My(Virtual) Reality

by Tricksterverse

(AU)Kazuto Kirigaya-a woman born with the body of a man-views Sword Art Online as a chance be be her truest self. But when all of that is taken away and SAO becomes a death game, she is left with nothing but a burning will to survive. Might as well put it to use trying to clear the game! Transgender Kirito; Kirito/multi.

4. Okay, you can call me a beater

My(Virtual) Reality Chapter 4: 'Okay, you can call me a beater.'

When I was younger, I saw a shooting star.

It was on a night that was almost ethereal in how clear it was. Where I lived in the Saitama prefecture, it was pretty rare to have a night that even approached the level of clarity that this one had. Upon seeing it, I had made a rather stupid wish. I think it had something to do with a game I'd been playing at the time.

It had been a really picturesque sight, but I had no way of knowing that I would see another shooting star in this death game. Granted, it didn't come in the form of a literal star. Instead, the streaking comet I bore witness to was the sword skill Linear. It was the first skill learned by those who used rapiers; a single thrust with speed and precision valued more than power. I can't remember if I had dueled any rapier users in the past, but even if I had, I'm sure none of them came close to the lighting-like thrust of this player's sword.

This humbling speed didn't just extend to their attack; in the battle against the fallen kobold soldier they were currently participating in, the deftness and grace they displayed in dodging attacks was at a level I would struggle to emulate. Three times the kobold swung it's sword at the player in a predictable series of strikes, and three times they punished the kobold with that shooting star-esque Linear. On the third time, the kobold shuddered and exploded into polygonal fragments, finally dying.

I grimaced at the display before shaking my head. I had wasted enough time watching that; I needed to start my assault on the labyrinth proper. I made to do just that, but was caught off guard when the player suddenly stumbled. They fell back several steps before colliding with the wall and sinking to the floor. My initial worry was abated somewhat when the player brought their knees to their chin and wrapped their arms around them. It was a good thing they hadn't passed out; I dreaded to imagine how bad that could be this deep in the labyrinth.

We weren't too far from a safe-zone, and I had long since resolved myself to avoid unnecessary interaction when I decided to be a self-serving solo player. Er, well, that's what I would say, but ever since I friended Argo I'd been trying to be less isolated. The player before me was clearly exhausted, and the walk back out of the labyrinth could prove fatal in that state.

With that thought in mind, I finally approached the resting player. "That was some overkill, don't you think?"

The player seemed dissatisfied with my presence. "What do you mean, 'overkill'?" When she spoke, I was slightly surprised, because I realized I was talking with another woman. Outside of myself and Argo, I hadn't met another female player in SAO, trans or otherwise.

After recovering from my shock, I said, "I'm talking about that last Linear you used. The kobold's health was low enough at that point you could've killed it with a normal sword strike, so the extra damage from the skill was unnecessary."

"...Is overkill bad?"

I rolled my head from side to side. "Well, it's not like it'll hurt you. Thing is, using sword skills repeatedly like that wears you down, and your weapons durability drops faster."

"I have five of the same rapier, so I'm fine."

"O...kay, but what about the return trip?"

"I'm not going back," the girl said sternly. I was shocked into silence. How long was she planning to stay down here? Better yet, how long had she already spent in the labyrinth? The girl slowly brought herself into a stand, ignoring me entirely. After just five short steps, however, her body finally gave out and she collapsed to the floor.

I sighed after seeing it happen. There was a safe-zone not too far from us that I could bring her too, but I didn't like that idea. If I did that, chances are she would just charge back into the labyrinth the second she woke up, continuing her suicide quest. It reminded me far too much of the way I'd been before Argo pulled me back from the brink. Maybe she could do the same for this girl.

I hoisted her unconscious body onto my back and started making my way out of the labyrinth. Thankfully, I had wiped out most of the monsters on the proceeding floors, so I shouldn't run into any undo trouble. "Please don't be too mad when you wake up…" I whispered a prayer before beginning my slow trek out of the labyrinth.

When I was back on the fields of the first floor, I dumped the girl under the shade of a tree near the labyrinth and shot a message to Argo. While I was waiting for the mousy info broker, I studied the equipment of the girl in front of me. She had issued all manner of armour for the purpose of increasing her speed. Underneath the faded red cloak she wore was a white long-sleeve shirt, red vest and red knee length skirt.

Her outfit had me thinking about my own fit. The grey coat I wore was nice and form-fitting, but didn't serve to accentuate my best features or look stylish. I was also still wearing the starter pants from the beginning of the game, which didn't help things. "Maybe I should try wearing a skirt. I'd probably look pretty good in it," I mused aloud.

"What's this? Kii-gal's wantin' ta diversify her wardrobe? It makes me blush knowin' ya want ta look all pretty fer my sake."

"In your dreams, Argo," I fired back immediately. She had tried to surprise me with a hug from behind, but I had heard her footsteps crunching on the grass. I suffered through her affection well, more than used to it by now, but had to untangle myself when Argo's hands started to shift upward. "Anyway, I didn't call you here for nothing."

Argo shifted to a more serious state. "I know, I know. What's th' story with this girl, anyway? Ya told me she was doin' some dangerous grindin' down in the labyrinth, but why's that makin' ya want to look out fer her?"

I sat down in the grass and looked off to the side. "She's… kinda like how I was before. I thought maybe you could help her too…"

Argo smiled ruefully and plopped down on the grass next to me. "Aww, what's this? Kii-gal plays all cool and broodin', but yer just a big sweetheart aren't ya," she teased, repeatedly poking my cheek.

"As if," I bit back without any real heat. "Anyway, you gonna work your magic now or what?"

She looked resigned as she said, "I may be great, Kii-gal, but there's not much I can do fer someone I never met before. Especially if she's as stubborn as a certain front-line solo player I know."

I chuckled awkwardly at her poignant jab. "So there's nothing I can do?"

Argo 'tsked' and wagged her finger side to side, before rubbing her fingers together in the universal sign. I sighed but drew a hundred col coin from my inventory and tossed it to her. If it was information Argo felt comfortable selling, that meant it was valuable, so I really had no choice but to acquiesce to her greed.

She made the coin dance across her knuckles before it disappeared up her sleeve. Damn, I wish I knew how to do that… Anyway, with her payment given Argo was only too happy to provide me with information. "Thankies. So, I'm assumin' ya heard about the gatherin' that's happenin' 'ere in Talbana, yeah?" I nodded in response. "Tell 'er about it when she wakes up. It might not do much fer 'er spirit, but maybe bein' part of th' boss raid will give 'er somethin' else ta focus on."

"I hadn't considered that…" I mumbled, but I guess that was why I had Argo. She was better about picking up on these things than I was. "I'll try that. Thanks for your help."

"Nya hah hah! Ya can never praise me too much, Kii-gal. Also, hope ya don't mind, but I'm gonna stick around for a bit." I shrugged; it wasn't like I was in any sort of position to refuse. Thankfully, I didn't have to wait long for the mystery girl to wake up. When she did, her head whipped around as she quickly took in her surroundings. Argo was hiding behind the tree to avoid startling the girl, so her gaze inevitably landed on me.

With a glare, she said, "I didn't ask you to save me."

Oh geez, so that's how this was gonna go? Fine, I'll play ball. "I didn't save you, I saved your map data. You were in there for a while, right? So you've probably been to area's I haven't."

Wordlessly, the mystery girl opened a trading window and gave me her map data. Well, I wasn't about to refuse free stuff, even if it wasn't the real reason I had brought her back here. With that done, she stood up and started walking toward the entrance of the labyrinth. "There, it's done. I'm going back in."

"I wouldn't recommend that. Do you even have any food items to keep you from passing out again?" I asked casually. My sympathy had officially run dry, but I'd at least give an attempt at stopping her.

"This body isn't real; why would I need food?" she asked, genuinely confused.

I was struck by the contradictory nature of the girl in front of me. Her skill at the game combined with her seeming lack of knowledge was vexing. "Well, it's true that the food you eat here isn't real, but it still gives you energy. 'You can't fight on an empty stomach' holds true even in SAO," I explained.

The girl looked off to the side, contemplating my words. That was probably the best I could hope for. "Why were you down there for so long anyway? Hoping to find the boss room?"

"We're all gonna die in here. The only choice we have is whether we die fighting or not. I don't wanna waste away in the town of beginnings, so I fight," her voice was monotone as she said it. Clearly, she believed this little montra of hers completely.

But that's… not a good way to think.

I stood up and started walking away. Before I left entirely, I told her, "You've got skill with that rapier of yours; you should put it to better use. The games strongest players are gonna be meeting later to talk about how to beat the first floor. You should come."

There; I'd done all I could for her now. If she still decided to go inside after that, there wasn't much I could do to stop her. Maybe Argo would intervene and set her on the right track, but all the help in the world wouldn't mean jack if she didn't wanna listen.

I made my way back to Talbana. There was still some time before the meeting, so I decided to restock on potions. My nerves were starting to get the better of me, and I found myself checking and rechecking my equipment almost obsessively. At least, until I found myself on the receiving end of a glomp, courtesy of Argo.

"Ah!" I yelped as the info broker pressed my arm against her, laughing at my expense. I grumbled something unpleasant under my breath before turning to her. "Don't scare me like that, Argo!"

"Sorry, ya just looked so sad an' alone, like a little lost puppy."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better? Look, is this business related? Because I've gotta get over to the amphitheatre soon."

"Don't shoot th' messenger, Kii-gal. But yes, this is business, not pleasure."

"Alright, what's up?"

"Ya know th' guy who wants yer sword? He raised the price again," she explained. Oh, right. I had nearly forgotten about this with everything else going on. A couple days ago, Argo told me that someone was interested in buying my Anneal blade, with their starting price being eighteen-thousand col. That was already a hefty sum, but it had been gradually rising ever since I rejected the offer.

"What's he setting it at now?"

"26,000 col," Argo informed me.

I whistled loudly. This early in the game, getting that much col all at once would leave me set financially until the end of the second floor. This guy-I didn't know his identity and hadn't asked Argo yet-was desperate. He'd probably heard rumours about the strength of the Anneal blade and hoped it would keep him safe in this death game.

Even so, "I'm still not selling."

Argo sighed expectantly. "Yeah, I figured ya would say that. I'm tellin' ya, Kii-gal, this guy's way too pushy." She could say that again, I had said repeatedly now that no amount of money would make me give up the Anneal blade, but mr. anonymous still kept asking. If I wasn't a solo player, I might've considered his offer more seriously, but as things were I needed this sword to keep me alive. It was my partner in SAO; the thing which stood between me and death.

"Oh hey, look who it is," Argo abruptly announced, and I followed her gaze. We had been moving toward the amphitheatre while we were talking, and now that we were there I was surprised to find the mystery girl from earlier was here. "Looks like yer words had an impact on 'er. Good job, Kii-gal."

"Eheh, I guess…" I mumbled, scratching my cheek. Argo shrugged before finally detaching herself from me. She moved through the crowd like a ninja and I quickly lost sight of her. Not that I was overly concerned, the meeting was starting now, and the gathers players were taking up seats.

I walked over to the girl, feeling obligated to say something since I had pointed her here. "A lot of the people here are pretty dishonest," I told her. She turned to look at me, silently asking me to continue. "They'll say they're here to clear the game and liberate us from Aincrad, but I'll bet a lot of them are just here because they don't want to be left behind. That's how a lot of gamers are; the word 'settle' just isn't in their vocabulary."

It was why I was here, at least. If I ever got out of SAO, I didn't want to look back on the time I'd spent and have regrets. "Not wanting to be left behind…" the girl beside me murmured. I couldn't hope to guess at her thoughts, or her reason for being here. She had seemed so resigned to hopelessness when I talked with her. She might be here to find it again; her hope.

"So it's just like the high-school entrance exams!" she suddenly exclaimed.

"Er, I guess?" I mumbled awkwardly. Not exactly what I was going for, but sure. I think I've more than fulfilled my quota for social interaction now. I moved toward the amphitheatre and took a seat near the top. From my position, I could see the entire amphitheatre. I caught Argo talking with the mystery girl, and wondered what they were talking about. Granted, I was just trying to distract myself from the current situation.

We had been stuck in SAO for a month now, and not only have we not cleared the first floor, over two-thousand people had died. It had broken the spirit of most of the players, and that reflected in the numbers present for this meaning. There were only a little over a hundred players in the amphitheatre with me, a pitiful amount when considering SAO's total population even now.

But, that was the point of this whole meeting, wasn't it?

If we could defeat the boss and open the second floor, we might be able to give hope to the other players, and reignite their drive to clear the game. That was my hope, anyway. While I was considering all of this, the gathered players had finally settled down. On the stage below me, a man with blue hair and attractive features stood ready to address the crowd.

He clapped twice and called our attention. "Okay people! Now that everyone's here, let's get this meeting started! So anyway, I wanna thank everyone for coming; good to see you. My name is Diabel, and in this game, the job I rolled is knight!" he joked.

It was an effective icebreaker that drew a chuckle from me and the others, with one obnoxious guy even firing back about how SAO didn't have a job system. Diabel bore the jests well, smiling at the assembled players before saying, "You guys wanna hear this or not?" After everyone quieted down, his expression grew serious. "Right, anyway here's the deal. My party found the boss room at the top of the tower today."

Shock and awe passed through the crowd, but I was more annoyed than anything. I had been dutifully exploring the labyrinth every single day, but I had never found the boss room. I guess it was only fitting that a self-serving solo player like myself wasn't the one to find it, but I still felt cheated.

"First, we need to defeat the boss and make it to floor two. The next step is, we have to tell everyone waiting in the town of beginnings that it is possible to beat this game! Fact is, it's our duty as the most capable players here. Do you agree, or not?"

I was taken in by Diabel's charisma. He was trying to rally us, and turn this into a call for action. It was working too, despite my better judgement. I wanted to fight and make it to floor two, watching with a smile as the front lines was repopulated with the invigorated players. Someone in the crowd started to clap. It spread, and before long the whole crowd was singing Diabel's praises. I felt a shockingly earnest smile crossing my face, for what it's worth.

"Okay! Glad to hear you're all with me on this. Now, let's figure out how we're gonna beat the boss. First off, we'll team up into parties of six." I started. Ah crap, this was bad. While I was panicking internally, Diabel kept speaking. "A typical party doesn't stand a chance against a floor boss. We need a raid group made up of multiple parties."

People were already moving to fulfill his request, with many of them forming parties faster than I could get a clear look at them. Before a full minute had passed, I was left completely alone, with no one to party with. I was sure Diabel would find a place for me regardless, but it would make things so much simpler if I was partied up.

Luckily for me, I wasn't the only outsider there.

The hooded girl I'd met that morning sat off to the far left of me, similarly isolated. After scanning the assembled players one last time-unsurprisingly, an opening for me hadn't suddenly appeared into existence-I awkwardly shuffled over to her. "...You got left out too, huh?"

"Not even. I wasn't left out. It's just that everyone seems like they're already friends."

"Well, since we're both solo, you wanna form a party with me?" The girl looked at me skeptically, not that I blame her; I wasn't exactly thrilled about this either, but, "You heard what the guy just said, we can't beat the boss on our own, and it would only be for this fight." Even I wasn't so arrogant as to think I could solo a boss.

The girl ponders her decisions for a moment, before ultimately acquiescing to my request with a nod. I navigated through my menu and sent her a party invitation; a gesture that felt extremely foreign considering I had never done it before. She hit the accept button, and a second later another HP bar appeared below my own. I looked at the upper left corner of my vision and discovered that the girl's name was Asuna.

Asuna didn't say anything to me after that, so I scooched away from her as discreetly as I could, feeling horribly out of place. Back down on the stage, Diabel turned our attention back to himself. "Alright! Looks like everyone's teamed up. Now then-"

"Hold up a sec!" a noisy, petulant, but undeniably familiar voice interrupted. I turned to the top of the amphitheatre to find myself looking at the Cactus haired guy who had been bothering Argo a couple weeks ago. Wordlessly, he jumped down the steps of the amphitheatre and landed on the stage. Now that he unquestionably had everyone's attention, he shouted, "My name's Kibaou, got that? Before we take on the boss I wanna get something off my chest."

I felt a horrible sinking sensation in my gut; like someone had just dunked me into boiling water. "We all know about the two-thousand people who died so far, yeah? Well some of you need to apologize to them right now!" Kibaou declared, thrusting a finger at the audience. This guy was really starting to get on my nerves. He was trying to control these people using bias, intimidation and fear tactics. It made me feel nauseous; it was those same things that had been used to justify discrimination against transgender people like myself.

Hushed whispers permeated through the crowd, but Diabel quickly broke through the noise. "Kibaou, I think I know who you're referring too. You mean the ones who were ex-beta testers, right?"

"Course I mean them! The day this stupid ass game started the beta guys just up and vanished, right? They ditched all us beginners! They snagged all the good hunting spots, and they took all the easy quests too. They were the only ones getting stronger in here. This whole time they've ignored us like we're nothing."

My nausea was starting to give way to irritation and disgust, and if I were being totally honest, a little shame. A lot of what Kibaou said held true for me, but I wasn't the only beta tester in the game! Argo provided free guides that gave people the tools to survive, and a lot of the other beta testers helped her with that. I had even heard that some beta testers were providing lessons to players as a sort of make-shift tutorial.

Ever since Argo pulled me back from complete isolation, I had even been trying to give back myself by helping her with the guides. But now Kibaou was trying to tear all of that away because he was pissed some players had more than he did.

"Hell, I'll bet there's some of them here! Come on out, beta testers!" Kibaou demanded, sounding a lot like a raging lunatic. "We should make them apologize to us! And we should make them give back all the money and the items they got! They can't expect the party to trust them if they don't trust us. Why should we?!"

"God, will you shut up already!" a voice shouted, cutting through the silence that had emerged after Kibaou finished ranting. It took me a second to realize that voice was my own, and another to realize everyone had now turned to me. My heart caught in my throat, but it was too late to back down now. I'd made my grave with that, might as well lie in it. Kibaou was pissing me off anyway.

I marched down the stairs to the stage, constantly aware of the eyes on me, but never taking my own off the cactus haired man. "You must be a real idiot if you think that will achieve anything worthwhile," I criticized harshly. With how annoyed I was by Kibaou's bigoted speech, I found that my usual inhibitions when socializing had faded away.

"Where do you get off calling me an idiot! Who the hell are you?!" Kibaou asked. Clearly, he hadn't remembered me from before.

"Kirito."

"Isn't that a gu-"

"Yes," I snapped, interrupting Diabel before he could ask his stupid question. "We're gonna need all the strength we can get if we wanna beat this boss, but you're wanting to toss away our best chance right out the gate? Worse still, you're little witch hunts are gonna divide the front lines. What if half the people here were beta testers? We'd be left with half our raiding party, and all because you wanted to satisfy your own personal vendetta."

"You gotta be kidding me. We wouldn't need those damn beta guys if we had all their powerful equipment, anyway. We could manage on our own. Besides, they don't deserve to stand beside us after they let all those people die-"

"That's not true," I cut him off, my voice hard as steel. From my back pocket, I retrieved Argo's SAO survival guide and held it up. "You all know what this is, right?" I asked, finally looking away from Kibaou to address the crowd.

"It's the guide book, so what? What about it?" Kibaou asked impatiently.

"These were made with information from the ex-beta testers, genius," I told him, thumping him on the head with it. He flailed in surprise and rubbed at the spot, clearly embarrassed. "The information was available to everyone, but people still died. That's a tragedy, don't get me wrong, but they were given all the tools they needed to survive. You would've known that, if you weren't so focused on your fear-mongering."

"Alright, let's cool it," Diabel said, coming between Kibaou and I to play the role of peacekeeper. "I agree with you Kirito, but as you pointed out, we'll gain nothing by antagonizing each other," he told me. I didn't regret any of my actions, but I did try to wrestle my temper under control. I spared a nod to Diabel before returning to my seat, feeling spent.

"Okay; can we get back to the meeting now?" Everyone nodded to Diabel's question, so he continued. "For info on the boss, it's all in here. The latest issue of the guide book you just heard about. According to the book, the boss' name is Illfang the kobold Lord. Also, he'll be surrounded by his minions; the ruined kobold sentinels. Illfang carries an axe and a buckler. He has four health bars, and when the last one hits red, he switches to a curved sword-type weapon called a Talwart. He can change his patterns of attack too."

Faced with this density of information, a lot of the assembled players started muttering amongst themselves. I had done more than my share of talking for the day, however, and simply absorbed everything I was told. Diabel snapped the book shut and put it away, telling us, "That's it for the briefing. As for the distribution of loot, money will be divided equally among everyone. The party that defeats the boss, gets the EXP. And whoever gets an item, gets to keep it. Any objections?" There were none, which I was thankful for. I wanted this meeting to be over after everything that had happened.

"Good! We leave tomorrow at ten in the morning. Meeting adjourned, people!"

With that, all the assembled players got up and started walking away. Myself especially; I was exhausted after my little outburst and wanted to disappear for a while. Unfortunately, fate had different plans for me. Right as I was about to exit the amphitheatre, a hand clapped onto my shoulder. "Hey," a deep, masculine voice sounded off.

I turned to its source and found a tall man with chocolate-colored skin standing behind me. I was tense for a second-thinking he had taken issue with my stand against Kibaou-but immediately relaxed when he smiled. "I just wanted to say thanks for what you did back there. I was planning to say something myself if you hadn't."

"Oh, um… thanks."

He shook his head. "No problem. I'll see you at the raid tomorrow, Kirito."

He walked off with a wave, and I followed a similar lead. The meeting had taken longer than I thought, and the sun was starting to fall now. Asuna had vanished not long after the meeting as well, so I found a nice place to sit down and started reading through the guide. I had fought Illfang in the beta, but it wouldn't hurt to refresh my mind on his attacks.

Nighttime had fallen when I drew myself away from the book and started walking toward the Inn where I was staying. On my way there, I saw the familiar hooded form of Asuna sitting on the stone railing of a garden. She was tearing away at one of the bread rations that NPC's sold. She was my partner for the foreseeable future, so it probably wouldn't hurt to try and be friendly with her.

I walked up and said, "Those are pretty good, aren't they?" When she said nothing in response I asked, "Mind if I sit down?" Again, she said nothing. Geez, this girl was even more antisocial than me, somehow. Since she didn't say no I plopped down next to her, pulling out a ration of my own before taking a bite.

"You really think these taste good?" So she can speak! And here I was half convinced everything we'd said to each other before was a hallucination on my part.

Still, being sarcastic wouldn't get me anything, so I kept those thoughts private and told her, "Uh-huh. Since I got to this town I end up eating at least one a day. Course, I got a trick to make it taste better." I pulled the desired item from my quick draw storage; it was a little white container. SAO allowed players to store various items inside of pockets or coats so they could be drawn quickly without needing to go through the menu. Now that this was a death game, it was even more valuable as a way to save time.

"What trick?"

"Try it with some of that," I told her while gesturing to the container. Asuna tapped the lid, and then the tip of her finger became enveloped with a blue hue. She hesitated for a second, and then slowly drew her finger down the center of her bread. As she did, a positively beatific line of cream appeared out of thin air.

"Cream?" Asuna asked, as if she couldn't believe such a thing was available in SAO. Her reaction gave me an idea of just how intensely she must've been fighting in the labyrinth given her ignorance of the game. Was this how bad I had been in the two weeks before I reunited with Argo? It was frightening to consider.

Choosing not to think about it, I spread some cream onto my own bread. Unfortunately, that was officially the last of it, and the item shattered a second later. I could've written a whole poem on how finite everything was in this world, if I was a poetic kind of girl. Either way, I started chowing down on my dinner.

Asuna followed my lead a moment later, biting into her loaf cutely. She paused, and I could tell what she was experiencing in the moment. Her taste buds had been transported to the most serene dairy farm, to take a sample of cream from an award-winning cow… or something. Remember what I said about not being poetic?

Anyway, Asuna inhaled the bread after that. She had finished before I could even blink. It was… kind of adorable, actually; how fervently she'd taken to the small luxuries this game had to offer. "I got it in 'the heifer strikes back'; that's the quest in the village right before you get to this one," I explained. "You wanna know how I did it?"

Asuna shook her head. "I appreciate the offer but… I didn't come to this town to eat good food."

From our previous interactions, I had a pretty good idea why she was actually here. She and I were kind of similar; we both didn't want the world of Sword Art Online to break us, so we had decided to fight with all the feelings buried deep in our hearts. That way, even if we died, we could still feel something resembling contentment. There was one important difference between us, however. It was something I had only been able to realize thanks to Argo.

Asuna-just like I had been doing-was resolved to defeat. Even with all the battles she'd won she didn't believe in victory. I wasn't like that, though, not anymore. I didn't want to lose. I wanted to get to the next floor, and clear the game. If you asked me to name this feeling, I don't think I could. But whatever it was, it was burning brightly in my soul, igniting my will to live with a vigor way outside the balance of this world, or the real one.

"I wouldn't want a party member dying on me, so try not to die tomorrow." I knew she was strong from watching her fight, and I didn't have any doubts when it came to my skills in this game. If we could work together and keep each other protected, I was sure we would survive and beat the floor one boss.

I left Asuna alone after that. By the time I made it back to my Inn room, I was sore and exhausted. Of course, the soreness was more like a phantom pain created by the Cardinal system, but it was there either way. Thankfully, the Inn room I had purchased gave me access to a bath, which I was more than willing to take advantage of right now.

Once it was prepared, I unequipped everything and slumped down into the bath, letting out a slow sigh of relief. Today had been pretty stressful, all things considered. I probably wasn't going to see a relief for that stress anytime soon, either. It was probably going to last until Illfang was defeated.

"Course, that's not the only thing that has me on edge." Kibaou's little outburst during the meeting showed that the stigma toward beta testers hadn't lessened after I helped clear Argo's name; if anything, it was getting worse. That was a scary thing to think about. The accumulated knowledge of myself and the other testers would be an invaluable tool for clearing the first eight floors. If things got really bad and beta testers were denied entry into raid groups, or something even more drastic, then a lot of people could die.

I didn't want that. I hoped nobody did.

A knock at my door served to interrupt my thoughts. Well, to be more specific it was a series of knocks that followed a pattern Argo and I used as code. "Come in!" I said without thinking. I smacked myself in the head the very next second, though, remembering where exactly I was.

Locked doors could only be opened by other players if the person staying inside formally lets them in, or if the other person has the lockpicking skill. This meant that even though I hadn't physically gotten up and unlocked the door, Argo was still able to walk inside my room. "Kii-gal! Hiya-huh? Where'd ya go?"

"I-I'm in the bath, actually. Sorry, just give me a sec and I'll-ah! Argo, what are you doing!" I scrambled to cover myself as my friend threw open the door without warning.

"I was hopin' ta take advantage of yer bath, so this is perfect! 'Sides, it's fine. We're both girls," she told me nonchalantly, as if discussing what she'd had for breakfast. I was forced to close my eyes and look away when Argo unflinching unequipped everything she had on as well. Dammit, normally I found her pushiness charming, but this was too much!

"That's easy to say when you're straight!" I howled, still clenching my eyes shut. I didn't want to imagine what I'd see if I opened them.

"'Cept I'm not; have ya never been ta an open-air bath before, Kii-gal?" Her blunt admission stopped me cold, on top of the realization that I had unintentionally confessed myself. A blush exploded across my face, but knowing that Argo and I were both gay, yet she didn't have any problem with this, gave me the courage to finally open my eyes.

I tried my damndest to keep my gaze focused above her head, before immediately giving up when I noticed how unrepentantly she was checking me out. I hadn't been to any sort of hot spring or open-air bath since I transitioned; too afraid the staff would somehow know I was trans and deny me entry, or worse, force me onto the men's side.

Sitting across from Argo, who looked completely natural in this bizarre situation, I gradually started to regain my composure. That was when I realized something. "You're here on business again," I told her. She had said something earlier alluding to that.

Argo smiled and nodded, confirming my suspicions. It was only then that I realized this was the first time I had seen her without her hood on. While her messy blonde hair had never been hidden by it, I thought she looked remarkably cute. Of course, that was far from the only thing I was thinking at the moment, but I wanted to lock those feelings in the depths of my heart.

"That I am, Kii-gal," she confirmed. Then her face grew serious all of the sudden. "It's about yer sword again."

"For real? What did he raise the price too now?!"

"38,000 col."

I was floored. That was way too much; you could use that money to buy a sword of more or less equal quality as the Anneal blade on floor two. This whole deal stank of something more. "Argo, how much for the identity of the buyer?"

"500 col."

"Done." I opened a trade window and gave her the required money.

Argo accepted it with a smile before saying, "Yer gonna love this, Kii-gal, cuz' from what I hear yer already well acquainted. Th' buyer's name is Kibaou."

Well… shit.

I snorted. "So for all his talk of not hoarding money and items, he just wants to save his own skin."

"As an info broker, I'm supposed to remain impartial… but I agree completely. Guy's an ass," she remarks, snorting herself. I smiled at her words; Argo's cheeky attitude always managed to put me in a better mood.

"I was never gonna sell the Anneal blade, but asking right before the boss fight? He's way past desperate. I almost pity him, in a way."

"But ya have no plans on being nicer, right?"

"Well, I did say almost."

Argo and I shared a laugh. Unfortunately, there wasn't really much I could do with this information. I wanted to avoid conflict whenever I could, and bringing this up wouldn't achieve anything worthwhile. Still, I needed to keep my guard up and my eyes open. With the animosity between us now, I wouldn't be surprised if Kibaou tried to vilify me.

Ugh, this was turning into such a pain.

Despite everything, I was glad Argo had showed up. I feel like I was able to settle the last of my nerves about tomorrow's fight now. After we finished bathing and got dressed, I sent her on her way. Before she left, however, she pulled me into a tight hug and said, "Don't die, got that?"

I smiled despite myself. She could act all mercenary and self-serving, but ultimately Argo was someone who wanted to keep a hold of all the things she cared about, including people.

Needless to say, I slept pretty well that night.

It was the next day. The raid party was making our way toward the boss room, and Asuna and I were at the back talking strategy.

Or to be more accurate, I was talking strategy. "Let's go over it again. We're the backup, so our target's gonna be the boss' minions; the ruined kobold sentinels."

"I know."

"I'll use a sword skill to knock their weapons up and out of the way. When I do, switch and jump in." It was a really straightforward plan, but that was fine for our role. The ruined kobold sentinel's didn't have super complex attack patterns. If I created an opening for Asuna, she'd be more than able to tear them apart with her insane speed and precision.

"What's a switch?"

Her question brought a shock to my system. "Okay, level with me. Is this the first time you've ever been in a party?" I had to ask.

Asuna offered me a simple, "Uh-huh," and continued to walk down the forest path. I couldn't stop myself from stopping and letting out a sigh of impatience. Without the proper knowledge, it felt like she was letting all that strength and talent go to waste.

Or maybe I just didn't like having to explain things. It's kinda fifty-fifty.

Either way, time passed. And we eventually found ourselves standing outside the room of the first floor boss. It's height and design were intimidating; it stood easily twenty feet tall and had these intricate stone carvings. Diabel stood in front of it and drove his sword into the ground. He looked like a proper hero standing there, about to lead us on the path to victory.

"Listen up everyone; I've only got one thing to say to you. Let's win!"

It was a very simple and direct notion, but I knew a lot of the players here had given up hope on winning like Asuna. I don't know about everyone else, but Diabel's words resonated with me. If he were to become the de facto leader of the front lines from now on, I'd be happy to follow him.

"Come on!" After shouting that, Diabel opened the floor boss' door proper. The room was a massive rectangular hall, completely bare aside from the pillars lining the wall. It was also dark as all hell, but even so I could just barely make out the silhouette of something at the end of the hall as we stepped in.

Suddenly, the room brightened, becoming enveloped in a swarm of psychedelic pastel colors. With the sudden influx of light, I was able to see Illfang the kobold lord sitting on a throne at the end of the hall. He was tall and tubby, but radiated power as he took up his axe and buckler before rocketing forward. He slammed into the center of the hall with one jump and roared. Four health bars appeared to the side of him and filled up in an instant.

After that, the ruined kobold sentinels that Asuna and I were tasked with handling spawned in. As one, the boss and his minions charged forward. At the same time, Diabel pointed his sword at the boss with a flourish and commanded, "Commence, attack!" The two sides rocketed toward each other, with me adding my own battle cry along with all the others.

The fight to clear the first floor of Aincrad, had begun.

I stuck to the plan, and darted straight toward the boss' minions. I couldn't see her in the chaos of battle, but I assumed Asuna was with me. As soon as I was within striking distance of one of the sentinels, I charged a sword skill and let it rip. My blade collided with the kobold's stone mace but didn't fail me, sending it's weapon skyward. "Now, switch!" I shouted.

"You got it!"

Like I'd been hoping for, Asuna raced past me and let loose one of her blisteringly fast Linear's. It pierced the kobold and tore through its HP, but didn't kill it. That was fixed with the advent of two more Linear's courtesy of Asuna, though. Right then, I was reminded of the insane presence I had felt when I first saw her fight. When her sword tip reminded me of a shooting star. Even now, I couldn't see it when she was attacking.

"Right on…"

Of course, there was far more than just the one sentinel, and Illfang himself was the main enemy here. While I raced forward to parry the blow of another kobold, Diabel led the fight against the boss. He provided clear, concise orders for each of the squads that comprised this raid party.

His plan was well thought out, and extremely effective. While Asuna, myself, and the rest of the stragglers in this group kept the minions busy, Diabel had the bigger squads dealing with the boss. One squad would get Illfang's attention and block or parry his attacks, while the others would then flank and strike at his sides and back, whitling his health away. If anyone got significantly injured, they would pull back, but it never compromised the effectiveness of the plan because Diabel had enough people to cycle in and out.

Gradually, we were able to whittle the boss' health bars down, all without taking a single casualty to our own forces. Asuna and I continued to fulfill our role of dealing with the boss' minions, and we were even working better as a team as we fought. She could actually keep pace with my fighting style, and even surpassed me when it came to speed. For the briefest of seconds, I felt like a raging moron for having played solo up until now.

Illfang roared loud enough to hurt my ears, so I whipped my head in his direction. The raid party had finally managed to bring his last HP bar into the red! Illfang threw aside his axe and buckler; the two weapons clattering onto the floor. "Looks like the guidebook was right," Kibaou shouted from his place near the boss.

I felt the sting of irritation at being reminded of his existence, but it quickly faded. What was more concerning was that Diabel suddenly raced forward from his position in the back of the group, shouting, "Stand back! I got it!"

This confused me; I thought the plan was for everyone in the group to surround it? Diabel leveled his gaze at me before smiling, and my jaw dropped in realization. He recognized me, because he had seen or heard of me back in the beta! More things started to come into view with that information. I realized that even though Kibaou had offered the hefty sum of nearly forty thousand coal for my sword, he'd showed up to the raid party in the same gear he'd had yesterday. Why wouldn't he have spent that money to improve his own gear once the deal fell through?

The answer was because the money wasn't his to spend. I thought Kibaou had been bidding directly for my Anneal blade, but it was clear now that he was another middle man. Someone else had been using him to protect their own identity, and now I was sure that person was Diabel. He'd been hoping to use my Anneal blade against the boss himself.

Diabel, why'd you set this up?

Ultimately, I had no way of knowing. But when Illfang drew the sword fastened behind his back, my stomach dropped to my feet.

That's not a Talwart; it's an Odachi! This isn't like the beta! "Wait, stop!" I cried, not wanting to see this man I'd come to respect be hurt. "It's no good! Get out of there!" Unfortunately, my words proved to be fruitless. Diabel was already charging a powerful sword skill, and was unable to stop. In response, Illfang took flight; ramping from pillar to pillar like a bullet before crashing onto Diabel from above.

His sword took a chunk of Diabel's virtual flesh, with a raw red line appearing across his stomach. He was sent skyward from the impact, but before he was even given the chance to land Illfang raced after him and slashed Diabel's helpless form again.

"Diabel, no!" Kibaou cried, but the rest of the raid party was kept from helping him when the boss crashed down in front of them. I rushed over instead, drawing a potion from my inventory before sliding down by Diabel's prone form.

"Diabel! What the hell were you thinking?" I had to ask while I started to bring the potion around.

He caught my hand with his own, stopping me short. "It's no good," he told me, and I understood immediately. In SAO, your health refilled slower than it drained; even if I gave this health potion to him, his HP would hit zero before it could take effect. The life of the man in my arms was on a timer, and it could be measured in mere seconds. My blood turned to ice and I felt like throwing up. That fate was way too cruel. I had no idea how Diabel wasn't crying and screaming right now.

"You know… you were a beta tester too, weren't you?" he asked, and then it dawned on me why he had recklessly charged forward.

"You were after the Last Attack Bonus; the rare item. I figured we were the same after you gave me that look."

"Kirito; we never met in the beta but I heard about you. About the grace, beauty and strength you exhibited while fighting. I'm glad I got to see it myself… even if it was for just a bit." I could feel tears welling up in my eyes while he spoke. "Please, use your power on Illfang. You have to defeat the boss, for everyone here…"

With those final words, Diabel's virtual form erupted into a sea of blue polygon's, rising into the air before finally disappearing.

...When this death game started, the only thing I thought about was how I was going to survive. Nothing else mattered. It was why I was so quick to abandon Klein and fight solo. Even with Argo's friendship, those feelings haven't changed. But you weren't like that, Diabel. You never abandoned the other players; you brought them together. You led everyone, and you fought brilliantly. You tried to accomplish something I couldn't.

So why were you the one who was taken by this game?!

The ice that had been running through my veins exploded into fire, and I stood up. I turned my attention on Illfang. After Illfang had entered his enraged state, the ruined kobold sentinels had stopped spawning, so it was just me and the boss now. The rest of the party was too afraid to act; devastated by the loss of Diabel. I wasn't having any of that, though. I was gonna tear that boss apart piece by piece.

As I was getting ready to charge into battle, Asuna slid into position beside me. "I'll go too," she said simply. I had almost forgotten she was here with everything that happened, but this is perfect. With the two of us, I was even more sure of my victory.

"Okay."

We darted forward at the same time, Asuna slowing her pace slightly so I wasn't left behind. "We'll hit him just like we did the minions!" I shouted, vocalizing my plan.

"You got it."

Illfang took notice of us right then and started charging a sword skill. Even if his attack patterns had changed, I could still knock him off guard if we clashed swords, leaving an opening for Asuna. With a roar, I charged a sword skill of my own and let it rip. Illfang and I clashed, but our power was evenly matched, and our swords bounced off each other. That was fine by me, though, because, "Switch!"

Asuna sped forward with her sword glowing a pastel pink. Right as she was getting ready to attack Illfang, however, the boss' eyes widened and he reared his sword back. Shit, his recovery was that quick! "Asuna!" I cried in alarm.

Said girl reacted to my warning in an instant. She veered to the right, just barely avoiding being caught by Illfang's Odachi. Her cloak wasn't so lucky, however; it was torn to pieces by the boss' attack. I finally got a full look at the girl who'd been my partner for this fight. The hair she'd keep hidden by that cloak was a wonderful shade of chestnut, and ended at the bottom of her back.

Asuna wasn't deterred by her scrape with death, slamming the tip of her sword into Illfang's plump belly. He was sent backward, and I took the opportunity to pick myself back to my feet after I was thrown off balance. "He's coming back!" Illfang's recovery really was insane now, but I wasn't about to give in. I just had to match him blow for blow.

Illfang and I crossed blades again, with me using every point of my strength score to push him back and stay standing. Luckily, it worked, and Asuna immediately capitalized on the opening to thrust her rapier. I kept advancing, countering his horizontal slash with an upward one. Illfang brought his Odachi around to attack at my other side, but I parried that blow and the following downward slash.

My blood was singing. It's working! I can do this! Illfang wouldn't take another life today. He charged another sword skill, so I let one rip myself to counter. As my Anneal blade soared in a diagonal arc, however, I realize I made a critical error. Illfangs first attack had been a feint, and he quickly swerved his blade and lashed out. His attack caught me in the stomach, and I was thrown backward into Asuna.

We collapsed in a heap together on the floor, with my Anneal blade having been wretched from my hand by the impact. My health drained until it was just barely in the green. I let loose a small sigh of relief. One which was quickly abated when Illfang appeared before us. His sword was glowing an angry red and he brought it down on us. I tense while Asuna moved her rapier to block the attack. I doubt she had the stats to pull that off, though.

The death I'd been expecting never came, though. The instant before it did, there was a brilliant flash of green light, and Agil appeared in front of us to knock Illfang's attack off course. With a cry, the other members of the raid party rushed into battle. Agil looked back at me and Asuna and said, "We can hold this bastard off till your health's back up!"

I was in genuine disbelief. Had I done what Diabel asked? Had Asuna and I's actions somehow rallied the other players? I had no way of knowing, but a smile worked its way onto my face regardless. "You got it."

The other players surged forward to attack the boss. I don't think any of them were as individually strong as Asuna and myself, so Illfang was able to block their attacks. Overall, their assault was pretty ineffective, but that was fine since they were just trying to stall. Suddenly, Illfang exploded into action. He knocked the other players away with a sword skill before launching himself into the air.

As he started to descend and prepared to attack them, I pushed myself to my feet and started running. Grabbing the Anneal blade on my way, I started charging the sword skill Sonic Leap. "Watch out!" I shouted before jumping into the air myself. I met Illfang in midair and lashed out, cleaving into his body. "You're going down!" I roared while I sent him crashing to the floor.

I hit the ground with a roll, not stopping for a second in my assault on the boss. "Come on, Asuna! Help me beat this sucker! One last attack!"

"You got it!"

The adrenaline reached a fever pitch in my head, and I imagine the same was true for her. We roared our intentions at the boss; a challenge to the heavens, and to this death game. Illfang tried to cut us down with a sword skill, but we exploded into action. I slammed my Anneal blade into his Odachi and tore it from his grip. Asuna surged forward and slipped her rapier into the boss multiple times.

Finally, I leapt forward. My Anneal blade sought out his life, and cut him shoulder to hip with a speed similar to my partner. I wasn't done yet, however. My sword surged forward again, tracing an opposite line as my first attack as I bellowed out all of my rage and spirit. Illfang was sent into the air, where he became enveloped in a bright blue light before finally… finally, shattering into polygons like everything else in Sword Art Online.

There was silence in the boss room in the wake of our victory, but it lasted for all of two seconds before everyone erupted. There were cheers and tears and exclamations of victory. It was a euphoric release, and I let out breath after breath while the color of the boss room started to fade and returned to a dull grey.

With the adrenaline fading, I finally noticed the window in front of me telling me I had obtained the Last Attack Bonus. I had entirely forgotten about it in the final moment's of the fight, but I guess it was only fitting that I got the item Diabel had lost his life trying to obtain. Said item was called the 'coat of midnight'. A piece of armour, then. I could work with that, considering I was set when it came to weapons.

Asuna and Agil approached me from behind. "Nice job," Asuna said.

"That was some fine swordsmanship. Congratulations; today's victory is all thanks to you."

"No…" I murmured. I hadn't earned that kind of praise. My only involvement had been at the end, and it came at the cost of our leader. There was no reason I should be treated like a hero.

The assembled players, however, seemed to disagree.

"Yeah! You rock lady!"

"That was awesome!"

"I've never seen anything like that!"

Similar cheers and compliments came from the crowd, who were all smiling and clapping. I couldn't stop myself from feeling a little overwhelmed by it all, but it still felt nice to have their approval. I just hoped they didn't expect me to act as our leader from now on; that was something far outside my wheelhouse.

"Stop cheering!"

Kibaou's voice cut through the crowd, silencing everyone.

Son of a bitch; what's he want now? "Why'd you do it, huh? Why'd you let Diabel die?!"

My eyes widened and my voice caught in my throat. What? I had this horrible feeling. From my few interactions with him, I had seen that Kibaou was a very petty man. Was this his attempt at getting back at me for refusing to sell my sword? I felt incredibly disgusted just thinking of the possibility. A man's life was not a calling for you to go after your personal vendetta, you moron!

"Let him die…?"

"That's what I said! Admit it; you knew what technique the boss was gonna use!" he accused. "You could've told us! Then Diabel would've stood a chance! He wouldn't have had to die." Kibaou's poisonous words spread through the crowd, and their accelerated murmurs opened a pit in my stomach.

Was he an idiot? Or did he just have it out for me that bad? Kibaou was sowing dissension between the raid party, and I could feel the mood starting to turn ugly. "I know why she knew! She used to be a beta tester! Think about it; she knew the boss' attack patterns! She knew, but she kept it from us…" someone accused, jumping on the bandwagon.

"That's not-"

"And I bet she's not the only beta tester around here. Come on, show yourselves!" I could practically see it. A fire of distrust and stigma was growing among the assembled players, swallowing many whole with the sting of persecution. The players were looking between each other, and the look in their eyes was similar to the kinds I had experienced when I was still transitioning.

I could feel tears start to form in my eyes. Hot, angry tears born from years of discrimination. Why did we do this to each other? And why did this distrust and hatred follow me everywhere I went. I was just trying to live my life and be myself; it shouldn't be so goddamn hard!

I couldn't help myself, the tears started to fall. As they did, Agil tried to play peacekeeper with Kibaou, but it was worthless. This persecution of beta testers was alive and real, way too real for me. The raid group was going to destroy itself from the inside out, and in the worst case we might very well doom ourselves from all the infighting, making it impossible to clear the game.

"You have to defeat the boss, for everyone here…"

Diabel's words echoed through my mind, and I paused. He wanted the front lines unified toward clearing the game, and he'd trusted me to do that in his final moments. I hadn't known the man for long, but the respect I felt for Diabel wasn't something made in a virtual world. It was real. Slowly, a plan started to form in my head. One that made my legs feel weak, yet just might succeed in keeping the beta testers safe.

Diabel, Argo… this is for you.

I started to laugh. It was a broken, manic laugh brought on by my desperation and years of torment over my sexual identity. I only stopped it when the entire boss room was silent. "So you guys think I used to be a beta tester?" I asked sardonically, as if the very idea was a slight. "It's not cool to put me in the same class with that garbage."

"W-what'd you say?!"

I started to casually walk toward the assembled players as I continued talking. "You heard me. Most of the people who scored a spot in SAO's beta were rookies. They were so green; they didn't even know how to level up. Hell, even you guys were better than they were."

That was step one. By treating their concerns as trivial and stupid like that, the assumptions they'd formed were thrown into question. There was uncertainty in the crowd now. 'If that's really true, then what the hell do we have to be worried about?' If I were lucky, that thought would be running through their minds.

"But me? I'm nothing like those guy's, man. During the beta, I made it to floors way higher than the other testers; that's a fact. I knew about the boss cuz' I fought tons of monsters with way more sword skills on higher floors!" I sneered at the raid group, looking every part a total asshat.

"I know a bunch of other things too. More than you can imagine; more than any info broker.

Ultimately, the goal of my self-aggrandizing was to take all of the growing resentment the players were forming toward the beta testers and direct it on myself. Judging by the crowd's reaction, I'd say I was succeeding. "W-what the hell… if that's true then you're worse than a beta tester. You're a god damn cheater that's what you are!" Those words came from Kibaou; a fact that I couldn't stop myself from smiling about.

With the ringleader of this little argument agreeing with me, I had more or less succeeded in my goal. The crowd hurled their abuse and insults at me, but I did my best to appear totally unaffected. God, I wanted this day to end. Even though my plan worked I had gained nothing. With this, though, I hoped I had at least met Diabel's expectations.

"She's a beta tester and a cheater; she's a beater!" someone called out.

A somewhat genuine smirk crossed my face after hearing that. "A beater? Yeah that's good, I like it." A whole new derogatory label just for me, how perfect. It was possible I was the only transgender person among SAO's ten-thousand players, so having a new label that exemplified just how isolated I was felt oddly comforting.

"Okay, you can call me a beater. Just make sure you don't confuse me with those beta tester's anymore." Now that I'd officially finished saying my piece, I navigated through my menu and equipped my recently acquired coat of midnight. Flaunting my LAB like this served to enhance my undesirable image.

The coat of midnight fell into place around my body with a flourish. It was a deep black color with even blacker shoulder blades. Its defense was ridiculous, at least compared to the grey coat I was wearing before. With a cocky smirk, I walked away from the raid group and toward the staircase that would lead to the second floor. Like always, I was alone, but that was fine with me.

"Hold up."

Asuna's voice halted my footsteps, but I didn't turn to face her. "Back during the boss fight, you called me by my name."

"I wasn't trying to be rude. Did I mess up the pronunciation?"

"How'd you even know it?" she asked me.

This chick… I finally turned to face her properly. "In the upper left corner of your vision, there should be another HP gauge under your own," I explained. Asuna started to move her head, so I sighed and took her chin in my hand. "Don't move your head, just your eyes." She did so, and I let go of her.

"Ki...rito? Your name is Kirito? But isn't that a guy's name?"

I nodded awkwardly, starting to feel uncomfortable. Suddenly, Asuna giggled and smiled, and it was remarkably cute. "Geez, I'm so dumb. It was there the whole time and I never noticed."

I still held some affection toward my partner here, so I figured I'd try to give her one last piece of advice. "You can become stronger here on your own, but if the day comes when someone you trust asks you to join a guild, say yes. Cuz' there's limits to what a solo player can do."

"Then why do you fight solo?"

Why? Because it was easier. Because it meant I wasn't responsible for the lives of others. Because I wouldn't have to see the looks of disgust whenever people found out I was trans. Because I could actually survive like this. I had no plans to tell Asuna any of that, though. I just silently dissolved my party with her and continued walking up the stairs to the next floor. I hoped my efforts here were enough to protect Argo and the other testers, but I couldn't know for sure.

I entered the second floor as Sword Art Online's first, and only, beater.