My(Virtual) Reality Chapter 3: 'Bein' a solo player doesn't mean ya have ta be alone.'

My eyes narrowed as the blade rapidly descended toward my shoulder.

With a flick of my wrist, I parried the attack and threw the fallen Kobold warrior off balance. After that, I brought my Anneal blade up and around, carving a line across the Kobold from under his arm to his shoulder. It shattered and died, but I wasn't given any time to rest before another Kobold tried to cut me in two.

I caught his attack on the edge of my blade and pierruetted, putting myself behind the monster while it stumbled forward. I drove my blade into its back with the sword skill Vertical. These enemies' weak points were actually their spine, so my attack did double damage and finished off the Kobold's remaining health. Of course, I was stuck in the post motion delay after using that skill, an opportunity that the third and last Kobold sought to take advantage of.

But I wasn't that green. I knew the delay on Vertical was short enough that I'd be able to react. So when the fallen Kobold warrior tried to cut into my shoulder, I let out a battle cry and met its challenge. Our blades clashed in the middle, but with my higher strength score I was able to win the exchange and send my enemy reeling.

Whenever a player initiated a clash with a monster like I just had, whoever lost the clash would be put into a stun state worse than if I'd just blocked or parried the attack normally. Because of that, I had more than enough time to charge the sword skill Horizontal and sever the Kobolds head from its body, finally ending the fight.

I let out a heavy sigh as I sheath my sword, taking a moment to see what rewards I'd gotten from the fight. Nothing that I didn't plan to sell the second I got into town. Ah well, with my Anneal blade, grey coat and leather breastplate, I was basically set when it came to equipment for the first floor.

It's been almost two weeks since this death game started. With my skills and knowledge from the beta, I'd managed to make a real effort towards finding the boss room, and clearing the first floor. Right now, I was in the labyrinth that us players would need to go through in order to find the boss. After that last fight, I found myself standing before the steps that would lead me onto the second floor.

The labyrinth was made up of five floors, with the boss being at the top. So while my progress hadn't exactly been fast, it was steady, and I wanted to think that was worth something. I opened up my map to check at the time. It was almost four o'clock, and by the time I made it back to town it would be closer to five thirty. There was a large part of me that wanted to keep pushing in the labyrinth, but ultimately my common sense won out and I started making my way back.

I had upgraded my Anneal blade three times now, making it a +3 sword. Before I challenged the rest of the labyrinth, I wanted to upgrade it one more time. That would be the last time I could upgrade it safely on this floor. Any more than that and it was at a far greater risk of failing; that could be really bad if it happened.

That was far from the only unfortunate thing happening, though. Already, almost one-thousand of the games players had died. The sheer density of that number had demoralized a lot of the player base, leaving the front lines more barren that one might expect. That probably didn't help with our slow progress either.

I wasn't going to give up, though. Even if it was totally hopeless, I didn't want to be left behind in the town of beginnings like a lot of others. My walk back from the labyrinth was uneventful, which was nice because I wasn't in the mood to do anymore fighting. When I walked back into Talbana-the town nearest the labyrinth-the sun bathed Aincrad in a pinkish-golden hue. I started making my way toward the Inn where I'm staying, navigating the streets with ease. When I was walking around, though, I saw something out of the corner of my eye that immediately captured my attention.

Two players were having some sort of argument off to my right. One had sandy hair that spiked out at random points; he looked like a cactus. That wasn't what had drawn my attention, however. It was the other player. I couldn't see their face because they were wearing a grey hood, but that figure and hood were pretty familiar to me. I approached the players out of curiosity and began to overhear their conversation.

"Of course it's important to know! The beta testers couldn't care less about the rest of us; If the reason you have all your info is because you're one of them, I don't know how you can expect the rest of us to trust you." Cactus' head shouted, using his height to loom over the other player. I instantly disliked him. People who used fear tactics to get what they want got a failing grade from me.

"Ya talk too much. An' more importantly, ya haven't coughed up th' coin nessesary ta get an answer ta that question."

I recognized that accent and mercenary attitude immediately. The hooded player was Argo the rat, just as I'd suspected. Argo was a beta tester just like myself, and she'd been quite famous back then. The reason for that was because she was an info broker. To her, every piece of information had a price; from spawn rates to quests, rare items and even her real name. If you wanted to know something and didn't have the patience or inclination to find out yourself, Argo would know. And she'd tell you so long as you provided enough col.

Back in the beta, her and I had interacted frequently enough that I considered her a friend. Though her mercenary nature had sometimes gotten on my nerves, like when she offered to sell my three sizes to some creepy guy. When I complained about it, she'd just said, 'I'll sell anythin' that makes money. I've even sold my own information before' and left it at that.

While I'd been reminiscing, the conversation continued. "Don't give me that crap, damn it! All you ever do is extort people!" Cactus head screeched, wailing his arms around. This guy was starting to make me concerned. We were in a safe zone, so he couldn't actually hurt her, and I knew Argo could take care of herself. Still, this guy seemed unpredictable, and I didn't want to imagine what might happen if he got super stressed.

I walked up to Cactus' head and grabbed his shoulder, bringing his attention to me. "Cool it, guy. I think the lady's had enough."

Argo recognized me immediately, her eyes lighting up in a cute way. Now that I could see her face, I noticed she'd retained the whisker marks on her cheeks that had earned her the moniker 'rat' back in the beta. I was forced to look away from her as Cactus' head glared at me. "What's your problem?" he asked.

"I got none. I'm just not down with harassing people."

"Hey, you ought to be concerned about this too. This girl, Argo, she knows everything about this stupid game. I think she might be one of those beta testers," he told me. I narrowed my eyes. Most of the player populace in SAO held a lot of resentment toward the beta testers. They were of the opinion that beta testers like Argo and myself were entirely self-serving, taking advantage of our knowledge to make sure we survived while leaving others to die.

That may have been true for me, but I knew Argo wasn't like that. And here I'd been hoping being trapped in SAO would be an escape from persecution. Life really was too cruel.

"So? You don't know for sure, right?"

"Well, that's-"

"I bought some info from her this morning and it really saved my ass. Personally, I wanna keep her around so I can get more help," I lied.

Cactus' head glared at me, before scoffing and walking away. "Whatever…" he mumbled under his breath. I let out a heavy sigh of relief. That had been way too stressful for my tastes. Ah well, at least Argo was okay now. I started walking back toward the Inn I was staying at, but I was stopped when a certain mousy-haired info broker jumped on my back.

"Heya! Where do ya think yer goin', Kii-gal? It makes a lady feel lonely when ya walk off like that."

I was forced to support her weight lest she fall. Once Argo was properly settled, I said, "Oh yeah? Sorry."

"What's with that reaction? I haven't seen ya since th' game started. We outta celebrate! Let's get some dinner."

I sighed at her overzealous request. "I'm good, thanks."

Argo was silent for a while and I continued walking. Eventually, she said, "Hmph, fine! But ya have ta help me out with somethin' ta make up fer it."

What kind of logic was that? Whatever, it would be easier to just get this over with than argue with her. Argo could be super stubborn and obstinate about things like this, I knew. "What's up?"

I couldn't see her face, but I knew Argo brightened considerably upon hearing my agreement. "I'm sure ya heard about th' guide books me and th' other tester are handin' out, right?" I nodded in agreement to her question. The guide books she was talking about were self-published strategy guides filled to bursting with information about the game. When I'd heard about them, I thought the knowledge they offered would help keep people alive. But now here we were.

"I'm distributin' the latest version of it today, but ya know how th' other players can get with beta testers. I'm thinkin' ya can be my bodyguard today in case somethin' goes sour."

"Alright," I told her, sealing my fate. That wasn't anywhere near as bad as what I was expecting, though, so I was fine playing ball with the info broker. Moreover, "Will you get off now?" I asked flatly, already letting go of her legs. Of course, Argo was way too agile for that to affect her, and landed on her feet without issue.

"Alright, alright… but ya gotta offer your arm fer th' walk there," Argo said before latching onto my right arm and holding it against her body.

"How is it that I always end up owing you something?" I mused aloud, but made no move to stop her. Argo was just a touchy-feely sort of person, I knew, and I'd long since gotten used to her habit of practically grinding herself against me anytime we were together. Argo led me through the streets of Talbana like that, and before long I found myself in the de-facto plaza of the town. It was a wide open area with a fountain in the middle, and grass surrounding said fountain.

There were a few other players milling around the fountain, and I assumed they were the other testers. My suspicions were confirmed when Argo let go of me and hopped up onto the rig of the fountain, shouting, "Alright, everybody! Get ready ta offer me your thanks, cuz' I'm handin' out the latest version of my guide book!" While she talked, Argo smiled and posed and presented everything with a level of bombast I had come to expect from her. Her charm must've had its own gravitational pull, because more people started showing up.

When Argo and the others started handing out the guide, I moved to play my role as a bodyguard. Since nobody was getting violent, that meant I got to just sit on the cool grass and observe the people around me. Things were going smoothly, and I hoped that would continue so I didn't have to put myself in the middle of a conflict.

But as I was quickly starting to learn, reality had very little interest in pleasing me.

A few minutes after the guides were being distributed among the players assembled, a small group of rather boisterous individuals showed up. The person who I could only assume was their leader stepped forward and said, "I wouldn't trust those things if I were you. They came from the beta testers, after all," he said.

I rose to my feet. This guy was just offering heckles right now, but I'd need to be ready if he started getting especially nasty. What was annoying was that a lot of the gathered players immediately started eyeing their guide books with suspicion, with some of them dropping them entirely and walking off.

Of course, Argo was there to provide immediate crowd control. "Oi, who cares where th' info comes from if it's accurate? I confirmed it all myself, ya know." I noted that she didn't say that she was a beta tester herself. That was probably a good decision, though. With the current animosity they faced, it was possible that if that fact got out, people would stop trusting Argo. That would be all kinds of bad, most specifically because her knowledge of the game-which surpassed even my own-was probably the greatest asset the clearers had right now.

The guy who'd started this whole thing wasn't cowed by Argo's words. "And that's supposed to make us feel better? We can't trust you any more than we can the beta tester's, rat!"

The guy had started to move toward Argo, so I stepped forward and put my hand on his chest, stopping him midway. "What's your damage?" I asked.

"My damage is that the rat is a liar and a cheat! I bought info from her this morning about a rare drop, but when I went to the place she told me to go, the friggin' field boss spawned! Me and my party were nearly wiped out because that bitch lied to us."

I turned to Argo and raised a questioning eyebrow, but she seemed just as confused as me. "Well that's news ta me. I don't remember sellin' ya any info."

"The player you bought it from, describe them," I told the guy with my eyes narrowed.

"They wore a grey cloak that covered their entire body. I couldn't see their face or anything like that."

"Sonuva bitch! Someone's usin' my name ta cause trouble!" Argo exclaimed, agitated. There was no way for us to prove that, but I knew Argo's pride as an info broker was too strong for her to ever sell info she wasn't one-hundred percent sure of. So it was a reasonable guess since I doubted this guy's story was a lie.

"Get real! There aren't any other info brokers in the game. It had to be you!"

"It wasn't," I told the guy with a slight shove. He'd tried to slap my hand away, but I wasn't having that. Argo hopped down from her spot on the fountain and approached us, her gaze quizzical.

"Did ya message this player askin' for the info, or was it somethin' they wanted ta sell ya?"

"The latter…" the guy mumbled. He seemed like he was starting to see what we were getting at.

Argo and I shared a look, and I gave her a small nod. She returned it and said, "Alright,

check it. This' what I think really happened 'ere. Someone used my name and identity ta sell ya that info about th' rare item. Then, after ya left and went ta where th' field boss spawned, my imposter followed ya and waited off ta the side, hopin' ta steal yer dropped items if ya died…"

It was a cruel, self-centered plan with consequences that went beyond the deaths of the tricked players. If this rumour were to spread Argo's reputation would plummet, and since most people already suspected she was a beta tester they would take the fall as well. I knew persecution intimately because I was trans, so even though I was self-centered, I didn't want Argo or the other beta testers to experience the same things I had.

Argo glanced at me. I don't know what she saw in my expression, but apparently she was satisfied with whatever she found because she smiled brightly and declared, "Well, don't ya worry about a thing! Kii-gal and I will take care of everythin' from 'ere."

"Eh?"

Before I could get a word in edgewise, Argo started dragging me away by the hand. What exactly was I being volunteered for? Argo certainly had no interest in telling me, because she just continued to lead me out of Talbana. The whole time we were walking, Argo was messaging people through her menu. She only stopped when we reached the gates leading out of town, where she turned to me with a grin.

"Alright, Kii-gal. I've been puttin' my mice ta work, an' they've told me everythin' I need to know." Mice? Wait, she already had her own information network? That's impressive… "That guy my imposter tricked wasn't the only victim. I'm bettin' whoever's causin' trouble is still waitin' ta see if any more people fall inta their trap."

I quirked a brow; I could see where she was going with this. "You want me to pretend to get tricked so you can deal with the faker?"

"Ya catch on quick, Kii-gal. It's why I like ya so much," Argo said with a cheshire cat grin.

"Fine, but you're gonna owe me something for once if I do." I'll be honest and admit that I was being a little petulant here, but it was a value of mine to always take advantage of the opportunities given to me. And a favor redeemable with Argo the rat was definitely something I wanted.

Argo smirked and shrugged. I couldn't tell whether she appreciated my pragmatism or not, but I guess it doesn't matter either way. We left Talbana after that, with Argo giving me swift instructions on how I was meant to act during this little operation. Her plan was really simple, but that didn't mean it was any less effective. Essentially, I was meant to stumble into the trap acting every bit the hapless victim. In the meantime, Argo would use her hiding and searching skills to find the imposter likely to be watching the event and deal with them.

In the event that the faker wasn't around, Argo would jump out and help me with the boss. Help I was pretty sure I wouldn't need, if I were being honest. Either way, I just had to keep the boss busy and avoid killing it until Argo took care of things on her end. I could work with that.

With our roles assigned, Argo disappeared while I approached the spot where the field boss would spawn. Field bosses were different from the floor bosses that halted our progress from clearing the game. From my experience in the beta, they weren't particularly dangerous, just annoying. They existed to get in the way of the players and make it harder to get through the labyrinth. They usually offered pretty good rewards and EXP though, which was nice.

As I walked into the cave where the boss was supposed to spawn, I tried my best to play the role I was assigned. I wasn't any kind of actor, though, so I just tried my hardest to feign ignorance and prayed that the guy running this operation didn't catch on. After making my way through the narrow tunnels, I emerged into a large open cavern that was circular in nature. In the back end of the room, there was a large pile of shining gold coins with a gnarly looking two-handed broadsword sitting in the middle of it.

The first thing that I thought was 'it's a trap', but I guess the people who had actually fallen for this just saw the cool-looking sword and immediately shut their brains off. I did my best to emulate that empty-headed excitement when I charged for the sword with a cry of joy. As soon as my foot touched the gold, a loud screech echoed off the walls and pounded at my eardrums. A second after that, a figure descended from the ceiling and crashed into the pile of gold, one hand clutching the broadsword with an expression that read, 'you can't take this from me.'

It was another kobold, I realized, one larger than any of the monsters I'd previously faced. This kobold was easily three heads taller than I was and wore leather armour. However, said armour seemed to have proved ineffective since he was covered in angry scars. Two HP bars appeared on the side of his head along with his name, 'Oalfra the skulker.'

That felt appropriate if all he did was hang around this one pile of gold and killed anyone who tried to touch it. Regardless, I feigned surprise at the event boss' sudden appearance. I turned tail and ran the other way, playing my 'character' of an in-over-their-head solo player. I heard Oalfra leap from behind me, and tensed my muscles when he slammed down not two feet away from me and tried to bisect me with the Vertical sword skill.

I threw myself to the side, rolling into a crouch before facing the boss. I think I've done enough to convince whoever's watching of my 'helpless' status; time to fight the boss! Well, 'fight' was probably a bit of an exaggeration. With my level and equipment, I could probably finish off the field boss in five minutes. I had to wait for Argo to find the imposter before I could go all out though, so I couldn't allow myself to land a lot of clean hits.

"Dammit! That rat tricked me!" I shouted for the benefit of whoever's watching. Oalfra descended on my position again, attacking the same way as before. I hopped backwards to avoid the attack, a rookie decision. It would've been better to sidestep it so I could counter attack while he was stuck in the sword skill delay, but I had to play stupid for now, so here I was.

Oalfra attacked again once the delay ended, throwing out a Horizontal this time. I rolled under the attack and strafed to the side, trying to get behind my opponent. I was starting to get an idea of Oalfra's attack patterns now. Whenever I was in mid-range, he'd try to cut me down with Vertical, and if I was at the end of his range he'd use Horizontal. Not a particularly dangerous moveset, but one that could catch a player of guard if they weren't paying attention.

When I got behind Oalfra, however, he surprised me by screeching and whirling around, trying to crush me with a stomp. I swatted his foot away with my Anneal blade, but he immediately went for another stomp that I backflipped away from. I see; that was the attack he used in close range since his large broadsword would be useless. I was pretty sure I'd seen Oalfra's entire bag of tricks now, and even if he still had something up his sleeve I'd be able to handle it once I was allowed to fight seriously.

Oalfra attacked at me with a vertical slash again, so I dodged to the side. I let out a battle cry that was more an expression of my impatience than anything, and scored a cut along the kobolds forearm. I hadn't used a sword skill for my attack, so his health only dropped a little bit, but I'd take what I could get. With my stats and sword, it probably dealt a little too much damage than what the guy watching would expect, but I'm pretty sure I'm fine.

Ugh; this was taking forever! I hope Argo catches this prick soon.

As if reading my thoughts, I hear her voice off to the side of me as she shouts, "Ahah! Found ya, ya bastard! This little game a yers is over, imposter of mine. I'll be clearin' my name now, thanks!"

When I turned to her, Argo stood by one of the cave's many offshoot tunnels with another player held hostage by her claws. He had a generic appearance and a sad look on his face. I couldn't be paid to care, though, I was just glad we'd managed to resolve the problem.

"Finally!" I cheered, charging toward the boss.

It didn't take me long to finish it off, and the EXP from the fight was enough for me to level up, which was nice. Now level six, I was given five stat points that I quickly allocated before walking over to Argo. We tied him up with rope, then Argo produced a corridor crystal and we sent him to the Black Gate Prison. The fact that Argo had the funds to purchase a corridor crystal said a lot about her success as an info broker.

Now that everything was properly resolved, Argo and I excited the cave. I hope my efforts here can take the heat off the beta testers a bit, or Argo at the very least. The last thing we needed on the front lines was division, to say nothing of the waking hell that was being persecuted, which I was so familiar with. I guess I've done all I can for now, though. It was nighttime now and I wanted to get some rest, so I started walking back toward Talbana.

"Why are ya so quick ta run off, Kii-gal?" Argo asks, jogging to keep pace with me.

"I wanna sleep."

"Alright, then I'll take care a' this now." A menu suddenly appeared in front of me, and I was confused. Argo had just sent me a friend request.

"What's this about?"

Argo gave me a weird look, like she couldn't understand why I was asking. She was the one who was acting weird, though. The only reason I'd need to have her friended was so I could message her when I wanted information, but that was unnecessary since I could message her already because I knew her handle.

"What's yer problem, Kirito?"

Argo's voice was hard and it surprised me. She had never called me by my handle before, but her tone told me in no uncertain terms that there was no avoiding an answer to this question. I was just lost, though. I asked her, "Problem? What are you getting at?"

"I haven't seen ya since th' start a' th' game, but you've been freezin' me out this entire time. We're friends, aren't we? Why are ya treatin' me like a stranger?"

Argo's words punched through my heart, and after running through our interactions that day I realized she was right. But why was I acting like that? The answer came to me quickly, so I told Argo. "I'm… a solo player."

Argo didn't say anything immediately, which I appreciated. It felt like she was really considering my words, and it gave me a minute to collect myself. I was acting exactly like I had before the SAO beta, when I'd been at my lowest. Since Coper's death, I'd been living on auto-pilot; doggedly fighting every day in order to clear the game. I'd probably said more to Argo than I had in the entire past two weeks.

Was that so bad, though?

It's not like I had much to give to the other players. I had no plans to join a party or form a guild; I was fighting solo on the front lines, so there wasn't much point for me to interact with the other players. It was while I was in the middle of considering all this, however, that Argo said something that lit my world aflame.

"Bein' a solo player doesn't mean ya have ta be alone."

I stared at her, eyes wide. "It's not that simple. I have nothing to offer."

Argo sighed patiently, like she couldn't believe what I'd just said. "Ah geez, Kii-gal. Ya musta had a pretty rough life before this, huh? Yer company's more than enough. Fer me, at the very least. I gotta feelin' a lotta people would feel that way, though."

My company was enough? I was okay like this? It wasn't something I was sure I could believe, but… I think I wanted too. I looked at the still untouched menu in front of me, before finally hitting accept. Argo was now on my friends list, and it felt surprisingly comforting.

"...Hey, Argo, I'm not feeling very tired. Is it cool if I help you with the next version of your guide book?"

She beamed at me, pulling me into a tight hug. "That sounds perfect."