Hello there people of the internet, I am DxDBourne coming at you with another completely non-scheduled and overdue chapter of this story.

This time though, I have an excuse for my tardiness as, for the past two months now, I've been helping my parents move into their new home which I will also be living in a little longer until I become more financially stable but ignoring that, we only just finished everything about a week and a half ago and since then, I've actually made some genuinely decent progress on the story. Maybe even enough for two consecutive chapters but don't get your hopes up, it may still take a small while for the next one.

But let's not dwell on the negatives! Enjoy this fresh, new chapter :D (btw, we're now 20 whole chapters in and not even close to being near the end :D)

(The rights to SAO and its characters all belong to Reki Kawahara)

"He's all yours then," She giggled as she said her goodbyes, gave Kirito a kiss on the cheek and departed the virtual world. Once the blue sparkles had dispersed, they continued explaining the plan.

"So to everyone who's not doing the oz quest, I can almost guarantee that the next floor party raid will happen either today or tomorrow, depending on the circumstances. Previous SAO players will remember how easy the labyrinth was, and new players will figure out pretty quickly, so unless you have anything else to do on this floor, get involved in the boss party raid. Trust me, it's almost disappointing how easy the boss is on this floor. Meanwhile, Lisbeth and Silica, we need to head out southwest to where the forest house is, we need to wander around until we find a small dog. If we follow the dog into the house, the quest will start. That's all I have to say, everyone knows what they need to do?" To this, everyone nodded. Well, everyone except Toran and Sinon. But before Kirito could question them, Toran spoke up.

"Hey Kirito, are there any other NPC quests to do on the floor? Like, at all?" He asked through a faint but noticeable blush. Kirito was smart enough to understand what he was getting at so he decided to help out and reach into the deepest depth of his memory to see if he could remember anything there was to do on this simple floor.

"Hmm, well there's a quest at the town's pier to catch a fish god but that's only on Sundays during the event festival, and considering today's Wednesday, that's out of the question…" Kirito thought for a little more and just as he was about to give up, he finally recalled a quest. "Oh, right, the old geezer!"

"Old…geezer?" Sinon asked in confusion.

"This was a quest that Asuna did back in the old SAO, she told me about it after we got engaged but was unusually awkward about the details. In the far eastern part of the forest, you should eventually stumble into an old man who you need to approach and he'll take you to this little puzzle cave," Kirito explained to them.

"Never done a puzzle quest before, sounds fun!" Toran exclaimed.

"Yeah, I could go for something like that. Constant fighting quests can get a tad repetitive every now and then," Sinon said happily.

"You guys can do that quest if you want then, but before you go, just make sure you're prepared for anything weird. As I said, Asuna refused to tell me the details about the quest so there must be something strange about it," Kirito warned them. "So just be careful and expect the unexpected, okay?"

"You got it, captain!" Toran announced as he brought his hand up to his forehead in a salute.

"We'll be sure to rejoin up with the raid party if we finish before it's over," Sinon reassured as both she and Toran left for the eastern woods in search of a puzzle quest. As soon as they closed the door behind them, everyone burst out in a small giggle.

"They're totally getting it on," Lisbeth chuckled.

"Good on him, can't get any better than a cold-blooded sniper amirite?" Klein said as he sent a mental fist bump to Toran.

"Y'know, speaking of getting it on…" Lisbeth said cheekily as she and Silica looked at each other before they both turned to look at Kirito with very smug looks.

"Perhaps I have made a slight mistake," Kirito thought to himself as he gulped.

Meanwhile, the duo of Toran and Sinon strolled through the village of Coral and threw around some friendly banter as they anticipated the quest they were heading to.

"So, I probably should've asked this a while ago, but how exactly did the meeting between you and Kirito go down? Kirito gave us a brief rundown of the event but maybe you could explain more?" Sinon asked him as they approached the borders of the village.

"Well, lemme think, I remember I was running around the Town of Beginnings when I first bumped into Kirito, quite literally," he started.

"Yeah, I remember that. I noticed you were crying about something as well, but I'm sure you had your reasons for that so I won't ask you to explain," Sinon added, thinking back to the first time they saw Toran. The memory of it made Toran rather embarrassed and his face went quite red but he ignored it and continued.

"After that, I went to the Mermaid Fountain Park to the northwest of the town and just laid on the grass for a bit and then all of a sudden, a bright pillar of light descended upon me and started hurting me for a little bit, before seemingly teleporting me into this strange dark cave with a black-haired boy who turned out to be Kirito," Toran continued to explain everything that he remembered after that, from the four elemental gates to the Earth Hound battle and how they managed to succeed using one of his super attacks, or at least, that's what he called it.

He didn't feel ready to tell her the truth about his admin abilities or his inability to return to the human world. Perhaps one day soon, but not now. He also mentioned the weird thing that happened to him when he fell into the abyss below during the fight but was saved by a message saying something strange. He was pretty sure it was Kayaba but obviously had no real proof.

"Judging from some of the things that Kirito has said in the past, it sounds like something he would do. Honestly, I don't at all get what went through that man's head sometimes," Sinon agreed. By now, the two of them had long since left the village but there was still a bit of distance to the far east of the forest so Toran continued the conversation.

"Tell me more about GGO, it sounds like a game I would enjoy," Toran suggested.

"What about it do you wanna know?" Sinon asked for clarification as, in her mind, there was a lot more to her beloved gun game than most people would think.

"Like, what's the world like, the weapons, the kinds of events they run?" Toran suggested again.

"Let's see, as far as the world goes, there are two main parts to the game. There's the city, and then there's the wasteland or battlefield if you will. The city is mostly a safe zone but there are specific areas where people can hurt you and vice versa. Those are mostly for small competitions in the little arenas that dot the city. As soon as you enter the wasteland, it's no hold barred anywhere. In fact, there are almost no rules at all regarding the wasteland except for goose-guarding the city entrance, that's an instant perma-ban right there," Sinon definitely seemed to really enjoy reminiscing her favorite game so Toran tried to keep the topic on GGO so that he didn't make it awkward for himself.

"Yikes, that's pretty harsh but understandable. You ever seen anyone do it?" He asked.

"You'd be surprised at how many people are seemingly incapable of following rules. Not just in GGO either but anything you play, there'll always be those few special ones who can't follow a rule to save their lives," The two of them laughed together as they traversed deeper into the forest. Part of Toran actually didn't want them to reach the old man yet as he was really enjoying their talk.

"What about that Bullet of Bullets tournament you mentioned a few days back?" Toran asked. He had overheard Sinon mention that name to Argo when they were talking in one of their player bases on the 21st floor and was curious to know more about it.

"Normally people just call it B.o.B for short considering it's an annoying name to constantly say but it's like the big main competition of the game which always brings in new players. It starts out with pools of different people competing in one on one matches to whittle down the competitors until eventually there are only sixteen people left. Those sixteen are then dropped into a small section of the wasteland for an all-out battle royal for the win," She explained. Considering how much she knew about it, Toran's curiosity deepened.

"Have you ever won it?" He questioned.

"Technically yes," Sinon answered, confusing Toran a bit. "To clarify, during the B.o.B when I first met Kirito, I blew us both up with a grenade because I didn't want to hurt him and he didn't want to hurt me. Mind you, this was back when I had romantic feelings for the guy. The me of now would've probably challenged him to a no holding back duel. But to further answer your question, my best finish since then is only second," Thinking about it seemed to annoy her a little so Toran hurriedly continued.

"Do they do team versions of that tournament? Cause that's something we might be able to do," Toran suggested happily.

"Unfortunately not," Sinon replied, causing Toran to pout. "There are no real rules against teaming in the normal tournament but it is looked down upon by the general public. But yeah, I'd like to that with you. Maybe even the next tournament," Sinon looked at him and smiled cheerfully as she said that, causing Toran's heart to melt. However, there was a question on his mind that he felt like he needed to ask just to take his mind off it.

"By the way, just cause I'm curious; why'd you stop liking Kirito?" The question caught Sinon by surprise but she didn't think much of it and answered normally.

"Spending so much time with him, plus when he saved me after the tournament was over, made me want to date him so I had multiple goes at advancing on him. But it quickly became apparent to me that he had no romantic eyes for anyone other than Asuna. So I gave up and got rid of those feelings for him. That doesn't mean I don't care about him anymore but I definitely don't love him now if that's what you were wondering," Sinon shot Toran a very slight smug look while saying that last bit, to which Toran become completely embarrassed and turned his head away to hide his red face. Perhaps he made it too obvious that he was trying to advance and ruined his chances? Sinon giggled at his childish behavior.

After a few more steps, Toran thought about something that Sinon had just said and decided to ask for more clarification.

"You said he 'saved' you just before. How exactly did that happen?" He asked timidly. To his surprise, Sinon got noticeably flustered when he asked that. He was about to apologize and tell her to ignore it but she spoke before he could.

"To be honest, I'd rather not really go into full detail but basically what happened was I started freaking out a bit because some of my real-world problems found its way into the game, and Kirito helped me through it all. That's how it happened in a nutshell," She stutteringly answered. Toran could obviously tell that it was a hard subject so he prepared to move the conversation elsewhere until Sinon suddenly asked him something. "Say, you haven't really told me too much about yourself, have you?"

"W-well, I, uh, guess I haven't," He stuttered as the question took him by surprise.

"Alright then, time to spill some beans," She said cheerfully, "What's your favorite game or genre of game?" She asked. He really didn't want to answer these kinds of questions because frankly, he couldn't. So he internally apologized to the smiling beauty in front of him because he was about to lie up a storm.

"Uh, probably racing games would be my favorite genre. But I also like a lot of platformers and puzzle games," He replied.

"Puzzle games, huh? Well then this so-called puzzle cave we're going to shouldn't be so hard after all," She summed up.

"I wouldn't get my hopes up, it could be a completely different kind of puzzle-style than I'm used to," Toran kicked himself. "Puzzles? Really? Might as well say I like playing with play-dough while I'm at it," He thought. As he was thinking to himself though, Sinon suddenly asked him a crazy question.

"Hey, if you don't mind me asking,…where do you live in Japan?" She asked with slightly red cheeks. Toran became a little embarrassed as well before realizing something extremely important…He didn't know where he lived in the real world. He assumed he lived in Japan somewhere due to his very Japanese name. Plus, if Kirito managed to find his body alive in a hospital somewhere in the country then he could probably find out but he had no idea what to say to Sinon right at this moment. He very quickly tried to remember places that were very far away from the center of Japan and after a slightly longer pause, he finally replied.

"Uh, Okinawa," He said.

"Oh, t-that far, huh?" Sinon pouted slightly sadly. Toran utterly hated seeing that expression. He wanted to tell her but he was too afraid. He was scared that someway, somehow, the truth would hurt her, and he would do anything to keep her precious smile on her face. Even lie his own face off.

"Yeah, it's a bit far from the mainland but maybe one day I'll come up and see you guys," He lied yet again, hoping that that was the end of the conversation.

"Why don't we come to see you then? I'm free tomorrow so I can come down if you're not doing anything?" She asked bashfully. Toran loved her thoughtfulness but he was hating this conversation more and more. At that moment, much to his happiness, the old man and the cave entrance came into view.

"Ah! The cave entrance," Toran jumped and ran towards the old man guarding the entrance to the puzzle cave. As he did this, he prayed that he hadn't made Sinon sad or angry with his sudden ignorance. Unbeknownst to him, Sinon was taken aback by the way he ignored her and ran towards the old man. She felt a little hurt but ultimately decided that he probably didn't like how she was being a bit too forward. Perhaps she was wrong about his feelings but she couldn't conclude anything at the moment. The pair approached the old man and greeted him, to which an icon appeared on both their screens that an optional quest had begun.

"Oh, welcome young adventurers! You wouldn't mind taking some time to help out an old geezer, would ya?" The old man asked.

"We don't mind at all, what do you want us to do?" Sinon replied.

"Well, I was wandering around in this cave here and at some point, I seem to have lost my wedding ring," The old man explained. "After I realized I lost it, I had another one made in hopes that my wife wouldn't notice the difference. However, she found out and sent me back out here to find the real one again. But I wouldn't dare go back in there myself so would you mind going in there and finding it for me?" The old man bowed as he asked.

"We'll do it, but what will you give us in return?" Sinon asked peacefully.

"Well I don't have much to give myself, but you can keep everything you find in there for yourself. Plus, I will give you a small reward for your troubles," The old man replied. " I wish you the best of luck." The old man said as the door to the cave opened by itself. Toran and Sinon both looked at each other briefly before entering the cave.

After a few tight rocky pathways, the duo reached a semi-wide opening with a closed-door on the far side. Toran walked over and attempted to open the door but it was locked.

"Guess we gotta find a way through this do-" Toran just about finished his sentence before suddenly, a mysterious voice coming from nowhere started speaking.

"Greetings adventurers! Welcome to my Mystical Puzzle Cave!" The voice announced.

"Who's there, where's that voice coming from?" Sinon asked as she summoned her bow and arrow.

"Maybe I am the cave, maybe the cave is me, nobody knows and that's the fun of it!" The voice chuckled as it spoke.

"This voice must be like an announcer of sorts," Toran deduced. To which Sinon nodded in agreement.

"How do we get through this cave?" Sinon asked the voice.

"To get through my wonderfully crafted Mystical Puzzle Cave, you must complete four separate puzzle rooms, each crafted by yours truly. Once you beat all four rooms, what you seek shall be revealed!" The voice explained.

"You mean the old man's ring, right?" Toran asked.

"Maybe, maybe not, nobody knows and that's the fun of it!" The voice laughed once again.

"I have a feeling that voice is going to get annoying rather quickly," Sinon whispered audibly to herself.

Yes, yes, I know. It's another slightly smaller chapter and considering how long you've all waited, you deserve more. I get it ya selfish twaddles ;)

If that's the case then I can assure that the next chapter will be at least 4k words longer or more, you have my non-guaranteed and slightly nervous word.

Another quick thing I would like to mention is that this story has now reached 12,000 views and is nearing 13,000. So trust me when I say I am on my hands and knees thanking everyone who has given my story a try. To see a number that large on my non-porno fanfic really warms my heart and provides me with even more motivation to keep on writing. So again, many thanks to all of you readers. Especially the ones who stay up to date. Y'all are champions in my eyes :3

pls excuse any and all grammar mistakes, proof-reading still ain't my strong suit and it never will be. I've even downloaded Grammarly and it's still not good lel.