3 Years: 221 Days: 13 Hours: 43 Minutes: 30 Seconds Remaining
"There is but one way to escape Sword Art Online. It is to defeat the boss on the one-hundredth floor of Aincrad."
I had considered those words often since the start of the Death Game. I wanted to reach the one-hundredth floor just as much as anyone, even though my motives were not quite the same. My current location was an extension of that goal. The canyons area where I was walking allowed for access to the eastern portion of the first floor where the town of Tolbana and the floor dungeon were located. I had almost made it to past the canyons this morning but I was already running behind, so as much as I wanted to make it the second floor, I had decided to call it quits for today.
After navigating through the winding canyons for about an hour I was once again greeted by grassy plains. Several early groups were already farming for experience. Off to my right, I took notice of a group of players wearing red dyed leather armor. They were facing a relatively large group of "Frenzy Boars". They were doing a fair job despite the difference in numbers and seemed to be having a lot of fun while battling. They weren't facing difficult opponents so there no need for them to be worried, but the friendly dynamics of their group were something I always envied, so I watched as they finished off their opponents. After they resolved their battle, the one who seemed to be leading struck a victory pose and the group all fisted bumped. Watching them made me smile a little, but at the time it filled me with sadness. I must have been staring too much because one of them noticed me and called me over. Reluctantly I jogged up to them.
"What's up man, jealous of our sick sword skills", one of them said to me. He had red hair and a bright kind smile. He seemed to be in his early twenties.
The question caught me off guard and I snorted and laughed a bit at his question.
"No, I was just taking note of your teamwork. Your sword skills are mediocre at best."
I was stunned at how easily the sentence had come out along with the sly and aloof smile that I now wore on my face. In the real world, I wouldn't have even been able to answer, much less criticize the group.
"Hey...", the leader said smiling. "It's not like you can be that much better than us."
"Hmmm, wanna bet", I said once again stunned at my own vocal inflection.
"You're on!"
The group followed me as I walked towards another boar a short distance away. Once I got in range. I picked up a rock and drew it back to activate a sword skill. The skill was originally designed for throwing picks, but it works with small rocks as well. I released the skill and sent the rock streaking towards the boar. Upon impact, the boar whirled around and began to charge me. I took a stance and got in the position for the "Horizontal" sword skill. I released the skill and slashed right across the boar's throat. But as my swing ended I went against my computer-assisted movements and shifted my stance slightly to activate a second skill. My sword traced a second line across the boar's weak point and it shattered into polygons. I turned around to face the group with the same sly smile. Contrary to my expectations, they did not stand in stunned silence.
"That was amazing!", the leader shouted.
"Seriously, that was really cool!", another one shouted patting me on the back.
Another put on a studious face and nodded as if he approved. The whole scene left me mildly surprised but laughing all the same.
"It's a technique called hit chaining. After you finish a skill it's possible to make an immediate shift in your stance in order to nullify the post skill movement lock. I've been practicing a while and it still only rarely works for me."
"I didn't really understand anything you just said but that's still incredible. Here, I haven't properly introduced myself. The name's Klein."
He pointed at himself with an infectious smile.
"This fellow over here is Dale, that rascal over there is Dynam and over there is Issin."
Dale was tall and seemed a bit rotund. He had curly black hair and had a kind smile on his face just like Klein. Dynam had a sly smile and his hair was covered by a bandana. He had a mustache and seemed tall compared to the rest of the group. Issin has brown spiky hair and seemed a bit more serious than the rest but still had a kind face. Overall, the group seemed to be about the same age and their personalities seemed to bounce off each other. It wasn't really necessary to tell me their names, as I could see their tags, but I decided to be polite and go along with it.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Kirito."
"Based on how good you seem to have gotten, I'd guess you're probably a beta tester", Dale stated, somewhat bluntly.
"Yeah", I replied nonchalantly, trying to seem like it didn't matter to me.
"Don't have any friends to play with?", Issin asked.
"No", I said surprised that they hadn't pressed the beta tester subject further.
"Well then, how about you teach us some of your secret beta tester skills", Dynam said, putting on expression that I assume was supposed to be studious but ended up looking more like he ate one too many burritos for lunch.
Despite Dynam's hilarious expression, this question was extremely off-putting for me. Never once had I been invited to hang out with someone else before.
"Oh, umm, sure", I replied without thinking, somewhat bashfully compared to my previous tone.
"Nice", Klein exclaimed and gave me a high five.
Throughout the next hour, I got to know the four of them fairly well. They were a group of college friends who had all stayed in line for three days to get a hard copy of SAO. Most of the time we spent together consisted of me showing them the skills I had refined for a month in the beta test while they poorly tried to copy me. Eventually, they wore themselves out and sat down on a hill that looked over the expansive field.
"Even if we do have a gun to our heads. SAO is a great experience. Makes me appreciate that I was born when I was", Klein sighed.
"It's not that big a deal", I said smiling.
"Oh, like you're one to talk. You're already level twelve, that's like five levels higher than any of us!"
"I guess you're right", I said sighing.
The group laughed and a moment of silence ensued.
"Hey Kirito, I wanted to ask you. Are you okay, on the other side I mean? You really don't look so good."
There it was, the question. Everyone who met me asked it at some point or another. My hollow, gaunt face and sickly childish body had been nearly perfectly replicated in SAO. Even if people tried to extend their sympathy not one of them had ever truly wanted to involve themselves.
"It's nothing important, just some minor complications in the real world", I replied trying to sound unconcerned.
"Look, man, I don't want to intrude or anything, but-"
I abruptly stood up.
"Oh crap, I have to go!", I exclaimed as if I had just remembered something, which to my credit I had.
"Wh-what?", Klein asked, sounding startled.
"I was supposed to meet someone earlier this morning but I completely forgot. I'm really sorry but I gotta go."
"O-oh, well, it was nice hanging out with you though. See you around?"
"Y-yeah", I said cautiously, a ran off.
Although I tried not to think about what Klein had said, my thoughts inevitably drifted back to it. I would be hard enough keeping comatose patients alive for long periods of time. Harder still to keep a body that was already malnourished in a stable condition. I cleared those thoughts and kept running towards a town called Medai. It was a fairly large village near the lake region of the first floor. Most of the buildings were made of stone with thatched roofs and in the center of town there was a large fountain that made for a good meeting area.
As I ran I scrolled through a message I had received earlier. It read: "I'm guessing you're being a combat addict as usual. I'll be in town until sundown taking care of other business if you decide to show up. - Argo". As it was still midday I had plenty enough time to make it to the village and I arrived at to the fountain in its center around mid-afternoon. Argo wasn't anywhere to be seen so I sat on a wooden bench and sent her a message stating that I had arrived. After waiting around for a few minutes, I decided to rest my head for a moment.
Before I knew it, I was awoken by a voice.
"It's not good to keep me waiting", someone said playfully.
It took me a moment to wake up and register what the voice had said. After a moment a recognized the figure. It was Argo. She was wearing her usual ratty brown cloak that covered her head with a small bit of her mousy brown hair that peaked out. She had a very small figure but I had never seen her without her cloak on so I couldn't tell much more. The most curious part of her appearance was the three streaks of face paint she always on her cheeks, which were reminiscent of whiskers. This had led to her being nicknamed "The Rat" by many players, including myself. She was an information broker and my most trusted source for changes from the beta and the overall status of Aincrad.
"My apologies, Argo", I replied in a mock formal voice, but it did nothing to hide the exhaustion in my voice.
Her sly smile flattened out a bit and she stared at me for a moment.
"How long were you up?"
"A little less than 24 hours by the time I fell asleep."
"Again", she sighed, and looked down a little.
Despite not knowing me for very long, Argo seemed to genuinely care about my wellbeing. If I thought back I've only known Argo for about a week...
3 Years: 228 Days: 9 Hours: 3 Minutes: 9 Seconds Remaining
I walked up the hill towards the gates of the Town of Beginnings. I didn't really want to go back to the starting town; it really wasn't a pleasant place to be. Most people walking through the streets have their heads hung. The atmosphere of the place seems suffocating and threatens to drag you down.
Nevertheless, I had to replenish materials and take care of other business, and the Town of Beginnings was the only place some of the items I needed were available at this stage in the game. No matter how prepared I was, upon stepping into the town I was overwhelmed by the bleakness. Walking through the streets I saw players in various stage of grief. A person collapsed in an alleyway was softly whimpering. Another was taking his anger out on an NPC.
Looking into various shops and bars I saw people with their knees hugged to their chest. People crying and some just staring with blank stares. Besides a handful of players, the streets were virtually empty and even players who seemed stable were affected by the hopelessness in the air. I knew I needed to take care of my tasks quickly, otherwise...
I made my way to a blacksmith shop quickly. My goal was to enhance my Anneal Blade, the sword I got from the quest in Horunka village. Most weapons could have their statistics increased using enhancements. Every weapon has three statistics, sharpness, or damage power, weight, which affects the player's handling of the weapon, and durability, or how long the weapon will last. By giving a blacksmith a proper enhancement material a weapon the value of any one of these statistics could be increased. The Anneal blade could be enhanced up to eight times, close to double the next best sword on the floor. I had only brought enough material to enhance it once in sharpness and once in durability, so I paid the blacksmith and watched as he melted the materials and used them to enhance my sword. Both enhancements were a success and I left the shop.
For the next half an hour or so I continued to shop for other raw materials. I finish relatively quickly, but before I left, I returned to the town square and the black iron palace. Staring up at the palace, I was reminded of something Kayaba said when the death game began.
"If you perish within the game the NerveGear will simultaneously fry your brain."
The Black Iron Palace in the Town of Beginnings took on two different meanings on November 6th, 2022. The Chamber of Resurrection where players would respawn during the beta test was replaced by a large black monolith. 10000 names were carved onto the monolith, one for each player trapped in SAO. Every time a person left Sword Art Online for good, a name was scratched off the monolith. It just goes to show that sometimes you have to take something away before you realize just how much you took it for granted.
I entered the palace and walked up to the monolith. It was a depressing sight really, seeing how many people's names had already been crossed off, both in this world and in the real one. (Then I noticed something far more sinister, TommyBoi420's ban had been lifted). I gave a forced chuckle to tried and brighten my mood. Then I heard a scream.
The second implication was much less obvious. Behind the Black Iron Palace, there is an overlook that allows players to gaze into the cloudy void below the castle Aincrad. In the beta test, it was simply a place for players to enjoy the new world they had become a part of.
"There is but one way to escape Sword Art Online."
Even this rule has its exception. In fact, it's so simple that the thought wouldn't cross your mind unless you were forced to confront it as a possibility. Death. Most people see death as something to fear, something to run away from while you live only to be caught in its cunning grasp in the end. In fact, the will to live is so thoroughly carved into most people's mind that they would never consider it. Unless of course one saw death as superior to life.
Instinctively I ran around back to the overlook in the back of the palace, where I heard the voice coming from. Looking at the scene before me I understood what happened immediately. A group was crowded around a female player.
"S-she said she just wanted to take a look. But before I knew it she-she-she"
The girl broke down into hysterical sobbing.
I couldn't bear to watch any longer.
I quickly ran away from the scene and down the streets that would take me out of the Town of Beginnings. I knew I needed to get away from this town, but I managed to get my nerves under control after running for several minutes and I slowed down to a walk. Then I heard a voice.
"Psst, come over here."
I froze for a moment, that simple action had brought back...no I couldn't think about that right now. I calmed down for a moment after remembering that towns were safe zones and player versus player, otherwise known as PVP, was disabled.
"Don't worry, I just want to talk. Come over here", the voice repeated.
I recovered from my initial shock and stepped into the alley.
"Your name is Kirito, correct?"
"Yes", I replied, surprised.
"You were a beta tester", the feminine voice state, matter-of-factly.
I instinctively took a defensive position.
"Relax, I was one as well. I want to offer you a deal. I know you were one of the top players during the beta test. I'm an info broker and if you help me collect gather intelligence, I'll be willing to share what I learn with you."
3 Years: 221 Days: 6 Hours: 33 Minutes: 29 Seconds Remaining
My thoughts returned to the present. After a bit of convincing I agreed to Argo and thus our deal was struck. Every few days the two of us will meet up and exchange information. I have no idea what she does with it. Probably sells it. As an added bonus, she had not brought up my sickly appearance once in the entire time I've known her. It's nice to feel like someone isn't constantly judging me based on my appearance.
"When do you find the time to sleep?", she said, sounding mildly surprised.
It was true, I didn't sleep much, only enough to keep myself functioning.
"I make the time", I replied, vaguely.
"Hmph, well what do you have for me?"
"The pathways through the canyons are completely different. I have the map data if you're interested."
"That's all?"
"Yeah, I've been spending most of the past few days in the canyons."
"Very well then, send me the data and I'll tell you what I've learned."
I nodded and began to manipulate my inventory. After a few short taps, I sent her the map data. A window popped up in front of her and she nodded.
"As of the last time I checked, the death count is up to just over 1300."
I made a small nod and let her continue.
"The difficulty of the Arachnid's nest was also increased."
For a minute or two I listened to her recite several changes from the beta test. Some small. Some large. Most of them didn't concern me. Eventually, she finished.
"Where are you staying?", she asked me.
"Still in Horunka."
She let out a low whistle, "You still have a while to go before you'll be able to sleep. Are you sure you don't want to rent a room here for the night."
I shook my head.
"Very well then. I won't be keeping you."
"See ya", I said curtly and stood up.
I ran out of town and across the grassy fields of the first floor. I almost wanted to go back out and explore the canyons further but even I knew that would do more harm than good. I had been up for almost a day before my nap earlier. Although you couldn't feel physical exhaustion in Aincrad, you still needed to sleep.
While I was running, my thoughts returned to a place I didn't want them to. I first thought about Klein and his group. It was promising that they were having fun despite their bleak situation. However, what I was more worried about was how I interacted with them. Never before had it been so easy for me to talk to people. All I had to do was act like I was superior to them. It was simple now that I thought about it. In this world I really was superior. I was one of the best players out there. There was no reason for me to cower from people as I had on the other side. I quickly shut off that train of thought though, even if I was better, that was no reason to look down on people.
My thoughts turned to the suicide I had witnessed a mere week ago, I hadn't wanted to remember it, but in my sleep-deprived state, I had less control over my thoughts than I thought. It was easier than I care to admit, imagining exactly what thought process brought her to that conclusion, but most could infer how it ended. The thought that death would be superior to life. Over half of the deaths in the two weeks since the official launch were the result of suicide. They tried to justify their actions using ignorance and disbelief. However, everyone heard Kayaba. Death in this world, was no different from death in the world in which we were born. In the end, they were only fooling themselves, all they really wanted was to escape. I wiped the notion from my brain.
Suicide wasn't the only thing that killed in SAO however. Another group of people had been killed simply due to inexperience. Unfortunately, most of the anger for those deaths were directed at the beta testers, and sadly, I couldn't deny several of their claims. I had claimed the easy quests and hunting spots early and done close to nothing to help the players. Now, I was paying the price, I couldn't go anywhere without worrying about my beta tester status being exposed.
Once again, I felt alienated with from the people trapped in the starting city. While they were struggling to regain hope, I was playing the game without a care in the world. I was having fun. Much as I hated to admit it, I loved being trapped in Sword Art Online. From the beginning, this really was my world, and here I had power that I could never hope to have in the other one.