Chapter 7: A Murder In The Town Of Mutants Part 1

March 6th, 2224 / Floor 56: Panl

In a hallowed out rock, a group of players had made it into a Command center And were discussing their plans for the next floor boss. The room was silent until a purple-haired boy with purple eyes and deep bags underneath them, who went by the username BrainJack. Had slammed his hand on the table grabbing everybody's attention as he spoke up.

"We got to lure it to the Village. That's how we'll beat it. Sheeptar, The Sheep King, your reign is at an end. " BrainJack said causing everybody to look at him in surprise. That surprise quickly vanished though as Izuku spoke up.

"You can't be serious. If we do that the boss will go after the villagers. And-." Izuku said before being cut off by brainJack.

"That's the idea, And while the boss is attacking NPCs we can attack it and kill it. This is simply a better plan than the one you proposed." BrainJack said as he glared at Izuku which he returned.

But it wasn't just Izuku who was angry about this response but his entire party including his newest member Shield, (AKA Melissa Shield). After a bit of Melissa jumping around parties, she ended up rejoining theirs. And when she did they officially had enough members to officially build a guild which they named the Beaters. The name Beaters was a insult created by the assholes who tried to kill Izuku on the first-floor in the boss room. But instead of rejecting the name they owned it And now it was a name of respect. Plus They all had to agree with Rumi, it sounded badass.

"Are you an idiot? NPCs are not like rocks and trees they're diff-." Melissa said before being cut off by BrainJack.

"And let me guess you think they're alive? don't be illogical they're nothing but ones and zeros. Plus even if they are alive once we get out of this game they will be dead anyway." BrainJack said with a scoff. Which enraged the group even further to the point where Rumi spoke up.

"You little shit, damn right we think they're alive. Hell, I have some friends that are NPCs and there's no way I'll let you Badmouth them." Rumi said angrily which caused BrainJack to chuckle a bit, before responding.

"Haa, that makes way too much sense." BrainJack said as he laughed with some of his men laughing with him.

"And what is that supposed to-?" Rumi said with a growl before being cut off by BrainJack again.

"Look this is not up for discussion. I'm the leader of this raid group and I am the second in command of the Knights Of The Blood Oath. Like it or not I'm in charge and you're going to follow my orders." BrainJack said and if it wasn't for Izuku placing a hand on Rumi she would have jumped him. Once Izuku was positive that Rumi wouldn't do anything he spoke up.

"You may be in charge of this Raid group But I'm the guild leader of mine. Come on guys we're leaving." Izuku says as he walks out with his group with Rumi and Melissa looking confused at his decision. The last thing that Izuku saw of BrainJack was his angry face. When the group exited the Command Center and was quite a ways away Rumi decided to speak up.

"Okay, why did we leave? don't get me wrong I agree with your decision. But I'm positive most of the other raid groups would have sided with us." Rumi asked confused, Izuku looked at her with a Mischievous smile (that he definitely picked up from his newly adopted mother) and spoke up.

"Two reasons, the first is for him to be forced to use our plan anyway. You see the only way for his plan to work was for us to be the ones to lure the boss towards the town. Our group is the only one fast enough to do it. Without us there he is forced to use our plan, a different plan, or sacrifice another group. Since he's all about logic I doubt he will sacrifice another group, so he'll be forced to make a new plan or go with the one we gave them. Either way, the townspeople are safe. Second, Even if we did get every other team to side with us, the Knights Of The Blood Oath would have definitely left, and taking half the forces with them. Making it extremely difficult for us to pull off the Raid in the first place. No, it was better for us just to leave. Plus I rather not have somebody like that watching my back because I'm pretty sure it will be stabbed." Izuku said causing his entire group to nod their heads in agreement.

April 11th, 2224 Floor 59: Danac

Hitoshi Shinso Also known as BrainJack was quite angry. His reputation among the frontliners including his own Guild had been tarnished. He knew that attempting his plan without the Beaters was not the best option. But he knew that if he didn't it would look like he was incompetent. Now the group that was in charge of Luring the boss to the town was killed not even halfway towards it. Four players died and now the frontlines including his own Guild question his competence as a leader. In fact the beaters were now forming their own Frontline group which most of the people were joining. What made it worse was the fact that they were doing a lot more than any other group had been doing due to his leadership. His thoughts were cut off as he spotted the two people who caught his ire.

Seeing Dekiru and Miruko who appeared to be sleeping together in a field of grass underneath a tree Made his anger grow. How could they be so relaxed and so Carefree when every second they stay in here is another second lost in the real world? Seeing the 2 people who made his life hell for the last month, sleeping so peacefully made his blood boil. Approaching them he had gotten a thought that he thought he would never consider. It could have been the lack of sleep that he was getting because he was actually considering killing the two. He knew a way it was called sleep PKing. Using an unconscious victim's arm they could use it to make the person who was asleep agree to a duel and then just kill them. No one would know and With no doubt, the Beaters would fall apart without the two.

Approaching the two he started kneeling down. But before he could even get close to the two, a hand landed on his shoulder. Turning around he was presented with the site of two people. One was a man who appeared to have a mutation that made his skin would. He was wearing a wooden armor set with a helmet that completely covered his head. The second one was a woman with long blonde hair with purple eyes. Her armor colors were purple and white. She was wearing what looked to be a Nordic steel Helm with horns, She also had a quite menacing two-handed Warhammer On her back. This was Kamui Woods and Mt Lady. These two were some of the few daylight Heroes who were on the front lines and who had made a name for being quite a team.

"What are you doing kid?" Mt Lady ask since she was the one who had her arm on his shoulder.

"Nothing." BrainJack said as he got up and walked away.

The two's eyes stayed on him Until he was completely out of sight and only when they were sure he was gone did they look back. The two then turned around to wake the two sleeping people so they didn't get PKed. But they were stopped by a voice that they recognized.

"Thank you, you two, but let them sleep. Those two had a really busy week and they need it." Miss Joke said as she revealed herself leaning against the same tree that they were under. The two guests that her stealth skill must have been active and was the reason why they didn't spot her underneath the tree in the first place.

" Hey Joke, Didn't see you there. But tell me, when were you going to intervene with that guy?" Mt Lady asks curious. She doubted that she would allow him to kill her son. (Which everybody on the front lines knows at this point due to the fact that she can't be quiet about it.) But knowing the older hero that only meant she had something up her sleeve.

"When I had enough evidence." Joke said but seeing the two's confusion she let out a long sigh and then continued.

"It's simple, I was recording and the second that he opened their menus I would have pounced. The kid is second in Command of the Knights of the Blood Oath. So you need a really good amount of evidence to keep him in prison. Now all I could really do is put him on the watch list for all heroes. Luckily people would take us seriously since three Heroes were on the scene. That's if you guys want to put your neck out for this. Like I said The kid is second in Command of the Knights of the Blood Oath." Joke said causing the two to look a little embarrassed For not Thinking of catching him like that.

"Nah, I don't mind doing it, after all, it's the right thing to do. Here I'll open up the joint form for it. I know the lookout on this floor and it's better for them to get this first just in case." Mt Lady said as she opened up an already pre-written message that was designed to be filled out like a form. After filling it out and attaching Miss Joke's and Kamui Woods's identification tags. She sent it to the provisional Management Department for Heroes. (Which was created to organize active Heroes) And the floor watch group. (Which was a group of players looking for stuff like this.)

"Okay, all done. And since you're here looking over your kid I'm sure you wouldn't mind if I rest my head too right? After all, it is such a nice day, and it would be a shame to waste it." Mt Lady said as she flopped onto the grass with a content sigh.

Being on the same raid group, created a good amount of trust and Mt Lady doubted that Miss Joke would do anything or allow anything to harm her or her partner. Miss Joke just shrugged her shoulders as she Activated her stealth skill again and practically vanished from sight. Taking that as a confirmation she pulled Kamui Woods down and snuggled up to him. Kamui Woods stiffened up like a wooden board at this action, and he could have sworn that he heard Joke laugh at his situation. Vowing to get her back one day he just accepted being a body pillow for his friend.

A Couple Hours Later

The two Heroes were eventually shaken awake by Joke. Opening their eyes, they noticed that it was late noon. They also noticed that Dekiru and Miruko were gone, and only Joke remained. Who had a Cheshire grin on her face which the two Quickly figured out why. Apparently the two had their face vandalized with MT lady having cat whiskers on her face and Kamui Woods having a tree painted onto his forehead with the words. 'I'm stiff as a tree down there.' The two instantly looked back at Joke, but when they did they noticed that she was gone, and they could hear her laughter in the distance.

Floor 57 Martin

Floor 57 was a floor that had one of the largest safe zones in all of SAO. For this very reason, the floor was pretty much claimed by the mutant community as well as the quirkless community, In an attempt to avoid the mass discrimination that the two groups were getting. A couple days after this floor was unlocked Izuku along with his team helped both communities to establish themselves on this floor. It was very difficult to do it since a lot of PK groups that focused on Hunting mutants like The CRC had constantly attacked them. As well as a quirk supremacist group that attacked the quirkless. But luckily Izuku and his Team had managed to make sure none of the people that they were escorting was killed. Unfortunately several of the PKers were killed and it was the first time that Izuku ended up taking a life. He had almost broken down and if it wasn't for His mom and his now girlfriend Rumi helping him through it, he would have probably never gotten over it.

Speaking of his girlfriend Izuku and her were heading on their first date to one of the nicer restaurants in SAO. The two had sat down and just had started talking when they heard a scream coming from outside the restaurant. Getting up the two ran outside and towards the source of the screaming which led to the courtyard. When they got there they immediately noticed that a man was being hanged by the neck with a red sword plunged through his chest. As they got closer they noticed it was a man with a mutant quirk that gave him the appearance of a werewolf.

The second that they got there Rumi had run up the steps to the second floor of the building that the man was hanging off of in the hopes of cutting the man down. While Izuku positioned himself to catch the guy. But before the two could enact their plan the man slumped before dissipating into a fragment of light which shocked the group. Izuku started analyzing the situation and realized the only way for this to happen was if somebody had challenged him to a duel or he was forced into one. Looking around Izuku tried to see if there was anyone with the winner emblem over them, seeing none he called out to the crowd that had formed.

"Everybody, look for somebody with the winner emblem." Izuku said causing the crowd to quickly look around. But none of them saw anything. Frustrated, he went to where the sword that had impaled the man and picked it up, And attempted to think. If somebody had found a way to kill somebody in a safe Zone this whole community was in danger. It was bad enough that these people had to deal with discrimination on a daily basis but now these people could not even feel safe. His thoughts were interrupted by Rumi's hand that she had placed on his shoulder.

"Dekiru come on we got to question the witnesses." Rumi said knowing full well what Izuku was probably thinking. After all, she was thinking the same thing but they needed to focus and find this bastard before anyone else got hurt. With a nod from Izuku, they got to work. But before they could question the witnesses a woman with purple and pink hair approached the two Before speaking up.

"Dekiru, Miruko do you know what happened here?" The woman said and when they got a good look at her they instantly recognized her. This was Lady Nagant, She was a front liner who had recently taken a leave of absence to level up a new weapon skill that she unlocked. Izuku could see that unique weapon that was currently strapped to her back. It looked to be a black powder musket with a long-range Scope attached to it. Izuku wanted to ask her so many questions about her new weapon skill, since it was not any of the standard skills. But he held his tongue knowing that this wasn't the time for that so after clearing his throat he attempted to speak but Rumi beat him to it.

"Well, some sick fucker decided to stab a poor guy and then hang him by the balcony, and before we could do anything the guy died." Rumi said which shocked Kaina.

"Wait how could that happen? this is a safe Zone. Did somebody pull a prank and hang an NPC?" Kaina said shocked.

"No, there is no NPC that has mutations, and the guy who died had a werewolf mutation. The only thing that was left of this guy was this sword. It's possible it was a duel but I didn't see anyone with the winner icon." Izuku said.

"Yeah, But something feels off, and like you said you didn't see a winner icon. Plus this is too much of a public statement for it to be simply a duel. So Is it possible that somebody found an exploit or glitch to start killing people?" Rumi asked worried about the implications of that possibility.

"It is possible it could have been a exploit, but there's no way it could be a glitch. The Cardinal System that runs this game is run by a super Advanced AI that has the capability of Auto patching and auto managing. If somebody did discover a glitch they wouldn't be able to use it since it would have been instantly patched by the system. But you're right this is too much of a public statement to be a simple duel. So it's most likely that this guy has been forced into a duel then stabbed, and then hanged. Which gave the murderer enough of a distraction to get out of the vicinity." Izuku said, which the two nodded their heads in agreement.

"This means somebody here must have seen something since you cannot Teleport when you're in a duel, especially when there is only one way out of that building. I'm going to go up there and check for evidence you start questioning the people here." Kaina said and with a nod of their heads in agreement they went to do their tasks. But before they could a woman with a squirrel mutation approached them. But before she could speak Izuku was tackled into a tight embrace by a large Fox woman with green fur and a white underbelly.

"Izukuuu! It is so good to see my little brother." The woman Izuku recognized as The Ordinary Woman or Ippan Josei cried out joyfully.

It has been a while since he saw her, since her party took a break from the front lines after one of their members was killed. Ever since they met she had declared herself as his big sister and him as his little brother. Looking around he could see another good friend of his. Although he did not know his real name and only his username which was Spinner He still considered him as one of his friends. And to his internal embarrassment spinner was wearing the exact same clothing as he was. The man was one of his biggest fans after his group saved him and Ippan from a group of PKers. And after seeing his kindness and skill he was inspired to be just like him which his mother and girlfriend would not stop teasing him about. After giving the two a smile and greetings his face turned serious and he explained the situation. It was only after that the girl who had stepped forward had finally made her presence known.

"Excuse me my name is Yolko. I... Knew the man who just died." Yolko Said causing everybody's attention to Land on her making her a bit nervous. Recognizing The Voice due to her impeccable hearing Rumi spoke up.

"Wait were you the one who screamed." Rumi asks curious.

"Yes, That was me, and my friend's name was Kains and we used to be in the same Guild. We were supposed to have dinner today and meet here at the plaza but when I got here I saw... Oh, God." Yolko said as she started to break down crying, Causing Ippan to give her a comforting hug. After she calmed down a bit lady Nagant asked the next question.

"Did you see anyone up there with them?" Kaina asked hoping to get any information on the murderer.

"Yes I did but they were wearing a cloak so I didn't get a good look at them." Yolko said With a frown on her face.

"Okay, where did they go?" Rumi asked, if they could get a Direction she and Izuku could track the culprit.

"I don't know I was... Too... Shocked to notice." Yolko said a bit nervous which Izuku took note of.

"Okay, let's get her to one of the hotels for the night the poor girl looks exhausted." Ippan said, leaving out the fact that they didn't want her getting targeted next. Which everybody silently agreed to. And after walking her to the nearest hotel that all of them would be staying at. They met up with Joke and after explaining what happened they convened a small meeting.

"Okay, let's review. Me and Rumi ran outside once we heard a scream and found a guy hanging from his neck with a Sword through his chest. I'm pretty sure this is some type of statement since it took place in the town square right during the time of the dinner rush. The witness also told us that there was a cloaked individual in the room and none of the other Witnesses noticed him leaving. A Teleport Crystal could have not been used since you can't use them during a duel which is the only explanation for this guy dying." Izuku said with everybody nodding their heads in agreement.

"Are you sure that this had to be a duel maybe somebody got a unique skill or something. And do you guys think laughing Coffin or the CRC are involved? We had a couple of CRC members a week back abducting mutants inside the safe Zone and torturing them until they broke before disappearing. And since, sleep PKing is a thing now do you guys think it's possible that they're making a new move?" Spinner asked a little nervous.

He was on that case with Ippan and just thinking of those bastards leaving those poor People nothing but a hollow form of themselves, made his blood boil. He was glad that once Izuku and his team were on the case they were caught pretty quickly. Another reason why Izuku was his role model and why he wanted to be just like him. In Spinner's mind, Izuku was everything that a hero should be, he did not doubt once they were out of this death game Izuku would become one of the best heroes even without a quirk. Hell, the guy was already having a huge fan base here in SAO. No doubt somebody was going to start making Merch of him The second that they were out of SAO and he was going to be the first customer to buy them And if no one made them he was going to. His thoughts were interrupted by the voice of Izuku.

"I cannot remove that possibility. There could have been a skill or an item that could have done this. But I doubt it, I hate to admit it but Sao was designed to be fair, so having an item or skill like that is unlikely. But There's also a possibility that there might have been an exploit like sleep PKing or something to trick the system. As for the two PK groups, Yeah, that is a possibility, and a big one at that. Although I doubt its Laughing Coffin they're simply a murder Guild that likes killing people left and right. It's not their style to come up with something like this. But for the CRC yeah I can see them doing this, Send a message before they start a killing spree. However, the lack of religious symbolism on the victim or in the building may point to a third party." Izuku said as he analyzed the situation which impressed Kaina to no end. She only heard about Izuku's tactical and investigated genius but seeing it in action firsthand impressed her immensely. The quick analysis of the situation reminded her so much of nezu but without all of the chaotic tendencies. Perhaps sticking by this boy for a bit could be beneficial. Her thoughts were brought back to the present when Izuku spoke up again

"Mom you, Ippan, and Spinner will go investigate the possible involvement of the CRC as well as provide security around the area to prevent any other victims. If Melissa gets back from visiting her friend she will join you. Me, Miruko, and Lady Nagant we'll go investigate the possibility of a third party. I got a feeling that it's definitely a third party involved. And even if there is a third party involved we're going to need people providing security around the place because I have no doubt that the CRC is going to try to replicate what happened today." Izuku said and with a nod from everybody they were off.

Notes:

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