"Of all the places we have to go, why the hell must it be this place!?" Keita spoke after stepping out of the teleport gate.

Since our destination is somewhere on floor fifty-five, we had to improvise a lot.

The teleport gate led us straight into the center of Grandum, the city which, less than a week ago, we became the most wanted group from the two biggest guilds in the game, and the location of one of said guilds' headquarters.

"Looks like not bringing Asuna-san with us wasn't really a great idea..." Sachi said when she noticed some KBO knights patrolling the fountain on the other side of the square. Luckily, they didn't see us.

"Everything's gonna be fine. We just need to lay low until all this's over." I told her, before turning to Lisbeth.

"So, where's to go next, miss blacksmith?"

"It's Lisbeth, you idiot! And don't fret yourself. Where we need to go is outside of the city, so you don't have to worry about your stupid guild war stuff." Lisbeth smirked.

Even so, that didn't stop us from hiding in street alleys every time a member of the KBO showed up, and because of that, it took us longer than usual to reach the city gate.

"Just a few more blocks, and we're home free!" Tetsuo said.

However, something distracted me from that.

I caught a glimpse of a young black-haired girl at the bench near the West City Gate. She seems like she's crying. Around her, a group of six players in black armors and helmets are laughing at her.

It doesn't take a genius to tell that she's been harassing.

"-c'mon! Look at this cutie! She doesn't even have any money! How did she last this long!?" I heard one of the guys said.

"Who cares!? She's not paying our taxes, so she won't be staying here if she knows what's good for her!" The biggest guy in the group, the leader, I presume, then slammed his hand on the bench, causing the poor girl to shriek.

That's the end of the line for me.

I started walking toward them, but Izumi stopped me.

"What are you doing? You could expose us!" She said.

"I can't let them do this to her!"

"I don't like it either, but if those KBO knows that we're here, then we'll stuck with them. Asuna isn't here with us, you know?"

"But..."

I stared desperately at them. Izumi's right. I can't start any fight here. This isn't the Town of Beginnings. This is Grandum. If I started a fight, then not only the KBO knights will notice, but the NPC city guards will throw me into a prison, and there's a lot of city guards near the gate.

So what I should do, just stand and watch!?

"Hey! What the hell!?"

The leader of the group yelled up. His right hand clenching on his bare left arm, where just seconds ago, the armor was covering.

"W-what the heck did you do to me, girl?!"

"I...I..."

The young girl tried to speak, but all she can do is mumble, then she ran away.

"Come back here, you little!"

Another member throws his spear at the ground in front of the girl, making some cracks on the floor, and the girl's foot stuck the cracks, making her slipped.

"Got you now!" The lead guy stood above her, and grabbed her pure white dress in his hand.

The young girl covered her hands on her face, her body trembled in fear.

That's when I decided that enough is enough.

I broke from the group and walking toward the group, my sword draw.

"Kirito, come back!" I heard Sachi called, but I didn't stop.

Those bastards won't bully anyone on my watch.

"Hey! Stop!" I yelled.

The group turned toward me. Their helmets are covering their faces except their mouths so I can't see how they looked like.

"What do you want, pal?" The guy on my left spoke.

"Let the girl go." I demanded. "Now!"

"Hah! And why do you think we'll listen to you, huh!? This is our turf! Anyone's not paying the taxes won't be staying here!" The leader grinned.

"What taxes?" I asked. Since when there are tax collectors in this game?

"What? You haven't heard of us? Where the hell have you been all this time?!" The lead guy laughed, but I shut him up after pointing my sword at him.

"And haven't you heard of me?" I asked him back.

The others scrambled their weapons, but one of them pointed at me instead, his jaws dropped.

"That's...that's the Black Swordsman!" He said. "That's the guy the leader was telling us about!"

"Huh?!"

Suddenly, everyone lowered their weapons, much to my surprises.

The lead guy just smirked at me, though.

"So this is the Black Swordsman, huh? No wonder why our leader hates you so much. Always sticking your hands into someone elses' business!"

"And I see you're smart enough not to fight me." I told him.

"What's the point? We're all gonna get our asses kicked anyway, if you're that skilled just like what the leader told us. I'm not stupid!" He deviously replied.

"Who's this leader you're talking about? And why are you collecting taxes from people like this?" I asked him, my weapon still drawn.

"They're members of Aincrad Liberation Army."

Izumi, who suddenly showed up beside me, answered instead.

"The largest guild in the game. A player named Kibaou is their leader. They claimed they're a group of dedicated players fighting to clear the game..." She explained.

So, Kibaou? I haven't heard that name for a while, but I'll never forget him. With him as the leader, no wonder why their guildmates turned out like this.

"And yes, we did!" The lead guy shouted. "We're fighting to free you people from this death trap! Unlike those selfish KBO knights and hot-blooded HDA paladins that's always at each other's throats all the time."

"So, you're clearing the game by demanding taxes from us players? That's so stupid." Izumi spoke.

"Hey, lady, good items in this game don't come cheap, you know? And we're a big guild, as you know. We needed money to support our cause!"

"Then go find it somewhere else!" I demanded. "What you're doing here's no different than robbing!"

"Heh. Just for once, I'll do as you say, Black Swordsman." The lead guy finally stepped back. "But be warned. The next time, I won't be as friendly."

"Consider me warned, now get out of here!"

And so, the ALA members left the area.

Well, that went better than I expected...but something tells me this won't be the last time I saw them.

"Alright. Looks like you're safe now, young girl."

I turned back to see the black-haired girl, only to find that she's already gone.

"Huh? Where's that girl?" I asked Izumi, who just shook her head.

"She's already gone by the time I reached you, Kirito."

"Do you know where she's headed?"

"I don't know. It was very strange. At first, she's right there next to you, but after I blinked once, she's just gone."

Okay, now that's really creepy.

Who's that girl?

"Alright, if you're finish playing the hero, shall we continue?" Lisbeth said after she and the rest of the group rejoined me and Izumi. "Let's get going already!"

I glanced around, and noticed some KBO knights stared toward us. They don't recognize us yet, but will do eventually if we stay here any longer.

"Okay, let's move."

We rented some horses from the stable outside the West City Gate, and rode along the path into the countryside.

"So where are we heading again, Lisbeth-san?" Sachi asked.

"The West Mountain, a snowy mountain range filled with numerous rare crystals on the top of it." Lisbeth explained. "But the one we needed requires us to fight a boss that will only spawn when we accept a certain quest from a NPC, who we're headed to right now."

"Sounds complicated." Keita remarked.

"Hey, if it was that easy to obtain, it wouldn't be called a rare item, right?"

So, we have to fight a boss, huh? Hopefully it won't be too strong for us, especially when I can't use my Elucidator right now.

"Don't worry about your new sword. It's more stronger than it looks." Izumi rode alongside me.

"Heh. If its user is skilled enough, any sword could become a deadly weapon." I said. "You seem to know a lot about the game, Izumi."

"Oh, well. I've been around a lot before I joined the Black Cats. Hopping from one guild to another. I was even part of the ALA once about three months ago, but seeing how they did stuffs like back there, there's a reason why I quit."

Izumi sighed. Her face saddened.

"I never really seem to belong anywhere."

I looked at Izumi. I never saw her felt this weak before. Even though I had only know her for just a week, I couldn't help but pity her about the state she's in.

"You're not the only one, Izumi. I once felt like I never belong anywhere, too." I told her. "I left the Black Cats because I thought it will be easier for me as a solo player. I could do anything I wanted with no restrictions."

"So why did you come back?"

Suddenly, Tetsuo rode to me from another side.

"You remember it, don't you? What happened to Ducker?"

He asked me. His eyes that's normally hiding in the always smiling face stared straight at me.

"You're a Beater. Of course it'll be better for you to be a solo player. Like anyone's gonna accept you into a party, or a guild." He said.

"Before you left us last time, I asked you a question, right? Why did you join us in the first place? If you really wanted to be the strongest player, then why bother with us newbies?"

I fell silent, thinking about what I will answer to him.

I still remember his last words directed at me from a long time ago...

"Why!? Why didn't you tell us about this place!? Why did you lie to us!? So you could use us as stepping stones for you!?"

"That's why you let Ducker died!"

"I...don't know..." I admitted. "I don't know why I joined you guys either. I just did. Hell, I don't even know why I decided to go looking for you at the KBO headquarter!"

"And because of that, we lost Ducker." Tetsuo said, causing me to lower my face in regret.

"But even I have to admit that Ducker's death is really his own fault. I don't blame you anymore, Kirito, but I'm not saying that I'm willing to trust you. We Black Cats treated each member like family, and families don't keep things hidden from each other. And as far as I'm concerned, everyone here is my family, except you."

And with those words, he rode the horse ahead of me, leaving me with Izumi behind the group.

"Man, was he always this harsh?" Izumi spoke. "He seemed very polite when he's around others."

"Not really his fault. He got a lot bitter after Ducker died, and contrary to what he and the others believe, it's partly my own fault, too."

"What's with people and their tragic pasts these days?" Izumi sighed.

"What about you? You seem pretty troubled yourself." I said.

"Well, it's nothing serious. I'm just thinking about what we encountered in that cave back on floor twenty-fourth."

"Those hackers-turned-monsters thing?"

"Yeah, and that console. It'll be a big trouble if there's more of this thing out there and people decided to use them to do something to the game."

"I agreed. It'll be pretty bad if it falls into the wrong hands."

"Also, those ALA members earlier... Even though it's not the first time I've seen them doing something like that, but it still doesn't make it any easier watching it happen. Got to be amazed at the lengths people are willing to go to get out of this nightmare."

"Heh. Those guys always claimed to do something for the sake of others to justify their actions, but in the end, it all comes down to themselves and their selfish motives." I told her.

"Even so, what if they're right?" Izumi asked me back, her eyes turned serious. "They're right about how the guilds aren't doing anything to help winning this game, and that more and more people stopped playing it and settle down. What if forcing others to fight is the best, heck, the only way for us to win?"

"Maybe they're right about their ideals, but that doesn't justify their methods." I said. "United factions don't come by force, but by accepting the fact that we don't always agree on everything, but in the end we're fighting for the same thing. That way, it'll create a sense of belonging."

"Still, how do we know right from wrong? How do we know whose side we're on?" Izumi asked me again.

"How do we know where we really belong?"

I turned my face away from her and look at the people in front of me. Tetsuo is checking his weapon, Lisbeth and Keita are chatting with each other. I stared at Sachi, who was smiling beautifully at them both.

"Everyone have different answers to that question, Izumi-san. You just gotta have to find it yourself." I told her.

Of course, I'm still finding my own answer, too.

The answer to the question that whether I belong here or not.

And so, we continued our journey to the West Mountain.

Editor's note: SURPRISE! THIS STORY'S NOT DEAD! ^_^

Sorry for the very, very long break, guys! I'm having trouble finding inspiration to write these days. Guess I'm just too lazy to write or there's just a lot of stuffs on my mind right now. But to give you guys some closure, I'll gladly say that I won't abandon this story no matter what happens! (Well, except I'm dead, of course). The duration between new chapter release might be longer, but it'll keep coming! Just be patient and wait for the new chapter, and I'll finish it eventually! Thank you everyone! Cheers!