A/N: Here is my early Christmas gift to you, my little readers! Merry Christmas!

Thank you to Jigoku Kara no Koneko and qweenashlyfox for favoring and fallowing this story! And thank you to a nameless Guest, Goran, and Amazing for leaving a review!

Now on with the story!

As the digital sun started to rise above the horizon a dark figure walks off a inn. He sighed as he raises the cloak's hood as people started to walk out of their homes, inns, and shops. The streets were busy filled with people zooming in and out of shops, all trying their best not to fall from frozen snow, littering the town. It was Christmas Eve, a time for family, gift giving, and getting drunk on your ass. Or at least that's what Rotsen thought.

He thought it was sad for the players still alive in this horrible game. They were stuck here while their family is out in the real world, having a real Christmas, without them. But bitterly they all saw a bright side to the horrible holiday. They had friends, lovers, and actual family members in the game. Those few get to have the spiritual and warm times with those special people dear to their hearts. And Rotsen? Sadly, he does not.

He sighed as he thought about it, knowing well enough to take advantage of this horrible day. It was obvious, all his loved ones were in the real world, and the members of Laughing Coffin were not his friends or even family. Not to mention his old guild, true the others were his friends but Vulgar would kill him on the spot if he ever saw him again. The only one he ever had a connection to, in this game, was Liz. But she's nowhere to be found.

As Rotsen was walking down the snowy path someone caught his eye. It was a little girl with rich brown hair tied into two small pigtails. Her eyes were a light shade of red, matching her armor. She had a white blouse cladding under her cloak, along with black combat boots and black leather pants. She stood at the side of the shops, grabbing multiple player's arms, as if begging them for help.

Rotsen tried his best not to look at the girl as he continued to walk down his path. Right as he passes her he thought he was in the clear. That was until he over heard someone talking to her. He stopped, listening in.

A masculine voice loomed over her with power, making his worry. "Hey there little girl, why are you all alone on the streets?"

Her voice was shaky and uneasy. She was scared and it was obvious. "N-no reason."

"Well, you don't have to be alone anymore. Why not come with me?"

The Beater's eyes widen as he heard his voice, deep and dark, seeing the meaning behind his words. He quickly turned around, now entering the conversation. He saw the girl was shaking, as if she knew the man from before. The man was tall, looking like he was from Asian decent. His armor covered him from head to toe, showing only his face. It was made of iron and so was his sword and shield, latched to his back.

"I'm sorry but it is there a problem here?" The Beater asked in a monotone voice, swishing his cloak to show his daggers.

The man eyed him as he looked between his hidden face and his daggers. After a few moments the man huffed, straightening up. "Nothing, kid." And with that the man left them with a deep scowl and foul look in his eyes.

Once he was gone Rotsen hunched over the little girl, now noticing that she was a head shorter than him, pushing back his hood and his hair behind his ear. It was starting to get out of control when December rolled over. It was just barely touching his shoulders and somewhat draping over his face, much like when it was slightly untamed.

"You okay, kid?"

She slowly shook her head, trying to figure out if the Beater was going to hurt or not. After a few seconds Rotsen took it as his cue to leave. As he mumbled his good bye she grabbed his hand, stopping him.

"Wait! Uh, is it okay if you help me with something?"

Rotsen's eye slightly twitched, obviously not wanting to. He noticed it, realizing his action. He remembered back he would have no problem with helping someone, but now for some reason he feels irritated. He brushed it off and slipped his hand out of her grip, not bothering to hunch over.

"Depends on what it is."

"Well, you see... I got this problem on the second floor. It's a, a... Mini Boss! Rumor has it that a large number of gold is dropped. I need some help. We'll split the loot fifty, fifty!"

Rotsen kept a front as he listened, seeing her nerves and uneasiness. He knew she was hiding something, but what? He knew if it was going to be an ambush he could easily escape, and if she needed help with something she can't say out loud in public then maybe it'll be good to help out.

"Alright, lead the way."

The little girl's face then lighten up like a Christmas tree as she cheered and jumped, running ahead of him. Once she realized he hadn't started running she ran back to him, causing him to mentally chuckle.

"Oh, sorry about that, I'm Silica."

She held out a small hand out to the Beater, both having second thoughts on trusting one another in a hand shake. A moment passed until Rotsen shook it, his hand was unnoticed bigger than Silica's by only a few inches, making the Beater upset again about his size.

"Names Rotsen."

Silica let go of the American's hand, smiling as she did so. "Then c'mon , that uh, mini boss isn't going to wait for us!"

She started to run down the path again, this time with Rotsen running after her. He couldn't help but feel a pang of joy as he ran behind her. He couldn't exactly tell why but he had a general idea.

-:-

"That's the entrance right there." Silica answered, pointing at a cave covered in vines.

They were already on the second floor and he was surprised to see the emptiness of players. The only people on the floor were NPC's. Not to mention how easily she was able to find the entrance was suspicious to him, including how she insisted for her to be a few steps ahead of him, as if she was keeping an eye out for players.

Rotsen nodded as he idly walked into the cave, pushing the vines away. He knew this wasn't a mini boss entrance. It was obvious for him because he knew every entrance for them, after all he did get over half the mini bosses on the second floor.

This cave however was dark, cold, and damp. Stalagmites and stalactites littered the cave. Thanks to the Beater's perks he was able to see much better in the dark than most players. Thanks to this he was able to notice two players walking towards them when they were halfway into the cave.

They were ahead of them and there was a cubbyhole in the wall beside them, big enough to fit them both. Rotsen acted fast, pulling Silica close to him as he covered her mouth to keep her from making any sounds and using the other to pull her with him into the crack. He felt her tense as she was suddenly jerked into the hole. She was about ready to pull out her own dagger and stab the Beater in the stomach, not knowing what he was exactly doing, but she stopped herself, now seeing two figures in the darkness in front of them.

To Silica all she could see was two large figures dressed in cloaks, but the Beater saw more. He saw the dim bronze color they were, but he took major noticed of the logo on their backs. The Black Hand.

He started to sense up, gritting his teeth to keep himself under control. He knew there were probably still Black Hand supporters but he couldn't stand them. Whenever he was out either on missions or on his days off they were constantly after him, all dying by either his hands or the game.

Once he knew they were out of the cave and out of ear shot he pushed Silica out of the crack but kept her in his grip. He had one hand over her chest, just above her developing breasts, and the other holding his gold dagger to her throat. She squeaked in surprise, obviously scared out of her mind.

"You have ten seconds to explain why the you just led me to the Black Hand before I give you something worse than a Game Over."

Silica swallowed hard, trembling hard as she tried to collect her thoughts. It was obvious to Rotsen he was creating pain by just keeping her in the hold, but he didn't care. He wasn't going to die to the hands of the Black Hand, especially because he fell for such simple bait.

"Answer now!" Rotsen hissed as he pressed his dagger onto her throat, making sure to prick her a little, making her lose a little but of health.

"I-I needed help,"

"Bull shit," he dug slightly deeper, making her lose more health.

"R-re-really, I needed help,"

"For what, luring me in and get paid several gold for it?" he was mustering all the control he had not to easily let his hand just finish her. He wanted answers, and he wasn't liking how it was all going.

"To help kids like me!" She yelled in a whisper, knowing well not to blow their cover. She was on the verge of tears as her eyes were glassy and darting to her feet, the blade, and her health bar that was almost to half. "T-there kidnapping little players, six to fourteen! I saw them kidnap some when I was out grinding. I knew I was no match to help them but I couldn't wait around to get strong enough and I didn't want to die trying! I'm sorry!"

Rotsen's eye's couldn't be seen, all thanks to his long hair, getting in his face again. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking, but the aura he was giving off was obvious. He quickly pushed Silica off him, making sure to sheath his blade first. As she fell onto the floor she squeaked again, grabbing onto her throat, surprised she was speared. As she stayed down Rotsen placed a health potion next to her, making her look up to his hair covered face.

"Drink it. And leave."

"W-what!? I can't just let you do this on your own!" She cried out in a whisper, clutching to the potion.

"I said leave. I don't want another death on my hands."

"A... another?" Silica asked, looming up to Beater. He didn't mean for her to hear that last part, it was meant as a reminder for himself.

He clenched his fist, feeling a familiar pain in his stomach again. "Yes, another. Now leave."

"Wait, I want to know. Did someone close to you die in this game?" She gave him two large eyes as she stood up, obviously intrigued now.

"They weren't close. He was close to someone though. Someone that loved him." He fought back the urge to grab a hold of his stomach. It was starting to get over whelming for him.

"Can you tell me? Can you tell me what exactly happened?"

Rotsen peered to both sides of the cave, indicating that there was no one. He sighed, seeing her eyes again. He knew those kinds of eyes. Puppy dog eyes. He couldn't resit that.

He cleared his throat, trying to keep his voice steady as he started the tale. "It was a long time ago. I was a part of a small guild. One day we were fighting a boss without the leader. He was trapped outside. We were fighting and... Hinata was arrogant and..." He swallowed hard, keeping himself under control. "He was killed by the boss. I then killed it out of rage, after he died in my arms. After that his brother was mad. He blamed me and tried to kill me, stabbing me straight in the stomach. It didn't kill me but it sure did take a huge chunk out of my health. He loved his brother so much he tried to kill me, blaming me for his death that I had no control over. Love makes people do stupid stuff. That's why I don't any chances with you. You have to leave now. I'll handle everything on my own."

On my own... The Beater thought ... always...

Over the silence Silica grabbed his hand, catching him by surprise. She looked up to him with glassy eyes. She could tell the pain Rotsen was feeling from the memory, from the wound that would never truly heal.

"It wasn't your fault. Like you said, love makes people do stupid things. Plus your already stuck with me because I'm not leaving you, someone's gotta keep an eye out for you. And how come you wanted to help me after, y'know."

Rotsen sighed, realizing he had to tell the truth on this one. "Almost in redemption. I want to do something good for once. That and..." he narrowed his eyes, going to a mush small whisper. "You remind me of my sister..."

Silica couldn't help but smile as she heard the whisper. "Excuse me, but you need to speak louder?"

The American sighed, speaking normally. "You remind me of my sister. When she's scared and when she needed my help for stuff."

Silica's cheeks grew red as he finished, getting slight butterflies in her stomach. She coughed them away, trying to get Rotsen's gaze off from the floor. He looked down to her with content eyes.

"Just give me some orders and I'll do it, no question. Other than telling me to leave."

The Beater chuckled, patting her head, despite her silent retorts. He couldn't remember the last time he felt a certain warmth in his chest. It felt...

Nice

-:-

Rotsen hugged the wall next to Silica as they watched over the guard railing. As they continued their valiant quest the cave's walls quickly turned from rock to metal. Torches hung on the walls and the smell of digital semen, sweat, and blood quaffed the air, making the Beater's nose ache. Over the railing they were atop of was over twenty feet from the ground below. Stairs wrapped under it, leading straight to a nightmare to pure soul players.

The ground floor was filled with over dozens of both Black Hand members and the S.S.A. guild. They were another small orange guild that dealt with thievery mostly, or at least on the surface they were. A orange player, Falcon, was their leader. A large, fat man in his mid thirties with long and oily black hair that covered his face, only revealing his large crooked mouth and thick glasses. He specialized in defense and alchemy, cladding in heavy steel armor, consisting of a chest plate, leggings, and boots. His signature steel shield and mace both bore the S.S.A. logo, being an inverted rams head screaming its lungs off.

The ground was filled with the S.S.A. workers, either hauling children slaves into cramp rooms in the back, or were sitting in small desks reading over guild mail. The mail were mostly letters filled with pay for a slave. They called any of the handlers over to fetch a certain child and send them to a certain place. Others guarded the back doors where the children were stored or by Falcon's throne. Falcon sat in large seat on the far end of the main floor, with a little girl that looked no more than eleven, chained to his seat and boring only rags. He had a lazy grin as he continued to look over his work. It disgusted Rotsen as he watched his smile stay, unlike his hand where it wondered onto his personal slave.

Rotsen swallowed in disgust as he guided Silica back, kneeling down to her to explain his plan. As she listened closely, she also watched him as he opened in inventory, now holding a black cloak that bore his guild logo.

As he put on the Laughing Coffin cloak he took off his personal cloak, handing it to Silica. "Put this on. It's a rare piece of armor that'll make you almost invisible to them. Stay quite and guide those kids out of here."

"Okay Mr. Rotsen." She nodded as she spoke, trying her best to re-size the cloak to fit her small body. "But what about you? You never told me what your gonna do."

The Beater avoided eye contact with her as she spoke, knowing if he told her everything she wouldn't leave. "I'm gonna give you cover. No matter what happens, you have to promise that you won't come back and help. You need to save yourself and those kids. Understand?"

Silica slowly nodded, understanding the American completely, still feeling unsure. He sighed, glad she was going to do what was told. Right before he stood up he was pulled down by Silica, wrapping her small arms around his neck and burring her face into his chest, embracing him.

"Just be safe." She whispered so softly that Rotsen could barely hear, even with his perks. He frozen for a second before slowly returning the hug, obviously caught off guard. It felt both odd and right for him to hug Silica back. It reminded him so much of his sister back home. When she would run to him to fight off bullies or thanking him for jumping over the fence to retrieve one of her toys.

"I will..." Rotsen promised, swallowing his feelings before letting her go and drawing his hood. As he did so he pulled out over dozens of his disposable daggers. He ran towards the railing and jumped over it, throwing four at a time at five guild members, killing them. He stood on a broken desk, pointing his dagger at a confused guild leader.

"Falcon!" He yelled, pointing Nature's Dagger at the over weight man. "Your disgusting black market is over! As a high class member of Laughing Coffin I ask for you to decide either swift death or slow execution!"

The guild leader groaned in displeasure, as if this sort of thing happens on a weekly basses. He raised a meaty finger at the Beater, speaking in a deep and slurred voice. "Get 'em!"

Five guards left their posts as they towards him, all shouting before they were quickly silenced by Rotsen's swiftness, killing them all. One tried to slice him in the back but he quickly countered, his blade glowing electric blue as he did so, knocking the white man off balance before stabbing him.

As he did so three more spear wielders threw their weapons, all hitting their target. Rotsen stood still, unfazed. He pulled all three spears out, causing him to lose a quarter of his health before throwing them all back, impaling two in the chest and one in the back as he tried to run away.

As he did so he heard Falcon roar in anger, ordering one of his men to stop Silica from opening the doors. The American had to give it to Silica, he thought she wasn't going to last long but she managed. Rotsen acted fast, throwing three disposable daggers at the leather armored man, stabbing him by his side, causing him stumble, causing the poison in them to finish him off.

"It's over Falcon," Rotsen yelled, hood still drawn over his head. "Your out matched! All your men have been disposed of!"

"Oh have they?"

The Beater's eye's widen as he heard a familiar squeak. He turned to Silica, seeing her in a familiar hold he held her in earlier. The man that was doing so was the same man from earlier. He had a dark grin on his face as he looked at the American.

"What's wrong boy? Surprise I made a last minute entry?"

"Silica!" Rotsen yelled, pulling out a few of his daggers, ready to throw them. Right as he arched his arm back he felt something prick his sides.

He looked down to his side and saw a small dagger, lodged into him. He pulled it out, looking at the smug face of Falcon before looking at his health bar. A poison icon stood next to his health bar, draining it. His healing factor however countered it, making the poison ineffective in killing. However it was successful in canceling out his healing factor.

He ignored it as he threw his knifes, all landing on the mans face, catching them all by surprise. Rotsen yelled at Silica to get out of the cave but she didn't listen. Instead she kicked the man, causing him to fall and ran to the main panel to the doors, smashing it with a fallen mace on the ground.

"NO!" The large blob of a man yelled as all the doors start to open, releasing all the children in rags.

Silica yelled over their screams, telling them to head for the stairs. As Falcon stood up Rotsen threw another dagger at his personal slave. It hit her chains, causing them to disintegrate into code, releasing her. Before he could get his hands on the little girl a dagger pierced throw his hand, causing him to lose a small amount of health points, giving the girl an open window to run away.

"This ends now, kid!" He yelled as he grabbed his shield that rested agents his seat. He roared a mighty battle cry as he pulled his mace from his side, ready for battle.

Rotsen squatted down to an attack position, daggers drawn and pointed down his forearms. A moment passed before Falcon charged at him, as did the Beater. They both meet at the center, dagger clashing agents shield. It started off like that, Rotsen slashing at the shield and trying to leap behind or beside him, trying to get around the obstacle.

It wasn't until Falcon tried to knock out Rotsen with his mace. The Beater took this window of opportunity and blocked the attack. He threw the force back, causing him to stumble back. As he did this Rotsen jumped atop of his shield, ready to stab his beady little eyes out. He was surprised however when the pervert black his attack with his mace, causing him to fly back.

Rotsen landed onto his feet, feeling irritated. He was caught off guard again when he saw Falcon run at, shield before him, acting like a bulldozer. The Beater was sent flying back and on the floor. He was about to get up when he felt a pain in his stomach. Air left his lungs as he lost health. Falcon slammed his mace atop his ribcage, dealing noticeable damage. As the American tried to block he was beaten to the punch again, getting the oxygen beaten out of him.

Falcon laughed as he slammed his mace down on Rotsen for the fourth time. Thanks to his poison and knock back ability on the mace it was hard for the Beater to recover. He was already left with a quarter of health by the time he was hit for the sixth time.

He was angry, both at Falcon and himself, but mostly on himself. He was angry on how he almost killed Silica, how he got her endangered and how he was about to let himself die to a pedophile. What mostly ate away at him was how he never got to know if Liz was still alive. He was angry that he broke a promise to her, that he wouldn't die.

That's when his anger peaked. His own words echoed in his ears when he first meet Midnight, how no game was ever perfect. He bit his lip as he broke through the knock back ability, fighting the code. Pain surged through his brain, the NerveGear trying to process what was going on in his body in the real world. He felt a tingling sensation, as if he somewhat gained his mobility in his arms. He pushed through the pain as he raised his daggers, blocking the hit.

His blades were just an inch above his stomach, as was the mace. The two players had a stalemate for power until Rotsen broke through. Falcon was launched back, failing onto the floor thanks to the force. Right before he could get up he stop, feeling a searing pain in his stomach and throat. His eye's widen when he saw the beaten up figure of Rotsen, breath hard, holding onto both dagger's piercing him.

Rotsen didn't brake eye contact until Falcon's body disintegrated, letting Rotsen fall onto the floor with a thud, exhausted. He laid on the floor, breathing hard, wincing from the pain he was in. He was down on about ten percent of his health. It kept depleting to three percent before going back up to ten, the poison still in effect. He would have laid there forever if it wasn't for a little girl.

"Rotsen!" Silica yelled as she ran from the stairs and down to him. "Are you okay!? What do you need!?"

"I'm fine, Silica," The Beater half lied, getting himself up, and then falling back down. Silica had to help him up, surprising herself.

She took it upon herself to lead Rotsen out of the cave and into the outside world. As they stumbled out snow started to fall, slowly touching the floor. Rotsen laughed as Silica started to giggle, lightening the mood. That was until Rotsen her let him go.

"Silica," He groaned a little, trying to ignore the pain he was getting every few seconds. "I'd like to apologize from almost killing you back there."

"No worries Mr. Rotsen. You were angry and wanted to defend yourself. I would have done the same."

"No Silica, I mean it. I got you into a situation that almost gotten you killed. And to make it up to you I'm giving you this," Rotsen opened is inventory, selecting a special flute that held purple font. When it materialized into his hands Silica saw the whole thing. It was a small wooden flute with light blue feathers at the end of it. It memorized her as the Beater continued to speak. "This is a rare drop I gotten from a mini boss. When you need help the most use it. It'll call forth a beast to protect you and be by your side. Problem is that it's a one use only and it'll only work on the thirty-ninth floor."

"Rotsen..." Silica couldn't speak properly. She was a little over joyed by the sudden gift. Especially since he was placing it into her hands and pulling her into a hug.

"Merry Christmas, Silica."

The female player wrapped her arms around the Laughing Coffin member, almost on the verge of tears herself.

"Merry Christmas, Rotsen."

-:-

The inn room was cold and dark, and the Beater hated it. It was a few minutes to midnight, an hour when he and Silica left the S.S.A. base. Rotsen sat atop of the bed in his room. He didn't want to be at the guild when Christmas hit. He wanted to sleep peacefully for once. It was sad that he had to be at a inn to do that, but he didn't really mind. He was about ready to go to bed when he received a P.M. from Oshoku.

"Merry Christmas to my favorite member. Look at you, it's just been over a few months and look at how far you've come in this guild. I'm proud of you. As a Christmas gift I have two things. The first is a promotion. Welcome to the Crystal rank, kid! You're still gonna be taking orders from me but not from Medusa or Kitub anymore, your their equal now. As for the second gift, its a secret that you can't tell other players. I found out you can open windows to the outside world, but only to the internet. As far as I know you can go as far as checking your email. You can't reply or open anything else. You got one shot to see the outside world, don't mess it up. The password is CIBERNET. See you next week for your next mission."
-Oshoku

Rotsen's eyes widen as he finished reading the message. He had to check his email now, to see if his family sent anything to him. He quickly opened his menu to the search section, finding his account profile. It showed his email as a link, it was design for players to check their email when they're in the game, not needing to leave the game, but now it was rumored to be obsolete since it always appeared with an error icon.

As expected an error icon appeared, along with an option for moderators to access it. He selected it, typing in the password; CIBERNET. He was trembling when another window opened to his email account, showing he had over fifty unread emails. What caught his eyes was the one at the very top, the newest one, from his sister's email.

He hastily opened it, seeing a small video pop up. He selected it and to his disappointment there was no video, only audio available. The screen was completely black but Rotsen could hear the faint sound of the microphone hitting something. His sister always struggled with videos so that must be why he had no visual.

"Merry Christmas, bro!" A voice said loudly and cheerfully, catching Rotsen off guard. It was his sister's voice. She was speaking in their native tongue, English. She sounded cheerful as usual, but he could hear a hint of sadness. "I know this is a day early, and I don't know if you can even hear this, but if you can than try to message me back you lazy ass!" Rotsen couldn't help but laugh, remembering his sister. She should be eleven by now, in sixth grade.

The video glitched and static could be seen on the video. It soon stopped and the Beater was about ready to tear up when he saw his sister. She had long caramel hair tied in a braid. She was a cheerleader in middle school, so she was naturally thin. Her face resembled his, round with strong cheek bones, but she had brown eyes. "This years Christmas is boring without you. Dad told me what happened and mom wouldn't stop crying. Were all with dad now and I'm recording this in the hospital your in. Your sound asleep, with that helmet thing on. I wrapped a scarf I got you for Christmas. It's blue and black, your favourite colors."

As she kept talking her face changed everytime she talked. It switched from sadness to happy to just about everything. That was until she moved the camera to show him his body. He was lying in a white hospital bed. He had the NerveGear on. What really got his attention was a white and blue stripped scarf, wrapped around his neck. He was limp and thinner than normally but he looked warmer than the dark hospital room.

"That'll keep you warm in this cold place. I got nothing else for you but another gift. It isn't physical, but it is verbal. It's a song. I know I'm not a good singer so I'm gonna hum it..."

Rotsen's eye's started to water as he heard his sister hum lightly. He recognized that song almost instantly... Silent Night. Tears started to stain his cheeks as he kept listening, his head in his hands and his hair dangling. Once she was done singing she too started to cry, but it was only indicated by her sniffles. She didn't speak again until she calmed down.

"...I miss you big bro... Please don't die on me... Please come back alive... Merry Christmas..."

The audio clip ended, leaving a replay icon over her sister with a warm yet sad face, her eyes swollen. Rotsen didn't pay attention to it. He was too busy being weak. He finally gave into the pain he was feeling all month, ever since Hinata's death. It all pored out of him; pain, anger, bitterness, sadness, and regret. Tears sprinkled the wooden floor under him and his face was stained. His eyes were blotchy as he sniffled, wiping the tears from his eyes looking up to the audio clip, selecting the save option.

As he laid down on the bed he thought up of a new promise. He was going to get out of this game alive. He was going to get back to his family, and he was going to get his friends out of it as well.

A/N: What'd you think of his chapter? Love it? Hate it so much you'd pay me to stop? Leave a review for me to know if you like it or hated it.

I have to admit, I had major feels when writing the ending. I think Rotsen deserved a nice Christmas, don't you think?

Also, remember if you do like it and want it to continue then leave a review, fallow, or a favorite. I'm not a mind reader so please let me know.

Till next time!