Floor 75: November 7th, 2024
"The reason why the commander's HP never reaches yellow... is because he's protected by the system."
"Yes, I am Akihiko Kayaba."
"But you... the power you displayed exceeded my expectations."
"How dare you!"
...Alright, alright, I'll stop with the pretentious quoting and get on with the story.
My mind swam as I lied there, face down in the dirt and paralyzed; how had things changed so quickly? Heathcliff was actually Akihiko Kayaba, and now we were all paralyzed, and I wondered if he was going to kill us all.
The actual conversation? I'm pretty sure you've heard it before, so I'm not going to repeat the damn thing. Ask someone else if you really want to know.
Every player here, with the two exceptions of Kirito and Kayaba, was paralyzed by Kayaba's system. None of us could move a muscle as he calmly told us exactly how he was going to wait for all of us on the top floor of Aincrad as the final boss of the game. "But before I go," he said, and slammed his tower shield into the ground. "Kirito. I feel you deserve some kind of reward for discovering my identity, so... I'll give you a chance." From where I was lying, I could see Uri to my right; I tried to reach out to her, fighting the paralysis, but the game mechanics would not be overruled.
"A chance for what?" Kirito asked, his voice low and dangerous. He was holding Asuna, cradling her in his arms; Klein had mentioned something about the two of them being 'lovebirds', and he was right.
"To fight me one-on-one, right here, right now," Kayaba replied immediately. "Oh, and... my immortality will be deactivated." He smiled coldly. "Defeat me and you clear the game, and all of the players will be able to log out from this world. No strings attached." His eyes narrowed as he stared at Kirito. "What do you say?"
I gritted my teeth; this was a huge decision. If Kirito fought Kayaba and killed him, we'd all log out of the game - PoH included - and I'd lose my chance to get revenge for Emi's death. But if Kirito lost, he'd die; and I knew I'd blame myself for being unable to do anything.
"Don't do it, Kirito," Asuna whispered. "I don't like it, we should fall back!"
Kirito didn't respond; instead, he was just staring off into space, his head bowed. Then he gritted his teeth. "I have to," he growled. He raised his head and stared at Kayaba. "Okay then," he said. "Let's finish it."
"Kirito!" Asuna gasped.
He looked at her. "I'm sorry. I can't run away if it means ending this," he told her.
"You better not die, you hear me?" Asuna said.
"No," Kirito replied with a small grin. "I'm gonna win." I'd seen a look like that before. I'd had it on my face every time I was with Emi; it was the look of someone who'd do anything for the person they loved. "I promise I'm going to end this world." He gently laid Asuna down on the ground and stood up. With a look of grim determination on his face, he unsheathed his swords and stepped forward.
"Kirito!" Agil called out. "Don't!" Klein called out to his friend as well.
Kirito only stopped when he was right in front of Kayaba. "Agil," he said. "Thanks for supporting all the players in the game since day one." He turned to grin at the dark-skinned giant. "Yeah, I knew. You act like you're all about the money, but I know you spent every penny on helping the intermediate players level up." Strangely, Kayaba was standing there, calmly waiting for Kirito to finish saying his goodbyes. "Klein? I'm sorry I bailed on you that day. I think about it all the time."
"Damn it, Kirito," Klein sobbed. "Don't you apologize! Don't you dare apologize now! I won't accept it! I'll never accept it until we're on the other side and you're buying me dinner, god damn it!"
"You got it," Kirito said with a grin and a salute of his black sword. "See you on the other side."
I needed to make a decision quickly; would I try to stop him, try to save his life and continue the game so I could find PoH? Or should I give up on revenge, let PoH run free? There wasn't a choice to be made, not to me. For Emi's sake, PoH had to die. And I wouldn't be able to find him in the real world.
So I had to stop Kirito somehow.
Kayaba and Kirito were having a conversation as they squared off. "I'm not planning on going down easy," Kirito was saying. "So if I die today... I want your word that you'll fix it so Asuna doesn't kill herself."
Kayaba seemed almost shocked for a moment, but he nodded his head. "As you wish."
"No, Kirito, that's not fair!" Asuna screamed. "You can't do that, it's not fair! No!" So she really loved him. I did remember Klein mentioning something about the two of them being 'lovebirds', but
"Kirito!" I called out, my voice raspy. "You can't do this."
He turned to look at me. "Asmodeus. Whatever reason you have for killing, I don't think it's changed who you are inside." He smiled slightly. "You've saved me enough times that it's pretty clear."
"But you still owe me a life, Kirito," I ground out. He froze, staring at me. "And I'm calling that debt in right now." I gritted my teeth, preparing for what I was going to say. "A life for a life. I saved yours, so now you have to save someone of my choice." Slowly, I brought my hand up and pointed at Kayaba.
"I choose Kayaba's life. He lives, Kirito."
Whispers and murmurs broke out across the room, but Kirito just stared at me. "Why?" he asked. "Why save him? After everything that's happened to us in this world, you want him to live?"
I closed my eyes. "Because I don't want anyone dying in front of me while I can help it," I replied. "Because despite everything, I don't want Asuna to go through what I had to. Because I know the pain of losing someone you love and watching them die right in front of you." I took a deep breath. "Because there's still something I have to do in this world."
Kirito stood there, torn, the tips of his swords trembling. "Why are you asking me to choose?" he whispered.
"It's not a choice," I ground out. "You owe me, Kirito, and I'm calling in that debt."
Slowly, reluctantly, he sheathed his swords and turned to Kayaba. "...Fine," Kirito spat, both at me and at Kayaba. "I won't fight. But we're even, Asmodeus. No more debts owed, no more prices paid."
Kayaba nodded. "You've made your choice. Very well then." He swiped open his menu and, after tapping a few buttons, lifted the room-wide paralysis. "I await you all on the final floor of this game. The best of luck to you, players." His eyes met mine for a second, but I couldn't read anything from his gaze. With a final selection in his menu, Kayaba disappeared and left us alone in the boss room on the 75th Floor.
Asuna rushed up and clung to Kirito, sobbing; she must have been terrified for his safety. Agil was sitting up, head resting on one hand as he stared off into the distance; Klein was talking to his guild quietly.
The Horsemen had, as soon as they could move, clustered tightly around me. We didn't really have Heathcliff's - er, Kayaba's - protection any more, so none of the green players had any reason to, you know, not kill us. If they were determined to kill me, nothing would stop them, but having to face four green players would probably give anybody second thoughts. Especially since everyone was still exhausted from having to deal with a boss and then the reveal that Kayaba had been right beside us.
Despite the fact that the stairs to leave were available - and had been ever since we killed The Skull Reaper, although we had gotten a little bit sidetracked thanks to Kayaba's sudden reveal - nobody made a move to leave the room. Everyone was still trying to understand what had happened.
"Asmodeus." I looked up to see Asuna standing there.
My eyes widened, but I was too tired to do anything. "Here to kill me, Asuna?" I asked tiredly. "Just get it over with. I don't even care any more."
"Thank you."
I blinked. "What?"
"Thank you," Asuna repeated. "For saving Kirito."
A small smile twitched my lips into a wry grin. "But in doing so, I probably doomed more people to death. I don't think that deserves a 'thank you', Asuna." I was starting to regret what I had said and done.
I know that there had still been a fifty-fifty chance that Kirito would die against Kayaba anyway, that two of the three outcomes ended in us still having to clear the rest of the floors; that doesn't mean I didn't feel guilty about making him back down.
"I heard what you said," she whispered. "You did it for yourself, yes, but you did it for me too." She knelt down and gave me a hug. I was too stunned to do anything else. "So thank you for keeping Kirito here. For keeping him with me." She stood up and walked away, going back to Kirito.
Eventually, I found the strength and energy to stand up, using Fatal Retribution as a crutch to help me to my feet. The Horsemen stood beside me, keeping me in the center of the small box they had made; I walked forward until I was standing in front of the steps. "We survived another fight," I murmured.
"Hey." I looked behind me to see that Klein and his guild were standing there. Their weapons were sheathed, so I didn't feel like they were going to kill me. "That was... pretty brave, back there."
"Brave?" I asked. "How?"
Klein grinned. "Well, I figure that most people wouldn't have said anything. I mean, you did stop Kirito and Kayaba from fighting. But the only way that would have worked the way you did it, by 'saving' Kayaba's life."
I shrugged. "Kirito probably hates me. Not that I'd blame him, of course, but it's kinda funny, right?" I chuckled. "Asuna hated me for so long, but now she just gave me a hug and thanked me. Kirito actually believed I was a good person, but now..."
Klein shook his head. "Kirito's not that kind of guy. He might be angry for a bit, but I think he'll understand." I just shrugged. Klein slung his arm around my shoulders, and I staggered under the sudden weight. "And this is to make sure the others don't attack you later," he said. "I mean, despite what everyone else might think, you're okay in my book. So that means you're a friend of Fuurinkazan, and we take care of our friends.
I rubbed the back of my head. "That's such a bad decision. But I can't really stop you, so..." I laughed. "Whatever."
Floor 76: November 7th, 2024
The 76th Floor was actually pretty nice. Compared to the 75th Floor's almost Roman-like architecture and atmosphere, the 76th Floor was a lot more recent. From what I could see of the town – it was across a wide river, with a really fancy bridge crossing it – it had these tall clock towers that looked like it might be kinda fun to climb them. The floor also had small rivers flowing almost everywhere - they were pretty thin, but deceptively deep. It was almost like the canals in Venice, only without the awesome gondolas.
Gondolas are so awesome, and I will fight anyone who says otherwise.
The Horsemen and I were actually the first players on the floor; we left right away, followed closely by Fuurinkazan. The second we were out of the boss room, we rushed off into the wilderness; I couldn't go into a town, and I wasn't going to wait around for the rest of the clearers to follow me. Fuurinkazan didn't try to follow us when we went invisible; instead, they went ahead to the town to open up the warp gate for the rest of the players. It was pretty strange, really; I felt like something should have played out differently, that maybe Kirito should have fought Kayaba.
It actually ate at me the rest of the day; when we exited onto the 76th Floor it was just after 4:00 in the afternoon. Even when we stopped for dinner, a good distance from where we started, I just picked at my food; finally, Raph sighed and turned to me. "Hey, Boss, what's going on?"
I looked up from the sandwich I was holding. "Hm?" I mumbled.
"You haven't said much since we arrived on this floor," Mao said. "Usually, you're giving orders."
"We're worried, Boss," Uri chimed in. "I mean, you just stopped Kirito from fighting Kayaba."
I smiled wanly. "It's not really that big a deal, guys. I just did what I had to."
"If you don't mind, Boss," Gain said, "could you explain why you stopped him?"
I shrugged. "Because if Kirito killed Kayaba, the game would end."
"Huh?" Uri's voice was flat with surprise. "Isn't that a good thing?"
"Not for me." I sighed. "If the game ended, I'd never be able to find PoH and get revenge for Emi's murder."
There was some silence after what I said. The Horsemen were sitting there, silent, as they processed what I said. Then, Raph shook his head. "There's more to it than that. I mean, that's part of it, I'm sure, but that wasn't the only reason."
I shrugged. "Whatever it is, I don't know. I just wanted to make sure that Kirito didn't fight Kayaba." I looked down. "Are you all angry? That I didn't ask you, I mean."
"Mad?" Mao's voice was kinda stern. "Mad that you made a decision that affected 6000 people and didn't ask us first? Mad that you used up a favor with Kirito, the Dual Wielder and the Black Swordsman, to save the life of the psychopath that trapped us all here?"
Raph snorted. "What do you think? Of course we're not mad."
Gain smiled. "We're your friends, Boss. We'll follow you wherever you go."
Uri laughed. "Besides, what are you going to do without us? How would you get all those potions and crystals?"
"You are..." I just smiled and shook my head. "You're all insane." It was pretty nice that I had friends that would stick by my side, no matter what I did. "Though..." I sighed. "I am sorry that you're all trapped in here longer because of me."
Raph smiled. "It's cool, Boss. Besides, it's not like we've got somewhere to be or anything. We've been in here for two years, it won't kill us to stay a little longer."
"Except where it might," Uri mumbled. "But yeah, it's cool. We don't mind."
"Thanks, guys," I said with a smile. "This means a lot."
"Although..." Raph said. "I am a little worried that you can't let this thing with PoH go." I frowned slightly, and he hurried to explain. "I mean, you're willing to keep risking your life for the chance at revenge, and that's not healthy." He shook his head. "I really think you should let go of the past and move on with your life."
I frowned again. "I can't do that, Raph. You don't know how much Emi meant to me - you can't know. But I won't stop until PoH is dead."
He was right, though; I was obsessed and it was getting dangerous.
Floor 87: January 13th, 2025
Several more months had passed; in that time, the front lines had been pushed to the 88th Floor. Asuna had taken command of the Knights of the Blood - as would be expected of the second-in-command, naturally - and turned it into a floor-clearing machine. Most of the dead weight like that Kuradeel jerk had been told to either get better at the game or leave the guild, and most people chose to get better. I think people were kinda angry at Heathcl- er, Kayaba's betrayal. Either way, it spurred a lot of people to start fighting and clearing the Labyrinths faster and faster. Still, there were only a few dedicated groups still trying to clear the game; more and more, people were just finding a floor that they liked and settling in. I had even started
I had reached and surpassed level 100 - I had thought that would be the level cap, but I guess Kayaba had other plans. Either way, the number of available skill slots maxed out at 13. I had all my old skills back and one extra one that I hadn't filled yet; I wasn't sure how I wanted to use my last slot. The rest of the Horsemen had all reached level 100 as well, thanks to our - well, my - need to fight our way through pretty much every encounter. After all, it wasn't like we could just teleport back to town if something went wrong.
Speaking of the towns, the Four Horsemen had been reporting some strange rumors about me during those months. Apparently, Asuna made some sort of statement to the Knights of the Blood that I wasn't to be attacked on sight; strangely enough, Kirito backed her up on that. So we were kinda tolerated, so long as we didn't bother anybody. I was still an orange player, and nothing could ever change that, but I was at least able to rest a little easier without always looking over my back.
We had fought in most of the boss fights; there wasn't really much to say about that. Whenever we showed up, Fuurinkazan and Klein weren't far behind, shadowing the five of us and making sure we weren't being harassed. I didn't say anything to him, but I knew he knew that I knew he was doing it.
Wait, I just confused myself. He knew... I knew... I knew... yeah, that was right. I knew he knew I knew. ...Right?
Anyway, the identities of the Four Horsemen were still a secret, so Klein had kept his word and not said anything. I occasionally wondered if the info brokers knew, but the Horsemen were careful to not go to the same ones more than once or twice in a month. It made it kind of difficult to get good information, which was why we hadn't heard anything about any PKers, but it kept us safe.
Anyway, we were relaxing on the 87th Floor one day; we hadn't made it to the boss fight in time, and all of the bosses those days were the same deal as The Skull Reaper - you went in, and you either killed the boss or you died. Crystals were useless, and the door locked behind them. Anyway, the 87th Floor - it was a pretty dismal place, with jagged rocky outcroppings and a weird smell in the air; it smelled like rotten eggs, and according to Raph that was the smell of sulfur. Occasionally, fire would shoot up from the ground, so you had to watch where you stepped.
I got off track. What was I talking about? ...oh yeah, that's right, I remember now.
We were relaxing on the 87th Floor, eating lunch in preparation for tackling the Labyrinth. We were all joking around, trying to ignore the fact that we were about to, you know, tackle the Labyrinth; I remember that Gain and Mao were having a spirited debate about something related to the power structure of the guilds - I don't even know where they learned some of the phrases they used, and I didn't ask - while Raph, Uri, and I were munching on our food and chatting about nothing important. I don't remember exactly how it happened, but I was wildly gesturing and a chicken leg I was holding went flying. "C'mon, Boss, you could just say you don't like it," Raph complained jokingly.
I grinned at him. "Oh?" I grabbed another leg of chicken and tossed it over my shoulder. "What are you talking about?" Grab, toss. "I love this so much." Grab, toss. "There's nothing better." Grab, toss. "How could you think I didn't like it?"
I reached to take another piece of chicken, but Uri grabbed my hand, laughing. "Hey, don't go wasting it all, Boss. We're not going to get to eat until we get to the 88th Floor, so maybe you should eat your lunch instead of tossing it over your shoulder." Uri and I had managed to come to some sort of silent agreement; we wouldn't talk about what happened those months ago, she wouldn't bring up Emi, and I wouldn't yell at her. It worked, what can I say? "You do need to eat, though."
I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Yes, mother." I reached for the piece of chicken, intending to eat it; before I could take a bite, however, I was interrupted by a screen that randomly appeared in front of me. "Huh? 'Congratulations, you have successfully tamed a Hellhound. Please enter a name'? The fuck?"
The Horsemen burst out laughing. "Look behind you, Boss," Gain managed to gasp out between gales of laughter.
I turned around to find a monster standing behind me, obviously non-hostile thanks to a green color cursor. In its mouth was a chicken bone - one of the bones that I had tossed over my shoulder. "Mother of shit." My absolutely dumbfounded tone just set the Horsemen off again, and I let them laugh as I stared at a tamed monster.
Okay, let me explain how taming monsters worked, if you weren't aware. If you do know how it works, well, deal with it. Anyway, the game keeps track of the different monsters that you've killed. Apparently, if you feed a monster and the amount of creatures you killed is under a certain amount, you can tame the monster instead of fighting it. Some girl had managed to tame a tiny flying dragon - I'd never met her, but apparently they called her the Dragon Tamer - and a couple other people had managed to tame a pet. Thing is, you have to feed it and keep track of its health, or it will leave. Worst case scenario, it even turns on you and becomes hostile again. So, I'd never really intended to tame a monster; it seemed like it was more trouble than it was worth.
But there I was, staring at an accidentally-tamed «Hellhound». It stared back at me, and to be entirely honest, it looked pretty neat. It was pretty big, coming to my hip when I was standing; its fur was black with a few red streaks in it. Its eyes were the coolest things; to use an old and tired cliche, it looked like two coals were smoldering in the depths. It looked almost intimidating - until it started panting, a pink tongue hanging out of its mouth. At that point, I laughed and reached out to stroke its head; it woofed as I touched it and I chuckled. "Hey, boy." At least, I thought it was a boy.
Do Hellhounds even have gender? Oh, whatever. It's not like I was going to lift the thing and check; it probably weighed more than Uri did. ...Hey, hey, that's a compliment! Don't get angry.
"What should we name you?" I thought about it for a bit, and then remembered something I had read once. "Let's call you Kun Annwn." I typed that in and hit enter, and the screen appeared. Under my name appeared the health bar of my new pet. "Kun for short. That good?" Kun woofed in agreement and licked my hand. I grinned; he seemed to like it.
Mao asked how that was spelled. "Jesus," he chuckled when I told him. "Wanna buy a vowel?"
I absently flipped him off, and Kun barked. "Bite me, Mao. It's from some old Celt myths or something." It was something that I had read in class one day; the Cwn Annwn - I changed the spelling of the first word because what despite Mao said, I needed more than one vowel - was essentially a hellhound that hunted in the Wild Hunt. I wasn't entirely sure what the Wild Hunt was - near as I can tell, it's a big thing in the Celtic myths or something. I don't really know. Anyway, I thought it sounded cool. Emi was a lot more into stuff like that than I was, but I read over her shoulder occasionally when she read books about it, mainly just to spend time with her more than any real interest in mythology; I guess this was a way to honor her memory.
"The Cwn Annwn," Gain said suddenly. "It was a mythical dog that took part in the Wild Hunt, a spectral hunt led by the Celtic lord of the dead, Gwyn ap Nudd. Basically, the Wild Hunt was a sign that some catastrophe was going to happen soon, and some people thought it could steal their souls if they were caught up in it." I stared at him - and I wasn't the only one, the rest of the Horsemen were staring as well - and Gain frowned in confusion. "What?"
"Where'd you learn that?" Uri stammered.
Gain shrugged. "When I was twelve or so, I read it in a book I found around the house. It was a bunch of old mythological stuff - pretty neat."
Raph just shook his head and turned to me. "Well, at least you know what you should have for your last skill slot," he said. "Aren't there a bunch of familiar skills?"
I swiped open my menu and started scrolling through the options, absently feeding Kun a piece of chicken. He gobbled it up and then laid down on my feet, gnawing on the bone that he had brought with him. "It looks like «Familiar Recovery» is the best bet. That lets me heal Kun without having to burn a potion or crystal." I tapped that and put it in my final Skill Slot. "Neat."
We chatted for a little while longer, eating our lunch and taking our time about it. Suddenly, Kun stood up and started growling, staring between me and Gain. "What's going on?" Gain asked.
"Looks like Kun picked something up," Mao said, standing and grabbing his axe. "I've heard the familiars can do that."
I stood up as well, grabbing my trident and searching for whatever set Kun off. "Could come in handy. I'd be able to sleep without worrying about being ambushed, for one," I said absently. I couldn't see anything, but that didn't mean there wasn't anything there.
Suddenly, a creature appeared out of the smoke that was everywhere on this floor; it was big and red and scaly, with several heads. A «Fire Hydra» - most of the monsters on the 88th Floor were fire-based, or at least fire-themed, thanks to the surroundings. Uri grinned and drew her sword. "Looks like the furball was right. Ready to fight?"
It turns out, Kun Annwn was pretty useful in a fight. His powerful fangs managed to pierce the scaly armor of the «Fire Hydra»; normally, only heavy strikes could slam through the heavy scales, and the only other weak spots were the mouths of the various heads. And that... was not exactly safe, for a couple obvious reasons; most of those reasons were sharp and very pointy. But Kun Annwn just ripped the scales off, opening up some more places to attack. The Horsemen and I had always had trouble fighting the Hydra-class monsters; even with the five of us, their AI was super strong. Mao was the only one who could reliably damage them, so the rest of us had to distract them; of course, that meant we couldn't do much damage very quickly. With Kun's help, though, we were able to do damage that much faster and kill the Hydra that much faster.
After we finished fighting, I sank back down in front of the campfire. "Damn, that was a lot easier." I stroked Kun. "Good dog." He panted, looking up at me happily. I looked up at the Horsemen and grinned. "Well, looks like we have ourselves a team pet." So long as I fed him consistently, Kun should stick around for a long time.
Floor 91: March 2nd, 2025
"So... the famous Asmodeus," the info broker said. "I'm glad to finally be able to meet you."
"And I you, Argo," I replied. "I must say, I'm a bit surprised. Most info brokers wouldn't be willing to meet outside of a Safe Zone."
Argo the Rat, the information broker I was meeting with, smirked. "Well, most info brokers aren't me. I'm the best there is, and there's nothing I won't sell for the right price." It was a good thing the Horsemen had been wearing their masks when she showed up at our campfire that day - we had been near a town, and there had been a group of players that were near. If they hadn't been wearing their masks, things could have gotten nasty. "Anyway, Deus, I've got some news you might want to hear." It was jarring to hear my old nickname from Argo; she was only a few years younger than I was, but from what I had heard she was remarkably intelligent.
Apparently, several players had asked her out - they thought she was beautiful, they thought they could get information for free, I don't know - but she turned them down. I don't know why; I didn't bother listening to the gossip. At least, the gossip that wasn't about me. Maybe she was waiting for the right guy or something; she did have a quick mind and a sharp tongue – even though I'd only talked to her once or twice, it was pretty obvious – and so any guy she set her eye on would probably have to be able to keep up with her. I briefly considered asking her why she kept turning people down, but I decided it wasn't really all that important, in the overall scheme of things.
Overall scheme of things, of course, being a nice way of saying 'I had a feeling she'd stab me if I asked'. Or charge me for the information; I wasn't sure which one would have been worse.
I stroked Kun - Argo's eyes were locked on him for whatever reason - and studied her. "And what guarantee do we have that you won't immediately sell our position to the highest bidder?"
"Two things," she said, holding up a fist. "First," she raised a finger, "you won't be here much longer if I guessed right. And second," she raised another finger and smirked. "You don't have a guarantee."
I shrugged and glanced at the Horsemen; without saying anything, they all nodded. I nodded back and turned to Argo. "You have yourself a deal. How much do I owe you?" She quoted her price and I winced; picking up on my reaction, Kun bared his teeth and started growling, a low deep rumble. Argo immediately quoted a slightly lower price. "I'll pay whatever," I said. I swiped open a menu and traded her the price she asked; she accepted, eyes still not leaving Kun.
"Alright, then," she said. "Here's what I know. Apparently, a single player has been going on a PKing spree on one of the lower floors; they've been steadily creeping upwards from the 43rd Floor, one per floor. Right now, the latest one reported was on the 51st Floor."
I frowned. "How has nobody else heard about this?" Killings, even if they were only one per floor, were pretty hard to keep quiet – there was a monument in the Town of Beginnings that held a record of when each player died and what they died from. Anyone curious enough to visit and spend time searching could find out that there had been a rash of PKing recently.
"The Knights of the Blood have been intercepting the news and keeping it quiet," Argo replied. "Which is pretty hard to do, in this game. They have half of their new recruits on the lower floors running damage control."
"So how do you know about this?" Mao demanded.
Argo smirked at him. "Trade secret," she replied. "But I can guarantee that nobody else knows about this. There's a reason I'm the best."
"Thank you for the information," I told her. "Is there anything else?"
"Only that someone saw him and ran," Argo said. "Apparently, he has a Laughing Coffin tattoo on his left hand and he wears a green cloak with a hood." My eyes widened, and Argo grinned victoriously. "Ah, so I was right. You'll be leaving soon, right?" I nodded, silent - I didn't trust my voice - and she stood up. "Right, then. I'll be seeing you later, Asmodeus. You can trust me on that." She brushed herself off and walked away, disappearing in the foliage almost immediately. Probably off to sell the news of my purchase to someone.
"Are we leaving?" I asked them. "This is a big decision, so-"
"Oh, don't even start, Boss," Uri snapped. "You know we're going with you, just like we know you'd be going without us if we voted not to go."
Mao sighed. "Well, we do have some extra Corridor Crystals. We should have enough to get down there, check it out, and then return. Even if something goes wrong and we have to cover a few floors, well... we're strong enough to handle it."
"Let's go get us a PKer!" Gain exclaimed, and I smiled at his enthusiasm. Raph looked up from where he was typing in his menu, and he just smiled and nodded, silently showing his support for the idea.
I sighed. "You're all crazy. Every last one of you." Then I grinned at them. "But I'm crazy too, so let's get going."
I tossed a crystal to Uri and she caught it; Mao frowned, his forehead furrowing in thought. "Argo said the latest reported PK was on the 51st Floor. And since she knows all about this secret murder spree, I'm pretty sure that if there's been a murder on the 52nd Floor she'd know about it."
"So, what, he hasn't made it to the 52nd Floor yet?" I asked. We were all avoiding saying PoH's name, as if by saying it we'd jinx our luck and he wouldn't be there.
"Either that or he's on it right now," Mao replied. He nodded to Uri and she set the coordinates on the Corridor Crystal.
I caught the crystal in one hand when she tossed it to me. "Well, everyone, are you all ready?" I asked. Receiving their nods, I turned and lifted the crystal into the air. "Corridor open!" I called out.
Floor 52: March 2nd, 2025
The second we were on the 52nd Floor, we were on the hunt. The first thing we always did was track down a player on the floor and grill them for information. It had become far easier once the rumors about the Four Horsemen spread; all they had to do was put on their masks and they were intimidating figures, able to scare anybody into answering their questions. Usually, Mao or Uri asked the questions; Gain didn't like scaring people, and Raph felt slightly guilty about it. If we had to negotiate with someone, those two were perfect for the job - since it usually required trustworthy faces and a gentle touch, according to Mao - but when we needed questions answered and we needed them answered right away, Mao and Uri got the answers we needed.
Luck was on our side, because we ran into someone leaving the nearest town almost immediately. The girl had seen someone matching the description almost perfectly. Green cloak, tattoo on the left hand... it fit everything perfectly. Our very willing – we were totally not pressing people for information, because that would so morally reprehensible – informant had seen the guy skulking around in the bushes the day before; when the Horsemen reported that to me, I knew it had to be our prey, and a small shiver ran down my spine. It had been a while since we were last on the hunt, but my body remembered exactly how it felt to be tracking down my prey; a small tremor ran through Kun's body and I realized he was reacting to how I was reacting. I had never hunted with an actual hunting dog before, and I realized that it could be interesting. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that I had managed to tame him accidentally.
I looked around at the Horsemen and I realized, by the looks on their faces and their body language, they were falling back into the roles of the hunters. For a while, we hadn't hunted anything more dangerous than the monsters on the floors. Not that it was easy to fight them by any stretch of the imagination - their AI had gotten stronger and stronger as we cleared floor after floor - but it wasn't the same as hunting down a player.
Players were far more creative... and far more deadly.
The hunt is on! Will the hunting dogs catch their prey, or will it escape?
Many thanks to everyone that favorited, followed, or reviewed. Special thanks goes to Alicornication for being a dedicated reviewer.
