Sword Art Online/ソードアート・オンライン 1. Escapism: Running from Reality

Prologue Escapism: Running from Reality

Author's Note: Time skips in this fanfic are not as long as the story and although it still follows the canon clearance rate I intend to give a more day to day view of the story... So without further ado enjoy!

November 3rd 2022

Why am I here? Waiting in line for the very first VRMMORPG, Sword Art Online, is the obvious answer but that only answers the "what" and not "why".

To summarise a long story into one simple phrase: "I hate my life" would not be a far cry from the truth. Between parents that just don't care to schoolmates who ostracise and ridicule me I've simply had enough. To be fair to them it's my fault I'm being ostracised but that little fact doesn't make me hate myself any less.

Even I don't know what drove me to this game but I guess it could be escalation. After locking myself in my room day after day I started to have less and less reasons to leave my room, let alone the house. Until at one point aside from the absolute necessary things that I do to maintain my health like eating, and the basic compulsory hell also known as school, I never left my room at all. To make matters worse, I started eating in my room too, not that my parents cared.

So here, now, stuck under a torrential downpour as the clouds decided to release the load they'd been holding onto for the last few days, I sighed loudly as I got drenched to the bone beneath the crappy umbrella I bought on a whim, all for a game that doesn't release until three days later. At least I wasn't the only one suffering, a few other guys (gaming addicts no doubt) were forced to share my fate as well; The rain, not the wetness. They brought tents.

My friend Sachiwa Kana was absolutely adamant that I play this game with her, as she was a beta tester and after she shoved several magazines worth of reviews under my nose I finally agreed, the virtual reality portion of the game appealing to me quite a bit.

Finally, a Reality different from the current one I'm in. It would be nice to try living in a world where nobody knew who you were, what you looked like. Not to mention no parents.

I bet they won't even notice that I disappeared over these next three days. I have my phone on but I'm willing to bet a month's worth of allowance that they wouldn't call.

November 6th 2022

The NerveGear, a recent invention by quantum physics genius Kayaba Akihiko was the key component of the game Sword Art Online. It costed quite a bundle but it was worth it, I was among one of the ten thousand people who managed to get the first edition of the game. The others would just have to wait for the next one.

Rushing home and past my practically non-existent parents (as I was their non-existent child), I quickly plugged in the NerveGear to my computer and started calibrations with only half an hour to go until the server went online.

Hopping into bed just as there was five minutes to go, I waited anxiously for the clock to tick to 13:00 before saying the voice command, "Link Start!"

My vision replaced by a bright white light followed by several coloured beams of light, my adventure began as I left reality behind.

Authors Secondary note: To those who've read this prologue before, I'm sorry but I decided to change Ryusuke's Beta Tester friend from a boy to a girl, reasons...? Well find out later in the story...


	2. Official Tutorial: Nightmare's Beginning

Chapter One Official Tutorial: Beginning of a Nightmare

Author's Note: Just had to get these two chapters outta my head before I could start working on my other fics.

As the NerveGear powered on and checked that all my 5 senses were in working order, I could barely hold back my anticipation as I selected the language and logged on, a character profile creation page opening up for me to create my own digital appearance.

Settling on a look that did not go very far from the original, I made myself a little taller and changed my hairstyle to look more anime-like before selecting create and being enveloped in a bright white light.

When I opened my eyes again, I was in a town mostly made of stone. It seems this area is the spawning area as there were quite a few flashes of light appearing here and there as people appeared, and with the sheer volume of people here, looking for my friends.

"Let's see... Kana said she'd be carrying over her Beta Test data and that her in game name was Monoka... Wasn't it? Weird name but I guess it's normal for internet games... I also have to look for my best mate Itsumo but I have no idea where he is or what's his IGN.

Taking another step forward, a friend request popped up in front of me, the small icon blinking a luminescent green as I pressed it to see who it's from.

"Monoka has sent you a friend request?" I muttered to myself as I thought to myself for less than a second before it dawned on me: Kana sent me the friend request!

Accepting it eagerly, an orange chat box icon immediately appeared, indicating a new message from a friend (something tells me it's from... Kana?)

"Hey Mifune! Glad you could make it! I'm with Itsumo at the weapon store, use the map function and find us ok?"

Even if she says that... Where's the weapon shop?

Opening my friend menu, I selected Momoka from the list and pressed tracking, an expanded version of the map popped up showing the entire Town of Beginnings and a small dot down the street from where I was at.

Well that turned out to be... Helpful...

A short run down the street later, I ran into Kana and Itsumo at the weapon store, both of them looking at the different wares.

Kana had obviously altered her avatar quite a bit, filling out her usually flat chest and dying her blond hair bubble pink, Itsumo going with his in real life look, whether he was too lazy to change his appearance or didn't know how was lost on me.

As Itsumo and Kana playfully shoved each other while laughing I couldn't help but feel a slight tinge of jealousy, even though I would admit it to no one, I actually had a major crush on Kana, it was one of the deciding factors that made me get this game in the first place. Itsumo, her childhood friend had no idea how lucky he was to be so close to her, I'd give an arm just to be in his position...

"Oh Isha-san! Glad you could make it!" Itsumo said with a jovial wave.

Waving a little too unenthusiastically in reaply, Itsumo tilted his head in curiosity before trying to cheer me up, "Don't be so gloomy man, this is the first dive game and we're all in it together!"

"Yeah... Together..." I mumbled, silently wishing I could be with Kana alone for just one day.

"Come on guys let's not waste any time here! I wanna at least teach you the basics before dinner!" Kana said, tapping both of us on the back before leaning in between us.

"Ummm, ok? Then what are we supposed to do now?" I ask, pushing Kana's arm away so I could stand up properly.

"Well we're in front of a weapons and armour shop, specifically the one with the best deals when it comes to col to weapon attack ratio. I know this because on the first day of the beta test I searched each shop individually and finally came to this store. And because this is a WEAPON and ARMOUR store, what do you think we're here for?" Kana said with a smirk.

"I have a question!" Itsumo asked, raising his hand as if we were in class.

Sighing as this was a common occurrence Kana turned to face Itsumo, "What is it Omusit?"

Omusit...? Is that his IGN...? What kind of name is... Oh my God. That guy just reversed his name and used it as his IGN! What the hell!

While I facepalmed, "Omusit" asked his question, "What is col?"

Both of us facepalming at the question, (My 2nd facepalm for me), Kana answered the question while I resisted the urge to smack him with my starting sword, "Col is the currency of this game. Didn't you open your main menu? Your money is listed there in Col."

As he opened his menu with a downward sweep of his hand, a look of genuine shock came over Itsumo's face, "Wow it really is here!"

Unable to resist the urge any more, I grabbed my sheathed starting sword and gave Itsumo a knock on the head for good measure.

"Well, when Itsumo's done being dumb, I want you both to buy weapons that you think fit you best and some leather armour to increase your base defence. Trust me, the clothes you're wearing are only for modesty. They don't add to your defence stat AT ALL." Kana said, her new sword and shield already equipped.

Opening the shop sales window, I scrolled down the list looking for my preferred weapon, a katana not finding it on the 1st or 2nd time I searched through the list, "Uh Momoka, they don't sell katanas here."

"Oh you want to go that route huh? I think you have to start out with 'Curved Sword's first so just pick one out from that category."

Going back through the list, I picked out the Curved Sword with the highest weapon attack rating and bought it, the item appearing in my inventory as I looked back under the armour section of the sales window, when I noticed the amount of col I had left was not enough to buy even a glove.

Ohhhhh crap...

Equipping the new Cutlass on my right side, I nodded to Kana indicating I was done while Itsumo continued reading the flavour text on all the swords.

"Where's your armour Mifune?" Kana asked, immediately taking note of the last thing I wanted her to notice.

"Uhh... Not enough money..." I mumbled, looking away in shame.

"Oh man I knew this was gonna happen... First priority when you get some money is to buy defensive gear you got it?" Kana said in an admonishing tone as she casted a strict eye over me.

Half an hour later when Itsumo finally read all the flavour text and decided on an amour set and a weapon, (apparently I'm the only one that made the mistake of not buying all the goods in one go; In my defence, awesome offence always makes a good defence), we all left town and made our way to the field west of the Town of Beginnings and met the first and weakest mob of the game, the Frenzy Boars.

"Hey hey, last time I checked, pigs weren't blue." Itsumo said, his spear already at the ready.

"Technically they're boars." I corrected while grinning.

"Boars or pigs it doesn't matter! We're here to teach you guys how to use sword skills. First things first, try a normal attack on the boar, both of you."

Both of us nodding at each other, we both made a mad rush for the boar, our attempts to get the first strike in becoming even more frenzied than the boar itself. Naturally because of his weapon having a longer range, Itsumo got a quick stab before I slashed at the boar myself, the boar taking two minor dips in its hp before glaring at us and grinding its foot into the ground.

"As you can see, the damage you do is minimal. But if you use a sword skill... Well get out of the way, it's charging at you!"

Too engrossed in Kana's explanation, both Itsumo and I were standing still and looking at her attentively as the boar used the lapse in our attention to its advantage and started to charge at us.

Leaping out of the way while giving a small nudge to Itsumo to do the same, Itsumo simple tried to side step out of the way but he did so too soon and the boar merely had to do a minor course change before slamming into Itsumo and taking out a good 30% of his total health.

It seems monster AI are smarter here than I thought.

Its revenge on the person who drew first blood complete, the boar simply huffed as it trotted away, picking rather tasty portion of grass to chow down on as Itsumo and I got back on our feet.

"Ah man, that really hurt! Why the hell did they stack the difficulty rating so high?" Itsumo muttered, rubbing the spot where he got hit.

After pinching myself a few times, I smacked him on the back of his head, "There's no pain in this game you idiot!"

"Oh, my bad."

"Enough with the mindless chatter you two, now that you both have had experience in normal attacks, it's time to introduce you to 'Sword Skills'." Kana said, her own sword taking a red glow before she slashed downward in midair.

As awesome as that was, I tried repeating her motion several times and got nothing, looking at my sword and hers wondering what was the difference.

"You need to have the exact motion input needed for the skill. In order to use the skill that I just used 'Vertical', you need to position your sword behind you like this and add a slight pause. Once you feel the skill start to activate, follow through and the system will take care of the rest." Kana said, demonstrating once again, her sword glowing and slashing.

I see... Skills are guided by the system so unless the system knows what you're doing, nothing will come out...

Drawing my own cutlass just above my shoulder, I heard a whining sound as the sword skill activated, swinging the sword forward and triggering the sword skill.

Cool...!

"Now I want you to try it on that boar over there." Kana said, pointing at the boar we had previously offended, its health bar still quite low although it had recovered by a few pixels.

"I got this!" Itsumo yelled, his spear glowing as he stabbed it forwards impaling it right between the butt cheeks earning a squeal from the boar as it turned around to glare at us.

"My turn!" I yelled, dashing forwards and holding my cutlass in the same position as it was before, the cutlass glowing red and starting to whine as the sword skill activated.

Slashing downwards in a large sweep, the cutlass shot forward pulling me along with it as the system automatically made the skill connect with the boar despite the fact that I was still a meter away from the boar.

As the boar exploded in a flash of light and polygon fragments, I pumped a fist having killed my very first monster in the game, a window opening in front of me reflecting the amount of EXP and money I got.

"Well, that's how you use sword skills, any future skills you earn can be looked up and learned from the menu so we'll just practice using those for now before learning how to think and move as a party ok?"

As both of us nodded in agreement, we spent the next 4 hours mastering the activation of our basic sword skills, Kana teaching us how to hunt and farm monsters as a party, with me running around and luring them before she attacked all of them to draw their attention and Itsumo and I finishing off the monsters while she blocked their attacks with her shield.

As the time drew closer to five o'clock, all three of us finally gained a level, after a minor celebratory dance (which would have been thorougly embarassing if anyone else saw us) with all of us picking totally different stat boosts, Kana going pure strength, Itsumo going 1 strength and 2 agility while I went pure agility.

"Hey guys, if I suddenly disappear it would probably be my parents pulling off my NerveGear for dinner, you won't mind right?" Itsumo said as we started killing wolves.

"Yeah sure. Though... Since you have to go, why don't we all eat dinner and meet up later?" Kana said as we cleared the last wolf from the field around us.

"Sounds like a plan." I replied, drawing my fingers together and swinging them downards to call up the main menu, "Ummm... One minor problem guys..."

"What is it?" Kana asked, mimicking me and calling out her own main menu, "Oh, I see what you mean... This could be a problem..."

"What's going on? What's wrong with you two?" Itsumo asked, looking at us quizzically.

"There's no... Logout button..." I said, my voice quavering as my finger jabbed repeatedly at the option bar meant for logging out which was now just a blank bar with a logout icon.

Calling out his own main menu a look of shock started to register on Itsumo's face as the lack of a logout buton dawned on him as well, "Oh my gosh! You're right!"

Of course I'm right you idiot, two people realised this before you.

Holding back the urge to inflict blunt forced trauma on the back of Itsumo's head yet again, a bell tolling in the distance drew our group's attention as the bell tower in the spawn point of the town of beginnings started to toll, echoes of its sound crossing the fields around the Town of Beginnings while our visions were all filled with a single bright light.

Reappearing in the spawn point in the Town of Beginnings, the place almost all of us were not more than 4 hours ago, Itsumo, Kana and I looked at each other in confusion as player after player appeared in the spawn area, all of them looking just as confused as us until someone pointed at a small red notice in the air, "Look up there!"

In the sky, on the ground supporting the second floor, a small patchwork of red displays saying "Warning" and "System Announcement" expanded and covered the entire second floor, bathing the town in a deep crimson red light.

"W-what's going on?" Itsumo asked, looking to Kana, our beta tester friend for any possible information on what was going on right now.

"I... Don't know... This never happened in the beta test..." She murmurred, looking just as shocked and confused as the rest of us.

While we started to formulate theories and wild ideas of why we were here, a deep red liquid started to ooze out of the ceiling to form the customary robe worn by the GMs in most Argus games, however unlike the regular GMs, this one had no face and only shadow where the face was supposed to be.

As the whispers of nearby players grew in a crescendo, the robe waved a single white glove, not joined to the robe by an arm to silence the whispers before speaking, "Attention players, and welcome to my world."

Oh so it's a tutorial then, a freakishly scary tutorial that was meant to welcome players. But why did he say "My world"? That's a bit presumptuous isn't it seeing that this game is owned by Argus and by extension this world belongs to them?

"My name is Kayaba Akihiko, and as of this moment, I am the only person who can control this world."

"That name sounds familiar..."

"It should, he designed this game. Honestly, didn't you read the game credits on the manual? His name is there." Kana said, answering my question even before I could ask it.

Giving a slight pause as the crowd started murmurring about this and that, he continued speaking after a while, automatically cutting off most of the chatter, "I'm sure you've already noticed, but for the benefit of those who haven't realised this, that the logout button is missing from the main menu. This, is not a defect, I repeat, this, is not a defect. It is a feature of Sword Art Online"

Raising his hand in the familiar main menu summoning gesture, the robed figure himself owered his hand and a large version of the menu appeared showing the lack of a login button.

"What kind of feature is that?" Itsumo muttered, obviously still not catching on to the fact that the lack of a login button essentially means we're trapped here.

"Until you get to the top of this castle, you are unable to log out."

"Castle...? If he means Black Iron Castle we'll be out of here in 20 minutes tops if we count traffic." Kana muttered, taking a look at the stunned crowd around us.

"I don't think he means that castle Momoka..." I whispered, nearly using Kana's real name instead of her IGN.

"Also, nobody can shut down or remove the NerveGear. If such is attempted..." the robed figure said adding a pause for most probably drama, "The NerveGear will emit a strong electromagnetic pulse, destroying your brain and stopping all of your basic functions."

There was no stopping it now, in the crowd there were several groups of people now, people who had accepted the situation, (which would actually be none of them) people who were in shock, (this made the majority) and people who were freaking out, (this made the 2nd majority).

"Did he just say that if our NerveGear is removed it will kill us?" Itsumo asked, still in the 1st majority of people who were in shock, Kana's facial expression denoting her transition to the 2nd. While I sat firmly in between the two, in shock and barely able to hold myself back from joining the people crying out around me.

Naturally the rational part of me wanted to say that he was bluffing, that any minute now Itsumo or Kana will logout of the game because their parents simply took off their NerveGear and maybe they could come over to my house and do the same since my parents definitely wouldn't care whether my NerveGear was on or off. But the robed figure called Kayaba Akihiko quickly destroyed that hope.

"To be a little more specific, disconnection from an outside source of electricity for ten minutes, being cut off from the system for more than two hours, or any attempt to: unlock, dismantle, or destroy the Nerve Gear. If any of these conditions are met, the brain destruction sequence will start. These conditions have been made known to the government and the public through mass-media in the outside world. On that note, there have been several cases where the relatives or friends have ignored the warnings and tried to forcefully remove the Nerve Gear. The result... 213 players have already left this game and the real world."

213 players... Have already died...?! But there's no way to prove that! 10000 copies of this game were sold out within the day of its launch but we can't possibly do a headcount of 10000 people just to find out whether there's only 9787 people here instead of 10000!

Holding his head and shaking it as if it were just a nightmare, Itsumo started to lose it as he muttered to nobody in particular, "This is a bad dream, yes a bad dream, if I pinch myself I'll wake up! That's right!"

Kana was in a similar situation as me, trying to find a way to disprove Kayaba Akihiko, to try and call him out for the lying bastard that we both hoped he was, that this was all a joke and that we'll be with our loved ones (well for Kana her loved ones) shortly but even that hope was destroyed yet again.

"Players, there is no need to worry about the bodies you left on the other side. As of this moment, all TV, radio, and Internet media are repeatedly reporting this situation; including the fact that there have been numerous deaths. The danger of having your Nerve Gear taken off has already all but disappeared. In a moment, using the two hours I have provided, all of you will be transported to hospitals or similar institutes and be given the best treatment. So you can relax... and concentrate on beating the game."

As if to illustrate this, windows displaying news reports from television stations and internet news websites started to open and flash reports about Sword Art Online and deaths associated to the game, the windows floating around to make sure everyone got the message.

While the crowds started to rant and shout, Kayaba's voice cut them off once again, "But I ask of you all to understand that Sword Art Online is no longer just a game. It is another reality... From this moment on, any form of revival in the game will no longer work and the moment your HP reaches 0, your avatar will be gone forever. And at the same time... The Nerve Gear will destroy your brain."

Destroy our brains... Death... Is this guy for real?

Nobody said anything this time, everyone's eyes all locked onto Kayaba as a deafening silence settled on the entire town.

"There is still a way out of all of this and that is to clear this game. You are currently on the lowest floor of Aincrad, Floor 1. If you make your way through the floor dungeon and defeat the floor boss you may advance to the next level. Get to the 100th floor and defeat the final boss there and any surviving players will be logged out of the game, you have my word." he said, opening his map and illustrating an expanded version of what was no doubt the castle of Aincrad, the 'Castle' he asked us to get to the top of.

"Clear all 100 floors? That's impossible, even during the beta test, most of us were only able to reach the 6th floor after a month, we'd be trapped here for ages even if we had more people!" Kana yelled, shaking her fist at Kayaba Akihiko.

Despite all the yelling and murmurring, Kayaba continued, "Finally, I've added a present from me to all of you in your inventories, please confirm this."

Opening up my inventory and bringing out the new item by the name of "Hand Mirror" I looked at it while wondering what it was for, as all I could see in it was my face when suddenly, a bright light enveloped me.

Yelling in surprise at the sudden change, apparently I wasn't the only one as similar shouts and gasps echoed throughout the spawning area until the light cleared, the hand mirror reflecting not the digital avatar I had created, but the face that I was used to seeing in real life.

"Oh my God, I'm me!" Itsumo yelled, patting himself down as I rolled my eyes, "Itsumo you idiot, you never opted to change your appearance so of course you look like yourself!"

As Itsumo giggled and rubbed his head sheepishly, a small scream came from Kana as she looked into the mirror, "No.. my hair..."

Still fussing over the change in hair colour, she realised her change in cup size about 5 seconds later, "Holy... What happened to my breasts!?"

"They deflated..." Itsumo muttered as he and I shared a short lived laugh, Kana smacking both of our heads together comically.

"But how is this possible? We all look like our real life selves, how is that possible?" Itsumo asked, saving me the bother of voicing out the question.

"Well... I really dunno, what I'm more spooked about is how they got our height... and body sizes..." Kana replied, tapping her chopping board.

"I'm more interested in why." I said, looking back at Kayaba before looking back at Kana and Itsumo.

"Looks like you'll find out sooner than you think." Kana replied, pointing at Kayaba as he started to speak again.

"By now you must be wondering, why? Why would Kayaba Akihiko, creator of Sword Art Online and the NerveGear do this? My goal has already been realised, to create this world and watch it. And thus concludes the official tutorial for the launch of Sword Art Online. Good luck players."

The figure dissolving into red smoke and vanishing as quickly as it came, the warning and system announcement messages disappeared as well, the world returning to as it was with a few changes.

The crowd that had remained silent and relatively obedient until now suddenly erupted, with cries for them to be released among others cursing, swearing, begging, screaming.

This is the reality of Sword Art Online, no longer a fun VRMMORPG but a game where losing your life meant death, absolute, irreversible, death.


	3. Nepenthe Disaster: Casualty One

Chapter 2 Nepent Disaster: Casualty One

Author's Note: Second part of the 2 chapters I needed to get out of my head before I worked on anything else.

Looking over the crowd with a cold look as the gravity of the situation sunk in, I was slightly saddened by the reversal of the boy to girl ratio, before this it was definitely 7:3 with girls making the majority, but with the reversion to original appearances, to say I was surprised would be an overstatement, I knew some guys liked to pose as girls online, but in a VR world like Sword Art Online... I just didn't expect there to be SO MANY.

I can't imagine how it would feel like... It's bad enough having to pose as a girl online on a computer game but to walk around in a girl's body... The thought was a bit creepy to be honest.

"Guys, come with me." Kana whispered, dragging us to a large palace, the largest building in the entire Town of Beginnings.

My arm grasped by Kana's left hand, Itsumo's by her right, I couldn't help but look over the crowd that were screaming and shouting at nothing in particular, several of the younger players crouched on the ground obviously having mental breakdowns.

"This is Black Iron Castle, it's set as the respawn point for those who die, I just want to confirm something."

"Where are we going?" Itsumo asked as Kana finally let go, both of us rubbing our wrists from where she had grabbed us.

"The Room of Ressurection. Each time a player dies they will be revived in that room. The fountain where people ressurect should still be there..."

Cutting herself in mid-sentence as we arrived at the room she was looking for, Kana wordlessly approached the large black stone monolith that stood there, no doubt where the fountain had been before.

"The... Monument of Life...? This wasn't here during the beta test..." Kana whispered softly, tracing her fingers over the face of the monument, "Hey, our names are on here as well!"

Taking a closer look at the stone, it seems that all the names of the 10000 players were listed on this stone, several already crossed out with a time and a date with the word "Disconnected" listed next to them.

This must have been the 213 players that have left the game permanently. This giant plaque, this stone... Isn't a Monument of Life, it's a Monument of Death, marking the dead with a cruel accuracy only a machine can perform.

As Itsumo and Kana broke down themselves, the stress and reality of the situation getting to them, I quickly sat down on a nearby bench, waiting for them to recompose themselves as I looked around at the room around me.

It didn't look much unlike a church, with the setting sunlight shining in from the windows above us, pillars supporting the ceiling around us at regular intervals around the entire room.

Waiting for both of them gave me some time to ponder my own situation, as well as wonder why I'm not with them crying my eyes out. As I finally reached my answer, Itsumo and Kana walked over, their eyes still red with tears.

"It's ok to be sad Ryu, just let it out, once your done we can move on."

"I would if I could. But there's nothing to cry about." I replied softly, looking back up at them my eyes grim with my resolve.

"There's no need to lie Ryu, it's only us here. Don't be afraid to cry." Kana said gently, patting my back.

"I said, there's nothing to cry about. Think about it, why are you both crying?"

"That's obvious! We're afraid! We're trapped here in a world for God knows how long, in a game where dying means actually dying in real life as well, who wouldn't be afraid or sad?!" Itsumo yelled back.

"You're not afraid of being trapped Omusti, you're afraid of the possibility of not going back." I replied, surprised at the steely edge in my own voice, "You're afraid of losing your life, of dying and really turning up dead in real life aren't you? That you may never see your parents, your siblings, that you may lose everything you hold dear just because your hit points hit zero. That's why you're afraid, and that's why you're crying."

"So, why aren't you crying too?" Kana whispered, her arm wrapped around Itsumo trying to comfort him, the action sending another dose of what could only be jealousy through my body.

"Because you have something to look forward to when you clear this game, something to lose if you die. I don't have that. You have parents that love you, siblings that look up to you or care for you. I have none of that. Don't you get it? Live or die, my life is forfeit anyway. Can you really say that you understand the position of a person who's life has no purpose, value, or meaning? Can you? That's why I'm not crying. Whether I die or live, it doesn't matter either way."

As both of them nodded out of shock or acknowledgement, to be honest I didn't really care which, Kana took the initiative and took us to a nearby inn and purchased three rooms giving us the room numbers we were authorised to enter before leading us up to her room to talk.

"Why can't we just enter your room if there's no locks?" Itsumo asked, as he walked up to Kana's room door, touching the handle and attempting to twist it to no effect. Eventually giving up and trying to break the door with his fist, a notice appeared saying "Immortal Object".

"Having fun yet?" Kana and I said, giving Itsumo a sardonic look as he got out of the way while Kana easily opened the door herself.

"Rooms are protected by the system, the default setting is that the room can only be opened by its owner or by a person given explicit permission by the owner. Otherwise the room is unaccessible." Kana explained, "Now, since this game just got real, we have to start thinking about what we're going to do tomorrow."

Apt choice of words, "Just got real", real in more ways than we'd like...

"Go out to the fields and train I guess?" I said calmly, pulling out a whetstone and working on my scimitar, trying to train my metal equipment repairing skill, my blade durability not increasing at all due to me just starting to pick it up.

"And compete with another 9000 people? As soon as people start to change and adapt to the situation, they'll all have the same thoughts as us. And that also means training in the same spots as us. The spawn rate in any area of any game is fixed, and the amount of people or the rate at the monsters are killed do not affect the spawn rate. If we are to compete with everyone for the same hunting ground we will inevitably lose."

"I see, like when any game first opens the starting towns are crowded beyond compare, this situation is no different right?" I say, remembering the last MMO I played and the hell that I had to go through just to complete the beginner quests with more than 10 people all crowding around the same spawn point.

It wasn't pretty, believe me.

"Exactly. So, here's the plan. When we all wake up tomorrow, we head for the nearest town, a village called Horunka. There we start our training ok? Also, over there is a quest over there that gives a good sword that can be used for quite some time since it's stats are very good." Kana said.

As we dispersed for the rest of the evening, strangely enough I started to feel hungry; Hungry, in a game.

Pushing aside the incredulity of the system that governed such feelings I walked around town aimlessly, looking for something to eat.

It seemed the Town of Beginnings was not short of places that sold food, but the variety that was offered actually made me salivate. In a world where everything was digital, my own self being a mere data stream of 1's and 0's, I marvelled at the genius of the game's creator Kayaba Akihiko and the pseudo world he had created.

Entering a nearby restaurant with a somewhat promising menu, an NPC waitress walked over and gave me a sweet smile before handing me a menu and walking off.

Even though this restaurant is run by NPC's in all honesty I actually expected the them to be a little more robotic and less... Well... Human.

After a cursory sweep of the menu I looked up as the waitress was walking by, the restaurant itself not very busy and made a small wave to try and catch her attention. When that didn't work and the waitress walked right by me I couldn't help but break into a small fit of giggles; Yep, definitely an NPC.

"Umm, excuse me..." I said hesitantly, trying to catch the waitress' attention.

"Yes?" she said, turning around quickly, stunning me once again with how smooth her movements were.

"Umm I'd like the Igden paella." I said softly, wondering if I was really talking to an NPC.

"Certainly, that will be 33 col!" the waitress said, a small trade window opening up to confirm my purchase.

As soon as I accepted, the waitress bowed and walked into the kitchen, a steamy plate of food in her hands when she walked out a few seconds later.

"Enjoy your meal!" the waitress said, bowing again before bouncing off.

The food itself tasting quite different from what I'm used to in real life, it served as a testament to the fact that I had left the real world behind. Eating it in silence, I slowly went through the plate, my mind less occupied on what I was eating and more filled with thoughts on what I was going to do from here.

Part of me still refused to accept that I was trapped here, that maybe my parents or one of my friends would notice I was missing when I don't turn up to school, that someone... Anyone... Would just pull my NerveGear and log me out. But the two friends I hang out with are stuck here with me.

Well if it is possible to remove the NerveGear without anyone dying we'd all be logged out when they reset the server or something so we might as well accept this harsh new reality.

No longer hungry when I left the restaurant, I returned to the inn and entered my own room to sleep for the night.

That night, I had a dream, if it could even qualify as that in this world where I was just another piece of data. The dream itself was sweet: I was back in the real world, holding hands with a girl as I walked down the street feeling light and carefree. The dream itself was so good that it left me reaching in the air for no reason. After shaking my head several times to wake myself up, the cold hard truth drenched me like a freezing bucket of ice water. There wasn't a happy ending in this even if I wanted one. The girl I was interested in was already closer to my best mate than I'd ever be, even if I were to try I'd be getting in their way and it'd no doubt strain my friendship with Itsumo.

But what am I supposed to do? Risk my friendship for a girl that might not even reciprocate my feelings? If I take the risk I will most likely lose out, she's so close to Itsumo after all. If I choose to keep my silence I'll forever reach for the unattainable goal.

Putting my thoughts aside for later, I got dressed via the menu and walked down to the inn's lobby, Itsumo and Kana already downstairs chatting with each other happily.

Feeling the seed of jealousy start to bloom, I waved and called out to them to get their attention, "Hey guys!"

As both of them turned and greeted me, I nodded towards the door asking them whether they wanted to go.

Receiving two nods in reply, we embarked on our great journey, and almost immediately ran into a pack of wolves.

Usually in normal game circumstances I'd thank my lucky stars for the massive EXP bomb and start killing everything in sight until I got overwhelmed and respawned. But in this game the rules were clear: death was permanent, and in more ways than one. So from a blessing, the sudden arrival of multiple enemies had become a desperate situation.

"Should we run?" Itsumo whispered, his eyes already darting around for possible escape routes.

"We're in a wide open field. Even if we did we wouldn't get far." Kana replied, drawing her sword and shield.

Although there was no BGM to mark the beginning of the battle, tension filled the air as the wolves growled at us, the smooth sound of metal sliding against metal as we drew our weapons, the exception being Itsumo who swung his spear out.

"Get them!" Kana yelled, all of us dashing towards the wolves that also leaped towards us.

Sidestepping the first wolf that leaped towards me, I raised my scimitar and blocked the second wolf, the first one slamming into Kana's shield before I looked back to my own snarling opponent.

The sounds and behaviour of the wolf was frighteningly realistic, so much that I was even slightly afraid to advance further, for fear that the illusion of this being a game be shattered before my very eyes.

Steadying my stance, I altered the scimitar in my left hand into a dagger grip, dodging to the right as the wolf leaped again, missing it narrowly as I sliced deep into it's body, taking off a substantial amount from its health bar before turning around to face it again.

Feeling a bump on my back I thought Itsumo might have gotten a bit clumsy until I realised both Itsumo and Kana were in front of me. The next sensation I felt could only be described as pain; Real, throbbing, pain.

I had forgotten we were against a pack of wolves, not a single wolf, not a group of three, a pack. And thus all of us had to look out and prepare to face multiple opponents. My target fixation on the one wolf that I had targeted made me neglect checking on my surroundings allowing one of the wolves to get in close and sink its fangs into me.

As I yelled out in pain, Kana and Itsumo both swivelled in my direction, quickly turning back to engage their foes thankfully not making the same mistake that I did.

My health bar dropping dangerously fast as the wolf at my ankle continued to bit harder, I decided against trying to shake it off and raised my hand instead to use a sword skill.

The effect was instantaneous: as soon as my arm reached a right degree angle, I added a slight pause to the motions the system instantly recognising my pose as the start of the skill "Vertical". The blade glowing with a bright red light and starting a high pitch whine as I did so, I twitched my hand downwards to complete the skill, bringing my sword arm down at the maximum speed allowed as the system itself guided my arm from start to finish.

The offending wolf disappearing in an explosion of light and polygon fragments, the wolf I had left alone immediately tackled me to the ground before I could turn back towards it.

Rolling over the ground my health bar dropping Ito the yellow zone, I immediately started to hack and slash at the wolf as we rolled while trying to get it's jaws away from my body.

Hopefully Kana and Itsumo can finish up with their lot and help, I don't want to become wolf dinner today.

My weak hits barely chiselling off the wolf's health with each hit, I tried activating another sword skill but couldn't assume the appropriate pose or perform the prerequisite motions while tumbling around with an angry wolf.

As we both started to slow down, the wolf quickly aimed at my neck to finish me off while I was defenceless a direct hit at my current health level probably enough to finish me off, I closed my eyes, accepting the fate that was dealt to me, frighteningly calm despite the fact that I was going to die in less than a second.

But it never came, the killing blow never landed and after several seconds I opened my eyes, the wolf on top of me impaled by a spear thrown by Itsumo.

His face reflecting how desperate he was that he would abandon his weapon made me slightly guilty that he would save my life, my life that I didn't value or cherish for his despite the fact that he has so much to lose. Kana reacted almost instantly as well, blocking an attack meant for Itsumo with her shield as I retrieved Itsumo's spear and tossed it back to him.

"Thanks." I said, turning back to face my adversary, now back up and growling once again its hackles raised.

Running forwards to gain momentum, I raised my sword arm once again hearing the familiar whine as the system acknowledged my motion and moved my body in the skill called "Reaver".

Swinging my scimitar down, I was forcefully pulled forwards towards the wolf, the blade automatically connecting with the wolf causing it to die and explode into sparks as a window popped up showing how much EXP and money we had earned.

Panting and falling to my knees, fatigue in this world was apparently real as well as my entire body felt numb from the neck down as if I had run a marathon.

"Did... Did we win...?" Itsumo said softly, out of breath as well as we all lay on the ground trying to catch our breath.

"Yeah... We just survived our first firefight." I replied, left with barely enough energy to sheathe my scimitar.

"Alright, once we recover we should continue on to Horunka, we should reach there in time for lunch if we hurry." Kana said, lying on the floor in the shape of a star.

After a few jokes and laughs we finally managed to stand less than half an hour later and continued our way into a forested area.

"Are we there yet?" Itsumo asked for what must have been the umpteenth time earning a chop on the back of his head from me who was covering the rear flank.

"We'll get there when we get there don't be so impatient." I said roughly, silently asking the same question in my mind until...

"We're here." Kana said, the forest opening to reveal a small village of ten or more buildings nearly surrounded by the forest like a small spot in an ocean of greenery.

"Well, I'm off to clear my inventory and get that armour I was supposed to." I said, Kana nodding as she and Itsumo walked towards the village inn probably to reserve rooms in case we decided to stay the evening.

The town filled with a mixture of NPCs and players, most of the players kept to themselves as they minded their own business, most likely beta testers by the looks of how they were not in the slight bit fazed or curious by this new town like I was.

The town itself although small had a rustic feel to it, and although I always preferred the urban rustle and bustle of the city, this town had a somewhat soothing atmosphere which had an extremely calming effect on my nerves despite the fact that I was trapped in this death game called SAO.

Though I wasn't exactly panicking from the start so this atmosphere probably won't have the same effect on every traveller that goes through here...

After a few minutes of wandering around, I managed to find a nearby shop to empty out my inventory of all the drops that I had acquired on the way here before opening the buy window to see what was for sale.

Under the equipment tab there was a new sword for sale called the "Bronze Sword" but since I was into curved blades the sword would not do much good for me if I were to wield it even though it had a decent attack boost compared to my old scimitar. Clicking on another tab instead I decided to stock up on potions instead and by the time I had finished shopping my money was a mere fraction of what I had before I entered the store.

Thanking the NPC politely, I ran out to meet Kana and Itsumo who were already at the entrance leading towards the forest.

"Ready?" Kana asked, looking up and down at my new armour.

"Let's go. You got the quest?"

"Yeah, the target is a plant monster with a flower on its head. The monster is called "Little Nepenthe" and it spits a corrosive goo so be careful." Kana said as we set out.

A few minutes of walking later, we came across a walking pitcher plant, slightly taller than us around on its lower vines. The plant was the monster we were looking for, the name tag that appeared above its health bar removed that doubt, but how the hell is that thing considered little?! It's not only taller than us it's bigger too!

"Is... Is that it?" Itsumo asked, just as stunned as I was.

"Yep. We gotta kill those until we slay one with a flower." Kana said, sounding extraordinarily calm for someone staring down a giant plant monster.

Though in her defence she's probably seen one before so it'd be no surprise that she isn't taken aback by the monster's appearance.

Although the Little Nepenthe had no eyes, almost on cue it turned to us, two vines whipping around it as it made its way towards us.

Both Kana and I taking our stances and moving in, I immediately strafed to flank it on the left while Kana took the right, both of us reaching the Nepenthe's body at the same time as we both slashed, depleting the Nepenthe's health by a bit.

Beforehand we had agreed I'd take the left flank because of my primary hand being on my left otherwise it'd cause a clash if I were to take the right flank, an idea proposed by Itsumo after Kana and I hit each other accidentally a few times. The arguments definitely weren't fun when teamwork is essential for our survival.

Just before the Nepenthe was about to die however, its mouth opened and let out a blob of goo right at me, the green slime not looking too harmless. With a quick sidestep I easily averted the danger, the not so lucky Itsumo taking it right in the face.

"Ughhhh!" Itsumo yelled, desperately trying to wipe the corrosive slime off his face and body, the slime eating away at his armour.

"We better head back and get the repairs done. Before the durability of his stuff hits zero." Kana said, nodding back in the direction of the village.

A short repair trip later we were all back in the thick of things, each of us slowly losing our defensive formation as the monotony of killing Nepenthe after Nepenthe got to us.

After fifty or so kills, we started to wander away from each other, all of us killing our separate enemies.

"Hey guys I found it!" Itsumo yelled, his voice echoing through the trees from nearby.

Both of us gleefully running towards the area from where his voice came from, Kana instantly froze in her tracks while holding out an arm to stop me as well.

"What're you doing? Let's help Omusti kill this thing and..."

"Omusti, get as far as you can from that Nepenthe!" Kana screamed, her eyes wide from panic.

"What's the matter? Let's just kill this thing and..."

At that moment, the tip of Itsumo's spear had touched the "thing" that was on top of the Nepenthe which instantly burst.

"That's... Not supposed to happen... Right...?" I said softly, suddenly aware that we had probably done something we shouldn't have.

"Don't talk! Guys, RUN!" Kana screamed, grabbing me and running like our lives depended on it.

As red cursor after red cursor started to appear from every direction my suspicions were confirmed, that thing that Itsumo touched, wasn't a flower, but some kind of trap that drew monsters to its source.

And we were right in the middle of it.

The party health bars on the left side of my view dwindling as we took hit after hit even as I dodged and countered what must be dozens of tentacle and goo attacks my health bar still inevitably hit the yellow zone in our mad rush for the safety of the town.

But nothing in the world, nothing I had ever experienced, could ever prepare me for what would happen next.

As Kana and I had a head start, although we met heavy resistance to the front, with a combination of Kana's blocking the Nepenthe's attacks while I countered, we were able to cut through and avoid the majority of the swarm. But Itsumo wasn't so lucky.

With a blood curdling scream the last of his armour was dissolved after he tripped and fell on the ground, the cry of our friend causing both Kana and I to turn to our fallen comrade.

"Omusti!" Kana yelled, taking a step back as the Nepenthe's swarmed around him almost gleefully in the way they gathered so rapidly.

"Just go! I'll... I'll be fine!" Itsumo lied, his health bar dropping into the red zone from the combined attacks of the monsters.

The town barely in sight from us, Kana started towards Itsumo but I quickly grabbed Kana's hand and gave her a look before running for safety, "Sorry..." I muttered almost to myself as I just gripped her hand and ran.

"I'm scared..." Itsumo said, those two words his last as he burst into light and polygon fragments, the last words of our friend and comrade echoing in my ears as I bit back tears and entered the town.

The Nepenthes dispersing after the source of their aggro gone, I reached into my pocket reaching for a monster drop that I had acquired as Kana and I made our mad dash out of the forest, a small shiny sphere that seemed to glow as I held it, a small beacon of light in the darkening village.

Upon examination, the item that I held in my hand was a Nepenthe's ovule, probably obtained when we killed and killed Nepenthe after Nepenthe trying to escape from the plant monsters. This ovule... The price that it took to obtain it... Made me want to throw it away.

Quickly handing it over to Kana before the urge to do so overcame me, I muttered, "Here." before dropping it into her hand and sitting down on a nearby bench.

Itsumo... I can't really voice what I'm feeling right now... A bit of angry and a lot of sad I guess... But to watch my friend die right in front of me, the feeling... Is just too much to bear.

-End of Chapter 2


	4. No Time For Mourning: Silent Requiem

Chapter 3 No Time For Mourning: Silent Requiem

"I-I'll be fine! Just go on without me!... ... ... I... I'm scared..."

Itsumo's last words had continued to haunt me after his untimely demise, and it's already been two weeks. On the day Itsumo's health dropped to zero, Kana rushed both of us back to the Town of Beginnings to check on the Monument of Life.

When we finally found his in game name among the "O"s, Kana fell to her knees but did not shed a single tear. Even with a hand outstretched, I was at a loss for words. What so I say? How do I console her? Appeal to her sense of denial? Tell her that somehow Itsumo is fine and that we'll meet him when the game is cleared?

For once... At this point in time... Never had I felt so useless.

As seconds turned to minutes, and minutes turned to hours, eventually I stopped keeping track of the amount of time we spent in that room. With Akiha on her knees in front of the monument and me sitting behind her, the silence became oppressive, surrounding us from every angle increasing the pressure on me to speak with every passing moment.

"S-sorry..." I croaked, finally able to force myself to speak, "For leaving him behind."

When Kana didn't reply, I took that as my cue to leave and stood up to do so until Kana's voice wrought with sorrow responded, "We were all afraid. If we had tried to save him we probably would have ended up as well."

"Yeah..." I murmurred lamely, having no real reply to Kana's statement.

"But... That doesn't change the fact that we left him to die."

My eyes meeting with Kana for the first time since we arrived, I couldn't help but feel guilty that I survived, that I should have died in his place and let him live on with Kana, one life for another.

"No. Don't think that way."

"Huh?"

"You were just wondering what if you were in his place weren't you? Thinking that you'd play hero and make yourself a martyr? Dying so that others can survive is a beautiful thing, wasting your life on a selfish whim isn't."

"But how is it wasting if I..."

"Dying is easy. Living is hard! When will you learn that all life is infinitesimal and precious?"

Nodding as an uncomfortable silence settled in between us, I tried not to imagine what would happen if I was in Itsumo's place. Too late I'm imagining it... Both of them saddened by my passing but not as torn up since Kana still had Itsumo. Is she disappointed that I survived instead of him? An unpleasant feeling in my gut did not want to know the answer.

After a few minutes, Kana finally stood up and walked over to the bench I was sitting on before plopping herself down next to me, "So... What now?"

"I... Don't know..." I muttered, half of me screaming to just stay in the Town of Beginnings and just waste my time away.

"Want to go look for the dungeon that leads to the next floor?"

"... Aside from Itsumo, did you see the amount of names crossed out...?"

"No... Why?" Kana asked, walking up to the monument again.

While still staring at the floor I heard a gasp and a small shriek as Kana clapped a hand to her mouth.

"How bad?" I asked, aware of the amount of crosses but slightly unsure of the quantity.

"Hundreds... Probably more than a thousand..." Kana whispered, her voice quivering from shock or fear.

"No way. In just two weeks?!" I said disbelievingly, having only a general idea of how many names were crossed out and not an exact figure.

After counting and recounting again just to be sure, I realised Kana was right: 1/10 of the population of this game had already died, with reasons ranging to monster deaths, falling in midair and... player kills...?

"Hey Monoka... players are allowed to attack each other in this game?"

"Yes, this game was intended to be a second reality so attacking players and duels are allowed. Freely attacking players are only allowed outside of town though, why?"

Pointing at a specific name on the monument, Kana followed my finger and read the description, "Killed by player...?"

"Looks like monsters aren't the only thing we have to be careful of..." I said with a grim look.

"The only reason players died in the beta test when at the hands of other players were duels... Maybe he lost a duel?"

"Maybe..."

This is bad... We already barely made it out of two monster encounters and now we have to worry about murderers? Pking in any game that allows it is normal but in this game... It's like killing a person in real life...

A few minutes later, Kana stood up and nodded at the entrance, silently asking whether I was ready to leave. Nodding back, I followed her out onto the square where a large crowd was gathering.

"Citizens of Aincrad, we have gathered today to unify in the clearing of this virtual prison...!"

"Let's go." Kana whispered, tugging my arm away from them.

"Why?" I asked, wanting to hear the man make his speech.

"He's probably recruiting members to a guild. This early in the game, guilds are more detrimental to our growth." Kana whispered, pulling meca bit harder.

Finally giving in and following her I couldn't help but ask, "Why do you say that?"

"By being in a guild you have to follow someone's orders right? Training times and locations will all be dictated by the leader. If the leader is a beta tester the guild might survive. If he's new, they're doomed. Also, a portion of whatever you earn will be taxed and sent to the guild treasury. The tax amount is also decided by the leader and only the leader or sub leaders have access to the treasury. Trust me, being in a guild this early will only hinder us."

"So you're saying we should use your knowledge and help ourselves first?" I whispered back, both of us already nearing the town gates.

"Yes... I know I'm being selfish, but it's for our survival."

Sugar coat it however you want... We're still dicks for doing this...

Still slightly disgusted by the notion despite it being for self preservation, I waited a few minutes after reaching the next town while we were repairing and resupplying to ask the burning question,

"So what are we going to do for now?"

Normally I'd be uncomfortable with asking others what the plan is, but in this world seeing as Kana was the beta tester, she probably knew what was best for the both of us. Although I had been picking up free guide books in the store, theory can never really trump real practical experience but reading the book actually had its strong points.

Even though Kana was a beta tester, she did not know everything (nor did I expect her to) and with the book to supplement her existing knowledge, planning and battling became a lot safer.

"Well I was thinking about reinforcing our current weapons so we'll need to go hunting for the materials... Lend me that book later and I'll show you where."

"Reinforce our weapons? We're already at a blacksmith so why not reinforce now?"

"Because the more you reinforce a weapon, the greater the chance of the weapon being destroyed. It's the same system as all those MMO's we've played before except we don't use real life money this time."

My lips forming a snide grin at Kana's explanation, I couldn't help but laugh, "If it required real money, how would we even pay?"

Nodding with a snide grin at the point I made, Kana opened up a map and swivelled it so we could share it, "Our equipment are of the same rank and although there are actually better equipment more suited for clearing this floor, the effort and risk that both of us have to go through is not worth the stats of the weapon. If we reinforce our current weapons enough it should last us one or two floors so the first material we need to get is found here, we need the stingers of the wasps found here."

Stingers...? In most games, the insect type monsters usually have some innate ability to inflict a debuff on players when they attack, if so, wouldn't that increase the risk of hunting such monsters?

"Oh, I nearly forgot, bring plenty of antidotes. You'll need them."

Figures...

Upon returning to town, the hunt began for antidotes at the lowest price began for in Kana's words, "No point paying extra for an item you're going to buy in bulk."

But if it meant looking for an item at the lowest price, it would make more sense to hunt a monster that dropped them rather than spend money on something like this. However this hope was shortlived when I picked up the latest free guide book from the npc shop owner, the only monsters that dropped it were either in the dungeon or the insects themselves.

So much for that plan.

Aside from the NPC shops where the price were pretty much the standard 50 col per bottle, the player shops actually tended to show more promise. Though of course one can always find idiots who sell it higher than the npc price, I mean, it was probably difficult to obtain it while hunting or it may have bought it from another player and they're just trying to make a profit but to sell it more expensive than the NPCs...

A quick facepalm later, I came across a shop run by what I pegged as an NPC at first until I saw the price of the goods, they were all definitely below the price set by the Cardinal system. My mind made up, I started going through how I would bargain with the merchant until I caught her eye.

She totally looks like an NPC no matter how you put it! Her clothes... The apron...

"Hi! How may I help you?"

Holy crap, even her greeting sounds like something from the system!

"U-uhmm, hi..." I replied, still slightly spooked by the merchant's demeanor.

"Is there anything you would like to buy?" the girl asked, waving an arm over her goods not taking notice of my hesitant reply.

Normally players can be identified by a green cursor hovering above their heads to indicate their status as a player, but in towns under certain conditions the cursor may not show hence my confusion.

"Uhhh, oh yeah! How much are you selling your antidotes?"

"45 col a bottle!" she replied, pointing to a selection of phials filled with green liquid.

Why games insist on making something as essential as an antidote in such an unappetising colour is totally beyond me.

"Well, if I buy in bulk would it be possible for me to get a discount?"

"Well... I'm already selling them cheap..."

"Only if possible, if you're making a loss it's alright, I'm looking for shops that I can establish a working relationship with..."

"Well, the lowest I can go is 40 col... But don't tell anyone about this!" the shopkeeper whispered as she opened a trade window.

"Thanks!" I whispered back, smiling brightly, "So, what's your name?"

"H-harmonia..." the shopkeeper replied with a slight blush, "Yours?"

"Mifune. Well, I look forward to dealing with you again!"

Giving the shopkeeper a final jovial wave, I opened up my map and made my way to Kana, just as she was finished obtaining the other supplies we would need for our journey.

"Judging by the amount of potions we've got, we should be able to last a few hours or so, hopefully we can get enough stingers by then." Kana said as she did a quick check of both our inventories.

Both of us gathering together to share Kana's map again, I listened attentively as she gave a detailed plan on how we were to hunt the wasps, safe area locations and the loop we were to take.

"Most importantly, if you think you cannot handle the wasps, DO. NOT. RUN. You will attract even more. That was how my party died once, we can't afford to have a repeat performance now."

I know what she's talking about... "Train-ing"... The over luring of monsters and attracting their attention by running by them, amplifying the original problem exponentially. Depending on the movespeed of the player and monster in question, the train could either result in other people dying or the player himself not being able to outrun the monsters and perishing.

Against flying insect type monsters, I'd be willing to bet it's more likely to be the latter than the former.

The trek to the forest didn't take long, apparently it was just beside the town we were in. Since our aim and destination aligned with several quests from the NPC's, we both saw no harm in picking them up before heading over.

The information from the guidebook and Kana's memory being relatively accurate, although the wasps spawn points were randomised, Kana and I drew our weapons and dashed in silently with neither a word nor battle cry lest we attracted more aggro than we could handle.

Just before we reached the first, Kana swung out with her shield, bashing the wasp that was heading towards it and stunning it momentarily as we ran past, the wasp trailing behind while we continued on the preplanned route. Because Kana had hit it first, she had generated the most aggro on the wasp and even though it closed in on me, it ignored me and kept chasing the person who hit it first.

After gathering about 4 or 5, Kana and I turned to face the wasps we had collected, our backs close to a nearby safe zone in the event things got ugly.

"You drank the antidote already right? It stays active for about 5-10 minutes after you drink it."

Ooops...

"Uhh..." I replied, having thought antidotes were supposed to be taken AFTER you get poisoned.

"Quick take it now!" Kana yelled, already engaging the wasps, 2 stragglers heading straight for me.

"Oh.. Shi..." was all I managed to swear before the first wasp stung me, dropping my hp by a bit, the second sting inflicting the dreaded stun effect.

With my body completely paralysed, I was unable to open the pouch tied to my waist, the wasps buzzing angrily as they closed in for the kill.

"Mifune!" Kana yelled, grabbing me and throwing me into the safe area, following quickly after, unable to handle the combined mobs by herself.

"Mifune you baka! If you were alone you would have definitely died! Why didn't you take the antidote?"

"Thought they had to be taken after..." I mumbled softly, looking away feeling embarassed from my blunder.

Although the threat of death from my mistake did not disturb me greatly, Kana was panicking as she shoved a green bottle into my mouth and forced me to drink, causing me to choke and cough.

"Please don't make a mistake like that ever again, I swear I think I just lost a few years of my life from the shock alone." Kana said as she sat next to me.

Still coughing, I was unable to retort or reply before she continued, "You're all that I have left you know... Both of us, in this death game. I know you have issues and because of them you don't feel the need to survive but... Please... Please try to survive for me ok? I don't want to imagine what it'd be like wandering this world alone."

As guilt started to gnaw at my insides I nodded reluctantly as I sat up before rubbing the place I got stung.

Once the effects of the paralysis completely wore off, Kana and I left the safe zone and continued our loop, luring 2-3 at a time to hunt them more efficiently, the whine of my blade echoing through my head as I droned it out.

I don't know whether it happens to Kana but whenever I start killing more and more of the same monsters I start to phase out, not to daydream but any useless or irrelevant thoughts are simply left forgotten in some corner pocket of my mind. The only thing that matters, the only thing I think about, is the next monster, my next sword skill and what I plan to do to kill it.

Reaver. Dodge sting. Sidestep left and use Diagonal from the side. If it gets stunned I use a normal attack. If it turns I backstep and charge another sword skill. Kana is in no immediate danger because of her shield, if she needs help she will ask for it. So for now, I just need to... Focus...

An hour or two later when we finished gathering our stingers, we drank our last antidotes and was about to head back when we heard a loud scream and a loud buzzing sound.

"What was that...?" I muttered aloud, turning me head in the direction from which I heard the scream.

"Some idiot probably aggravated the boss of this particular field, the 'Queen Wasp'..."

"Should we save him?" I said, cutting Kana off making her brow furrow in irritation and something else... Regret?

"We can't that flag boss needs at least a full party to down it. If not, we will all die."

"So... we're just going to leave him?"

"There's nothing we can do! If he really did aggro the queen, going in to help him will just result in you dying with him! In this game where death is real you can't afford to save everyone! Or you'll end up joining them... Someday..."

"I already left someone behind. I won't live in regret for leaving behind someone else. You don't know til you try right?"

Before Kana could voice any more objections, I turned around and ran, ran away from the truth that this might be a fatal mistake, and away from the girl who started to form tears in her eyes.

Sorry Kana... But I just won't sleep well knowing I've abandoned someone.

It hasn't even been a month and already more than a thousand people have died, people who try to solo, try to bite off more than they can chew. Innocent lives wasted on this game of which more than half could have been prevented. So with this situation pushed onto me it was as if fate were asking me herself, "Could you bear to let someone pay the ultimate price for their mistake? Could you bear to watch him die?"

My steps faltering slightly as I tried to get into position to use a sword skill, I quickly readjusted my balance before pulling back and winding up, the sound of the skills activation whining for a mere second before I let the system take over. As if shot from a cannon my body crossed the distance between me and the wasp queen in a blur as my arm swung down landing a critical hit on the queens stinger instantly gaining its attention, and anger.

It seemed the guy hadn't hit the wasp queen yet meaning I just gained the "first strike" aggro as well. Good for him, horrible for me.

"The safe area is just beyond those trees! Move!" I yelled to the guy who looked no older than a teen as his expression changed from stunned to grateful.

"Thanks!" he yelled, quickly retreating with me close behind him, the queen wasp closing on us both.

As fatigue started to set in, I grit my teeth as I tried to keep my pace steady but judging by how long we've been running there was no doubt on whether we could outrun the boss in time. Using a tree to slow my pace and pivot around, I quickly dealt a quick stab that the wasp queen seemed to dodge with stunning alacrity before pointing its stinger and launching a counterattack.

Already moving as soon as my attack missed, I rolled clumsily out of the way as the wasp queen shot right above my head narrowly stinging me right in the face.

I really have to get to that safe zone fast...

Turning heel and running again, I prayed my health would be able to withstand the attack that would inevitably connect as I made a mad dash for the safe zone, the buzzing getting more and more intense but the attack never came.

Instead I heard the rough thud of wood meeting exoskeleton as Kana smacked the wasp queen head on with a perfectly timed shield bash giving all three of us enough time to rush into the safe zone.

"Thanks for the save." I wheezed as the guy and I tried to regain our breath, Kana looking at us disapprovingly.

"Why did you anger the boss and where is your weapon?" Kana asked harshly, rounding on the still panting kid.

"M-my name's... Kiraga... I'm rushing back... to town..."

"That doesn't answer the question of where your weapon is." Kana said coldly.

The wasp field Kana and I were hunting in must have been between the town and where Kiraga was running but why's he so urgent? I'd tell Kana to ease up on him but I was still trying to slow my breaths and couldn't talk.

Instead of answering, Kiraga opened up his map and slided his hand to show us the data.

"This is...?!" Kana gasped, stopping in midsentence.

"I was on my way back... I broke my weapon fighting off wasps and accidently ran into the queen's nest. I'm sorry for troubling both of you." Kiraga said as he looked at us apologetically.

"Mifune we're escorting him back to town. Also, is it possible to give is a copy of that data?"

Blinking a few times at Kana's change in attitude, I flashed her a questioning look which she met before explaining, "Kiraga is right now holding the key to the start of clearing this game. That data... Is the map of the first few levels of the dungeon on this floor."

End of Chapter 3


	5. Boss Battle: Birth of the Beater

Chapter 4 Boss Battle: Birth of the Beater

A week after we had saved Kiraga it had been a full month before this game had actually launched. Although the fatality rate of the first two weeks should act as a kind of marker of what was to happen, nobody could foresee the fact that over two thousand people had died.

Itsumo being one of them.

Despite clearing more than 15 floors, Kana and I have yet to even find the boss room even though we mapped out every floor evenly. Although we had planned to go grinding to raise our safety margin, we cancelled it in light of a supposed strategy meeting at 4pm in the town plaza.

With 4pm still being quite a few hours away, Kana and I decided to give our luck the ultimate test and take the ultimate chance: weapon enhancement.

Others disregard the risks and chances involved by providing extra material for the enhancement to increase the chances of succeeding to an insane 90%.

But despite increasing the chance, not to 90% but to 75%, this poor blacksmith who was a player managed to fail all 4 times! Luckily the weapons were just junk Kana wanted to enhance and sell, but the poor guy's face was absolutely hilarious. Kana wasn't helping either making a devastated face with each failure. When one of the weapons broke she even broke into fake sobs scaring the poor blacksmith even further.

"Hey, you've had your fun... Can we go to another blacksmith now?" I muttered, feeling more than a bit sorry for the guy, wanting to end his misery already.

The look on his face being one of relief that finally the end of his ordeal had come, was quickly replaced by a look of despair as Kana thrusted another one of her "junk" swords at him, "Again!"

Another one? Where is she getting all these? By the time she finishes torturing him we could have done so much with the money she's wasting. I know the blacksmith has no right to refuse a job but this is a bit much...

Finally running out of swords to torment the poor bugger, Kana and I stopped by an npc blacksmith to reinforce our weapons eventually ending up with both our weapons sitting at a reasonable +5.

While Kana went for 1D2S2H (1 durability, 2 sharpness, 2 heaviness) I picked 2Q3S (2 quickness, 3 sharpness) preferring speed over power.

Why she picked heaviness I do not understand though.

Just before we left, Kana and I also picked up a few better pieces of armor, with minor defence improvements over our last ones, Kana keeping her heavy metal plate while I bought a better leather vest, and at exactly 3:50pm, Kana and I made our way to Tolbana's main plaza, the site for the first ever boss meeting.

The amphitheater-like plaza slowly filled up with players who filed in one by one some with friends, others in small groups. Before any of them sat close to either of us, Kana nudged me gently to listen, "Whatever you do, don't mention that I'm a tester. The attitude towards testers will definitely be hostile after the death count after just one month of this game's launch."

Nodding in reply, I said nothing as the spaces in the rows around us filled with players carrying a whole variety of weapons, from spears to swords and shields of varying sizes.

"44 people... That's 4 members short of a raid group..." Kana murmurred, after doing a quick head count.

"Party size is 6 so up to 8 parties can form a raid group right? So we're only 4 people short?" I whispered back.

"Hardly, a boss fight allows up to 2 raid groups in so the total limit is 96. We're really short staffed here..."

After doing a head count of my own I quickly whispered into Kana's ear, "There's 45 people here."

"Did another show up? Or..." Kana replied, looking over her shoulder, "Did you count the hooded figure next to the pillar at the top overlooking the plaza?"

"Yeah, he seems a little short though..."

"That's not a he, that's a she. And you can't count her as part of the raid, she's an information broker not a fighter. Her name's Argo the Rat, you should meet her later, just don't spend too much time with her, you'll end up spending all your money on information she has."

Is she really that dangerous? I thought to myself as I turned to get a last minute look at her before the sound of clapping hands brought my attention back to the front.

A man with bright blue hair wearing heavy armor made his entrance by jumping over one of the lower walls at the bottom of the amphitheater and running to the center before addressing the crowd, "O-K! It may be five minutes late but hello everyone!"

Who is this guy? And why the hell is his hair blue? After Kayaba's mass appearance reversion everyone should have their real life appearance, if that's the case is his hair really blue?

As if she read my mind, or maybe she had the same question on her mind Kana nudged me and whispered, "There are dyes available in the world that you can use to change your item or hair colour. But to obtain it this early... There's no doubt that he's a beta tester."

The man in question was decked out in heavy metallic armour that looked like it weighed quite a bit as he leaped onto the fountain. Pointing at himself he flashed a grin to the crowd, "A few of you here know me already, but for those who don't, my name is Diabel and my class is 'Knight'!"

At the proclamation of his self given job class several outbursts could be heard from the crowd as some whistled while others called out random comments like "You meant 'Hero' right!' or "There's no job class system in SAO!"

Whilst agreeing with the latter, personally I felt that putting labels such as 'Knight' or 'Lancer' on people was highly impractical. Due to the high variety of skills to equip and choose from no person would have the same stat or build as the person next to them, also job class titles tended to severely limit playstyles since after assigning a 'job class' one would be assigned a 'role'.

"Well the reason I called everyone who is active on the frontlines is quite clear..." Diabel said, pointing at a large tower overlooking the town, the first floor dungeon maze.

"Today our party found the stairs leading to the boss room floor. Which means by tomorrow or the day after, we will have found the boss room!"

After a momentary stunned silence, the crowd burst into whispers and murmurs again. Kana and I may have been on the frontlines but we were both grinding in a good exp spot on the 15th floor to raise our safety margin before we tackled the higher floors. Apparently this Diabel's party forged ahead and mapped out the 19th floor already.

"It took us one month to get this far, but even so, we have a duty to perform, to defeat the boss and show the rest of the people in the Town of Beginnings that clearing this game is possible!"

As some of the crowd cheered or clapped, a low gravelly voice echoed from the back of the group.

"Wait a moment Diabel-san."

With a few heads turning towards the source of the newcomer, a brown durian haired man leaped through the holes in the crowd towards the front to confront Diabel.

"There is something I must clear up first otherwise I cannot join you." The durian haired man said to Diabel.

Though Diabel's eyes narrowed for a split second he was back to all smiles in no time at all, "Sure, opinions are welcome but at least tell us your name first."

Turning to address the crowd, the man pointed his thumb at himself, "My name is Kibaou."

As he swept the crowd with his sharp beady eyes I couldn't help but feel a sense of unease wash over me as his gaze rested on Kana and I momentarily before moving on, "Some of you here need to apologise."

"By you, do you mean the beta testers?" Diabel asked, looking at Kibaou thoughtfully.

"Damn right I am! The day this shitty game started the 1000 beta testers got up and left the Town of Beginnings leaving us new players behind without a clue of what to do. They hogged all the good hunting grounds and took the easy quests for themselves!"

Gritting his teeth in anger, Kibaou pointed a finger into the crowd as he continued to yell, "I'm sure there are a few people here from the beta! They need to bow down and apologise, and surrender all their loot and equipment that they got or else we can't trust them and they shouldn't trust us!"

Hearing Kana's teeth grinding as she clenched her jaw and fists until the point they became white, I gave her a quick tap and a reassuring look in an attempt to calm her down. Before anyone else could reply however a deep booming baritone echoed through the plaza.

"Excuse me, may I speak?"

Almost a total opposite of Kibaou's brash and crude voice, the man who stood up had a certain soothing quality that calmed the crowd. That or it could be his stature, standing at nearly 2 meters the man definitely didn't look like he came from around here. Dark chocolate skin and arms with well built muscles blocked my view from Kibaou and Diabel for a second as the man walked down before he turned to address Kibaou. As Kibaou turned angrily to the source of the interruption of his self righteous rant, he did a double take from the sheer size of the man, his frown turning into a grimace as he was shadowed by him.

"My name is Agil. Kibaou-san, what you're saying in other words is you want all the beta testers to apologise and pay compensation for those who have died already am I correct?"

"Well, yeah that's the main point! If those shitty testers had shared their items and knowledge 2000 people wouldn't have had to die! Not only that, we would have 10 times the numbers at this meeting and broke through the second or third floor!" Kibaou retorted, trying to sound intimidating instead sounding defensive.

With Kana's knuckles tightening to the point that her fists were white, I started patting her back and trying to calm her, the butterflies in my own stomach going into overdrive. If Kana is identified as a tester we'd be hanged. Literally, killed outside the town safe zone.

Reaching behind him Agil pulled out a simple leather bound book, the same one Kana and I carried: The free guide from Argo.

"Kibaou-san, did you get this book?"

Taking a quick glance at the book, Kibaou nodded his head once, "Yeah so what about it?"

"This book was provided for free at any NPC store yet so many players died." Egil said, turning around to show the book he mentioned to the crowd, "I thought the idea of today's meeting was to see what we can learn from their deaths?"

With his piece all said and done, Egil looked at Kibaou last time and received a withering glare from the latter before both sat back down.

"I understand his jealousy and anger, but there are disadvantages to the beta testers too..." Kana whispered, her fists relaxing as she turned to look at me.

"Sure, you guys were able to resurrect if you died, people too used to it wouldn't try so hard or be as careful as they need to be and wind up dying."

"There is that... There's also the reliance of knowledge gained during the beta test. Our knowledge can also be our downfall."

As unfair as the prejudice on beta testers is, we alsp have to be mindful of anything new that could've been changed from the beta test...

A nudge from Kana bringing me back to reality, I quickly followed where her finger was pointing at, the original speaker Diabel stepping back up to continue the meeting.

"Kibaou-san, I understand what you're saying, we've all gone through unkonwn territories to get here after many near death experiences. But isn't now the time to move forward? If we refuse to accept the beta tester's aid for the boss battle and we lose as a result what would be the point?"

So he's basically telling us to abandon our differences and fight for a common goal. Truly befitting the role of a raid leader.

"Everyone you have your own wishes and I can respect that, but for now I would like everyone here to cooperate in breaking through the first floor. If there are people who will not fight side by side with beta testers may I kindly request you leave now. Teamwork is important and without that there is a very high chance of failure."

Looking over the crowd, Diabel's eyes settled on Kibaou who grimaced and looked away with sheer annoyance on his face, "Find I will follow along for now, but i want this matter settled after the boss fight."

Although the meeting ended without much information being deliberated, Kana and I spent the next day grinding in a lower level of the dungeon trying to max out the little bit on our exp bars and level one last time before the boss fight, cheers and cries of happiness echoing around as Diabel's party who found the boss room made their way back to town.

Continuing the briefing from yesterday after the distribution of the latest information booklet, the booklet contained vital information about the boss, a large kobold named Ilfang and its minions Ruin Kobold sentinels. With the dungeon flooding with lesser kobolds this did not come as much of a surprise to everyone, though the information was frighteningly accurate with 4 sentinels spawning with every bar of the boss' life being depleted. With 4 bars in total counting the initial 4 that spawn at the beginning of the battle we were looking at 16 sentinels in total not counting ones that spawn randomly after a certain period of time.

"Says here the boss will switch out from a buckler and axe to a talwar when its hp reaches the critical stage. How is the information so accurate?" I whispered to Kana, as she flipped to the page I was pointing at.

"The person who wrote it was probably a tester." Kana whispered back as she browsed through the page as well.

Sure enough on the back, a bright red warning read, "This information is from SAO's beta test, the current version may be different."

When the audience started to buzz with chatter after reading the information, Diabel's voice cut through the throng as he clapped for everyone's attention, "Everyone, right now instead of questioning the source we should be thank ful for this information. Because of this, we are able to skip several days worth of scouting battles which in turn would have saved many lives."

Throughout the plaza, heads were nodding in agreement, especially those who have had MMO experience before, others with looks of uncertainty probably wondering if the information could be trusted so explicitly.

"If this information is true, a level average of 3 or maybe 5 to be safe will be enough. With good tactics and a lot of pots we can defeat this boss with no casualties! In fact, I guarantee this in the name of the knight!"

Tumultous applause erupted from every side as people cheered Diabel on others sharing looks of reassurance with one another, the speech Diabel giving definitely having an extremely positive effect on the morale of the group gathered here.

"Alright it might be a bit sudden, but in order to start strategising and splitting up duties I would like everyone to split up into teams of 6 now! Make a party with your friends or people around you!"

With Kana and I already in a party, we quickly found 4 other guys to join ours, we were all sitting together in the group introducing ourselves to each other while other parties formed up in the next few minutes. After all the groups were formed up, Diabel quickly got to work switching members here and there unfortunately separating Kana and I as well in the process.

Well, it wasn't so bad. We totally expected it to happen since Kana was a shield user making her more of the defender type while I was carrying a light curved sword giving me more of the burst damage role so splitting us into specialised groups was expected. By the time he was done, a total of 8 parties were formed, 2 tank parties, 3 high movement Assault parties and 2 long weapon support parties with a pair sitting alone away from the main crowd.

Honestly, those two should have socialised more, getting stuck without a party and in a pair like that makes them near useless in the main boss fight.

Sure enough, Diabel walked up to the pair and said, "Support the Group E in removing Kobolds please."

The other raid groups receiving their roles, tank parties mitigating damage and aggro from the boss, the assault parties splitting with 2 parties to attack the boss while the third clears the spare mobs that spawn and the support parties use long range attacks to interrupt boss attacks to clear a path for the assault parties.

Drop rules were set with item drops belonging to the person that received it and experience and money being shared throughout the raid group. Though this was met with some resistance at first, eventually after a thorough explanation nobody had any qualms since if drop was randomised or done by dice roll, the item would simply appear in a random person's inventory and they had to own up for the dice roll which in all honesty would never actually happen.

Nodding at Kana who gave me a thumbs up, we dispersed for the night in order to have a good night's rest before we made an attempt to clear the boss room early the next morning.

The next day at exactly 11:00 hours, the first ever raid expedition made its way out of Tolbanna and in 90 minutes we had reached the top floor and arrived at the boss room. The trip was relatively an easy one, with any mobs facing widespread massacre with each person simply using a swing or sword skill. The overkill was so great that any groups beyond Group D which was the forth in line did not even get to touch any monsters or loot all the way.

Though as nice as that was, it was relatively easy and not completely. We had to change the party formation several times as the ranged support group nearly got wiped by a Kobold ambush attack from the flank and if not for Diabel's quick reaction we definitely would have lost a few members on the way.

Turning and motioning for all of us to stop, Diabel nodded approvingly, "Everyone, let's win this!"

Diabel taking point, party A followed closely behind him, inching into the dark unlit boss room until the lights suddenly activated, causing a dramatic change in brightness. Not enough to blind us but illuminating the entire room, as well as the boss that awaited us at the end of it.

With a loud cry, all of us burst into the boss room taking in what could have been a grand hall in a castle, the parties maintaining their tight formation spreading slightly from the narrow doorway into the boss room. As soon as the last party made it in, Diabel raised his sword and swung it foward, "Commence attack!"

With the front row tank party engaging first, my assault party led by a man named "Joho" stuck close behind them closely followed by Group F a ranged support party. Diagonally to our left, Group B led by Agil led the charge on his end to form a spearhead formation with Diabel's group C and ranged support Group G running behind them, Group E and the pair left behind to handle the sentinels.

Once Group A in front of us covered about half the room, the giant Kobold that sat on its throne finally rose, issuing a loud bellow of a challenge before leaping off onto the ground in front of us, four ruin kobold sentinels also spawning in front of it.

With a axe of bone in its right hand and a buckler in its left, I didn't take much notice of the weapon strapped to its back as I was sure I'd be seeing plenty of it later instead focusing on avoiding the sentinels left for Group E as my group kept their place behind the tanker group waiting for our chance to strike.

As if to signify the start of the battle, Ilfang raised its large axe and brought it down on Group A's heater shield causing a large light effect and sound to echo throughout the hall.

Group E,G and the pair engaged the sentinels almost immediately, freeing up the rest to engage Ilfang, which was no easy feat, having to switch between 2 groups when fighting the boss.

Despite being a part of Group C, Diabel had to take his place behind the rest, acting as a conductor of a grand orchestra, organising the parties as they each performed their roles.

"Group A, after the next attack swap with Group D! Now!"

With the command given, Group A received the attack from the boss, giving us a short opening to activate our own sword skills and try to lay as much damage on the boss as possible before the next attack, the ranged support group covering our escape with their longer weapons before the tanker group took over in receiving the next attack.

With Group C laying the majority of the damage for the first bar, Group D took care of the second bar while the support groups took out the third layer giving Group C and D time to recover with potions with Group G, a group dedicated to killing sentinels coming to provide cover support due to the sentinels being cleared exceptionally quickly.

With all the sentinels dispatched, the Groups closed in and restarted their assault, the boss' last bar of hp finally being reduced to the red region, Diabel calling off the attack as he himself charged forward alone.

Really a hero all the way huh?

Watching as Ilfang flung its axe and buckler away and drawing out the weapon I ignored up until now, a loud shout came from the back, "Don't attack! Fall back now!"

What's wrong? Ilfang's health is nearly gone. If Diabel wants to be a hero just let him, he's already did a splendid job of leading... Us...

My own thoughts grinding to a halt at the sight of the weapon, my body went cold as I realised the reason behind the shout: That weapon wasn't a talwar, having seen a talwar in my other games, I can say with absolute certainty that what Ilfang was carrying was not a talwar.

Instead of a cast iron curved blade the black straight weapon gleamed dangerously like a butcher's knife about to slice meat. A different weapon class means different skills. And different skills means we have to change our strategy completely. All the groups were a relatively safe distance from the boss meaning a change in tactics wouldn't be completely impossible, but the person that we relied on to carry out the change in strategy on the other hand, was sitting right inside the kill zone.

Leaping into the air and spinning, the katana glowed with a bright red light as it swung in a horizontal circle, with all of Group C falling backwards, their collective hp immediately dipping below half and into the yellow zone. As if to add insult to injury, yellow lights circled their heads indicating the stun effect. They were out for the count for several seconds, and in range for another attack.

With the raid group usually depending on Diabel for orders and Diabel being stunned, nobody moved forwards to defend their stunned allies losing precious seconds as Ilfang recovered from using the technique.

By the time Agil and Kana had rallied Group B to move forwards, it was already too late. Ilfang's katana glowed once again as it powered up another sword skill, the katana flashing through the air and sending Diabel flying through the air.

The katana glowing once again, Ilfang followed up the attack with a two midair strikes and a thrust, and with all three being critical hits, Diabel was blasted back down to the ground behind the raid group where one of the pair party rushed to his aid.

With all of the raid groups attention now focused on Diabel and not the boss, Group A barely blocked a hit in time while the rest of the raid group watched in horror as Diabel burst into shattered polygons and flashes of light.

With Diabel gone, the raid fell into complete disarray, party members screamed and held on to the weapons in fear while others lost it completely and started crying.

Discouraged as well by the loss of our raid leader, my legs started to quiver and shake as an overwhelming fear of death gripped my body only stopping when Kana tapped me on the shoulder, "It's not over yet."

With half the vanguard down and others trying to escape, the pair who initially were assigned to killing mobs ran down the center, aiming to engage the boss alone.

Whether they were asking for death or trying to inspire the others I will never know but as Ilfang's eyes locked on to the two, it lowered its katana, white light bursting from the weapon as it charged a sword skill it definitely looked more like the former than the latter.

Wielding an Anneal blade like Kana, the boy let out a large cry as he prepared a sword skill to counter Ilfang's both blades colliding and pushing both parties back as he yelled, "Switch!"

The hooded figure taking that as the cue to attack, charged in for an attack, Ilfang recovering faster than expected from the skill's knockback, swinging his katana down before he/she could even close in.

"Asuna!" the boy yelled out, the hooded figure noticing the incoming blade and ducking in the nick of time, the blade slicing right through the hood revealing a gorgeous girl with chestnut brown hair and piercing eyes of the same colour.

Letting out a battle cry, Asuna started charging a sword skill on her rapier, stabbing forwards faster than the eye can see sending Ilfang backwards from the sheer ferocity of the attack.

"Everyone go back 10 steps! If its not surrounded it will not use ranged attacks!" the boy yelled, the entire raid group taking 10 steps back as instructed while some continued to drink their potions.

With the boy interrupting each and every attack that came from Ilfang, the girl was left free to stab at it between intervals, acting very much like our tanker and assault parties on a much smaller scale.

But it was shortlived.

Starting the wrong sword skill, the boy was hit by a large uppercut across the chest by Ilfang and was sent crashing into the girl as both landed several meters away from the boss in a crumpled heap, Ilfang itself following up with a sword skill on the defenceless pair.

Agil and the rest of Group B had recovered and Agil himself used his own sword skill, his axe glowing green as he intercepted Ilfang's attack, both parties staggering from the recoil as the boy and Asuna pulled back, other groups recovering as well and initiating another assault on the boss.

With Joho leading Group D and under the boy's guidance, Group B started to guard off Ilfang's attacks while Group D took care to damage and retreat before the next attack.

After a particularly heavy attack from Group D however, Group B could not react in time to the next sword skill by Ilfang and a player staggered right behind Ilfang.

"Get out of there now!"

Group D having been saved by Group B retreated without much problems but the still recovering Group B was only able to watch in horror as Ilfang leapt into the air again, no doubt to use its spinning attack as soon as it landed, the katana already glowing red.

The boy despite not having fully recovered, leapt back into the fray, a sword skill being charged as he leaped into the sky the bright light that was his sword skill connecting with Ilfang's midsection causing it to fall off balance into the ground.

Landing successfully after a roll, the boy yelled out, "Everyone attack! Surround it!"

With Agil's Group B and Joho's Group D leading the charge, Groups F and G dashed forward as well, having recovered enough hp to continue attacking, the boss' hp dropping quickly to a sliver.

"Asuna, one last Linear! Let's go for it!"

As the chestnut haired girl yelled a response, the pair dashed through the groups in the middle of skill delays right back at the boss, its bloodshot eyes immediately turning on them as if recognising an old enemy.

Blocking Ilfang's attack with his own sword skill, the boy created an opening which Asuna quickly took advantage of, the boy dashing in right afterwards his own sword glowing as he slashed Ilfang twice causing the boss to glow and burst into fragments and polygons.

With cries of happiness and applause echoing throughout the room, everyone gleefully hugged and congratulated one another as they looked over their own shares of loot and earnings.

"Why!?" Kibaou yelled from the back, "Why did you leave Diabel to die?!"

This isn't good.

Quickly locating Kana, I slowly made her way back to her just as one of Kibaou's group pointed an accusing finger at the boy, "This guy... He's a beta tester! That's why he knew the boss' attack patterns and everything and chose not to share!"

"Even so the guide was written by someone from the beta period. If he was a tester wouldn't his knowledge be the same as the guide?" A mace user from Group B said calmly.

"That guide must have been a lie! Argo's shop is selling lies. Being a tester there's no way she'd give out the truth for free." the man from Kibaou's group retorted.

Before anyone could say anything more on the matter, a soft creepy laughter echoed throughout the room, "A beta tester? Don't lump me in with those newbies."

Walking over with a condescending look on his face, the boy stopped in front of Kibaou looking at him as if staring at an idiot, "Out of the 1000 beta testers that got chosen, almost all of them didn't even know how to level properly. You guys are all better than them! But I'm different. The only reason I know the boss' attack patterns... Is because I fought against monsters with katana skills on floors way higher than this one. I know more than any information seller, not even Argo can match me."

As a cold silence fell upon the room, one of Group E's members pointed at the boy and yelled in a shaky voice, "That's... That's... No longer on the level of a beta tester! That's cheating! You're just a cheater!"

The crowd now driven into an outroar, cries such as "cheater" and "beta tester" started to bounce around the room, a new word "beater" being heard as the words started to mix.

"Beater. I like the sound of that."

Equipping what was no doubt a boss drop, the boy's clothes flashed as they were covered by a pitch black coat, "From now on I'm a beater. Don't lump me in with the other testers."

With his piece all said and done, the boy calmly walked off towards the throne of the room, and started to make his way up to the second floor.

-End of Chapter 4-


End file.
