The last time I wrote the first floor raid meeting, it was Koharu's perspective in War of Underworld. It was around that time I began reading Progressive material, so I believe the interpretation of the meeting in that story and now is from the manga's version. Novel has it in Kirito's perspective, but his POV and the others comes next chapter.

I've finished the story of the first floor, and I hope I've conserved as much of the Kirito-Asuna moments in Progressive and the Koharu-MC moments at least towards the end of that arc in integral Factor. But we can cross that road when we get there in four more chapters.

Not gonna lie, Angry Asuna versus Jerk Joshua might be my favorite parts to write. After a year of friendly teasing, both of them actually at odds is so much fun.

December 2nd, 2022

The first thing she notices is that she's alive. Her health and status bar is still above her head, so she's still in Sword Art Online. Third, she's out of the dungeon she's spent three or four days inside. Everything would be fine if she could explain the last part to herself. The last thing she remembers is a boy dressed in a long black jacket talking to her before she collapsed on the dungeon floor. She expected to be dead now...but not even passing out virtually initiates the kill sequence on the NerveGear and destroys the physical body's brain.

But how did she leave? Her…"companion" couldn't have carried her, the game limits how much weight one can possess at one time, and a human would surely come close if not surpass that limit for the average dungeon hunter. Yet, as she lifts her upper body off the cool grass of the forest, she turns her head to the right and sees the young man who she spoke with inside the labyrinth. He sits against a tree, at rest with his head on the scabbard of his large one-handed sword, his hair a mess as the short black bangs hang freely off his scalp.

Scanning the woods, she spots the first-floor labyrinth, a large tower rising skyward to the "sky"--the bottom of Floor 2. Sensing movement back to her right, she faces the boy against, frowning as his dark eyes meet her brown orbs. "Good morning, Miss--"

"Why? Why didn't you leave me behind?"

The boy looks away. "You're free to pursue your glamourous death all you want, but as I told you, I want that map data first." He looks back at her, seeing Asuna's scowl partially hidden under the hood in the light of the afternoon sun. He smirks. "Then again, there are ways to get around that stuff when the other person is asleep--EEP!"

Quick as lighting, Asuna draws her rapier and thrusts it at the boy. If she didn't stop an inch from his nose, Asuna would have a human skewer. "What did you do to my body?"

"N-Nothing! Nothing at all! Cross my heart, hope to die, don't stick that needle in my eye!"

"You… Y-Y-Y-You liar! You used my map data as an excuse to do things to my body, like...like things! Things!"

"N-No way! It's a bum rap!"

"Draw. Your. Damn. Blade--" Asuna's stomach, inconsiderate of whether the boy touched her body or not, makes its presence known that it has been neglected by its owner. Asuna's temper shifts to embarrassment and annoyance as she turns away. "Stupid game! Stupid game! Stupid game!"

The boy chuckles, relieved he gets to live...for now. "First, we'd better get you some food."

"I-I don't need it! I'm not going to die from a lack of food here!"

"No worries. Think of it as an exchange for your map data." He opens his menu and selects an item. "Plus, you can't say for sure that your passing out had nothing to do with extreme hunger. If you're going to try your best, it's worth eating, right?" The boy hands her a piece of bread, the same Black Bread Asuna finds disgusting to eat. "Plus, this is just plain tasty."

"...Now I'm questioning your sense of taste."

The swordsman takes a vial and hands it to Asuna. "You just need to throw in a little wrinkle."

"What's this?" Asuna takes the recommended amount out on her bread, seeing a gooey white substance flow on her bread. Wait a moment, can this be… "Cream?"

"Go on, just try it out." Intrigued and ravenous, Asuna doesn't hesitate a moment longer to bit into the bread. She cannot hold in the sharp surprise as the disgusting bread becomes filled with flavor like she got this meal fresh from a dairy farm. But before she gets ahead of herself, she reminds herself how stupid Sword Art Online is. But maybe...maybe she'll forgive it just a bit if there are more ways to have food like this.

"Want another?"

"...I'll pass. I didn't survive this long just to eat good food."

"Why then?"

Asuna stands up, keeping her back to the boy. "So that… I can be myself. If I was just going to hide back in the first city and waste away to nothing, then I'd rather fight with all of my strength until the very last moment. And then--"

"You can 'die satisfied,'" the boy finishes.

"I mean, it's a hundred floors. After two months, we haven't even beaten the very first one! Do you know how many people have died in that time? Two thousand! It's impossible… We're never going home."

"...I'm sorry."

Asuna sharply turns around, looking at the boy in the black jacket holding his head down. "Did you just--" A distant bell rings three times in the forest air, gaining Asuna's attention. She's never heard it before. "What's that? A bell?"

"That's the town. Tolbana's close by." The swordsman gets up and places the scabbard on his back. "The bell struck three o'clock. Let's go."

"Go where?"

"To the second floor," the boy says, pointing up, "before anyone else. It's time for the boss battle. You wanna come?"

"At the amphitheater, four o'clock." Asuna and the boy split up at the town's entrance, blending with the crowd of players and NPCs. As he walks off, he looks as if he was going to ask Asuna a question, but says waves it off. What's his problem?

"Curious?"

Asuna looks to the side and down, seeing a familiar short girl with a hood. "Miss Informant?"

"You curious about him," the girl repeats as she gets close. "I can give you the details for cheap, A-chan. I hear you've been quite the hard worker, eh? I hear stories about a little red riding hood hunting wolfmen in the labyrinth day and night. Word gets around!"

Asuna says as the informant stops shaking her. "No, you've got it all wrong."

"How so?"

"About him, I mean! He's just teaching me about the strategy meeting, nothing more! A-Anyway, I only just met him! Please stop trying to pry and spread weird rumors!"

The informant smiles. "Ah, I see. Okay, okay, I get it. Thanks for the tip."

Asuna is confused but lets it go. "Anyway, Miss Informant, do you know much about him?"

"Oh? So you want to know more about your would-be beau? A-chan will do anything once she sets eyes on her prize."

"Um, well, I have no idea where you're getting this idea," Asuna says very crossly.

"Of course, for the right price, I wouldn't be unwilling to part with that information. However, if you buy his information from me, you know that transaction becomes a new product for me to see, you see. So would you still like to buy?"

Asuna grits her teeth and turns away. "No thanks! I have no interest in him, thank you very much!"

Miss Informant smiles as she walks off. "I see. That's good to hear." Whatever that means, Asuna doesn't attempt to find out. Something tells her she doesn't want to, even if she was willing to pay.

The amphitheater is surprisingly crowded. Asuna doesn't know how many people are necessary for a boss fight, but the turnout is beyond her expectations if she had any. "Wow, look at all these people, knowing they could die in the attempt."

"You're so honest, Miss Fencer!" Asuna turns to the boy in the black jacket arriving at the meeting place. "You really think they're all doing it out of the goodness of their hearts? I'm not saying there aren't any good motives, but if you ask me, most of them are just afraid of being left in the dust."

Asuna raises her eyebrow. "Left in the dust? Behind what?"

"Behind the frontier. The thought of dying is frightening, but so is the idea that the boss is being defeated without them. I mean, I feel the same way."

Asuna follows the swordsman as they head into the amphitheater and search for a seat. "Is that like...the same kind of motivation that you need to keep yourself in the top two percent of the country? Or to stay in the top ten of your year?"

The boy shrugs as he takes a seat in the far back, just a few feet left of another pair of players. "Um, I think so?" Meanwhile, Asuna assumes the two scenarios are the same. Being chased into a corner without a goal clearly in sight, it's no different from getting into a good high school, college, or job just because. What happens after gaining those objectives? Asuna doesn't know. She never had to think about it. Maybe she's different from the gamers around her, but they have a shared goal, to beat the first floor and, if that's possible, the remaining ninety-nine. She may not have their experience, but...she'll strike faster and fly swifter than anyone else. She'll be a flash of lightning in a thunderstorm that is Sword Art Online.

One the stage below comes up a man with blue hair and addresses the crowd of forty-four. "Thank you all for heading my call today. My name's Diavel, and I like to think of myself as playing a knight." Several players laugh at the use of the nonexistent role before Diavel continues. "Now, you're all top players in the game, active around the front line of our progress, and I hardly need to remind you of why we're here. Today, our party discovered the first-floor boss chamber! The time has come to beat the boss and reach the second floor! It took an entire month, but now we have the chance to show everyone that someday we can beat this game of death. That's the duty of all the top-level players here, isn't that right?"

"Hang on just a sec, sir knight." Asuna turns her head to see a spiky-haired man walk down to the amphitheater's stage. "Gotta get this offa my chest before we can start playin' like we're all pals."

"What's on your mind, friend? Positive opinions are always welcome. However, I'd ask you to introduce yourself first."

"Hmph. The name's Kibaou." He turns to the audience and produces an angry stare. "C'mon, you cowardly beta testers! Show yerselves! I know there's five or ten of 'em here. Come out and name yerselves! You owe an apology to the two thousand people who already died because you were too busy hoggin everything to yourselves! Now get down on hands and knees and apologize and donate your stockpiles and items."

Asuna can see this causes quite the clamor. The swordsman in black sits quietly but he's troubled by the demand. Beyond the boy who sits to her right is the pair of players Asuna took notice of. Like her and the swordsman, they're a boy-girl pair. The boy's brown face is blank, but the girl looks worried. Was she a beta tester? Maybe all three with her are former testers, but Asuna sees no reason for them to take blame for a game someone like her found a way to get stronger in. Well, she owes that to the people who saved her life and Miss Informant's guide.

"May I speak?" Everyone faces a looming, dark figure in the middle of the audience. "My name's Agil. Kibaou, if I have this right, you're claiming that many newbies died because the former testers didn't help them, so they ought to pay reparations? Is that right?"

"Yeah. They abandoned all the new players who didn't know left from right on the day this damn game started and' hightailed it right outta the Town of Beginnings to pursue their own selfish ends. When them beta assholes hogged all the best huntin' grounds and lucrative quests, they kept the beginners from good leveling spots so they had ya venture inta dangerous zones and wound up dead."

"That's true, the resources available to players in this game is limited by the system. But consider this question, Kibaou. If you were a self-interested beta tester who only cared about your own survival and you could monopolize one thing, what would you choose? The best hunting grounds? The lucrative quests?"

"Wh-What's yer point?"

"I'd choose information." Agil produces a book, which Asuna recognizes as the guidebook for the first floor… Miss Informant's guidebook. "Every time I reached a new town, this guidebook was available at the item shops. And for free, too. I'd say everyone has made use of them, right?"

Asuna glances at her copy. "It was...very helpful."

"F-For free," the swordsman in black frowns. "That Rat! She charged me five hundred Col a pop!"

The one beside him in black and red sighs. "Only reason we got it from her for free was because we helped her fill it out. Be glad you didn't go through that trouble."

"But," Agil continues, "it felt to me like it was all too quick. I suspect that the only people who could have offered this information and map data are the former beta testers who have already been past anything we've seen so far. Listen, the information was out there. There's no better gi you could give a group of beginners. Yes, many people died, but that was because they assumed SAO worked the same as other MMOs and failed to pull back when they needed to. Meanwhile, we've got the information from the guide and we're still alive."

"He's met his match,"Asuna says. "You always find these people, the ones who aren't happy and want to drag everyone down with them. He doesn't realize there's a role only the frontrunners can play."

"But I don't think everyone can be broken down into simple categories," the swordsman responds.

Diavel speaks again. "Your point is well taken, Kibaou, but isn't this time to look forward? if the former beta testers are going to lend us their help to defeat the boss, what greater ally could we possibly hope for? Now, do you mind if we can get back to the topic--"

"Diavel! Look!" A newcomer runs down to the stage, holding a book and presenting it to the knight.

"Wha? A strategy guide for the boss?"

"The NPC shop in the square just got them in!"

The red swordsman scoffs. "So timely, she is."

Below, Agil and Diavel continue to scour the guide as everyone comes down to grab a peek. "The boss' name, sword skills, estimated HP, attack damage, even his accompanying mobs, the information is impressive."

"This is very helpful. The boss' numerical stats aren't too dangerous."

"Seems that way."

Kibaou is infuriated. "What? Now wait just a damn second! Look at this here! The informant knows who's a beta tester! In fact, I bet the Rat must be a beta tester herself. Maybe we need to go have a lil chat, eh?"

Asuna listens as another uproar rises. Even with valuable information being delivered to them, the players aren't too happy about it. While she finds their anger somewhat rational, it is better to have information from beta testers (correct or not) than not having it at all. She decides to let these idiots know that. "So tell me… What are you proposing we do other than be grateful for the info?" Everyone looks at Asuna, surprised to see it is a girl who spoke up, and the remarks range from her 'nice figure' to her being a 'game-addict loser'. Even more, they take notice of the other girl nearby.

"She's correct," Diavel agrees. "Our enemy is not the beta testers, it's the floor boss. Let us be grateful for this information, my friends!"

"Indeed," Agil says. "It's going to save us all the reconnaissance missions. We might be able to win without any fatalities."

"In fact, we will do so. If there's any fault in the information as you say, then I'll take it upon myself to protect the group. On my pride as a knight, I swear this to you… Seems fitting, given that we have a few princesses." Diavel winks at Asuna and the other girl before issuing more orders. "All right, I think it's time to start planning! First, we have to form a proper raid party. Now team up with your friends and others around you."

F-Friends? Party? Asuna clenches her teeth. She has no friends here...and has none in the real world. She recalls a moment prior to a field trip this past school year, in which she heard other girls assigned to her talk about her. How she had no good stories to tell, how all the boys would try to pick her up instead of them. All her life, Asuna's social life has been stunted by academics, so maybe those girls had a point, but--

"So...you got left out too--I mean, no you didn't! Of course not… Ha ha…"

"I'm not a castoff," Asuna says immediately. "I just didn't want to butt in, bevause it seemed like everyone else already had their own friends."

"Hey, Kirito!" The other girl steps over between the boy and Asuna. "Um, if you'd like, why don't you party up with Jaymes and me? Four heads are better than two, right?"

"Hmm, we can't join the raid unless we're in a party… Why not?" He turns to Asuna, gesturing to the girl and her partner. "If you're not convinced to party with me alone, why not with these guys? What do you say?"

"Again, no thanks," Asuna states sharply before turning away, holding her head down "But… I might consider it if you send the invite since the girl asked." Shortly after, she sees the party invite prompt and presses the blue circle. Facing the boy in black, she remembers what happened when they entered town. "In exchange, you were saying something before we got here. I couldn't hear it through the wind. If we both survive the battle, tell me again."

"So Jaymes, you made a party with these three?" Diavel waves and walks up to the four. "Forgive me, but can I ask that the four of you back up the team handling the boss's Kobold guards?"

Jaymes, the boy in red, nods. "Sure thing. We don't exactly have a full raid party, do we?"

Diavel sighs in relief. "Thanks for understanding."

The other boy, the one the other girl called Kirito, chuckles. "And you can't just ignore those cronies. It's an important job."

"I see. But… As a knight, I'm jealous of you guys, that you get to guard the princesses."

The other girl blushes. Asuna glares her hood while the boys laugh. Jaymes, however, doesn't laugh with a chill down his spine. "Haha, yeah… It's an important job."

"Mhm. Actually, Jaymes, can I speak to you privately after we end the meeting here?"

Jaymes is quiet for a second, yet he nods. "Sure thing." As Diavel steps away, Jaymes sighs and turns to the Asuna and the others. "Not that I want to fight the boss, but the back? If it wasn't so vital we hold off the mobs, this would be disappointing."

Kirito chuckles and pats Jaymes on the shoulder. "Well, you two have gotten stronger after all. I'm quite impressed. Argo was not embellishing those rumors."

"So it was her? Remind me to give her a piece of my mind."

The black-haired girl lets the boys talk to each other as she faces Asuna, who remains silent and guarded, and sticks out her hand. "Hello, my name is Koharu. Sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable joining a bunch of strangers."

Asuna hesitates but takes Koharu's hand. "Anything is better than being stuck with him alone. He's been a nuisance recently, plus… It's nice to know there's another girl around in this testosterone-filled raid."

"Yes. Jaymes is fine to be around, but sometimes I get tired of being around a boy all the time. So, Asuna, I hope we can become good friends and survive together."

"Great," Jaymes says sourly, "Koharu made another friend. What's the story with you two, you save her from death, and now she owes you?"

"Well, I did save her earlier today…"

Asuna steps up to Jaymes. "I owe him nothing! Ugh, boys and their belief girls need saving from them… C'mon, Koharu, let's get away from them." Koharu is speechless as Asuna drags her away up the stairs against her will, but it's not like Koharu fights against it either.

"Don't you want to join the practice session?"

"An 'important job'? You're kidding. And we're only the backup henchmen killers? If we're not a big part of their plan, they should just say so."

"What else can we do," the black swordsman argues. "There's only four of us. We probably could switch in and last enough for pot rotation, sure, but…"

"Simply put," the red swordsman continues, "Koharu and I know how to work as a unit of two, not four, and we can't learn it in a day or two. Diavel recognized that, I bet. Yeah, switching and pot rotating would be tough."

Asuna lets go of Koharu and turns to the boys. "Switch? Pot rota… What?"

Kirito sighs and laughs. "Tell you what, tomorrow, I'll explain party combat. There's a good quest to practice that. But it's active in the morning. I think we should go over the basics tonight, so we could stop at the nearby pub--"

"No." Asuna turns away, this time without Koharu, and finishes the climb up the stairs. "I don't want to be seen with you."

The boy in red sighs. "Where did you pick up the spoiled princess?"

Asuna stops, looks over her shoulder, and glares at the boy. "What did you say?"

"Sp-oil-ed. Pr-in-cess. Do I need to spell it out for you?"

"Wait, before you do something you regret," the other swordsman says while standing between Asuna and the outspoken asshole. Taking a deep breath, he faces Asuna. "If you'd prefer a location where no one will see us, an NPC house is out because anyone can walk in… Hey, I know! Your room or mine? We can lock the door and the walls are soundproof."

Before Asuna can retort, Koharu makes a disgusted face and points in Kirito's face. "Kirito. Think about what you just said! Come on, Asuna."

As the girls step away, Kirito thinks about what Koharu meant. "I… Oh, right, who'd want to hang out at that crappy inn? Not me. My place is at a farm, pretty cheap at eighty Col a night, plus it's an entire spacious floor to myself, with all-you-can-drink milk. There's even a bathtub, though I barely use it--"

"What?" Asuna and Koharu make their way back to Kirito. "What did you just say?"

"Huh? What? The entire floor?"

"Not that!"

"Plenty of milk?"

"After that!"

"You mean...the bath?" Asuna and Koharu nod, in which Kirito laughs nervously. "There's a bath...you want to use it?"

"YES," Koharu exclaims, then glares at Jaymes. "How come you never ask if I want to bathe?"

"How come you never said you wanted to?" Jaymes sighs and crosses his arms. "Whatever. I'll stick here until Diavel comes to speak with me. You three can go."

Kirito nods. "I'll have Koharu send you the location. See you later. Girls, follow me..."

Hopefully Kirito doesn't get into any trouble next chapter. It's just Asuna and Koharu taking a bath, what could possibly go wrong :)

Chapter 3 comes either later this week or next week.