Ping! I groaned and covered my head with the nearest pillow. 5 more minutes. Ping! " Shut up!" I hissed.
Ping! I sat up, annoyed at being awoken and opened my notifications. 'Congratulations! Blizzard leveled up! Blizzard learned a new move!'
Just then the two wolves barged into the room panting happily. Blizzard was indeed bigger than before, reminiscent of Inferno's 'teenage' size or basically the size of a normal wolf. They ran into the room, onto the bed, and then tackled me in licks and barks. " Ah I get it! I'm sorry I left you outside!" I said laughing.
Next to the bed there was a message cube that I opened while walking to the kitchen. ' Hey Fumiko it's me. I wanted to let you sleep since I kept you up pretty late last night ha-ha. Anyways the guys and I are going to train some and hopefully level up before the battle. See you tonight back at the onsen, love you.' Ryoutarou's voice said through the cube.
Looks like I'm alone for the rest of the day then. I went to the fridge and took out all the steaks then headed for the beach already bikini clad. After setting up an umbrella, chair, and breakfast for everyone I relaxed watching the tide roll in and out. As nice as this was I already missed Ryoutarou. Normally I would be doing my typing and he would peak his head in every now and again asking a stupid question, making a joke, or some kind of sexual innuendo with his brow wiggling. I laughed at the thought then felt my heart constrict.
Maybe I should go out and fight with him? No, you know what Kayaba said, stay off the battlefield or else. Besides I'm so close now to breaking this damn firewall. After a quick fruit bowl meal for breakfast I cracked my knuckles and began typing as the sound of the waves and breeze comforted me. Inferno and Blizzard spent the day either running laps around the tiny island, hunting, or just relaxing beside me. While Inferno basked in the sun Blizzard would sit under my umbrella hiding away with me.
I checked the time at one point and saw the battle had already begun, Ryoutarou never texting to tell me. I sighed and looked up to the sky. It's going to be fine they have a strategy and the best fighters in the game there. I continued my work but continuously found myself checking the clock to see how much time had passed. Minutes turned into a minute turned into me checking the clock almost every ten seconds. Focus! I'm so damn close now and Ryoutarou, hell everyone, is counting on me.
I typed in a flurry watching code fly by and I finally saw an opening. This was it, just a few more minutes and I would be in. I laughed giddily, maybe crazily, and typed harder until a series of instant messages came in.
'Monster changed need back up!' Asuna said along with members of my guild and Ryoutarou.
I stood in shock and immediately went into my inventory. No this can't be happening. I panted heavily and my shook while equipping my armor and other gear. Ryoutarou is in danger! I shook the fear away and channeled it into determination as I teleported the wolves and I into town then to the level 62. This level was more of a maze than anything, besides the main town nothing but pine trees for the entirety of the level.
I got on Inferno's back and rode in the direction of the battle, using my teammate tracker to find Ryoutarou. It didn't take long to hear the sounds of battle as people shouted and a monster roared. I rode over a small hill to a clearing and saw the monster. It was indeed a porcupine type monster however it was drastically improved. The original monster was green, man's body with a porcupine's spiky back and face, and an attack that shot all the quills off his body at the enemies surrounding him. This new version of the porcupine monster was more muscular, had a long tail with barbs at the end that he could use to aim quills to attack with, and a new attack where he could pull quills off and throw them at specific enemies.
I saw Ryoutarou and the other guild members huddled behind a boulder, a quill in Ryoutarou's shoulder and a poison signal above him. The pure rage fueled my brain and I already had a new plan in place. " Inferno ride around to his back side," I said and Inferno took off.
We rode past Ryoutarou and the others who finally recognized me. " Fumiko hide!" Ryoutarou shouted as he pulled a quill from his shoulder.
I looked to the monster and saw him flexing, about to shoot off the quills from his back. I tugged on Inferno's fur signaling him to stop and he did. The monster roared loudly. " Fireball now Inferno!"
Inferno shot at the monster just he exploded with quills. All the quills that hit the fireball burnt to a crisp while the others flew right around us. I smiled and clenched my fist in happiness as my theory worked. Alright now for theory 2. " Distract him to the front Inferno and Blizzard!" I shouted as I hopped off Inferno's back
I ran to the back of the monster as my two wolves headed for the front, drawing two daggers from my inventory. I got to the tail and hopped up as it swung around trying to hit me then fell down again. This time I ducked as it tried to hit me again and jumped one last time then got in the porcupine's tail. I raised the first dagger and stabbed the tail, the porcupine letting out a yowl. He lowered his tail just enough for me to stab the second dagger to the ground, keeping the tail still. " 3 shielders on the tail now!" I heard Asuna shout.
Just as quickly as she shouted it three men with shields surrounded the tail and when it shot off spikes the shields caught all of them. " Thanks," I panted as I drew my sword and made one final stab into the tail to keep it in place. " If the weapons come loose stick more in. Keep him in place!"
" Look out!" One of them shouted and I turned to see the porcupine monster behind me, quill raised to impale me.
The porcupine yowled and I looked around to see Ryoutarou at the porcupine's leg, stabbing it all the way through. He looked to me and I nodded then ran away to the point the porcupine couldn't reach me. I drew my lightning bow then began fighting again with the others, Inferno by my side to block any incoming spiked from the porcupines back. We got the porcupine into the red and close to death when he fired the spikes off his back. " Ok one more shot left in him then he's dead!" I shouted and everyone shouted back in agreement.
I looked to Inferno and paused in my shots to see him on the ground panting heavily. How many fireballs had he fired already? Inferno was exhausted and down for the count. I put away my bow and then attempted to drag Inferno behind the closest boulder. There was so little between the next release of the those quills did I have enough time? " Fumiko!" Ryoutarou shouted across the battlefield as he ran towards me.
People had already taken cover behind the scenery and their shields, ready for the next attack. I dragged harder and watched as the guild held Ryoutarou back behind a boulder. Good, at least he would make it. I fell back, losing my grip on Inferno and looked to see the porcupine was about to shoot out his quills any second now. This was it? When I was so close to the end? Blizzard jumped in front of me as I sat in a daze. " Blizzard don't!" I plead.
She took a deep breath and suddenly blew out frost, forming a dome around the three of us. I sat in shock then flinched as a dozen quills pierced the ice dome, the dome and quills shattering into shiny bits a few seconds later. I breathed out and looked around to see everyone had gone back to battle and finished off the porcupine. Suddenly I was hugged tightly and I woke from my thoughts to see a sobbing Ryoutarou. " I thought I lost you," he cried against me.
I turned in his grasp and hugged him back. I thought I was gone too. Wait when did Blizzard learn that? And then it struck me. This morning Blizzard learned a new move but in my tiredness I didn't even look to see what it was. Inferno and Blizzard strut over just then, Blizzard panting happily. " Ya you did good Blizzard. Very good girl," I said petting her.
" Aw come here you!" Ryoutarou cried and hugged Blizzard as well, Blizzard struggling in his grasp. " You're the best wolf ever!"
Inferno growled and I laughed then pat his head. " You did good too. She's the best girl wolf and you're the best boy wolf." Inferno held his head high, seemingly happy with the answer making me laugh.
And the sky turned red. Everyone previously cheering or talking stilled as a giant, cloaked man appeared in the sky. " Kayaba," I muttered frightened.
" You were warned Fumiko Mori, do not assist the players any more. Now prepare for the consequences," A thunderous voice rang out, nowhere near Kayaba's.
Suddenly everyone was simultaneously poisoned and paralyzed, everyone besides me. " No!" I screamed seeing my friends and comrades on the ground.
" You are to blame for this Fumiko, only you," the voice said then the cloaked man disappeared.
I panted heavily in worry as I pulled a healing crystal and held it over Ryoutarou to no avail. " Shit!" I screamed and flung the crystal away.
" It's ok…Fumiko," Ryoutarou choked, " Focus."
Still panting heavily I shook my head and entered my administrative mode. Just type, type as hard as you can. My fingers shook heavily as I tried to type but kept having to backspace to fix my errors. A cry rang out and I watched one player burst. " Fuck!" I cried now watching another player die.
" You can do it," he said then coughed.
" I can't!" I cried clutching my head. I suddenly can't remember a goddamn fucking thing!
I felt something on my leg and it was Ryoutarou's hand. I looked up to his face and he just smiled at me like there wasn't a care in the world. This somehow gave me the courage to take a deep breath and focus again. My hands shook only slightly now as I typed more and more code in, fumbling slightly each time someone died in the corner of my eye. Before I merely chiseled at the firewall but now I was taking a wrecking ball to it, uncaring of what would happen to me if Cardinal found out. And then in a burst of light my screen changed.
"Please enter your username and password" the monotonous voice rang out. I laughed as I entered my information in. " Welcome back Mori, Fumiko."
A larger screen opened in front of me and I scanned the various switched and buttons. I pressed 'heal all' and everyone's health turned to green again with no side effects showing. In the top right I went to sky features and turned it back to it's normal blue, laughing the entire time. I did it I fucking did it. I was still laughing as I cried into my hands.
I'm going insane aren't I? Every single emotion possible was welled up inside of me and this was the only way for me to let it out. " I knew you could do it," Ryoutarou's voice murmured in my ear just as he collapsed against me.
" It's all your fucking fault!" I cried punching him.
" I know," he said, taking my weak hits.
" I-If you hadn't gone today none of this would have happened!" I sobbed.
" I know."
" Don't you ever fucking do that again! I'm going to lock you up and-and-and," but I couldn't get a single thought out.
" I know," he said one final time and hugged me tightly.
I almost lost him it was way too fucking close. I breathed Ryoutarou in as I ran my hands over his back then up to his face and felt his contours. Quickly I leaned in and kissed his lips then kissed his whole face over. He was still here still in my grasp, still with me for just a while longer. " Oi can you two quit it? It's getting fucking embarrassing," Issin said.
I stopped and my head bolted to them, the entire guild shrieking in fear as I stood. " I almost lost him because of you idiots-"
" Um Hotaru?"
I stopped just as I was about to claw into Dale's face and looked back to Asuna. " Yes?" I asked pleasantly.
" So you're in the system again?"
I pulled away from Dale then replied, " Yup. I can do all sorts of things now," I said and turned the sky green and the grass blue to demonstrate. " I've got maps, hidden treasure locations, XP boxes, you name it I got it. And I can tell if the game has been edited any further so no more changes from Kayaba."
" This is excellent news," Heathcliff said literally appearing from nowhere. I don't remember seeing him once during the battle but I could have just been distracted.
" Tomorrow any guild who wants maps meet me on the next floor!" I shouted.
" You're just giving them away? We could make some serious cash you now," Dale whispered in my ear.
" It's not about the money it's about getting out. And with these expect a much faster rate of getting through dungeons and levels, I'd say half the time."
" For now though we'll be taking the night off. We can help others to your heart's content tomorrow," Ryoutarou said wrapping his arm around my shoulder.
" I think everyone could use the night off," Asuna said looking around as some fighters had already left while the others looked exhausted.
" I'll see you tomorrow ok?" I asked waving to Asuna and she nodded in response as we teleported back to the main town.
" I need the onsen now more than ever," Kunimittz said stretching.
" I think we all do," I muttered exhausted. I was drained, emotionally and physically.
A few minutes later we arrived at the onsen and everyone was relaxing in the hot spring. " Ok let's play a game," Ryoutarou said. " Name the thing you will miss the most about being in the game."
Everyone paused in thought. " Teleporting is nice. You know instead of taking the subway," Dale said thoughtfully.
" And no need to use a bathroom that's nice," Issin said.
" Some of the best food I ever tasted is in here," Kunimittz said rubbing his stomach.
" All the different locations you can visit in minutes," Ryoutarou said.
" My wolves," I said leaning over and pet Inferno.
" Of course we'll all miss them," Ryoutarou said petting Blizzard. " We owe these two a lot."
" What do you guys miss most about the real world?" Dale asked.
" How about not having to fight for my life," Issin joked and everyone laughed.
" I think it's time for a toast," Ryoutarou said entering his inventory. He pulled out a bottle of sake and cups to everyone's approval. " To victory."
" To the end of the game," I chimed in and we all put our sake dishes together before taking a swig.
" So can we look at tomorrow's map?" Kunimittz asked excited.
" MAPS," I said while opening my administrative menu.
" What's that one for?" Dale asked.
" That one shows where the various XP boxes are scattered. This one shows where the various creatures of the next level are. This one shows hidden areas and when you click on them the maps for those areas show up."
" Looks like we have plenty to do tomorrow then," Ryoutarou said rubbing his face tiredly.
" Which is why we should celebrate tonight," I said taking the bottle from Ryoutarou's hand and refilling everyone's sake cups.
And so we partied on much too late into the night. I was the least drunk out of everyone so I had the unfortunate duty of dragging everyone to their rooms with Ryoutarou being last. " Just one more sippy-poo," he said while picking up a stray bottle off the ground.
It appeared to be empty however as it burst to bits just as he put it to his lips. " No more alcohol for you," I said getting Ryoutarou to stand, well, wobble really.
Inferno stepped over just as Ryoutarou began to fall over and held him up. " Ah shut up! You're not the boss of me!" Ryoutarou shouted then ran down the hall cheering.
" He's just drunk he didn't mean it," I muttered to myself, brow twitching. I walked down the halls and found Ryoutarou had entered our room, sitting on the porch quietly. " Let's go to bed hm?"
" I don't want to!" Ryoutarou grumbled just like a little kid.
" Why not? We can snuggle," I said and gently pulled on Ryoutarou's arm, holding it to my chest.
He finally looked over at me and I smiled back at his drunken, dazed face. But that face turned to one of sadness as Ryoutarou tackled me back and sobbed against me. " Don't leave me please!" Ryoutarou begged as his tears soaked into my shirt.
" Why would I leave you?" I asked laughing. He was so drunk right now.
" You can't die alright? You have to promise not to!" Ryoutarou cried against me.
" Hey sh," I murmured and rubbed the back of his head. " We just have to fight together from now on alright? I promise to watch your back as long as you promise to watch mine."
" I can't lose you I just can't! I was ok with being alone before but now I… I need you Fumiko!"
I thought back to the beach earlier today. A few years ago I too would have been fine with just my computer and me. Back then that was the norm. Wake up and check emails, go to work on the computer, come home and do some more and if time permitted play video games all with as little human interaction as possible. But Ryoutarou changed all that the very first night we met. He made me want to interact not only with him but everyone in the guild. Ryoutarou opened me up to the world and all its possibilities and I wouldn't give him up for anything. " I need you too," I murmured and kissed the top of his head.
But he was already passed out. I laughed then dragged him back into our room and onto the futon. After changing myself into pajamas I snuggled beside Ryoutarou and pulled the blankets up. Nothing will separate Ryoutarou and I the two of us would make sure of that.