Where, is this?

The soft breeze rustled the grass beneath him, he sat up. Where was he? Standing up he felt something at his waist, reaching down he felt the hilt of the blade, its edge hidden by a solid leather sheath.

Suddenly he felt something moving towards him, it was a boar, as it charge he quickly jumped to the side. He felt its horn clip his waist as he backed off.

"Ah, sorry, it got away from me." The soft shout was heard from the distance. Taking a turn he tried to run in the opposite direction, maybe it'll go back to the voice, it didn't.

It doesn't give up does it?

Turning around he unsheathed his blade, the edge gleamed in the fading sunlight and he directed it at the boar, letting it run itself on the blade.

But it didn't die, taking a scratch to the side it leapt forward and hit him directly. He felt himself fly back for a few moments before crashing into the grass again. The boar still charging.

"Sword skill, use your sword skill." The voice was closer now, he just needed to hold it off for a few more seconds and they could take over.

This procedure continued for several goes before he noticed something, each hit was hurting more, his health bar was going down.

The voice was frantic now, "Get away, get away now!"

But there was nowhere left to run, he readied himself, keeping the blade close he felt what she said.

Sword Skill eh?

The boar was gonna crash into him, probably take him down to zero, but he could slash it down in the same instance. But he felt his arm freeze, it was too slow, the boar was gonna hit him first. He closed his eyes.

When he opened them he found he was still alive. A box hovered over the boar with exp and coin gains, he sighed in relief.

"You okay?" He turned to face her, "Level 5, not bad for a fellow solo player." He turned to face her, she was bit shorter than him, her orange hair was well kept.

"Want to form a party? I'm stuck here alone and the hunting ground is getting thin, as two people we could probably make it to the next village without any issues."

He nodded, accepting her request, the health bar appeared below his. "Won't you miss being a solo player?" She smiled at this, the joke had worked.

Level 3, Asuna?

"Shall we head out then." She smiled at him then turned, keeping pace he followed her, watching the rapier bounce from left to right.


"Nice job," as the monster disappeared in a burst of light crystals they paused so she could check the map again. "we're close and it doesn't hurt that there's still ample loot around here."

Then something flashed in the corner, a huge lizardman crawled out. "What the heck, that's not, possible." The cursor colour was listed in the guide book.

Dark Crimson: overwhelming disparity in level - avoid at all costs

They stood there facing it, the monster was of average height but the level difference was huge, a creature like this on the first floor? Maybe it was weak, like a free boost or special event.

It was a special event, just not a weak one. A single slash took them down to half health and their blows felt like nothing.

They tried to turn but their path was blocked with a small notice.

'One player must stay'

Before she could react he decided to act, taking both hands on her back he shoved her straight out the door. They slammed behind her as he could only see her hands reach out to him as they closed. He could hear the lizard man charge behind him. He smiled. At least she wouldn't have to die with him.

Damn, damn this game to oblivion.


Asuna sat there, unable to react. It had all happened so quickly, had she taken a wrong turn? No this path was used during the test as well but this zone never appeared. The party was broken, his health bar didn't even show up. Then the notice popped up.

'Congratulations on surviving the special event, beginner's ambush. Reward: Cloak of Sacrifice'

She felt the red fabric touch her skin as it was automatically equipped. She couldn't even hear the roar of the lizardman. It was over already, she sat there alone, the hood covering her face as tears streamed down.

Somehow she found the strength to stand, dragging herself to the next town.


He, was still alive. His health bar was almost empty, but he had survived the second hit. It charged again, the two handed sabre dragging along the ground, sparks flying as it slashed again. A hit that he couldn't even see.

But somehow he dodged it, the one after that and the one after that. He focused on attack, letting his instincts handle the blade. His luck held. He couldn't even count how many close calls he had as he hammered at the boss little by little.

He did it, he killed it. Kotoru's arms felt like lead, his blade was badly scratched but his armour was nearly unharmed.

'Congratulations on clearing the special event, beginner's ambush. Reward: Cloak of Unity'

He sat there, the black cloak dropped onto him. He gasped for air.

'Congratulations on being the first to clear achievement, Survivor of Death. Unique Class unlocked: Reaper"

He read the class and its most basic skill was clear to him. The achievement was to survive alone with under 1% health against a mini-boss level monster for six hours. Was that how long he was fighting?

'Skill: When health is below 1%, massive damage boost'

He dragged himself out, barely able to keep his blade up. His head spun from exhaustion, but something guided him, an exterior force. He felt like a puppet, a puppet to the game.

Found you...


Asuna sat alone in the meeting. If he was still alive he'd be here, but he wasn't, she didn't even remember to put him on her friend list.

The words seemed distant to her, she scanned the crowd with false hope. As someone spoke beside her, she didn't notice them at first.

"You got left out too?"

She didn't even turn, her response was not even focused.

"A solo player?"

Won't you miss being a solo player?

It was all she could do to keep herself from crying. She felt her throat stick up, she didn't dare open her mouth. Quietly she tried to steady her breathing.

In her mind those last few moment flashed through, his thoughtless sacrifice to save her. They'd known each other for about a few days at best. She gritted her teeth, making sure the hood was low enough to cover her teary eyes.

Damn this game.


"Beater? You say?" the man in front of him nodded.

"They say he sacrificed the group leader so that he could get the killing blow bonus when they cleared the first boss. I don't know his name, but they say he wears the item he gained like a trophy."

"Do you know where I can find him?" The information broker pointed at the map.

"I assume he's going to go the best spot for hunting, beta testers say that it's here. But he might know a better place."

Kotoru left in a hurry. Taking routes risky for his level he cleared them as he did the ones before, going directly to the zone. He was hunting again and it felt good. On the first floor he could only go after petty thieves and some hunting ground hogs, now he felt like he was hunting a real criminal.

The memory of Asuna flashed through his head, he knew she was still alive. She wouldn't die that easily.

Sacrifice

He stopped, he could hear the sounds of swords in the distance. Perhaps this was him, he drew his own blade and moved into the field. As he did the monster the person was fighting was defeated and he was face to face with its previous opponent.

"Asuna..."


Impossible...

"Asuna? You made it this far too? I'm so glad to see you're alive." She stood there, how could she react to this, the tone. How could his tone be so casual?

"Idiot." He stopped, "How are you still alive? Is this some sort of joke?"

"Asuna..." He looked at her, both hers eyes were staring at him in horror. "I managed to beat it somehow, I farmed a bit on the first floor so my level isn't too far behind..."

"You, you look so much like him."

He snapped, he noticed finally how much damage he had caused. Was she that attached to him in such a short period of time. "I don't have time for this, I'm looking for someone, but I don't think a person like you could possible know anything."

"What?" Make her hate you, make her hate you.

"The boss room was easy, after a person is outside of the room the boss gets much weaker. Then whoever is left can easily get several levels in one go." Keep going, don't stop lying, "I led you there on purpose, thinking you would forget me and run. But you got in the way, so I gave you a little push."

She was walking towards him, "Did you really think I gave a damn about you or..." he felt her hand strike him across the face, he tumbled a few feet and lay there on the ground. He heard her left and at moment he knew he had succeeded.

So why was he the one in tears now?


"You gave up on the hunt? What... And I was excited about you two fighting too, some say he's the strongest right now."

"I lost the right to judge him. Nozo"

"Lost it? What are you talking about?"

"For an information broker you sure are nosy." He closed his eyes and tried to sleep. But she had grabbed his face.

"Wake up you lazy bum, I'm not letting you just sleep it off here inside my room, get your own in the inn." He didn't budge.

"Just let me stay the night, I'm tired and broke. I don't have enough money to rent my own room." At this he felt her drag him by the collar.

"Hey what the heck do you think you're doing?"

"Dragging you to the front lines, I'm not letting a meeting like that end with you being a lazy bum."


(Before)

"Hey, are you all right?" she stood there, sword at her side as the figure limped out. "Can you tell me about the area there, is it some kind of dungeon?"

He collapsed onto the ground, she ran over and caught him, she sighed. The town was quite close and she couldn't just leave him here to die. She grabbed him by the waist and tried to hoist him up, but she could barely manage.

Slowly but steadily she dragged him into town, so what if people stared at them the entire way, she didn't believe in chance encounters.

The game wanted this to happen, fate if you will.


"What do you mean you're not going any further? Don't we need to clear the game as fast as possible?" The party was large, two groups of six for a total of twelve people. The mix of people was also good, a few shields and enough damage based people.

"I told you it's too risky, the information compiled by beta testers on this stage is limited and the first boss was different. We need to wait for more people first."

"Get out of my way."

"Hey what the hell do you mean by that?" He shoved him aside and went to the doors, "The first boss made us lose a few people, the second boss was nearly as bad. In the testing the third boss is special, you can't leave the boss room."

Kotoru turned, his eyes were red, bloodshot, "Let, me, through." The group backed off, he slowly walked to the doors and shoved them open. "Nozo, disband party. Wait for me to clear the boss alone."

The doors slammed shut, the entire group started to laugh. A soft, scared kind of laugh.

He's crazy

He's gonna die for sure

What's his problem anyway?

"Ah the rest of our party is here." five more groups walked up to make forty two people in total, "Well then let's go in." The doors wouldn't budge.

"He's still in there? Damn it, is he just playing safe?" Then the door came loose and fell inwards. There alone in the centre circle, was Kotoru.

"You're kidding..., is he, is he one of those beaters?"

'Congratulations'

He was laughing, laughing his head off. His HP bar was low, nearly at zero. He turned around, the blade still in his hand.

"Who needs a party?"


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