Chapter Three: This Death Game…
December 4th, 10am Aincrad Standard Time (AST). While I was busy crafting up tables and chairs to furnish the tavern with, the raiding party was gathering to defeat the Floor One boss. Plenty of us stayed away from the front lines. I've seen several people around the city, clearly waiting with baited breath to see the results of the raid. "If they fail…" I muttered to myself. I didn't want to finish that thought. If Diavel and the others fail, it's all over. If we lose them now, then we'll have lost our best fighters and we won't have any chance of getting out of here alive. I'm sure they understand that as well. It must be a lot of pressure, I wondered. I could never imagine it.
It took me the entire morning, but I was able to put together 3 tables for guests, 4 chairs per table. Now the afternoon, I chose to get my cooking skill up. I used the loot drops I'd obtained on my hunts to cook up as much decent food as possible and I also tried to mix a few drinks. I checked the clock in my menu. 1pm. "It's been 3 hours since they met up…" Even knowing they had to walk to the boss room and everything, it still felt like it should be over by now. I tried to sit still and wait but in the end, I couldn't wait. I locked up and went into the town square, hoping to find some answers.
Walking through the streets, I almost immediately noticed there were fewer people than there were this morning. A small group of 5 people ran past me and I called out to them.
"Hey! Where is everyone?" They stopped and turned to face me.
"You haven't heard? The floor boss just got defeated! Everyone is rushing to check out Floor Two!" one of them said. "Come on guys, let's go!" Without hesitation, the man rallied his group and they continued on. They did it! I thought to myself. Excited to see Diavel again, I ran after the group and followed them to the boss room. After a few minutes of running, we finally reached it and the room was massive. Huge pillars held up the roof and a kaleidoscope of color covered the walls and floor. At the other end of the corridor was a large staircase that led up to a massive door with even more stairs on the other side.
"Woah!" one of the members of the group exclaimed.
"This is so cool! I wish we could have been a part of this fight." said another.
"Y-yeah well… I'm glad we didn't." said the only girl in the party. She had been quiet until now and her voice was soft and sweet. She seemed nervous to even be standing in the empty boss room.
"Aw, come on Sachi, we're gonna have to fight something eventually. That's what the game is all about!" one of the members said, throwing his arm around the girl, whose name was apparently Sachi. "Right, new guy?" the man turned his attention to me, a smile beaming from ear to ear.
"Huh?" I replied, confused. New guy? Does he mean me?
"What's the point of this game if not to get out on the front lines? You agree, right uh... " he pauses before laughing. "I'm sorry, I haven't even asked your name yet and I'm already talking to you like we know each other." the man then extends his hand to me. "The name's Ducker!"
"Um, nice to meet you. I'm Hexagon." I say, shaking his hand.
"Hexagon huh? That's a neat name! Pleased to make your acquaintance!" Ducker said, enthusiastically. Is this guy always this happy-go-lucky? I wondered. "This shy gal right here is Sachi. She's not much of a fighter." Ducker said, giggling.
"There's nothing wrong with that. I for one don't fight. I actually own a tavern back on Floor One." I said, pointing back down the way we came.
"Oh, I thought I saw you come out of a building. That was your tavern, huh? We should go there to celebrate!" Ducker replied, turning to the rest of his team.
"What exactly are we celebrating?" another member asked.
"The clearing of Floor One of course!" Ducker responded, striking a victory pose.
"Which we had no part in, might I add." the man responded.
"Aw come on, you were just as excited as the rest of us that Floor One got cleared and you know it!" Ducker said before turning back to me. "That killjoy over there is Sasamaru."
"Hey, I'm not a killjoy! Don't give Hexagon a bad first impression of me." Sasamaru said, flustered.
"I think you're the one giving him that impression, Sasamaru." another man laughed.
"Come on Tetsuo, back me up!" Sasamaru groaned back to him, prompting Tetsuo to chuckle.
"Uh guys, weren't we introducing ourselves?" the final member spoke up, clearly a little embarrassed.
"Oh, right. Hi, I'm Tetsuo!" he said, pointing to himself dramatically.
"Sasamaru. I promise I'm not as bad as Ducker made me out to be." Sasamaru said, somewhat embarrassed.
"Finally, I'm Keita! And, for what it's worth, I am this party's leader!" Keita said, proudly. He definitely had an air of pride about him, but he wasn't arrogant. The group as a whole seemed fairly carefree. "It wasn't the most graceful introduction, but we are the Moonlit Black Cats."
"I see. Well, it's nice to meet you all. You all seem to get along well for it having just been a month." I say.
"Oh well, that's because we know each other irl. We go to the same school and all got close during our time in the computer club!" Keita clarifies.
"Ah I see. Yeah, I wasn't even thinking of that." I respond. I know a few people irl who got SAO too. I hope they're okay…
"Do you have anyone who you came into SAO with?" Ducker asks.
"Oh well, yeah. I haven't found them yet though." I sigh.
"So wait, you're a solo player? Wouldn't running a tavern require like… staff?" Sasamaru asks, titling his head.
"Hehe, I guess I hadn't thought about that yet. The tavern isn't very big so I just assumed I'd run it alone." I answer.
"Oh well that's too bad. This game is way more fun when you're playing with others, especially when you knew them before!" Ducker says, motioning to the others.
"Come on guys, let's quit talking about real life. I just wanna get to the second floor and see what it's like." Keita interjects. He seems to be discreetly motioning to Sachi who seems a tad restless.
"Oh uh, yeah let's go." Sasamaru says.
"Hey, you comin' with us?" Ducker asks me.
"Thank you but I'll have to decline. I'm looking for someone so I'm gonna have to split off from here." I answer.
"That's ok. Well hey, how about we add you to our friend lists?" Ducker says, opening his inventory.
"Oh yeah, that's a great idea!" Keita says, enthusiastically. "We'll need to be able to contact you if we're gonna want to hang out at your tavern."
"Oh uh, yeah sure." I say, opening my inventory. More friends! They seem so carefree but they're all good people. As I open my inventory, I am greeted with several "Accept/ Deny" screens. I accept them all and then open my friends list to see the new names that have filled the spaces. However, as I stare at the list, I notice something odd. "That's weird…"
"Huh? What is it, Hexagon?" Ducker asked.
"Um… so if someone you have friended no longer shows up on your friend list… what does that mean?" I asked in a shaky tone. Don't say it. Don't say what I know you're going to say. I thought to myself.
"Oh. Um well…" Ducker was lost for words. No, he knew what to say. He just didn't want to say it. Keita then spoke up.
"It… means that they've died."