ME2: Early

Characters
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Kirito
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At the age of fourteen, while still a

second year middle school student,
Age : 16 he was imprisoned in SAO. He was
truant from school due to being
Level : 96
heavily addicted to games. Rarely
conversing with his family, he was
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Main set on indulging in the virtual

Equipment : ?Elucidator? world, hence he was one of the first
(One- players to adapt to Aincrad, which
handed had turned into a death game.
Straight
Sword) However, ironically, due to his im-
?Dark mersion in VR games, he had cul-
Repulser? tivated a high nerve reaction
(One- speed, and because of that he was
handed given the proof of a hero, the [Dual
Straight Blade] skill. With Kirito's good in-
Sword) tuition, he probably realized the
role he was given quickly.
Skill Slots : 12 Within that boundary of time,
Kirito was a person who intended
Equipped One-handed to strengthen only himself through
skills : Sword solo play, but shifted to a style
(Degree of (1000) more fitting for a group player as a
proficiency in Dual Blades member of the raid group (al-
parenthesis) (1000) though he probably wasn't aware
Blade of it).As a result, he shouldered
Throwing more problems, but with Asuna
(967) and Klein's sincere devotion sup-
Parry porting him, he carried out his
(1000) duty as a hero in the end.
Battle Heal-
ing (944)
Searching
(1000)
Tracking
(963)
Hiding
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(1000)
Night Vision
(908)
Extended
Weight Lim-
it (949)
Sprint (870)
Fishing
(604)
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Asuna
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Among the raiding group,

Asuna is included among the
Age : 17 top ten percent of the highest
leveled players, which is mostly
Level : 94
occupied by beta testers.
However, not only had Asuna
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Main not experienced the beta, she

Equipment : ?Lambent had never even touched any VR
Light? (One- or MMORPG games before
handed Rapier) SAO.

As such, it is said that this girl

Skill Slots : 11 who climbed to the ranks of a
true top player from a complete
Equipped One-handed beginner really does have the
skills : Rapier (1000) strongest hidden potential in
(Degree of Two-handed SAO.
proficiency in Assault Spear
parenthesis) (590) However, that was only pos-
Light Metal sible due to the capable Asuna's
Equipment intelligence and spirit, and
(1000) while her fast reflexes played a
Heavy Metal part, the largest reason was the
Equipment strong intent to protect and
(678) stand beside Kirito, who had
Parry (917) pride in his formidable combat
Battle Healing prowess.
(877)
Emergency Re-
covery (968)
Acrobatics(909)
Sprint (852)
Cooking (1000)
Sewing (211)
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Klein
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Age : 2
Level : 8
Main Equipment :
?K
(K

Skill Slots : 11
 12/150

Equipped skills : O
(Degree of proficiency in parenthesis) C
(9
K
L
E
(9
L
E
(8
B
in
E
R
(7
S
(7
L
(5
E
W
(6
F
(7
S
S

The guild ?Fuurinkazan? led by Klein was the core class among the
raid group, they contributed greatly in the spot they filled with their
calm mood, which helped relieve the savage atmosphere of the front
lines.
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He has a carefree attitude, but it isn't easy to see through the bottom
of his heart. He was charmed by Kirito, whose combat prowess made
him stand out despite being younger, and was always there to support
Kirito's insecure mental state.

In an Aincrad Raid, he is the mood maker, and is certainly

indispensable.
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Agil
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Age : 2
Level : 8
Main Equipment :
?G
G
(T
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h
B

Skill Slots : 10

Equipped skills : T
(Degree of proficiency in parenthesis) h
B
(8
H
h
b
P
L
E
(7
E
A
(9
T
p
(9
P
N
(8
S
ti
(7
E
W
L
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C
(5

The SAO Aincrad Package is sold nowhere else aside from within
Japan, and the users who connected on the release date became "pris-
oners", thus players from other countries made up and remained quite
a small minority.

Agil is one of them, but fortunately, thanks to his perfectly fluent

Japanese, his muscular physique turned out to be popular instead, and
he ran his shop with absolutely no lack of customers.

He is likely thought of as top class in terms of assets held even among

all the players, but there is a rumor that he invests the profits from
sales into increasing the population of the raid group. Due to the per-
son in question keeping his silence, the truth behind the matter re-
mains unclear.
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Lisbeth
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Age : 17
Level : 79
Main Equipment :
?Z
H
(S
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M
H

Skill Slots : 9

Equipped skills : O
(Degree of proficiency in parenthesis) h
W
m
L
al
m
S
W
F
(9
T
W
F
(9
B
W
F
(8
L
al
F
(8
H
M
m
gi
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M
E
R
(9
M
fi
(8

To try and divert their fear, the ones trapped in the world of SAO more
or less all resorted to either aiming for a goal, or through pure
tenacity.

In Lisbeth's case, that was the ownership of "Her own shop".

To the girl whose real family runs a small retail business, creating and
selling things must have been the most suitable means of preserving
her sense of living on.

However, thanks to her cheerful personality, she soon earned many

regulars and friends, and as a result, being a "Smith" advanced from
her form of escapism to her own way of clearing the game.

In actual fact, as the smith who forged the sword, "Dark Repulser",
that defeated the final boss, Heathcliff, Lisbeth's name is widely men-
tioned even after the release of SAO.
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Silica
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Age : 14
Level : 6
Main Equipment :
?S
D
h
S
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Skill Slots : 8

Equipped skills : O
(Degree of proficiency in parenthesis) S
(7
L
E
(6
F
er
F
m
(5
A
(6
M
m
S
C

The game software, "SAO", had an age rating recommended for 15 and
above, but of course, that rating was not perfectly upheld.

Most of the children similar to Silica, who were below 12 years of age
at the start, did not leave the Starting City on the first floor, but Silica
was an exception who was able to reach the ranks of the high levels.

The reason must have been due to the girl getting hold of the familiar
named Pina through her luck, and the bottomless affection she poured
into it as she brought it up.
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There is no mistake that the players of the raid group who got to know
Silica through Kirito deeply regret not researching the means of utiliz-
ing a familiar.
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Kuradeel
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Age : 2
Level : 8
Main Equipment :
?T
D
(T
 28/150

S
S

Skill Slots : 10

Equipped skills : T
(Degree of proficiency in parenthesis) S
S
O
S
S
O
S
(4
H
E
(7
B
er
H
S
(7
D
M
in

VRMMO-RPGs highlighted the importance of a certain ability not ne-

cessary in MMOs for PCs up till then.
That is, simply, the skill of personal communication, whose level cor-
responds to that in reality.
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Due to the fact that characters are replicas of the players' actual bodies
in SAO, this viewpoint is further strengthed.

Kuradeel must have been a person who wished to become a hero cap-
able of besting all others in the world of SAO.
However, for him, who lived with practically no need for any real con-
versation until he was imprisoned within the game, "Actually convers-
ing, and giving off a good impression" to others ended up being an ex-
ceptionally difficult feat.

The dilemma that no matter how much his stats rose, or whatever
powerful equipment he obtained, had no direct effect on his popularity
might have been what pushed him onto the path toward becoming a
red (killer) player.
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Heathcliff
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Age : 2
Level : ?
Main Equipment :
?L
(O
h
S
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S
w
T
S

Skill Slots : ?

Equipped skills : H
(Degree of proficiency in parenthesis) (1
O
h
S
S
(1
H
h
b
H
al
m
(1
B
in
S
(1
T
(1
S
L
(1
(H
Im
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The one and only person with an outer appearance created from
scratch in the world of SAO.
That might just be one of the reasons for that unique charisma of his
that gathered many admirers.

But of course, what enchanted the players the most was his defense
that appeared to be impenetrable.
In the raid on the 50th floor's floor boss which caused the front lines'
(switch rotation) to crumble, even with his upper body armor demol-
ished, he still maintained its attention for over 10 minutes, presenting
a figure that could be said to be no less than that of a hero, or perhaps
that of an actual king.

That said, the person in question doesn't seem to have even the slight-
est desire to do anything like playing hardcore, usually concentrating
wholeheartedly on the paperwork-related affairs of the guild and those
from the raid group as he cut out a plain robed figure.

Whether his name was a reference to "Wuthering Heights" or "Phant-

asy Star Online" is unknown.

November 2008

From this Fourth Material Edition onwards, the rest will shift to the
novel format.

What I'm writing might look like an excuse (Laughs). My take on the
work is, «Conveying the visual image in my head», . Because it works
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as a tool for transmission, I feel there is no essential difference wheth-
er it is in pictures or words form.

Of course, a picture (manga) conveys a visual message with more

power and a large foundation, but sometimes, «a scene that is hard to
draw» does exist... and so, as an active novelist, my existing aim is to
write an article of which «its visuals can be seen through reading». Al-
though it is quite difficult.

Ah, concerning this text, I still haven't mentioned anything about the
content yet...eh, it is about Kirito-shi and Asuna san, as always.
 35/150

ME4: Cold hand,

Warm heart
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After completing a day of hunting, I returned to my house on the

fiftieth floor, which was located in «Algade», but my body still had
that marvelously uncomfortable feeling.

My body movement became slow. I couldn't stand straight. My entire

body felt like I was carrying a prop which my back could not achieve
 37/150
the required strength, it felt really heavy, as I opened the main menu
window, but could not see any place written in red.

As I unsteadily staggered out onto the path from the square, my

thoughts remained uninterrupted.

If this discomfort is a negative status, there should be a warning flash-

ing before my eyes. And since I'm within the District Boundary, negat-
ive status such as poison and paralysis should be removed.

Maybe I got affected by a new unknown monster's negative status ef-

fects. Even after entering the boundary it did not disappear, and at the
same time does not trigger a warning ―― something like «Curse».

At this point, an evil cold crept up from my toes to my body, causing

me to shiver.

It is still September in Aincrad, too early for winter. But, going

through my coat, penetrating deep into my muscles and bones, was
like the wind of winter.

I couldn't return to my room under these conditions. Thinking like

this, I increased my pace, going into the first hotel I discovered. I
quickly rented an empty room at the front desk, and after taking the
key I rolled and crawled to the front of the furthest door from the desk.

As I sat on a simple bed in the narrow room, I unequipped all my

equipment to make my body feel lighter, then took out all kinds of an-
tidotes for all kinds of negative statuses and tried them all one by one.
I then used a Crystal which could remove all negative effects, and
awaited the moment I would be returned to normal.

―― However.
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"......This...... is...... Really bad......"

This evil cold did not leave, and my field of vision began to blur.

I could no longer withstand it and collapsed onto the bed, and using
my brain, whose operating speed had dropped to very low levels, to
think, desperately searched for a countermeasure. If this was a
«Curse», an NPC in the church should be able to remove it right?
However, was there really a church in the "disorderly" [Chaos]
Algade's streets?

As I was filtering out the buildings on the map, my consciousness

began to fade, so I had no choice but to decide to seek help from oth-
ers. In other words, I had given up on the idea of solving it on my own.

I opened the directory to my list of friends. With my blurred vision, I

searched for Klein's name from a list that couldn't be considered long,
selected it, and pressed the button for sending messages then immedi-
ately typed out on the virtual keyboard.

[I can't handle it I'm dying Save me]

After keying in this message which was rich with melodrama, yet did
not lose its poetic flavor, I pressed the send button, then turned the
room into the «Friends Allowed» mode, and lost consciousness.

My forehead was caressed by a cool comforting touch.

As I stirred, I discovered that I was covered by a thick quilt. The bone

chilling evil cold had also changed into sweltering sweat inducing heat.

In this uncomfortable heat, the only cool object was applied to my

forehead, controlled by a constantly moving hand. At this moment ――
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"Ah, you're awake?"

A refreshingly sweet voice came from beside my pillow. As the word

repeated itself a few times in my brain, I realized that it totally didn't
sound like Klein's crude "Oi, you've woken up".

I desperately opened my heavy eyelids, the thing swaying in my sight

was... the «Knights of Blood» Sub Leader, the strongest rapier user,
«The Flash» Asuna who actually revealed a gentle smile.

"..................!!?!?"

I was so surprised I wanted to bounce up, but Asuna immediately used

her left hand to hold me down.

"Not lying down won't do. Although it won't make you better
immediately."

She used her index finger to poke at my cheeks.

What is this all about? How did this happen? Is seeing Klein as Asuna
caused by this mysterious negative effect? If this is the case should I
call Agil?

These bursts of stupid questions hit me as my brain functioned, before

finally realizing the truth.

According to the order in the list of friends, Asuna's name was just
above Klein's. In my semi conscious state and blurring vision, I just
wanted to press his name, and must have pressed the wrong one. In
other words, I had sent Asuna ―― Aincrad's idol, as well as the
heroine of the raiders, some embarrassing information.

What should I do? What is the best action to take?

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My brain continued to operate inside my head, as Asuna dunked the
damp towel into a basin next to me. *Plop*, the sound of water being
displaced could be heard.

The towel was quickly taken back out, squeezed dry, and applied to my
forehead once more. The cool comfortable feeling slightly dispersed
the heat gathered onto my body.

"The cooling effect of water doesn't last long, but this is the only op-
tion. It's better than nothing."

Seeing the smiling Asuna, I could only emit ―― a single phrase.

"Tha......Thank you. Helping me with this."

Subsequently, my cheeks turned into a pink shade, and feeling this

change, quickly turned my head to the side, to see Asuna smiling
again.

"It's nothing. We should help each other in a moment of need. A per-

son on his own would definitely feel uncomfortable, I understand."

At this kind of time.

That said, Asuna should have experienced this mysterious negative

status effect before.

"What kind of negative status effect is this......? All kinds of antidotes,

as well as the Crystal doesn't work on it......?"

After I inquired, Asuna's hazel eyes blinked.

Then broke out in laughter.

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"Ahahaha...... So-sorry...... but...... huff huff...... Being like this, is it
your first time?"

"Of...... Of course it is the first time. I've never heard of this status
effect."

I replied in an injured tone, and Asuna apologized a few more times,

while mopping my head with the wet towel.

"I say, this negative status effect, is neither poison nor paralysis.... it's
a sickness. You caught a cold."

"Co......Cold?"

"Um. It's not your avatar, but your body in the real world which caught
a cold. Right now, the seasons should be changing over there. Around
this time last year, many people collapsed from this."

"A......Aah......"

I could not help but sigh.

 42/150

It was completely in my blind spot. However, this was truly possible.

Although the body's five senses were completely cut off, the Nerve
Gear was unable to isolate fever and other physical discomfort. In oth-
er words, as Asuna said, my real body was what gave me such
discomfort.
 43/150
"Which is why I said, a cool forehead can let you feel more
comfortable."

With that said, I looked away from Asuna who was once again wetting
the towel, to determine the time. It was eleven thirty at night.

Since I rolled and crawled into this hotel at around six, Asuna had
continued to do this for five hours.

Using the «Wettable cloth equipment» to produce a cooling effect,

could only last for five minutes at most. Although it was very comfort-
able, isn't it a waste of effort?

Suddenly, an odd feeling emerged from my chest, causing me to have

no idea what to do. In my semi conscious state, I had no idea what this
feeling meant.

Instead, I moved my hand out from under the quilt, and held the towel
on my forehead, getting ready for Asuna's hand to take it.

"What..... What is it?"

Although her words became obscure, Asuna maintained her smile,

while on the other hand I couldn't find any words to reply her. I didn't
understand what I was doing either.

It was clearly like this, but my mouth emitted some words in a rough
voice on its own.

"Enough with this towel. Instead of it...... just use your hands to touch
my forehead."

―― Don't take advantage of my weakness!!

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Was what I had expected her to spit out, but contrary to my expecta-
tions, "............Em" Asuna answered in a quiet voice.

Squeezing my hand in reply, she used her cool hands to brush across
my forehead with the other. As my body was exhausted, my conscious-
ness gradually faded. The anxiety of getting the disease made way to a
comfortable sense of security.

As I entered a light sleep, By my ear, I could hear a soft lullaby.

"I said, you...... Kirito...... kun. It's ok to give your cold...... over to me.
Like that, you might be able to recover faster."

After that, I could feel a gentle kind of touch to the cheeks, on my face
with my eyes closed.

I wanted to open my eyes to confirm ―― Obviously, I was unable to do

so.

???
"............ooh............"

Asuna grunted, and opened her eyes.

The view entering her eyes was not the white ceiling of her home, but
instead it was the black of an old wooden board. The bed was hard and
the blanket was thin. Despite complaining to herself to find a better
room, she was not in any condition to get out of bed.
 45/150
Could it be ―― a real cold?

No, it is impossible to be infected by a virus in the virtual world. The

players were completely separated in the real word, connected only by
wires. However, this is too much coincidence!

The strongest solo player, The «Black Swordsman» Kirito, perhaps

due to the excellent physical condition, as well as the overnight care by
Asuna, had recovered. This is good. This is fine enough.

However, facing this exchange, she didn't think about her own col-
lapse. Asuna was sitting beside Kirito's bed, humming a lullaby until
she fell asleep. Based on the sun shining through the window, it was
now evening.

She looked away ―― to the empty chair by the bed.

In the midst of her mind, she recalled that until afternoon, Asuna was
changing the wet cloth on the forehead constantly. But, seeing Asuna
asleep, Kirito probably went out to complete his daily hunting.

"Maa...... there is nothing I can do about it."

She whispered aloud.

Different from Asuna who was associated with a guild, Solo Kirito had
no training partners. If he missed one day of hunting, it would require
a lot of effort to make up for it. She understood this, but...

To be relied on, that happy and warm feeling, still could not stop the
buried feelings of cold loneliness. Her body was obviously hot, but in
her chest was an icy coldness, she could not help but let her tears
emerge.

"......Aaaa...... This won't do...... as expected."

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Tightly closing her eyes, she buried her head into the blanket, just then
――

Suddenly, in the middle of the room a blue vortex shimmered. As a

hum was issued, a two meter high elliptic door appeared.

"......Corridor Crystal."

Her head left the pillow to say these words, when a black figure
jumped out of the door.

Of course, this was the «Black Swordsman» Kirito. And no one else.
However ――

"I, I say...... Can't you come in from the main door......"

At this point, Asuna was finally aware, that Kirito had brought
something.

It was a large wooden bucket. No, it should be called a basin.

The basin was filled with grains that glowed white, reflecting the light
of the afternoon sun.

After looking at it for a few seconds, she finally realized what it was.

"That....... that is, snow......? But...... where did you get it, in this
season?"

After that question, Kirito carefully placed the basin on the table, faced
Asuna, and lowered his head.

"I'm sorry, I came back too late! I intended to come back earlier...... it's
all because of that tough dragon......"
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Kirito's words reminded Asuna of the tall mountain that was full of ice
and snow. It was at the top of one of the hills that was located at one
end on the fifty eighth floor. However, climbing that mountain re-
quired encountering many monsters along the extremely long moun-
tain road, and at the end of the road, the regional boss monster, the
Ice Dragon waited. Being able to go there and return in two hours was
nothing short of a miracle.

"......Why would you go this far......"

Kirito did not answer Asuna's question, picked up the towel on the
table, and put it into the ice basin. Upon taking it out, the towel was
completely frozen.

"Lie down."

At these words, Asuna's head returned to the pillow, and the ice cold
towel was placed on her forehead. «Frozen towel» produced a cooling
sensation much higher than the wet towel.

"Ah...... Comfortable......"
 48/150

As Asuna smiled and said this, Kirito shyly laughed.

Her forehead obviously felt very cold, yet at the same time she could
feel a gentle warmth. Asuna blinked, then stretched out her hand, and
held the hand which protruded from the sleeves of the black clothes.
 49/150
The hand Kirito had used to collect snow had become cold, but after
holding tightly for a while the temperature was restored, so Asuna
held on tightly.

" I say...... this time I will pass my cold over to you."

Listening to this, Kirito replied with a bitter smile.

"Then this will have no end."

"Isn't that fine? If you collapse again, I will go to collect snow and ice,
and make shaved ice for you to eat"

"............If it is like this, collapsing will not be that bad."

Maintaining a smiling face, Asuna closed her eyes, and waited for that
moment.

(End)
 50/150

ME5: Salvia
 51/150

ME5: Salvia
 52/150
“I’m at my limit already~”

Glancing at the side of Kazuto’s face who breathed the complaints in a

miserable voice, Suguha tried not to laugh and raised her voice,

“Not yet! Only twenty more!”

Two people continued swinging their shinai in the harsh cold weather
of the morning. For Kazuto, swinging three hundred times every
morning is still very tough. Despite saying ‘Can’t~’ or ‘I’m dying~’
every few minutes, he still continued until the end. His willpower is
what Suguha always looked up to.

“298, ……299, ……OK, finish~”

“My arms……I can’t feel my arms……”

This morning Kazuto somehow finished swinging too, after passing

the shinai to Suguha, he walked to the veranda and lay on top of the
plank. Smiling at the scene, Suguha wiped both shinai with a cloth
while leaning next to the black pine trunk. She pulled a handkerchief
out of her jersey pocket and wiped her sweat, relieving her breath.

A few days ago, the yard was still covered in snow, but it had disap-
peared completely due to the recent continuous fine weather. Suguha
noticed the earth in the planter, which was arranged alongside the
graveled path that turns from the yard to the door, was already dry.
She then mercilessly said to the dying body at the veranda,

“Onii-chan, fill up that watering can and bring it here~”

Several seconds later, Kazuto lifelessly replied ‘Kay~~’ and got up, he
pulled an old watering can from under the veranda, collected water
from the tap at the corner of the yard and handed it to Suguha. She
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received and tilted it at the planter, fine droplets of water came
showering a curved line, accompanied by a light sound.

“……What is this flower?”

Kazuto asked, squatting and glancing at a small flower with a pale or-
ange color in front of him.

“It’s an Adonis, red chichibu type.”

“Hmm…… So it blooms in this season.”

On hearing Suguha’s answer, Kazuto poked a petal of the adonis while

deep in thought.

“At our house, this flower blooms the earliest. ……But Onii-chan, why
are you interested in the flower?”

“No… It’s just that ‘that side’ also has a similar flower. ……How about
this planter? It looks empty.”

“Oh, in that one I’ll sow Salvia seeds when spring arrives, then they
will bloom in the summer.”

“Salvia…… what kind of flower is that?”

Finishing the watering, Suguha showered the remaining water in the

can at the base of a black pine, then answered with a surprised voice,

“It bloomed every year didn’t it? It’s red and when blooming, they look
like many small goldfish. Onii-chan, when we were young, you always
removed the flower to taste its nectar and caused mother to get angry
every time.”

Upon hearing, Kazuto face started showing signs of amazement.

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“N..Nectar!? Did I really do such a survivor-like thing……?”

“Ah—— you already forgot about it. I was sad my share was gone too.”

“……My share?”

“Ah……”

Realizing she inadvertently said an unnecessary thing, Suguha

shrugged and stuck out her tongue.

“Wait…… now I remember……”

A grin floated onto Kazuto’s face.

“The one mother was angry at wasn’t me but you, Sugu. I think she
said ‘Didn’t we agree no more than three per day?’”

“Haha, caught me, you remembered it so well. Even these days it is

still a mystery to me how sweet the nectar from Salvia is.”

“Hmm, I can’t remember the taste……”

Kazuto aimlessly glanced at the space in front of him while searching

through the bottom of his memories——

“Ah―……”

He stood still but his eyes suddenly went wide open.

“……? What is it, Onii-chan.”

“No……that’s right……come to think of it……”

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Suguha looked up worriedly at the Kazuto’s face, who muttered words
she couldn’t understand. Suddenly, he closed the distance between
them while looking into her eyes. Suguha’s heart fluttered, trying to
hide her hot cheeks, she hastily jumped a step backward.

“W..What? Don’t surprise me like that.”

“……Sugu, do you have time now?”

“Eh? ……There’s no class today, so it’s alright, but why……?”

“Well then, let’s go out for a bit.”

Kazuto grabbed Suguha’s arm, who was still unable to grasp the situ-
ation, and walked quickly toward the eaves of the main building.

“W..Wait, where are we going?”

“Don’t ask yet, just sit on the pannier rack.”

He pulled out his mountain bike and removed the number lock at-
tached to it.

“Eh―, I’m still in this outfit, it’s a bit……”

Suguha complained while looking down at her green school jersey, but
Kazuto just smiled and said,

“That is appropriate for the roadwork anyway.”

“They use cooler looking jerseys for that! ……It really can’t be helped
then…”

After saying her point, she sat down on the rear carrier of the MTB
with her arms wrapped around Kazuto’s waist and clung on tightly.
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She began to worry that he would hear the sound of her heart which
was currently beating like an alarm bell.

“Hold on tight!”

When Kazuto forcefully stepped on the pedals, the sound of the wind
put her thoughts to rest and the back wheel kicked a pebble, causing a
small sound. The MTB started gaining momentum, and once it went
past the front gate, began to run.

It was already past eight, being a weekday, there were lines of people
walking on the road outside of the station. But the bicycle that both
were riding on headed in the opposite direction from the flow. Suguha
felt the people they passed were smiling at the siblings, she buried her
face behind Kazuto’s back and quietly said,

“T..This is embarrassing, Onii-chan! How much further are we going?”

“Won’t be too far…… probably……”

“Probably―!?”

The bicycle went on steadily until the outskirts of the residential area,
even though the rear carrier was made of metal, sitting was comfort-
able because the MTB’s wheel was supported by a thick suspension.

It was around ten minutes on the bicycle when they reached the back
of a small shrine, Kazuto put on the brakes. They were at a corner of
an old residential area, by then it was already quiet without pedestrian
traffic.

“……Here?”

“……”
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There was no answer to her question, Kazuto got off the bike, Suguha
also jumped off the rear carrier. She put her hands on her hips and
said,

“……Now, explain it properly already, is there anything at this shrine?”

“……”

Surely this lonely shrine must be Kazuto’s destination. Just as she

thought that, Kazuto crossed the road to the opposite side of the
shrine. There stood the gate to a solitary luxurious house.

“……? Is this the house of your acquaintance?”

Suguha stood next to him, the house exterior was built with tiles of red
bricks and a palisade painted in white enclosed a large garden which
was covered in a color of dried straw. There was a small child who was
waiting for its parents on a red tricycle.

Suguha looked up to Kazuto’s face, wanting to ask her question again,

but eventually, he shook his head slowly.

“No…… I don’t know this house. But here…… It was a wide vacant lot
and it was full of grass.

Phew, he breathed loudly with a slight smile.

“……Well……It was from seven, or eight years ago anyway……”

“Vacant lot……? Is there something at that place……?”

“Nope, nothing…… Well, let’s go back.”

“I don’t understand, we came all the way to this place just to look for a
vacant lot―?”
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After self-concluding, he turned back, Kazuto shrugged and started
walking to the bicycle. Suguha watched his back and when she was
about to follow him——

“Ah……”

A bright blue scene had filled her vision.

One corner of the lawn was enclosed with bricks, it was a small flower
bed. In the middle was cold resistant plants spread with deep green
leaves, and hidden within —— there was a dense short grass with a
large amount of blooming small blue flowers.

“……It’s the Salvia.”

“……Eh?”

Suguha’s voice reached Kazuto, who was looking at the flower bed next
to him.

“Salvia…… Where is it?”

“Here, the blue flowers.”

“But…… Sugu said earlier it’s a red flower?”

“There are hundreds of species within the Salvia genus, this one is a
Blue Salvia species. But, it’s strange……”

When Suguha tilted her head, the back door of the big house opened.
A young lady wearing an apron came out, her long hair was tied in a
pony tail, in her hands was a shiny tin watering can.

The ladies eyes widened a little when she saw the siblings, she then
immediately smiled while approaching them and said,
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“Good morning.”

“Ah.. G..Good morning.”

The siblings hastily returned greetings.

“Are you two from the neighborhood?”

“Y..Yes”

“Is there anything I could help with?”

“Er..Erm… well…….”

Blocked in front of Kazuto who struggled with his words, Suguha

quickly said,

“I think these Salvia are very beautiful!”

“Is that so? Well, thank you.”

The lady smiled cheerfully, Suguha continued saying with relief,

“But……normally Salvia won’t be blooming past December, right? Are

these a special kind?”

“Ah…… I also think it’s strange. Even though they’re a perennial plant,
in November every year the flowers would already start to fall off, but
this year even past new year, the flowers are still there…… Unfortu-
nately, I don’t know if these are normal Blue Salvia or not……”

“Don’t know……?”
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“These Salvia were already here before my house was even built, dur-
ing the construction we had to move them slightly. But every year after
that they are still blooming healthily here.”

“I..Is that so?”

Suddenly Kazuto shouted, causing Suguha and the lady to be

surprised.

“W..What is it, Onii-chan.”

“Ah, well….”

Kazuto hesitated for a bit, then timidly said,

“……The one who sowed the Salvia was me, ……seven years ago……”

“E..Eh!?”

“Oh, really!”

Suguha was astonished upon hearing an unexpected answer while the

lady who embraced the watering can at her chest wore a big smile on
her face.

“Is that so, then these flowers must have been waiting for you.
Ah……wait a moment.”

The lady bent over to put the watering can down, then walked quickly
into the house. In a short while the figure reappeared with a small
shovel in her right hand, she lowered the white plastic pot in her left
hand to the ground.

While Suguha and Kazuto were watching, the lady dug the shovel into
one corner of the Blue Salvia bunch and carefully pulled three stumps
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out, then put them into the flowerpot. She brought a vinyl bag from
her apron pocket and put the flowerpot into it. With a smiling face and
both hands holding the bag, she offered it to Kazuto.

“Let’s split it, please take this.”

“Ah……No, it’s too much……”

“It’s alright, the flowers will surely be delighted too.”

“……Thank you very much. Then I’ll accept your kind offer……”

Kazuto lowered his head while accepting the bag. The contents shook
slightly and Suguha’s nose was tickled by a faint aroma.

“Well then, feel free to visit anytime. In spring there will be a lot more
blooming.”

“OK, now we must be going.”

Kazuto bowed his head again to the lady who began to sprinkle water
with the watering can, then began walking.

“Well, Sugu, let’s go back.”

“O..Ok. ……Good bye.”

Still not understanding the situation, Suguha bowed and followed

Kazuto.

Kazuto didn’t ride the bicycle, instead he pulled it with one hand and
started walking. Next to him, filled with curiosity, Suguha quickly
asked him,

“Wait, Onii-chan, what’s going on? You really planted those!?”

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“Ah―, how to say it…..”

Kazuto stopped the bicycle in front of the stone steps after walking
half a circle around the shrine perimeter. His face went slightly red,
‘Ah~’, ‘Uu~’, cleared his throat with ‘Ahem ahem’, then he suddenly
offered the bag in his right hand to Suguha.

“Sugu, your birthday present.”

“Hah!? ……It’s not my birthday yet though?”

“It’s from seven years ago.”

Still not understanding, Suguha tilted her head while her glance was
filled with questions.

“……Seven years ago…… On Sugu’s birthday. You wished to gather a

lot of Salvia to get its nectar, so I bought some seeds with my allow-
ance and planted them at that vacant lot. But later I couldn’t find the
road to the shrine, I spent a while searching and eventually gave up. At
that time I was very sad….. Then, this time I found it in one go. A
child’s memory is really unreliable.”

“Onii-chan……”

Suguha’s eyes opened wide, she shyly averted her gaze from Kazuto’s
face. Her chest felt tight with the various emotions that had overflown
within her heart.

Stretching out her right hand, she gently pulled a Salvia flower which
peeped out from the bag’s opening. She received the droplet that came
off from its base with the tip of her tongue. It was faint, but the vivid
sweetness quickly spread inside her mouth —— At that moment,
Suguha felt the flow of the many years of time she spent with Kazuto
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breeze through her. Before she realized it, two streaks of tears had
already flowed passed her cheeks and dropped to her feet.

“O..Oi, don’t suddenly cry……”

Suguha jumped into Kazuto’s chest, who had faltered due to sudden
panicking. Both hands wrapped around his back, she embraced him
with all her strength. Before long, she felt Kazuto caress her head
gently. Cheeks still pressed on to Kazuto’s chest, she whispered quietly
while the sweetness was still lingering in her mouth,

“I love you…..Onii-chan.”

(END)
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ME6: Algade
Showdown
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ME6: Algade Showdown

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On a certain evening, a few days after the newly married life of Asuna
and I begun, in the log house inside the deep forests on Aincrad’s 22nd
floor.

While talking about places visited during the day or eaten dishes, on
the sofa which was placed in front of the fireplace, Asuna suddenly
said what she was thinking aloud.

“Hey, Kirito-kun. I think, maybe that person wasn’t an NPC but a

player……”

“………Haa?”

Not understanding her sudden topic, my mouth was left slightly

opened.

While sitting side by side on the sofa, her lips continued to sip from
her tea cup.

“Well, that shop’s master, I naturally believed he was an NPC without

a doubt…… But today, somehow, while I was watching his face, I sud-
denly felt that that person is actually a player.”

The subject of our conversation was a restaurant. It was located deep

within the back of the back and even further back of the lower part of
the 50th floor’s main block town «Algade». If we were to go there
without a map, not just arriving at the destination, coming back out
would be difficult. Actually «restaurant» was not an appropriate word
to describe it, «Food Shop» would be more suitable. Its name was «Al-
gade House».

The building looked as if it would collapse if it was blown by a some-

what strong wind. There was a sign curtain hung at the sliding door
entrance. The interior had a stone floor —— or rather a bare concrete
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floor, there were two four-seat-tables and another four seats at the
counter. All the furniture had a strong presence of cheapness, and it
wasn’t like they were specially ordered to make them cheap either.

In the menu, there were only three entries. «Algade Soba», «Algade
Grilled» and «Algade Boiled», none of them had any motivation be-
hind their naming. They were, in the menu order, a ramen which
didn’t look like a ramen, an okonomiyaki which didn’t look like an
okonomiyaki, and last one, I still don’t have any idea what it is sup-
posed to be.

The order was then cooked by the same shopkeeper. While Asuna was
saying «that shop’s master», My mind imagined the short master with
a white smock and a white toque, whose round face of unknown age
was hidden behind the long forelock, then I finally replied,

“……P..Player? ……but that person didn’t say anything……”

“At least he did say ‘Welcome’ and ‘Thank you’.”

“Those are normal for NPC though. ……actually if you target him with
the cursor……”

Saying up to this point, I noticed something.

There is a definite distinction between a player and an NPC, focusing

the gaze on the target will bring up the «Color Cursor». Although both
types would appear in green, for an NPC, under the HP bar will be
clearly displayed [NPC]. But this distinction method wouldn’t work in-
side the shop, as it was classified as inside a building, due to the con-
sideration of the system. It is probably impossible to eat quietly if the
cursor kept appearing whenever someone is seen, so even if I focus my
gaze on the store’s master, the cursor wouldn’t appear.
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But, normally nobody cares about determining an NPC, because they
are so obvious with just a glance. Unlike flesh and blood humans oper-
ating through the NerveGear, system controlled NPCs have unique
characteristics. Being imprisoned inside SAO for two years, it was a
no-brainer to know if other people are a player or an NPC without
even thinking —— while I thought about that, my brain re-checked the
master of Algade House’s gloomy standing pose.

Then, my eyes opened wide in amazement.

“……This is bad, somehow I can’t be sure.”

“…………Right?”

Asuna smiled happily for some reason.

Her smile, which hasn’t changed since we first met, shot through my
heart, whenever this happens, I always stretch my hand out dizzily to
reach her. But this time, the face of the master that had been floating
in my brain prevented my action.

I scratched my head to push that unpleasant image out of my mind.

“No, but is it even possible that someone can’t be identified whether

they are a player or an NPC? I’m sure there must be a simple way to
check it……”

“How about checking his reaction after being attacked? But once we
use various reckless methods and he turns out to be a player, we won’t
be able to go back to that shop anymore. ……Well, at this point, I don’t
think I want to go back there anyway.”

“No, I’m bothered, really bothered.”

Asuna quickly shook her head and sighed.

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“……Kirito-kun, what on earth do you like about that shop? It’s been
half a year since you brought me there the first time, I really don’t
understand……”

“About that, I don’t know the reason myself. Unfriendly atmosphere,

bad food…… but occasionally I can’t resist the urge to try that mystery
ramen again.”

“That was not ramen though, ……Well, why not just ask? Are you an
NPC or a player, like that”

Already having considered Asuna’s idea several seconds ago, I shook

my head.

“Nope, it won’t work. That shopkeeper’s unfriendliness is like ten

Heathcliffs together. I’m absolutely certain the question will be ig-
nored. Well, that place was also a good place too.

“R..Really, ……just leave it as a mystery then. I’m sorry for starting the
weird topic, Do you want more cookies?”

After saying that, Asuna stood up, but I quickly grabbed her left hand
and pulled her back.

“……No, I can’t leave it.”

“Eh?”

“Feeling anxious over and over like this will become unbearable, I
can’t go back to the front lines until I know whether the shopkeeper is
human or NPC.”

Upon hearing that, ‘Don’t say something like that!’ was clearly showed
in Asuna’s expression, but she sat down again without saying it out.
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“……But, then what should we do? I don’t know any way to confirm it,
and asking is also out of the question, right?”

“Nope, there is a way. In short, just seeing the cursor when that master
is outside the shop is enough. For a player, he would surely need to go
out to buy food ingredients, while NPC also have specific behaviors
like cleaning the outside of the shop too.”

“………………Y..You don’t mean…”

Asuna made a stiff face and tried to walk away from the sofa again, but
I grabbed both her shoulders and said,

“OK, tomorrow let’s go camp there at six in the morning. There is an

empty passage across the street, it won’t raise any suspicion if we ob-
serve from there.”

“………………It’s cold, surely, very cold.”

“Yes, we need cold resistant equipment! I’m sure we have enough for
both of us in the storage, then the boxed lunch will be made using cold
resistance boosting ingredients too. The preparation is now flawless,
I’ll leave it to you Asuna!”

To my words that gushed out, Asuna made a very complex face then
responded with ‘Oh~’. But enthusiasm seemed missing from her
words for some reason.

Next day.

While it was still dark, wearing thick fur cloaks, we entered our obser-
vation position on the pedestrian bridge across from the Algade
House’s eaves.
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Six hours later.

We were forced to retreat after realizing our prospect bore no fruit.

“……He didn’t come out at all, did he!”

At an open cafe along the main street, Asuna complained after quickly
drinking hot milk and placing the empty cup back on the table.

“Even before that, the sign curtain was left out during the night, and
there was no indication of the outside cleaning either. I’m very
bothered!”

“…………Really sowwy about that.”

I first have to apologize on behalf of the shopkeeper.

Algade House’s level of lethargy is much higher than anticipated. The

shopkeeper never came out to purchase stocks nor clean outside. The
only change we observed was the sign plate on the sliding door, which
was changed from [Closed] to [Open] at ten. Of course, just that action
on its own wasn’t enough to determine if he is a player or an NPC.

“………….Hmm, but the food ingredients should eventually run out……

Then he surely has to go out to restock……”

After finishing my mumbling, Asuna replied with a sharp glance to-

ward me,

“……Then, do you really want to wait for that to happen? If you think
about it, that shop doesn’t even have any customers, how many days
will it take for the ingredients to run out? I won’t be surprised even if it
takes several weeks! I’m not going to do that for sure!”
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“S..Sorry……”

I apologized again, then thought desperately.

Something—— there must be a way. A way to confirm whether he is a

player or not, without him taking a single step out of the shop. If
we’re unable to check the person, how about the shop? Is there any
way to determine if the shop is a player’s shop or an NPC’s shop? It
would be clearly a player’s action if it stood out among the elegant
buildings on the street of Salemburg. But this is Algade, the most
chaotic town in Aincrad, there were plenty of similar shady shop once
we enter the back streets.

——It was no good. Continuing being in the clearing group for two
years in this Aincrad, accepting the alias «Black Swordsman», but un-
able to distinguish whether that person was a player or an NPC. It was
such a laughing matter.

A smile of self-ridicule floated to my face, then —— An idea flashed out

in my brain.

“T…… That’s it!”

“…………What?”

In spite of Asuna’s skeptic glance toward me, I rattled on,

“If the ingredients won’t deplete, then we’ll deplete them ourselves!
Listen, for NPC restaurants, the term out of stock doesn’t exist to be-
gin with, the food just springs out from the kitchen. But a player’s
shop is different, the shopkeeper has to purchase the stock or else food
can’t be made. That means……”
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At this point Asuna suddenly rose from the table and tried to escape
with a dash.

But my focus on increasing Agility stat displayed its results, her hand
was grabbed before she made any distance.

“——We just have to eat it! Anything from that shop’s menu!”

“Don’t wanna! What if it’s an NPC restaurant? An infinite amount of

food will just come out, won’t it?”

“That’s that, then we’ll know he’s an NPC right? Let’s go now! The
problem is —— Which one to pick from the menu. «Algade Soba»,
«Algade Grilled», or «Algade Boiled»…… ——Asuna, what do you
like?”

Sub-leader of the guild Knights of the Blood, the rapier user whose
title was «The Flash» shot her gaze towards me which would be able to
pierce a small hole in the middle of my forehead after hearing my
question——

After a short while, she sat back on the chair and said,

“«Boiled» is absolutely out, ……«Grilled» that sometimes contained

strange things is also out.”

“Then «Soba» it is. Yeah, it is suitable for this challenge too, because
it’s also what we ate the first time we went there.”

“…………That’s right, but didn’t we invite the guild leader as well back
then?”

When I seriously tried to recall it, Asuna immediately shook her head.

“It was a joke. ——Then, when are we going to do it?”

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I grinned while standing up, and said,

“Isn’t it great, we haven’t eaten lunch here.”

Several minutes later.

Asuna and I were standing in front of the food shop, which will soon
be the battlefield of our one-sided duel.

“…………Here we go.”

After confirming with the nod from my partner —— My left hand

pushed aside the dirtied sign curtain, while my right hand forced open
the sliding door.

“Welcome.”

The usual greeting voice from inside the counter was by none other
than the shopkeeper. I sat at the counter instead of my usual table. As
soon as Asuna sat down beside me, I made an order.

“Two Algade Soba.”

The shopkeeper prepared the bowls without replying, two mysterious

balls of noodle were tossed into the large pot. From these action, is
was still not possible to confirm whether he was a player or not. After
a while, the shopkeeper used the long chopsticks to move the eased up
noodle to the bowls, hot water switching, which is required in the real
world, seems unnecessary here. He placed a thinly sliced meat, a lump
of boiled vegetable, and half a boiled egg, then poured the light colored
soup into the bowl.

Two bowls had lined up on the counter, a sound effect rang out when I
pulled out the soba from my storage.
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Both of us took the chopsticks and said ‘Itadakimasu’ at the same
time. It was the start of the first round of the battle.

In regards to Aincrad cuisine, the taste was recreated from the presets
of basic taste data, however, with the addition of seasoning, one can
customize the taste even further. For example, the Brown Stew, which
is Asuna’s pride, was made by slightly mixing the spices set into the
taste of ready-made sauce. In other word, with the aid of a player’s
hand, the flavour of the dish could be strengthened, and in most cases,
enriched the taste.

——But it would be quite a miraculous to say the «There is not even

one taste» feeling from the Algade Soba was from the aid of the player
hand. Even if the flavour of the soup had seasoning added, the
strength of the taste was like it had been diluted to a different dimen-
sion, it was like a drawing which the background was firmly written
but the subject didn’t exist.

Maybe what pulled me back to this shop was that missing flavour, for
the moment one day that this dish will be «Completed», an ephemeral
expectation like that —— But of course, I somehow knew that the mo-
ment would never come.

As I was deeply indulged in my thoughts, Asuna, whose face had an

expression which could be read as ‘Why is this happening to me’ was
beside me. We finished eating at the same time.

I returned empty bowls back to the counter —— then said,

“……Two Algade Soba, refill!”

There was a slight pause in the shopkeeper’s action, but it was prob-
ably was just my imagination. The round face of the man in his thirties
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to forties under the long forelock bore no expression at all, the shop-
keeper threw two balls of noodles into the large pot.

From that point on, the endless battle of me and Asuna against the
master begun.

Of course, no matter what was eaten in Aincrad, there won’t be any-

thing entering the stomach in the body of the real world. But the taste
reproduction engine tricks the brain, which lead to an unavoidable
feeling of ‘full’.

To be honest, that feeling already came after the second bowl had
emptied, but there was no path for me to retreat.

“……Two Algade Soba, refill”

This full feeling was only a hallucination, the soba was merely digital
data. Which meant there was nothing preventing me from eating these
forever.

Having fooled myself like that, I finished the third bowl and proceeded
to the fourth bowl. There was also Asuna, whom I could always rely on
in the big battle, she was at exactly the same pace as me.

——But immediately after she finished the soup from the fifth bowl,

“…………Kirito-kun, I’m sorry.”

her faint whisper echoed from the emptied bowl.

“I..can’t go any further, I’ll have to leave the rest to you…… The
truth..you must..find..it……”

Her chestnut color hair fluttered, then «The Flash» collapsed on the
counter.
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——ASUNAaaaaaaaa——!!

Was what I wanted to scream, but doing that might allow the virtual
stomach to reverse something back out, so I limited myself to a short
‘GJ’.

I lifted my face and glared at the shopkeeper,

“……One Algade Soba……refill”

I was also near my limit.

For Asuna’s sake, I can’t be defeated here. But while sipping from the
sixth bowl of something which wasn’t ramen, I was unable to stop the
fear which sprung out inside me.

——Maybe he’s really an NPC? After all we had done, the noodles and
the soup still spring out without any pause. Did I challenge him to a
fight in which we had no chance of winning?

——No, even if it’s the case, it isn’t the time to fall yet. For Asuna.

Seventh bowl.

Eight bowl.

HP bar of my stomach was now in deep red, but the expression of

shopkeeper was still unchanged. I slurped the noodle one by one,
while thinking of a way to reverse the flow of the current battle
situation.

If it was a real ramen shop, there would be pepper, fish meals, or

onions at the counter. It was possible to eat the latter half deliciously
by changing the flavour. But this shop had no such wonderful things.
There was only one way, with «Algade Boiled» being an exception, it
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was possible to mix the other two orders together, but doing that
would be the same as stopping oneself by stabbing. Why «Boiled»? I
once accompanied Klein and we requested that, we both said ‘Give up’
just after two mouthfuls, it was menu of the legend.

——So is this the end?

Within my fading consciousness, I heard the reviving voice from a dis-

tant memory.

The face of Asuna, who was here eating Algade Soba with me at the be-
ginning, said,

“Someday I want to make a soy sauce, otherwise this unpleasant feel-

ing won’t ever disappear.”

“…………!”

My eyes fully opened, and my trembling hand moved to open our

shared storage. Scrolling through the enormous item lists, finding the
target item.

Once I grabbed what I was looking for, I tilted it over the bowl, a
slightly dark liquid poured down and immediately caused the thin yel-
low color of the soup to change to brown. The drifting fragrance can’t
be compared to anything else, the smell that is ingrained at the base of
my memory was —— soy sauce. It was the result of Asuna’s long re-
search, Aincrad’s ultimate seasoning that no one but her could make.

Placing the small bottle down, I held the bowl and sipped large
amounts of noodles and soup.

“…………This is it.”
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I murmured with a hoarse voice. It was this taste. The one I was look-
ing for, the completed form of Algade Soba. It had arrived here and
now.

If eating this, then no matter how many bowls —— No, maybe I can
eat five more bowls, I still can fight!

————At that time.

The words I have never heard within this shop before echoed from
overhead.

“…………Mister, that, taste it……can I?”

I raised my confused face, nodded and pushed the bowl to him.

The mystery master grabbed it up and ate the mouthful of noodles and
soup together. He looked up for a while after placing the bowl back on
the counter——

Soon after that, two lines of tears flowed from behind his long
forelock.

“…………This is it. This taste… real world’s… my shop’s taste!”

————So you are a player after all!

————Then act more graciously!

Swallowing what I wanted to scream, I asked,

“…………Your shop, where is it located?”

“Hmm, It was at Ogikubo, I got sucked into NetGame so it went out of

business. But once the game is cleared and I go back to the other side,
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I’m going to open a ramen shop again. With this ramen, also «Grilled»
and «Boiled» will make the appearance too, come by all means.”

Tears still flowing down his face, where was that silent character earli-
er? While watching the shopkeeper who had gained momentum talk-
ing, I collapsed onto the counter.

As my consciousness was fading, My last thought was,

————I won’t go, absolutely————

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ME7: Continuation:
Aria in the Starless
Night
 82/150

ME7: Continuation: Aria

in the Starless Night

Aincrad’s 2nd floor’s main town «Urbus» was a town located inside a
table mountain that spanned three hundred meters in diameter, which
had been dug up and left with only the outer circumference.

Once I had gone through the southern gate, the words [INNER AREA]
floated up into my vision, and the slow tempo of the town’s BGM star-
ted playing. Unlike the music led by string instruments in the town of
the first floor, the main theme here was played with a sorrowful oboe
tone. The NPCs passing by also had subtle changes in the design of
their garments, giving a?So this is a new floor?feel.

After walking about ten meters from the gate, I started looking at my
surroundings. I couldn’t see any green cursor which indicated players
at all, but that was only natural. That was because the guardian of the
stairs to the second floor, the first floor labyrinth’s boss monster «Ill-
fang the Kobold Lord» was just defeated forty minutes previously, and
every members of the boss-capturing party aside from me had re-
turned to the base.

In other words, on this vast second floor, the only existing player was
just me —— the «Former β tester» and now the «Beater», Kirito.

Although that was the case, this situation wouldn’t continue for much
longer. That was because exactly two hours after the floor boss’
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annihilation, the «Transfer Gate» at the center of the main town of the
next floor (which was this Urbus) would be automatically [Activated],
connecting it to the main town on the lower floors. At that time, the
waiting players would spill over from the gate like a flood.

Conversely, if I wished to, I could spend the remaining hour and

twenty minutes monopolizing this town —— as I could clear a few
[Slaughter] quests, which I normally had to compete with other play-
ers for the [POP], two or three times. It was a very attractive idea to a
solo player who ultimately advocated self-interest, however, I didn’t
have enough courage to seriously anger the several hundreds…… or
possibly thousands of people who were eagerly awaiting the activation
of the gate.

Therefore, I started jogging along Urbus’ main street which went

straight towards the north, ascended the wide stairs before arriving at
the town square, and finally started walking toward the large gate set
up in the center.

It was called a gate, but it was actually just an arch made of neatly
stacked up stones. Without a door nor any bars, there was nothing to
block the view of its other side. However, upon getting closer, I noticed
a faint distortion of the empty space in the middle of the arch, as if
seeing through a thin film of water.

As I looked around at the surroundings, confirming an escape route,

my right hand stretched slowly towards the swaying transparent veil.
The fingertip, which was wrapped by a black leather glove, touched the
surface of the water, which spread vertically —— at that moment,

Pa, a dazzling blue light overflowed, and shot into my eyes.

The pulsing light spread in circles within the five-meters-wide arch.

Once it had filled the entire space, it would be the opening of the
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Transfer Gate, the so-called «Town Opening». However, I turned
around without watching this majestic phenomenon. As asserted be-
forehand, I started a fierce dash to a building, which looked like a
church, to the east of the square. After jumping into the entrance and
ascending the stairs inside, I put my back at the side of the window on
the third floor, and looked down upon the square.

Just then, the inside of the gate shone brightly, and the NPC orchestra
stationed at the corner of the square started playing a loud «Opening
Fanfare».

After a moment, a rapid stream of numerous players spilled out from

the blue light of the gate.

Some people stood inside the square while looking around. Others ran
off with a leather map from the information dealer in one hand. And
—— there were people who raised their fists and shouting “I’m on the
second floor————!!”

During the β Test, there was a total of nine «Town Openings», the
scene during those times, of course, was the lines of the raid party
members who had defeated the previous floor’s boss being bathed in
the generous applause and admiration from the players from the lower
floors. However, this time the only person who was the «Opener» had
already escaped, so the event didn’t occur. There was a group of people
who were restlessly looking for me, but unfortunately, they wouldn’t
be able to find my name there.

Why? Several dozen minutes earlier, after defeating the boss, I had
made an announcement in front of more than forty raid members that
I, «Kirito», wasn’t just a mere β Tester. That, I had reached the highest
level among the thousand testers, and had accumulated the most
knowledge of the game. And that, I was a «Beater». I didn’t want to act
so nasty, but it was partly a reaction to avert the hostility from the new
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players to the former testers; and as a result, currently, my infamy had
spread among the highest leveled players at an ultra-high-speed. If I
went out of my hiding place, far from receiving congratulatory re-
marks, it wouldn’t be strange to hear boos and jeers. Then, I wasn’t
confident that I would be able to remain calm like a willow in the wind
in that situation.

Therefore, I would have to continue hiding on the third floor of the

church until the commotion in the square died down. ——However,

“……Huh?”

I murmured quietly after seeing an unusual event at the square down

below.

A female player who had just warped out of the Transfer Gate did not
stop, but continued dashing towards the western side of the town. If it
was just that, it could be seen as hurrying to the weapon shop or the
quest starter NPC, but the problem was the two men who came out of
the gate right after her. They took a moment to look around, and once
they had spotted the girl, they started rushing toward the same direc-
tion. From the look of it, it was «Two guys chasing a girl».

Normally I wouldn’t poke my head out and get involved, as this place
was within the effective area of the Anti-Criminal Code, but since the
one being chased was my acquaintance, the story had changed. Be-
cause the one with the golden-brown curly hair and plain leather
equipment was the information dealer, «Argo the Rat», there was no
mistaking it.

‘Selling every information that could be sold’, there certainly were

people who hated this motto of The Rat, but I couldn’t be calmly chas-
ing after them in middle of town in this appearance. After hesitating
for a moment, I placed my feet on the frame of the church’s window
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and jumped down onto the roof just below. I quickly dashed with my
agility-focused parameter before the players at the square could notice
me, and jumped to the roof of the nearby building. I kept going
without dropping down to the ground, aiming to the direction Argo
and the two guys went. It was possible to do so due to the consistent
height of the buildings in Urbus.

I waved my right hand’s finger while I was running and called out the
main window. After clicking «Tracking» from the skill tab, I selected
«Pursuit» on the floated up sub-menu. When I entered the name
[Argo] into the input window, pale green illuminated footprints ap-
peared on the road stretching to the right on my lower right vision.

«Pursuit» was a higher skill that could be learned after the proficiency
of «Tracking» had increased, this skill which was normally used to
raise effectiveness while hunting monsters could also be used to pur-
sue a player whose name is known. However, as my proficiency was
still low, the footprints that could be seen were from a minute ago. I
hastily chased after the disappearing lines of small shoe soles.

Argo’s focus was on speed (AGI), so for her to be unable to shake off
the chasing two guys, they must not be ordinary players. Although I
didn’t see them among the boss raid, their levels should be top-class.
In addition, the footprints that went straight along the road toward the
west, had exit to the outside through the city gate which was dug out of
the outer rim of the crater. These western plains of Urbus was a dan-
gerous map with large buffalo type monsters roaming about. The situ-
ation was getting worse. I bit my lips and rushed into the virtual sa-
vanna without stopping my feet.

The wasteland beyond this savanna was still quite risky for my current
level to enter alone. But fortunately, the footprints engraved on the
thicket were getting more vivid (in other words, Argo had already
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stopped running), from inside the valley between two small rocky
mountains, a familiar voice could be heard.

“……imes I’ll still be saying the same-daro! Just this information, no

matter how much you offer, I won’t sell it-da!”

That coquettish nasal covering the end of the sentence was obviously
Argo’s voice, but it had thirty percent more intimidating than usual. It
was then followed by a sharp voice of a man.

“You aren’t going to keep it to yourself, but also don’t want to share it
to the public. Doesn’t that mean you want to jack up the price-
gozaru?”

————Gozaru? I frowned as I stopped my feet before climbing up the

nearby cliff. In SAO, by using brain and stubbornness, there were
many ways to get through the terrain which looked impossible to tres-
pass at first glance. My ambition was, one day, I want to try climbing
the outer wall of this floating castle to reach the next floor. But at the
moment, the reason I was climbing this mountain to get into their
blind spot wasn’t for challenge, but for my own safety.

After climbing up for about five meters and reaching a flat, narrow
surface, I continued to crawl forward. The general source of the quar-
rel was right below at that moment.

“It’s not a problem about price-yo! Didn’t I tell you I don’t want to be
blamed after I sold the information-da!!”

The voice of the second man then retorted Argo’s words,

“Why would we blame you!? No matter what price you ask, we’d still
be saying gratitudes-gozaru!! So just sell us the information about the
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quest hidden on this floor —— the acquisition quest for the «Extra
Skill» already!!”

…………Huh?

I completely stopped the breath I was suppressing. Those extra skills

that wouldn’t appear in the skill tree unless some special conditions
were met, the so-called «Hidden Skills». The only one I discovered
during the β period was «Meditation», a mental concentration skill
(the pose looked like so) that increased the rate of HP recovery and re-
duced the remaining time of negative statuses. However, due to its low
efficiency and lame pose, not many players took it. The other was the
«Katana» extra skill, which was used by the Kobold Lord and samurai
type monsters on the tenth floor, but I still didn’t know its
prerequisites.

In any case, I was certain that the topic between Argo and the two
mysterious gozaru guys wasn’t the «Meditation» skill, as the NPC giv-
ing this skill was on the sixth floor. That meant, there was a flag quest
to unlock an extra skill that I still didn’t know of (also equaled to all
former β testers not knowing about it) on this second floor, and these
gozaru guys were trying to make Argo sell the information ——
something like that?

Once I had reached that conclusion, the volume of the guys’ voice
increased.

“Today, we will absolutely pull it off for sure-gozaru!”

“We’ll certainly do anything necessary to complete that extra skill-

gozaru!”

“You guys just won’t understand-na—! No matter what you say, I

won’t sell that information-goza…… oops, I won’t sell it-dayo!!”
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Piri— the voltage of the tension in the air seemed to have increased a
step higher —— the moment I thought so, I stood up on the stone
ledge and jumped to the ground five meters below. I landed in the
middle between Argo and the two guys. In order to receive no damage
for jumping from that height while still lacking in the agility paramet-
er, I bent my knees and took a defensive posture to absorb the impact
damage before quickly standing up.

“——Who are you-gozaru!?”

“Spy from another clan!?”

Just when I saw the shape of the gozaru guys, who were shouting at
the same time, a corner of my memories was intensely stimulated.
Their entire body were in dark grey cloth armor. It seemed they wore
light chain mails on their upper bodies. The weapons on their back
were small sized scimitars. On their heads were bandana caps and the
pirate masks of the same grey color. Overall looking, it was the so-
called «Ninja» appearance, which was originality and ingenuity
reproduced.

“Hmm, eeh…… you guys are probably, Fu, Fuu……Food, no, Fooga,
but that also doesn’t sound right……”

“It’s Fūma-gozaru!!”

“We are Kotarou and Isuke from the guild «Fūmaningun»-gozaru!!”

“Oh, that’s it!”

I snapped my right fingers in satisfaction as they had helped supple-

menting my memory. These two were the members of the ridiculously
fastest ninja guild which was feared during the β test period. I should
make a note about what was feared first. Every member were just like
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Argo and focused their parameter on agility, they would open the
battle as the front row and used their AGI wall to confuse the enemy.
When it became dangerous, they would use their dashing power to
flee, forcing the monster to target nearby parties instead. No matter
how I thought about them, they were clearly a group of evil shinobi.

But I didn’t know these guys were still going along the ninja path even
after SAO official service turned into a death game, which by itself (so
far), I had no complaints. However, two vs one, chasing Argo, a female
player, and forcefully getting information from her, was a different
story.

I made a gesture for Argo, who was behind me, to step back, and
moved my finger to the grip of my beloved sword «Anneal Blade +6»
hung on my back, as I said,

“As a secret agent of the government, I can’t overlook this misdeed of

the Fūma ninja…”

At that moment——

Under the fake ninja cowls, eyes of Kotarou-shi and Isuke-shi shone
brightly together.

““You bastard, are you from Iga!?””

“Hah!?”

Apparently, the speech which I thought was appropriate to the mood

seemed to have pressed their important switch. Their right hands star-
ted to reach, in perfect synchronization, for the ninja katanas on their
back (which were actually the small sized scimitars).
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No way —— are they really unsheathing? But here is the «Outside»
with no Anti-Criminal Code, where Players can attack other players
and HP would decrease for real. At the same time, the color cursor of
the attacking side would turn orange, indicating a «Criminal» status,
preventing them from entering towns. Even if they were ninja, they
wouldn’t be able to deceive the eyes of the «Cardinal System» con-
trolling this world.

Should I say I’m not Iga but Koga? But would that help avoiding the
problem? As I was seriously pondering these ridiculous thoughts——

The solution to the situation came from an unexpected direction.

A while ago, in order to listen to the conversation between Argo and

these ninja, I didn’t stop at the entrance of this small valley but instead
struggled to climb up the cliff. The reason was, this place wasn’t in the
middle of the town but a field. If one were to stand still in one place,
sooner or later, one thing would surely happen.

As I slowly stepped backward, I said in a low voice,

“Behind you.”

““Do you think we will fall for that trick-gozaru!?””

“There’s no trick, just look behind you.”

Something within my voice seemed to have moved the deep skepti-

cism of the ninja. Kotarou and Isuke, who turned their faces around,
made a slight jump at the same time. That was because in front of
their eyes and noses, a new intruding person —— no, an intruding cow
was standing tall. Its formal name was «Trembling Ox». The height to
its shoulders would be about two and a half meters, it was a huge cow
type monster, specialty of the second floor. While its toughness and
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attack power were just as expected from its appearance, what was
troublesome was actually its terribly long targeting range and dura-
tion, which made it very hard to switch targets mid-fight. Since I had
already retreated to the ledge, there was no doubt that its target would
be none other than those guys.

“Bumoooo————!!”

The cow howled,

““Go……gozaruuuuu!!””

Which followed by the screams of the ninja. Right after that, the two
bodies in ninja outfits started running at an amazing speed in the dir-
ection of the town. The cow also chased after them with an agility that
did not match its huge body. It was only five seconds before the earth’s
tremor and the screams disappeared into the horizon. From the look
of it, the chase would continue until Kotarou and Isuke entered Urbus.

I, who had somehow avoided the outburst of a big battle against those
super ninja, let out my breath while looking over my appearance. Up
until an hour ago, I have been dressed in a very plain dark grey leather
coat over a cotton shirt and black leather pants. But the unique equip-
ment I obtained as a drop from the Kobold Lord, the boss of the first
floor, the «Coat of Midnight» which I equipped on the spot, along with
my eyes and hair color, had made my whole body look pitch black. I
think it was valid that I was given the title «Dirty Beater», but at the
same time, I somehow looked ninja-like as well. From now on, it
would be unbearable if the “Kirito is from Iga.” rumour is spread out,
should I at least change the inner color? —— was what I thought.

Again, an unexpected event occurred.

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Two small arms stretching from behind embraced me tightly. I could
feel a soft and warm sense of touch on my back, along with a faint
whisper,

“……You’re pretty cool-yo, Kiri-bou.”

That voice was, of course, from Argo who was staying silent until this
moment. However, the tone of her voice was subtly different from the
«Rat»’s usual slightly hateful tone——

“But something like that, isn’t it breaking the first rule of Onee-san,
the information dealer?”

……O-Onee-san? ……The rules of the information dealer?

Those words provoked my curiosity, but the situation wasn’t

something to which I, a second-year middle school gamer who had
zero intercommunication skill until a month ago, could make a correct
reaction. I desperately thought while I was freezing, and somehow
managed to push the words out of my mouth,

“……You owe me one anyway. I’ll be troubled until you tell me the
reason behind your whiskers.”

On the face of the information dealer, Argo the «Rat», there were
three lines of whiskers on each cheeks clearly drawn in black makeup.
While those were the source of her Rat nickname, no one knew the
reason behind why she drew them. And a terrible price tag of hundred
thousands of col was attached to that information.

However, in the boss battle earlier, I took a «Beater» label to isolate

myself from most of the former β testers, single-handedly taking the
hostility from the new players off the former testers including Argo. In
order to express her gratitude, Argo sent a message saying that I could
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«Get any single information for free», to which I replied «Tell me the
reason for your whiskers».

To my words that I used as a joke to divert the situation, Argo pressed

her face harder on my back as she whispered,

“……Okay-yo, I’ll tell you-ru. But you need to wait a bit while I take off
the makeup-ra……”

Eh?

Makeup…… does it mean taking those whiskers off? Does she intend
to show me the face without makeup which no one had seen before?
Does it have some deep implication?

As my mental burden had increased to the crisis level, Argo exclaimed

before she separated her body from me,

“……Thinking again, I’ll change the information I’m telling! I’ll tell you
about the skill hidden on this floor!!”

Argo took her face away from my back and turned in front of me, for-
tunately —— it should be said like that, the whiskers still clearly re-
mained on her cheeks. Just before her face left my back, ‘Kii-bou, you
coward,’ I felt like I heard something like that, but it must be my
imagination.

The «Rat», who had completely returned to her usual cheeky expres-
sion, said while folding her arms,

“I said I’ll tell you any information, so I’ll keep my promise-yo. But,
Kii-bou also have to promise me one thing-shiro. Regardless of the
outcome, don’t blame me-na!”
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“……Just now, you also said that to those ninja. But, what does that
mean? For you to sell the information about an extra skill no one
knows, wouldn’t they feel grateful instead of a grudge……?”

To my question, the Rat showed a broad grin.

“To answer that, I’ll need to take yours as a payment-yo, Kii-bou.”

I leaked out a sigh as I nodded.

“Alright, I promise. I swear to the god…… no, to Cardinal-sama, that

no matter what happens, I won’t hold a grudge against you.”

Whether the quest to acquire the extra skill could pose a risk to my
life, I would have to judge it by myself. After hearing my oath, Argo
gave a deep nod, ‘Now follow me-na,’ before turning around.

For the path we took from there, I felt it would be impossible to travel
along without having bought a map beforehand, or having unlimited
amounts of curiosity and endurance. We clambered the cliff of the
table mountains standing close together on the vast —— the diameter
shouldn’t be different from the first floor —— second floor, got into a
small cave, and glided along the underground stream like it was a wa-
terslide. We went through three battles, but the enemies weren’t diffi-
cult to me, who was leveling to the limit in order to defeat the first
floor’s boss. The total time of our traveling was about thirty minutes.

Judging by our position on the whole map, we had arrived at a place

near the summit of an exceptionally high towering mountain on the
southern edge of the second floor. That place was a small clearing sur-
rounded by cliffs, with a spring and a lone tree, also —— a small hut
was built there.

“…………Is it here?”
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Argo nodded at my unnecessary question before walking to the hut
without hesitation. It seemed there was still no danger at this stage.
She then forcefully opened the door.

There was an NPC inside, along with some furniture. It was a big
middle-aged man with a well built body, his head was a slick skinhead,
and around his mouth was a thick beard. Over his head was a gold-
colored [?] mark, indicating a quest starting point.

To my questioning gaze, Argo gave a nod again.

“This guy is the NPC giving the «Martial Arts» extra skill-yo. The in-
formation I can give is up until this point, accepting the quest or not, is
Kii-bou’s decision-na.”

“……M-Martial arts?”

It was a name that I had never heard during the β period. Argo said
‘This is service-yo,’ before adding supplementary information.

“«Martial Arts» is a skill that allows attacking with bare hands…… that
is my speculation. It would be effective when the weapon is dropped,
or its durability is at the limit-na.”

“O-Oh…… then it would be useful, unlike «Meditation». In that

case…… I see, so that’s why you got stuck with those ninja at that
place……”

To Argo, who had ? written on her face, I also gave a ‘This is service,’
preface before giving an explanation.

“When speaking about ninja, normally you would imagine their

weapons to be ninja katana and shuriken, but it was a bit different in
game industry. Removing the head with a single bare hand attack.
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That has been the highest peak of ninja gaming style for a long time.
So Kotarou and Isuke would want that martial arts skill in order to
make their ninja being «Complete». ——No, but… wait a sec. They
didn’t know this place, then how did they know about the content of
the martial arts skill and Argo knowing that information?”

“This is service of the service-yo. Just before the end of the β test, this
information was revealed from an NPC on the seventh floor, regarding
«The martial arts master on the second floor»-da. But I found it out
myself long before that-na. Those ninja should have heard about it
from the NPC on the seventh floor during the β-sa. Then, ever since
this official server launched, they have kept asking me to sell the in-
formation about the extra skill on the second floor-da.”

“T……Then, why don’t you just say?I don’t know?at that time? So they
wouldn’t keep haunting you like that……”

To my expected question, Argo made an awkward face as she said,

“…………That single?I don’t know?would destroy my pride as an in-

formation dealer.”

“…………So you chose to say?I know but won’t sell it?, huh. Well…… it’s
not like I can’t understand your feelings……”

As I let out a sigh, I looked at the NPC setup in seated Zen meditation
over a tatami-mat in the middle of the hut again.

“……And, the reason you won’t sell is that the one who bought it would
hold a grudge against you. But even saying so, don’t you already have a
lot of enemies due to your business……?”
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“People usually forget the grudge from having bought information just
after three days-sa! But this guy is different-da! Even if it turns out to
be lame, you still have to keep it for your whole life-yo……”

Watching small body of Argo trembling, I was lost for several seconds
before giving a nod.

“I already knew I’d need to experience it by myself anyway. So it’s fine,

I promise. No matter what the outcome, I won’t blame Argo.”

I then walked into the hut and stood in front of the old man who was
sitting in Zen meditation. The old man in a rugged dōgi looked at me
before saying,

“Thou wishes to be a disciple?”

“……Yes.”

“Even though there be a long and steep road of training?”

“I’m expecting no less.”

After a short conversation, the [?] above the head of the old man
changed into [!], the log in my vision indicated that the quest was
accepted.

The old man, who became my master, moved outside the hut, toward a
huge rock at the edge of the garden, which was surrounded by cliffs.
Its height was about two meters, with a diameter of about one and a
half meters, the master lightly knocked it and spoke while he was
stroking his beard with his left hand,

“Thine training is just one. Splitting this rock using only thy palms.
Once thou have succeeded, I shall teach thee all my knowledge.”
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“…………W-Wait a bit.”

I tapped lightly on the huge rock, feeling a little nervous about this un-
expected development. Since I was accustomed to the game, my sense
of touch could tell the degree of the target’s durability. The hardness
sensation that was transmitted to my hand was just one step short of
«Immortal Object».

Yeah, it’s impossible.

I made that judgement and turned to the master to cancel the quest.
However, before I could do so——

“Until this rock is split, leaving this mountain is forbidden. And thou
hast to demonstrate it in front of me.”

The master who spitted out that line took strange objects from the
bosom of his dōgi. On his left hand was a small pot. Then in his right
hand was… a thick and elegant —— writing brush.

Bad feeling, a word made up in a 3D font floated over my head as the

bad feeling pierced through my entire body.

E-Err, I want to quit!

Faster than I could say that, the right hand of the master flashed at an
amazing speed. The tip of the brush plunged into the pot, a lot of ink
then —— Zubazubazuba—! exploded on my face.

At that moment, this made me realize the secret behind Argo’s

whiskers.

That girl had discovered the old man from the early stage of the β test
and had accepted the quest. Upon accepting it, she was told to split the
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same rock, and at the same time, the graffiti was written on her face.
Those —— three whiskers on each cheek.

“O-Owaaaa!?”

I raised a pathetic scream as I leaned back, and met with the gaze from
Argo who was standing slightly further away. The girl showed deep
sorrow and sympathy —— but at the same time, the expression on the
Rat’s face looked as if she was trying to suppress the urge to burst into
laughter.

I hurriedly used both of my hands to wipe my face after the release of

the brush attack. However, the ink seemed to be a super-fast drying
type, as I couldn’t get anything on my hands. The master looked at me
like that before nodding, and spitting out the shocking words that I
was expecting,

“That «Mark» cannot be removed until thou hath split this rock and
finished the training. I believe in thee, my disciple.”

Then, he returned to the hut and disappeared behind the door.

I stood still like that for about ten seconds, before gazing at Argo, who
was still wearing a faint expression, and asked,

“I see………… Argo, you accepted this quest during the β period…… and
gave up on clearing it, right? That’s why you had to continue playing
with that drawing on your face until the final day of the test. And as
the result, it was the beginning of the «Rat» character, the information
dealer, and for your business in the game’s official version, you chose
to continue using it with makeup…… is that correct?”

“Excellent! That’s an excellent reasoning-yo!”

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As she clapped her hands, the Rat continued,

“Isn’t it great-na, Kii-bou! As a result, you gained the information of

both «The reason behind the whiskers» and «The extra skill»-na! For
celebration, I’ll tell you one more thing-yo. This rock…… it’s a demon-
dayo!”

“…………I thought so…”

While I was bearing the urge to collapse to the ground, I bet on my

small ray of hope as I asked Argo,

“……Hey. Is the one on my face similar to your whiskers?”

“Hmm, it’s quite different-na—“

“Oh…… h-how does it look!?”

Maybe it isn’t too noticeable? Or if it’s noticeable but is somewhat

cool then I still have a choice of returning to my daily life while car-
rying this mark. Argo spent three seconds looking at my face, who
didn’t have enough courage to look at my own reflection from the
spring, —— before saying,

“Oh right-na. I can express it in one word…… it’s «Kiriemon»-na.”

At that point, seeming as she had reached her limit, Argo fell to the
ground, both feet wriggled while she rolled her body about,
“Nyahahaha! Nya—hahahahaha!!” she continued laughing uncontrol-
lably. Eternally, eternally…

I secluded myself on the mountain for three days and nights, by then, I
managed to split the rock after a tremendous amount of struggle. It
was fortunate that I had promised not to hold a grudge against Argo.
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 103/150

ME8: Rondo of the

Transient Sword -
first chapter
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Chapter 1

"Don't......Don't― Don't joke with me!!"

The echoes of the shout still resounding in my path, my feet came to a

halt.

As my footsteps went *su-su-su*, I attached myself to the wall of the

NPC store behind me, and I peered out at the scene in front of me. In
front of the road was a wide square, and the commotion seemed to be
coming from that direction.

"Re-Restore it!! Bring it back to its original state!! It was a +4...... Ch-
Change it back to the original!!"

Once again, a shout rang out. It seemed like there was a dispute
between two players. However, since we were within the city's «Crime
Prevention Boundary» ―― in the middle of Aincrad's second floor's
main city «Urbus» ―― neither player could actually harm each other,
so there was no actual need for me to hide surreptitiously.

But, though I understood that in my head, I couldn't help but be thirty

percent more cautious than usual. This was because, I, the level 13
one-handed sword user Kirito, am now Aincrad's most despised solo
player...... since I am the «First Known Beater».

Thursday, 8th December 2022. Thirty-two days after the Death Game
that was SAO began.
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The four days after the defeat of the first floor's boss monster «Illfang
the Kobold Lord» and the activation of Urbus' Teleport Gate, had
passed quickly.

And in those four days, rumors of the events that transpired in the
first floor's boss room were exaggerated and spread to every player on
the front lines. Knowledge like the Boss monster having Katana Skills
that was not provided in the prior information. The death of the Raid
Party's leader, the «Knight» Diabel. On top of that, the person who
had reached floors higher than anyone else during the beta period, and
who had obtained knowledge by defeating the boss there, the person
who had obtained the last attack bonus, the «Beater».

Fortunately ―― it could be said that although Kirito's name was

widely spread, there should only be about forty players who knew
what his avatar looked like. And, in this SAO, irrelevant information
like the names of people who had no relation to you would not be dis-
played alongside their cursor. Therefore, even if I strode down the
street and threw stones at them, it would be alright. Well, if I threw
stones at them, the purple system barrier would likely block it
summarily.

Still, just to be on the safe side, the first floor boss' rare drop, «Coat of
Midnight» armor, was unequipped, and a bandana was tied on my
forehead, making myself less conspicuous. The reason I had disguised
myself to sneak into the main district city was not to see someone, but
to obtain the necessary potions, food supplies and equipment main-
tenance. About three kilometers southeast from here was the small vil-
lage of «Marome», but its shops lacked variety in their wares, and fur-
thermore there was no NPC blacksmith there.

It was due to those concerns that after I had first filled my storage with
loads of supplies, as I was walking down the street to complete my
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next errand, the cry from earlier reached my ears ―― this was the
reason.

After I had confirmed that the outburst, "Don't joke with me", was not
directed at me in any way, I gave off a sigh, relaxed my guard, and con-
tinued walking towards my destination ―― which also happened to be
the source of commotion ―― the eastern square of Urbus.

In less than a minute, I reached a low, circular open area that was
mortar-shaped. Normally, it would be crowded at 3 pm, the so called
«Raid Time», but because it had only been a few days since the open-
ing of the district, there were probably many players from «Starting
City» who were touring the place.

These people stopped at the corner of the square, as a stammering cry,

similar to the one previous, could be heard at the opposite end. I ap-
proached the crowd and slipped through the gaps, craning my neck in
order to know the reason for the commotion.

"W-Wh-Why is it like this!! The quality is absurdly lowered!!"

The bright red face of the man who was yelling looked vaguely famili-
ar. He wasn't just a nobody, but a player who should have been on the
front lines. Though he hadn't take part in the first floor's raid battle,
his level was reasonably high, based on the metal armor and three
large horns on the helmet he was wearing.

Even more attention grabbing, in the three-horned man's right hand

was clutched an unsheathed one-handed straight sword. Within the
boundary it was impossible to hurt someone with that blade, but to
brandish it amongst a crowd was still a little disturbing. However, the
man with blood rushing through his head continued to pound the
point of his sword into the stony ground and shouted,
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"Why did I get four consecutive failures! +0 is ridiculous! If it's like
this isn't an NPC Blacksmith better! Take responsibility, you shitty
blacksmith!!"

―― Furiously scolded for a few minutes, standing there upright and

remaining silent, despite having a troubled expression, was a short-
statured male player wearing a plain brown leather apron.

A corner of the square was covered in a grey carpet, and upon the nar-
row space was placed a chair and an anvil, plus a display shelf. That
carpet was called a «Vendor's Carpet», and was by no means cheap,
since the item, once laid upon the streets of a city, was required to set
up a simple player's shop, essential for the novice merchant player. Of
course, even without the carpet, one could sell items, but, left alone,
the durability of the items would decrease bit by bit, and you had to be
wary of your wares being stolen. During the beta test period, the main
streets of each floor's main district city were bustling with merchants
with various wares spread out over the carpets, but this was the first
time I had seen a carpet like this in the official service of SAO which
had become a game of death. No, moreover, it was the first time I had
seen a blacksmith which was not an NPC, but a player.

Based on this situation, I finally realized the reason for the

commotion.

The sword now being pounded into the ground as the man yelled had
probably been «Enhanced» by the downcast blacksmith. In general, a
player's success rate was higher than that of an NPC of the same level.
The corresponding skill's proficiency had to be raised substantially,
but from the look of things, this could only be recognized to some de-
gree. Crafting based skills required tools ―― for a blacksmith, the
«Blacksmith's Hammer» series was needed ―― which decided the
equipment based on proficiency, but the specific requirements were
very subtle. At this moment, atop the anvil in front of the depressed
 Fencer 108/150
blacksmith a few meters from me was the «Iron Hammer» which had
a higher skill requirement than that of this city's blacksmith NPC, who
used the «Bronze Hammer».

In other words, that Blacksmith's enhancement success rate should be

higher than the NPC's. Otherwise, his trade would not be possible,
which was probably why the three-horned man had entrusted him
with his beloved sword.

―― However. Unfortunately, in SAO, unless the proficiency of skill

was greater than the margin of error, the odds of enhancing the
weapon were not a hundred percent. For example, if it had a thirty
percent chance of failure, then the chances of two consecutive failures
would be nine percent, and three consecutive failures would be three
percent, and, finally, the tragic four consecutive failures would be pos-
sible at 0.8 percent probability.

The surprising thing in the world of online games was, this extremity
of numbers was assuredly an «Event that would occasionally occur».
In a title I had played previously, items with a drop rate set to 0.01
percent that made you want to cry "That's ridiculous" existed, but
there were some really lucky players that actually got the item. I could
not help but wish that this kind of devilish rarity did not appear in
SAO, but surely it did exist, and I would then live in a dungeon seeking
it......

"......What's all this commotion about"

A sudden whisper came from my immediate right, surprising me as I

looked at its source.

Standing there was the fine slender body of a Rapier User, wearing a
white leather tunic, pale green leather tights, with a silver-colored
breast plate adorning her chest. A player could mistake her for an elf,
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which shouldn't exist in Aincrad. Although, the clean and clear im-
pression of her outfit was marred by an unstylish gray wool cape
draped from her head to her waist. Though, this could not be helped.
If she took off the cape, her long, glossy chestnut hair, as well as that
elf-like appearance, would be revealed, and then any surrounding
passersby would not leave her alone.

I took a very deep breath to calm my mind. One of the few people in
this world......in fact, there were around five people whom I could call
«friend», and told her.

"It looks like that three-horned-kun's sword enhancement had......"

As my mouth uttered those words, I remembered that I was disguised,

similar to the girl beside me. My black coat was replaced with a rustic
leather armor, and my head was covered by a yellow and blue striped
bandana, disguising my person thoroughly. I wanted to think that my
disguise would not be easily uncovered. If that were the case, then for
now I should respond under the guise of a first meeting.

"......ah, that, umm......Have I seen you somewhere before?"

As soon as I had said that, from within the grey hood, two rapier sharp
eyes attacked me with a horizontal penetrating look, directly piercing
the area between my eyebrows.

"Instead of merely having met, I remember that we had a meal togeth-

er and have even teamed up as a party."

"............ah, I remember. I remember, now. I even remember that I

lent you the bath at my place."
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*Gash*. The long boots ―― named «Boots of Hornet» ―― embedded
its sharp heels into my right foot and exploded, and some of my
memories were lost.

I coughed *ahem* and cleared my throat. Pinching the edges of the

rapier user's hood with my fingertips, I pulled her to a place a few
meters away where there was no one around, before greeting her
again.

"Y-Yo, Asuna. Long time no see......not really, two days no see."

"Good afternoon, Kirito-kun."

I had told her, when we met two days ago at any rate, to drop the «-
kun» honorific since this was an avatar. However, it seemed the VR-
game novice still hadn't given up using it for some reason. In that case,
I should use «Asuna-san» to address her, but when I attempted to, she
replied with "It's too troublesome, so don't bother." ――It's really hard
to understand a girl's heart.

Anyways, I somehow managed to greet her peacefully, and waved to

draw her attention toward the commotion at the blacksmith's stall
which was still in full swing, and gave her a brief description.

"Apparently, the commotion is, three-horned helmet's sword was giv-

en to the blacksmith to be enhanced, and it failed four times in a row,
so it became plus zero, which made his blood rush to his head.
Well......I understand his feelings though......four consecutive failures."

Then, the person I knew to be Aincrad's fastest and calmest (I wanted

to add the most beautiful here, but omitted it to prevent conflict with
the harassment code) player, the rapier user Asuna, shrugged and
commented.
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"If there is a possibility of failure, this person should be informed.
That blacksmith-san, didn't he already put up a list of the success rate
for each type of weapon in his store; furthermore, if the enhancement
failed the customer only has to bear the costs of the item materials,
and not the forging fee."

"Eh, really? That's really honest of him......"

The earnest blacksmith player continued to look down, and I re-

membered what he had muttered. Indeed, although forty percent of
me sympathised with the three-horn guy, after hearing these words
and numbers it dropped to twenty percent.

"......Perhaps, at the first failure, his blood rushed to his head, and he
asked for it to be enhanced once more. With rashness, always comes
sadness in gambling......"

"That was a passionate comment."

"N-No, It's merely a general assessment."

Here, the seventh floor during the beta test period had a monster
arena which gave all properties satisfaction, but if I talked openly
about the experience it might not only not raise her impression of me,
but lower it instead, so based on this intuition, I looked away. Asuna
gave me a suspicious glare for a few seconds before, fortunately, she
returned to the topic.

"......Well, even I don't think it's not pitiful, but there's no need for
such ruckus......as long as he saves money for the materials, he can try
again, right."

"Umm......no, trying again isn't possible."

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"Why is that?"

As Asuna tilted her head, I thumbed at my beloved sword «Anneal

Blade +6» hanging on my back as I spoke.

"That Three-horn's sword is the same «Anneal Blade» as mine. Surely,

he had also cleared the difficult quest on the first floor. Then, he
brought it to a blacksmith NPC to enhance it to a +4. Well, up to that
point success is really simple. However at +5 the probability of success
would significantly drop, and the player blacksmith was requested to
do it. However, the first attempt failed, so the number decreased to
+3. Then he was asked to enhance it again to regain what was lost, but
once again it failed and dropped to +2. That process repeated. After
three, four times of failures, if finally became +0.......that is why."

"............But, from that point it can no longer decrease, so he can try

for a +5 again......"

As those words left her mouth, Asuna seemed to realize the point that
I was trying to get across, as deep within the hood, her hazel eyes
widened.

"I see...... «Maximum attempts at enhancing» huh. The upper limit of

Anneal Blade, should be......"

"Eight times. In other words, four successes and four failures would
use it up. So that sword can no longer be enhanced any more."

So ―― This was SAO, and its system of weapons enhancement was

terrifying.

In this world, the number of times an equipment could be enhanced,

«Maximum attempts at enhancing» property was set. This was not
«Maximum possible value of enhancing». Rather, that value
 113/150
determined how many times you could attempt enhancing it. For ex-
ample, my initial equipment «Small Sword» had a limit of one, so if I
attempted to enhance it and failed, that sword could never be a +1
after that.

Worse, the rate of successful enhancement could be manipulated to

some extent by the owner's efforts. Of course, that includes finding a
skilled blacksmith (ultimately one could master their own forging
skills and do it themselves, but this was unrealistic at the present
time), and if the gathered materials necessary for enhancement were
of extravagant and high quality and quantity, this would further in-
crease the chances of success.

Typically, blacksmith players would set the success rate of enhancing

to around seventy percent for their requested fee. If the requester
wanted a higher success rate, they would have to pay an additional fee
for a larger quantity of items, or hunt the items themselves.

So, if there were a point on which to blame the three-horned man, it

would have been his hotheadedness in continuing to request the en-
hancing of failed items. Though, if he had taken some time to calm
down with a deep breath after the first failure, he could have paid
more or come back later. That way, the prized Anneal Blade would
have avoided the tragedy of becoming +0 with all the attempts
expended.

"............That's right. Well...... Indeed, I understood a little bit of that

frantic feeling. Just a little."

I nodded in agreement with Asuna's comment, and took a moment of

silence for that pitiful sword. The voice of the man who was still yelling
as usual was interrupted. It seemed two of his friends had rushed in.
They each placed a hand on his shoulders, and tried hard to calm him
down.
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"......There, there, It'll be fine, Ryufior. I'll help you do the Anneal
Blade quest again today."

"If we can work hard for it for a week, let's aim for a +8 this time."

......Oh, now it takes a week for three people to do it. Fortunately I did
it early.

So, with this realistic thought,

......You, cherish those friends of yours. And next time, don't gamble
at enhancing recklessly.

I watched them with emotion. Three-horns, renamed Ryufior-shi, also

regained his composure, and left the square as he trudged away with
slumped shoulders.

Behind him, the blacksmith, who had quietly endured the scolding all
this while, timidly said something.

"That......I'm really, really sorry for that. Next time, I will really, really
try my best......ah, again, you can ask me to do it again even though
you might hate me......"

Ryufior, who was walking, stopped and turned to face the blacksmith,
and said in a suddenly changed voice.

"...........It's not your fault.............I blurted out various things, that was
bad of me."

"No...... that is also within the scope of my profession......"

With his hands clasped in front of his leather apron and his head
lowered, the blacksmith looked as though he was very youthful, in his
teens. Thin, drooping eyes coupled with casual hair that parted down
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the middle. Like so, he genuinely gave the impression of an «Artificer
Character». If he had a smaller and stouter build, he would look like a
member of the «Dwarf» race......No, since he had no beard, he would
probably be a «Gnome».

As I thought about this and looked on at their exchange, the black-

smith stepped forward and bowed deeply again, and spoke.

"Um, although I don't think it is a good apology......that, +0 end An-

neal blade which was my fault, if it's alright with you, perhaps you
could let me buy it for eight thousand col......"

*Zuwa*...... the surrounding onlookers stirred, and from my throat an

"Ooh" leaked out.

At the current market rate, the quest reward exclusive, clean Anneal
Blade +0, was worth sixteen thousand col. Eight thousand col was half
that much, and although Ryufior's blade had the same stats, the num-
ber of attempts had been exhausted and it was now a «Final Product».
It was now worth less than half the market value, perhaps about four
thousand col. It was an exceptional offer as an apology.

Stunned, Ryufi-shi and his two friends glanced at each other, then all
three nodded in unison.
 116/150

Chapter 2

After the series of events ended, the three people, along with the on-
lookers, dispersed from the square, kan, kan, the rhythmic sound of a
hammer began to start. The stall's dwarf...... I mean, blacksmith,
began forging something on the anvil.

Asuna and I sat down on a bench on the opposite side of the circular
square, vaguely listening to that sound.

Originally, I wasn't planning to stay so long in this square, I would

have quickly finished my errands by now and escape from Urbus.
There were two reasons my plans had changed. Because I encountered
one of the few people in Aincrad's who did not call me a «Filthy Beat-
er», allowing me to practice the use of the Japanese language. The oth-
er ―― was my original errand, which was, to enhance the Anneal
Blade +6 that was on my back.

I overheard yesterday, while I was in Marome Village, that a reason-

ably skilled blacksmith player had appeared in Urbus' eastern square.
I thought, that it was a good time to challenge +7, so I had carried the
material items needed for enhancing it, then disguised myself and
came back to Urbus, but this unexpected event had occurred first.

Actually, I could stand up from the bench and walked up to the black-
smith and say "Excuse me, I would like to enhance something," right
now. As it was my first meeting with the Dwa......no, young man, he
certainly wouldn't say "I will not forge a beater's sword with my
hammer."
 117/150
However, earlier events had somewhat put pressure on me. The same
Anneal Blade, had a set success rate of seventy percent, but +4 became
+0. Statistically, it was possible, but it was no doubt a first class
tragedy. If the same thing happened to me, I wouldn't go on a ram-
page, but would probably not leave my room for three days.

If I requested for enhancement in this mental state, how to put it...... It

was rude towards Ryufior-shi's declining fortunes, and it felt like my
sword would probably fail and become a +5. Then, I will go
"Awawawawa" and challenge it again without any additional material,
so it would fail once again and become +4. Naturally, there was no lo-
gical proof to that reasoning, «Net Game's Enhancement Gamble»
could not be predicted by logic......

"............So?"

I gazed blankly at the sudden voice next to me.

"Huh? What?"

"............Don't 'what' at me. Weren't you the one who asked me to sit
here?"

Asuna glared at me.

"Eh, ah, tha-that's true. Sorry, I was thinking about something......"

"Thinking about something...... Kirito-kun, you came for that

blacksmith's enhancement, didn't you?"

"Eh, ho-how did you know?"

As I was startled backwards, the rapier user gave an amazed look and
said.
 118/150
"When we met yesterday at Marome, you said you were going to the
east of the rocky mountain area to hunt «Red Spotted Beetle». If so,
you must have decided to collect material to enhance your one handed
sword."

"O......Oh."

I unintentionally gave out that sound.

"......What is with that reaction?"

"It's nothing......it just doesn't seem like the words of a person who did
not even know where the party member's name was displayed just
four days ago......ah, it-it isn't irony. I was just impressed."

".................."

My sincere words probably made her understand, as Asuna's facial ex-

pression subtly softened somewhat.

"It's because I've been learning various things lately."

She murmured. I was happy for some reason, and I nodded continu-
ously as I talked.

"I see, um, that's a good thing. In the MMO world, without knowledge
the results would be very different. If you want to know anything,
don't hesitate to ask, because I am a former tester. I know everything
up to the tenth floor, from wares lineups to the mobs' cries......"

As I was carried away and talked up to this point, I realized that I had
committed a great mistake.

As I had said, I was a former tester, and at the same time, currently
among the «Amassing and hoarding vast knowledge for their self
 119/150
interest, an evil Beater». On the first floor's boss raid battle, starting
with the knight Diabel's friends, the high levelled players who hated
and detested me were not few. Although I had disguised myself with
leather armor and a bandana, anyone who looked closely at my face
would recognize me as Kirito, and the person talking and sitting on the
same bench as me was Asuna, which would condemn her as a beater's
friend. Chatting so unconcernedly in this busy place, was too careless
of me......

"Ah......So-Sorry. I have something urgent to do, I just remembered."

As I tried to stand up with that lame excuse, my shoulders ――

The rapier user suddenly used the tip of her supple index finger to
closely control me, and in a very small volume whispered to me.

"......You bear all the resentment and hate against all former testers by
yourself, I think that's too excessive for you...... but because that is
your decision, I did not say anything. But, you should respect my
choice too. I don't care what other people think. I'll be your ac-
qua......friend then even if you don't like the appearance, I would not
let you have said anything from the start anyway."

"..............I lost. Everything.... had been predicted, huh."

Muttering, I lowered myself onto the bench once more.

My motive for becoming a beater in the first floor's boss room, and the
reason for my attempt to escape a few seconds ago, had been guessed
with zero percent error, making me emit a *gu* sound. Giving up, I
raised my hands in surrender. Asuna gave a small smile from deep
within the hood, and said.
 120/150
"If you are Aincrad's pro, I am a girls school bred pro at psychological
warfare. I can read you as easy as pie based on your avatar's
expression."

"Th......That is really easy to overlook......"

"Therefore, I think it's about time you taught me, the reason why you
are hesitant to enhance your weapon. Actually, I came here today to
ask that blacksmith-san to enhance my sword too."

"Eh......"

At her unexpected words, I gazed at the weapon which was suspended

at Asuna's waist. Kept in an ivory sheath, the name of the rapier with
the dark green guard was «Wind Fleuret». When we formed a party
for the first floor's boss raid, she replaced her equipment, so her initial
sword was replaced by this monster drop. It was actually a pretty rare
item, if it was properly enhanced it had the potential to be used all the
way to the third floor.

"That, should be +4 only?"

Asuna nodded at my question.

"You brought your own enhancement material? What type did you
bring?"

"Let's see......four «plank of steel», twelve «Needle of Wind Wasp»"

"Heh, you worked hard...... but......"

I mentally calculated the success rate, and groaned.

"Um, with this the success rate to get a +5 is around eighty percent."
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"Is the risk not low enough?"

"Well, normally it would be so...... but after that show just now......"

I turned to glance at the opposite end of the square, where, rhythmic-

ally hammering away, was the dwarf......-like blacksmith player. Asuna
turned to look as well, then gave a light shrug.

"The probability of a thrown coin landing on any face, regardless of

any previous outcome, is always fifty percent. The person just now
tried and had a few failures in a row, and our attempts at enhancing
our weapons should be unrelated, right?"

"That.......should be true......"

As I mumbled trying to enunciate a bad word that rolled around in my

mouth, I gave it some thought. The rapier user Asuna is a person who
used science and logic, while I was trying to convince her about "a
gamble flow". Even for me, using my left brain's feeling of a «Bad
Flow» wasn't a basis for an argument.

On the other hand, my right brain felt something. Whether it was my

Anneal Blade or Asuna's Wind Fleuret, if we asked the blacksmith to
enhance it here and now, even if we used materials to boost its prob-
ability of success, it would fail. Ignoring my intuition was not good,
this was my personal rule, based on my experience of playing net
games for many years.

"Hey, Asuna"

I turned my body to the right to face Asuna directly, using my most

serious voice and expression and said.

"Wha......What is it?"
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"You'd like the success rate at ninety percent compared to eighty,
right?"

"...........That is true, of course"

"Compared to ninety percent, you'd like ninety five percent, right?"

"............That is true too, of course"

"Then, I think compromising is not good. Since there is a way to col-

lect the material anyway, why not do our best to aim for ninety five
percent."

".................."

The rapier user looked at me for a few seconds with a suspicious ex-
pression, then, as if she suddenly felt something, she slowly blinked
with her long eyelashes, before saying.

"Yes, It is true that I don't like compromises. But I don't like people
who move their mouths but not their hands just as much."

"............Eh?"

"Since you can talk up to this point, you must help me pursue
perfection, Kirito-kun. Incidentally, the Wind Wasp's needle's drop
rate is eight percent."

"..................Eh?"

"Once you have decided, let's go to the hunting grounds. With two
people, we should be able to hunt a hundred or so before dark."

".........................Eh?"
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While I gave off a dull face, Asuna slapped me on my shoulders, and
stood up, before raising her eyebrows a little as she delivered the final
blow.

"And, if you want to hunt with me as a combination, please remove

that flashy bandana. I'm really sorry, but it does not suit you at all."
 124/150

ME9: Concerto of
Black and White -
first chapter
Aincrad 3rd Floor, 14th December 2022
125/150
 126/150

Part 1

On the first floor of Aincrad, there was no theme, If we really had to

say it, it would be «Everything is included». Grasslands, forests, the
wilderness, the valley was rich in its variety of terrain. Outside of the
main City, there were many small villages, the fantasy RPG had many
exciting atmospheres to greet the players that arrived ―― but, under
the conditions of a «Death Game», only a few people leisurely enjoyed
this scenery.

Then came the second floor, which broke out of the fantasy kitchen
sink and formed a theme. The entire floor was changed to a green
grass covered layered mountains. The monsters that appeared were
now animal based. Perhaps it was because the first floor was difficult,
as the difficulty of the second floor did not increase, instead giving off
a relaxed feeling, like that of a pasture. But a majority of players called
it the «Cow's Floor». There should be no need to explain the reason
for this.

And now ―― was the untainted, third floor.

As I climbed up the spiral staircase which linked the second floor's

boss area to the third floor's main city, I talked to myself while clench-
ing my right fist.

"In one sense, this can be considered where SAO really starts......"

Although this was just a line to set my mood, a voice whispered in

return.
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"Really? Why would you say that?"

Right after this question was asked, I scratched my head, and

answered.

"Well...... from the third floor on, true humanoid mobs would start to
appear. The first floor's Kobold and Taurus were only of the half
human, «Demi-Human» class, capable of using simple sword skills,
but its external appearance is that of a monster, right? However, from
here on, there will be a lot of enemies whose external appearance is no
different from a human's. If not for the color cursor, it would be com-
pletely impossible to distinguish them. Of course, they are able to hold
conversations like NPCs, and their sword skills are also at a very high
level. In other words......"

I turned my head, and looked over my shoulder to face the rapier user
Asuna, and said.

"...... From this point on, is where the prologue of Sword Art Online
ends. The man who locked us in here, Kayaba Akihito, had said in a
SAO special edition magazine interview, '«Sword Art Online» is where
swords and sword skills intertwine together, writing a melody of light
and sound, a Concerto of life and death'......"

"............Oh............"

Even though she was listening to this sentence which had made me ex-
cited a year ago, Asuna didn't even look touched. She used her regular
pace to climb the staircase, and gently shrugged, and said something I
didn't expect.

"...... Since that interview, Kayaba had already planned this crime......"

"Ei......aa, maaa, of course...... this should be the case."

 128/150
On a day a month and a week ago, in front of the ten thousand players
forced to gather in the central plaza, Kayaba had said this,

"To create and watch this world is the only reason I have created the
Nerve Gear and SAO. And now, everything has been realized."

Supposing those words were true, even before Kayaba Akihito had
planned SAO, before even outlining the Nerve Gear, he had planned
this monstrous crime. Able to impress my young (more accurately, a
year ago) heart, in the few interviews he gave, his words had two
meanings. Facing me, who had just learnt that fact, Asuna said softly.

"A Concerto of......life and death. Does this truly only refer to players
crossing their swords and sword skills against humanoid monsters?"

"Eh...... What do you mean......?"

I shrank my neck. Maintaining my posture of looking backward, as I

climbed up the 'stairs between the the labyrinth area and the upper
floor'. Because the design of this stairs were mostly the same, includ-
ing during the beta test, I have climbed up these stairs around ten
times. Only the relief on the black walls were different, which, upon
closer inspection, implied the theme and landscape of the next floor,
but I was too busy focusing on Asuna at the moment.

The rapier user's expression became more serious, and spoke to her-
self in a quiet voice.

"Perhaps I'm overthinking it...... This Concerto, is not actually music

created by a pair of musical instruments. If it is played in pairs, the
'Duet' is more appropriate."

"Then...... the Concerto's, real meaning is......?"

 129/150
"As time passed by the meaning changed little by little, but basically it
is the music of an orchestra, or many instruments accompanying the
lead, a lone musical instrument......In other words, it isn't one on one,
but one against many, or should I say it's the music from a small group
against a large one."

"One against......many......"

I repeated the phrase I was pondering quietly, considering saying, "If

it's like this, then isn't it comparable to a player against a group mob?"
―― But, as I opened my mouth to say it, I closed it again.

In this world, a player against many, the scene of being in combat

with, for example, ten or more monsters, was impossible. This is be-
cause, there was no destructive area of effect magic, and a ranged
sword skill could only attack within the weapon's range, therefore, in
SAO, being surrounded by monsters meant instant death.

Of course, the game design mirrored this fact, as most of the mobs
were on their own, or at most two or three would appear at once. Un-
less they were intentionally brought together, or the player accident-
ally stepped on a trap, a situation where one player fought against
many would never happen...... what's more, even if they did, they
would be attempting to escape with all their might.

"......If this is the case, a Concerto like battle would never occur in this
world. If you want to insist on it, it would be limited to the boss
battle...... but, that would be a boss battle, meant for a raid group."

As Asuna looked at me who shrugged and gave a forced smile, she

looked as though she wanted to say something, but did not open her
mouth. After a beat, she broke out into a smile and nodded.
 130/150
"Yes, maybe I'm overthinking it......we shouldn't raise this topic right,
Kirito-kun?"

"Eh? What?"

"......Nothing, it's already over."

After listening to this, my head which was still facing backwards, hit
the top of the thick stone door.

"Ouch......"

Making a noise which people wouldn't think I was the type to make it,
I waved my arms at the same time to prevent falling down due to a
misstep, as I had climbed a stair that wasn't there. However, I did not
regain my balance, and at this moment, rather than falling forward
and hitting Asuna, why not fall backward?

At that moment, as I tried to lean on the door which had been un-
knowingly opened, I cried "Waaaa" as I went out of the large door, and
beautifully fell down on the moss covered rock floor on my butt. This
became the untainted floor's memorable first imprint.

Aincrad, Third Floor.

This floor's designed theme was «Forest». However, unlike the first
floor's Horunka village's surroundings, and the southern region of the
second floor's forest, the scale was completely different. This was be-
cause even the smallest tree had a trunk diameter of one meter and the
shortest trees were thirty metres tall. Using large trees to describe
them were inappropriate, as the ancient trees could be seen to stretch
out to the skies without limits. The golden rays coming from between
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the overlapping leaves and branches illuminated the land, looking like
a land of fantasy.

"Woah......!"

Beside me, enduring the pain in my tailbone, Asuna cheered in a

happy tone and rushed out of the door. I turned eighty degrees while
still on the ground, as my eyes followed her figure. Asuna stopped in a
place not too far away, and spun round and round under the slender
rays of the sun, looking as though she was extremely fond of the
scenery of this forest that seemed to extend out forever.

"This is great......Just seeing this scenery makes me feel as though the

hard work of climbing up here is not wasted."

The rapier user normally equipped with a hooded cape had her hood
down, so the rays of the sun were reflected dazzlingly off her beautiful,
glossy, long, smooth, thin, chestnut hair into my eyes. Her slim build,
in addition to her cool beauty, made players think that she wasn't a
player, but a fairy of the forest.

"......It truly is not wasted."

After quietly saying these words, I stood up. Taking off my leather
coat, I lazily stretched. I have no idea whether it was an illusion or not,
but the air was filled with a sweet scent. The essence of large numbers
of plants.....perhaps this was the cause.

Glancing behind me, circled by the roots of a gigantic tree, was a stone
structure. We had just climbed out of its black opening. The others
raiders would probably come up here in about ten minutes.

"......Next......"
 132/150
Although we were on the third floor ―― our actions from here on have
yet to be determined. Of course, on a new floor we would still do
things we did in the previous floor, which was to go to the main city to
shop for items, get quests, and fight to increase our level. However, be-
fore that, I had a matter to confirm.

After deciding that, I moved to Asuna's side, and since she was still en-
joying the scenery, gave off an initial light cough to alert her to my
presence, and opened my mouth.

"Hey, I'm sorry to disturb your mood.,....."

"......? What?"

The rapier user gave me a rare smile, so I raised my right hand and ex-
tended my forefinger to guide her line of sight toward the north. Ex-
tending from the stone structure behind us was an ancient road, which
had a Y junction in the middle of the path about twenty meters away.

"Going along the road to the right will quickly lead you to the main
city. Going along the left is a forest that, after some time, will lead to
this floor's first labyrinth."

"......Um"

"Generally speaking, we should head for the main city to activate the
transition gate, but let's leave that task to Lynd's and Kibaou's group
who are hot on our heels."

"............Um."

"The reason is, I don't want to meet them, as well as I have a quest I
must complete in the forest to the left. However, both of these are per-
sonal reasons......"
 133/150
At this point, the rapier user's smile gradually faded. Inversely, her pu-
pils gave off a ray of dangerous light. From this point on, if I said the
wrong thing, Asuna's mood would sour, and even though I could per-
ceive this, I still couldn't work out a theory to avoid it.

"............So?"

At the urging of this grim voice, I continued while facing downward in

fear and trepidation.

"...That... We probably need to resupply and maintain our weapons, if

Asuna wants to aim for the main city, I think we can disband our
party...... Of course, if you are willing to come with me to finish what I
need to do in the forest, I don't......mind......"

"Don't-wan-na, I didn't have the intention of not disbanding the party

anyway. You and I are both solo players, right?"

"Y-Yes."

"However, the thing you just mentioned, should be «The one who fin-
ishes first gets an advantage» right? Then, I'll go with you, as I hate
low efficiency. Of course, if you want to disband the party and throw
me aside, monopolizing all the benefits for yourself, I can only agree
with you."

"I-I wouldn't dare, I never thought of monopolizing, not even a little.

In fact, more people would be more efficient."

"In that case let's hurry along. It won't matter if we resupply and
maintain our equipment later."

"Yes, ok."
 134/150
The rapier user turned, and made a patapata sound as she started to
walk, I followed to catch up to her back, feeling in my heart a mysteri-
ous «Barely passed» feeling . I didn't even understand the require-
ments to «Pass»

Really, If I knew this would happen, I would have had more interac-
tion with the girls in my class...... as I thought until this point, I
snorted in denial. If I had such an ability during middle school, I
would not have snuck into SAO five seconds after the game's official
launch. In other words, this kind of situation, walking together with a
temperamental rapier user, would not occur, I reasoned.

―― Having said that, I suddenly had this thought.

Thinking back about the past month being imprisoned in this game, In
order to survive......that is, to continuously rush and strengthen my-
self, have I ever regretted being in this VRMMO called SAO?

Most people would regret it, not regretting it was an abnormal ability.
However, no matter how I searched my past own feelings, although I
easily found fear and homesickness, I couldn't find regret.

Perhaps I was an abnormal person, or perhaps I was in so grim a situ-

ation that there was no time for remorse. If the latter was the case, the
cause of this state was without a doubt the valiant rapier user walking
three meters in front of me. It was because this sword user always
made a racket that I am able to feel regret, as all the other negative
emotions were pushed to the back of my mind......

―― No-no-no, even in my mind I wouldn't thank her.

Having determined this resolutely, I increased my pace to catch up to

my party member, and walked by her side.
135/150
 136/150

Part 2

Based on my beta testing experience, after players defeated the floor

boss, going up the stairs onto a new floor and into a new district, with-
in the thirty minutes for activating the transition gate, the monster
POP was controlled to a low value.

It was probably like this in order for the players who had come up to
the new floor just after being worn out from fighting the boss to not be
exterminated by small fry mobs, but unfortunately this grace was only
limited to the nearby surroundings of the city.

Just after walking along the forest trail for five minutes, we had to in-
crease our pace in order to keep up with our enemies' searching abil-
ity. I could feel the changes to the surrounding air. The happifying and
beautiful fantasy forest, step by step changed into a cold and hostile
«outsider» feeling.

"Asuna, the enemy spawning here has strength similar to those guys
on the second floor labyrinth. Because a majority of them are animal
and plant based monsters, they will not use sword skills."

After listening to my words, the rapier user silently nodded.

"However, based on the mobs general prewritten battle movements,

they will unceasingly bring us deeper into the forest. Once the mon-
sters spot any mistakes we make, they will launch ambushes, and even
if we defeat it successfully, we may end up lost."
 137/150
"However, as long as we look at the map, we should be able to find our
way out, right?"

"About that............"

I swung my right hand forward, and quickly opened the map window,
hastily inputting commands to switch it to public viewing mode, and
then showed it to Asuna.

"Ah......The color is very faint."

Exactly as she said, the majority of the map appeared like misty ash,
and according to the general situation, the places which we have ex-
plored would emerge in a 3D view, however, because the map for this
place was extremely faded, even if we were very attentive we could not
see the path.

"This region is called the «Misty Forest», the map colour becomes
faint in addition to the strong fog, which will really cause people to get
lost. Therefore, even if we're in the middle of battle you absolutely
must not leave your party or the path. This point is very important."

"Understood. ......Then you should quickly show me a demonstration."

"Eh?"

"What, just look clearly. Right behind you."

At the end of her words, I gingerly looked behind, and just a little off
the forest's stone path...... Lets just say a withered tree grew there. Its
pale yellow trunk had a diameter of fifteen centimeters, and it was
only two meters high, much smaller than the trees which surrounded
it. However, situated at the side of the three trunk were two holes close
 138/150
together, emitting a light like that of eyes. To its left and right were
claw like branches swaying constantly.

Although the dead tree and I only crossed eyes for a split second, its
roots on its right side began emitting a creaking sound, as it left the
floor, taking a step forward. It was followed by the roots on its left. As
it moved forward swaying unstably, it suddenly changed into a sprint.
A third hole opened beneath the other two, and from it a
"Moroooooo!" roar was issued.

The withered tree changed into the plant type mob «Treant Sapling»,
possessing many special abilities, one of which was, while embedded
in the ground, a player's enemy searching ability would not get a reac-
tion from it. It looks like the Treant had walked next to me while I was
lost in thought giving the explanation.

Must not be careless! I told myself, at the same time my right hand
reached to the back and pulled out my «Anneal Blade+7», making a
loud sound.

As the branches to the left and right were cut, and its opened mouth
was drilled by Asuna's «Wind Fleuret+5», the Treant gave a
"Moroooo!" sorrowful cry as it shattered into polygons with the sound
of breaking glass. The battle only lasted three minutes.

Asuna and I gently bumped our left fists to celebrate our victory,
sheathing our swords at the same time. Although we were careful, the
Treant's «Changing the body's front and back direction» skill was
meant to confuse us, and we had moved five meters away from the
path of the forest. At this degree it was still easy to go back to the path.
In heavier mist, leaving ten meters from the path would be trouble.

While moving along the trail, Asuna said.

 139/150
"I keep getting...... an extremely evil feeling"

"Eh?"

"Because, that ghost tree just now, it was a still growing sapling, right?
Chopping it down makes me feel not environmentally friendly"

"This, like this, well, this is so......but, I think if anyone who has seen
the «Elder Treant» monster, will think "Must destroy it while it is in
the sapling stage"."

"......There is no need to talk like that. One Kibaou is enough."

As we were joking away, we returned to the path, and heaved a long

sigh. The golden rays that came from the roof of our heads came down
at a greatly changed angle, it looks like night was falling soon.

"......Continue. What did we come to this area to do......"

"To do......I say, that. It's what Kirito-kun said earlier, "I have a quest I
must complete."."

"It's that. That said, It was only possible for a quest...... the quest start-
ing NPC is in a random place. Asuna, are you confident in your ears?"

As I said this, I calmly looked away, as if nothing happened in the past,

and saw the rapier user cover her cherry red ears with her hands and
retreating a step back for some reason..

"......Kirito-kun, do you have an interest in that aspect? Do you have an

ear fetish?"

"Ce-ce-certainly not! In this situation, I am obviously not talking about

the shape, but the hearing ability......"
 140/150
"I'm just joking. Besides, it doesn't matter how good our hearing is.
We are not even listening to the sound using the vibration of the mem-
branes, its just the stimulation of the brain."

"......I see, it's like this. Then let's look for it together. If we rely on our
hearing ability it will be a lot easier......"

I straightened my back, despite knowing that it made little sense, I still

put my hands behind my ear, and Asuna imitated me, saying,

"Looking together is fine, but what kind of sound is it? Don't tell me
it's the sound of leaves dropping."

"Of course I won't. It's not a natural sound, but a metallic

noise......More specifically, the sound of swords colliding with each
other."

At these words, Asuna gave a dubious look, but quickly said

"understood".

Standing in the center of the path, Asuna and I put our backs together,
using a total of four ears to launch an all around search. Generally
speaking, the community would miss it, but because this was the virtu-
al reality, there were various skills in existence to detect various noises
in the surroundings. The chirping of the wind, the leaves rubbing to-
gether, an animal's footsteps behind us, the call of the birds...... I took
all these noises and filtered them out of my mind, looking for the stiff
quality of a man made noise......

"............!"

Asuna and I who were leaning on each other, trembled at the same
time. I faced right, while Asuna turned to the left, to look in the same
 141/150
direction......the south-west direction. Although it was quite subtle,
there were indeed sounds of sword skills coming from that direction.

"Let's go."

Asuna pulled on my coat as I walked a step forward.

"But, I thought we shouldn't go into the forest?"

"No problems, as long as you accept the quest you can return to the
road."

"......And if you don't accept?"

"It's really not a problem, camping equipments are already laid out!
Let's hurry!"

Advancing toward our target within the forest at a high speed, I head a
"Yaa......!" reminiscing sound, but it was quickly covered by the foot-
steps behind me.

Leaving the stone path, I ignored the moss covering the earth surface
which gave off a relaxing sensation to the soles of my feet. Avoiding
the gigantic trees' dry branches, we dashed towards the source of the
noise. If we encountered a mob it would be very troublesome, so I took
advantage of my mob searching ability to look for color cursors. Find-
ing a Treant growing out of the ground was difficult, but fortunately I
didn't encounter one.

After five minutes, the steel sounds became louder, and accompanying
the fencing sounds at the same time were yells. In the center of our
view, two NPC cursors appeared, and then I saw the reflected light ef-
fect off a tree trunk.
 142/150
Going around that tree would allow us to reach the battlefield we were
aiming for ―― at this time I stopped my feet, and stretched out my
right hand to stop Asuna. I made a gesture with my index finger to tell
her to be quiet, then the two of us hid together behind a tree trunk,
sneaking peeks past the edge of the tree, at the battlefield.

In a slightly larger clearing, two silhouettes were in a fierce battle.

One of them was a tall male with shining gold and green armor. In his
right hand was a long sword, while his left held a round shield, and at
a glance you would know that they were high grade goods. The hair on
his head was a beautiful platinum, and his external appearance made
one think of a handsome Scandinavian actor from Hollywood.

The other person, had armor which was in a contrast to the first, as it
was purple and black. The somewhat curved saber and small kite
shield used were both of a gloomy dark colour, but their quality was
just as good as the first person's. The short dark purple hair, and dark
skinned face appeared to possess a high level of good looks. Beautiful
red lips and a slightly bulging bosom indicated that that this black
swordsman was female.

"Haa!"

The platinum haired male gave a fierce roar, at the same time
swinging down the sword in his right hand.

"Yaa!"

The purple haired female countered with her saber. *Clang* a crisp
metallic sound resounded, and created a bright light that illuminated
the dark forest.

"......Are, are these really NPCs......?"

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Underneath me, Asuna did not dare to believe those words. I under-
stood her feelings. Their bodies' movements and vivid expressions
completely did not look as though they were controlled by a system,
like a soulless virtual body. However ――

"Look at their ears."

"Ei......Ah! Both of them ......sharp. This is......"

"The male is a «Forest Elf», while the female is a «Dark Elf». One
more thing, look at the top of their heads."

At his words, Asuna's line of sight was drawn slightly upward. She
once again gave off an "ah" sound.

Both of the fiercely battling warriors had a «!» sign above their heads.
It was the proof that they were the starting point of an NPC quest.
Normally, if you get close to them and speak, the quest would start im-
mediately. However ――

"Both of them have a quest, and they are both still fighting, what is the
problem here?"

"To put it briefly, you can only accept one quest. ―― I leave this im-
portant decision to you, Asuna."

At my words, the rapier user's line of sight left the Elves, as she raised
her head to look at me.

"Decision......?"

"Yup. The quest they give, is not a single nor consecutive type of quest.
It is the first of a large scale mission-type quest. It will start from this
floor until the ninth floor"
 Y-Yes, I do 144/150
"Ninth......"

Ninth Floor!? Asuna quickly covered her mouth before saying these
words, but her hazel eyes were enlarged in surprise. Looking at her
like this, I became very happy, and added even more astonishing
information.

"In addition to that, if you made a mistake you are not allowed to re-
start. Of course, you can't take the opposite route either. The route
chosen here, must be continued until the ninth floor."

"I say......you should have told me of this matter earlier......"

The angry expression Asuna had, suddenly gave way to a suspicious

one.

"......Opposing routes? In other words, those two Elves......"

"I see. Who to help, and who to fight. Black or white, which do you
choose?"

Listening to the question I raised, for some reason Asuna stared at me.

"......This, there's no alternative option right? It's fine in an ordinary

game, but we are currently in SAO. It's not like you can't go along the
route you went along as a beta tester. That ......I, have complete confid-
ence in whatever your choice is."

Uuu. It was my turn to fall silent. Asuna's eyes became indifferent, and
she used a resolute tone to assert.

"――The lady Dark Elf . Didn't you?"

"??????????[1]......But, but not because she was a girl, but because she
was dark skinned."
 145/150
――An excuse like that should not have worked, and I only saw Asuna
standing still, her head was turned to a side.

"Maa, this is fine. I didn't want to join the male to cut down the female
one anyway. Let's join the black elf and defeat the white one. Let's go."

After speaking these words very quickly, Asuna got ready to get out of
her hiding spot, and I quickly held on to her hood.

"Wait, wait. There is another important thing."

"Which is?"

"That is.... How to say, even if you chose to aid the black side, we can't
defeat the white Elf, regretfully."

"Eh......Eeeeh!?"

In order to keep the wide eyed Asuna calm, I rested my hand on her
slender shoulders before continuing.

"I can see from their valiant equipment, the white Elf is a Forest Elf,
the black Elf is a Dark Elf, and they are originally from the seventh
floor, and are in fact the elite mob there. No matter what methods to
ensure our safety while we fight, they are not opponents that people
like us who just came to the third floor can handle."

"Th-Then......What should we do? After all......If we die......"

"Relax, even if we lose we don't die. When our HP gauge is reduced to

half, we can join her party and she will use powerful skills, that will be
the time we can overpower the opponent. What we have to do is, don't
panic as we defend as much as possible, and wait for assistance. The
greatest danger is if we panic and escape, as the other monsters would
be drawn out and cause trouble."
 146/150
"............I understand."

"Good."

I pat Asuna on her back, then removed my hand.

"Then, dash out when I count to three. The quest will start by itself
once we are close, so you just need to stay beside me."

The rapier user nodded as she walked to my side, and when I counted
down starting from three, in my heart I gave a brief apology.

Actually, I had left out some information which I didn't tell Asuna.
Which was, the one we were preparing to assist ......the Dark Elf lady
named «Kizmer», in order to help us to suppress the Forest Elf, after
using her forbidden skill, she would sacrifice herself to take down her
enemy along with her. Even if we took the other path, which was to
join the Forest Elf to fight the Dark Elf, the end result was the same.
No matter which path we chose, these two Elves would die here, and
will soon be followed by a long military campaign......No, it was a story
about to unfold.

"......Two, One, Zero!"

As I finished counting down aloud, Asuna and I flew out to the open
space. The two elves in battle both looked at us at the same time, and
fiercely jumped back to put some distance between them. At the same
time, the «!» sign on both of their heads turned into «?».

"What are you humans doing in this forest?" the Forest Elf said.

"Don't come here and disturb us! leave us immediately!" These words
were said by miss Dark Elf.
 147/150
Of course, we could also leave at this time. But then the quest would
not begin. Asuna and I exchanged glances, then unsheathed our
swords together ―― and pointed the tip at the shiny breastplate be-
longing to the Forest Elf.

The handsome face gradually grew fierce. The NPC's yellow cursor,
began to flicker and was on the verge of becoming red.

"You're incredibly stupid...... you want to join the Dark Elves, so you
want to become the rust on my blade?"

"Yes......"

"Yes, but the one to disappear is this DV guy!"

After saying out his resolute lines, in front of me, who did not know
why he referred to me as DV, the Forest Elf's cursor changed. From
light yellow ―― it became a bright red. Woah real strong, and at this
moment, a beautiful and ruthless smile emerged on his handsome
face.

"All right, then I shall destroy you, human."

Shalaa! I concentrated to position my long sword, and at the same

time told Asuna,

"That's good, focus on defence."

―― Although this was the case, we still needed to hold out for three
minutes. I added in my heart, from the side of Asuna's face, I saw a
certain expression, and the disturbing feeling vanished. Because this
expression ―― only the rapier user Asuna in a serious mode would
come up with it, I found this out after having went adventuring with
her a few times.
 148/150
"That, defence...... focus......"

"I got it."

She whispered this, but her actions were the opposite, the rapier in the
rapier user's right hand suddenly gave off a fierce ray of light.

Twenty minutes later

"H......How is this possible............"

Leaving this words, the Forest Elf fell with a *pa* on the floor, and as I
continued to look at the situation before my eyes, I said the same
thing.

"H......How is this possible............"

No matter how many times we checked the enemy's HP gauge, it was

truly at zero. Opposite him, Asuna and I had both lost half our HP, en-
tering the yellow zone. During the beta period, a four man party in-
cluding me fought the Forest Elf, but we were defeated in two minutes.

"......What, as long as you put your mind to it, you can do it!"

At these words I turned my head, and an extremely tired looking yet

straight backed and hands aloft Asuna's eyes finally met mine. Then
our eyes shifted about a meter to the left. Standing there and holding a
black saber, was the Dark Elf looking at the floor.

Miss, isn't it time you died, this unclear line came to my mind. Look-
ing at the Dark Elf knight Kizmer, I saw her slowly raise her head,
looking at me.
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Her agate eyes was full of surprise and doubt, the expression in her
eyes seemed as though it was asking me, "What am I supposed to do
now?". However, this should be my imagination.

I hope that it is my imagination.

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