Chapter 0: A very different origin
If Kirito had to describe his experiences with MMORPGs he would say that they are almost exactly all alike. The genre and story will never be the same game-to-game but they are almost always too crowded & class based. It was for that reason that he was impressed with the concept and BETA of Sword Art Online or otherwise known to the waiting masses who wanted to play it, SAO. SAO lacked a cohesive overarching story, there was no real big enemy to kill beside the floor raid boss on each of Aincrads one hundred tower floors and best of all in his opinion there was no class selection. Even as his avatar stared around over the cliff edge his fingers clenched at the strap of a satchel across his chest.
The sound of a snorting boar broke the silence as its beady eyes caught on the avatar and stamped its hoof.
Kirito turned his head just enough and sighed. Wild boar and dire wolves didn't really concern him as much as the other starting players but were they ever a pain in the ass. As the mob enemy attacked he rolled his eyes pulling his starter sword out and one Horizontal later the boar was dead shattering into polygons. "Trash mobs" he said shaking his head. Just as he was ready to head back to the Town of Beginnings he heard the sound of someone in trouble and was half tempted to just let them be. If you got your ass handed to you by a trash mob spawn you really shouldn't be playing SAO or any type of MMO, at least that was his opinion. It was only seeing a wild boar nearly knock a guy over the cliff after ramming him in the crotch that he intervened. "I swear to Kami this is my singular act of kindness for the day." Picking up a pebble from the ground he altered his position til the pebble turned red and threw it.
Before he was thrown off the cliff the player who had been having trouble with the boar saw it shatter to polygons. Being fairly tall and redheaded with a goatee the guy was fairly good looking. "Thanks for the help" he said scatching at his cheek sheepishly. "I'm-"
"Don't care, try to die somewhere else where I am not." Kirito walked past the guy who was slack jawed at his words. "Word of advice and I only give one piece of advice out for free, before you go level grinding read the book in your inventory. Its as close to a tutorial as we all get. May just keep you from having another embarrassing incident rat face" he said with a dismissive wave over his shoulder as he walked away.
"MY NAME IS KLEIN!"
"I don't care" Kirito said still not looking back.
"DICK!"
"I know I have one, how about you? Or perhaps all three inches went into the length of your bony ass legs."
As the sun began to set on the horizon he was returning from a particular monster field with high respawn rates when he felt a strange sensation. Before he could blink, or cover his eyes, he was surrounded in blue light. "Note to self: never go that far out for extended amounts of time. This Alpha launch may be more buggy than I thought and auto teleport you back to the Town after a certain distance & time" he muttered under his breath as he regained his bearings. All around him the central plaza was packed to the gills with what appeared to be every person who bought the game. 'What in the name of Kami is going on?' he thought.
Above the players the sky tiles were replaced with warning signs til they filled the entirety of it. Between the tiles a thick red 'liquid' seeped out from the cracks separating one from another before dripping down onto the players.
Kirito grimaced as he felt some drip onto his hand. His first reaction was that it was blood but that couldn't be right. They were in a digital game and no matter how realistically you could code everything to simulate their real world counterpart, coding a program to mimic the texture and feel of blood was too complex. He knew, he tried to do it once for a computer science project at school for a game he was developing as a year end final exam. Yet try as he might to say this was not blood, because no one could bleed in SAO, he couldn't say it wasn't blood either. Some of the blood-like substance gathered forming a figure cloaked in a red cloak with gold trim and a hood that shadowed the face that floated in the air high above the crowd.
"Hello players of Swort Art Online! Welcome to the Alpha launch of my brain child. I know many of you are wondering why there is no log-out button on your menu" the giant red robed avatar who appeared spoke. "This is no bug let me assure you. You are all trapped here with one goal: beat Sword Art Online."
"MMORPGs can't be beat! That's the point of them!"
"I WANT TO GO HOME!"
The shouts of nearly every player resounded at once til screens appeared around the floating avatar. News coverage from around the globe detailing the death of hundred of people who logged in to the Alpha of Sword Art Online. This shut everyone up immediately. "This is not a little fun game anymore let me assure you that. If you die in here, you die in the real world. If your family or someone tries to remove your NerveGear, your brain is toast since the internal battery will fry it thanks to the microwaves that it emits."
Panic returned to the crowd yet the only one who wasn't freaking out was Kirito. Unlike everyone else who was panicking like a headless chicken he was angry. This was visibly evident by the violent twitching of his eyebrow. "You called this your brain child so that means your Kayaba the developer!" he yelled with a seething rage.
The floating avatar gave a mocking clap. "Well well, one of you has a mind that is more observant than others. Yes, I am Akihiko Kayaba the lead developer of this little world. Ten thousand of you logged in for the launch. There are already two hundred and eighty deaths. Beat all one hundred floor bosses, clear the floors and you will all be able to escape this world I made. But keep in mind" the outline of a malicious smiling face emoji appeared in the darkness of the hood "you die here, you die out there." Kayaba pointed to the monitor screens broadcasting the coverage of the deaths.
Kirito froze as he saw coverage of his family crying as he was taken away in an ambulance. His aunt had done so much for him that seeing her like this killed him and Sugu… shaking himself he heard the tail end of Kayaba saying he left a gift in all their inventories. Opening his inventory warily he saw a mirror and took it out like everyone else. One look into it and he was blinded by light as whatever the mirror was meant to do activated for all players at once. When his eyes cleared panic raced through his, or should I say her, veins. She'd always hidden her gender in MMORPGs because guys were perverts no matter what and when they found out she was a girl, this was in her early days of first trying out MMORPGs and not hiding her gender, they'd harass her for the dumbest stuff.
Unlike the stererotype of gamer girls being ugly or Plain Janes, Kirito knew she was pretty good looking. Long purply black hair, her aunt-slash-adopted mom said it was technically called slate black, fell between her shoulder blades contrasting pale skin and royal purple eyes. She was above average height for a teenage girl and pretty busty for a fifteen going on sixteen year old.
"Now that the masks you wear are gone the game can now begin in earnest. Ta ta kiddos!" Kayabas avatar disappeared with a giant 'Kayaba has logged out' appearing in the space the avatar had occupied just to rub salt in their wounds.
All around her Kirito saw people freaking out at being revealed for their real life looks. Some people cross-played like her, some guys had melted into girls and some girls melted into guys, while others who kept their avatar close to their actual looks seemed to only shift just enough to be their real world selves.
"You're a girl?!"
Kirito turned her head and glared at the person who was yelling at her. "What of it rat face?" she aske with her lip curled back in a sneer. She was not a social creature and now she would have to be if she hoped to survive this nightmare in any amount of time. Digging through her satchel she pulled out a box that fit in the palm of her hand and stomped on it after tossing it on the ground. A column of black smoke shot up around her. If there was one thing in being a BETA tester for the game was that she had done, and thankful for, was beat the seemingly impossible quest Kayaba opened in the last week of the BETA as a solo player. It had been a pain in the ass and she nearly died a handful of times but it was done and it granted her a boon, one that would make the Alpha launch easier.
Klein stepped back coughing as he breathed in the smoke. He thought the Kirito guy was a bit bitchy earlier and for him to see that he was actually a she, well it made more sense to him now. When the smoke cleared his eyes were wide as saucers. Instead of being dressed in her clothes she had been wearing prior to putting her NerveGear on for the game launch- a pair of black skinny jeans, a burgundy blouse and flats with a sweater tied around her waist- she was now covered in armor fit for what could be described as a warrior queen. If he had to use a reference from the real world he would say she almost appeared like a valkyrie only her armor was black with red trim instead of the mythical tellings of white gold colored. "What are.."
Kirito ignored Kein in favor checking her gear and cursed as one of her key pieces of gear was in need of serious repair and the amount of gold on hand she saved from the BETA plus the starting gold afforded to newbies so they could buy starter gear wouldn't be enough to get the durability to even half.
One of the other players gasped drawing attention to themselves. Many eyes turned to her watching as she pointed at the armored character. "Its her!" the girls gasped.
"Her who? And how the hell does she have armor like that already?!" one guy demanded with anger.
"The SAO boards during the BETA testing said there was a tester who had armor like a valkyrie. You know, female Norse myth warriors that brought slain heroes to Valhalla? Everyone brushed it off as just a tester puffing up a myth. Anyone a part of the BETA was supposed to lose all their gear, stats and level to start fresh like us at level one but there was a quest put out one week by Kayaba before the BETA ended. Each BETA tester could only attempt the quest once and if they died during the quest they got kicked and had to wait for the Alpha to launch to return to SAO. If they were able to complete the quest they were granted a boon but it was never said what" the girl said stil in awe. "A lot of people tried the quest and failed, roughly fifty five percent according to the forums and oddly the majority were female BETAs. Those who didn't try the quest made mentions of seeing a flying female character and the women took to calling her Freya after the valkyrie queen since no one knew the girls IGN."
Kirito hadn't paid attention to the talk around her as she remapped her skills to her build prior to the BETA closing and made her way out of the Town of Beginnings like a bat out of hell. She was high enough a level to solo the first boss Illfang by herself thanks to beating the last BETA quest and keeping not just her gear but retaining half of her BETA characters max level, level twenty seven to be exact from what had been a fifty four, so she could open the way to the second floor. Opening her menu she typed up the name of her information broker she knew would be in the game and sent off a quick message as she ran ignoring the horde of people behind her. Activating one of her skills she covered a lot of ground in a single leap leaving her pursuers in the dust quite literally.
Back in the Town of Beginnings a girl with gold blonde hair and milk chocolate colored eyes saw a message pop up before her. She didn't know anyone… Seeing the name she grinned as her eyes lit up at the message contents. "Oh Ki-chan, you naughty little bitch" she said to herself laughing as she sent a message back saying she'd agree to the request in exchange for the Last Attack Bonus Item Kirito got for soloing the boss. The reply was less than a moment away with 'Alright Argo, I don't need a cosmetic item like the CoM anyway with the gear I have from the BETA. Plus a Rat like yourself needs to be stealthy to dig up dirt for me'. Oh yes, this may now be a life and death game but with Kirito- affectionately dubbed Ki-chan by herself just to annoy her reluctant somewhat friend- in it there was bound to be a lot of work guaranteed for her as an info broker. So many people would want to know about her Ki-chan, what skills she possessed and where she unlocked them in-game, try to make offers to buy her gear off her.. Just imagining the amount of gold she would rake in while passing off false information as promised in exchange for the Cloak of Midnight made her rub her hands together. This was going to be fun after all and perhaps this time around she would be able to tell her Ki-chan what she could not in the BETA.
"Argo! Come on, its time to grind."
The blonde girls avatar, now identified as Argo, looked over to her friend and fellow BETA tester Agil. The mountain of a dark skinned man was fairly specialized like herself, she was an information broker and he was more of a player merchant, so suggesting they grind meant one of two things. The first was grind their respective specialty skills, this was the most likely option in her mind. The other option was that he meant it was time to level grind to be useful towards clearing, a viable idea but with their styles of play less likely. "Skill grind or level gind mountain man?" she asked with a teasing smirk.
Agil just rolled his eyes at Argo's cat like teasing. "Both" the man replied. "So who was the message from? I can probably guess who with all certainty though but we only been in the game a few hours and we haven't ran into anyone else from the BETA."
"Oh no special, just Ki-chan" Argo said skipping off toward the east Town exit.
"Kirito huh? Did she want anything important? The games only begun and between the three of us we know near everything up to floor twelve" Agil said easily keeping pace with Argo. Before the mirrors revealed their true looks he and the short blonde were the only ones to know what Kirito's true gender was.
"Oh I struck a deal with her is all. I get the CoM from her if Illfang still drops it as the Last Attack Bonus Item and I spread false information about her once the brokers are really up and running. Everyones going to want to know everything about her and when I establish myself as the most reliable information broker with my army of minions-"
"Argo, if other BETAs who helped to build the guide up with you are here you can't call them your minions" Agil interrupted.
Argo pouted and stopped to smack Agil's arm. "Why not? I did it in the BETA and they didn't disapprove. One even called me Mistress!" she said with a whining tone.
"Yes she did and she was being sarcastic about it Argo."
Argo crossed her arms under her chest and huffed. "They are minions! If they don't like it they can talk to me about it" she said defiantly before beginning to walk again. "But as I was saying, I get the Cloak as an early boost to my stealth and I'll spread false information to the idiots who pay me to dig up dirt on Ki-chan."
"Yandere stalker" Agil muttered under his breath as he bought a starter sword from an NPC.
"What did you just call me?!" Argo roared chasing Agil outside the exit, censor bleeps filling the air.
-meanwhile with Kirito-
A violent sneeze ripped through causing her to faceplant into a tree. Groaning in pain, purely out of reflex, Kirito stumbled a few steps back palming her face. How in the hell do you program a sneeze into a video game?! "Whose talking about me? Can't be just Argo. Shes too reliable to talk about me flippantly. Maybe she ran into one of the other BETAs we quested with?" she asked herself. Shaking her head of the thought she worked her way through the horde of Little Nepinth managing to collect four ovules, thank the RNG spawn gods, and enough upgrade supplies to get her soon to be in possession Anneal Blade to at least +4 right off the bat. With a final slash she put down a trap Little Nepinth, without activating the trap, before making her way back to Honrunka Village. The gold joined her cache but the Anneal Blade was automatically equipped as she entered the blacksmith and upgraded it dumping three points into sharpness and one into durability. With that done she decided to call it a night as she bought a room in the inn.
Stowing her armor and gear in her inventory Kirito stripped down to the buff as she relaxed in a bath wondering what hell she caused in the past to be trapped in a death game. When she got out of this hell she was going to make right with her sister, well Suguha was technically her cousin but that was splitting hairs, for being a bit distant lately. Family was important no matter the link or its form and right now she actually missed her clingy sister snuggling up to her at night like they before she found out she was adopted and started to put space between them. For all intents and purposes she was Suguhas older sister. She loved her, protected her, helped her… "I'll make it up to you I promise Sugu… Even if it kills me I promise I'll make things right between us" she said to herself before sliding down into the water so it was just above her nose, her hair fanned out protecting her modesty from anyone- NPC or player- who might look in her window.
Three weeks.
It took exactly three weeks for the majority of the new players to map out the first floor and come together to form a battle plan to take down Illfang. At least that was the information Argo had given Kirito after she sent the boss room coordinates to the broker once it was soundly thrashed. She wasn't too surprised to see Agil and a few other BETAs they quested with in the BETA with Argo since the woman drew people in like flies. "So tell me again how hopeless they are" she asked opening a trade screen with the information broker.
Argo snorted accepting the cloak and equipped it immediately. She took a moment to admire the sleekness of the black duster before looking to the only other woman in the group. "Terribly hopeless Ki-chan. When we passed by like we were going to level grind they were all gathered up swinging their metadata dicks in a form of pissing contest to see who would lead the raiding party against Illfang" the blonde said rolling her eyes. "How long did it take you to solo Illfang anyway?"
Kirito shrugged nonchalantly as she toyed with a senbon styled needle she had picked up between scouting runs on various things. "Twenty minutes about… four days after Kayaba said we were trapped in this life or death game" she said like it wasn't a big deal. "That was after having the RNG spawn and loot god smile upon me as I did the Secret Medicine of The Forest quest along the way. Had four of the little buggers spawn in the space of like six hours and gathered enough materials to put my Anneal Blade to +4 right off the bat."
Some of the other BETA testers eyebrows twitched at that. "You could only do that if-"
"Yes I could only solo the boss because I beat the godly hard quest Kayaba released one week before the BETA ended. Granted I lost half my level but I kept all my gear, gold and skills. Why else would that person freak out and know about me after I broke the boon I got for beating the Black Labyrinth quest line?" Kirito asked sarcastically through a glare aimed at the guy who was closing in on level fifteen while the fight with Illfang had boosted her to twenty eight.
"Ok so five days out you solo the first boss quite soundly."
Kirito nodded to Agil's statement.
"What exactly have you been doing for the last sixteen days then?" Argo asked finishing the dark skinned mans thought.
"You really want to know?" Kirito asked as she motioned the group to follow her. Just because she preferred to play solo didn't mean she was incapable of working with others. "Sleeping, mobbing and questing on the second floor. Not for nothing guys but I needed the repair materials for my sword and armor badly. The majority of the gold is still in circulation since I didn't touch the fetch quests but the ones with material reward I hit way hard so the pickings are going to be slim and you'll need to do a lot of MF for materials or buy it from the markets before the meat shields get here."
"MF?" one of the BETAs asked.
"Mob farming" Argo said clarifying for Kirito as the girl shoved open the door to the second floor. "Ki-chan uses her own shorthand for a lot of things related to MMOs. MF, MP, DNE etc. Each one has its own designation and reason behind it. MF, for example, is a general grind whether it be for gold or materials. MP on the other hand is short for Money Pit which would suggest theres either a quest that gives a lot of money as reward or resources to be taken and resold for a huge profit if you don't need to use them for any reason."
"Argo, don't give away too many of my secrets" Kirito said with a warning look over her shoulder.
"I'd never dream of that Ki-chan" Argo said with a snow wouldn't melt in hell smile. "Its not like you gave me your personal map data with all your markers and I sold it at an exorbitant price to the highest bidder."
"Argo, are you looking to make my exile list?" Kirito asked with a short neutral tone.
"No, I'm saying I wouldn't give away your secrets. What kind of friend do you think I am?" Argo asked feigning a hurt expression.
Agil cleared his throat gaining the attention of everyone. "As entertaining as the byplay is ladies, we should get questing. We have maybe a week more before the huge raiding party makes it move on the boss room and they find out its been already beaten" the dark skinned man said.
"Why do you think I waited so long to contact you guys? I knew Argo would find her minions-"
"See! I told you they were my minions!" Argo crowed triumphantly.
Kirito karate chopped Argo on the head forcing the blonde to faceplant. "As I was saying, Argo would find her minions and bring them along with her when I sent word about the room being cleared. I partly guessed you would be with her Agil considering you brokered all our trash loot sales in the BETA to other players and would stick on Argo like glue if she found you. In the meantime I jumped on some of the heavy material reward quests to fix my gear up and avoided activating the arch like the plague. Five days in and the arch activates to floor two? I could see more than a fair share of people dying due to being monumentally under leveled" she finished as she pulled Argo up by the collar. "What have we learned Argo?" she asked the blonde like a teacher scolding their student.
Argo pouted cutely as she glared lightly at Kirito. "Never interrupt Ki-chan while shes talking or I get Ki chopped" she said.
Kirito nodded her head and opened up a trade window selecting a cookie from her inventory. "Good girl, heres a cookie" she said with a smile.
Argo said nothing accepting the cookie and muttered curses under her breath while nibbling the cookie. "So what quests haven't you hit? Besides the fetch quests I mean" she said as she noted her minions already paying rapt attention to what the other girl had to say.
"Affinity quests for specialty items like rapiers and two handed unique weapons. You know me Argo, my specialty is one handed." Kirito pondered for a moment before summoning her menu and pulled up her map data. "I'll sell you and your minions my map data on two conditions" she said looking rather thoughtful. "Keep in mind its not complete but about three quarters of the floor is explored."
Argo quirked a brow. "Depends on the conditions Ki-chan. You know I'm a business woman after all even though I am your friend" the blonde said.
"Number one, whoever you sell this map data too it is not cheap. I've slogged the last near three weeks to get this data flushed out. It is not going to be sold for a dime" Kirito said with a firm look.
"Oh come now Ki-chan, when I have ever sold anything for a dime?" Argo asked now actually looking hurt. She never sold information for cheap, nothing that was important anyway.
"Point taken. Number two and I won't budge on this, twenty five percent of the data sale is mine. From all of you" Kirito cast her gaze to the other brokers she knew worked for Argo "and not just Argo. Take it or leave it" she said.
The brokers huddled up to talk while Argo immediately nodded her head. A quarter share of the data sale was more than fair and since she had the foresight to find her minions quickly she jumped on the train to form a 'company' where all the money made from their work was deposited into a account she controlled the payments dispersals from as the 'company' owner. Forming a 'company' on the first floor where things were dirt cheap meant that she could avoid the balloon pricing of later floors when guilds and 'companies' were formed normally. "We're in, twenty five percent is fair considering you did most of the leg work" one of the minion brokers said speaking for the rest of them. "Does this data include a key of your markers Argo was talking about?"
"No, that is not part of the deal. Cities, towns and quest hubs will be marked by triangles but my notes on whats where is mine and mine alone. You really think I want everyone to know where you can make a ton of cash off farming drops and reselling them at an inflated price? I don't run a charity here boys" Kirito said scoffing. "When the raid party comes through and activates the arch I'll sell Argo the data as the primary buyer before she distributes copies of the data to you lot for resale. Til then we were all BETA testers so we know where the quest givers are, get going and grind. This closed economy system is going to die as soon as the meat shields come through."
"Why do you keep calling the newbies meat shields?"
Kirito just grinned slyly. "We all know this a life and death game but if you're going to be dead weight then the only use for you is a meat shield to protect the people who can beat the bosses and get us the hell out of here. Plus, it won't be long til PK guilds pop up. Argo, you remember Laughing Coffin from the BETA?" she asked.
Argo shivered at the name and the thoughts it dredged up. "Don't remind me, guys were creepy as hell. Damn perverts of the highest order too" she said bluntly.
"That's part of my point too. If it comes down to me and some random, sorry not sorry but I choose my life over some person I don't know hence forth they are the meat shield. Well ta gents and Argo, I have some quests to turn in. Materials to claim, levels to grind." Kiritio turned on heel making her way out of the main city toward a village on her map where several quests were grouped up together
"That girl has issues" one of the minion information brokers said shaking his head.
"Nah.. Ki-chan is just a misanthrope that has just cause to not trust most of the human race. What that reason is I don't know but her chip, its not over something petty. Now lets scatter and start on level grinding my minions. Knowing Ki-chan as well as I do she purposefully left the fetch quests untouched because she was going to call on us before the 'first raid party'" Argo used air quotes as she snorted "tried to take down Illfang. The coffers for gold rewards will be full which gives us the money to up our gear before the unwashed masses flood through in about a week if Diabel and the other meat heads keep up their pissing contest. It also allows Agil" she pointed to the tall man beside her "to buy the premier building to barter out drops to others before property prices skyrocket due to the population influx. We wrote the damn guide given to everyone, why are you worried about Ki-chans chip when we should be questing to run the coffers empty? Go!"
The brokers scattered at the barked order.
Agil shook his head at Argo. "Girl, you really need to learn to chill out. I know you care about Kirito but you don't have to bite their heads off about saying she has issues. We both know that she does in fact have issues Argo. You can't deny that fact as much as I think you wish you could" the man said.
"I'm not denying I care nor am I denying that she has her own issues and demons Agil. I just.." Argo almost looked lost for a moment before she shook her head clearing away the mental fog. "I won't tolerate them degrading her like that ok? Shes my friend Agil, shes your friend too, even if shes hesitant to use the actual word itself. Remember when we first met her in the BETA? All closed up, never talked unless absolutely necessary? I don't want her to be that person again after all the hardwork we put in to open her up to being somewhat social even if it was only for questing purposes here in SAO."
Agil frowned remembering meeting Kirito for the first time. He had assumed she was male because of her avatar and considered her to be a somewhat righteous sociopath. While never actively making a move against people he'd more often than not see her PK BETA testers who PKed people just to level up and steal their gear before tracking the respawned avatar of the victim and returning the gear without a word. Of course she kept the original PKers gear and sold it while pocketing the gold as a lesson to the asshole in question. "Yeah I remember. Just tone it down alright Argo? Kirito is a big girl who can fight her own battles. I mean she beat the Black Labyrinth quest Kayaba said was impossible to do as a solo. If she well and truly needs help she'll come to us" he said patting the blonde on the head.
-one week later-
"Alright men! We're about to take on the first boss and I have to say-"
"Is the boss door supposed to be open?"
The man who had begun to make what he had rehearsed as a morale speech turned his head. His eyes confirmed that his second in command was indeed right, the boss door was wide open. Not only was it open but the room was empty! He charged into the room despite his men making panicked calls to be rational and almost growled seeing a sign planted into the floor reading:
This boss was soloed by your friendly neighborhood BETA tester. You're welcome for saving your lives. The attack patterns and weapons changed from the BETA so don't rely as heavily on the guide allotted to you for boss information. This concludes your free PSA; the next time I charge.
"The boss is already beaten!" the man called out as he broke the sign out of the ground in irritation. The exclamations ranging from infuriated to disbelieving hit his ears as the men charged in with weapons drawn cautiously.
"Bloody hell, who the hell beat the boss already?" a young woman in medium weight armor with a British accent asked taking in the size of the room.
"A solo BETA tester" the original man who entered the room said tossing the sign to the group. He saw the same frustration appear on their faces as he stalked toward the stairs leading to the second floor door. The only way for them to not know the boss was defeated was to not activate the transport to the first floor from the main city on the second floor and this only frustrated him more. How long had the boss been beaten? How many BETA testers passed through and didn't activate the arch to farm Kami knows how much of the limited gold and material quest drops?
"I told you that the BETA testers were no good Diabel" a man said jogging to keep up with the first.
"If you would have listened to reason Kibaou we could have had a proper raid with this BETA tester and been well on our way to finding the second floor boss" Diabel said with a snarky attitude. "I mean for Kamis sake, who knows how much xp we could have gained and upped the chances of more frontline people surviving the raids on higher floors when the bosses get harder and harder? I don't care about the money but we need high level people on our side to get out of this game alive. We need good high level people with good gear on our side to escape this thing to alive and that means we need the BETA testers who know this game a million times better than us. You publically railing against them as evil and villainous scum bags is not going to help the cause of us getting out alive."
The man identified as Kibaou scowled darkly at the accusation. "Yet those same people left us on our own and don't even bring up the guide book again. That BETA who left the sign even said it isn't completely reliable anymore. How many people have died since the launch because they didn't actively help us" he bit back challengingly.
"How many people are alive right now because a BETA tester solo fought and beat the boss?"
Both men turned and found a young woman with chestnut hair shooting Kibaou a dirty look. "That's com-"
"Shut up and be rational" the girl growled in annoyance. "Half these guys" she motioned to the massive party trudging up behind them "are not worth the weapons they carry. I'd trust the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz to fight more bravely and follow orders against a rampaging floor boss than these stooges. Whoever the hell this BETA is kept an eye on the early groups and realized that there was no way on Kamis green earth we'd have a feasible raid group ready in time for the first boss where we wouldn't take casualties. Taking the initiative to save lives from being needlessly thrown away is not something to bitch about you ungrateful bastard."
Kibaou didn't even have a comeback as he stared at the girl.
"I just said the same thing pretty much" Diabel said shrugging his shoulders. "Alright listen up! Since the boss was already killed we're entering the second floor possibly under level. Buddy up and go mobbing to make up for the lost xp. Don't take any unnecessary risks and use your teleport crystals back to the safe zone of the main city once the location switches if you have to. We need fighters not martyrs to get home to the people we love."
The group nodded as many were composing messages to the people back in the Town of Beginnings to make their way to the arch at the center of town.
-at the same time in Kiritos hotel room-
Kirito was mid sip of her drink when a violent series of sneezes ripped through her. The drink glass went flying and shattered into pixels once it hit the ground while the 'drink' itself soaked into her shirt. "Son of a bitch" she cursed to herself. Switching her now wet shirt with a dry one from her inventory she walked out to the balcony of her hotel room and saw the en masse migration of people coming through the now active archway. "Now the battle truly begins" she said to herself.
"What battle are you talking about Ki-chan?" Argo asked as she exited the bathroom drying her hair with a towel.
"The raid party finally made it here and activated the arch to let the noncombatants from the first floor through Argo" Kirito said looking briefly over shoulder to Argo who was dressed only in a tank top and shorts. "You got the gold ready to pay me?"
"Don't make me feel cheap now Ki-chan. We had fun didn't we?" Argo asked rolling her eyes as she interfaced with the company pay account and transferred the agreed upon data price to her personal inventory.
"I meant for the data you bitch" Kirito said rolling her eyes. Once she had the gold in her inventory she gave Argo her map data sans her personal notations. "Besides you're a bit of a mooch Argo and don't deny it. You sleep here because you get up at the crack of dawn and work to the moons zenith before dragging your ass back here because it's the penthouse suite."
"Maybe I sleep here because I enjoy that witty banter of yours so much Ki-chan" Argo said while she updated her own map data with the data just given to her. Once that was complete she sent out copies to her minions who were stationed around the various parts of the main town and to Agil as courtesy in thanks to a compromise that as the floor data was unlocked he got a copy & Argo plus her minions and Kirito got a discount buying from him. "Hey, you know me and Agil care about you right?" she asked seriously, the levity that had been in her tone a moment before dropping.
Kirito didn't respond for a moment til she felt Argo embrace her from behind. "Yeah I know" she said at last. Even as she felt the hands on stomach rub gently in what was probably meant to be a caring gesture her eyes were still riveted on the town below. "Argo, can I ask your unfiltered and honest opinion?"
The blonde girl blinked at the question as she peered around and up at Kirito. Even though her eyes were focused on the people below the were not actually focused on the people themselves. If she was honest Kirito actually looked a little haunted and anxious. "Yeah, go ahead" she said squeezing the other woman a little in a bid to rid of the other of the look.
"Do I come across as too bitchy and stand-offish?" Kirito asked as her eyes seemed to actually focus on something tangible.
"Well since you want to me to be totally unfiltered here, yeah you do. At least you are to randoms and people with an ego trip. Ki-chan, I know you have a weight hanging around your neck that makes it really hard to trust people and believe them when they say they're telling you the truth. I know because I have a similar hang-up and its that hang-up that makes me so paranoid about triple checking every speck of data me or my minions finds is in fact valid before I authorize it to be sold. Well, almost all specks except yours. That is obviously wrong information as per our deal" Argo began as she rested her cheek against the others shoulder. "But you have to face that weight sooner or later if you really want to live and be happy in this one life we live. That's all I want not just for myself but all the people I care about. For them to be happy and that includes you Ki-chan."
Kirito shifted her gaze to meet Argos own and was quiet for the longest time. "You remember what I told you I'd give you if you ever earned my trust Argo?" she asked awkwardly manuevering one arm to sort of give the girl a one armed hug.
"Yeah." Argo didn't bother to elaborate since they both knew she was referring to her name, her real name and not her in-game name. Obviously it wouldn't be her full name, just her first, but the blonde knew it would be a big sign of not just trusting her but perhaps more.
"It's Kizuka." The dark haired girl looked back to the city as the night market came alive and some noncombatants tried to barter with NPCs. "I know I don't have to say this but don't tell anyone else. I'm putting a lot of trust in you Argo by telling you that."
"I know Ki-chan." Argo didn't bother to keep track of the time that they just stood there together under the moonlit sky with Kir- Kizukas arm around her and even ignored all the messages requesting any information about the floor she had that popped up before her eyes. "I told you in the BETA I had your back no matter what. I meant it then and I mean it now, you'll see" she promised feeling a little ballsy and leaned up kissing the other girls cheek lightly for a moment.
Kizuka was a little surprised at the action and it showed on her face as she looked to Argo blinking owlishly.
The blonde information broker laughed softly and even as she reluctantly broke out of the awkward embrace she took hold of the dark haired girls hand. "Its late Ki-chan, lets get to bed ok?" she asked gently tugging on the arm.
Kizuka didn't resist as for a split she could've sworn she saw a phantom of Suguha saying something similar when they were younger. Almost like she reliving the memory her body moved on its own as she hit the bed and pulled Argo with her. The blonde tried to leave but her grip on the other was firm yet gentle. "Stay."
Argo was surprised by the request that Kizuka made and had to really think for a moment as she saw a far away look in the others eyes. On the one hand Kizuka was asking her to share a bed, albeit to sleep sleep not sleep, but part of her was reliving a memory. Maybe it was brought on by revealing her name, lowering a wall to her as a show faith and trust in her. "Alright" she said quietly.
Kizuka felt a sense of relief as Argo agreed and swallowed the other up in her embrace. Their legs intertwined, her arms encircled the blonde completely pulling her close as possible and her face hid in the golden locks. In that moment if someone saw them and proclaimed them as lovers because of some stupid stigma she probably wouldn't of cared. It had been far too long since she had truly trusted someone and to know that the trust was there in return. The mere fact that the person wanted nothing for her than to be well & truly happy, that the person was Argo, meant the world to her. "Thanks for being a good friend Argo."
Argo didn't verbally respond right away as she nuzzled into the soft flesh of Kizukas throat and wrapped the other in an embrace of her own. "You were there when I needed someone during the BETA. When I needed someone to vent to about life not going right… You were the friend I needed the most and then some." Gentle shapes were traced on pale skin making Kizuka shiver yet she continued. "The entirety of SAO could hate you and I would stand beside you no matter what Kizuka. It is the very least I owe you."
"I don't keep track of debts for being there for people Argo."
"I do and I owe you a lot Kizuka. Helping you here with information support, standing beside you, maybe helping to free of that chain that's holding you down if you let me… I'm more than happy to help."