December 24, 2020 · Several hours earlier · 12th Floor · Forest Maze

Surprisingly, or not, the game was… hella unbalanced. The first floor was unproportionally hard in comparison to the next ten… and then everyone got stuck on the 13th floor. This was a problem in beta, and it hasn't been fully or even properly patched it seemed. Zuzu felt that this was going to be a new norm. Going through floors easily and then hitting a wall until someone found the hidden dungeon behind a hidden wall that only opened when someone hit it four times. …yeah.

This sort of stuff should be reserved for secret bonus dungeons! Not the main game! Also the storyline was often… lacking. At least the main one. Side-quests were awesome. Like the one Zuzu and his new friends would try their hand in soon.

Every major guild as well as most smaller ones were searching for the start of said quest, but Let's Go Guild—Zuzu wasn't the one who named them, Chargebolt was—had an unfair advantage… an old friend of Zuzu, back from beta, who was also a hacker who went through game files regularly back then. And if nothing has changed… There was a certain Fir Tree they had to visit to activate the event.

They were currently standing under it, readying their weapons, making use of the time left fully. Just a few steps forward and they'd activate it and bring the wrath of Nicholas on themselves.

"Are you like, sure it will spawn here?" Melodica, always the sceptic, asked, her voice echoing into a seemingly empty forest. No wonder she doubted, considering just how void of life it was.

"Yeah, I'm sure." The monster spawned only in three places in the tower: 12th, 24th and 36th floor. All because of multiples of twelve, as the entire event was Christmas themed. The monster on 36th Floor had a 100% drop rate for the mythical item, 24th a 50% and 12th a 25%, still it was worth a try, as they had no access to higher floors yet.

And what was the mythical item? Something incredibly worth it in current Sword Art Online—The only working revival item in the game.

Allegedly of course.

Most people brushed it off as a rumour, but still wanted to fight for it in case it turned out to be true. Zuzu's group knew it was true.

The players had half an hour to 'live' after they 'died' in game. After that time NerveGear did its work. It was a failsafe of sorts, Zuzu suspected, coupled with the item: Divine Stone of Returning Soul.

God bless hacking, and god bless the failsafe.

Ideally they'd get all three, but as mentioned the other floors were still not cleared.

There was only a 25% chance they'd get the item even if they defeated the boss… but still. They needed a failsafe. Just in case.

Suddenly the tree started glowing, the air filled with the sound of heavy church bells.

"He's coming." Everyone prepared.

Small bells, normally associated with Christmas, rang out soon after, from the direction of the sky, closing in… And there he was. Nicholas The Renegade. Patron Saint of prostitutes. …look it up.

The monster landed on the ground in front of them so hard he created a shockwave that pushed them back. Tapeman charged first, shield ready, and predictably the monster AI focused on him, dealing a blow that he blocked decently. Chargebolt went for the left, as Zuzu circled back on the right and prepared to deal a blow to his back.

They were focused, synchronised, ready. Everyone knew what to do when. Zuzu directed them flawlessly, now more used to being the leader of the group.

The monster's green face got purple, as it tried and failed to kill them a blow after a blow. Even if they did get hurt, Melodica healed them, and if that wasn't needed she provided excellent support with her bow.

Soon enough the monster disappeared into a myriad of colours, leaving behind… YES. There, in the soft snow, lied the precious gem they fought for.

Zuzu picked it up, marvelling at its blue, gentle glow.

"We did it!" Tapeman hollered, high-fiving Chargebolt, or at least trying as they threw themself at him into a hug. Thank god he caught them. Melodica yelled in happiness too, joining the hug. And then all three turned their heads and looked at Zuzu, grinning evilly.

"No— Guys I'm holding the gem— GUYS—"

They smothered him in a hug anyway.

December 24, 2020 · 4th Floor · Bog Village

"How are you sure he won't just delete you from his friends?" Chargebolt whispered as Zuzu meticulously packed a little present for the Cat'astrophy.

"I'm not. But he hasn't yet." He opened the package menu and hit send. Hopefully He would appreciate the feminine boots he picked for him to match his distinctive cape.

The entire Let's Go Guild was sitting in the Bog Village tavern, relaxing after the battle they just went through. And the following battles trying to swat away as many players as possible who thought they could threaten them to give away the item. Pff, in their dreams.

Zuzu would just beat all of them up while the rest of the guild provided support. It worked well enough. After all, his level differed much from other people usually…

A sudden message startled him. He never got messaged, not out of the blue like that. His guild didn't make many friends… It was a message from Cat'astrophy.

Rumour says you took part in the quest and actually won.
Did you get the item?

Yeah, why?

I have a favour to ask.
Do you know the Pro Hero Ereaserhead?

Of course I do!
Wait, he's Underground
How do you know about him

Well he just died.

The world stopped around Zuzu. What?

WHAT

Yeah, he went and told me in his last dying breath
He protected me
I'll do whatever you want if get your ass here
I'm on the 13th floor near the boss room, we just won.

Well shit. Fuck. Jeez.

"Guys?" he whispered tentatively.

"Yeah?"

"We're gonna meet up with Cat'astrophy now," he said as he paid for the drink he ordered, and packed his things.

"Oh, did he like the boots?" Chargebolt asked, completely obvious to the tragedy around them.

"Worse, he just saw someone really important die. We gotta revive them."

"Wait, what?"

"What if it's a trap?"

"I don't think so, he shared national level security information just a second ago. And don't ask how I know."

Half an hour was a lot less time than Zuzu thought it was.

To be honest they all barely made it to where Cat'astrophy was.

Zuzu didn't even say a word, just thrusted the gemstone into the boy's waiting hands, and looked at him as he turned around and entered the empty boss room to find the place where Eraserhead has died, then say his nickname, Eraser, then watched the myriad of shards come together to piece back what was broken.

Soon enough there was a player in front of them, the hobo he noticed on the first floor back then. Oh. Whoops. Not a hobo.

"What?"

"Sir, you're alive."

"Oh goddammit."