"-And Kirito, Asuna, and..." Kirito clenched his fists in anxiety. Beads of sweat ran down his forehead. He was trembling with both anticipation and fear. The announcer continued;
"Hyun."
"What!?" Kirito and Hyun jumped up and screamed in unison. They turned each other's heads toward each other, their eyes filled with fear.

A few hours earlier

Kirito's blade pierced though the final beast. As the corpse shattered into a million pieces, he took the time to slowly scan over the dropped items, looking for anything useful. He was counting his Yrd (ALO currency), when all of a sudden, a giant lizard ran wildly in front of Kirito, just barely missing him. As it passed, he suddenly noticed something strange; that entity has a red health bar, he thought, he was attacked by another player.

As Kirito watched the wild critter run off into the distance, he heard footsteps coming from behind; fast, heavy footsteps. He swiftly turned his head and shoulders to face the opposing attacker, but as he reached for the hilt of his blade, his opponent was already near. Too near. Way too near.
Bam! The impact knocked Kirito and the stranger off their feet, sending them tumbling backwards. As he struggled to get up, he heard the stranger's voice trembling with frustration.

"Damn it! Why didn't you move out of the way?" The odd character had a strange tone to his voice; the pitch of his voice was not high enough to be a girl's, and was not low enough to be a man in his mid-20's.

Is it a girl? Kirito wondered. He picked himself up, and stared at the character.

Definitely a guy, he thought. He eyed his body, but not in a yaoi way. His avatar had a slight muscular build, slender arms, and was roughly 3cm taller than Kirito (Kirito's height: 172 cm). Kirito's eyes ran up from his body to his face. He had wide, light blue eyes, a sharp chin, and had long, sky blue hair.
The newcomer took a step back, brought his body close to the ground, and darted away, sprinting at an incredible speed. Kirito tried to pursuit him, but his laziness stopped him from any progressive work. Instead, he shouted after him.

"Wait! What's your name?" Kirito blurted out.

"Hmm? It's Hyun." He called out from behind as he continued to pursue the lizard.

"New Event! Charka, the all-mighty Event Boss, is here!" Kirito scrolled through the text.
"Only the best of the best can fight! Come to the World Tree to sign up!"

He was wandering around the base of the Tree, searching where to enroll. A few metres away, he noticed a table, littered with sheets. Behind the desk, he noticed an odd looking NPC. Probably where I need to sign up, He thought. As he grew closer, he noticed the NPC had text above it; with it reading "Join the Event Boss Raid!" He proceeded to the table. The character lit up and faced Kirito.
"Hello there!" it said with a cheeky grin, it's voice clearly not human. "Would you like to join the Bo-"

"Yes, I do." Kirito interrupted with a straight face.

"Great! I'd like to ask you a few questions before I sign you up."

"Shoot."

"What is your name?"

"Kirito."

"Your race?"

"Spriggan."

"Do you crave that mineral?"

"What is that supposed to me-"

"What is your player rank?"

"Hm?"

"Your rank in the Alfheim Leaderboards." It said with the same derpy expression on its face. It looked as if it was calling him an idiot.

"Oh, that. I'm pretty sure I'm ranked Number One."

"Incorrect."

"What?!" Kirito was baffled.

"The number one player is there." The NPC pointed at a player in the distance.

"Who?" Kirito stared at the other player. A group of girls were encircling a single character. He focused on the man in the middle. The first thing he noticed was his light blue hair. He reminded him of someone. Kirito gasped.

The entity continued. "The number one player is-"

"Hyun." Kirito finished.