A/N : Hello everyone, I know that many of you have probably forgotten about me and my story, honestly I don't blame you. I have taken a huge leave of absence from writing mostly because I have not put much emphasis on writing. There was a ton of schoolwork and other recreational activities that did pile up, however I admit that that wasn't the main cause. I completely understand those who are sick and tired of waiting on a constant basis for me to upload. I do not blame you if you never read my story again or even unfollow. I can't make promises that I can't keep so unfortunately I can't assure you all that I will be uploading consistently. To those who are still with me I can't thank you enough for your support and patience, as I know that it has not been easy. One thing I do promise however, is that I will finish this story, I owe you all that much.
Enjoy the chapter !
" Rick ? " a soft voice echoed through my ears. " Rick " the voice repeated, this time increasing in volume slightly. I sleepily turned my head away, digging it into a nearby pillow, dismissing the voice that I assumed was a dream. " Rick ! " the voice screamed in annoyance, piercing my ear drums and instantly breaking me out of my trance, causing me to shoot fearfully out of my bed. " Ahh ! " I yelled in terror, as I fell lopsided onto the hard wooden floor into a curled position. " Geez that hurt " I say rubbing my head in pain, " that was such a lifelike dream, it almost seemed real ". " It was real " the voice spoke once again this time in a much calmer tone. I slowly moved my eyes to find none other than my raven-haired friend, Kirito grinning early at me, showing a row of pearly white teeth.
" You weren't in my dream kirito, what are you doing here " ? I stated puzzled by his sudden appearance. Kirito simply shook his head before replying " Did your dream also tell you that we have our first and possibly last raid today and that if we screw up, we are all going to die ?" Kirito said disturbingly calm. " No, it didn't " I replied slightly unsure of why he would say such a peculiar statement out of the blue. Suddenly, I became instantly awake at my statement and my eyes widened in fear as the grogginess was completely drained from my body. " Oh my God ! The raid ! " I utter in panic,realizing that I was definitely not in a dream.
" That's today ! What time is it ?! " Kirito pulls up his in-game menu before saying in a monotonous voice " 10:55 ". " What time does the raid began ? " I ask, expecting for kirito to have the situation all under control. " 11: 00 " he states in a tranquil tone showing no signs of panic whatsoever. " What ?! We only have five minutes to get there ! " I said in a mixture of fear and anger " why didn't you wake me up sooner ?! ". " Hey it's not my fault that you slept through my calls, and you actually woke up at a good time " Kirito replied in his usual carefree manner. " How is this possibly a good time ?!
" I question angrily towards Kirito. " Well if you didn't wake up sooner I was going to hit you with a horizontal square sword combo" He said smugly glancing over at his sword that lay nearby his bed. " You were going to use a combo that killed an enemy on me ?! " My patience was growing thinner and thinner by the second and time was of the essence. " Relax, it would have been a weakened version of it, meaning that it would only take away about 520 HP points. " " That's more than half of my health bar ! " I scream in disbelief at his method of simply waking me up. " Hey you're learning the game, maybe we should actually test it out " He smirked pretending to reach for his sword but instead grabbing a fruit and also tossing one to me. I shook my head in laughter, allowing myself to rid of any malicious feelings towards my only friend in the game. "C'mon we need to go " I quickly scrolled through my in game menu to pull out a teleportation crystal that I had seen kirito use numerous times. " To…." I said confidently before drawing a blank and stare awkwardly at kirito, crystal in hand. " You have no idea where you're going do you ? " Kirito said smugly, folding his arms and leaning against the wall of our temporary place of stay.
" Not at all " I admit defeated lowering my head in embarrassment. " 1st floor Labyrinth " Kirito started taking out his own crystal and instantly vanished, leaving light blue pixels behind. " Hey wait up" I hurriedly use my own teleport crystal to vanish into thin air as well behind Kirito's lead. I was instantly transported to a vast open field unlike anything I have seen before in all past experiences with video games. I gazed around in awe before laying my eyes on a cluster of people that seemed surprisingly smaller than I imagined. " Must've chickened out I don't blame them " a nearby voice spoke suddenly, voicing my exact thoughts on the situation. I turned around in surprise to see Kirito once again standing right beside me as that of a loyal dog would stand beside his master. " Stop doing that " I punch kirito playfully in the arm, " I'm going to have to get you a bell or something" I say laughing energetically. " Well now that you mention it, they do sell those at the item shop" Kirito grinned before pulling out his in game menu and writing to get a bell after the raid
. I shook my head and proceeded to walk over to the group of people when I felt a sudden force holding me back. I turned my head to see Kirito with a solemn look in his eyes. " Hey Rick " Kirito said in a grim, serious tone of voice with cold stone eyes that looked as if he had seen all hell break loose. " What is it ? " I had only seen this side of kirito once before, when I questioned him about his knowledge of Sword Art Online, but somehow I felt that his emotions were different this time. He seemed afraid, which is something totally unlike him. " I just wanted to tell you that whatever happens out there, you're still my friend and it was an honor to even be by your side for this long." He paused before adding his final statement " and we will beat this game together" Immediately thoughts of Akihiko Kayaba flooded my mind back to when he announced that this game meant life or death, I remembered the rage and murderous intent that I have for Kayaba and the promise that I made to kill him before the game ended. Filled with determination, I nodded my head in agreement at his words, feeling a sense of gratitude for having such a useful ally, but most importantly a wonderful friend. I knew that we would beat this game and that I would keep my promise, no matter the cost. " Get ready Kayaba " I whispered gazing at the large labyrinth looking down upon us, " I'm coming for you".
