Jan and Lyra split a bottle of water as they relaxed in the town on Floor Eight, Frieven. It was forest themed like Floor 3 but the forest floor was covered in water so players had to walk on paths suspended in the branches. Frieven was like a series of giant treehouses. It was remarkable that so many players lived here. Any ones that did couldn't afford to have any fear of heights.

"So why did you say you were a Beta Tester Lyra?" Jan asked as he passed the bottle back, leaning against one of the trees. "Betas are outcasted among the other players if not out rightly exiled and you just admit it…"

Lyra shrugged. "I have no reason to be ashamed. We Beta's didn't do anything wrong. Yet we all hide our title, working solo or hiding in groups forever fearing that we're going to be found out. It's like admitting we're different, a bad different as if we were red players. If they don't like me being a Beta that's their problem, not mine."

Jan smiled and crossed his arms behind his head, the movement made a little awkward by the shield and longsword slung on it. "Leave it to you. You like breaking jurisdictions."

"Only stupid ones." Lyra promised. She looked at her hands in her lap, quiet. "I was one of them."

Jan opened an eye and glanced at her, "who?"

"One of the Betas who thought they were all that and abandoned the newbies to die," Lyra banged her head against the tree. "I went solo and was fine until the Floor 4 frontier opened. One of the monsters there was a spined wolf - a blue wolf thing with quills on its back. It can shoot the quills but I wasn't worried. One of the quills hit me and I ignored it. Then the paralysis affected me. I didn't know it was poisoned. It hadn't been in the Beta Test. One of Kayaba's surprises and it almost killed me. After that, I stopped being so… arrogant."

Jan nodded. "A lot of Betas found out about the differences and didn't live to tell the tale. It was the little things that tripped us up. The other players don't seem to understand either that we only made it to Floor Ten in the Beta. Once the frontier moved to Floor Eleven, any advantage we had of pre-knowledge was gone."

His menu dinged and a message notice appeared. Jan straightened and tapped it, opening the message. "Hey Jenny, it's from Merrik."

"It's Lyra in this world. I haven't seen Merrik since the announcement either. Let me guess, he's been solo to?"

"Yeah," Jan's eyes got wide when he read the message: "Floor 8, Lagoon Swamp Dungeon, trapped by red players. Help!"

"Red players," Lyra straightened, "I've heard of them, they kill other players and their cursors turn orange. They do it for fun."

Jan stared, "that's murder in this game."

"You've been hiding on Floor 3," Lyra snapped. "I doubt you've heard of them but they're active and growing. Merrik's here?"

Jan felt himself growing red in embarrassment. "The Lagoon."

"That's about ten minutes run," Lyra hummed. "Come on, before Merrik's name gets scratched off on the Monument of Life."

Merrik unleashed his sword skill, this one a six-point combo. Up, cross, down, block, up, slice, and the humanoid fish monster – an Aqua Beast – shattered into pieces. A screen confirmed the kill and Merrik collapsed to the muddy ground of the Lagoon Swamp. With a growl Merrik dismissed the screen. He was breathing hard, and a skull symbol flashed by his HP bar, alerting him that he was poisoned.

Hand trembling, he reached into his pouch and withdrew a green antidote crystal. "Cure," the crystal shattered, his HP bar flashed white and the poisoned symbol went away. Merrik took a breath; he glared at his HP bar. The poison that the Aqua Beast's claws were coated with had drained his HP bar to yellow. It shifted a few pixels more and turned red.

He looked through his inventory. One antidote crystal and that was it. No healing, no teleport, no corridor crystals. I hope Jan shows up soon. Not only do I have to fight all these monsters I have to dodge those red players and now my HP is in the red...

His sight sharpened as he used his Search skill. An orange cursor appeared in the distance. Merrik cursed as a second and third one showed up. He took off running, shoving his sword on his back. They won't even need a Search skill to track me; my footprints will be in mud.

"There he is!" Someone shouted.

Merrik ran. His Strength stat was high was but his Speed was low, like his Hiding. The footsteps behind him were loud, two, three sets. I can't fight them with just an Antidote crystal!

"Ai-Yaaa!" Someone shouted, tackling one of the red players.

Merrik half-turned and his foot slipped out from under him, making him splat to the ground. He shook his head and turned over. "Jan."

Jan parried one blade aside with his longsword and slammed his shield into another player's face. His sword lit up green and he dove into a combo, getting rid of one player's blade. Suddenly, his blade got past one's guard and ran the player through. He hesitated as he saw the player's HP plummet.

Another player swung at Jan. "Jan, behind!" Merrik shouted a warning.

The falling blade clashed with Lyra's saber and she angled her blade, deflecting it to one side and kicking the player. Sometimes the old fashioned fighting skills worked the best. Lyra reached into her pouch and threw Merrik a crystal.

Merrik grabbed the pink healing crystal in midair and quickly commanded, "Heal!" as he stood.

Jan finally managed to tear his blade free and the red player stumbled back. As the player hit the ground he shattered into millions of little shards that fluttered past Jan's face.

Merrik dispatched another, sword turned red as an eight-part combo was unleashed onto the red player. Realizing the tables had turned the remaining red player abandoned the fight. Lyra was too fast and her sword came down in an arch as she jumped up, blade blue in a vicious down stroke that killed the last attacker.

For a moment, all three hesitated. Then the adrenaline faded when they realized they were safe and relaxed. "Jan?" Merrik whispered.

"I just," Jan said blankly, "I just killed someone."

"Don't worry," Merrik promised. "That guy will have killed more than one player to have his cursor permanently orange."

"Why do I get the feeling you're used to fighting them?" Lyra asked. Jan seemed to be in too much a shock to ask her for a kiss.

"I've been hunting them, red players." Merrik sighed. "I used to be in a party of four until we were ambushed by a group of reds calling themselves PK's on the 6th floor."

"PK's," Lyra frowned.

"Player Killers." Merrik grimaced. "They said it very proudly to. I was the only one to make it out. I-I knew that there was a trap in the dungeon from the Beta Test so I sprung it and managed to get out but my teammates…"

Lyra put a hand on his shoulder. "You're all right now," she promised him.

"I've been hunting red players since," Merrik finished. "It's been keeping me busy since we got stuck here. You?"

"Clearer," Lyra nodded. "Scouting out Floor Dungeons and fighting their bosses."

Jan slid his shield onto his back and his sword behind the shield to the pre-equipped sheathe. "I don't see how three players are that big of a problem."

"There are a lot more than three red players," Merrik promised. "The top killer here was fighting Floor Bosses, but the Clearers have been getting better. Those that "fell from a great height" and jumped over the rail to commit suicide are all dead. Others that have been killed by monsters in general are already gone. PK's are the main killer of players now."

"Do you have any teleport crystals?" Jan asked.

"If I did," Merrik snapped, "do you think I'd still be here?"

Lyra reached into her pouch and handed him a blue crystal. Merrik stared at it.

"Unless you'd rather walk back…"

He took it and Lyra materialized another one for herself out of her inventory.

Jan raised his own teleport crystal, not saying anything. "Teleport: Frieven," he ordered, disappearing in a column of blue light.

Merrik and Lyra glanced at each other than copied him. "Teleport: Frieven!"

There was no sign of Jan when they materialized. They looked around for a moment before giving up. He must have used the Town's teleport gate to go to a different level.

Lyra shook her head. "I shouldn't be surprised."

"Why not?" Merrik asked as they walked to an inn. The sun was setting.

"You've been hunting and I've been clearing but he's been hiding out on the Third Floor town doing nothing." Lyra explained. "He helped us but he likely went to one of the lower level floors to go hide again."

"Jan wasn't like that in the Beta Test," Merrik sighed. "He was the lunatic that always took point, especially when it came to boss battles."

"If I remember correctly, he died thirty-two times in that month." Lyra pushed the door to the inn opened and they walked in, taking a seat in one of the booths. "He can't do that now."

"I suppose not," Merrik admitted.

An NPC walked over to take their order and they ordered some broth, the other food here besides bread and water. The NPC left.

"I wish he wasn't like this but some people, when faced with death, do different things then they would otherwise do," Lyra sighed. "I hid out in the Town of Beginnings nearly a month after the 2nd Floor Frontier opened before I finally left."

"Why did you?" Merrik asked. "Leave?"

"Remember the Black Swordsman from the Beta Test?" Lyra challenged.

Merrik smiled. "Kirito talked you into it, eh?"

"He's like that," Lyra shrugged. "I haven't been back to the 1st Floor since. Jan though, he hasn't been in the field much I don't think. No more than he needs to, just to kill monsters and gain col."

"That wasn't your first red player was it?" Merrik asked as the NPC came back with their food.

"No, my second. I had no idea they were the top killer now." Lyra sighed as the NPC wandered away again and they started to eat.

"You met Jan on Floor 3 right?" Merrik asked. "What was a Clearer like you doing down there?"

"Taking a break," Lyra shook her head. "The 11th Floor Dungeon is a real maze. We've mapped out 70% and there's still no sign of the Boss Lair. I got frustrated. If someone finds it while I'm gone Asuna will message me so I can meet with the other players to organize a raid."

"Asuna?" Merrik tilted his head to one side. "I don't recognize that name from the Beta Test."

Lyra shook her head. "I wouldn't expect you to. She wasn't in it. We used to be in a party. She fights with a rapier and it works well with my saber."

"Why aren't you with her now? Get into a fight or is she…"

"She's alive and there was no fight," Lyra assured Merrik. "A player called Heathcliff recently organized a new Guild called the 'Knights of the Blood Oath' a few weeks ago. They asked Asuna and me to join them. She did, I didn't. I don't work well in large guilds."

"Betas work best alone," Merrik agreed. "In the test, there were so few of us that we never bothered to create a guild. All we did were small, temporary parties for Bosses. Otherwise, we worked solo. It's a hard habit to break, especially considering how popular we now are." Merrik smiled.

"Oh yes," Lyra muttered sarcastically. "The paparazzi won't leave me alone." Her menu dinged as a message showed up. "What now?"

She tapped it so she could read. "I suppose I jinxed it when I mentioned it." She clarified at Merrik's frown. "Asuna just sent me the message. Boss Lair's been found. The group that found it had a peek inside. Floor 11 boss is called The Wild Whistler."

"Sounds interesting," Merrik admitted.

Lyra tipped her bowl up and finished the broth. "Asuna wants me to check in now. The raid party's commandeered an inn at Taft, the Floor Elven Town." She stood.

Merrik did the same. "Think you guys could use another sword?"

"It would be welcome," Lyra promised.

Merrik flicked his hand to bring up a menu and sent her a party request.

Lyra looked at it for a moment before glancing at him.

"You said it yourself, we work best in small groups. And I know you're fighting style. It'll work."

Lyra nodded and accepted it. Merrik's name appeared under hers and his HP bar materialized besides it. "Now, let's open a new frontier."

This story takes place while Asuna is still obsessed with clearing floors and doesn't take time to do anything else. As you will soon see, her personality and Asuna's clashes. The real problem unfortunately is going to be the Boss which they have badly underestimated and will pay the price for.