Ryuji dreaded the time when he would spot Futaba inside the game since the announcement that Sword Art Online turned into a death game. He remembered that he and Futaba were supposed to meet up at the Town of Beginnings and brief her of the suitable grinding spots in the game.

Days passed and still there was no sign of Futaba.

Maybe, just maybe.

Futaba wasn't able to log in to the game.

As he looked for Futaba inside the game, there were something else that has occupied Ryuji's attention.

"Dude!" Ryuji called out to the woman standing by the edge. "We can talk about this." He pleaded to the woman.

"What's there to talk about?!" The woman snarled. "We're never going to get out of this game." She despaired.

"I get that, I really do." Ryuji nodded. "But what good will that do?" He asked. "Killing yourself will only make things harder for the people trying to get us out of here." He explained. "Not to mention the kids trapped here with us."

"What do I care about what they think?!" The woman faced Ryuji as tears fell from her eyes. "Don't you get it?! We're never getting out of here!"

"Eff that!" Ryuji exclaimed. "If not for the people here, think of the people who loves you outside? What about them?"

The woman was caught off guard by Ryuji's words. She hadn't thought of the people outside. She hadn't thought of her mother, her father, her husband and her children.

The woman stepped away from the edge but soon crumpled to the floor and sobbed her heart out. She needed to be out of this game and cater to her children.

"Why don't we sit on that bench?" Ryuji immediately approached the woman.

The woman merely nodded as she let the boy carry her to the bench. She sniffled and hiccupped along the way.

Ryuji opened his menu and retrieved a food item from his item storage and handed it to the woman with him.

"Here take this."

The woman took the food item and began munching on it little by little.

"I know that the situation seems hopeless." Ryuji sighed. "The same idea did cross my mind." He admitted.

"H-how do you continue?" The woman asked.

"Same reason why the idea had crossed my mind." Ryuji admitted. "I contemplated taking my own life because I don't want my ma to be buried in debt considering the hospital fees she's going to pay." He explained. "But it's also the same reason why I can't die here." He added. "I'm all she has, I can't bear to think what she would do if I…"

"You really love your mother, don't you?" The woman asked.

"Yeah." Ryuji nodded. "She was the only one who was there for me when my deadbeat father beat me up." He continued. "And when my pervert of a teacher decided to break my legs."

"That's horrible." The woman gasped.

"No worries." Ryuji assured the woman with a smile. "I actually can't feel my leg acting up." He shared. "Probably because everything's in my brain and my legs aren't moving." He shrugged. "I don't really know the specifics." He admitted sheepishly.

Since Ryuji saved that one woman from committing suicide, Ryuji has been known to at least talk to the people who were contemplating of exiting life for good. He sat with them, he told him part of his life story minus being a Phantom Thief.

Then he found out about the kids stuck in the game.

Ryuji didn't care about the kids at first but during one of his grinding session, he found a few kids who took on more than they could chew.

Ryuji immediately made quick work on the admittedly lower-levelled Frenzy Boars, but to these kids, these were complete monsters.

"Everyone alright?" Ryuji asked the kids who were still stunned.

After a few moments of waiting for the answer, the kids immediately ran to Ryuji's side and bawled their eyes out.

"Let's get back to town alright?" Ryuji told the kids. "There we can talk safely alright?"

Slowly but surely, Ryuji was able to usher the kids to the church, where other kids their age stayed.

"Why were you outside the town?" Ryuji asked the kids gently. "If I wasn't there, you could have been killed."

"What happened Rairyu?" A man approached Ryuji.

"Found these kids outside town Thinker." Ryuji relayed. "Bit off more than they could chew."

"I see." Thinker nodded. "It's a good thing you managed to save them." He smiled.

"Yeah." Ryuji rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "It was nothing really."

"Let's let them rest for the day." Thinker suggested. "We can ask them about this tomorrow morning."

"Good idea." Ryuji nodded. "I'll get back to levelling myself." He stated as he exited the church.

"Remember, the offer still stands." Thinker smiled. "The Aincrad Liberation Squad could use a lot more people as compassionate as you, Vulgar Blonde Talker."

"That nickname sucks and you know it!" Ryuji pouted. "As for the offer, I don't really do well with people in authority." He admitted. "Sooner or later we'd have disagreements and that could end badly." He sighed. "It's better that I'm not a member of any guild as large as yours."

"That's unfortunate."

"Well then, I'm off." Ryuji grinned. "Don't worry, I haven't made a final decision yet." He informed the guild leader."

"Think about it as long as you like." Thinker replied. "You're welcome to join anytime."