Evangelion Versus Angels Online
Chapter Two
13_September_2022 - 17:52
I couldn't even wrap my mind around it. "Asuka?" I knew she might be playing, no, I knew she would be playing. But after that announcement, I wanted her as far away from this place as possible.
"Shinji," she said, not sure what to make of me. Her face contorted "What the hell are you doing here, stupid!" Well... that changes quickly.
Same old Asuka. "I got into the first wave of players," I told her. It wasn't exactly a lie. Just leaving out parts.
She calmed down on learning that. "So... the daddy's boy got NervGear from the company? Never thought you'd ever come here, not that it ended up well." She was referring to our current situation. We are going to die here. Maybe not today... but maybe get killed fighting a boss. Or worse yet, get PKed.
"Asuka..." I'm apprehensive about that letter. What a moron. I just started using the new NervGear without even considering where it came from or anything. Damn it. "I got a package in the mail earlier."
"And? Come on. What?"
"It's... I got," I could hardly speak. "I got NervGear in the mail."
She looked at me with disbelief. "Who would send you something like that?"
"That's what I want to know. Then I looked deeper in the box. There was more. Do you remember why you came to Japan?"
"Something to do with that?" Asuka's mother was one of the three original designers of human accessible virtual reality. So, she and I became close when her family moved to Japan from Germany to fill mother's place at Nerv. She knows my past... and she knows my demons.
"It was a clear photograph of mother from that day. It looked so real."
"An old shot could be manipulated." Even she didn't seem sure. I think she understands why I'm here now.
"Maybe. But... I wanted it to be real. Wishful thinking on my part-"
I was cut off by Asuka grabbing the hand I held out, pulling it and hugging me. "I know what that means. Tell me more later."
I was speechless. It wasn't strange for Asuka to have moments of compassion like this. They didn't happen often, but I cherish them. Maybe... we might survive after all.
"Now," she said, pushing me away, "you need to learn how to fight. What's your level?"
I though about it a moment. At the moment, I was level three. But I also remember Asuka telling me how long it took for her to level up even once when she started in the beta. I think I should keep this to myself for now. "Still level one. What about you?"
She chuckled. "Only level one? I've been at it all day, so I've already gotten to level two. Come on, we have to whip you into shape for the first boss."
I followed behind her safe in the knowledge that we'd be alright. I'm a little over-leveled and she knows how the world works. I think we'll be alright.
20_November_2022
More than a thousand people are dead. It has been about a month now, trapped in the world's first virtual reality multiplayer game, Sword Art Online, and not even the first floor has been cleared. That first day, Asuka and I partied up to act as protection for one another, even if she said it was because I'd die otherwise. As of now, she is level eleven. I am level fifteen, but I keep telling her that my level is a couple under hers. It makes her happy and... well... she's always been better at games than me, so why change that now, even if it's the opposite.
Right now, we're on the way to a meeting of players that this blue-haired knight called to beat the first boss. I keep hearing stories that solo players keep trying to beat the boss and keep dying. I wonder if this will go any better.
We arrived to a fairly lackluster looking bunch. That knight was standing down in the center of a stadium style area with two larger players. I looked around at the people present. Of the three or four dozen players, only a few stood out. Someone in a bright red cloak, a serious looking older man with blond hair, and this guy about my age with a long, glowing sword.
After several minutes of waiting, the knight began the meeting. "I would like to welcome everyone to the first meeting of the Aincrad Liberation Front guild. I am Diabel, the Guild Leader and," he raised his voice, "A knight of justice." That got him a few light chuckles. "These, "he motioned to the man and woman beside him, "are my lieutenants, Thinker and Yulier. Please welcome them."
There was a little polite applause that I joined in on. Asuka clapped a total of four times. I guess she's never been one for that kind of false praise.
"We have been collecting reports from survivors on previous assaults on the first floor boss and have formulated a plan to kill it." At that, everyone's ears perked up. This was a hunt meeting. Usually, these kinds of meetings happen in email or in real life cafes where players who know each other can openly talk. I guess VR isn't all that different from regular MMOs. I mean, someone a few seats down from me seems to be munching on a boxed lunch. The more things change...
Diabel continued. "The plan goes like this: as many groups of six that we can muster will attack in waves at the enemy."
A hand went up.
"Yes," Diabel said, recognizing the woman with a question.
"Do we have any information on the boss itself? And why groups of six?"
"I'll get to that. We have information on the boss itself. It is called Yog-Stock the Defiler. It employees smaller mini-bosses called Dee's Sentinels. He attacks in a pattern of run, slash and swing until three of his four health bars have fallen. This is where it gets tricky."
Asuka whispered "he begins to jump all around the room, practically teleporting. It's a bitch-and-a-half to fight."
Diabel went on. "He starts leaping off the walls and ceilings at a speed above the player movement cap. During this phase, he cannot attack. But when he gets into range of a player, he'll stop and swing with a secondary, more powerful sword. A player would have less than one second to avoid the attack, or lose most of their HP." It's a small kindness that he didn't remind us of the possibility of dying in the attack. I think it put everyone at ease.
"All that said, I would like-"
Just then, a man with spiked hair and shady looks barged into the meeting yelling "Just a moment! I have something to say to everyone before we start getting into groups."
Diabel, if only to stay in the knightly character, yielded time to the man.
The man jumped down the stairs to the stage area before speaking. "Are there any beta testers here?" His tone was angry, dark even. No one spoke up.
Asuka took part of my shirt in her hand, squeezing it.
"That's alright. You don't have to come forward yet. My name is Kiboau, a member of the Collation for the Freedoms of Aincrad Players. I am here to demand that, for the thousand people who have died, you surrender yourselves!"
There was a small commotion amongst the people gathered. I put my hand over Asuka's still clutching my shirt.
"At the beginning of the game, you abandoned us normal players! You took all the best hunting spots and the easy quests for yourselves! I demand, for those who died, you surrender your money, your items, yourselves to other players! Even the damn playing field!"
He finished, finally. The condition of my clothing was degrading from how tightly Asuka was grasping it. I think my general defense is higher, so even her massive unarmed skill isn't hurting it too badly. She's shaking. This guy... how dare he! I should feel ashamed at my thought to try to sneak attack him, but I can't feel anything for him now. I remain still, not wanting to out Asuka as a beta tester with this kind of tension.
A large, dark skinned man raised his hand. Diabel pointed to him.
"May I speak?"
"Please do," Diabel invited, probably wanting someone to beat him down a notch or two.
The man rose to his feet and walked down to the front where the irate man stood. This revealed his height of more than two meters against the man of perhaps one hundred sixty-five centimeters.
"What you are saying... is that the people who are here now, and who participated in the beta testing phase of this game's design, should be held responsible for the deaths of more than one thousand players, made to apologize, surrender their items to other players and compensate the remaining monetarily? Do I have that right?"
The smaller man looked up with scorn. "You are correct."
The larger man, I later learned he's called Agil, pulled a small, leather-bound book out of his pack. "This is the help guide that is available in every stone in the Town of Beginning at no cost. It is a free source of information for all players and it's sale is posted publically in many places all over that town."
"That doesn't change the fact that we were all abandoned by the betas when this deadly crap began! How have they helped anyone?!"
"The information in this book was compiled, and is updated even now, by the beta testers. You can see the names and play hours of everyone who contributes in the back. By the contributor's play time being several hundred hours above the others, who all began at thirteen hundred on the thirteenth of last month, I deduce that most of the information shared originated with them."
This left the man speechless.
"With that, I would speak to any beta testers present here. Thank you for all the help. You saved many lives during the first month. It could have been much worse. You did your best. Do not feel the need to come out to us here. Your status as a beta tester ended when we were trapped here. You are the same as everyone else." Agil sat down on the lowest level of seating.
Kiboau joined him, grunting when the larger man patted his back and took his hand in a shake, a foreign sign of respect and of being well-mannered. I did wonder about that... I though only people in Japan could play SAO during the first wave. It might be rude to ask, but I can't help but think about it.
Diabel continued the meeting. "I would like everyone to join in to groups of six for this plan. The reason for this is so each group can attack twice in a given moment rather than clog the enemy with attacks." I understood this dynamic. Asuka and I had been using the 'switch' function to attack enemies pretty much at the same time for a month now. It's more efficient than trying to attack without the system help. We'd probably end up clashing swords or hitting each others weapons otherwise.
I looked around at people gathering into groups. Asuka and I didn't really know anyone, so we just sat there, content that we were partied together. When a few minutes went by, Diabel spoke up again.
"Is everyone partied? Is there any group that has less than six people?"
Asuka and I stood up. Diabel took notice.
"You two at the top," he said, pointing at two other players. "Would you two be alright with partying with these two?"
The two players, the one in the cloak and the one with the glowing sword, walked down the stairs to us.
"Good," Diabel said.
After a moment of clicking through menus, the four of us were a party. Myself as Job, Asuka as Langley, the guy with the sword is called Kirito, and the cloaked girl is called Asuna. Se seem fairly balanced. The two of them have very powerful one handed sword skills. Asuka has great unarmed abilities that are augmented by the two hundred thirteen centimeter Zweihander (two-handed long-sword) she wields with only one hand. My skills were built to play support at both close and long range. I could do sneak-attack critical hits from a distance, or get right in the enemy's face for more powerful crits. I wish we had someone to heal, but this wasn't a fantasy game.
Diabel ended the meeting and dismissed everyone. We're due to gather again tomorrow at ten in the morning at the entrance to the Slopes of Apollon. The parties went off together, leaving the four of us as the last to leave.
"Do you two have anywhere to stay," I asked of our new partners.
"I've been staying in an inn in town," the cloaked girl, Asuna, said quietly.
"I don't," the swordsman Kirito told us. "What about you?"
"We've been staying in a European-style tavern in the next town over," Asuka said. I only recalled the pain in the ass it was to not only find the place, but also get a price that wouldn't bankrupt us. Have to admit, five hundred fifty Col for a room that size for a month is a steal. The only drawback is that the place was like a medieval tavern: loud and dusty.
"Do you want to go back with us tonight? We have a lot of empty space and a couple empty beds," I offered.
Asuna just looked on, seeming to want not to make the decision. Kirito stared at his feet a moment before answering. "Sure, if it's not too much trouble. I can compensate you for lodging if you want."
"It's not problem. It's paid ahead of time anyway, so no need to pay a single Col." It was so normal now to say Col rather than Yen. When this started, I was converting cost in Yen before making purchases. Lately, I've been thinking in Col and in terms of SAO. It's all very confusing.
Same Day - 23:18
We all sat down to dinner in the tavern. The food was a little costly, but who cares? For all we know, we might die tomorrow like all the others who tried to fight the first floor boss, so a little lavishness is excusable.
But... the conversation turned somewhere I dislike.
"So Langley," Kirito asked, "Why do you and Job call each other my your..." He means why do we use our real names, but in the month that we've all been trapped, the world has taken on a social norm all its own. It was rude to talk about the other side openly.
"Why? Because he's always been stupid Shinji ever since we were little." And I might always be if that keeps up.
"I see. So you and Job-san know each other from the other side then?"
Asuka took a while to answer. "Yeah... our parents work together."
"Where," Kirito asked intently.
"Some computer manufacturer," Asuka lied. Why would she lie? I know she was a... I get it. It's to avoid being outed as a beta tester. People have been getting restless lately. Guys like before are looking for someone to take their frustration on, and the betas are closest to Nerv and Kayaba. That doesn't matter. The betas are victims all the same. I just hope... I think that these two that we parties with are alright with it. The ones who are taking a problem with betas seem to be older or just hard-asses.
"Yeah," I agreed, "dad is part of the research wing, and aunty is a genius."
"Like me," Asuka boasted, trying a little harder to push the limelight off of the other side.
"So," I said, directing attention to the other two members in our party, "tell us about yourselves, if you don't mind."
Kirito rolled with it. "I play games. Solo normally, but today's an exception. If I want to survive, I have to get stronger."
"I... I only want to stay me in here." Asuna hasn't said much, but this told me something.
"Yourself," I asked.
"Even if we all die tomorrow, I don't want to die rotting away in the Town of Beginning. I would rather die on the front line." My god... She might be... well... she's better than me. All we wanted was to survive. It's all I've been thinking about for Asuka and myself for a month. I mean, sure. We saved a couple players from getting killed here and there, but she wants to get into the main fight and die helping them.
"You won't die." Kirito and I almost said this at the same time. Asuka looked over at me, clearly shocked at my declaration. Asuna lowered her head under that hood. I caught a glimpse of crimson and a smile as she vanished under the hood.
I looked at Kirito, who said "I won't let my party members die." He reached over the table. "Job-san." I saw what he was trying to do and took his wrist in my hand. He did the same and we shook.
"I think that settles it," I said quickly.
We settled in for the night after a couple hours of eating and drinking. I still don't understand the value of the costly wines and liquors offered at the tavern, but Asuka loves them, citing the craftsmanship in making them and the taste above all else. In SAO, alcohol didn't have the same effect as alcohol on Earth. There was a big stink about 'virtual drugs' back when SAO was announced, and Nerv canceled that line of in-game items for recreational use. They exist, but as pale duplications of their original forms.
In the large, but mostly unfurnished room Asuka and I rented, I welcomed Asuna and Kirito with a "welcome home" to their obvious discomfort at being inside, what was effectively, a stranger's home. So I made it theirs as well, adding them to the 'family' list and giving them keys.
"T-thank you, Job-san," Asuna said to me. I blushed and turned, earning a laugh from Kirito and a jab in the virtual ribs from Asuka.
"Stupid Shinji," Asuka said as she sat down on her bed and shifted outfits to her casual wear. It consisted of an off-yellow shirt and trousers. I only recently became able to stop staring.
I directed Kirito and Asuna to two of the open beds we were renting. They chose beds opposite one another. Odd, as I just assumed they were together. They seemed close when we met... maybe just natural chemistry or something. What do I know?
It just went on like that... all the way through two in the morning. A little while later, after changing out of my normal armor, I crawled into the bed near the window across from Asuka. We turned in around then. Sleeping here is... strange. But I'm getting used to it. It's like sleeping on a cloud, but somehow you get stiff from the stillness of it all. I don't really know how to describe it better. Even if the locks on the room were deadlock sealed, I was paranoid. In this game, nothing opens a deadlock seal. You can't break the lock by smashing it or open it via a lock pick skill. I still wanted to be near the windows in case someone figured out how to get past those. I could set up traps at the door, and did, so that wasn't as big a deal. Still...
21_November_2022
Apollon's Tower - 11:24
We arrived that morning at ten at the entrance to the Slopes of Apollon, a steep climb to the Apollon's Tower at the top. There were more than three dozen players, all in groups of roughly six. Ours was the smallest, at four. The lead group, the one that Diabel established, was nine. The trek up the slopes was easy enough, only difficult when we were attacked. I volunteered to act as forward scout because of my abilities in ranged attack. The worst I had to deal with were level three mobs designed to throw people back down the slopes with barrels.
At the top, in front of the portcullis that separated us from the first boss battle, Diabel stopped us. "Friends, we have gathered here today to prove that we can take back our freedom!" He never leaves the character he made for himself. I wonder if he's actually like that in real life. I think he and Asuka would be at each others throats in moments on the outside. "Remember the plan. Trust your team. Good luck and gods speed to you all. Let's go."
He turns around and the entrance opens with a blinding light. Someone yelled "charge," and everyone poured in by party. Once inside, we separated into lines of parties ready to attack. I brought up my crossbow and set it for single shot refill. Asuka got her massive sword out and stretched into a stance I had seen a thousand times over the last month. She fought like a berserker. No defense, just pure attack. And it somehow worked with me blocking enemy attacks with my bolts... and plenty of healing items at the ready. I pulled one just in case.
Kirito stood in a strange stance as well. His left foot was far out in front of him. He held his sword in his right hand behind him almost touching the ground and his left hand seemed to be used for defense here. Asuna was... well not as impressive. She just got into a basic stance for her sword type, rapier, ready to move at a moment's notice.
I didn't really notice anyone else's stance or preparations. The plan called for everyone to send one person at a time to beat on the boss. That meant that about five people would get hits in, switch and hit, switch and hit. Our team, the only one here with a ranged user, will be getting two hits in per round of this for that reason. It all comes down to math and reaction time.
The room began to glow. I looked up at a roar coming from the ceiling. A large red demon fell with three smaller, human sized mobs from a high perch. On landing, Yog-Stock the Defiler's health bar rose until it had four fully green bars. His partners, Dee's Sentinels, had two bars each and looked like skeletal blobs of flesh. It roared again, this time at all of us.
We charged.
The fight was going according to plan. One fighter per round, switch out, again. The sentinels were gone within the first ten minutes. The boss was slowly losing health and stamina. We hadn't lost anyone yet, but there were constantly people switching out to heal and rest for just a minute. This fight was taking a lot out of Asuka. She hasn't had to fight this long at once before. Usually, we took down an enemy or small group in less than five minutes. This had been going on for about thirty by the time the boss was down to the ends of his second to last bar of health. Our group seemed to be beating the average on damage in a single round, but I'd have to check the stats later to find out for sure.
At about noon that day, after just over half an hour of intense fighting, the boss finally fell to one last bar of health. Everyone, tired and beaten, fell back to await his weapon switch and high speed assault.
"Spread out, groups of two!" Diabel called out to the whole team. I'm guessing the groups of two can have one attacker and one defender without putting the whole party at risk. But how could he have that kind of insight?
Out party was healing in the short lull near the middle of the lines of fighters. The lead group was standing behind us, just finishing the same treatments. Yog-Stock leapt from the ground, dropping his weapon. Diabel stepped forward, his sword drawn.
"What's he doing," I heard Kirito mutter.
The boss pulled another sword in midair and began to dive around the room. Diabel said "stand back! I'll finish him!" He charged, waiting for the bouncing to end. The one second hesitation between his speed and Diabel's attack should be enough, right?
"No," Asuka said out loud.
"Wait," Kirito yelled at almost the same time.
The two of them moved forward quickly. Asuna and I followed suit, moving towards Diabel's new front line. The boss reached the ground just as Diabel stopped. Both swung their swords.
Diabel couldn't hold the Defiler's massive weapon back. He was slashed across the chest and sent flying back more than ten meters. Asuka and Kirito ran to him while Asuna and I took up defensive postures against the monster. Kirito reached him first and picked his head up off the ground to hold. Asuka started digging through her menu for a healing potion.
"Y...you. You were... beta testers... weren't you," Diabel says knowingly from his position on the ground.
"You were..." That's all I could hear from across the room. Asuka grimaced. That tells him all he needs. Diabel pushes away the potion she's trying to put to his lips.
"Guess what... so was I."
With that, he vanishes in a flurry of pixels and polygons. Kirito stood up, taking his sword in his right hand and grabbing Asuka off the ground with his left. She stands, but shakes him off of her arm.
The boss roars, sending the dozen players attacking it fleeing in terror at its suddenly more powerful form. Asuna takes up an attack stance next to me.
"No one else is dying to kill this boss," Kirito loudly proclaims, bringing his sword back. Other players stop to stare.
Asuka nods. She takes off in a run, her sword flailing behind her wildly. Kirito runs after her.
"Job!" She used my name here... "Back us up!"
They run past me. "Understood." I whisper before beginning to fire on the behemoth. Of the four thousand HP it has left, my shots are doing about fifty damage each. I have to start critting these hits, or my attacks will be worse than useless. They might run out.
Asuna summons her sword back up and runs in with the rest of our party. She yells as she runs, her cloak fluttering.
I could hardly find a better place to hit than the monster's head. Asuka would take a swing at his torso. Kirito would follow up with a slice to the legs. Asuna finished with a stab to wherever she could find an open spot. I kept firing, taking time to note that most of the collected group had stopped to stare at the powerful barrage we were unleashing. Maybe it's just a heat-of-the-moment thing, but we're somehow doing four simultaneous attacks on a single enemy. The math doesn't work, but maybe that's a good thing. It proves we might just win after all.
The boss thrust his massive sword at Kirito. Asuna switched in at that moment, intent on deflecting. She got in a hit, but the boss took the HP of her cloak and armor down enough to make it vanish. The obscuring cloth turned into a sparkling array of lights revealing a red-haired beauty in a more normal set of clothing given to each player. Asuna took the moment between the boss' attack and block to hit again and switch out. My bolt hit for a critical shot during her attack. Asuka and Kirito ran in for a combined five hundred points of damage.
"Job," Kirito called back, "How are you on ammo?"
I looked at the counter on my heads-up-display. I have twelve shots left. "Enough," I called back. And I meant it.
The three sword users in our party kept beating away at the boss. I switched the crossbow to my left hand, needing the right to be able to load it properly. A second bolt, a third... a twelfth. I'm betting every last power I have on this skill. Asuka turned, seeing me running up with the bow in the wrong hand.
"Kirito, Asuna, fall back. That idiot's finally getting into this fight." Thanks for the ringing endorsement, Langley.
I really hope I know what I'm doing. The boss has about a thousand HP left. This should take out about eight hundred if I can critical attack.
"Langley," I call out to Asuka. She swings her sword around, not activating a skill. I use the momentum as a stepping stone to get up higher than our enemy.
When I'm directly above Yog-Stock the Defiler, I unleash my special skill with a yell of "Death!" My crossbow exploded into a white beam of bolts leaving the weapon at high speed. It looked like an energy beam in that American science fiction movie from the seventies, but I know that it's separate shots firing. I figured this out when I was hand loading my weapon one day. I can fire rapid and high power if I overclock the weapon specs. I can't use this often, as bolts for this thing are rare and this skill destroys the ammunition on impact so I can't pick it up later like I can otherwise. I still have the original twenty, and even a few more that I picked up along the way. But the twelve I'm using won't be reusable.
I reduced the boss' health to about one hundred fifty, at which point, I landed behind the monster and called out "switch!" Asuka switched in, taking a swing that took sixty points. Asuna came in next, hitting for another sixty. Kirito went in last, with a scream of fury meant for the boss, but certainly scared me, and threw him into the air with a slash to his from his legs all the way up to his head.
Yog-Stock the Defiler landed twenty meters behind be and blew up in a rather contained exothermic reaction. Ka-Boom. Our party gathered around Kirito.
After the explosion stopped, everyone cheered as the glow in the room faded. Nearly everyone present leveled up. I didn't, but I'm more than half way to the next level now. I looked over Kirito's shoulder. His menu read 'Congratulation - You got the last attack bonus - Coat of Midnight'
Asuna said "good work today."
The tall, dark man from the meeting walked over. "Congratulations Kirito. This victory is yours. By the way, I am Agil. Pleased to meet you."
My sight went from Kirito's embarrassed expression to the crowd. They were cheering, but now it was for him. I don't want to downplay the group's effort, but this one is really his, I think.
"Why!" A yell came from the group. "Why did you let Diabel die!?"
I looked out into the crowd. They all stopped cheering. It was the man who made a commotion at the planning meeting, Kiboau. I could only watch as the people present slowly began to stare with dark expressions.
"Let him die," Kirito repeated, making it sound like a question. It couldn't be. I saw what happened. Didn't anyone else see? Diabel pushed the potion away.
"You knew when the boss attacks would change," he accused. The people around were looking back and forth at us and each other. Things are getting ugly. "You must be beta testers!"
There it is. That's what that bastard has been building towards for two days now. Here, it's practically a mortal sin to be a beta tester. Though, it is also not acceptable to call anyone out on being a beta tester, especially when there's even the slight possibility of being wrong. Regardless of guilt, some players consider beta testers to be the scum of Aincrad and SAO. It makes me sick to think that they think of Langley like this.
"Where are the others! There must be other betas here. Show yourselves, all five or ten of you!" Everyone was looking around, desperately looking for the guilty players. Thing are getting bad. If he keeps this up, it'll become a witch hunt.
I turned when I heard Kirito laughing. It wasn't a laugh at the absurdity of the situation or in nervousness, but one that could be heard across the massive room, like he'd lost his mind.
The men at closer to the entrance stopped bickering about who to blame and stared at our party member. He began walking toward them.
"A beta tester?" His sight fell to the floor, but I could tell he was ready to pull his sword at any moment. I recognized the stance from time with Langley in SAO. "I really wish you would stop lumping me in with those newbies." What? Could Kirito be...
"What did you say, punk!"
He kept on. "Of the thousand beta testers who played SAO before this, most were new players. They didn't even know how to level up, let alone beat the boss." He stopped in front of Kiboau to stare at the older man with, at best, contempt. "You lot, those here today, are better than them."
People in the room were sweating. Asuka was shaking. I took her arm and walked forward into the crowd. Asuna was nearly by Kirito's side anyway, and I figured that if we had any chance to make it out, it would be in the center of the room with our party. I don't want to fight here, but if I have to...
"But I am different from them," Kirito went on. "I made it farther than any player in the testing. The reason I know about this boss, is because I've faced and killed more powerful creatures above us." He looked up at Kiboau, his contempt turning into a creepy expression. "I know a lot more. Even more than that Rat of an information broker."
"That... that's worse than being a beta tester," Kiboau said, stuttering over word. "That's cheating. You beta tester cheater!" Everyone suddenly turned against us. Calls of beta tester and cheater came around the room at us. Agil and his party were standing near by, but I couldn't expect him to aid us if the group attacks.
"A beater," Kirito said. He must have heard the words floating around and pieced them together. It sounded like he took beta and cheater and combined them. "I like it," he said, to everyone's surprise. "Here on out, never confuse me with those measly beta testers ever again." He moved though menus to equip a long black coat. That must be the last attack bonus he just got... the Coat of Midnight. Kirito turned to walk away. I took one last look at the stunned Kiboau and turned to follow Kirito as well as Langley and Asuna.
Agil watched us as we fled. I held a hand up in an apologetic gesture. He, to my surprise, returned it with everyone watching. I hope that doesn't hurt him later. As we walked, I tried to request him as a friend. I'll have to wait for the reply.
Kirito approached the door to the second floor just as Asuna reached him. Langley and I stopped behind her. I said "Kirito, are you leaving the party?"
"Yeah, I am." He didn't turn around as he responded. The door began to open.
"What about us?!" Langley called. "You partied with us, shared in our time. What now?"
"I would like to know that too, Kirito," Asuna put in.
He stood there, in front of the open door. After a moment, he answered "If you ever find a guild and people you trust, join up. For me..." You're a solo player aren't you? I'd be if not for Langley. I was before this whole thing started.
"But what about you?" Asuna asked.
"I'll go on ahead." He walked into the cloudy portal to the next level, leaving the party as he exited the floor.. None of us could muster the courage to follow him... not yet.