Floor 1


I landed with a hard thud in the middle of the battlefield.

"Ow…" I mumbled, assessing the damage. My skirt was ripped and I had a few scrapes, but other than that I looked okay.

My sudden entrance had distracted the beast from the axe wielding girl, and it was now staring me directly in the eyes. Petrified wasn't even close to describe the fear that was coursing through my body. The menacing look the monster was giving me had my legs rooted to the ground. As the mutated dire wolf began to run towards me, my body finally responded. I leaped from the ground and positioned myself in a fighting stance as it charged me.

My body trembled as it rushed toward me. I wasn't going to be the victor in this fight, even if both girls fought with me. The sound of the beast's hooves drawing near was making me sick to my stomach all over again. It snarled as it came within attacking proximity, and instead of fighting back, I dodged. I leaped straight over the beast and towards the girls.

"RUN!" I said.

"What?!" The axe wielding girl exclaimed. She had long coral hair in a braid, and was heaving from exhaustion.

"I said run!" I ran towards her and grabbed her hand.

"Absolutely not—" She protested, but was silenced when I pulled her along with me. I made a beeline for the cowering girl and grabbed her hand. She had the same long coral hair as the braided girl, but hers was styled in a half up, half down fashion. From what I could tell, they were sisters.

"What the hell are you doing?" The braided girl yelled at me as I dragged her and her sister through the forest.

"Faster!" I yelled, darting between the trees. As agile as I was, holding both of their hands was, quite frankly, impeding my ability to escape. I tried desperately to remember the path I had taken while ignoring the hooves of the beast behind us. The route had been lost long ago while weaving in and out of the trees.

There was a mossy embankment to our left. The hill was extremely steep, but I had to gamble that the dire wolf's programming wasn't able to take that path and would have to reroute itself.

"Brace yourselves!" I charged towards it at full force, and the three of us flew down the embankment.

"What the fu—" The braided girl exclaimed as her sister let out a scream.

The steep decline of the hill was covered in slippery moss that made us catch air at points. Fortunately, bushes lined the bottom of the embankment.

"Oomph!" I said. The prickly bushes weren't the best for cushioning a fall, but they were definitely better than rocks. I jumped up to see if the monster had forgotten about us, my heart still racing from the chase. I sighed in relief when it was nowhere to be seen. Exhausted from the running, I bent over for a much-needed break.

"Um…" The scared girl broke the silence.

I had momentarily forgotten about the two because I was so relieved to be alive. They were both staring at me as I turned to look at them. The angry girl had a scowl, of course. The way she had responded to me I wouldn't have expected anything less. I looked away from her, to the other girl. Why does she look the same as angry girl? Oh—they were identical twins. She appeared to be nicer than her sister, at least.

I could only imagine how I looked. I was covered in dried sewage from escaping the Town of Beginnings, vomit from when I threw up in the back alley, and my hair was a tangled mess from the battles I had fought. Not to mention my skirt was now ripped up to my underwear. I turned bright red as I attempted to hold the material together.

"Um...hi." My mind tried to form better sentences to introduce myself, but that was all that came out. Why am I constantly too flustered to speak? I should work on that.

"What the hell was that?" The braided girl exclaimed.

Did she really just say that? How about a thank you for rescuing her? Sure, fleeing wasn't the most conventional way to survive in battle, but we had gotten out alive, hadn't we?

She continued on. "We could've totally taken on that dire wolf. What would've happened if it had caught up to us?"

Taken it on. Right. With her health bar practically in the red, and me frozen in fear by the thing. "Sorry," I squeaked.

"What are you talking about, Kimiko?" It was now the nicer girl's turn to be angry. "If she hadn't had pulled us out of there we would be dire wolf chow. It was too high of level for us, even with three people!"

Well, like two and a quarter, honestly. She hadn't really been doing anything.

"Yes, we could—" Kimiko, AKA braid girl, began bickering with her twin, that yes, we could have won, and we should've stayed and fought.

Unnamed twin interrupted her sister's arguments. "I don't want to hear it! Don't be so hard-headed." She turned to me and smiled. "Hello, my name is Celia, and this is my sister Kimiko."

"He-hello," I said, twisting around on the balls of my feet.

"Thank you for saving us," She said, bowing.

"Um, you're welcome."

Neither of us were sure what to say after that, which created an awkward pause. Kimiko continued to seethe in the back, not interested in contributing in our conversation.

Celia led the discussion. "So, what was your name?"

I probably should have told them that during introductions. I turned bright red. "It's Kat!" Shoot! I was supposed to be Katsuki here.

"So, what are you doing in the forest, Kat?"

"I'm trying to get to Horunka."

Celia got excited. "Oh! Us too! Maybe you can—"

"Stop, Celia!" Kimiko scowled at her sister. "She doesn't need to come with us!"

This caused the girls to start fighting, again. Kimiko's words hurt, although I understood the intent behind them. As nasty as she was being, her main goal was to protect her sister. I was an outsider, and she knew nothing about me. For all she knew, I could be a PK'er trying to dispose of them and get their items. I sighed, and glanced again at Kimiko's health bar.

"Here you go, Celia." I handed her a HP potion the old woman had gifted me. Kimiko would be too stubborn to accept it if I gave it to her directly. "I'll be by the river."

Honestly, I just wanted to be out of earshot. It was always so awkward being in the middle of other people's fights. But, it made me miss my own brother, Mark. He was such a goofball. Sometimes so much so it'd start arguments between us, but most of the time his teasing was sweet. When I felt bad about my height he'd laugh at me for being 'short' because he was well over six feet tall. He knew I wasn't, of course, but it did make me feel a little better when he did it. We had the same light brown hair, although his was perfectly straight, and always side swept. He would laugh at the wavy, messy texture of mine and always ruffle it to make it worse. When Mark went to college, I cried and cried, but he promised to visit often. And he had, for the most part. But it wasn't the same as having my older brother teasing me every day.

I tore myself away from my thoughts when I reached the river. Extra melancholy thoughts were the last thing I needed right now. I crouched down by the river to examine my reflection. There were dried vomit particles sticking out of my hair, and a combination of sewer waste and dirt smeared across my face. My stomach churned looking at the mixture that had accumulated on my body.

Squeamish would be an understatement for me. If it involved bodily fluids, insects, or anything that could be categorized at 'gross,' I was out. Literally, passed out. It had been adrenaline that had kept my attention away from my current status, but now I felt myself getting dizzy.

"Eeep!" I shrieked, jumping in the river. It might not have been the best idea given that I was light headed, but I wanted this grime off, now. Is drowning possible in SAO? I never found out, because the frigid temperature shocked me back to a clear mental state. I began furiously scrubbing every inch of my body, scraping the filth off with my fingernails. Even when the visible grime was gone, I still felt dirty. I watched red scrape marks form on my body as I tried to clean something that was not there.

"Hey!" I paused my scrubbing to see Kimiko staring at me, hands on her hips. "What are you doing?"

I looked at the water and then back to her. "Washing up."

She rolled her eyes. "Well, obviously. I mean, why do you look like you're trying to rip your own skin off?"

"Being thorough, I guess." I mean, it was true.

"Well, Celia and I are making camp for a few hours; there's no way we can reach Horunka by dawn. You can stay with us if you want."

"I heard you, Kimiko! You were supposed to invite her to join us nicely!" Celia yelled from a couple hundred feet away.

Kimiko scowled at her sister, although I doubted she could see it in the darkness. "Would you...like to join us tonight?"

"Okay." I responded, hopping out of the river. I saw the look on Kimiko's face and quickly added a thank you.

I followed her back to camp, dripping water the whole way.


I sat sopping wet in front of our bonfire, hovering as close as possible in a pitiful attempt to warm myself. Nighttime was freezing in this forest—not exactly the most opportune time to dry myself. I inched closer to the flames, as if that small space would somehow make the process faster. It didn't.

I casted my eyes downward, all hopes of being warm lost. The large rip in my dress greeted me. Right now, only Celia and Kimiko were around. What happened when we got into town and there were other people around? Boys?! My face turned bright red at the thought.

"I can fix that for you, if you want!" Celia's voice sang out.

I looked at my dress. How does she plan on mending this? By using blades of grass as thread? Well, it wasn't like I had much to lose. I unequipped my dress and passed it to her.

Celia examined it closely. "This will be easy peasy!"

She pulled out a sewing kit. Interesting choice for a first purchase in SAO. With her presumably low-level tailor skill, I'd look like a patchwork doll. But I supposed in this world, style didn't matter much. And really, I was grateful to get my dress fixed.

After about two minutes she passed my dress back. "How...did you do such a good job, Celia?" I said, shocked. "I mean! Not that I thought you wouldn't do a good job, but your Tailoring skill should be low."

"Don't you know?" said Kimiko, a hint of irritation in her voice.

"Um…" The look on my face gave it away.

"When Kayaba reverted us to our actual 'selves,' it wasn't just looks. He also imported whatever we're good at in real life into our skill bar. Celia likes to sew in her free time, so her Tailor skill is already at about 800, out of a possible score of 1000," She looked at me, "Judging by the way you dodged that beast, I'd say your Evasion or Agility skill is already pretty high."

"Oh." Now it made sense why climbing the trees had been easy.

I wanted to ask Kimiko what she had high levels in, but I thought better of it. Instead, I pulled up my bars to check my own stats. Kimiko was right; my Agility level was at 751. Evasion was about tied, with 764. Everything else was pathetically low, ranging from five to twenty-eight.

I was almost finished looking when I found 'Other Skills,' or rather, what was listed under it. Dance - 993. The best Ballerina in all of Tokyo and I'm not maxed out?

"Find anything interesting?" Kimiko asked, although I didn't think she cared much.

"Yeah," I responded, irked about my Dance skill. "Should I take first watch tonight?"

"No." Kimiko shot me a glare. It was crystal clear she didn't trust me around her sister.

"Alright then."

"Night Kat!" Celia's sing-song voice rang out.


"Goodnight, Celia." Even though I didn't know them, somehow, I felt a little less lonely.

"You don't talk much, do you?" Kimiko asked, with that irritation in her voice she always directed at me.

"No," I replied.

"Well, why?"

"I don't know," I lied. What was I supposed to say? I'm always too shy or embarrassed to speak, so I don't. When I did talk, my sentences came out all wrong. Better to stick with 'I don't know.'

It hadn't even been a day, and I already knew Kimiko was clearly a hot-headed person. She opened her mouth to challenge me, but Celia interjected. "It's okay Kat! There are a lot of people who are introverts...like Gandhi and Einstein!" It was so like her to make me feel better for being flawed. She and Kimiko were true yin and yang.

We had left our camp when dawn broke. No need to wait and see if more of those mutated beasts were around. Now, we trudged through the pathless forest, praying the compass was leading us in the right direction.

"All I'm saying is—" Kimiko started, when another Little Nepenthes jumped out in front of us.

Celia shrieked, as she did at every monster. To be fair, Little Nepenthes were disgusting. The monster appeared to be some sort of bell shaped plant, and the fluid that dribbled out of its mouth emitted a horrible odor. With no eyes and a large human smile, their face was enough to give anyone the heebie jeebies.

"Hya!" I sprang towards the monster, drawing its attention. The beast's vine lashed out to grab me, but I was too quick. Its gaze followed me as I jumped up and to the right. It let out an irritated screech as it twisted its vine in preparation to grab me.

With the beast fully distracted, Kimiko seized the moment to attack. "Ai!" she swung her axe and chopped the vine off. The monster almost began to turn its body to look at Kimiko, but I quickly sidestepped and grazed my sword along its fleshy body.

"Eiiiyoughhh!" It drew back all of its vines, in preparation to either attack or grab me. I was ready for either. Before it could choose, Kimiko axed the creature's middle. It was a strong blow, and it drained the rest of the monster's HP. Its glittered shards exploded around us like fireworks.

"That was probably our best time yet." She said, wiping her axe on leaves in an attempt to get the Little Nepenthes fluid off. Kimiko and I had naturally fallen in this rhythm of fighting; I'd divert the monster while she attacked it. And when she attacked, she went all out.

"Yeah." I replied, tapping to see the items I had received. Little Nepenthes Fruit and Vine 2x appeared in my menu. Useless, but I supposed I could sell them for some Cor. What had proved most useful this journey was the amount of fighting Kimiko and I had done. I was approaching level four, and we weren't even two days into SAO.

"You're insanely quick for your level. And when you fight, you generate a ridiculous amount of threat. Your Post Motion is practically nonexistent. You'd make a good evasion tank in a guild."

Was that something nice coming out of Kimiko's mouth? And directed towards me? I was almost too shocked to respond. "Um, thanks."

She rolled her eyes. "Let's keep walking."

We continued for another half an hour, not saying much. There were a few more beasts in our path, but other than that it was an easy journey.

"There!" Celia said.

There was light peeking through the trees, signaling the edge of the forest. A wave of sadness washed over me—Our trek to Horunka was almost over. I didn't want to part with my new companions. I mean, Kimiko could be a bit offensive sometimes, but she was growing on me.

"Alright!" Kimiko said, pumping her fist.

We quickly made our way out of the forest towards Horunka. It was so tiny compared to the Town of Beginnings. It appeared as though there were just a few shops, an inn, and maybe a market. I had lived in Tokyo since I was a child, so the lack of hustle and bustle was unsettling. Remembering where I was, I accepted it. Beggars couldn't be choosers in SAO.

As we approached the edge of town, I wanted to tell them to not leave me, we made a good team and we should stick together. I wanted to tell Kimiko that she was a fantastic axe wielder and I wanted to continue tanking for her, because I didn't even know I was good at it until she told me. I tried everything I could to get the words out of my mouth, but they just wouldn't come.

"We'll see you around, Kat." Kimiko didn't even look me in the eye as she said goodbye.

"Thank you for helping us!" Celia bubbled.

"C'mon, Celia."

"Bye Kat!" Celia sadly called out as her sister dragged her towards the market.

"Bye…" I whispered, tears welling in my eyes. Even though I'd known the twins for less than a day, somehow, they'd given me a sense of belonging. I watched them walk away, their long coral hair swinging behind them.

What now? I only had the plan to get to Horunka. From here on, I had no idea what to do. Should I see what happens? Or should I stop and make plans? I don't know. A teardrop fell from my eye. I wiped it away, and quickly increased my blinking so more wouldn't come. Maybe I'd just take a nap, and worry about what I should do later. I shuffled towards the only inn in Horunka. Stupid, deserted place. Who likes being in a town without people, anyways? I wallowed in self-pity, slamming the inn door open. The NPC looked at me and raised his eyebrow.

"Sorry." Although I wasn't very sorry at all, more embarrassed.

He shrugged. "How can I help you today, Miss?"

"Uh, one hotel room please."

"Please open your transaction window."

"Oh!" I pulled my user interface up and tapped my Cor balance. An Inn Room purchase option appeared, and I selected it.

"Thank you for your business. You will be staying in room number five."

I nodded my head in acknowledgement shuffled towards my room. Walking inside, the room was so...plain. Just a bed, a nightstand, and a potted plant. It didn't give any "homey" vibe at all. I burst into tears and threw myself on the bed. I beat the pillows with my fists as I sobbed. Why did I think playing SAO was a good idea? It figured the first video game I played was a literal death game. If I ever made it out of here, I swore I'd stick to ballet and nothing else.

Exhausted from crying, I fell asleep.


I groggily reached for my phone. The dream I had last night was unlike any other. A literal death game! Maybe I should take up writing—it would make for a fantastic book. At the very least I should give the idea to an author. My grasps for my phone yielded no results. Did I leave it downstairs last night? Ugh, I really hoped it wasn't dead. I squinted my eyes to get a better look at the bedside table, and my stomach dropped. All that was sitting there was the ugly potted plant. This nightmare was real.

"No." I said softly, letting my face fall into my pillow.

I left it there as long as possible before the lack of oxygen forced me to roll over. How long had it been since I fell asleep? I pulled up my UI—about four hours. Every part of me wanted to stay curled in a ball inside this inn, safe from everything. There would be other heroic players who would put their lives on the line to save the rest of us. But, lying in this inn was not the right thing to do. The real question at hand was, what was? I groaned as I sat up in bed.

I was ashamed as I caught sight of myself in the mirror. My face had turned red and blotchy, and my eyes were swollen from crying so much. The only thing I could think of was Mother.

She looked at me as I was crying over my blistered feet. I was ten, and had just gotten my first pair of pointe shoes.

"Well Katya," She said coldly. "What have you accomplished with this crying?"

"It h-hurts!" I sobbed back.

"Yesterday you were telling me you were going to be the best ballerina in all of Tokyo. Did you give up?"

I never cried again over my constantly blistered, bleeding feet.

I stood up and walked toward the mirror. "You—" I pointed at myself— "need to stop being a crybaby."

The one thing I did know was that I wanted out of Horunka. But, The Town of Beginnings was chaos. My fingers drummed along the nightstand. I guess I could go to Tolbana. It was the second largest town on the first floor. There might not be a lot of people there for a while, but I could wait.

I quickly gathered my belongings and made my way out. And by belongings, I meant my boots and sword. Most items were stored in inventory slots, and I didn't own much.

I tore through the Inn and unapologetically slammed the door shut behind me. If I had to spend another minute in Horunka I would go insane. In the short amount of time I had been here, I had come to loathe this town. I wanted to lie to myself that it was just the amount of people, but that wasn't the case. The truth was that this town made me feel lonely.

NPC's littered my path, making me unable to run full speed. Weaving around them as fast as possible, I saw the forest's edge. Finally.

"Hey!" Kimiko's voice called out from behind me.

I stopped abruptly. Most people would've tripped over their feet, but I had enough dexterity to end high speeds gracefully. I turned around to face her, my eyes cast down.

"Do you want to party up with us?"

They were the best words I had heard all day.