February 28, 2024 - Draxen POV

Laughing Coffin. The one guild whose sole purpose is to kill other players, they disgust me. Now that I think about it, they were the ones Aero tested me against to become a bounty hunter when I first met her...

February 12, 2023

I wandered through the streets of the town on Floor 11, searching for the contact Asuna directed me to… she said she would be around here…

"Excuse me, are you looking of something?"

I turn to see a girl with blue hair and green eyes, she wore standard armor, simple iron breastplate, leather clothing underneath. I wore a purple long coat, along with a purple fedora, so I stood out among others.

"Yes" I answer the girl, "I'm looking for a bounty hunter working for Asuna, I want to see if I can become one myself"

"Oh, I don't know anyone like that, but if you're becoming a bounty hunter, you're gonna take out the bad guys right?"

"Yeah, for pay of course, guy's gotta eat"

"Of course" the girl thinks for a minute, then lightly slaps the side of her head. "Oh, I completely forgot! I'm Aero, by the way, and you are…"

"Draxen"

"Draxen...Wait, aren't you the one with the unique skill?"

*Sigh* "Yes…"

"Well...you're strong right?"

I shrugged, "I guess...not as strong as some of my friends"

"Either way...since you're becoming a bounty hunter...do you think you could deal with a rogue player up near the gate?"

I leaned in, "I'm listening"
"This guy is a red player, he's been demanding 'fees' for passing 'his gate'" Aero explained to me with a serious look, and pointed at a gate to the outside elements. "If they don't pay up...he kills them" I grimace, I hate people like him.

"I see...do you know his weapon of choice?"

"Smart one...most people would just rush in" Aero mutters, making me slightly suspicious. "He wields an axe"

I nod, "What's his level?"

"I dunno, I'd say maybe 20? Most people here 10 or lower, so they don't fight much"

I think for a minute, "Alright, I'll get a prison crystal and take care of it" I tell Aero before motioning to leave.

"Wait!" I turn to Aero.

"I have one, right here" she hands me a blue crystal, I check the coordinates on it, and it is set to the prison. I raise an eyebrow, this seems to odd, first that odd comment, and now happening to have a prison crystal?

I shake my head out of my reverie, "Thanks, I'll go right now"

Aero nods. And I disguise myself with weaker armor to fool the red player.

"Hey" I state simply.

"Why, hello there!" The red player greets kindly...too kindly, doesn't he know I can see his red cursor? "Do you have your payment?" he asks.

"Oh, I'm sorry, what's the payment?" I ask politely, acting innocent.

"Simple, all your items and col" he then grinned ferally, "or your life"

"Question, what will you do with them?"

"Give them to my guild mates of course, Laughing Coffin's gotta start somewhere!"

"I see, will this suffice?" I pull out the prison crystal.

"What else-wait!" He realized what he did too late, as I immediately sent him to prison. One lone guy? Psh...I could have handled him in my sleep, I just didn't want to shed blood...or pixels, in this case.

"Nice job taking care of him!" Aero praised me, I felt something warm in my cheeks but I dismissed it.

"Why thank you, does that complete your test fellow bounty hunter?" I tell her, she smiles at my words, "Nice, your clever too, I suppose I should reintroduce myself-" she opens her menu and changes her gear, now wearing a black leather jacket with blue jeans, and a large spear strapped to her back.

"-I am Aero, or I am known as the Bounty Hunter Nightmare"

I mock bow, "It is a pleasure, or horror, given your namesake, to truly meet you" Aero giggles at my antics.

"I have a feeling we'll get along just fine"

"What else are you thinking Draxen?" Asuna asks me. I shake myself out of my thoughts, I had more pressing matters to deal with, such as Safe Zone killings by Laughing Coffin.

I blushed in embarrassment, "Actually...I took a trip down memory lane…" Aero facepalmed, "Out of all the times...now?" she still sounded pissed from when I disobeyed her. Shit. I heard Maria mentally laughing at me, From the looks Aero is giving you, you're screwed! I mentally sigh, like I didn't know that.

"I'm sorry alright!"

*Sigh* "You are not gonna like what's going to happen when we're done with this"

I gulped. I heard Kirito and Asuna chuckling next to me, I turned and glared, "Wait till you're in my position one day Kirito, you'll see the pain…" I quitely hissed at him. Kirito just wore a smug grin and laughed more.

"What made you think Laughing Coffin did this?" Aero asked, trying to get back on topic.

"Skilled Knife Throwing, as well as stealthy disappearances" I explain.

Kirito stopped laughing and turned serious after Aero and I spoke, "But aren't you two skilled in those same traits? Couldn't that also be a Rogue?"

Rogues are bounty hunters gone bad, they work for murder guilds, or whoever pay the highest amount.

Asuna nodded, "Kirito has a point, but still, that means somebody hired someone else"

"I don't know…" Aero mumbled. I shrugged, "Well, we are all highly stressed, so I think we need to rest up, think a little bit" I suggest, the other three nod at my idea.

"You two should think with each other, I'd think you'd do well as a duo" Aero stated, then grabbed my arm tightly. "Besides, I need to talk with Draxen here for a bit" She said with a forced smile as she dragged me out, with Kirito and Asuna laughing at me.

Only one word went through my mind as Aero dragged me back to our temporary home/inn.

Shit.

Dusk POV

I got a message from Black, wanting me to examine another crime scene. Great. Oh, I should explain my nicknaming system to you fools.

Black is Kirito.

White is Asuna.

Violet is Draxen.

Blue is Aero. Once called her Airhead, first time I regretted something.

Blizzard chirped from my shoulder, I chuckle as I walk and scratch her under the chin, making her coo.

I examine the inn room, and ask Blue what happened here, I would ask Violet...but he was knocked out and lay face down on the couch, much to my sadistic amusement.

"So...what the hell happened here?"

Aero gave a detailed description of everything that went down, I laughed at Draxen being a justified dumbass as usual, but aside from that I caught something.

"How did she move to the window?" I ask her.

Aero tilted her head, "She just kept backing away in fright...why?"

"If somebody is after you, why the hell would you not pay attention to a fucking obvious open window, where anyone can strike a blow?"

Aero looked confused, until her eyes widened, "Wait- you don't mean-!"

I nod, "'Bout time you get it" I turn to Draxen.

"The hell happened to him by the way?"

"Like I said, he jumped out a window, even though I told him not to because he had to help guard Schmitt"

"Controlling, much? Violet hates that"

"No, just making a point across on to not jump out damn windows" I felt Blizzard laugh at Aero's comment, which is just rhythmic chirping.

"Fair enough, but next time, let me land some hits on him, I owe the bastard for a few snarky remarks"

"I...heard that…" Draxen mumbled, trying to get up slowly. No success. He had paralysis on him.

"Oh, now you wake up?" I ask skeptical.

"I was conscious when you came to the conclusion of what really happened, my body, on the other hand, was literally paralyzed!" he said, shouting slightly on the last few words.

I then got a message from White.

Kirito figured something out, the 'deaths' were faked, using armor durability
-Asuna

I sigh, and message back to her.

Just came to the faked deaths conclusion. Thanks for explanation.

I explain to Violet and Blue what Kirito discovered.

"I see…" Draxen mutters, "So the player I hit was Kains… but Caynz"

"That's well planned out, but why?"

I shrug, "Not my fucking problem, this is you two's and Yin Yang's damn problem"

The bounty hunters raise an eyebrow, "Yin Yang?" they ask simultaneously.

"Kirito wears black, Asuna wears white, figure the rest out dumbasses"

"Call me that one more time and I'll stick a spear in your throat" Aero threatened me.

"And I'll summon my wolves to tear you apart"

"I'll end them too, I'm level 78 Dusk, you're level 74"

"And I'll-"

"SHUT IT!" Draxen suddenly shouts from his spot on the couch, his girlfriend, Blizzard, and I look over to him, "Talk about how you'll kill each other later, also, I'm level 80 now so I could take you both on, not that I would. Anyways, could you please get me to Kirito and Asuna?"

Aero sighs, "Fine, c'mon Violet"

I glare, "Oi, only I call him that"

"Fine, c'mon Xander" That one startled me.

"When the hell-" I ask her.

"Christmas eve, Christopher" I flinch at my real name when Aero says it. Blizzard sneezes at my flinch.

"Damn you, Yuurikuta…"

"Heh heh"

Aero sighed.

Maybe it be best of you just all shared your real names? A voice says, I immediately unsheath my sword and started looking around. Aero and Draxen just laugh.

"What?!" I snarl.

"Sorry Dusk, that was Maria, my amulet" Draxen laughs.

"...I'm not gonna question it"

"Good, so, Dusk and I know each other's name, you know Dusk's name Aero, only fair you tell him yours…" Aero sighed.

"Fine...I didn't really want anyone to know but Draxen, but it is only fair, I am Alicia Hoshida, 18"

I nod at Aero, "Alright then, I'll be a proper gentleman for once and introduce myself, I am Christopher Darakai, 18, and yes, I am partly American"

"Nice to meet you" Aero says, I won't say Alicia until I'm out of this hellhole game.

"Hmph, now go drag Violet to Yin Yang, alright?"

"Alright, alright"

"Hey! I am not an object here!"

"Yes, you are" Aero and I say at the same time.

"My god…you two will be the death of me..."

Draxen POV

Once my paralysis finally wore off, and learning that an angry Aero is way scarier than and angry Dusk, (No, I will not call them by their real names unless it's one on one or until we are out of this game), we make it to where Asuna and Kirito wanted to meet up.

Aero and I enter the same restaurant we were in when this whole fiasco started. I find Kirito and Asuna talking about something. With Asuna being ticked off at Kirito, as usual. Seriously, whenever Kirito and Asuna are alone together, they always end up pissing one another off, thankfully, they still care about each other in terms of their life.

"Hey Kirito! Asuna!" I greet kindly, Aero repeating after me.

"Oh! Hey Draxen, Aero!" Asuna greets back, Kirito just says a simple, "Hey"

"What's up?" I ask, pulling myself a seat, as well as pulling out Aero's. This caused both Kirito and Asuna to look at us funny. You do remember they don't know about your relationship right? Maria asked Aero and me. We look at each other briefly before nodding, agreeing we would tell them soon.

"Nothing much really, just enjoying the victory of solving that case" Asuna said.

"I thought Kirito figured it out?"

"That's not the point, Draxen," Asuna said pointedly, causing the me to chuckle. Now that I think about it, Asuna really did seem slightly less tense around Kirito.

"So, what did you say that ticked Asuna off?" Aero asked Kirito.

"Er…"

"I get the feeling we don't want to know how he screwed up talking again…"

Aero and Asuna chuckle lightly at my comment, Kirito just huffs. I laugh at Kirito's reaction.

"Kirito? What is it"

I stop laughing to see Aero looking at Kirito with an expression of worry. Kirito turns to Asuna, "I have a very bad feeling, do you know where Yolko is? We need to get to her, fast"

I raced through the dead forest of Floor 19, knives at the ready. Kirito had a bad feeling that Laughing Coffin was involved, but wasn't hired by any random player.

But by Grimlock, who did the same to Griselda.

Asuna and Aero went ahead to try and capture Grimlock, while Kirito went to guard Yolko, Caynz and Schmitt.

Maria was checking to see if anyone was near me while I ran to try and get the jump on some Laughing Coffin members.

I kept running, Maria only talking if she found someone in a certain perimeter around me.

"Agh!" I change direction towards the cry of pain, Maria having sensed someone fills me in.

Six players, one paralyzed. ID's are: Yolko, Caynz, Schmitt, PoH, XaXa, and Johnny Black. The latter three are all Red Players. One Player now inbound, ID, Kirito. Maria informs me formally, she gets like that when it's serious.

I realized something, "Maria, more info on PoH, XaXa, and Johnny Black please"

Johnny Black: Level; 76, Status; Red, Extra; Co-Leader of Laughing Coffin

My eyes widen, that's a high ranking member of the deadliest guild in Aincrad!

XaXa: Level; 75, Status; Red, Extra; Co-Leader of Laughing Coffin, Nicknamed; Red-Eyed Xaxa.

I gasp internally, that makes two high ranking of that wretched guild! The heck did Grimlock pay for this?

PoH: Level; 78, Status; Red, Extra; Leader of Laughing Coffin, Nicknamed; The Prince of Hell.

I nearly faint, I'm about to go up against the three most dangerous killers in Aincrad.

When I finally see the small circle where the now seven are located, yes, Kirito just got there, I see the three members slowly approaching Kirito, who, despite being level 82, doesn't have much chance against these trained killers.

Before they can get too close to Kirito, I swiftly throw three paralysis knives at them with me left hand, and draw Lunarizer with my right.

Unfortunately the Head Trio of Laughing Coffin was undeterred, and swiftly jumped back, glaring at my position. I quickly hop into view, Lunarizer's blade held near my forearm, as I crouched ready in a position. The LC member with a skull and red eyes, most likely Xaxa, steps back ever so slightly.

"I was wondering when you would get here, Draxen"

"Sorry I'm late, Kirito, got caught up with something" With what? I mentally sigh to Maria, who I can talk to with my mind alone now, "nothing Maria, child, it's a way to make a badass entrance" You failed 'Papa' I mentally sighed again, and paid more attention to the Trio

"Boss...Maybe it'd be best if we retreat" Xaxa mutters to the player on his right, who wielded a cleaver.

"Indeed, The Phantom Twister, along with the Army, is not somebody I would like to mess with today"

Before I can try and capture them, which I was close to doing, the trio sheath their weapons and jump back into the shadows, my new knives in my left hand almost leaving my fingers.

I turn to Caynz, Schmitt and Yolko, who were shaking in fear, Schmitt being on the ground paralyzed. Yolko stutters, still in shock of what happened.

"Wh-what? H-how d-did you kn-know w-w-we were in-tr-trouble?"

I shrug, "Kirito over here had a hunch."

Caynz nodded, "Thank God for that hunch then."

"Bu-but who w-would w-w-want to k-kill us?"

"Grimlock" A new voice says.

Out of the forest steps Asuna, with her rapier pointed at the ready behind Grimlock, and Aero, her spear primed for Grimlock's head.

The 'ghosts' and haunted victim are in shock.

"Grimlock?!" they cry in confusion