Author's Note: First off, I'd just like to say thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited, or followed this story. I'm honestly surprised; I didn't expect to have this much support and feedback after just 2 chapters. You wouldn't know how much motivation it gives you to continue until you begin writing a story yourself. The feedback from you guys really helps a lot. Also, special thanks to wiseguy227, Render795, and TreeBindingDeath for pointing out mistakes I had in the story, allowing me to fix them. I'm glad some of you seem to be enjoying the story so far! As always, if you have any suggestions or notice a mistake, please let me know.

I'd like to reply to some of the things I saw in the reviews. I do plan to keep Kirito and Asuna together from the beginning so for anyone who was hoping for that, worry no more. I'll also try to give Argo and Klein a larger role and I'll be sure to eventually finish this story. From the reviews and messages I've gotten so far, it seems the majority of my readers seem to be interested in the Eugeo and Yuuki ship. I'm still not sure whether I should add some romance between the two, but if I do I'll try to make sure it doesn't get in the way of the story and flows smoothly. For those who are less thrilled about the ship, I hope it won't affect your enjoyment of the story too much. I've started a poll to take a final count and see what you guys think. Should I eventually make those two a couple? You guys get to decide.

I'd also like to address those who feel the story follows too closely to the canon. I appreciate the criticism and I will admit that Chapter 1 follows very closely to the canon, only diverging from it at the very end. Chapter 1 was just to introduce the world and characters as if it were an original story, and not a fanfiction. The world does also slightly differ from the original SAO and I thought it would be good to note the differences through an introductory chapter, rather than start somewhere midway and explain the new changes to the world later. I can promise you that after Chapter 1, things will greatly diverge from the original. I don't want to spoil too much of what I have planned so I'll just say one distinction that would make the story significantly different. Asuna and Kirito meet and stick together from the get-go. That itself should be enough to change some events, no? As for there being too many players, I may reduce the number back later. My reasoning for making it so much in the first place was to reduce Kirito's OPness to some degree (I mean, the guy literally just stood there against a group of red players and beat them without moving a muscle until the end). More people means more competition. Another reason was just because I felt 10,000 to be somewhat of a small number when you consider that in the year 2022, we're estimated to have almost 8 billion people in the world. And with a game like this, who'd want to pass up the chance? (Before they found out it was a death game.) This is an international game, 10 million people would only be 0.0125% of the world's population! Not to mention, as of 2015, World of Warcraft has over 10 million subscriptions. Looking at it from that view, 1 million still seems small in comparison, especially for a game as revolutionary as this. Not only will gamers play, but everyone from businessmen looking to invest in the Soul Translator to scientists who want to learn more about the technology could play the game. Maybe I'm just overthinking it? What are your opinions as a reader?

Anyways enough with the long Author's Note already, onward with the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online or any of its characters. If I did, Kirito would be less overpowered.

Chapter 3: Accepting Reality

Asuna bolted upright in her bed. Breathing heavily, she looked at her surroundings. She was in her own bedroom in the real world. It was a dream, Asuna thought, It was all a dream! She ran out of bed and down the stairs. I knew it, games were a bad idea. They would only waste my precious time and lead to disaster. Asuna saw her mother at the table eating breakfast.

"Mother!" Asuna shouted happily. She was relieved to be in the real world, in her house.

"Asuna, I heard you decided to use the game Koichirou gave you," her mother said.

"What? Mother, what are you talking about?" Asuna asked nervously.

"What an idiotic thing to do, Asuna," her mother said blankly.

"Mother, I don't know what-"

Suddenly the world around her started spinning. It showed Hina talking to a crowd of her friends.

"Hina…!" Asuna shouted out, "Please, help me! I don't know what's going on!" Asuna tried to touch her but went straight through her.

"H-Hina…?" Asuna asked desperately.

"It's true, Asuna said it so coldly too," Hina said, talking to her friends, "'Gaming is a waste of life' she said! But now look at her! She's totally addicted."

"No… T-that isn't.." Asuna stuttered trying to say something.

"So much for getting into a traditional college. She's last on the rankings now!" Hina continued as her friends laughed at the former honor student.

"N-no.. that can't be..!" Asuna looked up at the rankings posted on the wall. In first place was the name of someone she didn't know. "What? Well maybe second place? What about third?" Losing her mind, she ran through the list looking for her name. Finally, arriving at the bottom of the list, Asuna stared in despair. Her greatest fear had been realized. She fell onto her knees, reading and rereading to be sure there hadn't been some kind of mistake. Just as Hina said, the name "Yuuki, Asuna," was written in last place.

The world continued to spin and the scene changed once again. Asuna saw herself with the Soul Translator on her head, lying on a hospital bed and unconscious in a coma-like state. Her mother stood next to her, staring at her daughter in disappointment.

"A game? Really a game?" her mother said, "Aren't you ashamed to call yourself a human being? Because you made such a foolish decision, this is the result."

"N-no... It's not true!" Asuna said while grabbing her head, unable to accept the reality.

I-I too… I too want to go back!" Asuna cried out in anguish.

Asuna's world began to spin even more, making her sick. Suddenly, she was in Aincrad again. Before her was a towering figure wearing a sanguine cloak, the one who started all of this, Kayaba Akihiko.

"There is only one way you can be released. You must beat the game."

Suddenly, the cloaked giant reached a hand out, attempting to grab Asuna. Asuna tried to run, but it was useless. The hand grabbed her, crushing her slowly.

"Somebody… Somebody help me!" Asuna cried out. However, there was no one there to help her. The world slowly shifted to pitch black. It was dark and the place was void of all colors. Asuna curled up into a ball and began crying.

"Why? Why did I play that stupid game? Why do I have to be trapped in here…?" she questioned, broken and in despair.

"Mom… I want to come back home…" she continued weeping, alone in the darkness, "Somebody please… Help me…"

"-na!"

What? Who is that?

"Asuna!"

Who's calling my name?

"Asuna, wake up! Snap out of it!"

Slowly, the world around her shook. The darkness slowly receded as she opened her eyes. Argo was shaking her body. They were on the streets nearby one of the city's gates that lead outside to a vast field where monsters roamed. So I'm still here.

"Ah, finally you're awake," Argo said relieved, "Don't worry me like that. Come on, we need to go."

"Where are we going?" Asuna asked in a depressed voice.

Argo hesitated a moment, "I'm not exactly sure. But sitting around won't solve anything. We need to do something. First we should see how the situation is in the town and try to gather some information. We'll need to be more careful and start focusing on training ourselves. The stakes of losing in a battle are much higher now, we need to get stronger."

"What's the point? We're all going to be trapped here until we die anyways."

"What are you talking about?" Argo questioned.

"Just trying to defeat those boars, I nearly got killed. Didn't you tell me those were the weakest monsters in the game? We have 100 floors to clear, each one more difficult than the next. Do you really think anyone stands a chance?" Asuna continued.

She wasn't wrong. Things did seem pretty hopeless. In the beta, even the strongest, most skilled players died a number of times on the first floor. Each new floor was considerably harder than the next. There was no telling how difficult all 100 floors would be. Would they really make it?

"We're stuck here, trapped. We'll all eventually die in this world, it's only a matter of when and how. This is our reality now," Asuna continued.

Argo shook her head. She couldn't allow herself to get depressed over this. If they lost hope, everything was over. Argo stared at Asuna. She just sat there, mentally exhausted and reluctant to move.

With a sigh, Argo said, "You stay here. I'm going to go see what I can find out about all this. I'll be back soon. We won't die. We're going to clear this game alright?"

Asuna replied with silence. Argo handed Asuna a cloak to conceal herself and ran off back towards the center of the town.

Asuna just sat there, doing nothing. This was a change. For once in her life, instead of constantly overworking herself to the point of exhaustion and thinking about her studies, she just sat there, motionless with her mind blank. What was the point of anything anymore? Her life was over as far as she was concerned.

She heard footsteps of someone running in the distance. Asuna recalled what Argo said, it might be dangerous to be around people when they were this panicked.

Suddenly, the footsteps slowed and finally just stopped. It sounded like the person collapsed.

I wonder if they're okay. she thought, slightly concerned.

Asuna got up slowly walking towards the gate where she had heard the footsteps. There was the sound of a wolf nearby, growling. Hearing the sound, the sheltered girl was terrified. She continued towards the gate cautiously. Even if they were in a «Safe Area», Argo had said to be careful regardless.

Suddenly, Asuna heard the sound of a boy shouting in agony and a loud crunching as if bones were being broken. She ran over to the sound and saw a wolf biting into the arm of a boy who was no older than she was. She was shocked for a moment, seeing real blood coming from his arm instead of the usual blue light. Her shocked expression quickly vanished and turned into fear and worry. The boy was lying on the ground seemingly unable to move. He looked up at her for a moment before falling into a state of complete unconsciousness.

Asuna backed up, scared. What could she possibly do against a wolf? She could sense the killing intent coming from it and could tell by the boy's earlier scream that the pain he felt was agonizing.

The wolf shot Asuna a glare with its glowing red eyes, as if warning her not to interfere.

It was impossible. She couldn't do anything to help him. Asuna stood there, shaking. She was scared out of her mind. It took all the courage in her not to run away right then and there. Yet, despite how scared she was, she couldn't abandon the boy. She wouldn't be able to live with herself. But what could Asuna do? She looked down and saw her rapier on her side.

That's right... she could fight. Argo had spent all that time teaching her. Asuna took out her sword and pointed it at the wolf. She couldn't back out now. She could tell just by looking that the wolf was much stronger than any of the monsters she had faced so far. All I have to do is hit the wolf with a surprise attack and drag the boy back into the «Safe Area».

Asuna's mustered up all her courage. "If I'm going to die here anyways, there's no point in delaying the inevitable," Asuna started as she aimed at one of the wolf's legs and prepared to strike, "At the very least, I will save this boy!"

She activated the 1-handed rapier sword skill, «Linear». The attack hit one of the wolf's limbs, causing it to cry out in pain and jump backwards.

It hit…! Asuna had no time for relief. As quickly as she could, Asuna grabbed the boy and dragged him back into the «Safe Area». The wolf glared daggers at the girl who interrupted its meal. With a fearsome growl, it charged after them. Even with an injured leg, it was still extremely fast.

Asuna had just barely moved into the «Safe Area» in time when the wolf was about to reach her. However, without stopping from its sprint, the wolf suddenly jumped. Asuna's eyes widened in horror as she saw the wolf had breached through the «Safe Area» and was flying directly towards her. The wolf crashed into her, causing her to fall backwards. Not wasting a moment, the wolf simultaneously bit deep into Asuna's left shoulder. "Agh!" she screamed in anguish. Just the pain alone nearly caused her to fall unconscious like the boy beside her. We're already in the «Safe Area». How did it get me?

With no time to think about it, Asuna swung her rapier wildly at the wolf, managing to slice into its side and getting it off.

"Ugh," Asuna forced herself up onto her knees, barely able to move due to the pain. She had completely lost the mobility in her left arm from the wolf's bite. How was she supposed to beat this thing?

The wolf charged at her immediately, not giving her a moment to rest. This is it, it's all or nothing.

Asuna gave a shout as she activated the sword skill «Linear» once again. Even if she herself was too weak to move her body, the system assist should be enough to move for her. Or so she hoped.

Her rapier started glowing as it moved forward in a stabbing motion. The wolf opened its jaws wide, preparing to take another chunk of flesh from Asuna. However, she was faster. The rapier stabbed through the wolf's mouth, straight through its head. The wolfs body stopped moving, immobile and limp. Asuna pulled out her sword, waiting for the wolf to shatter into shards of blue light. However, it never did. She worried at first that it was still alive but realized it was probably part of what Kayaba meant when he said that changes to the game were made to make it more realistic.

Asuna dragged the boy away from the city gates and near the area where Argo had told her to stay. She was exhausted, mentally and physically. That one battle took a lot out of her. It was then that she noticed her wound along with the boy's was still dripping blood and that she was still losing hp. She panicked slightly.

If I stop the blood, we'll probably stop losing HP. This is supposed to be just like the real world, I should be able to stop the bleeding by wrapping some kind of bandage around it.

Asuna had no such item, however. Using her sword, she cut off part of the cloak Argo had given her and tied it around the boy's arm.

Alright the bleeding stopped. Now I just have to take care of my wound.

After stopping her own bleeding, Asuna sat next to the boy. Completely worn out and having no energy to do anything else, she fell into a deep sleep.

·:·:·:·:·:·

Asuna was awoken by the voice of Argo, who was shouting into her ear.

"Asu- Oh, you're finally up. You sure knock out a lot ya know," Argo said.

"Oh, you're back, Argo," Asuna stated wearily.

"Yup, more importantly what've you been doing? Cuddling with this cute lad here? Who is he?" Argo asked with a smirk.

It was then Asuna noticed how close she was to the boy, leaning on him almost as if he were a resting cushion.

"I-It's not what you think!" Asuna shouted, blushing, "I was just exhausted and happened to fall asleep by him."

"Right, I completely believe you," Argo teased in a sarcastic tone.

Asuna quickly scooted away from the boy, causing him to fall sideways onto the ground. "That aside, are both of you okay?" Argo asked with concern, "I noticed the both of you were injured."

"I'm not sure. I saved him from a wolf that was attacking him but he hasn't woken up since. We're both alive now though at the least. There's something I have to tell you though Argo," replied Asuna.

Asuna explained how real blood came out of bodies now and that if you don't stop the bleeding somehow, you'll continue to slowly lose hp. She also told Argo about the safe zone no longer being safe.

"I see… So, that's the situation," Argo said, perplexed, "Well if that's the case, this makes things difficult. Now there won't be any places in dungeons where we can sit and rest, assured that we don't have to worry about being attacked. Any fatal wounds will be the end of us, too."

"Heh, so basically our lives are forfeit. Or do you still think we can beat this game?" Asuna asked.

Argo remained silent.

"In any case, it's not safe here," Argo finally said, "We should rent a room at an inn or something. Do you have enough Col?"

"Yeah, just about. I can rent a room for a couple of days," replied Asuna.

"Alright. So what are you going to do with the boy?" Argo questioned.

"I saved him, I'll take responsibility. He can stay in my room until he recovers," Asuna replied nonchalantly.

"Aren't ya worried about having a guy sleep in a room with you? Most inns in this town only have one bed per room. The ones that don't are typically expensive. You could rent two rooms, but I doubt you could afford that right now."

"It's fine, he's unconscious anyways. He isn't in any condition to try anything. I'll be fine sleeping on a chair or something. If there isn't one, I'll just sleep on the floor. Everything in this world is fake anyways, just electric signals being sent to our brain right? Comfort doesn't mean anything to me."

"You sure you don't want me to take care of him? I have more Col than you do, so I could get two rooms without a problem," replied Argo.

"I'm sure, if I gave him to you, you'd probably make him pay back everything with interest, right?" Asuna replied.

Argo laughed, "It's only been a day but you know me so well."

"Anyways, it's late. We should get going, Argo," Asuna said, staring up at the night sky.

·:·:·:·:·:·

Argo gave a sigh. It had been 5 days since everyone was trapped in this death game and almost no progress had been made.

Aincrad had changed drastically from the beta. Safe areas were no longer safe. When you were injured, you'd bleed instead of seeing the usual blue light that would shine from your body. As long as you were bleeding, you would gradually lose HP. Aside from all of this, monsters no longer respawned. Their corpses just lied there, dead after you've killed them. They could still drop loot like in the beta if they were killed. However, other items that were a part of their physical composition would have to be taken manually, such as the tusks of a boar used for crafting. You would have to loot the monster manually, taking from it whatever you desired or just leaving the entire thing there to rot. Asuna and Argo once saw a female boar as it was pregnant. Monsters no longer "respawned". However, they could mate and have offspring. Just like real life, this was the only way for new life to enter the world.

Food was now a necessity in Aincrad, instead of being used just for enjoyment. If you didn't eat, you would eventually begin to slowly lose hp. Just as Kayaba said, Aincrad was now eerily similar to the real world.

One thing that had been bothering Argo for some time now were the NPCs. Something was off about them. It's not like they behaved oddly, rather quite the opposite. They acted just like any normal human being would. They were too realistic. In the beta, the NPCs had many set responses and would reply accordingly depending on what the player said. However, it was different now. The NPCs seemed to have their own personalities. Their speech no longer seemed like generic computer generated responses but like real people talking. They had their own families and responsibilities. They even had health bars; they were no longer immortal. They had their own life. Is it really possible all of these advanced personalities were created by a supercomputer?

Argo took a look around the town. Everyone was in downed spirits. It was a depressing sight. Not many had left the town, Argo couldn't blame them either. The risk of the death penalty alone would've likely kept many players from even daring to leave the town. As if that wasn't a big enough fear, getting hit and receiving injuries would inflict real pain. Pain that most of these people have never felt before. These people were gamers, not fighters. No one was ready for this. Argo wondered how all her friends were doing and if they held out any better than the rest of the people who just stayed in the town.

I've been able to contact all my friends from the beta except for one. Where are ya, Ki-bou… Argo brooded, Knowing him, he probably ran off and tried to get a head start on everyone. I'm kinda worried about that idiot.

He was one of my main sources of income. Who else am I supposed to sell overpriced info to?She thought. Though deep down, she knew she was genuinely worried for her friend.

In the distance, Argo could see a man with red hair, wearing a bandana. He seemed to be talking to people, asking them something. Argo knew a chance to sell or obtain information when she saw one. She walked up to the red-haired man.

"Argo's the name. You look like you need help with something," Argo said to the man.

The stranger turned to look at her. "A-Ah, yes! I was looking for a friend. My name's Klein. Age 22, single and currently looking for a girlfriend would you be intere- Wait!" cried out Klein as he saw Argo had already turned around to leave.

"What?" Argo said turning around. "I'm not interested in some desperate, perverted weirdo," Argo said flatly.

Klein's face had a look of shock that quickly turned into depression. He curled up in a ball and started muttering the words "desperate, perverted, weirdo" almost as if it were a chant. It was a miserable sight.

Taking pity on the man, Argo slapped his back, "Hey, I was just kidding. Anyways, you said you were looking for a friend?"

"Oh, yeah," Klein said, snapping out of his depressed state.

"So who might you be looking for? Maybe I can help. You see, I'm an information dealer. I can find out anything you might need to know. For a price of course," Argo said smirking.

"If you can really help me out, then I don't mind paying. At the start of this game I had a friend who helped me out a lot. We parted ways though and he went out of the town by himself. I got a message from him later on to meet at this one shop we stopped by earlier. He never showed up, though! Worried, I sent him a few messages but he never replied. I've been looking for him since," Klein stated.

"Klein… You do know your friend very well could possibly be-"

"He's not dead," Klein interrupted. "He was a beta tester and definitely stronger than any of those monsters out there. So he has to be alive. I know he is," Klein finished with confidence.

"I see," Argo said, still in doubt. "What's your friend's name?" she inquired.

"Kirito. He's not the most talkative fellow but he really is a nice guy," Klein replied.

Argo's eyes widened a bit, "Wait, you know Ki-bou?"

"Ki-bou? You mean Kirito? Yeah, he taught me the basics of this game. Why? Do you know him?" questioned Klein.

"Yeah, he was my friend in the beta. I'm actually looking for him, too. So you said he sent you a message to meet at a shop, what shop exactly?"

·:·:·:·:·:·

Argo sighed in irritation. Klein told Argo everything he knew. Though they searched together near the shop and asked the people if they knew anyone matching the description Klein gave, no one had even seen Kirito. After a few hours of searching, they still weren't able find their friend.

"Agh where could you have possibly gone to Kirito," Klein complained.

"He did have a tendency to play solo a lot, even in the beta," Argo said.

Just then Argo received a message from Asuna that read, "Hey Argo, are you ready to go out to do the usual hunting yet?"

Sending a reply, Argo typed in, "Yeah, give me a sec. I'll see ya in a bit."

"Hey Klein, my friend and I are going to the field outside of town to hunt a few boars. I have to get going. Message me if you find out anything about Ki-bou," Argo said, turning back to Klein. She then proceeded to send him a friend request.

"Oh, alright will do," Klein replied, while accepting the friend request. Wait… Friend request? This is the first time a girl has ever sent me a friend request! Is she trying to hint something? Could she be into me? Do I have a chance? Klein thought to himself intently as he tried to keep his cool and stop himself from squealing in excitement.

As Klein pondered these thoughts, Argo turned to leave. "Wait, hold on actually!" Klein suddenly shouted out.

"Hm?" Argo gave Klein a questioning look.

"Well, erm… isn't it dangerous for a lady such as yourself to go outside this town alone?" Klein said, obviously trying to make an excuse to come along.

"I won't be alone," Argo pointed out, "I'm going with a friend."

"B-but still! A guy can't help but worry in these circumstances," Klein urged.

Argo sighed. He's a weirdo for sure. Desperate, too. But he doesn't seem like a bad person… I guess it wouldn't hurt to bring him along.

"Fine, fine I get it. You can come. Just don't get in the way," Argo replied with a smirk.

"Hey I'm going to be a master samurai you know! The name Klein will be known and feared by everyone!" Klein ranted.

"Yeah, yeah, let's get going Mr. 'Master Samurai'," Argo mocked, causing Klein to become even more flustered.

·:·:·:·:·:·

"Uwahh!" Klein cried out in surprise as he laid his eyes upon Asuna. She was a beauty more rare than even the most precious of metals. There already weren't many girls that played online games to begin with. Finding one as beautiful as her was a miracle in itself.

Klein stood there for a moment just staring, too awestruck to say anything else. "Oi, Klein. Are you lagging?" Argo said waving her hand in front of his face. She said it as a joke though. Lagging in games had become virtually impossible since 2020 when scientists made a breakthrough in internet technology, revolutionizing the online network. This was the only reason a game as intensive and fast-paced as Sword Art Online could be played without a problem.

Regaining his wits, Klein ran up to the girl to introduce himself, "I-I-I'm Klein, Age 22, single and currently looking for a girl-" Klein was interrupted by an elbow to the gut from Argo.

"Hey, Asuna," Argo replied with a slight wave.

"H-hey. Who might this be?" Asuna asked, slightly startled by Klein's abrupt introduction.

"Some weirdo I picked off the street. He wanted to tag along, so I let him," Argo replied.

"Hey don't introduce me as a weirdo! First impressions are important, you know!" Klein said.

"You already ruined your first impression yourself. She would've realized the weirdo part without my saying," Argo replied nonchalantly.

Klein muttered some things under his breath but couldn't come up with a good argument, so left it at that.

"Well I guess we should get started. Let's see if you can keep up, Klein," Argo said provokingly as she ran towards the nearest monster.

"Hey, wait for me!" Klein shouted as he ran after Argo with Asuna close in pursuit.

·:·:·:·:·:·

"Ah! That was a good workout," exclaimed Klein. The trio had finished their training routine and had just made it back into the town.

"I'm surprised. You managed to hold your own in a fight better than I thought you would Klein," Argo mused, "I guess Ki-bou must've been a good teacher."

"Of course he was! Though, no matter how good the teacher, if I wasn't exceptionally talented, I wouldn't be as good as I am now," Klein stated with pride.

Argo just rolled her eyes as a response. What he said wasn't a lie though; Klein was a natural at this. Perhaps not as good as Asuna was, but that speed of hers was something not many people had. Though she was still a total novice, she was nearly as fast as even the most experienced players.

Asuna had remained silent nearly the entire time during the training and also hadn't spoken a word on their way back.

I really do wish you would cheer up already, Argo thought to herself.

After selling the items from their hunting and saying their farewells to Klein, Asuna and Argo headed back to the inn. As they walked, however, they heard footsteps following behind them.

"Why are you still following us, Klein?" Argo questioned turning around.

"Aw, I was sure you wouldn't notice me," Klein said puzzled, walking out of his hiding place.

"There's a reason they call me 'The Rat'. My hiding and sensing skills are top-notch," Argo said with a confident smirk.

"I just wanted to make sure the two of you made it back to your inns safely. There's rumors going around about a group of players who are attacking innocent people at night. 'Orange Players'," Klein finally answered.

In the beta, attacking and stealing from other players was allowed. However, if a player were to do that, their cursor would change from the normal bright green to an orange. If they went as far as to murder the player, their cursor would turn into a dark red. Ever since Kayaba had officially started this death game, the rules had changed. Players no longer had cursors above their head that showed whether someone was a green, orange, or red player. This made things dangerous; someone could be conversing with a red player and not even know it.

Argo sighed, "Fine. But as soon as we get to our inn rooms, you're leaving. Got that?"

"O-of course! I was planning to from the start," Klein said, slightly flustered.

The duo made their way back to their rooms with Klein following.

"I'll be going in first. Goodnight both of you," Asuna said tiredly as she opened the door to her room.

"Hey Klein, you can leave now," Argo said in annoyance noticing Klein was still there.

Klein stood there, not paying attention to a word of what Argo had said. His gaze was drawn into Asuna's bedroom.

"Hey you pervert, what are you doing looking into a girl's room?" Argo said, her patience waning.

Just as Argo was about to elbow him again, he shouted pointing "W-Wait! Argo look! In Asuna's room. It's Kirito!"

Argo looked from Klein, then to the location Klein's finger pointed at in the room. "Huh?" Argo finally got out, her brain still processing what Klein had just said.

·:·:·:·:·:·

"So that's how Kirito ended up here," Klein said after Argo explained how they had found the boy who they now knew was Kirito.

Klein suddenly dropped to the ground, bowing to Asuna, "Thank you for saving him. If you hadn't been there he might have really died. So, thank you!"

"I-it's fine really. I only did what I felt was right," Asuna said, a bit taken aback.

"Who knew though, so Ki-bou was right under my nose the entire time," Argo mused, feeling some relief knowing he was at the least alive.

"Do you know what's wrong with him or why he hasn't woken up yet?" Klein questioned.

"I'd hate to admit it but even I'm clueless on that one," Argo stated, "There aren't any negative statuses or anything, there's no reason he should be like this."

"I see," Klein replied, pondering something. "Alright!" Klein shouted out. The two girls stared at him, wondering why he yelled all of a sudden.

"I've stayed in this town long enough," Klein continued, "I wanted to make sure Kirito was alive and well before I left. Now that I know that, I can put my mind at ease."

"You're planning to go?" Asuna questioned.

"You've both seen the town's current state, it's a total mess. The people have given up all hope of living. I can't stand seeing them like that. That's why I want to change things; I want to show them that we do have a chance at getting back to our own world!" Klein said in determination.

"You shouldn't. Anyone who tries to leave the town will probably die," Asuna said expressionless.

"Even so, that's exactly why I need to go. Everyone's afraid of dying in this death game. Right now, what everyone needs the most is hope. I can't just sit by and expect someone else to do something about it. We don't know how many people have left the town so far, so I may not be the only one out there. There must surely be others, and if we work together then we can definitely succeed," Klein said with resolve.

"Then I'm guessing I can't stop you," Asuna replied almost sadly, then after a short pause continued, "If you do go, at the least try not to get yourself killed."

"Yeah, be careful Klein," Argo added, "Whatever you do, make sure you come back alive, ya hear?"

"Who do you think you're talking to?" Klein said with a smile, "I'm going to be a master samurai you know. And I also have my friends with me, we won't fail. We'll all make it back alive."

They said their farewells as Klein exited the room. The next morning, he and his friends departed from the town.

·:·:·:·:·:·

Asuna gave a loud sigh. She hadn't been able to get one night of comfortable sleep since entering this world. As she sat on the rocking chair every night, she would always remember her family and end up crying herself to sleep. She would never tell anyone this though, not even Argo. She missed her family dearly; they were always on her mind. At night, when she was finally able to fall asleep, she would have happy dreams about when she was still in the real world with them. However, the dreams never lasted long. Eventually, those pleasant dreams always turned into nightmares; nightmares where she had to relive being trapped in the death game. These nightmares haunted her night after night, causing her to wake up with her heart racing. Even in sleep, she couldn't escape this cruel reality.

The boy who she had saved was still unconscious and laying in her bed. Maybe it was rude to continue calling him "the boy". Asuna had learned that the boy was actually a friend of Argo and Klein and that his name was Kirito. It had been 15 days since she found him, yet he still remained unconscious. Asuna was worried that he may never recover.

"What's with the loud sigh?" Argo asked concerned. They were out in the fields, having their normal hunting session to obtain Col.

"Just tired," Asuna replied in a weary voice, "I wonder if he'll wake up soon."

"We can only hope he will," Argo replied as she used her wrist blades to slice through a boar, causing its remaining hp to deplete to 0.

"Alright, we reached our goal for the day," said Asuna, satisfied, "If we sell the drops we got today, we should have enough money to pay for another night at the inn. Let's head back."

"Alright," Argo agreed while putting away her blades as the two of them headed back to the Town of Beginnings.

"I'll go find a merchant to sell our drops to. You should go check up on Kirito," said Asuna.

"Okay, be careful. The streets still aren't safe. There are many players who wouldn't hesitate to rob you of your belongings," replied Argo.

"Don't worry, I will." Asuna nodded.

Asuna headed to the nearest merchant she could find and sold the drops. As always, the town seemed to have a gloomy atmosphere. She saw two men fighting in the distance about something trivial. Other people had already began to gather, expecting a physical fight to break loose soon. There were a large amount of homeless players on the streets. Many of them were too scared to go outside the town and as a result, lacked the money to rent an inn. They seemed so lifeless, as if they were just sitting there waiting to die.

Asuna thought back to what Klein had said. The current state of everyone in this town couldn't even be called living. She didn't like this atmosphere, either. But what could they do? This whole scenario was hopeless. Only the crazy and reckless would leave the town to fight against this world.

Tired of seeing the depressing atmosphere, Asuna turned back to their inn. At least there she could lock herself away in solitude, away from this twisted world. As she neared the door, she heard Argo talking to someone.

Did Argo have a guest over? Why would they be talking in my room?

Asuna walked into the room. Had she not been so used to hiding her emotions by now, her eyes would have surely widened in surprise. There was Kirito, finally awake and sitting up.

"Speak of the devil," said Argo as Asuna walked into the room.

"You're awake," Asuna stated in a monotone, staring at the boy who had finally awakened from his prolonged sleep.

Author's Note Continued: Yeah so not much Kirito in this chapter either… Rather all he did was get moved around while unconscious. On the bright side, the chapters to come pretty much center around him for those of you hoping he'd get more attention! I'll try to update soon so that anyone who actually happens to like this story won't have to wait too long. As always, any feedback would be appreciated! Leave a review or a message telling me what you guys think!