IMPORTANT NOTICE: I have, lately, come back to this fanfiction, and decided to read it to remember what I wrote and continue it, but I found it very grammatically challenged. I wanted to improve it, to make this fanfiction better entirely. Now that my English is better, if the style from a certain point on changes, it would be annoying. Hence, I will be doing a revision of all the chapters I wrote so far (with minor changes to the narrative) and then I will continue the fanfiction from where I left it off.

TL;DR: I'm going to re-write the fanfic and continue it. :)

Tic, tac, tic, tac.

Have you ever found yourself wondering why time flows inevitably?

Tic, tac, tic, tac.

Why it flows by without regard for the lives it ruins?

Tic, tac, tic.

I haven't...until now.

"Sachi!" I shouted as I threw my hand out towards the blue-haired girl. I wanted to run to her side, but if I did so, I would definitely be killed by the mobs attacking me. I tried shaking them with no success; my hands had long gone numb, and every swing of sword felt like a punch to the gut.

I redoubled my efforts, putting everything I had into fighting. If I just make a small opening... If I just break through...! Finally, I forced the mobs to distance themselves from me. I started running towards Sachi, who was barely holding her own.

"Sachi!" I forced a scream through my lungs. My hand stretched out towards hers, praying for it to reach in time.

Sachi turned around, spear in hand. She should've created an opening, a way of keeping the mobs at bay, but it hadn't worked. A golem, towering above her, launched a fierce attack at her back. It was a clean swipe she couldn't have blocked, overwhelmed by the sheer number of enemies.

I watched, my eyes filled with awe, as her HP bar started dropping.

7%... 6%...

I felt beads of sweat forming on my forehead.

5%... 4%...

I started to use up all my strength to reach her.

3%... 2%...

She lost her balance. I tried reaching further.

1%... 0.

Her HP dropped to 0.

She started falling towards the ground from the attack's recoil.

No – NOOOOOOO! Her avatar started flickering. She looked at me, her eyes filled with sorrow. I felt a sharp pain in my chest seeing her expression. She smiled and said, "thank you. Goodbye."

Her smile shattered into a million pieces. It dispersed into the air, quickly fading into nothingness.

Right there and then, I knew I'd watched the girl I promised to protect die.

I took a couple of seconds to realize she was gone. I felt something inside of me break - something I held dear until the very last moment, but couldn't protect.

The wish to bring Sachi outside of the game.

The wish to spend time with her.

The wish to see her smile.

They all burned up and turned to ash.

FUCK MY LIFE! I screamed from the depths of my soul. I felt my body shake violently from being attacked repeatedly, but it didn't seem to matter anymore.

My HP bar is depleting... so what? I've managed to break the only promise I found worth keeping; there isn't worth in me living any longer. I felt a shiver run through my body, knowing it was the truth. My heart was on the verge of breaking, but there was a reason it couldn't break just yet.

... What kind of logic is that? Just because of a stupid admin, Sachi had to die? I can't forgive that; I absolutely cannot forgive that. She had so much ahead of her - she wasn't particularly brave, but she was trying so hard. In due time, her effort would pay off. She could grow stronger, and eventually break out of this game. The mobs were cutting away at my HP, which was nearly depleted.

Right there and then, I made an oath to myself.

I will get to the 100th floor of Aincrad./p

I will learn the reason behind this massacre.

I will avenge Sachi's death.

So the first step is, "I WILL GET OUT OF HERE ALIVE!"

A flare of anger burst forth from my body. I was completely surrounded by mobs, and I had less than 15% HP to work with. With a clean diagonal slash from the bottom right, I got rid of a golem, and then I dragged the goblins to surrounding me to another corner of the room. From there, my instincts took over. I started slashing left and right, without a moment of rest. I felt my whole body burning… burning from the weight I decided to take on.

Somehow, I managed to get rid of the last goblin and moved on to the golems. There were only a dozen of them left, so I used several skills in quick succession to ensure they couldn't attack me. One of them parried my strike; I took the chance to glance at my HP bar. It was in the red, at less than 10%. I kept fighting.

In the end, I alone stood in the room that had killed off the Moonlit Black Cats.

I still have nightmares about that day. Keita's face, his footsteps towards the balcony, his fall through the sky.

I remember I couldn't do anything to stop him.

But I carried on. The burden I took on was too great for me to leave behind.

At some point, I stopped caring about my life, and that is where I am now.