Author's note:

Hello everyone.

First of all, thank you for stopping by to check on this little piece of work. Truth to be told, I only write this for fun. The idea came to me after I decided to have a look at the light novel series Sword Art Online. Having been the fan of the Anime itself, I heard that the novels was much more details and overall better than the anime, so without a second thought I gave it a shot without. And boy, I glad I did. The novel completely hooked me in from the beginning to the very end. The compelling storytelling, the development of each and every of the characters, the details being put onto this light novel is just incredible.

So I went straight on to finish the other volumns and Material Editon that I could found on the internet. Only then did the idea of writing a fiction about the world of Sword Art Online occurred to me. I didn't waste anytime and started my research almost immediately, gathering any additional information about Aincrad that Reiki-sensei didn't mention in the books, before coming up with a story of my own based on the existing foundation.

Yeah, as said on the introduction, this story is heavily OC focus. But please note that canons still plays an important role in this story and will make an appearance from time to time (without ruining the actual event of the novels). So please don't consider this as a 'regular fanfiction', but rather an 'untold story' of the same universe.

Just to be clear, this story will follow the novel rather than the anime. So if you happen to have read the light novels series (including Progressive and Material Edition), you may actually pay more appreciation on the details that I've put into this fic. But if you have only watched the anime, there is nothing stopping you from enjoying this piece of work.

I wanted it to be one hundred percent accurate to the source material, so during the writing process, I had to regard the tiniest of detail that most people have forgotten and/or never pay attention to after finishing the novels. Having been writing for 3 years, this is my first try on writing a fanfiction, so during the process, I have to kept reminding myself not to wander too far off of the main story line. It's hard work, but I really enjoyed doing it.

Again, thanking for clicking on the title of my story on the Archive. Without further ado, here's the first chapter. ENJOY!

Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online.

CHAPTER 1: Overture for a dream

With both my elbow sitting on my knee, I rested my chin on my opening hands, trying to recall a particular incident that happened to me not too long ago. An incident which gave off the exact identical uneasiness I was experiencing at that moment. Something that resembled a group of people (about forty or so), sitting around the fountain plaza located in Tolbana, the closest town to the First Floor Dungeon for an "Intimate gathering".

Yeah, I remember now. That was the time when I attend to a course of some Future Oriented Consultant against my will. More than 50 people slightly older than my age gathered at the amphitheatre, armed with pens and paper instead of sword and light armors like we were at the moment. At the end of the lecture, I walked out of the lecture room without understanding a slightest bit what the consultant had been trying to inject into my brain. Judging by the look on other's faces, I bet most of the people walked out that day didn't have a clue, either.

I could merely guess why my parents forced me into that course. They worried I would became one of those people who went study aboard (which is a big deal) without a specific goal in mind and ended up being unemployed. Of course, who wouldn't worry about their children, especially when they were going aboard all by themselves. Not to mention, I was only a third year secondary school student when I decided that I'm going to finish my studying in Japan. The reason was… well… It's kind of complicated so I don't expect you to understand right away…

Only when started middle-school, through all the boring lessons and trouble some exams, did I realized something, something that I'm still frightened about myself till this very moment, something that soon created a inner demon that feast on me from the inside out, forced me to isolated myself from everybody else…

When other students had to work their socks off preparing for any exams, I aced every single one without having to break a sweat. I don't understand the reason behind my unnaturally high result, but as far as I am able to recall, I've never cheat on any tests that I've taken up until now, EVER.

There are more to it on why I used to be so scared of social contacts, till the point that I decided go overseas to start a new life (even though I was only 15 at the time). What I'm about to tell you is the reason why my middle school years were the three worst years of my life.

With my scores being consistently high, I was, no doubt, a favorite student of every teachers, a role-model for every students. My name was always on top of the list of students to be applause in front of the school.

Were my parents proud of me?

Yes.

Were my teachers pleased by my scores?

Of course they did.

Was I happy with myself?

I was.

I was a very happy middle-schooler, who didn't have to struggle through everyday at school, trying to make a stand. Who got all the attention that every student on this planet would ever dream of having at such an age. But, no dream lasts forever. As I soon woke up to realize the ugly truth behind that fake happiness I never actually had.

Behind every applause, behind every pat in the back, behind all those friendly smiles and claps of congratulation, laid menacing glares and whispers. Both came from the envious nature of the human kind.

As if they wanted to eat me alive…

At that point, it felt like my heart had stopped. All my energy suddenly vanished, being consumed by my fears in just a matter of seconds. An uncomfortable feeling suddenly arose inside my stomach as I lost control over my limbs. My legs was shivering so hard that I couldn't stand up straight…

All I wanted to do was to run away and hide. Hide in some place that no one would ever find me again. Hide so that I would never have to faces those glares, starring into the deepest part of my conscience, ever again.

But that's only part of the story…

I still remember it clearly.

The day everything started

November 6th, 2022.

17:30 – 18:30, Aincrad Standard time. Kayaba Akihiko, the master mind behind all this madness successfully trapped 10000 people inside the game of Sword Art Online.

I could still hear his low, emotionless voice echoing through my mind

"Players! I welcome you all to my world!

My name is Kayaba Akihiko. Right now, I am the only person who can control this world!

I think that most of you have discovered the fact that the Log Out button had disappeared from the Main Menu. This is not a bug. It is all part of «Sword Art Online» System.

Until you get to the top of this castle, you cannot log out on your own free will.

Also the destruction or dismantling of the Nerve Gear from the outside is strictly forbidden. If these these things are attempted… The signal sensor in your Nerve Gear will emit an electromagnetic pulse, destroying your brain and stopping all of your basic function.

Regretfully, 213 players had already exited the game… and the real world. Forever"

Two-hundred and thirteen.

At that point, the horrifying truth crashed down onto us. 213 people had died. Kayaba wasn't kidding. We are 'officially' trapped, with no chance of getting help from the outside. 10000 people being trapped in a virtual world, where they would die if their health bar reduced to zero… Ten thousand people, being held captive without handcuffs or metal chain of any kind. But with just a "harmless" piece of high-tech gaming gear that could be used as their "personal executioner". This was not, by all mean, a game any longer. It was no longer a "Virtual Reality", but had become our "Reality".

Hand-clapping sounds followed by a loud clear voice pulled me away from my thoughts.

"O—K! Now then, it's five minutes late, but let's start! Everyone, a bit more to the front…there, come three steps closer!"

Leaning my back against the hard rock surface, I turned my attention toward the source of the voice. A tall figure covered in shiny metallic armor immediately caught my attention. The swordsman, to my amaze, jumped to the edge of the fountain that was located at the center of the plaza, without a running-start while equipping with such heavy armor.

Rustles and murmurs can be heard through the air. As my «Straining» skill wasn't that high (cause there were no point in leveling up that skill this early. So I wasn't gonna spend my precious Skill Points on that anytime soon), there was no way I could make what they were whispering to each other. But… taking the current situation into consideration, I could confidently say that we were wondering about the same thing. That how on earth could that swordsman standing on the edge of the fountain over there look so… flawless?

And that hair of his… was a blue color… I'd heard that in other MMOs, the items that allow you to dye your hair was purchasable at very costly price. Such items could also be found as super rare mobs drops. I don't know if there any being sold in shops at this super early states of the game (the first floor has not been cleared). But if there were… I doubted anyone would be foolish enough to invest in something as baffling as a hair-dyeing item just to get a good first impression.

Don't get me wrong. I'm perfectly aware the importance of a first impression, especially when you are hosting a meeting with the tops player who are risking their lives at the front line trying to clear the game. But to get through all that trouble to buy or maybe to find a super rare monster drop… Instead you could just spend your time for leveling up and money for better equipment. I sure couldn't fully understand the host's motives, but whatever.

"Today, thank you for heeding my summons! Some people here know me, but I will again introduce myself! I am «Diavel», and my class in my heart is «Knight»!"

There goes that majestic voice again, follow up by whistles and rounds of applause.

Raising my left eyebrow slightly, I put my thoughts into words subconsciously

"I thought there're no «classes» whatsoever in this game."

"That's correct. There aren't."

In reply to my inquiries was a high-pitched, almost childlike voice coming from the hooded figure which was sitting next to me, but still keep a rather respectful distant between the person and myself.

"As you have known, In this game, each player have a number of skill slots depends on their level. So you can freely… how do I put this… etou— equip?... no… set up your own set of skills and train them the way you want. There are no «classes» existed in SAO so people just called themselves according to their skills or whatever they pleased."

"I see."

I nodded slightly after the hooded figure tried to find suitable words to explain the basic mechanics of the Death Game. Judging by the voice, which was high in pitch and small physical appearance, any would have guessed that this is another one of the 'super rare' «Female Players». But guess what? This isn't the first time I got the chance to encounter with this mysterious hooded «Female Player». In fact, we have known each other since the day it all begun. November 6th. The day the 'Mad Computer Scientist' Kayaba Akihiko successfully trapped 10000 Players in this beautiful but deadly world of Sword Art Online, Aincrad.

Knowing each other for almost a month, I shouldn't be surprised that this person sitting next to me was actually a «Male Player». Yep…

This boy had a rather... small build. His girlish and fragile looking body fits amazingly well with his hish-pitched voice. Judging by his appearance, I measured him to be about 13 to 14 years old. He was equipped with a small leather chest place beneath his Ivory hooded jacket. Strapped to his waist was a sheathed One-Handed Curve Sword which name I never learnt.

Because he was wearing a hooded-jacket, so one could only barely make out his facial appearance. But having encountering the boy countless time in the past one month, I had memorized of his appearance in detailed. His oval face was as feminized as possible with burgundy eyes, seemingly larger than any other men. Added to his 'bi-shounen' appearance was a small mole locate on the outer bottom corner of his right eye. His straight brown hair hanging to the length of his ears was a red color…

I'd asked him about his hair before. And it seemed that his hair wasn't dyed by any rare or expensive items of any kind. Which could only meant one thing, that was his actual hair color. I'd never asked into detailed on how come his hair was red, because there is an unwritten law among the SAO players. To never asked or talked about matters from the real world. But I didn't need to go as far as digging into his private zone to confirm that the boy was, by no mean, a foreigner. He didn't seem to be the 'rebel who enjoys looking like a gangster by dying his hair' kind of person either… So I could only guess that he is a half Japanese and half «insert a nationality here». Or maybe he was a quarter Japanese, a quarter this, a quarter that… I would never know.

Talk about foreigners. There were a considerably small number of foreigners getting trapped in SAO, even smaller than the number of Female players. Mainly because the game was only released in Japan and 10000 wasn't a very large number of available copies. I'd only remembered encountering one through the past one month, and that was only because he was so goddamn huge. If my memory served correctly, he must be at least 180cm tall, with dark skin and bald head.

For me, I'd never bothered about being a foreigner either. Not only in SAO, but also in the real world. Mainly, I thought it was because I'm 15% Japanese. So even though I didn't look 100% Japanese like, my appearance alone rarely bothered me. Despite the fact I wasn't born and raised in my grandmother's (who is Japanese) home country, I've been taught to speak Japanese ever since I was a kid. So I didn't have any trouble in communicating when I first set foot on the 'Land of the Rising Sun'.

Of course, having not grew up in Japan had it own set back. My Grandmother was born in Tokyo, so the only kind of Japanese I have been taught was the dialect of the Kanto region. I remembered going to Fukushima on a field trip with my class, one of the local greeted me with a bow "Oban desu."

I was literally stunned for a few second.

"Etou… Etou." was the only thing I that came out of my mouth as I pressed my fingers together and my eyes wanders elsewhere, trying to understand what on Earth does 'Oban desu' supposed to mean.

The old man, who seemed to have notice my strange behavior, leaned closer to me and asked in a small soothing voice "Wakarimasu ka?[2]". which I quickly reply with a big smile spread across my face "Iie… Zenzen Wakarimasen![3]" My classmates, who were standing right behind me burst out in laughter. While all I can do was smile sheepishly with my face turned completely a red color.

Later that day, I asked one of my friend what exactly does "Oban desu" mean. Turned out, that was how people in Yamagata Prefecture said "Komban wa.[4]"

That was one of the most embarrassing, yet memorable moment in my life. Which proved that dialect is one of the biggest problems for foreigners along with idioms and slang.

"Now then, as for the reason why I gathered you top players who are active at the front lines like this, I don't think I need to say it, but…"

Diavel continued his speech with his attractive voice and pointed toward the First Floor Dungeon - a huge tower beyond the townscape.

"…Today, our party found the stairs leading to the top-most floor of that tower. In other words, tomorrow, or at the latest the day after tomorrow, we will reach it: the first floor's…Boss Room!"

Noises started coming from groups of players around the plaza. It's been one month since this Death Game begun, people started loosing their fate, believing that the game would never be cleared and they would never be able to return to the real world. But finally, we had made some progress.

"One month. Coming this far took one month…but even so, we have to set an example. We have to beat the boss, reach the second floor, and show everyone still waiting at the Starting City that it is definitely possible to clear this death game. That is the duty of us top players here right now! Isn't that right, everyone!"

The rustling noises were replaced by cheers and claps. I smile faintly as I started thinking about how good of a speaker Diavel was to raised everyone fighting spirits with just only a few lines. Not to mention being able to gather the scattered front line players into this one place at that one moment and connect us all into one. How ever the outcome of the raid might be, this was a small victory for Diavel. The boy sitting next to me doesn't seem to be greatly moved by the spirited speech, but decided gave his own applause to the Knight standing on the fountain with small claps nonetheless.

But the cheers were quickly died down to low voice coming from the crowd.

"Wait a minute, Knight-han[1]."

I turned my attention toward the source of the voice. A short man with spiky hair equipped with a scale armor along with a large one-handed sword on his back. Now came to think of it, it was funny how I was thinking about dialect a few moments ago and I guy came out of nowhere with his Kansai Dialect took away the stage from the host himself, Diavel.

"Before that, there is one thing that I have to say, or otherwise I cannot join you."

The swordsman continued with his deep grating voice.

I sighed lightly out of irritation. If I were gonna raid a boss room, I would definitely not pick him on my party. Simply because I couldn't stand people who enjoy being an ass to everyone or just being rude without realizing it, just imagine working with that kind of people make me want to quit. I wasn't really sure when exactly did I started becoming so sensitive, but if my guess was correct, my horrendous three years in middle-school must be the source of the problem. After being mentally torture for such a long period, no wonder why I became very cautious about people and everything around me.

I secretly admired Diavel for his calm and composure. Being able to keep his cool expression, even though facing him at that moment was a very very rude player.

"What is it that you need to say? Well, whatever it is, opinions are very welcome. But, if you are going to speak, you should tell us your name first."

Giving a loud snort, the spiky hair swordsman made his way up onto the fountain and turned around to face the attentive crown. I slightly shuddered at the thought of being in his place at that moment, cause standing in front this many people brings back up some… unpleasant memories that I had buried under the deepest part of my soul, never dare to dig up a gain.

"I am «Kibaou»."

Still with that gravelly voice, the person introduced himself as he glared through every player sitting around the plaza with his sharp eyes. I mean… he literally GLARED at us, along with that threatening voice of his, which brought the menacing of his existence into a whole new level. Which of course didn't make me feel comfortable, not at the slightest. Even though I was no psychic, I could tell that most people at the plaza at that time had the same impression on this guy as me.

"In this group, there should be about 5 or 10 people that need to apologize."

I didn't know if it was just me or anything coming from this guy's mouth had brought nothing but uneasiness.

"Apologize? To whom?"

Asked Diavel, raising his arms in a questioning manner.

"Ha, isn't it obvious. To the 2000 people who died up until now. Those guys had a monopoly on everything, and so 2000 people died in one month! Isn't that right?!"

Again with that uneasiness. But this time, somehow the discomfort had been raised to a different level. The murmuring that could be heard around the plaza had completely stopped.

Next… Came silence…

That was the "awkward" kind of silence when someone had states something downright stupid or ridiculous that makes you find the need to reply but are unsure what to say next. It was the kind of silence that you could clearly read 'Anxious' writing all over everyone faces. Tension started to fill the surrounding air and I could feel an invisible pressure slowly squeezed down on to everyone around the fountain.

By then… It was certain that Kibaou was talking about "them". No doubt about that

With a stern look on his face, Diavel continued the conversation.

"—Kibaou-san. «Those guys» who you're referring to are…the original beta testers, right?"

"Obviously."

That's what I thought.

Folding my arms, I sighed deeply out of annoyance of having to go through all this kind conversation all over again.

"Those beta testers, on the day this shitty game started, dashed from the Starting City and disappeared. They left behind over 9000 people who didn't know left from right. They monopolized good hunting grounds and profitable quests, got only themselves stronger reservation, and then always feigned ignorance about it afterwards…There should also be some in this group, some sly people hiding their beta status and thinking of joining the Boss Fight. I say we should make them kneel down and spit out all of the gold and items they stockpiled for the sake of this operation, and that they cannot be entrusted with the lives of our party members!"

Kibaou had states the reason behind all the hates toward the Original Tester. Even though I was one of the Players who never had the chance to experience the game when Closed Beta first came out before the official release, I could not care less if someone was a Beta Tester or not.

If not for Kibaou statement, I could still understand why beta testers were regard with significant hatred among the new players. The reason was they all believe that beta testers were a bunch of selfish people, who abandoned the new players. Not only did they refuse to share any vital information, the testers also claimed the best quests and monster spawning spots to advance quickly through the game.

That, I'm telling you, were just a pile of nonsense trash. People were just too blind to be able to realize that the Beta Testers weren't doing anything wrong. They were just trying to survive the game, just like anyone else, nothing more. People were too irresponsible, too selfish to admit that the people who had died, lost their lives on their own account. It was of theirs own carelessness and recklessness that their health-bar got reduced to zero, that was nothing to do with the Beta Testers.

Also, if they had already learnt that the Beta Testers weren't gonna share any information, why were they still trying to be heroes? Why take the risk? Instead, why not just make progresses step by step? Slowly but surely make it till the very top of the floating castle. Even though that would probably take a long time before we could actually finished the game and return to the real world, but it was still better than risking your lives venture into dangerous or unknown destinations to try finish the game quickly and blamed it on the Beta Testers.

I heard that at the end of the beta, people managed to reach the 10th floor. So that meant that there were still 90th floors that even the knowledge of Beta Testers couldn't provide us any lead way. When we reached the 11th floor… who were they gonna blame for the death of the players? Were they gonna stubbornly accused the Testers for not sharing information? No. The Beta Testers would be no different than any of us new players. There wouldn't be any advantages given to the Testers because of the information from the beta. Instead, they would be as clueless as the new players, not knowing what lies ahead of them.

By then, it would be everyone must work together and started advancing slowly, avoid any unnecessary fool-headed course of action, learnt the world around to gather enough information until you find the the right moment to strike. That's our only choice if we were to make it out of this game alive.

The event unfolding before us seemed to have some effect on the boy who was sitting next to me, as well. Though it was not easy to tell since, most of his face had been covered by the hood. But sitting close to him enable me to see the anxiety in his wide-opened eyes, watching the affair on the fountain attentively. And I swear, I saw a small droplet of sweat running down his cheek.

Came to think of it, I was too concentrated on leveling and mapping the dungeon to ever realize that there was a Perspiration mechanism all along. I did aware that the system generated tears through players' eyes through strong internal emotions. I'd seen people cried quite a lot since the beginning of SAO, especially on the first few days of the game where most players were still at a state of shock and depress. But to know that the developer went into so much detail, I'd gotta gave them some credit.

Oh yeah… Why the one next to me was worried, you may ask? The reason was quite obvious. He, along with another 10% of the players, were the main topic of the discussion at the plaza that moment. Beta Testers. The reason why he always showed up with a hooded jacket was probably to not letting his face being recognized. As far as I concerned, he didn't make many friends either. At that point, there were probably no more than 8 names being listed on his friend list, and I don't even know how many people actually knew he was a Beta Testers.

"May I speak?"

A loud, forceful voice resounded through where the meeting was taken place, coming all the way from the very left end of the fountain plaza.

I remembered this voice. The owner of the rich and forceful baritone was no one else but that huge foreigner guy who I was referring to earlier. He was sitting in a spot that's disabled me to see him through the crowd. So I didn't really notice that he was at the meeting all along.

After bowing to the players attending the meeting, the "huge foreigner guy"… no… no… no… That just sounds so racist… Since the guy was actually equipped with a large battle-axe behind his back, so for the sake of humanity, I'm gonna refer to him as the "Battle-axe wielder". Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?

So… After bowing to the players attending the meeting, the "Battle-axe wielder" (Now… that sounds a little bit… overly dramatic, but whatever) turned to Kibaou, who looked like he was overwhelmed by the sheer size of the man before him.

"My name is Agil. Kibaou-san, what you mean to say is that many beginners died because original beta testers did not take care of them, and that they should accept that responsibility and apologize along with giving reparations for it, is that correct?"

So, the guy's name was Agil. Thank god he decided to review his name, or I would have to constantly refer to him as anything overly dramatic (or racist, for that matter). I meant, his appearance alone had "DRAMATIC" written all over it.

"Th…That's right."

Kibaou took a step back. Seeing his defensive reaction toward the man in front of him, I couldn't help but giggled a little.

But… It didn't take long for Kibaou to switch back to offensive state. The man shouted at Agil, trying to sounds as menacing as possible.

"If they had not left us behind, 2000 people would not have had to die! Moreover, they were not just any 2000 people, most of them were top-ranked veterans from other MMOs! If those stupid testers had properly shared information, items and money, then there would have been 10 times as many people here right now…no, by now we would have broken through the 2nd or 3rd floor!"

That was not entirely true. I agreed that some Beta Testers are selfish and only care about themselves. But not every single one of them is bad, like the guy sitting next to me. He was the one who guide me through all the basic of the game, and without him telling me what to do when I first logged into the game, I wouldn't had been here at the first place.

Also, lying somewhere in my inventories was the second evidence to further strengthen my point. The «Strategy Guide by Area» book, which can be bought for free at a number of items shops. It covered all the information you needed to know in terms of terrains, monster spawns and items, even quests guide also got included. A simple designed book with a «Rat Mark» on the cover. When I first bought the book, I was relatively shocked that the one distributing these books were the informant, Argo the rat. A person who would sell all kinds of information for moneys wrote a guide book and sold it free of charge. I don't think that I would ever understand her.

And yeah, I was well aware that she was a Beta Testers, to tell the truth. After purchasing the guide book, anyone with a fully functioned brain would have realized that, providing all those information in such a short period of time was only possible for a Beta Testers. Argo the Rat was the first one that came to mind. But, there was a possibility that she bought all those information from a Beta Testers and wrote a book. So, just to be sure, I ended up asking the boy sitting next to me, and he said he remembered dealing with an informant with whiskers on her face once during the Beta. So there was no doubt.

"That's what you say, Kibaou-san. I don't know about the money and items, but I believe that there is in fact information from them."

Agil state the exact same thought that was going through my stopping there, he also brought out the proof for his words for everyone to see. A simple sheepskin-bound book item with a «Rat Mark» designed with round ears and three whiskers on each cheek on the cover.

"This guidebook, you got it too, right? It's freely distributed from the item shops in Horunka and Medai, after all."

"—I got it. What about it?"

"This guide, whenever I reach a new village or town, is always found in the item shop. You must have noticed that too. The information comes too quickly, don't you think?"

"So what if it's too quick!?"

"It means that the ones who provided the information on monsters and map data that appear in this, cannot be anyone other than the original beta testers."

Agil stated with his arms crossed.

Now hang on a minute, since when did that guy learn the mind reading skill? I wanted to learn it, too.

No really. What Agil said was exactly what was going through my mind at that point.

The players went abuzz all at once. Kibaou closed his mouth sharply, and the knight Diavel behind him nodded in an 'I see' way.

Wait… Why does everyone seem so surprised? Don't tell me that… Aside from Agil,… I was the only one to realize that all the information in that book came from a Beta Tester? Just when I thought anyone who had a normal brain would have recognized this… Guess I was actually the one whose brain wasn't normal. For Agil,… I wouldn't actually say that his brain was not normal, but rather… Etou… he was just a little too observant, that's all.

But seriously though, it disappointed me that no one actually recognize that simple detail. Letting out a deep sigh, I wondered if my little companion was on the same page as me. Agil's voice forcefully pulled me away from my thoughts.

"You see, there is information. And even still, many players died. I think the reason for that is because they were veteran MMO players. They measured SAO with the same ruler as other titles, and missed points that they should have noticed. However, now is not the time to hunt down who is responsible for those casualties. Whether we are or aren't responsible, it will influence this meeting, is what I think."

Now that was the answer to my inquiries. It had always bugged me why with all these information being published into a book, the number of casualties still continue to rise at dizzying speed. Only after hearing what Agil had to say did I realize that a vast number of SAO players didn't take the game as serious as it should be. Since they were veteran MMO players, they were too confident in themselves and believe that their experiences and skills accumulated from other games could help them clear SAO as easily as other MMOs.

That was their fatal mistake…

Kibaou was speechless. The guy couldn't do anything but glared at Agil hatefully with his teeth clenched.

Still standing on the fountain's edge behind the two confronting each other silently, Diavel nodded once more as his long hair swayed and was dyed purple from the setting sun.

"Kibaou-san, I can also understand your point. I, too, went into fields without knowing left or right, and finally arrived here after many near deaths. But, as this Agil-san said, isn't it now the time to look forward? Even original beta testers…no, especially original testers, we need their fighting strength for this boss fight. If we removed them, and that resulted in the attack failing, what would be the point?"

Finally, Diavel had decided to interfere. Just when I was about to wonder how long could Kibaou and Agil keep up with their starring contest.

"Everyone, I'm sure you each have your own thoughts and feelings, but right now, I would like for you to cooperate to break through the first floor. If there are people who will not fight alongside original testers under any circumstance, then it is unfortunate, but you are free to leave. For a boss fight, teamwork is more important than anything else."

I had nearly forgotten the main reason why we gathered here, with all that argument resolving around whether we should "hang the Beta Testers" or not. But thanks to Diavel, the quarrel had finally come to an end. I rested both elbows on his knees and hung my head down before letting out another sigh of both relief and depression. This was supposed to be a meeting to discuss on strategy to take down the first floor boss. And yet, we hadn't had the chance to actually discuss on anything, mainly because the topic around the Beta Testers had taken most of our time.

"This supposed to be the «First Floor Boss strategy conference», right?"

I put my irritation into words to break the silence between me and the boy sitting next to me. Also, I would really want to hear his opinion on the meeting so far, he had been really quiet since the beginning, so I guessed he must had paid a great deal of attention on what Diavel, as well as Kibaou and Agil had to say.

What I got in reply was a surprisingly bright smile from beneath the hood.

"You were expecting some real discussion on fighting the boss, weren't you?"

"Well… Obviously… It is called «First Floor Boss strategy conference» for a reason right?"

I raised my eyebrow lightly at the reply of the hooded male. Had he somehow predict that there wouldn't be any discussion on the matter at the first place?

"Have you forgotten? The 20th floor, which is the top floor of the dungeon hasn't been mapped yet. So we haven't even got the location of the boss room, let alone any information about the boss itself…"

The boy turned his gaze back to the fountain and continued.

"There will be eventually another meeting for everyone to work out anti-boss strategies. But that's only happen after we have gotten enough information. When we have finished mapping out the top floor, 2 or 3 scouting battles would be needed before we could actually come up with any strategy. So according to my calculation, it should be about 3 or 4 days from now, before we could get a proper strategy discussion."

I see… Because, even if we worked out anti-boss strategies, we had only just arrived at the top floor of the maze. In a situation where no one had seen the boss's face, things like strategies could not be made. So the reason behind this meeting actually was to gather and raise the morale of the front line players to prepare for the boss fight. But there were still a few unanswered questions.

"They had made it to the 10th floor during the Beta, right? Doesn't that mean Beta Tester like you should have the information about the boss, already?"

Shaking his head lightly, the read haired male's voice suddenly became serious.

"Like Kibaou said, not every Beta Testers are willing to give out information. At the start of the meeting, I was planning to reveal my identity as a Beta Tester and provide information on the boss. But after that Kibaou guy showed up, I felt that revealing myself would be way too dangerous. So I forced myself to stay quiet throughout the entire thing."

I nodded my head in understanding. So that's why he had been oddly quiet, huh? I sat up straight and turned my gaze back to the fountain. Both Kibaou and Agil had returned to their seat, leaving the stage to the host, Diavel.

The meeting ended with forty-odd people giving a grand war cry.

Right after the word "Dismissed" was spoken, I stood up from my seat and stretched my back, which was all sore due to long period of sitting.

After that, the next thing that came to my mind was to find something to eat. It was pretty late already and I my stomach was growling like crazy (or at least that how I felt). Only then did I regret not having a bread or a small snack before the meeting. I turned around and started making my way back into the town. After a few steps, I turned around and shouted to the hooded figure, who was taking the opposite direction.

"Hey! Do you feel like grabbing something to eat…"

The figure stopped in his track. Turning around to face me, the red haired male rubbed his head lightly. The boy came here straight from the dungeon so I doubt he had eaten anything. The poor kid must be starving by now.

"Wouldn't that be any bother to you?"

I smirked lightly and motioned him to follow. As the distant between the fountain and myself increased, I could hear small steps walking right next to me. I subconsciously let a smile present on my face and started thinking about what I would like for dinner. Maybe I should ask what he would like as well. I don't know. At the current state of the game, there were only NPCs restaurant available, and their food was not the most diverse, so being picky was not really an option.

References

[1]A different pronunciation of the suffix "-san" that is used in the Kansai dialect of Japanese. Kibaou speaks in this dialect

[2]Do you understand

[3]No. I do not understand at all

[4]Good evening (note that I used Japanese in [2][3][4] to help you understand their conversation a little bit easier)

There you have it, the first chapter. So what do you guys think? I apologize if this chapter is a little bit slow paced but that's how I intended this story to be. I wanted to get into the daily lives of the people who got trapped inside the death game, so this is somewhat a Slice of Life kind of story. The first few chapters will serve the purpose of introducing a little bit about the characters and their background, so they maybe a drag to read. Bear with me okay?

Again, thanking for stopping by. I would really appreciate if you show your support by leaving me lots and lots of Reviews,it'll really give me motivation to keep writing. Tell me what you think about the story, what I need to improve on my writing to make the following chapter more enjoyable. Trust me, I'll do anything to please my reader.

Arigatou Gozaimashita. Jaa ne!