LATE GAME Ch.4

A NEW HOPE THAT ISN'T ABOUT LUKE

After I got into the troubles of another, I began to assess my situation a bit more before I thought about acting.

A girl named Rheas; attractive, eager, and strong. There wasn't anyone in Sword Art Online like that as far as I've heard. Unless…

Unless she died somewhere down the line, this is only the most plausible theory.

This could be my big chance to change fate! I could definitely live with saving lives! Especially for someone as beautiful as this girl right here.

"Hey, come up with something?"

I nodded, standing against the door and knocking carefully.

"Hey, mate! How does casual conversation sound with you?"

I heard some movement inside the house.

"Who are you? Why waste your effort on a lost cause?"

I laughed. "Lost causes are my specialty!"

I heard a grunt from the door, him possibly considering opening it, to let me in? Nah, probably to just shut me down, I know.

"I saw your sister earlier, are you going to deny such a beautiful, sexy, sweet, hot girl like that?"

I looked back and saw Rheas blushing furiously, both in fury and embarrassment.

The door opened immediately, and behind it were a pair of bloodshot eyes filled with fury.

"You wouldn't dare…" He growled.

I shook my head. "Then hear me out. I've got stories to tell." I smiled and let myself in.

"I want to hear your side of the story. Are you okay with that?" I asked the tall, thin, brunette guy. He was wearing a white t-shirt and long beige slacks.

"I can't get out of this now, can I?" He sighed. Then he nodded in confirmation.

"If you want to help that much, then go knock yourself out."

I nodded, sitting on a chair opposite the one he was about to sit on.

"As she said, I was a pretty good player. I don't want to brag, but I was one of the bests the frontlines could offer."

Pride was shown on his face as he remembered his glory days, eyes a thousand miles away from the room we were staying in.

"One day, our party was going up against the monsters of Floor 69. We were going pretty well until I spotted a treasure room. I opened it, got everyone to go inside. I went in last as I was on lookout in case monsters could trap us. Satisfied, I was about to go in…"

A look of pure terror exploded on his young face, making it look much older than it was.

"The door closed right in front of me. I banged my hands against the door to no avail. Minutes later, the door opened up again… But my guild wasn't there anymore."

He rubbed his eyes with his left hand as the right tried to steady his body on the couch. He shivered with fear. Honestly, I felt sorry for him, but I didn't know what to say.

"What am I supposed to do now? I thought you were going to help me? Knock yourself out."

I forced a smile to hide the sympathetic man, pushing an invisible pair of shades sitting on the bridge of my nose.

"Well, for starters, you're going to have to stop blaming yourself. Moping around isn't going to bring them back, so be a man and finish what they started. No one is going to blame you for what happened there, you did everything you could, and that's what matters."

I saw him look up, his sobs getting less apparent.

"Think of it this way; you got killed by some dude in Counter-Strike, and there's only one dude left in your team. He isn't doing anything because he's afraid of getting shot. It's not that he didn't cover for you that made you mad, but the fact that he didn't finish what you started."

I pat him on the back, sensing that he's no longer uncomfortable I come back to my seat.

"So finish what hey started, that's the best that you can do now. Help us, help your sister. Be a hero again, take up your sword and beat the crap out of monsters again. We aren't dying this time because we're all in this together."

I stood and walked to the door, knowing that I've done my job. Surely with him along, his sister wouldn't die anymore, right?

Holy crap, I just changed the future and hopefully, for the better.

Before I stepped out, Issei called me.

"Thanks, it really helped. I'll think about it, but I'll try my best to make a comeback."

I nodded. "Call me when you need me, here is my friend request."

Once he accepted it, I pat the back of the lonely girl sitting outside the house, eager for news.

"It's alright. Things are going to be alright now." I said.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" she replied as she went inside the house. I heard a voice inside gasp for air after a little while, and I instantly knew someone was feeling really huggy at the moment, who would've thought?

I took a look at the town here and…

I realize I don't have any col. I still don't have a place to stay. Damn it.

I hope Kirito and Asuna have space for me again, as much as I want to leave them to do their… thing. The thing married couples do. Yeah, I'm talking about that thing, chapter 16.5 all over again.

Thank God someone called me, else I might've scarred myself for life.

"Grey!"

I turn around and lookie-lookie, there's Rheas and Issei.

"Do you have anywhere to stay?" Issei asked.

I shook my head.

"I'm a wandering hobo, no hard feelings to non-wandering hobos."

Rheas smiled. "Well, if you'd like, you can stay with us. It would be a lot easier contacting you if you're just a room away. We've already got some grand adventure planned."

My surprise gave away as Issei gave a rich laugh.

"I decided to come back to the frontlines for my friends. I'll need to refresh my skills though."

I scratched the back of my head.

"Gosh, you change your mind faster than I do. Maybe not exactly, but holy crap I just left your house and now I'm coming back!"

Issei shrugged and led me back to his house. Rheas went on to the kitchen to cook… something.

I sat at the couch, motioning my hands for him to explain his plans for the next day.

"I'm thinking of going near floor seventy, we'll try to clear some mobs there, but we need some teleport crystals just in case things go wrong."

I nodded. "Which reminds me," I said. "I was on the way to pick up a weapon from a friend of mine, his house is just nearby, so could you excuse me for a bit?"

When he shook his head to signal that everything was alright, I rose to my feet and went back to Kirito's house, this time for a different reason.

"Yo, Kirito." I said as I entered the house in the middle of…

Oh my…

"GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!"

I waited outside for five minutes or so, after which I was invited inside. Neither Asuna nor Kirito could look me in the eye after that, I find it hard myself.

"So… I was going to borrow that sword again… Mind if I..?"

Kirito nodded, taking out the sword from his inventory and handing it to me.

"I won't be coming here for the next couple of days, so feel free to… Be free, I guess."

Asuna's blush grew wider, and so did Kirito's. I left the house, equipping the sword I borrowed from Kirito while I walked.

I never stopped to do even the most trivial of things. NEVER. STOPPED. EVER.

Now to quest in with the twins, now there's a good thing to do.

A Few Hours of Non-Stop Questing Later…

"Whew, I'm beat. Those last three quests were surprisingly specific, though. Grey, I don't suppose you could tell us why these ingredients you made us get right after are essential?" I heard Issei complain. I chuckled.

"Yeah, I mean you got us to get ten pieces of Alibaba seed, ten pieces of sag leaves, and ten pieces of ulafish bone. What's up with that?" Rheas continued.

"You'll see my dear compatriots. Tonight, you will taste the earth you never thought you'd taste again!"

"You're making us eat dirt? What have I gotten myself into?"

I laughed as the twins grumbled. We were near the town now.

"Guys, come here with me for a second. We need a cook to cook this for us." I exclaimed happily.

"You're saying I can't cook?!" Rheas demanded. I turned and looked at her, shivering as her angry face was almost as scary as Asuna. That's actually saying something.

"It's not that, it's just… There's a friend of mine who discovered a trick that'll make your head go boom!"

Behind me, I heard Issei mumble.

"Let's hope that's not what he literally meant… With a friend like this, who needs enemies?"

Seriously, these two were making me crack up. I snickered as the grumbling went on and on…

In no more than twenty minutes, we reached the house.

"Now let's go knock on this door before we discover anything… revealing."

I knocked thrice, and after a few minutes, Asuna opened the door.

"You again? Give me an explanation before I slam this door into your immortal face." She growled.

"Some Alibaba seeds, some sag leaves, and some ulafish bones." I said quickly. Satisfied, she nodded before letting us in.

"What're those ingredients for?" Issei asked.

"You'll see soon enough."

I gave Kirito a bump on the fist as I entered the household, still feeling as comfortable as always.

In front of me, Asuna turned around with hands on her hips.

"Fifty thousand col. NOW."

"Now that's just extortion-" I began.

"NOW!"

"Okay, okay! Jeez…"

There goes my well earned money for the day. I almost regret going here. Almost.

I motioned for my companions to sit on one of the couches, Kirito sat next to me.

"Guys, before anything else, let me introduce you to the black swordsman, Kirito."

Then I nodded towards the twins. "Kirito, meet the twins, Issei and Rheas. I'll be staying with them for a while, so don't you worry, daddy-o."

After a round of greetings and casual conversation, Asuna arrived with what I needed.

"Here, my friends, is Asuna, the Vice-Commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath."

"Here's your soy sauce. Now wasn't that hard?" I saw an evil grin somewhere along those lines.

"I swear, you're just trying to get revenge on me." I sighed. Asuna did a cute smile, hiding her evil intentions.

"S-soy sauce?" I heard Issei stammer. Rheas's mouth was just open, gaping at what was in front of her.

"We now have ten bottles worth of it! Huzzah!" I exclaimed with glee.

"Wow, you really love soy sauce." Rheas said. I laughed.

"That's what being Filipino does." The four other people looked at me then.

"You didn't mention something like that when you were here." Kirito said.

"Who knows what else you've got up your sleeve…" Asuna wondered.

"Well, thanks for that. We'll keep in touch." I said as we stood and left the household. The moonlit sky flashed before our faces as the darkness swallowed us as we moved away from the well lit cabin.

On the way, Rheas spoke.

"Wow, the vice-commander and the beater got together, huh? Who would've guessed?"

"Don't worry." I said. "He might be a beater, but he'd be dead if he beat Asuna. Plus, he loves her so much he's like a cute puppy tailing her around. Guess he can't go solo anymore, huh? The things you have to handle after being married, children."

Issei sighed. "We're probably a year older than you so don't call us children."

I laughed. "Physically, you just might be. But legally, I was born on April 5, 2001."

The surprise was not hidden from their faces. "But then-"

"How?" I said. "I don't know either. I guess I fell through the universe or something, which is why I know the future, some of it at least."

Rheas, unconvinced, questioned me further.

"The future, huh? If so, when's the game going to end?"

I shrugged. "A week, I guess? Maybe less." The two were more surprised now.

"How?!" Issei exclaimed. Then I explained.

"Kirito got Kayaba to blow his cover. As a gift for revealing his identity, Kayaba let Kirito fight him to the death to end this game early."

There was silence that followed.

"So then, you know who-"

"I can't tell you. This game already has a happy ending, it wouldn't be good if we changed it."

Rheas huffed. "You're telling me you don't trust us? That we might rush in and fight him after we find out?"

I waved her off. "It's not that, it's… I was warned not to tell. Otherwise, he'd erase my existence. I'm surprised he even let me go, though."

After sighing, Rheas nodded, understanding that it was necessary.

I smiled then. "Don't you worry because we'll be out of this in no time at all." I said as I pat the two of them.

As we entered the village and afterwards our homestead, I let myself relax on the couch as Rheas worked to make dinner with the newly acquired soy sauce.

"If you knew the game would finish in about a week, why buy so much soy sauce?" Issei asked.

"Are you kidding?!" I exclaimed. "We could sell this for thrice the price and no one would be bothered! We'll get enough money and soon enough, get ready to fight the final floor boss if we're lucky."

Issei sighed. "All this on money? How much are they going to be anyway?"

I put my hand near my chin, rubbing my nonexistent beard.

"We'll keep two bottles to be sure, so to make our money's worth…"

I counted with my fingers and let out a wild yell when I got the right amount.

"We'll be selling each for about 20 000 col. Our profits would sum up to 160 000."

Issei shot a nonbelieving look.

"…What?"

He put face-palmed as I laughed, just imagining the look on his face after I make a fortune-

"Guys." I heard Rheas call.

"Looks like I got called by the commander, he says I'm going to be part of the scouting team for the floor 75th Boss."

My laughter quickly became a horrified expression.

"No… Don't go…" I said.

"If I denied these orders… I can't be taken seriously. I have to."

"NO, DAMN IT! YOU'LL DIE! DON'T YOU KNOW SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS THAT? THE SCOUTING TEAM FOR THIS WAS ELIMINATED ENTIRELY BECAUSE THE CRYSTALS WON'T WORK THIS TIME! DON'T YOU DARE!"

She stood only a few meters away, but her mind was already racing miles away, gods help me.

"I'll go." Issei declared.

"WHAT THE HELL, MAN? I JUST SAID THE BIGGEST REASON YOU CAN'T GO!" I explained.

"They don't say this much, but…" he closed his eyes. "Those who deny the summons of the commander are looked down upon almost as much as orange players are, while actually participating gives us protection granted by those at the top. Otherwise, we'd fall victim to the player-killers here."

"The hell?! Why would that happen?! That couldn't possibly be true!"

But Issei just shook his head. "No, I've seen it happen already. A few friends of mine fell victim to that, the biggest reason why I secluded myself here was because I also became a target. If I were to stay here, now that I've left the town to go hunting, we'd all be in trouble."

No.

No.

NONONONONONONONONO!

"Brother…" I heard Rheas say. "Don't go… I was the one they called for anyway. So please, live."

"Rheas!" I yelled.

"Why the hell aren't you two listening? Are you two dense or what?"

Issei shook his head.

"We know now what's going to happen to the support group, so one of us has to go there to warn them."

"Then I'll go!" I demanded. "I won't die anyway, right?"

Rheas shook her head.

"They don't know you, you just explained earlier, right? You fell from another world, and no one knows you're from here. You won't make a difference and we'll be in danger anyway."

I rose suddenly. "Then leave! We can all make an escape, get another house, and live there!"

"That's not an option." Rheas started. "They're already here."

"Since when?!" I asked.

"Since we came back from hunting. I saw some of them tailing us to this town, and now they're waiting for us to decline."

I cursed. I wanted to laugh at the horrible joke this place was turning out to be. Why the hell did I think that this game was going to be lots of fun?

Because it was seen through the eyes of the protagonist, of course.

Damn this game.

I hate it, and I hate everything it's trying to do.

Innocent lives are lost everyday, but these lives that I see vanish before my eyes weren't supposed to be them.

Were they?!

"I'm going." Rheas said. "I was the one they contacted."

Issei shook his head.

"No, I'M going. I've had plenty of days to hide from the demons of battle, now's just the right time to atone for my sins."

"No! You just came back! I don't want to lose you, brother!"

"Letting you go will just kill me, Rheas. Don't you understand?"

"I don't! And I don't want to understand!"

"What brother would I be to let his sister die?"

"What sister would I be to watch my one brother leave me for good?!"

"The sister her brother wants to live. Besides, I've got a plan."

"You and your plans! Just let me go!"

"Grey, you hold her off. Don't let her leave this house, understand?"

I absently nodded, and then kept the furious Rheas from reaching the other end of the room.

"No! No! Let me go!"

I shook my head, realizing anything I could say or do was futile.

"Talk him out of it, Grey! You already did it this morning! DO SOMETHING!"

Nearing tears, I shook my head. "When a man finds something to protect, something precious to him, it's something even I can't talk out of."

While Rheas kept struggling, Issei nodded.

"She'll need a brother, so I entrust her to you. Don't do anything funny, understand? I'll do something, save lives and stuff."

I nodded, still holding off Rheas who was getting less and less angry, and a lot more like begging Issei.

"Take it Issei... You do know that was a pun, right? Because Issei sounds like easy, lol." I said with a grin that helped me mask my own pain.

He chuckled. "I saw your menu earlier, and I apologize. I just wanted to say thank you for everything you've done. Nice knowing you, Leo Angelo."

Then he left. Rheas kept struggling for a few more minutes before she sank to the floor, crying.

I held her in my arms as she sobbed for God knows how long.

A Day Later…

We received a letter from the commander. As expected, though still painful, Issei was a casualty.

The letter described how he went inside the boss room alone, and proceeded message details of the boss's methods, its stats, its patterns, and such. In doing so, he also explained the lack of use crystals had in the room, and saying something about getting a whole raid to challenge it.

When the door opened again, Issei was nowhere to be found. No one else dared go inside to look, as the information was already enough.

Issei saved a lot of lives that day. His plan was to keep the casualty count all on himself, and he succeeded.

He was a hero, and those guild-mates of his should be darn proud of him if they all saw that crap from the afterlife.

God knows Rheas still hasn't left her bed after reading the contents of the letter. She hasn't stopped sobbing either. I even had to force her to eat, showing off my modest, but still palpable cooking skill.

I understand why Issei had to entrust her to me, no matter how crazy it was to leave his sister to some stranger like me.

She needed a brother, a brother that wasn't him.

"Nice knowing you, Leo Angelo."

Damn it, I wasn't even to call him by name before he left. But I couldn't let myself cry like this.

Like hell, Rheas was already crying for the two of us, I needed to be strong for her.

I needed to be her brother now, after all.

"I'll make sure she'll be happy, Issei. I'll make sure I'll be the second best brother she could ever have, God knows you're the first."

Issei, you are one bastard I'll never forget.