Biggest thanks for Ace-Triad helping me with SPAG edit! Also special thanks to Angel Wraith for reading my rough draft and provide important feedbacks.
Special shout out to fellow writer SmutWithPlotAO3 for their story 'The Villainess Quit'. It's a more focused villainess retake kind of story without all the Game of Thrones politics my story has, and a more canon compliant Malty. So anyone who enjoyed my story, but doesn't really care for the political drama, or the changes I made to canon will probably have a good time.
More author note at the end for people who are interested to see me blabber some more.
Left foot click on the pavement, rest.
Right foot lifts up, arc forward and click on the pavement.
Now it's the left foot's turn to go forward again. Rinse and repeat, just like thousands of times before, and more times afterwards. On the same, grey and dreary asphalt road, with the same buildings in different shades of white, grey and black.
The occasionally passing pedestrians does little to break up the monotony of the road he's been walking for many years. People with their backs slightly hunched over, and focused more on their feet than in front of their eyes.
Everyday people, with lives slowly crushed under the weight of their society. They have almost no aspiration in life, except to continue slaving away to keep staying alive.
It's no different than his parents, and more importantly, no different than what he'll become in another few years.
Interlude: The Melancholy of Ren Amaki
When you were young, didn't you have some grandiose dream about what you want to become when you become an adult? An athlete, an inventor, an astronaut...
But when you grow older and older, you realize the thing you will most likely become is just one in a million corporate drones, running yourself ragged and dry, till you get spit out of the system as a husk. That's when the world began to gradually lose its colors. Eventually, everything becomes just a different shade of black and white.
Ren Amaki is for all intents and purposes, just another one in a million unremarkable student who is one of those who sees the world in different shades of black, white and grey. Someone who is destined to become one of the corporate drones who will slave to death for a black hearted company that only cares about the bottom-line and productivity rather than the wellbeing of its employees.
He is good enough to get into a decent high school, but not good enough to get into the best University. He has decent reflexes to get onto the school team, but not enough to go pro. He has virtually no special talent worth writing home about to fill extracurricular activity organizations, except for one, teeny-tiny little detail.
Ren Amaki's second, infinitely more interesting life is being the worldwide, top player of Brave Star Online: Sword Art Overlord.
It started out just like countless others - using a VRMMORPG as an escape for his otherwise unremarkable life since the game's launch. But the solo player quickly realized he seems to outpace all other players when he can single handedly take down bosses they have trouble in a full team. Very soon, BSO becomes one of the last two things in his life that still has color.
In the game he is no longer Ren Amaki, the boring, awkward antisocial dime a dozen students living for an early grave. SwordArtOverlord is someone who people speak with both reverence and envy, who has people eagerly following his every new exploit, and become excited when he occasionally chooses to help out in the game.
But more important than that, clashing blades with the maws and claws of powerful bosses fills him with a thrill that common everyday life can never provide. The high becomes irresistibly intoxicating ever since the first time he takes down a Dragon Emperor raid boss solo after a full hour of struggle against it - something he knows he will never experience in his mundane earthly life.
A notebook slap on his head, brings Ren out of his silent musing. "Pay attention to me when I speak! Baka-Ren!"
The pouting girl has a cute, next-door-neighbor but otherwise fairly plain looking face. Her hair is a short bob cut that constantly bounces with energy just like her spring like stride.
In Ren's life only two things have color: Brave Star Online, and his next door neighbor childhood friend Mikoto. She admittedly won't be winning any school beauty pageants soon, but her lively but otherwise easygoing personality still makes her one of the more popular students in their class.
Right now Mikoto is griping a rolled up thin notebook in one hand, with the other resting on her waist. "It's not polite to ignore people when they talk to you! Baka-Ren!"
"Sorry. I was thinking," Ren tilts his head slightly to the side while giving his usual response blank of emotion. "What were you saying?"
"You are too absorbed in your own world, pay more attention to other people..." Mikoto's voice takes a dip downward, to the point it sounds uncharacteristically somber.
Ren can't understand why she's acting almost depressed. It's not like he is anyone important in other people's lives. Then again, he feels like he should apologize for making his only friend upset. "Sorry."
The short haired girl shakes her head. She suddenly throws both her arms up like her usual cheerful self. "I was asking what you want to do after we graduate from high school. We're already 16, kind of important to plan them, you know."
"I see." Ren nods his head along. He does not understand why Mikoto likes to nag him, of all people, on almost every little thing, unlike everyone else. The dour boy assumes that she's trying to take care of her childhood friend like a mother hen. Although he does wish Mikoto to not be too nosy on topics he rather likes to avoid. "Doesn't really matter, I guess."
"HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT!? It's our future life!" The lively girl is practically jumping on her feet while gritting her pristine white teeth by this point. She recovers quickly, pointing at herself with her thumb while puffing out her chest, a mouthful of puffed air escapes her. "I'm going to study how to be a journalist! I want to tell people the truth of what's going on in the world!"
Ren's head is tilting to the other way now. He assumes that dream fits Mikoto, since she seems to never grow out of her childlike boundless energy. Trying to unearth the latest scoop seems right up her alley. Although one thing does make him raise an eyebrow. "...I thought your dream was to be a good wife and mother?"
"What's stopping me from being a good wife, mother, and journalist?" Mikoto's hand is back on her waist now while her right hand raises her rolled up notebook like a threatening weapon.
"...the long working hours...?" Ren's eyebrows have disappeared into his hairline by this point. A quick notebook slap on his forehead makes the quiet boy letting out a fake moan of pain. "...ouch."
"Stop being a downer! I'll show you I can grasp both career and family with my hands! Hard to reach dreams are the best! Where is your sense of pride and accomplishment if you don't work for it?!" The girl flexes her arm while winking at Ren. Her grip on the notebook tightens even more, as if that little bundle of paper is the symbol of her dreams. Ren has to admit if someone can truly be both a family and a career woman, Mikoto can probably achieve that dream.
In a way, Ren actually agrees with Mikoto. The reason he takes so much pride in being on Brave Star Online's leaderboard was because he achieved it through skill instead of exploiting system loopholes.
Mikoto suddenly begins to stare at Ren with a big grin on her face like she is thinking of something funny. "Hey! I know! You don't have a dream of your own. Right, Ren? How about I give you one? You can take literature classes in University and be my editor! I'll dig up the scoop, and you write the article!"
Ren chews the inside of his mouth while giving the idea some thought. A newspaper's editor sounds like a lot of work, he definitely won't be able to play as much BSO as he would like to. On the other hand... it's not like working for the next black hearted corporation for long hours and even weekends will leave him much time for gaming either, and at least he'll still work with his childhood friend like that part of his life has never changed. "Sure, why not."
"Oh, come on! I promise it'll be fun! Just like that time you helped me do a school newspaper article... wait, did you say yes!?" Mikoto goes halfway into mother hen Mikoto mode and begins to nag Ren, until she abruptly realizes the boy accepted her proposal.
Ren simply smirks back at his good friend. "Now who's not listening to other people?"
"Stop teasing me! Baka-Ren! This is one out of a thousand times!" A quick notebook swipe tries to erase his facial expression, but the result is a little mixed. Ren does not dwell on it, and by the look of her happy clap neither does Mikoto. "Great! That's one thing taken care of. Hey, Ren. Your birthday is coming up. What do you want for a present?"
The dour boy tilts his head sideways once again, there is honestly not much he needs, or wants in life for that matter. He likes to play BSO in his life to chase the high of fighting and beating a challenging boss. He likes to spend time with Mikoto, even if he mostly just gets dragged around all over the place, doing activities he's not interested in like helping write that article for the newspaper club. He is about to say something when Mikoto jams her notebook roll to block his mouth.
"I'm not paying your BSO subscription fee for your birthday gift." The low growl and Mikoto's serious glare promises Ren much more pain than getting his ass utterly kicked by a BSO raid boss. "Birthday gifts need to be special."
"...I wasn't going to ask for that." Ren rolls his eyes at Mikoto's threat. Sure, there are talks about VRMMORPG addiction all over the TV and internet. But Ren would like to think he's not so pathetic in life, he'd beg his childhood friend to help pay for his subscription bill with his upcoming birthday.
"Oh, yeah!? You were totally going to ask for that!" The lively girl stomps her feet on the ground like a little angry chicken. She moves closer to Ren's face to smirk at him. "Alright, Mr. Dark ,Brooding Lone Wolf. If you aren't going to ask me to pay your subscription fee, what was the gift you wanted to ask for?"
Ren blinks his eyes at Mikoto. It seems like his childhood friend is almost obsessed at finding what he wants. He looks seriously into the eyes of his childhood friend and says it with his usual deadpan voice. "Your smile."
Mikoto blinks back at Ren, her expression freezes on her face for a brief few seconds before she bursts out laughing. "HAHAHA~! Good one, Ren! But nice try! I'm not that cheap myself. Oh, I know! How about I give you a scarf with a bunch of smiley faces on it!? I heard the coming winter is going to be cold, so it's functional and goes well with you, so people at school don't all think you are some sourpuss."
"Not bad." Ren's lips curl upwards a little, not enough to form into one of his usual full smirk when he is amused by something. The idea of wearing a scarf given to him by Mikoto does sound very functional, even if the decoration leaves something to be desired. He is once again brought out of his musing by the clicking sound of the camera. The dour boy looks back at Mikoto to see her smile while holding up her smart phone with the picture of Ren in there.
"And I'll send this picture of your smile to you with the scarf! You should smile more often, Ren. You have a pretty smile." Mikoto giggles back at Ren while he looks closer at the picture. While it is faint, seeing him in the picture does indicate that he has a genuine smile rather than a half amused, half exasperated smirk he usually wears. Of course, it's debatable if the word 'pretty smile' has any relationship with himself.
"Not bad..." Ren simply chooses to nod alone to appease Mikoto. That's when his situational awareness trained by BSO kicks in and notices something wrong. People on the street are quickly ducking out of the way, and the reason becomes clear to him. A man with sunglasses over his eyes, and a mask over his lower face is running down the street with a knife in his hand.
Mikoto is standing with her back towards the man, still oblivious she is standing in his way. Ren quickly pulls her back without a word. For a brief second, he wonders if he can simply bat the knife away since the lunge attack is very sloppy for BSO's standard. But then he realized his own arms are even slower and sloppier.
By the time the knife is embedded in his stomach, he finally has the belated realization: In this world, he is just the normal and average kid Ren Amaki, not the most powerful and skilled SwordArtOverlord.
As Ren's leg slowly buckles and he falls back to look at the clear afternoon sky, all he can think is one thing. Strangely, getting stabbed in real life should hurt a lot more. It honestly doesn't feel that much different than getting impaled in BSO.
He can hear the echoing of Mikoto's cry calling for an ambulance as she is trying to hold her hand down on his wound. Ren's lips move, trying to tell Mikoto not to get her clothes dirty but no sound comes out of his mouth. That is rather problematic, since he still has a lot of things he wants to tell his childhood friend. Mikoto's tears are dropping down her usually lively and happy face now, that won't do. "Mi...oto..."
"Yes, I'm here, Ren. Hang on, help's on the way." Mikoto grabs his hand tight and presses it to her face. Now the blood is getting on her cheek.
"...smile." Ren wants to tell his childhood friend tears of sadness don't really suit her cheerful face, or he really does only want her smile for his birthday. He has trouble speaking now, one single word will have to do. His last view of his dreary world ends up being a spectrum full of colors, with Mikoto slowly giving one of her prettiest smiles through her tears as everything slowly goes dark.
Huh, for an early grave, this wasn't so bad.
"Oh, honorable heroes! Please, save our world!" A deep, aged voice carries itself forward into his ears. The voice was completely different, but the familiar line makes him open his eyes and become aware of the sudden change in his surroundings.
For the immediate difference, he's no longer bleeding out on the pavement of the dime a dozen streets in Tokyo. He's in some kind of enclosed building made with stone masonry at least five times larger than common modern day brick. The style of the building also gives off an archaic vibe, with high ceilings, pillars and arches. It eerily reminds him of how he starts out in Brave Star Online.
Ren notices three others wearing similar modern clothing around him stirring or sitting up, but he doesn't pay them attention even as he ignores their rambles. No, he focuses on the speaker in front of them.
A group of ominous looking men in dark red, probably maroon colored and hooded robes that obscure most of their faces are what he saw next. In front of them stands a figure wearing a set of white robes with golden markings and an ivory hat. Both his robe and hat have a golden triangle on the front, instead of the familiar golden cross from his world.
The young man narrows his eyes when he notices from the corner of his eyes, two robed figures are escorting a third one away while supporting the half collapsed figure on both of his sides.
Something like this didn't happen in Brave Star Online's new player introduction scene.
Speaking of discrepancies to the VR game he's familiar with, the man in white robes is very different from the new player guide character from BSO. The man is easily over his 50s judging by his thinning grey hair, instead of a pretty looking teenage girl with well covered, but form fitting clothes to show only enough of her perfect hourglass figure to have the game stay within the PG13 rating.
The old man opens his mouth, but lets out a series of labored coughs instead of whatever exposition that's no doubt on his mind. One of the cultists (presumably) in dark red steps up, but the older man (once again, presumably) dismisses the cultist with a wave of his hand. The old man takes out a small piece of cloth to wipe his mouth.
Ren swears he sees a smidge of red on the corner of his mouth.
"Allow me to introduce myself, heroes. I... am Vicar Lawrence." The man tries to hide it by speaking slowly, but Ren still picks up a slight wheeze in his tone. Judging from his cough, he is clearly suffering from some kind of respiratory problem.
A rather interesting detail to include within a game... if he is in a game. In fact, aside from the more sculpture-like face and obvious western name, Vicar Lawrence almost reminds Ren of the Prime Minister Masato Yuda all the way down to the bad coughing.
Wasn't Masato Yuda talking about passing down the office to his successor due to the deterioration of his tuberculosis problem? That's the thought on Ren's mind even as he listens to Lawrence explaining the disaster upon their world, which is eerily similar to Brave Star Online once again.
Ren Amaki wakes up on the bed inside the hotel room he rented last night. He sits up and pulls up his left sleeve, the wound he inflicted on the back of his forearm is completely gone, without even a trace of scarring left on the smooth skin.
The young hero examines his undergarments next. If not for the smudge of almost black dark red on the sleeve, he would question if himself intentionally leaving a wound on his arm last night was nothing more than a lucid dream his imagination conjured up.
He stands up from the hotel bed next, washing the dirt and sleepiness away from his face with the water from a bronze bucket. He belatedly realized how fluid his motion is: Despite having the legendary sword constantly attached to his body, he didn't clumsily knock anything over with some piece of permanently unwanted paperweight.
This entire... experience after his supposed death feels more like a lucid dream than even a VR game. He still remembered how he started out in BSO: His body movement was clumsy at first, often oversteering or over-correcting himself due to the difference of speed and body momentum between virtual reality and the real world. He was able to adapt to BSO's much more fluid movement with time, and became one of the top players, but the adaptation period took months, climbing leader board took even longer.
Yet he seems to have perfect control of his body immediately after his supposed 'summoning'. To the point he is able to pull off some of the more advanced, and harder to execute Sword Arts in BSO right from the start. The kind of already near perfect motor control that keeps on improving, judging by how he's able to pull off some crazy advanced moves in rather difficult positions. Such as swinging his arm and firing a few consecutive vacuum cuts mid leap without losing his balance and landing on his chest or hip.
Ren shakes his head and exits his door after refreshing himself. He almost bumps into the heavy armor wearing knight of his party, Sir Beckter or something like that. He's been more or less acting as the supervisor of his party members when Ren runs off to test something on his own yesterday.
"Ah, apologies, Sir Sword Hero." The knight steps back with a heavy stump, his gauntleted right hand hammering his chest over his heart. "I was about to go over a few practice rounds with Connor. He left already while I was putting on my armor."
"At ease." The Sword Hero nods his head. He doesn't really care much about what his teammates do in their spare time, since they often have trouble following him despite their comparatively higher starting levels. Investing in heavy armor, or magic casting tends to have that adverse effect in BSO. Something he was lucky enough to recognize early on and avoid in the game. "The others?"
"Fauly and Terishia are still asleep. They compared notes on their magic until late in the night."
"Don't make a habit of it, we'll leave in another hour..." Ren notices the corner of the knight's mouth slowly curves down into a frown. "...make that two. Meet me in the dining room after you are ready."
"As you command." The floorboard of Deidric's inn creaks with Beckter's salute, but Ren's attention is already away from the older knight. He has to admit, this new party is much more helpful and supportive than the usual undisciplined noisy casuals, or self-centered and self-styled pros in BSO. But, there's no need to form attachments to someone who could very well only be a figment of his imagination, no matter how reliable they are.
He walks down the stairs into the dining room, and finds out two of his fellow heroes are already enjoying themselves with breakfast. Motoyasu looks up from his plate of toast, bacon and fried eggs. He jumps up and places one feet on his chair and waves at Ren. "Hey, hey, hey! Look who's here!"
Itsuki throws the fork he's been picking his eggs down on the plate. "Didn't sleep well last night? We woke up before you this time."
"Had a lot to think, after one of us almost got framed." Ren sits down on their table and takes over the empty plate Motoyasu hands him. He starts to pick some toast, bacon and eggs onto his own plate. There's also some fresh looking fruit, one particular looks like a cut mango, but inside the skin is a creamy white colored flesh instead of orange.
"Oh yeah, that must have sucked for him." Motoyasu slumps down his ass onto the chair, not minding how he was standing on it a moment ago. "I mean, got chosen as the Shielder class was bad, but he almost got framed on the third day? I don't want to be him... well, maybe I do. He has Mein in his party."
Itsuki rolls his eyes at the oldest hero, who ironically acts the most childish. "Really, don't you already have an all girls party? You'd trade three for one? I don't believe you."
"Hey! Don't speak about girls like they are objects! Show some respect man!" Surprisingly, Motoyasu reaches over and slaps the archer with his free hand. "Girls aren't objects."
"Says the pig who salivates over Naofumi's only companion." Itsuki runs his hand through his hair and snorts out with an annoyed tone.
"I'm not salivating! It's just... brave girls like Mein are rare. Someone who'll stick by you even when the going gets tough." Motoyasu puts both his hands on the edge of the table. He looks, no, positively stares down into his plate with distant eyes.
The almost somber expression doesn't really fit Motoyasu's usual cheerful personality. Ren has to wonder if it had something to do with his death. Didn't he get fatally stabbed when his girlfriends caught him two-timing, or something? It appears like the playboy didn't divulge everything on the first night.
The oldest hero almost immediately shrugs his shoulders, picks up the cutlery and starts to furiously dig into his food. "Let's just eat - don't let good food go to waste. Someone went through the trouble preparing it for us."
"Finally, something I can agree on." Itsuki snorts again as he starts on his own plate. The archer eats much more slowly and elegantly than his older compatriot.
"Speaking of Naofumi, where is he? Still sleeping?" Ren picks up a piece of toast and starts nibbling at the corner. His question makes the other two look up from their plates. "What?"
"You didn't know? He never checked in last night." Motoyasu gives a quick glance around the room. "I waited in the dining room till the innkeeper closed down. They didn't come in, at all."
"Waiting for your crush, a certain redhead? Ouch." Itsuki's smirk fades as Motoyasu punches him on the shoulder this time. "I can confirm it. Mald checked the inn keeper's log book this morning. The two of them never checked in last night."
"Who?" Ren's eyebrow slowly rises up into his head and sets down his toast. He's been having trouble remembering the names of his own party, let along everyone else's.
"The knight in my party. You know?" Itsuki runs his hand over his mouth to draw an imaginary mustache under his nose. "Big burly guy with the mustache?"
Ren narrows his eyes at this particular piece of information. Why would a knight in Itsuki's party be this interested in the whereabouts of a hero he doesn't serve? Personal interest, preventative measure after Naofumi's supposed crime, or something more sinister?
Could this Mald has a hand in the whole rape trial fiasco yesterday? And if he's willing to go to the length of framing one hero, what's to say he won't do something similar to any of them? Surely this is something to keep in mind in the future.
Itsuki on the other hand, doesn't seem to pick up on the details, as he continues drawing on his monologue. "I can see why he didn't want to stay in the same inn after that unpleasantness. But honestly, I think Naofumi is overreacting here. Didn't we save him back in the trial? He's probably in even more danger if we aren't around. What if those foreign conspirators the king was talking about found him in the wild?"
From a certain perspective, Ren can see some point in the archer's incessant rambling. Naofumi himself can't deal any damage with only a shield as his 'weapon', and his single companion being extremely under levelled. But saying they 'saved' Naofumi back in the trial is a stretch at best.
He can't say much about Itsuki considering how late he arrived at the trial. But Motoyasu was ready to condemn him if Mein didn't step in to speak for Naofumi. He himself was skeptical of the case, but it has more to do with him worrying over all of their standing as heroes than genuine concern for Naofumi.
From the eerily realistic introductory character like Vicar Lawrence, to Naofumi's mistreatment on the third day, and the humanly chaotic behavior of their party members. For a supposed game, it sure has a lot of unorthodox choices and details, especially compared to some of the other more blatantly video game-like mechanics on how this world supposedly works.
The contrast between the two are uncanny, where it's almost like they are stuck in a game that doesn't follow any proven development convention, but the chaotic nature of real life.
"Why do you guys think eating and sleeping heal us?" Ren decides to ask a simple question to his fellow heroes, this action makes both of them stare at him again. Motoyasu's vacant eyes make it look like his brain temporarily shut down. Itsuki has a slight frown on his face, no doubt from Ren's interruption of his speech. "We agreed on the first night each of us except Naofumi played a game similar to this, remember?"
"Why do you ask? Isn't sleeping and eating food heals a common thing in video games?" Itsuki kicks back his chair and crosses his arms in front of his chest. "Those without survival mechanics, at least."
"Yeah, in video games where it doesn't mimic everything about life. But how would something like that translate into an almost real world?" Ren picks up the piece of toast and holds it in front of Motoyasu and Itsuki. "Say, this piece of toast. Do the calories knit our wounds back together? How would that work in a real life setting?"
"You're thinking way too hard, man." Motoyasu throws his fork onto the plate again and holds his empty hands up. He slaps both down onto the table again. "Like, weren't you the one who played a VR game? Surely this is just like your... What's the name of your game again? Sword Art Online? Kirito-kun?"
"Brave Star Online, thank you very much." Ren crosses over his chest like Itsuki while the other high school student sniggers to himself.
Those two are useless when it comes to the actual thinking, it almost makes Ren miss Naofumi. At least the other young adult has a good, leveled head on his shoulder. But the information they overlooked does have value.
The more he thinks about it, the more this feels less like a game, especially Brave Star Online. Motoyasu's statement was rather ironic in hindsight. It's precisely because Ren played VR games for a long time, he's able to notice the discrepancies between an actual game set in virtual reality compared to whatever the four of them are stuck in.
If anything, this is definitely not some kind of paradise where they get to live out their fantasies. With all the conflicting details, it feels more like something they subconsciously created with both video game knowledge, and real life that doesn't mesh together perfectly.
It's almost like nothing is real.
He was fatally stabbed before his 'summoning', same as Motoyasu, Itsuki was run over by a truck, as for Naofumi... he claimed he didn't experience his death but that could be explained through short term memory loss. What if the four of them are all truly dead, and this world doesn't seem to make sense because it's not real. Is this some kind of afterlife they subconsciously made between their impression of a real life and video games?
And if this is truly some kind of afterlife, what's he supposed to do about it?
He didn't miss the company of Naofumi Iwatani after all, the youngest hero decided.
Such a traitorous thought started to take root when he witnessed the farce after the 2nd Wave celebration. More specifically, the unexpected and rather one-sided duel between Naofumi and Motoyasu. Motoyasu was a complete idiot and like Naofumi called out: a filthy casual, who simply got lucky to land the final killing blow on the 2nd Wave boss. But to be taken down by the trickery of someone who completely lacks any ATK rating, and therefore any real way to deal damage, still doesn't sit well with him.
On the one hand, he can understand, and even respect Naofumi's determination to become strong enough to take care of himself, and presumably his own party. Lacking an ATK rating or not, the Shield Hero is one of them after all. Either from the perspective of a summoned hero, or possibly one of the four 'real' people in this presumed after life.
On the other hand, Naofumi's ability to be borderline exploiting the system of this world doesn't sit well with him. It hits too close to home with that player on the top of the leaderboard.
If this is truly an afterlife, then perhaps the only way to move on is to come to peace with something they each regretted in their lives. He's not going to see Mikoto again one way or another, so that leaves the only other regret he had in life: Never proving he could have become the top BSO player on his own merit. Naofumi Iwatani fits into this picture perfectly, almost like the embodiment of that one player Ren Amaki never had the chance to prove he was better.
The fight went well for him. Naofumi's party jumping into the battle midway was unexpected. Being beaten by his first companion Mein, someone who he dismissed as useless due to her lower level was frankly embarrassing. But he did prove he was the better fighter out of the two of them in his duel with Naofumi.
Then the dragon came out. To be honest, Ren almost forgot about the boss monster he came to the mountain for in the first place. The goal of pitting his sword against a high level dragon, like the feat he achieved back in Brave Star Online paled when it comes down to facing his metaphorical final obstacle to which he never had a chance to surpass before his own death.
And then, the dragon starts talking. Not like a typical boss monster having a banter with the player characters. No, the way he talks about his adopted child was more like a somewhat clueless, and overbearing father.
"Is it hard to imagine a dragon taking a mortal as their child? In this long, everlasting life, it is better to experience the joy and pain of connecting with others, than to simply live in hollowed, purposeless isolation."
This isn't the kind of dialogue for a game's boss monster, whose only purpose is to give the players a mechanical challenge and drop loot. No, it's the word of someone who truly lives in a world with their own lives. More importantly, it's the word of a father.
He's still not sure if this is some kind of afterlife... but he can no longer treat everyone in this world like a figment of his imagination either.
Ren looks back at the sword in his hand. It's much longer than the knife in the hand of the random murderer on a no descriptive Tokyo street. But is there any difference between the two holding the weapon?
He was about to murder a father out of pure callousness and ignorance, because he thought a dragon would not have something like their own life in a game like setting. Even after noticing all the little details that won't fit the game.
If Naofumi didn't try to stop him, he would have crossed over from the receiving end to the one who holds the blade, and become a murderer. With this realization, his finger becomes lax and the sword slips away from his grip. He looks up at the older hero standing a few steps away. "This, this was what you were trying to warn me."
"Not exactly... I didn't know a dragon has a surrogate daughter before either. But you need to be more mindful of those around you." Naofumi's free left hand moves up and brushes against the legendary shield on his arm. "Being a legendary hero doesn't mean we get to do whatever we want, because our words and actions have meanings. We need to be more responsible at how we affect other people around us."
The exact words were different from what Mikoto said to him on that day, but the meaning was the same. Is this what his only friend is trying to tell him? He isn't someone who is living by himself and for himself, but affecting the lives of others through his actions?
"I had some... interaction with someone who dabbles with slavery before." Naofumi's word makes Ren look up again. The dragon clearly isn't happy at this revelation judging from the ember escaping its snort, but Naofumi isn't intimidated by the action. "He told me the corrupted guards of this country will keep a fake record on all the slaves brought in by manhunters to frame them as criminals serving out their sentence. But this means we'll be able to track down your daughter, if we comb through their record book."
"Hmm... yes, this works." The dragon's head bobs up and down on top of his long neck, obviously contemplating Naofumi's suggestion. "But I'll need at least one of you to accompany me while I retake my pygmy dragon form. Children of Gaia or not, I doubt they'll let a dragon go over their own record book."
"Very well, I'll take you..."
"You can't, Master Naofumi!" Mein grabs Naofumi's shoulder and gives him a furious shake. "Retrieving the Seatto heirloom is more important than saving the life of a single demi-human!"
Mein's words make Ren realize that this is something he can, and has to make things right. He steps forward and looks up at the Dragon Emperor... no, Gaelion. "Naofumi can continue on his quest. I will look for your daughter. That's the least thing I can do for you after trying to kill you."
End Note
Hopefully, this interlude explained the most reoccurring question for the last chapter: What did Ren meant when he mumbled about 'crossing over'. And yes, this scene is directly inspired by Batman's 'Save MARTHA!' realization/revelation in Justice Loser Begins.
Ren's childhood friend Mikoto (which to my limited knowledge of Japanese means 'life', inspired by Kizuna's naming style which means 'bond') is largely inspired by Sayuri from DokiDoki Literature Club. Except she's as bubbly inside as she is outside, and the one suffering from depression is her childhood friend Ren.
Funny story, this crossover event with Ren was originally supposed to be the last crossover event especially with that Captain America 3 Serpent Society inspired duel/brawl from the last chapter. But then I realized Motoyasu's crossover event will probably ends up much longer, so I pulled Ren's event forward for what I think will make better pacing. I have no excuse, other than I'm definitely showing my favoritism here with Motoyasu, who for anyone that read my RotSH one-shot knows is my favorite character in RotSH.
Guest review time.
Giuseppe:
My knowledge on Japanese culture is extremely wonky at best, like my knowledge on just about everything else. I honestly thought Japanese five element system was fire, water, wind, thunder/lightening and earth, with how often thunder/lightening tend to be an re-occuring element in web browser based gacha games.
:P
I have no knowledge of Nasuverse at all aside from I had some friends who were into it (whom I have all lost contact with), so I went with something I'm at least a bit more familiar with (emphasis on the 'bit' part). I think FoZ's existing lore simply combines with RotSH a bit better.
Guest:
Thank you very much for your review and kind words, glad you are enjoying the story so far and hope you'll continue to have a good time.