Sitting here now as the rain pours outside, it really is hard to believe that I made it out safely. The whole thing seems silly when you think about it... one caring and powerful soul was able to free everyone form the curse that shocked the world in 2024. My eyes are still killing me. That's my only memento from the horror, aside from her. You'll know who she is by the end of this tale. My angel, my morning, my... blacksmith?

Yes, I believe she was my exclusive blacksmith. I think she still will be if I even touch anything related to Sword Art Online. I've quit that stupid game and I have no interest in returning for a long, long time (probably a week or two; time is weird for me). The tale itself, well, was actually more of a happy story than a sad one based on the experiences.

I can't remember exactly what time I started playing, but I remember hearing the announcement on Floor 1 and trying to remain as calm as possible, using the chaos around me as an advantage. Although that may sound selfish and cruel, letting everyone around me go nuts, it worked strictly to my advantage. I was able to single out several calm players, ones who were either beta testers or just smart enough not to run amok and get themselves killed in the first few hours. I approached each of them with the purpose of starting a guild, one that would help out new players and calm them down. Luckily, I was blessed with players who shared my interests, and we started a guild. We wanted the name to sound mysterious, not so much intimidating, one that wouldn't attract a large amount of players. We decided on the Dancing Shadows.

Months passed and things went well for the guild. The fourteen of us were assigned a floor to patrol (yes, I was taking orders in the guild that I formed; I stepped down as leader days after the guild was formed), looking for players in need of assistance, catching thieves, etc. As fate would have it, I was assigned Floor 48 on July 28th. As with all the other routine patrols, I walked around the floor, looking if anyone needed service. I had just helped out a rather new player with problems with his inventory when a strong, dusty smell hit my nostrils like a ton of bricks.

"See, you take your pointer finger and..." I paused and looked up at the "sky".
"Hm? What's up, man?"
"You don't smell that? It's raining."
"That's nonsense, it doesn't rain here!" Heavy drops fell and thunder roared. "...Oh."

The rain came down hard and I quickly looked around for cover. As I did, I heard splashing noises and turned around, seeing a pink-haired girl run with boxes in her hands. I called out.

"Hey! You shouldn't be running in this weather! Hey!"
"Huh?"

The girl turned to look back at me when she stepped in a puddle and slipped, falling on her bottom. The boxes that she was carrying opened and the supplies inside fell to the floor. I cringed as they shattered in blue particles and ran over to her as fast as I could.

"Hey, you alright? Sorry, I didn't mean to distract you, I-"
She quickly stood up, walked over and looked up at me closely with a blush on her face. "You freaking idiot! Why did you have to call me? I would have seen where I was going!"
"Clam down, I was just trying to..."

My sentence trailed off as she waited for me to finish my sentence. She was... attractive the first time I laid my eyes on her. Even with a look of anger and annoyance on her face, she looked... cute. My heart wasn't full of the feelings that it was when I saw her repair my sword back at her shop, but it got off to a good start.

"Why didn't you just put the supplies back in your inventory?"
"I panicked when the rain fell, okay? Give me a break!"
"Alright alright. Seriously though, I can help you get some new supplies if you tell me where you got them from."

She examined me closely, no doubt suspicious about what I was wearing; the Dancing Shadows uniform consisted of a hooded robe, quite similar to the Laughing Coffin's uniform. She stepped back uneasily.

"Don't worry, I'm not a creeper," I said, chuckling.
"You... sure about that? If you're lying, I can easily beat you to a pulp. I'm good with a mace, you know."
"Yeah." I told her about the Dancing Shadows and my patrolling. She sighed with relief and gave me a comforting smile, one that somehow warmed me up despite the cold feeling from the rain. What in God's name is going on right now?
"That's a relief, I wasn't in the mood for any more trouble."
"So, what exactly happened?"
"I was just picking up supplies from another floor and it started raining. I teleported back here and was running on my way to my shop when..." She shrugged.
"Oh. I have some extra teleport crystals on me, we can get your stuff back."
"It's fine, those were just some extra supplies, nothing necessary."

I looked at her outfit curiously; she looked more like a waitress than anything else in that dress.

"What kind of restaurant do you work in?"
She shot me another uneasy glance, this time with a bit of anger. "What the hell are you talking about? I'll have you know that I'm a blacksmith, and a pretty damn good one."
"Oh, my mistake. Sorry again about earlier, by the way."
Her uneasy glance turned into a devious smile, one that I would find myself falling in love with soon. She examined me closely again with her chin in her palm.
"No worries, but it looks like your armor needs some repair."

I looked at my armor and sighed, realizing that she was right. I stopped a gang of thieves who were preying on a newbie a few hours ago and didn't even think about repairs. I looked back up at her and that devious smile she wore, almost blushing at her childish and playful demeanor.

"...I guess you're right. I don't suppose you could help a fellow out?"
"Well, since you were just trying to help me out, I suppose I could assist you." She turned around and looked back, raindrops delicately slipping down her face, her freckles dim.

"My shop is this way!" She called playfully.