A/N: A Secret Message? During the Beta Test? That's pretty suspicious, don't you think? But Lightning and Kirito are yet to be able to reach it.

The story continues with the Assault Team trying to clear the next floor boss, only finding the boss room on this floor is nothing easy to find like all others.


AUGUST 13TH, 2023. FLOOR 24, FROZEN FOREST.

The Information Kirito found has been racing all over my head as I tried to decode the first secret message we've found back on the 19th Floor Dungeon. What is the Secret Message behind this riddle? A warning? An escape from this game of death? And the Information Kirito found out about strange writings during the Beta Test might provide aid on our little mystery.

The thought just accrued to me, is it still gonna be there? Kirito did say it was during the Beta Test. Not everything has been the same in the Beta Test when this death game was released.

We have only been in this Virtual Reality world for almost a year, and we are nearly halfway through the whole Aincrad. We may have come this far, but it's nothing to celebrate about. Then again, there's no telling what lays in store for us during the 25th-floor boss. Every 10th boss is hell. Number 25 could be just as nightmarish as the final boss might be.

But we'll never know if we cannot find the way to the 24th-boss.

The Assault Team is searching far and wide for the entrance to the Labyrinth. Nothing has been found. From what I've heard, this wasn't even in the Beta Test. A Hidden Entrance to the floor boss. It's almost as if the creator of this world wants to challenge us.

We rather have time going against us. Our real bodies on the other side can't last long.

I'm in the Frozen Forest Dungeon with Kirito and Rokel. We're on the search to find the entrance of the Dungeon. Kirito takes the lead as Vanguard. He and I constantly switch. Rokel stays behind for support with his offensive magic.

Kirito blocks the incoming vines of the Blue Blossom, a large planet monster that's blue and covered in ice. The monster roars as it opens its giant mouth. Kirito strikes hard with one of his Sword Skills.

"SWITCH!" He shouts.

Kirito jumps out of the line and I charge in with my Sword Skill. I delivered several thrust strikes and finish with a gunshot.

The monster lets out a final roar before it shatters. As we earn our results, Rokel even levels up to level 105, we relax for a bit.

"Any word from Asuna and the others?" I ask Kirito.

Kirito checks his menu messages. "...No, nothing."

"Just where the hell is this dungeon entrance?" I ask.

"We've searched almost everywhere on this floor," Rokel says. He then turns his attention to the Labyrinth. "What if we have to climb up the pillar?"

"I wouldn't," Kirito says. "I once tried climbing up the pillar on the Front Lines during the Beta Test."

"And it didn't work?" I ask him.

"It did at first. But they quickly updated and added a forbidden rule of doing it. I was teleported out of the unopened floor and when I tried to climb again, I was given a warning message and some force repelled me off the pillar and I fell."

"Really? You didn't die, did you?" Rokel asks.

"I would have, I was falling right out of the Aincrad. But I acted fast and used my Teleporting Crystal." Kirito says.

"A bold, yet stupid move," I say.

"It's what Asuna and Lizbeth said when I told them the story," Kirito says.

At least we know climbing up the pillar is out of the opinion.

We continue searching around this dungeon, looking for any secret passages or a missed route. So far, we have found nothing. Just empty treasures and annoying monsters.

We eventually decided to call it a day, making out way out of this dungeon. By the time we've reached the exit, a message popped up. Kirito opens a message. "It's Asuna." He looks over the message. "...She wants us to meet her at the Northern Dungeon."


FLOOR 24, NORTHERN FIELD.

We head for the directions to the field Asuna told us to go to. She must have found a clue to finding the entrance to the Labyrinth. We meet up with Asuna, Hope, and Shinon at the Lake.

"You're here," Asuna says.

"What is it you want us to see?" I ask.

"We believe we have found a way into the Labyrinth," Hope says.

Shinon walks to the nearby tree. She reaches for the lowest branch and pulls it like a lever. There's a deep rumbling noise. A whirlpool forms in the center of the lake. All of us watch as the water drains.

In no time, the lake completely drains. To our surprise, there's a staircase right in front of us. "Come on," Asuna says as she walks down the steps. We all follow her until she stops when she reaches the bottom of the steps, in the center of the Lake's Bottom. "Look over there."

Asuna points at one end of the pit. There's a passage. "What is it?" I ask.

"It's a hidden entrance to a Dungeon," Hope says.

"A Hidden Dungeon? I've never heard of anything like that in the Beta Test." Kirito says. "Can't believe I completely missed it."

I look inside the entrance. Nothing but pure darkness. "You think maybe this might be the Labyrinth entrance?" I ask.

"There's only one way to find out," Shinon says.


FLOOR 24, HIDDEN DUNGEON.

We stayed together as a group as we entered the dungeon. The whole place is filled with darkness, can hardly see past my own nose. And any of the Vision Skills can hardly help for vision.

"I can't see a thing!" Hope says.

"There a switch of some kind around here?" Kirito asks.

We all begin to feel around. Mostly feeling the walls close to the entrance. We do not want to head into the dungeon in the dark, blindly coming across the monsters.

"Think I found something," Shinon shouts. There's nothing but silence, I don't even hear anyone move. "It feels like some torch."

"I-I think I can help." That voice sounds like Rokel.

Light shines in these tunnels. The Darkness starts to fade. I look around for the source of the light, to find Fire at the Tip of Rokel's staff. Shinon approaches him so she can light the touch with his fire.

The Dungeon lightens up. We can only see a couple of yards away.

"Nice. Now I can see." Kirito says.

"Now's not the time to be joking around!" Asuna smacks him on the shoulder. "Let's start moving."

"We'll need to stay close." I point out.

We have Hope handle the torch. We all move into the Dungeon, together as a group.

As if the darkness was hard enough, the whole Dungeon is like a giant maze. We've been wandering in this place for over half an hour. Kirito keeps an eye on the Dungeon Map. Given what's revealed, the map is showing this dungeon to be a huge maze.

"This dungeon is really a pain," Shinon complains.

"At least we haven't run into any monsters," Rokel says.

As we turn the corner, there they are. Monsters. Mostly Zombies and those giant Beetles known as Crypt Lords. The monsters have spotted us. "You just had to say something!" I shout at the kid.

We all take out our weapons and attack the beasts. Kirito and I hold off the monsters as Vanguard. Asuna attacks from behind with her fast piercings while Sinon and Rokel support from range, and Hope keep us all healthy and alive.

The Crypt Lord was hard monsters to fight. A Crusader would be a better opinion to tank them, they hit hard. Kirito's Armor couldn't help him much, even when he focuses on Parrying their attacks. My heavy armor protected me some, even with my dodging.

We defeated the monsters in this battle. I let out a relieved sigh. "These things are tough!"

"Probably as strong as from floor 30 or higher," Kirito says.

Couldn't be anywhere higher than that floor, given I can still read its data on my Identification Skill. "Still, these monsters are stronger than anything we've encountered on this floor. Maybe this really does lead to the labyrinth." Asuna says.

"Let's just keep going," Kirito says as he moves ahead.

This maze is really starting to get on my nerves. I feel like we've been walking in circles. The monster population in here seems pretty low given the amount of time we spend in here. Now I think about it, it could really just be because we are arriving in places where we have already defeated the monsters.

Right around Lunch Time, we have found a safe room. We were able to take a break and eat up. We even start having a friendly conversation.

Though I wouldn't say one of them is friendly.

"Really? On Valentines Day, you were setting Rokel up for a Date?" Asuna asks with a laugh.

Rokel couldn't help but ask for help, I for one felt annoyed. "Shut up! I...was just helping him out. The kid was lonely." I turn away with my arms crossed. "It was nothing more."

"I think it's sweet. I bet he and Silica look cute together." Shinon says.

I glare at Kirito. He's the one who brought it up. "Thanks a lot, Kirito. Maybe I should bring up when Asuna was asleep, you were-" I am shortly silenced when Kirito covers my mouth.

"Uh...Yeah, yeah! No need to bring that up." Kirito says, with a nervous laugh in the end.

Asuna appears to be perked. "What?" She starts to get hostile towards Kirito. "What did you do while I was sleeping?"

Kirito tries to defend himself against Asuna. Rather poorly. "N-n-nothing. I just...snuck out to do some...shopping?"

Asuna gives him a close glare. "Liar!" Asuna realizes what it could be. "No...wait! You were...You were doing something to me weren't you?"

"Relax, Ms. Lightning Flash," I say. "All he did was snuck into your room and took one of your sandwiches."

"Wh...WHAT?!" She glares at Kirito like a predator stare downing at her prey. "You told me it was the Thieving Guild, Shadow Glove." Sometimes, I find it hard to believe what a powerful player Kirito can be, yet most of the time he often just thinks about his stomach. Kirito tries to defend himself, only Asuna cuts him short. "You can forget about making you any more of my meals." She stands turns away with her arms crossed.

"H-hey now. Let's not make any hasty decisions." Kirito says, nervously laughing.

The rest of us couldn't help but laugh at the silly little situation these two are having.

Right after our break, we continue moving onward in the dungeon. All the monsters we faced have respawned. We were well fed and rested. Facing these monsters was no problem for us.

An hour has passed, and we still find ourselves lost in this dungeon. We mostly follow unfamiliar areas according to Kirito's map.

"Kirito..." Kirito and I stop by Asuna's call.

Up ahead, there's a large door. With a sword right in the middle of it, with some hole in the head of the hilt. We all approach before the door. "Maybe this is the boss room?" Rokel asks.

"I don't think so...Maybe it leads to the Labyrinth?" Kirito says.

Kirito and I both try to open the door. Even at our best strength, it won't open. Not even one bit. If we can't open it normally, there must be some kind of seal we have to dispel or a trick. We all observe the door closely. Nothing much about the door is out of the ordinary.

"There's probably a switch somewhere, we still have a few places to look through the dungeon," Hope says.

He may have a point, and there's no other opinion. We decided to leave the room and continue exploring the dungeon.

We cut through any monsters that stand in our way. We're close to finding our way out of this maze of death. We've focused on any undiscovered areas, so far they have only lead us to countless dead ends, and a few monsters traps. I'm almost convinced this whole place is made by the Murder Guilds.

Besides all that, we have yet to find anything that'll open the huge doors that might lead us into the labyrinth.

"How's it looking?" Sinon asks Kirito.

"We have one area left. This must be it." Kirito says.

"Follow me," I say as I take the lead.

I draw my Gunblade out, ready to attack or defend myself. I have a feeling that whatever is in this last area, it's bound to be another trap.

Straight ahead, there lays another room. We slowly, carefully walk inside. Once all of us is in, the door closes and an alarm blares. Monsters spawn all over the room, completely surprising us.

No surprise. "It's another Trap!" Kirito says.

"Stay sharp everyone!" I order.

Kirito, Asuna, and I split the room, throwing ourselves into 1/3 of each army. Sinon, Rokel, and Hope stay right in the center. Sinon shoots the monsters on Asuna's side, Rokel takes care of those on my side and they both do a split work on Asuna's load.

Monsters keep spawning left and right out of thin air. This room is the deadliest trap we've encountered in this room. But we can't give up. Can't back down.

In the end, all the monsters are defended. Rokel and Hope are both out of Mana. Kirito, Asuna, and I are all in the red zone of our health. The others suffered some damage as well but are only in the yellow zone.

We're all on our knees, panting in exhaustion. "That...was too close," Asuna says.

"You can say that again," Kirito says.

I manage to get back on my feet to look around the room. Looking for the switch to open that final door. Nothing to be seen. However, I do notice a strange item.

I kneel and grab it, then observe it. "An orb?" I ask.

Kirito and Asuna get a look at it. "Must have dropped by one of the monsters."

I tap on the orb and its identification window orbs. 'Soul of the Blazing Glory'. It appears to be some key item. I look closely at it. Its size and shape seems...very similar to the halt on the sword on the door.

That's when it hit me, and we hurry our way back to the final room.

Back in the room, I stand in front of the sealed door. I place the orb right in the hole at the head of the hilt. Nothing happens, not at first, then the orb glows in crimson flames.

There's a deep rumbling sound as the door slowly opens. It reveals a stairway going up.

"Jackpot," Asuna says.


FLOOR 24, ELITE DUNGEON.

The stairways appeared endless, but in five minutes we arrived at the next dungeon. The Labyrinth.

"Oh geez...Why are there so many steps?" Hope says, whining and panting."

"I never want to see another step of stairs for the rest of my life," Rokel says.

"Quit complaining," I tell them.

"It's easy for you to say," Hope says.

Shinon sighs. "Oh geez...But they may have a point. If that dungeon is the only entrance to the labyrinth, it's going to be a pain in the ass to bring the whole raid team through that maze."

That's true. The dungeon is hidden. Long and painful to run through. Then after that, we gotta deal with the labyrinth filled with enemies that are tougher than the ones in that dungeon. We can only hope that the GM's were able to add some kind of shortcut. Maybe a hidden door from the field to the labyrinth that can only be open from within here.

"Let's look around, but be careful," I say. We don't want to entire any monsters with us at half energy, and with no Crusader to hold them off.

Kirito uses his Cloak of Shadows ability, allowing the rest of us to be in Stealth Mode like the Assassins.

Even invisible, we keep our distance from the monsters in this dungeon. Judging by the looks of them, they seem pretty tough. This is the first floor of the labyrinth, so there's probably a hidden entrance from the fields around here.

Halfway around the first floor, we've noticed one of the torches is positions lower than the rest. Kirito grabs the torch and pulls it.

Part of the wall seeps in and slides to the side. Bright light shines through. Being trapped in darkness, the light blinds us like moleman. When the blindness ends, we look to see it leads to the outside fields of the 24th-floor.

"We did it!" Hope says.

"Let's report this to the Commander," Asuna says.

With the labyrinth unlocked, we are ready to take on the Floor Boss.