A bell chimed in a seemingly infinite void of darkness. This place was becoming more familiar to Jyenka now, but it was still a complete mystery to him. Visions of rooms and hallways appeared with the red mist continuing to haunt them, until he appeared at the staircase. For the first time however, Jyenka was in a physical form. He looked around him, seeing nothing but darkness around him. Then, he turned to face the staircase and the red light pulsated at the top of the stairs. Jyenka went to take his first step, but a crushing force overcame him. It was as if gravity had multiplied by ten. He tried to take a step but then, he woke up. The headache returned and he felt his body twitch. The pain eventually went away and he lied back down, staring at the ceiling of his room in the inn his party was staying at. He sighed and then closed his eyes.

"What do you want with me?" He asked as he drifted off to sleep again.

"Jyenka! Get up!" Jyenka felt his bed jolt as someone kicked the side of it. He slowly rolled over and saw Silvia standing by his bed side with her arms crossed. He stared at her for a few seconds, then put the blanket over his head. Silvia wasn't pleased by this.

"Dammit Jyenka! Get, your, lazy, ass, up!" She said while tugging at his sheets. Jyenka mumbled to himself then rolled over.

"Just 5 more minute-" but he was quickly cut off by Silvia drawing her 2 handed axe and holding the blade over him as if she was going to slice his head off. "Ok! Ok! I'm up!" Jyenka said as he rushed out of bed. Silvia sighed and put her axe away.

"Just hurry up, everyone is ready to go." She said while leaving his room. The door closed behind her and Jyenka was left alone in his room. He let out a sigh.

"She could be a little nicer." He mumbled while opening his player menu.

April 4th, floor 26, 9am game time. Members of the assault team gathered outside a church in the main town of floor 26, Kirito had sent out a message regarding the increase in difficulty and the new quests that players would have to complete. The area was lively when Jyenka and his friends arrived, but once the players saw Jyenka they fell quiet. Jyenka looked around at the stares coming from other players.

"Guess people still haven't gotten over everything yet..." He said nervously while looking around. He then felt someone grab his hand. He looked to his left to see Shoko smiling at him.

"I know you're not a bad guy Jyenka." She said with a bright smile. Jyenka smiled back.

"Yeah, thanks Shoko." He said. Silvia cleared her throat very loudly while looking at them. Jyenka gave her a confused look while Shoko blushed and let go of his hand.

"Everyone, can I have your attention." Kirito called out. The crowd turned around to face him.

"Thank you. With the completion of floor 25, the game difficulty will be a step up from now on. I'll be emailing your parties the quests that you are to complete, keep in mind though these quests are going to be longer and more difficult than the last." Kirito announced. Jyenka and the gang opened there inboxes to see what quest they had been assigned. The quest was called:

"All that glitters isn't necessarily gold, help return the kingdom of floor 26 'Karzonia' to a stable state."

"Geez, that's sounds way above our pay grade..." Jyenka muttered while reading the quest name.

"Sounds like it could be fun though." Taijou said. "Oh! Imagine if we get to save a princess!" He exclaimed.

"Like in a real fantasy story!?" Jyenka said, perking up after hearing Taijou. Taijou nodded.

"I wonder what rewards we might get?" Taijou said while giving Jyenka a sly look.

"I wonder if we could get, the works?" he said while slyly smiling back. They both were caught off guard when Silvia pinched them.

"I trust that you all will complete your quests, I have faith." Kirito announced to the group. "Also, I want to remind you that Laughing Coffin is still out there." The assault team fell silent and Jyenka looked at Kirito with determination in his eyes.

"I won't lose... Not again..." Jyenka thought to himself while clenching his fists.

"That is all for today, everyone except Silvia and her party are dismissed." As Kirito said this all the players began to move away from the meeting spot, giving Jyenka more judgemental glances. Silvia walked up to where Kirito and his party were gathered and the rest of the group followed.

"Commander, you wished to speak with us?" Silvia said as she approached them. Kirito waited for everyone to leave the area and then began his discussion.

"I'll get straight to the point, this is going to be about Jyenka and his unique skill. Jyenka, mind if I read the skill description?" Kirito asked.

"Sure, but it's kinda long..." Jyenka said as he opened the skill in his player menu.

SUPER DRAGON FLASH SKILL DESCRIPTION

Skill cost = 50

Skill element = N/A

Upon activation user enters the 'charging phase' of this skill. The following effects occur upon activation of the 'charging phase':

-+50% reduce damage received (until 'charging phase' ends)

-Increases 'ErrorCode_404' charges by 1 every in game second (up to a maximum of 100)

'Charging phase' will switch to 'attack phase' on the users command. The following effects occur upon entering the 'attack phase':

-if 'ErrorCode_404' charges are between 0 and 30, end the 'attack phase'

-if 'ErrorCode_404' charges are between 30 and 60, apply the following effects:

-+100% to damage inflicted (until attack ends)

-+50% to agility (until attack ends)

-if 'ErrorCode_404' charges are between 60 and 99, apply the following effects:

-+150% to damage inflicted (until attack ends)

-+50% to player agility (until attack ends)

-Nullify attribute downgrades and abnormal conditions.

-if 'ErrorCode_404' charges are 100, apply the following effects:

-+300% to damage inflicted (until attack ends)

-+100% to agility (until attack ends)

-+100% to attack range (until attack ends)

-Nullify attribute downgrades and abnormal conditions

-Nullify unfavourable element factors (until attack ends)

-Grant buff effect 'Super Armour' to user (until attack ends)

-Reduces users stamina by '50'

Cooldown time = 180 in game seconds

"I see, it's as I thought." Kirito said as he read over the description.

"What is?" Jyenka asked.

"SAO... Has a virus..." as he said this his party as well as Jyenka's friends all looked at him in shock.

"It is weird, what that boss did definitely wasn't normal..." Shoko said as she thought over the events of the floor 25 boss fight.

"It also might explain how you were able to beat it with this skill." Kirito added.

"So... this skill... is from the virus?" Jyenka asked with a puzzled look.

"We can't be certain, but it is likely that it is." Kirito said. "Now, Jyenka. I need you to be honest here, has the virus appeared to you in other forms?" As Kirito said this Jyenka thought back to the dreams that he'd been having. But, then he looked over to his party members who all had concerned looks on there faces. He turned back to face Kirito.

"No sir, this is the first I've seen of it." He said with a stern face. Kirito sighed.

"Very well. I trust that you aren't the enemy, but know that other people don't see it that way. That's the reality of this situation." Jyenka continued to hold a brave face.

"Yeah, I know." He said. Kirito nodded.

"Come see me if you happen to find out anything else, good luck on your quests." As he said this him and his party left the area.

"What do you guys think?" Jyenka asked his party.

"I don't know, but I do know that that skill is what let us get passed floor 25." Silvia said.

"Yeah, ok." Jyenka replied. The group was silent for a moment.

"No use worrying about it now, we have a quest to do." ThirtySix said in his usual calm and collected tone. The group nodded.

"It says we are to venture to the kingdom of Karzonia, which is North from here." Taijou said while reading over the quest information.

"Then we best ready our supplies, we have a long journey ahead of us." Silvia stated while starting to walk back into the town. The party followed her, all except for Jyenka who sent Kirito an email saying: "I need to tell you more, meet me at 27.1127° S, 109.3497° W at midnight."

"Jyenka! You coming or what!?" Taijou called out to him.

"Yeah, I'm coming." Jyenka said as he ran to catch up to his party.

"If SAO wasn't already different, now we have to deal with this..." Asuna said as she walked next to Kirito.

"The cardinal system is a perfect A.I. programming tool, I don't understand how a virus like this could appear in the game." Kirito muttered.

"Do you think it might have been put in by the admin?" Asuna asked.

"Yes... But not intentionally..." Kirito said. Asuna gave him a confused look.

"This virus will infect enemies at random, and when they do they malfunction." Kirito said.

"Yeah, but what do you mean not intentionally?" Asuna asked.

"I mean that this thing is out of his control, the admin wouldn't add something he can't control." Kirito said while opening his hand and looking at his palm. He began to remember his first fight with Heathcliff also known as Akihiko Kayaba, when he went to land a finishing blow on him but Heathcliff used his admin privileges to dodge the attack. "If I'm correct, then we'll need to focus less on finding out what this thing is and more on finding out how it went rouge."

"I see, we still know so little. To think that something strong enough to defy the server admin could be running around." Asuna said nervously. Kirito put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"We'll find out, and we'll clear this game." He said while smiling at Asuna. "Just promise you'll help me out, ok?" Asuna smiled back

"Of course I will." She said.

"Don't forget us!" Lisbeth exclaimed while running up to them. Kirito and Asuna both turned to face her and noticed that the rest of the group where following her. Kirito smiled.

"Of course not, we're in this together." He said while smiling at his friends. Kirito then opened his inbox realising that it had a notification.

"What is it?" Asuna said looking over his shoulder.

"It's nothing" Kirito replied. "Just some assault team stuff."

April 5th, floor 26, 12am game time. Kirito followed the coordinates in the message and found Jyenka sitting by a fire in the forest south-west of the village on floor 26.

"Commander, thanks for coming out here so late." Jyenka said as he sat down on a log nearby the campfire.

"Don't worry about that, you have more information don't you?" Kirito asked while sitting down next to him.

"Yeah, it's kinda important that I tell you this." Jyenka said. Kirito nodded, ready to listen to what he had to say. "Lately, I've been having these dreams. In the dreams, I see visions of dark hallways and rooms. I here a faint bell chiming with this strange echo I can't describe. The thing that is common in the dream though, is the red mist that surrounds each room and hallway. I think this is the virus or whatever trying to communicate with me." Jyenka said while looking straight at Kirito. Kirito gave him a surprised look.

"Wow, that's a lot..." He said while thinking. "How do these dreams end?" Kirito asked.

"For the past few floors they've ended with a staircase that has a massive red glow coming from the top of it. I try to climb it, but then I wake up." Jyenka replied.

"Have you told anyone else about this?" Kirito asked. Jyenka looked away.

"No, you're the only one who knows. I'd like it to stay that way." Jyenka said.

"You don't even want your party members to know?" Kirito said. Jyenka shook his head.

"They're the last people I want finding out, they have enough to deal with as it is. I don't want them to worry about me." Jyenka said sternly. Kirito sighed.

"You know, they're your friends for a reason right?" he said while looking at Jyenka. "Them worrying about you isn't a bad thing."

"I know, but..." Jyenka continued to look at the ground.

"You don't want the people to turn on them like they have with you?" Kirito asked. Jyenka nodded. Kirito thought back to the floor 1 boss fight back when he first played the game, when he dawned the title of 'Beater'.

"I was able to draw the attention away from all the other beta testers by making myself look like the bad guy." Kirito thought to himself. "But Jyenka, isn't a bad guy. He wants to be a hero, playing that card wouldn't work for him." Kirito stood up. "I know you have good intentions Jyenka, I don't doubt that. But as a hero, you have to make tough choices. You might even have to look like the villain at times." Kirito said as he began to walk away. Jyenka watched as he disappeared into the forest.

April 5th, floor 26, 11am game time.

"C'mon Jyenka, quit dragging ass!" Silvia shouted behind her. The party had moved out to start work on there quest. This quest was going to take longer than most so Silvia had made sure to bring extra supplies. Silvia, Taijou and Shoko all walked at the front of the pack while Jyenka and ThirtySix were at the back with the supplies split between them.

"Gimme a break! This stuff has completely tanked my weight management, I can barely keep up!" Jyenka said while panting. This was a MMORPG so having too much weight came with a cost.

"Well it's your fault for having the second strongest strength stat in our party so deal with it like ThirtySix." She retorted. Walking next to Jyenka was ThirtySix who had the same load as him but was seemingly doing just fine.

"You gotta be kidding me..." Jyenka thought to himself as he looked up at ThirtySix. ThirtySix looked back down at him.

"This load is pretty heavy." He said calmly.

"I appreciate the thought, but don't lie to me to make me feel better..." Jyenka said while still struggling. "How much further anyway?" Jyenka asked. Taijou opened his map.

"Not too far now, we're almost there I think." Taijou said while scrolling through his in game map.

"Thank god, I'm about to brake my virtual spine..." Jyenka huffed.

"Do you have to complain so much?" Silvia asked.

"You're just mad I have a higher strength stat then you..." Jyenka replied.

"I am not!" Silvia shouted back.

"Hey, I think we're here." Taijou said while pointing towards a large gate that stood before them. It swung open and revealed a bustling city filled with NPC's, markets and everything else you'd find in a stereotypical video game fantasy world. This included a large castle in the centre.

"So this is Karzonia." Taijou said while looking around.

"First we should activate the teleport crystal so that other players can get here easily, then we'll find a place to stay." Silvia ordered the group. Everyone nodded and went to follow Silvia's orders. Now that the teleport gate had been opened, every player in the floor would gain access to the kingdom of Karzonia with the tap of a button. This is both a blessing and a curse, as now players could jump from one place to another without being able to be seen by other players. Players who might be looking for new hunting grounds, but not necessarily for monsters.

April 5th, floor 26, 11:30pm game time. 4 hooded figures ran across the rooftops of the quiet kingdom, until they stopped when they saw 3 players ganging up on 2 other players who looked to be of a significantly lower level.

"Those must be the laughing coffin members we're after right?" One of the cloaked figures said.

"Must be, who else would be hunting players?" Another one of the cloaked figures said.

"I don't know, us?" The other figure replied.

"Yeah, I guess. But we only hunt laughing coffin members so..."

"Let's just complete the mission." Another cloaked figure said as he scoped out the enemy. "Death waits for nobody."

"Alright captain, let's do this." one of the other cloaked figures replied.

"Aw, can't we have a little fun with them first? Killing them now would be boring." One of the laughing coffin members said. The other one snickered.

"I guess so, we have time to kill. Deimos' request can wait." He said while drawing his dagger.

"Sorry, but you wont be killing anything." a voice said behind the 3 laughing coffin members.

"Who the hell are you-?" The first laughing coffin member was cut off as a dagger went flying into his shoulder. Then, a smoke screen was released around them. "What is this!? W-Wait, my body won't move!" He stammered while checking his HP bar, noticing the paralysis icon appearing next to his name.

"You know, I thought you guys would build up a resistance to paralysis considering how much you use it. Guess I expected too much." another voice came from behind the paralysed laughing coffin member. Standing behind him was a tall girl with messy black hair and a scar on her cheek. She placed her foot on the side of his head. "You laughing coffin people really need to up your game." She said while smirking. Suddenly 2 thuds could be heard nearby and 2 other people appeared as the smoke began to clear. 1 was a boy with blonde hair and green eyes, the other was a short girl with brown hair and a grumpy look on her face.

"Did the 2 players escape already?" the boy said. The tall girl nodded. "Aw man, I wanted to ask for the chicks contact info..." He said while looking disappointed. The short girl next to him scoffed.

"Of course that's all you're worried about." She said while rolling her eyes.

"Well done team." A fourth cloaked figure entered the scene. The figure pulled down his hood to reveal his face. He had well looked after black hair and an eyepatch over his left eye. "I'd say that went quite swimmingly" He said while looking at the paralysed LafCof members.

"So captain, anything else we have to do tonight?" The tall girl asked.

"Actually, there is something. I think I've found a new recruit..."

To Be Continued...