Of Mouse and Man

Phase 5— Making it Work

..

Original Title: The World Only God Knows / 神のみぞ知るセカイ & Sword Art Online(ソードアート・オンライン)

Original Concept by: Tamiki Wakiki & Kawahara Reki

written by: wrathie

Author's Notes: A Crossover where Keima was not approached by the Weiss Capturing Squad and the Events of the Goddess Arc is non-existent.

Author's Notes: Thank you, bowpurity for the beta!

Note: I would have replied you, Verdekiel, but the webpage ate my reply. And i spent half an hour on it too!

..

Argo wanted to say something, she should say something, or maybe she did said something after Keima's announcement. But she couldn't remember, everything just happened so fast that Argo found herself unable to recall exactly what happened, detail by detail, word for word.

She remembered her slapping him, that much she was sure, she remembered her dismissing the friend request from him.

She remembered hissing as she grabbed his collar despite her shorter height, dismissing the second friend request from him.

She hit him, she was sure, she was not given a warning for that as they were not in the city. There was no harassment warning, she remembered because she kept on hitting him.

Did she say something? Maybe, but she was crying. Argo was crying because seeing him, seeing Keima, the person who had killed her sister re-opened her wounds in ways that she didn't think was possible.

It tore at her, because everything she hit him, she could see her face – and Meizun's pleas for her to not hurt him or dismiss him.

Well, tough, Keima killed Meizun with his bare hands even if he did nothing to her.

So she kept on hitting him, her pounding on him getting weaker as she lost her strength and fury.

Argo wasn't sure if she was hurting him, or if he had drank potions to keep himself healthy. Heck, maybe he was at a higher level now in her absence. She didn't know, because by the end of it, when she had stopped hitting him, she was in an awkward embrace with the taller boy. Her face was pressed against his chest, and she was listening to the sound of him breathing while she regained her senses.

No, while she regained control of her emotions. Her tears hadn't stopped running, she thought that they would never do that but she was a strong woman.

A strong person, much stronger than that person who had just waltzed in saying he was going to take responsibility of getting her sister killed. Meizun, the one who should have been leading everyone right now.

How could he do that? How?!

'…'

As if in response to her wordless question, Keima eased Argo off, letting her stand with her own strength while staring at him warily.

Her eyes widened when the same offer for a friend request popped up before a mail was sent to her.

'What... is this?'

Argo asked stiffly even as she opened the mail, and to her surprise it was a listing of quests detailing their rewards, method of clearing as well as the prerequisite to activate the quest in the first place.

'This concludes all the quests that I had activated, finished as well as catalogued for the beginning city. It would be prudent for it to to be published in the next edition of the Field Guide…. It also has a category of 'risk' quests, where rare and strong monsters would spawn while the quest is being completed.'

Argo inhaled in sharply before she could hide her shock at the extent of information that Keima had gathered by himself. He was good, really good as he had managed to unearth much more than she had been able to with her informants.

It shouldn't be that easy but it had been, for him at least and it made Argo splutter in a mix of outrage and awe before she recovered.

'Is that it? Is that all you have do-'

Keima surprised her again when he shook his head and instead said that the announcements on all the signboards was him as well. The fact that he had the funds, or at least the influence or the means to do so was surprising by itself and Argo found herself biting her lips before the clincher from Keima.

'Meizun made me promise...'

Keima started but the mention of that name only made Argo's anger and frustration rose slightly more. Her hands were trembling and she would have reached out to knock his head off if he hadn't continued quickly enough.

'She wanted the two of us to change SAO, to revolutionize SAO with our strengths. You... know how Meizun was.'

Oh she knew, of course she knew, and she thought she knew Keima too! So what does it matter? Why does it matter now when it's too late?

'I didn't want to, but it seemed like I have no choice. I... I will finish it, for her... and for myself. Would you, lend me your strength?'

Keima asked meekly, well, meekly was the wrong word – he asked her for help. Her, Argo, whom he knew hated him with a vengeance. Her, Argo, who said she wanted nothing to do with him. Who had all but abandoned him in a fit of anger.

Really?

Was he so thick skinned? Had he no shame at all? Why was he asking something so incredibly impossible that she could never condone it? It was – it was impossible for him to really believe that she would accept? That she would help the person who caused her sister's death?

But then, but then... if he wanted to make amends, if he was serious then... It'll be what her sister wanted, right?

It hurt, it definitely hurt but it'll be right. She'll be alright with it. That much, Argo knew.

So...

'Please, Argo.'

Keima asked again, louder than he had initially and that was the clincher that made Argo gave a disgusted sigh before wiping the tears from her eyes. Pushing him away, Argo's eyes glowered with anger, hate, unhappiness before finally resonating with resignedness. She was the Rat, she knew her role – and her role now was to ensure that information, the one unseen weapon would be wielded by everyone. If this man was prepared to take up the responsibility of his actions, then so be it.

'F-Fine.'

Argo answered with a grimace while Keima's eyes lightened significantly at her reply. It was not a victory for both parties, it was a promise, an amendment, or atonement for her lost sister.

That, made it a little better.

'I won't take it easy on you, Keima, I won't. Remember that!'

..

Leaving Argo's room and heading into his own, Keima gave a soft sigh of satisfaction. She didn't catch the hint, but no doubt, she would after she had read through the information that he had given her. Sitting at his desk, he opened up his menu screen, looking through the messages and drafts that he had written.

Meizun's death would not be in vain. The very scene was burned into his eyes, and he could remember each and every detail. The first information he gained was that there was a category of quests that would 'spawn' rare monsters, dangerous monsters. He had named it Risk quests, a clear warning of what the quests would do. The Wolfmen that had killed Meizun did not spawn anywhere near the area, and after a few testing, he realized that it would spawn near quest takers when players were in sight of town, no matter where they were as they approached safety. After his recovery, he had only found two more risk quests and he slayed the monsters with dark satisfaction.

..

And the second, and more important information he had was a method. Meizun's level was at 8, but the monster that rushed at them was at lv 5, just a level above his own. As much as he hated SAO's mechanics of numbers, the very same rule should state that Meizun should not have fallen after only two hits.

So why then, why did she fall? The claws of the werewolf didn't just go through her body, they went through her rib cage, her heart. The next attack wasn't aimed at the body as well, it landed straight on her neck.

As the claw went past her body once more, she had given him a smile, even as her eyes told him that she was in fear.

"I believe in you."

No…. there's no point in tears. No longer. He had cried for a day. That was enough. No more regrets. The method... he has yet to confirm it, but it seems that there were 'areas' on monsters and players which SAO would design as 'critical' areas. Successfully attacking those areas with the correct angle of attack would deal almost double to triple damage to the monster.

He looked at the draft in front of him, listing out his findings of all the critical parts of a monster, before closing it with a sigh. There was a good reason why he kept this information to himself for now… The 'critical' areas were just that, and after a few monsters, he noticed that the Monster AI took some effort to avoid or deflect blows that were aimed at the area. It took him by surprise at first but he survived the encounter. There was a chance that his information might cause a player to overextend himself, thus causing his death, and so he kept this information to himself.

Perhaps if there was an advanced guide to SAO… but that's for the future. It wouldn't bring good results to reveal this now.

..

It has been a month, one month of being stuck in the game known as SAO and there was a marked improvement from what had happened in the first week.

For one, the amount of suicides, yes, it was right to call them suicides at this point – had dropped almost to zero.

That was due mostly to the players having settled down into their new fate and role in SAO. One thing was sure though, the humans were very good at adapting, especially if their lives were at stake.

Even if adapting to the situation was to hide in the beginning city, doing the barest minimum to keep themselves alive – it was also a way of adapting to the situation.

It wasn't perfect, but at least people weren't taking their lives without any reason any more.

Secondly, the amount of players who actually headed out to fight in the fields, to gain strength to clear the game had increased as well. The margin of safety for the players had increased tremendously and that was thanks to more information about the game being steadily released by the information brokers and sellers of SAO.

That constant feed of information mostly came from Argothe Rat as well as Keima, the two forerunners of information gathering and distribution.

It took only one month, but the information that they were able to gather was able to stabilize the entirety of the ten thousand players that were stuck in the first floor.

The map of the first floor had been quickly determined and updated with information on the level and types of mobs in each area for all the players to plot and map their own training grounds.

List of quests, merchant shops, monster drops, player customization lists and etc were all available in the Field Guide to Aincrad published by the two of them. There were also a listing of player shops, recommended selling prices and FAQS on how to survive and thrive in SAO. Most importantly though and as courtesy from Keima and Argo, - party requests were constantly being updated on all the signboards around the towns enabling players to find scouting, hunting or gathering parties.

There was of course a limit to how much information could be disseminated without direct contact and that was where Keima shone. More often than not when one entered the house that housed Keima and Argo, one would see him replying and reading personal mails at a rate that one would call it impossible.

His hands would blur and one would almost swear that he had more than one pair of hands as he typed furiously, replying all the mails he had without any hesitation or rest. It was as if he had everything memorized in his mind.

..

'…'

Argo looked up from her seat on the couch to frown at Keima. Even after working with him for a few weeks, that sight of him replying mails as fast as he did brought a measure of discomfort to her. It just wasn't natural, he was pushing himself to an absurd degree but no one else could achieve the same rate he did.

He made it a point to reply to all mails sent from 0800 hrs to 1100 hrs immediately, and would reply the rest after 1400 hrs where he and Argo would head to to check with their informants. Yes, their informants. One couldn't expect so much information gathering to be done through themselves alone?

Keima had his own sources with the NPCs in each town which he gleamed valuable information from while Argo had her own informants under her payroll whose sole purpose was to map the area, report on suspicious circumstances and to take on the quests that Keima had discovered or unearthed.

If it was possible, Argo herself would be out on the field to speak with potential clients, she was also a key figure in the barter and trade that happened between the players.

That had only gotten a little more complicated when all the player merchants had – after being convinced by the two of them, to band together to stabilize the prices of player crafted items.

It wasn't uncommon to see gathering teams out on the field buying loot from the players who were out hunting. There was only so much one could carry after all and there were times where they would need to replenish supplies out on the field as well.

There was quite a roaring trade and it had started to affect the affluence level of the towns and would only get worse if nothing was done about it.

The player merchants had a tough time trying to control the prices from inflating and decreasing significantly between cities and eventually they had succeeded.

The details, sweat the details, was one of the key reasons why Keima and Argo had visitors today, the two visitors stepping in after knocking on the door.

..

'Good afternoon, Argo-san.'

'Yo, Argo. Guess Keima's still busy, huh?'

Lisbeth and Agil, the two representatives from the player-merchant guild that they had managed to tie together, greeted as they entered. All of the aspiring merchants, or players whom were already merchants were 'allied' to the information network that Keima had helped Argo established.

It had been difficult to accept it, but despite Keima's inability to communicate well with any one, he had a glib tongue and his sharp mind had reasoned them to agreeing.

Even Argo didn't have a tongue as glib as his was – that man could confound anyone to follow his instructions.

Or just bore them to death, she was certain that some of the player-merchants had fallen asleep during his rant about how the economy of SAO could be controlled.

Well, he was at least focused on his promise. It had been very awkward the first night as well as the week that had followed to know that her sister's killer was sleeping in the same house as she was. But he worked hard, and produced results. They were supporting the players out in the fields in ways that she had not thought they could.

They had uncovered the location of the first floor's boss monster and today was the day where a meeting was to be held for all the players wanting to clear the first floor.

'He always is. One day his hand would cramp up and you'll see what happens. Anyway, going to the meeting later?'

Argo asked with a smirk as Agil nodded his head. The older, larger and dark-skinned man was more of a clearer that would like to be out on the fields than selling stuff.

At least at the start, that had changed when Argo had caught him giving a set of armor and weapon to a player who had gotten cheated of his stuff by a rogue band of players.

Oh, those players were easily blacklisted thanks to Keima's help but the fact was that Agil was a kind and fair man had always stuck with Argo and to Keima.

'Wouldn't miss it for the world. Most of the clearers are having problems leveling up at this point. We probably reached the cap of this level... But the boss of each floor is supposed to be something else, right? The more hands we have on hand, the better.'

Lisbeth, the brunette who was the best female blacksmith nodded with a nervous smile as well.

'We've prepared our best equipment for the meeting too. I... well, they are a bit expensive, but we got some of our merchants there ready to barter with them. It's... still business, so sorry.'

Lisbeth sounded apologetic but Argo just laughed and said that it'll be fine.

'Getting us to help gather all the players was business too – even if you know, Keima says that we should do it for free.'

'And I stand by that statement.'

Keima spoke up suddenly, his eyes looking up from his navigation window to frown at Argo. The man had a really nasty look that could never be replicated no matter what Argo tried. Still, all of them who had worked with Keima knew that was his work face. It was funny because he didn't seem to find it funny.

'Coordinating all the players would also help us to keep a list on the status of all the active players out on the field. They are our potential clients – we are the ones profiteering from this.'

'But we're not a charity, I don't want Diabel to try any funny business like asking for favors after this. A business means we get paid. It doesn't matter who asks us for help, we get paid for doing work.'

Argo stressed the word and Keima backed down while his hands never stopped moving.

..

'Agil, Lisbeth.'

Acknowledgement from Keima was all and good, but they weren't here for the cookies that Argo was nibbling on. Besides, Argo was working too, she was in conversation with someone else. Even if she seemed too amused and was giggling, they knew that was her work face too.

'R-Right, the prices of the [Boar Pelts] and the [Rabbit Fur] had started to rise again. That can't be helped as there are less players who are hunting the low level mobs. At the same time everyone is starting to converge at the areas where the [Buffalo] mobs are spawning. There'll be complications in the future as many are camping at the place.'

Lisbeth reported to Keima as the female blacksmith and merchants were mostly out on the field as part of the supply and gathering parties to buy monster drops from the players out on the field. That served as somewhat of a supply line from the fields back to the towns.

Although common sense dictate that they would be safer in the towns, it was also true that they were able to bargain significantly better than their male counterparts.

'That doesn't really hurt out production or the rate of returns that we can obtain from the cities. The equipment that can be made from those two low levelled materials are hitting their cap anyway. They aren't good for upgrading either...'

Agil continued while Lisbeth nodded. One benefit of having a controlled and centralized economy, even if it was one that was set up in a few weeks, was that it levelled the playing field significantly for all players.

Well, it was less helpful for those that actually went out to take quests that granted rarer and better equipment unable to be bought in the first floor.

'How's the experimentation of the forging mechanics working out?'

'To be honest I think we're at a dead end. The few blacksmiths,'

Agil give Lisbeth a proud look while she blushed.

'-that had reached level 10 are now nearing level 11 in their skills. But we believe we're limited by the materials that we could work with.'

'I see, I guess that can't be helped. Have we worked out the best combination for upgrading weapons?'

'We have better success there, but we are still limited by materials. The best results so far came from that level 8 quests that offered the copper ore as a quest reward. But since players could only take that quest once, it's impossible to actually craft a 'best' weapon for everyone.'

'And it doesn't suit everyone too. The upgrade that copper ore provides for the weapon doesn't match particular styles as it decreases the durability a little.'

'… I see, well, at least we're making progress. I apologize for asking the two of you to come over every day.'

Keima nodded and just sighed when Argo shouted that it was business. Argo and Lisbeth were being paid to take on such 'experimentations' by Keima. Not that they wouldn't, but Keima insisted that they do and he would even pay for their materials to do so.

One would wonder how Keima gathered those funds and it was quite simple, he was gaining a small cut from coordinating all the merchant shops and spreading any new details with them as well.

He was just paying them out of their own pocket – something that Argo admitted was quite devious of him.

'It's about time, shall we?'

Keima stood up from his seat and gave a small nod when Lisbeth and Agil mirrored his actions. He was glad to make acquaintances of the two players, even if he felt more than a little awkward that they treated him like their technical superior. Well, it's nothing to be fully concerned about, as long as he does what he promised, no one would complain about what he did to achieve them, right?

..

'I wonder why you even come to the meeting if you're not even going to make contacts, Keima.'

Argo hissed angrily at Keima who didn't even pay attention as he was replying more messages that he had received while waiting for the meeting of all the clearers to begin.

Unlike Argo, who was greeting and familiarizing herself with as many of the players that had gathered, Keima had just spoke quickly to Lisbeth and Argo before they had went to meet up with the other player merchants that Keima had asked them to prepare all the equipment for. The atmosphere had been tense, but when the player merchants had started shouting their wares – much to the surprise of the gathered players, the entire mood had gotten a bit more relaxed.

Sort of like a carnival, a little any way as the players started haggling with the merchants to get better deals.

Argo was of course in the thick of it, she was quite a famous figure after all and many of the clearers, as they were termed, knew her.

It was a good time to mingle around, offer some tips to players she had never met and even to be introduced to others by the clearers themselves.

Argo didn't mind all that, her business was best conducted person to person after all and she was happy and excited for the chance to know how many players had gathered to take on the first floor boss.

She was willing to give all the information she had to the leader of this group, which would have been Meizun had she not…

..

Argo shook her head as she stopped herself from thinking those dark and spiraling thoughts that would no doubt bring about only pain for her and for him.

It had only been a few weeks and Argo had started to forgive Keima for what he had done, what he had done unwittingly and that's… so like her actually.

'I did not come here to socialize and to make contacts, Argo. I came here to participate in the meeting. I am doing what I can to ensure that everyone is prepared and equipped fully in the best way possible.'

'And I say that you should at least see the people that you're trying to help. It's fine and good to write all the thesis and the analysis and give all the recommendations on what have already been discovered and another thing to actually apply them.'

Argo argued while raising an eyebrow at him only to sigh when Keima did the same. She knew the point was moot as Keima had walked the talk, he had personally finished all the quests that he had published and knew the best way to clear them with the most profit.

Not to mention his own player level was comparable to many of the players that were assembled today. So was hers, a result of Argo tagging along with Keima as he took on new quests from the mayor of each town.

There were no more new quests available for the two of them and it had freed them to start using that knowledge to benefit the players more like what they were doing now.

'The meeting is about to start at any rate…'

Keima dismissed Argo just like how he dismissed his navigation window with a flick of his wrist.

'Sometimes I wonder how I tolerate you at all.'

Author's Notes: Thank you for your interest! I hope I can keep this up too!