Hey guys. College is finally done for now, but since my mom is coming, I'd have to prepare for her arrivals. I'm sorry if I kept you guys waiting, but this is what I could provide you guys for now. I'll try to keep the story updated regularly though. I've been enjoying myself writing this story and developing its characters unlike any other fics I have written so far. To be honest, Hirano is probably my most favorite OCs I have ever created, simply because during the creation and development of this guy, I have learned so many new things that I myself do not know before. And I feel like I owe this guy something, so I would love to continue writing him in the future.
On a side note, while preparing for my mom's arrival, I suddenly had the idea of a new SAO fic. A story about a father delving into GGO, and arguably his first game he ever played, in order to better understand his young teenage daughter better. I think paternal love it is a cool concept that not many writers have written before, and quite meaningful to look at I would say. It will likely to be an OC centric story, but I can probably consider putting canon characters like Sinon or LLENN in so as to assist their development. That is just an initial idea. It can be a nice idea, or a disaster, since I know the mainstream SAO readers like more romantic stories. But what do you guys think? If you want to share it with me.
Anyway, enjoy the chapter! And I'll see you guys in the next one.
Chapter 8: New Aincrad
It was just like the other day.
"Hey check this out Hirano-san. They sell the Tremble Shortcake!"
"Please. I've had enough of that…"
The taste of 'fuck you and your entire fortune' was too much for me to handle properly right now. I admit, the cake's taste was really good, but I just couldn't enjoy it knowing I would be eating like half a house and one year of effort into building my character. Maybe I would if I got richer. Probably so. But I couldn't imagine that happening anytime soon.
"Come on we'll share the money." Yuuki pressed on, but I was insistent. No means no.
"A quarter of a house still isn't worth it." I replied. "I think there is a lot more in Aincrad that is more interesting, and a lot cheaper than this."
"Aww…" Yuuki looked a little disappointed, glancing at the cake a few times. But, as I expected, she quickly returned to her usual self. "Hey, how about we check out the boss room? I am quite curious to see how challenging this new world can be."
Hmm. It seemed like a cool thing to do.
"Alright. Where is it though?" I opened the mini-map in my menu. It was located in the far North Western region of the floor. It would take days to get there, but luckily, in towns like the Town of Beginnings, we had the choice to teleport it there if we want to. Neat.
"Is the boss room open though?" I asked genuinely.
"Well, Aincrad is open from floor 1 to floor 7, so you can face the new boss now if you want to." Yuuki replied
Well, then there is no reason not to go. To be honest, I'd really want to see what the SAO players back then had to handle. I'd probably die anyway, but it was worth the experience.
"I don't see why not." I replied shortly, as Yuuki beamed in excitement
"Let's go!"
Moments later, we arrived at the large boss hall. And there was this strange atmosphere that the game appeared to be constructing for the players. If there were anything that could actually make the players intimidated, this game knew how to do it. The seemingly endless vastness of the lobby hall stacked on the dim aura created by the occasional torches on the walls. The tall gates also served to scale the canvas of this boss. It wasn't any kitchen sink monsters. This is a dungeon boss, a boss that guards the gate to the second floor. And unlike us, those who face that boss were carrying a heavier stake. If they weren't strong enough, they could all perish.
Right next to the boss room's door, I saw a stone slab with some sort of engraving on it.
This boss room was cleared on December 4th, 2022, thanks to the combined effort of these 44 players.
Not all 44 players' names were listed though. They only showed parties that were formed in that battle and the leader of those parties.
Here rest the souls of these players, who unfortunately fell in battle:
-Diavel
May the fallen players rest in peace
Only one casualty? That's quite impressive I'd say, but considering the stakes, they probably would have to be very prepared for this. Poor this Diavel guy though. May he rest in peace.
With the prayer sent his way, I turned to Yuuki. She was staring at the huge door the whole time.
"Are you ready to get in there?" I asked.
"Of course I am!" She responded to me with her usual smile of confidence. "Though it feels tense for some reason."
"It does." I acknowledged. "Maybe because of the prior knowledge that this used to be a death game that it gives the tension that shouldn't really be there."
"Hmm." She nodded her head gently. "It took 44 people to take this boss down. Do you think the two of us can handle him?"
"No." I replied, chuckling. "Unless you establish yourself to be an insanely overpowered player that can blast the World Tree's grand quest by yourself."
"Hahaha!" She laughed heartily. "I'd be banned for hacking then." And joked back. "But let's see how far we go."
"Sure, I certainly don't mind seeing how good we are." I gave her the thumbs-up as we both pushed the door open.
Once we're in, the door closed behind us. The teleportation still seemed to work, so it wasn't really a kill or be killed situation. I unwrapped my Swiss Saber and unsheathed it quietly, preparing for any signs of enemies. It didn't come stealthy, however, but rather in the most dramatic way possible. The room lit up into a luminescence of lighting, as the boss made its presence known. It struck me as a huge dog-like monster with a poorly fitted armor. It was at least both our heights combined, was reddish brown in color and carried an ax and a shield. Four HP bars faded into the interface, along with a red indicator. And then finally, the name of the boss.
Illfang the Kobold Lord
"That is perhaps the ugliest boss I have ever faced." I commented truthfully.
That moment, the boss gave a deafening roar, seemingly angry, probably at my comment, shaking the earth below our feet, as the monster ordered its minions to attack. Unlike Eachtar's minions, this one was a whole lot faster and seeming less mindless than the zombies, but for us speedsters, that should not really be a problem. But the numbers could still cause us problems. Plus these things have names of their own: Ruin Kobold Sentinel.
"That's awfully a lot of them." Yuuki said. "Alright, get ready!"
I could count up to twelve of them. Holy shit. There's only two of us. And there might be more.
The sentinels were making their way toward us, two at a time. I observed their movements carefully before making my moves. They seemed quite sluggish due to the heavy weapon. As a speeder, I could make use of it.
I took a quick sidestep as the first sentinel charged through me, having overused its momentum. I quickly delivered my multiple jousts at the creature's exposed back, shattering it to pieces. But the second one was quick to its target. I could not dodge it in time. As a result, I had to block its attacks in haste.
My feet clashed with the Sentinel's armor, sending the creature stumbling back in shock. A couple of sword slashes blew off the chunk of its helmet, and the final stab to its exposed face finally brought its health down to zero, and the creature was put out of misery in a million small pieces. But then a huge scream called for my attention. The boss itself was running to me full speed with its axe locked upon my position. I hastily jumped out of its way, as the axe came down to where my head had been half a second ago
Just after I recovered, I saw Yuuki finishing off a sentinel with a single but extremely accurate stab aimed at the vulnerable throat. Seeing how the boss was still recovering after the attack it was intending to kill me, the purplish haired girl spared it no seconds. With the elegance of a professional dancer, she charged the beast and delivered a barrage of sword jousts onto its stomach before ending the combo with a diagonal slash. Then she ran away to avoid its subsequent attacks.
I found myself being honored again as the boss really liked to make me the target once Yuuki was out of its sight. The boss charged me again. This time, however, I was ready for it. Illfang made a simple horizontal slash, aiming at my neck. But I saw that through a mile away, as I leaped forward, dodging the slash and allowed myself to slide over to the back of the boss. I was, however, wasn't ready for what was next. The other sentinels behind the boss charged at me. I was forced to fend off for myself there, allowing Illfang to turn its attention to me again.
"Oh great…"
The beast's roar awakened me that I was in big trouble. Seriously, why does that dog love me so much? I could die here to that.
"Hirano-san! Duck!"
"What?"
I heard Yuuki shouting from afar. I don't even know what she intended, but I subconsciously just followed her to that. I couldn't really duck properly though. The Illfang delivered a slam with its ax, to which I was forced to block, but I still found the room to bend over. And immediately, I felt something pressed against my back, rolling from one side to another.
"Huh?"
After parrying Illfang's attack, I saw Yuuki right next to me, her sword ready to counter those sentinels. Near her a sentinel had already perished to her blade. Damn, she was so quick.
"I'll take care of the remaining guards, you hold out the boss for now!" She yelled out.
"Sounds like a plan."
You love me don't ya Illfang? Well, then I'll gladly return the feeling.
Great love indeed, the boss roared at me like a pissed off animal, its eyes glowing red as it eyed on me with passion. With a monstrous swing of his ax, the boss managed to drain quite a lot, in fact over a quarter, of my health pool, as it was apparent that I could not dodge him quick enough to escape unscathed. That just goes to show how fragile my avatar was. Literally could die to any direct hit.
Now that I had the opportunity to counterattack, I swung my sword wildly at the huge kangaroo's tummy, as efficiently as possible: up then down then one horizontal slash. I didn't see any weaknesses with this boss, so it appeared that I just had to claw my way through this one. The rule was usually if there are no observable weaknesses, the boss can easily be dealt with using universal physical or magical attack. However, this seemed like a tough fish to fry, like a few times tougher than the last event boss I fought with Yuuki. I only managed to flinch the thing and didn't even noticeably brought its health down.
I didn't know if the mods changed the boss's health and stats, and the sentinel's numbers to fit with the current game stage, but it really seemed like it was a fitting boss for twenty to thirty-ish number of players. The sentinels were ok to deal with, but the boss was just ass. We'd probably gonna lose anyway, but I'd love to see how far I could go.
…which turned out quite unexpectedly.
The boss did a normally impossible somersault, jumped backward and landed nicely on its feet quite far from us. But it quickly closed the distance with us as it ran to us with its full might. Ok. I could likely handle that smoothly. It wasn't too fast, so I should be able to sidestep that thing and counterattack on its exposed back. I raised my sword in preparation for my drafted plan.
But then my sword suddenly glowed bright red. Its radiance shocked my eyes in a moment. It appeared to be attached to my blade wherever it goes. Is this a new feature or something? It looked nice, adding more flashes to the swing. Little did I realize, it wasn't just cosmetics.
"What?"
My body suddenly moved on its own. I felt control over my virtual muscles being drained, as it was apparent that the game system had taken control over me. My limbs tensed, as the system involuntarily guided me forward.
"Wait no no no!"
…in the wrong direction.
"I didn't call for this!"
Instead of sidestepping gracefully, avoiding the boss's ax hit, I charged straight ahead, running into a head-on ramming course with Illfang...
One average human being with elf appearance versus a giant ugly dog-kangaroo at least four times the size of said human in a ramming battle. It didn't even take a child to know who would win.
"Man, you just got absolutely rekt!" Yuuki patted my shoulder while laughing as we both exited the teleport to the outside of the dungeon. "I'm gonna be rewatching that moment forever."
"You got that on tape?!" I asked, groaning. "Well, I hope you have fun seeing me blasted into smithereens..."
I was both joking and sarcastically serious. That ram battle was perhaps the worst death I had ever experienced in this game. Sure, pain was not really a thing here, but the fact that you got thrown into a violent spiral and then my head getting slammed into a stone pillar before disappearing into a green spirital flame weren't any pleasant to enjoy. But it sure is enjoyable to watch others suffer!
"I'll be sure to show it to the Sleeping Knights too!"
I rolled my eyes while chuckling bitterly. Yeah, go ahead and spread the misery…
"Though that was intense while it lasted. I somewhat understood the feelings the SAO players had to go through now."
I turned to Yuuki as she said so.
"It was probably a lot worse, since the threat of death is not present here." I added, as we both walked in relaxation after the intense boss battle. My eyes were looking up to the starry night. The sky was cloudless, and shining white twinkling stars were giving the harmony to the blackness. As if each of them represented those who had fallen in that game. "And they had to go through a hundred of these. I wonder how they manage to find the courage to go through all of them."
If there were anything, I should've known this better. I was also in a battle myself. A losing one.
"Humans are wonderful creatures you know." Yuuki replied. "You can always find people who defy every odds and expectations that everybody, even themselves, set upon them."
Hmm.
She was not wrong. You could find those individuals everywhere on the Net. Information travels fast nowadays. But it didn't help when these achievements were so high up there that it usually intimidated others. What I wanted to know was how they achieved so. What made them able to shake off all the worries, pain and hell they had to go through to achieve such greatness?
"But humans can scare me sometimes." Yuuki continued, her tone changed drastically. I was taken aback with the change of subject. What was she saying?
"How?" That was the best I could answer.
"I kind of have some bad vibes associated with some of my former 'friends'."
The emphasis on the word 'friends' was especially intriguing and sorrowful. It didn't sound like Yuuki actually regarded them as friends. But really? It was hard to believe. A girl full of confidence, cheerfulness, kind, helpful, though a little annoying sometimes, and was never afraid of the prospect of meeting other people, was afraid of other humans?
"Mhm." I put my hand on my lips. "If you don't mind me asking…"
Yuuki stopped . For a moment, it was as if she just logged out of the game. She did not move. She did not speak. She just stood there, silent and motionless like a statue.
I knew it was bad memories, but I didn't bring myself to say she need not say it. We had both agreed on each other, that we were free to speak our minds whenever we are comfortable about it. And if she was trying to find the comfortness to talk about it, then I'd give her that. I'd patiently wait for her to find it. I'd provide her with what she wanted to get for her to freely speak up. And most importantly I'd not be demanding. Just like how she did it to me earlier.
A while passed, and she finally turned around. Her eyes looked straight into mine, as deep as any oceans could go. I knew that familiar look. She was reading me. And I wanted to show her just that. Through only the locking of gazes, I must convey what no mere words could describe earnestly enough.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
It was perhaps the longest period of time when I did not blink for once during an eye contact. But I tried my best to get my point across. The silence wasn't at all empty, yet it was calming. Despite normally disliking silence for its inexpressive nature, I eventually found some beauty in the seconds when the wisdom of the soul is being touched.
Finally, her words shattered the calmness.
"You aren't fair at all."
"What?"
I didn't expect that.
"How you look at me. It isn't something that I could beat."
"Then I managed to convey my point?"
A ghost of a smile appeared on her lips. But it soon vanished.
"Let's just say that during my elementary years, I was a sickly child, usually bedridden and hospitalized." Then she began. My eyes involuntarily widened. I couldn't say I was not prepared for this, but hearing her saying it for herself like this, nobody would be ready for something they did not know beforehand. Her voice was weak, it could fade any moment.
"I was still able to come to school regularly, but…"
"But?"
A sigh escaped her lips. The next thing to be uttered was perhaps the most toxic and angriest thing I had ever heard someone like Yuuki said.
"A group of students at school found out about my condition. One of whom was supposed to be one of my best friends. Then…"
I already had a familiar vibe about this.
"Things spiralled out. Instead of wishing me well, they instead began to spread rumors about me and my family. I don't even want to go into the details about what rumors they spread. Just nasty stuff…"
Her fists clenched, shaking in fury.
"One day, when I finally returned to school after a while being treated, I realized I had lost all my friends I had made in the course of four years. From there, I was all by myself, being feared and hated, because…"
Because they feared that she would spread whatever disease she had. I've heard of that too often. But no matter how much I could take into me, that did little to mitigate the malice. Absolutely horrible. Patient stigmatization. It was more common that we think, but I couldn't believe that she also had to go through such things. Knowing that these kids were in elementary, they probably was not educated enough, but still. Discriminating someone just because of conditions that hell knows if he or she is even responsible for it is an absolutely degrading action and the person doing it is nothing less of a piece of trash.
"So I was forced to transfer to another school. And I never saw those 'friends' I had ever again."
Yeah, I was glad she did not. They did not deserve to be her friends.
"After that experience, I sometimes grew scared of other people, especially those who are not that close to me. In fear that the same thing may occur again. I just…don't want to deal with them one more time."
I was speechless. I realized how lucky I had been ever since. You couldn't say that being diagnosed with ALS is a lucky thing, but at least the cause is not known most of the time. No one, at least in my known family tree, was ever diagnosed, and I was known to sustain a healthy lifestyle up until diagnosis. Nobody knew how I got it and due to the brutal nature of the illness, naturally, they would sympathize. There were a few who pitied me, which I really hated, but they were the outliers. They were educated enough to not be such assholes.
"But then I try not to care." All of a sudden, her tone lightened. She forced out a weak smile to clear the sorrowful atmosphere. "And just continue on."
I knew she had moved on from it, but I didn't. I couldn't help but feel angry for her. She didn't deserve to be stigmatized. She did nothing wrong. She helped brought sunshines to everybody's faces. Why would everything had to be so unfair in this world? It depressed me just by the thought of it. Those who didn't deserve cruelty got it anyway, while those who deliberately hurt others with malice just lived with it without much consequences. It is no fairy tales that parents usually tell little kids it is.
But didn't Yuuki consider me a friend back when we were having fun at Alne City? She said it, and even added me as her friend. How many friends did she have in ALO, aside from me and the Sleeping Knights? Did she trust me enough that she put me through to be one of her true friends, or she was just saying so for convenience's sake, that she hadn't really seen if I was worthier than those jerks back then? Those were the questions that flooded my mind.
"Yuuki-kun…"
But in any cases…
"You have a friend. A true friend. I know this sounds meaningless and empty right now, but…"
I had to show her that I am the kind of person who she defined me to be. A friend in need, that she could share her problems with. If she could lift the burdens off my shoulders, then I could too.
"I won't judge you for anything. I won't press you. And I won't betray you. Ever. I know this is on you, but I just want to let you know that you can drop your fear whenever you are with me…Because-"
"We're friends." Yuuki finished my sentence. I could see a smile forming. On both our lips.
Yeah. We're friends…true ones. And we'd act like it.
It was as if we grew closer by the seconds. I began to take a more casual and cheerful tone whenever I talked to Yuuki. We began to joke a lot more. And I began to be able to counter her illogical thinking somehow, by using the same logic against her. And we also began to talk more ALO stuff, sharing information that we barely ever told anyone else.
The night began to grow. White dots in the sky continued to color the sky as it took shape. One scene that could only be seen in games or in movies. Far far away I could see hundreds of galaxies, formed by a huge number of these white dots that no human eyes could dictate how many there was. And it was displayed in one dome, just for the two of us to witness. It was a magnificent and magical scene to be looking at.
"Where are we anyway?" I asked, both myself and Yuuki. It became apparent that we didn't even have a destination. We were just wandering around mindlessly, engulfed in our own conversation with each other.
"Huh?" She also came to the realization.
We were at the edge of the floor. The pathway continued to circled into the centre, followed by the stone balcony, which stood at Yuuki's chest level. As we walked to the balcony, we discovered something that was as grand and luminescent as the infinite sky. This was the open area I was talking about, where you could manually enter or exit the new Aincrad as we wished.
"It's so beautiful…" I uttered.
And below us was the entirety of the ALO map. I was honestly unprepared. I had read through the map of ALO a couple of times. I could imagine, academically, what ALO would look like from a certain height. But I wasn't really expecting to see the entirety of where I had been living on for the last year. A small rock being held together in the middle of the vast infinite ocean floor. And there, eight distinct colors were decorating this rock, representing eight different races living on this world. It looked so vulnerable, yet beautiful by the way it was.
"It is, isn't it?" Yuuki said. "It feels like you're in space and looking back at our dear home. Not through any photographs, but through your very own eyes. There's something so romantic about it."
"Mhm." I nodded softly. I couldn't help but agreed. In fact, I couldn't agree more with her comment. From this place, I could almost forget that I was living in a world with different people, different races with different goals, boundaries and conflicts. From here, it was just Alfheim, a world of elves, on a green rock held afloat by the vast ocean. It's just a beautiful thing to be witnessing right now, together…
Together.
That moment I came to realize how quiet the night had grown. The clock ticked softly a minute passed ten. Everyone had all but gone, presumably to rest for the day, returning the street to nature's hand, and to the two of us to enjoy. Only Yuuki and I, under the extravagant show of light.
I felt my body tensed a little bit. A knot seemed to form inside my torso. My breathe seemed to gain weight somehow, as my irises continuously glanced to my right, and then down, then to the right again. It ceased to stop. To the point when I had to incline to force myself to stop. My hand gently budged from my thigh, placing it onto the coarse cobblestone balcony. Or that was what I thought would be.
Something small, and of a familiar shape, made contact with my palm. Smooth, soft, delicate and warm. My heart seemed to miss a beat. A total coincidence or was intentionally done? I did not know. But all I knew was my hand was on top of Yuuki's. I wasn't seeing it for myself, but my mind began to go blank.
My hand curled up slightly in reluctance, brushing through her fingers gently. I didn't think this would be appropriate, or at least what she would want. But to my surprise, instead of retracting her hand, Yuuki proceeded to weave hers with mine. Fingers by fingers, until we were fully connected.
Throughout the moment, we weren't looking at each other, but I felt my desire running from the depths of my heart to my chest and then to my small palm.
This was our first date.
Never did I realize it until now. But it was any ideal date one could probably wish for.