-Real World-

Suguha scratched at her school desk in boredom. It was that time of day where students would impatiently fidget and chatter as they waited for the final bell to ring, queuing them to finally go home. Today was an easy day, which is what's to be expected on the Friday with an extra long weekend. It was the second week of the month, meaning all the kids had Saturday off.

Suguha quietly hummed to herself and tapped her pencil against her head. It's been exactly ten days since Kazuto left for that 'test'. He didn't exactly go into detail about what it was he'd be doing, but then again, Suguha really never asked. All she knew is that he should've been back this morning. Usually, she'd give it a day or two before jumping to any conclusions, but the fact that he hasn't responded to any of his sisters texts or phone calls bothered her. What if something went wrong? She'd have no way of knowing if he doesn't have his phone. While she glared at the polished wood beneath her, she felt a tap on her shoulder.

Suguha glanced up and saw Akira, her... friend? She don't really know what they were. He's nice, but he's also really nerdy in a way that Suguha could never describe. He was far more tan than any of the other students in school, and also a little on the heavier side.

"Suguha. You doing anything fun this weekend?" He asked, mouth slightly ajar in anticipation.

Ugh. Suguha thought. On top of being his desk mate, Akira also had a huge crush on her. Oh woe is Suguha.

"Uh..." She shrugged and closed her binder. "Not really. Probably just studying for the midterms and training."

"I see... Wait... training? Training for what?"

"Oh... Just sparring."

"Sparring? Like karate?"

Suguha sighed. Akira was not necessarily well versed in sports or any physical activity for that matter. She'd need to convey what she meant in terms that he would understand. "I fight with wooden swords. Kenjustsu."

Akira broke eye contact with his friend and leaned back in his seat, a look of bewilderment in his eyes. "Whoa... That's cool."

"...Thanks."

Akira pursed his lips and sighed. "A-Are you okay, Suguha? You seem really distracted right now."

Suguha's mind immediately drifted to Kaztuto and the potential situation he was in. She wasn't sure why, but she just had this horrible feeling that something went wrong. After all, the last few times he went into any VR game, things have went drastically bad. Why would this time be any exception? In her trans, Suguha completely neglected Akria's question.

"Oh! Uh... I'm fine, Akira." The young girl put on a fake smile and nodded. Surely he wouldn't want to hear about her conundrum, and quite frankly, she didn't want to explain it.

"Erm... Okay, then." He shrugged, turning his attention back to organizing the things on his desk.

A few moments of silence fell upon the two, the sounds of the other classmates talking and laughing as they discussed the upcoming weekend filled the atmosphere. "Akira." Suguha said suddenly.

The boy turned, a look of surprise on his face. "Yeah?"

"You're really good with computers and stuff like that, right?"

He rubbed the back of his head and smirked. "I guess you could say that. I do a little coding here and there."

"...Right... So uh, you'd be able to gather information about something pretty easily then, right?"

"I guess it depends. What kind of information are we talkin' here?"

Suguha quickly jotted down the words 'Sapper Co.' on a slip of paper and handed it over to Akira. "This is the name of the company that sent my brother a letter. The letter instructed him to go to this address in Tokyo. Ever since he left, I haven't been able to get in touch with him. I'm worried that something bad might've happened. He hasn't responded to any of my texts or phone calls."

"You have a brother?"

"Yes. Well no... not really. We're cousins but I've always seen him as my brother, so I just call him that."

"Oh, okay. Well, why did he go? Surely the letter gave some sort of reason, right?"

Suguha nodded, albeit uncertainly. "Y-Yeah. But I can't really remember what that reason was. The only time I saw the letter was when Kazuto read it aloud to me while I was exercising. I think it said something about a new type of VR."

Akira just glared at her, his usual infatuated eyes dimmed into a doubtful glare. "Suguha, are you sure you're not just being paranoid? We shouldn't go snooping around unless we're sure that something is really wrong."

The girl lowered her head in thought. She was pretty sure there was something wrong, but there was still that underlying feeling that she was just overreacting. If she were to go so far as to craft a hypothetical narrative and have it turn out to be false, that would make her look ridiculous. However likewise, this wasn't about her self image. If Kazuto really was in trouble and his sister stood idly by, she'd never forgive herself. Better safe than sorry. "No, Akira, I'm sure something is wrong. I need your help. Please."

Akira just sat there and starred at her in confusion. "So... What am I suppose to do?"

"I dunno... Just... Figure something out, I guess." Suguha didn't want to sound rude or pushy, but she knew that if anyone would be able to dig up information on this mysterious company, it would be Akira - or at least, that was what she was banking on.

"I got homework to do, Suguha. Plus my laptop is broken."

"W-What? I thought your laptop was like your prized possession. How'd it break?"

Akira chuckled and glanced up at the ceiling as if there was a thought bubble above him that was replaying the events that broke his computer. "I uh... I spilled water on it."

Suguha's scrunched up her face. He was lying. "I thought you hated water. You always say that it's 'too bland' and that you preferred carbonated drinks."

"It is too bland. Who is their right mind would ever want to drink something that comes from glaciers? It's gross."

The girl smirked and raised her eyebrows. She managed to catch him red handed. "Well first off, all drinks, carbonated or not, contain water. And second off, you lied to me?"

Akira reared his head back and groaned dramatically. "Yes, I lied. Happy now?"

Suguha's triumphant demeanor faded as her mind set on the bigger picture. This wasn't about proving Akira's white lie, this was about finding out if her brother was okay. "Hm..." she hummed quietly. "Regardless of how you broke your computer, I really need your help."

"I'm not sure what I can do. I'm sorry Suguha. My fourth period is in the computer lab, but I need to use that time to work on my assignments."

The brunette bit her lip in frustration. Maybe she really was just working herself up. Was this really worth the effort of trying to drag Akira into all of this?

Kazuto usually took a while to respond to her texts, almost to the point where she felt like he was ignoring her. However. he'd always touch base with her within a day or two. It was time for his sister to take this matter into her own hands, or at least, get some peace of mind. "You can use my computer."

Akira blinked hard and pursed his lips. "Oh ok... I didn't think you had a laptop."

"It's not a laptop. It's my brothers desktop."

"Alright... So you want me to come get it?"

"No, just come over to my house and use it there. I'm sure my grandparents won't mind."

Akira's face suddenly froze. "So... You want me... to come over... to your house?"

Suguha inhaled deeply through her nose. He was going to have a field day with this one. "...Yes. But only to-"

"When?" He interrupted, eyes still eerily wide.

Suguha wasn't dense, therefore she realized he had probably thought of this moment many times before in his head. Like she figured, huge crush. "How does tomorrow sound?"

"Y-Yeah. That works out for me. Where do you want to meet?"

"My house." The young girl quickly jotted down her address on the corner of one of her blank notebook papers and tore it off, handing it to Akira. "1 p.m.?"

Akira gave her a dorky smile just as the bell rang. Before she could bid him farewell, he quickly rose to his feet and scurried out of the room. The young girl chuckled. He was funny when he was flustered. Until this point, she never extended any formalities towards him, especially one so drastic as the one she just did. He was coming to her house. Was that weird? Surely it wasn't, this would be for business and business only. Regardless, Suguha wasn't sure if he saw it that way or not. She supposed it doesn't matter anyways. Hopefully tomorrow she'll be able to learn a little more information about this so called 'Sapper Co.'.

Until then, however, she was tired and stressed, so it was time to go home and take a nap. Today was fairly strenuous, after all.

-Town of Beginnings-

The current hour was long and nerve racking. Kirito and his friends stood at the gates of the starting town awaiting word on the current raid of the first floor dungeon. The Knights of the Blood Oath were currently fighting their way through with their goal set on killing the boss, thus granting all players access to the second floor. Along with Kirito's friends stood dozens of other players standing idly by, waiting for an update. All of them were prepared to make haste to the dungeon as reinforcements for the raiding party. From what Kirito heard, the Knights of the Blood Oath sent in twenty of their best players to challenge whatever was inside.

"All this waiting." Asuna bit her lower lip nervously. "Do you guys think they'll be able to clear it?" She asked, looking for some kind of ulterior glimmer of hope.

"You were apart of their guild, right Asuna?" Silica asked as she sat against the wall bordering the town and the wilderness.

"I was. I'm not sure if they're as strong as they were during the previous SAO. I guess they're so eager to prove themselves again and establish themselves as the best guild."

Klein sniffled - it was a fairly chilly morning. "If we have this many people just waiting around for an update, why didn't we just go help them fight through the dungeon? The more the merrier, right?"

"Not really." Kirito stated bluntly. "If there's too many people running a dungeon, it could lead to confusion and get disorganized quick. People would get confused and start attacking blindly. It's best to keep it in small, tightly knit groups."

Love, who was laid out on his back, hands behind his head, grumbled something under his breath.

"What was that, Love?" The Black swordsman asked passively.

"I said they should've invited me to help them. It would've been cleared by now."

Kirito smirked. "Is that jealousy I hear, Mr. Love."

"No, I'm not jealous, I'm just thinking practically. If they really wanted to clear the floor, they should have invited the top twenty players in the server rather than a few guild mates. Who even cares about establishing guilds anymore? It's just a game."

Everyone gave Love an uncertain look as the words escaped his lips. "Uhm..." Sinon mumbled. "You really think this is still a game?"

"Of course. It certainly isn't real life."

Kirito rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably and shrugged. "I'm not sure about that, Love. To me, this is life and death. Whether it's a virtual word or not, every minute we spend in this word is a risk."

Love let out an aggravated scowl and rose to his feet. He promptly opened his inventory and began scrolling through all his items. "Look!" He stood next to Kirito so the swordsman could watch as Love continued to scroll through his items. "Look how much stuff I'm carrying! You can't do that in real life."

"You're missing the point." Asuna replied quickly. "Yes, we are in a game, but it's not something we should take so lightly. People have died in here, Love."

"I am well aware of that."

Asuna just shook her head and let out an exasperated sigh. "Alrighty, then." She turned her attention back to the rest of the group for a formal address. "If push comes to shove, let's make sure we're stocked up on potions and do a quick stat check."

Everyone seemed to perk up. Sure, an inventory check was nothing to write home about, but at least it was something to do while they droned out the hours of waiting.

*Kirito - Level 9 - Primary weapon: One handed sword. (Skill level with weapon: 21/100)

*Asuna - Level 9 - Primary weapon, One handed sword. (Skill level with weapon: 19/100)

*Lisbeth - Level 9 - Primary weapon, One handed mace. (Skill level with weapon: 20/100)

*Klein, Level 8, Primary weapon, One handed sword. (Skill level with weapon: 18/100)

*Agil - Level 8 - Primary weapon, Two handed axe. (Skill level with weapon: 15/100)

*Silica - Level 7 - Primary weapon, Short bow. (Skill level with weapon: 14/100)

*Sinon - Level 8 - Primary weapon, Re curve bow. (Skill level with weapon: 12/100)

*Love - Level 13 - Primary weapon: Spear (Skill level with weapon: 39/100)

"Huh." Sinon chuckled. "You know I've never really thought about it until now, but does anyone else think technology is getting a little too advanced?"

"Look at us." Lisbeth extended both arms as if to present her surroundings. "Nothing is real right now. This world, these cloths, even the grass we sit on. It's all artificial. So yeah, I'd say science has gotten a bit ahead of itself all things considered."

Everyone giggled at the pink haired girls statement. It was nice to finally have a shared laugh among the typical dreary aura that surrounded everyone during these desperate times. For the next few minutes, the friends all sat around, patiently waiting for The Knights of the Blood Oath to either give the all clear, or request back up.

It's been a while since Kirito and his friends had seen some action, so part of him was hoping that they would be called to arms, however if that were to happen, it meant that some of the raiding party had perished in the dungeon. Either way, being thrown into that dungeon would spell danger for anyone who was unfortunate enough to enter.

After another few minutes of nothingness, Lisbeth began scratching at the brick wall behind her with her index finger. Kirito assumed that she was only doing it out of nervous habit, however he found himself intently glaring at her finger as it chipped away loose pieces of brick from the wall. It's not like there's anything else to do.

"We can play a game... If you want." Asuna shrugged.

The party glanced over to her curiously. At least someone was trying to lighten the mood. A general consensus of agreement fell upon them and we all sat in a small circle near the wall.

"What's the game?" Silica smiled.

Asuna placed a finger to her chin and pursed her lips. "Hmm... Truth or dare?"

"YES!" Klein nearly yelled, causing everyone else to flinch in shock. Realizing his obnoxiousness, he gave his friends a sheepish smile and shrugged. "I mean uh... sure, why not?"

They used the games built in roll system and each rolled one to one hundred. Whoever got the highest number got to ask for a truth, or give a dare to the person who rolled the lowest number.

Lisbeth won the first round, and Agil lost.

"Hmmm..." The pink haired girl smirked mischievously. "Truth or dare, Agil."

"Easy. Truth."

Everyone else let out a disappointing 'Aw' noise, to which Agil just shrugged. "Sorry, y'all. I'm not about to make a fool of myself. Especially in front of all these other players."

"Whaaaaatever." Kirito bit his lowered lip as he smiled impishly.

Lisbeth continued, "Alright Agil. Once you get out of this game, what's gonna be the first thing you do?"

"Oh, even easier. I'm gonna take a vacation."

"Oooh. Where to?" Lisbeth pried.

"Not sure. Haven't really given it much thought. Probably Okinawa."

"Fancy." Asuna nodded in approval.

"I've gotta be. I have a wife, after all." Agil froze as the words escaped him. A sudden realization crept across his face. "She uh... She's probably wondering where I am right now."

The others fell silent as each of them thought about their loved ones at home. Surely they were worried since they've been out of contact for the past few days.

Thankfully, Lisbeth determined the situation to be sorrowful and brought everyone's attention back to the game in an attempt to bring the mood back to a content level. "Hey!" He demanded. "Who's next?"

The next round, Klein won, and Love lost.

"Alright Klein!" Love grinned mischievously. "Dare."

Klein pursed his lips and glanced around for anything that could possibly trump Love's confident attitude. "Heh... I dare you to give Kirito a legitimate compliment."

Kirito tensed up, feeling a tingle run down his spine. The thought of Love being even remotely sincere and kind to him was... gross. "U-Uh. Klein, maybe you should give him something else."

Love nodded. "Yeah. I couldn't come up with anything even if I tried."

"Exactly-" His words suddenly processed in Kirito's head. "W-Wait! What do you mean by that? Are you saying you can't think of one good thing about me?"

Love reared back slightly and titled his head. "Um... I..." He glanced back down at the black swordsman and shrugged. "No."

"You have to say something. That's the rules of the game." Sinon insisted.

"This seems more like a truth rather than a dare..."

"Say something!" Sinon said again, a smirk creeping across her lips.

"Fine! Jeez!" Love sat up as if to brace himself for what he was about to say. "Kirito... I like your... Um... passion?"

"Passion?" Kirito asked in disbelief.

"Care to explain a little further, Love?" Lisbeth leaned back and smirked.

"W-What?! Seriously?! I didn't mean it like that! I just couldn't think of anything else to say." Love scowled.

"Oh." Silica teased. "So you didn't mean what you said to Kirito, then?"

Love groaned dramatically and shook his head in frustration. "It's not that I didn't mean it... Kirito, you care a lot about your friends and I'm impressed about what you're willing to do to keep them safe." the young madman looked at each and every one of his other party mates once he finished his sentence, as if he was looking to them for approval. "There! Is that better?" He asked, the grimaced vanishing from his face.

"Wow." Asuna wiped away a fake tear from her cheek and sniffled. "That was so beautiful, Love. Do you want me to get you a set of pink armor to go along with your newfound feminine side?"

Love's eyes widened tremendously and his face began to go red as everyone around him howled in laughter. Sensing defeat, Love grumbled something under his breath and sat back down against the wall. "I'm done playing this stupid game."

"Oh come on Love." Agil laughed. "It's all in good fun-"

"I said I'm done!" The Madman hugged his knees against his chest and shot everyone a dirty look.

"Alrighty." Kirito chuckled. "Next."

Silica won the next round, and Asuna lost. The blonde smiled slyly. "Alright, Silica. Dare."

The young girl hesitate. Apparently she was expecting Asuna to declare for a truth. Silica hummed in thought. "It needs to be something crazy." She giggled.

"Yup." Asuna agreed. "Give me your best shot."

"Hmm... I dare you... to... hold Sinon's hand!" She quipped.

The other seven of the friends glared at her in confusion. "Uh... Silica." Klein said sheepishly. "That's not really a good dare."

"W-What? What do you mean?" The girl asked innocently.

"It has to be something more... risky." Sinon collaborated with a nod.

Silica's head bowed and her smile faded into a serious, twisted frown. "Very well then..." her voice got deeper and sounded raspy. Everyone leaned back in anticipation as to what she might dare Asuna to do. The silence was finally broken when she spoke again. "Asuna. I dare you... to pat the heads of everyone in our party."

This time, everyone groaned in disappointment, much to Silica's bewilderment. "Silica!" Lisbeth chuckled. "That's not a good dare, either."

"Well... What do you want me to do? I'm not really good at this game. I'm not sure what's crossing the boundary and what isn't."

"How can someone be bad at truth or dare?" Love said to himself loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Try thinking outside the box." Kirito urged nicely. "There's no such thing as dare that's too risky."

Silica put on a determined face and clenched her fist tightly. "Alright then... Asuna. I dare you to... Attack one of the guards and fight them off for as long as you can before they take you to prison!"

"What the hell?!" Love, who was still not playing, laughed in confusion.

Likewise, everyone else let out a collective laugh. "W-Whoa. Silica." Sinon started, "That might be a little too intense."

"What? I thought you guys said there was no such thing as a dare that was too risky."

"Right, but..." Agil rubbed the back of his neck. "We don't want Asuna going to jail over a game of truth or dare, you know?"

Silica sighed, then promptly rose to her feet. "This game is hard." She removed herself from the circle and sat down next to Love.

"Losers." Klein taunted the two teens with a joking smile, to which Asuna delivered a firm elbow into his ribs to punish him.

Before anyone could roll again, a frantic voice called out from the center of the crowd of idle players. The voice sounded like it was a cross between high pitched and super gruff, kind of like how a voice would get if it spent all day yelling and screaming.

"Everyone! We just got word from the raid boss about the party who entered the dungeon!"

Kirito and his friends completely tore themselves away from their game of truth or dare and focused all of their attention to the young looking man in the center of the crowd. He continued, "The raid group has encountered some sort of stalemate! No one in the raiding party has died. In fact, they've already made it to the entrance of the boss room."

The crowd murmured in pleasant surprise. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all. The Knights of the Blood Oath seemed to be doing just fine if what this guy was saying is true.

"However," He went on, causing everyone to hold their breaths in contempt. "They're all running low on health and are out of potions. To avoid the risk of them pulling enemy agro on their way out, we need a small group of players to resupply them before they take on the final boss. Volunteers will need to be fast and capable of fighting things that are level ten and above."

Kirito glanced over to his friends, all of whom had their eyes fixated on the man. In a split second of brash thinking and selfish antics, the swordsman raised his hand proudly and declared, "We'll go!"

"Yes!" Love screamed in joyous obnoxiousness. "That's what I'm talking about!"

Contrary to the madman's reaction, Asuna, Silica, and Agil did not look too pleased at the fact that Kirito had just made such a big decision for the group without consulting them first. Klein and Lisbeth on the other hand seemed fine with the prospect of going on this mission, hardly even batting an eye. Sinon, as was usual for her mellow, calm personality, seemed indifferent about her friend's impulsive volunteering.

"Great!" The man at the center of the crowd beamed. "If anyone is willing to give up any of their healing items for the raiding party, please give it to that man and his party." He pointed an enthusiastic finger at Kirito. Almost immediately, several trade requests began spamming his user interface. It took awhile, but he eventually amassed all of the healing items that people were willing to give up. Kirito split them evenly among his friends so he wouldn't be over carry capacity.

Once the crowd of strangers began to widen and dissipate, Kirito approached the man who was announcing the messages to ask him for more information about the dungeon.

"They say it's similar to the one back in the original SAO. Randomized - but similar in terms of difficulty." He said before Kirito could even introduce himself.

"Uh." The swordsman hesitated. This guy seemed really hyper, and his eyes glanced around at a mile a minute. "Will there be any enemies along our path when we enter? Or has it been mostly clear out?"

The man shrugged and scratched at his wrist nervously. "Can't say. The raid boss hasn't communicated much back to me ever since he left. She's really focused on keep everyone alive."

"Well that's a good thing." Kirito murmured. "Okay... I suppose just point us in the right direction and we'll be on our way."

"You'll need to head south west. The dungeon is through the cave located at the base of the largest mountain that borders the floors world barrier. If I had to guess, I'd say that the Knights of the Blood Oath took out everything that could threaten you. They have a very thorough leader, after all."

"Right.. Erm. Thanks for the advice." Kirito rubbed the back of his neck and gave him a half wave as he and his friends began their trek south west. Based on the map, it was safe to estimate that the journey would take them a few hours at most. The best course of action would be to head directly to their destination and not stop for anything. Typically, Kirito and his party would take multiple breaks over the span of a long journey to eat, rest, etcetera. However this time, they had people waiting for them - people that desperately needed the things that his friends had. It would be best not to keep them waiting.

As they trekked along the vacant, wide open field in the south western portion of the floor, a hint of uncertainty filled the air, encapsulating the group as they walked. Kirito could tell by the looks on their faces that they were nervous, and in fairness, he was too. Guilt began to well up in his chest. Maybe he was too quick to volunteer for this mission. After all, he didn't consult with anyone before blindly raising his hand back at that rally. It was no secret that he led the other seven throughout most situations, so to them, Kirito probably seemed like a dictator more so than their friend. But... maybe that's just the paranoia in him speaking.

After just an hour of nonstop walking, Kirito noticed Sinon taking shorter and shorter strides. He dropped behind the group as everyone else continued on, leaving him and Sinon to follow close behind. "Hey. You okay?" The swordsman asked, not turning his head away from what was in front of him.

The blue haired girl nodded, though Kirito could hardly see it through his peripherals. He knew that her affirmation was fake judging by her previous perturbed expression. Kirito desperately thought of anything that would brighten the mood. "U-Uh... Wanna hear a joke?"

Sinon peaked over at him, her head still hanging low. To his surprise, she shrugged. "Why not."

Kirito smiled. He didn't expect her to say yes, therefore he hadn't yet planned a joke. He settled on the first one that came to mind. "How do you make holy water?"

Sinon scratched her chin and breathed in heavily through her nose. "I dunno. How?"

"Boil the hell out of it." The Swordsman began chuckling at his own joke, even going so far as to hunch over and hold his stomach as he laughed.

The rest of the group over heard the joke and gave Kirito an amused, yet disapproving shake of their head. Apparently dad jokes just weren't his thing. Nevertheless, it did seem to put a pep in everyone's step.

To pass the time, the eight friends held a lighthearted conversation about embarrassing moments in their life. Surprisingly, everyone was very open and honest about some of the not-so glamorous things they've done. Kirito heard things about his friends that he had never heard before, and it was kind of refreshing to know that even the people he had grown so attached to held secrets within themselves. It presented a facade of mystery that the swordsman had not yet been aware of.

Once they were just ten minutes from the base of the mountain, Silica dropped back to Kirito's spot at the back of the group and held her hands in front of her nervously as she peered at the ground.

Before she said anything, The Swordsman spoke up. "What's wrong?"

"I'm worried."

"I know. I was just thinking that I probably made too brash of a decision to volunteer us for this mission."

"Too late now." Love snarked from the front of the group.

"Yeah." Kirito continued.

"I just... I want to be sure we're all okay." Silica opened her 'stats' in her inventory and showed Kirito. "I'm level seven - the lowest in the group. I just..."

Kirito placed a hand on the young girls shoulder and smiled. "We'll protect you. I promise. I think I speak for everyone here when I say that we'd all sacrifice for you, just as we would for any one of our other friends in this group."

The young girl sighed, Kirito's words apparently not soothing her. "I was lucky during the original SAO. I don't know how long I'll last this time around. I just wanna make sure then when it's my time to go, you all will be okay and set up for success." Once she had finished her thought, she sped up, catching up to the rest of the group and leaving Kirito to walk by himself.

The Swordsman found himself completely stunned at Silica's words. Did she really think she was the weakest link, and that she wasn't long for this world? Sure, she was the lowest level in the group, but she was also one of the smartest. When did she become so pessimistic about her current situation?

Kirito dropped further and further behind the group as the regret he felt began to envelop him. Silica thought that she wouldn't make it, yet here he was volunteering her and the others to take on the dungeon at their level. The pain in his chest rose to his throat as he struggled to breath. If he lost Silica after a conversation like that - or anyone for that matter - due to his own doing, he would never forgive himself. His breathing intensified more as he remembered all of the meaningful conversations he had with each and every one of his friends. If he let them die because of a stupid decision that he made, what would that mean? Everyone else would hate him, and he would hate himself.

The teen watched from behind as the rest of his friends had a neutral conversation as they walked, though he couldn't hear what they were saying over the ringing that began to irk his ears so much so that he felt an ensuing headache.

"Kazuto?" Asuna said, unknowingly snapping her boyfriend back to reality.

Hearing his real name made The Swordsman blink frantically as he tried to gather himself. "H-Huh? Oh... I'm fine."

"Okay, well... You're falling behind, try to keep up, okay?"

"Okay."

After an ungodly amount of walking, the tip of the target mountain came into view just above the horizon. It was only a matter of time now.

Love hummed an upbeat song just loud enough for everyone to hear as he occasionally did low effort dance moves that looked more like he was dodging invisible arrows coming from up ahead.

"What're you humming?" Sinon asked with such a tone that screamed of 'I have nothing else better to do'.

"A song." The Madman replied and stopped humming.

Sinon shrugged. "What song?"

"Can't remember the name. The band is called Brightglow."

"Who?" The blue haired girl inquired.

"You've never heard of Brightglow?" Love asked with a smile as he began dancing once again as if just the mere mention of the band made him want to bust out in song.

"Never."

"Ah... you Should look them up."

"Yeah. I'll look them up on the phone that I definitely have." Sinon remarked.

Love scoffed. "I meant when we get out of this game."

"Speaking of which." Klein pointed ahead at the horizon. Finally, the entrance to the dungeon cave was in sight. It was a gaping hole that was completely pitch black and ion front of it was a small clearing of dead grass and small boulders. The mountain peaks cast shadows from over head in an ominous way as the group of friends carefully inched their way closer to the clearing.

Love scratched his cheek and began speaking among the sound of crunching grass beneath the group. "Y'all should just stay behind me once we get in there." He said absently.

Asuna's eyebrow raised at the Madman's unusually calm nature. "And why is that?"

"It could be dangerous. You seven are too weak to fight high level enemies, so naturally, I should be the one to do it."

Asuna let out a chuckle. "Hmm... Sounds like you're trying to protect us, Love. Don't tell me you're getting soft."

Love's hands suddenly tensed up at the girl's words. "I..." He sighed, seemingly knowing he had been caught. "Just don't come running to me for help if anything goes bad. Chances are, I'll be busy fighting my own battles."

"You say that now, but if someone really were to be in trouble, I know you'd come save them." Agil said with a cross of his arms. "You shouldn't try to put up a facade, Love. There's nothing wrong with being yourself, even if you feel like you have to withhold your personality because you're afraid of how we'll react. It's not like we expect you to act all tough and bombastic all the time. Let loose."

Love remained silent as he stood there stone-faced. All the life from his eyes seemed to slowly drain. The teen stopped in his tracks and began to wane back and forth on his heels as if he was losing his balance.

"U-Uh... You okay, man?" Klein stepped forward and placed a hand on Love's shoulder.

Instead of spouting off some aggressive nonsense, Love remained completely still in his place, not moving an inch. Kirito turned to his other friends to see how they were reacting to this situation. To the swordsman's shock, Agil and Sinon were seemingly inflicted by whatever Love was suffering from. The three of them acted as wobbling statues among the open field around them.

"Um..." Silica hummed nervously. "Kirito... What's happening?"

Lisbeth waved a hand in front of Agil's face and whistled in attempts to get his attention. Her efforts failed, causing her to slump her shoulders in defeat. "No clue." She shrugged.

Moments later, Love, Sinon, and Agil collapsed to the ground, their bodies limp and their eyes closed tightly.

"What the hell?!" Asuna nearly yelled. "W-What's wrong with them?"

Kirito glanced in his party interface and check their stats for any kind of debuff that would render them to act like this. "Hmm... Their all at full health, and I don't see any reason why they would pass out like that."

From behind, Kirito heard a soft, quiet gasp. "I-I know what it is." Silica said fearfully.

Asuna, Klein, Lisbeth and Kirito all glanced at the young girl in anticipation. "You do?" Klein asked. "What is it?"

"Well... This same thing happened during the original SAO. Remember? It was just a few weeks into out time there when it happened."

Kirito eyes widened as he sifted through his memory.

"When we were being moved to hospitals..." Asuna nodded to herself nervously. "So... You think that's what's happening right now then?"

Silica shook her head. "I doubt we're being moved to hospitals. That man that put us in the game wants us to stay here, so I'm guessing he wont bring us anywhere in public. If he does, he'll only raise suspicion about himself. Surely there's a crime for holding people hostage in a game after what happened with Kayaba."

Kirito sometimes forget how clever Silica can be. It only just struck him now, but she's been the brains behind most of their friends ideology ever since they've been trapped here. "You're right." Kirito agreed. "This David Herara guy seems like he comes from money. Chances are, he has a place far away from Tokyo that he'll take us to. I imagine that at this point, someone that knows one of the players has grown suspicious as to where they are. After all, we've been gone longer than ten days, which is how long this 'test' was suppose to take. We're probably being searched for by the police, so Herara decided to move us."

Asuna scratched her head in thought. "Well, there's four thousand of us trapped in this game, meaning that he'll have to move four thousand people without the police noticing. I doubt he'll be able to pull something of that magnitude off."

"It certainly seems unlikely." Lisbeth nodded. "But if I've learned anything over my entire life, it's that money talks. If this Herara guy really is filthy rich, he'll find a way. People are too easy to manipulated when it comes to money. It kind of makes me sick to know that they'll sacrifice the greater good so they can buy a nice car or a new phone."

The rest of the group fell silent at the pink haired girls words. They all quietly prayed that they'd be discovered by the police in the next few hours - that is, if they really are being moved. As per usual, they won't get any answers - just evidence that'll lead towards another speculation about what their purpose is in this death game.

True to Silica's words, the rest of the friends began to pass out one by one. Klein went first, then Silica, and Lisbeth. When all that was left was Asuna and Kirito, the swordsman grabbed his girlfriend's hand - something he hadn't been able to do in a while. The moment was oddly peaceful. He'd give anything to stay like this forever. Just him, her, and a green, open field with flowers littered randomly across the flowing grass.

"What're you thinking?" Kirito asked suddenly.

She looked up at him and smiled. "Heh... I'm trying not to think right now."

"What do you mean?"

His girlfriend shrugged and laid down on her back, pulling him down next to her. "Doesn't all of this seem so... final?"

"Final?" The swordsman echoed back, not following what she was trying to convey.

"Yeah. Like it feels as though we'll never get out of here, you know?"

Kirito's heart sunk at her words. Has she felt like this hopeless the whole time? "A-Asuna. Why would you say that? Moreover, if you really felt that way, why didn't you talk to me about that earlier? I know it sounds like a contradiction, but still."

Asuna chuckled and stared blankly at the blue sky above, a strange open mouthed smile on her face. "I'm not sure, Kazuto... It feels like... the real world is so far away from us again that maybe we should stop thinking about it... For now at least."

Kirito glared at her in confusion. "But, the real world is where we belong. If we don't think about it, we'll never have enough determination to make it back."

She sighed and placed both hands behind her head non nonchalantly. "I know, I know. I just feel like I don't even have a concept of what's real anymore. I mean, we've been in this game for so long that it's almost becoming reality. Like, who's to say what's real anymore? As messed up as it sounds... I'm not sure if I feel as much determination to escape as I did during the original SAO. Every time we escape from a messed up situation, we always get involved in a new one. It's like a never ending cycle that we can't seem to break." She took a pause before continuing. "I'm not saying we should give up all hope or stop trying, I'm just saying that going through this again is... really hard."

Her boyfriend refocused his eyes to clouds overhead and nodded gently. "I know what you mean, Asuna. Sometimes I feel the same way, too. But..."

She looked over to him, urging him to finish his sentence. "But what?"

"As long as I'm with you, I feel like I have a reason to fight - like I can't just be content with putting forth minimal effort. I need to try my absolute best to save you and everyone else trapped in this death game. W-Without you I'd..." Kirito took a long pause and glanced over to Asuna's face. To his surprise, her eyes were closed, and her breaths were steady and consistent. She had passed out while he was in the middle of his sentence. It was only a matter of time now before he'd give into unconsciousness. The feeling of solitude crept up his spine as his vision eventually began to fade into an obscure darkness.

-Real World-

Suguha pulled out her earbuds as soon as she heard the doorbell ring. He's early. She supposed that was fine. She wasn't doing anything anyways.

The young girl hurriedly ran down stairs and to the front door, swinging it open.

Akira stood there, a nervous look plastered on his face. "H-Hey Suguha."

"Morning. Come in, quick." She grabbed his jacket sleeve and pulled him through the door way. She was a bit more anxious than she'd like to admit, though she figured she should channel that energy into finding out where Kazuto is.

As soon as Akira entered, his eyes shot around quickly. "Whoa. Nice house."

"Thanks. My grandparents aren't home right now so you can pull a chair from my grandpa's office and bring it to my brothers room. His computer is a lot better than mine, so I figure we could use it."

Despite everything Suguha just said, Akira simply froze. "So... We're here... all alone...?"

The girl exhaled deeply and massaged the bridge of her nose. "Yes Akira. All alone."

His face got red and his mouth opened as if he was about to say something, however he never did.

"Come on." She urged as she began walking up the stairs to her brothers room. "We've got work to do."