7

December 2, 2022

Floor 1, Trevica

Israel awoke with a start, the screams still echoing inside his head. He could feel the cold sweat plastering the shirt he was wearing against his skin.. His heart was beating so loudly, he was amazed Jae and Naomi were still asleep.

What the hell is wrong with me.

Ever since the day those first three players had died, nightmares had begun to plague Israel's dreams. Every death they had witnessed afterwards only served to add to his tormented nightmares. Opening his eyes, he guessed by the level of darkness that it was still an hour or two before dawn. Forcing himself to calm down, Israel slowed his breathing until his rapid heartbeat finally began to slow.

Shutting his eyes, he was about to doze off once more when the silence that permeated the still darkness was suddenly broken by the sound of a screen being accessed.

Alarmed, Israel's eyes immediately darted to the door. Was it possible that someone had broken in? While hardly anyone lived in Trevica, Israel and Jae had both seen several players passing through on multiple occasions.

The door was firmly closed, and nothing could be heard outside but the faint rush of wind against the wooden walls of the inn. I'm being an idiot. Why would a player break into our room?

And then he heard it again.

Fainter this time, but still containing the familiar digital sound of a screen being swiped aside. Scanning the room, Israel's eyes stopped as he focused on the bed. The faintest blue light emanated from underneath the blanket Naomi slept on. Straining his eyes, he realized that she was sitting upright, with the blanket over her as she went through her character menu. By her positioning, it appeared as though she had been sitting like that for quite some time.

It's like two in the morning, what the hell is she doing up?

Watching carefully, Israel did his best to ignore his exhaustion as he tried to see if he could read her screen through the blanket.

…

Opening his eyes as wide as they could go, Israel forced himself to keep looking at Naomi. It was then that he realized the room was filled with light. Not from the fire or the candle, but from outside. Glancing at the bed, he saw that the blankets had been neatly folded. The bed itself was empty.

Did I seriously pass out with that sketchy shit going on?

Taking off his blanket, Israel sat up, his back hurting from sleeping on the hardwood floor. To his right, Jae was snoring lightly underneath a blanket of his own.

"Oh, morning."

Turning, Israel saw Naomi by the door. Equipping her leather armor and boots, Naomi looked briefly at Jae before glancing back at Israel.

"I didn't want to wake you guys," She whispered, "Sorry about that."

Accessing his own menu, Israel yawned as he began equipping his gear in turn. "Don't worry about it, you didn't wake me. Oh and," He gestured to Jae, "You don't have to whisper. Waking him up while he's snoring is pretty much impossible. Believe me, I've tried."

Naomi shook her head in amusement. Placing a hand on her hip, she eyed the door deliberately.

"Going somewhere?" Israel asked as he stood, stretching his back to shake off the dulling pain.

"A friend of mine just messaged me," She replied. "He needs some help with a quest back in Tolbana. It's nothing urgent, so I was about to go eat breakfast first before letting you guys know I had to leave." She offered a cheerful smile. "But now that you're up, we can both go eat. I'll pay."

Israel cocked his head to the side. "Are you saying I look poor to you?"

She shrugged. "That's neither here nor there. Although, I did happen to overhear you saying something about being broke again for the hundredth time this week not too long ago."

Sighing, Israel shook the handle of Silverthorne at her before fastening the weapon onto his belt. "I already owe you enough, no matter what you say. However," He scratched his morning shadow, "I think I see an opportunity here."

Naomi lifted an eyebrow curiously. "An opportunity for…?"

Lifting a finger through the air matter of factly, Israel replied, "To go Dutch, of course. That way, since both of us still feel as though we owe the other, we can both compromise and call it even. After this breakfast, all debt on either side is hitherto void. Sound good?"

Waving a hand through the air casually, Naomi opened the door, flooding the room in the full morning light.

"I suppose that's fair. Although," She added, "Come to think of it, I didn't feel like I owed you anything after giving you Silverthorne. So, following that rule, maybe you should be the one to pay after all?"

He stepped past her out into the street, shaking his head grimly. "Technicalities are just the worst aren't they? They could keep debates going on forever. Better to avoid them all together, I find. Dutch it is."

Rolling her eyes, Naomi couldn't help but smile as she closed the door behind her.

There weren't many restaurants in Trevica. As tempting as the smells wafting from each one had been, neither Jae nor Israel had bothered trying any during their stay. Constantly trying to keep up their funds, they had limited themselves to eating only food dropped by mobs. At the best of times, such cuisine was bland and tasteless. He told as much to Naomi when she asked where they should go.

The look on her face was one of pure disbelief. "You've lived here for what, two weeks now? And you haven't tried any of the food?"

Israel blinked. "Is it that good?"

"Well, I haven't tried any of the places here in Trevica," she admitted, "but each Floor tends to have a particular theme when it comes to food."

Israel nodded thoughtfully as they began walking up the cobbled street. "So what's the theme for this Floor?"

"Eggs."

"Eggs?"

Naomi nodded happily. "Egg related dishes are the main specialty here on Floor 1. Which is perfect for us."

Israel held back the urge to laugh. "Why exactly? I hope you realize how that sounded. I could have so easily said something right there. You're welcome in advance. God, I'm such a gentleman."

The cheerful beta tester facepalmed dramatically. "What the hell are you talking about now? I said it's perfect because we're going for breakfast. What's a proper breakfast without eggs?"

Israel pushed a hand through his hair as he grinned mischievously . "I couldn't agree more."

Eyeing him suspiciously, Naomi planted her feet squarely in front of him. "I'm not moving until you tell me what the hell you're talking about."

Throwing up his hands in a gesture of surrender, Israel smirked as he answered her.

"The Portuguese Breakfast."

Expecting a string of insults to follow, Israel was surprised to see her blink in ignorance instead.

"What the hell is a Portuguese Breakfast?" She asked, spitting out the phrase uncomfortably.

Israel's eyes twinkled as he silently praised the gods of perverse humor.

"That is an excellent question," He began, trying to sound serious as he kept his face composed. "To tell you the truth, I don't quite know myself. I guess it's just one of those universal terms everyone says but not many people really understand."

Naomi still wasn't moving. Around them, NPC's began exiting their homes and opening up their shops as the virtual sun began rising above the horizon.

"I don't believe you." She said staunchly, hands still on her hips.

Israel put a hand to his chest solemnly. "Seriously, I don't know what it means. You'll have to ask someone who really gets it. I'm telling you, it's just one of those things people say without really getting the origin of the joke itself."

Narrowing her gaze, Naomi's eyes threatened to burn a hole through him. "Oh yeah, like what? Give me an example."

Brushing his hair out of his face, Israel shrugged impatiently. "I don't know. Just certain stuff. Like douchebag I guess. People say that all the time and no one really knows where it comes from or what it really is."

Naomi put a hand to her head in exasperation. "Everyone knows what a douchebag is. It's a feminine hygiene product."

Israel leaned in, enthralled by this new information suddenly brought to light before him. "Seriously? A hygiene product? What's it do?"

Shaking her head fervently, Naomi began walking quickly up the street as she said, "Nope. Forget it. I don't like where this conversation has ended up and I really don't to be thinking about douchebags while I'm eating."

Following after her, Israel was still curious, but decided he was just happy she still didn't know what the Portuguese Breakfast was. She'll ask someone soon, and it'll be awesome.

…

"I'm not even gonna lie," Israel said around a mouthful of scrambled eggs, "this was well worth the Col."

Sitting at the opposite side of the small dark oak table, Naomi smiled triumphantly. "Told you so."

After trying to decide between one of the three restaurants in Trevica, Israel had settled on The Farinday, more so because he liked the name than anything else. It was the smallest of the three restaurants, and located on the edge of town just within the safe zone limits. Upon entering the empty restaurant and seating themselves at the table closest to the door, the NPC's that ran the place had flocked to them without question, bringing menus, drinks, and waiting on their orders. At first, Israel had skimmed along the prices unhappily. When Naomi reminded him that she had offered to pay, he finally went with the scrambled eggs and cheese, with Naomi ordering a large veggie omelette for herself.

After a few moments of silence as they ate, Naomi set her empty plate aside and leaned forward tentatively.

"So you and Jae are brothers?"

Twirling his fork in the air as he chewed, Israel took a moment to answer.

"Well, we're not actually related by blood, if that's what you mean," he began. "But as far as we're concerned, he is my brother. And vice versa."

Naomi didn't look surprised. "Makes sense. It's easy to see how much you guys love each other. But it felt to me like you argue a lot too, and from what I can tell, you have very different personalities."

Israel shrugged. "Part of brotherhood is arguing. We fight a lot because we care. We both want to do whatever it takes to keep the other safe. And I guess," he added under his breath, "It might have something to do with our personalities. We are pretty different in the way we go about a lot of things. But there's also lots of things we see eye to eye at instantly."

Naomi nodded. "Yeah, that sounds about right. But that's good though. You can both see things from different perspectives. Balance each other out and all that."

Before Israel could respond, a female NPC stepped forward.

"Is there anything else I can get either of you?" She asked, her friendly, high pitched voice carrying a trace of the robotic within it.

"No thank you," Naomi said cheerfully, "nothing for me."

Israel held up a hand as he forced himself to swallow the large bite of eggs he had just taken.

"May I have some more water, please?" He asked politely, beating his chest lightly to get the eggs down faster.

"Absolutely, I'll be right back." With that, the NPC waitress grabbed his empty glass before making for the kitchen.

"You shouldn't eat so fast." Naomi noted as he cleared his throat.

"Thanks, I had no idea."

Naomi smirked. "So snarky."

"I could say the same of you," he replied defensively. Setting his empty plate aside, it was now Israel's turn to lean forward.

"So when you mean arguing, you're talking about last night, right? When Jae brought up the boss raid meeting."

Naomi nodded.

"You didn't say anything that entire time." Israel continued, locking eyes with her. "I'm curious, what's your opinion? Do you think I'm wrong and Jae is right about going to the meeting?"

She hesitated. "Are you asking me to pick a side here?"

Israel shook his head. "No, I'm asking for your opinion. I need to know if I'm wrong in this…" He looked away from her eyes, studying the plate in front of him. "Players could die depending on which course of action Jae and I end up taking."

"You and your brother are pretty rare people."

Looking back up at her, Israel could see fascination in her face. More than that though, he saw respect.

"What do you mean?" He asked cautiously.

Naomi pointed outside the window, where they could see goatmen and wild boars wandering aimlessly not fifty feet away. It was odd seeing the passive mobs so close. "There are thousands of players out there, are looking out for themselves. Sure, parties are starting to form, but the players in them only look out for each other." She tapped her chest. "Even the beta testers. I mean, I helped make the guide book, and I wouldn't hesitate to help a player in need. But you and your brother are doing more than that. You both want to go out your way to willingly risk your lives to help the other players. I've heard a lot of people argue and fight in the month we've been here, but what I heard last night between you and Jae was different.."

Israel narrowed his gaze as he tried to decipher her meaning. "So you're saying that Jae and I are both right?"

Naomi met his eyes with a deadly serious expression. "I'll be honest with you, Israel. I don't know which of you is right. I don't know which path will keep more people alive, or which is the best course to take. I'm no leader or strategist, and I've never pretended to be. But I do know that there should be more players with the same mindset as you two." She looked away sadly. "Sorry I don't have a better answer for you."

For a brief moment, Israel thought he could see shame in her face. By her tone, he guessed she felt guilty about the way she was going about life in SAO. In a way, he understood. While a kind of discrimination seemed to be taking root among the other players towards beta testers, they were still respected as the most knowledgeable players. Undoubtedly, it was that same respect and level of expectation that was putting pressure on Naomi and others like her. She was expected to be among the strongest of the players, and not just in the physical sense. On top of that, she still had to worry about survival just like the rest of them. It was difficult to imagine how she handled such stress.

Opening his mouth to say something, Israel halted when a cry suddenly rose up from outside of the restaurant.

"Please! Please God, someone help me!"

Jumping up out of their seats, Israel and Naomi both looked out of the window into the woods just outside of Trevica. There, just beyond the treeline, they could see a young man with long black hair fighting off at least a dozen plant like creatures. Even as they watched, more of the plants began appearing from further in the woods.

Without another thought, both Israel and Naomi bolted for the door as his panicked screams only grew in terror.

"Please, are there any players around here! Please help!"