I heard the battle before I saw it.

Boots scuffled on stone and the sound of weapons clashing echoed through the halls of the Labyrinth, bouncing around me. Considering how deathly quiet the Labyrinth usually was, it felt deafening when I wasn’t the one fighting. I tightened my grip on my sword and quickened my steps, running down stone halls lit by flickering torchlight.

I turned the corner and stopped in my tracks, transfixed. A shooting star flashed out before me, brilliant and vibrant and then gone in less than an instant. A cloaked figure wielding a rapier had performed a lunge—no, a Linear.

It was one of the most basic rapier sword skills in the game, a single plain thrust. The fencer’s movements were unrefined, and the attack was used against a kobold with barely a fraction of health remaining, way overkill. 

That single strike was a shooting star in my vision, though, the pale blue glow flashing past with an impossible speed that my eyes couldn’t even begin to track.

I’d seen a shooting star once before, though growing up in Kawagoe didn’t exactly lend the night sky to clarity. I could say confidently that hadn’t felt anything like this, though, a single rapier thrust that I could only describe as beautiful despite its flaws.

The kobold and the sword in the fencer’s hand both shattered into glass, and the spell was broken, the moment lost. The fencer swayed in place and lowered their hands. I could see their health bar was dangerously low, so I approached cautiously, trying to make my footsteps as obvious as possible. 

“You alright?” I asked, my voice echoing oddly off the stone walls surrounding.

The fencer glanced up abruptly, the hood of their deep red cloak obscuring their face. “I-I’m fine,” came an unsteady feminine voice, scratchy and exhausted. They struggled to stay upright, one hand on their head as they swayed in place.

I eyed them dubiously. “If you say so. No surprise you’re tired, though. That was way overkill.”

They paused, and although I couldn’t see their eyes I could hear them narrow as they stared at me. “What was?” they asked.

“Um,” I said intelligently. “Your attack. The kobold had barely any health left, right? Using a sword skill to finish it off when a regular attack would do is overkill, that’s all.”

“Why does it matter?” they asked, their voice cold.

I had to pause to think about that one for a second, given how obvious it was to me. “Sword skills take more out of you,” I said, trying not to sound like I was talking down to them. “It’s more tiring to use, and drains more durability on your sword. That’s probably why yours broke,” I added.

They nodded. “I suppose. But why does that make a difference?” they asked, their voice still oddly flat.

That one really made me stop for a second. “Because… getting exhausted and breaking your weapons are bad things?” I said, shrugging. “I dunno, you gotta plan around getting home, too.”

“Oh,” they said, their voice dull but tinged with understanding. “Then it doesn’t matter for me. I’m not leaving.”

“…Huh?”

“I’m not leaving,” they repeated. “I have spare swords in my inventory, too.”

“Wait, what about sleep?” I said, alarmed. I’d been known to lose myself grinding in video games before, but that had been before dying could literally kill me. “Or food?”

“I won’t sleep or eat,” they said, their words unnervingly devoid of emotion. Their voice was cold, wavering as they swayed further in place.

“What about healing items?” I said. “And wait, how long have you been in here to begin with?” I felt bad asking so many questions and I wasn’t normally so talkative, but something about the fencer worried me.

“I’ve been in here four days, now.” They seemed to briefly lose their footing even while standing still on flat ground. They righted themselves, but I noticed there was a small tremor in their hands. “And when I run out of healing items, I suppose I’ll die. We’re all going to die here, after all,” they mumbled, voice frigid and emotionless. Their words hit me like an avalanche.

“That’s not—I don’t—“ I stammered, trying to put two thoughts together, processing what they’d said as an icy chill crept down my spine.

“I’ll be taking my leave now,” they said, turning to go. 

They moved to put one foot in front of the other, but their legs seemed to finally lose the strength they’d been fighting to hold onto this whole time, and they swayed one last time before collapsing to the floor. I cried out in alarm, my heart in my throat, but then relaxed as I checked their status. They were just asleep. They’d probably passed out from sheer exhaustion.

“Great, what do I do now?” I asked, hoping someone would appear and tell me.

No one did, of course.

I was swiping through my menu when the fencer awoke. My back was leaned against a tree just outside the Labyrinth entrance, an enormous door set into the towering pillar of grey stone bricks. The afternoon sunlight streaming through the trees seemed to flicker as the leaves drifted back and forth, warming my face as I rested my chin on a knee tucked up to my chest.

I’d eventually decided to take them outside. Leaving them alone and unconscious was essentially a death sentence, and I couldn’t abide that no matter what they’d said. Especially not after Coper.

I pushed those thoughts aside as I finished sorting through my inventory, organizing the drops and loot I’d gotten from this venture. The fencer stirred as I did, groaning quietly before slowly sitting up, a few locks of long chestnut hair slipping out from beneath their hood to catch the light.

“Where…?” they said, looking around confusedly. They quickly recognize their surroundings and their gaze landed on me. “You.”

I nodded a little awkwardly. “Hey.”

They processed my presence for a moment before sighing. “Why?” they asked, voice low.

“Why what?” I said, brow furrowing.

“You took me out of the Labyrinth, yes? Why?” they asked again, their voice short and clipped.

“Map data.” It wasn’t a lie, but it tasted just as bitter in my mouth as I spoke it. Lying that wasn’t lying, using something true as a shield. “You’ve been exploring for four days, right? If you died, all the map data you’ve collected would get lost. We still haven’t even found the boss room, so it’s important.”

They seemed caught off guard by my answer and sat silent for a moment. “I… suppose so,” they said eventually, swiping at their menu. Materializing a scroll, they threw it to me. I caught it with one hand and frowned.

“I’ll pay you for it,” I said, starting to swipe at my menu, but the fencer shook their head before I could do any more.

“Don’t bother, save your money for something more important,” they said. They stood slowly, steadier on their feet than earlier. Turning away, they began to walk back towards the Labyrinth’s entrance. As I saw them leave, a flash of worry passed through me.

“There’s a meeting later,” I called out, more on impulse than anything else. My voice wavered a little anyway. “Some folks are getting together to challenge the boss once we find it. You’ve got some real skill with that rapier. If you’re willing, joining up could help us actually beat it.”

The fencer paused for a moment. “And after that, then what?” they said, muted. “There are ninety-nine floors after that, there’s no way we’ll get through all of them.”

“Why wouldn’t we be able to beat it?” I asked, a little nonplussed. “I mean, it’ll take a while, sure, but…”

“There’s a death count over two thousand before Floor 2 and you think we’ll make it to one hundred?” they said, disbelief thick in their voice. “Are you an idiot?”

“Because we can just play lame,” my mouth said before my brain could catch up. Seeing their blank stare, I hurried to clarify. “I mean, every boss has a certain level, right? They’re potentially deadly if you’re fighting them at the intended level, yeah, but if you keep a buffer of five or even ten between you and the boss, they’re suddenly way less dangerous. And that takes time, but better for it to take five years for us to get out of here than not get out at all, you know?”

The fencer paused. “So what, all the dead up until now were just reckless idiots?” they snapped, voice taut.

“No, no!” I hurriedly stammered. “It’s just… the early game is the riskiest. There’s not much time for you to be able to grind your level high enough to have a safety buffer, and because health values and skill levels are so low and we have so few tools available, if you screw up, it can be really dangerous. Enemies will get even worse as time goes on, but we’ll get better at handling them and have more tools to deal with them. That’s why it took us so long to get this far, too.

“It’s like… a lot of people panicked when the announcement got made, and a lot of them rushed off. And a lot of them haven’t realized just how important partying up is yet, I don’t think. Solo players make up most of the dead so far, and a lot of the rest is parties of two or three. Running with a full six crew makes it way safer. I mean, at the end of the day, it’s a video game, right? It’s designed to be beaten, even if it’s gotten a lot more deadly. Which means there’s a way for us to be boring and play it safer. It won’t be perfectly safe, not really, but it’s a lot better than nothing.”

I snapped my mouth shut and went red as I abruptly realized how much I’d been talking. I was pretty sure I’d said more words there than I had in the last two weeks combined. “So uh, maybe come check out the meeting?” I finished weakly, trying not to sound too mortified at my own outburst. “It’s this afternoon in the Tolbana amphitheater.”

The fencer stared at me for a long moment, something inscrutable behind their hood. For a moment I was terrified that they were going to turn around and head back into the Labyrinth anyway. 

Then they sighed. “Fine. I’ll go to this meeting.” Their voice was grudging—haughty, even—but they agreed. With that, they turned on their heel and began to head toward town.

I exhaled, trying not to be too visibly relieved. Trailing behind them, I began to trek back to Tolbana.

Tolbana was the closest settlement to the Labyrinth on the 1st Floor. It was dominated by a number of large windmills around town, surrounded by pastoral green fields and filled with quaint wooden houses. It was a small town, but it also thankfully had most of the facilities we’d need for the future—a blacksmith, leatherworker, two inns, several other merchants and restaurants, and so on. 

As we entered into the town, a faint ripple-like transparent wall was visible in front of us once we were right in front of it, the border indicating the Safe Zone. As we passed through, sending ripples that faded and vanished along with the haze behind us, a purple notification appeared in my vision informing me I’d entered a Safe Zone and I felt a weight leave my shoulders. 

Another day over, still alive. The fencer in front of me didn’t seem to share my relief, but I couldn’t help the sigh escaping my lips.

They turned back to look at me for just a moment, pausing as we entered Tolbana proper. “I’ll see you at the strategy meeting.” With that, they turned and walked away, leaving me standing alone.

Once they were out of earshot, I exhaled. “Well, that could have gone better.”

“What could have?”

I jumped out of my skin at the unexpected voice next to me, whirling to find Argo standing beside me and grinning. As I crawled back into my skin, she looked at me. “Seriously, Kii-bou, what’s up?”

“I just… ran into someone in the Labyrinth, that’s all,” I said. “I don’t really know how to handle them.”

Argo raised an eyebrow. “Oh?” A grin formed on her face. “Someone got ya tongue-tied?”

I didn’t smile. “Just… worried. Forget it, it’s probably fine. You headed to this strategy meeting?” I was getting tired of talking.

She eyed me for a second, but let it drop. “Yeah, gonna head over soon,” she said. “Not looking forward to it, I gotta say.”

“Seriously,” I said with more emphasis than I intended. “Hopefully this one won’t turn into a shouting match.”

Argo looked at me witheringly. “Now it definitely will,” she grumbled. “C’mon, let’s walk over.”

I could see that a decent crowd had gathered as we approached the amphitheater. I’d been worried it’d be another Field Boss situation where we got only a handful of people, but I could see around twenty people sitting around the grey stone seating in a half circle rising in front of the half circle stage. From the look of it, we were among the last to arrive.

As Argo and I filed in the back and headed to a spot near the edge, I noticed that the hooded fencer from earlier was sitting some distance from us. I debated saying something, but they probably didn’t want to hear anything from me at this point, so I just shut up and sat down.

A few minutes passed as I fidgeted nervously, clenching and unclenching my left hand in the same repetitive motion. It didn’t help much, but it gave me something to do as I tried to ignore how many people were sitting around me.

It wasn’t even that big a crowd, and they weren’t looking at me. I needed to get a grip.

Someone stepped up onto the stage before long. Blue hair shining in the afternoon light, Diavel stood before everyone and cleared his throat. “Excuse me,” he called, his voice clear and carrying. “Could I have your attention, please?”

The amphitheater quieted down and heads turned to face him. “Thank you all for coming!” he said, placing his hands on his hips with a smile. “My name is Diavel. A humble knight at your service.” He winked as he said it, an amused smile on his lips,.

A ripple of laughter ran through the crowd. “There’s no classes in SAO, dumbass!” someone shouted mockingly, but Diavel just chuckled.

“Jokes aside, this meeting is a critically important one,” he said. His face grew serious. “We’re twenty-one days into Sword Art Online and we haven’t even cleared the 1st Floor. Many people have died already, and countless more are lingering in the Town of Beginnings, terrified of the outside and convinced that no progress can be made.”

His gaze swept over the audience, his blue eyes firm and determined. “That’s where we come in and show them otherwise. We need to show the people that the bosses can be defeated, that we do have a chance! We need to be a rallying cry, a beacon of hope for those in our wake! We’re the forefront of this game, the powerful spearhead leading the way. We’ve gathered here for one purpose, trained ourselves for this moment. I know that we’re ready for this, and with your help, I believe that we will accomplish our goal!”

“So I ask you now, my friends, are you ready to kill a boss?” he cried, his voice rising up and echoing around the amphitheater. An answering cheer erupted from the crowd, battle cries and shouts of determination filling the air. I felt distinctly less enthusiastic.

“Now then,” he said. “Let’s get down to business! First up, I’d like to—“

“Hold up!” came a loud, nasally voice, cutting Diavel off. Kibaou bounded up onto the stage, face set into a scowl. ”I got something to say.”

Diavel paused, his eyes locked on Kibaou, before gesturing. “By all means.”

Kibaou shoved a thumb to his chest. “Alright, listen up! My name’s Kibaou, and I’ve got something important to say to you all,” he said, his scowl deepening. “Some of you here owe us all an apology!”

His words sent a murmur running through the crowd. Diavel frowned, and a cold stone sank in my gut, my fingertips tingling with anxiety.

I had a bad feeling about this.

Kibaou glared at the crowd. “I think you all know who I’m talking about.” I felt ice drip into my veins, and I inwardly begged him not to say it, not to do what he was about to do. My silent prayers and pleas went unheard, though, and Kibaou continued unabated. “I’m talking to you, Beta Testers!” he shouted angrily.

“We’re not even three weeks in, and more than two thousand of us are dead!” he continued, fists clenched. “And the Beta Testers are to blame! They had experience, knowledge, and info we all could have used, and they left us in the dust! Ran off to claim all the best loot, grinding spots, and quests for themselves, and didn’t even spare a thought for the rest of us!”

Mutters spread openly through the crowd now. Argo’s eyes were wide. I couldn’t bring myself to speak. 

“So all you Beta Testers—you’d better put your heads down and apologize! To both us and all the dead!” said Kibaou, words grating as he glared into the audience. 

His eyes locked onto mine, and I felt my heart stop as the ice condensed into a frigid brine in my throat.

A deep baritone voice cut through the noise, thawing the ice and wrestling back the amphitheater’s attention. “Now, hold on just a second,” said Agil, clambering up next to Kibaou. Kibaou leered at the bigger man, but he ignored it. “Look, you’re angry about the Beta Testers hiding info, yeah?” he asked, his voice carrying through the amphitheater.

Kibaou nodded, not speaking. 

Agil reached into his pocket and pulled out a small book. “This is a starter guide,” he said, smacking it with a hand. “You all got one, right? There were players handing them out for free at the entrances of most of the major towns on the floor, including the Town of Beginnings and here in Tolbana.”

A mutter of confirmation ran through the crowd and Agil nodded in satisfaction. “Well, I’ve got news for you,” he said. “This was made by the Beta Testers. They compiled info from the Beta with new stuff they’d figured out, and handed it out for free to anyone who’d listen.” He turned to Kibaou, his face even but his brow furrowed in displeasure. “I’ve got just as much sympathy for the dead as anyone else, but getting angry at the folks around us isn’t going to get anything done. If we’re going to have any shot of beating the floor boss, we need to work together, not play the blame game. Otherwise, we’re all dead no matter what anyone says.”

Kibaou glared at Agil, anger etched into his face. He turned away with a scoff. “Fine. I’ll drop it—for now. The Beta Testers are a pack of snakes, you’ll see,” he said menacingly, dropping off the side of the stage and stalking away.

Complete silence covered the amphitheater, and I felt the panic that had risen into my throat drain away. Agil turned to Diavel and shrugged before exiting the stage himself, returning to his seat.

Diavel cleared his throat again, raising a hand. “Alright, that… excitement aside,” he said, hesitating only for a moment, “I agree with Agil. Teamwork is paramount if we want to win. On that note, I’d like us to divide up into parties. Remember, four parties of six is the max for a boss raid. I’ll trust you all to arrange yourselves, so get to it!”

I did a quick headcount as the crowd began to sort itself into groups. Twenty-one people, three short of a full raid crew. Glancing around, it quickly became very obvious where the three absences were going to land. Argo and I sat alone together, watching full parties of six form around us. 

I glanced over at her, and was relieved to see she’d relaxed a bit too now that Kibaou had backed off. I made a mental note to thank Agil later when I got the chance.

Argo glanced at me. “Just you and me, huh, Kii-bou?” she said, raising an eyebrow.

I opened my mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a familiar voice. “Excuse me,” said the cloaked fencer, walking up to us. Argo and I both nodded to them.

“Is it alright if I join you?” they asked, looking at me. I glanced at Argo, who nodded.

“Sure, fine with us,” I said. “Glad to have you aboard.”

Argo nodded. “Yep! Do you two know each other, by the way?” she asked, glancing at the fencer as they looked at me.

“Not really,” I said. “We ran into each other in the Labyrinth earlier today.”

The fencer nodded. They turned to me. “I… realized earlier that I never thanked you,” they said politely. “I’m sorry.”

I waved my hands hurriedly. “No, it’s alright! Don’t worry about it, uh…” I trailed off, realizing I had no idea what their name was. “Um, I’m Kirito,” I finished awkwardly, looking down.

Argo covered her mouth but didn’t quite hide her snort. When I looked at her, flushed, she grinned. “Real smooth, Kii-bou.” She turned to the fencer. “I’m Argo!” she said cheerily.

“My name is Asuna,” she said. “I’ll be imposing on the two of you.”

“Alright everyone!” called Diavel across the amphitheater, “It looks like we’ve got our parties! Let’s group back up, and discuss how we’re going to take down this boss!”

Glancing at the two beside me, we all turned to face Diavel and settled in to talk shop.

I slipped away from the amphitheater nearly an hour later, yawning. The sun had fallen partially below the horizon, the evening light dimming as shadows lengthened. Quickening my steps, I turned a corner taking me cutting through a side street in what little Tolbana had for a downtown.

“Agil!”

My call stopped the man in his tracks as he wandered through the street ahead of me. He turned to face me, eyes flashing in recognition as I approached him and came to a stop. “Hey,” he said, giving me a friendly nod. “What’s up?”

I paused, trying to collect my thoughts. “I… wanted to thank you,” I said after a second. “For standing up when Kibaou was talking earlier. That was about to turn bad real fast, and you stopped it before it could.”

Agil rubbed the back of his head and shrugged. “Hey, no problem. I didn’t really think too hard about it or anything, I just didn’t want him trash-talking folks who’re putting everything on the line to get us out.”

“Still, I really wanted to thank you for it,” I said, looking up to meet his eyes. “So… thanks.”

He grinned. “Like I said, no big deal. Tell you what—swing by to spend some Cor once I get my shop up and running and we’ll call it even, yeah?”

I smiled back and stuck out my hand. “Deal.”

Agil’s hand was warm against mine as we shook, and as he stepped back he gave me a wave. “I’ll see you around. Take care of yourself, man.”

“Same to you,” I said with a nod.

I watched him go, turning a corner and disappearing out of sight. I slumped onto the ground once he did, leaning back against the wall of the building behind me. Agil aside, the rest of the strategy meeting had exhausted me, and my body was weighing itself down.

It had gone well, all things considered. We split up into seven parties, each with a different role. Group A was Diavel’s group, co-lead by Lind, along with Kibaou’s B, Agil’s C, and our D groups. A and B were the main damage dealers, C were the tanks, and our job was to deal with the extra mobs. It was a solid arrangement.

Not that it did us much good, considering we hadn’t even found the stupid boss room yet. 

I figured Diavel had to be one heck of an optimist. Granted, I could probably count the number of people who’d been exploring the Labyrinth up until now on both hands, so the added bonus of fifteen-odd more people to scour the place until we finally found the boss would help. Diavel had suggested we move in the same parties as for the boss raid too, to give us practice coordinating with each other. It was a smart idea, I had to admit.

Things were shaping up well overall. There hadn’t been any more shouting, Diavel had coordinated things well, and we’d gone over some boss attack patterns and strategies. But an hour of dealing with crowds, strangers, and everything else had completely wiped me.

I’d avoided talking as much as possible, but stress and strain had built up in my brow, tightening my shoulders and stiffening my jaw. I groaned as I sat there, my eyes shut and my head leaned back against the wall.

For a long time, I just felt the cool wind in my hair, letting myself finally relax. I didn’t look up even as I heard footsteps approach and stop in front of me. 

“Hi, Argo,” I said, rubbing the last of the weariness from my eyes.

“Hey, Kii-bou,” she said, standing next to me. “You good? You disappeared on us.”

“Sorry, had to do something” I said. It was technically true, and I didn’t need to go worrying Argo. I gave her a half smile as I stood. “What’s up? I thought you and Asuna were together.”

“She went to go eat, I think,” said Argo. “I gotta run either way, got info broker work calling.”

“Oh.” I paused, remembering Kibaou’s words from earlier. “Are you okay?” I blurted out, mouth moving ahead of my brain.

She raised an eyebrow. “Yeah? Whaddaya mean?”

I rubbed my brow. “The thing with Kibaou—are you doing okay? That was your info book they were talking about. There’s some stuff in there that really calls into question that you might be a Beta Tester yourself, and with the way things are going…”

Argo raised an eyebrow as I trailed off. “Big words for the guy who gave me half the info in there to begin with,” she said.

“It wasn’t half, just a bit here and there,” I said dismissively.

“Sure, sure,” Argo said blithely. “Point is, you don’t gotta worry about me.”

I made a strangled noise of frustration. “That’s not—I’m not credited by name anywhere. The only name in that whole thing is yours, which means if anyone has a bone to pick, you’re first.”

Argo’s eyes softened. “Maybe,” she said, “Maybe not. I can take care of myself, y’know. Knowing things is my trade, and doin’ this helps make up for…”

This time she was the one trailing off, but I understood without her saying. We all had our own ways of doing it, but…

“I know you can take care of yourself,” I said. “But are you okay?”

Argo didn’t respond for a moment, her expression melting from self-assurance into something sad that ached in my chest to look at. “It’s… fine,” she muttered. “I can deal with it.”

“You don’t have to do it alone, though.”

She smiled weakly, looking up at me. “G-guess not, huh?” She stumbled over the word and paused to take a shuddering breath. “Real weird to hear people gettin’ so angry at—at me, you know?”

“Tell me about it,” I said emphatically.

“I’m—I’m tired,” Argo said. “I’m really tired.” Her voice wavered just a little on the final word. She silently spread her arms toward me.

I blinked and tilted my head in confusion.

“…Can I have a hug?”

“Oh! Yeah, sure,” I said, trying to ignore the way my voice cracked as I spread my arms.

Argo stepped into me, her chin naturally coming to rest on my shoulder from the height difference. My first thought was how warm she was—her small frame felt like a space heater. I felt her melt into me, a small tremor running through her as I hesitantly wrapped my arms around her. Unsure of what to say, I just held her as she buried her face into my neck and ignored the way my heart pounded.

After a long moment I felt Argo take in another shuddering breath and pull back. She flashed me the same weak smile, her eyes a little brighter this time. “Thanks,” she said quietly. “Needed that.”

“Of course,” I said, silently wishing I could do more.

Argo shook herself a little, standing taller. “Alright, I gotta run,” she said. “Business calls and all that.”

“Good luck,” I said. “Talk to you later?”

“Yep,” said Argo, popping the p. “I’ll catch up with the two of you at some point.”

“Two of us?” I said, confused.

She stared at me blankly. “You and Asuna. You are going to go look for her, right?”

“Oh. Um. Yes?” I said weakly.

“Honestly, Kii-bou,” Argo sighed. “Just… go sit with her. We need to be able to work together if we’re gonna beat this boss, remember?” She grumbled something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like ‘stupid solo player nerds’, but I tactfully chose to pretend that I didn’t hear it.

“I see your point,” I said. “I’ll go find her. Good luck with work.”

Argo stuck a hand in the air as she began to walk away. “Catch up with you in a bit!”

I turned, beginning to wander through town and searching for a certain cloaked fencer. Asuna didn’t exactly stand out, especially now that the light was dying and the town was bathed in dim blue. My walking soon took me to the town square, some distance away from the amphitheater.

The fountain placed in the center glowed softly with light that spilled over onto the surrounding grass, and a handful of people were still milling around the place. I spotted Asuna sitting over in a corner of the square, staring at the water with a chunk of bread in hand.

I started to walk towards her, then paused at the sight of her staring at the loaf of bread. 

It was the cheapest food in SAO, a scant single Cor for a loaf of dry, hard, unappetizing black bread. I was well acquainted with it myself, having partly subsisted on it for nearly a week now. Something about the way she sat holding it struck me with an idea. I turned, retracing my steps and making a quick stop at a store I’d passed along the way.

A few minutes later, I was back in the square and walking towards Asuna. The closer I got to her, the more I realized I had no idea what to say. 

I came to a stop in front of her and raised a hand in greeting wordlessly, thoughts running through my head but refusing to form into words. She nodded back silently, and I sat down on the opposite side of the bench, leaving a wide gap between us. 

I couldn’t tell if I left a gap for her sake or mine.

I took a bag out and placed it on the bench between us, silently offering it to her. A hand tentatively reached out, taking the bag and opening it to find a meal set from one of the town’s restaurants—a baked potato loaded with cheese, sour cream, bacon, and chives, a seared fish skewer, and a bowl of chili. It wasn’t exactly a lord’s meal, but it was one of the nicest ones available in Tolbana, and it was a world better than cold bread even if it had a price to match.

Asuna stared at the food in front of her silently for a moment. “…Why?” she eventually asked, her voice soft. “It’s all just pixels and numbers.”

I took out another bag with a meal set for myself and stared at it for a moment, not looking at her. “…I’m not sure, really,” I said, my mouth moving ahead of my brain again and defaulting to honesty. “It tastes good, and I had the money, so I guess I figured ‘why not’. You can think of it as payment for the map data earlier if you like. And… it’s easier to remember that I’m a person if I have food that actually tastes like something—cold food’s the last thing I want to eat when I’m depressed.”

Asuna continued to gaze at the meal for a long time. I put my hands together, offering a prayer and a mutter of thanks under my breath. Then I dropped my hands and started to eat. Asuna seemed to move on instinct and reaction, mechanically picking up the food and eating along with me.

We sat in silence for a long time, a gap separating us on the bench. The late November chill swirled around us as the sun fully sank below the horizon, streetlights powered by glowing magic crystals flickering to life. A cold wind blew past, the heat of the food in front of me warding it off like a barrier against the world. As I tore into the potato and scooped up chili with it, I realized just how hungry I was.

Most of the meals I’d had since the game started were either that same black bread or fish I’d caught and grilled myself. The fish wasn’t bad, but a chef I was not. Plain trout seasoned with salt and whatever herbs I could get my hands on got very, very boring after a few weeks. 

By contrast, this meal tasted more like food and more amazing than anything else I could think of in the moment, the savory deliciousness melting in my mouth. The food was gone before I knew it, nothing but crumbs left. 

Putting my hands together, I mumbled another soft thanks for the meal and discarded the remains. Asuna was finishing her meal as well, and just like that, the moment was gone. The warmth of the food seemed far away and distant now, only the evening chill remaining.

I stared at the fountain in the center of the square for a long moment, watching the water spill over, fall into the pool, and be sent back into the cycle once more. I had no idea what to say to Asuna. What even could I say? I already felt like I’d said too much or overstepped some kind of boundary, but I didn’t feel good about just leaving her alone with whatever had happened or was happening to her, in her. 

I opened my mouth to speak.

“I, uh,” 

“Um, I,”

We both spoke at the same time, cutting off awkwardly. We both looked at the other for a beat, and I couldn’t help the giggle that escaped my mouth. I heard a choked snort from under Asuna’s hood, and we both dissolved into muffled giggles and snorting laughter.

Eventually, I got myself under control and looked back over at Asuna where she was holding her hands up to her face. “You first,” I said, letting a smile slide onto my face. It felt like years since I had last had a genuine laugh like that.

Asuna cleared her throat, shaking away the last of the laughter. “Thank you,” she said. “The food was… delicious.”

“I’m glad,” I said, relieved. Her voice wasn’t exactly better, but it had maybe lost a bit of the dead edge. “Hey, listen—I don’t know where you’re staying for the night, but I’ve been renting this farmhouse outside Tolbana, and it has a few spare rooms and a bath and everything, so…” I trailed off, unsure of how to end the thought.

“It has a bath?” Asuna asked, her voice deadly serious.

“Uh, yes?” I said. “Argo’ll probably stop by at some point, too.”

A menacing glint flashed beneath Asuna’s hood, and when she spoke her words were serious and forceful. “I have not taken a bath since this game started. I would kill someone for hot water and a soft bed.”

“You’re welcome to both if you like,” I offered.

“Really?!” she said, shifting closer on the bench and shrinking the gap seemingly without noticing. I nodded and she let out a noise just short of a cheer, her voice filled with excitement. “Thank you!”

I glanced at the clock, seeing it was past seven. The moon had risen now, and the town square had quieted down as people started to turn in for the evening. Another breeze sent a chill running down the back of my neck, and I turned to Asuna.

“Shall we go?”

The farmhouse was a fifteen minute walk outside Tolbana, and Asuna and I made it in silence. At least this time the silence was more comfortable than the painfully muted air between us when we walked back from the Labyrinth.

Instead of talking, I found my gaze drifting skyward as we walked along a dirt road winding through verdant rolling plains. The stars shone beautifully tonight, the cold sky clearer than I could ever remember it being. There was no light pollution in SAO, I supposed, or at least not enough to make a difference. The stars were in full magnificent view, a sea spilling across the heavens so vibrant and wide I swore it could go on forever. As I stared it almost felt like if I let my feet fall just a little bit lighter that I would drift up and away from the earth itself, drawn up into the cosmos.

I continued to stare at the stars before noticing something—I didn’t recognize any of them. I shook my head. Why would I? Aincrad wasn’t Earth, of course it would have a different set of stars overhead. 

As soon as that thought formed in my head, though, I paused.

I was no astronomer, but the view above me was realistic to the point that I had forgotten for a moment that it wasn’t always there. Which meant someone, or more likely a team of developers, had to have gone through and placed every star, designed every constellation, and painted the night sky with light.

The idea suddenly fascinated me. How far had they gone while designing this view? Did it vary by season and month as the real night sky did? Did it look the same on each floor, or did different floors offer different views of the same sky or even different skies entirely? Had they consulted real astronomers and tried to strive for a view as realistic as possible, or had they focused on the beauty and visuals of the sight regardless of authenticity?

Below all of those thoughts, a single question boiled: why? 

Why go so far to design such a vibrant starry sky if it was all just for the sake of a bloodbath? Why had Kayaba done any of this to begin with? Had the other developers at Argus known this would happen and helped from the beginning, or had Kayaba hijacked his own magnum opus for some inscrutable purpose? 

Most of all, why did I find myself so captivated despite it all?

As questions flew through my mind, I abruptly realized that I’d stopped walking and Asuna was staring at me expectantly from some distance ahead. I jogged to catch up to her, flushing a bit. “S-sorry,” I stammered. “I got lost in thought for a second.”

She eyed me oddly for a moment, but remained silent as we kept walking. I stuck my hands in the pockets of my coat, dragging my thoughts back down from the stars and Kayaba and whatever else. Something nagged at the back of my head like I was forgetting something.

“Oh, that’s right,” I said as I remembered, swiping open my inventory. “I wanted you to have this.” I took out a rapier, gripping it by the scabbard and handing it to Asuna.

She took it slowly, turning it over in her hands. “This is…”

“It was a loot drop I got the other day. I was going to just sell it since I don’t use rapiers, but I figured you’d get more use out of it.”

“I can’t take this for free.” I could hear the frown in her voice.

“Look, we’re going to be fighting the boss together, right?” I said, glancing over at her. “That means that the better equipped you are, the better it’s going to turn out for all of us. Think of it as me looking out for my own safety, if you like.”

Asuna didn’t say anything as we continued to walk along the dirt path. She did eventually she put the rapier away in her inventory, though, and muttered quietly. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Silence fell back over the two of us as we continued walking, but it was broken much quicker this time, and by Asuna. “Can I ask you a question?” she asked. Seeing me nod, she continued. “How are you so sure that we’ll get out of here someday?”

“What do you mean?” I asked, tilting my head.

“You talked about ‘playing lame’ already,” she said, putting air quotes around the words. “But… it seems like quite the stretch.”

I hummed thoughtfully. “Maybe. It depends how you’re looking at it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it’s definitely not a guarantee that we’ll get out of here someday,” I said. “But I think everyone’s kinda framing it wrong to begin with. They talk about being trapped or imprisoned, and while we definitely can’t leave, this isn’t much of a prison.”

“Really? I hadn’t noticed,” Asuna deadpanned.

“I’m being serious!” I sped my steps up and turned to walk backwards, facing Asuna and spreading my arms as I talked. “Look, there’s an entire world here! It seems weird to call something so pretty a prison, y’know?”

“Neither beauty nor ugliness are what make a prison,” Asuna pointed out.

I waved a hand. “Well, sort of? But that’s exactly my point—whether or not this is a prison depends on how you view it. There’s a whole life for us to live here, it doesn’t feel right to just call it all a prison and leave it at that.”

I certainly couldn’t do that myself, not with things like that starry sky overhead.

“So, what, we just imagine we’re not trapped and miserable and everything is fine?” Asuna said, scorn thick in her voice. “That doesn’t change anything!”

“Sure it does.” I tilted my head. “We’re still living in here—some of us maybe even more than we would have out there. I met Argo in SAO, right? That’s how we became friends, and I’ve never spoken to her outside of it. That doesn’t mean that she’s not my friend, though, or that I don’t have fun talking or spending time with her. If anything, it’d be really cold of me to say that the time I spent there was wasted.”

“I… suppose,” Asuna said. “That’s only one thing, though.”

“It goes for everything, though,” I said. “We have a whole routine in here, right? We wake up, we have chores, hobbies or things to do for fun, we have a job of sorts, we eat food, we spend time with friends, and we go to sleep at the end of the day. Heck, the Clearers are even running on a regular work week schedule with a two-day weekend to relax and unwind.”

“But they’re not our lives.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t they? We’re living them.”

She blinked. “What?”

“The only thing that makes your life yours is the fact you’re living it,” I said plainly. “Sure, it’s a big change, but that happens all the time in the real world, too.”

Asuna put a hand against her head in deep thought. “So, because these are still our lives, and we have a whole world… then what?”

I smiled. “Have fun!”

Asuna stopped walking at that.

I stopped as well. “I mean it! There’s food to eat, fish to catch, scenery to watch, art to make, and whatever else you want to do. We’ve got even more freedom to just do whatever we want than we ever would, so make the most of it! Get a hobby, make friends, go on adventures, fall in love, whatever! I’ve seen so many people the past month act like the only things in the world are fighting and sleeping, and that just seems like a sad way to live.”

If Asuna took offense to my comment describing her, she didn’t show it. Instead, she gazed at me for a long moment, and when she spoke her voice was filled with a fragile curiosity. “…Where would you start?”

“Oh, that’s easy.” I raised my finger to the sky. “Look up.”

Asuna raised her head tentatively. In the silence of the empty countryside, I heard her inhale sharply as her gaze landed on the sea of stars above us. I lifted my own head, too, staring once more at the heavens and praying that if there were any gods listening, they gave Asuna a break.

Maybe me, too, while they were at it.

I soon broke the silence between us. “It makes me want to keep going, you know?” I said, still looking up. “Are there more views like this somewhere further up the castle? If they could do something this impressive for the first area, then I can’t even imagine what the final floors must look like. It’s almost like getting to travel the world, in a way. I want to see what’s further ahead.”

“To see what’s further ahead, is it…?” Asuna murmured. “Even though you might die?”

I shrugged, letting my gaze fall back down to her. “That’s true in the real world, too. We have no idea when we might die. If anything, that just makes me more determined to watch out for my friends and to see how far we can go. I want to see what lies at the top of all this.”

“Just like that?”

“Well, maybe it’s not that easy,” I said. “But… yeah. Just like that. It’s your life, you can do whatever you want with it.”

Asuna stood, still staring at the sky. “…How had I never noticed it before?” she said after a moment. “It seems so silly, was I just staring at the ground the whole time?”

I nodded. “To be honest? Probably. It’s easy to get caught in your head and not notice, and I think a lot of people just forget to look up sometimes. I do, at least.” I grinned. “If you want a reason to keep going, here’s one: we’ve gotta go cloud watching some time!”

“Cloud… watching?”

“Yeah! I know it probably sounds boring compared to stargazing, but if you know just a little bit about how clouds form and pick a good day, there’s nothing like it.” I met her eyes. “So try and stick around for that, okay? Pick a reason to stay. Then another, then another.”

“On and on?”

“On and on.”

Asuna inhaled deeply, a tremble beginning her shoulders as a faint sniffle emerged from under her hood. I hadn’t meant to make her cry—

“Are—are you okay?” I asked awkwardly, stepping forward. My face was flushed with delayed embarrassment as I processed that I’d gone on another lecture again. So much for not overstepping any boundaries.

There was a pause. “Yes,” she said after a moment, to my fervent relief. “I am.”

“I’m glad.”

Asuna exhaled. “I haven’t decided if I am yet,” she said. “Now come on, let’s get to this farmhouse of yours. I’m about to keel over from exhaustion again, and I haven’t retracted my statement about killing someone for a bath.”

Chapter Text

November 28th, 2022, 10:23 PM
Floor 1

The fireplace crackled merrily as I sank into an armchair in front of it, the heat and light banishing the chill from my body. I sighed contentedly as I curled my legs up to my chest. Asuna had laid claim to the bath as soon as we got back, so I settled in for the evening and let myself finally relax fully after everything that had happened today.

Then a knock came at the door.

Grumbling more than strictly necessary, I rose from my comfy, warm, blissfully welcoming armchair and walked to the door. I opened it to find Argo outside—she gave me a tired wave and brushed past me, trudging into the room before wordlessly collapsing face-first into the couch.

“Not even going to say hi?” I asked, shutting the door and retreating back to my armchair.

“Mmmmrrgh,” Argo groaned into the cushion.

“I see. Very articulate.”

Argo finally propped herself up on an elbow and shot a glare at me. “Asshole.”

I smiled. “What’s up?”

She sat up fully, grumbling as she did. “I am going to kill every last motherfucker who treats me like an errand boy.” She looked over at me. “C’mon, don’t make that face, I’m just bitching.”

I frowned, covering my mouth with my hand. What face had I been making?

Argo stretched her arms above her head, yawning. “Speaking of errand boys, got another message for ya from the same buyer.”

I groaned. “Again?”

“Yeah. Offer’s up to 30,000 Cor.”

For the past week or so, someone had been repeatedly offering to buy my Anneal Blade through Argo. They’d steadily increased the price, now apparently up to a staggering amount. “That’s ridiculous!” I said aloud. “For that much money they could pay someone to do the quest for them and buy the upgrade materials, too!”

Argo stuck her hands up. “Hey, don’t shoot the messenger.”

I sighed. “Sorry, sorry. The answer’s still no.”

“Gotcha. That all?”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “What’s the current rate for anonymity?”

“1000 Cor. Gonna up it?”

Argo sold every piece of info she got her hands on, with only a few exceptions. Amongst a handful of other things, she didn’t deal in folks’ IRL info, didn’t give out who was a Beta Tester, and didn’t talk when someone paid her to keep them anonymous unless someone else paid her more. Even then, she had a system for it. 

Whoever was trying to buy my sword had paid her 1000 Cor to keep their identity a secret from me and anyone else who cared to ask. If I offered her 1,100 Cor, she’d run back to the buyer, and ask them to either pony up more money or she’d reveal their name. Back and forth it went until one of us gave up.

It was a clever system, I had to admit. People really invested in protecting their identity had a way of doing so, but not forever and not without a price, and Argo made a pretty penny off any betting wars around hidden identities.

I scrunched up my nose, considering if I wanted to raise. Eventually, though, I shook my head. “Nah, I’ll leave it. Maybe they’ll take the hint and just give up.”

Argo raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. It was worse that way, I decided.

I curled my legs up to my chest again, letting my head drop back onto the chair back and a yawn escape. I was sorely tempted to grab a blanket from one of the other chairs and just fall asleep here.

“Did you do your homework, Kii-bou?” Argo asked.

“Argo, we don’t have homework,” I said bemusedly, not moving to look at her. My eyes had slipped closed at some point, and I was loathe to open them and tear myself away from the comforting embrace of sleepiness.

“I meant if you had talked with Asuna, dumbass,” she said, and I tried not to imagine the eye roll she was undoubtedly doing. It didn’t work.

“I did! She’s in the other room, taking a bath,” I said, maybe a little defensively.

“Hmm,” Argo hummed appraisingly. “So, what’s going on there?”

I frowned, finally raising my head to look at her. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you met her before, right? And there’s clearly something up, I’m just trying to stay in the loop.” She paused, a flash of worry crossing her face. “I’m not trying to snoop or anything! I just know we’re going to be working together, and it’s the first boss battle, and you seemed worried…” she trailed off nervously.

“Argo, relax,” I said, as reassuringly as I could. “I know you’re not trying to creep on her.”

Argo’s dedication to info brokering was as impressive as it was occasionally exasperating, but she had pretty strict standards for herself. She would sell nearly any scrap of info she got her hands on, but she wasn’t the kind of person to fake getting close to someone just for the scoop.

“Thanks,” she mumbled, looking down. I sorely wanted to say something more, I could tell something was eating at her. Unsure of what, though, I moved on.

“Asuna is… struggling,” I finally settled on after some deliberation. “I don’t want to say too much, but she’s basically given up hope that we’re ever going to get out of here. When I found her in the Labyrinth… she was looking for a place to die.”

Argo didn’t speak for some time, staring at the wooden floorboards. The crackling of the fire was the only sound audible. I stared into the flickering flames, recalling the way Asuna had spoken when we’d first met. The flat and dead tone of her voice, the sheer weight that seemed to press on her.

“…That bad, huh?” Argo said eventually, her voice barely above a whisper.

I nodded. “I hope she’ll be okay, but… keep an eye on her for me? Make sure she doesn’t do anything too risky?”

Argo chuckled gently. “What, don't trust yourself to do it? Yeah, I’ll keep an eye on her.”

I laughed too, more to stave off the grim atmosphere than out of any real humor. We sat as the silence stretched on, neither of us moving to break it.

Eventually, though, I glanced at Argo. “Do you think we actually have a shot at killing this boss?”

Argo didn’t respond for so long I thought she didn’t hear me. Before I could repeat myself, she spoke. “I don’t know, Kii-bou. I just don’t know.”

“Diavel’s a good leader,” I said, though the praise sounded half-hearted even to me.

“It’s not him I’m worried about,” Argo said derisively. “Nah, I’m not even really worried that we won’t beat it. I’m just worried about how many of us will die for it to happen.”

I tried not to shiver. “If too many people die here…”

“Then we’re screwed,” said Argo. “It’ll just convince people even more there’s no chance of getting out of here, and we’re already strapped for manpower.”

“We’re going to have to play it real safe. At least we know what we’re getting ourselves into, right?”

Argo nodded back. “That talwar is going to be dangerous. Any tips now that you’ve tangled with the General, too?”

I thought for a second. “The skills with knockback are some of the most dangerous. If it’s quick, it can combo off them, and damage can pile up real fast. If you’re running a more fragile build, it can be enough to kill you with that alone.”

“Don’t get knocked up, got it.”

“That’s—that’s not what I said at all!”

Argo winked at me. “Oh, was it an offer?”

“What are you two giggling about?” came a third voice, accompanied by the click of a door closing. Argo and I both glanced over to find Asuna standing by the door, toweling her hair dry. “And Kirito, why do you look like your face is on fire?”

“Nothing!” I yelped, before Argo could say anything. I glared at her, my face burning. “We—we were just talking about the boss, that’s all,” I said lamely, angling my face away.

Asuna furrowed her brow. “If you say so.”

Argo turned to say something, but as our eyes met, we had the same realization and did a double take at the same time. Asuna wasn’t wearing her hood. We both swiveled our heads back to look at her in unison.

She looked about the same age as the two of us now that I got a better look at her—fourteen or fifteen. Her chestnut colored hair was still wet and tumbled all the way down to the small of her back. The absence of her hood revealed refined features and light skin, and her sharp amber eyes reflected the firelight as if glowing internally. As Argo and I looked at her, I was struck by a realization about my temporary companion.

Argo and I looked back at each other.

“Dangerous.”

I nodded. “Very dangerous.”

Asuna looked at us, confusion plastered on her face. “What is going on with you two?” she said, a little exasperated. “What do you mean, dangerous? What are you even talking about?”

Argo turned to her again, smiling brilliantly. “Don’t worry about it, A-chan!”

“A-chan…?” Asuna said, now positively mystified.

I sighed. “It’s just a nickname, if you don’t like it she’ll listen if you tell her to stop.” I tactfully didn’t say aloud that I thought it was cute.

“A-chan…” Asuna said again, sounding it out. “No, it’s fine. I’ve never had a nickname before.”

“Y’know, Kii-bou said the same thing the first time I called him that!” Argo said, grinning at me slyly.

I groaned, feeling a trace of heat on my cheeks as I looked away.

Asuna’s gaze flicked back and forth between us for a moment before she sighed. “If you two are quite finished, I was going to say that the bath is open if one of you two wants to use it,” she said mildly, though I could see her mouth curling up into a small smile.

I could’ve sworn I saw Argo’s whiskers perk up. “Dibs!” she said, hopping up from the couch. “Thanks, A-chan. Have fun, you two!” she called as she crossed the room and slipped through the door.

Asuna settled into one of the other chairs, sighing contentedly. “Thank you again,” she said, glancing over at me. “I appreciate all this.”

I waved a hand. “No problem. Feeling better?”

She nodded emphatically. “Much.”

“I’m glad.” I yawned again, covering my mouth. “That reminds me, you and Argo can have your pick of the bedrooms. I’m guessing she doesn’t care which, so you can just pick one, but there’s only two so I’ll just crash on the couch,” I said, standing and walking over to a closet, pulling out a blanket and pillow.

Asuna furrowed her brow. “Are you alright with that?”

I waved a hand. “Don’t worry about it. That said, I’m exhausted, so I’m gonna head to bed.”

Asuna stood. “Very well.” She moved to leave, but paused by the door, hesitating. “…Thank you again for everything,” she said, glancing over her shoulder at me. “I wasn’t exactly polite to you before, but you’ve been very kind.”

“No, no, it’s okay! I’m just glad I could help at all,” I said, scratching my head.

Asuna nodded, and shot me a small smile. “Still, thank you. Good night, Kirito.”

I gave her a shy smile back. “Good night, Asuna.”

I barely dodged the axe as it whipped past my face, edge glinting in the dim light. The Ruin Kobold Trooper I was facing growled as it missed and shifted its stance to swing again, but it never got the chance. My sword flashed out in a Horizontal, catching the kobold just under the armpit and slicing through it. I threw my weight behind the slash with a grunt, bringing it all the way through and shattering my opponent.

I whirled to deal with the other kobold before the death animation had even finished. Then I remembered that I wasn’t fighting them alone. 

Asuna and Argo were locked in combat with the other remaining trooper, forcing it down to the last of its health. It was our third day of exploring the Labyrinth together and progress had been slow. Asuna and I were generally content to throw ourselves into mapping without hesitation, but Argo forced us to pace ourselves and take regular breaks. Granted, during the Beta Test it had taken us almost a full ten days of exploring the Labyrinth to find the boss room.

The learning curve was harsh. At least if you died in the beta, you could respawn and pass your remaining map data along to your friends. If you died now, any information about the Labyrinth you had died with you.

Seeing Asuna and Argo had the situation handled, I moved down the hallway we were in a little to glance around the corner it made just past us. I learnt my lesson about keeping an eye out for extra kobolds when I’d been exploring alone and accidentally aggroed ten of them when a group of an extra five had wandered in on a fight.

Thankfully, the hallway past us was empty. Satisfied we weren’t going to get ambushed, I turned to head back towards the others. As they continued to fight it, I leaned against the side of one of the pillars that were spaced throughout the generously sized hall, resting my eyes for a moment. We were high enough level that the Troopers weren’t as much of a threat anymore, but they weren’t harmless. Fighting could be exhausting, and my eyes were sore from straining them to catch every movement.

“Switch!”

Asuna’s cry echoed around the halls of the Labyrinth, drawing my attention back to the fight in front of me. She leapt backwards away from the kobold trooper that faced her, and it froze in confusion. Argo leapt in from behind, tearing through its back with her clawed gauntlets and finishing it off.

The two lowered their weapons and sighed in relief. “Nice job, A-chan!” said Argo, stretching. “How’re you holding up?”

“I’m fine,” she said, sheathing her rapier. “Nice timing on that switch.”

Argo grinned, then paused. “Hey, where’s Kii-bou?”

“Right here,” I called from my spot by the pillar. Asuna jumped a little as I spoke, and both of them turned to look at me.

“When did you even get over there?” Argo asked, tilting her head. “Weren’t you fighting another kobold?”

I shrugged. “I finished it off already, checked the corner to make sure we weren’t attracting any adds.”

Argo eyed me for a second, but relented. “Well, whatever. You ready to keep moving?”

“Yeah.”

“A-chan, you good to go?” Argo asked, glancing at the fencer. She nodded and Argo grinned. “Well, let’s go!”

The three of us began to head down the hallway, falling into step with each other. “By the way, Argo,” said Asuna, glancing at the shorter girl between us, “I had a question for you about ability scores, if that’s alright.”

Argo nodded. “What’s up?”

“You mentioned earlier it was a bad idea to raise both Agility and Wisdom, but why is that? Don’t they cover different things?”

Argo waved a hand noncommittally. “Sorta? It’s only a problem when you’re trying to make a hardcore DPS build. Agility affects damage with certain weapons and your throwing accuracy, but it mainly covers your evasion and movement speed. Wisdom covers some other stuff, but the only combat thing it really affects is parrying, right? If you try and focus both at the same time, you’ll fall behind in damage, and you’ll have overlap between evasion and parry. If you’re aiming to be slippery as all hell that’s fine and dandy, but it’s not really ideal for pure DPS.”

Asuna nodded. “I see. But wouldn’t that mean that you’d end up focusing purely on Agility? Since Strength doesn’t affect rapier damage, Vitality is just for health, and Luck is… well, Luck.”

“Sure, some folks do! It’s pretty risky though, since it only takes a few hits to take you down, so you gotta be fast.”

I suppressed a yawn as we walked, slowly tuning out their discussion. I wasn’t the biggest fan of talking, and was content to let the other two fill the silence. Granted, I’d normally be all over build optimization discussions, but I was exhausted. We didn’t even have any coffee to make up for it, either. I cursed whichever developer decided to put alcohol in SAO but not coffee.

“…Most folks end up putting Agility as their main and then picking either Wisdom or Vitality as a secondary, depending on their style. All-Agility builds are rare because they’re total glass cannons, but they can work if you’re good.”

I wondered silently where the term glass cannon had even come from. Didn’t a glass cannon sound more like it was going to tear itself apart than be fragile to enemy attack? Maybe it was from tabletop miniatures, and someone made a cannon model from glass and then joked about it. Had anyone ever made a real glass cannon, a full size siege weapon? Would it even work once, or would it shatter before you could ever fire it?

I dragged myself out of my nonsensical train of thought as we rounded a corner. We were in a dungeon, I had to stay alert.

“That makes sense. Thank you,” Asuna was saying. “…I don’t owe you money for that, do I?” she asked, eyes narrowed.

Argo fluttered her eyelashes at the taller girl. “Not unless you want to,” she said slyly. 

Asuna actually smiled at that. “Sorry, maybe some other time.”

Argo sighed dramatically. “How cruel! Quick, Kii-bou, comfort me! I’ve been rejected,” she said, leaning into my side.

“There, there,” I said, patting Argo’s shoulder. “I’m sure your charms will work on some other victim—I mean, customer.”

Argo gasped. “Kii-bou, are you accusing me of swindling people?”

I rolled my eyes. “You literally just asked Asuna for free money. You’re not a swindler, you’re just shameless.”

Argo grinned, looking up to meet my eyes. “You got that right,” she said, pulling me into a full side hug and dragging us both to a halt. “Got any spare change?”

“Ask again later,” I said, trying not to let my voice crack and hoping the heat I could feel behind my cheeks wasn’t visible on my face. Argo was so, so close. I didn’t try to move away, though. If anything, it was nice. I had forgotten just how warm other people could be.

“Is she always like this?” Asuna asked from beside us.

“Pretty much.” I gently extracted myself from Argo’s embrace. “Come on, we should keep moving.”

“Ugh, you’re no fun,” Argo moped, but straightened up and kept walking anyway.

There wasn’t much in the way of actual excitement in the Labyrinth. Exploring one was a process of suffering through copious boredom occasionally punctuated by stressful bursts of do-or-die combat. 

Right now, it was the former.

Every so often, though, there would be a third experience in these grim halls. As Argo and Asuna continued walking and idly chatting, my feet ground to a halt as I stared at one of the walls we were walking along. Stepping over to it, I reached a hand out as my eyes began to glow green, and Searching dyed the world in a green hue like a night-vision overlay.

A pattern of seven bricks spaced evenly into a heptagon appeared as I ran my hand along the wall. Why seven, and not six or eight? I didn’t have seven hands to press them all at the same time, and it seemed doubtful there’d be a party size requirement to access a hidden room like this, so that meant…

I was vaguely aware of Argo and Asuna’s voices in the distance, but I tuned them out as I examined the wall. If my Searching skill were higher, I might’ve been able to figure out what I was supposed to be doing. I silently cursed my own imbalanced skill leveling—time to start guessing common patterns.

I pushed the bricks in in a clockwise pattern starting from the top, forming a regular heptagon. Each one slid into the wall with a click, but soon reset with no change as I pushed the last one in. I tried counter-clockwise, and then both starting from the bottom, but to no avail.

Great, it was more complicated. How many seven pointed patterns even were there?

On a whim, I tried forming a seven pointed star. No such luck, unfortunately. Then, I paused. 

“There’s two ways to form a heptagram, aren’t there?” I mumbled to myself. “7/3 and… 7/2?” Half-remembering a diagram in a geometry textbook from years ago, I pressed the bricks in a different order, forming a flatter seven pointed star shape.

To my surprise, it worked. The lines I’d been forming in my head as I traced the pattern over the breaks suddenly appeared, glowing gold. The entire section of wall swung open before my eyes, revealing a hidden room.

“Point, me,” I muttered, not above grinning in satisfaction.

“Kirito!” came a voice, directly beside me. I jumped a little, letting out an embarrassed yelp as I did. Argo was once more standing directly beside me, hands on her hips, looking unhappy with me. “Why the hell’d you stop without saying anything?”

I rubbed the back of my head, ashamed. “Sorry, I got distracted by a puzzle.”

Argo sighed, and I noticed that Asuna was just now walking up to us, a little behind her. “Warn us next time you stop, alright? We thought you’d just disappeared,” Argo said.

I could feel my cheeks warming. “Sorry. Not really used to working with other people, I guess,” I said lamely. “Found a secret, at least.”

Argo turned. “Yeah, I noticed. How’d you figure it out?”

I shrugged. “Luck, mostly. I just started guessing common seven-pointed shapes, and there’s only so many of those.”

“A seven-pointed star, huh? Not sure I could’ve remembered how to form one from memory alone.”

“It’s not that hard, really. Most people think of the five-pointed star, right? A seven pointed star is the smallest star polygon after that that has two different forms, 7/2 and 7/3. I just remembered it from a geometry textbook.”

Argo stared at me for a moment. “I think you and I had very different experiences with geometry.”

Asuna coughed into her fist beside us, dragging us out of our little debate. “We should probably continue exploring, yes?” she said just a little pointedly. “Unless we want to stand around here forever.”

“Right, sorry,” Argo said, and we turned to face the door. Entering in carefully, I found a plain square room with a treasure chest sitting in the center. Searching didn’t highlight any traps, so I advanced slowly and crouched in front of the chest.

I flicked the latch open and pushed back the lid, then whistled quietly. A glittering pile of Cor filled the bottom, on top of which sat a ring and a pair of gloves.

“Who wants what?” I glanced at the other two. “Three things, I guess we each take one?”

Argo shrugged. “Works for me. A-chan, you got a preference?”

Asuna frowned. “What does the ring give a bonus to?”

“Agility.”

“I’ll take that then. Argo, is that alright with you?”

Argo nodded. “Been needing a pair of new gloves anyway.”

I grabbed the Cor at the bottom for myself and the three of us stood to leave, stashing and equipping our various spoils. I was silently thankful that division of loot had gone smoothly—I’d gone through enough arguments over loot in MMOs before SAO. It was one of many reasons I preferred playing alone.

Argo and Asuna divided their spoils quickly and without complaint, and we were soon back to wandering the halls of the Labyrinth and searching for the boss room. Conversation died down as the day wore on, and I found my mind wandering.

Just as I was considering completely reworking my skill setup, I was distracted by thudding footsteps. I looked up just as Argo called a warning and found a battleaxe heading straight for my face. I ducked it with a grunt of surprise, drawing my sword and unleashing a Slant at the right arm of the kobold aiming for my head.

It was a shallow hit, and the trooper retreated a step to allow a second kobold behind it to lunge into the open space between us with a vicious overhead swing. I flipped my sword to block with the flat of the blade, supporting the other end with my free hand. As I saw the kobold draw its leg back to break the stalemate with a kick, I slipped out from under the axe, grasping the hilt of my sword in both hands as I whipped it around in a slash along its torso.

The other kobold began to advance, and I backed into a parry stance, sword held high as I deflected three repeated axe blows. I could see Asuna fighting against another kobold out of the corner of my eye, and a thought crossed my mind.

I circled around the two kobolds I was fighting, placing all three kobolds between me and Asuna. Lunging forwards, I slashed again as I dashed past both of mine, calling out to Asuna as I raised my sword above my head. “Switch!”

She glanced up, recognition flashing through her eyes. She sprinted past me as I unleashed the Rage Spike I’d been charging, lunging forwards and piercing my sword through the chest of her opponent. I whirled around as soon as the recovery ended, whipping my sword in a Horizontal and decapitating the other just as Asuna thrust her rapier for the finishing blow on the third.

Argo let out a cheer from beside us, her own opponent long dead. “You two sure work together well,” she said, a grin spread across her face. “That was practically a full-blown combo!”

I scratched my cheek. “It wasn’t anything that special. But good work all the same, Asuna.”

She nodded, a trace of satisfaction on her face. “The same to you.”

“That said,” Argo began, rolling her wrists, “I think we should get outta here for the day. We all got caught a bit off guard by that one, and I don’t wanna have the next kobold catch us napping.”

I glanced at the clock. It was already past six. “Sounds good to me. Dinner?”

“Are you sure it’s wise to leave already? We still haven’t found any trace of the boss room,” Asuna said.

Argo shrugged. “Eh, it’ll get found eventually. Besides, someone might’ve found it already while we were in here.”

“Wouldn’t you have learned already from your information network?” Asuna asked, frowning.

“Messages don’t send if the recipient’s in a dungeon,” Argo explained as she began to lead us back to the entrance. “If someone has, we’ll know as soon as we’re outside.”

Unfortunately, even as we reached the entrance of the Labyrinth and emerged back outside, Argo’s face dimmed. She barely glanced at her menu before she shook her head silently, exhaling slowly.

I didn’t say anything, but Asuna hesitated a beat, awkwardness painted over her face, then put a hand on the smaller girl’s back. I felt my mouth pull up into a smile through the exhaustion. Asuna still clearly had some hangups about nearly everything that was going on, but I honestly admired the way she wholeheartedly threw herself into everything, even if it was outside her comfort zone.

Argo perked up after a moment. “Thanks, A-chan. You two ready for dinner?”

“Definitely,” I said. My stomach growled to emphasize it.

Asuna hid a chuckle behind her hand. “I’m also quite hungry,” she said. “It’s a shame the walk back to Tolbana is so long.”

Argo smirked, and I felt a chill run down my spine. Nothing good ever came of that mischievous twinkle in her eyes. “Not if we race there!” She took off at a dead sprint, the exhaustion in her tiny frame falling away as she ran.

“Wh—Argo!” I sputtered, jogging after her. Seeing that she really wasn’t stopping, I began to speed up into a full-tilt run. Asuna looked baffled behind me, but soon began to chase after us, Argo’s giggling laughter echoing through the forest as we raced.

Despite Argo’s initial burst of energy, all three of us were too tired to race the entire way back to Tolbana. I slowed to a jog and eventually to a walk, eventually coming alongside Argo lying face-down in the middle of the path, limp.

“How do the consequences of your own actions taste?” I said with a smile as I stopped next to her.

There was a pause.

“Like dirt.”

I laughed aloud at that, nudging Argo with a foot and offering her a hand up. She accepted, rolling over and standing unsteadily as she grinned. “Well, glad at least half my plan worked,” she said, straightening.

“You had a plan?” I said, maybe a little more disbelief than was polite leaking into my voice.

Argo rolled her eyes. “I was trying to cheer you two deadbeats up! It worked for you at least.” She glanced to find Asuna walking up to the two of us, her casual demeanor slightly ruined by the fact her cheeks were flushed and she was still a little out of breath. “Here comes the other half, too.”

Asuna stared at Argo. “What do you mean, other half?”

“Don’t worry about it. Ready to keep going?”

Asuna continued to stare at Argo suspiciously. “Is this a marriage thing?”

That stopped both Argo and I in our tracks. “What?” Argo said, dumbfounded.

“Is this a marriage thing?” Asuna repeated. “You know, spouses referring to each other as their other half?”

“Wait, who is married to who in this theoretical scenario?” I asked.

“I don’t know! That’s why I’m asking!”

Hearing a choking noise, I glanced over. To my surprise, Argo was flushed completely scarlet. “Why are we even talking about this?!” she said, her voice half a step down from a wail. “It’s—it’s not a marriage thing! Let’s just go get dinner!”

She dashed off before either Asuna or I could say anything, leaving the two of us behind. We turned to look at each other, both a little mystified. Shrugging helplessly, I followed after Argo, Asuna trailing behind.

By the time we caught up with Argo, we’d arrived back in Tolbana proper and she seemed to have recovered from whatever had overtaken her. Asuna and I gave each other another look, still puzzled as to Argo’s behavior, but I was soon distracted by the mouthwatering smell of food.

The three of us didn’t speak much as we walked to the nearby inn and tavern, buying food and half-collapsing into chairs around a circular table. As soon as it arrived, I put my hands together in prayer for a minute, soon joining the other two in devouring the food ravenously. By the time I’d emerged from my soup-induced haze, Argo was licking her spoon clean and Asuna was setting her utensils down neatly.

“I wish they had coffee in this game,” I said mournfully, eyeing the glass of water I’d been drinking.

Asuna frowned. “It’s true, the only drinks I’ve seen in the game seem to be water or various kinds of alcohol.”

“There’s a couple of vendors who sell apple cider and some other juice-type drinks around the place, plus tea leaves from an herbalist,” Argo said, “but most of it’s booze, yeah.”

Asuna frowned. “Why put so much alcohol in the game when it doesn’t even do anything? The food is mostly for taste at this point, right? Which they’re admittedly surprisingly good at replicating, even if I can’t speak for the accuracy of all of it.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, tucking a knee up to my chest and resting my chin on it.

“I’m vegetarian in the real world,” Asuna explained. “Since it’s mostly for ethical reasons and none of this food is real, I figured it didn’t matter as much. I haven’t had meat in a long time as a result, and I’ve honestly started to forget what it tastes like.”

Argo nodded. “Oh, I gotcha. Yeah, whoever did the taste programming was a real wizard. Though I guess you could say that about the whole game.”

“But honestly though, is there a reason for the alcohol? We can’t even get drunk on it.”

I coughed. “Actually, you can.”

Asuna—and Argo, to my surprise—both turned to look at me, confused.

“No, you can’t, Kii-bou,” Argo said seriously. “Trust me, I’ve tried all the drinks on this floor, none of ‘em can get you wasted.”

I shook my head. “That’s because it’s a hidden option.” Seeing their expressions, I hurried to explain. “There’s a setting buried in the menu called the ‘Ethics Code’. Basically, it’s enabled by default, and you only have access to turning it off if you signed a couple of extra Terms of Service forms when you signed up.”

Argo narrowed her eyes. “I don’t remember those forms. Then again, I don’t really read ‘em.”

I snorted. “Does anyone? If you just clicked through all of them, you probably signed without reading the fine print. There’s some disclaimers and fuzzy language since it’s apparently in a bit of a legal grey area.”

Asuna tilted her head. “How so?”

“There’s an argument to be made that SAO could technically be found to be enabling minors’ access to alcohol. Apparently Argus’ lawyers argued that because it’s not actually alcohol or even a substance at all but a digital effect simulating drunkenness, they’re not doing anything illegal. In the end, they were forced to add a few addendums to the ToS and an option to the menu that defaults to on and is locked away unless you agree to them.”

Argo nodded. “That makes sense. They’d be on pretty thin ice sellin’ booze to minors, but if they argue that it’s just a simulation…”

“They get away with it,” I agreed, nodding. “If a lawsuit happens, the plaintiff would essentially have to prove everything in here should be considered real life for the purposes of the law, and I really don’t think Japanese courts are that forward-thinking. Most judges would probably see the words ‘video game’ and throw the case out then and there.”

Asuna frowned. “What makes you say that?”

“There’s a pretty strong attitude, especially among older generations, that video games ‘aren’t real’, or that anything that happens in them doesn’t really matter. To be honest, that’s probably what will be true in a legal sense for a while until Full-Dive VR gets more strongly regulated.” I shrugged. “Though who knows, that might happen sooner after this whole mess.”

“Not real…” Asuna murmured. “Isn’t it, though?”

I waved a hand. “Sort of? It depends what you mean.”

“Try me.”

“Alright. Is this conversation real?” I asked.

“What? Of course it is.”

I nodded. “Exactly. This conversation is no less real than a phone conversation IRL, right? Arguably more so since we can actually see each other, or at least digital avatars.” I picked up a fork from my meal, pointing it at Asuna’s plate. “But was that food real?”

Asuna’s frown deepened. “Well, not really. It was just lines of code.”

I waved the fork. “But so is my voice, right? My vocal cords aren’t actually moving, the NerveGear’s just picking up the brain signals and recreating what my voice would have sounded like if I were actually saying these words aloud. Technically speaking, the computer’s doing all the talking.”

Asuna stared at her plate. “But… words are just words. They’re not objects, like food or a sword.”

“Well, technically they are objects. They’re sound waves. And while we can’t pick them up or hold them, they have physical properties all the same.” I placed the fork back down. “The taste of the food I experienced is real, because my brain is receiving external information and reacting based on that. It’s not the same thing as food in the real world, but it’s still a similar result. And there are still physical properties and laws in SAO, too. If I drop a piece of food on the ground, its durability will run out and it’ll disappear. If I try and talk to a person through a door it’s going to sound muffled.”

Asuna frowned. “But…”

I smiled a little. “Here, one last example.” I swiped through my inventory and took out a piece of condensed wood resin, a crafting material I’d swiped from a tree monster earlier in the floor. It was a small transparent globe, hardened into a solid orb that reflected and refracted the light in a beautiful orange hue. I passed it to Asuna.

“What’s this?” she asked.

“Just an item drop. You can keep it. That resin is all lines of code, right? It’s been programmed to refract the light a certain way, to appear a certain color and transparency.” I met Asuna’s eyes. “But what do you think when you look at it? First thought.”

“…It’s pretty,” she said softly.

I nodded. “It is. And if you ask me, that’s all that matters. It’s not ‘real’ in the sense that it doesn’t exist outside of this game, but to us, right now? It’s the realest thing we can imagine. If you sell it at a shop you’ll get some Cor for it, and you can use it to upgrade certain kinds of equipment. If you throw it, it’ll break, if you left Sword Art Online and came back it’d still be here. And if you look at it, you think it’s pretty.”

I glanced up at the darkened sky, watching the stars. “Reality is subjective, even in the real world. I can’t explain to you what the color red looks like to me, because I have no words that don’t rely on your own sense of color. And a lot of the time, the real world is a lot more confusing, complicated, and illogical than games like SAO are. It’s kind of an amazing thought to think that someone programmed that resin to catch the light, that someone must have patterned out all the stars above our heads.”

I smiled at Asuna. “So, that resin is real. You can throw it away, use it in crafting, or sell it if you like. But we’ll both remember that I gave it to you. And until you get rid of it, it will be there as a reminder. Reality is what you experience, not an absolute value to be compared against.”

Asuna stared at me for a long moment. “You know,” she said eventually. “You really are quite  eloquent when you give yourself the time to talk.”

I flushed a little at the reminder of how much I’d rambled on. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to talk your ear off. I just… think about this kind of stuff a lot, I guess.”

Asuna shook her head, smiling. “I didn’t say it was bad. Quite the opposite, really.”

“O-oh. Thanks,” I said, scratching my cheek.

“You should let yourself loosen up more, Kii-bou,” said Argo, stretching in her chair. “You’re more interesting than you give yourself credit for, y’know.”

I exhaled slowly. “Thanks. I get nervous if I let myself get stuck in my own head, I think. But I think it’s easier around you two. I… like this. I like spending time with you two.” I glanced between the two of them, painfully aware of the way my voice cracked. “I’m glad we met.”

I wasn’t sure what exactly compelled me to tell them all this, and why it felt easier than it ever had before. Saying what I really felt was something I’d stopped doing a long time ago—it felt like tearing my own guts out for all risk, no reward. This was different, though, even if my face was still burning and I couldn’t look either of my companions in the eye.

Argo stared at me for a moment, then looked over at Asuna. “Dangerous.”

Asuna nodded seriously. “Yes, very.”

“Huh?”

Argo grinned. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got no idea how you say all that stuff with a straight face, Kii-bou, but I’m glad we met, too.”

“I agree,” said Asuna, almost contemplatively. “I’m… not exactly used to having many friends at all, to be honest, but I’m glad to think of you as one. You’ve been very kind to me the past few days.”

“Not to interrupt,” Argo said “but I need to borrow your ear, Kii-bou.”

“Hm? What’s up?” I asked, rotating to face her.

“There’s another offer on your Anneal Blade, same buyer.”

I groaned. “Seriously?!”

She nodded. “Yep. Offer’s up to 34,000 Cor.”

“That is a disgusting amount of money for an Anneal Blade.”

“Don’t look at me, I’m not the one tryin’ to buy it.”

“What’s anonymity at right now?” I asked, rubbing my forehead.

Argo swiped through her menu a few times. “1000 Cor.”

“I’ll pay it.”

Argo quickly typed out a message, before staring for a second. “Alright, they’re not ponying up. You get the buyer’s name.”

“So, who is it?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “Anyone I know?”

“Kibaou.”

That made me pause. “What?”

“Kibaou. Y’know, spiky haired guy? Uses a mace, real loud? Fucked up the Field Boss’s aggro?”

“No, I know who Kibaou is,” I said quickly, “Why the heck is he trying to buy my Anneal Blade?”

Argo shrugged. “No clue.”

“He doesn’t even use one-handed swords! He uses maces!”

Asuna frowned. “Isn’t Kibaou the one who was stirring up trouble about Beta Testers at the meeting?”

Argo nodded. “The very one. I hear Diavel’s got a decent handle on him at least.”

“Why 34,000 Cor? He could get a mace only a little bit worse and upgrade it seven or eight times over with that amount of money!”

“Is it really that unusual?” Asuna asked, glancing at me as I continued to ramble.

“Yes and no?” I said, settling back down. “The idea of someone wanting to buy my Anneal Blade is perfectly reasonable. It’s pretty highly upgraded for this point in the game, and the quest to get it is probably swamped with people by now.”

“So what’s the strange part?”

“Everything else,” I said flatly. “Kibaou was advancing out early enough that he wouldn’t have had much trouble getting his hands on an Anneal Blade in the first place if he wanted. On top of that, he doesn’t even use that weapon type, so it’s strange that he’s angling for it so hard. And the amount he’s offering is way too much. The sword is good, don’t get me wrong, but it might not be worth even half that amount.”

“Do you think he’s up to something?” Asuna asked.

I gestured helplessly. “I’m not sure. I don’t get what he’d accomplish except annoying me.”

“Holy shit,” Argo said, interrupting us. Asuna and I both glanced over at her to find her crouched on her chair, staring at a menu.

“Argo?” I asked carefully, “Everything okay?”

It took her a second to respond. “Yeah,” she said eventually. “Everything’s good.” She looked up at Asuna and me, eyes serious. “They found the boss room.”

I inhaled sharply. “Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

Asuna looked between us. “So, I take it that means we’re fighting the boss soon?”

“Yeah, we’re supposed to meet back at the amphitheater at ten tomorrow morning,” Argo said, typing out a message furiously on the menu floating in front of her. “Diavel is gonna go over tactics one last time, then it’s raid time.”

I glanced between the other two. “How’re you both feeling about it?”

Asuna shrugged, not speaking. Argo waved a hand ambiguously. “I dunno, Kii-bou. It looks good on paper, but I’ve got a bad feeling I can’t shake.”

I sighed. “Me too. Let’s just hope we’re both wrong. It’s do or die tomorrow.”

Chapter Text

December 2nd, 2022, 5:45 AM
Floor 1

I awoke uneasily the next morning. The sun hadn’t risen yet, but years of habit dragged me out of sleep by force. I’d had a dream of some kind, though I couldn’t remember what beyond the taste of my grandfather’s green tea and the sound of shinai clashing.

It was nostalgic in a way, awakening before dawn and preparing myself for the day ahead with the knowledge that a difficult confrontation awaited. Slipping off the couch, I stood in the center of the sitting room and shifted the low table aside quietly to make space. One by one, I began to run through the stretches I’d been doing for as long as I could remember, slowly warming and working my entire body.

I had no idea if stretching accomplished anything in VR. It probably didn’t, but I wasn’t about to find out. I’d done the same set every morning since I was trapped in SAO, just like I had since I was a kid—it was more meditative than physical at this point, a way to gather my thoughts and prepare for the day.

It had been more than a year since I’d done anything that required me to be fully warmed up like this IRL, but old habits died hard.

The sun had risen above the horizon and light shone through the windows when I finished, glaring into my eyes. I replaced the table in the center of the room with a quiet sigh and padded to the bathroom.

I didn’t fully recognize who I saw in the mirror. It was a familiar experience, nothing to do with VR. The me staring back had the same grim eyes that at first appeared pitch black rather than their true midnight purple. The black hair was the same too, falling down to my shoulders in straight and wispy trails.

I splashed cold water onto my face and rubbed the last of the sleepiness out of my eyes. When I looked back in the mirror, it looked too real to be me.

“Enough of that,” I muttered, turning away and dressing myself. I ended up wearing the same thing nearly all the time these days—loose black pants and a black shirt. My black boots, gloves, and coat would come later, when I geared up for battle.

I liked black. So sue me.

I shuffled into the kitchen and started a fire burning in the stove, setting a kettle to boil. Staring as it began to steam, I cast my thoughts back over everything in an attempt to answer one crucial question.

Why was I afraid?

It was maybe a little conceited of me to wonder. I was about to face down the most difficult battle I’d ever faced by far, with my life as well as the lives of all of my companions and potentially the rest of the 10,000 people trapped here on the line. Life or death could easily come down to a roll of the dice in the end.

That wasn’t the source of my fear, though. I was nervous, sure, but grandfather had long ago engraved into me how to wear my fear of battle like armor, and this was nothing like that. I hadn’t felt this way facing down the Nepenthes or the Kobold General or anything else here.

No, something was wrong.

The water began to boil and I took the pot, a cup, and a small bag of tea with me out to the farmhouse’s porch. The air was bitingly cold, but refreshingly still. There wasn’t the slightest breeze, and the early morning air was crisp in my lungs and nose.

Settling into a cross-legged position, I began to prepare the tea. 

Place the kettle down on a mat. Spoon several scoops of matcha powder into the cup and set the bag aside. Pour just a splash of boiling water in. Whisk vigorously.

It wasn’t a proper tea ceremony. A real tea ceremony had far too much variation and depth, and ultimately took far too much time for my grandfather. Instead, he taught me and Suguha a ritual of sorts that he used in his younger days to prepare on the morning before a competition.

Prepare the tea first. The details didn’t matter, but ideally you were to isolate yourself in a quiet space, even better if it was outdoors. Check.

Pour the rest of the water into the cup, filling it to the brim. Then wait for it to cool and focus your mind. I inhaled slowly but deeply, placing my hands on my knees as I did. Cold air filled my lungs, bringing a veneer of clarity with it. 

What was I ready for?

I was ready to fight. I was prepared to put my life on the line, and I was prepared to live through the other side. My equipment was as ready as it could be, my array of healing items was in order. The Anneal Blade was sharp and eager, and my hands were sure of its grip.

What obstacles was I faced with?

Illfang, the Kobold Lord. The Floor Boss of the 1st Floor, along with the Ruin Kobold Sentinels that he summoned as fodder. The mural I’d seen in the Kobold General’s lair stuck with me, eating at the back of my mind. I couldn’t make heads or tails of why, though.

…Was that all?

I continued to breathe evenly, shutting my eyes. The raid crew had to face down Illfang and his minions, and theoretically those were our only enemies. So why was I so uncertain? The thought turned over in my head, but only began to uselessly spiral.

I opened my eyes and reached down for my cup of tea. It had cooled quickly in the December air, and was now drinkable. Sipping it as I stared out over the fields towards Tolbana, I marshaled my thoughts.

What had happened so far that could be bothering me like this? Diavel’s leadership skills were genuine, if a bit too saccharine for my tastes. I had no reason to even think of doubting Argo or Asuna. The route to the boss room was secure, our mission clear. The raid crew was by no means an all-star team, but they were competent, even grudgingly including Lind and Kibaou.

Oh.

“Kibaou,” I breathed, placing my cup down. “But what about him?”

He’d screwed up the Field Boss, for one. It was entirely possible that he’d get over-eager and misjudge one of Illfang’s patterns, and with Kibaou in charge of an entire six-man party, that could get a lot of people killed if things went bad. That didn’t seem like all of it, though. Diavel was still in charge, and while he could only react so quickly, he wasn’t likely to let something so drastic happen as long as he was on top of things.

That just left the business with the Anneal Blade. I furrowed my brow and drained the last of my tea. I’d left it out when I was talking with Asuna, but one detail in particular bothered me the most: getting the Anneal Blade wouldn’t do Kibaou any good at this stage.

Diavel didn’t seem like the type to play favorites, and he wouldn’t have appointed Kibaou as a group leader if he wasn’t ready. Kibaou already had good equipment, that much was a near-guarantee. Even if the Anneal Blade was a little bit better than Kibaou’s mace, it wouldn’t really make that much of a difference—a few stray points in attack here or there wouldn’t do a lot when there were twenty-one people throwing themselves at the boss.

The instant we’d defeated Illfang, Kibaou could just skip up the stairs to the 2nd Floor and get the materials for an even better mace. And while it probably wouldn’t totally outpace the Anneal Blade, it could give it a run for its money if he put in the time to upgrade it.

So why was Kibaou so focused on buying it anyway?

“Maybe it’s the Last Attack bonus,” I said aloud. It was certainly true that the higher Kibaou’s damage—and if he was thinking competitively enough, the lower mine was—the better a shot he had at getting the LA bonus. Was that really enough reason to be willing to spill 34,000 Cor, though?

I wasn’t sure. The last of my tea was gone, though, and my thoughts had come as far as they could. Rising from my cross-legged position slowly, I stretched my arms above my head. I had done all I could.

All that was left was to see it through.

Asuna was up early as well. Stepping back inside from the porch, I ran into her rubbing her eyes and yawning as she walked into the living room.

“Morning,” I called quietly.

She glanced up. “Good morning.”

“You want breakfast?” I asked, heading to the kitchen.

“Are you offering?” she asked, blinking.

I shrugged. “Sure. Food’s important before a battle like this, I was going to make pancakes or something anyway.”

Asuna nodded slowly. “Then… yes, please.”

“Cool. Argo’s a late sleeper, but we should probably get her up before too long. Oversleeping can cause just as many problems as sleeping too little.”

Asuna watched as I put away my cup and grabbed a frying pan and began to sort through the pantry. “You seem quite familiar with all of this,” she said, settling against a wall.

My hand twitched as I reached for the flour. “…I guess,” I said after a moment. “I did kendo for years, so I’m kinda used to competing. Do you want tea?”

“Yes, please. That’s impressive, by the way. You don’t fight like a kendoka, though.”

I laughed awkwardly. “No, I don’t. It never felt right to do that here somehow, I’m not sure if I can explain it very well. The footwork and movement practice has probably helped me out, though.” I subconsciously reached a hand down to rub my right knee.

A brief silence emerged as I assembled the ingredients on the counter, putting my hands together and offering a small prayer before I began. The house didn’t have a kamidana or anything, but this would do for now. Eventually, Asuna broke the silence as I finished my prayer and began to pour ingredients.

“Did you like kendo?”

I sighed as I started to mix the batter together. “I honestly don’t know. It’s—it’s complicated.” That was an understatement, but I wasn’t sure how else to get across everything that I felt about the sport.

Asuna nodded thoughtfully. “I see. Thank you.”

“No problem,” I said as I finished mixing. “You, uh, might want to take it easy on the personal questions, though.”

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t mind answering that kind of thing, but for a lot of folks talking about IRL stuff in SAO is kind of a no-go,” I explained. “Both because it can be painful to remember that we’re trapped here, and also because of the whole ‘don’t tell strangers online your personal details’ thing. Though I guess that’s a little less relevant considering the circumstances.”

“Oh, I see. What does ‘IRL’ mean?”

I dropped some butter in the pan, watching as it melted. “In real life.” I put the kettle back on as well, boiling water for tea.

“Thank you.”

“No problem.” I glanced at her. “…How’re you feeling?”

Asuna shrugged. “Does it matter?”

“It matters to me. We are putting our lives in each others’ hands in a few hours, you know.”

She sighed, glancing away. “I… suppose.”

I started frying the pancakes, the smell making my mouth water. I was mostly going off of instinct, but SAO’s system made it pretty hard to mess up too badly as long as you knew the basics. It did most of the work for you, anyway. Mixing, measuring, and all those sorts of things were just a few gestures. It even placed a timer for cooking, showing how long until it was perfectly done.

I looked up from the pan. “So? How’re you doing?”

“Honestly? I’m tired,” Asuna said bluntly.

“…Right. That makes sense,” I said, flipping a set of pancakes onto a plate and pouring new batter in the pan. “You’ve had one heck of a week.”

“I suppose.”

I shrugged. “You have. Are you going to be ready for this?”

There was a pause. “I don’t know,” she said finally. “I really don’t know.”

I flipped the pancakes, staring at Asuna. I really, really didn’t want to cross a boundary with her, and I had a hard enough time telling when her flat comments were genuine or angry, but I felt like she needed to hear something. “…Can I offer some unsolicited advice?”

Asuna nodded hesitantly. “Go ahead.”

I paused a moment from frying pancakes to look at her directly. “Talk to someone about it. Doesn’t have to be right now, doesn’t have to be with me. Sometimes you can’t tell how you’re feeling until you say it out loud, though, and problems always feel a lot less scary when someone else knows about them and wants to help.”

“…Do you think so?” Asuna asked softly.

“I mean, it’s true for me at least,” I said. “Everyone’s different, but I think it’s pretty universal that if you keep bottling it up, it’s gonna explode eventually. Pressure and sealed chambers and all that.”

“That… does make sense.” Asuna took a deep breath. “I’m starting to feel hopeful, and it’s one of the scariest things I think I’ve ever felt.”

I poured more pancake batter in the pan and watched her quietly.

“Past a certain point, I had completely given up,” she said, voice soft. “You and Argo both came along, though, and showed me there was something more to being here than just waiting for the end of the world. It… scares me that I want to care again. That I want to keep going and see what comes next.”

I exhaled heavily, the stack of pancakes growing larger beside me. “Right. It’s a lot less scary if you don’t care because you won’t be around to see it.” I shivered. “That’s… a hard hole to drag yourself out of.”

Asuna looked at me curiously. “Have you…? Sorry, that’s a bit rude.”

Staring at the pan, I frowned. “There was a several year period where I was… pretty miserable, nearly all the time. A lot of stuff had happened to me, and it was only pretty recently that I finally managed to drag myself out of the worst of it.”

“…That’s admirable,” Asuna said quietly.

“I—I guess. It is what it is, really.” I desperately wanted to stop talking about myself. I didn’t dare look over to see what kind of face Asuna was making.

“Thank you,” Asuna said. “For talking me through this and for listening.”

“Of course!” I said, rubbing the back of my neck and feeling the tension drain from my hands. “I’m just glad I can help and that you’re talking more.”

Asuna let a sly smile drift onto her face. “So it was just a trick to get me to talk to you more, hm?”

“That’s not—“ I stammered as my face turned red, but seeing the look on her face I stopped, glaring at her. We both dissolved into giggles, the sound filling the kitchen.

Collecting herself, Asuna smiled. “I needed that.”

I nodded, a grin on my face. “I’m glad. By the way, do me a favor? Go wake up Argo and tell her I’ve got pancakes ready. That should be enough bribery to get her up and moving.”

Asuna raised an eyebrow. “Is she that difficult to wake up?”

“You’ll see.”

Asuna walked out of the kitchen as I continued to cook, the pile of pancakes on the counter growing larger and steaming gently. I’d gone overboard and made way too many, but better too many than too few. We were going to need the energy soon enough.

I finished frying and started brewing tea. By the time Asuna walked back out several minutes later, I’d divided the pancakes into three piles, still comically large on separate plates. Argo was stumbling along behind the older girl, her hair a complete mess and her eyes still mostly closed.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” I said, laughing a little. She was so cute.

Argo yawned, making a little mewling noise as she stretched her arms above her hand. “Mornnng, Kii,” she mumbled, stumbling towards me.

Argo walked into me head-first, wrapping her arms around my torso and burying her face in my shoulder. She had me in a surprisingly strong hold despite the fact she was half-asleep. I twitched, somewhere between nervous and glad, and wrapped my arms around Argo too, stroking her head with a free hand in an attempt to calm her bedhead.

Argo melted into the hug to the point where if I let go of her, I wasn’t convinced that she wouldn’t just fall to the ground. I couldn’t help the giddy smile on my face, though I really hoped the heat in my cheeks wasn’t visible.

I’d nearly had a heart attack the first time Argo had pulled this on me, and this time around wasn’t much better. I was halfway between throwing myself into the hug fully and running away.

“You knew she does this?” Asuna asked, a little bemused.

“Yeah, she’s done it to me before,” I said. “Why, she ambush you?”

Asuna flushed a little. “She yanked me into bed and wrapped herself around me. I had to pull her off me and mention pancakes to even get her to sit up.”

I laughed. “Sorry, sorry. It’s cute though, isn’t it?”

Asuna looked away. “…It is.”

Patting Argo’s shoulder, I extricated myself from her embrace and exhaled as my heart rate settled. “C’mon, if we keep standing around the pancakes’ll get cold. Wouldn’t want that.”

Argo nodded. “Pancakekekekeke,” she cackled.

“Okay, you,” I said, gesturing for Asuna to grab the pancakes. “Let’s go sit down.”

After another short prayer, I attacked the stack with a hunger and ferocity that surprised even me. Despite the excessive number, the three of us made quick work of the pancakes. By the end of it, I was settling into the sofa comfortably and Asuna was drinking her tea. Argo licked her fingers clean, rolling her head as she shook the last of her sleepiness away.

“Morning, you two. Ready to fight a boss?” she asked, her voice just a trace stiff.

I shrugged. “I’ve done all I can. I think we’ll manage, somehow.” Glancing at Asuna and Argo both, I let my expression fall into something serious. “How’re you both feeling about it?”

Asuna shrugged. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Argo curled up on herself. “I guess. I’m pretty nervous, not gonna lie.”

“I’m scared too,” I said quietly. “It’d be worse not to be, I think. Being scared means that you still have a chance at winning.”

Argo stared at me for a second. I was worried she was mad, but then she scooted closer to me on the couch and rested her head on my shoulder. “Thanks,” she said. “I think that helped.”

I twitched as she made contact with me, but smiled anyway. “No problem. I’ve got your back out there. And yours too, Asuna.”

She smiled a little, hesitant but honest. “Thank you.”

I had done all I could.

All that was left was to see it through.

The boss door was larger than I remembered it.

Our group of twenty-one had trudged through the Labyrinth, taking what was almost certainly not the shortest route but one we knew actually reached the door. A shiver ran down my spine standing in front of the marbled black stone. It was almost unreasonably large, towering over all of us like the gates to a great castle.

Taking a deep breath, I checked over my equipment one final time. My health was full, my Anneal Blade’s durability was at 98%, and an array of healing potions sat within easy reach in my inventory. Just in case, a set of throwing picks was attached to my belt as well.

I closed my eyes and placed my hands together in front of me, offering a small prayer under my breath. Maybe the gods were listening today, maybe they weren’t, but I hoped they found it in their souls to push things in our favor even just a little.

I opened my eyes and glanced at Argo and Asuna standing next to me, their faces drawn and grim but prepared. I opened my mouth to say something, but Diavel stepped up to the doors and cleared his throat before I could.

“Friends, comrades! Your attention!” he called, his clear voice carrying easily. “This is the moment, you all know that already. We’ve been waiting for, anticipating, dreading this exact battle we’re about to head into.”

Taking a deep breath, Diavel looked out over the entire crowd. “I know how hard you’ve all worked to get here, how much you’ve fought to survive. I recognize your efforts, and it’s why we’re all standing here at all. This is just one more hurdle, one more battle. We’ve prepared, we’ve discussed strategy, and we know what we have to do.”

He clenched a fist, his voice rising. “We will prevail today! I know this because of the sword on my hip, because of the allies at my side, and because of the enemy in front of me! Have no fear, and I’ll see you on the other side, my friends.”

Drawing his sword, Diavel held it high above his head. “To battle!”

And to battle we went.

The doors swung open in an agonizingly slow grinding motion, Diavel leading the charge into the boss room. The entire hall was dark, but lights began to flicker up as the front ranks advanced in. Asuna, Argo and I were in the back, trailing behind the tide of footsteps.

Light quickly filled the room, revealing a vast hall lined with pillars. Multicolored patterns that somehow reminded me of a butterfly’s wings stretched along the walls and floor, and at the very far end an enormous stone throne stood. Behind it was another set of doors to the stairs up, identical to the ones at the entrance.

Rising from the throne was an enormous figure, towering at probably at least ten feet tall. Glowing purple eyes, tough red skin, and grey armor greeted us, the figure hulking and terrifying against our suddenly pitifully small statures. It drew an axe off its back and strapped a shield to its left arm, letting out a terrible growl that resonated through the room as it stepped forwards.

Illfang, the Kobold Lord.

Four health bars appeared above its head, and a cohort of smaller, fully armored kobolds wielding maces appeared to flank it—Ruin Kobold Sentinels. Those were our job to deal with.

Illfang roared and charged, the sound threatening to burst my ears as it screamed. Without hesitation, though, Diavel drew his sword and angled it forwards. “Charge!” he cried, and a battle cry rose up from our ranks to meet the enemy, not falling behind in energy or aggression.

Chaos broke loose as soon as we clashed ranks. I led Asuna and Argo off to the side, circling around the flank to attack the group of three Ruin Kobold Sentinels. They were no slouches and had an annoyingly large health pool, but at our level they weren’t a deadly threat like Illfang was. The only issue was that more would appear to replace their fallen comrades until the supply ran dry.

I gripped the Anneal Blade tightly, its pale blue glow illuminating my face as I ran. My Rage Spike smashed into the foremost kobold’s chestplate as I lunged forwards. Asuna followed close behind, jumping in with a lightning-fast Linear as the Wind Fleuret in her hands glowed a pale green.

Argo leapt toward the third remaining kobold, her claws slamming into it. I turned my attention to my own opponent, parrying the mace that smashed down towards my head. Things were going smoothly.

I jumped back and pulled my sword to the left, a pale glow surrounding it. The hum filled my head as I waited for the kobold to charge. The instant it did, I let the energy built up burst forth, lashing out with Horizontal Arc. The first hit slashed sideways through the kobold’s chestplate. I whipped the sword back around, and it blurred blue as it slashed a second time diagonally upwards through the kobold’s neck in a fatal blow.

I was finally starting to get my One-Handed Swords skill high enough level to unlock multi-hit sword skills, and I had missed them. They certainly made quick work of kobolds. I glanced to see that Asuna was handling hers just fine, weaving out of reach of the mace and stabbing whenever there was an opening.

Argo struggled a touch more—her claws were less effective at getting through more thickly armored enemies. I dashed over with a shout. “Switch!”

Her eyes flashing, Argo jumped back as I arrived, unleashing several slashes in a row before firing off another Horizontal Arc. The kobold never had a chance.

“Nice assist, Kii-bou,” Argo called. “Stupid armor.”

I nodded. “Just play it safe. All we need is to buy time.”

As Asuna finished off the third kobold, piercing a Linear through its throat that reduced it to shards, another wave of Ruin Kobold Sentinels appeared behind the boss and charged towards us. I moved to intercept, the others falling in step.

The rest of the raid crew seemed to be doing well for their part. Diavel barked orders clearly and quickly. “Group C, back out and heal!” he called. “Group B, circle back in and buy time for C to heal. Group A, with me!”

The raid crew was quick and efficient under his watch. Although Illfang’s axe was deadly and his health bars were enormous, Diavel’s management rendered him slow and ineffective. It let out an angry roar and swiped its axe wildly, but Agil stepped forward, the haft of his maul acting as a shield. He tanked the blows effortlessly and gestured for his party to follow him.

I turned away from the dizzying series of orders and switches and back to the approaching kobolds. Time to make sure we didn’t screw things up for them. Asuna and I repeated the same assault from earlier, unleashing our thrusts as the kobolds came within reach.

If Beta Test data was accurate, there were nine Ruin Kobold Sentinels that could spawn in total. We’d killed three already, so these would put us at two-thirds through. Grinning at that thought, I parried a series of blows from the kobold.

It overextended and I deflected its mace into the ground, leaving it wide open. A hum ran through me as I raised my sword. Twin Fangs swept through the kobold, first with a downwards stroke then with a swift horizontal slash off the rebound.

As my opponent dissipated as shards, I glanced over, assessing the situation. Things seemed to be going well. Asuna and Argo glanced at each other, and with only a single cry of “Switch!” jumped past each other, finishing off the other’s kobold in a single attack.

“Nice moves!” I called to them, grinning. They both shot me pleased smiles before readying for the next and final wave of Sentinels. I took the chance to glance over at Illfang as they spawned in.

Things were still under control, but tense. Illfang had been pushed onto its third HP bar, and was a vicious whirlwind of axe blows. Diavel was favoring the tanks strongly, which meant that the damage output of the raid crew had dropped noticeably. It made sense to me, though. No reason to play things risky when slow and boring would get it done in the end.

Agil was an iron bastion in that sense. Every time a fellow tank dropped into the yellow, he stepped in to give them time to back off and heal. If someone ever dropped into the red, he would lead his entire squad on a charge to force the Lord’s attention elsewhere. He was quickly proving to be nearly as critical to the raid as Diavel himself.

Shaking my head, I turned away. The last of the kobolds were here.

As I clashed weapons with the next and last kobold, I glanced at Asuna and Argo. Neither of them had healed yet, mostly because they hadn’t needed to. My Battle Healing was keeping me topped off nicely, but neither of them seemed to have it as highly leveled. Argo’s health was dropping into the yellow, though as her kobold unleashed a flurry of mace strikes glancing off her armor and forcing her back.

I spun the Anneal Blade in my hand—it was time to hurry things up. I shoved the Sentinel I was struggling with back, kicking out with my foot to destabilize it. I stepped forward and smashed a Vertical down onto the kobold’s arms, sending its mace spinning onto the floor harmlessly.

A half-second later, my Horizontal took its head off in a single stroke as it reeled from the blow.

I quickly ran to Argo and forcibly pushed my way between her and the opponent. “Switch! Back off and heal, Argo!”

“Thanks,” she called, backpedaling and pulling out a potion. I relaxed as her health climbed back into the green. I parried several more blows from the Sentinel before placing a Slant through its ribcage, shattering it.

Asuna let out a shout to my left, thrusting her rapier directly through the last kobold’s helmet. Withdrawing it, the monster shattered to fragments.

“Good job, you two!” I called. “Regroup, and let’s see if we can help the others.”

Diavel let out a sharp order as I spoke. “Everyone, back off! It’s moving into the last phase!” Illfang’s health had dropped to half on its final health bar, the signal that it was about to draw its talwar.

Sure enough, as the raid crew backpedaled away from it Illfang tossed aside its axe and shield, the discarded equipment slamming onto the stone floor some distance away. It spread its arms wide and reached back, drawing a long curved sword.

Group B, though, was a little too far behind. As Illfang drew the curved sword it launched itself high into the air, whirling the blade in a massive rotational attack as it dropped back to the ground with a crash. 

Screams of pain and shouts of alarm echoed as Illfang’s blade flashed through the air. Most of Group B were badly injured, knocked back by the force of the blow and temporarily stunned. Kibaou was mostly unharmed, but the rest of his men were in a deadly spot.

Even I could see that another squad needed to jump in to help. The command I waited to hear never came, though. Instead, Diavel began to charge forwards. “I’ll go!” he shouted. “Hold back for my command!”

My eyes snapped wide in disbelief. What was Diavel thinking?! As he charged, his sword surrounded by a pale red glow, my gaze flashed over the battlefield. Group B was slowly recovering, but they were taking too long. Kibaou was trying to help, but watching Diavel charge in, he dropped what he was doing and began to charge after Diavel.

What was happening? Were they really both willing to risk their lives and the entire raid over a Last Attack bonus? Kibaou I might have guessed, but Diavel seemed smarter than that.

My eyes flashed to Illfang, who had shifted the sheath for its sword onto its hip. I frowned, watching as the Lord shifted into a crouching stance, one hand on its sheath and the other on the hilt of the sword waiting within. I recognized that stance.

A cold shock ran through me, like someone had dumped ice water over my head. That wasn’t a talwar, the hilt and guard were all wrong. That was a nodachi!

“STOP!” I screamed at Diavel as he closed in on Illfang. “DIAVEL, BACK OFF!”

Diavel skidded to a halt, his eyes widening. It was too late. 

The Lord lunged forwards, the enormous nodachi lashing out in a vicious Iai-type skill, Tsujikaze. It smashed into Diavel, knocking his shield aside and leaving him open. Before he could react, Illfang flung itself past him, its nodachi raised high and swiping Diavel upwards from below, knocking him up into the air. Ukifune, the worst possible skill it could have used.

Kibaou tried to charge in to stop it, but the Lord leaped after Diavel, slashing the nodachi across his torso four times in viscous, sweeping strikes. My heart froze and my stomach dropped as Illfang fell back to the ground, brandishing its sword as Diavel hung in the air for a scant few moments.

The blue-haired man shattered into a rain of multicolored glass shards, drifting down over the raid crew like iridescent snow.

Panic broke out. Suddenly leaderless, the raid crew stumbled backwards uneasily, with Group B still out in the open too much. Kibaou stood stock still, his expression hidden and his back turned to me.

I had to act fast. I had no hope of taking control of the raid crew, though—even if they weren’t stunned by the loss of their leader, it would’ve been hopeless for someone like me. All I had was myself and two friends to try and do something.

 “Argo! Asuna! With me!” I shouted, charging towards Illfang and trying to push the deathly chill that gripped me to the back of my head. Hearing their footsteps behind me, I silently offered thanks to any gods that were listening that my friends had my back, at least.

As we reached Illfang, it began to attack with the nodachi again. I focused on parrying and deflecting each blow away from me. It was walking a tightrope on a moving truck, and the nodachi certainly hit like one. There was an impossible amount of force behind its blows, and each time the razor-sharp blade swept past my face or my limbs, they were left tingling and cold.

Parrying the last of its first flurry of attacks, I called out. “Switch!”

I watched as Asuna and Argo charged in, unleashing a flurry of attacks in the momentary opening. Rapier thrusts and claw slashes cut away at Illfang’s health bar painfully slowly. As soon as the window was over, I charged back in, shouting again. “Switch!”

The blow that the nodachi struck against my Anneal Blade very nearly toppled me over. I planted my feet and gritted my teeth as the vibrations rattled my eyes, barely redirecting the force of it away from me. Again and again, the dance continued, each attack from the Lord a hammering vengeance. I began to miss some of my parries, and blows began to graze Asuna and Argo, each of our health values dropping lower and lower.

Then I screwed up.

I misjudged a single parry, the blow crashing into my chest and sending me spiraling backwards. I crashed into the ground flat on my back, my head spinning and my vision flickering. A groan of agony escaped my throat. I could see the dark shape of Illfang charging towards me, but I was so rattled I struggled to stand.

Before it could reach me and finish me off, though, another huge shape interposed itself. Agil blocked the blow head on, smashing his maul into Illfang’s shoulder in trade. “Careful there!” he called. “Back off and heal now!”

“Thanks!” I choked out, scrambling to my feet and grabbing a potion.

Argo took the opportunity to do the same as Agil continued to tank blows. The fact he could take them head on instead of parrying was honestly kind of terrifying. He’d really spared no expense in his defense.

Asuna continued to attack the Lord, but for a fraction of a second she glanced aside. Making eye contact with Argo, she moved. “Switch!” she cried out, jumping backwards.

Argo dove in, her claws flashing as she tore of chunks of Illfang’s health bar. Her blonde hair fluttered around her as she danced in and out of attack range. Moments later, Asuna flung herself back in, moving faster than I’d ever seen her. She pierced the Wind Fleuret through the Lord’s armor again and again, quicker than the breeze her sword was named for.

My health was back up past the yellow and Agil’s was dropping fast. I spun the Anneal Blade experimentally. “Agil! Switch!” I shouted, charging past the man and parrying a blow aimed for his throat. The clash of our swords sent a tremendous clang echoing around us.

“Thanks!” Agil called appreciatively, backpedaling with a potion in hand.

Argo dove in as well, and the three of us began to weave around Illfang, parrying or dodging its attacks by a hair’s breadth. I delivered a deadly slice to its belly, giving way to Asuna stabbing through its wrist. Argo slashed along its back viciously, as I perfectly parried a blow and smashed down onto its chest with the Anneal Blade.

Illfang’s nodachi flashed out in a deadly swipe. Gripping my sword tightly, I parried it away and shouted an order as Agil charged back in, his health mostly full. “It’s almost down, just rush it through to the end!”

We began to move faster and faster, and the rest came naturally. I didn’t even have to think as I parried blows aimed at my friends and switched out in a constant flow, one of them always jumping to cover my mistakes.

“Kii-bou, duck!” Argo cried, bounding off my shoulders and swiping her claws over the Lord’s eyes. It let out a terrible roar, stumbling backwards.

“Asuna!” Agil shouted, sending his hammer crashing into the boss’s side as he ran to cover her. The force of his blow sent the lord stumbling a few steps further, reeling off balance.

Asuna lunged forwards, unleashing Linear after Linear into any spot she could reach. Just as Illfang was about to recover, I screamed out one last command. “Asuna! Switch!”

She flung herself backwards without hesitation and I parried the nodachi blow that swung downwards. A clang rang out, like an enormous tuning fork had been struck, and my vision seemed to slow and grey.

Illfang stumbled backwards, its movements sluggish in my vision. The only things that had color was my Anneal Blade’s shining blue glow. Some kind of fate began to pull me along—I was just following the steps laid out for me, a string’s pull guiding my way. I let myself fall into it and charged forwards, leaping towards it desperately.

Illfang regained its footing.

I soared up to its shoulders.

The nodachi sliced through the air towards my torso.

I slipped past it, my feet crashing onto Illfang’s shoulders. My sword raised high, I threw my entire weight behind it and plunged the point of the Anneal Blade down through Illfang’s face.

Illfang, the Kobold Lord and I both tumbled to the ground, feet apart from each other.

It shattered.

Complete silence reigned in the former Lord’s hall. The Anneal Blade slipped from my fingers as I sat up, staring at the spot where Illfang used to be. A notification appeared in my vision.

Congratulations!
Last Attack bonus: Coat of Midnight

Then the cheering started.

A wave of shouting cries and cheers erupted so loud that I flinched a little. Before I could adjust to it, a small shape tackled into me, knocking me back to the floor. “Kii-bou! Kii-bou! Kirito!” Argo shouted, borderline incoherent as she wrapped me in a bear hug.

Asuna tackled us both as well, joining in on the ground. “Kirito! You did it!” she said, wrapping her arms around me and Argo both as we lay there in a strange and joyous dogpile.

“We all did it!” I said, wrapping my arms around both of them. I was exhausted, hurt, and a little bit crushed under their combined weight, but there was absolutely nowhere I’d have rather been. “Thank you, both of you. So much.” I squeezed tightly, feeling their warmth against me in my bones.

Argo started giggling beneath Asuna, the vibration tickling me. I started giggling too, and the laughter spread to Asuna as we lay there. One tangled pile of bodies, laughing and snorting and alive. A giddy grin plastered itself across my face, and I absolutely did not care how ridiculous we probably looked.

Eventually it died down and I patted them one last time before moving to stand. Argo made a noise of complaint, but relented and slid off of me. I helped them both up once I’d stood, and we flashed one last brilliant smile at each other.

“All’s well that ends well, huh?” Argo commented, dusting herself off.

“Sure thing,” Agil agreed as he walked over. He held a fist out to each of us. “Nice work. Couldn’t have done it without you.”

I bumped my own fist back in sync with Argo, followed by Asuna. “Same to you,” I said. “It had me dead to rights back there, you saved me. Thanks again.”

Agil waved a hand good-naturedly. “Ah, don’t sweat it, you took a few nasty hits off me here and there too. It was a team effort.”

I grinned. Argo bobbed her head in agreement. “That was some pretty nifty teamwork,” she said. “Our first boss down!”

“It seems we can do it after all,” Asuna mused.

I hesitated. “But Diavel…”

Argo shuddered. “Yeah. That was…”

I took a few paces towards the center of the hall, where a crowd was now gathered and celebrating. Where Diavel had died.

It hadn’t been worth it at all to go for the Last Attack bonus. The only death of the battle could have been prevented so easily.

And for what?

“ENOUGH!” screamed a voice, dragging me from my thoughts and the crowd from their celebrations.

Kibaou stood about twenty feet away from me, staring directly at me. His expression was furious, and his hands were clenched into fists by his sides. My stomach curled itself up into knots as I watched.

My bad feeling had been spot on, after all.

“We may have beaten the boss,” Kibaou said, turning his head to look at the entire audience, “but we lost a good man doing it. Diavel gave us this victory, and he gave his life doing so.” His eyes narrowed. “He didn’t have to.”

Murmurs ran through the hall, and a layer of ice seemed to creep under my skin, crawling and cold.

“From the very start, I said that Beta Testers were nothing but trouble,” Kibaou proclaimed, his voice tight with anger and his movements jerky. “We were told that the boss would have a talwar. We were told that everything was certain. We were told that no one had to die!”

I silently begged Kibaou to stop, to change tactics, to do literally anything else, but he whirled on me. It was all too late.

“YOU!” he screamed. “You knew the pattern was different! You could have warned us sooner, but you held out on us. You distracted Diavel at the end, and stole the Last Attack bonus for yourself! You weren’t satisfied until he was dead. YOU LET HIM DIE!”

“He must be a Beta Tester!” someone shouted from the crowd.

“What other Beta Testers are in the crowd here?!” Kibaou said, his voice rising. “Can we even trust any of you thieving bastards? You’re all just going to fucking sell us out for loot and exp in the end, so why should we?!”

Murmurs began to run through the crowd as ice coalesced around my heart. People began eyeing each other nervously, and I saw more than a few stray looks shoot towards Argo in the back. I gripped my fists tightly as my hands trembled. No, no, no. I couldn’t let this happen.

“Why don’t you step forwards now, Beta Testers!” Kibaou shouted, his voice peaking in volume and rage. “You can join this fucking snake here, and we can decide what kind of punishment you all deserve!”

“Now hold on just a second!” Agil protested, spreading his hands. “You’re jumping to all kinds of conclusions here!”

It was too late, though. The murmurs had risen into full-fledged arguing. People were shouting, accusations were flying, and the real Beta Testers in the room were dangerously close to getting attacked.

Kibaou stood in the center of it all, a chillingly satisfied look on his face. I finally knew what he was doing. Why he had wanted my Anneal Blade, why he no longer seemed upset that Diavel had died.

Asuna and Agil began to argue the Beta Testers’ case desperately. “There’s no evidence they even knew about the sword change at all!” Asuna said, her voice piercing. “And you have no grounds to claim that Kirito knew the pattern was different—he reacted when it first appeared, the same as everyone!”

“Games changing from a Beta Test to a release is a normal thing to happen,” Agil pointed out, his voice firm. “You’re seriously telling me that because some people played the game a few months early, they’re all murderous bastards now?”

Their voices were quickly drowned out by the shouting and arguing though. Argo had shrunk even further, and by this point looked close to tears. I had to do something. I was at the center of it, anyway.

So I let myself break.

It started low, chuckles that no one even noticed. My laugh quickly rose, pitching up into manic giggles and then into furious laughter, one hand over my eyes as a terrible grin stretched across my face.

The crowd slowly fell silent as I continued to laugh, cruel and carefree. I let my humor settle and die down, straightening smoothly as I arranged my face into smug satisfaction and pushed the hair out of my eyes, stepping forward to give a clear view of myself.

“You’re right, Kibaou,” I said, my voice curling around his name. “I did let Diavel die.” The words echoed through the now dead silent chamber. A shudder ran through the room, and people began to step away from me as disgust and fear spread further.

“I wanted that Last Attack bonus! And he was just in my way, honestly,” I continued, the poison words flowing easily and my grin widening in cruel glee. “It was so easy, too!”

For a fraction of a second, Kibaou actually looked confused. Then he shook it away and began shouting again. “You bastard!”

I laughed again before allowing my face to fall into cold superiority. “Scream all you like, I don’t care. Don’t compare me to those stupid Beta Testers, either. Just because someone got picked for the lottery doesn’t mean they know much of anything—you idiots are better than they were.”

I began to walk through the crowd towards Kibaou. As I did, I reached into my menu and pulled out the Cloak of Midnight, a blueish-black longcoat that reached down to my calves. Sliding it over my shoulders and letting it trail down, I approached him.

“I’m not like any of them. I made it higher than anyone else during the Beta Test and set all kinds of records no one else even scratched. I’m not some newbie who’s never played an MMO, or an idiot stumbling around in VR for the first time.” I stalked directly up to Kibaou, putting my face up to his. “The rest of the Beta Testers are useless next to me, so don’t you dare call me the same as them.” I poked his chest to emphasize my words.

One of Kibaou’s flunkies stepped up, drawing his sword angrily. “Why the hell should we not just cut you down here, huh?” he shouted, pointing the blade at me.

I smirked. “I’m not fighting back, you know. Wanna get branded as a orange player before we’ve even left the 1st Floor? Be my guest. Not that any of you could kill me even if you tried. Honestly, is that a sword or a baseball bat to you?” I waved a hand casually even as the man’s hands trembled with rage.

Every player in the game had a diamond-shaped green cursor above their head—neutral NPCs had yellow ones, allied NPCs had blue ones, and monsters had red ones. Orange cursors were the game’s way of noting players that had committed crimes like attacking other players, stealing, and so on. An orange cursor made life a lot harder—you couldn’t enter into most major towns without being stopped by guards, and the only way to return it to the usual green was to do a quest that varied in difficulty based on your infraction. Player killing was one of the hardest marks to remove.

An angry growl ran through the crowd, but I didn’t stop. “Let’s play a game, then, shall we? How many Beta Testers were allowed into the Closed Beta?”

The crowd paused, murmuring amongst themselves as I stepped back from Kibaou, casually parading myself in front of them.

“Time’s up!” I called loudly. “The answer is 1,500. Now, how many of those are estimated to have logged in day one and gotten trapped here?”

More muttering.

“Ouch, not a good look for your scores,” I mocked. “The answer is around 800 or so. Now, last question! How many do you think are dead right now?”

Silence.

“By most estimates, a little over 300 people! That’s almost forty percent!” I crowed as I came back to a stop in front of Kibaou. “By those numbers, the newbie death rate is only about twenty percent!”

A shocked mutter ran through the crowd, wide eyes staring back at me.

“Huh?” I mimed surprise, covering my mouth with a hand. “That’s strange, why do the Beta Testers have such a high death rate? If they really were these manipulative masterminds you’ve convinced yourselves they are, why are almost half of them dead?”

“Don’t try and trick us, you—“ Kibaou began, but I stepped up to him and placed a finger over his mouth, shushing him.

“I’ll tell you the real deal. You’re all weak!” I grinned so broadly my cheeks might have split open. “All of you! Newbies, Beta Testers, you’re all pathetic! I mean, honestly. Charging in recklessly, working alone, underleveled and badly equipped… half of you look like you haven’t even upgraded your weapons! Is it any surprise so many of you idiots are dead?”

Kibaou seized me by the front of my coat. “Why the hell should I not just kill you now?” he growled. “To hell with being a orange player, you’re a monster!” His words were harsh, but the look in his eyes was cold and calculating.

“I know you won’t, though,” I said, and I meant it. I forcibly tore Kibaou’s hands off my coat, still smirking. “You’re just a coward barking big, that’s all.”

He sputtered, the crowd muttering angrily as I stepped back.

“Here’s how it’s gonna be. I want to escape this dump just as much as the rest of you, and I have every intention of being the first one out. So here’s a challenge for all of you losers, Beta Testers included,” I said as I slunk back through the crowds, all eyes on me. “See if you can catch up to me, even just to ride my coattails. I’ll bet anything you can’t make it that far. Because me?” I smirked as I reached the other end of the hall, turning towards all of them. “I’ll do anything to win.”

“You—you bastard! You’re just a fucking cheater!” someone screamed, and a chorus of voices erupted up in agreement.

“You’re worse than a cheater,” Kibaou shouted, his rage back. “You’re a Beta Tester and a cheater—a Beater!”

I spread my hands, my grin widening viciously. “Oh, I like that. That’s a good name, maybe it’ll teach you some humility.” 

Walking for the door, I put my hand against it and turned back one last time. I couldn’t bring myself to look at Asuna, Argo, or Agil, to see what expressions that had as they watched me.

“I’ll go on ahead,” I said lazily. “Don’t bother following me, you’ll just get left in the dust. So why don’t you all stay down here like the rusty knives you are, and I’ll be up there doing the real work.”

Sending one last smirk their way, I pushed the doors open. “Bye for now. Maybe don’t be as stupid as Diavel and the Beta Testers and you just might see me again.”

The hall was deathly silent as I stepped through the doors, the clacking of my boot heels on stone the only sound. Ascending the stairs, a chorus of murmurs and whispers broke out in the chamber behind me. The doors swung shut behind me with a final boom.

I didn’t look back as I walked.

Chapter Text

December 4th, 2022, 11:04 PM
Floor 2

It was the second day after the boss battle when it happened, late in the evening.

I was back in town grabbing dinner at one of the taverns. Public opinion demanded that whenever I spent time in town, I kept my face hidden to avoid trouble. Thankfully, swapping the easily recognizable Coat of Midnight for a plain grey cloak solved that problem. It wasn’t as though there weren’t at least a few other people really into the whole mysterious cloaked swordsman look, so I blended in just fine.
  
My back was to the wall in one of the farthest corner booths, my empty plates laid out in front of me. I’d finished eating and was preparing to leave, but I was interrupted as someone slid into the booth opposite me. My spine crawled as I came face to face with Kibaou, his expression stretched into disdain and displeasure.

“Kirito. We need to talk,” he said.

“Think you’ve got the wrong person,” I said, trying to subtly shift my voice higher and my hood lower.

“Bullshit.”

I folded my arms, sinking back into the booth. “Fine. What do you want?”

Kibaou narrowed his eyes. “The hell’s your game?”

“What do you mean?” I said, raising an eyebrow.

“You’re the one who painted a target on his fuckin’ back,” he said. “What’s your game with the scapegoat bullshit?”

I stared at Kibaou for a second before I processed fully. Oh. He was serious.

“You were the one that painted the target,” I pointed out. “I just ran with what you threw at me.”

“That doesn’t answer my question,” Kibaou said, eyes narrowing.

“Maybe I didn’t want to see every single Beta Tester get turned into some kind of traitorous villain.”

“So you decided to just do it to yourself? Yeah, right. What the hell’re you planning?”

I bit my lip. Kibaou really didn’t believe me, did he?

“Keep on wondering, then,” I said. “What’s it to you, anyway?”

Kibaou clicked his tongue at me. “Hey, you’re not the one asking the questions here. I’ve got all the chips, so you’d best play your hand how I say.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. “What do you mean?”

A smug grin spread across Kibaou’s face. “You went and took away the rest of my scapegoats, so you gotta play the part real good. Gotta have a convincing villain, right?”

“Why should I listen to you?”

Kibaou wagged a finger. “Wouldn’t want your friends getting caught up in this mess, would you?”

I froze.

“I heard about it, you know. You were all nice ‘n cozy with Argo and that Asuna chick—you even got Agil standin’ up for you back there. Be a real shame if some nasty rumors started spreading about them, wouldn’t it?”

“Don’t do this,” I whispered.

“C’mon, you dug your own grave!” Kibaou smirked. “You got your part, you just gotta play it well.”

“What’s this even for?” I said, desperation creeping into my voice. “Just to get followers? You could’ve done it any other way, or not even done it at all! It’s just—it’s just raid politics and stupid egotism!”

“It’s power,” Kibaou said, like that explained everything. “Though I guess a kid like you wouldn’t get it.”

Rage strong enough to slam my jaw shut and grind my teeth together flooded through me. “Don’t call me a kid,” I said, voice tight. “Just—stop. We’re supposed to be working together.”

Kibaou shrugged. “Sure, but someone’s gotta lead. I’m just makin’ sure it’s the right guy.” He stood, thumping a fist on the table as he did. “Remember, you gotta give people a reason to hate you—the big bad Beater can’t be playing nice with everyone. I don’t care if you got some stupid scheme planned, if you don’t want your friends getting tossed under the bus with you then just shut up and play your part.”

“Wait,” I said, mind racing for any way to convince him. “I’ll tell the others about this—blackmail isn’t a good look.”

Kibaou chuckled. “Yeah, good one. Who the hell’d believe you now? Even if all your friends got together, you’ve got such a bad rep that it’d ruin ‘em by association. Nah, you won’t tell anyone. And you can’t kill me, otherwise the whole thing gets even worse ‘cause it’s true. You dug your grave, just lie in it.”

With that, he swept out of the tavern, leaving me behind in his wake.

I shivered, a deep chill spreading through me as tears prickled behind my eyes. My mind raced for any way I could get out of this, but everything came up empty. No exit, no choice, just my own stupid mistakes. I closed my eyes, shivering and feeling a wave of panic building inside of me.

“I’m such an idiot,” I said, letting my forehead slam down against the table. 

I’d really gone and screwed it up now. Where had I gone wrong? Was it when I stood up to Kibaou? Or was it when I didn’t see the warning signs before? Was it when I befriended Argo and Asuna, or was it even earlier, when I got myself trapped in this miserable game in the first place?

I really, really didn’t know.

My days were unnervingly quiet.

I’d gotten used to the noise of exploring and living with Argo and Asuna so much over the previous week or so that going back to the sheer silence of solo travel was jarring. Argo’s constant wheedling and teasing, Asuna’s sharp tongue, and the way they bounced off of each other’s energy had been a comforting backdrop to my days that I only really noticed once it was gone.

I didn’t feel any different—that was the strangest part. In the span of a few days my life had changed so radically that it was near-unrecognizable, and I just kept walking. I woke up in an inn alone before dawn, stretched, and went hunting. I fought mobs, completed quests, and avoided as many people as possible. I went to sleep at the end of the day feeling the same as ever.

I didn’t spend much time in towns. People made their feelings about my presence known quickly, and I wasn’t one to argue with them. The Coat of Midnight felt more like armor than ever. Its weight and length were surprisingly comforting—it was a little easier to face the world with it on my back. 

Gathering the materials to start upgrading it became an instant priority, and I found myself becoming more attached to it than even the Anneal Blade. The 2nd Floor was a savanna filled with cow and bull-type enemies, too. I had high hopes that I could get a fair number of the items on my list checked off quickly, given how many leather mats dropped here.

It was the day after my conversation with Kibaou, and today found me far from the starting town, Urbus—and its teleport gate—among the foothills of the large mountain visible from most of the floor on the southernmost edge. I was mostly in the area for posterity, checking if there were any major quests. After the incident with Illfang, I wasn’t about to cut any corners when it came to tracking down information about the boss.

So far I’d come up empty, though—nothing but wandering mobs with no sign of NPCs or even any interesting locations. I was tempted to climb the mountain. There was a relatively manageable looking path up, and the view was probably amazing. I’d never bothered in the Beta Test, I’d gotten so focused on trying to clear as far ahead as possible. Maybe there was something good up there after all?

I was dragged from my thoughts by the sound of boots on the dirt path below me. Two players dressed in partial plate armor were approaching. One had a helmet on, but the other wore his without one, and his shock of brown hair was visible.

I sighed. Even out on the savanna, I couldn’t always get away from everyone.

I turned away to start climbing. If nothing else, it’d make for a good way to kill the rest of the afternoon. Maybe I could eat lunch up there or something—I’d forgotten to earlier when I’d had to deal with a herd of stampeding bull enemies.

As I began to walk away, though, one of the players called out. “Stop!” he shouted, his voice echoing. His expression was grim when I looked back. “You’re that Beater, aren’t you?” he said, coming to a stop several feet in front of me.

I removed my hands from my pockets and nodded. “That’s me. I have a name, though.”

The man snorted. His eyes were sharp behind the bangs of his brown hair. “I don’t care.” He rested a hand on the hilt of the sword sheathed at his hip. “Heard some pretty nasty rumors about you,” he said, his voice tense.

I shrugged, familiar with this song and dance by now. “People say all sorts of things. Do you have a point, or can I go?”

Apparently snark was not the way to go here. The man’s eyes narrowed and his face contorted in rage as he stepped forward, drawing his sword and pointing it at my throat. “Maybe I should just cut you down here,” he growled. “Save the rest of the game the headache.”

It was honestly surprising to me how fast I’d adapted to situations like these. If you’d told me a month ago that people giving death threats to my face would become almost tedious, I probably would’ve laughed you out of the room.

“You could,” I agreed, injecting a note of boredom into my voice. “What’ll it be?”

He stared at me, his swordpoint wavering a hair away from my chin. “What gives you the guts, huh?” he said, his voice low. “You’re really one sick bastard.”

I kept my poker face as his words cut low. “Neither of us have all day,” I said instead. “Make your choice. I say we both back down now though—saves a lot of trouble.”

The man stared at me, pushing his sword forward so that the tip rested against my throat. “Shut the fuck up,” he hissed. “What the hell is wrong with you? You think you can send a man to his death and then just walk away?”

I swallowed, ignoring the chill that spread through my gut. I placed a fingertip against the point of his sword and pushed it to the side, my expression calm. “I can tell you’ve got your mind made up. Both about what kind of person I am and about whether or not you’re going to attack me here.” I turned away and began to walk up the mountainside, my back exposed and my sword sheathed. “Just remember that I haven’t given you or anyone else a reason to fight me.”

“Coward,” he spat behind me, but I heard his sword thunk back into his sheathe and his footsteps begin to recede behind me.

As soon as I was around a bend and out of sight, I collapsed against a tree.

Heaving breaths spasmed from me as the panic I’d been controlling spilled out. He’d been a hair away from actually stabbing me. Someone I’d never met hated me enough to think to attack me on sight. Icy chills ran through my whole body, cold anxiety prickling in my stomach. The rough bark scraping against me was almost a welcome relief.

“…Kii-bou?” a familiar voice came hesitantly from beside me.

I jumped out of my skin, whirling around as my hand flew to the hilt of my sword. My heart hammered in my chest like a machine gun as I came face to face with Argo, standing a few feet away from me with a startled expression.

“Whoa, hey, it’s me!” she said, sticking her hands up.

My heartbeat began to slow. I dropped my hand from my sword, letting myself sink back to the ground. “Sorry, Argo,” I said tiredly. “You startled me.”

She shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. Shouldn’t have snuck up on ya like that.”

I leaned my head back against the tree, clenching my fists in an effort to stop the trembling. “Nah, ‘s okay,” I mumbled.

“Sure as hell doesn’t look like it,” Argo said bluntly. “Who were those guys?”

I shrugged. “No idea. Didn’t catch their names.”

Argo stared at me. “Wait, they didn’t have like, a grudge against you for something? I mean that was…”

“How much did you see?” I asked, wincing.

“Yeah, I saw the guy threaten to kill you!”

“First time someone’s come that close,” I muttered absentmindedly.

“Wait, this isn’t the first time someone’s threatened to kill you?!” Argo said in disbelief.

Me and my big mouth. “Um. No?” I said weakly.

“What. The. Fuck.” Argo said, enunciating each word slowly. “What the fuck! How many times has this happened since the boss battle?! It’s been three days! For that matter, what the fuck was that back in the boss room? I’ve been trying to talk to you about it since, but you just disappeared off the fuckin’ map and don’t answer my messages!”

A stab of guilt ran through me. “I’m sorry,” I said softly.

Argo rubbed her face with her hands. “Kii-bou, I’m not—I’m worried about you, asshole!”

I spread my hands a little. “What do you want me to say? Kibaou was going to make scapegoats out of all the Beta Testers. He needs a common enemy to build his authority off of, and he decided that we fit the bill.”

“So you decided to make everyone hate you instead?!”

I stood, finding my feet a little steadier. “It worked, didn’t it?”

“That’s not the point!”

I suddenly stiffened, my eyes locking on a point behind Argo. “Whoever’s back there can come out now.”

Sinister laughter came from behind the tree, and two men dressed in ninja outfits stepped out from the trees. “I should have expected as much from the Beater,” the one in front said, his voice low. “Your eyes are as sharp as the rumors say, I daresay.”

Oh, no. Not the role-players.

These two were part of a guild I’d heard rumors about during the Beta, Fuumaningun. They were hardcore ninja role-players, and apparently had no patience for people who didn’t play along with them. I wasn’t one to judge how people played video games, but it was a bit of a different story when it was literally life or death.

“What do you want?” I asked, eyeing them both.

The one in front inclined his head. “We have no business with you today, scoundrel,” he said. “Argo the Rat, you are the one we seek.”

“Eh? What’s up?” Argo said, frowning.

“You have knowledge of the skill Martial Arts, where its hallowed details might be learned. We demand that you give this information to us.”

Argo shrugged. “Sure, price is 5,000 Cor.”

The man’s eyes narrowed behind his cowl. “You fail to understand my words, I see. We desire the information, and you will give it to us.”

“…Or else?”

“We will be forced to resort to more… drastic measures.”

I stepped between Argo and the ninjas before she could speak again. “That’s enough,” I said firmly. “I have no intention of telling the Rat how to run her business, but I’m not just going to stand by and watch you threaten her. If you don’t have the money, then go kill mobs until you get enough. Otherwise, pay up.”

“Why should we listen to your counsel?” the man asked, eyeing me.

“Because not only will you make an enemy of me, you’ll make one of close to every Clearer in the game. The Rat does good business, and people know she’s trustworthy. Threatening her with violence is a quick way to get yourselves a bad reputation.”

“And I suppose you would know about bad reputations, Beater,” the man mused. “Very well. We shall withdraw for now and assess our funding. But be careful how you speak to us in the future.”

“Try not threatening people and we’ll see.”

The man gave a two-finger salute before departing as quickly as he came, his companion close behind. I exhaled and let my hands relax as I watched them vanish out of sight. That could have ended a lot worse, all things considered.

Turning back to Argo, I sighed. “Is there something on this mountain that’s attracting overly aggressive jerks today?”

Argo eyed me. “Yeah. I think it’s you.”

I opened my mouth to fire back, then closed it. “Well played,” I muttered. “But seriously, be careful. Those ninjas listened, at least, but there are always gonna be people who want to skip past having to pay for info.”

“I can take care of myself, ya know,” Argo said, but there wasn’t any heat. “…Thanks for telling them to eat dirt.”

“It’s nothing.” I really, really hated what I was about to do, but I did it anyway. I shoved my hands in my pockets to hide the shivers and gave her a nod. “See you around.”

I turned and walked away.

“You’re a fuckin’ idiot.”

I paused at that. “What?”

Argo folded her arms. “I said, ‘you’re a fuckin’ idiot’. I can tell what you’re doing, you know.”

A sigh escaped my lips. I was suddenly ridiculously tired. “What’s that?” I said mutedly.

“You’re tryin’ to drag this all onto your shoulders and tell the rest of us to get lost so we don’t get hurt,” Argo said matter-of-factly. “And I get it. And you’re a fuckin’ idiot.”

I swallowed. “And?” I said. “You’re better off staying away from me, it’s just gonna get you hurt.”

Argo snorted. “And maybe I can decide for myself who I spend my time with.”

She didn’t get it. My conversation with Kibaou rang around my head like a church bell. “Just… don’t. Please.”

“You can learn Martial Arts at the top of the mountain, y’know.”

“What?” I stared at her in confusion.

Argo shrugged. “No charge for that. I get that I’m not gonna talk you out of this right now. So keep your stupid ass alive so I can do it later.”

My eyes stung with unshed tears. I wanted so badly to drop this stupid act and apologize, to go back to traveling with her and Asuna, to get my friends back. I wanted it so badly I could hardly breathe. The choice between hurting my friends and not wasn’t a choice at all, though, and I couldn’t bring myself to be the thing that dragged all of them down.

Argo watched me quietly for a second. If she saw something in my face, she didn’t say anything.

“Thanks,” I said after I gathered myself enough to not sob as I spoke. “Take care of yourself, Argo.”

I turned and walked away, and this time I didn’t look back.

By December 11th, our eighth full day on the 2nd Floor, we’d found the boss room.

Progress ran much smoother this time. More and more people were advancing up to join the front lines, and overall coordination was much improved. In official terms, guilds didn’t unlock until the next floor—there was a questline that rewarded you with a guild banner item you could use to create a guild on Floor 3—but practically speaking, guild-like groups had already started to form in all but name.

Kibaou and his crowd were the largest right now. Lind had apparently also started amassing a number of allies, and the remaining Clearers were grouped up into individual parties. Only a month into the game, and I was one of only a handful of solo players left.

Safety in numbers and all that.

Today was the day we fought the boss. The raid crew was gathering in the town square of Taran, the settlement closest to the Labyrinth. The village was built on the top of a mesa, and the towering pillar where our destination lay clearly visible in the distance.

I was running late. I’d gotten up as early as ever, but I kept putting off leaving for the meeting for way too long. By the time I convinced myself, it had already started. Approaching the town square now under the bright sun, I winced at both the light and the crowd I could see already formed.

At least the 2nd Floor stuck to real-world seasons, so it was currently winter in the savanna. It was still relatively warm all things considered, but it wasn’t sweltering. Unfurling the collar of the Coat of Midnight protectively, I took a deep breath and walked into the square.

Kibaou and Lind stood at the center of the crowd, positioned opposite each other. Close off to one side, I spotted Argo and Asuna sitting together with Agil standing shortly behind them. Asuna’s expression was calm and Agil’s carefully controlled, but Argo wore a grim frown.

I would have looked for why, but all conversation stopped the moment I stepped into the circle.

A group of people parted for me like a wave as I approached the crowded circle. It would’ve been cool if they weren’t looking at me like I was a rabid dog. As I walked through, the circle closed behind me, and I came to a stop a short distance from Kibaou and Lind. Whispers ran through the crowd as I stood, more than loud enough for me to hear. That didn’t stop anyone from talking, though.

“Hey, that’s the guy, right?”

“Shit, he’s younger than I thought.”

“I heard he was traveling with the Rat, y’think that’s true?”

“Either way, he’s got guts showing his face here.”

I didn’t dare look at Argo and Asuna.

“Well, look who finally decided to show up,” Kibaou jeered, his expression hardening.

I took a slow breath. “Enough, Kibaou,” I said quietly. “I’m not here to get into an argument, I’m here to kill a boss. So unless you think you can beat Baran without me, I’m here.”

Kibaou stood, the rage on his face offset by the calculating flash in his eyes. “And how do we know that you’re not just going to backstab one of us the instant you get the chance?”

“Enough, Kibaou,” said Lind, undercutting him. “Kirito’s right. We’re going to need every good sword arm we can get on our side, and I don’t feel good about our chances without him.”

Kibaou folded his arms and sat back down. “Fine. But this isn’t the last of this.”

I exhaled silently as the tension left my shoulders, but the crawling feeling on my skin as the crowd watched me persisted. Lind glanced at me, resting his elbows on his knees. “Kirito, what information about the boss do you have for us from the Beta?”

“Baran the Taurus General is the main boss, but he’s got a second sub-boss called Nato the Taurus Colonel that helps him. They’re similar, but Baran is larger, hits harder, and has more health.” I stuck my hands in my pockets. “The main thing to watch out for is their stun attacks. They both have a hammer attack called Numbing Impact that hits like a truck and applies a hefty stun.”

Lind nodded. “That agrees with the information that Argo has gathered so far. Do you have any recommendations for dealing with it?”

I was silently thankful beyond words that Lind was being much more reasonable than Kibaou. “Watch out for the yellow flashes,” I said, shrugging. “If yellow sparks flash around the hammer when they wind up, it’ll be a stunning strike so get clear.”

“We gotta be careful, though,” Argo added. “That’s all just info from the Beta, and if it’s anything like with Illfang, they’ll have changed something pretty noticeable.”

I bit my lip, avoiding Argo’s gaze as she looked at me.

“Do you have any guesses on what might be changed?” Lind asked, folding his hands under his chin.

I shrugged. “Could be anything. They might’ve done another weapon change, but odds are it was something else.”

“Great, real fuckin’ helpful,” Kibaou snorted, glaring at me.

“Ease off, Kibaou,” Argo said, frowning. “Why would any of us be able to guess what kind of changes they made to the game?”

Kibaou sneered, turning on Argo. “Yeah? He seemed to make pretty good use of it last time.”

“Enough, Kibaou,” I snapped, before Argo could start arguing and get herself in more trouble. “If you’ve got a problem, take it up with me. Remember, past Floor 11 even I have no idea what bosses they’ll be throwing at us. We’ve got it easy for now.”

“Besides, we haven’t solved the issue of raid leadership,” Lind pointed out.

Kibaou groaned. “Ugh, not this shit again. You’re seriously still tryin’ to steal it from me?”

“It’s not stealing anything,” Lind said calmly. “We’re two of the most experienced players and also the leaders of two of the biggest factions currently on the front line, so it makes sense for it to be one of us, but we still haven’t resolved who.”

“There’s an obvious choice here!” Kibaou rose to his feet.

“I’m telling you, you’re not the only leader we have, Kibaou!” Lind said angrily, rising as well.

Muttered arguments broke out around the circle as the two factions began to clash. Groaning, I put a hand over my eyes. I really wished I hadn’t gotten out of bed for this.

“Enough!” Agil said loudly, his voice quieting the bickering. “We don’t have all day, just flip a coin or something.”

Lind took a breath and nodded. “That’s acceptable to me for now.”

Kibaou grunted. “Fine. But I ain’t letting you flip it.”

“Why doesn’t Kirito, then?” Lind suggested, glancing to me.

Before I could open my mouth to say that I absolutely was not doing that, Kibaou butted in again. “Hell no!”

“Good god,” Agil muttered. “Just have Argo do it!”

Seeing both potential leaders nod, Argo got up and walked over just short of me, pulling a 1 Cor coin out of her inventory. She glanced between them. “Who’s calling?”

“I am!” Kibaou snapped, and although Lind made a face, he didn’t argue.

Argo flipped the coin in the air, the bronze disc flipping end over end. “Tails!” Kibaou barked as it reached the apex, falling back down into Argo’s waiting hand where she snapped it onto the back of her opposite hand.

Glancing between the two, Argo paused. The heads side would display a sword and shield with a tree branch design, while the tails side would show a full tree. Kibaou and Lind both nodded, and Argo removed her hand.

Heads.

Kibaou’s frown deepened while Lind nodded to himself in satisfaction. Argo just shrugged and gave me a look before trudging back to her seat, where Asuna was looking at me with a conflicted expression. I didn’t meet her eyes. Kibaou started talking again and I dragged my attention away.

“I’ll play nice for now, but we’re talking about this again before the next boss raid!” he said, standing.

Lind shook his head exasperatedly. “Fine. It’s time to get moving. Everyone!” he called, raising his voice. “You have ten minutes to prepare, then we head for the boss room. That’s all!”

Conversation broke out among the crowd, and I took the chance to slip away from the square down a side street. I exhaled heavily as soon as I was out of sight, turning the corner and heading for one of the outlook points, where the mesa ended and the grasslands spread out far below.

The sun shone brightly. I leaned against the railing and looked out. The cliff below me was a dizzying drop down, and the Labyrinth was so close I could make out the perfectly smooth stone sides of the tower. The sheer size of the thing made me feel tiny.

My hands shook gently and the bottoms of my feet tingled as the last of the tension from the square left them. Leaning against the railing heavily, I tried to relax and breathe. My attempts to calm my nerves were interrupted by footsteps behind me, though.

Asuna was walking towards me. She came to stand beside me, resting her hands on the railing and gazing out at the Labyrinth. She’d stopped hiding under her red cloak these days, though she still wore it hood down, her amber hair swaying in the wind. She wore a red tunic under it, with a dark red knee-length skirt and white leggings.

“Hello,” she said quietly, not looking at me.

“…Hey.” I cursed my weak heart for skipping a beat.

“It’s been a while.”

Had it really been eight days since I’d last talked to Asuna? The time didn’t feel real. I swallowed as a stab of guilt ran through me. “It has,” I agreed.

“You know, you’re a difficult person to track down when you don’t want to be found.” Asuna turned to face me, her face flat and unreadable. “I suppose I should have seen that coming.”

“Sorry things happened so quickly,” I said, the closest I could get to an actual apology without feeling like I was swallowing acid.

A look of frustration crossed Asuna’s face for the first time. “Kirito, I’m not here because I’m upset with you,” she said, rubbing her eyes. “I just wish you would talk to me.”

The man on the mountain the other day, Kibaou’s sneer, and the crowd’s glares overlapped in my mind. I shrugged, not sure of what to say.

“I wanted to die, you know,” Asuna said softly, her tone barely matching the stone weight her words crashed onto my shoulders. “When you first found me in the Labyrinth, I was planning to let myself die.”

I stared at her, not sure where she was going with this. “…Yeah,” I said eventually, my mouth dry.

“You helped change that,” she said, meeting my eyes. “You showed me that life here didn’t have to be all bad, that I could still find something worth being here for.”

I frowned. “Asuna…”

“Thank you,” she said simply. “Thank you for believing in me, and showing me that things could be better. I know you’re doing what you think you have to, but you don’t have to do it alone. I wanted to tell you that, the same way you helped me.”

I desperately wanted to believe her, to accept her help, to go back to traveling with her and Argo like we had before. The feeling gripped me so tightly I wanted to cry out, but the words never left my throat. Some cruel twist of fate had brought me here, and I was just seeing it through. Feeling the echo of a swordpoint against my throat from days ago, I knew on some instinctual, base level that I could never take Asuna’s offer. I just wasn’t that person.

It made me want to break something.

“…You should join a guild,” I said as I watched a group of Kibaou’s underlings round the corner. “You’re one of the most talented people I’ve ever seen—more than enough to impress anyone. It’s safer to have more friends to back you up, so if someone you trust invites you to join one someday, you should accept.”

“Kirito…”

“I’ll see you around,” I said coolly as the other players came in earshot, pushing off from the railing and walking away.

I couldn’t bring myself to look at her face as I left.

The raid had been going well until the third minotaur appeared.

We’d dealt with Nato relatively easily, and even Baran’s health bars had been dropping rapidly under our continual assault, but then one of the boss room’s walls broke open and everything went sideways.

Asterius the Taurus King was even bigger than Baran the Taurus General or Nato the Taurus Colonel, had even more health bars, and had a paralyzing breath attack that let it hit us at a range. It’d stormed in through one of the stone walls that surrounded the boss arena in a hexagon, scattered the raid crew, and plunged everything into chaos.

I hissed in frustration as I flicked my gaze over the vast stone room. This raid was about ten seconds from completely collapsing and a lot of people dying in the process. Kibaou was gathering up his group into a defensive formation, but Lind was still trying to rally the entire crew to little success. We were spread out, disorganized, and still had Baran to deal with on top of everything.

“Why does it always have to be me?” I muttered under my breath. I’d spent enough time staring, I needed to move.

I rotated the Anneal Blade in my hand and felt its weight as I sprinted towards Baran. Its hammer was on the downswing, heading straight for a stunned player by its feet. Moving without time to think about how insane this was, I dove under the hammer’s arc and swung the Anneal Blade up in a Vertical, parrying the attack.

The vibration ran through me like a physical blow, and the Anneal Blade flew from my numb fingers. My health still dropped a chunk even just from parrying the attack, but I didn’t let myself slow down. I grabbed the stunned player by the collar and heaved him out of range of Baran towards a group of other players.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and I snatched my sword off the ground and hurled myself to the side, narrowly avoiding another hammer crashing down where I’d just been standing. Heart hammering at a thousand miles an hour, I turned towards the bulk of the raid crew.

“Lind!” I screamed. “Group up and focus on Asterius, I’ll deal with Baran!”

Lind made eye contact with me, momentarily stunned. Before he could say anything, Kibaou’s voice echoed across the battlefield. “Don’t trust that bastard, Lind! He’s planning something!”

Lind nodded decisively, though. “Quiet, Kibaou! All raid crew, do as Kirito says! Group up as discussed and prepare to fight Asterius. Kirito, we’ll leave Baran to you!”

I nodded in relief, backpedaling to try and draw Baran away from the rest of the crew. It had barely a quarter of an HP bar left, how hard could it be?

Hah. Haha.

As soon as I threw myself back into the fray, it became quickly apparent that this had been a terrible idea. Each of Baran’s stun blows had an even bigger AoE than Nato’s, and I was left desperately dodging and parrying with no opening to attack.

I grunted as another hammer blow whipped past my head. A stupid, reckless, and all too appealing idea was forming in my head. It was probably an awful plan, but it was about all I had to work with.

I continued dodging and parrying, all while keeping a close eye on Baran’s hammer. Finally, he swung the hammer directly downwards, crashing onto the ground with a thunderous boom. I backpedaled out of reach of the stun, as soon as the sparks faded I threw myself towards it, landing on Baran’s wrist and dashing up along his arm.

I leapt desperately, landing on his shoulder as he flailed wildly. The Anneal Blade glowed pale blue as the hum filled my head, and with a shout I unleashed a Horizontal Arc. It carved two slashes into the side of Baran’s head, who staggered briefly as its glowing purple eyes spun. Seizing the chance, I launched into Suigetsu—a roundhouse kick Martial Arts skill.

It pained me to admit, but Argo’s tip about Martial Arts had honestly helped a lot. A number of its skills could bypass the usual recovery time on any sword skill, allowing you to chain attacks together even more fluidly.

My boot connected solidly with Baran’s head, sending its HP down even further. As soon as my foot touched back down, I was lashing out with a Vertical Arc. Both slashes cut deep into Baran’s flesh, and my eyes locked onto its health bar as it continued to drop…

…and stopped short of zero.

Baran let out an enormous roar, flailing wildly and throwing me from its shoulder. I plummeted rapidly towards the ground with no time to even curse my own stupidity before I crashed down flat on my back. Gasping in pain, I rolled to the side just in time to dodge another hammer blow.

“Kirito!” someone called, dragging my thoughts to a halt before I could start panicking that I had no way of dealing with this stupid minotaur. I scrambled to my feet and out of range, and found Asuna dashing over to me with Argo in tow.

“What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be fighting Asterius!” I hissed.

“What the fuck was that stupid stunt?” Argo said with a glare. “I told you about Martial Arts so you could keep yourself alive, not get yourself killed!”

“Enough! We don’t have time,” Asuna said sharply. “Kirito, can you make an opening for us?”

I closed my eyes for a beat. Two beats. I opened them and nodded. “Yeah. Just don’t miss.”

The ghost of a smile crossed Asuna’s lips. “Who do you think you’re talking to?” she said archly. “Argo!”

Argo cracked her neck. “Right behind ya, A-chan.”

I sprinted towards Baran, spinning the Anneal Blade in my hand. My shout drew its attention, and I planted my feet as I watched the hammer fall towards me. It was fine, I’d done this once already. I inhaled sharply and drew back my sword, felt the hum run through me.

With a cry, I swung it up in a Vertical, crashing against Baran’s hammer with a terrible clang. Once more, I was sent staggering backwards as the vibrations tore my sword from my grip, but I’d bought the time we needed. Baran recoiled for just long enough.

Asuna and Argo dove in, rapier and gauntlets flashing. I didn’t even have time to recover from Baran’s blow and see what they were doing before it was all over. With a roar, Baran shattered to glass. “Nice!” I called out, grinning as I sat up. The two girls returned it as they glanced at me.

As I looked over at the battle against Asterius, though, that grin soon faded.

The raid crew was holding on by a thread. A painful number of them were caught in Asterius’s stuns, and too many of their allies were caught up trying to drag them out of harm’s way. Lind was holding things together as they continued to chip away at its fifth health bar, but only barely.

It soon became clear why as I watched—Asterius’ breath attack was wreaking havoc. It inhaled sharply, yellow sparks crackling around its nostrils as it unleashed a barrage of lightning from its mouth. The electricity leapt across the intervening space to the raid crew almost instantly, sweeping over an entire area with heavy damage and stuns. Worse yet, anyone already in a stunned state that got hit was affected with paralysis, a much longer-term debuff that was harder to shake off.

I dashed over, wincing as another breath attack washed over an arc of the raid crew and sent people diving for cover. Lind beckoned me to his side. “Kirito! Any idea how to slow this thing down?”

I shook my head. “Nope. Just don’t get hit by stuns.”

Lind groaned, but nodded and turned back to issuing orders. It was a touch-and-go thing, fighting Asterius. It didn’t really do that much more damage than Baran all things considered, but getting caught with a stun—or worse, paralysis—at the wrong time could easily prove fatal. Lind had ordered two squads to entirely focus on protecting stunned players, but even that was a stopgap measure.

As I dashed out of range of breath attacks and hacked at Asterius’s legs, I racked my brain for any kind of plan. Nothing came to mind, though, even as I continued to swing my sword with total abandon. A shouted order caught my attention, not one from Lind’s mouth this time.

“Form up on me!” Kibaou yelled. “We can burst it down through the last health bar as soon as it gets there!”

I groaned aloud. No way was that going to end well, especially since Asterius was all but guaranteed to have a final health bar gimmick.

Thankfully, Lind seemed to have the same thought. “Back down, Kibaou!” he barked. “We’ll bide our time!”

“Don’t be a coward, you idiot!” said Kibaou with a sneer. “Get ready to charge!”

I ducked out from under Asterius’s legs, coming to stand next to a squad of tanks bracing to move in, led by Agil. He gave me a wave, before glaring over at Kibaou. “The hell’s he planning?” he called to me.

“Nothing good,” I said quietly. “Listen, can you hang back for a minute? I’m worried things are about to go very bad, very fast.”

Agil glanced at me appraisingly. “Got an idea?”

I waved a hand noncommittally. “Less a plan and more damage control, but it’s something.”

The big man grinned. “Good enough for me! Just give the word.”

I gave him a grateful smile. “Thanks, Agil.”

“Thank me by making sure we don’t lose anyone.”

I nodded and looked back to Asterius. Sure enough, as soon as its last health bar appeared, the Taurus King let out an earth-shaking roar, purple eyes widening and its skin glowing with red heat and yellow sparks. It stomped its foot three times, raising its hammer high above its head as sparks gathered in droves around it.

My stomach dropped. “SCATTER!” I screamed, dashing away from the boss as fast as I could myself. The raid crew began to drag itself backwards, but many weren’t quite fast enough as Asterius slammed its hammer down. A flashing yellow shockwave shot out in a circle, paralyzing anyone it hit.

Significant chunks of the crew were down, Lind included. I nodded to Agil, who charged in with his squad in tow and immediately began holding off the boss and helping anyone he could. Just as I was about to charge in myself, I heard Kibaou shouting something on the other side of Asterius. Glancing past, I saw him organizing two squads to charge in again.

I shook my head. I didn’t have time to deal with that. My sword and hands blurred in my vision as I moved as fast as I could to damage Asterius and drag away anyone left helpless by paralysis.

Asterius lifted its leg and began stomping three times again soon enough, though. I heard Lind shout out behind me. “It’s winding up for another AoE, retreat!”

The AoE caught less of us this time—in part because most people were still hanging out of range of its attacks. Just as Lind started to issue an order to regroup, Kibaou let out a battle cry. “Charge!” he shouted, leading two squads directly towards Asterius.

I ignored him momentarily, unleashing a Vertical Arc against Asterius. As soon as the recovery ended I stepped back from Asterius’s legs and glanced to where Kibaou’s squads were fighting on the other side—they were wounded, but still holding on well.

I glanced up and felt a jolt of panic snap through me.

Asterius was winding up for a breath attack, and no one else had noticed it yet in the chaos of things. Time seemed to slow down before me as my brain ran on overdrive trying to find a way out of this.

If that breath attack hit Kibaou’s squads, someone was going to die. They were relatively isolated from the rest of the raid crew, and paralysis was all but guaranteed to leave them helpless to Asterius’s attacks. Even if I shouted now, though, they wouldn’t have enough time to fully clear the AoE. I needed to do something, now.

Running on fumes and desperation, I gripped the Anneal Blade and hurled it towards Asterius’s face.

Without even bothering to see if it made its mark, I whirled to where Kibaou and his men were standing. “RUN!”

They seemed to realize what was happening and immediately scattered, save for Kibaou. He stood in place, eyes narrowing. Above me, I heard Asterius roar and saw my sword clatter to the ground in the corner of my vision. I dashed over to Kibaou and grabbed him to drag him away. “What’re you doing?! Move, now!”

He grinned viciously, grabbing my wrist and planting his feet. “HELP!” he shouted, eyes sharp and calculating. “HE’S TRYING TO GET ME KILLED!”

My blood ran cold. I fought desperately to wrench my arm away from him, my heart pounding in my chest. “Let me go!” I shouted as I wrestled with Kibaou, but to no use. I heard someone scream my name, but it sounded tinny and distant.

Lightning struck.

Yellow flashes blinded me as a wave of pure agony washed over me. My skin burned and my muscles ached from the electricity arcing across me, and my limbs hung limp and useless as I collapsed to my knees. I was stunned.

As soon as the light faded, I saw Kibaou next to me on the ground, paralyzed. His health was hovering in the yellow, and mine was in the red. Asterius let loose another roar above us, preparing to swing its hammer down and finish us off.

My heart pounded in my ears. I couldn’t move. The hammer began to fall, and I still couldn’t move.

The stun wore off.

I hurled myself forward as soon as I physically could, closing my eyes and praying desperately I would make it in time. I was out of attack range, but Kibaou wasn’t.

I threw out a Senda.

My fist made contact with Asterius just before its hammer smashed down, and its health dropped to zero. 

The Taurus King shattered to fragments, rainbow light flashing everywhere. Kibaou lay unharmed on the ground still, and a pop-up appeared in my vision. 

Congratulations!
Last Attack bonus: Taurus Warhammer

Cheering erupted around me as I exhaled heavily. No one had died, thank the gods. I cast my gaze around, and saw Argo and Asuna running towards me with worried expressions.

Someone grabbed my collar.

“What the fuck was that?!” Kibaou shouted at me. “You just tried to kill me!”

I gritted my teeth. “Kibaou—“

He cut me off and spread his free hand to the crowd. “You all saw it! He knew I was gonna get the Last Attack, and purposefully caught me in the breath attack! Was Diavel not enough for you, you bastard?!”

I forcibly ripped his hands from my coat, stalking to where the Anneal Blade lay on the floor. Grabbing it, I sheathed it and met Kibaou’s eyes with a grim stare. “I think you’ve already made up your mind,” I said coldly. “Think what you like and call me what you like, I’m done here. Don’t bother following.”

I had no interest in sticking around for more of Kibaou’s bad political theater. The crowd parted easily as I stalked through them towards the stairs. “I won’t forget this!” Kibaou shouted, even as I could hear Lind trying to reason with him.

I clenched my fists to stop the shaking as I arrived at the door, placing one against it. Glancing back at the crowd as it swung open, I shook my head. “I know,” I said. I still couldn’t look at Asuna or Argo.

Once again, I climbed the stairs alone.

Chapter Text

December 19th, 2022, 11:53 AM
Floor 4

Asuna didn’t know what to do, and she couldn’t decide if she relished or hated the feeling.

She could feel herself contorting into knots over everything that was going on, sitting in the booth across from Argo and watching her type out and respond to messages impatiently. Argo’s face was twisted into an annoyed frown, her fingers flying across menus floating in front of her. 

Asuna watched quietly in the morning sun shining through the tavern window beside them. She sighed quietly. There was an emptiness to it all, a blank space that still felt empty, yet strange for how aware of it she was at all.

Argo’s fingers slowed and came to a stop, her expression darkening. She closed her menu and collapsed face first onto the table with a groan.

“I’m sick of it!” she declared, her words muffled by the wood. “I’m sick of these assholes!”

“Kibaou and the ALF, or something new this time?” Asuna asked.

“All of ‘em,” Argo said. “If I have to hear one more person rant about the ‘Beater’ I’m gonna fuckin’ lose it.”

Asuna’s eyes fell. Kirito had been the talk of the entire game for the past few weeks, and the buzz showed no sign of stopping. The Beater who’d gotten Diavel killed and flagrantly dared anyone to challenge him, stealing whatever Last Attacks he could and threatening players just to get an edge—how could it not be Aincrad’s hottest gossip?

Kibaou certainly hadn’t helped. As soon as they’d hit Floor 3, he’d cleared the quest to found a guild and officially formed the Aincrad Liberation Force, or the ALF for short. It was by far the largest guild in game at the moment, and its presence dominated the front lines at all times. The only other guild that came even close was Lind’s Divine Dragon Alliance, but the DDA still fell well short of the Army’s membership. 

Of course, Kibaou was was a relentless rumormonger when it came to Kirito.

“It’s… disturbing,” Asuna agreed, folding her arms. “Have you heard from him at all?”

Argo’s eyes dimmed. “Well, sorta. He ghosts me if I try to talk to him, but he still completes every request I send his way.”

Asuna closed her eyes briefly. “I see.”

“I just don’t know how to get through to him, A-chan,” Argo said, rubbing her face.

“I know,” she said wearily. “Trust me, I know.”

The two fell into silence again. Kirito definitely wasn’t a loud person, but Asuna felt his absence the strongest when it was quiet, when his presence wasn’t a wordless comfort. She stared at the empty seat beside her in the booth, wondering what he was doing right now, where he was.

SAO was all the more frightening when Kirito wasn’t there.

Argo dragged Asuna from her reverie with a sigh. “Alright,” she said, sending off another message and dismissing her menu again. “Our guy should be here soon.”

“What’s this for, again?” Asuna asked, tilting her head.

Argo waved a hand. “Some guy wanted to buy info face-to-face. I woulda told him to eat dirt and do it by message like everyone else, but Agil vouched for him.”

Asuna hummed. “What did Agil say?”

“That I’d want to hear from him myself, apparently,” Argo grumbled. She shifted deeper into the booth, patting the seat beside her. “C’mere, I want you on my side for this.”

Asuna raised an eyebrow as she swapped sides, settling in next to the smaller girl. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like me to take a walk while you talk business?”

“Nah, ‘course not,” Argo said with a snort. “You’re my partner, yeah? If anyone’s got a problem with that, they can suck my di—“

Argo’s comment was cut off as the door swung open and a man stepped inside the tavern, a brisk wind blowing in behind him. He was tall—pushing six feet, if Asuna had to guess—and had wild short red hair with a red bandana over his forehead, brown eyes, a scruffy goatee, and a katana on his hip.

His eyes landed on Argo in the corner and walked over, raising a hand in greeting as he smiled. “Yo! You’re Argo, yeah?”

“That’s me. Klein, right?”

Klein slid into the booth across from them and nodded. “Yeah. Thanks for meeting me like this.”

Argo folded her arms and kept her expression neutral. “Sure. Ready to talk business?”

Klein nodded, an easy smile on his face. “Yeah.” He paused, glancing at Asuna. “And you are…?”

“Asuna,” she said, tilting her head formally. “It’s a pleasure.”

“She’s my partner,” Argo explained. “No problem with her sitting in, right?”

Klein waved a hand. “No, no, all good! Anyway, have I got a lot of questions for you.”

Argo leaned back, tapping a finger on the table. “Well, lay ‘em out and I can start quoting prices.”

Klein glanced around, eyeing the empty tavern. He leaned in a little closer, lowering his voice. “To be real, I guess it’s all kinda about the same thing. Listen, how much info do you have about Kirito? Y’know, that guy they’re calling the Beater or whatever.”

Argo stiffened imperceptibly, her left hand tightening into a fist beneath the table. “Depends,” she said coolly. “I’ve got rules about personal info, so it matters what you’re looking for.”

Klein rubbed the back of his head. “I just…” He made a face. “I just wanna know what rumors are actually true. There’s a bunch flying around, but most of ‘em have to do with that 1st Floor boss battle.”

Argo’s eyes narrowed fractionally. “I was there myself,” she said mildly. “I can probably shed some light. Just the big rumors?”

“Yeah.” Klein sighed. “To be honest, I met Kirito back on the 1st Floor, before the death game began. I kept trying to wrap my head around it, but he really didn’t seem like the type to kill someone, y’know?”

“I see.” Argo relaxed a little, her fist unclenching next to Asuna’s. “You willing to pay for that?”

Klein nodded, his face set. “Yeah. Tracking him down’s been a nightmare, and I wanna know the truth.”

Asuna watched as Argo’s eyes flickered, contemplative. She inhaled lightly, nodding to herself. “Alright,” she said to Klein. “You want the truth? I’ll tell ya what happened.”

“Kirito was part of the squad dealin’ with the kobold adds in the boss room. Illfang was a heavy hitter, and we ran into a big problem—its weapon change was different. Beta Test info said that once its HP got low enough, it swapped to a talwar. Instead, it whipped out a nodachi.

“The raid crew got hit hard, we were strugglin’ to regroup. Diavel had us back off, but then he charged in alone, told us to hold back. Kirito shouted at him to stop, but Diavel didn’t listen. He ran right into the nodachi, wasn’t ready to deal with a different weapon, and got himself killed.

“Afterwards, Kibaou blamed Kirito for Diavel’s death, said he tricked him, then started going after the other Beta Testers, too. Kirito didn’t deny it, just told him to leave the Beta Testers alone. Pretty much every other incident I’ve gotten wind of has been the same—someone else blaming Kirito and him just accepting it.”

Argo exhaled as she settled back into the booth, expression grim. Asuna moved a hand to rest it on her knee, but hesitated. Klein started speaking before she could make up her mind and she turned to face him instead.

“Man,” he said, brow furrowed. “What the hell? That’s fucked up!”

Argo stared at Klein for a second before chuckling, the last of the tension leaving her shoulders. “Yeah,” she said. “Yeah, it is.”

Klein leaned back. “That makes me feel a bit better, though,” he said. “It’s real messed up, but I had a feeling it must’ve been something like that. I just couldn’t imagine Kirito hurting someone on purpose.”

Asuna nodded. “I agree,” she said. “It would be very strange.”

“Oh? D’you know him too?”

Asuna and Argo looked at each other for a moment. Asuna shrugged. At this point, they might as well.

“To be honest, we’re friends—we were travelin’ with him for a bit,” Argo explained. “We were partied up for the Floor 1 boss fight.”

Klein’s eyes widened. “Oh, really? I mean, in that case you probably get exactly what I’m talking about.” He paused. “Seriously, how is it that so friggin’ many people are convinced he’s some kinda serial killer?”

Argo shrugged. “They need someone to hate. Kayaba’s too out of reach to be personal, but ol’ Kii-bou’s a perfect target for ‘em. Least until you look closer and realize half the game’s convinced a shy teenager skinny enough to blow over in a breeze is some sorta evil mastermind. Doesn’t help he’s feedin’ into it, making himself into a nice big target.”

“Still,” Klein grumbled. “It’s fucked up.”

Argo smiled wryly. “Not arguing there.”

“So, what do I owe you?” Klein asked.

Argo inhaled for a second, meeting Klein’s eyes. “Nothing, on one condition.”

Klein’s eyebrows threatened to creep into his hairline. “Which is…?”

“Keep an eye out for him,” Argo said plainly. “He’s playing at scapegoating himself and pushing us away, probably so we don’t get ‘dragged down with him’ or something. But if he needs help…”

Klein nodded with a easy grin. “Done. Hell, we’d promised to meet back up as soon as I caught up to the front lines, and while I’m pretty sure that promise ain’t on his mind right now, I’m happy to keep an eye out for the kid.”

Argo closed her eyes. “Thanks.”

Asuna nodded in agreement. “Thank you, Klein.”

“Hey, no thanks needed. I’m just happy to find people with some damn common sense.”

Argo grinned. “I have a feeling we’ll be getting along very well,” she said cheerfully.

Early afternoon found Asuna and Argo on the move again, venturing deeper into the 4th Floor. They’d parted ways with Klein, who’d gone back to questing with his guild, Fuurinkazan. Asuna found her thoughts wandering as she and Argo wandered through long fields of tall grass, heading for the river—the next major landmark on the floor.

The only issue was the goblins that lay in wait to ambush unsuspecting travelers, springing out from the tall grass with sharp knives and bared teeth. Asuna and Argo were forced to keep their heads on a swivel, Asuna’s three or so inch height advantage giving her a slightly better view.

That said, her attention kept drifting back to something distinctly unrelated to goblins or ambushes.

“Argo?” Asuna asked, her voice wavering a little.

“Eh?” Argo grunted without looking back.

“May I ask you a question?”

“Yeah, ‘course. What’s up?”

Asuna frowned, turning her jumbled thoughts over in her head as she struggled to voice any of them. “Back when we were talking with Klein, you…”

“I…?” Argo glanced back at Asuna.

Asuna opened her mouth to speak, but then the sound of grass rustling surrounded them. Before she could blink, Argo was lunging past her, claws lashing out to clash with a goblin that had thrown itself at Asuna’s back.

Asuna’s rapier was already on the move, piercing into another goblin’s sternum as it lunged for the back of Argo’s neck with a big knife. Her sword stopped the creature’s momentum, and she quickly drew it back, her blade glowing pale green before stabbing forwards twice. Double Tap impaled the goblin twice, finishing it off just as Argo’s opponent let out a death cry behind her.

The rustling still hadn’t stopped, though. Moving in sync, Asuna and Argo’s weapons flashed out as they whirled to the side. The goblin that had slipped out of the grass there was fatally wounded before it could even blink, collapsing to the ground and shattering.

Argo nodded in satisfaction. “Nice. Let’s keep walkin’, I don’t wanna deal with more of these than we have to.”

The two fell into step again, pushing their way through the field. The sound of rushing water began to fill their ears, both of their steps quickening as they approached.

“What were you gonna ask?” Argo said, glancing back at Asuna.

Asuna took a breath. “You called me your partner back when we were talking with Klein.”

Argo blinked. “Well, yeah. What else would I call you?”

“Isn’t that an awfully strong word?”

“Why would it be?”

Asuna opened her mouth to respond, but found she had no answer. In front of her, Argo finally emerged from the tall grass, coming to stand on the banks of a sizable river flowing through the farm country they’d been trekking through.

“You’ve got my back, yeah?” Argo said as she turned to face Asuna. Her hair caught the afternoon   sunlight, blonde strands aglow as she smiled. “You fight with me, walk with me, talk me through info broker stuff, and we spend most of our time together. If you’re not my partner, then what are you?”

Asuna stared at Argo. “Are you sure you’re alright with someone like me?” she asked quietly.

“A-chan, I’m not stickin’ with ya outta some kinda obligation to Kii-bou or something. I ain’t the kinda gal to travel everywhere with someone and give ‘em a cute nickname because I feel like I gotta tolerate them. You’re my friend, you know, and that means a lot.”

“I… see,” Asuna said, blinking furiously. The sun was in her eyes. “I’m—I’m glad.”

Argo took a few steps forward, playfully punching Asuna’s arm. “That’s better, don’t need you gettin’ all gloomy on me too.” She turned back towards the river, still smiling. “Let’s go, we got quests to find.”

It didn’t take them long, as it turned out. Further down the river was a large farmstead, fields of grain stretching out from it. A middle-aged man with a straw hat and pipe was sitting in front of the farmhouse, a black and white collie lying next to him. The dog perked its ears as Asuna and Argo approached, turning to face them as they came to a stop just inside the fence surrounding the house’s yard.

“Hello there,” Asuna called out.

The man turned, tipping his hat back to get a better look at them. “Heyo,” he said, raising a hand in greeting. “Well met. Travelers, are you?”

Argo nodded, eyeing the dog at his side. “Y-yeah,” she said, voice unusually hesitant. “Uh. We—we were wondering if you…”

Asuna placed a hand on Argo’s shoulder, noting the slight jump as she did. “We were passing through the area heading for the next village, would you happen to know the best way there?”

The man rubbed his chin. “Aye, I do. Cut south from here, and once you’re through the farmland you should see it in the distance. You’ve got swords on your belts, though—would you be warriors, by any chance?”

Asuna nodded. “That we are.”

His eyes brightened. “Oh, good. I’ve got a favor to ask—I’ll pay, of course.”

“What kind of favor?”

“Truth be told, there’s some goblins camped further down the river,” the man explained. “They’ve been wandering closer to the farm recently, if you could get rid of them I’d be much obliged.”

Asuna glanced at Argo, who nodded slowly, eyes still locked on the collie. “Certainly,” Asuna said. “We’ll get right on that.”

The man tipped his hat. “The two of you have my thanks. I’ll make sure to have a nice reward ready for when you get back.”’

The collie gave a small yip, and Argo flinched beside Asuna. Patting the shorter girl on the shoulder, she walked forward and extended a hand, offering it back-first to the dog. It leaned forward, sniffing curiously before licking her hand several times.

Asuna smiled, rubbing the collie’s neck and scratching its chin. “You have a lovely dog,” she said.

“Aye, she’s a good girl. Works twice as hard as me, I think.”

“Good girl,” Asuna said with a chuckle, scratching behind the collie’s ears. “We’ll be off, then.”

The man gave them a wave in farewell. Asuna bowed before turning and leading Argo away back towards the river. As soon as they were out of earshot, Argo began to relax and Asuna turned to her. “Are you alright?” she asked, frowning.

“Yeah,” Argo said, shaking herself a bit. “Yeah, I’m good. Sorry ‘bout that.”

“Do you not like dogs?”

“Nope.” Argo shuddered. “They freak me out.”

Asuna tilted her head. “Aren’t you Argo the Rat? I would expect you to be afraid of cats, not dogs.”

Argo glared up at her. “Don’t push it, A-chan.”

Asuna just smiled. The two lapsed into silence as they continued along the riverbanks. The sound of rushing water filling the empty air between them.

Encampment was a generous word, Asuna decided. The goblin camp was thirty minutes walk from the farmhouse, and it was really more of an occupied ruin. The remains of a wooden watchtower was circled by a number of tents,  and all of it was heavily scorched by fire. It buzzed with the activity of a small pack of goblins.

They were small creatures, only about four feet tall or so on average with greyish green skin, large floppy ears, and pointed teeth. Their clothes were ragged, their weapons rusted, and they shared the same purplish eyes that almost every humanoid monster did in Sword Art Online. Argo had mentioned theories about that at one point, but Asuna had a feeling it was just for looks.

Argo crouched behind a sizable boulder and Asuna quickly joined her, trying to count the number of enemies. Four, five six…

“Nine goblins?” Argo said disgustedly. “Fuckin’ seriously?”

“That’s going to be troublesome,” Asuna said.

“No shit.” Argo ground a foot into the dirt. “I miss Kii-bou.”

Asuna blinked. Neither of them had talked openly about how they personally felt about Kirito’s abrupt departure since it had happened, and she assumed it had been a sort of unspoken taboo. Clearly not.

“I miss him too,” she said softly.

Argo’s face was angled down, but Asuna didn’t miss the miserable expression that flashed across it. She reached a hand out for the other girl’s shoulder but hesitated, allowing it to drop back to her side. Her chest felt tight as she watched Argo. Surprise that she was feeling something at all wound its way through her, and Asuna pondered what to do.

What did she want to do?

Asuna rose, drawing her rapier as she evaluated the goblins. “Argo,” she said. “Let me handle this.”

“Eh?” Argo glanced up, confusion forming. “What’re you talking about?”

“The goblins. Just wait for my signal.”

Argo eyed her suspiciously. “You got some kinda plan?”

“You could call it that.” Asuna needed to test something.

“Well, be careful, okay?”

Asuna nodded and stepped around the rock, pacing towards the camp with her rapier at the ready. She widened her eyes, inhaling as she felt her heart pound in anticipation.

She still had no idea what to do—problems swirled around her with no sign of stopping, and none of them were easily resolved. She’d known she needed to be fast, though, known it from the very start. Unless she was faster and smarter than anyone else, unless she made herself useful and kept her sight on what was ahead, she’d be alone in the end.

She wanted to see how fast she could go.

“Now then…” she murmured.

The goblins slowly perked up as she approached, glancing up first and then drawing weapons and letting loose guttural battle cries. They were spread out in a rough circle around the ruined watchtower, charging towards her with wide eyes.

Asuna drew back her rapier, a pale green glow flickering around it in the afternoon sunlight. Her feet left the ground in a burst of speed as she lunged forwards, a Linear piercing straight through the nearest goblin’s collar.

It stumbled backwards off of her swordpoint, and as soon as she could move again, Asuna flicked the tip of her blade across its neck. A glowing red line appeared for a fraction of a second before it was swallowed by the explosion of light as the goblin shattered.

Asuna was already on the move, feet flying across the dirt as she charged a Double Tap, twin strikes piercing through the next goblin before its dagger could reach her. Stepping backwards, her eyes flicked over the rest of her opponents as they approached.

Seven left. Three in front, two to the left, two to the right.

Asuna dashed to the right, rapier held in front of her as she approached the two goblins there. They let out simultaneous cries, one lunging for her gut and the other leaping for her neck with their knives. She sidestepped the neck strike, using her rapier to catch the other’s dagger and redirect, driving the point of her blade into its shoulder.

By the time the other goblin had landed, Asuna was already whirling around. Her blade clashed with the goblin’s, the length of her rapier allowing her to force it to back off. She pressed the advantage, lunging forward with several quick thrusts to the gut followed by a quick slash up its chest. Even without any sword skills, the combined damaged was more than enough to be fatal.

Hearing footsteps behind her, she sidestepped without looking, the other goblin’s blade scraping across her side. She winced but didn’t let herself slow down, activating Oblique. It was similar to Linear, but was aimed at a downward angle as opposed to the former’s even thrust. What it lacked in range it made up for in power—enough to kill it instantly.

Not a second too soon, either. The other five goblins were upon here, knives flashing. Asuna threw herself to one side, partially dodging several blows but still taking several hits that sent her health into the yellow. Backpedaling, she circled around to place her enemies between her and Argo’s hiding spot.

“Now!” she called out, rapier flicking as fast as she could move it as she wove in between strikes.

Argo’s dash alerted the two goblins at the back, but Asuna had already prepared for that. As soon as a gap appeared she lunged forwards, another Linear striking one of the now-distracted goblins in the back of the head. The other goblin’s weapons reached for her, but only one managed to catch her back.

Argo’s claws tore the other to shreds, and both girls whirled on the three remaining, weapons flashing in a final clash. It was only when the final goblin let out a death rattle that Asuna finally relaxed, lowering her rapier and glancing around.

The riverbank was quiet, the pounding of her heart in her ears and the clash of metal gone and replaced with the peaceful mutter of running watter. She turned to Argo with a half-smile and a nod. “Just like that.”

“What the hell do you mean, ‘just like that’?” Argo sputtered. “Do you have any idea how risky that was?!”

“It worked, didn’t it?”

“That’s—that’s not the point!” Argo pressed a hand to her forehead. “If you hadn’t been careful, you’d be dead!”

“I’m not, though. All I had to do was be faster than them.”

Argo stared at her for a second like she was seeing alien life. “That’s not… ah, forget it.” She dug a potion out of her pocket, thrusting it at Asuna. “Here, drink. You’re almost in the red.”

Asuna blinked. So she was. “I’ll pay more attention in the future,” she said, surprised to find that she meant it.

“Good. I…”

Asuna tilted her head. “I?”

Argo didn’t meet her eyes. “I need you here,” she said, almost whispering. “Not sure what I’d do if I lost you, after Kii-bou.”

“He isn’t dead,” Asuna pointed out with a frown.

“How is that what you focus on?” Argo complained, straightening. “Whatever, let’s get moving.”

Asuna had even less of an idea what to do when they ran into Kirito at the farmhouse.

He was crouched and rubbing the dog’s belly while talking quietly with the farmhouse NPC. As Asuna and Argo approached he glanced up, dark eyes softening for just a moment as he made eye contact. Asuna came to a stop a few feet away, watching as Kirito nodded to the man before standing to face them.

“Kirito,” Asuna said, tilting her head. “It’s good to see you again.”

He nodded. “You too, both of you. You look well.” His voice was as quiet as ever—Asuna had to strain her ears to catch all of what he were saying. “I’m glad.”

Argo shrugged, an easy grin on her face. “We’re doin’ alright, all things considered.”

“I was just getting on my way,” he said, giving both of them another look. “I’ll… see you around. Stay safe.”

He turned to walk away, but Asuna called out before he could get very far. “Kirito, wait.”

Kirito’s footsteps paused as he looked back, one eyebrow raised. “What’s up?”

Words failed Asuna as she stared at him. “…Are you okay?” she asked eventually.

There was a short pause, but Asuna didn’t miss the way his eyes dimmed. “I’m fine,” he said. “…I should get going.”

“I’ll wait for you.”

Asuna was barely aware that she’d spoken as the words left her mouth, and confusion washed over Kirito’s face as he glanced at her. “What?”

She took a deep breath. “I’ll wait for you. I can guess what you’re thinking, what it is you’re trying to do, so I’ll just say this. For when you need a friend, for when you need someone to catch you. As long as you’re still alive, if you’re still here, that’s enough for me to wait.”

Asuna exhaled heavily when she finished. It felt like the first time in years that she’d said what she was really thinking, what she really wanted. It felt like stretching a muscle she didn’t even know she had, sore and tender and satisfying. Something about Kirito made it easier, made her want to put the whole world on mute just to listen to him.

Beside her, Argo nodded. “I’m not an idiot, either—I know you’ve still been doin’ all the requests I send your way. Like I said the other week, keep yourself alive. Long as that’s true, we’re all good. Got it?”

Kirito stared at the two of them, his eyes wide. Asuna was worried for a moment from his lack of reaction that he was angry, but then he bowed his head and gripped his arm with his hand as if to protect himself.

“Thank you,” he whispered. “And… I’m sorry for everything. Take care of each other, okay?”

Her chest tight, Asuna opened her mouth to speak. Someone else cut over her before she got the chance, though.

“Well, if it isn’t the Beater!”

All three of them tensed at the word. Asuna turned to find a four-man party from the Army approaching. She recognized the man in front—Orochigata, one of Kibaou’s closest allies. He was a tall man with an angular face and long black hair pulled into a high ponytail, one hand resting on the curved sword on his belt.

“What do you want?” Kirito said. His voice dropped, any trace of the higher and softer way he’d spoken to Asuna replaced by a low and frigid snap.

Orochigata came to a stop just a few feet away from them, leering at Kirito. “I’ve got a bone to pick with you,” he said. “See, I think Kibaou’s wrong about you.”

Kirito eyed him. “Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah. See, Kibaou’s right that you’re a murdering snake, but he won’t kick you off the raid team just yet, thinks you’re too strong for that.”

“Get to the point.”

Asuna flinched as Orochigata drew his sword, pointing it at Kirito’s chest. “Duel me. I’ll prove you’re not half as good as they say, and we can finally get the murderer off the front lines.”

“Fine,” Kirito said before Asuna had a chance to protest that this was obviously ridiculous. “Half Health or First Blow?”

“Kii-bou!” Argo said. “What the hell’re you doing?”

He raised a hand. “Enough. This is between me and him. Half Health or First Blow?”

Orochigata sneered. “First Blow is enough for me to crush you.”

A few menu inputs later, and the duel icon of crossed swords appeared over both their heads as the two stepped away from everyone else. Asuna turned to Argo. “What do they mean by Half Health or First Blow?”

Argo sighed. “There’s three kinds of duels in SAO: Half Health, First Blow, or To The Death. It’s just talkin’ about the victory condition—who lands the first blow, who brings their opponent to half health first, or who survives.” She paused. “Well, we probably won’t see people doing the third at all.”

Asuna shuddered. “I hope not. Thank you.”

“No problem, let’s just hope he doesn’t get himself into even more trouble.”

The countdown was approaching zero as Asuna glanced back over. Clasping her hands behind her back, she watched quietly as Kirito drew his sword, facing Orochigata.

The countdown hit zero.

Both of them moved, Orochigata dashing forwards and Kirito taking two measured steps. As he took a third and final step, Orochigata’s sword began to glow pale yellow held low against the ground. Asuna inhaled sharply as she tried to figure out what kind of sword skill he was using, while Kirito brought his sword above him in a one-handed grip to counterstrike.

The glow abruptly vanished. A feint, Asuna realized with a shock. Orochigata’s sword flashed out in a lightning-quick stab, no sword skills active. Kirito’s sword was in no position to block.

Kirito moved.

His front leg shifted and his whole body twisted, his arms and sword flashing faster than Asuna’s eyes could track. Before she could blink, Orochigata was sprawled out the ground, a glowing red gash running from his left shoulder to his right hip clearly visible.

The duel victor icon appeared above Kirito’s head.

He sheathed his sword. Asuna exhaled slowly. The whole thing had taken less than three seconds, and she hadn’t even caught all of it properly. “What… was that?” she said aloud.

“Kii-bou’s not just good,” Argo said plainly. “He’s the best.”

“I couldn’t even see all of what he did.”

Argo smiled wryly. “Yeah, I bet. Same thing happened to me when I first met him.” She glanced up at Asuna. “Putting it simply, he tripped him.”

Asuna tilted her head. “Tripped him?”

“Yep. Orochigata was goin’ for a thrust, right? The feint was just to throw Kii-bou off. So Kii-bou let him think it worked, then once he was too close to back out, he stepped one foot back and pivoted his torso out of the way. First, his free arm grabbed Orochigata’s sword arm and pulled him closer in, while his forward leg tripped him. Once he was falling, Kii-bou’s sword arm came around and finished ‘em off.”

Asuna blinked several times, processing. “I see,” she said slowly. “It almost sounds like judo.”

Argo shrugged. “Maybe a bit, usin’ the enemy’s weight against ‘em.”

“I won’t accept this!”

The abrupt shout dragged Asuna and Argo’s conversation to a halt. They both looked over to find Orochigata pointing at Kirito, sword still drawn and his face twisted with rage. Kirito looked almost bored, sword sheathed and both hands in his pockets.

“You lost,” he said flatly. “End of story.”

“You—you must have cheated somehow!” Orochigata said, jaw clenched.

“Alright, that’s enough!” came another voice, this one familiar. Asuna glanced over to find Klein approaching with what was presumably the rest of his party in tow. His arms were folded over his chest as he came to a stop. “You lost, fair and square. Beat it.”

Orochigata whirled on Klein. “What was that?”

Klein snorted. “If you want trouble, be my guest. You looked at who’s outnumbered here?”

Orochigata froze as he abruptly realized he was working with a scant four-man party, while all totaled their side had nine. That seemed to take some of the wind out of he sails, but he still shot Kirito a venomous glare.

“This isn’t the last of this,” he hissed. “Watch your step.”

With that, Orochigata gestured to the rest of his men and they stalked off into the fields together. It was only once they vanished into the sea of wheat that Asuna relaxed, drawing her hand away from where it had unconsciously drifted to the hilt of rapier.

“Well, that could’ve gone worse,” Klein said dryly. “Good to see you guys.”

Kirito didn’t meet Klein’s eyes. “…I should go.”

He turned and vanished into the fields in a different direction before anyone could stop them. Asuna and Argo both let out a sigh before turning back to Klein, whose face had fallen.

“It’s good to see you too,” Asuna said. “Are these your guildmates?”

Klein brightened. “Sure are! This here’s the rest of Fuurinkazan, my humble little guild.”

The five other men were all roughly in their twenties and dressed in similar colors to Klein of red with green and yellow accents. They gave a chorus of greetings to the girls, and Argo gave a wave back while Asuna nodded politely.

“Good timin’, by the way,” Argo commented. “That could’ve gotten ugly.”

“Hey, all good,” Klein said. “To be honest, I think I gotta say goodbye here, though. I wanna see if we can catch up to Kirito, maybe talk some sense into him.”

Argo snorted. “Good luck.”

“We’ll see you around, then,” Asuna said.

Klein gave them a casual salute. “Sure! Stay safe out there. Alright, Fuurinkazan, move out!”

Asuna and Argo were alone once more.

“What a day,” Argo said heavily. “It’s not even dinner time yet.”

Asuna hesitated fractionally before laying a hand on the smaller girl’s shoulder. “Are you alright?” she asked tentatively.

Argo smiled gratefully. “Yeah, I’m good. Just whining, that’s all.”

“That’s good.”

She walked over to where the farmhouse NPC was sitting some distance away, and a few exchanges later had turned in the goblin quest. The collie whined a greeting, and Asuna crouched down and pulled out a piece of jerky she’d kept in her inventory. She tore into the meat eagerly, Asuna rubbing her side as she did.

“It’s funny,” Argo said from behind her—when had she moved there?—smiling at Asuna. “I would’ve thought you’d say feedin’ her was pointless ‘cause it wasn’t real, or something.”

Asuna titled her head. “Maybe a few weeks ago,” she agreed. “Not anymore. I suppose Kirito has had an influence on me.” She stood, giving one last farewell to the dog before retreating away from them to where Argo was a safe distance away.

“He has, hasn’t he?” Argo said thoughtfully.

“…Do you think he’s going to be okay?”

Argo exhaled heavily. “I really don’t know, A-chan.”

“I just hope I got through to him,” she said.

“You did.”

Asuna blinked. “How are you so certain?”

“Call it a hunch,” Argo said with a shrug. “I’m pretty sure about it, though.”

Asuna looked out at where the sun was beginning to set as the horizon glowed brilliant gold. “I hope so.”

If nothing else, she knew what she wanted to do now.

Chapter Text

January 16th, 2023, 3:48 PM
Floor 8

I was starting to feel like something was following me.

Several weeks had passed. I’d been exploring and completing quests for the entire day, and was currently taking a short break. I’d climbed a tree to avoid monsters without the hassle of backtracking to a Safe Zone, and rested my back against the bark high above the ground. Crows called out around me as they took flight amidst the slowly setting sun.

The entire 8th Floor was a giant deciduous forest, with most of the settlements built in and around small clearings in the thick wood. There were scattered regions of plains around the edges of the floor, but they mostly served as a safe refuge for those too far from the scattered towns.

And the entire time I’d been walking, I’d felt like someone was watching me.

Shaking my head, I took out a sandwich I’d bought from an NPC earlier that day. I put my hands together in prayer as always, mechanically chewing and swallowing without tasting much at all as I considered. Odds were, I was probably just being paranoid. Things had calmed down a little bit, and I was relatively sure that I wasn’t being stalked by some over-eager vigilante looking to knock the Beater down a few pegs. Well, at least not that directly.

No, Kibaou had apparently gotten what he’d wanted from me—a solid power base. Not that the Beater label had stopped being a headache for a single second since then, but at least Kibaou didn’t seem intent on trying to frame me again, so that was something.

I was taking my victories where I could find them, okay?

As a result, the New Year had come and gone at least relatively quietly. The Clearers had put their backs into advancing, and we’d completed five floors in as many weeks. Apparently, there’d been some big Christmas Eve party and a whole New Years’ celebration some of the bigger guilds had put together to celebrate us getting this far and to try and put something more normal back into our lives.

I hadn’t gone.

I’d given myself a short rest that day, the first one I’d had since the game began. I had more important things to do than sit around doing nothing, not the least of which was trying to get us out of this stupid game. I was always at the head of the pack in terms of level and equipment because of it. It didn’t make me feel much better about our situation.

Or make it any easier when we lost someone in the Clearers.

I shook my head, dragging my thoughts back to the present. Shoving the last of my sandwich into my mouth, I shifted on the branch I was sitting on and reached with my legs to start climbing down. As I did, I came face to face with a crow on a nearby branch, staring right at me.

“Hey,” I said after a moment. “You need something?”

The crow cawed.

“Well, I’m just gonna…” I gestured down.

Turning its beak up at me, the crow took off in a flash.

I sighed and made my way back down to the forest floor, dropping the last few feet with a thud. I drew my sword, flipping it back and forth in my hand as I glanced around. No players, monsters, or NPCs in sight, just a thick stretch of forest with a worn footpath snaking through it. The hairs on the back of my neck kept tingling, though.

I activated Searching, sweeping the forest again now doused in green. Nothing.

“Maybe I really am just getting paranoid,” I muttered as I deactivated Searching. Theoretically, there shouldn’t be a feeling of being watched in SAO—none of the game’s systems, whether Searching, Hiding, or anything else, included anything like it. It sounded ridiculous to call it a sixth sense, though, or some kind of psychosomatic phenomenon. I was probably just imagining things.

I still kept a careful eye out as I started down the path.

We had good reason to believe that the Labyrinth for this floor was at the far southern end of the forest, though no hard confirmation yet. Past the first few floors, most Labyrinths had started to become more disguised and harder to find—gone were the towering pillars of grey stone visible from halfway across the floor. The frontliners were forced to be a bit more thorough in our searching as a result.

The dying sunlight filtered through oak and ash trees as I walked. Regardless of my increased attentiveness, I didn’t find any sign of either the Labyrinth or the source of my feeling. Some time into walking, though, I heard the rush of water in the distance up along the trail. I kept my sword close at hand and continued along with my eyes alert.

I rounded a bend in the path and came to the stream in question. Maybe twenty feet across and about fifteen inches deep with shallow grassy banks, the crystal clear water ran steadily through a small break in the forest. There were no bridges, but a set of flat mossy rocks had been placed as stepping stones across.

What I didn’t expect was to find someone else there. A woman dressed in black with flowing dark brown hair sat at the back on the opposite side, washing something in the river. The first thing that registered to me was the blue cursor above her head indicating an NPC. The second was that she was washing a bloodstained coat of some kind, the water downstream from her dyed gently crimson. She softly hummed a tune I didn’t recognize as she worked.

“Hail, young warrior,” she called in a low voice without looking up. I paused at the opposite bank, surprised that she had noticed me.

“Hello,” I said, bowing my head slightly. “May I ask what you’re doing here?” Who knows, maybe she had some information about the Labyrinth.

She looked up for the first time, smiling lopsidedly. Her face was heavily lined and weathered, and she examined me curiously. “Preparing for what will come,” she said vaguely. “Do you seek the Labyrinth of these lands?”

I nodded. “I do.”

She inclined her head. “An exchange, then. If you shall complete one task of mine, I shall tell you where it lies.”

A smile crept across my face. A quest in exchange for the Labyrinth’s location was a fantastic deal. “I accept,” I said simply. “What do you need me to do?”

She bowed her head back to her work once more, continuing to wash the coat. “The crows are in disturbance,” she said. “Follow the stream to the west of here, where lies a beast that has taken two relics of importance. Slay the beast, retrieve the relics, and bring them to me, and I shall grant you what you seek.”

I nodded. Simple fetch quest stuff—go here and kill the monster. “Got it.” As I did, notification appeared in my vision.

Quest Accepted: [The Crows’ Boon]
Defeat the monster downstream and retrieve the two relics.

Without another word, she gave a crooked smile before shooing me with her hand. Taking that as my cue to leave, I briefly checked my compass before setting out west. With any luck, I could fight this monster before the last daylight disappeared. 

Night combat was always risky. A lot of mobs had night vision of some variety, and while Searching could give varying amounts of night vision depending on level, the greenish overlay always made it a bit tricky to actually fight with.

Thankfully, it only took about ten minutes of walking downstream to reach the spot. To one side of the stream was a small clearing in the forest. Rather than a natural one, though, sapling trees and shrubs had been torn up and shredded, leaving barren earth and a large tree throw where an enormous oak tree had fallen aside.

At the bottom of the tree throw lay a wolf—though calling it a wolf felt like an understatement. It was an enormous beast with grey and tawny fur, streaked through with black and red. The streaks seemed to thicken on one side, obscured by the curled position it lay in. Crow calls echoed around me as the wolf opened its eyes, rising to stand and a large health bar appearing next to it in my vision.

I inhaled slowly as I gripped my sword. In a flash, the wolf lunged from its spot at the bottom of the tree throw, crossing the intervening space in an instant and diving for my throat with its jaws. I sidestepped its dash, sword flashing out with a Horizontal that sliced along the wolf’s flank. Now that I could see it properly, I focused on where the streaks of red and black fur gathered there, where a knife of some kind was still buried in its side. It skidded to a stop in the dirt, red eyes fixated on me. 

And the balancing act began.

Fighting in Sword Art Online was a strange thing, I’d started to understand. Time to kill was always low—weak mobs died from only one or two sword skills, and even compared to some other MMOs, quest mobs, field bosses, and floor bosses often took less time than many newcomers expected.

It went both ways, though. Players were a little more durable and had access to healing items of all varieties, but even our health bars were still shockingly limited compared to many other games. SAO made up for this with parrying, blocking, and dodging. Players had an array of tools to avoid damage entirely, and typically fell into relying on multiple at a time. Tank builds tended to emphasize complete blockage with shields and heavy armor, where DPS builds most often favored some combination of parrying and dodging, as I did against the wolf.

It lunged for me again, and I inhaled sharply and lashed out with my sword in a horizontal swipe, colliding with its jaw and sending it off course as I side-stepped. Attacking again, I put more distance between us. Parrying non-humanoid enemies was tricky—no weapons to block meant that you were effectively trying to fend off the enemy’s entire bodyweight with your weapon, but it was doable, particularly if you had a high Wisdom stat.

Ultimately, the trickiest part of SAO was footwork. It sounded boring, and maybe it was, but misjudging spacing and the reach of weapons—or worse yet, losing your balance—could spell fatal trouble all too fast. A swordsman that fell down was a swordsman near-helpless to the enemy.

In that sense, I considered myself very good. As the wolf closed distance to me with dashes, lunges, and careful pacing, I made sure to keep it as far from me as possible. 

It went like this.

Take measured, full steps—no shuffling or crossing your feet. Dodge as it lunges by pivoting and stepping in one motion, sword slashing forwards to attack and counterbalance.

When it pounces to try and knock you off your feet, brace wide and use a Vertical to slam downwards and stop its momentum. When it tries to force its way through, back off and sidestep, attacking as it passes. When it tries to circle for an opening, use thrusts to force it to respect your reach and space.

And when it makes a desperate last ditch attack, feel the Sharp Nail hum in your head as you cut it three times deeply—diagonally up and left, horizontal to the right, then straight down through its head.

And like that, the wolf was slain.

I hadn’t even lost any health doing it. Allowing a small satisfied smile to cross my face, I glanced at the sky. I was running out of light—best to head back to the lady by the stream and make plans from there. 

I reached down, grabbed the bag of Cor that it had dropped, and examined the knife that had fallen from its side. It was an old thing, covered in blood both fresh and dried. The fine lining and inlaid silver seemed to indicate it was more a ritual knife than one made for work or combat. Shrugging, I slipped it into a pocket and stepped down into the tree throw, activating Searching.

Sure enough, two objects were highlighted at the back by the tangle of the dead tree’s roots. Crouching down, I pulled a sword and a talisman of some kind from the dirt. A notification informed me the quest had updated, so I shrugged and shoved them in my inventory. Relics retrieved—now just to return them.

By the time I reached the lady again, the last light was almost entirely gone. The woman had seemingly finished washing the coat from earlier, and had begun to sew up several large tears. As I approached, she glanced up and stood to face me.

“The beast is slain?” she asked, her low voice not quite husky.

I nodded. “I’ve defeated it and retrieved the relics.” I pulled the sword and talisman from my inventory and passed them to her. Then, hesitating, I drew the knife from my pocket and passed it to her as well. “I don’t know if this is yours, but it was buried in the wolf’s flank when I found it.”

The woman eyed me curiously. “Two relics I spoke of, and yet three I am returned. What am I to make of this?”

I scratched my neck. “Sorry, is that not yours?”

A grin cracked her weathered face. “No, it is indeed mine. I thank you, young warrior.”

“You’re welcome.”

She nodded, meeting my eyes. “Now, your reward. Firstly, the Labyrinth—it lies due south of here, ten minutes as the crow flies.”

I bowed my head. “Thank you, that helps a lot.”

She grinned crookedly. “Do not be so hasty. A question for this young warrior before me: were you to choose one of these relics you have retrieved for yourself, which might it be?”

I paused, examining them up close. The sword was a longsword, with a steel blade patterned with wavy feathers, simple hilt and pommel, and flat crossguard. A small engraving of a crow in flight etched at the base of the blade caught my eye. The talisman was a plain length of leather cord with what appeared to be the bones of a bird’s foot suspended at the bottom of it, and the knife was a small, worn ritual knife of some kind.

I considered. “…The sword,” I said eventually. “More dangerous enemies are waiting for me, and I’d like to be well-armed to face them.”

The woman nodded sagely. “A sensible choice for one who walks the warrior’s path. So be it.”

Tracing a hand over the blade, she muttered something in a language I didn’t recognize and I watched as the dirt and wear seemed to fall away. She then presented it hilt-first to me. I took it with only a beat of hesitation.

“That blade is yours to do as you see fit,” she said. “Kill or protect with it, leave it to gather dust, or sell it, it matters not. However…”

I raised an eyebrow. “However?”

“The other relics must extract their due, now the crows’ emissary has been chosen,” she said cryptically. She raised the talisman in front of me, the bird’s talon dangling in front of my eyes. As I gazed at it curiously, a strange dizziness came over me, my vision shrinking and my head beginning to spin.

A flash of movement crossed my vision as the woman stabbed me in the chest with the knife.

I choked out a gasp of pain as my vision began to darken, my legs collapsing under me. I fell to the riverbank with a thud, cold grass against my cheek. The woman laid something in my left hand, closing it around what I realized was the talisman. Something burned on the back of my palm. 

“Do not fear, you who spoke truthfully and returned what is rightly mine,” she spoke. “It is not your time, but when all is said and done, you may wish it was…”

I tried to speak, but all that came out was a wet croak. The blackness came soon after.

My eyes snapped open as I choked on a scream.

I bolted upright, my hand grasping at my chest where there had been a burning pain just a second ago. I found neither blade nor wound there, and looked down to find my chest completely unharmed. The woman was nowhere to be found, along with the knife and talisman. 

Only the sword remained, laid next to me on the riverbank.

I shivered and stood slowly, taking the sword as I did. I examined my own status briefly, finding that I was still at full health and with no status effects currently active. That elicited a frown. I examined the sword in my hands—the Rook's Favor, according to the stat window. I hadn’t leveled my Appraisal skill at all, so I couldn’t tell at a glance whether it was any better than my current sword or not. I had my doubts. I’d had to ditch the Anneal Blade for a new sword on the 5th Floor and I didn’t expect to find an upgrade so soon.

Well, ditched was the wrong term. I’d kept it in my inventory still, in the hopes of melting down into an ingot to re-forge into something else later on. It was a change from my usual efficiency-oriented playstyle, but I couldn’t help it. Especially now, my swords were my partners—I wasn’t willing to just throw them away like that.

That assumed the Rook’s Favor outclassed my current equipment, of course. I weighed it in my hand and had to admit that it felt comfortable. I turned it over several times, examining the feather-like patterning in the steel. With a shrug, I experimentally drew it back into position for a Slant. A deep reddish purple hue surrounded the blade as the hum filled my ears, and I slashed outwards.

The blade sliced through the air in front of me, a faint feather-pattern appearing in the purple hue as it cut. A single feather made of purplish light trailed behind in the space where my sword had passed, falling to the ground and disappearing.

I lowered the blade and stared at it. 

All I could manage was a weak “Huh?” There was no reason for me to have gotten a Legendary-grade weapon, but the signature sword trail was a dead giveaway. “How the…?”

The forest offered no response.

SAO didn’t technically have rarities—you had to judge an item’s quality on its stats alone. The sole exception were Legendary items, incredibly rare drops that not only had exceptional stats but were generally accompanied by some kind of signature or cosmetic effect, like with the Rook’s Favor.

I sheathed the Rook's Favor and shook my head. As I did, though, I noticed something strange. On the back of my left palm was a tattoo-like mark—a crow’s foot, grasping a feather in its talons. It was simple lines and filled in with a black, ink-like substance, but I somehow got the feeling that it wasn’t just a simple tattoo. I didn’t have any unusual status effects though, and Appraisal didn’t bring anything up.

I had time to deal with that later—I had a Labyrinth to find. I walked through the now-darkened forest due south as the woman had told me. Belatedly, I realized I’d never asked her name.

Sure enough, I soon came upon a hill with a large stone door set into it. I pressed my hands against it and swung the door open slowly to reveal a set of stairs leading deep downwards. Torches lit the walls, their limited light spilling out and illuminating the surrounding forest in an orange glow. A notification appeared in my vision.

Congratulations! You have discovered the Floor 8 Labyrinth.

I sighed wearily and dismissed the notification, stepping back from the doors as they swung closed again. I was exhausted. Progress had been good today, and walking back to town would take almost an hour—dungeon crawling could wait. Besides, I had to contact Argo to let her know I got the location for the Labyrinth.

The message was short and sent off with a frown. I’d barely seen her for the past few weeks, by my own choice. She and Asuna had both tried to reach out several times, but I’d avoided them all. I couldn’t decide which felt worse: ghosting the people that cared, or putting them in danger by associating with them.

“Enough!” I snapped, slapping the sides of my face. “You’ve got work to do.”

As I walked back towards town, though, the thought couldn’t leave my head. I kept Searching active, but didn’t bother evading enemies. I could use the exercise to clear my head. That was something grandfather had taught me that still stuck—the best way to stop worrying is to throw yourself into fighting entirely.

By the time I was approaching the outskirts of town, I’d managed to clear my head of unnecessary thoughts. The strange feeling lingering at the base of my neck that something was following me still hadn’t gone away, but I was really starting to think I was just imagining it. Hopefully the comfort of a Safe Zone would do something for my nerves.

Before I got there, though, I ran across a party of five heading out. Not paying them any mind, I passed by until one of them stopped me.

“Hey,” he said, turning to face me. “Hold it.”

I winced. Now that I looked at the leader, he was definitely one of Kibaou’s flunkies who’d caused trouble for me before. What was his name? Orochi-something? I really needed to start paying attention to people’s names. I didn’t recognize any of the other four, at least, though that probably wasn’t anything to be proud of either.

“Got a problem?” I said with narrowed eyes.

“Yeah. Gimme your map data,” he said brusquely.

“…Why should I?”

He glared at me. “You should be thankful we haven’t driven scum like you out entirely. I hear you’ve been attacking other players, you know.”

“My cursor’s green,” I pointed out futilely. I knew how this went.

“Could’ve cleared it since then,” he said flatly. “Give me the map data.”

“And just what do you think you’re doing?” came a familiar voice.

Asuna approached with Argo in tow behind her, arms folded. She looked angry.

Orochi-whatever-his-name-was snorted. “It’s none of your business. Move along.”

“I consider it my business when you threaten my friends,” Asuna said. I resisted the urge to curse. “You could at least pay for the data like everyone else.”

“Friends?” Orochi-whatever said with smug superiority. “Don’t tell me you really are friends with this snake!” Hah. Ironic.

“You and I both know I don’t have any friends,” I snapped. “Take the map data and leave me alone.” I materialized a scroll and flung it at him, stalking past both his party and Asuna and Argo. I resisted the urge to whisper an apology to the two of them—I couldn’t risk the rest hearing it.

Thankfully, Orochi-something seemed to drop it there, taking the map data and gesturing for his party to leave. I left them behind, making for the town. As I reached it, though, I heard footsteps behind me and Asuna calling out. “Kirito!”

I could see several players’ heads near me glance up at the mention of my name. My jaw tensed as I faced Asuna. “What?”

“What the hell was that?” she asked.

“What was what?”

“Why did you just let him take the map data?“

“I was going to give it away anyway,” I said. “…Do you have anything actually important, or can I go?”

Asuna paused, something flickering behind her eyes. Bile crept up in my throat. What was I even doing? “Kirito, you…” Asuna said, hesitating.

“Just leave me alone,” I said. “It’s better for everyone that way.” She didn’t need someone like me around. I turned away, stalking into the town as creeping shivers wracked me and trying not to vomit my own words back up.

I was so tired.

I went to find Agil the next day.

He’d set up as a merchant once we hit the 3rd Floor, and a damn good one at that. Most of the frontliners had quickly learned to go to him first—if Agil didn’t have what you needed in stock, then he either knew a guy that did or a way to get it. In this case, I was on my way to borrow his Appraisal skill.

Neither he nor most player merchants had a proper store yet, so I instead found him set up at the town square with his vendor’s carpet spread out, wares stacked around him. This time, at least, I hadn’t bothered to wear my cloak—with any luck I’d be in and out fast enough that no one would start any trouble.

“Agil,” I said with a wave as I approached. “How’s business?”

The big man spread his arms. “Not bad. What do you need today, more potions?”

I shook my head. “Nah, I’m full up still. Need you to Appraise something.”

“Huh. Find something good?”

The ghost of a smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. “Something like that.”

I passed him a bag of Cor for the fee and the Rook's Favor, still in its scabbard. Agil accepted both and held the blade up before him, examining it intently. A flash of purple light appeared in his eyes as Appraisal activated.

“Let’s see what you’ve got here, Rook's Favor—LEGENDARY?!” he choked out, cutting his own sentence off.

I shushed him. “Hey, keep it down.”

He rubbed the back of his head. “Right, right, sorry. Where the hell’d you find this thing?”

“Quest reward. I sorta just stumbled on it.”

“Shit,” Agil said, impressed. “Well, the stats on this thing are killer, I’ll tell you that much.” He flipped the status window around so I could see it.

I inhaled sharply. “Wow. Yeah, that’s… that’s good.”

“Calling it ‘good’ feels like a crime. How come you get all the powerful drops?” Agil grumbled.

“Dunno, dumb luck?”

“It’s dumb something,” Agil said pointedly. He passed the Rook's Favor back to me and looked me up and down. “By the way, how’re you doing? Haven’t heard much recently.”

“Better than hearing too much,” I muttered. “I’m fine.” 

Agil raised an eyebrow. “Yeah? I heard something about an argument with Asuna last night.”

I winced, glancing around to find the town square empty. Rubbing my face, I felt some kind of exhaustion bone-deep in me, like there was a weight dragging me down and leaving me lightheaded. When did it get so cold out? I was freezing.

“If you see her around, tell her I said sorry,” I mumbled, not meeting Agil’s eyes as I continued to try and rub the exhaustion off my features.

“…Sure,” Agil said. “Just take of yourself, yeah?”

“What do you mean?”

Agil stared at me blankly. “Y’know, take breaks, rest days, try not to get yourself killed…?”

Oh. Right. “Sure, sure,” I said. “Actually, I had a question before I go.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Shoot.”

“You ever seen this before?” I turned the back of my left palm towards him, where the crow mark sat.

Agil blinked a few times, frowning. “…Seen what, your hand?”

I pulled it back and shoved both in my pockets. “Nothing, weird question. I’ll see you around.”

“Hey,” he said as I turned to leave. “Look, I’m not gonna push you on all this stuff happening, I know the others have tried, but… you don’t gotta do this alone, kid.”

I clenched my jaw. Kid? Really? 

“Right. Thanks, Agil,” I said, hoping the dead weight that was pressing down on me wasn’t audible in my voice. “Later.”

The 8th Floor’s Labyrinth sucked, it turned out.

It was all underground, narrow winding cave passages with tight claustrophobic corners, low ceilings, and absolutely no room to maneuver. The lighting was dim bordering on dark, and the only illumination came from some sort of glowing red moss that cast a bloody glow over the tunnels.

The Rook's Favor made things easier, at least. It cut through enemies with terrifying ease, and that was without any upgrades on it. I shuddered to think what it would do once I’d gotten a few levels of Sharpness and Heaviness on it. Most of the enemies in the Labyrinth were skeletal warriors—mobs with high damage but low health. The Rook's Favor obliterated them.

The worst part was the chasms, though.

Once in a while, I’d come across a room where the narrow pathways were surrounded by enormous dropoffs, gigantic pits with no visible bottom that seemed to swallow what little light filtered through these halls. I felt the soles of my feet tingle as I walked along those edges. Every time I passed through one I found myself unconsciously holding my breath and clenching my fists.

I still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was watching me, though, even down here.

It came to a head as I arrived at a slightly larger section of cavern—a wide circular section emerging from the path, surrounded on all sides by a dizzying drop. Pacing into the middle, I felt as though something was burning into the back of my neck, eyes rapt on me as I walked. I adjusted my grip on the Rook’s Favor and came to a stop in the very center.

“Whoever’s been following me, you can come out now,” I called out.

For a beat, there was silence.

Someone began to laugh. Slow clapping and footsteps echoed behind me, and I turned to find another player clad in chainmail and leather stalking towards me. He was solidly built and just over my height. He came to a stop some distance from me, his face and most any features about him obscured by a leather armor and a ragged chainmail coif. “Nice job,” he said, voice smug and a little nasally. “I didn’t think you’d spot me.”

I exhaled slowly. “Who are you? What do you want?”

He raised his hands. I had the impression that he was older than me, but by how much I couldn’t say. A few years? “Don’t be so hasty,” he said. “First things first, I’m Morte. Nice to meet ya, Kirito.”

“What do you want?” I repeated, keeping my eyes on him.

“Whoa, easy there,” Morte said as he raised his hands. “I’m not looking to cause trouble or anything, haha. I just wanted to ask a favor of you.”

“…A favor?”

“That’s right! See, I’ve heard a lot about you the past few weeks, and I got reaaaaaal curious. So I want to be your friend!”

I blinked. “What?”

Morte grinned. “Just what I said. ‘Course, I want to make sure your skills are the real deal, too—but I really do want to be your friend. What do you say to partying up with me?”

“You’ve got a weird way of making friends,” I commented, not letting myself relax. “Most people don’t go looking for new friends in a dungeon.”

Not that I was one to talk. I didn’t have any friends, and most of the others who might’ve counted as one I literally did meet in a dungeon.

“That’s not an answer,” Morte pointed out. “But fine, let’s make it a bit more fun. How about we have a duel? If I win, you party up with me for the rest of this dungeon. If you win, I’ll drop it!”

“…And if I tell you to beat it?”

“Somehow, I’ve got a feeling you won’t. It’ll just be Half Health, of course. Wouldn’t want anyone getting hurt!” Morte chuckled to himself like he’d told a joke, then wiggled his hips. “What, don’t wanna have a little fun doing it down in the dark?”

I could feel my face heating up. “W-what?” I shook my head, trying to ignore way my voice cracked. He was obviously just trying to rile me up. “This seems uneven—if you win, you get what you want, but if I win, I just get left alone.”

“Hm…” Morte tapped his chin. “How about this, then? If you win, I’ll give you a hint about why I’m interested in you!”

It was a terrible idea. I knew that already. We were deep in the Labyrinth, well away from any kind of help or intervention. I had plenty of potions left, but getting left on half health in the middle of a dungeon was risky—not to mention the danger of something more fatal happening during the duel like one of us falling or a wandering mob getting aggro’d.

“Okay,” I said. “You’re on.”

Morte grinned like a Cheshire cat. “I knew you’d say yes! Let’s do this, Kirito!” He swiped at his menu a few times, and a duel request appeared in front of me.

Morte has challenged you to a Half Health Duel! Will you accept?

Selecting yes, I double checked my health and equipment as the one minute preparation timer ticked down. The use of most items was disabled during duels—you were forced to rely on your equipment, your skills, and yourself. Across the space from me, Morte began preparing his own equipment, drawing a round shield and a one-handed axe.

As the timer counted closer to zero, I inhaled deeply. It was a Half Health duel, so there wasn’t really immediate danger, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that Morte was up to something. Something in me had urged me to accept the duel, though, despite all that.

I wasn’t sure I wanted to know why.

The countdown hit zero, and Morte and I both jumped into action. Player duels were fast, deadly, and often decided in just a few moves. I opened with a straight dash for Morte, aiming to close the distance and feel out his fighting style.

Morte, on the other hand, launched directly into a sword skill. His hatchet glowed a pale red color as he raised it high. Jumping forwards, his momentum carried him in front of me in an instant as he swung his hatchet down in a vicious swipe.

I snapped the Rook's Favor up horizontal to him, blocking his axe blow and placing my hand against the flat of the blade to force him backwards. As his feet hit the ground I was already backpedaling—my longsword had more reach than his axe, if I could play around that, I could win.

What I didn’t expect was for Morte to throw his axe at me.

It spun end over end before flying past me, slicing open my shoulder as it did. Before I could process what had happened, Morte had already pulled out a longsword, dashing to cover the gap in an instant and slashing towards my throat with a poisonous green glow.

The first attack cut across my throat altogether too deep for my own comfort, the second slashing across my chest. Grunting in pain, I used Vertical Arc—the first blow cut across Morte’s arm, the second slammed into his shield and sent a metallic clang warbling around the cavern.

Morte stumbled backwards, but his grin never faded. I rolled my neck and exhaled. He was better than good—he was a top-level player.

He must’ve planned to drop the axe and use the longsword from the beginning using Quick Change. I’d personally stayed clear of Quick Change in favor of lower skill cooldowns, since each skill only ever unlocked a limited number of mods and I always used one-handed swords. It was clear Morte was well acquainted with Quick Change—I wondered how long he’d practiced that trick.

On top of that, Morte was good. He was probably around the same level as I was, and just with a graze from the axe throw and a single two-hit sword skill he’d dropped me to just above half health.  I couldn’t see Morte’s eyes, but his mouth was still set in a lopsided grin, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was totally battle-tested.

“Fine,” I said. I’d been standing still for too long. “Bring it on.”

Morte’s grinned sharpened. “Having fun?”

“Shut up.”

In a flash, both of us moved. Morte had me at a disadvantage, and he only needed a single clean hit to win. The obvious choice for me was to play it safe and look for an opening now that I’d figured out his fighting style. 

Instead, I charged him.

I wasn’t much of one for mind games, but if Morte was good enough to push me this far, he was good enough to make an opening in my defenses. I had to end this on my terms.

I forwent any sword skills, instead lashing out repeatedly with the Rook's Favor and putting as much weight behind it as I could. Each blow sent him stepping back slightly as he parried them or blocked them with his shield, the sound of clashing steel filling the cavern. I refused to give him a single opening to counterattack, throwing my entire weight into raw offense.

“Good, good!” Morte cackled. “It’d be boring if it ended just like that—show me something even more fun!”

As I continued to push, I glanced behind Morte. “Yeah? Well, try this!”

I stepped in even closer, clashing against his own longsword as the edge of the platform loomed closer behind him. I had no intention of pushing him off, but if I was going to win this, I had to put some kind of pressure on him.

Morte’s grin turned sly. “You sure about that?” he said, his voice oddly low. “In that case!”

I barely had time to flinch backwards as he swiped the side of his shield towards my head. Before I could recover his axe was already coming for my throat—I parried it by a hair’s breadth, backpedaling as several more attacks rained down on me.

“Come on, come on!” Morte said, his voice growing strained as he continued to swing. “This really all you got?”

I was getting sick of him.

“Shut UP.”

I allowed the Rook's Favor to recoil downwards from one of my blows, feeling a hum at the base of my skull as it glowed deep purple. Sharp Nail lashed out, illusory feathers trailing behind my blade as it swept up at an angle, then directly across his chest, slicing glowing red marks across his torso. He raised his own blade in time to parry the final strike of the skill, but the sheer force of the downward blow forced him back two steps.

Not giving him any chance to recover, I lashed out with Suigetsu, the roundhouse kick connecting solidly with his chest. Martial Arts skills often did less damage than their weapon counterparts—there was no replacement for a sharp cutting edge. They came out faster and combo’d better than nearly anything else in the game, though, and it seemed Morte hadn’t figured that out yet.

As he reeled from the kick, I landed back on solid ground and dashed forwards. The Rook's Favor glowed one last time as I used Rage Spike to close the distance. He moved to backstep it, but abruptly stopped as his feet hit the edge of the path, his heel hanging out over empty space. The tip of my sword pierced into his shoulder, and I watched as his health dropped—

—and hit half.

Congratulations! You have won the duel!

I pulled my sword out of his shoulder. Watching his eyes, several emotions flickered behind them all at once. After a few seconds, though, Morte began to laugh.

“Well done!” he said with a cackle. “Fantastic—it really was worth coming down here to meet you after all!”

I tried not to let the shaking in my hands show. “Enough. You lost.”

Morte continued to chuckle. “I sure did, huh? A promise is a promise!” 

He sheathed his sword and pulled something from his inventory—a small card of paper with an image drawn on it. A coffin, the lid partially open and decorated with a smiling pair of eyes and lips, a skeletal arm visible inside. The reverse of the card simply read ‘Laughing Coffin’.

I took it with a free hand, frowning. “What is this? A guild?”

“Not quite,” Morte said. “It’s just a little thing some of us are putting together—we want to see how far we can push this game. Think of it as a little reminder of me!”

“…Push this game?” I asked.

“You’ll see eventually.” Morte must have seen something in my expression, because he laughed. “C’mon, it’s just a game, haha!”

“That’s—“

“Well, I think we’ve had enough fun for one day. I’ll catch you on the flipside!”

With that, he pushed past me. I froze, unsure of whether I should—or could—stop him, but before I could make a decision, he was already across the room, walking back towards the exit.

“Oh, and one more thing—from one Beta Tester to another, you’re gonna need to pick up the pace if you don’t wanna get left behind. I’ll see you around, Kirito!” he called cheerfully. “Don’t forget about me, alright? I’ll be sad if you do!”

And then he was gone.

I exhaled heavily and stepped wearily away from the edge before dropping to the stone floor. My hands still trembled gently as the last of the adrenaline left my system—or whatever game effect simulated that did, at least. Morte had been smiling the whole time, but I really wasn’t sure I wanted to find out what he had in store if I’d partied up with him.

On top of that, his skill was honestly scary. The combination of my luck with Last Attack bonuses, the buffer of my level, and the pace I’d pushed myself to advance at mean that I’d kept a comfortable power gap between me and most of the other frontliners up until now.

The only person I’d felt like could seriously give me a run for my money was Asuna, and she still had a long way to go. That made it all the scarier to think about what kind of monster she’d turn into once she really mastered the game, but for now at least I was still confident I was a step ahead of her.

Morte had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and threatened my position, though. Replaying the battle in my head, I wasn’t confident that even if I fought him again, I was guaranteed to win. He might’ve caught me off guard with his Quick Change, but I’d had Martial Arts up my sleeve, too. There was too much risk to say for sure.

The question still remained—what was Morte really after? I couldn’t say, not like this. I needed more information, but my gut still said he was trouble in a way I hadn’t seen before.

I flopped onto my back and stared straight up at the ceiling. The softly flickering red light of the bioluminescent moss was calming, somehow. It reminded me of a night light, or the dim colored lighting I’d kept on in my room even during the day.

I cut that train of thought off before it could drag me down with it.

Footsteps echoed through the halls some indeterminate amount of time later. I sat bolt upright, hand grasping for the Rook's Favor as I turned my head to the other exit from the room. There, I found a full party of six walking into the room. I stood unsteadily, blinking as I realized I recognized the man in the lead.

“Kirito!” called Klein, jogging across the room towards me. “Yo!”

“Klein,” I said with a nod, my voice catching a little.

He came to a stop in front of me, a frown forming. Turning to the rest of Fuurinkazan, he held up a hand. “We’re gonna break here for a few minutes!” he called. “Keep an eye out for mobs, and check your equipment in the meantime!”

Leadership came naturally to Klein. As soon as he spoke, all eyes were on him, and his guildmates all nodded assent as he finished. Klein had mentioned that he knew them IRL—I idly wondered if he’d intended to be a leader from the start or if the position had been passed to him.

“Hey, are you okay?” Klein said as he faced back towards me. “You’re on half health, and you look like you’re about to keel over.”

I shook my head. “Just… a hard fight, that’s all. You caught me resting.”

Klein gave me a look. “Uh huh. Listen, why don’t we stick together for a bit? Labyrinths are always rough, I figure we’d both feel better having backup.”

I gave him a look right back. “What, asking me of all people?” I said with a sardonic smile. “Seriously, Klein, it’s safer for you just to stay away.”

“Bullshit,” Klein said. His tone wasn’t harsh, but the word cracked like a whip. “Look, I get it. But you really, really don’t gotta do it alone.”

I rubbed my face. “Klein… just give up.” 

I desperately wanted to snap at him that he had no idea what he was getting into, that Kibaou’s words were hanging over the heads of everyone I loved like that stupid Greek myth. Even if it didn’t get any of them killed, if I had a choice between imposing forced social rejection and scapegoating on my friends and not doing that, it wasn’t a choice at all.

Klein put up his hands in a mollifying gesture. “Look, I’m not trying to scold you or anything, dude. We don’t have to keep talking about it, but… walk with us for a bit? The Labyrinth gets freaky when you’re alone. I’m just worried about you.”

“I’m fine, so just drop it, okay?” I said, my voice growing terse.

“No,” Klein said simply. “You sure don’t look fine. I’m staring at a kid who looks scared, lonely, like he hasn’t gotten a half-decent night’s rest in weeks, and damn near half-dead. Like hell I’m just gonna walk away.”

“I am not a kid!” I snapped, surprising even myself at the anger in my voice. What was with everyone calling me a kid recently? Just like grandfather. “Just leave me alone!”

Tears welled up at the unexpected memory, my breath coming shorter as I saw Klein’s face twist first in shock and hurt and then in frustration and anger. Before he could say anything, I turned on my heel and left.

I started just short of a jog, and as soon as I rounded the corner and disappeared from view, my footsteps came faster. I broke into a full sprint running away. Shame filled my head as my feet pounded on the stone—what was wrong with me?

Why wouldn’t anyone just leave me alone? 

Chapter Text

February 9th, 2023, 1:09 PM
Floor 11

I was starting to understand why some people always showed up late to meetings.

Kibaou had called a general meeting of the frontliners following the Floor 10 boss fight, claiming that there was something important to our future we needed to discuss. Normally I would’ve ditched entirely and acted like I’d either never heard about it or just didn’t care, but I didn’t trust that he wasn’t up to something.

It had turned out that Kibaou was trying to argue that Lind’s leadership in the boss raid had been ‘sub-par’, and that leadership of all future boss raids should be handed over to him. As could be expected, this turned into a shouting match between Lind and Kibaou for the past thirty minutes.

And I’d shown up fifteen minutes late, too.

“Consistent leadership only makes sense!” Kibaou said, gesturing wildly. “Switching leaders and strategies every week when we get to a new boss raid just throws off our coordination!”

“Sticking with a single leader is not only unbalanced, it’s overly rigid and allows for no adaptivity!” Lind argued back. “Your short-sighted bid for power is only going to make things harder for everyone else!”

I rubbed my eyes tiredly and glanced around the hall. We’d only been on the floor a single day, but the heat was already getting to me. The 11th Floor was primarily desert and mountainous foothills filled with humanoid snake enemies. Although most of the settlements were placed in the grassier foothills, the heat was still ever-present. The Coat of Midnight certainly wasn’t helping, but I was loathe to give up my best line of defense.

On the far side from me, Asuna sat with Argo, Agil, and Klein’s little Fuurinkazan entourage. They all looked about as fed up as I felt, and I could see Argo whispering something agitatedly into Asuna’s ear. I looked away after that.

“…If that’s true, then why is he still here?” Kibaou shouted, pointing directly at me.

Oh, were they talking about me now?

“Kirito has until now proved both a valuable source of information and a powerful tool on the battlefield,” Lind said calmly.

“Yeah, are we forgetting the part where he’s the one that killed Diavel?” Kibaou growled. “Besides, he said himself past this floor he’s useless! Why are we even letting him into these raids?”

Lind paused. “…You make a fair point. Considering that this is the last floor any Beta Tester has knowledge of, he may well have outlived his usefulness.”

“Why the fuck are you talking about him like that?“ Argo shouted angrily, jumping to her feet. “Kirito is a person, not a goddamn tool!”

“Oh, are we standing up for the one person in the room that has real blood on his hands?” Kibaou sniped.

“Enough! If you have a problem, take it up with me,” I finally said, my voice biting.

Lind tilted his head, his brown eyes cold. “I think it may be time to do just that,” he said gravely. "Shivata!”

One of the players at Lind’s side stood. I vaguely recognized him as one of the DDA’s consistent front-liners. He was dressed in heavy armor, with a metal shield and broadsword strapped to his back. His helmet was open, revealing a youthful face in his late teens or so with slicked short dark hair and sharp eyes.

“Let’s not overcomplicate this,” Lind said. “I heard you dueled a ALF member before, as well, so Shivata will be your opponent this time. If you win, you’ll prove your worth for now, and you’ll stay on the active raid team. If you lose, you’re off the raid team.”

Murmurs broke out in the hall around me. I clenched my jaw as Lind stared at me. Up until now, he’d been cooperative—he clearly didn’t like me, but he’d been a heck of a lot more willing to work together than Kibaou had. What had changed?

I sighed in frustration. I had time to figure that out later.

“Fine,” I said as I stood. “Let’s get this over with quickly.”

I paced to the center of the hall opposite Shivata as the crowd watched me. I didn’t look at any of them, and instead kept my eyes trained on the ground in front of my opponent. Realistically, I knew that I should pay more attention to the other Clearers around me—the fact I hadn’t known Shivata’s name until Lind mentioned it was probably a bad thing—but I honestly couldn’t bring myself to care.

At some point, I stopped feeling the heat, and all that was left was a dull chill.

I brought up my menu, shooting off a Half Health duel request to Shivata. Once he accepted, the countdown appeared in my HUD. I jabbed the Rook’s Favor point-first into the ground and reached up to undo my hair. I’d put it up in a ponytail in a vague effort to stave off the heat, but now I purposefully let my hair fall down carelessly around my shoulders, making eye contact with Shivata as it did.

It was a childish provocation, I could admit that. It was still a little gratifying to see the indignant rage in Shivata’s eyes, though.

“Let’s get this over with,” I called to him.

The timer hit zero.

I grabbed my sword from the ground and charged Shivata without hesitation. He hesitated a half-beat at my speed, swinging his own sword down at my head seemingly on instinct. That wasn’t going to be enough.

I whipped the Rook’s Favor up, clashing with his sword and dragging the point down to the ground. For a second, we grappled with each other, and he slowly started to push me back. It couldn’t be helped—he was a higher strength build than me.

Which was why I let my right foot fall back as I bent my knees, a pale yellow glow surrounding the tip of my boot. Before Shivata could back off, I kicked up into a Gengetsu, a backflip kick Martial Arts skill.

The toe of my boot crashed into the bottom of his chin. Shivata stumbled backwards as I completed my loop, frozen for just a second after my feet touched down. I still came out of it faster than him, though, and whipped the Rook’s Favor across his chest in two more quick blows.

He tried to kick off the ground to make space between us. It was a good idea—or it would have been, against most other opponents.

I let my sword fall into a low position behind me, the bloody violet glow lighting me from below. I dashed forwards and activated Horizontal Square, smashing the first attack down onto his shield with a vicious clang.

The next stroke pushed his shield further out of the way, and the third cut along his arm. Shivata tried to retaliate with his sword, but I leaned to the left and allowed it to cut across my shoulder. It didn’t matter—the next instant, I brought my sword back around and sliced down clear across his breastplate.

His health dropped to almost 30%. The victor icon appeared above my head.

I didn’t even spare Shivata a second glance. I sheathed my sword and shoved my hands in my pockets, glaring across the room at Lind. “Are we done?” I said, not bothering to disguise my disgust.

“…Fine,” Lind said. “You’ve protected your position for now.”

The murmuring resumed now that the duel was over, louder this time.

“Creepy little fucker, isn’t he?”

“Do you think he’s cheating somehow?”

“Why’d this bitchy kid have to survive instead of Diavel…?”

I wondered the same thing.

“Good,” I said. “Are we done? Can I go?”

Kibaou stood, crossing his arms. “Now hold on, we still haven’t solved the issue of raid leadership—“

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I bit out. I hadn’t meant to say it, but the by the time the words left my mouth it was too late. “The boss raids collapse in minutes as-is, and the most important leadership is on a party level. You’re both just fighting over figurehead status and the chance to boost morale. If you ask me, best way to run a raid is to make sure all four parties have a dedicated leader, and that all four leaders coordinate between each other.”

Lind frowned. “That level of teamwork would be difficult to arrange even in a lower-stress environment.”

“Pretty boy’s right for once,” Kibaou sneered. “We need a strong, dedicated leader to keep things together! That’s why I’m saying I should—“

“Would you quit it?” I snapped. “No one is fooled by your transparent little power plays.“

Heated muttering broke out around the room, quickly rising to audible arguing. Orochigata—that was his name—leapt to his feet, walking towards me with fire in his eyes and one hand on his sword. “How dare you!“

“Enough!” I shouted, anger bubbling cold in my gut. “You can play guild politics all you like, but don’t drag me into it or waste all of our time by making us watch you spit at each other for an hour. We all know you’re just going to keep rotating leadership because neither of you will ever back down, so just shut up and go home already!”

The crowd was dead silent.

I stood, shoving my hands in my pockets. “I’m leaving. Call me back when you’re ready to actually get us out of here instead of arguing like you’re eight.”

I swept through the hall and out into the afternoon sunlight, not looking back. The doors slammed shut behind me as I heaved them closed in a fit of petty rage. A heavy exhale escaped me as I began to take quick steps towards the inn, feet heavy and fists clenched.

The heat and sun beat down as I walked, but even as sweat dripped down my forehead the only thing I could feel was the cold shivers wracking my body. I was getting far too used to angry outbursts, even in front of crowds. This was one thing, but even through the weeks that had passed I couldn’t bring myself to forget about having screamed at Klein, what his face looked like.

I hadn’t talked to him since then.

The inside of the inn offered some relief from both the heat and the outside world, at least. Dropping onto my bed, I briefly scrolled through my menu and double-checked my equipment for a journey out into the floor ahead. As I did, though, a message notification popped up.

Argo:  do me a favor? i got intel there’s a hidden dungeon down on Floor 6 branching off from another dungeon. check out if it’s true, and maybe mark it off so newbies don’t stumble in blind?

I blinked. Argo sending me requests every now and then to follow up on some lead she didn’t have time for was nothing new. She had her hands full with info broker work, so much so that she was generally a few levels behind the best frontliners and didn’t have time to investigate everything on her own.

I couldn’t help but feel like this was a not-so-subtle attempt to get me away from the front lines, though. Probably didn’t want to have me around making the fallout even worse.

That was fine with me. I could use a day away anyway, and I could catch up later. Typing out a quick response, I stood.

Time to go dungeon delving.

The 6th Floor dungeon in question was a swampy mess.

It reminded me of the dungeon I’d explored for Argo back on the 1st Floor in a way, the Old Lord’s Lair—waterlogged halls, mossy walls, and dim lighting. The main difference was that this one was inspired more by some kind of Mesoamerican architecture—Maya, maybe?—and was filled with ratman-type enemies. Quick, small, and equipped with rapiers, knives, and other speedy weapons.

I’d mapped most of the dungeon already, save for a few side halls and what seemed to be the deepest part. It was slow going. I was trying to find a secret, though. At least I was overleveled—the dungeon was aimed at about level 25, so I felt quite comfortable sitting at 41. My Searching skill was probably also well above the requirement to spot it, so it was mostly just a question of diligence.

“Do all game developers have some kind of pathological hatred of the people that play their games, or is it just this one?” I wondered aloud as my boots squelched through moss and water. My socks and pants were drenched, and it was killing me bit by bit to have to walk like this.

The words echoed back to me. I was mostly just talking to fill the space, to get out of my own head. I wasn’t doing much talking these days—not that I ever did. Suguha would probably make fun of me for being weird, though. Maybe if I got a pet on the upper floors I could talk to that and it wouldn’t be so weird. People talked to cats and stuff IRL, right?

I was pulled from my increasingly wandering train of thought as Searching picked something up ahead. Seven bricks, arranged in a roughly circular pattern.

“Now, where have I seen this before?” I muttered, punching in a 7/2 heptagram. Did the symbol have some meaning? I made a mental note to message Argo about it later. Thankfully, the section of wall swung inwards without further prodding, revealing a large raised step up sitting above water level, and a long stairway winding downwards into the darkness.

I nodded. “Bingo.”

Before I could start down it, a scream echoed from somewhere down the hallway. A genuine one, too. I was running, sword in hand, before I even noticed. A few twists and turns later I found myself at a larger open room, most likely the depths of the dungeon.

Five players were locked in deadly combat with a group of ratmen—six small ones and a gigantic leader nearly three times their size wielding a battleaxe. A Ratserker, according to my UI. The players were in bad shape. One of them, a small boy with wild blonde hair and a beanie, was laid out on the floor with his health in the red. Another boy with shoulder-length wavy brown hair next to him was on his knees trying to administer a potion. The other three were holding off the rats to little success.

The Rook's Favor hummed a song in my grip as I activated Rage Spike and leapt into the fray. My stab pierced into the Ratserker’s shoulder, sending it stumbling back a step. I took the chance to lash out with my fist, and a Senda crashed into the nearest ratman with low health and shattered it. “I’ll handle the Ratserker!” I called. “You deal with the others.”

The frontmost player—a boy with short deep red hair—nodded sharply. “Got it! Tetsuo, Sachi, back me up!”

I turned my focus back to the Ratserker in time to duck an axe swing. Keeping one eye on the others, I easily parried its attacks and forced it away from the rest of the battle. As soon as we got enough clearance, I stepped back several steps to goad the Ratserker into charging.

Sure enough, it dove straight for me. I brought my blade up horizontal and watched as the Ratserker’s axe swung down in a savage arc towards my head when I counted time. I slipped forwards as soon as the Ratserker’s weight shifted off-balance, moving inside of its reach and out of harm’s way. The Rook's Favor glowed bloody purple as I sliced it along the side of the Ratserker’s torso.

I came to a stop a short distance past it to watch as it burst to fragments. The other players had gotten the situation under control, and by the time I rejoined them the last of the ratmen were dead. I exhaled in relief as I counted the same number of heads I’d seen at the start.

“Everyone okay?” I asked.

“Thanks to you,” the red-haired boy said gratefully. “That was a close one.” 

I was able to get a better look at him now that we were out of mortal danger. He wore black pants, a dark red scarf around his neck, and a breastplate over a rust-colored shirt. His hair fell just short of his ears and was pinned tightly to his head on one side with a set of bobby pins. The color of his eyes matched his hair, and black fingerless gloves covered his hands.

I ignored my own flush as he made eye contact with me and scratched the back of my head. “No problem.”

“You were so fast!” exclaimed the girl standing next to the red-haired boy. She had shoulder-length black hair, long straight bangs, and sea-green eyes. She was wearing similarly wearing a breastplate over a white blouse with flared sleeves, a three-quarter sleeve dark blue leather tailcoat, and a knee-length white skirt over white leggings.

Mentally scolding my weak heart for skipping another beat, I shrugged. “Well, I’m probably at least a few levels higher than you all,” I said wryly. “…But we should probably save any more conversation for when we’re not in the middle of a dungeon.”

“Can we get dinner?” asked the blond boy weakly. “I’m starving.”

Red hair clapped his hands. “Oh, good idea! Do you want to join us?” he asked me. “Our treat! You did save our lives, after all.”

“Saved is a little much, isn’t it? I just helped out a bit,” I said.

“Please, at least let us thank you!” the girl said, her voice soft but cheerful.

I hesitated for a beat. Two beats. I was already here on a job, and I didn’t want to waste too much time socializing with people I’d have to leave behind soon enough. My incessantly demanding heart fluttered as the red-head boy and black-haired girl stared at me pleadingly, though, and I sighed.

“Alright, you win. Dinner it is.”

“Cheers!”

We’d retreated to an inn, one of the quieter ones on the 6th Floor. The six of us were gathered around a table, blessedly alone and an array of food spread out before us. I’d glanced over my shoulder more than I’d like to admit walking back—I was in danger of giving myself a crick.

“First things first, introductions! I’m Keita,” said the red-haired boy. “Thanks again for earlier!”

“I’m Sachi,” said the girl, smiling gently.

The blond boy ran a hand through his messy hair with a wry grin. “I’m Ducker. Thanks for the rescue, dude. Saved my bacon there.” He had a dark yellow cloak, and was by far the shortest of the group.

The wavy-haired boy gave a bright smile. “I’m Sasamaru! Nice to meet you.” He wore a blue cap and a green shirt with a breastplate over it.

“And I’m Tetsuo,” said the last boy. He stood significantly taller than the rest, with short brown hair, a purple shirt, and an easy smile.

“I’m Kirito,” I said, very conscious of their eyes on me. “Sorry to impose on you like this.”

Sachi shook her head. “No, you’re not imposing at all!”

“…If you’re sure,” I mumbled. “Thanks for having me.”

“Like we said, don’t worry about it!” said Keita. “Go ahead and eat, I’m sure we’re all starving.”

At his prompting, everyone began to eagerly dive into the food, grabbing from an array of platters of baked chicken, roasted vegetables, and more. I began to eat myself, though I was careful to restrain myself. I hadn’t eaten in front of other people like this in months, and I didn’t want to weird them out with poor table manners.

“So, what were you doing in the dungeon alone, anyway?” Keita asked after a few minutes of dedicated eating.

“Got wind there was a hidden dungeon entrance in there, decided to check it out,” I explained. “I always work alone.”

“You’re a solo player?” said Sachi, eyes widening. “Isn’t that risky? I barely see any these days.”

I hesitated. “…Well, yeah,” I said eventually. “It’s fine, I’m used to it.”

“A hidden dungeon, huh?” Ducker said from across the table, grinning. “That sounds interesting, what’s the scoop?”

“I dunno, I didn’t get a chance to go in yet. I ran into you all first.”

“What a waste!”

“C’mon, we just got out of a dungeon,” Sasamaru pointed out. “Do you ever slow down?”

Ducker clicked his tongue. “The loot, man! Think about how good the stuff we got from that dungeon was—now think about how much sweeter it’d be if we got into a hidden dungeon!”

“And what makes you think we’re even high enough level for that?” Tetsuo said.

“Man, let a guy dream!”

“Easy now,” Keita said, chiding. “We’re all beat. Give us a chance to at least rest up before you think about running off somewhere new, okay?”

Ducker pouted. “Fiiiine.”

“Sorry about the noise,” Sachi said quietly, leaning closer to me on my left with a smile. “They’re always like this.”

“It’s—it’s okay,” I stammered, a touch awkwardly. “I’m just… not used to it, that’s all.”

“If you need a break, just let me know.”

I returned a small smile of my own. “Thanks.”

Ducker and Sasamaru began arguing about if you could still call it a weekend if you were taking it on a Tuesday and Wednesday while Tetsuo tried to mediate. Keita nudged me as they went off, drawing my attention away from their bickering.

“So,” he asked, leaning in on my other side from Sachi, “Why the solo player gig?”

I hesitated. “It’s… a long story.”

Keita shrugged. “I gotcha. I imagine it’s probably a nightmare to try and find a new party to travel with, given everything.”

“Seriously,” I said emphatically. “But… did you not have to do that?”

Keita blinked. “Huh? Oh, no. The five of us are all friends IRL, we decided to play SAO together.”

“Huh. Must be nice to have friends you know around,” I said.

Sachi nodded. “I don’t know if we’d ever have made it this far without each other.”

“The Moonlit Black Cats stick together,” Keita agreed.

“Moonlit Black Cats?” I questioned. I’d noticed the guild emblem on their player banners earlier, but the abbreviation shortening it to just MBC made it hard to guess. “That’s a nice name.”

“Thanks!” Sachi said, giggling a little. “I came up with it myself.”

“With a little help from me,” Keita said teasingly. “I drew that logo back in middle school, remember?”

She rolled her eyes. “Fine, fine. I thought it up with help from you. Happy?”

“Very.” Keita grinned mischievously. The two leaned closer and closer in as they fired comments back and forth in front of me. I really, really hoped I wasn’t blushing.

Sachi leaned back a little and looked back at me. “By the way, what are you doing from here on?”

“Are you heading back in tomorrow?” Keita said, glancing at me.

I nodded. “I still have to look into that hidden dungeon.”

“If you’re alright with it, why don’t we all go together?” he suggested. “Safety in numbers and all that.”

Sachi brightened. “Oh, that’s a great idea! If you’re willing, of course.”

I paused. On the one hand, I didn’t want to draw too much attention to myself and risk getting recognized. On the other hand, dungeons five floors down from the front lines weren’t exactly crowded, and I was shamefully willing to latch onto any excuse to let me stay away for another few days.

“Sure,” I said. “Why not?”

The next day didn’t make the swampy dungeon any more palatable.

It didn’t help that I was exhausted—I was so used to passing out from fatigue past three in the morning that following a more normal schedule was throwing me six different kinds of sideways. The nightmares weren’t helping, either.

The Moonlit Black Cats were more than happy to fill the empty space that normally surrounded me, though. Ducker, Sasamaru, and Keita kept up a steady stream of idle chatter and jokes, and Tetsuo, Sachi, and I were content to fall into comfortable silence as we worked.

The hidden dungeon was actually pretty cool. It was a catacomb-style dungeon filled with undead ratmen, dimly lit by green torches spaced along the walls. A lot of the catacomb was overgrown with moss and mushrooms, and other sections had caved in and merged with natural cave systems.

Before I realized it, we’d cleared most of the dungeon and arrived at what could only be a boss room—a giant stone door surrounded by mushrooms growths.

Carved into the door was a stone relief depicting two huge ratmen wielding axes, fighting against an enormous snake of some kind. What appeared to be a lightning bolt struck the snake, lancing along its body as it bared its fangs at the rats while a blade of some kind was depicted in the dirt behind it.

“Wonder what that’s about,” I murmured.

“Hm? Did you say something?” Sachi asked.

I shook my head. “Oh, just wondering what the relief there is showing, that’s all.” I turned my attention back to the others—I could ponder the meaning of the carving later.

“So, you guys ready?” Keita asked.

Ducker was bouncing from foot to foot. “Let’s do this!”

I smiled, but it was dampened by the pit of anxiety beginning to swirl in my stomach. 

“Are you okay?” Sachi asked me quietly, leaning in so the others wouldn’t hear.

“Huh? Oh, I’m fine!” Had it been showing on my face? That wasn’t good.

She hummed, unconvinced, but backed off. I started compulsively checking my inventory—all good for a boss fight, and the same as it was five minutes ago. It was fine. I was fine. Nervous about fighting together with other people? Absolutely not.

Then the door was opening and any nerves I had were lost in the flood of adrenaline surging up on pure instinct.

Two gigantic mounds of fur covered in mushrooms sat in the center of the room, partially submerged in murky water. As the six of us stepped inside, they shifted, and two enormous fungus-infected ratmen rose to their full height, wielding huge axes. A pair of health bars flashed across the top of my vision—the Twin Mycelial Ratserkers.

“Okay.” Keita took a deep breath. “Uh. Tetsuo, take point on the left one—Sasamaru and Ducker, back him up. Sachi and Kirito, you’re with me.” He spoke hesitantly, but the other Cats nodded firmly.

“I can take point,” I offered, stepping forward as I rotated the Rook’s Favor in my hand. Keita’s orders were good, but it seemed like he needed a bit of a confidence boost.

He nodded gratefully. “Thanks. Alright, let’s move!”

I took two steps forward, feeling out the terrain. The water was low—lower than the Kobold General’s room, only coming up to my ankles. The problem was that the ground itself was uneven and covered in patches of fungus, making it easy to slip on. Once I was sure I had a feel for it, I broke into a run.

“Be careful with your footing,” I called. “The terrain’s a bit uneven.”

I didn’t look back to see if anyone acknowledged it. Instead, I narrowed my eyes, inhaling slowly as a hum filled my head. I flicked a quick Vertical Arc out at the closer Ratserker, slicing across its torso with two neat cuts without stopping.

It turned to face me as I kept moving, drawing it away from the other.  It whipped an axe blow towards my back that fell just short of me as my steps carried me away. It was only once I neared the far wall that I skidded to a stop, sending a spray of water up as I whirled to face my opponent.

“Alright,” I muttered. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

The Ratserker roared a response, its glowing purple eyes flaring as it slammed its axe down towards my head. The Rook’s Favor clanged against it, parrying it to one side and sending it whipping past my face.

I ignored the splash of muddy water the axe sent all over my left side, stepping forwards and charging another Horizontal Arc. This one carved two lines into its outstretched arm, sending its health bar diving down. The level gap wasn’t for nothing after all.

“Sachi, with me!” Keita called as the two of them approached from behind. His sword and Sachi’s spear flashed towards the Ratserker’s back, dragging its health a little lower.

I tore my focus away from them and back to the boss. It was winding up for a big horizontal swing—I could back away, but I had a better idea. I was pretty sure I had the stats to do it, and even if I screwed up, well, Battle Healing could always use some more levels.

The Ratserker’s axe glowed sickly green. I pulled my own sword back into position for a Vertical Arc, bracing my feet against the ground.

“Kirito?!” Sachi called out, voice just short of panicked.

I wanted to respond, but I didn’t have the time. The Ratserker moved, its axe whirling for my neck with a terrifying pace. I inhaled sharply, lashing out with the first strike of my sword skill.

Axe met sword. The force threatened to knock me off my feet as the vibration tore through me, but I grit my teeth and held my ground. With a shout, I pushed forward. The Ratserker fell backward, its axe deflected directly away from me.

I lunged forward, the second strike of my Vertical Arc lashing up toward the hand still half-gripping the axe. The Rook’s Favor bit through flesh and bone before colliding with the axe’s hilt and ripping it from the Ratserker’s grasp along with two fingers.

The boss fully toppled over as its axe crashed into the water. “Go, go, go!” I shouted, unable to keep a grin my from my face. “Get it while it’s down!”

Keita and Sachi wiped the stunned disbelief from their faces, turning and unleashing their most powerful sword skills against the prone rat. I joined in, Sharp Nail slicing into the boss’s side and tearing into its health bar with a vengeance.

The Ratserker stirred and tried to sit up, but I circled around to its head, striking its crown with a Senda and Suigetsu in quick succession. That seemed to rattle it for a few more seconds, buying Sachi enough time to charge and use Tri-Point, a quick triple thrust with her spear that shattered the boss.

I smiled as I lowered my sword. “Nice work!”

Sachi opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by a shout of alarm from the other side of the room. We both whirled to where Sasamaru was in dire trouble—his health was in the red and their Twin was winding up to strike again. Tetsuo had retreated to heal and wasn’t close enough to block, and Ducker’s knife definitely wasn’t up to deflecting that axe.

There was no way I could reach them in time.

I threw my sword.

It was pure instinct. There wasn’t any skill for throwing weapons as big as swords, and it was more a desperate last-ditch attempt than a well planned idea. I just took one step forward and threw it overarm, watching as it flashed across the intervening distance.

All of that meant that I was that much more surprised when it connected directly with the Ratserker’s head.

It roared and stumbled backward. Ducker let out a shout, charging forward and unleashing a three hit knife combo I didn’t recognize. The Ratserker’s health dropped to zero and it shattered, and everyone in the room let out a breath.

I straightened as the congratulation message appeared in my vision, shifting my foot slightly. As I put my weight down, I found an unexpected dip in the floor foot-first, though, and pitched sideways.

Keita and Sachi didn’t even try to hide their laughter as I splashed down on the floor, landing on my butt. I groaned, rubbing my tailbone as muddy water soaked through the Coat of Midnight.

“What was that?” Sachi said, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes. “You were the one that warned us about the ground in the first place!”

“Oh, laugh it up,” I sighed, my cheeks flushed.

“C’mon, you gotta admit it’s funny,” Keita said as he approached, still chuckling. “I mean, you tear through those things like it’s nothing, then turn around and immediately eat shit.”

I shook my head. “I’m never warning you about bad footing again.”

“You’re smiling,” Sachi said with a grin. “Couldn’t have been that bad.”

Was I smiling? I realized to some surprise that I was—more than that, I was having fun.

I’d sort of forgotten what that felt like.

I accepted Keita’s hand up, giving up entirely on trying to clean myself off. “Is there a river nearby I can jump in?” I asked. “I don’t think I’m getting this muck off me until I do.”

Ducker snickered. “You look like a drowned rat,” he said. “You fit right in with the bosses!”

I groaned. “This is the thanks I get?”

“Yep. Seriously, though, thanks for the save and the laugh.”

I couldn’t help my own laugh this time. “Well, as long it was for a good cause.”

“How about this?” Sachi said. “You can come back to the inn with us and get first dibs on the bath.”

I paused. “I can’t say no to a warm bath and food,” I said. “Is there an if on that offer?”

Sachi smiled, just a bit shy. “I was going to say that my birthday’s tomorrow, actually. If you’re willing… why not stick around for the party?”

I knew I should say no. It was well past time for me to head back up to the front lines and start getting ready for the 11th Floor boss raid. The thought of having to deal with Kibaou again, though, of having to dodge around Asuna and Argo and Agil and Klein, acting like I couldn’t even tolerate them, made me want to bury myself under thirty pounds of blankets and never leave.

Sachi was looking at me expectantly. I needed to say no, to say I had somewhere to be.

“If you’re inviting me, then… I’d love to,” I said.

What was one more day?

I sighed contentedly as I sank into the bathtub, the warm water banishing any traces of exhaustion from my bones. I felt like I was starting to understand why Asuna loved baths so much—there really was something miraculous about how much a nice bath could help you feel human again.

I’d told the others to eat without me, but they’d insisted on waiting, so I couldn’t keep them too long. I could let myself enjoy the steam and the soak for a few minutes, though.

I rubbed my face, scrubbing some of the exhaustion out of my eyes. As I dropped my hands, my gaze landed on the strange marking on the back of my hand—I’d started calling it the crowmark. 

I’d found zero leads on it. I hadn’t seen it mentioned anywhere, Argo didn’t have anything on the symbol, and it didn’t seem to do anything. I’d even gone back to the 7th Floor to search for clues, but no luck. It just sat on my hand curiously.

I inhaled, savoring the steam for a moment before exhaling. I was here to relax for just a little longer.

Just a little longer.

A knock came at the door. I raised my head, blinking blearily. “What’s up?” I called.

“It’s Sachi,” she said, voice muffled. “Can I talk to you for a sec?”

“Uh. Sure?” I said. “Is there a problem?”

The door creaked as something leaned against it—was Sachi sitting on the floor outside? “No, nothing’s wrong. I just… wanted to thank you, I guess.”

“What for?”

“For everything you’ve been doing,” she said. “That’s twice now we would’ve been in serious trouble if you hadn’t been there to help. And… I really appreciate you hanging out with us.”

“I really haven’t done much,” I said. “The help was more luck than anything, and I’m just grateful you all let me stay around.”

“Hey, Kirito?”

“Yeah?”

“Let me thank you for helping us. It means a lot to me, you know.”
 
I wasn’t sure what to say to that. “Okay. Sorry if I upset you.”

Sachi laughed, something not quite joyful creeping in her voice. “I’m not upset! I just want you to know that I see what you’re doing, and I really, really appreciate it.” There was a pause. “It’s… hard.”

I frowned. “What is?”

“D-don’t worry about it.” There was shuffling outside the door. “I’ll let you finish your bath. Thanks for talking to me.”

“Thank you,” I said.

There was a beat of silence.

“You’re welcome,” Sachi whispered.

Footsteps paced away from the door.

I buried my face in my hands.

“”Happy birthday, Sachi!””

The five of us shouted in unison as we raised our glasses toward Sachi. She giggled as we broke out into laughter and cheers, the candles on the cake burning happily. Someone had built the fire up in the corner, and it burned eagerly to keep the February chill out of the small inn.

“Thank you, everyone,” Sachi said, smiling wider than I’d ever seen her.

“C’mon, blow out the candles!” Ducker said. “Make a wish!”

Sachi’s first attempt was entirely ineffective. She had to take a second to control her giggles before finally extinguishing them on the second try. We let out a second cheer, Sasamaru whistling loudly.

“So, what’d you wish for, birthday girl?” Keita said with a grin.

“Secret! If I tell you, it won’t happen.”

Keita stuck his tongue out, but let it relax into a grin after anyway. “Happy sixteenth, Sachi,” he said fondly. “You’ve caught up to me again.”

Sachi rolled her eyes. “It’s two months, Keita.”

“Yeah, two months where I’m older than you by a year!”

“Wait, you’re both older than me?” I asked.

Sachi and Keita both looked at each other and blinked. “Wait, you’re younger than us?” Keita asked, raising an eyebrow.

I nodded.

“Huh. I would’ve thought we were the same age,” Sachi said. “You just kinda have that vibe.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I said, aware of a faint blush on my cheeks.

“I dunno, you just don’t seem young. How old are you, anyway?”

“…Fourteen. Fifteen in October.” I took a drink from my glass to hide my face.

Keita nodded. “So you’re almost two years younger than us and about a year younger than the other three.”

Sachi grinned, leaning closer and poking my cheek. “Guess we’ve gotta be the responsible ones as your elders, huh?”

“Like that’s gonna happen,” I shot back.

Ducker looked me up and down. “So I’m older than you, huh? Maybe I should be having you address me more respectfully!”

“Don’t get any ideas,” Sasamaru said, whacking the back of Ducker’s head. “Sorry about him.”

I just smiled. “All good. I guess we all kinda stopped thinking about age in here, huh?”

“True,” Tetsuo said. “I haven’t really thought about ages unless I see someone way older or younger.”

“Like Agil,” I murmured absentmindedly. I wondered briefly how he was doing with the shitshow of the front lines to handle. Hopefully better now that I wasn’t there to pour oil on the fire.

“Hm? Who’s that?” Ducker asked curiously.

“O-oh, he’s this merchant I know. He’s in his thirties or something, so he’s on the older end of people I’ve seen.”

Sasamaru’s expression grew more serious. “Right. We don’t have numbers or anything, but I guess the people playing SAO probably skew on the younger end, right?”

“Not really,” I took a drink of cider. “Data on MMO playerbases tend to be hard to collect, but they’re generally made up of teenagers and twenty-somethings. The NerveGear changes things, though.”

Sasamaru’s eyes widened. “Oh, right. Since SAO was exclusive to a new console, the playerbase is made of up people who actually had the money to buy it on launch.”

“That’s not all—servers launched at one in the afternoon, and I’m pretty sure we were fully locked in by four, so most people were still in work or school. Older people with more established careers are more likely to be able to take off time for an MMO launch, even if younger people are more likely to want to.”

“So, what, it’s a pretty even spread?” Ducker asked.

I shrugged. “I mean, unless someone starts going around and actually polling people, we’ve got no real way of knowing. I’d bet the average age is older than a lot of other MMOs, though—I’ve heard colloquially that Japanese MMOs tend to have a slightly older average than Western ones too, but I’m not sure how true that is.”

Ducker shivered. “God, d’you think Kayaba ever considered how many of the people trying to beat his stupid game were scraggly teenagers?”

I frowned. “I’m… not sure, honestly.”

“I think any game dev has to eventually grapple with the fact that one of their primary audiences is teenage losers,” Sasamaru said with a smile, lightening the conversation a bit.

“Are you calling us losers?” I said with mock offense, quietly glad for the change in topic.

“If you’ve gotta ask, then you already know the answer.”

“Hey!” Sachi said as she walked over with Keita in tow. “I’m not a loser!”

“We all played a fantasy MMO on launch day and got trapped in a death game, we’re definitely teenage losers,” Ducker said philosophically. “Anyway, what were you two chatting about over there? I saw you whispering something.”

Sachi flushed a bit. “Nothing! Just… birthday stuff.”

Ducker grinned. “Reaaaaaally?”

Sachi flushed deeper and slapped his shoulder. “Enough. You’re making me wish the alcohol in the cider did anything.”

I nearly choked on my own as a laugh escaped me mid-drink. All five pairs of eyes turned to look at me, and I froze.

“Yeah, Kirito?” Keita said amusedly. “Something about that funny to you?”

I sighed. No point hiding it. “The alcoholic drinks do work, you just have the setting turned off.”

Ducker was already swiping his menu open before I finished talking. “Dude, how do I turn it on?”

I chuckled. “Here, I’ll show you.”

“This is a terrible idea,” Keita said. “A room full of drunk teenagers? Seriously?”

“Do you want me to stop?” I said hesitantly.

“Are you kidding me? This is gonna be great.”

Sachi rolled her eyes. “Ugh, you’re the worst.” She paused. “…I want in too, though.”

“This was a great idea,” Sachi said as she collapsed next to me.

“Definitely,” I said emphatically, intimately aware of the way her shoulder leaned against mine, the way her hair trailed down my back.

My face was putting out heat like a furnace and tingling lightly, and my head felt light and floaty. I’d never had any alcohol IRL before so I had nothing to compare it to, but this certainly felt real. Sachi’s presence almost definitely wasn’t helping—my heartbeat was running at a brisk pace and I had to fight the urge to drag myself away from her. Was I too close? I couldn’t tell.

The others were well and truly out for the count. We’d started slowly at Sachi’s insistence, but as it turned out, drunk teenagers didn’t make very good decisions. I’d outlasted everyone besides Sachi, who’d been pacing herself more. I wasn’t sure if that meant I had a high tolerance IRL, but at least here I seemed to be head and shoulders above anyone else at holding my drink.

Ducker was curled up on the floor, Tetsuo and Sasamaru were sprawled across the sofa, and Keita had disappeared upstairs a little while ago and we hadn’t heard from him since. Now it was just Sachi and I left. Shoulder to shoulder on the other couch, close enough to share heat. Close enough that I could feel her vibrate against me when she laughed.

I needed to get a grip.

“Thank you again for being here,” she said, turning her head to face me and flashing me a warm smile.

“O-of course,” I said, feeling my blush deepen. “You really don’t have to keep thanking me, though.”

Sachi’s face fell fractionally. “Well, it’s either that or keep apologizing,” she whispered.

My chest was tight. “Sachi, are you…”

“Anyway!” she said, leaning further against me. “I’ve been meaning to ask—how do you even manage the solo player deal? It seems pretty stressful to me.”

I had to stop myself from laughing out loud.

“I’m used to it,” I said with a shrug. “It’s how I tend to play most games anyway, so…”

“Doesn’t it get lonely, though?”

“I guess? That’s not really something I have a choice about, though.”

“…It doesn’t have to be, you know.”

If only. “It’s really okay, Sachi. I know how to take care of myself.”

She shook her head. “It’s not about taking care of yourself, Kirito. It’s about living.”

I bit back my retort that living was a privilege I didn’t have right now. “Do I look dead to you?” I said instead, my voice teasing.

Sachi poked my cheek with a finger, face oddly sad. “Sometimes you do.”

I blinked. “Oh.”

“…I could help, you know.”

“What do you mean?” Were we really still talking about being a solo player?

“I—I mean we could help! You seem like you could use some friends,” Sachi stammered. Her face was flushed, but it had been most of the night thanks to the alcohol.

Friends. For just a moment, I wondered how Asuna and Argo were doing without me. I didn’t care to know why I felt a wave of guilt immediately afterwards.

“I… guess,” I said after a second. “What brings all of this on, though?”

Sachi was silent for a long time. When she spoke, her voice was quiet and almost mournful. “You just… remind me of myself, I think.”

I wasn’t sure what to say to that.

She spread her arms. “Can—can I give you a hug?” she asked. “Is that okay?”

The alcohol was definitely affecting me and I was really starting to think I had attachment issues, because against my better judgment, I nodded. “Y-yeah, sure.”

Sachi wrapped her arms around me, pulling me close. “Thank you,” she mumbled into my ear. “Thank you, Kirito.”

Eventually, I hesitantly squeezed back.

After a minute, I felt her loosen in my arms, resting against me limply. I pulled back and smiled. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was slowed—she’d fallen asleep on my shoulder. I gently laid her down, forcing myself not to stroke her head or keep holding her for the rest of the night. She didn’t deserve me being weird to her.

“Good night, Sachi,” I whispered. “Thank you.”

I shivered as the cold air washed over me as I stepped outside, pulling the Coat of Midnight a little closer. The lightness in my head lessened a bit as it did. People complained about it all the time, but I sort of liked February. It was cold and damp, sure, but there was a haziness to it I didn’t think any other month had. It tasted like fog and ice and helped to chase away the remnants of my drunken haze.

I leaned back and stared up at the stars. It was still unbelievable after all these months how bright the sky was at night—even through partial cloud cover, it was like someone was putting on a light show with the Milky Way, or whatever galaxy Aincrad was supposed to be part of.

I liked the cold. It was an old friend, it helped me think. Helped me clear my head. The heat was bad, only ever dampened me down and stopped me from thinking clearly.

Thinking, for instance, about a certain pair.

I exhaled slowly, watching my breath plume in white clouds in front of me. “Don’t get distracted. You’re here to to a job.”

I flinched as the door to the inn clicked open unexpectedly. I turned to find Keita walking out, silhouetted by the dim light from inside. He gave me a smile and walked over, coming to a stop next to me.

“Hey,” he said easily.

“Hey,” I said. “What’s up? I figured you were asleep.”

He scratched his head. “Nah, not yet. I was making sure the others were comfortable when I noticed you weren’t around. Everything good?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said reflexively. “Just getting some air.”

“…If you’re sure.”

I glanced at him. “You can to go sleep if you like, I’ll be fine.”

Keita looked up at the sky, settling back against the wall next to me, shoulder to shoulder. “I will soon,” he said. “I wanna watch the stars with you for a while first.”

I flushed, looking up to avoid meeting his eyes. “Oh. Sure.”

We fell into silence for a long while. I watched the clouds drift in front of the stars, light peeking through in hazy patches. Every time one of us shifted, our shoulders brushed together and I felt a tingle run down my spine.

I was honestly a little scared of how I’d been acting the past few days. Had I underestimated how lonely I was? I hadn’t expected myself to latch onto the Moonlit Black Cats so quickly—that wasn’t even getting into the fact that every time Sachi or Keita smiled at me, I felt like something was coiling in my chest and chewing on my heart.

I was scared to find out what that feeling was, what would happen if I let it take control of me. I needed to get a better grip on myself—grandfather had always said that a swordsman with no control of his heart was no better than a doll.

“Thanks again for hanging around,” Keita said after a long time, dragging me back from my reverie. “I think it made Sachi really happy.”

That was just unfair. “Happy to,” I said hoping he couldn’t see how flushed I was through the darkness. “You make it sound like a big deal.”

“I am aware that you just met us a few days ago,” Keita pointed out. “I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable or anything.”

“Not at all!”

“That’s good,” he said, relaxing. “I know Sachi was worried the gang might be a bit too much.”

“They’re loud, sure,” I said, scratching my cheek, “but they’re a good group. I can tell you take good care of them, too.”

He blinked. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, you checked on me and made sure the others were comfortable when they passed out. And you’re their leader in battle, and seem to do a pretty darn good job keeping them out of trouble and danger.”

Keita stared at me for a second. Was he… blushing? No, I decided. Must just be the lighting. “Thanks,” he said quietly. “That… means a lot. I worry I’m not good enough for this a lot.”

“No problem,” I said. “I mean it.”

Keita continued to stare at me before finally breaking off and groaning. “Ugh, now I feel like an asshole. I mean, I did before, but…”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I… owe you an apology,” Keita said as he ran a hand through his hair. “It sort of happened on accident, but I was out shopping earlier and overheard some people talking.”

I tried to ignore the way my stomach dropped, I really did. “…Yeah?”

“I put two and two together and figured out you were the Beater person everyone’s been talking about,” Keita said. “So I wanted to ask you—“

“I’ll leave,” I cut him off. My hands were shaking and I could feel my throat closing up. “I’m—I’m sorry.” I was suddenly all too aware of how cold the air around me was.

“What? That’s not—“ Keita stammered.

“I don’t want to put you all in danger, and I’ve overstayed my welcome already, and—“

“Kirito!” Keita caught my wrist with a hand as I tried to step away from him. He rubbed his face, lined with confusion and concern. “I wasn’t trying to ask you to leave! I just wanted to ask what the deal was.”

“That’s…”I stared at him. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why bother to hear me out?”

Keita’s brow furrowed. “I mean, because it’s the right thing to do? I’m not gonna freak out on you just because of some stupid rumors.” He met my eyes. “Can you tell me about what happened?”

I continued to stare at him, searching for any sign that he was lying or trying to trick me. For all that I still couldn’t figure out why he was doing this, his concern seemed genuine. It occurred to me that this was the first time anyone had actually asked about what had happened and why—everyone either already knew or made their own assumptions about both.

Somehow, this scared me more.

“Okay,” I said finally. “I’ll talk.”

Keita’s face grew increasingly grim as I explained everything, relaying the entire story from start to finish. It took me several minutes, but by the time I got through it all, he looked borderline mournful. His brow was furrowed and his eyes were downcast as he held my wrist.

I sighed and stuck my other hand in my pocket, still reeling. It was odd to say any of it out loud. I silently braced for whatever he was going to say, whatever criticism he was going to offer of all the mistakes I’d made.

“Kirito.” Keita squeezed my wrist. “I’m so sorry.”

I blinked, tears suddenly prickling behind my eyes. “Huh?”

Keita shifted his hand from my wrist to my own hand, taking it gently. “I’m so sorry. That’s fucked up, it’s not fair that it happened to you.”

“You… believe me?”

“Yeah? Why wouldn’t I?”

“Huh.” I smiled weakly. “You know, you’re the first person to tell me that it’s messed up.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

I couldn’t get over how sad Keita looked. He squeezed my hand a little tighter, tracing circles with his thumb. “I’m so sorry, Kirito.”

For a moment, I was worried I was really going to burst into tears then and there. I clamped down on the flood of emotions that burst up, trying to choke me. I couldn’t afford that—not now, not like this.

Or so I told myself, but I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes anyway. I ducked my head, taking shaky breaths and trying to hold it in. “Thank you,” I managed.

Keita tugged gently on my hand. I took a step forward, confused, and then his other hand pushed my head down until my forehead was resting on his shoulder. “It’s okay,” he murmured. “You’re okay.”

My heart felt like it was being torn apart in my chest as my tears dripped to the ground below. It took all my willpower to prevent myself from breaking down completely, but even then my breath still came in shaky gasps as I continued to cry.

It was hardly the first time I’d cried over it all. It poured out in waves—the grief, the loneliness, the fear. I couldn’t reconcile myself with how people talked about me, how I had to act, and it was driving a chisel into my heart. It was the first time that I wasn’t alone, though, the first time anyone had tried to comfort me.

The stars glittered coldly overhead as every ugly feeling inside me reared its head to eat away at my heart.

“I’m—I’m okay,” I said eventually, once I’d gotten my breathing under control. I straightened, trying to subtly wipe my eyes. “…Thanks, and sorry.”

“It’s okay. You sure you’re good?” Keita looked me up and down, worried.

I swallowed. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m good.”

“…If you say so.” Keita tilted his head. “We should probably both get to sleep in that case—what do you say?”

“Sleep sounds good.” If I could actually manage to fall asleep, that was. “Here, I have to go rent a room.”

“Why not share mine?” Keita offered. “Sachi and I got a suite together already, and the bed’s way too big for one person. It’ll save you a bit of Col, too.”

“…Are you sure? Won’t that bother you?”

“Why would it?” Keita asked. “Besides, I’m sort of used to it. Sachi gets nightmares occasionally, and she’s slept in my bed before when she can’t calm down afterwards. It’s not a big deal, promise.”

My last objection addressed, I hesitantly nodded. “In that case… yes, please.”

I had to admit he was right—the bed was definitely big enough for two. You probably could have fit three people, even. I quickly swapped my armor for black lounge pants and a soft black shirt, then crawled into bed beside Keita.

He was out like a light—almost as soon as he lay down the last of his energy seemed to leave him, and he was snoring only a few minutes later. I couldn’t help but giggle at the sight. It made sense to me now why Sachi went to him for help.

Sure enough, despite my usual struggles with sleep, the sight and sound of him next to me worked wonders. My eyelids fluttered heavily, and I let out one last yawn.

Reaching out, I gently patted Keita’s cheek. “Good night,” I whispered. “And thank you.”

He didn’t move or respond. When I fell asleep some time later, though, I slept better than I had in months.

Chapter Text

February 12th, 2023, 8:12 AM
Floor 6

“Shh, don’t wake them up.”

“Really makes you wish we had cameras here, huh?”

“We do have a screenshot function.”

“Wait, what?! Since when?”

“Oh, I think you woke them…”

I opened my eyes blearily, blinking as light flooded my vision. The first thing I noticed was that Sachi, Ducker, Sasamaru, and Tetsuo were standing above me and grinning down at me. The second thing I noticed was that I was laying on my back, Keita’s head resting on my shoulder and his arm thrown across me as he gently snored.

“Morning, sleeping beauty,” Sachi said with a grin. “Sleep well?”

I covered my eyes with one hand, painfully aware of the fact I was bright red. “Just take me out back and shoot me.”

She giggled. “No way I’m doing that before I can get Keita’s reaction. Hey, Keita!”

Keita grumbled and shifted, lifting his head and blinking. “What, what?”

“Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

Keita yawned. “You’ll never take me awake.” He buried his face into my neck and promptly resumed sleeping.

“Wow, he actually fell back asleep,” Ducker said. “That’s one hell of a skill.”

“Alright, why don’t we give them some time to wake up?” Tetsuo said with an amused smile.

“Yeah, leave me to die of shame,” I said.

Sachi smacked my arm. “Oh, don’t be so dramatic. It’s cute!”

I just groaned.

“Kirito.”

I blinked as I realized Sachi was talking to me. Breakfast was peaceful, but I’d spent most of it stuck in my own head once Keita and I had dragged ourselves out of bed and downstairs. I shook myself and turned away from the mostly-untouched plate of food in front of me to face her. “What’s up?”

“I wanted to ask you something,” she said. “About… after this.”

“You mean after breakfast?” I asked.

“No, no!” Sachi sighed. “Like what you’re planning on doing now.”

“…I’m not totally sure. Why?”

“I think what Sachi is trying to ask,” Sasamaru said amusedly, “is if you’d like to join our guild.”

“Hwah?” I asked.

“Yeah, you should totally join!” Ducker said excitedly. “Then we’d finally have a full crew of six!”

“Bwuh?”

“I think all of us are in favor,” Sachi said. “So… what do you think?”

My brain finally reconnected itself to my mouth. “You want me to join you?” I asked. “Seriously?”

Sachi nodded. “Yeah! Why wouldn’t we? You’re strong, trustworthy, and we get along great—there’s basically no downside for us.”

I glanced around the table, seeing nodding faces all around. Keita briefly made eye contact with me and raised an eyebrow. I swallowed.

He smiled reassuringly. “It’ll be fine.”

“…Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Tetsuo glanced between us, eyes narrowed. “What are you two talking about?”

Keita raised his hands. “I’ll let Kirito explain.”

I silently prayed for mercy.

“I’m flattered, really,” I said, trying to control my voice. “But… I’m not sure you really want me.”

Sachi’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

I bit my lip. There was nothing left but to do it. “You know those rumors going around about the Beater?”

“A little bit.”

“…That’s me. I’m the one people are talking about.”

Silence fell around the table.

“There’s more to it, but—I’m not safe to be around. Not for long,” I said. “…Say the word and I’ll leave.”

I stared at the wood grain on the tabletop, every curse that’d been hurled at me the past few months whirling through my head. I mentally braced myself, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I flinched away as Sachi raised an arm next to me.

She pulled me into a hug, wrapping her arms around me tightly. I inhaled sharply, trembling. “S-Sachi…?”

“Don’t you dare say that,” she whispered. “You’re not dangerous. Not to me.”

“That’s not—“

“I don’t give a fuck about what other people say about you, I care about you. So please don’t say you’re not safe to be around, okay?”

There was a long silence.

I exhaled shakily. “Okay.”

“Kirito,” Keita said from across the table as Sachi pulled back a fraction, “why don’t you tell them the rest of the story?”

Tetsuo shot him a look. “You knew about this already?”

Keita shrugged. “Yeah, sorta happened by accident. I’ll tell you more later.”

All five of the Cats turned to look at me. I took a deep breath. “It started in December…”

It was even stranger telling the whole story for the second time. Tetsuo and Sachi’s faces were unreadable, but Ducker and Sasamaru grew increasingly agitated as I went on. By the time I’d finished, Ducker looked like he was about to start crying and Sasamaru looked furious.

“Kirito,” Tetsuo asked quietly, “have you been alone since then?”

“…Pretty much.”

“Bastards,” Sasamaru muttered into a clenched fist.

Ducker shifted his chair closer to mine. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “That’s—that’s fucked.”

I smiled weakly. “Thanks. I’m managing.”

“Are you?” Sachi asked. “Are you really?”

I thought of all the threats, the warnings, the duel challenges. The stark loneliness, the sleepless nights grinding levels to stave off nightmares, the tears and regrets still bitter on my tongue. The cloak I wore in towns so people didn’t recognize me, the count of times someone had drawn their weapon on me that never slowed down.

All the words Argo and Asuna, Klein and Agil wasted on me.

“No,” I choked out. “No, I’m not.”

I was so, so tired of crying.

I wasn’t sure if it was Ducker or Sachi who moved to comfort me as my tears dripped onto the table, but someone started rubbing my back with a hand and murmuring words of reassurance. More hands soon joined it. The tightness in my chest loosened a bit as I leaned into the touch, unsure and not caring who it was.

I was faster to calm myself down this time, tremors and tears coming to a stop. I sniffled and raised my head to find Sachi and Ducker directly on either side of me with hands on my shoulders and legs, Keita behind me, and Sasamaru and Tetsuo hovering nearby nervously.

“Hey, easy there,” Ducker said. “You good?”

I nodded, still sniffling. “Y-yeah.” 

“Are you sure?” Sachi asked, worry etched into her brow.

“I’m sure. Sorry for—“

“Don’t apologize,” Keita cut in. “None of us blame you. Right?”

There was a round of nods all around. I wiped the last of my tears and smiled weakly. “Yeah. Okay.”

Keita’s hand traced circles on my back. “Take your time.”

“No, I really am okay.” I really needed to get a better hold on my emotions. One of these days. “And… thank you for believing me.”

“Don’t thank us for the bare minimum, I think I’d have a harder time believing all that bullshit,” Sasamaru said with a snort. “But you’re welcome anyway.”

“Not to change the subject, but what are you planning on doing next?” Tetsuo asked. “We’d love to have you around, but if you’re a Clearer, doesn’t that mean you have to head back to the front lines soon?”

Ducker eyes widened. “Oh shit, yeah. You’re probably way higher level than us, too—guess that explains how you trashed all those enemies.”

I nodded. “Yeah. I… really should head back soon.” The 11th Floor boss fight was probably coming up soon, and while I wasn’t too worried about my level, I really needed to grind at least a bit and try and dig up any info or hints I could.

Everyone’s face fell as I spoke. “…Do you have to go?” Sachi asked, her voice a scratchy whisper.

“Yeah.” It pained me to say about as much as it seemed to pain her to hear, but I had a job to do.

No matter what. No matter how much it hurt to see her face fall.

A thought occurred to me.

“…You know,” I said. “I don’t have to be on the front lines all the time.”

Sachi glanced up at me, hope lighting her eyes.

“If you’re okay with it, I could… moonlight,” I said with a grin. “Come back down from the front lines when I’ve done enough work and hang around.”

Ducker groaned. “Oh, that’s terrible.”

“Weren’t you worried about getting recognized, though?” Sasamaru asked.

“That’s… true,” I admitted.

“There’s not exactly a ton of people around here,” Keita pointed out. “We’re a few floors back from the front lines. And whoever’s here tends to move on pretty quickly, so you’re not likely to run into a lot of familiar faces.”

“Putting up your hair and dressing in a color other than black would probably help, too,” Ducker said with a grin. “I mean, who knows if anyone’d recognize you if you were wearing a shocking color like grey!”

“Hey!” I glared at him. “Though I guess I can find a backup outfit to wear down here, and it’s not like most people are expecting to see me off the front lines anyway. Most of you had only sort of heard the Beater rumors in the first place, right?”

They nodded.

“Then… I should be able to do it,” I said.

“Can you?” Sachi asked eagerly. “Really?”

Mouth dry, I nodded.

“Yes!” She lunged forward, wrapping me in an enormous hug. “Thank you!”

“Thank you,” I said. “All of you.”

“Can’t say I expected us to pick up a stray cat when we first met you,” Keita said with a smile. He reached out to ruffle my hair. “Glad you’re here with us.”

I flushed and shook my head. “That reminds me—is it okay if I don’t formally join the guild?” I asked. “I… don’t want to draw attention to you if I can help it.”

Keita looked a little sad, but he nodded anyway. “I sort of expected that. Just—don’t forget you’re one of us, alright?”

“Seriously,” Sasamaru added. “You don’t have to deal with all that stuff on your own, you’re a Cat now.”

“Oh, that gives me an idea!” Sachi chimed in. “Give me a few days and I can put something together for you.”

“Something?” I asked.

Sachi just smiled. “It’s a secret!”

“On that note,” Keita said. “Welcome to the Moonlit Black Cats, Kirito.”

Five smiling faces beamed at me. I blinked several times, something I couldn’t name rising up inside me and pricking behind my eyes.

I smiled wider than I had in a long time.

“Thank you.”

Time flew by.

In comparison to the nearly two and a half months I’d been working alone, the weeks until mid-March went past in a flash. Some things hadn’t changed much—my reputation was still in the gutter, boss fights were still the worst, and I was still working myself to the bone.

Just a few things were new, though.

“Switch!” I called, stepping forwards with the Rook’s Favor at the ready.

Sachi retreated backwards as I took her spot, already pulling a potion from her belt. My sword clashed against the approaching puppet’s axe, deflecting it away. I planted my feet, parrying several more blows as I took a chance to glance over at the other Cats.

We were locked in combat with a swarm of Floor 14’s mechanical puppet enemies. The others were handling themselves pretty well—they’d grown a lot the past few weeks. There was still room to improve, but it was worlds better than when I’d first met them.

Tetsuo blocked a wild axe swing with his shield, grunting as the force pushed him back a step. With a nod, Ducker lunged in at the puppet from behind, slicing clean through its ribcage with his dagger. It collapsed into a pile of wood and string before vanishing with a flash of light.

Across from them, Sasamaru was fending off another one with his spear, using his reach to keep his distance from his enemy’s sword. Just as the puppet wound up for a larger blow, he backpedaled with a shout. “Switch!”

Keita interposed himself, taking the sword slash across his shield before cleanly taking its head off with his own blade. He and Sasamaru grinned at each other as the puppet shattered.

My attention was dragged back to my own opponent as its axe finally found a way past my parries, slicing through my shoulder. I winced, but carefully allowed it another strike on my other shoulder before I whipped a Horizontal Arc through its hips and chest, totally dismantling it.

I nodded in satisfaction. Battle Healing needed the levels anyway.

“Nice work, everyone!” Keita called, looking around to make sure we’d defeated all the enemies. “Kirito, you said there was a Safe Zone up ahead, right?”

“Yeah, it’s at the overlook.”

“Nice. Let’s head up there and take a break!”

A murmur of approval ran through the group, and we slowly fell into step. We were in the midst of climbing a mountain path, heading for the highest peak of the mountain range that the 14th Floor covered. I fell into step at the back of the crowd, content to let them lead the way. I’d seen all this before, after all.

I fiddled with the purple ribbon keeping my hair up into a high ponytail. It was a bit weird wearing my hair up, and even weirder wearing light colors. I’d poked around some shops when I’d first joined up with the Cats and found an outfit that got their approval for recognizability—light grey pants, a lilac shirt, and a long light purple cloak. It was slightly lighter-weight armor than I normally wore in addition to being lighter in palette, but I was adjusting.

Ducker had tried to get me to wear white, but I’d put my foot down.

Sachi fell into step beside me. “Hey.”

“Hey. What’s up?”

She looked at me for a second. “Are you okay?”

My health was kinda low. “Yeah, I’m good. I’ll regen it back next battle anyway.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Sachi’s voice was low, too quiet for the others to hear. “It’s not like you to get hit like that.”

“I was just checking on the others,” I said. “I’ll be more careful.”

Sachi hummed. “…Alright. Thanks.”

We dropped back into comfortable silence as we hiked. It only took us a minute or two to reach the Safe Zone—it was a small overlook with several benches, a table, and a stream trickling past. Everyone relaxed as soon as we passed through the barrier, and Ducker even let out a small cheer as we all sat down wearily.

I’d never really been hiking, and definitely not on a mountain of this scale—I was developing a newfound admiration for anyone brave enough to do it. Moving around the 14th Floor was exhausting work, since it was almost entirely mountainous.

It was gorgeous, though. It was a dry mountain climate season-locked to autumn, and while it wasn’t heavily forested, the trees that were around were unbelievably vibrant. I took a moment to breathe in the chilly air and the smell of fallen leaves, and admire the view while I drew a water flask from my inventory. Hiking in a dry climate was thirsty work.

“We’re almost at the field boss, right?” Tetsuo asked.

I drained the last of my water and nodded. “Yeah, the Watchdog Swordmaster. It’s pretty dangerous, but you should be ready.”

“Watch out for the movement, right?” Keita said. “And the sword skills.”

“Exactly.” I grinned. “A couple of front-liners tried to figure out if the sword it uses ever dropped, so we’ve got a lot of data on people fighting it.”

“Well? Does it?”

I shook my head. “Nope. Apparently some NPCs around mention that it’s rumored to have been forged using the fang of a powerful snake monster, but no one’s found any enemies that match that description, so they gave up.”

“You know, it really is reassuring to have you around,” Sachi said. “I feel a lot better about bosses when I know what’s coming like this.”

Ducker snorted. “Seriously. We get our own free walkthrough plus lore info!”

“Hey, I’m not just a walkthrough!” I complained. “Maybe I should unionize.”

“With who?” Sasamaru asked, making a big show of looking around. “It’s just you, my friend.”

“Alright, be nice,” Sachi said. “We really appreciate what you’re doing, Kirito.”

Keita nodded in agreement. “Seconded—I’d be lost without you.”

I scratched my cheek, desperately hoping the blush on my face wasn’t visible. “…No problem. Thanks for letting me hang around.”

“Hey, like we said, you’re a Cat now,” Ducker said. “You’re stuck with us!”

Sachi leaned over to squeeze my wrist. “And don’t forget it, okay?”

She’d given me a bracelet a few days after I’d joined—a simple one she’d made herself comprised of a plain leather cord and a small emblem of a cat set inside a crescent moon. I could feel the warmth of her hand around it now.

“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” I said, and surprisingly, I meant it.

The conversation died down again, and I closed my eyes for a moment. I was exhausted—the sole downside of the schedule I’d been maintaining was the lack of sleep. It was worth it all and more, but it was wearing on me and I could tell. Maybe I could petition the others to take a whole-day vacation so I could rest at some point.

As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I dismissed it angrily. No, I had work to do—the game wasn’t going to clear itself.

That was the crux of it—all the time I’d spent adventuring with the others meant that my time fighting on the front lines had to get jammed into my schedule wherever it fit, which mostly meant carving hours out of my sleeping time. I’d spend a few hours a day traveling with the Cats, a few hours just before dawn sleeping, and every other waking moment fighting at the front.

It wasn’t as though the sleep I got normally was all that restful, anyway, and the nightmares were always easier to shake off with friends around.

Yeah. I could rest a little longer like this.

The Watchdog Swordmaster was positioned in the middle of a wide trail amidst trees and drifting leaves. It was sitting hunched, covered by a ragged cloak. As we approached, though, it stood slowly, cloak falling away to reveal an almost seven foot tall puppet with a straight-bladed longsword on its hip.

“Remember—don’t get careless, and watch out for the last phase,” I called as we spread out.

It drew its sword.

Tetsuo moved first, dashing in front with his shield at the ready. The Swordmaster’s first strike stopped his momentum completely as it slammed into his shield, and the second strike drove him back several steps.

Tetsuo grunted as he struggled to keep his balance. “Careful,” he said. “This thing hits like a truck!”

The Swordmaster was already lunging past him, blade reaching for Sachi’s neck. Keita jumped in front of her, taking the blow with his shield and slashing his own sword across the boss’s arm.

“Ducker, Kirito—flank it! Sachi and Sasamaru, try and wear down its health! Tetsuo, you’re with me!” Keita shouted, his face tense and drawn.

“Got it!” Ducker called, circling around.

Sasamaru and Sachi both stabbed with their spears, shaving off more chunks of the Swordmaster’s health. It had three health bars and progress was slow, but so far smooth. Tetsuo and Keita took turns tanking hits from the Swordmaster, their shields taking the brunt of it. For now, I stayed back, ready to move in if anyone needed help.

The Swordmaster’s real danger was that it didn’t have any major weaknesses—it had good movement, solid defense, impressive damage, and excellent adaptability. It didn’t fall into easy patterns like most bosses, and while it didn’t have the same sheer burst damage capability or stubborn resilience, it was dangerous because of how hard to pin down it was.

Just like it was now. As soon as Sachi and Sasamaru began to box it in using Tetsuo and Keita as walls, the Swordmaster changed tactics, knocking Sasamaru’s spear aside and driving him back with three well-placed slashes.

Tetsuo rotated to try and cover, but in response the puppet immediately whirled around to Sachi, sword glowing bright yellow. Sharp Nail’s first two strikes carved off chunks of her health, the third grazing her as she stumbled away. Keita let out a cry of alarm and jumped in front of her, slicing across the Swordmaster’s chest with a Vertical Arc.

“Sachi, back off and heal! Ducker, Kirito, get in here!”

Ducker and I nodded to each other before dashing into close quarters. “Switch!” We landed several good blows before the puppet turned, warding us off with a broad sweep of its sword.

It turned and whipped its sword towards Tetsuo’s side. Tetsuo made a pained cry, but my sword crashed into the Swordmaster’s side in a plain Horizontal as it lay open. Ducker followed up behind me with Fang Strike, his dagger stabbing downwards in two vicious blows.

“Really wish this thing could bleed,” he complained.

I grunted in agreement as I deflected three rapid strikes. One of the main advantages daggers had was that a lot of their sword skills inflicted bleed—all the more pointless against something that didn’t have blood in the first place.

The cycle continued. Tetsuo and Keita swapped out to heal as Sasamaru and Sachi joined back in, their spears dragging the Swordmaster’s health bar down further. It was nearing its final bar—that meant trouble. I glanced at Keita to see he was still waiting for his health to tick up.

“Watch out, everyone!” I called as the Swordmaster reached its final health bar.

Things broke down.

There was a flash of pale yellow light from the Swordmaster’s blade. It swept its sword in a broad arc in front of it, lightning crackling along its path and down its edge. The power and energy were palpable in the air.

I closed the gap between us and jabbed a quick Senda into its side to draw aggro. It whirled around towards me, featureless face looming above.

It had been nearly three weeks, but I still remembered fighting the Watchdog Swordsman for the first time—it had nearly killed me. This final stage was why.

It moved as fast as the lightning it channeled along its sword—a blitz of five strikes rained down on me. I inhaled deeply and widened my eyes, moving on instinct. Its strikes inflicted stun in this state, and if I let it all stack up, I was screwed.

A slash from the left. One. An overhead blow out of the rebound. Two. A thrust followed immediately by a right sweep. Three, four. A brief pause, followed by the heaviest blow yet, a rising strike from below.

Five.

I carefully allowed its final strike to hit me, cleaving across my chest. My vision flashed briefly as I gasped in pain, but before the Swordmaster could recover from its combo, I grinned and drew back my sword.

“Gotcha.”

I charged a Heavy Thrust, a slow and short-range skill with significantly increased damage to compensate. The Rook’s Favor pierced clean through the Watchdog Swordmaster’s gut, skewering it.

Before it could recover, I tore my sword from its torso and threw myself into a Suigetsu, the roundhouse kick sending it toppling backwards.

“Now! Get it!” I shouted, and the others didn’t disappoint. Sasamaru and Sachi were first, spears glowing green and blue as they stabbed the prone boss. Tetsuo was next, swinging his mace down in a huge strike that nearly finished it off.

Finally, Keita’s Vertical drained the last of its health, and it shattered into fragments of light.

I nodded in satisfaction as the Cats erupted into cheers. They were definitely getting better—their coordination and confidence was way better than before.

At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before they didn’t need me.

The celebrations were interrupted as Sachi whirled around and ran up to me. “What the hell was that?!” she said, grabbing the front of my cloak.

“What do you mean?” I said, confused.

“I noticed it before, but I’m sure now—you let yourself get hit by that! It happened earlier, too!”

The Cats fell silent, staring at me.

“It’s—it’s for Battle Healing,” I said. “It levels up faster the more damage it heals.”

“For a skill?” Sachi said, distraught. “You don’t have to go that far!”

“That’s not—“

“You don’t! Haven’t you been hurt enough already?!”

I stared at her, unable to form any words to say in response as my throat closed up.

The others gathered around, and Ducker looked at me sadly. “Is—is that why your Battle Healing’s so high level?” he asked. “You’ve been doing that the whole time?”

I nodded slowly. “…Yeah.”

A sniffling sound drew my attention downward to find Sachi was crying. I froze. Tears dripped down her cheeks as she grabbed the front of my cloak, hands shaking. Her forehead rested against my collarbone as she trembled.

“Don’t—don’t do that anymore,” she whispered, grasping the bracelet on my wrist with one hand. “Please?”

“For us?” Keita added, gently taking my hand in his.

I felt like my heart was going to crumple under its own weight.

“Okay.”

“Remind me why we’re back in the Town of Beginnings?” I asked as I leaned against a wall.

Keita stood nearby, haggling with a merchant over the price of some chicken skewers. Once he finally settled on a price and grabbed four, he turned back and passed two to me. “I never told you in the first place,” he said.

“I know,” I deadpanned.

It was the day after the Watchdog Swordmaster fight, and I’d woken up late. On the upside, the Clearers had finally found the Floor 16 boss room and were preparing for the raid tomorrow.

The Town of Beginnings was just as crowded as I remember from those months ago. More than five thousand players were still living here, safe from all danger and choking the city with life. Giant stone-paved streets and crowded brick buildings sprawled outward. Even after more than four months, we still hadn’t seen any cities higher up that could match the Town of Beginnings for sheer scale.

“Sorry, I know I’m being weird. Humor me?” Keita asked, dragging me from my thoughts.

I frowned. “Don’t get me wrong, I’ll go along with whatever this is, but seriously—you knocked on my door at nine just to tell me we’re not going hunting and to drag me down here for chicken skewers?”

“Try one. It’s a player-run store, they’re really good.”

I took a bite. It was delicious, I had to admit. Nearly enough to offset the hefty price tag compared to NPC vendors, but I supposed that was the price you paid for someone with actual levels in Cooking.

“It is really good,” I admitted. “But seriously—what’s up?”

Keita glanced at me. “Do you seriously not know what today is?”

I stared at him blankly.

He shook his head. “Never mind. I had a favor to ask.”

“What’s up?”

“I’m not strong enough,” he said after a long moment, staring at his hands. “I—I know what we’re doing is dangerous, and I know I’m not enough. I feel like I’m walking a tightrope, and it’s only getting thinner.”

“Keita…” I said uncertainly.

“So! I wanted to ask—are you willing to train with me?” Keita smiled tightly. “I need to get stronger.”

“You mean like sparring?” I asked. “I mean, I’m down, but why me? Wouldn’t it be better to train with everyone?”

Keita shook his head. “No, I need to figure this out for myself. And the others deserve a day off, and…”

He mumbled something I didn’t quite catch. “What was that?” I asked.

“Nothing!” he said, straightening. “Anyway, I heard there’s a training hall down here with a bunch of rooms, so I figured we could check it out.”

“Right, the sparring halls. Good with me.” Keita keeping something from me—that much even I could tell—but I trusted and owed him. I raised an eyebrow. “Shall we?”

He grinned. “We shall.”

The sparring halls were sizable rectangular rooms with packed dirt floors and wooden walls, lit by torches and windows. A variety of training weapons lined the sides of the room, and the center was left entirely empty. I took a deep breath as I stepped through the door, taking in the room. The sounds of city life faded behind me.

“Not bad,” I murmured. A smile spread across my face. It was a good training space.

“Hm? What’d you say?” Keita asked.

“Nothing, nothing. C’mon, let’s get ready.”

I walked to the center of the room and drew the Rook’s Favor. Normally we’d use wasters, but the benefit of VR was that we could use real weapons with no risk. All damage was nullified in Safe Zones to begin with, and in here we got pain nullification and number displays for damage, too.

I would’ve killed for something like that a few years ago.

I shook my head and took a deep breath. I wasn’t really confident in my ability to teach anybody much of anything—I hadn’t tried outside of Suguha, and hadn’t had much luck with her. Keita seemed serious about this, though, and I owed him this and more for all he’d been doing for me. I needed to at least give it my best shot.

“So,” I said as Keita came to a stop across from me, his sword and shield at the ready. “What’re you looking to learn?”

He frowned. “…Can you be more specific?”

I rested my sword point down, scratching my head with my other hand. “Well, there’s a lot of aspects to swordfighting—or combat in general, really. I can only get through so much in a single day, so it’s probably better to pick something you want to improve at.” I began to tick things off my fingers. “Attacks, shield blocking, footwork and movement, sword skills…”

“Any chance I could get a crash course on leadership?”

I winced. “Sorry, that’s… really not my strong suit.”

That was putting it lightly. I’d only barely scraped by coordinating things on the 1st Floor because I knew all the enemy patterns so well, and even then half the time I’d completely forgotten I was fighting with other people mid-battle. I didn’t even want to think about trying it now.

“Right.” Keita looked a little down, but I couldn’t do much about that. “In that case… how about sword skills?”

I smiled. “I can do that.” I raised the Rook’s Favor. “We draw from the same pool of skills for that, too, so that’ll make it easier.”

“That reminds me,” Keita said, “why do you only use a single sword?”

“Like instead of sword and board?”

“Or dual wielding, yeah.”

“There’s no dual wielding in SAO,” I reminded him.

Keita frowned. “Well, that’s lame.”

“Hey, take it up with Kayaba, not me.” I spun the Rook’s Favor in my hand. “So—sword skills.”

“Right.” Keita’s brow furrowed. “I feel like I wind up leaving myself vulnerable when I use sword skills, but I don’t do enough damage when I don’t use them.”

“Sounds like an issue with timing, honestly,” I said. “That’s part of why I don’t use a shield—they slow you down.”

“Are you saying I should ditch the shield?”

“Not at all—they’re great for giving you more room to breathe. You’ve just gotta learn to time your sword skills to match it, and to step into them instead of winding them up.” I grinned. “Here, try this…”

“You alive over there?” I called with a smile.

It had been a few hours since we’d started, and I’d run Keita ragged the whole time. He was collapsed on the floor, covered in sweat, panting with exhaustion, shield and sword both fallen to the side and forgotten.

“Barely,” he groaned.

I tossed him a water flask. “Here, drink some water.”

He caught it, raising it in gratitude before downing the whole thing and splashing the remnants over his head. “I feel like my eyes are gonna fall out of their sockets,“ he complained.

I nodded in sympathy. “Yeah, trying to focus that hard for so long really wears you out.” I grabbed a water flask of my own and drained most of it. “It gets easier, though. As you build a better foundation, you won’t have to actively focus on those details as much. Of course, there’ll be new details for you to have to track once you get to that level, too.”

“How strong do I have to be for this stupid cycle to end?”

I shrugged. “I’ll let you know when I find out.”

Keita groaned.

We sat quietly for a few minutes as he rested and I consulted my stats. I was pushing level 55—I had originally been hoping I could reach it by the time we did the 16th Floor boss raid, but that didn’t seem likely now. Not that I needed it—my stats were good enough to be near the top of the Clearers, but what I was really proud of was my skill levels.

My One-Handed Swords skill was just over level 200, the highest of any of mine. Battle Healing, Parry, Martial Arts, and Leather Armor were all close behind, though, and everything else was a solid spread below that. Throwing Knives and Light Metal Armor were the lowest—the former because I used it only sparingly, and the latter because I’d picked it up more recently to help layer armor for better protection.

Just as I was considering putting more upgrades into Hardness for my armor, Keita stood up. “You good for one more round?” he asked.

“If you want,” I said easily. “Why, what’s up?”

“Go all out.”

“What?”

“You’ve been holding back, right? I want you to go all out.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You sure about this?”

Keita nodded. “Yeah. I wanna see what I’m aiming for.” He smiled. “Plus, it’s probably good for me to get knocked around once in a while.”

I dismissed my menu and drew my sword, spinning it in my hand. “Alright. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

We met each other’s eyes.

I kicked off from the ground, slashing my sword down into Keita’s shield. His feet shuffled back from the impact, but his own sword started on a horizontal cut in response anyway. I snapped my sword to the side, blocking it. I flicked it up for a quick slice along his sword arm, then drew my fist back for a Senda.

My knuckles crashed into Keita’s shield, sending him stumbling backwards again. They ached from the blow, but I ignored it and shifted to a two-handed grip. Sharp Nail flashed out in three staggering strikes—the first knocked his shield completely aside, and the second and third bit into his torso.

My foot connected with his collarbone in a Suigetsu, and he completely collapsed backward onto the floor.

I flipped the Rook’s Favor into a reverse grip and stabbed it down into his chest.

“Something like that,” I said.

“Holy shit,” Keita let out breathlessly, eyes wide as I sheathed my sword and offered him a hand up. “That’s one hell of a high bar to aim for.”

I shrugged. “Half of it’s just level difference, don’t let it get to you.”

“Easy for you to say,” Keita grumbled as he stood. “What are you even supposed to do in that situation to keep the shield in place?”

“There’s a couple of options. One is to anticipate the blow with a shield bash to offset the impact. The timing is tricky on that, though. You could use a shield skill, but that stops you from counterattacking, so I’d recommend changing the spacing—either move closer to lighten the blow, or move back to make them overextend.”

Keita nodded slowly. “That makes sense.” He sighed. “It’ll be a while before I can actually do any of that. Thanks, though. I think this helped.”

I scratched my cheek awkwardly. “Hey, no problem. I owe you a lot.”

A soft beep distracted me. I swiped open my menu to find I had a message waiting for me.

Sachi:  Hey, where are you and Keita? I wanna hang out

“Sachi’s asking about us,” I said. “What should I tell her?”

“Oh, good timing,” Keita said. “You good to head back up to Fourteen?”

“Yeah.”

He grinned. “Follow me!”

Sachi was standing outside the inn when we arrived, leaning against the wall. She waved a greeting as we walked over, black hair fluttering in the wind.

“Heya!” she said. “Where were you two, anyway?”

“I asked Kirito to help me with some training,” Keita said. “We were down on the 1st Floor. What’s up?”

She shrugged. “I got bored. The others are out doing something—shopping and fishing, I think?”

“Fishing?” I asked, my ears perking up. I hadn’t had a chance to go fishing recently, and I wasn’t about to say no to the chance.

“Easy there,” Keita said with a laugh. “This is good timing—I need to talk to you two.”

“About what?” I asked.

“Nothing bad. Here, let’s go inside.”

The inn was empty of other players, and we settled in around our usual table. It was still a little while until dinner, so I ordered a mug of mulled cider in the meantime. Sachi was looking at Keita suspiciously as he ordered something for himself.

“Keita,” she began. “What are you—“

“Here,” he said, cutting her off. “For you.”

He set two small boxes wrapped in white ribbon on the table in front of each of us. He didn’t make eye contact, and began fidgeting with his hands awkwardly as he withdrew them. I glanced at Sachi, then back to Keita, my confusion building.

“What’s this?” I finally asked.

There was a pause.

“Do you not know what today is?” Sachi asked, exasperation and amusement spreading on her face.

“I think he forgot,” Keita said.

I flushed. “What are you talking about?”

Sachi shook her head. “It’s White Day, Kirito.”

“Oh.” My blush deepened. “So, are these—“

“Gifts,” Keita confirmed. “You two both gave me something on Valentine’s Day, so I figured I’d return the favor properly.”

“I thought we agreed not to mention Valentine’s Day for the sake of Kirito’s dignity?” Sachi asked with a grin.

I was almost certainly crimson if the heat my face was putting off was anything to go by. “We are not talking about this.”

Both of them burst into fits of laughter. I shook my head. Valentine’s Day had been a lot of fun, but also deeply embarrassing. I had no intention of dredging up those memories more than I had to.

“So, can I open this?” I asked once they’d calmed down.

Keita finally relented. “Yeah, go ahead.”

With a nod to each other, Sachi and I both took our boxes and opened them, undoing the ribbons and lifting the lids. I couldn’t help the gasp that escaped my mouth as I looked inside.

A glittering silver bracelet sat on a cloth pillow. It was made of three fine silver chains wound around each other, with a mitsudomoe carved on the clasp. It reflected the light delicately. I glanced over and saw Sachi had a very similar bracelet in her box with a crescent moon shape on the clasp instead.

“I hope they’re okay,” Keita said hesitantly. “They’re not stat-buffing items or anything, just cosmetics. I wasn’t sure what would be best for Sachi, and I don’t think I could even afford something that would actually be useful for you, Kirito.”

“No, they’re great!” I picked mine up gently, ignoring the knot in my throat. “This—this is perfect.”

Sachi nodded in agreement, and both of us slowly put our bracelets on. I gazed at the silver against my skin, mesmerized. The bracelet sat next to the Moonlit Black Cats one that Sachi had made me already. It fit perfectly, too—tight enough that it wouldn’t fall off in combat, but loose enough that it wasn’t digging into my skin.

“Thank you,” I said, my voice quiet and thick with emotion. “This is amazing.”

Keita relaxed in his seat. “I’m glad. It took me ages to pick them out, so I’m glad it was worth it.”

Sachi turned to me and grinned. “We match!” she said, holding her wrist up to mine.

“Huh, yeah.” I bumped my wrist against hers and smiled. “Now you’re really stuck with a stray cat.”

Sachi giggled. “Weren’t we before?” She turned to Keita and frowned. “By the way, are you okay?”

Keita was half turned away, one hand over his eyes. “Yep,” he said, voice strained and not raising his head. “Just fine.”

“…If you say so.”

Sachi and I exchanged a confused glance and both shrugged.

“Anyway,” Keita said as he cleared his throat, “how’s your prep for that boss raid going, Kirito?”

I shrugged. “Same old. I’ve done all I can, honestly.”

“You leave at ten tomorrow, right?” Sachi asked. When I nodded, she bit her lip. “We’ll—we’ll see you off, okay? And good luck.”

“Thanks,” I said quietly.

I couldn’t shake the feeling I was going to need it.

The rest of the Cats were waiting in the inn when I came downstairs the next day, ten minutes before ten in the morning. They were all sitting around the same table, faces drawn and tense. My boots thunked on the wooden floor as I came to a stop in front of them and smiled.

“Why the long faces?”

Ducker glared at me. “You literally know why.”

“C’mon, I’ll be fine,” I said, trying to make myself believe it. “I’ve done this fifteen times before. Not like this is the first time you’ve seen me off, either.”

Sasamaru sighed. “We know, we know. It’s just… it’s one thing when you hear about the Clearers fighting in boss raids every week or so, but it’s a whole other fuckin’ thing when your friend goes off to do or die.”

“And it doesn’t get much easier,” Keita agreed. “Just… be careful, okay?”

“You know me. When am I not careful?” I asked playfully. I didn’t want them moping around like they were just waiting for my funeral while I was gone.

“Please, Kirito,” Sachi said, her quiet voice unusually shaky, even for her. “Please be careful.”

“I will.” I rapped my knuckles on the wooden table twice. “I’ll see you back here in a few hours, promise.”

That seemed to ease their worries at least a little bit, and a bit of the bitter gloom receded in the room. Tetsuo glanced up at me. “What’s the boss this time?”

“Fallen Marquess Breakwell,” I said with just a touch of disdain. “He’s gonna be a pain.”

“Why, what does he do?”

“Apparently he’s got a ton of summons,” I said. “The floor’s storyline is about a land swept with plague and rampaging monsters, and a Marquess who made a terrible deal trying to protect his people but ended up just dooming them instead. So not only does he have a monstrous form, he has a whole bunch of mutated commoners he can summon to stall for time.”

Ducker shook his head. “Well, that’s not very nice.”

“Nope.” I shrugged. “It’ll probably just be a battle of attrition—apparently he has a max limit he can summon.”

“That’s good.” Sachi frowned. “I just… worry. You’re a solo player, you don’t have anyone to look out for you in there.”

I was about to comment that Asuna and Argo would look out for me, but stopped. Would they? It was one thing to say that they probably didn’t hate me, but it was another thing entirely to say that they’d risk their necks for me in a battle situation where they weren’t even partied with me. Logically, I knew they, Agil, and Klein all meant well, but not only could I not count on it, I wouldn’t want them to given Kibaou’s ever-present threat.

“…True,” I said instead.

Keita silently extended a fist toward me. When I blinked at him in confusion, he sighed. “Fist bump?”

“O-oh. Yeah.”

“Knock ‘em dead,” he said as his knuckles knocked against mine. “And see you back here in a few hours?”

“Right.” I did my best to put on a brave smile. “Just relax and get lunch or something.”

Ducker shivered. “Not sure I’ll have any appetite, but yeah. Good luck.”

“Thanks.” I stuck my hand in the air as I turned to leave, my boots heavy on the wood floor. “See you soon.”

The 16th Floor was a northern forest biome stretching out from a massive central city—we were setting out from Locktown, the small town closest to the Labyrinth. It was a bleak place, honestly. The entire floor was season-locked to winter, and there was something distinctly wretched about the whole place.

It was hard to put my finger on it, exactly—the trees were barren and dying, the rivers were dark and murky, the primary enemies were haunted wolves and bears, and the wind howled as though it were alive, but there was something more to it all.

If I had to guess, it was the NPCs’ faces.

This was the first floor where they’d genuinely unnerved me—the genial and relaxed attitudes of the early floors were a distant memory now, and the folk living around here treated players with anything ranging from bitter despair to hateful suspicion. They had even less to say than most NPCs, and rarely offered information unless pressed. Now, gaunt faces watched us from the windows as we left the town, their eyes dim and dull. 

Snow swirled down around us, growing thicker as we traveled along the worn and winding dirt paths to the Labyrinth. I kept my hands in my pockets and my distance from the rest of the raid crew as we did. I hated this the most—the awful walk where I couldn’t do anything but drown in my own thoughts. The entrance couldn’t come soon enough.

Finally, Breakwell Manor appeared before us out of the snow. A grand and darkly beautiful building once, now it was just rotting walls, peeling shingles, and crumbling bricks. Ivy had overgrown most of it, the few unbroken windows glinting in the light like watchful eyes.

Ahead of me, Kibaou thrust the doors open and strode in confidently—we’d spent the past few days mapping the Labyrinth pretty thoroughly, so he had every reason to feel confident. The carpeted hallways and aimless rooms were a welcome change from the usual grim caves or dungeons that Labyrinths usually were, so I wasn’t going to complain.

The boss room was in the depths of the Labyrinth. The gigantic double doors in front of us were wooden, adorned with fine carvings and silver trim. Thankfully, Lind didn’t bother with words. He just looked back at the group leaders and nodded once before shoving the doors open.

The boss room was an enormous ballroom. The ceiling was long since caved in, snow drifting down and settling in clumps on the scratched and faded floor. A lone figure sat on the lip of the stage at the far end of the all, head bowed and face hidden.

He stood as the doors slammed shut behind us, though. He was a tall man wearing a ragged black uniform and tattered cloak with unkempt long black hair. “Ah, more of you…” he said as he stepped down from the stage and drew his longsword. “Fine. Let’s not drag this out.”

Four health bars appeared along with the name Fallen Marquess Breakwell. Lind raised his sword. “Charge!”

Chaos broke out.

Plumes of blue flame flared around the Marquess as he threw out an arm. Shambling and decaying villagers appeared from them, eyes glowing purple and surrounded by swirling blue flames. They clashed ranks with the raid crew, shouts of pain and cries of alarm echoing through the ballroom.

“Don’t hesitate, just cut them down!” Lind shouted. “He can only summon so many Cursed Villagers, so just keep attacking!”

“Easy for you to say,” I hissed under my breath as I shoved a Cursed Villager back and whipped the Rook’s Favor forward to bite into its torso. Another one seized my shoulder as I tore it free, though, tearing its teeth into me.

I choked out a cry of pain as I kicked it back, fending them both off with a Horizontal Slash. A third lunged for me with outstretched arms before I could back away, though, blue flames searing my forearms as it grabbed me. I hissed in pain and gritted my teeth, then headbutted it back, my sword flashing out as soon as it released my arms.

That was the tricky part, I soon discovered—there were so many of the stupid things. Just as soon as I had fended off one, another two took its place, and the cycle continued. They were tenacious and hard to stagger, and on top of that the damage I dealt was being spread so thin across a group that it felt like I was chipping away at a brick wall. I ducked one swing and blocked another, the Rook’s Favor cutting through the falling snow.

“Hold steady!” Lind’s voice drifted over the sounds of steel clashing, boots thudding, and screams of pain. “Don’t give them an inch!”

I didn’t have the luxury to be able to look at what he was talking about—I barely had time to twist out of the way of a plume of blue flames directed at my face, my sword flickering in the light. Two Cursed Villagers dropped to the ground with a grunt and shattered as I sliced through them, but another two filled their spot just as quickly, lunging for me from both sides.

How long was this going to go on? I gasped in pain as another plume of fire scorched my right leg where a villager had grabbed it. I flipped the Rook’s Favor into a reverse grip and stabbed it through its skull. It let out a scream of pain as I tore my sword free and it shattered—I didn’t pause to watch it die as I used Heavy Thrust against another villager charging from the front. My sword pierced through its throat, and its health ran out before it reached me.

I exhaled heavily and glanced around. Sure enough, the rest of the raid crew was struggling just as badly, if not worse. We couldn’t keep this up.

A miserable scream rang through the air and shattered my thoughts. I whipped my head around and spotted the Marquess, his sword buried in a player’s chest. He let out one last choked cry of pain before his health gauge emptied completely.

My blood ran cold as the Marquess flicked nonexistent blood off his sword menacingly. We’d lost someone.

The Marquess lunged for the next in line, a brunette woman wielding a spear I recognized as one of Kibaou’s followers. I got a better look at what happened this time, but it didn’t help much.

Marquess Breakwell started by deftly blocking the three stab attacks she used to try and keep her distance from him. His next move was a slant that knocked aside her spear easily, allowing him to step in even closer. He lunged for her arm with his free hand, seizing her wrist and holding tight.

First was a series of three quick slashes across her torso, draining her health. Second was a cut across her face. Finally, he pulled his sword back, and before anyone around them could intervene, drove a Heavy Thrust through her gut.

She didn’t even have time to scream before she died.

Ranks broke apart completely at that—people were scrambling to get away from the Marquess as fast as they could. The Cursed Villagers were slowing progress, though, and he nearly cut down another person before they could get away. Their health gauge hovered with just a few pixels left in it.

I finally managed to get my feet moving as I charged straight for him. We’d already lost two people—I had to do something.

“Get away from him!” I shouted as I arrived, the Rook’s Favor clashing against the Marquess’s blade. “I’ll handle it!”

The rest of the raid crew didn’t need telling twice—they scattered, downing whatever potions they could as they fled. I turned my attention back to the Marquess, barely ducking the swipe he made for my eyes.

Over sixteen floors of Aincrad, I’d fought more than my share of terrifying opponents. Fallen Marquess Breakwell definitely ranked near the top.

His style was pure offense—relentless attacks that left no room to breathe as he stuck to you like glue. It was one thing to deal with that on a normal enemy, but the Marquess was sitting on a boss-sized health pool. He could afford to just tank whatever hits I tried to use to break his advance, and I’d still be the one to wind up dead first.

My sword clashed with his repeatedly, the sound echoing strangely through the falling snow. Left, right, high, thrust. Steel screeched against steel as the point of his blade brushed past mine and pierced my wrist. Low kick, grab. I stumbled backwards as he reached for my collar, straining my eyes to keep up with his movements, parrying what I could and desperately twisting away from what I couldn’t.

I didn’t have any chances to attack—I hardly had time to blink. Parry, deflect, twist. The Marquess didn’t let up in his attacks, and each one I blocked sent a tremor running along my arms from the force of them. Backstep, block—I mis-timed a parry and received a lengthy slash along my right leg as punishment.

I just had to buy time. That was all. I just had to buy time.

Somewhere behind me, two people started shouting. I didn’t have time to turn away and barely had the attention to spare to process the words they were saying, but I would have recognized one of the voices anywhere.

“Issue orders, damn you!” Asuna shouted. Her voice was more fiery than I’d ever heard it—I desperately wanted to glance back to see what was happening, but just as the thought crossed my mind, the Marquess started another volley of attacks.

“I have been!” Lind protested. “It’s not my fault you’re not carrying them out!”

“There are people dying—coordinate your squads better, or I’ll take over myself!”

“This is my raid, are you challenging my authority?”

“I’m saying to do something!” Asuna screamed.

My health dropped into the yellow. I dragged my attention away from their argument—I could only hold out for so much longer. Another few attacks traded later, and my health was pushing towards red.

Marquess Breakwell’s sword began to glow with dark blue light as he pulled it into position for a Horizontal Square. I paled, dragging a desperate breath into my lungs and gritting my teeth. The two of us moved at the same time—our swords clashed with a terrible screech of metal on metal.

The first blow rocked me back a step, and the second smashed my sword to one side. The third cut across my left arm, dragging my health dangerously far into the red.

I brought my sword back up just in time to block the fourth blow, struggling desperately against the Marquess as we entered into a clash.

His blade inched closer and closer to my face.

“Kirito! Switch!”

Asuna’s voice rang out clearly behind me. I threw myself backwards just as the Marquess’ blade cut through where I was standing and Asuna rocketed forwards. Her rapier glowed brilliantly as it pierced through the boss’s shoulder, her sword skill finally tearing the third health bar off him.

“Group A, charge!” Asuna shouted as she clashed with the Marquess. “Groups B and C, advance and prepare to switch! Group D, heal!”

I watched as players swarmed forward, bolstered by Asuna’s confidence. Exhaling, I took the chance to grab a potion from my pocket and start healing. From the look of it, the last of the Cursed Villagers had been defeated. That explained the turning tides.

The rest of the fight proceeded much more smoothly. We wore down the Marquess with more orthodox tactics, swapping in and out quickly to avoid too much damage gathering on any single player. Eventually, when we reached the final health bar, he transformed, growing to nearly twice his original height as his flesh decayed and blue flames surrounded him.

“This isn’t my fault!” he roared, his voice thick. “All I ever did was try to protect them, and now you make me your scapegoat and blame me for everything?”

I froze some distance away from him, a potion bottle halfway to my lips.

“I knew I was being used, but what other choice did I have?!” The Marquess swept his blade across the raid crew, blue flames flaring out. “You made me your villain!”

I swallowed, a knot forming in my throat.

“Enough of your rambling!” Lind shouted. “All groups, back off!”

For a moment, I had a terrible flashback to Diavel and the Kobold Lord, but Lind was better positioned this time. His sword skill pierced through the Marquess’ heart, and for a second the battlefield went quiet.

“I never wanted this…” Fallen Marquess Breakwell choked out.

He shattered into fragments of light.

I exhaled heavily as the cheering started. Things had nearly fallen apart, but we managed to bring it back. It didn’t exactly fill me with confidence for future floors, but there was only so much I could do.

Lind turned to Asuna and started scolding her, which I automatically tuned out, but his face was one of smug satisfaction—he’d managed to claim the Last Attack for himself, I supposed. I’d almost entirely monopolized them so far, but maybe that was going to change.

He really was Diavel’s successor, after all.

Chapter Text

April 23rd, 2023, 1:39 AM
Floor 24

“Oh, come on…”

I groaned aloud as the system beeped, helpfully informing me that I’d been poisoned again. My ankle burned as I stabbed my sword down, killing the snake that just bit me. The poison wasn’t going away, though, and my head swirled as my health began to tick down.

I reluctantly pulled another antidote potion from my pocket and popped the cork, downing it as fast as I could. Antidotes always tasted weird—the flavor was somewhere between mint tea and grape soda, and they had an almost slimy texture to them that reminded me of bad cough syrup.

This was the sixth one I’d had to drink since I’d entered the dungeon today.

“Stupid snakes,” I muttered, glancing around for more.

It was well past midnight, and I was exploring a dungeon alone on the 24th Floor. The cave network I was in was surprisingly verdant—there were plenty of holes that let sunlight in and a lot of moisture, so it was carpeted with thick moss and overgrown with scattered mushrooms, dangling vines, and other foliage. The downside was that it gave the snake enemies scattered throughout plenty of spots to hide.

I sighed and kept walking. I’d been in here for a long time and I’d nearly charted the whole place out, but I was starting to get tired. Opening my menu, I glanced at my map. There were three branches of the cave system I hadn’t explored yet—nothing to do but pick one and keep moving.

The cave was almost completely dark save for the light of the lantern hooked to my belt. The sky outside was overcast, so not even the moon or stars provided any illumination, and my own light flickered and wavered unsteadily as I moved. Apparently there were magic lanterns on higher floors that were harder to extinguish and lasted longer, but for now I was stuck using a regular oil lamp.

The left path dead-ended with nothing in it but a treasure chest. I couldn’t exactly complain with my wallet a bit heavier and my hands covered with a new set of leather fingerless gloves—these ones boasting a bonus to strength and and electric resistance—but part of me was still hoping for something more interesting.

The right passageway had exactly that.

“Me and my big mouth,” I groaned.

Another snake enemy lay curled up in the back of the small room, its yellow scales glinting in the lantern light. A Voltaic Knifesnake, according to my HUD. It was significantly larger than any of the other snakes I’d fought so far—those all ranged from the size of small garden snakes to moderately sized constrictors, but this one was pushing the bounds of what I vaguely remembered snakes could grow to in the real world.

If I had to guess, it was nearly twenty feet long with a circumference to match. Most snakes that big were usually constrictors—I really didn’t like the idea of finding out what would happen if I got trapped in its grip alone.

“How to do this…?” I wondered aloud.

No answers conveniently presented themselves, so all I could do was sigh and pull two throwing knives from my belt. Normally I preferred picks over knives, but I’d gotten a nice knife set as a quest reward the other day, so I wasn’t about to pass up using them on principle alone.

I inhaled slowly, focusing on the snake’s head as I drew my arm back. The knife in my right hand began to glow yellow. The snake stirred slightly as the light drew its attention, and I flicked my arm forwards.

The knife spun across the distance, slamming into the snake’s neck just below its head as it lurched forwards. My second knife was already on the way as the health bar in my vision began to tick down, piercing just a few inches off from my first blow.

Three things happened in quick succession.

The snake lunged forwards, sparks flashing around its jaw. I stepped backwards, drawing my sword. The snake’s fangs sunk into my calf as my blade tore into its side, and a status effect icon appeared in the corner of my vision.

Stun.

My blood froze at the same time as the rest of my body. My limbs locked up and my legs collapsed under my weight as the serpent coiled around me, squeezing tighter and tighter until it felt like my eyes were going to burst from my head.

Electric shocks coursed along its scales, working together with the constriction to drag my health bar down lower and lower. My sword clattered to the floor. I choked out a pained breath, unable to inhale as the snake’s body squeezed on my chest. Panic flooded through me—status effects were catastrophic for a solo player, and stuns were one of the deadliest. Pain and adrenaline kept my head spinning as I struggled to focus.

All of the snakes so far had just inflicted poison—a pain to deal with, but nowhere near this catastrophic. I watched the corner of my vision as the stun timer and my health bar slowly grew smaller and smaller.

The instant the effect wore off, I slammed my back against the cave wall, drew back my fist, and whipped a Senda into the Knifesnake’s head. It hissed in pain, its grip on me momentarily weakening. That was all I needed—I jammed my left arm between the snake and my torso, peeling it off me as I worked my right foot under the blade of my sword.

With a shout, I threw the snake against the opposite wall and kicked my sword up into the air, catching it by the hilt as it arced back down. The Voltaic Knifesnake coiled lunged towards me.

I brought my sword down in a Vertical.

The snake shattered before its fangs could reach me. I exhaled uneasily, took a potion from my pocket, and popped the cork. My pulse slowed as my health went up, and I moved into the chamber where the snake had been sleeping.

There wasn’t much there—I couldn’t help sighing in disappointment. Dungeons couldn’t put treasure at every dead end, I knew that would just defeat the point of them, but I still shook my head sadly. Just as I was turning to leave, though, I heard a chorus of footsteps thudding down the halls. I tensed.

It likely wasn’t more monsters—I hadn’t run into any humanoid types in the entire dungeon, which meant it was other players. I had even less desire to run into them than monsters, though, so I quickly glanced around the room.

I quickly slipped into a back corner, leaning amongst a curtain of vines. Taking a deep breath, I tapped my lantern twice and turned it off, then activated Hiding and watched as my form darkened and the icon appeared in the corner of my vision. A few seconds later, the players in question rounded the corner, torchlight flickering along the walls. I inhaled slowly, holding my breath and holding as still as I could. It probably didn’t make a difference, but I didn’t want to risk it.

A full party of six entered the room—most of them I recognized as DDA regulars. Shivata was in the lead, followed in the back by several other faces I couldn’t put names to. What made me freeze in place was the sixth member, though.

Morte was walking along behind them, shield on his left arm and longsword in his right hand. His face was still mostly covered by his chainmail hood, but it was definitely him.

I narrowed my eyes, thinking furiously. Morte hadn’t mentioned being a part of a guild—he might have just not mentioned it, or even joined after I last saw him, but given what he’d said about Laughing Coffin, I couldn’t help but feel like there was something else going on here.

Every thought in my head came crashing down in a pile when Morte looked right at me and the Hiding icon vanished from my HUD.

For now, I was only visible to him. The second he opened his mouth and pointed me out, though,  it was all but guaranteed the others would spot me. I didn’t imagine they would take kindly to me skulking around, either.

Strangely, though, Morte didn’t say anything. He stared at me for a moment, his mouth sliding up into a lopsided grin, before turning away.

“Nothing here,” he reported.

Shivata nodded. “You heard him. Let’s keep moving, we’ve still got more dungeon to cover.”

A murmur of assent ran through the room, and the DDA began to move out. I watched as all of them filed out of the room, but Morte paused by the doorway for a moment. Once the rest of his party were facing away, he moved a few feet away from where I was hidden, staring at the ceiling and carefully not looking at me.

The grin on his face hadn’t changed.

“Y’know, sneaking around in dungeons like this isn’t very polite,” he said.

I sighed and deactivated Hiding. “Technically, you did it to me first.”

Morte chuckled. “True, true. So? What’s our favorite Beater doing alone in a dungeon this late?”

“Exploring. What are you doing with them?”

“The DDA’s in an awful rush these days, so we’re working late today,” Morte said, not quite answering me. “I’ve gotta dash before they notice I’m gone, but before that, wanna hear something fun?”

I narrowed my eyes. “What is it?”

He leaned closer, turning his head toward me. “See, normally the DDA would pass up a dungeon like this—boss raid’s tomorrow, after all, and if they needed to grind, they’d just do it in the Labyrinth. They stumbled on a neat little piece of information, though.” His grin widened. “Apparently, somewhere in this dungeon, there’s a secret that unlocks a new area in the floor with a hidden boss.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

I couldn’t see Morte’s eyes, but somehow I got the feeling he was fluttering his eyelashes at me. “Because I just like you that much, duh.”

“Don’t make fun of me.”

“I’m not!” Morte laughed. “Well, I’ve gotta run and catch up to the others. See ya, Kirito!”

With that, he turned and jogged down the tunnel, leaving me behind in the dark. 

I exhaled heavily, pondering what to do.  I was hesitant to trust anything Morte said at face value, but the DDA party had headed in the opposite direction of the last part of the dungeon I had yet to explore.

“…Guess I’ll check it out before I head back,” I mumbled.

By the time I finally got back to town, it was almost three in the morning. I’d dropped back down to Floor 23, heading for where the rest of the Cats were staying. My feet dragged on the ground as I yawned wearily, the flickering lights of the inn greeting me in the distance.

The rest of the dungeon had gone relatively smoothly—I’d ran into a couple other Voltaic Knifesnakes, but had avoided getting stunned like I had the first time. I made a mental note to look for armor with stun resist anyway, but that was only the second most important part of what had happened.

Just like Morte had said, the final section of the dungeon contained a snake nest and a secret door. Calling it a door might be a stretch—finishing a quick puzzle had revealed another tunnel heading back up towards the surface, into a new area on the floor.

I came to a stop in front of the inn’s door, swinging it open wearily. A crackling fire and flickering orange lamps welcomed me inside, the NPC behind the counter giving me a nod. I was about to head for my room when I noticed I wasn’t the only player there.

Keita was sitting at one of the tables, his face pale and his fists clenched. He hadn’t noticed me yet—his gaze was fixed on the wood grain of the table in front of him, and his reddish eyes were hazy in the firelight.

“Hey,” I said as I approached. “You okay?”

Keita startled, jerking in his seat. “Huh?” Recognition dawned in his eyes. He bolted to his feet, grabbing me by the shoulders. “Kirito! Have you seen Sachi?”

I blinked. “No, I haven’t.” I looked him up and down, worried. “Keita, it’s three in the morning. What’s going on?”

“Sachi’s gone.”

“What?”

“Sachi’s gone!” Keita’s voice rose. “Well, not gone, I can see her in my friends list and she’s receiving messages, but when I woke up she wasn’t here and she still hasn’t come back, and I didn’t want to leave in case she came back while I was out—“

“Keita, breathe!” I said, alarmed. “Slow down, what happened first?”

Kieta took a breath, nodding as he let his arms fall from my shoulders. “Right. Sorry.” Once he’d gathered himself, he started again. “Sachi woke me up around midnight, saying she had a nightmare again. I helped her calm down and we both went to bed, but I woke up almost thirty minutes ago and she was gone. I sent her a message, but she hasn’t responded, and I don’t know where she is.”

I nodded, trying to swallow the nerves that had surged up in my own gut. It would be fine. “It’ll be okay,” I said. “Tell you what—you stay here, and I’ll go out and look for Sachi. She won’t have gone far, and my Searching level’s higher anyway.”

“Are you sure?”

I nodded again, trying to sound confident. “Yeah. We’ll be back before you know it, okay?”

Keita closed his eyes briefly. “Okay,” he said, opening them again. “Good luck.”

I patted his shoulder once, then turned and headed for the door.

I lit my lantern and crouched down in front of the inn, examining the ground and focusing my eyes—I was suddenly very glad I’d picked up the Tracking mod for Searching. There were only two tracks of footprints that were recent. One was mine, coming in from the west of town. The other was almost certainly Sachi’s.

My Searching level wasn’t high enough that I could just follow them straight there—I’d have to do a bit of detective work. The prints in question were highlighted green, but they cut off frequently or intersected with other, older tracks, and I had to look closer, trying to guess where they headed and following the line until I found another set.

It wasn’t exactly easy. The 23rd Floor was still pretty active, and players tended to be up and about comparatively later in the evening here than in the real world, so there was always at least two or three other sets of tracks obscuring my trail, only the slightly dimmer shade of green informing me they were older. It was fun, though, even if the fun of puzzling things out was largely dampened by the anxiety swirling through my chest.

Finally, I found her.

The trail led me to the edge of town, to a small meadow just before the edge of the Safe Zone. Wildflowers were scattered across it, blooming in a dizzying variety of colors and reminding me again that it was spring, here and in the real world.

At first, I thought that no one was there, but then I spotted a dark shape lying on the ground, curled up amongst the flowers. I paced closer, my heart in my throat.

Sachi was laying on her side, her eyes open but unfocused. The light of my lantern cast her shadow far back along the grass, stretching it out behind her into the darkness. Her cursor floated above her and her health bar was full, but she didn’t move an inch.

It was only once I came to a stop next to her that I saw that she’d been crying.

“…Kirito?” Sachi croaked, her voice low and hoarse.

“Hey,” I said hesitantly, lowering myself to sit on the ground next to her. “Keita and I were worried about you.”

“Sorry.”

Sachi sounded awful. I bit my lip, all too aware of the space between us. “Do you wanna talk about it?” I asked eventually.

Sachi was quiet for a long time. Slowly, she reached out and grabbed my hand, her own shaking as she did. “Will you run away with me?”

“Huh?”

“I don’t want to die,” Sachi whispered, her voice cracking. “I get so scared—that something awful will happen, that one of us is going to die. I see it every time I close my eyes at night.”

My eyes widened, but I listened silently.

“When we first got trapped, all I could think was why me? I was finally starting to feel happy with who I was and starting to enjoy my life, and I had to go and get stuck in a game that could take that all away.” Sachi stared up at me, her eyes dim and lifeless. “I couldn’t understand it.”

“…Yeah.” I swallowed. “I know that feeling.”

“When Keita and the others said they wanted to try climbing floors, I was terrified,” Sachi said. “I didn’t want to go, but I was even more scared of being left behind. That month and a half before we met you was the worst.”

“…And after?”

“It got a little better with you there.” Sachi smiled weakly. “You’d already seen everything we went through before, and you were so good at it all. I still couldn’t get rid of the nightmares or the panic attacks fully, but it got easier.”

My chest ached miserably. “I had no idea,” I said quietly. “I’m—I’m sorry.”

“I hid it on purpose, you don’t need to say sorry.” Sachi’s eyes fell. “It’s gotten worse again, though. I can’t shake this feeling that something is going to happen, that this game is going to kill both of us someday—it’s getting closer and I can tell.”

Her grip on my hand tightened, and her shoulders began to shake. Tears dripped down her face as she grabbed my wrist with her other hand, holding on to me like I was her last lifeline.

“Please,” she said, her words blurred by tears. “Run away with me. I don’t want us to die here.”

I stared down at her, unable to form any words in reply. The ache in my chest had spread to my throat. I wanted to answer her, to comfort her, to do anything other than just sit there, but I was caught up and overwhelmed by my own emotions. I wasn’t sure exactly what Sachi was feeling when she said that she could tell that something was going to happen, but I had an instinct I knew what it was, and that it was creeping through me now.

I desperately wanted to say yes, to take Sachi and run. To leave behind all the death and fighting and hatred and head for somewhere quiet—some floor we’d already cleared where we could just live quietly.

All I could do was reject her, though—it was the only path I could take. I would never be able to accept her offer, I just wasn’t that person. And if I was someone else, we might never have come here at all.

I hated it.

Tears prickled behind my eyes as I stared down miserably at Sachi, trying to find the strength to break her heart. Before I could open my mouth, though, she reached up a hand and placed it on my cheek, a tiny smile and faint light appearing on her face and in her eyes.

“I know,” she said softly. “You don’t have to say it. You’re kind, after all.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I have to keep going.”

“I know.” Sachi rubbed her thumb along my cheek, her own tears still falling. “You have so many things left to do, and all the devotion in the world.”

“It’s for you, too,” I said, my voice cracking. “I’ll keep you safe.”

Sachi’s eyes widened as her tears stopped. After a moment, she broke into a smile. “See? You’re even kind enough to…”

The last few words she said trailed off so much that I couldn’t hear them. “What was that?”

She shook her head. “Nothing. I just said you’re kind.”

Unsure of what to say in response, I sat there, her hand still in mine. I opened my menu with my other hand—it was almost four in the morning.

“…We should head back soon,” I said after a long time. “Keita’s probably worried.”

Sachi nodded shakily. “Right.” She glanced up at me. “Do me a favor?”

“What’s up?”

“Don’t tell Keita what I said.”

I blinked. “Sachi, if you’re that scared, we should really at least try talking to the others.”

She shook her head. “I know how hard Keita’s been trying to keep us safe and happy.” She bit her lip. “I don’t want to break his heart like that. So don’t say anything, at least for tonight?”

I nodded eventually. “…Okay. But we should talk to him eventually.”

“Okay,” Sachi said.

Looking at her smile, I couldn’t shake the feeling that she was lying.

We made the walk back to the inn in silence, though neither of us had let go of the other’s hand. When the firelight and candles inside greeted us once more, I finally relaxed a little bit. Keita, who was still sitting at the same table, bolted to his feet and dashed over.

“Sachi!” he said, grabbing her other hand. “You’re back!”

“I’m back,” she agreed, her voice scratchy with exhaustion. “Sorry for worrying you. I couldn’t fall asleep and decided to take a walk.”

“It’s okay! Are you okay?”

She smiled weakly. “I’m tired.”

“We should head to bed,” I said. “We can talk more tomorrow—all three of us need rest, and I have to leave for the boss raid tomorrow.”

Keita’s eyes widened. “Shit, right! Are you gonna be alright on that little sleep?”

I shrugged. “It’s not much less than I usually get.”

Both of them looked at me, faces plastered with concern. “That’s… not exactly reassuring,” Keita said. “At all, in fact.”

“I’ll be okay,” I said. “Let’s head upstairs so we don’t cut my rest any shorter, yeah?”

The two nodded.

Mercifully, it didn’t take Sachi long to fall asleep at all. She collapsed into bed and was under barely a minute later, to my total lack of surprise. I covered her with a sheet as Keita watched, turned the light off, and left the room with him in step behind me.

As I was heading for my own room, though, Keita stopped me. “Thanks.”

I turned. “What for?”

“For getting Sachi.” Keita scratched his cheek. “I was seriously freaked out, honestly. You helped a lot.”

“No problem,” I said.

Keita hesitated. “…I’m worried,” he said. “Maybe you should be leading this thing after all.”

“What? No way.” I shot him down immediately. “You’re doing a way better job than I ever would—what’re you worried about?”

Keita stared at the floor, his voice dropping. “I’m worried I’m not good enough. For Sachi, or any of them.” He made a face. “I mean, I couldn’t even do anything to help her tonight. Some leader I am.”

“…If anyone isn’t good enough here, it’s me,” I muttered, thinking back to Sachi’s plea. “You’re doing fine. I think we’ve all had a rough night, that’s all.”

“…If you’re sure.”

“I am.” I smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. “C’mon, let’s get to bed. I’m about to pass out standing up here.”

Keita nodded uneasily. I turned to go, hoping fervently that a good night’s sleep made all of this seem that much less scary.

I awoke slowly and confusedly.

My head was resting on someone’s lap. Sachi’s voice, singing gently and softly just above me, drifted into my ear. A hand played with my hair. Any traces of the nightmare that I had woken from were gone, and I was warm and comfortable.

I opened my eyes to find Sachi and Keita sitting shoulder to shoulder above me. My head was resting in Sachi’s lap, and Keita was playing with my hair as she sang. I blinked several times, my eyes watering slightly.

How had I gotten here?

My thoughts started to connect as I lay there. Right, I’d come back to the inn after the Floor 24 boss raid and fallen asleep again. I’d gotten maybe about four hours in total before the battle, but I’d managed to make it through somehow. It helped that no one had tried to start trouble.

Sachi’s song came to an end—I didn’t recognize it, but it was a sweet tune that almost reminded me of a lullaby. For some reason I couldn’t understand, it made my heart ache.

“How’d you get in here?” I said, my words still thick with sleep.

“Private rooms default to allowing party members in, remember?” Keita said with a smile. “You’ve been asleep for almost two hours.”

I closed my eyes again. “Oh.” Part of me desperately wanted to just go back to sleep, to not have to deal with my problems right now. I sat up anyway, though, becoming aware once again that I’d been lying on Sachi’s lap. “S-sorry, and thanks. Your singing voice is really nice.”

If only I could stop blushing like an idiot.

“N-no problem,” Sachi said, glancing away from me. She seemed… nervous?

I shifted away and turned to face her and Keita properly. “Sorry if I did something wrong,” I said, rubbing my head uncertainly. “…Are you okay?”

“I’m fine! I just—“ Sachi paused, staring at me with a conflicted expression.

“Sachi,” Keita said quietly, laying a hand on her shoulder. “You can say it. It’ll be fine.”

I swallowed, glancing between the two of them and hoping desperately that the jolt of fear that just ran through my hands wasn’t visible. “…What’s up?”

Sachi took a breath. “Well, first… Thanks for last night. I really appreciate it.”

“No problem,” I said. “Are you feeling better?”

“Yeah.” Sachi shook her head. “More importantly, can I talk to you about something? There’s… a few things I’ve been meaning to say for a while, and I think I need to say them now.” A dark look flickered across her face, but it was gone so quickly it might have been my imagination.

I nodded. “Yeah, sure. What’s up?”

Sachi took a breath. “Okay.”

It didn’t escape my notice the way that Keita kept his hand on her shoulder, or the way that her hands trembled as she stared at the floor. I couldn’t bring myself to say anything, though, so I just nodded and tried to ignore how dry my mouth was.

“I’m—“ Sachi cut herself off and took a breath. “I’m trans.”

“Oh!” My eyes widened. “That’s so cool!”

Sachi blinked.

“I—I mean, thanks for telling me,” I stammered, my face turning red. “I—“

I was interrupted as Keita burst into laughter and Sachi doubled over giggling. 

“See?” Keita wheezed out, face red. “Told you it’d be fine!”

Sachi covered her mouth, laughing so hard tears were gathering in the corners of her eyes. “You win,” she managed.

I sat there, my face burning. When they finally gathered themselves and Sachi looked up at me, I rubbed my head awkwardly. “…Do the others know?”

“Oh, yes!” Sachi said. “They’ve known for a few years now.”

“Gotcha.” I paused, trying to form my thoughts into words. “That’s… really impressive.”

Keita smothered another laugh.

“I mean—“ I sighed. “It probably takes a lot of courage to do something like that, right? And… I dunno, it’s cool that you’ve figured that much out about yourself, I guess.”

“Thanks,” Sachi said as she flushed a bit. “That… means a lot.”

Keita gave her a significant look. “Come on. After that? You’ve gotta say something.”

“What’s up?” I asked.

Sachi nodded. Her face grew serious again, and nervousness began to simmer in my stomach, though I couldn’t figure out why. “It’s about the second part of this,” she said. “Just… don’t get mad, okay?”

I nodded. What was she about to say that I might be mad about? I clenched and unclenched my fist and tried to ignore my jittery nerves.

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while,” Sachi began, “but there’s some similarities between us, I think.”

I frowned. “Similarities?”

“You… you look so sad sometimes,” Sachi said. “Sad isn’t quite the right word—you look empty. Your eyes go blank. You don’t like talking about yourself much, and when you do you act like you’re dangerous or a threat to people. Not just like you believe all the rumors people spread about you, but like there’s something inside you you’re scared of.”

My breath caught in my throat. Sachi’s words came faster as she gained confidence and momentum, and she looked up to meet my eyes.

“You act like you can’t feel the pain when you get hurt, sometimes, like you’re not even a part of your own body.” Sachi broke off, glancing down and clasping her hands together. “You get nervous at physical touch. Other people treat you weirdly, like there’s something wrong with you, but not even they seem to know what.”

My heart pounded in my chest and blood rushed in my ears. It was all I could do not to shake so hard one of them would notice—why did I want to cry? The feeling tore at me, and my heart ached as I stared at her without understanding why I was feeling anything at all.

Sachi stared at the wood grain on the floor. “The long hair. The layered baggy clothing. The risk-taking and self-harm. The isolation.” Slowly, like she was just as terrified as I was, she raised her head, eyes wide. “You’re like me. Like I was.”

I couldn’t breathe.

“What—what are you—“ I croaked, the words not forming properly.

“You don’t have to live like this,” Sachi begged, leaning forwards. “It doesn’t have to be this.”

“I have to,” I choked out. “I can’t—”

“Yes, you can!” Sachi took a deep breath, tears welling up in her eyes. “Please. I can’t keep watching you burn yourself out like this, I can’t keep watching you kill yourself for people that hate you and then cry yourself to sleep when you come out the other side alive.”

Something snapped in my chest.

“I’m scared,” I said. My voice was a scratchy whisper, and tears began to spill down my cheeks as I stared at Sachi.
 
“I know,” she whispered, taking my face in her hands. “It’s scary. It’s—it’s terrifying. But it can get better.”

“I don’t deserve better,” I said. I was crying even harder now, my whole body shaking as I stared at Sachi. “People have died because of me—I should have saved them, but I couldn’t!”

Sachi traced my cheekbone with her thumb. “Did you kill them yourself?”

“What? No!”

“Did you attack them?”

“No!”

“Then it’s not your fault.” Sachi’s hands tightened around my face. “You’re doing your best—I’ve seen how hard you try. It’s not your fault.”

A strangled wail escaped my throat as I doubled forward onto Sachi. I sobbed miserably, my cries echoing around the silent room. Sachi’s arms wrapped around me and began to rock me back and forth slowly. Keita must have shifted closer at some point, too, because I felt his hands on my back and in my hair, rubbing gently.

“Breathe,” Keita murmured. “Easy there.”

I heaved a breath in, trying to get myself under control. It didn’t work very well.

“It’s okay,” Sachi said. “Let it out.”

I sobbed harder, grasping at her shirt with my hands while my whole body shook. Chills gripped me, and something tight and piercing was aching in my chest. There was a hole in my stomach, all these awful feelings slowly seeping out of it after rotting and festering inside of me for so long, and I had no idea how to close it back up.

Had it always hurt like this? Why hadn’t I noticed it sooner? It was so overwhelming I could hardy bear it, but the thought of trying to fix it was so terrifying it sent a flash of pure fear through my chest.

I dragged in a breath desperately, trying to get my crying under control long enough that I didn’t pass out hyperventilating. I raised my head, tears running down my face, and looked at Sachi. “What do I do?” I whispered.

Sachi was crying, too. She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath before answering. “I can’t decide that for you,” she said. “You don’t have to do it alone, though.”

I was rocked by equal parts hope at her words and shame at my desperation to cling to them. I really was hopeless, after all.

I wasn’t sure how long it took for me to stop crying after that. Keita had moved me to the bed at some point, and I was curled up, drifting in between sleeping and waking while he and Sachi sat on the floor and talked.

I didn’t feel better, exactly. Reality was floating at the edges of my perception, though, and I was too exhausted to feel the grief. Sachi and Keita’s voices drifted in and out of my hearing. Someone’s fingers played through my hair, gently untangling strands.

“…Gonna be okay?” Keita was asking.

Sachi sighed. “I… hope so.”

“I can hear you, you know,” I mumbled without opening my eyes.

“We know,” Keita said fondly. “Just rest.”

“Mmm.” I shivered slightly as his palm cupped my cheek, ignoring the way my eyes prickled. “Okay.”

Sachi chuckled as I let myself relax, drifting off again. I knew I was just putting things off, but even just for a little while, I wanted to forget about my problems.

I fell asleep to the sound of Sachi singing.

“Holy shit, dude.”

Ducker gasped as he stopped at the edge of a cliff, staring at the ravine walls plummeting down before us. The rest of us came to a halt beside him.

It was an enormous chasm, snaking its way along the edge of the 23rd Floor. Steep cliff walls closed it in on either side—the ravine floor itself was a tiny strip of both river and land weaving its way along. We stood at one point of it, while at the far end the river plunged off the edge of a lower cliff in a striking waterfall.

The ravine was almost entirely inaccessible. The only entrance was to our left—a narrow rock stairway downwards, cutting back and forth across the cliff until it reached the floor. It was a good thing I wasn’t afraid of heights.

Four days after the boss raid, the Cats had proposed a trip of sorts. They were just about ready to make the jump to the front lines, and wanted one last challenge to bump their levels up and make sure they were ready. I’d suggested they challenge the new field boss I’d uncovered on the 23rd Floor thanks to Morte’s tip, and they’d ran with it.

“Here we are,” I said. “Stormbreak Ravine.”

Sasamaru whistled. “That’s one hell of a drop.”

Ducker smirked. “Don’t fall.”

Sasamaru rolled his eyes as Keita clapped his hands. “C’mon, let’s get moving,” he said. “It’s getting later.”

I smiled as the two of them grumbled but fell into step, starting down the stairs. I followed, falling into place beside Keita as we walked. There weren’t any enemies that spawned on the stairs, thankfully, so for now it was just a lot of walking.

Keita nudged me in the side. “How’re you doing?” he murmured, not necessarily quiet enough to not be heard, but at least more subtle.

I raised an eyebrow. “Fine. What’s up?”

“You know what I mean,” he said, giving me a look.

“Ah.”

I thought about it. My head was six kinds of jumbled, and I couldn’t decide if I felt better or worse than before.

“…I’m not sure,” I settled on. “Sachi and I have been talking.”

Keita snorted. “Yeah, I know.”

Talking was a generous term for it. She’d been telling me stories, explaining all kinds of things to me, and talking me through it all while I sat there feeling perfectly confused. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, though.

Especially not with the fact that it meant she was constantly playing with my hair.

“Hey, don’t get too far ahead,” Keita called to Ducker. “There’s enemies on the landings, remember?”

Ducker grumbled something about us being slow as I returned my attention to the world around me. “You’re getting better at that,” I commented to Keita.

“At what?” he asked.

“Keeping everyone in line—well, leading in general, I guess.”

He really was. The Cats were working smoother than ever, and it was mostly thanks to him.

“Oh.” Keita blushed. “Thanks.”

I blinked. “Yeah, no problem.”

Before I could fully process that reaction, Keita took two steps forward and hauled Ducker back by the shoulder. The bandit enemy that had just lunged forward stabbed Keita’s shield instead of Ducker’s neck, and chaos broke loose.

Ducker scrambled backwards as I drew my sword and Sasamaru shouted in alarm. Tetsuo smashed his mace into the bandit’s face, while Keita fended off another using his sword. The stairs were too narrow for more than two people to stand shoulder-to-shoulder, so Sachi, Sasamaru, and I were stuck at the back.

Thankfully, the boys had it handled. They finished off the two bandits at the same time, and everyone exhaled in relief.

“Okay, what have we learned?” Keita said, sheathing his sword.

Ducker stared at the floor, embarrassed. “…Don’t get distracted.”

Keita patted his shoulder. “As long as you know. Alright, let’s keep moving.”

We dropped back into our impromptu formation as we continued downward, passing through the brief landing where the two bandits had lay in wait. I glanced at Keita significantly. “Told you. You’re getting better.”

He flushed again, rubbing his neck. “Thanks to you, really.”

I hadn’t done anything for him, but I kept my mouth shut. He looked so happy I didn’t want to ruin the moment.

The edge of the ravine was just as terrifying and awe-inspiring up close.

The rest of our descent went smoother, thankfully. Ducker avoided any stabbings, no one slipped on the stone, and it took us only a little longer than I’d hoped. I stretched my arms and we filed out of the stone stairs onto a riverbank at the very base of the ravine. Clouds darkened and raced by above us as the weather grew worse. Up ahead, the river increased in speed and fury as it came to the edge before plunging down in a waterfall.

At the center of the river just before the edge, an enormous yellow snake was curled up on a narrow stretch of land.

It was nested around some kind of wooden structure—I couldn’t tell what it was from here. That was definitely our boss monster, though. The six of us turned to the others and nodded nervously, and I quickly ran through my equipment one last time to make sure I was ready. Keita drew his sword and readied his shield, inhaling deeply.

“You know the drill,” he said after a moment. “Play it safe, don’t overextend, and watch each other’s backs. As long as we do all that, we’ll be fine. It’s not a humanoid mob, so it shouldn’t have any skills to speak of—just watch out for the stuns and poison Kirito mentioned. Got it?”

We nodded.

Keita grinned, running a hand through his red hair. “Alright, Moonlit Black Cats. Let’s do this!”

The five of us cheered in unison, raising our weapons as we did. When we lowered them, though, I saw that Sachi’s face was taut with nerves and fear. Before I could voice anything in concern, though, the others were already moving for the boss and the moment was lost.

I promised myself silently that I would bring up Sachi’s fears after the boss fight.

We waded through the rushing river, coming to a stop at the edge of the narrow islet where the snake rested. Its eyes flickered open and it slowly uncurled itself from around the wooden structure, now revealed to be a miniature shrine-like structure almost reminiscent of a hokora, inside of which sat an ornate dagger stabbed into the wooden base.

The snake unfurled itself to its full size and length, dwarfing all of us. Three health bars appeared along with a name—the Ancient Voltaic Knifesnake.

“Attack!” Keita shouted.

I dashed forwards around Tetsuo as he blocked the snake’s initial strike, a vicious stab of its fangs into his shield. My sword flickered in arcs along the boss’s flank, glowing red slices appearing along its scales soon joined by my guildmates’ own attacks.

The snake was fast, though—it whipped its body around, its tail nailing Sasamaru in the side as it lunged for me with its fangs. I deflected it to one side, using its own momentum to extend my sword swings even further along its side, but even that only lasted for so long before it flicked itself back around. I was vaguely aware of Keita shouting orders and the others moving, but my focus narrowed as I danced in and out of the snake’s jaws.

There was almost no opening for me to use sword skills—my body was moving more on instinct and habit than conscious thought. It wasn’t like fighting a swordsman, either. With the snake’s entire bodyweight behind its lunges, blocking it directly was flatly impossible for me with just my single longsword—I had to rely on redirecting it to one side or the other, slipping out of its reach each time.

My field of vision narrowed as my breath came faster. Both of our health bars slowly ticked lower and lower. By the time that the snake’s first health bar had been fully depleted, my own was so low that I had to switch out. Sasamaru jumped in to cover me with a shout.

“Thanks,” I called as I grabbed a potion and knocked it back, the sickly sweet taste filling my mouth. I took the chance to glance at what the others were doing—I’d been so absorbed that I’d lost track of my friends.

Tetsuo and Keita were at the front, working together to hold back the snake with their shields. Sasamaru was still where he’d swapped in for me, hacking away at its scales and slowly dragging its health further down, and Sachi was on its opposite side, doing the same. Finally, Ducker had temporarily backed off and was healing, same as me.

Once my health was mostly full, I charged back in. “Sachi! Switch!”

She leapt backwards as I jumped in to block a tail whip with the flat of my sword. I grimaced as the heels of my boots dug into the earth, barely retaining my footing under the pressure. Once it let up, though, I was back on the offensive, my sword flashing out in a quick Vertical Arc.

I tried to divert a bit of my focus to pay more attention to what my friends were doing. Keita hissed in frustration as the snake slithered out of reach of his sword again—it was surprisingly nimble for a creature of its size. “Tetsuo, watch your health!” he shouted. “Ducker, keep trying to stack bleed—Sasamaru, get ready to swap once Sachi’s health is full!”

“Got it!” Sasamaru said as he drove his spear back into the snake’s flank. Tetsuo shifted his footing, bringing his shield further forward and decreasing the rate of his attacks.

I grunted in pain as my carelessness earned me a tail whip to the side. I stumbled before regaining my balance, then grit my teeth and unleashed a series of quick sword swipes followed by a Horizontal Square to try and rack up damage to compensate.

Things were going alright. It wasn’t easy, but the boss was manageable. Sachi had swapped back in at some point, and Tetsuo was close to needing to do the same. I circled around the snake, trying to prepare for that.

As I did, though, rain began to drip down onto my cheeks. The daylight had been steadily fading behind darker clouds for a while, but it looked like the storm had finally begun.

“Watch your footing!” I called. “It’s raining, it’s gonna get muddy!”

“You heard Kirito, watch your feet!” Keita shouted, and the other four nodded.

It didn’t take long for the rain to start pouring harder. It wasn’t quite a full torrent, but still a healthy storm. My boots squelched as I ran, and the soft earth of the riverbank under me was quickly dissolving into sludge as it mixed with the rainwater. The boss was well into its second health bar, but things were progressing slower.

Slower was fine, though. We had plenty of potions—I’d made sure of that. Slow and alive was the best outcome I could hope for.

“Gah, this sucks!” Ducker shouted as he nearly slipped face-first into the mud. “At this rate, it’s gonna take us nearly twice as long to kill this fuckin’ snake!”

“What choice do we have?” Sasamaru sniped back. “Stop whining and keep stabbing!”

“Hmm…” Ducker glanced to the side, but I didn’t catch what he was looking at.

I quickly whipped my head back around in time to block a fang strike. My longsword glowed red as I drew it back for a Heavy Thrust and drove it into the snake’s jaw, sending its health plummeting down further. It was so tantalizingly close to its last bar!

I shook my head and backed off, glancing at my friends’ own HP bars. Slow and steady.

Sure enough, Keita was getting low on health. “Keita, heading your way!” I called, throwing myself to the side of another tail whip and running in a half-circle to meet him. “Switch!”

Keita jumped backwards just as I lunged in. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ducker dash over to him, but I didn’t have the luxury of watching any longer.

Finally, the Knifesnake reached its last health bar. “Last one!” I shouted. “Don’t get hasty, just do it like always!”

Just as the words left my mouth, though, Keita started talking. “Ducker, stop it!”

Ducker had come to a stop in front of the tiny shrine-like building, rolling his eyes. “C’mon, you can’t put a dagger in front of a thief and expect him not to use it!”

“Ducker!”

Ducker grabbed the hilt of the knife and pulled it free, revealing a sizeable one-handed knife with a slight curve. Before I could get a better look at it, though, lightning struck.

Blueish-white light seared my retinas even through closed eyes as the bolt coiled down onto the boss. Instead of dissipating immediately, though, it lingered, swirling and sparking along its scales. Its name had changed to the Awakened Voltaic Knifesnake. I felt my pulse spike as a jolt of fear ran through my nerves and tightened my grip on my sword.

The snake reared back, turning towards Sachi. Three thoughts flashed through my mind.

Sachi’s health was at around half, but the boss’s damage had almost certainly increased. She had frozen in place, her eyes wide and her face pale. No one else was close to her.

I lunged towards her at the same time the snake did. I reached Sachi first by less than a hair, grabbed her wrist, and dragged her to one side. Just as I did, two fangs pierced into my shoulder, and the air was forced from my lungs as I choked out a pained cry. Electricity sparked around me, crackling and burning along my skin as my health dropped from mostly full to nearly a quarter. That much damage would have killed Sachi instantly.

An icon flickered into existence beneath my health bar, though—paralysis. My limbs were locked, and as the snake withdrew its fangs from me, I collapsed forward into the mud, unable to move or even speak. My left eye was fully covered by dirt and rain, and I watched in horror through my right eye as everything fell apart.

“Sachi! Cure Kirito!” Keita shouted, but Sachi remained rooted in place, her chest heaving in panic.

Out of my vision, Tetsuo let out a scream of pain as his health dropped and another paralysis icon appeared below it. From the same direction, Sasamaru shouted. “Ducker! You do it, I’ll hold off the boss!”

“R-right, sorry!” Ducker’s voice shook—he sounded close to tears. My heart had crept up into my throat as I lay there, unable to do anything but watch. There were still twelve seconds left on my paralysis.

The boss’s health dropped slightly as I heard Sasamaru clash with it to the sound of electric shocks, but it still had most of its final bar left. Keita dashed around in front of me, but he cursed and raised his shield to block a tail whip before he could heal me.

“No, no, no, no,” Sachi mumbled, tears welling up in her eyes. “Please, no—“

“Sachi! Heal Kirito!” Keita shouted again, and this time seemed to get through. The hollow horror in her eyes snapped and was briefly replaced by awareness, and she rushed to my side as she grabbed at her pockets for a cure crystal.

Across from us, Sasamaru screamed. His health dropped to zero, I heard a terrible smashing noise, and his name vanished from my UI.

Sachi wailed. A freezing cold strong enough it felt like it would condense the rainwater on me into ice flooded through me, my vision tunneling as my breaths came in rapid gasps.

Tetsuo was next—he was still paralyzed, and the rest of his health vanished in an instant. Keita was desperately defending me and Sachi, but he was on the opposite side of the boss from Tetsuo. His name vanished too, and I felt it like an icicle jabbed into my stomach.

“NO!” Sachi screamed.

Seven seconds on my paralysis.

Sachi finally moved again, but instead of healing me, she ran to grab Keita by the arm and drag him away from the snake. Its tail whip nailed her side before she reached him, taking advantage of her total lack of caution. Sachi was sent flying backwards, collapsing into a heap some distance from us.

Keita’s shield blocked one fang, and the other slid past and tore across his chest. He stiffened, half-turning to look back at me as he collapsed, his face stained with tears.

He choked out a sorry as he did.

Three seconds.

The boss crushed Keita between its jaws, killing him instantly. It lunged past me and towards where Sachi was struggling to her feet.

My paralysis wore off and I shot to my feet, snatching my sword off the ground as I ran. Three gaping holes had opened up in my chest. My face was slick with some combination of sweat, tears, and rain—I had no idea where one ended and the other began, but they all burned cold against my skin. 

“Sachi!” I shouted, my voice cracking. I grabbed a throwing pick with my left hand and hurled it at the snake without any sword skills, I swiped at its flank with my sword as I ran, I racked my brain for anything to distract it from its target.

Hope surged through my chest like a burning fever as Sachi stumbled to her feet, still enough distance between her and the boss for her to block or dodge.

Sachi gave me a sad smile, her lips trembling and her eyes wide as she tossed her spear aside and stood in place. Her face tempered my feverish hope in ice water, breaking it, and she mouthed sorry.

The snake’s fangs shattered her like all the rest.

I stumbled to a halt, staring frozen at the spot where Sachi had stood just moments ago. This wasn’t real, it couldn’t be real. One moment, she and Keita and Tetsuo and Sasamaru had all been there and the next they weren’t, that couldn’t be real.

Something smashed into my face, sending me toppling to one side, more mud splattering over me as I hit the ground hands-first. I realized belatedly it was the snake’s tail, and my other mistake—

Ducker.

“Ducker, RUN!” I screamed.

Ducker was doubled over across the strip of land from me, his hands covering his face as he sobbed. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he wailed. “I’m so sorry, I’m—fuck—“

The boss coiled around him, squeezing tight enough to cut off his stream of apologies. For just a moment, his tear-filled eyes met mine.

“I’m sorry, Kiri—“

He didn’t even get to finish his last words before the Knifesnake gave off an enormous electric shock, draining the rest of his meager health.

The last Moonlit Black Cat disappeared into radiant light before me.

I didn’t, or maybe couldn’t, move. No last screams escaped me—I wasn’t sure I could have said anything at all if I wanted to. I just watched as my enemy slithered towards me, feeling the ice in my chest freeze my heart to a standstill. I closed my eyes.

I was dimly aware of my body slowly rising to its feet, mud weighing me down. The hilt of my sword was cold and slick with rainwater. The only sounds left were the pounding of the rain and the low hiss of the serpent. My heart was silent.

When my eyes opened to confront the boss, a part of me was gone.