January 5, 2023. Floor 2.
Haru Hayai:
As everyone crowded around the circular table in the base, I leaned against the left wall, crossing my arms and soaking in the dim orange light from the various candles lying about the room. Ahead of me, everyone in Cygnus conversed about the next floor boss. The current frontline is the fifth floor, the floor boss is known as Captain Latanica. A strange name, but apparently he's a lantern wielding ghost ship captain. I couldn't make this up if I tried. His primary weapon is, of course, the lantern. He's also known for unpredictable melee attacks.
Currently, no one has ventured into his lair. Although the path to the room has been mapped and revealed to the public by various solo players and higher level guilds.
Maxis sees this as an ideal time to prove the strength and abilities of Cygnus. We've progressed sufficiently in levels through the past month, with Maxis, Atlas, and a few other members at the highest level of fifteen. Karu and I, along with most of the guild, rest between thirteen and ten. Maru however, is (expectedly) at the lowest level of nine.
Though his progress through the promised training with Atlas has been quite impressive. Karu and I persuaded Maxis to allow him to participate in the fight against Latanica, not without some pushing on our part, of course. But we believe that he should get this experience out of the way before we get too far in and he ends up having no experience in a boss fight.
The conversation picked up to a heated debate between two sides of the table. Atlas and about four other members, including Karu, say that we should use the offensive strike. As the raw force of concentrated power of the whole guild will surely bring Latanica to the red in a matter of minutes.
Maxis along with four other members vote for the defensive. Seeing the offensive strike as being too risky, and not worth the effort. Maru races back from each side of the table, yelling nonsense whenever the debate picks up.
I turn my attention back to the table, picking up on the argument.
"Maxis-sama," Atlas takes a calmer approach than the other members, "You know as well as I do that the strength of everyone in this guild added together will surely bring down Latanica in no time," he pauses to look at me, an eyebrow raised, "Well, everyone except Haru-san."
I scowl at him and stick out my tongue.
Karu speaks up, "If only half of us attack on the offensive," he motioned his hand to his group, "We stand no chance at defeating him. However," he slammed his palms on the table for dramatic effect, "If we all strike together, and quickly, we can take down Latanica in two minutes at the most," his group began to talk loudly amongst themselves.
Maru joined his side and began cheering, "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" No doubt in my mind that he has no idea what's going on.
Maxis stood with his arms crossed on the other side of the table, staring at the data of the dungeon that was layed out before him.
He remained silent for some time, contemplating the offensive attack I suppose.
He turned towards me, a serious and bleak look on his face, "Haru-san," he said coldly.
Surprised, I stuttered, "Y-yeah, Maxis-sama?"
He furrowed his brow, "What do you think we should do?"
I put my finger to my chin, thinking about the situation.
Atlas broke my thought process, "Why are you asking him?" he pointed in my direction, Maxis quickly shushed him, "I'd like to have everyone give their opinion, Atlas-san," he answered.
He motioned for me to continue talking, "The offensive is probably the best choice, Sir," I looked him in the eye, "Speed is the clear option for this boss fight in particular, due to Latanica having such a high melee skill for such a low level boss," I paused to look around the room, everyone's eyes were on me, I felt my body get hot and I tugged on my coat to air out the heat, "But... that's just my opinion, Sir."
He frowned, probably wasn't the answer he wanted, "So you agree that offense is the best option for this floor boss?"
I faced the floor, avoiding his gaze, "Y-yes sir, I do."
Maxis let out a deep sigh, "Very well," he unfolded his arms and began to scratch his soul patch, "On a matter of majority, we will use the offensive plan in the fight against Latanica."
When was there a vote?
As the crowd began to disperse, the members in the defensive group passed by me, each giving me a dirty look, mumbling amongst themselves. I faced the ground again, forcing myself to ignore them.
I walked towards Maxis, who was saving all of the floor boss data that was layed out on the table, "Maxis-sama, I have a question," I stated cautiously.
He raised his eyebrows, "And what would that be, Haru-san?" his voice was surprisingly welcoming, contrary to his tone a few minutes earlier.
I let myself relax, "Why would you ask me rather than take Atlas-san's plan? I don't really have any experience in that area. So I'm not of much help tactically, I suppose," I've only been in one boss fight so far, the fourth floor battle against Von Leon. A humanoid-lion monster, that was relatively easy to kill, as it took very few of us to do so. Yet even then I wasn't of much help, as my level wasn't the highest of the players that were attacking. So I let the others take him on while I stayed back.
Maxis shrugged, smiling a little, "You're apart of this guild as much as Atlas-san," I think you're exaggerating a little, chief, "Why wouldn't I want your opinion?" a stupid grin grew on my face. For the first time in a while, I felt apart of something.
Maxis bid me goodnight and moved down the hallway to his bedroom, his thunderous footsteps echoing through the hall.
Maru and Karu met me at the doorway, Maru yawned loudly as Karu motioned us to our bedroom.
He sighed contently, "So, Haru-chan," he softly nudged my shoulder, "You weren't just sticking up for me back there, were you?"
I thought about what he meant for a moment, "Oh, with the offensive thing?" he nodded, "Nah, I would have happily disagreed with you, Nii-chan," I winked at him, he merely frowned and narrowed his eyes at me, "However, this time you were right, so I agreed."
He folded his arms, "Whatever, I'm usually right, so it doesn't bug me if you don't agree."
Uh-huh? Maru spoke up, fighting back a yawn, "Nii-chan, not to be rude," he paused to open our bedroom door, "But from what I can remember, you're usually wrong," I chortled at Maru's blunt honesty as he collapsed onto our bed, "Like those turtles on floor three? You said they didn't have any special attack skills. And you almost got yourself killed..." His voice trailed off as he fell asleep mid-sentence, still in his armor.
I pulled the blankets up and over his unconscious body, tucking him in. Karu had a childish upset look on his face, sticking his tongue out at Maru.
I chuckled at him, "He's right though, If Maxis hadn't jumped in at the last second-" he interrupted me, unwilling to face his failure, "Yeah, yeah I know. You guys don't have to keep reminding me every chance you get," he collapsed onto his bed, linking his fingers together behind his head.
I sat on the edge of the bed I shared with Maru, resting my elbows on my knees and burying my face in my hands.
I went into my inventory and equipped my clothes instead of my daytime armor. Clothes are basically just what they sound like, clothes. Armor is usually much heavier and unusual to wear when you have the option not to. So I use that option every chance I get. My clothes consisted of black sweat pants and a white zip-up jacket. Wearing clothes made me feel a little more in touch with the real world, so I guess I can see the appeal of them for the non-players, seeing as how all they wear is normal clothing.
Karu bolted upright on his bed, a bored expression on his face, "I'm not tired," he flashed me an inattentive look, "Let's go somewhere."
Intrigued, I ask, "Like?"
He shrugs, getting up and walking towards the door, "Let's act like non-players tonight."
Confused and uninterested I groan, "Eh..."
He grabs me by the collar of my jacket, "You're coming," and begins to drag me out the door.
The chilly night-time air was soothing against my skin, I inhaled deeply and let out a loud exhale to show Karu my exasperation.
He ignored me, "Hm," he paused to look down the narrow street that the base was located on, "I suppose we could visit the plaza, there's a nice cafe I went to with a few of the guys a while back just around the corner," he looked to me for approval, I shrugged and began to walk towards the plaza. As we walked into our destination, Karu began his usual mindless chatter, I let myself drift into my thoughts, giving the occasional nod or 'Uh-huh'.
Although it was past ten in the real world, the streets were lit with a mix of orange lanterns and the dim blue-ish light of the moon. A rather peaceful setting, and yet the hums of the plaza still rang through the streets with noises of either parties getting back from the dungeon or merchants packing up for the night. The surreal feeling of SAO never seemed to fade, besides the obvious realism of it all, I couldn't help but feel like it was nothing but a bad dream. No matter how much I reluctantly tried to remind myself of the true dangers, I almost didn't want to believe it. Almost.
As we opened the door to the cafe, we were greeted by the low conversations of the players that were on this floor, along with the strong scent of fresh tea. Although you didn't have to eat or sleep in this game, your body still feels fatigue and hunger, so eating is basically necessary.
As we took a seat in a booth, I noticed Karu's babbling had ceased. I sighed and mentally thanked God.
After the waitress had taken our orders, he leaned back and locked his fingers together behind his head, gazing at me with unreadable eyes. I raised my eyebrows in response, letting my eyes dart about the cafe, all the while facing him. Finally, I asked, "What?"
"Did you only join Cygnus for us," He paused, "Ya know, me and Maru?" as if he needed to clarify.
"Oh," I thought it would be something more serious, "Yeah, I guess. Why wouldn't I want to be in a guild with you guys?" I stopped to think about what I had just said, "Well I guess if it wasn't for me Maru wouldn't be here," I chuckled at my rude honesty.
His eyes narrowed and he gave me a frown, "I'm joking." Even if it's true.
I sighed and leaned back against the booth, "To answer your question, yes."
His expression relaxed, giving me a comforting look, "You didn't have to," he shrugged, "I just think it was a pretty good idea," he looked down at the table, "It just seems like a strong way to secure our safety," he put his elbows on the table, scratching his head. If we wanted safety we'd be non-players.
The waitress, who was notably attractive, and notably not a human, came back with two cups of steaming tea, I stared into mine, thinking about what I wanted to say next, "Are you afraid, Nii-chan?"
I felt his eyes on me, he remained quiet for a while, but finally broke the awkward silence, "Yeah, Haru-chan, I was," I grimaced at the reflection of myself in the tea, at least he admitted it.
He tapped my hand that was locked around my cup, I looked up to see him staring at me, a soft yet blissful smile on his face, "I'm not anymore though," he spoke softly, "I'm proud of what you're becoming," he laughed, scratching the back of his head,"I sound cheesy, don't I?"
My eyes were wide and I had a stupid smile creeping on my face, I fought it off, staring back at my tea, "Yeah... you do."
He began to ramble on again, talking about immature jokes the other guild members told.
I lost interest and began to recite his words in my head. As I sipped my still steaming tea, I hid my mouth in my cup and let the smile take form.
January 6, 2023. Floor 5.
The colossal gray door to the lair of Latanica was etched with images of ghouls with, what I'm guessing is ectoplasm, seeping from their mouths, along with old style ships, the kind with canvas sails, and various failed attempts of Japanese characters.
Our group was armed to the teeth with staffs, great-swords, longswords, hammers, and axes. Wearing full on Cygnus uniforms that unfortunately I wasn't able to equip due to my low strength level. In total, there were about twenty five of us. The entire guild of Cygnus, along with various solo players, and smaller, higher level parties.
Maru and Karu stood on either side of me, bleak expressions on their faces. We were all three in a separate party, as we had requested. The highest levels were partied together, while the medium to lower levels had their own parties.
Maxis stood in the front of the crowd of players, going over the attack plan with everyone in the guild. Many of the soloers stood back, listening and probably judging Maxis, but they wouldn't dare interrupt him, out of fear that he'd smash their heads in.
Maxis unsheathed his great-sword, giving everyone the signal to draw their weapons. He stood in front of the door and rested his sword on his silver shoulder guards, he turned towards the crowd and began to deliver his speech.
"Cygnus," he paused, looking out on the other side of the crowd, "Uh... other players," I let out a small chuckle, "Now this isn't our first floor clearing so I'm positive you know what to do, however," he held his arm out in our direction, "I'd like to welcome Maru-san to his first boss fight," Many of the players looked over to Maru, who's face was a deep red, though he had a huge smile on his face, "And may he have good luck in this battle," I put my hand on Maru's head, ruffling his hair. Maxis slapped his heavy chest plating, as did every one of the guild members, "Let's do this," he rallied, everyone including myself and a few of the solo players began to chant "Latanica", as Maxis pushed open the large gray doors.
Notes:
Captain Latanica is a field boss in the MMORPG Maplestory.
Von Leon is also a field boss in Maplestory, however, he isn't a giant humanoid lion. He's just a badass mofo.