FATAL ERROR: SYSTEM REBOOT
Chapter Two: Beater
Beginning A/N:
I'm writing this note before I've gotten any feedback, so hopefully I'll get some reviews to answer by the end of this chapter. I welcome questions and constructive criticism, but think twice before acting like a barbarian.
With that warning out of the way, let me say one more thing:
Have a fun read!
When I lay down next to the cloaked girl, I fell deep in thought.
Wow, today was one hell of a day… I found the sword I had been looking for, I met a skillful rapier-using girl who refuses to take off her cloak even when she goes to bed, I taught her how to distribute stat points, and now she's sleeping in the same bed with me. I'm not sure what to make of all this, but… I know one thing.
Life is gonna be real interesting from now on.
And with that, I fell into a deep sleep.
I woke up to a pair of arms around my waist for the sixth time that week.
Is it weird that I know what her body feels like, yet I've never even seen her face?
I felt her body shift, and I knew she was waking up.
Great, now I have to explain this to her. Sure, she's the one doing it, but…
"… Kirito-kun?" my cloaked friend mumbled, finally coming to.
As soon as I told her my in-game name six days ago, she began to add the –kun every time, no matter how many times I told her she didn't have to.
"Kirito-kun is Kirito-kun!"
I recall her saying that on the third day, and then I just gave up.
"Aaah! I'm sorry!" my cloaked friend squeaked, unleashing me from her hold on my waist and moving back on the bed.
"What for?" I queried coyly.
"I was clinging to you…"
"Ah, don't worry. I'm used to it. In real life… never mind."
"What?"
I sighed. "In real life, my little sister used to get nightmares, so she would come to my room at night and sleep next to me."
"That's sweet of you…"
"Well, let's go to «Tolbana». They're having the meeting on how to clear the first floor boss, and I don't want to miss it," I said gently, getting up and heading for the stairs.
"Right…"
"Do you… not want to help clear the game? If you want to stay here, that's okay. I'll just go without you—"
"No, it's just… I'm a little scared… that's all."
"Don't worry. We've been leveling for a while, and I can guarantee you that you're one of the strongest players in the game," I reassured her.
"All right… let's go."
An hour later, we had arrived at «Tolbana», waiting near the point where the meeting would take place.
I really wish I was part of the first clearing group in the beta… I could have found the boss dungeon and shared the data with everyone at the meeting.
I paused in front of a statue of «Aincrad», noting that something looked… off… about the plaque at its base.
Why is there a tiny patch of binary code under the first word? There shouldn't be a glitch like this… this could be bad later on if the glitches get worse.
I walked past it, Asuna following closely behind.
Ever since the first night she spent at my house, she had gotten more and more attached to me. I felt horrible, knowing I would have to cut my ties eventually.
They'll probably want to form a raid group, so I'll have her party up with someone else. Hopefully she can become less dependent on me that way.
We walked to the meeting point and saw a large group of people gathered there.
Looks like it's about time for the meeting to start.
The meeting would take place at an ancient theater-like area, with tiered rows of stone benches in a giant semi-circle around a smaller semi-circular platform at the bottom.
A man with blue hair walked onto the platform, clapping his hands and saying, "Okay, people! Now that everyone's here, let's get this meeting started!"
I sat down, waiting for him to continue. My cloaked friend sat down beside me.
"So anyway, I want to thank everyone for coming. Good to see you," the blue-haired man said charismatically. "My name is Diabel! And in this game…"
He pounded his right hand on his chest. "The job I rolled is knight!"
The crowd burst into laughter at his absurd statement.
One of them playfully shouted, "Dude, there's no job system in this game!"
I could barely hear Diabel over the crowd as he said, "Do you guys want to hear this or not?"
That got everyone to quiet down.
"Right. Anyway, here's the deal. Our party found the boss room at the top of the tower today."
Everyone gasped in shock, starting to murmur to each other.
"First, we need to defeat the boss and make it to floor two! The next step is, we have to tell everyone waiting in the «Town of Beginnings» that it is possible to beat this game!"
He raised his right hand and clenched it, saying, "Fact is, it's our duty as the most capable players here. Do you agree, or not?"
Silence.
Then, the players started to murmur among themselves, until finally, someone started clapping… then another… then another, until everyone was clapping. I even heard someone cheer.
I just sat there, smiling at the unity of the players.
"Glad you're all with me on this," Diabel said. "Now, let's figure out how we're gonna beat the boss. First off, we'll team up into parties of six."
I instantly remembered my plan.
I have to make her less dependent on me.
"Hey, you should probably go party with a group that can help you. I'm just one person, and I don't want to hinder your success," I said with what I hoped to be a convincing look.
"No. I'm partying with you."
"What?"
This is not going as planned!
"You're the only person I know here," she said.
I sighed, opening up a party invite.
She probably doesn't know how to send a party invitation.
She readily accepted, and I immediately looked to where her HP bar appeared, looking for her name.
Asuna
My curiosity sated, I turned my attention back to the meeting.
"All right! Looks like everyone's teamed up! Now then—"
"Hold up a sec!"
Diabel was cut off by a player who had apparently arrived late, because he was standing at the top of the giant steps.
He jumped down several steps at a time, with a series of unnecessary grunts, until he reached the platform where Diabel stood.
The player had orange-brown hair, styled in a way that made it look like a cactus. He had upper body armor that looked like scales, which seemed to be the only good equipment he had.
He must have spent all his money on that, seeing as the rest of his equipment is more than a little subpar. Hell, even his sword is second rate. Unless it's a classed drop, I doubt it would do much damage at all.
"My name's Kibaou, got that?"
What he lacks in power, he certainly makes up for with attitude.
"Before we take on the boss, I wanna get somethin' off my chest!" Kibaou said angrily.
This won't end well.
"We all know about the two thousand people who died so far, yeah? Well some of you need to apologize to 'em right now!"
Shit! Shit! Shit!
Whispers of accusation rang throughout the area.
"Kibaou. I think I know whom you're referring to," Diabel said grimly. "You mean the ones who are ex beta-testers, right?"
"Of course I mean them!" the cactus-haired loudmouth shouted. "The day this stupid-assed game started, the beta guys just up and vanished, right? They ditched all us beginners!"
Not satisfied with that level of verbal assault, he continued. "They snagged all the good hunting spots, and the grabbed all the easy quests too! They were the only ones gettin' stronger in here. This whole time, they've ignored us like we're nothin'!"
He growled. "Hell, I bet there's some of them here! Come on out, beta-testers!"
Yet after all that ranting, he still wasn't done. "We should make 'em apologize to us. And we should make 'em give up their money and the items they got!"
Shit…!
"They can't expect the party to trust them when they don't trust us! Why should we?"
Normally, I wouldn't have even considered complying to his outrageous demands, but the girl sitting next to me put that selfish part of me into question.
She trusts me… if she finds out I'm a beta-tester, she might hate me!
"Can I say somethin'?" a deep voice queried.
I looked to the source of the voice, finding an intimidatingly tall man that in no way looked even remotely Japanese.
He got up and walked down the steps and onto the platform. He stood before Kibaou and said, "Hey. My name's Egil. Kibaou, right? I wanna make sure I'm on the same page.
"You say the ex-beta testers should be blamed for the rookies' deaths, because they didn't help 'em. And you want 'em to apologize and give up their winnings. I leave anything out?"
"No. You didn't," Kibaou said haughtily, though you could easily see his fear of the dark-skinned giant.
Egil pulled a book out of his pocket, saying, "The item store hands these out for free. It's a guide book. You got one, didn't you?"
"Sure I got one!" Kibaou said indignantly. "So what about it?"
I began to connect the dots.
From what I remember, Argo said she published a guide book and distributed copies to all the item stores. She said she published mine and Coper's section on the basics of «Sword Skills» as chapter five, if I remember correctly.
"You know who was handing these out? The ex-beta-testers."
Everyone in the area shared a gasp.
"Listen up. Everyone had equal access to this information. Even so, lots of players still died. I didn't come here to point fingers at anyone. I'm here 'cause I wanna learn from those players' deaths. I'm here because I wanna find out how we're gonna beat the boss."
Kibaou gave one last indignant growl, walking back to the seats. Egil followed, sitting down next to him.
Diabel chose this moment to start speaking again. "Okay. Can we get back to the meeting? For info on the boss, it's all in here, the latest edition of the guide book you just heard about."
Yet again, the crowd gasped.
He opened the book, beginning to read its contents.
It doesn't look like he's actually reading it. Maybe he already read it before the briefing.
"According to the book, the boss's name is «Illfang the Kobold Lord». Also, he'll be surrounded by his minions, the «Ruin Kobold Sentinels». Illfang carries an axe and a buckler. He has four health bars, and when the last one turns red, he switches to a curved sword-type weapon called a «Tulwar». He can change his patterns of attack too."
He closed the book, saying, "That's it for the briefing. As for the distribution of loot, the money will be divided equally among everyone. The party that defeats the boss gets the EXP. And, whoever gets an item gets to keep it. Any objections?"
He received murmurs but no outspoken objections, if there were any objections to begin with.
"Good! We leave tomorrow at ten in the morning! Meeting adjourned, people!"
As everyone walked away, I decided to stay for a moment.
I know I've heard that name before… Diabel… well, whatever.
And with that, I headed to the weapons district, Asuna following close behind.
That night as we got ready for bed, I found myself in a predicament.
I can't go out leveling tonight, now that we're in a party. She'll definitely notice the EXP when she wakes up tomorrow, and at the rate I grind, it might clue her in on my beta-tester status. Oh well, I'm already at level seventeen, so I guess I should be fine.
The next morning, as we walked through the forest, I decided to go over with Asuna the role that Diabel gave our party.
"Let's go over it again, since you might not have heard what Diabel said. We're the backup, so our target's gonna be the boss's minions, the «Ruin Kobold Sentinels»."
"I know."
"I'll use a Sword Skill to knock their weapons up and out of the way. When I do, switch and jump in."
"What's a switch?"
I almost choked.
"Okay, level with me. Is this the first time you've ever been in a party?"
"Uh huh."
My pace slowed, and I found myself slouching over.
This is gonna be a long walk…
When we reached the door to the boss room, I looked around at all the other players.
They all have the same determined look… but… I have a feeling. Something's wrong here… someone's gonna die.
I looked to Diabel. He caught my stare, and gave a competitive smile back.
What the hell?
"Listen up, everyone."
Once he had everyone's attention, he continued. "I've only got one thing to say to you. Let's win!"
I heard grunts of determination coming from Kibaou and Egil.
"Come on!"
Diabel put his hand to the double doors, and they automatically opened up.
The room had next to no lighting, so we kept together and waited for something to happen.
Three, two, one.
And just like that, the walls erupted into a rainbow of bright colors, and a giant form jumped out from the back of the room.
«Illfang the Kobold Lord».
The beast was a crimson color, with a blue diamond pattern on its abdomen. Its arms and head were disproportionately small compared to its giant belly and legs. In its right hand, it held a one-handed axe, and in its left, a buckler that was too small for it, much like its arms and head.
Its four health bars appeared, filling up one by one until showing four green bars shaped in a semi-circle around its left shoulder.
In flashes of blue light, three «Ruin Kobold Sentinels» appeared, all heavily armored and wielding pole-axes.
The Kobolds all charged, their styles looking exceedingly sloppy.
Well, it's only the first floor.
"COMMENCE ATTACK!" Diabel shouted, pointing his sword at Illfang.
We charged.
"Squads A and C! Switch in!" I heard Diabel command.
Illfang started to attack.
"Squad B! Block!"
"Squad C, keep guarding and prepare to switch! Everyone else, when you regroup, fall back and flank them!"
Wow… this guy's an amazing leader!
"Squads D, E, and F, keep those minions off us!"
Hearing him call my squad name, I snapped into action. "Yeah, you got it!"
I knocked a sentinel's pole-axe up, shouting, "Switch!" immediately after.
"I'm on it!" Asuna replied, charging in.
I thought she was a beginner, but she's got good skills, I thought as I watched her perform a «Linear». I can't even see the tip of her sword!
The sentinel shattered, adding to the near-infinite amount of polygons that were floating from mobs destroyed thus far.
I smiled. "Right on!"
Another sentinel spawned to replace the old one, and I blocked its not-so-deadly attack.
I heard the boss roar, and when I looked over, I saw its health depleting into the red.
Illfang tossed aside its giant axe and not-so-giant buckler into the air, and they landed far away from the beast with two loud clangs.
"Looks like the guide book was right," I heard Kibaou say cockily.
Don't get too cocky, Kibaou.
"Stand back! I've got it!" Diabel yelled, running through the players.
I thought the plan was for everyone in the group to surround it!
He looked back at me with a confident smile.
When he stopped running, he began to charge up a mid-level skill.
That won't be powerful enough to defeat it! What the hell is he thinking?!
Illfang grabbed the blade behind its back, pulling it out.
My blood froze in my veins
That's not a «Tulwar»! It's a «Nodachi»! This isn't like the beta!
"Wait, stop! It's no good! GET OUT OF THERE!" I shouted desperately, hoping he would heed my warning.
He didn't.
The boss jumped up into the air, ricocheting off of the multiple pillars throughout the room. It jumped down, hitting Diabel with a skill that cut a deep gash across his chest, then activated another skill that sent him flying into the air.
"DIABEL! NO!" Kibaou shouted, earning the attention of Illfang.
The boss jumped over to Kibaou, letting out a devastating roar.
Paying no mind, I ran over to Diabel. I laid down my sword, getting out a potion for him to drink. "What the hell were you thinking?"
He blocked the potion with his hand, saying weakly, "You know… you were a beta-tester too, weren't you?"
I gasped, finally remembering where I heard his name.
The «Leader»! He was the leader of the clearing party in the beta!
"You were after the «Last Attack Bonus». The rare item. You're just like me… a beta-tester."
He gave me a sad smile. "Please… you have to… defeat the boss… for everyone here!"
And he shattered, leaving everything… everyone… behind. I looked on in horror as the fragments of his avatar and soul disappeared forever.
When this death game started, the only thing I thought about was how I was gonna survive. Nothing else mattered.
I briefly remembered when Klein and I parted.
"Take care… I'll be seeing you, Klein."
But you weren't like that, Diabel. You never abandoned the other players. You brought them together. You led everyone, and you fought brilliantly! You tried to accomplish something I couldn't!
I stood up, turning to face the boss with a newfound rage. I gripped my sword tighter.
I heard someone come up beside me.
"I'll go too," Asuna said flatly.
"Okay."
After a moment, we charged together, in perfect sync.
"We'll hit him just like we did the minions!" I shouted.
"You got it!"
Illfang saw us and began to charge up a skill. I charged one of my own, and they met each other in a flash of light.
"Switch!"
She began to charge up a mid-level Rapier Skill with incredible speed… but…
Illfang was faster.
Illfang recovered from the recoil, aiming a slash from its «Nodachi» down on her head.
"ASUNA!"
She paused for a spilt second, shocked that I knew her name. She realized I was trying to warn her just in time to avoid the slash, but her cloak wasn't as fortunate.
While still in the air, she charged and activated a «Linear», which sent the boss flying back.
Now that I could see her entire body, only one thing came to my mind.
She's… beautiful.
Long, flowing chestnut hair and shining chestnut eyes, accompanied by a wonderful figure. All in all, she looked perfectly beautiful.
I snapped back to reality when I heard the low growl of Illfang. "He's coming back!"
I parried another attack from him, and Asuna hit him with another «Linear».
This time, the boss went for Asuna, so I stepped in and blocked every strike.
The boss used a «Sword Skill», and, when I parried it, I remembered that that particular skill had two hits.
Oh no!
The second hit got me in the chest, sending me flying into Asuna.
To my relief, my HP stopped dropping just above the halfway mark. Despite this, I still felt exhausted.
I heard Asuna gasp. When I looked up, I saw Illfang charging up a one-hit heavy-hitter skill that would end our lives. Asuna moved to block it with her rapier, though we both knew it wouldn't hold up.
Just before the skill would have hit us, a familiar dark-skinned giant appeared and delivered a powerful «Whirlwind» that sent the boss's «Nodachi» back up in a giant shockwave.
Illfang flew back, and the other players charged in.
Egil turned back to us and said, "We can hold this bastard off until your health's back up!"
"You got it!"
With that, he charged at the boss.
They kept him down for a good twenty seconds, enough for my «Battle Healing» to get my health back up to full.
Illfang knocked them back with a shockwave, jumping into the air to charge another skill.
I got up and ran towards the boss, performing a «Sonic Leap» and sending him to the ground, a few meters away from the other players.
I somersaulted onto the ground, rolling back up and running towards the boss.
"Come on, Asuna! Help me beat this sucker! One last attack!"
"You got it!"
She ran into step beside me, and we charged together, yelling our battle cries in unison.
Illfang unleashed a skill, and I blocked it while she hit it with a series of «Linears».
I used my own skill on the beast, the first hit slicing down its shoulder and through to its waist.
"AAAAAAAAH!"
I began to drag the second hit of the skill through its waist, then abdomen, then chest, and then all the way through its head.
My skill sent Illfang flying through the air, where he exploded in a blinding light.
All was quiet.
Then, the «CONGRATULATION» window appeared, as well as the victory windows of every surviving player.
The players all erupted into cheers.
When the lights faded, I saw my window say,
Congratulation
You got the last attacking bonus!
Then a sub-window popped up, telling me what I got.
Bonus item
«Coat of Midnight»
I heard Asuna and Egil walk up to me.
"Nice job."
"That was some fine swordsmanship. Congratulations, today's victory is all thanks to you."
I looked down, remembering Diabel's leadership and how it got the boss into the red.
"No—"
"Yeah! You rock, man!" one of the players interjected.
More and more players started to cheer and clap for me.
Just as I had come to accept their congratulations, someone interjected with, "STOP CHEERING!"
Kibaou…?
Everyone's eyes turned to the cactus-haired man.
"… Why'd you do it, huh? Why'd you let Diabel die?!"
My blood ran cold. "Let him die?" I repeated.
"That's what I said!" he affirmed. "Admit it! You knew the technique the boss was gonna use. You could've told us! Then Diabel would've stood a chance… he wouldn't have had to die!"
People started murmuring, wondering what was going on.
Then, the first accusation was made. "I know why he knew! He used to be a beta-tester! Think about it! he knew the boss's attack patterns! He knew, but he kept it from us!"
Kibaou sniffed.
The second accusation was made, from the same player, no less. "And, I bet he's not the only beta-tester here! Come on, show yourselves!"
People started looking around, trying to find the supposed other beta-testers.
I looked at everyone, seeing how a wedge was being forced between the clearing party this early in the game.
This is bad… a-at this rate…
I remembered Diabel's last words.
"For everyone here."
I realized what I had to do. I gulped, attempting to bury my nervousness.
"Hey! Calm down!" I heard Egil say.
"Hehehe… hahaha… HAHAHAHA!" I laughed, trying my best to sound like the bad guy.
If I take all the blame, then the other beta-testers won't have to take any.
"So you guys think I used to be a beta-tester…" I said, getting up slowly. "It's not cool to put me in the same class with those newbs."
"W-what'd you say?!"
"You heard me. Most of the people who scored a slot in SAO's beta were rookies. They were so green, they didn't even know how to level up. Hell, even you guys are better than they were."
I walked past Asuna and Egil, both visibly shocked.
"But me? I'm nothin' like those guys, man. During the beta, I made it to floors that were higher than any of the other testers. That's a fact. I knew about the boss's attack patterns… 'cause I fought tons of monsters with waymore Sword Skills on higher floors!
"I know a bunch of other things, too. More than you can imagine. More than any info broker."
Kibaou was the first to recover from his shock. "Wha… what the hell?! If that's true, then you're worse than a beta-tester! You're a God-damn cheater, that's what you are!"
The other people started rallying behind him, calling me names and saying things I'd rather not repeat.
"He's a beta-tester and a cheater! He's a «Beater»!"
"A «Beater»… yeah, that's good. I like it," I said quietly, feigning a smile the whole time.
The entire crowd gasped.
"Okay, you can call me a «Beater», 'cause I'll be the one to beat this game. Just make sure you don't confuse me with those lowly beta-testers anymore."
I opened my menu and equipped my new «Coat of Midnight».
I stifled a chuckle and turned around, walking towards the stairs. When I was halfway up, I heard someone rush over to me.
"Wait!"
I turned my head around so I could see Asuna out of the corner of my eye. "What is it?"
"I… I want to continue partying with you!"
"No… I don't want you getting involved with someone like me. Besides… you can become powerful here on your own…
"However, if the day comes when someone you trust invites you to join a guild, don't turn it down. 'Cause there are limits to what a solo player can do."
"But… what about you…?"
I could hear her voice trembling ever-so-slightly. I didn't look back, for fear I'd see her crying.
I opened up my main menu, went into «Party», and selected to dissolve it. When it asked for confirmation… I hit yes.
I put my hand on the door and it opened. I walked through it, constantly telling myself that this was the right thing to do.
I found myself on a different part of «Aincrad»… floor two. The mountainous terrain did little to intimidate me as I walked forward, determined to beat the game above all else.
"Okay, you can call me a «Beater», 'cause I'll be the one to beat this game."
Well… we'll find out.
A/N:
This was awesome. This was so easy, but then again, this chapter was pretty much episode 2 of the dubbed anime, but whatever. The first chapter was even easier than this one, and most of that was original, so… I'm rambling.
Which reminds me—I'm proud to announce that after this chapter, there won't be any more episode copying!
Anyway, I'm about done for now. It's one o'clock a.m. my time, so I don't want to push my luck in writing, even though it's only the A/N.
With all that info for you, I have only one last thing to say…
I don't own Sword Art Online, its characters, or anything else I borrow from it!
See ya!