December 24th, 2022. Aincrad Standard Time: 1421. Current Highest Floor: 5

"What?"
"Nothing."

Oh, it wasn't nothing. Only 2 days ago did I just witness history in my guild.

"It's just the way you're looking at me."
"Oh, I know," I smirked. "it's just so weird how you just change like that, huh?"

It was as if I had set her off. She stopped biting into her sandwich and stared at me with a stoned face.

"You're cute when you're angry. Also, can I have that sandwich if you aren't going to eat it?"

I mean, she stopped eating it. So it was a genuine request.

After a loud sigh, she extended her sandwich to me, facing the other way. I grabbed her sandwich and looked down at it. My face lit up. When I tried to take a bite, Kaede trampled on the grass, scaring me and causing me to lose my grip on the sandwich. I tried to catch it, but it flew just out of my fingers, shattering in front of me.

"Don't call me cute."

Tears started forming, and I dropped off the bench, placing my face on the ground. I think I sat there for ten seconds.

"Hide?-"
"Shush. May we have a moment of silence for our fallen brethren Sandwich-kun."

Kaede "Kei" Mizuno. The strongest fighter in the guild light years ahead of everyone else (other than me of course), and a real-life Tsundere. Don't tell her I put that. Please.

Ryoma returned from his shopping trip with Kenji, laughing. "What are you two lovebirds doing?" I think we were here to buy some ingredients for dinner? I don't know, I kind of forgot after Kaede killed Sandwich-kun in cold blood.

"She... murdered a brother of ours."
"Wait, what?!"
As I stood up, I grabbed Ryoma by the shoulders and convulsed him. "Sandwich-kun! I must seek my revenge!"

The man stared down at me like I was mad. "Who the hell is that?"

I had the rest of the day planned out for me. After the four of us returned from the marketplace of Acadia, floor 5's main town, I had agreed to help Ikuno with a quest of hers. But not after another errand. I attended the meeting reserved for the frontline and came out at around 10 PM. During meetings; they always held me because of my valuable information I had as a beta tester. Uh-oh, I left Ikuno hanging.

When I arrived back at the guildhall, to my surprise, Ikuno was standing outside, still wanting this quest done, even if it was nighttime. After a lot of apologising, we were on our way.

Ikuno "Nodoka" Arisugawa. Seems to be on Megumi's most wanted list for having a giant pair of breasts. Stems from jealousy? No clue, but they're best friends, so I'm sure it's their dynamic. Primary cook and a prized fighter within our guild.

The quest was called Guardian of the Field and required us to track down a monster that had been ravaging a village's only source of food and water for eons of generations. Well, in the game's lore, it was a village full of lively people and a monster whose name was so feared that it'd been forgotten to time itself. To us players, it was just NPCs coded to give out scripted questlines, and the monster was just a fancy storytelling way of foreshadowing a boss fight.

Having spent more than an hour wandering through Elwynn Forest with no success, we opted to make a campfire and rest for the night instead, as the town was now a lengthy walk away, and it was too dark to proceed. It was a genuine oversight on my part to bring one sleeping bag, as I thought we'd finish the quest in time, so we had to share.

"Ikuno, you sure you don't mind? Wouldn't this type of thing go against a woman's morals or something like that?"

Ikuno couldn't help but giggle, adjusting herself so that she left enough room for me. "I don't think you're the kind of person who would try anything."

As I opened my menu and removed my sword from my back, I sat on the bag and threw the covers over my lap, still not ready to lie down.

"Hide?"
"Hm?"
"I've never said this, but thank you for taking me and Megumi into the guild so early on. I didn't think we had much of a chance after what happened to our friends, but you offered help without even knowing who we were."

"No need to thank me. I'm only doing what's right." I smiled as I turned to face her.

She giggled again and rolled her eyes. "There's the Hideyoshi I know. Never accepts any appreciation," she faced the other way, "good night."

I finally laid down and turned the other way as well. "Night."

I really tried to fall asleep. But the constant ambient noises of the forest, no lie, freaked me a bit. I fake yawned; paced my breathing; tried many methods I remembered searching back in the real world, but nothing I did would knock me out. Not even realising it, an hour had passed already, and I was still wide awake. To make matters worse, Ikuno had turned around and wrapped an arm around me, while coming closer, touching bodies. I panicked a bit. Okay, a lot. This was the first time I had slept next to a girl, let alone being cuddled by one.

Before I knew it, the sun had set. When Ikuno had awoken, she squealed as she realised her arm was around me, to which I didn't react, as she was still under the assumption that I was dead asleep.

After she removed her arm and sat up, she yawned and lightly tapped my shoulder. "Wakey wakey."

I didn't want an embarrassing confrontation. I grunted, planting my face into the bag. "Five minutes," I groaned out.

She giggled. "Hide's morning voice. Cute."

No. It was a sleepless night voice. That you unintentionally (or intentionally, I don't know your train of thoughts) caused. Once a couple of minutes passed, I turned my entire body around and sat up slowly, rubbing my eyes. This was not healthy. I was in a zombie-like state. Prior to Ikuno squealing, I must have yawned at least twenty times in a row. When I looked up at her, she was already in her fighting gear, so my eyes followed where she pointed.

Well, the upside is there's our quest objective. Downside? I have to fight with no sleep. I quickly shot up and opened my menu, equipping my Coat of Midnight and Severance +6 (1S2Q3D).

A quick second to explain the mechanics behind SAO's weapon-strengthening system, if you will. When you got a weapon, be it by purchasing, crafting through a blacksmith or as a drop, there are five statistical categories you can invest materials and Col in to better the weapon. Sharpness, Quickness, Accuracy, Heaviness, and Durability. For a price, you could do this through an NPC or player blacksmith. However, with enhancing a weapon up a level, there was always a slight possibility it'll fail and remain at the current level, which isn't common in games like these, at least compared to ones I've played. Now, every time you raised a level in one category, it gained a +1, but the specific stat invested wasn't exactly obvious until you tapped on the item and viewed its properties menu. So I abbreviated the parameters to 1S2Q3D, a +6 sword with 1 to strength, 2 to quickness, and 3 to durability. A common thing for SAO players to do to make trading much easier.

Because of Kaede, I had to replace my Anneal Blade for Severance, a rare drop from one of the field bosses on the floor below. I was due for an upgrade anyway, so thanks?

The appearance of Nighthowl the Bloodthirsty Beast didn't surprise me, as it was just how I remembered back in the beta test. His crimson red fur made up his demeaning body and spanned over a metre. His fangs weren't any better, they were sharp and his mouth drooled with saliva, his red eyes fuelled with a taste for human meat, finished with two health bars. Of course, we weren't dropping anytime soon. I drew out my shiny new sword and Ikuno followed suit. Her choice of weaponry was what I kinda thought most women in SAO would gravitate towards, the rapier.

Now, the only downside I had with fighting with Ikuno is that my eyes (believe me, please, they're an entity of their own) would randomly sometimes possibly constantly occasionally from time to time every so often once in a while divert to her massive boobs. Look, you can't blame me, get off my back.

We already came up with a plan. Now it was time to execute it.

The beast lunged its entire body at Ikuno, slipping a respectful distance away when the latter dodged to the side. The boss repeated, and so did Ikuno. Then, when the third time struck, Ikuno held her sword out. When the beast lunged to bite, it instead trapped the sword into itself. Using this window, she rolled backwards and yanked her sword out, throwing the wolf into the air.

I drew my arm back, holding my sword above my head. As it went behind me, the sword changed in colour, embedding itself in a crimson red aura. The sound effect of the sword skill activating drowned out Ikuno's call to switch, but that didn't matter. When the wolf peaked in height in its flight, it was directly in front of me. Just in time, as the game had taken over, and carried out the skill Sharp Nail. I transferred all my weight to my left foot, which allowed the first strike to hit, a diagonal slash from bottom-right to top left. Repositioning my sword 45 degrees left, I slashed left to right into the wolf's entire body before ending with a slash from top right to bottom left. The skill took Nighthowl to its last health bar, and when it finally landed on the ground, it dug its claws into the ground, growling at us both.

Goddamit Kayaba. This fight changed from beta as well, as about a dozen common wolves spawned near the boss, surrounding us. The boss' panic state, you could say. Wolf after wolf lunged at us, and we just sliced and shattered them in mid-air, dying in only one swing. But that wasn't the primary problem.

Most of the wolves were on me, so I had to deal with them. In contrast, Ikuno had the boss surprise lunge at her, catching her off guard and throwing her to the ground. The situation diverted my attention, failing to respond to the last wolf. It threw me onto the floor, losing my grip on my sword from the sudden impact. The window was very short, so as I used my left arm to keep its mouth at bay, I slammed my hand against the ground, moving it with each slam. I needed my sword back quick, otherwise; I was taking unwanted damage. While the wolf overpowered my efforts, I grabbed the handle, thrusting the sword into its throat and shattering it. Lifting my head to see Ikuno still struggling, but the boss just shy of dying, I accessed my quick menu, having a Throwing Pick in between each of my fingers. With a second of aiming, I hurled the needles at the boss, throwing it off of Ikuno, shattering in mid-air.

Using my knuckles, I lifted myself to my feet and made my way to Ikuno, sliding my sword back into its sheath and reaching my hand out to her. Then I pulled up, standing her up, as she grabbed onto it. Her health was in the red, so it was lucky I could respond in time to save her. She wrapped her arms around my body without hesitation, and I assumed she would not let go, as even when I twitched a little, she tightened her grip even further.

"Sorry for arriving to the party so late."

No answer. I guess when you're saved by the skin of your teeth you have little to think about, just the fact that you were knocking on death's door.

I turned around so she faced my back and crouched down. She climbed onto my back, and I stood up straight to ensure I secured her. I summoned a healing crystal into my hands and pointed it towards her. "Heal."

Once we reached the front entrance of the town of Acadia, I breathed a sigh of relief as we arrived at the teleportation gate. "Teleport, Town of Beginnings."

Once the blinding visuals disappeared from the voice command, I stepped out of the gate, turning left. In hindsight, the location we secured for the guildhall was way too convenient. Surprised no other guild snatched it first.

"Hey Hide!"

Not going to lie, I jumped when I heard that. I looked around but realised the voice had come from under me. I peered down. And it was Argo.

"Why do you always do that?"
"Do what?"
"You know how short I am. You don't need to keep looking all kinds of directions for me."
"Okay, give me a break. A, you scared me, and B, I kinda forgot you exist. What do you want anyway, here to sell me more garbage intel?"

Her info wasn't always garbage. I just wanted to piss her off.

"No! What? No! I've heard some rumours about Yuna appearing again, and as my most loyal customer, I thought you'd want to know to keep an eye out for her tomorrow in this very town."
"What are you implying?"
"Well, I seem to notice you have a girl. Yuna has a beautiful, angelic, wonderful singing voice. Combined with your good looks, what sorta girl wouldn't fall in love?"
"For your information, Ikuno is just a friend. So unless you've got some passable information, get outta here."
"Okay, but take the freebie, jeez." She crossed her arms.

Appreciated I guess, since she usually doesn't give information for free.

I walked up to the base, and as an authorised user, the door unlocked when I opened it. I touched the door and walked in. To my surprise, the entire guild was hanging around the staircase. It does look bad when you don't send any warning messages you're spending the night outside.

"I'm so glad you two are alive," Kenji wept out first.
"Indeed," Zenji nodded.

Seeing Ikuno on my back, Megumi ran to me, "I swear if you had hurt her," she said through a waterfall of tears.

I smiled. "Relax. We just had a hard time fighting a boss. She's fine, but I think it's best she sits out the next few days."

I walked up the staircase, turning right for the side with the rooms. I went past about three rooms, finding her room door. I stopped to open it, going over to her bed and dropping her down onto it, with Megumi throwing the covers over her.

Kaede walked over to my side. And for the first time, she had a smile, and at me as well. "Thanks for having Ikuno's back. I didn't know you were so caring."

Uh, what? This is the first time you realise I'm caring?

"Only doing the right thing."
"Of course, you tried nothing perverted, I presume? You guys did just sleep together for an entire night."

When I turned to look at her with confusion and shock, her chat window was facing me.

Kei: How's the quest going?
Nodoka: Not as planned. We're spending the night here so don't expect us to be home for dinner! Also P.S, I think Hide only has one sleeping bag. You think he'll try anything?
Kei: He's a guy. Unpredictable, but doesn't seem like the type to.
Nodoka: OK!

I couldn't speak. Trying to talk only resulted in gibberish noises.

"I knew it," she said as she pulled her fist back, lunging it into my stomach and knocking me to the ground.