Chapter 2 Nepent Disaster: Casualty One
Author's Note: Second part of the 2 chapters I needed to get out of my head before I worked on anything else.
Looking over the crowd with a cold look as the gravity of the situation sunk in, I was slightly saddened by the reversal of the boy to girl ratio, before this it was definitely 7:3 with girls making the majority, but with the reversion to original appearances, to say I was surprised would be an overstatement, I knew some guys liked to pose as girls online, but in a VR world like Sword Art Online... I just didn't expect there to be SO MANY.
I can't imagine how it would feel like... It's bad enough having to pose as a girl online on a computer game but to walk around in a girl's body... The thought was a bit creepy to be honest.
"Guys, come with me." Kana whispered, dragging us to a large palace, the largest building in the entire Town of Beginnings.
My arm grasped by Kana's left hand, Itsumo's by her right, I couldn't help but look over the crowd that were screaming and shouting at nothing in particular, several of the younger players crouched on the ground obviously having mental breakdowns.
"This is Black Iron Castle, it's set as the respawn point for those who die, I just want to confirm something."
"Where are we going?" Itsumo asked as Kana finally let go, both of us rubbing our wrists from where she had grabbed us.
"The Room of Ressurection. Each time a player dies they will be revived in that room. The fountain where people ressurect should still be there..."
Cutting herself in mid-sentence as we arrived at the room she was looking for, Kana wordlessly approached the large black stone monolith that stood there, no doubt where the fountain had been before.
"The... Monument of Life...? This wasn't here during the beta test..." Kana whispered softly, tracing her fingers over the face of the monument, "Hey, our names are on here as well!"
Taking a closer look at the stone, it seems that all the names of the 10000 players were listed on this stone, several already crossed out with a time and a date with the word "Disconnected" listed next to them.
This must have been the 213 players that have left the game permanently. This giant plaque, this stone... Isn't a Monument of Life, it's a Monument of Death, marking the dead with a cruel accuracy only a machine can perform.
As Itsumo and Kana broke down themselves, the stress and reality of the situation getting to them, I quickly sat down on a nearby bench, waiting for them to recompose themselves as I looked around at the room around me.
It didn't look much unlike a church, with the setting sunlight shining in from the windows above us, pillars supporting the ceiling around us at regular intervals around the entire room.
Waiting for both of them gave me some time to ponder my own situation, as well as wonder why I'm not with them crying my eyes out. As I finally reached my answer, Itsumo and Kana walked over, their eyes still red with tears.
"It's ok to be sad Ryu, just let it out, once your done we can move on."
"I would if I could. But there's nothing to cry about." I replied softly, looking back up at them my eyes grim with my resolve.
"There's no need to lie Ryu, it's only us here. Don't be afraid to cry." Kana said gently, patting my back.
"I said, there's nothing to cry about. Think about it, why are you both crying?"
"That's obvious! We're afraid! We're trapped here in a world for God knows how long, in a game where dying means actually dying in real life as well, who wouldn't be afraid or sad?!" Itsumo yelled back.
"You're not afraid of being trapped Omusti, you're afraid of the possibility of not going back." I replied, surprised at the steely edge in my own voice, "You're afraid of losing your life, of dying and really turning up dead in real life aren't you? That you may never see your parents, your siblings, that you may lose everything you hold dear just because your hit points hit zero. That's why you're afraid, and that's why you're crying."
"So, why aren't you crying too?" Kana whispered, her arm wrapped around Itsumo trying to comfort him, the action sending another dose of what could only be jealousy through my body.
"Because you have something to look forward to when you clear this game, something to lose if you die. I don't have that. You have parents that love you, siblings that look up to you or care for you. I have none of that. Don't you get it? Live or die, my life is forfeit anyway. Can you really say that you understand the position of a person who's life has no purpose, value, or meaning? Can you? That's why I'm not crying. Whether I die or live, it doesn't matter either way."
As both of them nodded out of shock or acknowledgement, to be honest I didn't really care which, Kana took the initiative and took us to a nearby inn and purchased three rooms giving us the room numbers we were authorised to enter before leading us up to her room to talk.
"Why can't we just enter your room if there's no locks?" Itsumo asked, as he walked up to Kana's room door, touching the handle and attempting to twist it to no effect. Eventually giving up and trying to break the door with his fist, a notice appeared saying "Immortal Object".
"Having fun yet?" Kana and I said, giving Itsumo a sardonic look as he got out of the way while Kana easily opened the door herself.
"Rooms are protected by the system, the default setting is that the room can only be opened by its owner or by a person given explicit permission by the owner. Otherwise the room is unaccessible." Kana explained, "Now, since this game just got real, we have to start thinking about what we're going to do tomorrow."
Apt choice of words, "Just got real", real in more ways than we'd like...
"Go out to the fields and train I guess?" I said calmly, pulling out a whetstone and working on my scimitar, trying to train my metal equipment repairing skill, my blade durability not increasing at all due to me just starting to pick it up.
"And compete with another 9000 people? As soon as people start to change and adapt to the situation, they'll all have the same thoughts as us. And that also means training in the same spots as us. The spawn rate in any area of any game is fixed, and the amount of people or the rate at the monsters are killed do not affect the spawn rate. If we are to compete with everyone for the same hunting ground we will inevitably lose."
"I see, like when any game first opens the starting towns are crowded beyond compare, this situation is no different right?" I say, remembering the last MMO I played and the hell that I had to go through just to complete the beginner quests with more than 10 people all crowding around the same spawn point.
It wasn't pretty, believe me.
"Exactly. So, here's the plan. When we all wake up tomorrow, we head for the nearest town, a village called Horunka. There we start our training ok? Also, over there is a quest over there that gives a good sword that can be used for quite some time since it's stats are very good." Kana said.
As we dispersed for the rest of the evening, strangely enough I started to feel hungry; Hungry, in a game.
Pushing aside the incredulity of the system that governed such feelings I walked around town aimlessly, looking for something to eat.
It seemed the Town of Beginnings was not short of places that sold food, but the variety that was offered actually made me salivate. In a world where everything was digital, my own self being a mere data stream of 1's and 0's, I marvelled at the genius of the game's creator Kayaba Akihiko and the pseudo world he had created.
Entering a nearby restaurant with a somewhat promising menu, an NPC waitress walked over and gave me a sweet smile before handing me a menu and walking off.
Even though this restaurant is run by NPC's in all honesty I actually expected the them to be a little more robotic and less... Well... Human.
After a cursory sweep of the menu I looked up as the waitress was walking by, the restaurant itself not very busy and made a small wave to try and catch her attention. When that didn't work and the waitress walked right by me I couldn't help but break into a small fit of giggles; Yep, definitely an NPC.
"Umm, excuse me..." I said hesitantly, trying to catch the waitress' attention.
"Yes?" she said, turning around quickly, stunning me once again with how smooth her movements were.
"Umm I'd like the Igden paella." I said softly, wondering if I was really talking to an NPC.
"Certainly, that will be 33 col!" the waitress said, a small trade window opening up to confirm my purchase.
As soon as I accepted, the waitress bowed and walked into the kitchen, a steamy plate of food in her hands when she walked out a few seconds later.
"Enjoy your meal!" the waitress said, bowing again before bouncing off.
The food itself tasting quite different from what I'm used to in real life, it served as a testament to the fact that I had left the real world behind. Eating it in silence, I slowly went through the plate, my mind less occupied on what I was eating and more filled with thoughts on what I was going to do from here.
Part of me still refused to accept that I was trapped here, that maybe my parents or one of my friends would notice I was missing when I don't turn up to school, that someone... Anyone... Would just pull my NerveGear and log me out. But the two friends I hang out with are stuck here with me.
Well if it is possible to remove the NerveGear without anyone dying we'd all be logged out when they reset the server or something so we might as well accept this harsh new reality.
No longer hungry when I left the restaurant, I returned to the inn and entered my own room to sleep for the night.
That night, I had a dream, if it could even qualify as that in this world where I was just another piece of data. The dream itself was sweet: I was back in the real world, holding hands with a girl as I walked down the street feeling light and carefree. The dream itself was so good that it left me reaching in the air for no reason. After shaking my head several times to wake myself up, the cold hard truth drenched me like a freezing bucket of ice water. There wasn't a happy ending in this even if I wanted one. The girl I was interested in was already closer to my best mate than I'd ever be, even if I were to try I'd be getting in their way and it'd no doubt strain my friendship with Itsumo.
But what am I supposed to do? Risk my friendship for a girl that might not even reciprocate my feelings? If I take the risk I will most likely lose out, she's so close to Itsumo after all. If I choose to keep my silence I'll forever reach for the unattainable goal.
Putting my thoughts aside for later, I got dressed via the menu and walked down to the inn's lobby, Itsumo and Kana already downstairs chatting with each other happily.
Feeling the seed of jealousy start to bloom, I waved and called out to them to get their attention, "Hey guys!"
As both of them turned and greeted me, I nodded towards the door asking them whether they wanted to go.
Receiving two nods in reply, we embarked on our great journey, and almost immediately ran into a pack of wolves.
Usually in normal game circumstances I'd thank my lucky stars for the massive EXP bomb and start killing everything in sight until I got overwhelmed and respawned. But in this game the rules were clear: death was permanent, and in more ways than one. So from a blessing, the sudden arrival of multiple enemies had become a desperate situation.
"Should we run?" Itsumo whispered, his eyes already darting around for possible escape routes.
"We're in a wide open field. Even if we did we wouldn't get far." Kana replied, drawing her sword and shield.
Although there was no BGM to mark the beginning of the battle, tension filled the air as the wolves growled at us, the smooth sound of metal sliding against metal as we drew our weapons, the exception being Itsumo who swung his spear out.
"Get them!" Kana yelled, all of us dashing towards the wolves that also leaped towards us.
Sidestepping the first wolf that leaped towards me, I raised my scimitar and blocked the second wolf, the first one slamming into Kana's shield before I looked back to my own snarling opponent.
The sounds and behaviour of the wolf was frighteningly realistic, so much that I was even slightly afraid to advance further, for fear that the illusion of this being a game be shattered before my very eyes.
Steadying my stance, I altered the scimitar in my left hand into a dagger grip, dodging to the right as the wolf leaped again, missing it narrowly as I sliced deep into it's body, taking off a substantial amount from its health bar before turning around to face it again.
Feeling a bump on my back I thought Itsumo might have gotten a bit clumsy until I realised both Itsumo and Kana were in front of me. The next sensation I felt could only be described as pain; Real, throbbing, pain.
I had forgotten we were against a pack of wolves, not a single wolf, not a group of three, a pack. And thus all of us had to look out and prepare to face multiple opponents. My target fixation on the one wolf that I had targeted made me neglect checking on my surroundings allowing one of the wolves to get in close and sink its fangs into me.
As I yelled out in pain, Kana and Itsumo both swivelled in my direction, quickly turning back to engage their foes thankfully not making the same mistake that I did.
My health bar dropping dangerously fast as the wolf at my ankle continued to bit harder, I decided against trying to shake it off and raised my hand instead to use a sword skill.
The effect was instantaneous: as soon as my arm reached a right degree angle, I added a slight pause to the motions the system instantly recognising my pose as the start of the skill "Vertical". The blade glowing with a bright red light and starting a high pitch whine as I did so, I twitched my hand downwards to complete the skill, bringing my sword arm down at the maximum speed allowed as the system itself guided my arm from start to finish.
The offending wolf disappearing in an explosion of light and polygon fragments, the wolf I had left alone immediately tackled me to the ground before I could turn back towards it.
Rolling over the ground my health bar dropping Ito the yellow zone, I immediately started to hack and slash at the wolf as we rolled while trying to get it's jaws away from my body.
Hopefully Kana and Itsumo can finish up with their lot and help, I don't want to become wolf dinner today.
My weak hits barely chiselling off the wolf's health with each hit, I tried activating another sword skill but couldn't assume the appropriate pose or perform the prerequisite motions while tumbling around with an angry wolf.
As we both started to slow down, the wolf quickly aimed at my neck to finish me off while I was defenceless a direct hit at my current health level probably enough to finish me off, I closed my eyes, accepting the fate that was dealt to me, frighteningly calm despite the fact that I was going to die in less than a second.
But it never came, the killing blow never landed and after several seconds I opened my eyes, the wolf on top of me impaled by a spear thrown by Itsumo.
His face reflecting how desperate he was that he would abandon his weapon made me slightly guilty that he would save my life, my life that I didn't value or cherish for his despite the fact that he has so much to lose. Kana reacted almost instantly as well, blocking an attack meant for Itsumo with her shield as I retrieved Itsumo's spear and tossed it back to him.
"Thanks." I said, turning back to face my adversary, now back up and growling once again its hackles raised.
Running forwards to gain momentum, I raised my sword arm once again hearing the familiar whine as the system acknowledged my motion and moved my body in the skill called "Reaver".
Swinging my scimitar down, I was forcefully pulled forwards towards the wolf, the blade automatically connecting with the wolf causing it to die and explode into sparks as a window popped up showing how much EXP and money we had earned.
Panting and falling to my knees, fatigue in this world was apparently real as well as my entire body felt numb from the neck down as if I had run a marathon.
"Did... Did we win...?" Itsumo said softly, out of breath as well as we all lay on the ground trying to catch our breath.
"Yeah... We just survived our first firefight." I replied, left with barely enough energy to sheathe my scimitar.
"Alright, once we recover we should continue on to Horunka, we should reach there in time for lunch if we hurry." Kana said, lying on the floor in the shape of a star.
After a few jokes and laughs we finally managed to stand less than half an hour later and continued our way into a forested area.
"Are we there yet?" Itsumo asked for what must have been the umpteenth time earning a chop on the back of his head from me who was covering the rear flank.
"We'll get there when we get there don't be so impatient." I said roughly, silently asking the same question in my mind until...
"We're here." Kana said, the forest opening to reveal a small village of ten or more buildings nearly surrounded by the forest like a small spot in an ocean of greenery.
"Well, I'm off to clear my inventory and get that armour I was supposed to." I said, Kana nodding as she and Itsumo walked towards the village inn probably to reserve rooms in case we decided to stay the evening.
The town filled with a mixture of NPCs and players, most of the players kept to themselves as they minded their own business, most likely beta testers by the looks of how they were not in the slight bit fazed or curious by this new town like I was.
The town itself although small had a rustic feel to it, and although I always preferred the urban rustle and bustle of the city, this town had a somewhat soothing atmosphere which had an extremely calming effect on my nerves despite the fact that I was trapped in this death game called SAO.
Though I wasn't exactly panicking from the start so this atmosphere probably won't have the same effect on every traveller that goes through here...
After a few minutes of wandering around, I managed to find a nearby shop to empty out my inventory of all the drops that I had acquired on the way here before opening the buy window to see what was for sale.
Under the equipment tab there was a new sword for sale called the "Bronze Sword" but since I was into curved blades the sword would not do much good for me if I were to wield it even though it had a decent attack boost compared to my old scimitar. Clicking on another tab instead I decided to stock up on potions instead and by the time I had finished shopping my money was a mere fraction of what I had before I entered the store.
Thanking the NPC politely, I ran out to meet Kana and Itsumo who were already at the entrance leading towards the forest.
"Ready?" Kana asked, looking up and down at my new armour.
"Let's go. You got the quest?"
"Yeah, the target is a plant monster with a flower on its head. The monster is called "Little Nepenthe" and it spits a corrosive goo so be careful." Kana said as we set out.
A few minutes of walking later, we came across a walking pitcher plant, slightly taller than us around on its lower vines. The plant was the monster we were looking for, the name tag that appeared above its health bar removed that doubt, but how the hell is that thing considered little?! It's not only taller than us it's bigger too!
"Is... Is that it?" Itsumo asked, just as stunned as I was.
"Yep. We gotta kill those until we slay one with a flower." Kana said, sounding extraordinarily calm for someone staring down a giant plant monster.
Though in her defence she's probably seen one before so it'd be no surprise that she isn't taken aback by the monster's appearance.
Although the Little Nepenthe had no eyes, almost on cue it turned to us, two vines whipping around it as it made its way towards us.
Both Kana and I taking our stances and moving in, I immediately strafed to flank it on the left while Kana took the right, both of us reaching the Nepenthe's body at the same time as we both slashed, depleting the Nepenthe's health by a bit.
Beforehand we had agreed I'd take the left flank because of my primary hand being on my left otherwise it'd cause a clash if I were to take the right flank, an idea proposed by Itsumo after Kana and I hit each other accidentally a few times. The arguments definitely weren't fun when teamwork is essential for our survival.
Just before the Nepenthe was about to die however, its mouth opened and let out a blob of goo right at me, the green slime not looking too harmless. With a quick sidestep I easily averted the danger, the not so lucky Itsumo taking it right in the face.
"Ughhhh!" Itsumo yelled, desperately trying to wipe the corrosive slime off his face and body, the slime eating away at his armour.
"We better head back and get the repairs done. Before the durability of his stuff hits zero." Kana said, nodding back in the direction of the village.
A short repair trip later we were all back in the thick of things, each of us slowly losing our defensive formation as the monotony of killing Nepenthe after Nepenthe got to us.
After fifty or so kills, we started to wander away from each other, all of us killing our separate enemies.
"Hey guys I found it!" Itsumo yelled, his voice echoing through the trees from nearby.
Both of us gleefully running towards the area from where his voice came from, Kana instantly froze in her tracks while holding out an arm to stop me as well.
"What're you doing? Let's help Omusti kill this thing and..."
"Omusti, get as far as you can from that Nepenthe!" Kana screamed, her eyes wide from panic.
"What's the matter? Let's just kill this thing and..."
At that moment, the tip of Itsumo's spear had touched the "thing" that was on top of the Nepenthe which instantly burst.
"That's... Not supposed to happen... Right...?" I said softly, suddenly aware that we had probably done something we shouldn't have.
"Don't talk! Guys, RUN!" Kana screamed, grabbing me and running like our lives depended on it.
As red cursor after red cursor started to appear from every direction my suspicions were confirmed, that thing that Itsumo touched, wasn't a flower, but some kind of trap that drew monsters to its source.
And we were right in the middle of it.
The party health bars on the left side of my view dwindling as we took hit after hit even as I dodged and countered what must be dozens of tentacle and goo attacks my health bar still inevitably hit the yellow zone in our mad rush for the safety of the town.
But nothing in the world, nothing I had ever experienced, could ever prepare me for what would happen next.
As Kana and I had a head start, although we met heavy resistance to the front, with a combination of Kana's blocking the Nepenthe's attacks while I countered, we were able to cut through and avoid the majority of the swarm. But Itsumo wasn't so lucky.
With a blood curdling scream the last of his armour was dissolved after he tripped and fell on the ground, the cry of our friend causing both Kana and I to turn to our fallen comrade.
"Omusti!" Kana yelled, taking a step back as the Nepenthe's swarmed around him almost gleefully in the way they gathered so rapidly.
"Just go! I'll... I'll be fine!" Itsumo lied, his health bar dropping into the red zone from the combined attacks of the monsters.
The town barely in sight from us, Kana started towards Itsumo but I quickly grabbed Kana's hand and gave her a look before running for safety, "Sorry..." I muttered almost to myself as I just gripped her hand and ran.
"I'm scared..." Itsumo said, those two words his last as he burst into light and polygon fragments, the last words of our friend and comrade echoing in my ears as I bit back tears and entered the town.
The Nepenthes dispersing after the source of their aggro gone, I reached into my pocket reaching for a monster drop that I had acquired as Kana and I made our mad dash out of the forest, a small shiny sphere that seemed to glow as I held it, a small beacon of light in the darkening village.
Upon examination, the item that I held in my hand was a Nepenthe's ovule, probably obtained when we killed and killed Nepenthe after Nepenthe trying to escape from the plant monsters. This ovule... The price that it took to obtain it... Made me want to throw it away.
Quickly handing it over to Kana before the urge to do so overcame me, I muttered, "Here." before dropping it into her hand and sitting down on a nearby bench.
Itsumo... I can't really voice what I'm feeling right now... A bit of angry and a lot of sad I guess... But to watch my friend die right in front of me, the feeling... Is just too much to bear.
-End of Chapter 2