Of Mouse and Man

Phase 7— Developing

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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 edit. Time-skip time!

'Why.'

Asuna asked suddenly as the three of them appeared on the second floor, a floor similar to the first one in it's design but populated with different monsters. Kirito still seemed a little lost and was looking at the two girls awkwardly while wondering why the two stuck with him. Now that Asuna broke the silence, perhaps he would know why Fuse stuck with him at least.

'Why did you help Kirito? Do you know her, Kirito? Weren't you with Diabel anyway?'

She was suspicious of the way this girl had latched on to the boy that had helped her so much since the day before. Perhaps she was trying to hurt Kirito after all? She won't allow it!

W-Wait, why was she thinking in this manner? It's not like she... no, she didn't feel anything about Kirito, she was in her party and he was strong, that's why she didn't want to lose him. Yes, that's it.

'Kirito is a strong player. Perhaps the strongest, even stronger than Diabel. I want to be the best in SAO.'

Fuse answered matter-of-factly as her grip on the long sword got stronger.

'I won't settle for anything less. That's why, I will stay with you, Kirito. If I am with the strongest player, I will know who I need to surpass.'

Fuse's answer not only made Asuna blanch, but Kirito as well. The black-haired boy looked sheepish as he said that he wasn't the strongest. But Fuse wasn't having any of it, the straight-mouth player shaking her head and reminding him of the teamwork that the two of them showed earlier.

'The two of you are the strongest pair in the SAO. You will teach me to be as strong.'

Fuse was demanding it, not requesting it as she did not allow Kirito to move away as she leaned closer than ever to the poor boy.

Asuna wasn't having it however as she grabbed Kirito's other hand and pulled him away from the blue-haired girl.

'You don't need to agree, Kirito-kun.'

Kirito-kun? Where did that came from?

'Let's go, Kirito-kun. You said that you went further right? Where do we go first?'

Asuna tried to distract Kirito by smiling at him, Asuna had a very nice smile if she used it and Kirito was about to reply when Fuse grabbed Kirito's other hand as well.

'I will be accompanying the two of you.'

With a few swipes and press of her interface, Fuse left her party and demanded she be added into Kirito's party instead.

'W-Wha?'

'Invite me into your party, Kirito.'

'Do you know what is consistent with the ideal, Argo?'

Keima sprung the question to the Rat suddenly as they waited for the teleport portal between floors to be activated by the victorious players who had vanquished the first floor.

Argo had been informed of the good news and was waiting impatiently for all of them to activate the portal to allow them access to the second floor. She had filled Keima in on what had happened during the battle and although the loss of Diabel was painful, it certainly made Keima wince in disappointment at least, there were still takeaways from the battle that they had field.

Like how their guide was still flawed, their information from the beta-testers were not 100% accurate or dependable. That much was a given and well, listening to the neutral party re-tell the tale on how the group wanted to turn on the beta-testers made Argo wince in sympathy.

The two of them knew Kirito and although the boy did not contribute much to the Field Guide to Aincrad, he did help provide precious corrections from what he discovered and tried in the field itself.

The player named Fuse was also quite a well known player, one that was bittersweet for she was the second most famous female player beside Meizun. Fuse did most of her interactions with Keima though and Argo was not close to her, however she was well known to be as stubborn as a mule and obsessed with getting stronger.

But back to topic, the question was something surprising and Argo considered for a moment before answering with a small grin.

'There is a story, a crisis and a hero to save the day.'

'Accurate, a perfect answer.'

Keima did not seem too surprised that Argo was able to answer his question, that was to be expected from Argo who was Meizun's second in command after all. From their interactions together for the past month or so, she had shown herself to be a very talented individual in her field of information gathering and dissemination.

'We are in the ideal now, or perhaps it is more accurate to say that everyone has always been in their ideal. They would go through life with they themselves as both an observer in others or as a main character in their own story.'

Argo did not expect Keima to start talking about this out of the blue without a reason and she waited patiently for Keima to continue, this came from experience after all. The Rat was not disappointed as Keima nodded and continued.

'Since this is the ideal, and a game, even if it is an MMORPG that all of us are trapped in, all of us shares the same back story that all of us make a sum of. We are a sum of it's part, every one of our actions contribute to something, even if it is insignificant, even if it might never be seen. This is, our story in SAO.'

Argo was a little lost, but she allowed him to continue as he pushed a hand up the bridge of his nose. There was no need for glasses in SAO, but it seemed that it was particular quirk of Keima's. Even if she still did not forgive him fully, they still spoke and discussed each other's views on what was happening around SAO.

Keima was a visionary of sorts, one that could see far ahead while Argo was more grounded on the present, meaning the two was a good pair working together.

'Meizun taught me that, that we should not only be concerned about our own lives within SAO. The big picture, the full picture, the story of SAO that we all share is what matters. That is why I will help, I will use all of my power to influence and push all the players to the same goal. To give strength to those that needed it the most, to guide the lost sheep towards the Happy End.'

For some reason Argo winced and frowned at what Keima said but remained silent as she looked at Keima patiently.

Keima was Keima, the Capturing God, and if not for Argo being eccentric and a show-woman herself, not to mention having one month to finally forgive Keima, she would have walked off at the crap that he was spouting. But it came with the job of ensuring the Capturing God stayed on the right path that he was taking now. He was truly helping the people like what Meizun, her sister, thought that he could.

So she gritted her teeth and continued listening when she could just stop him right now.

'And… your point is?'

Or she could interrupt him right now to ask him to get to the point, that was good as well.

'There is always a Main Protagonist, and he would always be burdened with either power, responsibility, sense of justice or being as stubborn as a mule to achieve the impossible. That is the barest minimum that a candidate must possess.'

'Like I said… your… point is, Keima?'

'We still need to know who would shake this world to his core'

Keima answered with conviction in his voice and Argo rolled her eyes to say that no one was a mountain when the portal activated in front of them. The players that had been scattered around and waiting for the signal cheered while Argo and Keima stepped up towards it.

..

'Well, let's get going. Time to set up a new base and get my contacts out there.'

Argo shrugged as she pressed a hand against the portal, leaving Keima behind and appearing within the grounds of the second floor. Looking around the place with a critical eye, Argo blinked and grinned when she say who it was that had activated the portal.

'Well now, I didn't expect Mr. Hero to be the one to activate the portal himself.'

Argo grinned at Kirito, an associate of hers that spanned back to the time when she was in the Beta. Kirito was the top beta-tester in the beta and he had both the skills and the looks to complement it. Wait, looks? That didn't came out right.

'And you look at you, popular with the ladies? Nyahaha~'

Argo giggled mischievously while looking at the two girls that were with him. The brunette, Asuna, was a player that Argo wasn't familiar with but the other, Fuse, she was. She was one of Meizun's friends and they had a duel once where Meizun had came out on top.

Thinking about her sister made her chest throb in pain and it worsened when Keima appeared beside her the next moment. Players were popping from the portal one by one, taking a good look around before running off. The five players however slowly made their way through the town, exchanging greetings as they did so.

'… Good afternoon.'

Keima greeted the four of them with a nod before his eyes started surveying the place around him. Teleport portals were available in all towns of each floor, but they must be activated first. They were no doubt in the first town of the second floor just outside of the door to the first floor boss dungeon.

'Argo, Keima.'

Fuse replied with a curt nod. The female player has always been a little distant but she did use their services quite liberally. Like Kirito, she was a very good player and took on all the quests that were listed in the Field Guide. She was also shameless in her pursuit for information that she needed, she wanted to be the strongest after all.

..

'I've heard what happened in the raid, sorry about your loss... Fuse, you were working with Diabel, am I correct?'

Keima inquired, no doubt confused at why she was with Kirito now. Unlike Fuse, Kirito primarily dealt with Argo, but the Capturing God liked having his nose into every pie if he could help it. It was in his nature, information was power, and if he was to get the Happy End, he needed every scrap for it.

He'd even die for it... just like how Meizun had – no, he has to stop thinking about that.

'Yes, Diabel was a skilled individual. If he had not broke formation, he would have been alive today.'

'Uwah, harsh, Fuse-chan is really harsh...'

'I am merely being observant.'

'So I see. Your speech to the rest of the raid members left them very upset.'

Keima answered evenly and he noticed Kirito rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. Asuna however started when she noticed something popped up on her interface and she looked at it suspiciously before dismissing it.

'I would rather you accept my friend request, Asuna.'

Keima replied immediately and that caused Argo to roll his eyes, Kirito to give a small snort of amusement and Fuse to tilt her head in confusion.

'B-But, I don't know you...'

Asuna replied meekly, seemingly cowed by the way Keima looked at her sternly.

'Yes, that is true. However I would still rather you accept my friend request.'

'Just do it, Asuna-chan. As a bonus, I'll let you add me to your friend list.'

Argo winked while Kirito looked even more amused by it.

'Wait, w-why would...'

Kirito blinked before hitting his own palm and turning to Asuna.

'Let me introduce them to you, Asuna. This is Argo and Keima. The two of them are known as the Information Traders of Aincrad. You've read the 'Field Guide to Aincrad' that I loaned you? The two of them are the ones responsible for it.'

Asuna's mouth opened in a 'o' shape before smiling and bowing to the two of them.

'I'm Asuna, pleased to meet you. The 'Field Guide' is really informative, I'll finish it soon!'

Asuna's words made Keima frown as he studied Asuna closely, causing the brunette to blush and cling to Kirito tighter.

'You have not read the Field Guide at all? How, may I ask is that possible? I've put all my effort into advertising and distributing the 'Field Guide', did I miss a place?'

Keima bit his lip in frustration and it was Kirito who brought him out of his misery as he mentioned that Asuna had taken the last month pretty hard.

'She was training by herself for around 3-4 days out on the fields before she returned... it's complicated... really. At least she's reading it now, right?'

Keima frowned but let the matter drop, if there were still others who were not in the know, he'd have to step up the distribution efforts.

'Back to the topic, you should accept the two's friend request so you can contact them for any help, any at all. They're the ones who told me about the quest to get cream.'

Keima smirked when Asuna immediately accepted the friend request from the two of them without hesitation.

'It's included in the Field Guide under the quest sections, Asuna-chan.'

Argo chimed in to be helpful while Kirito just rolled his eyes.

Seeing that the matter was settled, there was some easy silence before Keima turned back to talk to Fuse.

'Going back to topic, I doubt that your previous group of associates would wish to party with you again. Would you require our services to find another party?'

Keima already knew her answer but just wanted to be sure and he was proven right when Fuse shook her head and said that she already has a party in mind.

'With Kii-bou right? Good choice. Even if he might look cute, he's still the top player of the beta.'

Now that everyone knew that Kirito was a beta-tester, there was no reason to hide the facts despite Kirito palming his own face in resignation.

'I thought that was supposed to be a secret, Argo?'

'Fuse here once paid me to tell her who was the strongest known player of SAO. I told her it was Diabel as he had the highest level, but now that he's dead, it falls to Kii-bou. And that reputation is really amazing too! He reached the tenth floor after all!'

'The... tenth floor?'

Fuse seemed floored but her eyes then hardened as she insisted Kirito add her to her group once again. Asuna was squawking in disbelief at the audacity of Fuse, who was pressing her body tightly against Kirito without a care, or perhaps she didn't really register that.

Keima for his part just looked a little odd but that was par for Keima, he was going to be odd somehow. Instead, Argo looked around the place again before giving smiling in nostalgia.

'It has been a while, isn't it? But why did it take so long for the three of you to reach here? I know your built, Kii-bou, you shouldn't take so long to reach here, and you know the route here anyway.'

'Ah... about that... we came here only after we finished some training.'

Kirito said sheepishly and it was accented by Asuna and Fuse nodding their headers in affirmative.

'That's really risky, Kii-bou. You know some of the players can't survive in the fields outside the first floor! And you took two rookies with you? What if the two of them died?'

Argo raged while Kirito smiled and shrugged sheepishly.

'The two of them are good, Argo, I wouldn't put them at risk.

'Obviously, Mr. Hero. Maaah... I don't care any more.'

Argo sighed before rubbing her head, and promptly added more fuel to the fire to Kirito's situation when she remarked that she really didn't mind sharing Kirito with them in the end.

'W-Whaa- Kirito-kun?'

'A-Argo! W-We're not like that! I swear!'

'Ohoho~ Why are you blaming it on the girl, Kii-bou! That's not the right thing to say!'

..

'I can see the ending. Those three are the ones…'

Keima declared suddenly to Argo after watching the other three leave to finish their business.

'The... ones? The heroes and heroines you mean?'

Argo frowned but the gave a sigh as she acknowledged the possibility.

'Kii-bou even got a nickname, a title! Well, Beater isn't the best but... at least it is something.'

Argo smiled as Keima crossed his arms to give his approval as well.

'He is the strongest beta-player according to your notes, am I right? Besides… he was the only person who cleared the entire quest list in the first floor within three days. Three, days, that should not been possible.'

'What about the person who discovered all of them in the first place? What does that make you?'

'A God, nothing else.'

Keima deadpanned and Argo had to snort as he was serious with what he was saying and was not joking at all. What self-confidence!

'Kirito has always showed that he was on a different league, that he was stronger than the rest and now… the world has acknowledged him as one of them. That's not even considering how he has gotten the attention of two strong females.'

'Okay… So Kirito finally approached a girl, so, yay, and now he's a main character? Well… I always thought that Kirito is the best player besides Meizun…'

Keima winced visibly at that and Argo didn't feel sorry at all for reminding him of that.

'The boy will attract people to him unlike any one else even if he wishes to be alone… that is a defining quality of the hero. The protagonist, does he have that?'

Keima asked softly and Argo threw his hands up in the air in agreement to that.

'Point… I don't really mind if it's Kirito though… Really. He's... good enough, really.'

Argo grinned while Keima simply smiled and said he was looking forward to interacting with the two of them in the future.

'Till then, we should do our part by starting our exploration of this floor.'

A Month Later

..

'How's everything doing, Keima?'

Argo asked patiently as they had lunch together. The schedule that had developed on the first floor had been disrupted when the two of them had shifted operations to the fifth floor as the flow of information from the floors below them had gotten too much to handle even for the Capturing God.

Even if there were a couple of hundred of people still in the first floor, the rest of the players distributed from the other floors, he found it his obligation to at least help those players on that floor. There were a hundred floors with ten thousand people on it. Eventually people would abandon floors in it's totality and just keep moving on. His information network was spread thin, eventually he'll have to regroup his guild members and allies.

Hence his suggestion of leaving one of the players in charge of monitoring the situation there. There were ten thousand players in Aincrad, and not all of them wanted to fight in the front lines.
It hadn't been too difficult to locate a suitable candidate from all of Argo's contacts, she was responsible for recruiting after all and after accessing their abilities and giving them instructions on what to do, Argo and Keima had established their information network even better than before.

They had even started a guild where the two of them were the joint guild leaders. They went by the name of [Nezumi], much to Keima's chagrin.

'Nothing has changed much from the floors below... no lives were lost today. However I must share my uneasiness at how there is no development so far.'

Keima answered softly while Argo raised an eyebrow in confusion. The two of them were by themselves, an uncommon occurrence since the guild had been established.

Despite delegating a lot of their roles to others, like the assignment of players to different parties, queries on quests and the continual research on the mechanics of Aincrad, the two of them were still swamped with work.

That was mostly due to the connections they had formed with the clearers out on the fields. Argo expected nothing less as they needed leaders to tackle the gradually growing stronger monsters if they wanted to keep up the pace of growth that all of them had.

The second and the third floor monsters were reasonably easy, even with the changes from the beta they hadn't needed the same full squad of members to take them down.

Keima hypothesized that certain floors would be harder to make the game more challenging. Illfang was labelled as a much bigger threat than the two floor bosses after accessing his strength and skills from the player's description of them.

There were currently three established group of players that the clearers had started to adhere to, the first and biggest group were the players that formed the smaller and long lasting parties with their friends or comrades they met in the fields.

They were players who played in pairs or in group of threes that formed bigger parties through Nezumi's help. They were also lower levelled than the other group of players as they couldn't grind in much stronger areas.

The second group of players were those that had formed long lasting parties with each other, it wasn't uncommon for groups that had worked well together to stick to the same party. They would have gotten more experience playing with each other and covered for each other. The second group was the group that Keima and Argo agreed would eventually grow to the last group, the guilds that had been formed on the fifth floor where they were all gathered in.

However there weren't many prominent clearer guilds so far, none that has really gathered enough players to really stand out even amongst the meetings to plan for the raid of each of the floor bosses.

The most famous guild by far was of course Nezumi, with a group of around a hundred individuals they weren't the biggest, but with their ties with the merchant guild consisting of a couple of hundred players, it was the most influential group so far.

The biggest guild by far was the Merchant Guild that was formed due to it's practicality. Practically all of the players that wished to craft items in SAO had joined the guild, and with their overwhelming numbers and Nezumi's knowledge of the 'affluence' mechanic with SAO, they basically controlled the economy of SAO.

The second largest group was the gathering group that went by the name – Atelier, a group that was similar to the Merchant guild only they specialize in the collection and trading of monster drops exclusively unlike the former which were focused on the selling and purchase of player-made items and all the items required to make them.

With the rate in which Atelier was growing, seeing how they had established a system of transporting drops from the field to the towns with their players, Argo and Keima were of the mind that the Merchant Guild might soon outsource their requirements to them. It was encouraged, he had been the one to assist Atelier with the coordination while Argo was the liaison between the two guilds.

Atelier was also loosely associated with Nezumi, the two guilds sharing information freely just like how they did with the Merchant Guild.

The economy of Aincrad was thriving, supporting the players that were out on the field for them. Support, was as important as the offence after all!

'Perhaps we are just doing too well? Having no abnormalities is a good thing, Keima.'

'… That is why I am worried...'

Author's Notes: And that's a wrap for now.