Sword Art Online Progressive - Volume 01

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Sword Art Online Progressive – Volume 01
Chapter 1: Aria of a Starless Night – Part 1
Chapter 1
Aria of a Starless Night
Aincrad 1st Floor, November 2022
1
Just once, I saw a real shooting star.

It wasn’t during summer vacation; it was from the window of my
house. For people living in town with crisp air and truly dark
nights, shooting stars are not uncommon, but unfortunately,
Kawagoe City of Saitama prefecture, where I have lived for all
fourteen years of my life, has neither of those qualities. Even on a
clear night, the most that can be seen with the naked eye are
second magnitude stars.
But, late one midwinter night, when I happened to glance outside
my window on a whim, I definitely saw it. On that deep night
without many stars, the city lights formed a pallid shroud covering
the sky. And in an instant, it was cut through by a quick flash of
light. My soon-to-be 5th grade self thought childishly, "I must
make some kind of wish"…which up to that point was fine, but the
wish that appeared in my mind was, "I wish my next monster drop
will be a rare item", without a hint of feeling in it. I suppose it
sprang from the fact that I was playing an MMORPG I was hooked
on at the time.
The shooting star I glimpsed that day, I saw once again three (or
was it four?) years later, glowing with the same color, moving
with the same speed.
However, this time, I didn't see it with the naked eye, nor was I
beneath a dark grey night sky.
I saw it in the depths of a gloomy dungeon, produced through a
Nerve Gear—the world's first full sensory type VR interface.
9
One could describe the fight as bloodcurdling.

The level 6 humanoid monster, «Ruin Kobold Trooper», was
swinging a barbaric hand ax, and the person fighting the Kobold
was barely able to dodge. I felt a chill run down my back as I
watched the battle. But after the player dodged three consecutive
strikes, the Kobold completely lost its balance and, without
missing that chance, the person used a sword skill at full strength.
It was the first skill that could be learned in the rapier category:
the single thrust attack «Linear». It was a simple basic skill that
consisted of thrusting straight forward by first holding the sword
in front of the body and then putting in a twist from there, but the
speed was terrifying. Clearly, the speed hadn't been left to the
system motion assist alone, but was boosted by the player's own
movement commands.
During the beta test, I had seen with my own eyes numerous party
members and enemy monsters use this very sword skill countless
times. But this time, I could not see the rapier itself, only the
trajectory drawn by the light effect that was characteristic of
sword skills. That pure white flash, as it pierced through the
darkness of the dimly-lit dungeon, made me recall the shooting
star from that day.
The rapier user continued to dodge the Kobold's three strike
combo, following with a counterattack using «Linear». After using
this attack-defend pattern three more times, the player finished
off the armed beastman, one of this Labyrinth's stronger
monsters, without a single wound. Despite this, the battle didn't
seem to have been an easy one. Once the lethal sword skill had
pierced the center of its chest and the monster dispersed into
particles as it collapsed backwards, the rapier user then staggered
as if pushed by the insubstantial polygon shards and leaned back
onto the corridor wall. The person slowly slid against the wall
down to a sitting position, and began breathing heavily.
The person didn't seem to notice me standing about 15 meters
away at the corner of the intersection.
10
To wordlessly distance myself and find my own prey was my

normal procedure. A month ago, on that eventful day, I decided to
selfishly live as a solo player. Ever since that day, I have never
approached a lone person. The only exception was if I saw a
player in battle who was clearly in danger; however, the rapier
user's HP gauge was still near full. At the very least, the person
didn’t seem to need the help of some busybody at all.
Even so…
After about five seconds of deliberation, I left the shadows of the
intersection and strode toward the still-sitting rapier user.
Skinny figure, somewhat slender. The torso was equipped with a
dark red leather tunic with a lightweight copper breastplate, while
the lower body was dressed in neat leather pants, with boots up to
the knees. A hooded cape cloaked the body from head to below
the waist, so the face could not be seen. Other than the cape, the
equipment seemed to be that of a fencer, but my own appearance
as a swordsman was almost the same as well. My beloved sword
«Anneal Blade», the reward from a high-difficulty quest, is very
heavy. So, to keep my skills on point, I wear very little metal
armor—just a small chest guard with a dark-grey leather coat
over it.
Noticing my approaching footsteps, the rapier user's shoulders
trembled suddenly, but didn’t move any further. The fact that I
wasn't a monster should have been revealed by a green-colored
cursor in that person's view. He had his face buried deep behind
raised knees, giving a strong 'Just pass by and move on'
impression, but—I stopped about two meters from the rapier user
and opened my mouth.
“…That was an extreme overkill just now.”
The small shoulders covered by the thick cloth of the cape moved
slightly again. The hood jerked, moved up about 5cm, and from
the darkness within, two pupils sharply shot towards me. The
only thing I could discern were light brown irises. The features of
the face couldn't be seen at all.
11
For a few seconds, the rapier user continued to watch me with

that same sharp gaze he used in the battle earlier, but eventually
his head tilted slightly to the right in an 'I don't get it' kind of
gesture.
Seeing that, I thought, 'So it's as I thought'.
For what looked like solo play to me, there was one huge
incongruity.
The «Linear» released by the rapier user was so perfect that I
couldn't help but shiver. The conciseness of the pre-motion and
post-motion, and, most of all, the speed of the thrust that
prevented perception of the rapier itself. Never before have I
beheld such a terrifying and beautiful sword skill.
So from the beginning, I thought that he must similarly be a beta
tester. Before this world became a death game, extensive battle
experience must have been accumulated to attain this speed.
However, seeing «Linear» a second time, I had doubts about my
guess. The skill was perfect, but the pace of battle was too risky.
Certainly, «Minimal Side Step Defense» has a higher counterattack
speed over parrying or blocking, and won't decrease
weapon/armor durability. However in exchange, when the
defense fails, the danger is the greatest. At worst, counter damage
may be applied and a stun could occur. In solo battles, a stun is
fatal.
The imbalance between the perfect sword skill and the risky
defense tactics. For some reason I wanted to know the reason
why, no matter what. That's why I moved closer and greeted the
person, saying that no matter what the circumstances were, it was
overkill.
However, the opponent didn't seem to understand the well-
known net game term. Meaning, the rapier user in front of me was
not an original beta tester. Not only that, he might not even have
been an MMO player before coming here.
I took a short breath, and explained anew.
12
"Overkill means…in comparison to the monster's remaining HP,

the damage dealt was way too much. The Kobold earlier was
almost dead after the second «Linear»…no, it was practically dead
already. Its HP gauge had only two or three dots remaining.
Instead of finishing it with a sword skill, a light normal attack
would have been more than enough."
In this world, how many days…how many weeks had it been since
I had talked so much? Pondering that question, I close my mouth.
Even after listening to my speech, the fruit of my hard work and
poor speaking skills, the rapier user had no reaction for over ten
seconds. Just when I thought I hadn't managed to get through, a
small voice finally slipped through the lowered hood.
"……Overkill, is there any problem with it?"
At that moment, I belatedly realized this rapier user huddled in
front of me was one of this world's extraordinarily rare—
especially in the depths of a dungeon like this—«Female Players».
It had already been a month since the official launch of the world's
first VRMMORPG, «Sword Art Online».
By this time, the average MMO would begin to see players
approaching the level cap, and the world map should have been
explored from end to end. However for SAO, even the current top
class group was barely Level 10—I didn't know how high the cap
was, but—there was no way that could have been it. The floating
castle Aincrad, where the game is staged, had only been
conquered by a few percent in total as well.
The reason was that the current SAO was a game that wasn't a
game; in a sense, it had become a «Jail». Manual logout wasn't
possible and death of the avatar amounted to death of the real
player. With these conditions, not many people entered dungeons
filled with dangerous monsters and traps.
13
Also, after the Gamemaster forced all avatars to be the same

gender as their real-world players, females were very rare. Even
after a month, I think almost all of them still stayed in the
«Starting City». In the first sizable dungeon, the «First Floor
Labyrinth1», I have seen female players only two or three times,
and they were all members of big parties.
That's why I would never have imagined the solo rapier user I met
in an unexplored area of the Labyrinth would be a female player.
For a moment, I thought about mumbling an apology and leaving

the area. It wasn’t because I found fault with the kind of male
players that always spoke out to any female player they saw; I just
sincerely didn't like to be thought of that way.
On the other hand, if the opponent had said something like 'It's my
choice' or 'Leave me alone,' I would have said 'I see' and left
immediately. However, the rapier user's curt reply had been a
question. So, I stopped myself from moving away at the last
minute, and once again answered by desperately putting to use all
my language skills.
"……Overkill has no penalty or demerit from the system, but…it's
bad for efficiency. Sword skills require concentration, so using
them continuously is mentally exhausting. There's also the return
path, so it's better to not fight in a way that makes you tired."
"……Return path?"
Again, a questioning voice emanated from deep inside the hood.
Fatigue made it very faint and the intonation was also thin, but
regardless, I thought her voice was quite beautiful. Of course,
that's not something I'd say out loud, though.
Instead, I explained once more.
1 The tower connecting each floor is referred to as a 迷宮区(Labyrinth district), while regular
dungeons are just called ダンジョン (Engrish for „dungeon“). Yen Press also translates 迷宮 as „labyrinth“
instead of „dungeon“. Thus the translation has been altered to use „labyrinth“ to refer the tower and
„dungeon“ to refer to a dungeon in general.
14
"Yes. It takes about an hour to get from here to the Labyrinth exit,
and from there to the closest town is about 30 minutes even when
moving quickly, right? Exhaustion increases mistakes. You look
like a solo player, and for a single person, any small mistake might
cost you your life."
While my mouth moved, I asked myself, 'Why am I speaking with
all my might?' Because the opponent is female—that couldn't be
the reason, since I had given a long speech before knowing that.
If I were her, and an upper rank person had lectured me like this, I
would have said, 'It's my choice, so leave me alone,' or something
like that. So, with my personality and actions rather at odds, I was
about to break a sweat, when the rapier user finally replied.
"…Then, there's no problem. I'm not returning."
"What? …N-Not returning to town? But…replenishing potions,
repairing equipment…and sleep..."
I asked dumbfoundedly. The rapier user's shoulders shook
slightly.
"I don't need medicine when I'm not taking damage, and I bought
five of the same sword…As for resting, I use the nearby safe area."
As the murmur faded, I was speechless for a while.
Safe areas were certain rooms in a dungeon that monsters would
not enter. A safe area could be recognized by a special colored
torch placed on the wall in each of its four corners. While hunting
and mapping, it's a nice place; but, even so, it could only be used
for maybe an hour of short rest. The floor was made of cold stone
and of course there was no bed, and the footsteps or growls of
nearby monsters could be heard frequently. No matter how
courageous a player was, deep sleep was absolutely impossible.
But, based on what I just heard, this rapier user had been using a
safe area in lieu of a town inn and has continued secluding herself
in the Labyrinth…is that what she means?
"……How many hours has it been?"
15
I fearfully inquired.
The rapier user answered after taking a long breath.
"Three days…or four days…Is that all? The monsters around here
will revive soon, so I'll be going."
With her delicate left hand wrapped in a thick leather glove, she
pushed off the wall and stood up unsteadily.
Her still-unsheathed slender sword drooped down heavily as if
she were holding a two-handed sword one-handedly, and the
rapier user turned her back to me.
As she took one, two steps away from me, her cape was in tatters
all over, revealing that much of its durability had been lost. No, for
cloth equipment that had been used for a four-day hunting
expedition, the mere fact that it had maintained its shape was a
miracle. The earlier 'As long as I don't take damage' comment
might not have been an exaggeration…
After realizing that, I spat out some unthinkable words to her
slender back.
"……If you fight like that, you will die…"
Suddenly stopping, the rapier user leaned her shoulder on the
right wall and turned around slowly. From within the hood, her
eyes, which I had seen were hazel before, pierced through me with
a light red inner glow.
"……Everyone is going to die anyways."
The hoarse, cracked sound made the cool Labyrinth air even
colder.
"In just one month, 2000 people have died, and still not even the
first floor has been cleared yet. It isn't possible to clear this game.
Where and how you die, and whether it's sooner…or later, is the
only difference……"
The longest, most emotion-filled speech that I had heard up until
now faltered in the middle and trailed off.
16
In front of me, as I stepped forward in reaction, the rapier user

was struck by an invisible paralyzing attack and slowly sank to the
floor.
17
As she was falling to the dungeon floor, a prosaic thought drifted

through her mind. 'How is it possible to faint in a virtual space?'
Loss of consciousness meant the brain's normal blood flow was
momentarily delayed, and its functions stopped. The reason for
this ischemia could be a malfunction in the heart or blood vessels,
anemia or low blood pressure, hyperventilation or many other
reasons; but while FullDiving in a VR world, the physical body is
resting on a bed or reclining chair. Furthermore, the physical
bodies of the players imprisoned by this death game «SAO» were
probably currently placed in a hospital; their health would
obviously be checked and continuously monitored, and if
necessary, even medicine would be used. It's hard to believe that
loss of consciousness would be due to some physical
abnormality—.
After she thought that far within her fading consciousness, at the
end she thought, 'That kind of thing doesn’t matter.'
Yes, nothing matters to me anymore...
Because, she will die here. Fainting in a dungeon full of violent
monsters, there was no way she would be unharmed. There was
another player nearby, but she did not think he would go so far as
to endanger his life to help another who had fallen.
Anyway, how could he help? In this world, the maximum weight a
single player can carry is strictly limited by the system. In the
depths of a dungeon, everyone carries medicine and extra
equipment to their weight limit, leaving space for monster drops
such as gold and items. With all those combined, the act of
carrying a whole person is absolutely impossible.
—Upon thinking to this point, she finally realized something.
18
What she thought as she was hit by a strong sense of dizziness and
she fell to the ground was, 'Finally, I can relax without thinking for
a long time'. The hard stone floor of the dungeon was what should
have been under her body, but somehow, the feeling against her
back was curiously soft and fluffy. Her body felt warm, and a light
breeze caressed her cheek…
She opened her eyes with enough force to make a sound.
She was no longer in a dungeon lined by thick walls. She was in a
clearing in a forest, surrounded by old trees covered in golden
moss and thorny brushes with small flowers. At the center of a
round space of about 7 or 8 meters in diameter, she seemed to
have been lying on a soft carpet of grass while unconscious…no,
asleep.
But—why? How had she, who had fallen in the depths of the
dungeon, been moved to this far away field?
The answer to that question was found when she turned her view
90 degrees to the right.
At the edge of the clearing, there was a grey silhouette crouching
over the root of a particularly majestic tree. He held a somewhat
large one-handed sword both arms, and its sheath was propped
up under his lowered head. Long black hair covered his face so
that it couldn't be seen, but judging from his equipment and
physique, there was no mistaking that he was the male player who
had spoken with her before she fainted in the dungeon.
Most likely, that man had used some kind of method to move her
out of the dungeon to this forest after she had fallen. She quickly
looked past the grove of trees forest in the background. On the left
side, about 100 meters away, a huge tower reaching up to the
sky—the First Floor Labyrinth of Aincrad stood towering above
there in deep black.
She returned her gaze to her right again.
19
Sensing her movement, the man's dark-grey leather coat covered

shoulders shook and he lifted his head slightly. Even in the bright
midday forest, the man's two eyes were black, like a starless night.
The moment her eyes met his dark-colored eyes, she felt small
fireworks exploding in her head.
From between her grinding teeth, Asuna—Yuuki Asuna, forced
out a low, hoarse voice.
"Unnecessary…effort."
After being imprisoned in this world, Asuna had asked herself

hundreds and thousands of times.
Why, at that time, did she touch a new game machine that was not
even hers? Why did she place it on her head, lie down on the mesh
recliner, and issue the start command?
The dream VR interface and cursed killing machine, «Nerve Gear»,
and the game disc of the prison of an immeasurable number of
souls, «Sword Art Online», hadn’t been purchased by Asuna, but
by her older brother Kouichirou. However, even for her brother,
things like MMORPGs or anything with the name of 'game' had
been unrelated to his life since his youth. Born as the first son to
the president of the huge electronics-manufacturing company
«Recto», he had grown up while receiving all the education and
training needed for him to become his father’s successor, and at
the same time being excluded from everything unnecessary to
that. Why that brother of hers would be interested in Nerve
Gear…no, in SAO, was something that she did not, even now,
understand.
Ironically however, Koichiro would not be able to play the first
game he bought in his life. On the first day of game's official
service, he was sent on a business trip overseas. On the day before
his departure, when facing her from his seat at the dining table, he
had complained about it jokingly, but she sensed that he genuinely
had regrets about it.
20
Though not as extreme as Koichiro, the only experience of game

playing that Asuna, a third-year middle school student, had
previously had up until now were free games on her cell phone
once in a while. She knew about the existence of net games, but
with high school entrance exams closing in, she had no reason or
motivation to be interested in them—or that was how it should
have been.
That’s why even she couldn’t explain why, on that day one month
ago, on the afternoon of November 6, 2022, she had visited her
brother's vacant room, taken the fully set-up Nerve Gear from the
top of his desk, placed it on her head, and said «Link Start».
From just one action, everything changed on that day…no, it could
be said to have ended.
In the beginning, Asuna had locked herself within an inn room in
the Starting City to wait for the incident to end, but after two
weeks passed with no word from the real world, she gave up hope
on being saved from outside. Also, having learned that the number
of player deaths had already reached over one thousand at that
time and yet in spite of that even the first dungeon had not been
broken through, she realized that waiting inside for the game to
be cleared was useless.
The only remaining choice was therefore «What kind of death?».
Staying in the only safe city for months, no, years like this could be
one way. However, no one can be sure that the rule of «Monsters
cannot enter cities» will continue forever.
Instead of continuing to huddle in a small dark room while fearing
for the future, it's better to go outside. Use all her ability to learn,
train, and fight. If she ended up dying after using all her strength,
at the very least she would not need to lament whims of the past
and regret a lost future.
Run. Charge forward. Then disappear. Like a fleeting shooting star
burning up upon entering the atmosphere.
21
Holding onto that single thought, Asuna had left the inn, and
stepped out into the wilderness of the MMORPG world, of which
she didn't know a single piece of terminology. She chose her own
weapon, and relying on the one skill she learned, reached the
bottom of the dungeon that no one had been to before.
Then today, Friday, December 2, at 4 AM. Asuna had fainted due
to, most likely, a natural neural reflex from the fatigue of
continuously fighting, and her path should have come to an end. In
the Starting City's «Black Iron Palace», near the left side on the
«Monument of Life», the name 'Asuna', run through by a
horizontal line, should have been neatly inscribed, and everything
would have ended—is how it should have been. And yet.
"Unnecessary……"
Asuna again squeezed out that single word again. The dark haired,
single-handed sword user crouching four meters away from her
lowered his night-colored eyes. Her first impression of him was
that he was a little older than she was, but that unexpectedly naïve
gesture made her furrow her brow slightly.
However, a few seconds later, the man's mouth formed a cynical
smile that overwrote her previous impression.
"I didn't save you."
A low quiet murmur. It sounded youthful, but something in it
camouflaged his age this time, too.
"……Then, why didn't you leave me there?"
"What I saved, was the map data you have. If you secluded
yourself near the front lines for as long as four days, you should
have mapped a considerable amount of unexplored areas. It
would be a bit wasteful if it disappeared along with you."
With this logic and pragmatism pushed onto her, she took a deep
breath.
22
'The importance of life' and 'How everyone should team up and

work together'; up to now, when people in the city had told her
such things she had immediately cut them down—with words
only, of course—and she thought of doing that now, but couldn't
come up with any reasonable responses.
"……Then, just take it."
With a low mutter, she opened her main window. Navigating
through the tabs with a hand motion that she had finally gotten
accustomed to recently, she accessed her map data and copied it
all to a parchment item. She turned it into an object and took it out
as a small scroll, and then tossed it near the man's feet.
"With this, you've achieved your objective, right? Then, I will be
going."
Pushing on the grass with her hand, she stood up but wobbled
slightly. Judging from the window's time display, she calculated
that she had slept for seven hours since she fell, but it seemed that
she had not fully recovered from her exhaustion yet. However, she
still had three spare rapiers left. She had decided earlier that she
would not leave the tower until the last rapier had only half its
durability.
She had many unanswered questions. Through what kind of
means had the grey-coated one-handed sword user moved her
from the depths of the dungeon to the forest clearing? Even
accepting that he had moved her, why had he especially gone to
the trouble of moving her outside, instead of a safe area in the
dungeon?
Even so, she didn't think it was something that she needed to turn
around and ask. Therefore, in order to return to the dungeon that
towered darkly from above the tree grove to the left, Asuna tried
to take a step forward. —But, just before she could.
"Wait, Fencer-san."
"……"
23
Asuna ignored it and took a few steps forward, but the speech that
followed after made her feet stop.
"You, too, are basically working hard to clear the game right? Not
just to die in the dungeon. Then, wouldn't it be better if you show
your face at the «meeting»?"
"...Meeting?"
After she murmured that with her back still turned, the
swordsman's voice reached her in an altered tone over the gentle
breeze within the forest.
"This afternoon, in the town of «Tolbana» that is the closest to the
dungeon, the first «First Floor Boss strategy conference» is
supposed to be held."
24
Since the floating castle Aincrad had a tapering structure, of

course the first floor on the lowest level was the widest. The first
floor was almost perfectly circular, with a diameter of 10
kilometers, and an area of about 80 square kilometers. To use a
reference for comparison, Kawagoe City in Saitama prefecture has
an area of 110 square kilometers, and a population of over
300,000 people.
For its huge size, the first floor actually held a lot of geographic
variety.
On the southern edge was the «Starting City», surrounded by a
rampart that drew a semi-circle around it with a diameter of 1
kilometer. In the grasslands surrounding the city, mainly boar-
and wolve-type animals were prevalent with worm-, beetle-, and
wasp-type insect monsters also inhabiting the area.
Northwest of the grassland was a deep wide forest, and towards
the northeast there was a lake region. After passing through either
of the two there were mountains, valleys, and ruins that contained
monsters waiting to ambush passing players, and on the far
northern-most edge of the floor, there stood a 300-meter wide,
100-meter tall squat tower—the First Floor Labyrinth.
In many places on the first floor, there existed many small- and
medium-sized towns and villages other than the Starting City, but
the largest of them—though even then, it was only about 200
meters from edge to edge—was the town situated in the valley
closest to the Labyrinth: «Tolbana».
The first time players arrived at this town lined with huge
windmills was three weeks after the official service of SAO began.
At that point, the total number of deaths had actually reached
1800.
25
The mysterious female fencer and I set out together—that is,

while maintaining a certain distance between ourselves, we left
the forest and arrived at Tolbana's north gate.
The purple letters [INNER AREA] flowed into my view, showing I
had entered a safe town area. At that moment, I felt a heavy
fatigue on my shoulders, and I involuntarily let out a sigh.
If I was so exhausted just from heading out from this town early
this morning, I thought that the rapier user walking behind me
must surely feel worse. But when I turned around, her feet
covered by knee-high boots did not seem to waver. I didn’t think it
was at all possible for one to completely recover from the
exhaustion of three continuous days of hunting with just a few
hours of sleep, so she must be straining herself as always. I had
thought about telling her that she should at least relax her body
and mind (although in the virtual world, those two are essentially
the same) when returned to town, but the atmosphere between us
didn’t seem to allow idle talk like that at all.
Instead, I turned toward the rapier user, and spoke very business-
like words.
"The meeting is supposed to take place in the town center, at 4 PM
in the afternoon."
"……"
The face hidden by the cloth hood moved slightly up and down.
However, her feet did not stop, and the slender body passed by in
front of me.
The breeze that blew in the valley town caused her cape to flutter
behind her. I opened my mouth slightly, but unable to find
anything more to say, I closed it wordlessly. Thinking about it, I,
who had been solo playing hard for three weeks, was not qualified
to seek interaction with others. Up until now, I had only been
spending every day protecting my own life, after all…
26
"A strange girL."2

Suddenly hearing that murmured behind me, I turned my gaze
away from the back of the rapier user and looked around once
again.
"…I thought she would soon die, but she did noT. No matter how
you look at it, she is a net game beginner, but her skill is fearsomE.
What kind of person is shE?"
The high-pitched voice continued, ending its sentences with a
special nasal inflection. The speaker was a truly nimble-looking
player that was more than a head shorter than me, who by no
means had a large build in the first place. Her armor, like mine,
consisted of full-body cloth and leather. Her weapons were a small
claw strapped on her left waist and throwing nails on her right
waist. These were not weapons regularly used by those who reach
the front lines, but this person's greatest weapon was something
else.
"Do you know something about that fencer?"
I reflexively inquired, but knowing what the opponent's reply
would be, I grimaced. The claw user did not betray my
expectations, as she held up five fingers and said.
"I'll sell it cheaP. 500 Cor."
Her grinning face had one big distinct feature. On both her cheeks
were three distinct animal-like whiskers drawn on with a make-
up item. Matched with her curly auburn hair, her appearance was
reminiscent of a certain rodent.
One time in the past, I asked why she used such markings.
However, I only received the angry outburst of 'Don't ever ask the
reason why a girl puts on makeuP' reply, immediately followed by,
the statement 'I will tell you for 100,000 Cor', so I had no choice to
hurriedly backed down.
2 Argo accents the last syllable in any sentence. This is reflected in the translation by capitalizing
the last letter
27
Someday, when I find an ultra-rare item, I really will pay that

100,000 Cor—as this secret vow continued to stick in my mind, I
sourly replied.
"I feel awkward about buying a girl's information, so I will refrain
from doing it."
"Nihihi, you have a good hearT."
The person who said these words that were at the limit of
shamelessness and laughed was most likely Aincrad's first
informant: the one known as «Argo the Rat».
'—If you chat with «Rat» for five minutes, you'll end up paying for
100 Cor worth of stories without knowing it. Be careful.'
That was a warning by someone. However, the actual Argo had
said that she had not once sold information of doubtful
authenticity for money. She said that she would only treat it as
«merchandise» after she determined that a story had value, made
sure to pay an appropriate information fee to the source of the
story, and also collected as much of her own evidence as possible.
Thinking about it, if a false story was sold even once, then the
reliability of the informant would drop, so the business of
information gathering possessed a different kind of danger and
anxiety compared to gathering material items in dungeons and
selling to NPCs in towns.
Although it was a kind of a sexist question, 'Why would a female
player choose this kind of job'…is something I inevitably thought
whenever I saw Argo’s face. But even if I inquired, the most she
would say would be another '100,000 Cor' as an answer, so
instead I asked another question after giving a cough.
"So? Today once again, you aren't here for normal business talk,
but as a proxy negotiator as usual?"
Then, Argo grimaced this time, and after quickly glanced left and
right on the street, she pushed my back with her fingertips and
made us move toward a nearby alleyway.
28
The «Boss strategy conference» was still two hours away, so there
were not many players here yet, but it seemed like this was a
conversation that she didn’t want to be heard by others just in
case. The reason was—because it had to do with her reputation as
an informant, most likely.
Argo stopped when we were deep inside a small alley, and then
leaned her back against a house (inhabited only by NPCs, of
course) and nodded again.
"Well, yeaH. It’s been raised to 29,800 Cor."
"The offer has reached 29.8k Cor now, huh."
I smiled wryly, then shrugged my shoulders.
"…Sorry, but no matter how much Cor is offered, my answer
remains the same. I don't want to sell it."
"I also already told the client that the last timE."
Argo's main business is as an informant, but by using her very
high AGI (Agility) stats for movement, she also maintains a side
business as a «Messenger». Normally it was just delivering oral
messages or short messages on a scroll, but the person who had
been contacting me through her over the past week seemed to be
a slightly complicated…or rather, troublesome client.
He (or she) wanted to buy my one-handed longsword,
«Anneal Blade +6 (3S3D)».
The weapon enhancement system in SAO was simple compared to
those of recent MMORPGs. There were five kinds of enhancement
parameters: «Sharpness», «Quickness», «Accuracy», «Heaviness»,
and «Durability». You could try to perform an ability enhancement
on a weapon for one of those categories by commissioning a NPC
or a player smith to do so. The factors of requiring material items
that are exclusively used for raising weapon parameters and also
having a fixed probability of failure were similar to other
MMORPG titles.
29
Whenever the enhancement of any of the parameters succeeded,

the item's name in the equipment window would have a +1 or +2
appended to it. However, that number's «breakdown» could only
be seen when the weapon was directly tapped and its properties
window was opened. During player-to-player sales of weapons,
saying an item had 'Accuracy +1, Heaviness +2…' and such quickly
became tedious, so instead, it had become custom to use a shorter
abbreviation: for example, a +4 item with a breakdown of
Accuracy +1, Heaviness +2 and Durability +1, would be denoted
by the phrase «1A2H1D».
In other words, my «Anneal Blade +6 (3S3D)» was enhanced by
Sharpness +3 and Durability +3. Having an item of this quality on
the first floor actually required a lot of patience and luck. Because
of the situation within Aincrad, not many players have trained
smithing skills which have no direct relation to the rate of
survival, and although the NPC blacksmiths do have a truly
appropriate dwarvish appearance, their level of skill is very
unreliable.
Considering that my weapon «Anneal Blade» was also the reward
from quest that required a lot of hardship to clear, the current
specs of this sword could be said to make it almost the most
coveted item on the first floor. —However, that being said, it's still
only a «Beginner's equipment», after all. I could only enhance it a
few more times at most, so around the 3rd or 4th floor, I would
have to upgrade to my next sword and re-forge it from the
beginning again.
For the above reasons, I wasn’t able to guess the motives of Argo's
client, who wanted this sword so much he would pay the
undoubtedly large amount of 29.8k Cor at the present time. If this
was a normal face-to-face transaction, I could ask for the reason
directly, but that doesn't work when I don't even know the client's
name.
"……The hush money the person paid was 1000 Cor, right?"
30
At my inquiry, Argo calmly nodded and said,

"That's righT. Are you willing to raisE?"
"Hmm…1k huh…hm——m!"
Hush money was the amount of Cor that X-shi3, who wanted to
buy my sword, paid Argo to keep his name hidden from me. If I
decided to pay 1100 Cor, Argo would instant message her client to
inform them of that, and ask if they would like to counter it raising
to 1200 Cor. If YES was the reply, then this time I would be forced
to choose whether to pay 1300 Cor or not. If I won this raise and
counter battle, then I would learn the opponent's name, but I
would end up losing a substantial amount of money in this «sword
transaction» at a fearful rate as a result. No matter how you think
about it, that would be idiotic to the extreme.
"……Good grief, you can’t just sell information, since even when
you're not selling something, it's a business, huh…that really is
one impressive merchant's spirit……"
While I complained, Argo's whiskered cheeks relaxed into a
snicker.
"That's the true joy of this businesS! When I sell someone
information, at that instant the story that «Someone bought such
and such information» is born."
It was probably an absolute taboo for people like lawyers in the
real world to reveal a customer’s name, but such a rule didn’t exist
for the rat whose motto was «Sell all the information that can be
sold». The people who became her clients had to be prepared
from the beginning for their names to sold, but since her abilities
as an informant was first-class, one couldn’t complain about it.
"…Please tell me when a female player wants my personal
information: I'll buy her information."
3 -shi is a more formal version of the honorific -san
31
As I said that while sighing, Argo once again gave a jolly laugh, but
then she changed her expression.
"Then, I will tell the client the offer was rejected this time as welL.
Also, that this deal is impossible toO. See you theN, Ki-bou."
Waving her hand, she turned around and, with a nimbleness that
befitted her «Rat» nickname, left the alley. After watching her
curly auburn hair disappear into the crowd in an instant, I idly
thought, 'That person surely won't die'.
After being trapped in death game SAO for a month, I have learned
a few things.
Just what was it that separated life and death among players?
There existed an infinite number of minute factors to this—like
the number of potions you have in stock, or when it’s time to quit
dungeon exploring—but I think that the key factor existed in the
center of those details was most likely whether one had their
«personal core» that they unconditionally believed in or not. To
put it another way, it was their «ultimate weapon» that they
depend on in order to survive.
In Argo's case, it was probably «Information». Dangerous monster
locations or, conversely, the most efficient hunting locations—this
person knew them all. Her belief in knowledge created a sense of
peace within her, and increased her chances of surviving.
So then, for me, Kirito’s «core» was namely the sword on my back.
To be precise, it was that certain mental state that occurred when
my body and sword completely became one. I had not fully been
in that zone many times, but the single thought I want to make
that world my own someday, and I will not die before then had kept
me alive till now. The reason Anneal Blade's enhancement was
Sharpness +3 and Durability +3, while ignoring Quickness and
Accuracy, was because the former two were merely simple
number spec-ups, while the latter were system-assisted
enhancements that changed the feel of a sword swing.
—However, then that means.
32
That rapier user I met today at the front lines of the Labyrinth.
What was her «core»?
I did move her unconscious body outside the Labyrinth (I can't
really say how I did it myself), but, on the other hand, even had I
not been there, the moment that the next kobold appeared, she
would have unconsciously stood up and used that ultra-high
speed «Linear» like a shooting star to kill the enemy…I couldn’t
help but think that.
Just what on earth drove her to fight such a bloodcurdling battle,
and how had she managed to survive until now? It was probably a
«Strength» I didn't know about.
"……I should have paid Argo the 500 Cor…"
Murmuring with a small shake of my head, I then looked up at the
sky.
The windmill towers that were the symbol of the town of Tolbana
had their white-painted outer walls slightly tinged orange from
the afternoon light. The time should be a bit after 3 PM. To
prepare for the approaching lengthy boss strategy conference, I
should go fill my stomach somewhere.
The meeting starting at 4pm would be, without a doubt, stormy.
The reason was that today, one type of player that had remained
hidden in the world of SAO would show up in front of the
numerous normal players for the first time. That's right—«New
Players» and «Experienced Beta Testers», a gap that was hard to
fill lay between them…
For «Argo the Rat», who sold anything that could be sold, there
was only one type of information that she would never make a
transaction on. That is, the identities of the original beta testers.
No, it wasn’t just Argo. Fellow original beta testers, despite having
different faces from before, may have had hunches about their
respective identities based on each other’s names or tones, but
they would never come into contact without each other. In fact, it
was like that just now as well.
33
Argo and I were both certain of each other's identity as a beta

tester, but that was the only topic we circumvented in our
conversations, no matter how many light-years we had to travel to
do so.
The reason was simple. When a beta tester's identity was
discovered, his life could be at stake.
Not from the danger of being killed by monsters in some dungeon.
But while walking around outside safe areas, New Players could
«Execute» you. Because they believed that all the responsibility
for the deaths of no less than 2000 people in the first month
belonged to the original beta testers.
And I could not completely deny this blame.
34
Asuna's selection of food for the past three (or was it four) days
consisted of the cheapest black bread from an NPC baker, and a
bottle of water that could be filled as many times as you liked from
the fountains that were scattered throughout town.
Even in the real world, she hadn’t enjoyed eating that much, but
the food and drink in this virtual world was so bland that it was
beyond description. No matter how much you gorged yourself on
luxurious food, not even a single morsel would reach your real
body. She thought it would be better if the food system and the
sensations of hunger and satiety did not exist at all, but, when
your stomach was empty three times a day at mealtimes, the
hunger would not dissipate until you had eaten some virtual food.
Even so, she had recently become able to cut off this fake hunger
by using willpower only when she went into the Labyrinth, but
after returning to town, she had to eat. She bought the cheapest
items on the menu as an act of minimal resistance, but she found it
strangely annoying that even a dry and coarse piece of black bread
seemed delicious in and of itself as she tore it apart and chewed it
little by little.
At the center of the town of Tolbana, Asuna sat on a simple wood
bench in the corner of an open fountain space and continued to
move her mouth to chew while keeping her hood low over her
eyes. She had finally finished half of the piece of bread, which was
comparatively big for a price of 1 Cor, when—
"That bread looks pretty delicious."
That familiar voice was coming from her right. She stopped her
hand that was just about to tear off a piece of the bread, and threw
a sharp glance.
The person who stood there was the man she had just left at the
town entrance a few minutes ago. The black-haired and grey-
coated one-handed swordsman.
35
A troublesome person that had used some method earlier to move

her outside after she had fainted inside the depths of a Labyrinth,
and had forcibly reconnected her path which should have been
severed then.
The moment she realized that, her cheeks grew hot. Even though
she had said her ambition was to die, he was seeing her here,
shamelessly eating a meal as soon as she came back alive. A strong
embarrassment ran through her entire body, and she did not
know what to do at that moment.
As she remained awkwardly stiffened like that while holding the
half-moon shaped black bread in both hands, the man coughed
slightly, and then said in a low whisper.
"May I sit next to you?"
Normally, she would have left the bench without a word, and
moved away without turning back in this kind of situation.
However, right now, she was assailed by a stunned confusion she
rarely experienced in this world, leaving her unable to react.
Perhaps interpreting Asuna's stiffness as a sign of approval, the
man sat down at the furthest distance possible away from her on
the right side of the bench, and began searching through his coat
pocket. What he took out was a round, black-colored object—a
black bread worth 1 Cor.
At that instant, Asuna momentarily forgot about her
embarrassment and confusion, and instead looked at the man in
amazement.
Judging by his ability to be able to go that deep into the Labyrinth
and the grade of the equipment all over his body, this swordsman
should easily earned enough money to choose from a decent
course menu at a restaurant. In that case, he was either a super
thrifty person, or—
"…You seriously find it delicious, don't you?"
36
Without realizing it, she had asked the question aloud in a small
voice. Hearing this, the man raised his eyebrow outrageously, and
then nodded deeply.
"Of course. Since coming to this town, I eat it every day…Well, I
add a bit of a twist."
"A twist…?"
Not understanding his meaning, she shook her head under the
hood. Instead of answering, the swordsman put his hand in the
pocket opposite from the one earlier, and took out a small
unglazed pot. He put it on the center of the bench, and said.
"Try using this on your bread."
The phrase 'use it on the bread' momentarily confused her, but
she then realized it was a net game phrase, similar to «Use the key
on the door» or «Use the bottle on the fountain». She hesitantly
extended her right hand, and tapped the pot lid with her finger.
From the pop-up menu which appeared, she selected «Use», and
then her fingertip started to glow with a faint purple light. In this
state which was called «Target Selection Mode», she then touched
the half-eaten black bread in her left hand.
Then, with a small sound effect, one side of the bread was
smeared white. The thing that had been fully, or rather, thickly
applied to it was, no matter how you looked at it—
"…Cream? Where did you get such a thing…?"
"This is the quest reward from «Cows of the Counterattack» that I
accepted one village back. Though, not many people do it, since it
takes some time to clear."
After giving this answer with a serious face, the swordsman also
«Used the pot on his bread» with a practiced gesture. Then, with
its contents presumably used up, the pot shattered with a small
sound and light effect. The swordsman opened his mouth
incredibly wide and bit into the bread that was now similarly had
a heap of cream applied to it.
37
Hearing the sound of his chewing, Asuna's own stomach felt not
the unpleasant pain that she had been experiencing for quite some
time, but instead the onslaught of a healthy hunger.
She hesitantly bit into the cream-covered black bread still held in
her left hand.
At that moment, the taste of the normally dry and coarse bread
spread inside her mouth as if it had transformed into a certain
country-style cake with a heavy texture. The cream was sweet and
smooth, along with a refreshingly yogurt-like sour taste. As she
was struck by a feeling of fulfillment that numbed even the insides
of her cheeks, Asuna dreamily stuffed the bread into her mouth
with two, three bites.
When she suddenly came back to her senses, the food item that
had been in her hands had completely disappeared without
literally leaving even a single morsel. When she looked beside her
with a start, she seemed to have finished two seconds or so before
the swordsman. Again, a strong embarrassment rose intensely
within her and she wanted to escape from this place, but having
been treated to food, it would have been very bad manners.
After repeatedly taking several breaths and somehow calming
herself down, Asuna said in a vanishingly faint voice.
"……Thank you for the food."
"You're welcome."
Having finished his own meal, the swordsman brushed off his
leather glove-covered hands, and then continued.
"The cow quest I mentioned earlier. If you want to do it I can give
you some tips. If you do it efficiently, you can finish it in two
hours."
"………"
To be honest, her heart was moved. With that yogurt cream, even
the 1 Cor black bread could become a magnificent feast.
38
It was a false fulfillment from the taste recreation engine, but she
wanted taste it once more…no, to eat it every day if possible, is
what Asuna couldn’t help but think.
However—
Asuna lowered her eyes, and shook her head gently beneath her
hood.
"…It's okay. I did not come this far to this town just to eat delicious
things."
"Hmm. Then, for what purpose?"
The swordsman's voice, while it could not be said to be an
especially beautiful voice, did not have a single part of it that was
unpleasant to the ear, and it had the cadence like that of a boy
somehow. Maybe because of that, Asuna spoke without being
conscious of it the thing deep inside her heart that she had spoken
of to no one since coming to this world.
"It’s to…prove that I exist. Instead of locking myself in a room of a
town inn like I did at the beginning and slowly rotting away, I
want to be myself up to the last moment. Even if I lose to a
monster and die, I don't want to lose to this game…to this world.
No matter what."
Asuna—Yuuki Asuna's 15 years of life had been a series of battles.
Beginning with her kindergarten entrance exam, she had had an
endless number of challenges big and small imposed on her one
after another, and she had overcome them all. It was set so that
even one failure would make her a worthless person, so she
continued to brush aside that heavy pressure.
A new challenge with the name of «Sword Art Online» had come
upon her at the end of these 15 years of fighting, but she probably
could not beat this challenge. With rules and a culture that were
far too unknown and far too different, this was a type of battle that
a single person's strength could not do anything about.
39
This was the required winning condition: 'Reach the top of the
100 floor floating castle, and beat the final enemy.' However, one
month after the game started, one-fifth of the players had already
fallen, and furthermore, most of them were experienced veterans
that were confident in their abilities. The remaining fighting force
was too small, and the distance that blocked their way was too
long…
Asuna said all that in intermittent bits, as if the faucet of her heart
had been loosened and drops were slowly dripping down. As she
had given her fragmentary monologue that probably didn’t have
any consistency, the black-haired swordsman had listened in
silence, but—eventually Asuna's voice was cut off by the evening
breeze, and then he quietly whispered one small word.
"……Sorry."
40
41
After a few seconds, Asuna wondered, 'Why would he say that?'

She met this swordsman for the first time today, so there should
be no reason for him to apologize. When she glanced at the person
beside her from beneath her hood, the grey-coated man that was
sitting lightly on the bench rested both elbows on his knees and
hung his head down. His lips moved slightly, and she heard his
voice again.
"Sorry…—What brought about this current situation…or, to put it
another way, what pushed you this far, is in a sense my……"
However, she could not hear the rest of what he said. Because the
wind-powered clock bell of the particularly huge windmill that
stood tall at the center of the town rang loudly.
It was 4 PM in the afternoon. The time the «Meeting» started.
Looking around, Asuna saw that players had gathered at the
nearby fountain space for some time now without her being
aware of it.
"…Let's go. It's the conference you invited me to."
Asuna remarked that, and stood up. The swordsman also nodded,
and slowly stood up. What had he been going to say—? She
probably wouldn't talk to him again anyway, so it didn't matter.
But in a corner within that thought, there was a feeling like that of
a small prickling thorn.
‘I want to know.’ ‘I don't want to know.’ Which of those feelings
were stronger, even Asuna herself did not understand very well.
42
44 people.
That was the total number of players gathered at Tolbana's
fountain plaza.
Compared to my predictions—or rather my expectations, all I
could say was that this was far too low. In SAO, the maximum size
of a party was 6 people, and by adding together 8 of those you
could made a raid party with a total of 48 people. From my
experience during the Beta-Test period, if we were going to try
beating the Floor Boss with zero deaths, it would be difficult
without at least two raid groups to switch between while fighting,
but these numbers couldn't even fill up one full raid party.
I sucked in a breath in order to sigh, but I lost my chance to
breathe out.
"…This many…"
It was because the rapier user in a hooded cape whispered that
from behind me to my left. I involuntarily turned around and
asked.
"Many...? This number of people?"
"Yes. Because…they gathered here for the first challenge against
this floor's boss monster, right? Even though the chance of
complete annihilation exists…"
"……I see."
I nodded, and then looked at the faces of the warriors gathered in
groups of threes and fives around the plaza again.
There were five or six players here whose names I knew, and vice
versa. Additionally, there were around fifteen of these people who
I had seen previously at the towns near the front line and in the
Labyrinth. As for the remaining 20-plus people, this was the first
time I saw most of their faces.
43
Of course, the male-to-female ratio was extremely skewed. The

only female player that I could see at a quick glance was the rapier
user, but that couldn’t be discerned just by looking because of the
hood she wore low over their eyes, so the other people here
besides me should be thinking that everyone here was male.
«Argo the Rat» was also here leaning against a high wall on the
other side of the plaza, but she would not be participating in the
Boss-capture operation.
Just as the rapier user had said, no one had yet seen anyone—not
within the current Aincrad, anyway—challenge the First Floor
Boss. The risk of one’s HP gauge reaching zero, or in other words,
the risk of dying would be the greatest here among the large-scale
battles that had occurred on this floor until now. In other words,
everyone gathered in the plaza was prepared for their own death,
and by being here, they accepted they would become the stepping
stones for future players…that was what it should have meant,
but…
"…No, I wonder about that…"
I unconsciously whispered that. The rapier user sent me a
questioning look from under her hood. In response, I answered
while carefully chosing my words.
"I cannot say this for everyone, but rather than «Showing a spirit
of self-sacrifice», I think that a lot of people came here due to the
«Uneasiness about being left behind», too. Since I’m also here for
the latter of those two reasons, after all…"
"…Left behind? From what?"
"From the front line. Total annihilation is scary, but having a boss
being beaten in a place you don’t know is scary, too."
The cloth hood tilted slightly. Since she was a complete beginner
to net games, she wouldn’t be able to understand what I just said
very well—was what I thought, but.
44
"...That is like, not wanting to fall below the tenth place rank in
your school year, or wanting to keep your standard score4 of 70,
that kind of similar motivation?"
“………”
This time, it was my turn to be speechless. Thinking about it a bit,
I nodded at a subtle angle.
“Yeah…Well, probably…maybe it’s like that…”
Then—
Peeking under her hood, I saw her nicely-shaped lips smile
slightly. ‘Fu, fu’, a faint sound could be heard. Was she…laughing?
From the beyond-perfect «Linear» skill user, who had called my
actions an "unnecessary effort" when I carried her out of the
maze?
I unconsciously tried looking directly into the interior of her hood,
but fortunately the situation changed before that. With a *Pan,
Pan* hand-clapping sound, a shouting voice that carried well
flowed throughout the plaza.
"O—K! Now then, it's five minutes late, but let's start! Everyone, a
bit more to the front…there, come three steps closer!"
The owner of the truly majestic voice that spoke was swordsman
with shiny metallic armor covering his entire tall figure. He
nimbly jumped without a running-start onto the edge of the
fountain that stood in the center of the plaza. To have jumped that
high with that much armor, he must have possessed very high
Strength and Dexterity.
When they saw the back-turned swordsman, several of the forty-
odd people present rustled and murmured slightly. I understood
what they were feeling. Because I, too, wondered why that man
standing on the edge of the fountain was so handsome, to the
point that I couldn’t help but think it was the product of a VRMMO.
4 Basically the term for how the education system grades students relative to each other’s grades.
45
In addition, his long hair flowing down in waves on either side of

his face was dyed a brilliant blue. Since hair-dying items were not
sold in shops on the first floor, he must have hunted for or bought
a rare monster drop.
If he went to all that trouble to customize his hair style and color
for this gathering, with only two female players here (although
one of them was in a hooded cape so no one could tell from the
outside), I think he must have felt some reluctance, but the man
bore a refreshing smile that completely deflected my suspicion
and said.
"Today, thank you for heeding my summons! Some people here
know me, but I will again introduce myself! I am «Diavel», and my
class in my heart5 is «Knight»!"
With that, the people around the fountain burst out with whistles
and applause, mixed with various cries like 'You meant «Hero»,
right!' flew through the air.
In SAO, «classes» prescribed by the system did not exist. Each
player was given a number of «Skill Slots», and could freely select
and set up all kinds of skills and train them. For example, people
with manufacturing-type or trade-type skills as their main skills
could be called a «Blacksmith», «Seamstress», «Cook», or other
such official job titles—however, I have limited knowledge about
the «Knight» and «Hero» classes, having not heard of them before.
But, of course, ‘calling oneself by whatever title they want’ was
every individual’s freedom of choice. Looking at him closely, the
man named Diavel was wearing bronze armor on his chest,
shoulders, arms and shins, with a large longsword on his left hip,
and a kite shield on his back. You could say that was this was the
so-called Knight-class armament.
While gazing at his majestic from the back of the crowd, I quickly
searched through the index in my brain.
5 The actual word they use here is 気持ち的, which is difficult to translate into English, but the
context of Diavel’s words make “in his heart” the best way to express the meaning in English.
46
His equipment and hair style were different, so it was hard to

connect, but I felt like I had seen him many times in the front line
villages and towns. And then, what about before that—the «Other
Aincrad», did I see him there? At the very least, I don't remember
having heard his name before…
"Now then, as for the reason why I gathered you top players who
are active at the front lines like this, I don't think I need to say it,
but…"
As Diavel's speech continued, I stopped my thoughts and
concentrated on him. The blue-haired knight raised his right hand,
pointed to the huge tower that rose faintly beyond the town
scape—the First Floor Labyrinth, and continued.
"…Today, our party found the stairs leading to the top-most floor
of that tower. In other words, tomorrow, or at the latest the day
after tomorrow, we will reach it: the first floor's…Boss Room!"
The players rustled and became noisy among each other. I was a
little surprised, too. The First Floor Labyrinth had 20 floors; I (and
the rapier user beside me) had been close to rising from the 18th
to 19th floor when we passed through the Labyrinth today, but I
didn't know that the 19th floor was already mapped that far.
"One month. Coming this far took one month…but even so, we
have to set an example. We have to beat the boss, reach the second
floor, and show everyone still waiting at the Starting City that it is
definitely possible to clear this death game. That is the duty of us
top players here right now! Isn't that right, everyone!"
Again, cheers. This time, it seemed that there were people
clapping who were not Diavel's friends. Certainly, what was being
said was splendid and nothing was hidden. No, it would be strange
to even wonder about anything hidden in those words in the first
place. Right now, should I come out with my high opinion of the
mediator of the front lines players that had been scattered until
now, give my own applause to the Knight-sama——
47
"Wait a minute, Knight-han6."

At that moment, a low voice flowed out.
The cheering immediately stopped, and the front of the crowd
split into two. Standing at the center of the newly opened gap was
a short yet solidly built man. From my position, I could only make
out a rather large one-handed sword on his back, and some kind
of pointed, cactus-styled brown hair.
Taking one step forward, the cactus head growled in a deep,
gravelly voice that was the opposite of Diavel's beautiful voice.
"Before that, there is one thing that I have to say, or otherwise I
cannot join you."
Despite this rude intrusion, Diavel’s expression nearly didn’t
change. With a smile overflowing with composure, he said while
beckoning.
"What is it that you need to say? Well, whatever it is, opinions are
very welcome. But, if you are going to speak, you should tell us
your name first."
"………Hmph."
Cactus head gave a huge snort, and then took one, two steps
forward. When he reached the fountain, he turned around to face
us.
"I am «Kibaou»."
The cactus head swordsman who introduced himself with a
somewhat daring character name glared at all the players in the
plaza with beady but sharp and bright eyes.
His sweeping look stopped for just an instant on my face—or
maybe it was just my imagination. I didn't know his name, nor did
I have any memory of passing by him somewhere.
6 A different pronunciation of the suffix “-san” that is used in the Kansai dialect of Japanese. Kibaou
speaks in this dialect, but unfortunately I don’t know how to express it in English
48
After taking plenty of time to look at everyone once, Kibaou

eventually said in an even more threatening voice.
"In this group, there should be about 5 or 10 people that need to
apologize."
"Apologize? To whom?"
The «knight» Diavel, who was still standing behind him on the
fountain’s edge in the back, raised both hands in a questioning
manner. Without looking at him, Kibaou spat out in hatred.
"Ha, isn't it obvious. To the 2000 people who died up until now.
Those guys had a monopoly on everything, and so 2000 people
died in one month! Isn't that right?!"
At that moment, the audience of forty-odd people that had been
murmuring in low voices became completely silent. What Kibaou
was insinuating, everyone finally understood. Myself included, of
course.
In the oppressive silence, only the evening BGM from the NPC
orchestra played quietly. No one tried to speak. If anything was
said, then at that instant you would be labeled as one of «those
guys»—that was the likely fear on everyone's mind. No, more than
likely. At the very least, I was certainly caught by that fear…
"—Kibaou-san. «Those guys» who you’re referring to are…the
original beta testers, right?"
With his arms crossed, Diavel showed the sternest look he had
worn up till now as he asked for confirmation.
"Obviously."
With the thick metal pieces of his scale mail clinking over the
leather he wore, Kibaou gave a glance towards the knight behind
him, and then continued.
49
50
"Those beta testers7, on the day this shitty game started, dashed
from the Starting City and disappeared. They left behind over
9000 people who didn't know left from right. They monopolized
good hunting grounds and profitable quests, got only themselves
stronger reservation, and then always feigned ignorance about it
afterwards…There should also be some in this group, some sly
people hiding their beta status and thinking of joining the Boss
Fight. I say we should make them kneel down and spit out all of
the gold and items they stockpiled for the sake of this operation,
and that they cannot be entrusted with the lives of our party
members!"
Just like his name8, he cut off his condemnation with a snap of his
teeth, but still, no one tried to raise their voice to speak. As a
member of the original beta tester group, I also clenched my teeth,
held my breath, and continued to keep silent.
It wasn’t because of an impulse to shout out a retort to him. Like,
'Do you think that none of the original beta testers died?'.
About one week earlier, I bought a certain piece of information
from Argo—to be precise, I requested her to investigate
something. To find out the estimated death toll for the original
beta testers.
The SAO closed beta test that had been conducted over summer
vacation had accepted only 1000 people. Every participant was
later given the priority purchase rights for the official-version
package, but considering the login status at the end of the test
period, my guess was that not all 1000 testers had moved to the
official service. Probably 700 to 800 people—that was most likely
the total number of original beta testers at the start of the death
game.
However, finding out «Who is an original beta tester» was not so
simple.
7 Kibaou refers to the beta testers as ベータ上がりども, which roughly translates as “beta testers”.
8 The word “Kiba” means “fang” in Japanese and “Ou” means “king”, so his name would translate as
“Fang King”.
51
If a player's colored cursor had a [β] mark, then of course it would

be easy—having said that, it could be called fortunate that such a
mark did not exist, and all of our avatars’ appearances had been
reset everyone's true appearance in reality due to the GM Kayaba
Akihiko’s forethought. The only clue we could go by was the name,
but many had probably changed their user names from the beta to
the official release. Incidentally, the reason that Argo and I are
mutually certain that we are both original beta testers was related
to how we first met, but that's another story.
Anyway, for these reasons, Argo's research should have been
quite difficult. However, it took her only 3 days to give me a
number.
Approximately 300 people. That was Argo's estimate for the death
toll of original beta testers.
If that number is accurate, that means, within the current death
toll of 2000, 1700 were new players. Percentage-wise, the new
player death rate was about 18%. On the other hand, the original
tester death rate was—close to 40%.
Prior knowledge and experience did not necessarily mean safety.
On the contrary, it could also be a pitfall. I myself nearly lost my
life in a difficult quest that I accepted right away on the first day of
this death game. Also, there were external factors. In this SAO
official service, the geography, monsters and items are mostly the
same as in the beta test, but once in a while, there is a slight
difference, like a small deadly poisoned needle……
"May I speak?"
At that time, a rich and forceful baritone resounded through the
evening plaza. When I returned from my thoughts and raised my
head, there was a silhouette moving forward and coming out from
the around the left end of the crowd.
Huge. His height probably was over 180cm.
52
An avatar's size was said not to have any effect on one’s stats, but
the rustic two-handed battle-axe slung over his back certainly
appeared lightweight to him.
His appearance, too, was impressive and did not lose to his
weapon. A completely bald head, and chocolate-colored skin.
However, that radical customization actually suited his chiseled
face very well. He was far from looking Japanese…or rather, he
might actually be of a different race.
Moving forward near the fountain, the muscular giant lightly
bowed to the other forty-odd players, and then turned to Kibaou
who had a dramatically different height.
"My name is Agil. Kibaou-san, what you mean to say is that many
beginners died because original beta testers did not take care of
them, and that they should accept that responsibility and
apologize along with giving reparations for it, is that correct?"
"Th…That's right."
Kibaou, momentarily overwhelmed, took a step back, but soon
returned forward, and then glared at the axe user called Agil with
his blazing, small eyes, and shouted.
"If they had not left us behind, 2000 people would not have had to
die! Moreover, they were not just any 2000 people, most of them
were top-ranked veterans from other MMOs! If those stupid
testers had properly shared information, items and money, then
there would have been 10 times as many people here right
now…no, by now we would have broken through the 2nd or 3rd
floor!!"
—300 of those 2000 are comprised of what you called 'stupid
testers'!
I desperately held back the impulse to shout that. Trivial reasons
like 'I could not show a basis for the number 300 right now' and 'it
would be scary to be hanged and denounced by everyone' were of
course part of what stopped me.
53
However, more than that, it wouldn’t be smart to reveal my status

as an original tester by objecting here in this situation, no matter
how I thought about it.
Right now, about four to five hundred remaining original testers
were mixed haphazardly among the new players. Level and
equipment-wise, they could no longer be said to stand out. In this
situation, I had a fear that, even if I revealed myself as an original
tester, let alone progressing towards reconciliation, a dangerous
witch hunt might arise instead. At worst, the front line players
would divide themselves between beginners and testers, and they
would start fighting. That had to be avoided at all costs. Because,
in SAO, player attacks were allowed in the fields and dungeons
collectively known as the «Outer Area»…
"That's what you say, Kibaou-san. I don't know about the money
and items, but I believe that there is in fact information from
them."
While I lowered my eyes shamefully, Agil the axe warrior again
responded in a rich baritone. From the huge pouch on his muscled
and leather armor-covered waist, he took out a simple sheepskin-
bound book item. On the cover, there was a «Rat Mark» designed
with round ears and three whiskers on each cheek.
"This guidebook, you got it too, right? It’s freely distributed from
the item shops in Horunka and Medai, after all."
"…F-Freely distributed?"
I involuntarily spluttered quietly. That, just as the mark on the
cover indicated, was the «Strategy Guide by Area» sold by the
informant Argo the Rat. It comprised subjects from detailed
terrain information to monster appearances, drop items and even
quest explanations, and the slogan [It's fine. This is Argo's strategy
guide.] written on the bottom of the cover in huge letters was no
exaggeration. Although embarrassing, I myself obtained the whole
set to supplement my memory—but, according to my memory,
each book should be 500 Cor, a pretty respectable price…
54
"…I got it too."

Next to me, the up-until-now silent rapier user whispered. I
inquired "For free?", and she nodded.
"There's a commission to the item shop owner, but since the price
is 0 Cor, everyone got it. It really came in handy."
"Wh…What's going on…"
That «Rat» —that business demon who would sell even her own
status information if it could make her money, had freely
distributed information? Impossible! I shifted my gaze, but the
stone wall Argo had been quietly sitting on a few minutes earlier
was empty. The next time I met her, I wanted to ask for the reason
why, but somehow I could already see her saying "That
information is 1000 Cor" in response.
"——I got it. What about it?"
Kibaou's sharp voice made me reluctantly interrupt my thought
process. Agil put his strategy guide back in his pouch, and said
with his arms crossed.
"This guide, whenever I reach a new village or town, is always
found in the item shop. You must have noticed that too. The
information comes too quickly, don't you think?"
"So what if it's too quick!?"
"It means that the ones who provided the information on
monsters and map data that appear in this, cannot be anyone
other than the original beta testers."
The players went abuzz all at once. Kibaou closed his mouth
sharply, and the knight Diavel behind him nodded in an 'I see'
way.
Agil turned his gaze over the assembled group, and spoke in far-
carrying baritone.
55
"You see, there is information. And even still, many players died. I
think the reason for that is because they were veteran MMO
players. They measured SAO with the same rules as other titles,
and missed points that they should have noticed. However, now is
not the time to hunt down who is responsible for those casualties.
Whether we are or aren’t responsible, it will influence this
meeting, this is what I think."
The two-handed axe user Agil’s attitude was very imposing and
his argument was also extremely straightforward, and so Kibaou
clenched his teeth as it seemed that he couldn’t find any chink in
what had been said. If anyone else other than Agil had claimed the
same thing, then Kibaou would probably counter with 'Saying that
means you are an original beta tester', I think. But, as it was now,
all he could do was glare at the giant with hatred.
Still standing on the fountain’s edge behind the two confronting
each other silently, Diavel nodded once more as his long hair
swayed and was dyed purple from the setting sun.
"Kibaou-san, I can also understand your point. I, too, went into
fields without knowing left or right, and finally arrived here after
many near deaths. But, as this Agil-san said, isn't it now the time
to look forward? Even original beta testers…no, especially original
testers, we need their fighting strength for this boss fight. If we
removed them, and that resulted in the attack failing, what would
be the point?"
This was truly a refreshing speech that make me think 'Just as
expected from one who calls himself a knight'. Many people in the
audience also deeply nodded. I felt the atmosphere change from
'condemning original testers', and I involuntarily breathed a sigh
of relief. Though I realized it was shameful of me to do so, I
listened to Diavel continue.
56
"Everyone, I’m sure you each have your own thoughts and
feelings, but right now, I would like for you to cooperate to break
through the first floor. If there are people who will not fight
alongside original testers under any circumstance, then it is
unfortunate, but you are free to leave. For a boss fight, teamwork
is more important than anything else."
Sweeping his gaze across everyone, the knight finally stared at
Kibaou with a serious look. The cactus head swordsman took that
gaze for a while, but made a huge snort and then spoke in a stifled
voice.
"……Fine, I will obey you here. But I want it to be clear in black and
white, that it is only up until the boss fight is finished."
Turning around, Kibaou retreated from the front of the group with
his scale mail clinking. The axe user Agil, too, spread his arms to
show that he had nothing more to say, and returned to his
previous place.
In the end, that scene was the highlight of this meeting. Because,
even if we worked out anti-boss strategies, we had only just
arrived at the top floor of the maze. In a situation where no one
had seen the boss's face, things like strategies could not be made,
but……
—No, the truth was slightly different. Because I knew that
Aincrad's First Floor Boss was a gigantic Kobold, that its weapon
was a huge Talwar, and that once engaged, 12 heavily armored
Kobold royal guards would spawn.
If I revealed that I was original tester here and provided
information on the boss, our chance of success might increase to
some extent. However, if I did that, they could ask 'Why did you
remain silent until now', and there was the fear that the 'hang the
original testers' atmosphere would reappear with that flow.
Also, my knowledge was acquired from the old Aincrad, so there
remained the possibility that, when the official service began,
everything or just a small detail about the boss had been changed.
57
If we based our strategy on information from the beta and rushed

in now, then when we actually fight the boss, if the boss’
appearance or attack pattern were completely different…or
anything else like that, then the raid group could be annihilated in
the confusion. Ultimately, until the boss room door was opened
and its inhabitant popped up, nothing could start.
I convinced myself with that half as an excuse, and continued to
keep my mouth shut.
The meeting finally ended with the knight Diavel giving extremely
positive words, and the participants responding to that by giving a
collective grand war cry. I also raised my right hand up in the air
for show, but the rapier user next to me did not even move her
hand from beneath her cape, let alone give a shout. Turning
around without a sound even before the word "Dismissed" was
spoken, she whispered to me at a volume only I could hear before
she left.
"Before the meeting, you said something…if we both live through
the boss fight, tell me what you said."
To her back as she disappeared into the dim road, I silently
answered.
—Sure, at that time, I will tell you. That for my own survival, I
threw away everything else.
58
Although the meeting lacked any real discussion, it still seemed to

have boosted the players' morale, and the 20th floor of the First
Floor Labyrinth was mapped with unprecedented speed. On the
afternoon of the day after the meeting, Saturday December 3rd,
the first party (Diavel's party of six again), discovered huge double
doors in the innermost depths of the Labyrinth. The sound of their
cheers reached me as I fought solo nearby.
I heard that Diavel's group had boldly opened the Boss Room
door, and saw the inhabitant's face. On the evening of that day, at
another meeting around Tolbana's fountain plaza, the blue-haired
knight reported back proudly.
The boss was a huge Kobold, 2 meters in height. Its name was
«Illfang the Kobold Lord», and its weapon was of the scimitar
category. Around it, there were three metal-armored, halberd-
wielding «Ruin Kobold Sentinels»—
The information up until that point was exactly as it was in the
beta. If I remember correctly, the «Sentinels» would reappear
when the boss lost one of its four HP bars, totaling 12 «Sentinels»
that had to be eliminated, but, as usual, I did not have the courage
to say this at the meeting. In any case, the actual fight would not
occur any time soon, and since several scouting battles will be
conducted first, this will soon become known information—that's
what I told myself as an excuse, but something that proved my
worries were entirely pointless was discovered in the middle of
the meeting.
At an NPC stall shop in a corner of the plaza, «the aforementioned
item» was put up for sale since who knew when. Composed of
three pages bound by sheep skin, it was more a pamphlet than a
book. 'Argo's Strategy Guide: First Floor Boss edition'—was its
title. The price was 0 Cor from the start.
59
Of course, the meeting was temporarily paused as all the

participants purchased (or more like took) a guide from the NPC,
and perused its contents.
As usual, there was an impressive amount of information. From
the recently discovered name of the boss to its estimated HP, its
main weapon the Talwar, the weapon’s speed, how much damage
it dealt, and the boss's Sword Skills, this information comprised
the first three pages. The fourth page contained information on
the surrounding «Sentinels»; there it was clearly written that they
would POP four times, to 12 total.
Also, on the cover of the guide, there was a single line of text in a
bright red font that had not been on any previous «Argo Strategy
Guide» until now. It said—
[This information is from the time of the SAO beta test. It is
possible the current version may be different.]
When I read this, I reflexively raised my head, and looked around
the plaza for Argo. However, I could not find the «Rat» dressed in
simple leather armor today. I lowered my head again, and
whispered in a small voice.
"…She went on the offensive…"
This red warning line might have destroyed Argo's current
status—her positions of «An informant who simply bought
information from original beta testers no one knew». Almost
everyone who read this would begin to wonder whether the Rat
herself was an original tester or not. Of course there was no proof,
but later, if the feud between new players and original testers
expanded to more than it was now, there was no doubt that the
danger of her being the foremost target of denunciation would
increase.
But on the other hand, thanks to this strategy guide, some
troublesome and dangerous scouting battles would surely be
avoided as well.
60
Like yesterday, the forty-odd people who read the guide looked to
the blue-haired knight standing on the fountain's edge as if to let
their leader decide how they should react.
Diavel lowered his head as he seemed to think and consider
something for several dozen seconds, but soon enough he quickly
stood up straight and shouted in a voice filled with positivity.
"—Everyone, right now, let's be thankful for this information!"
The audience was immersed in a buzz. Because that speech chose
reconciliation instead of confrontation with the original testers. I
thought Kibaou would again jump out growling, but the brown
cactus head that appeared and disappeared at the front of the
crowd was standing still for the moment.
"Leaving aside its source, thanks to this guide, we can skip two or
three days of scouting battles. Indeed, I think this is incredibly
helpful. Because, scouting battles have the possibility of incurring
the most deaths."
Here and there in the plaza, different colored heads nodded.
"…If this is true, the boss's numerical stats are not so bad. If SAO
was a normal MMO, then even if everyone’s average level was
level three... no, level five, that would be enough to kill it, I think.
So, if we polish our tactics correctly and bring a lot of POTs[6] to
the fight, it's possible for us to defeat it without any deaths. No,
sorry, not even that. There will be absolutely zero deaths. That, I
promise you on my pride as a knight!"
Loud clapping continued as 'Yo, Knight-sama!' and other cheers
filled the air. The fact that Diavel was someone with good
leadership was something even a rebellious solo player had to
accept. Guilds could not be made until the third floor, but at that
time an impressive conquest guild would probably be made…
I was feeling various degrees of admiration like this, but as the
knight continued speaking, I choked slightly.
61
"—Then, it's a bit fast, but I am thinking of starting the actual

conquest strategy meeting right now! In any case, if we don't
make a raid party, we cannot split up our duties, right? Everyone,
first make a party with your friends or the people near you!"
………What did he say?
With that single phrase that reminded me of the times during my
elementary school gym classes in the past, I hurriedly calculated
in my head. In SAO, one party was 6 people, and there are 44
people here, so…if people aimed more towards balance, the best
would be 4 parties of 6 members and 4 parties of 5 members? But
even if that were so, if the leader didn’t specify that……
My high-speed thoughts as I thought it over while standing still
were useless in the end. Because, in slightly less than one minute
after Diavel's directions, seven 6-member parties were quickly
formed. Understanding that the knight wanted to make 6-member
parties from the beginning, even Kibaou who was a lone wolf no
matter how you looked at him and Agil who gave off the feeling of
a gentle giant found five friends in an instant. Maybe the only
person who didn't say 'Let's fight together' really was me——
No, that wasn't correct.
When I glanced around with a downcast look, I discovered the
hooded cape rapier user standing around by herself, and I quickly
approached her.
"……So you got left out too, huh?"
To my quiet inquiry, a hot, angry glare was directed at me from
beneath her hood, and at the same time a suppressed voice
replied.
"……Not left out. All the people around me seemed to be friends
with each other, so I simply refrained."
That's what left out meant—
I wisely prevented myself from retorting like that, and instead just
nodded seriously and said.
62
"Then, how about forming a party with me? A raid is up to eight

parties; if we don't do that then we cannot join."
It seemed attacking in a systematic way like that was correct, as
the rapier user showed hesitation only for a moment, before she
scoffed and said.
"Since you invited me, I will have to accept."
The competitive childlike expression that said 'you asked first so
you make the request' that she gave here was something that I
had graduated from the previous month, so I nodded and touched
her color cursor in my view to send the party invitation request.
The rapier user pushed OK with a curt gesture, and then in the left
side of my view, a second small HP gauge appeared.
I gazed at the short alphabetic letters displayed beneath it.
【Asuna】. That, was the name of the mysterious fencer who
possessed the godly fast «Linear».
The knight Diavel's leadership was pretty good not just with
speeches, but also with the finer practical details, as well.
He checked over the seven completed 6-member parties, and with
only the smallest number of switches, formed seven specialized
parties out of them. Two heavy-armor Tank parties. Three high-
mobility and high-firepower Attacker parties. And finally, two
long-weapons Support parties.
The two Tank parties take turns being the targets by the boss
Kobold Lord. Two of the firepower Attacker parties would
concentrate on the boss, while the third one would kill the
sentinels first. The Support parties would mainly use the Delay
skill with mostly long-reach weapons, and interrupt either the
boss' or guards' attacks when possible.
Although simple, this plan didn't have many holes, and I thought it
was a good strategy.
63
While I was lost in admiration, the knight came at last to the good-
for-nothing two-person party (of course, that's me and the rapier
user), and after appearing to be lost in thought for a while, he said
pleasantly.
"You two, please support Group E in order to make sure none of
the Kobold Guards remain, okay?"
In other words, 'Don't interfere with the boss fight and stay
quietly at the back' was what I felt his words meant. Sensing that
the rapier user, who was apparently called «Asuna», beside me
was about to give an unfriendly response to that, I stopped her
with one hand and replied with a smile.
"Understood. That's an important role, leave it to us."
"Yes, I am counting on you."
Flashing his white teeth, the knight returned to the fountain. At
that moment, close to my left ear, I heard a voice tinged with a
dangerous tone.
"…What important duty. It will finish without us being able to land
a single attack on the boss."
"W-We can't do anything about it, we only have two people.
There's not nearly enough time for Switch and POT rotation."
"…Switch? POT…?"9
Hearing that questioning whisper, I once again thought. This
rapier user really did leave the Starting City as a complete
beginner without any knowledge, and struggled all the way here
by herself. Most likely with only five non-enhanced store-bought
rapiers, and by relying on just the single sword skill «Linear»—
"…I'll explain in detail later. If we talk here it will never end."
9 POTs: Game term, short for healing and various other potions.
64
I estimated that her response would be 'Unnecessary' with more

than a 50% probability, but the rapier user remained silent for a
few seconds, then nodded with a minute motion.
The second boss strategy meeting ended after a short greeting by
the leaders of each group that were designated from A to G and
the plan for how the Cor and item dropped in the Boss Battle
would be divided was established. The giant axe user Agil was
Tank Group B's leader, and Kibaou, who had a burning enmity for
original beta testers, was Attacker Group E's leader. Since Group
E's goal was to kill the Kobold Guards, it meant that the rapier
user and I, the remaining pair, would be assisting Kibaou. To tell
the truth, he was one opponent I wouldn't want to be too close to,
but he didn't know that I was an original tester—he shouldn’t
know, that is. On a side note, the face of the «Rat» was not among
the raid party. Of course, I didn't mean to criticize her at all. With
that «Strategy Guide», her duty was well fulfilled.
For distribution of drops, we adopted the simple rule of 'Cor will
be automatically divided evenly among the 44 raid party members
while each item will belong to the person who receives it'. In the
MMOs in recent years, drop items would typically have a system
where a dice roll was performed between the people who wanted
a drop and competed for it, but for some reason, SAO used the
previous era's method, where the item was suddenly dropped into
a random player's storage, and moreover, without anyone else
knowing either. In other words, if a «Boss-dropped items must be
dice rolled anew» kind of rule were set, then the person with the
actual item would have to turn in the item by notifying everyone
of it themselves. I also experienced this many times in the beta
test, but it is a big test of willpower. Rather, in reality, after a boss
fight, no one will come forth and say anything (in other words,
someone kept the drop), so there were many rather awkward raid
disbands.
Diavel, probably to prevent this kind of development, used the
«Drop to person» rule. What a truly perceptive Knight-sama.
65
At 5:30 PM in the afternoon, the meeting was ended and dissolved

with similar messages as yesterday like 'Let's work hard!' and
'Yea—!', and then the group split into threes and fives,
disappearing inside bars and restaurants. While moving my
awfully stiff-feeling shoulders, I wondered if this stiffness was an
illusion, or if my real body were actually tense, though it would
not matter either way—
"……So, the explanation, where shall we do it?"
…'What did you say', I was confused for a moment, then I
hurriedly faced the rapier user.
"Ah, yeah…Anywhere is fine with me. How about that bar?"
"……No. I don't want to be seen by anyone."
That speech almost pierced me for a moment, but then I rallied my
spirits by arbitrarily supplementing the part she omitted as «seen
together with any male player» instead of «seen together with
me», and I somehow managed to calmly nod.
"Then, how about an NPC house…but, someone might enter. An
inn room can be locked, but that's no good either, right?"
"Of course."
This time I sustained a light piercing damage from those words
that were like the point of a rapier. Since this is a virtual world, I
could somehow manage to talk to female players, but until one
month ago, I was a 2nd year middle school student whose
interpersonal skill was so low that I even had difficulty talking
with my younger sister. In the first place, how did only I, who
followed the straight path of a solo player, end up in this kind of
situation? I understood that I couldn’t help but enter groups when
it came to boss battles, but when I thought about it carefully, all
other seven parties are male-only groups, so if I had joined those
then it would be over without so much bother…
While I was timidly thinking about these things, the rapier user
sighed and continued.
66
"…Anyway, most of the private rooms at inns in this world cannot

even be called a room. A space less than six tatami mats with only
a bed and table, just that costs 5010 Cor a night. Eating doesn't
really matter, but since only sleep is genuine here, I want to sleep
in a slightly better room."
"Eh…R-Really?"
I unconsciously tilted my head.
"If you search for it, you can find better housing conditions
somewhere, right? Though it will cost a bit more…"
"You say 'search,' but there are only three inns in this town. The
rooms are all similar."
Hearing that reply, I finally understood.
"Ah…I see. You only checked places with [INN] signboards, right?"
"Yes, since…INN means inn."11
"True, but on lower floors like this one in this world, it just means
shops where you can sleep at the cheapest price for the time
being. There are plenty of other rooms besides those at inns that
you can rent with Cor."
The instant I said that, the rapier user's lips became open-
mouthed.
"Wha……Y-You should have said that earlier……"
Feeling like I had finally found a clue to counterattacking, I
grinned and promptly started bragging about the room I was
currently renting.
"The place I rented in this town is on the second floor of a
farmhouse at the cost of 80 Cor12 a night, but it has two rooms that
come with the bonus of getting all the milk you can drink, it has a
10 100 Cor in the web, 50 in the published version.

11 The all-capitals ‘INN’ is said in English as a common game term, while the lower case ‘inn’ is said
in Japanese
12 120 Cor in the web, changed to 80 in the published version.
67
bed with a scenic view, and on top of that there is also a bathroom
attached…"
I had gotten carried away talking, but at that moment.
Extending forward at a godly speed like the «Linear» I had seen in
the depths of the Labyrinth, the rapier user's right hand grabbed
my grey coat's collar with force just shy of triggering the Crime
Prevention Code. Then a low husky voice barked out forcefully.
"………WHAT DID YOU SAY?"
68
Although she had said it herself already, Asuna thought that,

among all the acts within this world, the only act that could be
called real was «sleep».
Everything else was a virtual imitation. Walking, running, talking,
eating, and fighting. It would not be a lie to say that all these
actions were nothing but data-code calculated by the server that
ran Sword Art Online. Since, no matter what one’s avatar did, the
body in the real world that was lying down somewhere would not
move a single finger. The only exception was when the avatar
slept on a bed, and one’s real brain also went to sleep. Therefore,
she wanted to at the very least sleep soundly which was done
when she slept at town inns—however, this was actually rather
difficult.
She got caught up in the heat of battle when she fought in fields or
dungeons, so she had no time then to look back and reflect, but
when she returned to town and laid down on the bed of her single
room, she would inevitably replay her actions from a month ago in
her mind. Why, on that day, did she have such an unusual whim?
Why had she not been satisfied with just touching the Nerve Gear?
Why had she put the grim headgear on her head, and say the
single phrase "Link Start"? —That was what she thought about.
She would fall into a shallow sleep while thinking of such regrets,
and naturally saw bad dreams. Her classmates, ridiculing Asuna at
having hugely stumbled at the important time of their third year
of junior high, all because of a mere game. Her relatives, pitying
Asuna for have dropped out from the race that would continue on
during the many years ahead. And—her parents, staring at
Asuna’s comatose body on the bed of some some hospital, with
expressions that she could not see—…
69
With a trembling body, she would suddenly jump up in bed and

see at the time displayed in the lower left corner of her vision,
indicating that, even though a long time had passed since she went
to sleep, the actual amount of time she had slept was less than
three hours. After that, no matter how many times she closed her
eyes, she simply could not fall back asleep. Then again, if she had
slept properly every night, she might not have been able to drive
herself to fiercely fight for three or four days continuously in the
dungeon.
Therefore, Asuna had always wanted to at least spend the money
she saved up on a high-class bedroom and bed. The rooms in this
world’s inns were all narrow and gloomy, with beds made out of
unknown materials that were rustling and hard. If it was made of
Italian high-elastic and high-tech urethane foam…or at the very
least normal cotton, she might have been able to turn her three
hours of sleep every night into four hours. And speaking of things
she wanted, she wished that there was a bathroom or at the very
least a shower attached to the rooms. Even though bathing here
was nothing more than a virtual experience and her body in the
real world would probably be regularly washed by the hospital
staff, this was just problem of feeling. She was already prepared to
die alone in the depths of the Labyrinth, but before that she
wanted to just once, even if it would only be virtual, dip her hands
and feet as much as she liked into some warm water……
——And that ardent wish of hers had been directly hit by the
black-haired swordsman’s words.
"………What did you say?"

Asuna asked with a hoarse voice, while unconsciously grabbing
the other party's collar. If she wasn’t having a hallucination in her
brain’s hearing, the swordsman had really said just now that…
"A-All the milk you can drink…?"
"After that."
70
"I-It has a bed with a nice view…?"

"After that."
"T-There's a bathroom…?"
—It seemed that she hadn’t heard wrong after all. After letting go
of his collar, Asuna continued as if becoming impatient.
"You said that your room costs 80 Cor to stay one night?"
"Y…Yes, I did say that."
"How many of those are still available at those lodgings? What's
the location? I want to rent one, too, so please show me the way to
it."
At that point, the swordsman seemed to finally realize the
situation. After coughing once, he put on a strangely solemn face
and spoke.
"Ah, didn't I just say that I rented the second floor of a
farmhouse?"
"…You did say that."
"I meant that I rented out the entire second floor. Therefore, there
are no vacant rooms. Incidentally, there are no rooms for rent on
the first floor."
"Wha………"
In that moment, she became weak from the knees and she was just
barely able to brace herself.
"……t-that room……"
Though she only said that, he seemed to be aware of what was
omitted. His black eyes flitted about, and with an apologetic
expression he said,
71
"About that, actually, I am already very satisfied after staying

there for about a week, and I would be more than willing to give it
to you, but…the truth is, I have already paid in advance for the
rented room system’s maximum number of days…ten days' worth
of rent. And, there's no way to cancel it."
"Wha………"
Her body staggered again, but this time Asuna somehow
withstood, as she was hit by a huge conflict.
What the swordsman before her had just told her was 'there are
rentable rooms besides those within inns, and in addition, there
are also deluxe versions among them'. In that case, if she searched
hard enough, there might still be available rooms with bathrooms
in Tolbana village that she could find. But, dozens of players
aiming to reach the next floor had already gathered within this
village in throngs. Naturally all the good rooms were already
taken, and that was precisely why this black-haired swordsman
had paid rent for the maximum number of days.
Then, what if she went back to one of the previous villages? But,
after sunset there would be strong monsters that shouldn’t be
underestimated roaming about the surrounding fields, and
tomorrow morning she had to meet with the clearing group at 10
AM at the fountain plaza. Even though she originally had little
interest in this boss clearing group, it was simply not in her
character to disregard her duty and be late or absent without
notice—for such a trivial reason, no less.
So then, there was only one option left.
For a few seconds, Asuna was conflicted in body and soul. If this
were the real world, she would not do such an action even if the
sky and earth turned upside down. But, this was merely a virtual
world where everything was made of digital data, and her own
avatar was also no different. Besides, the person in front of her
eyes could not be considered a passing stranger anymore.
72
They had eaten cream-covered bread together, been pushed into

the same party for the boss fight, and, that's right, this man had
said earlier that he would explain something or other to her
somewhere anyway. If she used this opportunity to receive that
explanation, that should serve as a proper excuse
somehow…right? Definitely. Probably.
Turning to the swordsman whose gaze was wandering aimlessly
as usual, Asuna suddenly lowered her head—and spoke at a
volume that could somehow only be heard by him.
"……Let me borrow the bath at your place."
The farmhouse that the black-haired swordsman had rented was

situated along a small pasture in the eastern part of Tolbana. It
was much larger than she had expected. If the barn and main
building were included together, the place would be about as large
as Asuna's house in the real world.
A beautiful stream flowed through the side of the farm grounds,
and the installed small waterwheel made peaceful *pitter-patter*
sounds as the water passed through it. At the two-storey main
building, there lived a NPC farm family on the first floor, and the
cheerful missus of the house directed a wide smile at Asuna when
they arrived at the entrance. There was old woman who was
sleeping on a rocking chair near the fireplace and had a golden [!]
mark—the indication for a quest starting point—floating above
her head that was worrisome, but she ignored it for now.
Asuna followed the swordsman up to the massive staircase to the
second floor, where there was but one door at the end of a short
corridor. When the swordsman touched the doorknob, there was
a sound of a lock opening automatically. Had it been Asuna who
touched it, this door would definitely not have opened. It was
completely impossible to unlock rooms rented out to players even
with the «Picking»13 skill.
13 Kanji = 鍵開け(lock opening), furigana = ピッキング (picking)
73
"…W-Well, please come in."

The swordsman pushed open the door, and made an awkward
welcoming gesture.
"…Thanks."
Expressing her gratitude in a low voice, Asuna then entered the
room—and at that moment, she cried out unintentionally.
"W-What is this? So large……T-There’s only a thirty Cor difference
between this and my room!? I-Isn't it too cheap……?"
"Being able to find a room like this quickly is a fairly important
Outside System Skill…Well, in my case…"
At that point, the swordsman cut off his words unnaturally so she
turned to look at him, but he only shook his head slightly. Asuna
then looked around the interior of the room again and let out a big
sigh.
The room the two of them were in right now was at least twenty-
tatami14. If the door that could be seen on the east wall was the
bedroom, then that room was certainly about the same size as
well. And on the western wall, there was a door with a [Bathroom]
plate hanging on it. Those alphabet letters, inscribed in a strange
typeface, seemed to release a magical attractive power to Asuna.
The swordsman quickly unequipped his one-handed sword from
his back and the defensive equipment on his hands and feet, and
comfortably sank his body into the soft-looking sofa among the set
of furniture that was simple yet possessed an excellent ambience.
After giving a long stretch of the body, the swordsman looked at
Asuna, who had been lost in thought for a while, and then he
cleared this throat and spoke.
"Erm, well, you probably can tell just by looking, but the bathroom
is over there, so…F-Feel free to use it."
14 A tatami is Japanese floor mat made from straw, in this case it was used to describe the size of the
room big enough to fit 20 of them (approximately 330 square feet).
74
"Ah…o-okay."
Asuna couldn't believe that she would visit someone else’s room
and then suddenly rush into the bathroom, but it was too late to
show restraint now. As she muttered "Well, then" and headed to
the door, the swordsman's voice called after her.
"Oh yes, I’ll tell you just in case, but even if it’s called bath, it’s not
the same as in the real world. The Nerve Gear seems to be
inadequate at recreating a liquid environment…So, don't set your
expectations too high."
"…As long as there is a lot of hot water, I don’t desire anything
more than that."
Responding with complete sincerity, Asuna opened the bathroom
door. She slipped inside and then immediately drew back the
doorknob firmly.
…In addition to the hot water, another feature of the bathroom
was that it could be locked.
She stared at door that was merely closed and considered adding
that precaution, but regrettably, it was unlikely that she could do
so. She couldn't find any kind of notch or button in the vicinity of
the doorknob, and even after tapping with her fingertips just to
make sure, it seemed that the operation menu couldn’t not be
called up by Asuna, who was not the tenant of this room.
Nonetheless, the presence or absence of a lock was already a trifle
in this situation. After all, she had intruded into a room belonging
to a man she just met yesterday and was borrowing his bath. She
couldn’t grasp neither the age nor character of the black-haired
swordsman—come to think of it, she still didn't know his name
either—but at the very least he shouldn't be the type to suddenly
break into the bathroom, probably. Well, even if by any change he
did rush in, he shouldn’t be able to do anything here «within the
city boundary» where the «Crime Prevention Code» or something
would activate, but…
75
Thinking up to there, Asuna finally removed her gaze away from

the door, and turned around to face the south.
"……Amazing……"
And then she involuntarily spoke out in a small voice.
This room was also fairly spacious. The northern half was a
dressing room, with a thick carpet laid on the floor and solid wood
shelves built into the wall. And the floor of the southern half had a
spread of tiles made of polished stone, while the majority of that
section was occupied by a white bathtub in the shape of a ship.
High on the western brick wall was a hot water faucet in the shape
of a monster’s face, and from its mouth cascaded large quantities
of clear liquid. It filled the bathtub filled to the brim while raising
pure white steam, and water overflowed from the edge and
flowed into a drain in a corner of the tiled floor.
—Based on common sense, such large-scale hot water supply
facilities should not exist in a Medieval European manor house
that this building was modelled after. However, Asuna didn't have
the heart to complain about the errors of historical research in the
virtual world. She brought up the Main Menu window with an
aimless hand motion, and pressed the button to unequip all her
armor and weapons in the «Equipment Figure» that was displayed
in the right half of the window.
Her hooded cape that she had always covered herself with up until
now, the copper armor covering her chest, both her gauntlets and
long boots, and the long and slender sword hanging at her waist;
all of these disappeared, and her long, straight chestnut hair
flowed out behind her. The only clothes that remained were a
wool tunic with three-quarter-length sleeves and some tight
leather long trousers. The button she just pressed changed to
«Unequip all clothing», so she pressed it again. The tunic and
pants then disappeared, leaving only two simple pieces of cotton
underwear.
76
Asuna glanced at the door one more time, and then pressed the
button that had changed once again into «Unequip all underwear».
With just these three operations, her avatar became unequipped
of everything, and a virtual sense of cold brushed across her bare
skin. In the oddly named castle known as Aincrad, the four
seasons were tentatively synchronized with reality, and because
the real world was currently in early December, the room
temperature was fairly low.
She hurriedly rushed across the bathroom, and the instant she
straddled over the edge of the ceramic-looking bathtub and
submerged her left leg into the hot water, the complicated sensory
signals that were generated from it directly hit the top of her head.
Withstanding the urge to plunge her whole body into the water,
she first put her head under the shower of water from the mouth
of the water faucet. As the feeling of warmth enveloped the
surface of her entire body, the difference in temperature from the
surrounding air faded away—
*Splash*.
She lowered herself down into the hot water from behind.
"……Uaaa……"
77
78
Asuna couldn't help but let out another low moan.

Indeed, just as the black-haired swordsman had said, the
sensation of bathing in the real world could not be reproduced.
The feeling of hot water on the skin, the pressure of the water
against the body, and the light reflecting off the water's wavering
surface; they all left a subtle sense of incongruity.
But, the «sensation of taking a bath», which was pre-set to a
certain extent like eating, seemed to be sent to her brain, and
when she closed eyes and stretched her arms and legs out, the
difference was so trivial that she didn’t care anymore. This was a
bath. Moreover, it was a deluxe version two meter-long bathtub
with the luxurious hot water freely flowing within it.
While sinking into the hot water up to her mouth with her eyes
closed and completely relaxing her whole body, she started to
think.
——Right now, it's fine even if I die. I have nothing more to regret.
Since she had left the Starting City two weeks ago, there was a
thought she had constantly dwelled on. Clearing this death game
was an impossible task; thus, all of the ten thousand people
imprisoned would eventually die. It was just a matter of sooner or
later, so everything in this false virtual world was meaningless. In
that case, it would be better to just continue forward and forward
recklessly, until one collapses after no longer being able to move,
and then die.
Looking back on the «strategy meeting» that was held yesterday
and today, Asuna was fairly indifferent in her heart. She didn't
care who the beta testers (which she still didn't know the exact
meaning of) were or how the items were to be distributed. What
they were going to try challenging tomorrow on Sunday was the
greatest and final barrier on Aincrad's First Floor which had so far
swallowed two thousand people. It wasn’t possible to clear
something like that with a mere forty-odd people, and moreover
on only the first battle.
79
There was a high chance of total annihilation, and even if it did not
go that far, a routing defeat was inevitable.
Wanting to take a bath to the point that Asuna greatly deviated
from daily behavioral had, in other words, a wish that she wanted
to accomplish «at least once before dying». Now that it had come
true, she felt no more regrets about disappearing from this world
in the boss battle tomorrow……
————That cream-covered black bread.
————Before I die, I want to eat it once again……
This desire that suddenly welled up from within her chest
confused Asuna. She opened her eyes, and raised her body slightly
in the hot water.
The taste was indeed not bad. But, it was completely an imitation.
Her eyes saw only polygons, and the taste signals were pre-set.
For that matter, even this bath was the same. What looked like hot
water was no more than a mathematical boundary surface that
created its seeming permeability and reflectance. The warmth
enveloping her entire body was also in reality merely the
enumeration of electronic signals emitted from the Nerve Gear.
But……But.
In the real world that she had lived in until one month ago, had
she ever wished to eat something as much as this? Had she ever
wished to take a bath as strongly as this?
The course menu of organic ingredients that she had mechanically
moved to her mouth while talking to her parents even though she
didn’t want to eat, and the virtual cream-covered bread that her
body had wished for so much that her mouth salivated. Which one
should be considered more «Real»……?
Asuna was struck with wonder by the feeling that she now
somehow considered this a very, very important matter, and she
quietly held her breath.
80
To think I would be forced to use such a high Will Saving Throw15

just in order to withstand the urge to look at the bathroom door.
As my body sank deep into the sofa in the living room, I exerted all
my mental energy and tried to stay focused on «Argo's Strategy
Guide: First Floor Boss Edition» which I had obtained today.
However, despite following several times the lines of simple
Japanese font that was my priority to read, the content still failed
to reach my brain.
—But well, at least this proves this place isn’t in the real world.
For example, suppose that this was in my home in Kawagoe,

Saitama Prefecture, that my mother and younger were absent, and
there was a female classmate taking a bath in my bathroom for
some reason. In those circumstances, what would I do? It’s
obvious. I would go out from the front door with silent footsteps,
get on my beloved MTB16, and then ride at full speed towards the
prefectural road No. 51 in the Arakawa district.
But fortunately, this was the second floor of a large farmhouse

built on the outskirts of Tolbana on the first floor of the floating
castle Aincrad, and I was not a net game maniac male high school
student, but instead the swordsman Kirito. Since my body was just
an avatar in a virtual world, nothing would happen even after the
female fencer called Asuna walks out of the bathroom. No, well,
the possibility wasn’t zero that this might be an elaborate trap and
that when I took my turn to take a bath she would disappear along
with the contents of my chest in the living room, but the box held
only several low level raw material items that I got from small fry
monsters.
15 A Dungeons and Dragons Tabletop RPG term, for example if someone cast a death spell on you,
and your dice roll is sufficient, you won't die.
16 Mountain bike
81
Or rather, I have no reason to go to the bathroom anyway. When

she comes out, I’ll say "Well then, let's work hard tomorrow",
show her out of the room, and end it there. That's all.
Shaking my head, I returned my attention to the guidebook on the

low table, but at that moment.
From the door—not the bathroom one, but the one leading to the
hallway outside—came a tap, tap-tap-tap noise.
The sound of knocking. But the one who knocked would not be
this house’s landlady. This rhythm was a signal that had been
agreed upon between me and a certain someone.
Surprised, my whole body trembled, and I timidly turned around

to face the thick oak door—to look at Argo the Rat, who should be
standing on the other side of the door.
—I could escape out of the south window to the front yard, jump
astride the donkey tied to the stable, and gallop full speed straight
down the path through the forest in order to reach the dungeon
area.
I couldn’t deny that I didn’t momentarily consider this option.

However, riding any of the various mounts in SAO was unusually
difficult. I’ve heard that the horse-riding skill can be trained and
leveled up gradually, but I don’t have the space on my skill slots to
add such a hobby-like skill right now.
Therefore, while getting up off the sofa, I first took a glance at the
bathroom to check the situation. Currently, on the other side of
that door, the rapier user Asuna-san was in the highly praised
bath. If Argo learned of that, she would definitely write words like
«Kirito is the type of man who would bring a woman he met for
the first time into his room» in her notebook. If this information
were distributed around, my reputation as a solo player and the
like would be completely ruined. But fortunately—it could be said,
all doors in this world have perfect soundproofing performance
under certain conditions.
82
As far as I know, the only three sounds that could be transmitted

through the door were ① a shout, ② knocking, and ③ the sound
of combat. The sounds of normal speech or the splashing of the
bath couldn't be heard even if you pressed your ear against the
door.
Therefore, even if I let her in, she shouldn't notice that a player
was here using the bathroom in the next room. If, by any chance,
the rapier user comes out while Argo is here—I will definitely
jump out of the window, and leave on a donkey.
Deciding on that with the speed I normally used in battle, I

stepped up to the hallway door and, with my mind made up,
opened it. On seeing the face of the person on the other side, I
exclaimed,
"How rare, for you to come all the way to visit my room."
The phrase I had earlier prepared in my mind came out from my

mouth. The face of the informant «Argo the Rat» with her
trademark whiskers twitched in a suspicious manner for a
moment, but she immediately shrugged and replied,
"Yes. The client wants to hear your reply today no matter what."
Just like that, Argo walked into the room nonchalantly and sat
down with a thump on the sofa I had just left. I shut the door,
walked to the wagon in a corner of the room while seriously
resisting the urge to look at the bathroom, and poured out two
cups of fresh milk from a large-sized pitcher. I brought them over
to the sofa set, placing them on the low table. The «Rat» raised an
eyebrow and laughed.
"For Ki-bou, that sure is considerate. By any chance, did you put
some sleeping drugs in it?"
"…That kind of thing would have fundamentally no effect on

players. Besides, I couldn't do anything while you are asleep
within the town boundary anyway."
83
At this, Argo clapped her hands and said "Well, that's true" while
nodding. Lifting the glass, she drained its contents in one gulp.
"Thanks for the drink. This unlimited drink sure has a very good
taste. How about bottling it up and selling it to other players?"
"Unfortunately, when you remove it from the farmhouse, its

endurance level will completely drop after five minutes.
Moreover, the remaining liquid becomes a gunky mess instead of
disappearing…"
"Ho, I didn't know that. Looks like there's nothing scarier than free
things."
…As she spoke, my heart was filled with the single thought of
'Hurry up and get to the point!', but if she discovers that I was
thinking this, who knows what she would do. With an innocent
expression, I picked up the «Argo's Strategy Guide: First Floor
Boss Edition» I had left on the table, and lightly tapped it.
"Speaking of free things, what’s this about? Although I’m indebted

to you for it every time I buy it, I've always bought this book for
five hundred cor…yet at yesterday's meeting, that axe user Agil
said that these books are distributed for free, didn’t he?"
Hearing my slightly resentful tone, the Rat laughed with a

"nishishi".
"That’s because, with the sales from the first edition that Ki-bou
and all the other front runners bought, I released a second free
edition. But don't worry, only the first edition has Argo-sama's
autograph printed on it."
"……I see, then in the future I won't buy it anymore."
—In other words, the free edition is Argo's way of taking

responsibility as an original beta tester. Although I wanted to
plunge in and ask about it more deeply, there was an atmosphere
of taboo between me and the Rat about voicing the word beta.
84
No, since I didn’t do anything to contribute earlier as an original

tester, I might have no right to ask about it.
The atmosphere became momentarily heavy. Argo swung her

golden brown curly hair and changed the subject.
"Well then, I guess it's time to get to the main topic."
While silently shouting 'Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead!', I nodded

gently.
"Well, I think the client is at the point where he’s feeling

considerate. The subject is about his wish to buy Ki-bou's
sword…if you sell it to him today, the client will buy it for thirty-
nine thousand and eight hundred cor."
"……Th……"
'Three nine eight!?' I barely avoided yelling that out. After taking a
deep breath, I thought hard a few seconds, and then opened my
mouth.
"……I don't mean to insult you, but…isn't that some kind of scam?
No matter how you think about it, the sword is not worth forty
thousand cor. After all, the market price of an original «Anneal
Blade» should be around fifteen thousand cor, right? Add another
twenty thousand cor to that, and you can basically buy the
materials to enhance it to +6 almost safely. Although it might take
some time, I reckon that thirty five thousand can be used to make
a sword comparable to mine."
"I, too, have told the client that three times already!"
Spreading out her arms, Argo had a rare "I don't get it!"
expression on her face as well.
As I crossed my arms and leaned back against the sofa, the whole
ordeal with the bathroom and all that momentarily left my mind
and I became troubled. In this matter, I'm absolutely against
diminishing my assets.
85
But, to let this mystery go felt more distasteful. Having made up

my mind, I spoke to Aincrad's best informant.
"…Argo, I want to know the name of your client for one thousand
five hundred cor. Please check with your client about whether
they’ll increase the price."
"…I understand."
The Rat nodded, opened her window, and typed rapidly before
sending the instant message.
After a minute, a side of her eyebrows twitched as she read the

reply, and then she gave a big shrug.
"He doesn’t mind you learning his name."
"………"
While in an ‘I don’t care anymore’ state of mind, I opened my own

window as well and materialized one thousand five hundred cor. I
piled up the six coins that represented it in front of Argo.
Pinching them casually with her fingertips, the rat playfully

deposited the coins one by one into her own inventory. After
nodding with an "Indeed"—she spoke.
"…Ki-bou, you already know his face and name. From when he
went on a wild rampage at yesterday's meeting."
"………Could it be……Kibaou?"
Hearing my whisper, the Rat nodded clearly.
—Kibaou. The man who burned with intense hostility against

original beta testers. That guy, wants to buy my sword for the
large sum of forty thousand cor?
Certainly, the weapon he carried on his back was the same kind of
«One-Handed Longsword» as mine.
86
However, yesterday should have been the first time we met. Yet
Argo first offered this deal one week ago…
This information that I had obtained for 1500 cor merely made me
more confused. Argo, sitting cross-legged on the sofa while facing
the brooding me, spoke as if to remind me.
"…So I guess this means that you reject the sword purchase this
time as well?"
"Yeah……"
Of course, regardless of the price, I had no intention of selling my

beloved sword. I nodded half-automatically, and the Rat stood up
without a sound.
"Well then, excuse me for bothering you with thiss. I hope that
strategy guide will be of use to you."
"Yeah……"
"So, sorry for asking, but before I leave, I'd like to borrow the next
room. I want to equip my night equipment."
"Yeah……"
—If I think back hard, I did have the feeling during yesterday's
meeting that, while Kibaou was out in front of everyone, his gaze
had lingered on my face for a moment. Then that gaze wasn't
because he suspected I was an original beta tester, but to look at
my sword…was that it? No, maybe it was because of both…
——Wait a minute. What did Argo just say?
While eighty percent of my thoughts were preoccupied about

Kibaou, I looked up blankly.
87
In the corner of my eyes, I saw Argo just about to turn the

doorknob. The door was neither the one leading to the corridor
outside, nor my bedroom door on the east wall—it was the door
with a plate saying Bathroom hanging from it.
Before my eyes as I watched dumbfounded, the Rat's petite figure

slipped into the bathroom and disappeared.
Three seconds later—
"Waaah!?"
A surprised voice, and,
"……Kyaaaaaaaaaaaa!!"
A terrible scream shook the entire house. Subsequently, a player

who was not Argo flew out from the door.
I have no memory of what happened after that.
88
December 4th, Sunday, 10 AM.

This death game had started at one o'clock in the afternoon on a
Sunday, on November 6th. In three hours, it will have been exactly
four weeks since it began.
When I first noticed that the Log-Out button was missing, I
believed it was a system glitch, and thought that even if it took a
while, I would be able to log out in a few dozen minutes. Then, the
release condition of clearing all hundred floors of Aincrad were
thrust upon me by the Kayaba Akihiko who was clad as a faceless
Game Master, and I had vaguely expected that we would be
imprisoned for a period of a hundred days. That was the
calculation based on the assumption that we could clear an
average of a floor per day.
But—even after four weeks had passed, we hadn't even reached
the second floor.
I could only laugh at that far too naïve estimate of mine, but
depending on the results of today’s Boss Battle, we would be
knocked down to a situation where we couldn’t even speak of the
time until our release. The forty-four players that were now
gathered at the fountain plaza in Tolbana could be considered to
be the strongest fighting force we could have hoped for at this
point. If by some chance this raid party is wiped out, no, if it was
even partially destroyed, rumors of it would spread to the Starting
City in an instant, and the resignation that «SAO is impossible to
clear» would surely spread throughout the first floor.
Reorganizing a second force would take who knows how long—
or, a second challenge against the boss many never even happen.
Even if we tried increasing our level in order to fight the boss
again, we had already reached the de-facto limit of efficiency to
gain experience from the monsters on the first floor.
89
Everything depended on whether the Boss Monster «Illfang the

Kobold Lord»'s strength had changed from the time of the beta
test. If it was the Kobold King I remembered, it shouldn’t be
impossible to keep it down to zero deaths with our current level
and equipment even if we were only one raid party. With that, if
everyone could calmly keep cooperating until the end in this
battle where we risk our actual lives…
While I was thinking over these overheating thoughts in my mind,
I suddenly glanced at the player standing next to me, and after
taking a short breath, I gave a bitter smile as I breathed out.
The profile of the rapier user «Asuna», half hidden by her hood,
looked exactly like the first time I saw her in the labyrinth area the
morning of the day before yesterday. Her appearance combined
the fragility of a shooting star with the sharpness of live steel.
Compared to her, I looked extremely agitated and restless.
As I continued to look at her, Asuna suddenly turned and glared at
me.
"……What are you looking at?"
This faint, but forceful whisper caused me to shake my head. The
reason for her bad mood since early this morning was, according
to her, due to drinking from a pail of spoiled milk which I had
offered to her, but I couldn't recall this myself.
"I-It’s nothing."
When I said those un-ingenious words, Asuna once again gave me
a look as sharp as the tip of her rapier, before turning her back to
me. Will today’s strategy meeting turn out okay like this? Well, she
and I are just an extra party because the numbering didn’t work
out. While I was thinking on such things—
"Hey."
Hearing a voice that could hardly be called friendly from behind, I
turned around.
90
Standing there was a male player with pointy brown styled hair.
My body reflexively flinched back. Because today, even if other
people spoke out to me, his was the one face I had least expected
to see. Just this man—Kibaou.
Glaring with extremely dangerous eyes from a slightly low
position at me as I stood there stunned, Kibaou said in an even
lower voice,
"Listen here, today you should stay in the back. You guys are only
here as support for my party."
"………"
I’ve never been a smooth-speaking person, but I had no response
to this. Because, yesterday, I had directly rejected his large offer of
forty thousand Cor offer, and in addition, I had learned his name
that he had specifically hidden through the representative he sent,
so this situation was quite awkward to anyone with common
sense. If the situation were reversed, I wouldn't want to approach
him at all within a twenty meter radius.
Yet, Kibaou's attitude was so unpleasant that it withered my
intention to say "Of course". His hatefully distorted face protruded
forward even more, and he spat out,
"Listen up, you guys should only take on the small fry Kobolds that
slip past my party."
Spitting some virtual spit onto the ground for emphasis, Kibaou
then finally turned aside and left. I watched his back as he
returned to the other members of the Group E party. Still stunned,
I continued watching his back as he lumbered back over to his E-
party members, but I came back to my senses when I heard a
voice beside me.
"…What was that?"
Of course, the «you guys» mentioned also included Asuna-san. Her
gaze was about 30% more terrifying than the leer she gave me
just now.
91
"W-Who knows…Maybe he doesn't want solo players to get

cocky…"
I spoke without thinking too deeply, but suddenly a thought came,
and added inside my mind.
—Or, maybe, he doesn’t want original beta testers to get carried
away.
If that was true, then based on his attitude, there was no doubt
that Kibaou had already determined that I was a beta tester. But—
what was his basis for believing that? Even Argo the Rat would
never sell any information on whether another player was an
original tester. And up until now, I had never ever mentioned the
word beta to anyone.
While once again feeling tormented by an unpleasant feeling like
yesterday, I kept my eyes on Kibaou's back as he walked away.
"……Eh…?"
Then, I suddenly realized something, and let out a sound.
Yesterday, that man offered me the large sum of forty thousand
Cor to buy my Anneal Blade +6. This is the only certain fact. And
his purpose in doing that was, of course, to use it in the boss battle
today. Regardless of the matter of how he would suddenly be able
to wave around such a heavy sword due to having been enhanced
by three extra points in Durability, I could understand his motive
to get a powerful weapon and play an active role on the battlefield
in order to improve his influence and leadership abilities.
However, if that was the case, then by now, he should have
upgraded his other equipment with his forty thousand Cor.
Yet, the scale mail Kibaou was wearing now and the one-handed
sword on his back were the same ones that he had equipped at
yesterday’s meeting. They weren’t poor quality equipment, but
with forty thousand Cor, it should have been possible to upgrade
to much stronger equipment, since there was enough time.
92
In fact, the thin sword hanging from the waist of Asuna beside me
had been upgraded from her store-bought «Iron rapier» to a
«Wind Fleuret +4» which had been obtained as a drop last night
after following my advice. After all, depending on the flow of
today’s battle, we could die, so what's the point of keeping forty
thousand Cor in storage…
—However, at this point, my train of thoughts was brought to a
halt.
Before I had realized it, the blue haired knight Diavel stood on the
edge of the fountain and raising his familiar beautiful voice.
"Everyone, although it may be sudden—thank you! Just now, all
forty-four party members have gathered here, without a single
person missing!!"
After he said that, a loud cheer of ‘Uooh’ shook up the entire plaza.
It was followed by a cascade of applause. I ceased my conjecture
reluctantly and also clapped my hands.
After look at everyone with a smile, the knight pumped his right
fist, and shouted out again.
"I’ll say this now, but I was actually thinking of aborting the
mission today if even a single person didn't show up! But…that
kind of worry is an insult to everyone! I'm very happy…that we
weren’t able to make the best raid party like this…Well, though
our numbers are slightly short!"
Some people laughed, some people whistled, and some people
pumped their right hands mimicking him.
I didn't want to find fault with Diavel's leadership right now.
However, I couldn’t help but think inside that he was raising the
excitement a little too much. Just as nervousness could become
the poison known as fear if taken too far, too much excitement
could also become negligence.
93
During the beta testing period, being defeated for being over-
enthusiastic was just a funny story, but right now we were in a
single situation where failure could lead to the death of a player.
Rather, it would probably be good if everyone were too tightened
up and strained.
While I thought about these things, I looked at the other groups
from behind, and I saw that Group B's leader Agil, the two-handed
axe wielder, and several other people all had stern expressions
with their arms folded in front of them. At critical moments, they
would probably be reliable. Kibaou of group E had his back to me,
so I couldn't see his expression.
As everyone shouted and yelled for a while, Diavel raised both
hands to suppress the cheering.
"Everyone…I have only one thing left to say!"
His right hand moved to his left hip, and he drew his silvery long
sword with a ringing peal—
"……Let's win!!"
The huge war cries that rang out in response was, I thought,
slightly similar to four weeks ago, in the packed central square of
the Starting City, when ten thousand players screamed.
94
10
The distance taken by the large group of people from the town of
Tolbana to the Labyrinth tower prickled a part of Asuna's
memories. After a few minutes of thinking, she finally recalled it.
It was the school trip that she had went on in January of this year.
The destination had been Queensland, Australia. Her classmates’
excitement from suddenly being in the Gold Coast in the middle of
summer from mid-winter Tokyo had been through the roof, and
their revelry had continued wherever they went.
Even if the situation was entirely different—to that point, it was
the only common feature, the atmosphere among the forty-odd
people walking down the path beneath the trees bore a strong
resemblance to that time with her classmates. The endless
chatting, the frequent explosions of laughter; the only difference
was that monsters would occasionally attack them from the forest
on either side. However, all the monsters that came close were
instantly slain by the skills that everyone was bragging about.
While walking at the rear of the group, Asuna spoke to the
swordsman next to her, letting herself forget about the tragedy
last night for a moment.
"…Hey, you, before coming here, you also played other m…MMO
games? Is that how they’re called? Anyway, did you?"
"Emm…Yeah, pretty much."
Despite still giving off a withered feeling, his black hair swayed up
and down as he nodded.
"In other games, is there also this kind of feeling when people
move around together? How should I put it…like going on a field
trip…"
"…Haha, a field trip would be nice"
After giving a short laugh, the swordsman then shrugged slightly.
95
"Unfortunately, the other games that I played had nothing like

this. After all, those are games that don't use the FullDive
technology, so even if you move around, you have to use the
mouse and keyboard. Therefore, there's not much time to dedicate
to speaking in the chat window."
"…Ah, I see…"
"Well, there are other games that include voice chat, but I haven't
played those kinds before."
"Hmm."
After imagining for a little while the scene of a group of game
characters continuing to dash silently inside a flat monitor screen,
Asuna murmured once again.
"…I wonder what the real thing feels like"
"Eh? R-Real thing?"
The swordsman gave her a questioning look, so Asuna tried to
describe the image that had appeared in her mind.
"What I mean is…in a real fantasy world like this…while a group of
swordsmen or magicians venture forth to go beat a terrible boss
monster. During the journey, what do they speak about? …Or
would they walk along silently? That kind of subject."
"………"
The swordsman remained oddly silent, and when she glanced at
his expression, Asuna finally became aware that she had asked a
very childish question. She reflexively turned away, and just as
she was about to say "I guess it doesn't matter",
"Walking on the road leading either to death or glory, huh."
Those quiet words reached her right ear.
96
"For people that live doing that kind of thing normally and every
day…I think it would probably be like going together to a
restaurant for dinner. If you want to talk, you talk, and if not you
stay silent. I think these boss battle raids will become like that
eventually. If we challenge the floor bosses every day."
"…Fufu, fu."
Finding the swordsman’s straightforward words funny, Asuna
gave off a small laugh. She explained immediately, half as an
excuse.
"I'm sorry for laughing. But…this is really strange. This world is
the ultimate form of unusualness and non-daily life, yet there are
ordinary aspects in it."
"Ha ha…I guess that's true."
After laughing in the same way, the swordsman spoke quietly.
"However, it took four weeks to reach this point today. Even if we
beat the boss today, we still have another ninety-nine floors to go.
I'm...... prepared to go for two, no, three years like this. If it goes on
like this, even the unusual will become ordinary and everyday."
Those words would have caused great shock and despair to the
old Asuna. But now, acceptance and understanding simply blew
through her chest like a dry wind.
"……How strong. If it were me, I couldn't think like that at all. Since
the thought of living in this world for years…seems much more
terrifying than dying in today's battle to me."
The swordsman glanced at her for a moment, and then thrusted
his hands into his grey jacket pocket, and said in a subdued voice,
"If we can reach the higher floors, maybe there is an even better
bath there."
"……R-Really?"
97
She involuntarily responded, before realizing what she had just

said. Forcing down her returning shame, she lowered her voice
and said,
"…You better remember that. Or I’ll make you really drink a barrel
of spoiled milk."
"Then, the least we can do is to come back alive today."
After making that remark, the swordsman grinned and laughed.
98
11
11 AM, we reached the Labyrinth.

12:30 PM, we finished travelling by foot to the top floor.
For now, I secretly felt relieved that there had been no deaths
reported so far. After all, the majority of our near full 48-member
raid party marching through here must be coming to this place for
the first time. In this world, any action that was done for the «first
time» held the danger of mishaps, without exception.
In fact, there was also a situation that was three times as
frightening. That is, if Group F and G, which consisted of only
people wielding long weapons such as «Spears» and «Halberds»,
were ambushed by the melee-type Kobolds along the road. In SAO,
melee weapons wouldn’t cause damage to other players even if
they accidentally hit each other in a confused battle (this didn’t
equal them becoming a criminal player either), but normal attacks
and sword skills would be halted when this happened due to
contact with an obstacle. Since ranged weapons were already at
high risk from this, an ambush by melee monsters made the
situation even worse.
In that kind of small pinch, however, the knight Diavel showed his
ability to command precisely. He boldly made all the surrounding
party members fall back save for the individual leaders of each
group, made them use heavier sword skills to knock back
monsters, and then switched over to melee weapon-equipped
members without delay. These decisions would not have been
possible at all if he hadn’t been familiar with being a leader in
everyday life.
In light of this, it could be said that for a solo player like me to
have feared something like "Everyone’s getting too excited" before
we departed was very presumptuous of me. Diavel had his own
philosophy about leadership, and trusting in him fully now that
we had already come this far was the duty of every raid member.
99
—As I recognized these things, two huge doors finally appeared in

front of us, and I stood on my tiptoes at the back of the group in
order to look up at them.
On the surface of the grey stone was a relief of a terrifying
monster with a beast head and human body. Speaking of Kobolds,
in other MMO games these monsters were the weakest of the
weak, but in SAO alone these «Demi-Human»-class monsters were
formidable foes that couldn’t be made light of. This was because
they had the ability to wield weapons such as swords and axes,
and therefore could even use sword skills. Possessing speed,
power and hit correction abilities that exceeded those of normal
attacks, these «sword skills» could critically hit an enemy in a
defenceless position and reduce their HP gauge drastically even
with just an elementary skill. The fact that the rapier user Asuna
beside me had reached the deepest part of the Labyrinth using
only «Linear» proved the strength and terror of sword skills…
"…Can you listen for a while?"
I leaned in close to Asuna, and whispered in a lowered voice.
"Today, our opponents are the «Ruin Kobold Sentinels», and even
though they’re small-fry that act as the boss’ followers, they're still
strong enemies. Like they roughly explained yesterday, a large
portion of their head and body is tightly covered and protected by
metal armor, so your «Linear» won't be enough to attack them
with."
After listening, the fencer gave me a sharp look from under her
hood and nodded.
"I understand. The only point that can be pierced is the throat,
right?"
"Exactly. After I throw up their poleaxe with a sword skill, please
switch with me and jump in at once."
After Asuna nodded in reply and then turned around to face the
huge door, I continued to gaze at her for a few more seconds.
100
Where and how you die, and whether it's sooner or later, is the
only difference.
When we first met, she had told me that. I couldn't let those words
be proven true. Asuna's «Linear» clearly demonstrated a natural
talent that she herself was probably unaware of. All shooting stars
did not necessarily burn up and disappear in the atmosphere.
There were stars that withstood the flames that burned them and
managed to reach the ground.
If she could survive today's battle, Asuna’s name would surely one
day resound throughout Aincrad as a swordswoman that was
faster and more beautiful than anyone else. The many players
gripped by fear and despair would surely be illuminated and
guided by the brightness of that shooting star. I firmly believed
that. And this responsibility was a role that someone marked by
the stigma of being an original beta tester like myself could never
take on.
Once I confirmed my determination, I also faced the large door. In
front of us, Diavel had finished finely arranging the lineup of the
seven parties.
Not even the knight-sama dared to shout "Let's win!" in this place.
This was because humanoid monsters would react to loud noises
here.
Instead, Diavel lifted his silver long-sword up high, and gave a
large nod. The forty-three raid members also raised their
weapons and nodded in reply.
His long blue hair fluttering as he turned around, the knight
placed his left hand in the center of the large doors and—
"——Let's go!"
With a short cry, he pushed the doors open with all his might.
Was it this wide?
101
Looking at the First Floor Boss Room for the first time in around
four months, this was the first impression that I had.
It was a rectangular space that extended out far towards the back
of the room. Its width from the left to the right wall was about
twenty meters, and the distance from the entrance to the back was
about one hundred meters. Since the 20th floor had already been
mostly mapped except for the boss room, its area could be
estimated by looking at the blank area on the map, but even so,
actually seeing it with our own eyes made it feel a lot larger than
the numerical digits.
This room was spacious in order to contain the gigantic monsters
here.
In Aincrad's boss rooms, the doors would not close even after the
battle against the boss began. Thus, even if the events took a turn
for the worse, we could retreat without having to wait for total
annihilation. However, if we merely turned and dashed way, the
enemy's long ranged sword skills would hit us and cause a delay
effect, or in the worst case stun us. Therefore, we would have to
retreat while facing the boss, but in that situation, the hundred
meters needed to escape would feel infinitely long. Rather, if it
was a boss battle on the upper floors, where it was possible to
obtain «Teleport Crystals» that allowed instantaneous
teleportation, retreat might actually be easier then. Well, since
crystals were absurdly expensive, our money deficits would
undoubtedly rapidly increase after retreating, though.
While I was contemplating such thoughts, a series of igniting
sounds rang through the boss room that was almost completely
sunk in darkness, and crude torches blazed to life along the walls
on either side. As the sound of flames popping into existence
continued, the lit torches increased in number one after another
further towards the back of the room.
As the sources of light were generated, the internal Gamma17
brightness also rose.
17 Computer display brightness: Gamma correction
102
The stone floor and walls were filled with cracks. Skulls of all sizes
decorated the room everywhere. In the deepest part of the room
stood a huge and crude throne, and upon it sat a rough silhouette
of something large—
The knight, Diavel, raised his long-sword high, and then swiftly
swung it down in front of him.
With that as the signal, the forty-four members of the Boss
Monster Capture Forces raised a battle cry as they all rushed into
the large room like an avalanche at once.
The ones to rush in first in the front row were Group A, led by a
hammer-user brandishing an iron heater shield18. They were
followed by Group B diagonally to their left, led by the axe-warrior
Agil. To their right was Group C composed of Diavel and his five
friends, and Group D with a tall man wielding a two-handed sword
as their leader. Behind these three groups were the search-and-
kill Group E led by Kibaou, the polearm-equipped Group F and
Group G running alongside each other.
And still further behind them, there were two extra people—
When the distance between the advancing Group A and the throne
was about 20 meters, the gigantic silhouette that had been still
until now suddenly jumped fiercely into the air. It somersaulted
once before landing on the ground, causing the earth to rumble.
After that, it opened its wolf-like jaws wide, and howled.
"Gurururaaaaaaaaaaaa!!"
The Demi-Human King, «Illfang the Kobold Lord», looked exactly
as I remembered. Its muscular body was easily over two meters
tall and was covered in blue-gray fur. Its eyes blazed a
bloodthirsty copper red.
18 A Heater Shield is a form of European medieval shield, developed from the early medieval Kite
Shield.
103
Its right hand wielded an axe made of bone, while its left carried a
leather buckler. Behind its waist, a meter and a half long Talwar19
protruded.
The Kobold Lord raised the Bone Axe in its right hand up high, and
struck with all its strength at Group A's leader. The thick heater
shield received the blow, causing a dazzling light effect and a loud
impact sound to reverberate throughout the hall.
As if that sound were a cue, three heavily armed monsters jumped
down from various alcoves high up on the walls on either side.
These were the guards, the «Ruin Kobold Sentinels». Group E led
by Kibaou and the support Group G quickly moved towards the
three monsters, locking onto their target. Asuna and I glanced at
each other, and then dashed to the nearest Sentinels.
Thus, on the 4th of December at 2:40 PM, the first Boss Monster
Battle finally began.
«Illfang»'s HP gauge had four bars. During the first three bars, it
would fight with its Bone Axe in its right hand and its leather
buckler in its left, but when it reached the fourth, it would discard
them and remove the Talwar from its waist. The fact that its attack
pattern would drastically change at that point was the biggest
hurdle for us, but Argo’s strategy guide had also included details
on that without sparing anything. Of course, the kinds of sword
skills it used after changing its weapons from the Bone Axe to the
Talwar and the ways to deal with that had been completely
confirmed amongst us during yesterday’s meeting.
While I fought against the «Sentinel» that had slipped past Group
E and Group G, I continued watching the situation on the front
lines from the edge of my vision, but there was no sign of our
tactics collapsing.
19 A «Talwar» is a sword or saber with a curved blade. The word talwar literally means sword or
dagger in the majority of the languages of the South Asian Subcontinent, where the «Talwar» is from.
104
The switch replacements between «Tank» forces and the

«Attacker» forces and the POT rotations were done with sufficient
margin for error, and the average remaining HP of each raid party
member that was displayed in a small window at the left corner of
my vision was also stable at 80%.
Please, like this—just let it keep going like this.
It wasn’t something I did at all when fighting solo, but now I
prayed like this with all my body and soul for someone else.
105
12
Since the time he had (through some unknown means) rescued

her unconscious self from within the almost deepest part of the
Labyrinth tower, Asuna had thought that the black-haired
swordsman was probably a considerably strong person.
However, after seeing his way of fighting for the first time, Asuna
could tell that her assessment fell far short.
—Strong.
No, there was something in his fighting that could not accurately
be described by the word “strong”. Something that transcended
measuring scales like power or speed, and left like it went into a
«further dimension».
As a beginner who had never played a net game or been in a
FullDive environment before, Asuna couldn’t put that something
into words. But if she had to express them, it would probably be as
a feeling that everything was optimized. Excessiveness was
eliminated from all his movements, hence his techniques were
quick and his sword was heavy. With an instant slash, he would
repel the dreadful-looking halberd wielded by a heavily armed
Kobold guard into the sky above, and then casually retreat while
calling out "Switch!". In his place, Asuna would quickly jump in
front of the Kobold, but it was very easy for her to fire a «Linear»
into the weak point at its unprotected throat while the Kobold was
bent over from the recoil.
Asuna now recalled the words that he had spoken the first time
they met. In response to how he had pointed out "Overkill has no
demerit or penalty from the system, but it's bad for efficiency",
Asuna had answered with "Is there any problem with it?". Now,
she had no choice but to admit that it was a huge problem. If you
could remove useless movement, it would produce a margin of
time and space to spare, and that margin would widen one’s view.
106
These «Sentinels» were much stronger in comparison with the

«Trooper» she had fought back then, yet Asuna could see each
move it made quite clearly—
The Kobold guard's HP gauge that she had just attacked with a
«Linear» to its throat’s vital point had a little left in its bar. If it
were the old Asuna, she would have waited for the enemy’s
counterattack, dodged it at the last minute, and then fired off
another «Linear». But that was pointless «Overkill». As soon as the
delay from the sword skill ended, Asuna once again jabbed at the
throat with minimal movement. With that, the enemy's HP gauge
reached zero, and disintegrated into blue fragments.
"GJ.20 "
Behind her, the black haired swordsman whispered that softly.
Although she didn't know what the abbreviation stood for, she
still replied with "You too".
At that time, the first bar of the Boss Kobold's HP gauge had
disappeared. In the front row, Diavel shouted "We're on the
second bar!", as additional «Sentinels» jumped down from the
holes in the wall.
Forgetting that they were the extra forces, Asuna and her partner
dashed towards the nearby monsters. The sword in her right
hand, despite only having been bought just yesterday, had already
perfectly adapted to her palm, and the response from the sword
was clear when she fired off her techniques as well. It was as if the
sword was a part of her arm, from the leather wrapped hilt to the
tip of its sharp, glittering blade.
—If this is what a «battle» is like in this world, then everything I
did up until yesterday was like a false imitation.
—I’m sure there will still be many more battles «ahead» of us. The
swordsman running next to me had always been heading forward
down that path.
20 GJ means Good Job
107
This world is a virtual illusion, and all our actions are

imitations…but…but I’m sure, this feeling is real. This feeling of
wanting to see what he sees as well.
A Sentinel's axe swung down, and the swordsman countered it
with a high blow. The next instant, Asuna herself shouted
"Switch!", and jumped towards the enemy with her beloved
sword.
108
13
The battle between the Kobold King with its guards and the 44
players proceeded far better than I expected.
Diavel and the rest of Group C had taken out the first HP gauge
layer, Group D had gotten rid of the second layer, and now Group
F and G had reduced the third layer by half. Until this point, the
members of Group A and B, the «Tank» teams, had their HP
reduced to the yellow «Half» region several times, but none of
them ever entered the dangerous red region. Since the heavy-
armored guards could be taken care of with ease by Group E and
the two of us, Group G changed roles to supporting the main
battlefield midway through.
What was truly remarkable was the intense fighting from the
rapier user Asuna. The «Linear» sword skill that had amazed me
when we first met, with the stronger and sharper rapier she had
obtained, accurately pierced the Kobold guards' throats, their
weak point. The time from the first motion of the skill until the
damage occurred was close to half of when the attack was
launched while relying the System Assist on its own. Looking at
that pure speed, I doubted that even I, who had been practicing
deliberately boosting the sword skill since the beta testing period,
could achieve that much acceleration.
She was just a beginner that knew only one skill. Just imagining
how far she could go if she increased her knowledge and honed
her senses made my spine tingle.
If this truly occurs, I'd like to see the progression by her side—
was the thought that came to my mind, but I forced it back into my
chest. On that day one month ago, I had decided to survive in this
world as a selfish solo player, so I had no right to want to be
together with other players. Because Klein, my first friend in this
world, should still be around the Starting City, carefully and safely
levelling up in order to make sure he and all his friends survive…
109
As I looked on while recalling those unpleasant memories, Asuna

had already struck down her second prey. The «Ruin Kobold
Sentinel» was a rare monster on account of the fact that it only
spawned here, so although it did not give as much experience and
Cor as the boss, it still dropped an item. Only money was
automatically distributed evenly among members in a raid party,
while the experience was split between those who defeated it,
which were Asuna and me. The item drop had a higher probability
of going to Asuna because she made the final blow.
That was probably the real reason why Group E's leader Kibaou,
whose party was also fighting similar Sentinels, wanted only his
group members to take the monsters down. However, the extra
pair of Asuna and I defeated our targets much faster than the full
six-member party of Group E. This way, even he couldn't
complain—
Just as I thought that, Kibaou’s voice resounded loudly from right
behind me.
"I know what you're up to. Feels good, doesn’t it?"
"……What did you say?"
Not knowing what he meant, I turned around to ask that. Since the
last two of the three Sentinels that had spawned in the third wave
were just about taken care of now, there was spare time to talk
until the next wave spawned. The cactus-headed swordsman
glared at me as I frowned, and then raised his voice and spat out,
"Don't pretend. I already know your motive for slipping into this
boss raid."
"My…motive? Aside from beating the boss, is there anything else?"
"What, playing innocent, are we? I know exactly what you're
aiming for!"
The premise behind this conversation didn’t seem to be
connecting for me. As I unconsciously grinded my teeth out of a
strange frustration, Kibaou finally told me the heart of the matter.
110
"I know about it. I heard a little about you…in the past, you did the
dishonourable act of LA on the boss!"
"Wha………"
——LA. Last Attack.
It was true that, in past battles against bosses, I had prided myself
on having a good grasp of the boss's remaining HP gauge to
determine the best time to use my strongest sword skill on the
boss and get the LA bonus. However, that was not in this world,
but in another floating castle that existed for merely a single
month—in the «Sword Art Online Closed Beta Test».
Kibaou not only knew I was a former beta tester, but he even
knew my play-style from back then. But, wait a minute. This man
had just said "I heard it", if I recall right. In other words, it was
hearsay information. But, who did he hear it from……
At that moment, a second insight ran electrifyingly through my
body.
Last week, Kibaou used the informant Argo the Rat to attempt to
buy my «Anneal Blade +6» with a large sum of money. Yesterday,
he had even raised his offer beyond the market price to forty
thousand Cor, but even though I gave a final refusal, he did not
spend that money.
No. It was not that he did not spend it. In fact, he didn't have that
kind of money in the first place.
It was not just Argo, Kibaou himself was also a mediator. Because
even the day after I refused his offer, he still talked to me calmly.
The real buyer was someone else. The source of the forty
thousand Cor was that person. If another person was put between
that person and Argo, no matter how much I paid for information,
I could not have found out who the original buyer was.
That mastermind gave Kibaou information about the beta period
and manipulated him to stir up trouble.
111
If it is like this, that person's aim was not to get the «Anneal Blade
+6» to increase their own battle power. No, that may also be a part
of it, but his main aim was different. It was to decrease my—
Kirito’s battle power. To make me weak and prevent me from
doing my old signature move, obtaining the LA bonus—
"……Kibaou. That guy who told you that, how did he manage to
gain information on me from the beta test period?"
"It’s obvious. He used ridiculously large amounts of money and
bought the information about the beta period from the «Rat». In
order to deduce the identity of the hyena that snuck into the raid
party."
——Liar. Argo, even if she would sell information on herself,
would never sell information on other beta testers.
As I clenched my teeth, the front row gave a loud cheer. The boss's
long HP gauge had finally reached the fourth and final layer.
My attention was drawn to the front lines. It looked like Groups F
and G were retreating after taking out the third HP gauge, and in
their place the fully recovered Group C was rushing towards the
boss. The party leader was the commander of the raid itself, the
blue haired knight Diavel. Even in the dim light of the Labyrinth,
his blue hair glittered brilliantly.
"Uguruooooooooooooo——!!"
«Illfang the Kobold Lord» gave out a particularly ferocious roar. At
the same time, the final wave of three «Ruin Kobold Sentinels»
jumped out of their holes in the walls.
"…More small fry Kob, this time I won't let even one go. I won't let
you LA them."
His voice dripping with hatred, Kibaou returned to his comrades
in Group E.
While still feeling lingering shock and confusion, I reluctantly
turned away and went to regroup with Asuna who was not far
away.
112
"……What did you talk about?"

As she asked quietly, I just shook my head.
"No…—First, let's defeat our opponents."
"……Yes."
After our brief exchange, I plunged forward and aimed my sword
at a Sentinel.
At that moment—
Suddenly, I felt «something», so I glanced over at the main
battlefield for just an instant.
The Kobold king threw away both the bone axe in its right hand
and the leather shield in its left down onto the ground
simultaneously. It gave another roar and brought its hand to the
back of its waist. It grasped a handle bound roughly in tattered
cloth, and pulled out its brutally long «Talwar».
During the early days of the beta, I'd seen this attack pattern
change motion many times. From here on, it would only use the
sword skills from the curved blade category until it died. Although
its savage appearance in a berserk state was terrifying, it was
actually easier to deal with than its earlier state. Since the
techniques it used were only straight long-ranged vertical cuts, if
the trajectory of the skill was firmly grasped when it was
launched, one could avoid it even when sticking close to the boss.
Under Diavel's command, the six people that formed Group C
surrounded the boss. This was a formation that couldn’t be used
while the boss still wielded the bone axe that performed
horizontal attacks. Really, I hadn’t expected at all that reading the
book beforehand allowed them to come up with such precise
directions. As long as the six could avoid the wild swings of the
Talwar until the final blow……
"………Huh…?"
113
From the back of my throat, that noise was subconsciously leaked

out.
The object of player X, who had entrusted to Kibaou the large sum
of forty thousand Cor in order to try to buy my sword, was to
interfere with me performing the LA on the Kobold king. I had
already guessed that much. Even though my sword had not been
taken, the goal of X had been mostly achieved. As part of the raid's
extra force, I could only deal with the Sentinels, so I couldn't even
approach within ten meters of the boss.
However, if it is like this.
The identity of X, at this moment, is a player who is attempting to
LA the boss—that should be correct, right? After all, paying forty
thousand gold is far too large a sum of money just to hinder me.
Being able to LA the boss themselves should be more than enough
to cover that expense.
In other words…the player X manipulating Kibaou, the man knew
about my past in the beta test, his name is…...
"—It's coming!"
Asuna’s sharp words instantly roused me out of my momentary
thoughts. The Sentinel swung its halberd, and I subconsciously
used the diagonally cutting sword skill «Slant», repelling his
weapon with all my strength.
"Switch!"
I shouted, then jumped backward, as Asuna exchanged with me
and went in front of the guard. I once again glanced at the
battlefield twenty meters away to my left.
After the motion during which the boss couldn’t be attack was
finished, the battle resumed. The first locked target was the blue
haired knight, who had calmly avoided the first strike.
With his back facing me, I wondered to myself.
—Is it you?
114
—Diavel the knight, are you…Is everything part of your plan……?

Of course he didn't answer. Instead, Illfang roared and howled,
then it slowly raised the blade in its right hand up high in a slow
curve……
Once again, the sensation of «something» picked the center of my
head.
A sense of discomfort. Something was different. This boss monster
and the Kobold king that I knew were just slightly different. It was
not its color. Nor its size. Nor its face and voice. The source of the
discomfort wasn’t from its body…it was the weapon in its right
hand.
From where I was, only the silhouette of the sword was visible,
but…wasn’t that blade too thin? The gently curved blade was
certainly similar to the one I was familiar with during the beta test
period, but its width...as well as its gleam, was different. It wasn’t
the rough texture of cast iron. It was the tint of forged, polished
steel. I have seen a weapon similar to that before…on the tenth
floor of the old floating castle. A curved sword wielded by a very
formidable foe dressed in red armor at the end of the beta period.
Unusable by players, it was in the monster-use category, called……
"Ah…Aah……!"
A strangled sound came out from my throat. I forcefully sucked air
into my narrowing air ducts, and bellowed out as loud as I could.
"D…Don’t do it, fall back!! Retreat quickly——!!"
But, my voice was drowned out by the sound effects of Illfang's
sword skill.
The Kobold king's huge body shook the floor, as it jumped up high.
It turned its body in mid-air, while accumulating power to its
weapon. As it fell down, it used the accumulated power, releasing
a crimson beam of light.
Trajectory—horizontal. Angle of attack—three hundred and sixty
degrees.
115
Katana-use sword skill, the heavy ranged attack

«Tsumujiguruma»21.
Six vivid red light effects appeared, looking like pillars of blood.
The HP gauge that was displayed on the left side of our field of
vision, showing Group C's average HP, immediately dropped
below fifty percent and became dyed yellow. I could see the six
individual HP gauges of the six player if one touched the gauge
with their finger, but there was no point in doing it now. Everyone
in Group C had obviously received nearly equal amounts of
damage.
Though a ranged attack, it also had a tremendous power that was
enough to take out more than half of one’s HP, but the technique’s
affect didn’t stop there. Yellow lights rotated around the heads of
the six people that had collapsed on the floor. This was temporary
state of being unable to move for a period time—the stun effect.
Of the dozens of bad statuses in SAO, being stunned wasn’t as
scary as paralysis or blindness, as the effect lasted at most ten
seconds. However, once the effect started, there was no way to
recover from it. Therefore, if the front members were stunned,
their friends must save them by diving in front without waiting for
the switch, and must become the target to draw enemy fire—
however.
Not a single person moved to help. Having a detailed strategy
meeting in advance. Filling themselves with a mood of an easy
victory that had continued thus far. And having the person
everyone relied on, their leader Diavel, be struck down in a single
blow. These reasons, combined together, tied down the bodies of
everyone aside from Group C. Within the strained silence, the
Kobold Lord recovered from the long delay caused by using its
super skill.
Coming to my senses at last, I tried to shout out.
"Charge…"
21 Tsumujiguruma: Kanji is 旋車, which basically means “whirling wheel”
116
At the same time, in the front lines, the two handed axe user Agil
and several other players tried to move in to support the others.
But, it was too late.
"Uguruo!!"
The demi human roared, and the katana—no, the nodachi22 in
both its hands was moved away from its trajectory close to the
floor and raised up high. Sword skill «Ukifune»23. It was aimed for
the Knight Diavel, who had fallen right in front of it. As if pulled by
a pale red arc of light, the knight in silver armor was sent flying
high up into the air. The damage wasn't much. However, the
Kobold Lord's movements didn't stop there.
Its large wolf-like mouth grinned ferociously.
The nodachi was once again wrapped in a red light effect.
«Ukifune» was the start of a skill combo. If you were hit by it while
in the air, it was useless to struggle, so you could only defend by
curling up. However, it was impossible for a person who was
dealing with this situation for the first time.
While in the sky, Diavel brandished his sword, trying to pull off a
sword skill to counterattack. However, because he was unstable,
the system could not determine the starting motion for the skill.
The huge nodachi directly hit the front of the knight as he waved
his sword uselessly.
At a speed which could not be seen by the eye, the combination
attack continued with a further strike followed by a thrust. A three
hit strike, this skill's name was «Hiōgi»24.
The bright colors and crashing sounds of the three consecutive
damage effects that engulfed the knight’s body showed that all the
attacks were critical hits.
22 Nodachi: A curved blade like the katana, but much longer.

23 Ukifune: Kanji is 浮舟, which basically means “floating boat”
24 Hiōgi: Kanji is 緋扇, which basically means “scarlet fan”
117
His avatar was blasted twenty meters away, over the heads of the
raid members, and fell as if piercing into the ground near me, as I
faced the last of the Sentinels. He fell almost as if piercing the
ground. His HP gauge, which was already crimson, began to
reduce further from the right end.
"……!!"
I gasped out a strange sound from the back of my throat, and I
attacked the Sentinel’s halberd that was approaching in front of
me with a «Slant» that contained all my strength. The halberd's
handle was cut apart in the middle, and as it stood stunned for a
short duration Asuna's rapier pierced through its throat.
With ascertaining for the monster's shattering effect with my own
eyes, I turned towards the body of the fallen Diavel. Seeing the
knight’s eyes from the short distance of one meter for the first
time, I felt sparks race through my mind.
—I recognize this player.
His name and appearance were completely different from what I
remembered, but we had definitely previously met face to face in
the other Aincrad, and maybe I had even talked to him. As
expected, Diavel was an original beta tester like me. And like me,
he had fought while hiding his past until today. No, since he had
made close friends while hiding his past, the pressure on him was
probably several times more than mine.
However, precisely because he had an original tester's knowledge,
he was harmed by it when it came to final stage of breaking
through the first floor.
Although I do not remember him, he had had probably been
convinced that I, Kirito, was the player with the same name,
although with a different face, who was good at placing the LA on
the boss during the beta testing period. And, he believed that I
would probably try to do the same thing here. A Floor Boss’s rare
drop items were unique and high power items, and by getting it
one’s fighting power could sharply rise.
118
In the current death that SAO has become, combat ability is

synonymous with survivability. Diavel, in order to survive in this
world—not as an isolated solo player, but as a Knight at the head
of a group—had tried to get the rare drop from Illfang by any
means.
It seemed like Diavel has also guessed that I had realized all that in
that moment. His eyes, as blue as his hair, twitched for an instant,
but immediately after emitted a kind of pure light. From his
trembling lips, he spoke in a voice soft enough for only me to hear.
"…I leave the rest to you, Kirito-san. The boss, defea—"
Before his sentence ended—
The commander of the Aincrad Boss Raid Forces, the Knight
Diavel, turned into blue shards of glass, and then scattered in all
directions.
119
14
Uwaaaaa, this kind of cry—or rather, scream filled the Boss room.
Nearly all the raid members clutched their weapons as if clinging

to them, with their wide eyes open. But no one moved. The leader
being first to fall, no, to die was a situation beyond any of our
expectations, so no one could decide what to do next.
Of course, this was also true for me.
In my mind, two options alternately blinked. To flee, or to fight.
In normal circumstances, when suffering from such large disasters

as «a boss using weapons and skills different from information
previously obtained» and the «loss of the leader», everyone
should immediately retreat out of the boss room. However, if we
turned our backs to Illfang with his long-range Katana skills while
we retreated, the ten people furthest to the back, or in the worst
case more than that, would end up stunned and deprived of all
their HP by consecutive attacks like Diabel. Though I say that,
even if we retreated while facing forward to protect ourselves, it
would be difficult against an opponent with unknown skills. It
would be expected that an equal number of people would
gradually lose their HP and die during the time required to dash
out of the room.
And most of all, with that many deaths—including the leader—

and with the boss battle having failed, there was the risk of never
again being able to assemble another force raid party of the same
scale. In other words, the attempt to clear the death game called
SAO would fail. The eight thousand survivors would not be
warriors of the virtual world, but prisoners trapped in the first
floor until there is some kind of «end»…
Then, two sounds echoed out at the same time, stirring me from
my hesitation.
120
One of them was, right at the front lines, the sound of Illfang, who
had come out of its delay, starting to rampage again. With a
metallic sound and a shriek, the mass damage effects violently
shook the dim lighting.
The other sound was the voice of Kibaou, who was kneeling next
to me.
"……Why…Why…Diabel-han, why were you, the leader, the first

to…"
—Because he tried to perform the LA on the boss.
Telling him like this would be easy. However, I didn't say

anything.
Now that I think about it, in the first meeting, Kibaou’s actions had
been a flared up act by Diabel. Diabel had perfectly attempted to
lead the conversation towards radical remarks like not becoming
comrades with beta testers if they didn’t apologize and give an
unfair contribution of their assets without obstructing the topic.
That scene was probably a reward—no, not a term of bargaining

from Diabel to Kibaou. In exchange for making Kibaou do the
troublesome job of negotiating to buy my sword, Diabel gave him
the opportunity to clear again the anger towards original testers
that was smoldering inside Kibaou at the raid meeting. Agil's
logical argument ended it halfway through, but if the boss battle
ended as planned today, they probably planned to bring up the
same topic again somehow at the review meeting afterwards. In
other words, Kibaou did not suspect that Diabel was an original
tester. He believed and was convinced that Diabel was a
representative of the regular players taking a stand against the
dirty testers. Was there any meaning in me giving him a further
shock to him by telling him my deductions?
Instead—I grabbed Kibaou's left shoulder as he hanged his hand

downwards, and forced him up.
121
"Is this the time to be discouraged!?"
When I gave that low shout, Kibaou's small eyes were instantly
filled with a familiar hostility.
"…What…What did you say?"
"If you, the Group E leader, become a coward, your companions

will die! Listen here, additional Sentinels may still spawn…no,
they will definitely spawn. Handling them is your responsibility!"
"…Then, what will you do? Are you planning on escaping alone!?"
"As if I would. Of course I…"
Ringing the Anneal Blade in my right hand, I said,
"—Will get the LA on the boss!"
In the one month since I had become trapped in this world, I had
taken many actions to keep only myself alive. I hadn't dispensed
the knowledge I had obtained during the beta test period to
anyone, in order to take advantage of the hunting grounds and
quests that were more efficient while single-mindedly
strengthening myself.
If I were to stick to a solo player's normal code of conduct, then in

this situation, I should run towards the exit while many raid
members are still standing between the Boss monster and myself.
Without turning back even as the raging Kobold king kills my
comrades, instead I should actively using them as shields, in order
to ensure my own safety.
However, at this instant, no such thoughts came to my mind.

Something fiery ran through my veins, and both my legs head
towards the brink of life and death. This may have been because of
the words the knight Diabel had left me.
The boss—defeat it. Those were the words he had tried to say. Not
‘escape with everyone’.
122
He had persisted in trying to get the Last Attack in order to

significantly boost his probability of acquiring rare items, and as a
result he had lost his life, but his command ability was definitely
outstanding. That Diabel, in his last moments, had decided not to
ask us to «withdraw» but instead to do «bloody battle». Therefore,
as a member of the raid party, I will comply with his wish…no, his
dying wish.
However, there was still one doubt that remained in me.
Before the battle began, I had secretly decided. Instead of

protecting myself, I would protect the rapier user «Asuna»'s life
with everything I had. She had a radiant talent which I did not
possess. For this bud to perish before it blooms was an absolutely
unacceptable situation for anyone fascinated by VRMMO games.25
Just before I started to run forward, I looked at Asuna who stood

to my left, and was about to tell her "Stay in the back and if the
front collapses, you should withdraw immediately". However, as if
she could read my mind, before I opened my mouth, she declared
decisively,
"I'm going too. We're partners, after all."
I did not have a good reason to deny her, and there was no time
for debate. After hesitating for an instant, I nodded.
"…Understood. I'll be relying on you."
The two of us turned in the same direction at the same time, and
started running towards the back of the hall.
Along the way, we heard constant roars and screams.
25 By Pryun: In this sentence Kirito is saying that, "for the bud (which refers to Asuna) to perish (ie:
be killed) before it blooms (before Asuna grows to reach her full potential), would be an extremely
unacceptable situation for any person (Kirito included) who is fascinated by VRMMOs (ie: takes VRMMOs
seriously)."
123
Although it seemed that there were no more deaths following

Diabel's, the average HP of the vanguard was less than half
altogether, and for Group C who had lost their leader, they were
down below twenty percent. Some players were in complete
despair and were just trying to escape, and at this rate the
formation would fall apart within a few dozen seconds.
The first thing I had to do was to calm everyone down from their
panicked state. However, in this situation, the noise would drown
out any half-hearted instructions given. I needed some short yet
strong words, but being inexperienced in leading, I couldn’t just
suddenly figure out what words I should shout to them—…
At that moment. Asuna, running by my side, forcefully grasped her

hooded cape that was likely to get in her way, and suddenly flung
it from her body.
124
125
It was as if the lights from the countless torches along both walls
were condensed into a single point of radiance. Her glossy
chestnut long hair now radiated a deep golden shine, scattering
the gloomy ambience of the boss's room.
With her long hair fluttering as she dashed, Asuna was like a
shooting star that had suddenly appeared at the bottoms of
darkness. Even the panicking players were taken aback by her
fierce beauty and became silent. Not letting this miraculous
moment of silence go to waste, I shouted so loudly that my throat
was tearing,
"Everyone, take ten steps back towards the exit! As long as the
boss is not surrounded, it won’t use its ranged attacks!!"
At the same time as the echo of my voice disappeared, time
started to flow again. *Za!!* With this sound, the front line players
moved backwards all at once on either side of me and Asuna.
Chasing them, the Kobold king turned around and faced us as we
ran side by side.
"Asuna, we’ll use the same tactics that we used against the
Sentinels! …Here we go!!"
The moment her name was called, the rapier user glanced at me,
but then faced the front again almost immediately and responded
back.
"Understood!"
In front of us, the Kobold king took away his left hand from the
nodachi that both hands previously held, and lowered it next to
his left hip. If I remember right, that motion is for—
"……!!"
I held my breath, and started to activate my own sword skill. I
similarly positioned to my left hip in preparation, and leaned
forward just on the verge of falling over. At this angle, it wasn’t
enough for the system to recognize the motion.
126
From this low position so close to the floor, I then used my right
leg to take off at full power. As my body became wrapped in a pale
blue light, I ran through the ten meters separating the boss from
me in an instant. Basic one-handed sword rush technique, «Rage
Spike».
At the same time, the boss was poised with his Nodachi shining
with a green glow, and slashed at a speed which could not be seen.
Straight long ranged move, «Tsujikaze»26. Because it was an Iai27
type move, it would be impossible to keep up with it after seeing it
launched.
"U…oooh!!"
With a roar, the trajectory of my sword moving upwards from the
left intersected with the trajectory of Illfang's Nodachi. As a flash
of sparks burst out along with a shrill metallic sound, the boss and
I were knocked apart more than two meters from the recoil of our
respective sword skills.
With the opportunity that was produced—Asuna seized it
splendidly, driving forward at a speed equal to my charging
technique.
"Yaaaaa!!"
Released with a short and sharp vigor, her «Linear» stabbed deep
into the Kobold king's right flank. The fourth HP gauge,
marginally, but definitely was reduced in width as a result.
While conscious of the intense feedback that still remained in my
right hand, I reflected upon our prospects of success and my
misgivings in equal measure.
The Illfang from the beta period had been equipped with the
«Talwar» sword skills, which I hadn’t been able to fully parry
using my own sword skills back then.
26 Tsujikaze: The original kanji for this is 辻風, which means “whirlwind”
27 Iaido is Japanese martial art associated with the smooth, controlled movements of drawing the
sword from its scabbard, striking or cutting an opponent, removing blood from the blade, and then
replacing the sword in the scabbard.
127
However, perhaps because the Katana was lighter than the

Talwar, my HP gauge did not decrease from the previous clash.
But in exchange, the speed of the techniques was outrageous. Was
it really possible to keep dodging them with no mistakes?
Another one. The Troopers had been taken out by three strikes of
Asuna’s «Linear» while the Sentinels had required four strikes, but
as expected of a boss monster, its HP was at an amount that
couldn't be compared with that of those small fry. I had no clue
how many strikes it would take if she were to try depleting the
fourth gauge by herself. A big advantage for the player side was
that the boss could be attacked simultaneously by several people
due to its massive bulk, so if it were possible I’d want at least one
player on either side of her as attackers, but all the other groups
from A to G had drawn back as their HP had been greatly reduced.
I couldn't ask them for help until they had recovered with their
potions.
—Asuna and I could only do what we could do with the two of us.
In the first place, hadn’t I been thinking of doing it just by myself
somehow earlier? Now that it became two people, what else could
I ask for?
"…The next one is coming!"
I cried that out after recovering from my post-motion28, and then
concentrated all my will on the long and large blade brandished
by the boss.
In August of this year, within the «Sword Art Online Closed Beta
Test» that one thousand testers had been recruited to play, I
reached the tenth floor last, but I didn't managed to meet that
floor's boss.
28
”Post-motion” is the English term the author uses in furigana, while the kanji beneath would best
describe it as “after technique stiffness”. Basically, it means the temporary delay in movement after using
a sword skill.
128
I had been unable to break through the spawning zone there filled
with the samurai-type monsters «Orochi Elite Guards» that
guarded that floor’s dungeon, which was called «Thousand Snake
Castle». Since the katana skills they used were unavailable to
players and were mercurial, I had had to desperately memorize
the skill names and their trajectories by using each time I was hit
by them as a reference. And then finally, I managed to grasp the
«pre-motions» of all the skills they used…but by then it was
already the thirty-first of August.
Orochi and Illfang, although their shapes and sizes were very
different, were both humanoid-type monsters, and had used the
same techniques so far. Therefore, I used my memories of four
months ago to somehow continue to counter its various attacks,
including the Iai-type.
Of course, I was walking on a tightrope. The boss's slashes had
very high base damage value, and the basic skills «Slant» and
«Horizontal» left only to the Assist would be repelled back by
them. If I didn’t fully use these skills by intentionally moving my
body29 in order to boost the speed and power of the skill, it
wouldn’t work at all. However, this amplified outside the system
skill was also very risky because of its power if I relied on it too
much. Even a small mistake in movement would hinder the
system assist, and in the worst case the sword skill would abort in
the middle of it.
I, with a total of two months playing SAO if you included the beta
period, had trained this technique which requires maximum
concentration over the longest period of time.
And, every fifteenth or sixteenth time, it was disrupted.30
"Cra…!!"
29 By intentionally moving my body, it means that the user he has to move his body without the use
of the system assist.
30 Meaning that the chance of failure was 1 in 15 or 16.
129
Cursing, I tried to cancel the «Vertical» slash I had initiated. I had

read the opening moves of Illfang's blade, as it drew half a circle
while Illfang turned beneath it. It was the motion for the technique
that launched strikes up and down in random order, «Gengetsu»31.
I desperately pulled back the Anneal Blade in my right hand, but
an unpleasant shock hit my whole body with a jerk, and my
movements stop.
"Ah…!!"
By the time Asuna gave out a small shout next to me, the nodachi
had already jumped up from below and caught the front of my
body.
I felt a sharp shock that was as cold as ice. My body was paralyzed,
and my HP gauge was reduced by thirty percent.
As I was thrown across the room and barely managed to stay on
my knees, Asuna rushed towards the Kobold king in my place. I
tried to scream "Don't!". «Gengetsu» had a very short post-motion
delay. While raised up high from the previous slash, the blade
glowed the color of blood. Not good, this was the three hit skill
that killed Diabel, Scarlet Fan «Hiōgi»……
"Nu…oooo!!"
A deep war cry was let out just as its blade was on the verge of
hitting Asuna.
As the blade grazed just the top her head, a huge weapon launched
a skill while releasing a green light. The two-handed axe sword
skill «Whirlwind»—
The nodachi had discharged first, but the two handed axe that
spun like a whirlwind intercepted it. It created an impact so great
that the entire boss room trembled, and Illfang was knocked back
quite a distance. However, the attacker had braced both his feet
wrapped in leather sandals, so he only slid back a meter or so.
31 Gengetsu: The original kanji for this is 幻月, which means “phantom moon”
130
The one who had entered the fray was Group B’s brown skinned
and gigantic leader, Agil.
As I knelt on the floor exploring my coat pockets, he looked over
his shoulders at me, grinning.
"We'll support you until you finish drinking your POT. There has
to be Tanks along with damage dealers, that will not change."
"……Sorry, I leave it to you."
I gave that short answer, and I forcibly swallowed down
something that tried to well up inside my chest with a recovery
potion.
Agil was not the only person who had come to the front. Many
people composed mainly of his B Group comrades and those with
light wounds had finished recovering and were rejoining the
battle.
With a look at Asuna I conveyed "I'm fine" to her, and then I
shouted in my loudest voice at the swordsmen.
"If the boss is surrounded, it will attack back with an omni-
directional attack! I will be calling out the trajectory of the attacks,
so the guys in front, deal with them! Even if you can’t repel it by
force with a sword skill, you can avoid a large amount of damage
just by blocking it properly with a shield or a weapon!"
"Ou!!"
A savage bellow from the men reverberated, and it may have been
my imagination, but it blended with the roar that the Kobold king
gave in irritation.
I retreated to stand beside the wall, and while waiting for the
recovery potions to slowly take effect, I checked the situation on
the rear lines.
The boss's weapon had changed, and sure enough, along with it, it
seemed that the number of «Ruin Kobold Sentinels» that were
spawned had also increased.
131
Kibaou's Group E and the lightly injured pole-arm equipped Group

G were taking on all four of the heavily armored guards at the
same time.
Although they had not taken much damage so far, as long as
Illfang remained alive, four Sentinels would probably keep
jumping out of the wall alcoves on a regular basis. They would
eventually reach their limits with just two parties.
Also, between the front and rear lines, the injured raid members,
including the survivors of Group C, were trying to recover their HP
like me. However, recovery potions in this game were really
frustrating items, having only a «Heal Over Time» effect…in other
words, drinking the bottle would not instantly recover the gauge,
but instead make it gradually increase in small increments, and
moreover, after drinking the potion there was a cool-down period
indicated by a «Cooling» icon displayed at the bottom of the
vision, which rendered drinking the next bottle useless until it
disappeared. On top of that, the inferior-quality potions sold at the
first floor NPC shops had a sorrowfully terrible flavor.
Putting the taste aside, because of the set cool-down period,
healing from heavy injuries took up a lot of time. Therefore, the
normal theory was that, when someone received damage worthy
of a potion, they would switch with their partner and fall back to
the rear (that was, in other words, POT rotation), but as the
number of those who received unexpectedly heavy wounds
multiplied, it became easy for the rotation to break down. On
higher floors, the dreamlike item which could instantly recover
the gauge, «Healing Crystal», could be obtained, so such recovery
is possible if one is not bothered with the cost, but it would be
asking too much to have one on hand now.
Therefore, how long Agil and the six people under him who were
currently replacing me were able to maintain their HP gauges
against the boss's fierce attacks would decide the flow of the
battle. For that reason, I would have to predict Illfang's skills the
moment its preparatory motions started.
132
In my kneeling posture, I of course kept my eyes carefully peeled

while focusing my senses to capture every movement the Kobold
Boss made, and after determining the sword skill that was being
activated, I shouted things like "Horizontal slash, right!" and
"Downward slash, left!".
Agil's team of six was not pressured into desperately countering
from following my instructions, but instead they used their shields
and large weapons to guard themselves. Since they were players
with «tank builds», they had high defense and HP, but even so
receiving zero damage from the sword skills the boss launched
was impossible. A loud sound effect would occur, and each time,
their gauges would gradually reduce.
Among that group was a single fencer who lightly danced. Asuna.
Without turning her back in front of the boss, she never wasted
any chance to pierce its body with «Linear» whenever Illfang was
in a delay period, even for a moment. Of course, after repeated
strikes the «Hate» value would become focused on Asuna, but the
six tanks used appropriate skills such as «Howl» to redirect the
target's Hate to themselves.
This dangerous battle, which could collapse in an instant if even
one of the elements here failed, actually managed to continue for
close to five minutes.
Soon enough, the boss's HP finally went below thirty percent, and
the final gauge became suffused red.
At that instant, perhaps letting down his guard for a moment, one
of the players acting as a tank tripped over. Stumbling, the player
came to a halt directly behind Illfang.
"…Get out of there quickly!"
I called out reflexively, but it was a moment too late. As the boss
felt that it was «In a surrounded state», it gave out an
exceptionally ferocious roar.
With a jerk, its large body sank into a crouch. Then its entire bulk
was flung high up into a vertical jump.
133
While on its course, its body along with the Nodachi, contorted
and revolved during the jump. It was the omnidirectional attack
«Tsumujiguruma»—…
"U…ooaah!!"
Giving off a short howl and forgetting that my own HP had not
fully recovered, I jumped forward from along the wall.
Positioning my sword on my right shoulder, my left foot kicked off
from the floor at full force. The acceleration that shouldn't have
been possible with my actual Agility assaulted my spine, while my
body flew up diagonally into the sky like a shot from a gun. The
one-handed sword rush technique «Sonic Leap». Its range was
shorter than «Rage Spike», but its trajectory could be aimed
towards the sky.
The sword in my right hand was engulfed in a bright yellow-green
light. In its path was Illfang's katana, which had reached the apex
of its jump, while producing a deep crimson glow.
"Reach…it——!!"
Shouting that, I stretched my right arm to its limit, and swung my
sword.
The point of my beloved Anneal Blade +6 drew a long crescent as
it raced through the air, and hit the left side of Illfang’s waist, as it
was on the verge of using «Tsumujiguruma».
*Zashuu!* A sharp and heavy slashing sound rang out. The intense
light effects showing that it was a critical hit flashed before my
eyes.
In the next moment, the Kobold king's huge body was sent angling
sideways in the sky, and then it crashed into the ground before the
tornado of its special attack could even form.
"Guruu!"
Yelling, it tried to stand up, but both its feet and arms quivered.
134
It was a bad status that affected humanoid type monsters, the

«Tumble» state—.
Barely managed to land successfully with falling, I turned to face
Illfang, and then I forced out the air in my lungs to shout.
"Everyone—do a Full Attack!! Surround it!!"
"O…oooooh!!"
Agil's six men cried out as if releasing the anger that had
accumulated, while they had only been able to concentrate on
guarding until now. Surrounding the fallen Kobold king, they
activated all their vertical slashing sword skills simultaneously.
Axes, maces and hammers wrapped in lights of various colors, and
rained down incessantly on its huge body. Bright lights and loud
sound effects exploded, and Illfang's HP gauge which was shown
at the top of our field of vision was shaved down bit by bit.
This was a gamble. If all Kobold king's HP was reduced to nothing
before it got up, it would be our victory. If it got out of the
«Tumble» status first, in that instant we would be met with
«Tsumujiguruma» again, and this time everyone would be cut
down. My «Sonic Leap» was in the middle of the «Cooling» period,
so I was unable to deal attacks while in the air.
Agil's group, who had recovered from the post-motion delay of
their techniques, began the pre-motions for their next skills. The
Kobold king stopped struggling at the same time, and its body
started to rise.
"……We’re not going to make it!!"
I shouted that in a stifled voice, then raised my voice to Asuna who
had moved beside me while I was not paying attention.
"Asuna, one final «Linear», let's go for it!!"
"Understood!!"
As her answer was so upbeat, I unconsciously raised one side of
my cheeks in a smile.
135
The weapons of the six people thrummed once again

simultaneously, swallowing the boss's giant body in a swirl of light
effects.
However, before the lights had even faded, the boss roared as it
stood up. Its HP gauge was left with merely three percent, shining
a bright red.
Agil and the others were still stuck in delay, unable to move. In
contrast, Illfang who was attacked while in the «Tumble» state
was neither stunned nor knocked back, and so smoothly entered
its vertical jump motion.
"Let's…go!!"
As soon as I screamed, I kicked off from the ground at the same
time as Asuna.
Through the gaps in Agil's party, Asuna first sent a «Linear» at the
boss's left flank.
Slightly behind her, my sword, coated in a blue light, made a cut
from the Kobold king's right shoulder to its stomach.
Its HP gauge…was left with one dot.
It felt like the demi-human gave a smirk. In return, I gave a fierce
smile as well, as I rapidly readjusted my wrist.
"O…ooooooh!!"
With my whole body and soul, I swung my sword. The blade,
which was nicked in several places after the fierce battle, drew a
"V" shaped trajectory along with the earlier slash, exiting from
Illfang's left shoulder. One-handed sword double-consecutive-
strike skill «Vertical Arc»—
The Kobold king's gigantic frame, suddenly losing its strength,
staggered backwards.
Its wolf-like face looked towards the ceiling, as it gave a thin and
high howl. Over its body, numerous cracks noisily appeared,
resounding with a snap and crackle.
136
Both its hands went slack, and its nodachi fell to the floor. After
that, the body of Aincrad's first floor's boss, «Illfang the Kobold
Lord» shattered into millions of fragments, and scattered grandly
in all directions.
As I bent backwards under the intangible pressure, the purple
system message [You got the Last Attack!!] flashed soundlessly in
my vision.
137
15
As the boss dispersed, the remaining Sentinels at the back also

seemed to have scattered into nothingness.
The hue of the shining torches on the walls changed from a
gloomy orange into a bright yellow. The dimness in the boss's
room was immediately lifted, and a cool wind from somewhere
swept across the room, taking away the heat of the hard-fought
battle.
There was barely anyone who tried to break the silence. While
Groups G and E remained standing at the back formation, Groups
A, C, D and F within the middle formation were on their knees
awaiting recovery, and Agil’s Group B, the «Final Tanks», sat on
the floor, looking around dazedly. It was almost as if they were
worried that the terrifying demi-human king would revive.
I too, with my right hand still holding my sword ready in a
slashing position, remained stationary.
Was it really over? Would any more «Minor differences from
Beta» occur here as well…?
Then, at that time. A small white hand gently touched my right
shoulder, causing me to slowly lower my sword. Standing before
me, was the rapier user Asuna. As her long chestnut hair waved in
the breeze, she stared at me.
With the removal of her hooded cape revealing her face, I realized
for the first time that she was so beautiful that I wanted to doubt
whether it was really a player's appearance. I continued to stare
into the eyes of her pretty face blankly. Asuna—probably just for
now—silently accepted my absentminded stare at her beautiful
face without a trace of annoyance, and then she eventually
whispered.
"Thanks for your hard work."
138
At those words, I was finally convinced. It was over…The biggest

obstacle which had kept eight thousand players confined to the
first floor had finally been removed.
And, as if the system had been awaiting that recognition of mine,
now a new message appeared in my view. The experience gained.
The distribution of cor. And finally—the items obtained.
As everyone around me also saw the same message I did, their
expressions finally brightened again. A moment after that, a cheer
of *Waa!!* erupted.
Some people threw their hands up into the air. Some embraced
their comrades. Some danced nonsensically. In this storm of
uproar, a large figure slowly got off the floor and strode over. It
was the two-handed-axe user, Agil.
"......Those were wonderful commands. And more than that, those
sword skills were spectacular. Congratulations32, this victory is
rightfully yours."
Even with the English word in the middle, the giant pronounced
the sentence perfectly, and as his mouth closed, he had a large
grin. He stretched out his large right hand clenched into a fist.
I wondered how to respond, but sadly no clever response came to
my mind, and I could only say "No…", as I also formed my right
hand into a fist, raising it.
At that moment.
"——Why!!"
Suddenly, that loud shout howled out behind me. I half-turned,
and in response to that almost-scream-like shout, the cheering
from the entire room calmed in an instant.
Looking away from Asuna and Agil, I turned to see a man in light
armor, a scimitar user, whose name I could not recall.
32 Note that this is said in English by Agil.
139
However, as soon as his mouth parted and further disjointed

words flowed from his lips, I understood.
"——Why did you leave Diabel-san to die!!"
This man was a member of Group C…in other words he had been
one of the deceased knight Diabel's comrades from the start. As I
looked past him, to the remaining four members behind him, they
stood looking disheveled. Some of them were crying.
Looking at the scimitar user again, I muttered. I truly didn't
understand the meaning behind those words.
"Let him die…?"
"That's right!! Because…Because you knew the skills the boss
used, didn't you!! If you had given us that information from the
start, Diabel wouldn't have died!!"
As he shouted as if vomiting blood, the remaining raid members
began to rumble. Things like "Now that you mention it…" and
"Why…? It wasn't even written in the strategy guide…" were
brought up and gradually spread.
I would had expected Kibaou to be the one to give answers to
those questions—
But he didn’t. He was standing motionlessly further away, with his
mouth closed shut as if he was resisting something. However,
another team member of Group E under his leadership walked
closer towards me, pointing with the index finger on his right
hand at me, and shouted.
"I…I know!! This guy is a beta tester!! That’s why, the boss's attack
patterns, good hunting spots and quests, he knows all of them!! He
hid them despite knowing about them!!"
Even upon hearing those words, the scimitar user and the other
members from Group C did not show any surprise.
140
I thought they might have heard it from Diabel, but—as a beta

tester himself, and hiding that fact from his comrades, it was
unlikely that Diabel would have brought up the topic of beta
testers on his own—when I discerned those katana skills that
should never have been seen by anyone before, they must have
figured it out then.
Instead, the scimitar user's eyes seemed to seethe in hatred, as he
again tried to shout out something.
It was interrupted by the mace user who had served as a tank with
Agil until the end. He raised his right hand dutifully, and said in a
calm tone.
"Even so, the guide that was handed out yesterday, it was written
that it was information on the boss's attack pattern only from the
beta period, right? If he was really a beta tester, wouldn't his
knowledge be the same as in the guide?"
"T-That’s……"
Replacing the Group E member who became silent, the scimitar
user spoke in a voice full of hatred.
"That strategy guide was a lie. Argo's information shop was selling
lies. That person was a beta tester after all, there's no way she
would have given us the truth for free."
——This is bad. This flow is very bad.
I quietly held my breath. I could endure any amount of
condemnation on myself. However, a situation where hostility
flares up towards the other testers, starting with Argo, was one
that I wanted to avoid by all means. But—But, what should I
do……
At that instant as I hung my head and stared at the black floor, the
still visible system message was being vividly displayed in my
vision. The acquired experience, cor, and items……
Instantly.
141
In my mind, an idea occurred to me. Subsequently, a large conflict

racked my body. If I followed this option, I don't know what kind
of future I will behold. As I had once feared, there was even the
risk of being killed in an ambush. But—at the very least, the
animosity currently directed against Argo and the other beta
testers might just be averted…
Behind me, in silence, Agil and Asuna who had endured patiently
up to this moment opened their mouths at the same time.
"Hey, you guys…" "You…"
However, I quieted the two of them with a delicate motion of my
hand.
Taking a step forward, while deliberately putting on an impudent
expression, I coolly looked into the face of the scimitar user.
Shrugging my shoulders, I told him in a voice as emotionless as I
could muster.
"An original beta tester, right? …Don't lump me together with
those amateurs."
"Wha…What was that…?"
"Listen here and remember well. SAO's CBT33 had an outrageously
low acceptance in the lottery draw. Out of the one thousand
people chosen, how many real MMO gamers do you think got
selected? Most of them were just newbies who didn't even know
to level up properly. You guys here are much better than that lot."
At the end of my contemptuous words, the forty-two players
simultaneously fell silent. A chill, as if the atmosphere before
fighting the boss had returned, brushed against my skin like an
invisible blade.
"—But, I'm not like those guys."
Deliberately sneering, I spoke the following words.
33 CBT: Closed Beta Test
142
"During the beta testing, I reached floors no one else could reach. I
knew of the Katana Skills the boss used because I fought and killed
mobs that used katanas on much higher floors. I know a lot more
too, far more than someone like Argo."
"……What the, that’s…"
The person who had first pointed me out as a beta tester, the guy
from Group E, then said in a hoarse voice.
"That's…no longer on the level of a beta tester…that's totally
cheating, you’re just a cheater!"
From all around us, multiple voices sprang up saying things like
“yeah, a cheater, a cheating beta tester”. The words were soon
muddled together, and in the end a strange sounding word,
«Beater», reached my ears.
"…«Beater», that has a good ring to it."
Laughing and grinning, I looked around at everybody here, and
told them in a clear voice.
143
144
"Exactly, I am a «Beater». From now on, please do not lump me

together with those former testers."
——This should be fine.
With this, of the four or five hundred current players that seem to
be beta testers, they will now be divided into two further
categories. The majority «testers who are merely amateurs» and,
the remaining few «information-controlling dirty Beaters».
In the future, the hostilities from the newer players should all be
directed towards the Beaters. So even if a beta tester were to be
discovered, players probably would not immediately hate them.
In return, I alone have lost the possibility to fight on the front lines
in any guilds or parties…However, it's not like much has changed.
I am currently a «Solo», and I will remain a solo. Forever alone.
That much is certain.
The scimitar user became pale-faced and fell silent, along with the
Group C members, then the Group E member turned his gaze
away from me. I opened my menu window and ran my finger
along the equipment figure.
I replaced the dark gray leather coat that I had worn until now
with the unique object dropped by the boss just a moment ago, the
«Coat of Midnight». My body was enveloped with a pale aura, and
the tired gray fabric changed to a shiny jet black leather. The
length increased by quite a bit, as the hem dropped to the level of
my knees.
With a flourish of the long black coat, I turned around—and faced
the small door at the back of the boss’s room.
"I'm going on to activate the second floor's transfer gate. From the
exit here it will be a short walk to the district town, so if you want
to come along, you should be prepared to be killed by any mob
that comes across us."
Agil and Asuna kept staring at me, as I started to walk away.
145
Both of them had eyes that showed they understood everything.

That was a relief. I faced the two of them and gave a small smile,
then stepped forward with large strides, and pushed open the
door to the second floor situated behind the kingless main throne.
After climbing the narrow spiral staircase for a while, a door once
again appeared.
As I gently opened it, a spectacularly scenic view suddenly sprung
into view. The door exited into the middle of some steep cliffs. A
narrow staircase in the shape of a terrace extended downwards to
the left along the rockface, but first I swept my eyes over the
panoramic view of the second floor.
Unlike the complex and varying terrain of the first floor, the
second floor was lined from one end to the other with flat-topped
mountains. The mountain tops were covered in lush green grass,
where gigantic ox-type monsters sauntered around.
The second floor's main town, «Urbus», was a city entirely
excavated from one of the flat-topped mountain below. From here
I will descend the flight of stairs, and as I had earlier described, it
would only require walking a short kilometer across the field to
reach the «Teleport Gate» in the central square of Urbus, which
would be activated upon touch, linking it to the gate in «Starting
City» on the first floor.
Even if, by any chance, I died along the way—or perhaps, if I sat
here idly, two hours after the boss was defeated, the teleport gate
would open automatically by itself. But today, the fact that the
first raid party was going to challenge the boss must have already
been conveyed to the Starting City, so many players were
probably waiting at the teleport gate right now, awaiting the
moment the blue warp gate would appear. I really should hurry to
Urbus for their sake, but…for just a little while more, I should have
the right to immerse myself in this breathtaking view.
I took a few steps forward, and then I sat down on the edge of the
terrace extending from the rocks.
146
Extending from beyond the rocky mountains, from the expanse of

Aincrad's periphery, a small sliver of the blue sky could be seen.
I wonder just how many minutes I passed that way. Before long, I
heard the quiet fall of footsteps climbing up the spiral staircase
behind me. Without turning around, I heard the footsteps stop
after the individual causing them came out of the main door, then
with a faint sigh, the person walked closer, and sat down beside
me.
"……And I told you not to follow too."
After I muttered that, the intruder replied in a slightly displeased
voice.
"You didn't say so. All that you said was you must be prepared to
die if you wish to come."
"…Is that so, sorry."
Shortening my neck, I saw the rapier user Asuna sitting next to
me, and from this angle I got a glimpse of the beautiful face of
hers. For a moment, her light brown eyes caught mine, but I
returned my gaze to the view immediately below us, mumbling
“beautiful” along with a sigh.
The silence continued like that for a minute, before she suddenly
spoke up.
"Agil-san and Kibaou have something to say to you."
"Heh…What is it?"
"Agil-san's words were 'Let's go for the second floor's boss raid
together'. As for Kibaou…"
Asuna gave a small cough, and with a serious face, attempted to
reproduce the Kansai-dialect with a poor imitation.
"…'You may have helped me today, but I still don't recognize you. I
will aim to clear this game my own way.' was what he said."
"…I see."
147
As I mulled over those words in my mind a few times—Asuna

gave a small cough, and continued speaking while looking the
other way.
"Also…this is my own message to you."
"Wha…What?"
"During the battle, you called out my name, didn't you?"
‘Did I?’, and then I recalled after thinking for a moment. Certainly,
somewhere in the heat of battle, I might have called out her name
without honorifics.
"S-Sorry, I forgot the honorifics…or was it that I pronounced it
wrong?"
This time, Asuna gave a puzzled look.
"Pronounced…? —What I meant was, I never gave my name to
you, and you never told me yours, right? So how did you know my
name?"
"Haa!?"
I involuntarily cried out. How did I find out—because we were
still in a party, so in the upper left corner of my field of vision, two
HP gauges were displayed, and underneath the smaller one, the
five letters [ASUNA] was clearly written……
"Ah…c-could it be…this is the first time you've formed a party with
someone…?"
"Yes."
"……I see."
As my mouth involuntarily gaped open, I lifted my right hand,
pointing to the left edge of Asuna's field of vision.
"Around here, you can see an additional HP gauge other than your
own, right? Underneath it, isn't something written there?"
"Eh…"
148
Murmuring, Asuna tried to turn her face, looking to the left, so

reflexively I placed my fingertips against her cheek.
"When your face moves the gauge would also move. With your
head held steady, use your eyes to look to the left."
"Like…Like this?"
Asuna's hazel eyes moved about uncertainly, and then saw a
string of letters that I could not see. Out of her glossy lips came
three quiet syllables.
"Ki…ri…to. Kirito? Is that your name?"
"Yup."
"Really…This whole time, it was written there…"
Asuna whispered, and then unexpectedly her whole body
quivered. Subsequently, I finally realized my palm was still held
against her cheek. This was---just like some kind of pre-motion.
I removed my hand in a hurry, and likely from the momentum a
**Gyun** sound was released as I turned away. A few seconds
later, I heard a giggle—or at least, I feel like I did. Eh, could she be
laughing? That transcendent «Linear» user, Kobold Overkiller
Asuna-san? As I inwardly thought that, I was tormented with a
strong desire to see her face, but I desperately resisted that urge.
Regrettably, the laughter soon stopped, and was replaced by a
quiet voice.
"…To tell you the truth, Kirito, I followed you here to thank you."
"…For the cream on the bread, or the bath?"
I asked without thinking, then she replied "That's not it", as her
daunting voice returned, but instantly added "…Although, that
may be a part of it, too" before continuing.
"Yeah…there were various things. Thanks for many things you did.
I…in this world, for the first time, I found something to aim for,
something that I want to chase after."
149
"Heh……What is it?"
As I glanced at her, Asuna flashed a brief smile,
"It's a secret."
That was all she said. Then with that, she stood up, and stepped
back.
"…I will do my best. Do my best to survive, and become stronger.
In order to reach the place I’m aiming for."
With my back turned to her, I nodded gently.
"Yeah…You will be strong. Not only in your sword techniques, but
you will gain a larger and more valuable fortitude. So…if one day
someone you trust invites you to a guild, don't refuse. After all,
there's an absolute limit for solo players…"
"………"
For the next few moments, I could only hear Asuna's breathing.
Eventually, the following words that came were a little
unexpected.
"…The next time we meet, tell me just how you carried me out of
that labyrinth region."
"Ah…"
‘That was a piece of cake’, I thought of following up with, but I
swallowed those words. Instead, I answered with a simple "I
understand", and then remembered something before speaking
again.
“That’s right…There’s one more thing I have to tell you. Before the
meeting the day before yesterday started, I was going to say
something…”
Yes—I have to tell her now. That some of the responsibility for
creating the tragedy of two thousand deaths and driving her to the
edge of despair belonged to the selfish former tester…no, the
«Beater», me.
150
But, just before I could say it, Asuna shook her head gently.
“It’s fine. I already understand. About the path you’ve walked…and
that you’re about to move forward alone from now on…but…but
one day, I……”
Her quiet whisper halted there. As remaining silent for a while,
she then gave a calm farewell.
"…Then, see you again, Kirito."
*Squeak* The door opened. Then footsteps. And with a *Bam*, the
door closed.
I remained sitting on the terrace jutting out from the cliff until the
information describing the scent of Asuna dispersed from the
virtual air. I tried thinking about the meaning of her last words,
but I felt that, for now, it was fine if I didn’t get it.
After sucking in a single huge breath, I stood up. After glancing at
the door Asuna had left through, I turned around and began to
descend the wide staircase down the cliff step by step.
When I tried counting the number of stone steps on the constantly
winding staircase, it turned out there were forty eight steps.
Upon giving a little thought to whether there was any meaning to
that number, I realized. It was eight by six—in other words, the
number of people in a Full Raid. Assuming a situation where the
first floor's boss was challenged with that force, and none of them
died, then upon these stairs, from landing to landing, would be
just enough space for each player.
But surely even the designers of this area would not have
imagined that there would be only a single player going down
these steps.
Descending this path seemed to imply what my future would be
like. There was no one before or after me. No matter where or
how far I went, I would go down by myself……
However.
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When I reached the several landings at the bottom of the stairs,

there was an icon consisting of small letters in the right corner of
my vision.
It was a Friend Message, which could be sent and received even
when not on the same floor. And I have only registered two
players as friends. My first friend Klein and—the informant, Argo
the Rat.
‘Who is it’, I wondered as I opened the message, and found it was
the latter.
[Looks like I gave you a really hard time, Ki-bou.]
Looking at these first few words, I ended up blurting out "Info
sure travels fast!". I continued reading and scrolled through, but
there was only one following sentence.
[To apologize, I will sell you one piece of information on anything
at all for free.]
——Ho.
I couldn't help but grin, as I activated my holographic keyboard
and resumed walking once again, quickly typing out a reply.
[Then tell me the reason for your whiskers in person.]
Pressing the send button, I laughed once more, and over the
ground of the second floor that I had arrived at, I started walking
towards the main city «Urbus».
152
Sword Art Online Progressive– Volume 1
153
Intermission: Reason for the Whiskers
Intermission
Reason for the Whiskers
Aincrad 2nd Floor, November 2022
Aincrad’s second floor’s main town «Urbus» is a town located
inside a table mountain that measures three hundred meters in
diameter, which had been dug up with only the outer
circumference remaining.
Once I had gone through the southern gate, the words [INNER
AREA] floated up into my vision, and the slow tempo of the town’s
BGM started playing. Unlike the music led by string instruments in
each town on the first floor, the main melody here was played
with a sorrowful oboe tone. The NPCs passing by also had subtle
changes in the design of their garments, giving it a ‘new floor’ feel.
After walking about ten meters from the gate, I started looking at
my surroundings. I couldn’t see any green cursors which indicated
players at all, but that was only natural. Of course, that was
because the guardian of the continuous spiral stairs to this second
floor, the boss monster of the first floor, «Illfang the Kobold Lord»
was just defeated forty minutes ago, and every member of the
boss-capturing party aside from me had returned to base.
In other words, at this moment, on the vast second floor, the only
existing player was me alone —— the «Former beta tester» and
now «Beater», Kirito.
Although that was the case, obviously, this situation wouldn’t
continue on for much longer. That was because exactly two hours
after the floor boss’ annihilation, the «Transfer Gate» at the center
of the main town of the next floor (which was Urbus) would be
automatically activated, connecting it to the main town on the
lower floors. At that time, the large crowd of players, who were
watching on the lower floor, would rush out from the gate.
Conversely, if I wished to, I could spend the remaining hour and
twenty minutes monopolizing this town —— or this floor.
With that much time, I could clear a few slaughter quests two or
three times, which I normally had to compete with other players
for the pop. It was a very attractive idea to a solo player who
ultimately advocated self-interest, however, I didn’t have enough
courage to seriously anger the several hundreds…… or possibly
more than a thousand people who were eagerly awaiting the
activation of the gate.
Therefore, I started jogging along Urbus’ main street which went
straight towards the north, ascended the wide stairs before
arriving at the town square, and finally started walking toward
the large gate set up in the center.
It was called a gate, but it was actually just an arch made of neatly
stacked stones. Without a door or any bars, there was nothing to
block its other side. However, upon getting closer, I noticed a faint
distortion from the empty space in the middle of the arch, as if
seeing through a thin film of water.
As I looked around at the surroundings to confirm an escape
route, my right hand stretched slowly toward the swaying
transparent veil. The fingertip, which was wrapped in a black
leather glove, touched the surface of the water, which spread
vertically —— and at that moment,
My field of vision was dyed in an overflowing bright blue light.
The pulsing light spread in circles within the five-meter-wide
arch. Once it had filled the entire space, it would be the opening of
the Transfer Gate, the so-called «Town Opening». The very same
phenomenon would also happen at the gate in each town on the
first floor as well, where the crowd of players before that gate
would prepare to dash in when they realize that the gate started
to activate and they wouldn’t have to wait two hours for the
automatic opening.
However, after pushing the switch, I turned around without
watching this phenomenon to its very end.
155
As I ascertained beforehand, I started a fierce dash to a building,

which looked like a church, at the east of the square. After jumping
into the entrance and climbing the stairs inside, I put my back
against the wall to the side of the window in a small room on the
third floor, and looked down upon the square.
Just then, the insides of the gate shone brightly, and the NPC
orchestra stationed at the corner of the square started playing a
loud «Opening Fanfare».
After a moment, a rapid stream of numerous multi colored players
spilled out from the blue light-filled gate.
Some people stood inside the square while looking around. Others
ran off with a leather map from the information dealer in one
hand. And —— there were people who raised their fists and
shouting “I’m on the second floor————!!”
During the beta test, there was a total of nine «Town Openings»,
the scene, during those times, were the lines of the raid party
members who had defeated the previous floor’s boss, being
bathed in the generous applause and admiration from the players
from the lower floors. However, this time the only person who
was the «Opener» had already escaped, so that event didn’t occur.
There was a group of people who were looking restlessly around,
it could be that they were looking for me, but unfortunately, they
wouldn’t be able to find my name there.
Over half an hour earlier, soon after defeating the boss, I had made
an announcement in front of more than forty raid members. It was
that I, «Kirito», wasn’t just a mere Beta Tester, but a «Beater», who
had reached the highest floor among the thousand testers, and
had accumulated the most knowledge of the game.
I didn’t want to act so nasty, but it was partly a reaction to avert
the hostility from the new players to the former testers; and as a
result, currently, my infamy had spread among the highest leveled
players at an ultra-high-speed. If I went out of my hiding place, far
from receiving congratulatory remarks, it wouldn’t be strange to
hear boos and jeers.
156
In that situation, I certainly didn’t have enough emotional strength

to remain calm like a willow in the wind.
Therefore, I would have to continue hiding on the third floor of the
church until the commotion in the transfer square died down. —
—However,
“……Huh?”
I muttered quietly after seeing an unusual event at the square
down below.
A female player who had just warped out of the Transfer Gate did
not stop, but continued ferociously dashing towards the western
side of the town. If it was just that, it could be seen as hurrying to
the weapon shop or the quest NPC, but the problem was the two
men who came out of the gate right after her. They took a moment
to look around, and once they had spotted the player who was
running away, they started running in the same direction. From
the looks of it, it was «Two guys chasing a girl».
Normally I wouldn’t poke my head out and get involved, as this
place was within the effective area of the Anti-Criminal Code, but
since the one being chased was my acquaintance, the story had
changed. With golden-brown curly hair and that plain leather
equipment, she was none other than the information dealer, «Argo
the Rat».
‘Selling every information that could be sold’, there certainly were
people who hated this motto of The Rat, but I couldn’t be calmly
chasing after them in middle of town in this appearance. After
hesitating for a minute, I placed my feet on the frame of the
church’s window and jumped down onto the roof just below.
I quickly dashed with my AGI-focused parameter before the
players at the square could notice me, and jumped to the roof of
the nearby building. I kept going without dropping down to the
ground, aiming to the direction Argo and the two guys went. It
was possible to do so due to the consistent height of the buildings
in Urbus.
157
I waved my right hand’s finger while I was running and called out
the main window. After clicking «Searching» from the skill tab, I
selected «Tracking» on the floated up sub-menu. When I entered
the name 【Argo】 into the input window, pale green illuminated
footprints appeared on the road on my lower right field of vision.
«Tracking» was a modification that could be learned after the
proficiency of the «Searching» skill had increased. It was normally
used to raise effectiveness while hunting monsters, but it could
also be used to pursue a player who was registered as friend.
However, as my proficiency was still low, the footprints that could
be seen were from a minute ago. I hastily chased after the
disappearing lines of the small shoe soles.
Argo’s focus was on AGI, so for her to be unable to shake off the
chasing two guys, they must not be ordinary players. Although I
didn’t see them among the boss raid, their levels should be top-
class. In addition, the footprints that went straight along the road
toward the west, had exit to the outside through the city gate
which was dug out of the outer rim of the crater.
The western plains of Urbus was a dangerous area with large
buffalo type monsters roaming about. The situation was getting
worse. I bit my lips and rushed into the virtual savanna without
even stopping.
The wasteland area beyond this savanna was still quite risky for
my current level to enter alone. But fortunately, the footprints
engraved on the thicket were getting more vivid (in other words,
Argo had already stopped running), from inside the valley
between two small rocky mountains, a familiar voice could be
heard.
“……imes I’ll still be saying the same thinG! This information, no
matter how much you offer, is not for salE!”
That coquettish nasal covering the end of the sentence was
obviously Argo’s voice, but it was thirty percent more intimidating
than usual. It was then followed by a loud voice of a man.
158
“You don’t want to monopolize it, but also don’t want to make it
public. Doesn’t that mean you want to jack up the price-gozaru?”
——Gozaru?' I frowned as I stopped my feet before climbing up
the nearby cliff. In SAO, by using brain and stubbornness, there
were many ways to get through the terrain which looked
impossible to trespass at first glance. My ambition was, one day, to
try climbing the outer wall of this floating castle to reach the next
floor. But at the moment, the reason I was climbing this mountain
was to get into their blind spot. It wasn’t for the challenge, but for
my own safety.
After climbing up for about five meters and reaching a flat, narrow
surface, I continued to crawl forward. The general source of the
quarrel was right below at that moment.
“It’s not a problem about pricE! I told you that I don’t want to be
blamed after I sold the informatioN!!”
The voice of the second man then retorted Argo’s words,
“Why would we blame you!? No matter what price you ask, we’d
still be expressing our gratitude-gozaru!! So just sell us the
information about the quest hidden on this floor —— the
acquisition quest for the «Extra Skill» already!!”
…………Huh?
I couldn’t hold onto my breathe upon hearing that sentence. The
extra skills were those that wouldn’t appear as choices unless
some special conditions were met, the so-called «Hidden Skills».
The only one I discovered during the beta period was
«Meditation», a mental concentration skill (the pose looked like
so) that increased the rate of HP recovery and increased the
probability to recover from the negative statuses. However, due to
its low efficiency and lame pose, not many players took it.
The other was the «Katana» extra skill, which was used by the
Kobold Lord and samurai type monsters on the tenth floor, but I
still didn’t know its prerequisites.
159
In any case, I’m certain that the topic between Argo and the two
mysterious gozaru guys isn’t the «Meditation» skill, as the NPC
giving this skill is on the sixth floor. That means, there is a flag
quest to unlock an extra skill that I still don’t know of (also equals
to all former beta testers not knowing about it) hidden on this
second floor, and these gozaru guys are trying to make Argo sell
the information —— something like that?
Once I had reached that conclusion, the volume of the guys’ voice
increased.
“Today, we’ll pull it off for sure-gozaru!”
“We’ll certainly do anything necessary to get that extra skill-
gozaru!”
“You guys just won’t understanD—! No matter what you say, I
won’t sell that information-goza…… oops, I won’t sell iT!!”
Piri— the voltage of the tension in the air seemed to have
increased a step higher —— at that moment, I stood up on the
stone ledge and jumped to the ground five meters below. I landed
in the middle between Argo and the two guys. In order to receive
no damage for jumping from that height while still lacking in AGI, I
bent my knees and took a defensive posture to absorb the impact
damage before quickly standing up.
“——Who are you-gozaru!?”
“Spy from another clan!?”
Just when I saw the shape of the gozaru guys, who were shouting
at the same time, a corner of my memories was intensely
stimulated. Their entire bodies were clothed in dark grey cloth
armor.
It seemed they wore light chain mails on their upper bodies, and
the weapons on their back were small sized scimitars. On their
heads were bandana caps and pirate masks of the same grey color.
Overall looking, it was the so-called «Ninja» appearance, which
was originally and ingeniously reproduced.
160
Seeing these guys like that, I also had a hunch that I may have met
them during the beta period once or twice.
“Hmm, eeh…… you guys are probably, Fu, Fuu……Food, no, Fooga,
but that also doesn’t sound right……”
“It’s Fūma-gozaru!!”
“We are Kotarou and Isuke from the guild «Fūmaningun»-
gozaru!!”
“Oh, that’s it!”
I snapped my fingers in satisfaction as they helped me remember
who they were. These two were the members of the ridiculously
fastest ninja guild which was feared during the beta test period. I
should make a note about what was feared first. Every member
were just like Argo and focused their parameter on AGI, they
would open the battle as the front row and used their AGI wall to
confuse the enemy. When it became dangerous, they would use
their dashing power to flee, forcing the monster to target nearby
parties instead. No matter how I thought about them, they were
clearly a group of evil shinobi.
But I didn’t know these guys were still going along the ninja path
even after SAO official service turned into a death game, which by
itself (so far), I had no complaints. However, two vs one, chasing
Argo, a female player, and forcefully getting information from her,
was a different story.
I made a gesture for Argo, who was behind me, to step back, and
moved my finger to the grip of my beloved sword «Anneal Blade
+6» hung on my back, as I said,
“As a secret agent of the government, I certainly can’t overlook
this misdeed of the Fūma ninja…”
At that moment——
Under the fake ninja cowls, eyes of Kotarou-shi and Isuke-shi
shone brightly.
161
““You bastard, are you from Iga!?””

“Hah!?”
Apparently, the speech which I thought was appropriate to the
mood seemed to have pressed their important switch. Their right
hands started to reach, in perfect synchronization, for the ninja
katanas on their back (which were actually the small sized
scimitars).
No way —— are they really unsheathing? But here is the
«Outside» with no Anti-Criminal Code, where Players can attack
other players and HP would decrease for real. At the same time,
the color cursor of the attacking side would turn orange,
indicating a «Criminal» status, preventing them from entering
towns. Even if they were ninja, they wouldn’t be able to deceive
the God of the system controlling this world.
Should I say I’m not Iga but Koga? But would that help avoiding
the problem? As I was seriously pondering these ridiculous
thoughts——
The solution to the situation came from an unexpected source.
A while ago, in order to listen to the conversation between Argo
and these ninja, I didn’t stop at the entrance of this small valley
but instead struggled to climb up the cliff. The reason was, this
place wasn’t in the middle of the town but a field. If one were to
stand still in one place, sooner or later, one thing would surely
happen.
As I slowly moved a step backward, I said in a low voice,
“Behind you.”
“”Do you think we will fall for that trick-gozaru!?””
“There’s no trick, just look behind you.”
Something within my voice seemed to have moved the deep
skepticism of the ninja. Kotarou and Isuke, who turned their faces
around, made a slight jump at the same time.
162
That was because in front of their eyes and noses, a new intruder
—— no, an intruding-cow stood tall.
Its formal name was «Trembling Ox». The height to its shoulders
would be about two and a half meters, it was a huge cow type
monster, specialty of the second floor. While its toughness and
attack power were just as expected from its appearance, what was
troublesome was actually its terribly long targeting range and
duration, which made it very hard to switch targets mid-fight.
Since I had already retreated to the ledge, there was no doubt that
its target would be none other than those guys.
“Bumoooo————!!”
The cow howled,
““Go-gozaruuuuu!!””
After the screams of the ninja, the two players in ninja outfits
started running at an amazing speed in the direction of the town.
The cow also chased after them with an agility that did not match
its huge body. It was only five seconds before the earth shook and
the screams disappeared into the horizon. From the look of it, the
chase would continue until Kotarou and Isuke entered Urbus.
I, who had somehow avoided the outburst of a big battle against
those super ninja, let out my breath while looking over my
appearance. Up until an hour ago, I have been dressed in a very
plain dark grey leather coat over a cotton shirt and black leather
pants. But the unique equipment I obtained as a drop from the
Kobold Lord, the boss of the first floor, the «Coat of Midnight»
which I equipped on the spot, along with my eyes and hair color,
had made my whole body look pitch black.
163
I thought it was suitable for a character labeled as a «Dirty

Beater», but at the same time, I somehow looked ninja-like as
well. From now on, it would be unbearable if the “Kirito is from Iga.”
rumour is spread out, should I at least change the inner color? ——
was what I thought.
Again, an unexpected event occurred.
Two small arms stretching from behind embraced me tightly. I
could feel a soft and warm sense of touch on my back, along with a
faint whisper,
164
165
“……You’re too cooL, Kiri-bou.”

That voice was, of course, from Argo who was staying silent until
this moment. However, the tone of her voice was subtly different
from the «Rat»’s usual slightly hateful tone——
“But doesn’t this mean Onee-san is breaking the first rule of being
information dealeR?”
……O-Onee-san? ……The rules of the information dealer?
Those words provoked my curiosity, but the situation wasn’t
something to which I, a second-year middle school gamer until a
month ago, who had zero intercommunication skill could make a
correct reaction. I desperately thought while I was freezing, and
somehow managed to push the words out of my mouth,
“……You owe me one anyway. I’ll be troubled until you tell me the
reason behind your whiskers.”
On the face of the information dealer, Argo the «Rat», there were
three lines of whiskers on each cheeks clearly drawn in black face
paint. While those were the source of her Rat nickname, no one
knew the reason behind why she drew them. And a terrible price
tag of hundred thousands of Cor was attached to that information.
However, in the boss battle earlier, I took a «Beater» label to
isolate myself from most of the former beta testers, single-
handedly taking the hostility from the new players off the former
testers including Argo. In order to express her gratitude, Argo sent
a message saying that I could «Get any single information for
free», to which I replied «Tell me the reason for your whiskers».
To my words that I used as a joke to divert the situation, Argo
pressed her face harder on my back as she whispered,
“…………OkaY, I’ll tell you-ru. But you need to wait a bit while I take
off the painT……”
Eh?
166
Paint…… she means taking those whiskers off? Does she intend to
show me the unpainted face which no one had seen before? Does
it have some deep implication?
My social anxiety rose to a dangerous peak, before she could let
go, I exclaimed,
“……Never mind, I want you to tell me something else instead! Tell
me about the hidden skill on this floor that those guys were
talking about!!”
When Argo let go of my back and turned in front of me,

fortunately —— if I should say so, the whiskers still clearly
remained on her cheeks. Just before she let go of my back, I felt
like I heard ‘Kii-bou, you coward’, or was it my imagination?
The «Rat», who had completely returned to her usual cheeky
expression, said while folding her arms,
“I said I’ll tell you any information, so I’ll keep my promisE. But,
Kii-bou also have to promise me one thinG. Regardless of the
outcome, don’t blame mE!”
“……Just now, you also said that to those ninja. But, what does that
mean? For you to sell the information about an extra skill no one
knows, wouldn’t they feel grateful instead of a grudge……?”
To my question, the Rat showed a broad grin.
“For that information, I’ll need to collect the feE, Kii-bou.”
I leaked out a sigh as I nodded.
“Alright, I promise. I swear to the god…… no, to the System-sama,
that no matter what happens, I won’t hold a grudge against you.”
Whether the quest to acquire the extra skill could pose a risk to
my life, I would have to judge it by myself. After hearing my oath,
Argo gave a deep nod, Then “follow mE,” before turning around.
167
For the path we took from there, I felt it would be impossible to

travel along without having bought a map beforehand, or having
unlimited amounts of curiosity and endurance.
We climbed the cliff of the table mountains standing close
together on the vast —— the diameter shouldn’t be different from
the first floor —— second floor, got into a small cave, and glided
along the underground stream like it was a waterslide. We also
went through three battles, but the enemies weren’t difficult to
me, who was leveling to the limit in order to defeat the first floor’s
boss. The total time of our traveling was about thirty minutes.
Judging by our position on the whole map, we had arrived at a
place near the summit of an exceptionally high towering mountain
on the southern edge of the second floor. That place was a small
clearing surrounded by cliffs, with a spring and a lone tree, also —
— a small hut was built there.
“…………Is it here?”
Argo nodded at my unnecessary question before walking to the
hut without hesitation. It seemed there was still no danger at this
stage. She then forcefully opened the door.
There was an NPC inside, along with some furniture. It was a big
middle-aged man with a well built body, his head was a slick
skinhead, and around his mouth was a thick beard. Over his head
was a gold-colored [!] mark, indicating a quest starting point.
To my questioning gaze, Argo gave a nod again.
“This guy is the NPC giving the «Martial Arts» extra skilL. The
information I can give is up until this point, accepting the quest or
not, is Kii-bou’s decisioN.”
“……M-Martial arts?”
It was a name that I had never heard during the beta period. Argo
said ‘This is on the housE,’ before adding supplementary
information.
168
“«Martial Arts» is a skill that allows attacking with bare hands……

that is my speculation. It would be effective when the weapon is
dropped, or its durability is at the limiT.”
“O-Oh…… then it would be useful, unlike «Meditation». In that
case…… I see, so that’s why you got stuck with those ninja
there……”
To Argo, who made a puzzled face, I also gave a ‘On the house,’
preface before giving an explanation.
“When speaking about ninja, normally you would imagine their
weapons to be ninja katana and shuriken, but it was a bit different
in game industry. Removing the head with a single bare hand
attack. That has been the highest peak of ninja gaming style for a
long time. So Kotarou and Isuke would want that martial arts skill
in order to make their ninja being «Complete». ——Hmm… wait a
sec. They didn’t know this place, then how did they know about
the content of the martial arts skill and Argo knowing that
information?”
“……This is double on the housE. Just before the end of the beta
test, this information was revealed from an NPC on the seventh
floor, regarding «The martial arts master on the second flooR».
But I found it out myself long before thaT. Those ninja should have
heard about it from the NPC on the seventh floor during the beta
tesT. Then, ever since this official server launched, they have kept
asking me to sell the information about the extra skill on the
second flooR.”
“T……Then, why don’t you just say ‘I don’t know’ at that time? So
they wouldn’t keep pestering you about the information like
that……”
To my expected question, Argo made an awkward face as she said,
“…………That single ‘I don’t know’ would destroy my pride as an
information dealer.”
“…………So you chose to say ‘I know but won’t sell it’, huh. Well……
it’s not like I can’t understand your feelings……”
169
As I let out a sigh, I looked at the NPC set up in seated Zen

meditation over a tatami-mat in the middle of the hut again.
“……And, the reason you won’t sell is that the one who bought it
would hold a grudge against you. But even saying so, don’t you
already have a lot of enemies due to your business……?”
“People usually forget the grudge from having bought information
just after three dayS! But this is differenT! Even if it turns out to be
lame, you still have to keep it for your whole lifE……”
Watching small body of Argo trembling, I was lost for several
seconds before giving a nod.
“I already knew I’d need to experience it by myself anyway. So it’s
fine, I promise. No matter what the outcome, I won’t blame Argo.”
I then walked into the hut and stood in front of the old man who
was sitting in Zen meditation. The old man in a rugged dōgi looked
at me before saying,
“Thou wishes to be a disciple?”
“……Yes.”
“Even though there be a long and steep road of training?”
“I’m expecting no less.”
After a short conversation, the [!] above the head of the old man
changed into [?], the log in my vision indicated that the quest was
accepted.
The old man, who became my master, moved outside the hut,
toward a huge rock at the edge of the garden, which was
surrounded by cliffs. Its height was about two meters, with a
diameter of about one and a half meters, the master lightly
knocked it and spoke while he was stroking his beard with his left
hand,
“Thine training is just one. Splitting this rock using only thy palms.
Once thou have succeeded, I shall teach thee all my knowledge.”
170
“…………W-Wait a minute.”
I tapped lightly on the huge rock, feeling a little nervous about this
unexpected development. Since I was accustomed to the game, my
sense of touch could tell the degree of the target’s durability. The
hardness sensation that was transmitted to my hand was «One
step short of Immortal Object».
Yeah, it’s impossible.
I made that judgement and turned to the master to cancel the
quest. However, before I could do so——
“Until this rock is split, leaving this mountain is forbidden. And
thou hast to bear the mark for that reason.”
The master who spitted out that line took strange objects from the
bosom of his dōgi. On his left hand was a small pot. Then in his
right hand was… a thick and elegant —— writing brush.
Bad feeling, a word made up in a three-dimensional font floated
over my head as the bad feeling pierced through my entire body.
E-Err, I want to quit!
Faster than I could say that, the right hand of the master flashed at
an amazing speed. The tip of the brush plunged into the pot, a lot
of ink then —— Zubazubazuba—! exploded on my face.
At that moment, this made me realize the secret behind Argo’s
whiskers.
That girl had discovered the old man on her own from the early
stage of the beta test and had accepted the quest. Upon accepting
it, she was told to split the same rock, along with the graffiti
written on her face. Those —— three whiskers on each cheek.
“O-Owaaaa!?”
I raised a pathetic scream as I leaned back, and met with the gaze
from Argo who was standing slightly further away.
171
The girl showed deep sorrow and sympathy —— but at the same
time, the expression on the Rat’s face looked as if she was trying to
suppress the urge to burst into laughter.
I hurriedly used both of my hands to wipe my face after the
release of the brush attack. However, the ink seemed to be a
super-fast drying type, as I couldn’t get anything on my hands. The
master looked at me like that before nodding, and spitting out the
devastating words that I was anticipating,
“That «Mark» cannot be removed until thou hath split this rock
and finished the training. I believe in thee, my disciple.”
Then, he returned to the hut and disappeared behind the door.
I stood still like that for about ten seconds, before gazing at Argo,
who was still wearing a complicated expression, and asked,
“I see………… Argo, you accepted this quest during the beta
period…… and gave up on clearing it, right? That’s why you had to
continue playing with that drawing on your face until the final day
of the test. And as the result, it was the beginning of the «Rat»
character, the information dealer, and for your business in the
game’s official version, you chose to continue using it with
paint…… is that correct?”
“Excellent! That’s some excellent reasoninG!”
As she clapped her hands, the Rat continued,
“Isn’t it greaT, Kii-bou! As a result, you gained the information of
both «The reason behind the whiskers» and «The extra skilL»! For
celebration, I’ll tell you one more thinG. This rock…… it’s demoN!”
“…………I thought as much…”
While I was bearing the urge to collapse to the ground, I bet on a
single small ray of hope as I asked Argo,
“……Hey. Is the paint on my face similar to your whiskers?”
“Hmm, it’s quite differenT—“
172
“Oh…… h-how does it look!?”

Maybe it isn’t too noticeable? Or if it’s noticeable but is somewhat
cool then I still have a choice of returning to my daily life while
carrying this mark. Argo spent three seconds looking at my face,
who didn’t have enough courage to look at my own reflection from
the spring —— before saying,
“Oh righT. I can express it in one word…… it’s «KiriemoN»34.”
At that point, seeming as she had reached her limit, Argo fell to the
ground, both feet wriggled while she rolled her body about,
“Nyahahaha! Nya—hahahahaha!!” she continued laughing
uncontrollably. Eternally, eternally…
I secluded myself on the mountain for three days, by then, I

managed to split the rock after a tremendous amount of struggle.
It was fortunate that I had promised not to hold a lifelong grudge
against Argo.
34 Kiriemon = Kirito + Doraemon
173
Chapter 2: Rondo of a Fragile Blade – Part 1
Chapter 2
Rondo of a Fragile Blade
Aincrad 2nd Floor, December 2022
1
“S...s-screw you!”
My feet stopped when the high-pitched shriek hit my ears.
I took a few quick steps to the side and pressed my back against
the wall of the NPC shop. Up ahead, the path opened into a wider
plaza, from which the disturbance was coming.
“P-put it back! Back to the way it was!! That was a plus-four...P-put
it back to what it was!”
Another shriek. It sounded like an argument between two players.
Given that we were in the protected zone of Urbus, the main city
on the second floor of Aincrad, the disagreement was unlikely to
lead to physical harm to either player. I certainly had no reason to
hide, given that it had nothing to do with me.
But even though I understood that well enough, I couldn’t help but
be more cautious than usual these days. After all, Kirito the level-
13 swordsman was the most hated solo player in Aincrad–the first
man to be known as a beater.
Thursday, December 8, 2022, was the thirty-second day of Sword
Art Online, the game of death.
Illfang the Kobold Lord, master of the first floor, was dead. Four
days had passed since the teleport gate of Urbus went active. In
those four days, the story of what happened in the boss chamber
had spread among the game’s top players, albeit with wings of its
own. A boss monster with the Katana skill, a piece of information
that wasn’t previously known.
The death of Diavel the Knight, leader of the raid. And one beater,
a beta tester who got further than anyone and used his knowledge
to steal the last hit on the boss and reap the rewards.
Fortunately for me, while the name Kirito had spread like wildfire,
only forty or so players had actual knowledge of my physical
appearance within the game. And in SAO, the names of strangers
did not appear on their in-game cursors. That was the only reason
I could walk through town without fear of being pelted by stones.
Then again, even if that happened, a purple system wall would
deflect the projectiles.
Even still, I felt ashamed that I was removing my signature Coat of
Midnight–my prize for defeating the boss–and wearing a wide
bandanna to escape notice. It wasn’t that I was so desperate for
human contact that I would sneak into the city in disguise; I just
needed to refill on potions and rations as well as perform
maintenance on my equipment. There was a small shop at the
village of Marome about two miles southeast of Urbus, but its
selection was poor, and there were no NPC blacksmiths I could
pay to repair my weapon.
Due to these factors, I was busy in the market on the south side of
Urbus, filling my item storage with sundry goods and supplies,
then making my way along the side of the street toward my next
errand when I heard the shouts.
Out of reflex, I had to check to make sure the angry screams
weren’t directed at me first, then sighed in disappointment at my
own timidity. Satisfied that it wasn’t me, I resumed my trip to the
eastern plaza, which was both my destination and the source of
the argument.
In less than a minute, I arrived at a circular, bowl-like open space.
It was relatively crowded for three o’clock in the afternoon, which
was normally prime adventuring time. Most likely, the foot traffic
was due to the recent opening of the town–there were plenty of
players coming up from the Town of Beginnings on the first floor
to visit the new city.
176
The flow of pedestrians slowed down in a corner of the plaza, and

I could hear the same shouts coming from that area. I slipped
through the crowd and craned my neck, trying to detect the
source of the argument.
“Wh-wh-what did you do?! The properties are all way down!!”
I vaguely recognized the red-faced man. He was a proper frontier
player, not a tourist. He hadn’t taken part in the first-floor boss
raid, but his full suit of metal armor and large three-horned
helmet spoke to his level.
What truly drew my eye, however, was the naked longsword
clutched in the three-horned man’s right hand. The edge couldn’t
hurt anyone inside of town, but the idea that he would wave it
around in the midst of a crowd was distasteful. He was too furious
to think straight, however, so he stuck the tip into the pavement
stone and continued bellowing.
“How could you possibly fail four times in a row? You can’t have
reduced my sword to plus zero! I should have left it with a damn
NPC! You owe me for this, you third-rate blacksmith!” Standing
quietly in a plain brown leather apron and looking guilty through
the minutes of raging insults was a short male player. He’d set up
a gray carpet at the edge of the plaza with a chair, anvil, and shelf
crowded together. The rug was a Vendor’s Carpet, an expensive
item that allowed a player to set up a simple shop in the middle of
the town–a necessity for any enterprising merchant or crafter.
You could display your wares without a carpet, of course, but
when left abandoned in the open like that, the items would lose
durability bit by bit as time wore on, and there was no defense
against thievery. In the beta test, I’d seen lively player markets
along the main streets of all the major cities with carpets of every
color, but this was the very first I’d noticed since SAO’s retail
version had turned deadly. In fact, it was very first non-NPC
blacksmith I’d seen.
Now that I recognized the circumstances, the reason for the
uproar was clear.
177
The man repeatedly slamming his sword against the ground had
paid the silent, drooping blacksmith to fortify the blade. In general
terms, a player of the same level would be better at augmenting
weapons than an NPC. The requisite production skills had to be at
a certain level, of course, but that could generally be recognized at
a glance. The crafting tools used–in this case, the blacksmith’s
hammer–were all grouped into tiers that could only be equipped
with the right level of skill proficiency. The Iron Hammer resting
on the silent blacksmith’s anvil required a higher level than the
Bronze Hammers this towns NPCs used.
So this blacksmith should have better odds at strengthening
weapons than the NPCs of Urbus–in fact, he couldn’t run a
business without them–which was why the three-horned man had
entrusted him with his beloved sword.
Unfortunately, however, weapon augmenting in SAO was not a
surefire success unless one’s skill proficiency was quite high. With
a failure rate of 30 percent, there was a 9 percent chance of failing
twice in a row and a 3 percent chance of three failures, Even the
tragic outcome of four consecutive failed attempts had a 0.8
chance of occurring.
The terrifying thing was that in a vast online RPG world, these
odds were just high enough to happen every now and then. I
played games before this that featured rare items with drop rates
like 0.01 percent that made you want to scream, “You’re joking!”
And yet plenty of lucky players wound up with them. I prayed that
such cruelly rare items did not exist in SAO, but a part of me knew
they must and that I would spend days and days in the dungeons
looking for them...
“What’s all the ruckus about?” someone muttered in my ear,
startling me out of my thoughts.
It was a slender fencer. She wore a white leather tunic, pale green
leather tights, and a silver breastplate. Her facial features were so
pristine and graceful that you might wonder how an elf wandered
into the world of Aincrad, but the crude gray wool cape from her
head to her waist ruined that effect.
178
But she didn’t have much of a choice. If she’d taken off the cape
and let her luscious brown hair and elven beauty catch the sun,
she’d never escape the attention of the crowds again.
I took a deep breath to calm my head and responded to this
person I might actually call a “friend”...one of the very few I had in
this world.
“Well, the guy with the horned helmet wanted the other one to
power up his...”
At this point I realized that I, like her, was in disguise. I didn’t
want to believe that my nondescript costume of plain leather
armor and a yellow-and-blue striped bandanna was that easy to
see through. Perhaps I ought to pretend that I did not know her.
“Er, well...have we met before?”
The look I got in response was like twin rapier thrusts burning
holes through the center of my face.
“Met? Why, I believe we’ve shared meals and been in a party
together.”
“...Oh...Now I remember, of course, I believe I lent you the use of
my bath–”
Thunk. The sharp heel of her long boots——officially named Boots
of Hornet, slammed down on the top of my right foot. A piece of
my memory disintegrated. I cleared my throat, pinched the edge
of her hood, and walked her a few yards away from the crowd so
we could have a proper conversation.
“H-hi, Asuna. Long time no see...if two days counts.”
“Good afternoon, Kirito-kun.”
Two days ago, when I’d met her on the front line, I claimed that
there was no need for formality between avatars. But as this was
her first VR game, she seemed to have difficulty getting over that.
179
And when I’d offered to call her “Asuna-san” in return, she said it
was a pain in the neck and totally unnecessary. I didn’t
understand women.
At any rate, once the pleasantries had been peacefully exchanged,
I turned back to the unpleasantness with the blacksmith and gave
her a brief explanation.
“It seems the guy in the three-horned helmet asked the blacksmith
to strengthen his weapon, but the process failed four times in a
row, returning it back to a plus-zero state. So he’s furious about it–
which I can understand, I mean, four in a row...”
Asuna the fencer, the fastest and most coolheaded player I knew
in Aincrad (I’d add “most beautiful,” but I didn’t want to cross the
line of my personal harassment code) shrugged her shoulders and
said, “The one who asked the other had to be aware of the
possibility of failure. And doesn’t the blacksmith have the rates of
success for different weapons posted? Plus, it says that if he fails,
he’ll only charge the cost of the upgrade materials, and not the
labor.”
“Uh, really? That’s quite considerate,” I muttered, recalling the
image of the short blacksmith bowing and scraping repeatedly.
Forty percent of my sympathy had been for the three-horned man
whose weapon had been ruined but now it dropped to closer to
twenty.
“I’m guessing that after the first failure, the blood rushed to his
head, so he kept demanding another attempt to make it up. Losing
your self-control and paying a terrible price for it is a constant
feature of any form of gambling...”
“That almost sounded like it had personal experience behind it”
“N-no, just a common-sense observation.”
I avoided looking at her, sensing that telling her I’d lost all of my
money at the seventh-floor monster coliseum during the beta test
was not going to win me any points.
180
Asuna gave me a piercing look for several seconds before

mercifully returning to the topic at hand.
“Well...I can’t say I don’t feel a little sorry for him, but that kind of
rage doesn’t seem necessary. He can just save up the money for
another attempt.”
“Um...well, it’s not that simple.”
“What do you mean?” she asked. I jabbed a thumb at the Anneal
Blade +6 strapped over my back.
“The three-horned guy’s sword is an Anneal Blade, just like mine.
He must have gone through that terrible quest on the first floor to
get it, too. On top of that, he’d gone to the trouble of having an NPC
bump it up to plus four. That’s not too hard to reach. But once you
get to plus five the odds really start to drop–that’s why he had a
player blacksmith try it. But the first attempt failed, so now it’s
back to plus three. He asks for another attempt, hoping to get it
back to where he started, but it fails again, down to plus two. Then
the process repeats. The third and fourth attempts fail, so now he
ends back at zero.”
“But...there’s no way to fall further from zero. Can’t he just try to
get it up to plus five again...?”
At this point, Asuna seemed to understand where I was going with
this. Her hazel eyes widened in the shade of her hood. “Oh...there’s
maximum limit to attempts. And what’s the limit for an Anneal
Blade?”
“Eight times. He got four successes and four failures, which put
him at even and used up all his attempts. That sword can’t be
smithed anymore.”
It was the trickiest part of SAO’s weapon upgrading system. Every
piece of equipment that could be powered up had a preset number
of possible attempts. It wasn’t the maximum level you could reach
with the weapon, but the number of attempts. For example, a
Small Sword, the starting weapon at the beginning of the game,
only had a single potential attempt.
181
If the process failed, that sword could never be a Small Sword

Even worse, the success rate could actually be affected by the
effort of the owner. Obviously, finding the best blacksmith
possible was a major part of that–and ultimately, one could
master the Blacksmithing skill themselves, though at this point in
the game, it was an unrealistic option. One could also increase the
chances of success through better materials, either in quality or
quantity.
Most player blacksmiths set their upgrading fees based on a
success rate of around 70 percent. If the client wanted a better
chance, they could pay extra to have more crafting materials
added, or simply provide them directly to the blacksmith.
Which meant the biggest fault of the three-horned man was that
he’d gotten worked up and gambled on more attempts. He should
have taken a deep breath after the first failure, then paid (or
provided) extra to improve his chances the next time. That would
likely have prevented his tragedy of an Anneal Blade +0 with no
remaining attempts.
“I see...Well, I can understand why he’d be upset. Just a little.”
I nodded in agreement and offered a moment of silence to the
fateful blade. Suddenly, the screaming man ceased his rage. Two of
his friends had raced over and put their hands on his shoulders,
offering support.
“C’mon, Rufiol, it’s gonna be okay. We’ll help you try the Anneal
Blade quest again.”
“It’ll only take a week to get it back, then we can push it all the
way up to plus eight.”
Wow, now it takes three players a week to get it? Glad I got mine
early, I thought. And you guys...take care of your pal. Don’t let him
gamble it away again.
Rufiol seemed to have recovered his cool. He trudged off out of the
plaza, shoulders slumped.
182
The blacksmith, who’d withstood the insults in silence the entire

time, finally spoke up.
“Um...I’m truly sorry about this. I’ll try much harder next time, I
swear...I mean, not that you’d want to bring me again.”
Rufiol stopped and looked back at the blacksmith. When he spoke
again, it was in an entirely different voice,
“...It’s not your fault. I’m...I’m sorry for ripping you apart.”
“No. I failed at my job...”
I looked closer at the blacksmith, who was still bowing, hands
clasped in front of his leather apron. He was quite young, still in
his teens. His slightly drooping eyes and plain parted bangs made
him look, I hated to admit, like a perfectly typical crafter.
A little shorter and thicker, and he’d be the perfect dwarf. Or
perhaps a gnome–he didn’t have the beard.
The blacksmith stepped forward and bowed deeply yet again.
“Um, I know it’s nothing in return...but do you think I could buy
back your spent plus zero Anneal Blade for 8,000 cor?”
The onlookers murmured in surprise, and even I grunted at the
offer.
The current market price for a fresh new Anneal Blade +0 was
about sixteen thousand cor. So the offer was only half that, but
Rufiol’s weapon was “spent,” fresh out of upgrade attempts. The
market price for a weapon like that was probably halved again,
down to four thousand cor. It was an extremely generous offer.
Rufiol and his two mends were stunned, but after a moment’s
conferral, they all nodded.
The incident was over. The three partners and the crowd of
onlookers were gone, and the rhythmic clanging of the black-
smith’s hammer echoed through the plaza.
183
The blacksmith–not dwarf–was producing a weapon on his anvil,

Asuna and I took a seat on the bench across the circular plaza,
listening to the hammering.
Normally, I wouldn’t spend this much time here–I’d get my
business done and zip back outside of the Urbus town limits.
There were two reasons my plans had changed. For one, the
presence of Asuna, one, of the few people in Aincrad who wouldn’t
call me a dirty beater, meant that I could actually have a
conversation and practice my increasingly rusty Japanese. The
other reason was on my back: I’d come to power up my Anneal
Blade +6.
I’d overheard someone talking about a talented player blacksmith
setting up shop in the east plaza of Urbus over in the small town of
Marome just yesterday. I’d been thinking it was about time to give
that +7 a shot, so I got the crafting materials in order and changed
into my disguise for a trip into Urbus. The previous scene had
given me pause, however.
In truth, it would be as easy as standing up and walking over to
the dwa–er, blacksmith, and asking him for an upgrade. We’d
never met before, and I doubted he would say, “My hammer isn’t
meant to work on the swords of a dirty beater!”
But the prior squabble had put some pressure onto my decision.
Another Anneal Blade had gone from +4 to +0 despite a 70
percent success rate. It was mathematically possible, but a tragedy
of the highest order for such a fine weapon. If the same fate befell
my attempt, I might not lose my cool the same way, but I’d
definitely be sulking in my inn room for a good three days.
Something told me that embarking upon my attempt with this
pessimistic view would ensure that I wound up with an Anneal
Blade +5. Then I’d panic, try again without providing more
materials, and finish with a +4. There was no logical reason for my
suspicion, but the gamble of attempted upgrades in MMOs was a
topic that often defied logic...
184
“...Well?”
I looked over at the questioning voice, still lost in thought.
“Huh? What?”
“Don’t play dumb with me. Why did you force me to sit here?”
Asuna glared at me.
“Er, um, oh, right. Sorry, just thinking...”
“Thinking? Weren’t you coming here to have that blacksmith work
on your weapon, Kirito?”
“Um, h-how can you tell?” I asked, startled. She shot me an
exasperated look.
“When we were in Marome two nights ago, you said you were
hunting Red Spotted Beetles in the rocky mountains to the east.
That must have been for one-handed sword upgrading materials.”
“Oh ...yeah,” I sighed.
“What was that reaction for?”
“Um...I just can’t believe I’m hearing this from the girl who didn’t
know how to read her party companions, names just four days
ago...in a good way! I’m not being sarcastic.”
Apparently Asuna believed my sincerity, as her expression
softened and she murmured, “I have been studying a lot.”
For some reason, this admission made me happy. I nodded
excitedly. “That’s great, really. In an MMO, knowledge makes all
the difference when it comes to getting results. Anything you want
to know, just ask. I was a former tester, after all, so I know
everything from the items sold in towns up to the tenth floor to
the different sounds of all the mobs...”
At this point, I realized the terrible mistake I was making.
Just as I said, I was a former beta tester. But at the same time, I’d
taken on the persona of a dirty beater who hoarded information
and used it solely for his own benefit.
185
Many other high-level players despised me for this, not least of

whom were the party members of the fallen knight Diavel. Even
with the leather armor and bandanna, someone who knew me
would recognize my face close up, and they would assume that
Asuna, sitting on the bench next to me must be my partner. It was
incredibly reckless of me to be talking about this in a crowded
public place.
“Umm...s-sorry, just remembered something I need to do,” I
excused myself clumsily, preparing to stand and rush off.
The fencer stopped my shoulder with the lightest tap of her index
finger and spoke in a low but firm voice.
“It’s crazy and arrogant of you to think you can bear the burden of
all the hatred and jealousy toward the former testers...but that
was your choice, so I won’t say anything more on the subject. But I
also wish you’d respect my decision as well. I don’t care what
other people think. If I didn’t want people to think that I was your
friend...your companion, I wouldn’t have spoken to you.”
“........Aw, geez. You can see right through me,” I muttered and sat
back down on the bench.
She had identified all my motives, from calling myself a beater at
the boss chamber to my attempt to get up and flee just seconds
ago. No use trying to hide now. I raised my hands in brief
surrender and she grinned slightly beneath her deep hood.
“If you’re a pro at Aincrad, then my all-girls’ academy upbringing
makes me a pro at mental battles. As if I couldn’t read your
avatar’s face like a page in a book.”
“W-well...I’m sorry to have doubted you...”
“So be honest. Why are you hesitating on upgrading your weapon?
I was coming here to do the very same thing, in fact.”
“Wha...?”
I looked down at Asuna’s fragile blade in surprise.
186
Her green-hilted rapier in its ivory scabbard was called the Wind
Fleuret. I’d looted that sword from a monster and given it to her as
an upgrade when we first formed our party, preparing for the
first-floor boss fight. It was a fairly rare item, with the potential to
serve admirably until midway through the third floor if it was
upgraded properly.
“Is that plus four right now?” I asked. She nodded.
“Did you bring your own upgrade mats? How many?”
“Umm ...I have four Steel Planks and twelve Windwasp Needles.”
“Wow, nice work. But...” I did some mental calculation and
groaned, “Hmm, but that means the chance of going to plus five is
only a bit over eighty percent.”
“Aren’t those good odds to risk?”
“Normally, sure. But after what we just saw...”
I looked back across the plaza at the dwarfish blacksmith,
rhythmically pounding away. Asuna looked at him as well and
shrugged.
“The odds of a coin turning up heads is always fifty percent, no
matter what happened the last time. What effect does the last
person’s consecutive failure have on you or me trying our hand?”
“Well...nothing...but...”
I couldn’t come up with a good answer, but my mind was racing.
Clearly, Asuna was a person of logic and reason, and she wouldn’t
accept my assertion that there were streaks and mojo when it
came to gambling. Even my left brain knew that there was no
proof behind the “bad feeling” I was getting.
But on the other hand, my right brain was screaming danger. It
claimed that whether Anneal Blade or Wind Fleuret, the next
weapon to be given to that blacksmith, regardless of extra boosts
and bonuses, would end in failure.
187
“Listen, Asuna.” I turned my body to face her directly and put the
gravest possible tone in my voice.
“Wh-what?”
“You like ninety percent better than eighty percent, right?”
“...Well, sure, but–”
“You like ninety-five percent better than ninety percent, right?”
“...Well, sure, but–”
“Then don’t compromise. If you already put in the work to get
these materials, why not give it one more round and get those
odds up to ninety-five?”
She gave me a very skeptical gaze for several long seconds, then
beat her long eyelashes slowly, as though realizing something.
“Yes, it’s true that I hate compromising. But I hate people who are
all talk and no walk just as much.”
“...Huh?”
“Since you’re so dead-set on me pursuing perfection, I assume
you’re going to lend me a hand, Kirito. The drop rate on
Windwasp Needles is only eight percent, after all.”
“......Huh?”
“Now that that’s settled, let’s go hunting. I think the two of us
together can take down about a hundred before nightfall.”
Asuna patted my shoulder and stood up, then squinted slightly,
her shapely eyebrows knitting together, and delivered the
finishing blow.
“Oh, and if we’ve going to hunt together, you must take off that
ugly bandanna. It looks absolutely hideous on you.”
188
Because of the “sword arts” that were the greatest selling point of
SAO, the game had far more humanoid monster types than any
other MMORPG. This tendency didn’t come into focus until the
next floor, however, so there was still a wide variety of nonhuman
monsters on the first and second floors. The animal and plant
mobs that couldn’t use sword skills were much easier for newbies
to deal with, but there were exceptions, of course.
Most notable of those were monsters with dangerous side effects
like paralyzing toxins and corrosive acid, but aside from that,
flying mobs were surprisingly tricky. After all, there was no magic
in SAO. The only means of attacking targets at a distance was
throwing knives, and they were more like a complementary
weapon, not a primary source of damage.
I had to admit there was something cool about the idea of sinking
all my time into the Throwing Knife skill and terrorizing all the
flying mobs, but I didn’t have the willpower to dedicate to such an
extreme build now that the game was deadly. On top of that,
SAO、’s throwing weapons all had a finite amount, so if you ran
out of knives in the midst of battle, tragedy awaited.
Therefore, when Asuna the fencer called upon–more like forced–
me to help her hunt the flying Windwasps in the western zone of
the second floor, with our very limited weapon range, there was
only one thought on my mind.
Ugh, this is gonna be such a pain in the ass.
Once we left the west gate of Urbus, I called up my equipment
mannequin and unequipped the yellow-and-blue-striped
bandanna. I looked up at the long black bangs hanging below my
eyebrows and sighed in relief. My original SAO avatar had parted
hair in an attempt to escape those loose bangs, but now that I’d
been living with this for a month, it was the most comfortable and
familiar look for me.
189
Asuna watched me removing my costume and snorted. “I can’t

believe you thought putting on one stupid bandanna made for a
disguise. It won’t work unless you hide your entire face or use face
paint.”
“Urgh...”
The latter term sent a painful shock through my memory.
My face had been covered in thick black paint until two nights
before. And it wasn’t a cool tribal pattern on the cheeks or a
reverse cross on my forehead. No, it was something much, much
more embarrassing–I thought. I didn’t have the nerve to look for
myself. The only human player who saw me described me as
Kiriemon,” after the famous robotic cat character.
My face was marked against my will the moment I accepted a
certain quest, and the marks would not come off until I completed
that quest. I worked myself to the bone, tears in my eyes, to finish
it up after three nights, when the whiskered old martial arts
master finally erased the markings. There were no words to
describe the joy and satisfaction of that moment. I was so happy, I
even forgave him for the fact that cleaning them off was as simple
as a wipe of the light brown rag from his robe pocket.
For that reason, I’d lost a good fifty hours of forward advancement
since the opening of the second floor. I rushed to the village of
Marome, the current front line of player progress, where I met
Asuna for the first time since the boss fight.
She, of course, had no idea why I would give that odd reaction to
her innocent suggestion, and stared at me suspiciously. I cleared
my throat in a hurry.
“Ah, um, g-good point. Maybe I should get one of those hooded
capes for myself the next time I go to Urbus. Where did you buy
yours?”
190
“From an NPC in the western market of the Town of Begi...” She

trailed off, and I felt flames pouring from her eyes. “You’d better
not buy the same thing! Then people will think we’re a coup...a
fixed party! Wear a burlap sack if you want to hide your face!”
Asuna turned her head away in a blinding huff, opened her menu
and tapped the equipment figure. The plain gray wool cape
sparkled briefly and vanished, and her long, straight hair
glimmered in the afternoon sun.
It was the first time I’d seen her full face in four days, not since the
battle against Illfang the Kobold Lord, and it was indescribably
beautiful. It almost made me wonder if Akihiko Kayaba, the ruler
of our new world, had made one careless mistake and left her face
in its original avatar torn–but if I ever said that aloud, she’d pound
me.
Marome was to the southeast of Urbus, so the southwest road was
empty of adventurers. If it weren’t for the whole game-of-death
thing, being able to stroll with a beautiful girl in the midst of a
video game would be the greatest gift God could give any teenage
boy. Even if we were only going to farm wasps for a royal-pain-in-
the-ass mission.
“People might confuse me for a PKer if I wear a burlap sack. Can I
at least get the same cape in a different color?”
“Negative!”
“...Yes, ma’am.”
I brought up my equipment mannequin again, removed the
leather armor disguise and put on the pitch-black Coat of Midnight
I’d looted from the boss.
Asuna seemed about to say something as she watched the long
hem of the coat flap in the wind, but when our eyes met, she
turned away in a huff. I started to wonder why I was even helping
her gather upgrading materials, then remembered that it had been
my own suggestion.
191
On the other hand, Windwasps were worth the trouble thanks to

their experience value. It would be a good source of points before
dinner. Plus, no doubt Asuna would be generous enough to pay for
dinner in place of her lodging fee. Sure, she would.
The path ahead took us through a narrow ravine that split the
fields of grazing oxen into north and south. Through that canyon
was where we’d find the wasps.
“As I’m sure you already know, given that you’ve hunted a fair
number of them, the wasps’ stingers have a two or three-second
stun effect. Let’s keep in mind that if the other gets stunned, we
should immediately go in and take over for them.”
“Got it,” she said, then added, “If you go too far south, you’ll run
into Jagged Worms, so watch out for that.”
“G...got it.”
Belatedly, I recalled that bit of info from the beta test.
We crossed the natural stone bridge that spanned the thirty-foot
gorge, nervous despite its reasonable width, and sighed in relief
once we were across.
“I wonder what would happen if we fell off,” Asuna asked. I
shrugged my shoulders.
“I doubt you’d die if you’re over level five. But the path out the
ravine is way to the south, and there’s plenty of slimy monsters
down there, so it’d take a while to get out.”
“Oh.”
I thought I detected something other than relief in her face. As
though sensing my suspicion, she turned away toward the valley
and said, “I was just thinking, if we go up against a boss monster,
scouting it out and leveling up, creating a strategy and all that, and
still lose, that’s one thing. But dying because you were careless
and fell from a tall height would really suck.”
192
“Yeah. In a normal MMO, dying from a fall would be a funny

story...but not here,” I murmured. “But do you even think there’s a
way of dying in the real world that might make you say, “Well, I
did my best so I have no regrets’? Whether it’s a disease or an
accident, I think all you’d be left with is sadness and frustration...I
mean, if there’s any way to die in Aincrad and feel satisfied that
you did what you needed to, it would have to be...”
Sadly, my fourteen-year-old-nerd’s vocabulary failed me; my
fingers wriggled and my mouth opened and closed without a
sound. Asuna mercilessly watched the entire sorry display, then
gave a brief answer.
“Perhaps that wouldn’t be so bad. Not that I’m eager to find out
what that’s like any time soon.”
“Y-yeah.”
“In which case, we ought to put our best effort into defeating the
second-floor boss. And helping me power up my weapon is part of
that process.”
“Y...yeah.”
“Since were both in agreement, let’s get started. A hundred in two
hours!”
Asuna drew her rapier and headed in the opposite direction of the
stone bridge–a small basin lined with low trees.
One hundred wasps in two hours. One every seventy-two
seconds? For real?
All I could summon in response was a halfhearted grunt of
agreement.
The Windwasps were black with green stripes and a foot and a
half long, easily making them larger than any insects on earth, but
among the smallest monsters found on Aincrad. Their HP and
attack values were fairly low for second-floor mobs.
193
However, it was very difficult to suppress the brain’s primitive

signal to flee when a bee larger than your head approached,
brandishing a stinger the size of an ice pick. Hunting the wasps
therefore became an exercise in mastering one’s instincts.
It was for this reason that I’d been concerned about Asuna, who
did not seem to take kindly to bugs. However–
“Haah!”
Her rapier skill Linear burned a silver line through space,
unerringly piercing the weak abdomen band of a wasp. screeched
metallically and burst into polygonal shards. A list of experience
and rewards appeared before my eyes automatically for being in
her party.
“Twenty-four,” she shouted, looking over with what I suspected to
be confident glee in her eyes. My juices of rivalry energized, I
turned toward a fresh new wasp to my right.
It had spawned with me inside of its aggro range, so as soon as the
curved compound eyes spotted me, it reared up high. The wasp
stopped about five yards off the ground, then buzzed down with a
heavy, stomach-churning vibration. If the wasps body stayed
straight, it would lunge for a bite attack, and if it curved like a
hinge, it would use its poison stinger. That was the first step to
dealing with the creatures, but even after my considerable beta
experience with these and the more powerful Storm Hornets, I
couldn’t help but recoil in fear when they lunged.
This time, I withstood the terror and noticed the bee had its
abdomen exposed, signaling a stinger attack. I stood my ground
The wasp charged right before me, then briefly stopped to hover
again. The massive poisoned barb was glowing with a faint yellow
light. I waited until that moment, then jumped backward. The
stinger shot forward with a mechanical clank but found no
purchase.
Once the wasp missed, it would fall under a delay effect for a
second and a half
194
Without missing a beat, I unleashed Vertical Arc, a two-part sword

skill. The blade carved out a V shape and hammered the wasp with
satisfying sound effects. The monsters HP gauge fell nearly 60
percent.
Fresh out of its delay, the wasp flew up high again. It spun around
and began another dive. This time, it hurtled body first, the sign of
a bite attack. I sidestepped rather than waiting for the attack, then
raced after the bee when it passed by. It stopped and briefly
hovered before its next turn, more than enough for me to catch it
with a clean diagonal Slant.
One more Vertical Arc would finish off the monster, but its
cooldown icon was still lit at the bottom of my view. A follow-up
Slant could do the job if I hit its weak point, but from behind, the
wasp’s large wings were in the way. If I didn’t strike a critical hit,
its HP bar would still have a bit left. I clicked my tongue in
disappointment and launched a regular swing attack before the
wasp’s delay wore off. Fortunately, I hit it before its bite started,
reducing the wasp to pieces or blue glass.
“Twenty-two!” I yelled, looking around for a fresh opponent. The
fact that I was losing despite the edge in level and equipment was
thanks to Asuna’s high rate of critical hits–in other words, she was
so accurate that she could hit the wasps in their weak point every
single time.
My Vertical Arc did 60 percent of a wasp’s life bar with a normal
hit, whereas Asuna’s Linear did just over fifty for a critical blow.
But because that move was a basic skill, it had a very brief
cooldown time, meaning she could use it every single time the
wasp was vulnerable.
I could try to follow her lead and aim for crits with my basic
attacks like Slant and Horizontal, but I just didn’t have the
confidence in my own accuracy. If I had an excuse, it was that my
Anneal Blade +6 was specced “3S3D,” meaning three points to
sharpness, three to durability.
195
On the other hand, Asuna’s Wind Fleuret +4 was 3A1D, meaning

three points to accuracy, one to durability. That gave her an
excellent bonus to critical hits, no doubt.
But even taking that into account, an extremely high level of
player skill and calm concentration was necessary to land every
single hit as a critical attack–to say nothing of experience.
I suspected that Asuna had spent a considerable amount of time
fighting these giant wasps since reaching the second floor.
Much of that had to do with farming the materials to upgrade her
Wind Fleuret, but I thought there was something bigger behind
that. It was about strengthening herself as a player, not just her
stats. If she learned to jab the weak points of the nimble flying
enemies, landbound monsters would seem slow as molasses in
comparison.
I recalled what Asuna said to me on our first encounter deep
within the first-floor labyrinth.
We’re all going to die anyway. The only difference is when and
where, sooner...or later.
Her eyes had shone with a dim light that saw not hope but despair
at the end of her battle. That she was able to strive in search of
true strength now filled me with joy. I could only hope that
someday she’d stand atop the entire population, a shining
example and beacon of light to all.
But having said that...I was not about to lose our competition to
see who could kill fifty wasps first.
Before we began battle, Asuna had proposed a chilling bet. She
would provide the dinner for tonight, but whoever could hunt fifty
wasps first would also get a free dessert, courtesy of the loser.
I’d accepted the challenge without thinking, and it wasn’t until
after we started that I realized what she was after. One of the NPC
restaurants in Urbus sold a shortcake with an astonishing amount
of sweet cream made from giant cow’s milk, the local delicacy.
196
And it was delicious–enough to make one forget about my favorite

black bread with cream from the first floor. It was also expensive–
enough to use the majority of the cor I’d earn in the hunt.
That’s what Asuna was after. If she bought the meal and I bought
the dessert, I’d come out way, way behind. I had no choice but to
emerge victorious!
“Raaahh!!”
I raced after the freshest new wasp, a bellow ripping through my
lungs.
But the next moment, all the wind went out of my sails when I
heard her call out, “Twenty-five!”
A three-point margin. That was bad news at the halfway mark.
If we both continued at this pace, she’d pull away and leave me in
the dust. If I couldn’t find a way to kill them in two moves like
Asuna, I would never make up the difference.
I didn’t have any other choice.
After turning back to ensure that Asuna was looking the other
way, I gave my target an appraising stare.
The black-and-green wasp hovered high, then plunged down at
me. Its body was bent, the gleaming stinger extended.
I followed the proper pattern, stopping in my tracks and inviting
the enemy to strike and miss before employing a Vertical Arc. Two
pleasing slashes rang out, but as usual, they only did 60 percent of
its health. If the wasp pulled away, I couldn’t finish it off in two
moves, short of a lucky critical hit.
I clenched my left fist with a silent scream.
Normally, I’d suffer a brief delaying effect at the end of my sword
skill, but my left fist began glowing with a red visual effect when I
held it to my side. Largely automatically, my body jutted forward
and pounded the wasp, which was already in a knockback state
from the sword attack.
197
The meaty thud that resulted was unlike the sound of any blade.
My fist shot forward and caught the wasp in its round, bulging
abdomen: Flash Blow, a basic Martial Arts skill. The wasp lost
another 20 percent of its HP.
Poised again, the wasp zipped upward and out of reach. Its second
dive was another stinger lunge. I had already recovered from
delay, and I easily evaded the wasp and dispatched it with a
simple Slant. The time it took to defeat this wasp was nearly the
same as two hits.
At this point, depending on how quickly I could find the next
monster, I had a chance. I had a chance.
Eyes wide, I scanned for the formation of a polygonal blob that
signaled a new monster being generated into the environment,
and raced after it.
***
One hour later, I sat on the grass, fifty wasps killed, burnt to a
crisp by sheer exhaustion. Asuna walked over and patted me on
the shoulder.
“Nice work, Kirito.”
There wasn’t a hint of fatigue in her voice. She circled around the
front and smiled.
“Well, let’s go back to Urbus for our dinner. And when you buy me
dessert, I’d like to hear all about that bizarre punching skill you
were using.”
I had no response. The beautiful fencer leaned in for the critical
finish.
“I can’t wait to finally try that cake. A win’s a win, even if it was
only by one point. A boy must keep his promises, after all.”
198
Just as we arrived back at Urbus, bells rang crisp and clear from all
over the town, signaling the arrival of night. It was a calm, slow
melody with a hint of longing. Seven o’clock was about the time
for the players out adventuring in the wilderness to make their
way back home.
In the MMORPGs I’d played before SAO, seven o’clock was just
when the game was getting going. People would begin to log in to
the server around then, hitting peak traffic at about ten, with the
hardiest of souls lasting all through the night until morning.
As a student of mandatory schooling age, I always logged out by
two in the morning at the latest. I remembered looking on in
jealousy at those who were preparing to race out for yet another
round of hunting.
Ironically, now that all I wanted was to be able to go back to
school, I could stay out well past two, until five or eight o’clock in
the morning if I chose. And yet once it got dark outside, I always
found my way back to town.
Many times, it was just to eat dinner and fill up on supplies before
trudging out for another round of adventures until sunrise–the
night I met Asuna in the labyrinth was just such an occasion. But
every time I saw that red, sinking sun through the outer perimeter
of Aincrad, the sky changing from purple to navy blue, I couldn’t
sit still. I had to walk back to civilization.
As proof that this urge was not solely in my own mind, there were
a number of players walking the main street of Urbus, all wearing
smiles of relief. Lively cheers erupted from the restaurants and
bars on the sides of the street, with the occasional toast or song
dedicated to another day of survival.
This same scene occurred at the towns and villages of the first
floor.
199
But it had been quite a while since I’d heard such unreserved
laughter–perhaps never–since we’d been trapped in Aincrad.
“This is the first time I’ve come back to Urbus at this time of day. Is
it always like this? Or is today a special day?” I asked Asuna.
December 8 wasn’t a holiday. She shot me a quizzical look, her
beauty hidden beneath the wool cape once again.
“Both Urbus and Marome have been like this for several days.
Have you been in hiding both day and night?”
“Um...well...”
She was probably asking if I really cared that much about being
seen. As a matter of fact, I couldn’t visit Urbus even if I wanted to.
If I was going to tell her about my Martial Arts skill over dinner, I’d
eventually get to this topic, but it was not something that could be
summed up briefly.
“You could say I was hiding. Or maybe I wasn’t,” I stammered.
Asuna’s stare grew even more incredulous.
“Didn’t I tell you you’re being paranoid? We’ve passed by dozens
of people so far, you’re not in disguise, and not a single one has
bothered you in the least.”
She was correct: My awesome striped bandanna was not on
display. My face and hair were just like normal, though the black
coat was stashed away, too. But I had a feeling that it was not a
case of players recognizing me as “Kirito the Beater” and choosing
to leave me alone, but that they were simply too full of relief and
anticipation of dinner to bother spending any time examining one
gloomy-looking swordsman out of many.
I coughed lightly, subtly maneuvering myself to use Asuna as
cover.
“Ahem...w-well, perhaps. Anyway, back to the topic–is this place
always this lively at night? For no particular reason?”
“Oh, I’m sure there’s a reason.”
200
I shut my mouth. She shot me another look.

“...In fact, you’re responsible for about three-quarters of that
reason.”
“Huh? M-me?!” I sputtered. She sighed in total exasperation.
“Look...Isn’t it obvious why everyone is smiling and laughing? It’s
because we’re on the second floor.”
“Which means?”
“It wasn’t a riddle. Everyone was much more nervous for the
entire month we were trapped on the first floor. They were
terrified that they might never see the real world again. I was one
of them. But then the boss raid came together, we won on the first
try, and opened up the second floor. Everyone realized that maybe
we can beat this thing. That’s why they’re smiling. I’m just
saying...we wouldn’t be seeing this phenomenon if a certain
someone hadn’t stood strong during that battle.”
“......”
Finally, I understood the point Asuna was making, but I was no
closer to knowing how to react to that. I coughed again and
grasped tor something to say.
“Uh, I g-guess. Well, if you ask me, that certain someone did a good
enough job to deserve a free shortcake,” I finished hopefully.
“That was that; this is this!”
It was worth a shot.
We turned onto a narrow path leading north from the east-west
main street, then made another right and a left to reach the
restaurant.
I knew about this establishment (and its infamous shortcake)
from my tireless exploration of Urbus during the beta test, so was
a bit surprised that Asuna knew about it after just a few days on
the second floor. We took a table near the back and ordered our
food, at which point I decide to ask her how she knew.
201
“So let me guess, Asuna: the smell of the sweet cream–” Those
brown eyes went sharp beneath her hood. I instantly changed
course.
“–did not guide you here. So was it coincidence? It’s got a small
storefront with a tiny sign. I think it would be difficult to pick this
place out at random.”
There wasn’t anything to be lost by wandering into a business at
random in Aincrad, as there were no rip-off bars that bullied you
into paying up just for entering (as far as I knew), but there were
some that automatically initiated an event-type quest when you
walked in the door. There was no danger to one’s HP within town
(again, as far as I knew), but such events might come off as a nasty
surprise to someone not familiar with MMOs. I figured Asuna was
not the type of person to appreciate or desire unexpected thrills,
but her answers surprised me. “I asked Argo if there were any
low-traffic NPC restaurants in Urbus and bought the answer from
her.”
Sure enough, there was no one else in the restaurant. Asuna
opened her menu and unequipped the cape, letting her hair swing
free with a sigh.
“Oh...I see. That makes sense...”
On the inside, I broke out into a cold sweat. I was the one who
brought Asuna and Argo together. Technically, it was when Asuna
borrowed the use of my bath at the farmhouse near Tolbana, and
Argo had visited with perfect timing. Despite my best efforts, they
ran into each other in the bathroom, much to Asuna’s shock. She
screamed and ran out into the main room, where I was sitting–
“You’re not remembering something you shouldn’t, are you? If so,
I might need two cakes instead of one.”
“No, not remembering a thing,” I replied instantly, vigorously
shaking my head clear. “Anyway, Argo might be quick and
accurate with your information, but be careful around her. There’s
no entry for ‘client confidentiality’ in her dictionary.”
202
“Meaning...I could ask her to sell me all the information she has
about you?”
It was too late to regret my slip of the tongue now.
“W-well, yeah...maybe...but it’ll cost you a lot. I’m sure the whole
bundle would cost you at least three thousand cor.”
“That’s actually not as much as I expected. I bet I could raise that
amount without much trouble...”
“N-n-no! I’d buy all of yours in return! After all, she saw your–” I
shut my mouth so hard my teeth clicked. She grinned at me. “My
what?”
“Umm, er...what I meant to say is...”
At that moment, a miracle occurred and the NPC waiter returned
with dishes of food, saving me from certain catastrophe.
The menu was simple salad, stew, and bread, but this was the
finest to be found on the second floor. Asuna’s eyebrows emitted a
threatening aura as we ate, but it disappeared by the time the
long-awaited dessert arrived.
As we agreed, Asuna paid for the dinner, while the cost of the
dessert came from my own wallet. The terrifying thing was the
cost of that one dish easily exceeded the three-piece dinner for
two. But given that I’d busted out my secret Martial Arts skill and
still lost the bet, I wasn’t in any position to complain. My only
option was to rue the lack of my own skill.
The triumphant winner, seemingly oblivious to my inner turmoil,
looked at the green plate piled high with a mountain of cream, her
eyes sparkling.
“Oh my gosh! Argo’s info said you just have to try the Tremble
Shortcake once. I can’t believe the moment has finally come!”
The “tremble” in the name was clearly derived from the Trembling
Cows, the female versions of the terrifyingly huge oxen that
roamed the second floor.
203
The cows were nearly twice the size of the oxen, practically bosses
in their own right. The cream piled atop the shortcake came from
their milk (supposedly), but now was not the time to mention that.
There was another angle to the “trembling” moniker, however: the
cream was piled so high atop the dish that it shook on its own. The
piece was a triangular slice from a full-size round cake seven
inches to a side, three inches tall, about sixty degrees of the whole.
That meant the total volume of the cake was
(7x7x3.14x3)/6...totaling seventy-seven cubic inches of pure
heaven. There had to be almost an entire quart of cream on that
thing.
“So...what about this cake qualifies as ‘short’?” I whined.
Asuna picked up the large fork that came with the cake and said,
“You don’t know? It’s not called shortcake because it’s short in
stature.”
“Why, then? Was it invented by a legendary big-league shortstop?”
She effortlessly ignored my killer joke. “It’s because the crispy
texture of the cake is achieved through shortening. In America,
they use a tough, crispy biscuit-like cake as the base, but we have
soft sponge cake in Japan, so it’s not really accurate to the original
meaning. Let’s see which kind this is...”
She put her fork to the top of the triangular wedge and carved out
a good five cubic inches, exposing golden sponge cake. It was a
four-layer cake, going sponge, strawberries and cream, sponge,
strawberries and cream. The top of the cake, of course, was
covered in a stunning amount of strawberries–or more accurately,
some kind of in-game fruit that resembled strawberries. “So it’s
sponge cake. I like this style more, anyway,” Asuna said.
Her smile was so radiant that it was almost worth losing the bet
and being forced to pay a massive dessert bill just to see it. In
truth, it didn’t matter whether I came out ahead or behind.
204
The fact that she’d gone from pale-faced despair in the depths of
the labyrinth to a full-faced smile under these warm oil lamps was
a very good thing, indeed.
If there was one very bad thing here, it was that there was only a
single slice of cake on the table. I’d been planning to live
dangerously and order two servings outright, but the price on the
menu was like a bucket of ice water dumped over my enthusiasm.
I summoned up every last point of my Gentleman statistic and
waved a magnanimous hand, smiling as naturally as I could.
“Please, dig in. Don’t mind me.”
She smiled back. “Oh, I won’t. Here goes.”
Two seconds later, she cracked with laughter, then reached into
the cutlery basket at the side of the table and handed me a fork.
“I’m just kidding–I’m not that mean. You can have up to a third of
it.”
“...Um, thanks,” I replied, a relieved smile on my face. On the
inside, my brain was doing rapid calculations.
One-third means I can eat...twenty-seven and a half cubic inches of
cake!
When we left the restaurant, the town was wreathed in the dark of
night. Asuna sucked in a deep breath and let out a deep sigh of
contentment.
“...That was good...”
I knew how she felt. That cake was probably the first honest
dessert she’d tasted since we’d been trapped in this place. It was
the same for me. I sighed happily as well and murmured, “It feels
like that tasted even better than in the beta test...The way the
cream melted in your mouth, the perfect level of sweetness that
wasn’t too heavy, but still satisfying...”
205
“Don’t you think that’s just your imagination? Would they really
bother with such fine-tuning between the beta and the retail
release?” she asked. I answered her skepticism with all
seriousness.
“It wouldn’t be that hard to update the data in the taste engine.
Besides, even ignoring the difference in flavor, we didn’t have this
in the beta.”
I pointed just below my HP bar, in the upper left portion of view.
There was a buff icon displayed that hadn’t been there before, a
four-leaf clover that signified an increased luck bonus.
That effect could only be gained by making an expensive offering
at a church, equipping an accessory with that particular bonus, or
consuming a special food item.
SAO kept its main stats exceedingly minimal, showing only values
for strength and agility. However, there were a number of hidden
stats affected by equipment properties, buffs and debuffs, even
terrain effects. Luck was one of those stats, and a pretty important
one–it affected resistance to poison and paralysis, the probability
of weapon fumbling or tripping, even potentially the drop rate of
rare items.
No doubt someone on the Argus development team had taken a
look at the exorbitant price of the shortcake and decided that it
was enough to warrant a bonus effect when the retail game
launched. The effect would last for fifteen minutes. That would be
a handy amount if eaten as a snack in the middle of a dungeon,
but...
“Unfortunately, it’s not enough time for us to make good use of it
out in the fields,” Asuna said, clearly following my line of thought.
Even if we ran out searching for monsters, we’d barely find a
handful before the buff wore off. Plus, the monsters around the
outskirts of the town didn’t drop any decent loot.
“Too bad...What a waste of a good buff.”
206
I stared at the icon timer ticking away precious seconds, wracking

my brain for a way to make good use of the bonus while it lasted.
We could get down on hands and knees in the street–coins and
fragments of gems could be found on very rare occasions–but I
didn’t think Asuna would like that. We could gamble big at a
casino, except that they didn’t start showing up until the seventh
floor. The more I pondered, the less of the effect remained.
Wasn’t there anything we could do to test our luck? I supposed I
could turn to the fencer and ask if she’d go out with me, but I had a
feeling the system’s luck bonus had no bearing on my chances
there...
Just as the steam was about to pour from my ears in frustration, I
heard a sound.
It was the distant, rhythmic clanging of metal. Clank, clank, went
the hammer.
“Ah...”
I snapped my fingers, finally having spotted a use for the twelve
remaining minutes of good luck.
207
Five hours after our last visit to the eastern plaza of Urbus, there
were virtually no people wandering around. The only souls left
were a few players standing around the NPC shop stalls that
opened only at night, and two or three couples seated on benches.
Of course, I hadn’t brought Asuna here to sit on a bench and stare
up at the bottom of the floor above in lieu of stargazing.
The short player was still there in the northeast corner, his small
anvil and display case sitting atop the vendor’s carpet. This was
who I came to see: the blacksmith, likely the very first committed
crafter since the start of SAO.
“Asuna, you met your quota of upgrading materials for your Wind
Fleuret during our hunt, right?” I asked. She gave me a brief nod,
her hooded cape back on.
“Yes. I’m a bit over, in fact, so I was planning to sell the rest and
split the money with you.”
“We can do that tomorrow. Why don’t you try getting it to plus
five right now?”
She looked upward, thinking it over. “I see. But does the good luck
bonus affect weapon augmentation attempts? Isn’t it the
blacksmith who does the attempt, not me?”
“True. But we can’t give the blacksmith some of that cake, for
obvious reasons...”
Obvious meaning financial reasons. I shrugged and continued,
“So I can’t claim that the effect will work, but you are the weapons
owner, so maybe there’s a boost to the chance of success. I’m
certain it won’t have a negative effect, so you might as well give it
a shot.”
208
The explanation had wound the buff timer down to seven minutes.
Asuna nodded again and said, “All right. I was going to do it today,
anyway.”
She pulled the rapier from her waist and strode directly over to
the blacksmith’s display. I followed her without comment.
Up close, the diminutive blacksmith reminded me even more of a
dwarf. He was short and squat, with a young, honest face. It really
was a shame that he didn’t have any whiskers. Hairstyles and
facial hair were easily customizable with cosmetic items from
shops, so it seemed like he could draw in more customers by going
with the classic look.
Asuna’s voice broke me out of my pointless reverie.
“Good evening.”
The blacksmith looked up from his anvil and gave a hasty bow. “G-
good evening. Welcome.”
His voice was young and boyish, a far cry from that dwarven
baritone. Every avatar’s voice was sampled from the player’s real-
life voice, so while it seemed slightly different from his face, it
didn’t change his overall impression. As I suspected the first time I
saw him, he might be a teenager close to my age.
Atop the signboard with his list of prices, it said Nezha’s Smith
Shop. Under Japanese rules, I supposed that to be pronounced
“Nezuha”–it must have been his name. Sometimes it was difficult
to tell with the alphabetized display of Sword Art Online player
names. In our first-floor raid party, there was a trident user with
the handle Hokkaiikura. After much deliberation, I concluded that
it must be “Hokka Iikura,” only to find out later that he called
himself “Hokkai Ikura.” Nezha itself could have some different
pronunciation, but it seemed rude to ask him that on our first
meeting.
At any rate, Nezha. the blacksmith got to his feet and bowed again
nervously.
209
“A-are you looking for a new weapon or here for maintenance?”

Asuna held up the rapier in both hands and answered, “I’d like you
to power up my weapon. I want this Wind Fleuret plus four
boosted to plus five, bonus to accuracy. I’ve got my own
materials.”
Nezha took one glance at the fleuret and his already-drooping
brows looked even more troubled.
“A-all right...How many materials do you have...?”
“The upper limit. Four Steel Plates and twenty Windwasp
Needles,” she answered promptly. I recalculated everything in my
head.
Equipment upgrade materials came in two categories: base
materials and additional materials. Every attempt had a fixed,
mandatory cost of base materials, but the additional materials
were optional. The type and number of additional mats would
have a wide effect on the chance of success.
Windwasp Needles were an accuracy-boosting additional
material, which meant that they would increase her critical hit
chance even more. If my memory was correct a full twenty
needles would max out the success rate of the upgrade attempt at
95 percent.
In other words, this should have been a very good thing for the
player actually performing the upgrade attempt. The best
customers of all would pay the blacksmith for the materials
themselves, but it still had to be much better than failing with no
additional mats.
And yet, Nezha looked terrified after hearing her answer. He was
clearly unsettled by the request, but he couldn’t find a reason to
turn her down.
“All right. I’ll take your weapon and materials.” He bowed again.
Asuna thanked him and handed over the Wind Fleuret first.
210
She then opened her window and materialized a sack in which she
had placed all of the goods. She handed them over to the
blacksmith through a trade window. Finally, she paid him the cost
of the upgrading attempt.
At this point, the luck bonus effect had only four minutes left. That
would not be much help in battle, but it was more than enough for
a single weapon upgrade. Whether or not it actually worked in the
way we hoped was another question, but that was one expensive
piece of cake. Surely they could afford to bump us from 95 percent
to 97.
I said a silent prayer to the god of the game system. Asuna took
two steps back and sidled right next to me. She muttered, “Finger.”
“Huh?”
“Stick out your finger.”
Baffled, I lifted my left hand and extended the index finger. Asuna
reached out with her brown leather gloves and gripped my finger
in two of hers.
“Um...what is this...?”
“If I do this, maybe your buff effect will be added to mine.” That
seemed stupid. “W-well, in that case...shouldn’t you hold my entire
hand...?”
I felt an icy stare emanating from her hood.
“Since when were things like that between us?” Since when were
they like this?! I wanted to yell, but the blacksmith signaled that
he had counted all of the materials and found them satisfactory, so
I had to stay quiet and let her squeeze my fingertip, draining away
all of my valuable good luck.
Asuna and I watched over the sign as Nezha the blacksmith turned
and reached for a portable furnace set next to his work anvil. The
number of ingots it could melt at once was very low, meaning he
couldn’t create large polearms or suits of metal armor, but it did
the job for a simple street side business.
211
On the furnace’s pop-up menu, he switched it from creation mode

to strengthening mode, then set the type of augmentation. Nezha
then tossed Asuna’s materials into the furnace.
Four thin sheets of steel and twenty sharp stingers turned red and
burst into flame in seconds, and soon after, the furnace began
burning with a blue flame that signified the accuracy stat. All
preparations complete, he removed the Wind Fleuret from its
sheath and set it down within the brazier-shaped furnace.
The blue flames enveloped the slender blade, and the entire
weapon was soon glowing azure.
Nezha quickly pulled the rapier out and laid it on top of the anvil,
then gripped his hammer and held it high.
At that exact moment, something prickled the hairs on the back of
my neck. It was the same sensation that I’d felt earlier that
afternoon, when I decided to hold off on upgrading my Anneal
Blade +6.
I opened my mouth, preparing to yell, “Stop!” But the blacksmith’s
hammer had already made its first strike.
Clang! Clang! The rhythmic pounding echoed throughout the
square, orange sparks flying from the anvil. Once the upgrade
attempt had begun, there was no stopping it. Well, I could grab his
hand and force him to stop, but that only guaranteed that it would
end in failure. All I could do now was watch and pray for success.
There was no foundation for my panic; it was a manifestation of
my inner worrywart, nothing more. All the materials had been
invested, the blacksmith represented better odds than an NPC,
and we had two players’ worth of luck bonus. We couldn’t
possibly fail.
I held my breath and watched the hammer go up and down.
Unlike with weapon creation, only ten strikes were necessary to
upgrade a weapon. Six, seven–the hammer smacked the blue
rapier at a steady pace. Eight, nine...ten.
212
The process complete, the rapier flashed brightly atop the anvil.
There’s no way it can fail I repeated to myself, gritting my teeth.
The result was far, far worse than my bad premonition could
possibly have signaled.
With a fragile, even beautiful tinkling, the Wind Fleuret +4
crumbled into dust from tip to hilt.
***
No one reacted for several seconds, from Asuna, the sword’s
owner; to me, the emotional and luck bonus support; to Nezha the
blacksmith, the one who had caused it to happen.
Perhaps if a single passerby had been watching, they might have
broken the ice. But for now, all the three of us could do was stare
emptily at the anvil. As the third party in this transaction, perhaps
I was best suited to smooth over the situation, but my mind was
occupied by one massive question, not to mention the sheer shock
of what had transpired. This is ridiculous!
The phrase echoed through my head over and over. All I could do
was stare.
It was impossible. As far as I knew, there were only three negative
outcomes of a weapon upgrade attempt in SAO: the materials
disappeared and left the already-upgraded values where they
were, the properties of the bonus got switched around, or the
upgraded value decreased by one.
In the worst case scenario, Asuna’s Wind Fleuret +4 should have
decreased to +3, and that was, at most, a 5-percent chance. Of
course, 5 percent put it well within the bounds of possibility for an
MMO...but it should never result in the weapon just completely
disintegrating.
But there was no getting around the brutal truth that the glittering
shards of silver scattered about the anvil had been, until a few
seconds ago, Asuna’s precious sword.
213
I watched the entire series of events. Asuna removed the rapier

from her waist and handed it to Nezha. He picked it up in his left
hand and manipulated the portable furnace with his right, then
pulled the sword from its scabbard and put it in the fire. Nothing
in that sequence of events was out of the ordinary.
As we watched in silence, the scattered pieces around the furnace
melted into the air. The weapon-damaging skills that some
monsters used might melt, warp, or chip a blade but leave it in a
repairable state. A weapon that had shattered into pieces
represented the loss of all durability and was irretrievably gone.
Asuna’s sword wasn’t just visibly destroyed–it had been deleted
from the SAO server’s database entirely.
As the final fragment disappeared, it was Nezha the blacksmith
who moved first.
He threw aside his hammer and bolted to his feet, bowing to the
both of us over and over, his parted bowl cut waving in the air. He
squeaked and wailed, trying to trap the screams in his throat.
“I...I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’ll return all of your money...I’m so, so
sorry!”
Asuna couldn’t react to the repeated apologies. She just stood
there, her eyes wide. I eventually stepped forward to speak.
“Look, um...before we talk about money, I want an explanation. I
thought that weapon destruction wasn’t a possible failure state of
upgrading in SAO. How did this happen?”
Nezha stopped bobbing his head and finally looked up. The angle
of his hanging eyebrows was extreme, his round, honest face
screwed up in agony. It was as though his face had been designed
as an expression pure apology. I felt extremely uncomfortable, but
there was no way I could tell him that it was “all right.” Instead, I
tried to keep my voice as calm as humanly possible.
214
“Listen...I played in the beta test, and I remember the player

manual they put on the official website. It said there were three
possible penalties for failure: lost materials, property alteration,
and property downgrade. That’s a fact.”
As a publically outed “beater,” I had no desire to bring up the beta.
But this was not the time for self-preservation. I stopped there
and waited for his answer.
Nezha was no longer bowing and scraping, but his eyesight was
fixed firmly downward as he spoke, his voice trembling.
“Um...I think that maybe...they added a fourth penalty type for the
launch. This happened to me...once before. I’m sure the probability
is very low, though...”
“......”
I had no argument left. If Nezha’s claim was false, then he’d
somehow just accomplished a destruction penalty that did not
exist in the game. That was far more unlikely.
“I see,” I murmured lifelessly. Nezha looked up and mumbled
again.
“Um...I’m truly sorry. I don’t know how to repay you. I’d give you a
replacement Wind Fleuret, but I don’t have any in stock. I’d hate to
leave you without an option, so I can give you an Iron Rapier, if
you don’t mind the downgrade...”
That wasn’t my choice to make. I looked to my left at the still silent
Asuna.
Her face was almost entirely hidden by the gray hood, but I could
still make out delicate chill moving side to side. I answered Nezha
for her.
“No, thanks...We’ll make do on our own.”
With all due credit to Nezha’s offer, the Iron Rapier was sold as far
back as the Town of Beginnings on the first floor, and wasn’t going
to be very helpful up here.
215
If he couldn’t give us a Wind Fleuret, the Guard’s Rapier that was

one rank below it was the only thing that came close to a
replacement.
Besides, the risks of failing in an augmentation attempt should fall
upon the shoulders of the client, not the blacksmith carrying the
job out. Nezha’s shop sign had a list of the success rates for
various jobs at his current skill level. Being unlucky enough to hit
the 5-percent chance–probably less than 1 percent for this worst
of all outcomes–of failure was our problem, not his. Even Rufiol,
he of the Anneal Blade +0 disaster this afternoon, had eventually
given in and accepted his fate.
Nezha’s shoulders slumped even lower at my answer. He
murmured, “I see. Well...at least let me return your fee...”
He moved his hand to start the transfer, but I cut him off. “It’s all
right, you did your best. You don’t need to do this. There are some
crafters who say it doesn’t matter how you do it as long as you hit
the weapon enough times, so they just whack away...”
I didn’t mean anything by that, but for some reason, he shrunk his
head even farther. His arms were held as close to his body as
possible, trembling fiercely. Another apology shuddered out.
“...I’m sorry...!!”
After that painful, heart-rending apology, there was nothing more
to say.
I took a step back, nodded to Asuna, and started to move her
away.
It was only at this moment that I noticed that her hand, which had
been pinching my index finger originally, was now fully gripping
my palm.
I pulled the silent Asuna away from the blacksmith and out the
northern entrance of the plaza.
216
There were few NPC shops or restaurants along this stretch, only
a number of buildings of unknown utility–perhaps they would be
available as player homes after some later point in the game. At
any rate, the street was nearly empty.
We walked on and on, the only points of interest the occasional
signboard of an inn. There was no destination, not even a general
direction. The cold grip of her hand on mine told me of how
heavily the loss of her favorite sword was weighing on her, and
the shock of its abrupt disappearance after a single upgrade
attempt. But I had no idea how to react or console her. My meager
life experience as a middle-school gamer left me unprepared for
this. All I knew was that pulling my hand free and running away
was the worst possible choice. I wanted to pray for the advent of
some sudden salvation, but the good luck bonus icon below my HP
bar was long gone.
First, let’s stop walking.
I noticed a wider space ahead with a bench and started off for it.
After a few dozen steps, I stopped and awkwardly said, “L-look,
here’s a bench.”
The voice inside my head screamed at me for being an idiot, but
Asuna sensed my intentions and turned to sit down without a
word. She was still holding my hand, so I automatically took a spot
beside her.
After a few seconds, her fingers eased up and left my own to land
on the wooden slats of the bench.
I had to say something, but the more I thought, the tighter my
throat shrank. How could I be the same person who had stood
before dozens of powerful warriors and proclaimed myself a
beater? And not that just that. I was the one who had spoken first
when I originally found Asuna deep within the first-floor
labyrinth, wearing a much harder expression than she was now.
217
Sure, it had been an emotionless admonishment about overkill,

but there was no reason I could say something then and couldn’t
now. None at all.
“........Um, so,” I finally began. Fortunately, the words seemed to
form themselves after that point. “It’s a real shame about the Wind
Fleuret. But once we reach the next town after Marome, they sell a
weapon that’s even a bit better. It’s not cheap, of course...but we
manage it together. I’ll help you save up...”
If mana points existed in this world, it would have cost me every
last one of mine to get those words out of my mouth. Asuna
responded so quietly that I could barely hear her, even at this
close range.
“...But...” The word melted into the night air as quickly as it had
appeared. “But that sword...that sword was my only...”
Something in her voice, some emotional resonance, pulled my
gaze directly to her face. Two clear drops ran down her cheeks,
glowing with a pale light under her hood.
It wasn’t as though I’d never seen a girl crying up close. But the
source of those tears was always my little sister Suguha, and
almost all of the instances had occurred years ago, in my
kindergarten and early grade-school years.
The last time I’d seen her cry was three months before I fell
prisoner to SAO. She’d lost at the prefectural kendo tournament
and cried in the corner of our backyard. I had no words to console
her, only a bag from the convenience store with ice pops, the kind
you sucked from a plastic wrapper. I broke one in two and stuck
one of the halves in her hand.
In gaming terms, my proficiency in the Reacting to Crying Girls
skill was barely above zero, if I’d even unlocked that skill in the
first place. I had to compliment myself on even having the guts to
stay there rather than run off.
218
On the other hand, an objective look showed me in a very pathetic

light: frozen still and dumbfounded, watching the tears streak
down Asuna’s cheeks one after the other. I ought to speak or
move, but I had no ice pops in my inventory, and I wasn’t ready to
speak to her when I wasn’t entirely sure what she was crying
about.
I understood the shock of seeing her favorite weapon crumble to
pieces before her eyes, of course. If my Anneal Blade suddenly
vanished, I’d probably get tears in my eyes as well.
But in all honesty, I didn’t peg Asuna as the type to form a deep
attachment to her weapon, to see it as an extension of herself and
talk to it soothingly as she oiled it...That was my category, if
anything.
Asuna seemed like the opposite case. She would see a sword as
simply one element of battle power out or several. If she looted a
slightly stronger sword from a dead monster, she’d toss aside the
one she’d been using without a second thought. The first time I
met her, she had a bundle of starting rapiers that she’d bought in
town, throwing each one away when it was no longer of any use.
It had only been a week since then. What had changed Asuna’s
way of thinking 180 degrees in just seven days?
...No.
No matter the reason, there was no use wondering about it now.
She was shedding tears over her partner, the blade she’d used for
seven whole days. I could understand her sorrow. What else was
there to think about?
“...It’s a real shame,” I murmured. Asuna’s back shivered. She
seemed even more doll-like than ever.
219
“But listen,” I continued. “I know this might sound cold, but if you
want to keep fighting on the front lines to help beat this damn
game, you’re going to have to keep getting new equipment. Even if
that had worked, your Wind Fleuret would be useless by the end
of the third floor. I’ll have to replace my own Anneal Blade at the
first town on the fourth floor. That’s just what MMOs–what RPGs
are like.”
I had no idea if this was actually comforting her, but it was the
best I could do.
Asuna did not react for several moments after I finished speaking.
Finally, a few weak words trickled out from her hood.
“I...I can’t take that.” Her right hand clenched lightly atop her
leather skirt. “I always thought my sword was just a tool...a bunch
of polygonal data. I thought that only my skill and determination
mattered here. But the first time I tried out that Wind Fleuret you
chose for me...I’m ashamed to admit I was blown away. It was as
light as a feather and seemed to home in right on the spot I
wanted to hit...as if the sword was helping me, out of its own
will...”
Her cheeks trembled, and a fleeting smile crossed her lips. For
some reason, this seemed like the most beautiful expression I had
seen Asuna make yet.
“I thought, I’ll be fine as long as I have her. I’d have her by my side
forever. I told myself, even if the upgrading fails, I’ll never get rid
of her. I’d take great care of her, for all the swords I wasted before
this...I promised...”
Fresh tears dripped onto her skirt and vanished. When things
disappeared in this world, they left no trace behind. Swords,
monsters...even players.
Asuna quietly shook her head and whispered, her voice barely
audible.
220
“If what you say is true, and I have to keep switching to

weapons...then I don’t want to go upward. I feel so bad. We fight
together, survive together...I can’t bear just throwing it away...”
Something in Asuna’s words brought back a memory of entirely
different scene.
A child’s bicycle with a black frame. Twenty-inch tires, a six-gear
shifter. I picked it out myself on the day I entered elementary
school. I treasured that junior mountain bike than any child
would. I put air in the tires once a week. If it rained, I wiped it off
and oiled the moving parts. Perhaps borrowing Dad’s bike care
chemicals to waterproof the frame was going a bit overboard.
Thanks to all of that, the bike was still sparkling like new after
three years, but that was the root of my predicament. Once I
outgrew the bike, my parents said they would buy me a new one
with twenty-four inch wheels. But rather than allowing me to
keep my precious first bike in storage, they said I had to give it
away to a younger boy in the neighborhood.
I was in third grade at the time, and I fought back like I’d never
fought before. I claimed that I’d rather not have a new bike at all. I
even asked the fellow at the neighborhood bike shop to store it
away in secret for me.
Instead, he told me that he’d transfer the soul of my machine to
the new bike. Before my stunned eyes, he took out a hexagonal
wrench and removed the bolt from the right crank. This bolt was
the most important out of all of them, he claimed. So as long as he
stuck that on the new bike, its soul would come over with it.
Today, it was obviously a bunch of baloney meant to quiet a child,
but that first bolt and another one from my second bike were
currently sitting in the saddlebag of my twenty-six-incher.
With this past experience in mind, I told Asuna, “There’s a way to
keep a sword’s soul with you when the time comes to say
goodbye.”
“...Huh...?”
221
She raised her just a bit. I help up two fingers.

“Two ways, in fact. For one, you can melt down your inferior
sword into ingots, then use them as the base for a new sword. The
other way is to just keep your old sword in storage. There are
downsides to both cases, but I think there’s merit to them.”
“Downsides, how?”
“Well, when it comes to turning them into ingots, you have to have
strong willpower when you loot good weapons from monsters. If
you switch over to a looted sword, that ends the bloodline there.
You could always melt down the loot and mix them together for
your new sword, but it’ll cost a lot. On the other hand, if you keep
it in your inventory, that’s using up valuable space. Again, your
willpower will be tested when you’re deep in a dungeon and you
run out of space for items. In either case, the more practical
players will probably laugh and wonder why you’d bother...”
Asuna was looking down, deep in thought, then raised her head
and brushed a tear away with her fingertip.
“And do you plan to do either of those...”
“I’m on the ingot side, but I should explain...I do it for my armor
and accessories too, not just my sword.”
“...Oh.”
She nodded and smiled again. This one was a bit clearer than the
last, but the air of sadness still had not vanished from her face.
“If only I could have kept the shattered pieces so they could be
melted down,” she murmured. I could only nod in agreement. The
first sword that Asuna had felt a connection to was gone forever
without a trace. There was no way to bring that soul back…
I was lost in silence. Eventually, she spoke again.
“...Thanks.”
“Huh...?”
222
She didn’t repeat herself. Asuna stretched her legs forward and
stood up from the bench.
“It’s getting really late. Let’s head back to the inn. Will you help me
buy a new sword tomorrow?”
“Um...yeah, of course,” I nodded, hastily getting to my feet.
“I’ll, uh, see you to your inn.”
She shook her head at my offer. “I don’t feel like walking back to
Marome. I’ll stay in Urbus tonight. There’s a place just over there.”
I turned and saw that indeed, there was a gently glowing sign that
said Inn. Upon further reflection, it would be too dangerous to
walk through the wilderness between towns without a decent
weapon. Leaving her here for tonight and coming back tomorrow
to help her buy a weapon seemed like a much better idea.
I walked her to the door or the inn about twenty yards away and
watched her check in, waving as she walked up the stairs. I didn’t
have the guts to stay at the same inn with her.
Besides, there was one other thing for me to do tonight.
I headed south back down the street toward the eastern plaza of
Urbus.
223
When the bell rang out eight o’clock, the tireless clanging of the
hammer finally stopped.
I rushed through the gate of the east plaza of Urbus and made my
way across the open space, avoiding the lighting radius of the
streetlamps. I reached the line of leafy trees planted at the eastern
border and put my back against a thick trunk.
In my player menu, there was a shortcut icon at the bottom of the
main screen that corresponded to my Hiding skill, which was set
in my third skill slot A small indicator appeared in the bottom of
the view reading 70 percent–my avatar was now 70 percent
blended into the tree at my back. A number of variables affected
that number: my armor type and color, surrounding terrain and
brightness, and of course, my own movement.
I was risking the exposure of my “evil beater” persona by wearing
the Coat of Midnight, but the black leather coat’s bonus to hiding
would be of more use than my usual disguise. The area was dark
and there was no one else nearby, maximizing my stealth
efficiency. The number seventy wasn’t great because my Hiding
proficiency was still low. Increasing that skill was a long and
boring process, so I wouldn’t max it out for quite a long time.
Even at starter status, the skill was powerful enough to work
easily against the mobs on the first two floors (as long as they
were sight-dependent), but that number felt awfully low against a
human being. A perceptive player like Asuna would probably see
through 70-percent camouflage without any trouble. On top of
that, hiding in town was considered poor manners, so getting
revealed by other players could lead to trouble, especially if it was
one of the recent “game police” type who took it upon themselves
to uphold proper etiquette.
224
It wasn’t my style to sneak around and spy on people, but this was
a special circumstance. I was about to embark on my very first
attempted trail of another player.
As I waited behind the tree, a player-crafter closed up his shop at
the eight o’clock bell. It was Nezha, of course, the first blacksmith
in Aincrad to sell his wares in the street.
He extinguished the fire in his portable forge and put away the
ingots in his leather sack. His hammer and other smithing tools
went into a special box. He folded up the sign and set it down on
an empty spot on the carpet, then straightened out his display of
weapons for sale.
Once every object related to his business had been neatly packed
on top of the six-by-six-foot carpet, Nezha tapped the corner to
bring up a menu screen and hit the “store” button. The carpet
rolled up by itself, absorbing the countless items on top of it. In
just a few seconds, the only thing left was a thin, round tube.
The short blacksmith picked it up easily and hoisted it over his
shoulder. The magic Vendor’s Carpet was always the same weight,
no matter what items were locked within its internal storage.
When I first learned about that, visions of unlimited space for
potions, food, and loot in the dungeon floated through my head,
but reality was not so generous. The carpet only worked in towns
and villages. On top of that, it couldn’t be fit into a player’s
inventory, meaning that the four-foot-long, four-inch-thick rolled
carpet had to be carried everywhere by hand.
Normally, this item bore little use for non-merchants or crafters,
but some enterprising people found unexpected avenues for fun.
Back in the beta, there was a brief period where pranksters used
the “items on carpet cannot be moved by anyone but the owner”
rule to block off major streets with large furniture, sowing chaos
left and right. This was addressed very quickly in a patch that
limited use of the carpets to the corners of public spaces over a
certain size.
225
Magic carpet on his shoulder, Nezha heaved a sigh of exhaustion

and started plodding off, head down, toward the south gate of the
square.
I waited for him to be at least twenty yards away, then pulled
away from the tree. My hide rate indicator dropped rapidly until it
hit zero, at which point the hiding icon disappeared entirely. I still
stayed in the shadows, trying to cut down on any unnatural
footsteps as I trailed him.
Of course, I was not following Nezha home in order to confront
him about his failure to improve Asuna’s weapon, or to threaten
him away from prying eyes.
If anything, it was that feeling of wrongness.
As far as I knew, he had failed twice–no, five times–to upgrade a
weapon over the course of the day. The destruction of Asuna’s
Wind Fleuret and the four consecutive tries on Rufiol’s Anneal
Blade, rendering it a “spent” +0. Of course, this outcome was
possible from a statistical standpoint, but it struck me as a little to
easy. Or a little to hard, depending on how you looked at it.
The only reason I’d visited the eastern plaza of Urbus in disguise
in the first place was because I heard rumors in Marome that an
excellent blacksmith had set up shop there. I packed up enough
materials to boost my chances to 80 percent and was pondering
whether to bump up sharpness or durability when I happened
across the scene with Rufiol. I would have gone up to him directly
afterward to have my weapon upgraded if I hadn’t happened to
run into Asuna at that precise moment.
Would my weapon have failed just like theirs? I couldn’t help but
feel that way, although I had no proof backing my suspicion.
If rumors of his skill had reached Marome, then Nezha’s chances
of success must be noteworthy. There was no way to test for
myself, but his numbers must surely be better than the standard
NPC blacksmith.
226
However, if he was somehow able to fulfill a condition that

guaranteed failure, there must be some hidden reason behind it. It
was possible that some malicious trick lurked behind this series of
events.
This was all personal conjecture–perhaps even paranoid
suspicion. Even if there was some kind of knack to what he was
doing, I couldn’t possibly guess how it worked. He had put Asuna’s
materials into the forge, heated her sword in it, then moved it to
the anvil and hammered it–all before my eyes. It was all according
to the book, nothing out of place. Besides, what could he possibly
stand to gain by downgrading or destroying other players’
weapons...?
Even as the possibilities swirled through my mind, I kept a bead
on his back as he walked. Fortunately, he seemed to have no idea
he was being followed and didn’t spin around or force me to come
to an awkward halt. On the other hand, I had no experience
trailing another player, so a cold sweat ran down my back the
entire time. If I got my Hiding skill higher, I could follow at a much
greater distance without trouble, but at this point, the only
experience I could rely on was spy movies.
I darted stylishly from shadow to shadow for seven or eight
minutes, a certain impossible theme song ringing in my ears.
Nezha plodded his way almost to the town walls at the southeast
edge of Urbus before stopping at a faintly glowing sign. I stuck
close to a tree lining the street to watch. Anyone witnessing this
scene would find it extremely suspicious, but I didn’t realize that
until later.
The sign clearly said BAR in the light of the oil lamps. Again, I felt a
strange suspicion. Nothing was out of place for a hard-working
player to settle down with a drink after a long day of work...but
something was wrong with Nezha’s demeanor. He wasn’t racing
up the steps in anticipation of a nice cold mug of ale. In fact, he
stood still outside the swinging door for over ten seconds, as
though hesitating to even go inside.
227
He’s not going to turn around, is he? I thought in a panic. Nezha

adjusted the roll of carpet on his shoulder, then set a heavy foot
forward. He put out his hand and slowly pushed the door open.
His small form disappeared into the bar, the door swinging shut
behind him. It only took two seconds–but even at my distance, I
could faintly hear what came from inside.
There were a great cheer and applause, and a man’s voice
shouting, “Welcome back, Nezuo!”
“...?!” I sucked in a deep breath.
This was not what I expected. My spur-of-the-moment decision to
trail Nezha was only meant to find where he was spending the
night. Instead, he went to a bar at the edge of town where at least
four or five people knew him personally. What could it mean?
After a brief hesitation, I left the shadows and raced up to the
swinging door of the inn. Unfortunately, even with my back to the
wall next to the door, I could hear nothing from inside. By nature,
all closed doors in the game were soundproof; the only way to
hear through them was the Eavesdropping skill. Even the
swinging door, with its wide-open gaps above and below, was no
exception.
I swore under my breath. There were only two options here, and
entering the store disguised as a customer was not one of them. I
could either give up and leave, or...
I steeled my nerves and reached out to gently push open the door
a crack. Five degrees, ten–there was no sound from within. Once I
got it to fifteen degrees, the man’s voice from earlier floated up to
my ears.
“Might as well chug it, Nezuo! None of the beer in this place
actually gets you drunk, anyway!”
In contrast to his statement, he seemed to be plenty drunk
already.
228
It was true that you could drink gallons of beer in Aincrad and
never take in a single molecule of alcohol, but it was fairly
common for players to get “drunk” on the atmosphere of the
situation. The excited cheers and yelling that floated through the
doorway were no different from what could be heard from groups
of college students walking through a nightlife district after a few
rounds of drinks in the real world.
I strained my ears and heard a hesitant “okay” in a quiet voice,
chattering died down for a moment, only to be followed by an
excited cheer and applause.
Based on the evidence, I assumed that the five or so people
waiting for Nezha in the bar were close friends of his. This came as
a surprise to me, as in my experience, crafters tended to be lone
wolves–or in Nezha’s case, sheep. I was curious as to the player
builds of his friends, but there was no way to identify their play-
styles based on voices alone.
I decided to take another risk and peer over the top of the
swinging door for just an instant. I blinked quickly, like the shutter
of a camera, then pulled my head back.
As I suspected, there was only the one group in the cramped
interior. It I’d tried to waltz in pretending to be a customer, I
would have drawn all of their notice. There were six of them
sitting at the table in the far right corner. Nezha had his back to
the door. The other five all appeared to be fighters clad in leather
and metal armor.
This wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. It was completely
normal for MMORPG guilds to have fighters and crafters mingling
naturally. The official guild feature of SAO wasn’t unlocked until a
particular quest on the third floor was beaten, but many players
had gathered into organized groups already. In fact, solo players
like Asuna and me were already in the minority.
229
Having a crafter or merchant in the group made equipment

maintenance and selling loot much easier for the adventurers, and
the crafters could get the materials they needed for cheap, if not
free altogether. So there was nothing wrong with Nezha having
friends who happened to be fighters...but the lump of suspicion in
my chest did not show any signs of disappearing.
Just as I was trying to figure out the exact nature of what troubled
me, one of the friends who was just entertained by Nezha’s
downing of an entire mug of beer said something that caught my
ear.
“...So, Nezuo, how was business today?”
“Oh...um, I sold twelve new weapons...and got a few visitors for
repairs and upgrades.”
“Hey, that’s a new record!”
“We’ll have to scrape together some more ingots!” two other men
shouted, and there was another round of applause. It was the very
picture of a close-knit band of friends with a network of support. I
didn’t recognize any of the other five, which meant they probably
weren’t front-line players, but they might rise to that rank soon
with a talented blacksmith on their side.
Maybe I really am being paranoid...
I felt ashamed. If Nezha really was using some kind of bug or trick
to intentionally downgrade or destroy other players’ weapons, it
would have to be planned and supported by his entire group, and I
just couldn’t see a logical motive for them doing that.
With considerable pain, I recalled that Diavel the Knight, leader of
the first-floor boss raid party, had gone through a secondary
negotiator in an attempt to buy my Anneal Blade +6. Only in his
final moment of life did I learn that he’d done it to deny me the
Last Attack bonus on the boss.
230
In hindsight, I did score that very last hit on the kobold lord and
earned his unique Coat of Midnight for the feat, so there was a
kind of logic behind Diavel’s attempt to lower my attack output.
But on the other hand, Nezha and his friends were not even on the
front line. They weren’t in any position to be concerned with the
boss’s LA bonus. There was no benefit to ruining Rufiol and
Asuna’s weapons.
I guess it really was just a series of coincidences...
I sighed silently to myself and was preparing to let go of the
swinging door and allow it to close, when something stopped my
hand.
“...I don’t think we can keep doing it,” came the sound of Nezha’s
frail voice.
The men carousing inside the bar suddenly went quiet. After a
short silence, the first man responded, but in a whisper too quiet
for me to make out. I pushed the door in again, moving the angle
to twenty degrees.
“–ust fine, you’re doing great.”
“That’s right, Nezuo. Nobody’s talkin’ about it in the least.”
I held my breath. I had a feeling they were talking about the failed
upgrade attempts, and focused all of my attention on the words.
Nezha protested against their apparent encouragement.
“It’s too dangerous to keep up. Besides, we’ve already made back
our cost...”
“Are you kidding? We’re just getting started. We’ve got to rake it
in so we can catch up with the top players while we’re still on the
second floor!”
Made back the cost? Rake it in...? I leaned forward, unsure of what
they were discussing.
Was it really unrelated to the upgrade failures?
231
After all, Nezha should have lost money buying back Rufiol’s spent
sword, and he only made the standard fee in Asuna’s case, nothing
more. How could that make him any money...?
No...No, there was a way. Perhaps I was looking at this from the
wrong viewpoint...
Just then, a suspicious voice arose from the bar.
“...Huh? Hey, look at the door.”
I closed the door as smoothly as I could and immediately jumped
off to the right, flattening myself against a nearby tree and
employing my Hiding skill. Almost immediately, the swinging door
burst outward.
The face that emerged was of the leader-like man who’d been
sitting next to Nezha and egging him on. He wore banded armor
that made his already hefty form look even more rotund, and a
bascinet helm with a pointed top. While the overall effect was
humorous, the sharp look in his eyes was anything but. His thick
eyebrows squinted, scanning the surroundings of the bar.
The moment his eyes passed over the spot where I was hiding, the
indicator dropped to 60 percent. I wasn’t in any physical danger
within the safe zone of town, but I didn’t want to alarm them–I
was just starting to peel back the curtain on Nezha and his five
friends’ plot. The tools at my disposal were poor, but all I needed
were answers.
My hide rate dropped continuously while his eyesight was fixed
on the tree. If it got down below 40 percent, he would certainly
detect something wrong with the tree’s outline. I kept an eye on
the number and slowly, slowly tried to rotate around to the back
of the trunk. Inch by inch I crawled, trying to keep the fluctuating
value from creeping below 50.
Once I was around the backside of the tree, he must have looked
away, because the hide rate jumped back up to 70. A few seconds
later, I heard the creaking of the door swinging shut, and dashed
through an alley until I was a block away from the pub.
232
“Whew...”
I leaned against the wall and wiped away a cold virtual sweat with
the sleeve of my coat. If this was what Argo the Rat did every day
in her profession, then I was in no mood to follow that line of
work.
I might have made a poor spy, but at least I’d succeeded at my
mission. I found Nezha’s base of operations–probably the second
floor of that bar–discovered the existence of his partners, and
even gained a little fragment of information about the mysterious
trick behind the failed weapon upgrades.
That was assuming that the snippets of conversation I overheard
were in fact related to such a trick. If it was true, they were
somehow profiting from forcing other players’ upgrade attempts
to fail. Profiting enough that they were even staying in the black
by buying a spent +0 weapon at twice the going rate.
If that was possible...was someone else paying them money to
intentionally sabotage the orders of specific players? That was
hard to imagine. It was such a roundabout way to get back at
someone, and there was no guarantee that the target would ever
come to Nezha for his services. If this mystery client was going to
spend money, they’d be much better served following Diavel’s
plan and contacting the target directly.
But if that wasn’t the case, what other explanation could there be?
The thoughts raced through my head so fast, I could practically
feel the steam shooting from my ears. The scene from less than an
hour ago replayed in my head.
Nezha taking the Wind Fleuret from Asuna. Accepting the
materials and putting them into the forge with his right hand,
sword in the left. When the forge was full of blue light, he pulled
the sword from the scabbard and laid the blade into the fire. Once
infused with that blue light, he moved it to the anvil and struck it
with his hammer. A few seconds after that, the sword shone like a
death scream, then shattered and disappeared.
233
I watched the entire string of events. I couldn’t believe that there

had been some sleight of hand there. If I had to assume that
deception had occurred, perhaps it was in the materials. But there
was no way to mimic the bright blue light that flashed out of the
forge–
“Ah...”
Wait. Wait...I thought I had seen the entire thing, but there was
one moment. One spot, invisible to both me and Asuna...
That meant it wasn’t the materials that he’d falsified.
“Gah...!!”
My mind jumped over several logical steps and landed at a
conclusion. I grunted and slapped my main menu open, checking
the time readout in the corner.
The digital clock said 8:23.
There’s still time!
My right hand flashed to the instant message tab, but I
reconsidered and brought it down, closing the window. It was
impossible to describe what I was about to do in text. I had to
state it directly in person.
“There’s still enough time to pull this off!” I said aloud this time,
bursting out of the alley way and racing north down the street.
The route that took eight minutes to cross during my attempt at
spywork was less than three in a blazing sprint. I reached the
familiar eastern plaza of Urbus but shot straight through it to the
north without stopping and back into the streets of the town. Past
the bench where Asuna had cried, then a hard turn shortly after. I
burst through the door of her inn and raced upstairs, taking three
steps at a time.
Thanking my lucky stars that I’d asked for her room number, I
charged over to room 207 and slammed on the door as if to break
it down.
234
It followed the same physical rules as any other closed door, but
several seconds after knocking, it would allow voices to pass
through.
“Asuna, it’s me! I’m coming in!”
I turned the knob without waiting for an answer and practically
pushed the door down. Instantly, my eyes met those of a figure
who leapt from the bed inside like a shot. Her hazel eyes were
wide, and she was sucking air through her lips when I slammed
the door shut.
“Eeyaaaa!!”
The scream was completely smothered by the closed door. I felt
almost like a criminal–what I did was practically a crime–but this
was all for Asuna’s sake.
She clenched her fists over her chest and continued to scream. She
wearing a white sleeveless shirt on top, and some kind of poofy,
rounded shorts below. This didn’t seem to be underwear, so I
gauged that it was safe to walk over and grab her shoulder.
“Asuna, this is an ultra-emergency! There’s no time, just do as I
say!”
She finally stopped screaming, but I could see in her face that she
was simply deciding whether to resume screaming even louder, or
to start attacking me directly. But there was truly no time for
anything else–I had to get to the point immediately. “First, call up
your window and set it to visible mode! Now!”
“Wha...wha...?”
“Just do it!”
I grabbed her hand, still clutched in front of her chest, and moved
it in the appropriate motion, pushing out two of her fingers and
sliding them through the air. A purple window materialized with a
soothing sound effect, but only looked like a blank, flat board to
me. I guided her finger over to the general location of the button
that would display the contents of the window to other players.
235
“But, um, I...I thought I locked the door...” she murmured. I

answered without thinking.
“You’re still partnered up with me, remember? The default setting
on inn room doors is to allow guild and party members in.”
“Wh...what? Why didn’t you tell me that–”
I swiveled around next to the fencer, peering at the now-visible
contents of her main menu. It was arranged just like mine but with
a floral pattern skin selected. For a moment, I was surprised,
remembering that my own window was still in the default setting,
then scolded myself for getting distracted.
The right side of the window featured a familiar equipment
mannequin. It was mostly empty, as she was not wearing any
armor. I scrolled past the something-or-other camisole and
whoopty-doo petticoat to look at the right-hand cell: no item
selected. Meaning that Asuna had not equipped a new weapon
since giving her Wind Fleuret to Nezha. “Okay, first condition
complete! Now the time...” The clock in the bottom right corner
read 20:28, despite how fast I’d run,
Asuna and I had returned to Urbus after our Windwasp hunt at
19:00. We had finished eating dinner around 19:30. Immediately
afterward, we had moved to the plaza and asked Nezha to her
weapon...meaning there was only a minute or two to spare!
“Crap, we gotta make this quick. Just hit the buttons as I tell you.
Move to the storage tab!”
“Uh...um, okay...”
Asuna faithfully followed my order, perhaps so confused by the
sudden turn of events that she had no time to resist.
“Next, the settings button...search button...now there should be
one that says Manipulate Storage...”
Her slender finger flashed over the buttons, diving deeper and
deeper into the menu. After three or four selections, we finally
reached the button I wanted.
236
“There, that’s it! MATERIALIZE ALL ITEMS! Hit it!!” I screamed.

She hit the tiny button, bringing up a YES/NO prompt. At
maximum volume,
“Yesssss!!”
Click.
Asuna muttered to herself as she hit the button. “Hmm...mm?
Materialize all items...? When it says all items...does it mean...?”
With the satisfied smile of a man who did his job, I replied, “All,
everything, the entire shebang, the whole nine yards.”
The next moment, all of the rows of text in Asuna’s inventory
vanished.
And then–
Clunkclankthudwhamwhudclinkflopflipfwapswishfwuf came a
cavalcade of sound from hard and heavy to light and airy. Every
single item contained in Asuna’s player inventory had been
materialized into the game world to fall onto the floor in a great
messy pile.
“Wha...what...wha-wha-wha?!”
The mess’ owner couldn’t contain her shock at what had just
happened, but I knew it was coming–this was what I’d run all way
from the other side of Urbus to do. The only hitch was my slight
underestimation of the volume of her inventory–just a mere two
or three times what I’d expected.
The amount of space for storage varied depending on the player’s
strength, Expansion skill, and the presence of certain magical
items. For a moment, I marveled at how Asuna, a low-level player
with no Expansion skill and an agility-heavy fencer build, could
have packed so many items in. The answer soon became apparent.
Capacity was determined not by volume, but weight. Metal armor
and weapons, liquids such as potions, and stacks of coins put a
major dent in item storage.
237
On the other hand, lighter items such as leather armor and

accessories, rolls of bread, and parchment scrolls could be packed
in there with ease. The majority of Asuna’s inventory was taken
up with those loose effects, big and small...meaning clothes and
undergarments.
I stared at the four-foot-tall pile of stuff, feeling slightly self-
conscious. The heavier items had fallen out first, so the metal
equipment was on the bottom, followed by leather goods, then
various clothes and finally, resting on top, a small mound of frilly
white and pink underwear. What was the point of keeping so
many of them? Avatars in Aincrad had no bodily waste functions,
and the only thing that took durability damage in battle was the
outer armor. You only truly needed one set of underwear. I had
three, for battle, everyday use, and sleeping, but that was probably
on the high side for a male player.
And yet.
I couldn’t stop here. If my suspicion was correct, and we’d hit the
command in time, it would be here...piled at the bottom of this
mountain.
“Pardon me!” I said, ever the gentleman, and started shoving the
piles of cloth out of the way. I heard a trembling voice over my
shoulder.
238
239
Um, excuse me...Do you have a death wish? Are you one of those
people who dream of dying in battle...?”
“No way,” I said in all honesty, still scrabbling through the pile.
I got through the clothes to the leather armor, gloves, and small
boxes, and finally reached the metal layer at the bottom.
With great effort, I pushed them aside and got to the very last
section of the little mountain. The heaviest item Asuna owned–
though light as a feather compared to what I had slung over my
back–a single rapier.
Wind Fleuret +4.
I grabbed the green scabbard and lifted it out of the pile, then
turned around to face Asuna. Her eyes had the look of one
deciding a suitable means of execution, but they grew wide when
she saw the sword she’d thought was gone forever. Her lips
trembling, a tiny little squeak escaped her throat.
“......No way...”
240
Later–much, much later–Asuna smiled angelically and told me

that if I hadn’t found her sword at that moment, she would have
thrown me through the window of the inn.
In truth, I hadn’t spared a single thought for what might have
happened if my suspicion had been false. It wasn’t confidence in
my logic as much as it was panic, knowing that there were only
seconds to spare before the time limit hit. So when I barged into
Asuna’s room without asking, forced her to open her window, and
yelled at her to press those buttons and eject all of her stuff, I
wasn’t acting in my right mind. At least, I hoped I wasn’t.
Order finally returned out of chaos three minutes after I held out
the Wind Fleuret +4 to Asuna.
All of the many items spilled over the inn room floor were back in
item storage. Asuna sat on the side of her bed, dressed in her
normal tunic and leather skirt. She silently cradled her precious,
miraculous weapon in her hands, her face a mixture of emotion–
probably caught between the polar extremes of joy and rage.
As for me, I sat in a guest chair in the corner of the room, breaking
into a cold sweat as I reflected on what I’d actually just done.
There was no time to explain anything until I got her to press that
MATERIALIZE ALL ITEMS button several layers deep in the menu.
But once that step was complete, there was no more time limit,
which meant I had no reason to search for the sword myself.
Perhaps I had gone a step too far by ransacking the crown of
delicate snow that was Asuna’s undergarments on top of the pile.
On the other hand, I still couldn’t fathom why she would need so
many of them. If my hazy memory served, there were enough of
them that she could change every day for two weeks without
reusing any. Yes, they were light enough that you could store a
nearly infinite supply, but those weren’t cheap.
241
The silky smooth ones cost quite a pretty penny at the NPC shops,
and surely that kind of scratch was better spent raising one of the
properties of her armor–
“So, I’ve done some self-examination,” came a voice from the other
side of the room. I hurriedly sat up straight.
“Y-yes?”
“If the anger I’m feeling represents ninety-nine g, then my joy is a
hundred g. Therefore, the one leftover g represents my gratitude
to you,” she said, light flashing in her eyes.
“So, um...why is it represented in g?” I asked.
“Isn’t it obvious? If my anger had been the greater force, I would
have pummeled you to make up the difference.”
“Oh...so you’re talking about g as in gravity, not gold? I...guess that
makes sense.”
“I’m glad you understand. Now, will you please explain? Why was
my supposedly shattered sword left in my inventory...and why did
you barge into my room like this?”
“O-o-of course. But it’s a very long story. And I’m not even sure
exactly how it works, myself...”
“I don’t mind. We’ve got all night.”
And the fencer, her beloved sword back in hand, finally cracked a
menacing smile.
I went down to the check-in counter and bought a small bottle of
herb wine and a mysterious bag of assorted nuts. When I got back
to the door to room 207, I politely knocked and waited for an
answer before opening.
Once the wine was poured, we shared a toast to the recovery of
her fleuret, though there was still a dangerous air to her attitude.
242
I moistened my tongue with a sip of the sweetly sour nonalcoholic

wine and decided that getting right to the point was in my best
interest.
“A minute ago, you asked why your shattered sword was in your
item storage.”
“Yes...and?”
“That was the hitch...the trick...the centerpiece of an upgrading
scam.”
Her eyes narrowed at the clear direction of the conversation after
that last word. She nodded silently, pressing me onward.
“It might be faster to show you than to explain,” I said, swinging
my hand to call up my own menu and hitting the visibility button. I
touched the top and bottom of the screen and flipped it around
until I got it to an angle that was easily visible to the both of us,
then pointed out a spot.
“Right here. See how the right-hand cell in my equipment
mannequin has an icon for my Anneal Blade plus six?” Her hazel
eyes glanced at the sword grip poking out over my back, and she
nodded. I reached backward and removed the entire scabbard,
which was affixed to my coat, and dropped it to the floor with a
heavy thud. A few seconds later, the icon on my menu was grayed
out.
“This indicates that the equipped weapon has been dropped. It
happens if you fumble the weapon in battle, or an enemy uses a
disarm attack on you.”
“Yes, I’m familiar. It can be quite alarming if you’re not used to it.”
“You can always stay calm and pick it up once you evade the next
attack, but it’s tricky at first. The Swamp Kobold Trappers in the
middle of the first floor were the first to use disarms. I hear there
were quite a few casualties around then...”
243
“In Argo’s strategy guide, she warns not to attempt to pick it up

right away...When I had to fight them, I dropped a spare rapier
first, almost like a good luck charm.”
“Ahh...that’s a good idea. You can do that if you’ve got plenty of the
same weapon.”
I was impressed. It wasn’t the kind of idea you expected a new
player to implement...although maybe her lack of experience gave
her greater creativity in tackling the game’s challenges.
“But I digress. If you don’t pick up the dropped weapon, it
eventually goes into an Abandoned state, which gradually
decreases its durability rating. Asuna, go ahead and pick up that
sword.” She raised an eyebrow but dutifully stuck the Wind
Fleuret onto her waist attachment point and bent down to my
scabbard. Asuna lifted the simple one-handed longsword with
both hands, grunting, “This is heavy. Am I doing it right?”
“That’s good. Now take a look.” I poked at my window, still
floating above the table. The cell with my Anneal Blade grayed out
had gone empty the moment Asuna picked it up.
“In combat, this is called weapon-snatching. Unlike a disarm
attack, snatching enemies don’t show up until much later in the
game. For a solo player, that can be deadly. There’s a weapon skill
modification called Quick Change that you’ll have to get before
you fight them...but that’s not the point.”
I cleared my throat and attempted to get back on topic again. “You
can give your equipped weapon to your friends, even when you’re
not in battle. Instead of a ‘snatch’ that’s called a ‘handover.’ So
anyway...if someone picks up your weapon or you hand it to them,
the weapon cell in your menu goes blank. Including situations like
the one where you gave the blacksmith your Wind Fleuret.”
“...!”
She must have seen where I was taking this at last. Her eyes went
wide, then filled with a sharp light.
244
“But here’s the thing. The equipment cell might be empty, as

though you’re not equipping anything...but that Anneal Blade’s
equipper info hasn’t been deleted. And the equipment rights are
protected much more tightly than simple ownership rights. For
example, if I take an unequipped weapon out of storage and give it
to you, my ownership of that item disappears in just three
hundred seconds–that’s five minutes. As soon as it goes into
someone else’s inventory, it is owned by that player. But the
length of ownership for an equipped item is far longer. It won’t be
overwritten until either three thousand six hundred seconds have
passed, or the original owner equips a different weapon in that
slot.”
Asuna’s eyelashes dropped as she mulled over this information.
Her response caught me by surprise.
“Meaning that if your main weapon gets snatched and you do a
Quick Change to a backup weapon, you should put it in your left
hand rather than your right?”
“Eh...?”
I was momentarily taken aback, but I eventually understood her
point. It was indeed true that if a monster stole the players
weapon and they put a backup in the same hand, the equipment
right of the stolen weapon would vanish. If the player had to
retreat for survival and couldn’t immediately kill the monster to
retrieve the weapon, the results could be disastrous. Once the
player was back in the safe haven of town, there would be
virtually no way to get it back.
“Ah, I see...Yes, that’s a good point. But it’s a lot harder to swing a
sword with your non-dominant hand.” Even as I said it, though, I
made a mental note to practice sword skills with my left hand.
“And one other thing. When you barged into my room and forced
yourself a peek at my equipment mannequin, that’s what you
were checking, yes? That I hadn’t equipped another weapon in its
place. So if that was the very first condition...”
245
I nodded slowly as she stared directly into my eyes. “Yes, that’s

right. The second condition was that it had to be within three
thousand six hundred seconds of letting go: one hour. As long as
those two conditions were fulfilled, we had a shot–one ultimate
method of pulling back your equipment, no matter where it
happened to be. Remember that you asked me how your
supposedly shattered sword was in your item storage?”
“In reality, my sword wasn’t shattered, and it wasn’t in my
inventory, either. So that’s why...” She took a deep breath and
resumed glaring up at me. “And your last-ditch method of bringing
back my sword was the MATERIALIZE ALL ITEMS command. And
because there was not a second to spare, you had no choice but to
invade my room and force me to flip through my menu. Is that
what you’re claiming?”
“Umm, I think that sums it up...I guess?” I trailed upward at the
end in an attempt to sound innocent, but Asuna only snorted,
unconvinced. Fortunately, she seemed more interested in getting
to the bottom of the situation than holding me responsible. She
handed back the Anneal Blade and changed topics.
“So anyway...why was that materialize button buried so deep in
the menus? It’s almost like they don’t want you to use it...And why
does it have to be all of the items? If you could just select the items
that aren’t on hand already, there would be no need for that pile of
my und...my other equipment.”
“You just said the answer yourself. They want to make it harder to
use.”
“Huh...? Why would they do that?” she asked, shapely eyebrows
squinting in suspicion. I shrugged.
246
“It’s basically a last-resort option. If you drop your weapon, leave

it behind, or lose it to a monster and have to run away, those are
all the player’s fault. In a sense, you should probably just accept
your loss and move on. But they probably decided that it would
make the game a bit too hard, so they added this option in case of
an emergency. They just made it less convenient so you can’t use it
like a crutch. Hence, it’s stuck under a pile of menus and you can’t
just pick and choose what to materialize. Boy, you should hear this
story from the beta test...”
I grabbed a star-shaped nut from the dish on the table, flipped it
into the air, and caught it in my mouth. Even this trifling action
was affected by agility, the brightness of the surroundings, and the
hidden influence of luck.
“So, the first snatching mob appears in the fifth-floor labyrinth. A
guy loses his main weapon and doesn’t have a backup for a quick
change. So he turns tail and manages to escape the monster.
However, he doesn’t feel like trekking all the way back to a safe
room. Instead, he finds a spot he thinks is safe, then does the
MATERIALIZE ALL ITEMS trick. Sure enough, in the pile is his
stolen sword. The problem is, the snatch mobs aren’t the only
guys to watch out for there...there are also, looting mobs! All these
little gremlins come pouring out of the woodwork and grab
everything off the floor, stuff it into their sacks, and scamper off.”
“That does sound awful...But couldn’t he just find an actual safe
haven and do that same trick again to get it all back?”
“That’s the thing. Most looter mobs have the Robbing skill, which
immediately rewrites the items ownership. Fortunately for him,
nobody else had been to that area yet, so he crawled the entire
dungeon to hunt down all the gremlins and managed to get his
stuff back by hand. I tell you, it brought tears to my eyes...”
I flipped another nut into the air, sighing in exasperation.
247
“That story sounded like there was some personal experience

behind it,” Asuna noted wryly. My internal panic system must
have kicked in, because the nut landed in my hair rather than my
mouth. I shook my head and tried to look aggrieved. “It’s...just a
story I heard, nothing more. Anyways, where was I...”
“You were explaining how the MATERIALIZE ALL command is
useful but has its limitations, she sighed,” and reached out to pluck
the star-shaped nut off my head. Before I could ask what she
planned to do with it, she flicked it with a finger directly into the
open crack of my mouth. I crunched it with my teeth, marveling at
her accuracy.
“At any rate, now I understand the logic of how my sword came
back,” she said, taking a sip of her wine. When the glass left her
lips, that dangerous light was back in her eyes. “But that’s only
half of the story, isn’t it? After all, I saw the sword I gave the
blacksmith shatter on top of that anvil. If the Wind Fleuret that
came back was my original sword...what sword was it that broke
into pieces?”
A very good question. I nodded slowly, trying to piece together the
fragments of information and suspicion into an easily explainable
form.
“To be honest, I don’t have a full explanation of that train of logic.
What I can say for certain is this: At some point from the time you
handed your Wind Fleuret to Nezha, to the time it shattered into
pieces, he switched it out for another item of the same type. At
first, I suspected that he’d found a way to intentionally destroy
other players’ weapons, but that wasn’t it. He’s the first
blacksmith in Aincrad, and the first upgrade scammer...”
Upgrade scams, enchantment scams, forging scams, refinement
scams.
The name varied depending on the title of the game, but it was a
classic, traditional means of deception that had been around since
the early days of MMORPGs,
248
The method was simple. The blacksmith (or other type of crafter)
put out a sign advertising his weapon upgrade service, charged his
clients expensive fees, then embezzled the funds by pretending
the upgrade attempt destroyed the item. In games where weapon
destruction wasn’t one of the failure states, they had a variety of
other options to fool clients, such as replacing the item with the
same one a single level lower, or just keeping the crafting
materials for themselves without attempting to upgrade.
In the original pre-full-dive games played on a monitor, the
player’s weapon was completely lost from view as soon as they
handed it over to the blacksmith. The entire process happened on
the other player’s screen, so there was no means of telling
whether any fraud had taken place.
Leaning too heavily on such deception would quickly lead to the
kind of bad reputation that kept any more players from using
their services, but rare gear in MMOs could be incredibly valuable.
Even the occasional bit of trickery might reap huge benefits. There
were almost no bad rumors about Nezha, so the rate of his fraud
must still be quite low. However...
“The problem is, this is the world’s first VRMMO. Even after
handing over the weapon, we can see it. It can’t be easy to switch
it out–in fact, it must be incredibly hard.”
My long explanation finally concluded, Asuna frowned and
murmured, “I see...I thought I kept the sword in my sights the
entire time after giving it to him. The blacksmith held my sword in
his left hand and did all of the controls and hammering with his
right. He couldn’t possibly have opened a window, put my sword
into storage, and brought out a fake.”
“I absolutely agree. He had a number of pre-forged weapons on his
store display, but the best ones were Iron Rapiers, and none were
Wind Fleurets. So be couldn’t have just switched them like that.
However...”
“However?”
249
“However, there was a brief point where my eyes left the sword.
“The time when Nezha tossed your materials into the forge and it
started glowing blue. It was three seconds at the most. I wanted to
make sure that he used all of the materials we spent so much time
collecting...”
I trailed off. Asuna’s hazel eyes went wide.
“Oh! I...I think I was watching the furnace the entire time... but
only because I thought the blue flames were pretty.”
“Um, okay. Anyway, we weren’t watching the sword in his hand
while it happened. I think anyone would be staring at the flames.
The materials burn and melt and change into the color of the
property, so it’s a big show to those watching. I think he might be
using that as misdirection, the way a magician would...”
“So he switched out the sword in the three seconds we were
watching the forge? Without opening his menu?” She started to
shake her head in disbelief but stopped just as quickly. “On the
other hand, that’s the only moment it could have happened. He
must have pulled off some kind of trick in those three seconds. I
can’t imagine what it is, but if we can just witness him doing the
same thing again...”
“Agreed. Then we can watch his left hand the entire time. But
that’ll be difficult ...”
“Why?”
“Nezha must have noticed by now that the Wind Fleuret plus four
he supposedly stole is gone. Meaning that the player he tricked–in
this case, you–utilized the MATERIALIZE ALL command, because
you probably saw through his deception. He’ll be spooked, and
either not set up his shop for a while, or if he does, he won’t
attempt that scam again.”
“...I see. He didn’t seem to be that excited about it to begin with...In
fact...”
250
Asuna paused, but I knew exactly what she was about to say. In
fact, he didn’t seem like the kind of person to commit fraud.
“Yeah...I agree,” I said. She glanced over at me and smiled shyly. I
went on, my voice quiet. “We’ll lay low and gather information.
Both on the switch-out trick and on Nezha himself. Either way,
we’ve got to get back to the front line tomorrow.”
“Yes, you’re right. From what I heard in Marome today, they’re
going to challenge the last field boss tomorrow morning, then
enter the labyrinth in the afternoon.”
“Wow, that’s quick...Who’s leading the battle force?”
“Kibaou and someone else...named Lind.”
I recognized the first name she said, of course, but the second was
unfamiliar.
“Lind was in Diavel’s party during the first-floor boss fight. He
used a scimitar.” Her words seemed to be coming from miles
away.
The instant the words hit my brain, I heard his tearful scream in
my ears. Why did you abandon Diavel to die?!
“Oh...him.”
“Yes. It seems like he took over in Diavel’s place. He even dyed his
hair blue and his armor silver, just like Diavel’s.”
I shut my eyes, envisioning the dead knight in his blue-and-silver
finery.
“Between Kibaou and the other guy as leader, I’m guessing they
won’t save a space for me in the boss fight. Will you participate,
Asuna?” I asked her. She was a solo player, just like me. Her long
brown hair shook left and right.
251
“I took part in the scouting of the boss, but it was just a big bull.
Didn’t seem like it needed too many, as long as they were well
coordinated. Plus they started getting really bossy about who
would get the last attack bonus, so I told them straight out that I
wouldn’t be in the battle.”
I grimaced to myself; I could practically see the scene floating
before my eyes.
“I see. You’re right; that boss isn’t anything to worry about. The
real problem is the floor boss...”
“It’s a problem?” she asked, to the point. I grimaced again. “Of
course. I mean, it stands to reason that the second-floor boss
would be tougher than the first.”
“Oh...right. Of course.”
“His attack isn’t all that high, but he uses special skills on you. It’s
possible to practice a defensive strategy on the auto-generating
mobs in the labyrinth, but...”
If Diavel–secretly a beta tester–was still alive, he’d make sure that
information made it to all the other front-line players. But without
him, the only reliable source of beta info was Argo’s strategy
guides, and that was a problem. As we learned in that terrible
battle four days ago, the boss’s attack patterns could have been
altered since the beta.
“Let’s ignore the blacksmith for now and spend tomorrow on
practice,” she suggested.
I nodded automatically, lost in thought. “Yeah, good idea...”
“South gate of Urbus, seven o’clock tomorrow morning?”
“Sounds good...”
“And make sure you get a full night’s sleep tonight. If you’re late,
you go back to a full hundred g.”
“Yeah, I know–wait, what?”
252
I tuned back in to the conversation and raised my head. Across the

table from me, her normal spirits recovered with the return of her
sword, Asuna set her morning alarm.
253
Scattered in the wilderness of each floor of Aincrad were unique

named monsters called “field bosses” that acted as gatekeepers of
sorts along the route to the labyrinth.
Field bosses were always found in tight areas adjacent to sheer
cliffs or river rapids, natural chokepoints that couldn’t be passed
without defeating the guardian. What this meant, in practice, was
that while each floor might be circular in shape, it was broadly
divided into multiple discrete zones.
The second floor was split into a wide northern area and a
cramped southern area, which meant there was only one field
boss on the entire floor. It was named the Bullbous Bow, a
combination of “bull” and “bulbous bow,” the protruding bulb at
the front of many large ships. As the name suggested, it was a
massive bull with a bulging, rounded forehead that it used for
powerful and deadly charging attacks.
I watched the distant, twelve-foot-tall monster, paw at the ground
with powerful legs and lower its four-horned head. “Since his fur
is black and brown, does that make him a Black Wagyu?”
I wondered.
“You’ll have to ask them to share any meat it drops in order to find
out,” Asuna responded, disinterested.
“Hmm...”
I actually gave that option serious thought. Many of the animal-
type monsters in Aincrad dropped food items like “so-and-so
meat” or “so-and-so eggs” that could actually be cooked up into
meals. The flavors varied far more widely than the offerings
available from the NPC restaurants in town–meaning that some of
them tasted much better than what you could buy, while some
were much worse.
254
The Trembling Oxen that roamed the second floor had such
unfortunately tough meat that you could chew it forever without
softening it up. On the other hand, the Trembling Cows weren’t
bad at all. Therefore, you’d expect the boss of all the cattle on the
level would taste better than any of them. I rued my lack of
foresight in not testing that theory during the beta.
“Forget about that. They’re starting.”
Her elbow snapped me out of my reverie, and I concentrated on
the sight below. I, Kirito the swordsman, and my companion for
the last two days, Asuna the fencer, were in a position atop one of
the mesas that looked down on the field boss’s lair. Some low
trees growing right at the lip of the mountaintop made for
excellent camouflage that kept us hidden from those below.
The basin was about two hundred yards long and fifty yards wide.
The Bullbous Bow stood its ground, ready to turn aggro at any
moment, as a neatly organized attack party inched toward it. The
group was made of two full parties and three reserves–fifteen
players in total.
It didn’t seem that impressive in comparison to the forty-some
warriors that tackled the kobold lord on the first floor, but field
bosses were, generally designed so that even a single party of a
decent level could emerge triumphant. Fifteen was more than
enough to do the job, but that depended on their knowledge of the
boss’s patterns and their ability to work seamlessly as a team.
“Hmm?” I muttered to myself, watching the raid closely.
Asuna whispered, “Which ones are the tanks, and which ones are
the attackers?”
“I was just noticing that...Both parties look awfully similar from up
here.”
The Bullbous Bow was the size of a small mountain, but its attack
pattern was quite simple: charge, turn, charge, turn.
255
With two parties, the orthodox strategy said that the tanks should
hold its attention and absorb its charges, while the attackers did
all the damage at its flanks.
But from what I could tell, there was no real difference in the
equipment of the two parties of six. Both had roughly the same
number of heavily armored tanks and lightly armored attackers.
I continued to squint down at them from our height of three
hundred yards and eventually noticed a subtle detail.
“Wait...look at the cloth they’re wearing under their armor.”
“Huh? Oh, you’re right. Each party has its own color.”
It was hard to tell beneath all the metal and leather armor, but
Asuna was correct. The right-hand part wore royal blue doublets,
and the six on the left were clad in mass green.
If the colors were meant for easy visual identification of either
party, it made more sense to wear brightly colored sashes on top
of the armor. Also, blue and green weren’t the most distinct
opposing colors. No, those were not temporary colors arranged
for this fight–they were probably the original uniform designs of
their parties.
“They didn’t reform into new parties based on battle roles,” Asuna
noted, her voice hard. “The blue party on the right is Lind’s–
they’re all Diavel’s friends. And the green party on the left is
Kibaou’s. I suppose they weren’t the type to get along...”
“Maybe they just figure that they’ll perform better if each team is
made up of familiar faces.”
“But that will make coordination across the parties worse. It
seems obvious that against that boss, you want one team to pull
aggro from him, and another to deal all the damage.”
“You’re absolutely right,” I agreed. The slowly advancing twelve
below had finally breached the boss’s reaction zone.
256
“Bullmrooooh!!” it roared. Even the ground up here seemed to

shake. White steam puffed out of the Bullbous Bow’s nostrils, and
it lowered its four horns and began to charge.
There were still nearly five hundred feet between the boss and the
raid party, which left plenty of time to react before it reached
them, but that was easy to say from my safe vantage point. Those
fighters down on the ground no doubt felt like the bull would
reach them in no time at all.
After a pause long enough to make me feel nervous, the two
leaders finally issued commands to their companions. I couldn’t
make out their voices from here, but the orders were obvious. On
either side, heavily armored fighters stepped forward, raised their
shields, and roared.
That was not bluster but a skill called Howl that increased the
target’s aggression and made it focus attacks on the user. At least,
it was supposed to.
“Wait a second...why are they both trying to pull aggro?” I
wondered. The Bullbous Bow looked back and forth between the
two in indecision, then ultimately settled on the blue party. The
fighter who had howled and one other shield user inched forward
and stood their ground, crouching.
Two seconds later, thwam! The giant bull collided with the two
fighters. If their defense was not up to the task, they’d be thrown
into the air and take massive damage, but fortunately they
managed to stay on their feet, despite being knocked ten yards
backward. The other four members of Lind’s party descended on
the beast, unleashing sword skills on its open flanks.
“I feel nervous watching them...but it seems like they might
manage to win,” Asuna murmured, unimpressed. I hesitantly
agreed.
“Yeah, I guess. It’s supposed to be beatable by a single party. But...”
257
Kibaou’s green party was standing off to the side rather than
joining the fray. In fact, the tank was still up front, tensing himself
for another Howl once the cooldown timer expired.
“Seems to me like there was no point to forming a raid party in the
first place. They’re more like parties competing for the same mob.
Maybe it’s working for now, but who can say if that will last?” I
sighed.
At this point, I began to wonder about the three reserve members
who weren’t in the equal camps of Lind and Kibaou’s men. Were
they aligned with either side? I took my eyes off the fight and
examined the backup adventurers standing far to the rear.
“Hng–?!” I grunted. Asuna gave me a questioning look, but I didn’t
have the presence of mind to answer her. I leaned forward.
Standing at the center of the three was a burly swordsman. He
wore dark banded armor and a pointed bascinet helm that look
like an onion sprout–the leader of the five men I saw last night
after trailing Nezha to the bar.
His outfit was humorous, but I would never forget the sharpness
in his eyes when he noticed me listening in on them. It seemed
likely that the other two reserve members with him were also in
Nezha’s party.
“What are they doing here?!” I muttered. Asuna shot me another
suspicious look. I pointed down at the rear of the battleground.
“Do you know the names of those three guys on standby?
Particularly the middle one in the bascinet.”
“Bassinet...? Aren’t those baby cribs?”
“Huh? N-no, I mean the guy in the pointy helmet with the visor
that looks like a duckbill. That’s called a bascinet helm...”
“Oh. Maybe they’re spelled differently. You know, it’s really
irritating that being stuck in this world means I can’t open a
dictionary. Maybe someone will make one.”
258
“I think it would be nearly impossible to craft an E-J dictionary,

writing by hand. On the other hand, Argo did say that some folks
were looking to create a simple game encyclopedia of sorts. Wait,
why are we talking about this?”
I pulled us back to the topic at hand by pointing down at the rear
of the basin. “That round guy in the middle of the reserve
members. Ever seen him before?”
“I have,” she said easily. I froze for a moment, then turned on the
fencer, the questions flowing out of me.
“W-when did you see him? Where? Who is he?”
“Yesterday morning, exactly where he’s standing now. He was at
the Bullbous Bow scouting session. Remember how I told you
about that? His name is...Orlando, I think...”
“Orlando...? First a knight, now a paladin,” I muttered to myself.
Asuna raised a questioning eyebrow. I added a quick explanation
as the three men continued to survey the battle before them.
“Orlando was the name of a knight who served King Charlemagne
of France and bore the legendary blade Durendal. He was an
invincible hero.”
“A knight...I see.”
Something in her voice made me curious, and it was my turn to
cast her a quizzical look. She extended a slender finger to point to
the short warrior with the two-handed sword to the right of the
onion-headed paladin.
“When we did introductions, he called himself Beowulf. That’s
another legendary hero, right? From England. And the skinny
spearman on the other side was Cuchulainn. That name sounded
familiar, too...”
“Ohh...Yes, that’s another legendary hero. I think he’s Celtic,” I
added. Asuna shrugged her shoulders.
“Apparently they already decided on their guild name. I think it
was Legend Braves.”
259
“...I see...Hmm...Hmmmmmmm!” I couldn’t think of anything better

to say.
A player was free to choose any name they wanted to attach to
their MMO avatar–as long as it didn’t violate the game’s terms of
service, that is. If they wanted to name their guild Legend Braves
and pretend they were all legendary heroes, that was their right.
In fact, it was probably fairly rare for names like those to go
unclaimed in an MMO.
But I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was a much harder sell in a
VRMMO, where you literally became your avatar. That took guts.
But...what if their choice of names was a statement of intent?
Perhaps they meant to grow into the heroes their names
suggested. You couldn’t just write that off as youthful exuberance.
Orlando, Beowulf, and Cuchulainn were currently standing just
behind the front line of player progress in SAO. In terms of pure
distance, they were two hundred yards closer than I was.
Before I could ask the question, Asuna said, “They just showed up
in Marome yesterday morning, where all the frontier players were
gathering, and asked to take part. Lind checked out their stats and
said their levels and skill proficiency were a bit below average for
the group, but their equipment was good and powered up. So
instead of putting them in the main force, he let them join as
reserve fighters. Part of the reason I didn’t join in is because they
showed up to round out the group.”
“I see...That makes sense.” I nodded slowly and gazed down at the
three heroes, feeling conflicted.
I hadn’t explained to Asuna yet that they were Nezha’s friends.
Based on this new information, he must be another member of the
Legend Braves. Perhaps the reason he had the name Nezha and
not another knight or hero was because he was a crafter, not a
fighter.
This also led me to a new conjecture.
260
One that explained how three men that neither of us had seen
until a day ago, who hadn’t taken part in the first-floor boss raid,
could be right here with the other front-line warriors...
“Bullmrrrroooh!!”
Another ferocious roar redirected my attention to the far end of
the basin. For the second time, I was stunned.
Now both Lind and Kibaou’s parties, a confusing mishmash of blue
and green, were tangled together in one unorganized mass. They’d
been squabbling over who was drawing the Bullbous Bow’s aggro
and collided in an attempt to get into the proper position to
defend his charge. The shield-carrying tanks had lost their
balance–it took quite a long time for heavy warriors to recover
from a Tumble status–and no one was able to defend.
“Watch out!” Asuna hissed.
“Attackers, dash outta the way!” I shouted. They couldn’t hear me,
of course, but Kibaou and Lind finally raised their hands and the
eight light warriors darted left and right.
But they weren’t quite fast enough. The raging ox passed right
through the line of shield-bearing warriors, who were only just
now getting back to their feet, and caught two swordsmen with
his four horns. With a vicious toss of his head, they flew high into
the air.
Asuna and I both gasped. I had a momentary premonition of both
men shattering into glass, either in midair or when they crashed
to earth. Fortunately, perhaps because of the soft grass, they
recovered and got their feet after only a few bounces. They had
trouble keeping their footing, however; they’d suffered quite a
mental shock.
Lind swung his arm again–probably the signal for retreat and
potion recovery–and at the same moment, Kibaou looked back to
the rear of the battleground and waved his sword.
261
As the bull dashed back to the far end of the basin, the two
wounded members retreated, and two of the reserves stepped
forward to take their place: Orlando the bascinet-wearing paladin
and Beowulf with his two-handed sword. They ran forward a few
yards, then stopped in apparent hesitation. The pair unleashed
roars so loud that even Asuna and I could hear them, and resumed
dashing toward the battle.
Orlando reached behind his round shield and pulled out a
longsword of black iron that was unmistakable to me–the very
same rare Anneal Blade that was only available as a reward for a
quest on the first floor. The paladin brandished his sword high,
glowing with the light of a highly upgraded weapon, and valiantly
charged at the massive boss.
***
The Bullbous Bow, the only field boss on the second floor of
Aincrad, exploded into a small mountains worth of polygonal
shards about twenty-five minutes after the start of the battle.
Based on the scale, level, and gear of the raid party, that was quite
a long time, but it was easy to say that from my vantage point,
safely removed from danger. And above all, there was one new,
ironclad rule that never existed in the beta: Even a single fatality
was an unacceptable result.
In that sense, the three from the guild (technically, still just a
team) Legend Braves performed admirably. Compared to the first-
string members who had fallen into the yellow danger zone, their
movements were a bit awkward, but they upheld their duty well.
“Well, that was nerve-wracking...but at least it all ended safely,”
Asuna said. She took two steps back from the lip of the flat
mountaintop, sat down on a rock, and looked up at me, crossing
her legs.
“Well? What is it about those heroes?”
262
I nervously looked back down at the far end of the basin, where
the fifteen combatants were gathered together and raising a
victorious cheer. However, there seemed to be differing degrees of
celebration–Lind’s royal-blue team and the colorless Braves were
truly rejoicing, while Kibaou’s moss-green team was a bit muted.
Probably because it was Lind’s scimitar, Pale Edge, that had
scored the last attack on the boss. I couldn’t tell how much it was
powered up at this distance, but the strength of its glow suggested
that a considerable amount of work had gone into it.
I fixed Orlando the paladin with another gaze before I turned back
to Asuna. He was standing boldly right next to Lind, sword raised
in the air.
Asuna’s cape hood was off, and the morning light shone dazzingly
in her light brown eyes. It was as though they stared right through
my avatar and into my soul. There was no use hiding anything at
this point. I summoned my courage and began to explain.
“...Nezha the blacksmith is one of the Legend Braves.”
“Wha...? So...you mean...”
I nodded. “Nezha’s upgrading fraud was done at the order of their
leader, Orlando. I think. Do you know exactly when Nezha’s Smith
Shop first set up in Urbus?”
“Umm...I think it was the very day that the second floor was
opened.”
“So it’s only been a week. But even bilking one or two high-
powered Wind Fleurets or Anneal Blades a day would make them
a ton of money. At least ten–no, twenty times what you’d make in
a day from farming monsters. Remember what you said earlier?
Orlando’s group was weak, but they made up for it with good gear.
Weapon skills have to be raised through experience in battle, but
weapon upgrades...”
263
“...are easy if you’ve got the money. So that’s what’s going on,” she
said, her voice hard. Asuna bolted to her feet and glared down at
the battlefield, then turned to the path that wound down the
mountainside. I rushed to stop her.
“W-wait, hang on! I know how you feel, but we have no proof yet.”
“So you’re just going to let them get away with it?”
“If we don’t at least figure out how exactly they’re performing the
trick, people will accuse us of defamation. There are no GMs in this
world, but you don’t want the majority of people treating you like
an enemy. It’s too late for me, but I’d hate to see you slapped with
the beater tag and–”
A finger jabbed right at my face stopped me mid-sentence.
“We’re about to go adventuring in the dungeon together, and
that’s what you’re trying to protect me from? Anyway, your point
is taken. If we don’t have any proof or explanation, the only thing
we’re producing is empty accusations...”
She pulled her finger back to her chin and looked down, her voice
softening. “I’ll try to come up with some ideas of my own.
Something that won’t just expose how their weapon-switching
trick works but also give us solid proof.”
There was a different kind of fire blazing in the fencer’s eyes now,
and I had no choice but to agree with her.
Once the victorious battle party turned and headed back to
Marome to restock supplies, we descended the mountain and
stealthily raced across the narrow basin. The right to set the first
footprint on the southern side of the second floor belonged to Lind
or Kibaou, but we didn’t have the patience to sit around and wait
for them. Plus, they seemed competitive enough that they’d waste
time arguing about who got there first.
The far end of the basin turned into a narrow, winding canyon.
The walls were nearly vertical and so sheer that not a single
handhold could be seen. There was no climbing them.
264
We took a breather in the empty gorge after our sprint, then

headed through the exit to a brand-new sight–well, for Asuna, at
least.
The flattop mountains with two or three levels were the same, but
the gentle grasslands of the northern area were replaced by thick
jungle. Vines and ivy crawled up the sides of the mountains, and
clumps of fog here and there made visibility poor.
There was one thing clearly visible through all of the fog, however,
looming over everything on the far side of the jungle. The
labyrinth tower of the second floor stretched all three hundred
feet to the bottom of the floor above. It seemed thinner than the
first-floor labyrinth, but it was still a good eight hundred feet
across. It was really more like a coliseum than a tower.
We stared at the shape in the distance until Asuna finally broke
the silence.
“...What’s that?”
I suspected that she was referring to the two protuberances
extending from the upper half of the tower.
“Bull horns.”
“B-bull?”
“When we get closer, you’ll see a huge relief of a bull on the side of
the tower. It’s kind of the theme of the second floor.”
“I just figured that giant one they killed was the last of the ox
things...”
“Not even close. The Moo-Moo Kingdom is only getting started.
The ones ahead are certainly beefy, but they don’t look very tasty.”
I coughed to hide my embarrassment at that terrible pun and
clapped my hands to switch gears. “Well, let’s get going. The last
village is about half a mile to the southeast, and beyond that is the
labyrinth. We could do all the quests in the village and still reach
the tower before noon. It’s actually safer and quicker to take the
detour to the left, rather than going straight through the forest.”
265
Just as I was getting ready to start hiking, I noticed that Asuna was
watching me with a strange expression.
“...What is it?”
“Nothing...” She coughed as well, then looked serious again. “This
isn’t meant to be sarcastic, it’s an honest opinion.”
“...Y-yes?”
“With all that knowledge, you’re very handy to have around.
Everyone should have one of you.”
I had no idea how to respond to that comment. Asuna strode past
me and turned her head.
“Come on, let’s go. I want to get into that tower before Lind’s
group catches up.”
266
“Eek...no! Stay away!”

The beautiful girl’s eyes were wide with fear as a menacing
silhouette plodded closer.
It sounded like a scene from a suspenseful horror film, but it
would not be following the Hollywood template for much longer.
“I told you...to stay the hell away!” she roared, and dashed forward
rather than backward. The large attacker reacted by waving its
crude two-handed hammer, but her right hand shot forward like
lightning before it could hit the target.
The rippling thrust caught the attacker directly on its exposed
chest. Brilliant beams of light exploded outward, and the hammers
progress slowed. Normally at this point, the player should dart
backward and evade, but the girl plunged farther onward, pulling
her rapier back and unleashing another attack. Two strikes hit the
thick chest high and low, and the half-naked body writhed in pain.
“Brmooooh!!”
It leaned back and emitted a death cry, short horns and ring-
pierced snout in clear profile. The massive body tipped backward,
then stopped in mid-fall. The rippling muscles turned to hard glass
and cracks trickled down the surface, emitting blue light until it
finally exploded.
The combo was Linear and the two-strike Parallel Sting, and the
creature was a Lesser Taurus Striker, a humanoid with the head of
a bull. The fencer bent over, panting heavily, and turned to fix me
with an angry look.
“That...was a bull!”
Two hours had passed since Asuna and I reached the second-floor
labyrinth, the first players in Aincrad to set foot inside of it.
267
Kibaou and Lind’s parties were probably down on the first level of
the tower, gnashing their teeth over the ransacked chests they
found, but if I had to be stuck with the “evil beater” role, I might as
well reap the benefits. The initial locations of the treasure chests
were about 80 percent unchanged from the beta, so I steered us
from one to the other, with the occasional battle in between. Once
we reached the second floors, we finally met one of the true
masters of the labyrinth–a Taurus.
“Well, I guess they’re closer to human than bull,” I admitted. I had
no idea why Asuna was so upset about this. “But this is pretty
much what minotaurs are like in every MMO. So people call them
‘bulls’ or ‘cows’ as a nickname”
“...Minotaurs? Like from Greek mythology?”
The anger in her eyes subsided slightly. It seemed that she had a
fondness for topics related to studying and learning. I wasn’t
particularly well versed in mythology, but my little sister had
always liked the stories, and I had read them to her when she was
young. I nodded and tried to recall some nuggets of information.
“Y-yeah, that’s the kind. The legendary minotaur lived in a,
dungeon on the island of Crete–they called it the labyrinthos in
Greek. Anyway, the hero Theseus delves into the dungeon and
kills the minotaur. It’s a very game-like scenario, so the minotaur
has been a classic RPG enemy type for years and years. In this
game, they take out the “mino” part and just call them tauruses.”
“Well, that makes sense. Isn’t the mino in minotaur from King
Minos of Crete?”
“Huh? So you’re saying that calling it ‘mino’, for short would be
incorrect?”
“Of course. After Minos died, he became the judge of the dead in
Hades. So it’s probably best that you don’t call them that.”
This discussion seemed to have taken the edge off of Asuna’s
anger, so I tried to take advantage of the opportunity.
268
“So, erm...Asuna-san, what was it about that mino–I mean, taurus,

that didn’t meet your approval...?”
She glared at me side-eyed. “It wasn’t wearing, well...hardly
anything at all! Just a tiny little scrap of cloth around the waist. It
was practically sexual harassment! I wish the harassment code
would kick in and send it to the prison of Blackiron Palace.”
“Ah...I see.”
The lower tauruses did indeed feature minimal clothing compared
to the kobolds and goblins of the first floor. If you removed the
bull head, they were basically nearly naked muscle men–quite a
shock to (I assumed) a pampered rich girl from an all girls’ school.
But that left one big problem. One of the chests I’d just opened had
a set of armor called Mighty Straps of Leather. Not only did it have
excellent defense, it also granted a strength boost. However, when
equipped, it turned the wearer’s torso naked except for a few
strategically placed leather straps. No other clothes or armor
could be worn over or under it. I figured the dungeon was a
discreet enough place for it, and was planning to change the next
time we found a safe room, but Asuna’s reaction to the taurus
causing me to reconsider. Still, it was a shame to waste such a
great piece of loot. Should I offer it to her, or banish it for having
no value to the party?
“Hey, Asuna...I got a strap-style armor with magical effects from a
chest back there.”
Suddenly, her eyes were three times as frosty as when she had
dispatched the taurus.
“Yes, and?”
“......Um...Just thinking, not many people will look good in that.
Maybe he would. You know, the tank leader from the first boss
raid...”
“Agil? Yes, I suppose he would look the part. I met him at the
reconnaissance mission for the Bullbous Bow yesterday.”
269
I hid my surprise with an expert poker face, secretly relieved that I

had avoided stepping on a landmine.
“O-oh really? But he wasn’t in the actual battle today, was he?”
“I don’t think he really gets along with Lind or Kibaou. But he did
say he’ll be there for the floor boss, so you’ll see him there. Why
don’t you give it to him then?”
“G-good idea. So anyway, do you think you can handle the mino...I
mean, taurus’s Numbing Impact?”
“Oh, just call them minos already. I think I’ll be fine after another
two or three encounters.”
“Okay. The boss’s numbing effect is way wider than the normal
ones, but the timing works the exact same way. Anyway, shall we
go to the next block?”
She nodded without a hint of fatigue, got to her feet, and started
marching off toward the exit.
We defeated four more tauruses after that, but they were timed to
pop at set intervals, so you couldn’t hunt tons of them even if you
wanted. Our inventories were bulging with loot from the monsters
and chests we’d run across, and luckily for us, we were able to
leave the labyrinth without running into any other players.
At a safe zone near the entrance, I flipped open my map tab and
found that we’d almost entirely filled in the blank space for the
first two levels. If I turned that data into a scroll and sold it, I could
make some pretty good cash, but the evil beater wasn’t enough of
a merchant to make a business out of map data. I decided to offer
it to Argo the Rat free of charge.
In a way, it didn’t seem fair. By tomorrow, Argo would be selling
the latest strategy guide out of the nearest town, based on intel
provided by me and the other former beta testers, and I’d have to
spend five hundred cor for it. But I couldn’t complain too much.
270
She claimed that the funds she earned selling the guide to the top
players went into producing a free version for middle-zone folks
who were still catching up.
I switched tabs and shot her an instant message with the map
data, then yawned widely and looked up at the sky. Looming over
the overgrown jungle was not actual sky, but the bottom of the
third floor. Yet the sunset rays coming from the outer perimeter of
Aincrad cast that lid overhead in a brilliant, beautiful orange.
“Today is December ninth...a Friday. It’s got to be winter on the
other side by now,” Asuna murmured. I gave that some thought.
“I read in some article that, depending on the floor, some places in
Aincrad are actually modeled after the current weather
conditions. Maybe if we climb a little bit higher, it’ll really be
winter.”
“I don’t know whether I want that or not. Oh, but...” She trailed off.
I turned to look at her. Her lips were pursed, but I couldn’t tell if
she was feeling angry or shy. “It was just an idea. What if we reach
a floor with proper seasons by Christmas, and it snows that day?”
“Oh...good point. It’s already December. By Christmas would
mean...fifteen days left. I sure hope we finish this floor by then...”
“Well, that’s not very ambitious of you. I want to be through here
within a week–no, five days. I’m exhausted from all these cows.”
“Oxhausted?”
I couldn’t help it. She stared at me blank-faced for several seconds,
then her cheeks went bright red, and she stomped on my foot just
softly enough not to cause damage. The fencer promptly turned
and stormed off toward the town, forcing me to run after her.
We walked for twenty minutes down the stone path through the
jungle, evading battles whenever we could, and only stopped for
breath once we reached the limits of Taran, the village that would
serve as base for the boss raid.
271
As I suspected, the main street was already packed with players.

Once the Bullbous Bow that blocked the path was defeated, many
who’d been staying in Marome made their way here, I carefully
removed my black leather coat and covered half my face with the
bandanna that Asuna loved to hate.
She couldn’t complain, though; she was wearing her own hooded
cape low over her face. Unfortunately, her reason and mine were
almost polar opposites.
“So, um...I’m going to go meet Argo in a little bit,” I muttered as we
walked along the side of the street. Asuna’s nod was barely visible
beneath her hood.
“That’s perfect. I have my own reason...my own business to do
with her. I’ll join you.”
“A-ahh.”
I had no reason whatsoever to be afraid of Asuna and Argo in the
same place, which made it very strange that I felt a sudden panic. I
tried to hide the shiver that ran down my back by showing her to
the bar where we’d meet up.
But before I could, a sound hit my ears. I nearly missed it at first,
so I focused and caught it directly.
The regular clanging of metal on metal. Not as melodious as a
musical instrument–tough and hardy, like a tool.
“–!!”
Asuna and I shared a look and turned together in the direction of
the sound: the eastern plaza of Taran. We proceeded quickly
toward the plaza, stifling the urge to sprint. When we got there,
our expectations were not betrayed.
A carpet was laid out with an array of metal weapons and a simple
wooden sign. A portable forge and anvil. Seated on a folding chair,
swinging away with his hammer, was a short blacksmith. It was
Nezha. A member of the Legend Braves, and Aincrad’s first
upgrade scammer.
272
“The nerve he’s got. You saw through his deception yesterday, and
instead of laying low, he’s setup in the latest town,” Asuna
whispered with distaste from the shadow of a pillar. I was going to
agree but changed my tack at the last second.
“Actually...Maybe the fact that he’s here in Taran is a sign of
caution. I mean, he has no way of knowing that we’d be here at the
same time. Maybe he’s just avoiding Urbus for now, since that’s
where his fraud was discovered.”
“It doesn’t change the fact that he’s got nerve. I mean, if he’s going
to change towns just to set up shop again...it means he’s still going
to do his weapon-switching trick, right?”
She silently mouthed the words “weapon-switching,” then bit her
lip. There was anger in her face, of course, but also a number of
other emotions. My skill at reading expressions was near zero, so I
had no way of knowing exactly what was on her mind. But it
seemed to me that there was something like sadness shining in
those eyes, within the darkness of her hood.
I turned to look back at Nezha, who was a good sixty feet away,
and said, “He probably will. He’ll just be more careful about
choosing his victims...”
“What do you mean?”
“If the Legend Braves are trying to leapfrog their way up to the
ranks of the front-line players, they’re not going to target those
players for their scam. There’s no point trying to reach that rank if
no one else trusts you.”
But then I gave voice to a suspicion that had just popped into my
head.
Unless Orlando and his friends intend to cut Nezha loose.
After all, they might be friends in the same party, but the guild
feature hadn’t been unlocked in the game yet. There was no guild
emblem showing up on his player cursor to identify him, no proof
that he was connected to Orlando and Beowulf.
273
They might be forcing him to use his sleight of hand to bilk other
players out of money and equipment, and if the word got out that
he cheating customers, they could cut him out of the team and
avoid any blowback.
“But...no...”
I dispelled that depressing thought with a sigh.
The camaraderie I had witnessed after trailing Nezha back to that
bar did not signify a group that met in an online game for the first
time. They seemed to have been friends since long before SAO
came along.
So that theory was impossible...I didn’t want to believe it could
happen.
I felt a gaze on my cheek and turned to see Asuna staring at me. If
she was annoyed by my solitary muttering, she did not dig deeper
for clarification.
“So I suppose that means they didn’t classify me as one of the top
players, since they weren’t afraid of stealing my sword,” she said
bitterly. I hastily tried to do some damage control.
“N-no, I didn’t mean it like that. When I say front-line players, I
mean organized parties like the guys in green and blue earlier.
You can’t tell someone’s like that unless they have some visual
identifier–I bet Nezha didn’t think I was a top player, either. And
who’s to say he wouldn’t be right?”
“Are you kidding? Aren’t you getting ready to fight the next floor
boss?” Asuna shot back. I nodded out of habit but needed to clarify
a bit.
“W-well, I’d like to...but if Lind or Kibaou say they don’t want me,
that’s that. In fact, I feel like there’s a high probability of that
happening...”
Her eyebrows shot up at an extremely dangerous angle;
fortunately, they soon returned to normal. Her voice was troubled,
but fairly calm.
274
“I don’t know about Lind, but Kibaou has to understand how

crucial your strength and knowledge are in defeating the boss.”
“Huh? Really?”
“He sent me a message after we beat the kobold lord. It said, ‘ya
really saved my ass today.’”
I tried not to smile at her faithful recreation of his Kansai accent,
and decided I should join in. “Yeah, but he also said, ‘I still can’t get
along with ya. I’m gonna do things my own way...’”
“‘...to beat this game.’ If that’s his ultimate goal, then he won’t let
his petty pride get in the way of beating a floor boss.”
“Let’s hope not,” I muttered, unable to shake the image of the
chaotic, frantic scene at the battle against the Bullbous Bow.
I had only talked once to the scimitar-wielding Lind, leader of the
blue squad, at the end of the kobold lord battle–and it wasn’t a
conversation as much as an excoriation. But I could easily imagine
what he wanted. He sought to lead his fellow companions of
Diavel and raise them into the greatest force in the game. His
strength of will was apparent from his fixation on scoring the LA
bonus, even against mid-bosses. I had no doubt that when we
reached the third floor, he’d be the first to complete the guild
establishment quest and start his own guild, decked out in Diavel’s
silver and blue.
The more complicated matter was Kibaou, who I’d spoken to on
several occasions.
There was no doubt that the engine driving him was a hatred of all
former beta testers. He’d singled me out as an enemy immediately
and supported Diavel for taking charge as a non-tester. He might
have even hoped to join Diavel’s party ranks after that boss battle.
But even if Diavel had survived, that wish would not have come
true. Diavel was secretly a former tester himself. It was possible
that Kibaou realized it when he saw Diavel’s drive to seize the
boss’s LA bonus.
275
And when the battle seemed on the verge of breaking down, it was
I, with my “dirty” beta knowledge, who set things right again.
So Kibaou followed his determination not to rely on the help of
testers, and started his own group, rather than seeking to join
Lind and the other companions of Diavel. That team was the one
wearing moss green. He must have put a lot of work into it,
because they seemed to be about equal strength during the fight
against the bull. But they would never see eye-to-eye.
The top two teams–let’s just call them guilds–would clash and
compete, thereby raising the pace and power of all the frontier
players, but that competition would also wreak havoc during the
raid battles, when teamwork was paramount. It was just a
question of whether the good would outweigh the bad. And the
next question was how Orlando and the Legend Braves would
affect the makeup of the front line...
“Oh, speaking of which,” I said to Asuna, who was watching the
blacksmith work, “did Lind and Kibaou’s parties have names yet?”
“Um...I’m not sure about Lind’s. But I did hear a name for Kibaou’s
group.” She grinned. “It’s kind of crazy. The Aincrad Liberation
Squad.”
“W-wow...”
“In fact, they’ve got some grand plans.”
“Is that so?”
“He said they were going to set up base in the Town of Beginnings
on the first floor and aggressively canvass for more members out
of the thousands still down there. He’ll provide them with
equipment, give them organized battle training, and hopefully
increase the number of frontline players as a result.”
“...I see. So that’s what he means by his own way.” I nodded, and
pondered this idea.
It was a valid choice. The more players there were advancing the
front line, the quicker we’d progress through the game.
276
But that also created a massive dilemma. An increased number of

people also unavoidably increased the chance of fatalities...
“There’s something else that bothers me,” Asuna said suddenly. I
blinked.
“Huh? What is it?”
“The term. Everyone has their own version: front-line players,
frontier players, clearers. I get what they mean, but it’s all so
arbitrary. Lind’s group were calling themselves ‘top players.’”
“Oh...yeah, it’s true. Argo likes to call them ‘front-runners’...Oh,
crap!”
I hurriedly opened my window and checked the time. I was
supposed to meet Argo the Rat in just two and a half minutes.
“Um, so...you’re coming too, Asuna?”
“Yes, I am. Why?” she responded coolly. I took one last look at the
small blacksmith, swinging his hammer.
“Let’s make the visit with Argo as short as possible so we can
watch Nezha a bit longer. Maybe we’ll figure out how his trick
works.”
277
“Hmmm” said Argo.

“It’s not like that,” I replied.
If the unspoken parts of those statements were to be filled in, they
would look like this:
Hmmm. Kirito the former tester and Asuna the solo player are
working as a team. How much can I sell that nugget for?
It’s not like that. We’re only temporarily traveling together, and
not as a team or whatever.
Of course, denying the intent or definition did not change the fact
that we were indeed working together. And that activity had
begun when we met at the east plaza of Urbus the previous
afternoon–twenty-seven continuous hours of companionship.
I couldn’t blame her for assuming there was something deeper
going on, but in my personal dictionary, a “party of two” and a
“team” were very different things.
A party could come together spontaneously for the sake of a battle
or two, then be disbanded and never return, but a proper team
was designed to work together, each player fine-tuning their skills
based on the presence of the other. This translated to choosing a
particular equipment loadout and skillset that made up for the
weaknesses of the other player so as to create attack combos that
could take down difficult mobs–not so we could each attack our
own targets (as Asuna and I did against the wasps).
It was only once you reached that step that I considered it to be a
team, and by that definition, Asuna and I would probably never be
a team. Even ignoring all of the beater baggage, Asuna put an
incredible amount of craft and pride into her fencing skills, and I
couldn’t see her abandoning that fine-honed technique to
prioritize her teamwork with me.
278
I had no idea how much of that explanation–more like excuse–got

through, so I sat down across from Argo with an innocent look on
my face, waited for my temporary party companion to sit down,
then ordered a black ale. Asuna ordered a fruit cocktail cut with
soda water, and the NPC waiter left for ten seconds before
returning with the drinks. With that kind of speed, it felt as though
they should dispense with the employee altogether and have the
glasses just appear on the table, but I supposed the game’s creator
felt it was a necessary touch. NPC employees didn’t cost real
money, anyway.
We lifted our drinks, as did Argo, who shot me an encouraging
look. I cleared my throat and announced, “Erm...to reaching the
second-floor labyrinth!”
“Cheers!”
“...Cheers.”
The enthusiasm was not quite shared by all, but at least we were
on the same page. I drained half of my mug of beer–they called it
ale in the game, but I didn’t understand the difference. It was the
same sour, bitter carbonated drink I remember tasting at my
mother’s permission in real life, but it was strangely satisfying
after a long day of racing around the wilderness and dungeons.
Though from what I understood, the adult players of SAO thought
there was no reason for alcohol that didn’t get you drunk.
In that sense, it seemed obvious that Argo, who gulped down her
entire mug of foamy yellow liquid and exhaled with satisfaction,
was probably another teenager who wasn’t fixated on the alcohol
part of the drink. But there was no way to be sure. In fact, it was
nearly impossible to guess her age, even if there were no familiar
whisker stripes painted on those cheeks.
Argo slammed her empty cup onto the table and immediately
ordered another.
“Five days from the opening of the gate to reaching the labyrinth.
That was quick.”
279
“Compared to the first floor, sure. Plus, we had lots of players over
level 10 because it took so long the first time. The original level
required to beat the second floor was more like 7 or 8, right?”
“Well...maybe from a numerical standpoint. But that’s just the
point at which it becomes beatable.” She lifted the second mug of
ale to her lips, and Asuna filled the silence.
“How many attempts did it take to defeat the second-floor boss in
the beta?”
“Hmm. We got wiped out at least ten times, and that was only the
attempts that I participated in...But the first time was pure
recklessness. I was only level 5.”
I didn’t mention that I did it hoping to score the LA bonus.
“I think when we actually did succeed, the raid’s average level was
over 7.”
“Ahh...But this time, it’ll be at least level 10.”
I checked the party HP gauge. I’d earned a level up thanks to our
hunting of the minos–er, tauruses–in the labyrinth, so I was up to
fourteen. Asuna claimed to be twelve. Most likely Lind and
Kibaou’s teams, the main muscle of the raid party, would be about
the same.
“Yeah...I bet it’ll be over 10. Statistically, that’s a high enough
level...but floor-boss battles don’t follow the same rules as wimpy
mobs.”
The battle against Illfang the Kobold Lord seemed like it had
happened ages ago by now. Our average level was far higher than
it had been during the beta test. Our leader, Diavel the knight, was
level 12, just like me.
That did not stop the kobold king’s katana skills from draining all
of Diavel’s HP. The sheer firepower of a boss’s attacks rendered
the “safe range” of levels meaningless.
280
Asuna and I thought in silence as Argo emptied three quarters of

her second mug and said, “Plus, this boss is more about having
good equipment than a high level.”
“Yeah, that’s the thing,” I agreed with a sigh. The second-floor boss
had a special sword skill called Numbing Detonation that wasn’t
primarily about dealing damage. But because of that, increasing
the player’s HP wasn’t an adequate defense. Careful raising of
debuff prevention via equipment upgrades was crucial.
That would all be covered in the next edition of the info dealer’s
strategy guide series, no doubt. All the front-line players would
eagerly delve into the upgrading system, and Nezha would do a
booming business here in this town.
“...Ugh...” I grunted without realizing it.
What if Nezha hadn’t moved from Urbus to Taran in order to wait
out the storm...but because he foresaw that there would be high
demand for his services here? He might bilk players out of their
hard-earned rare gear without a care for his reputation, making
the Legend Braves the top guild in the game, surpassing even Lind
and Kibaou’s teams. And what would happen to Nezha the
blacksmith?
“...Argo.” I brushed off the crawling sensation going up my arms
and opened my window over the table. “Here’s the map data for
the first and second level of the labyrinth.”
I turned it into a scroll and plopped it down before her. She picked
it up and made it disappear faster than a parlor magician.
“Thanks again, Kii-bou. Like I always say, if you want the proper
value of this information...”
“No...I’m not trying to make a business out of map data. I couldn’t
sleep at night if I knew players were dying because they couldn’t
afford maps. However, I do have a job with a condition I want you
to do for me in return.”
“Ohh? Why don’t you tell Big Sister what you want?”
281
She casted a sidelong glance at me. I could feel some kind of waves
radiating off of Asuna, but I was too afraid to look, so I focused my
eyes on Argo.
“I’m sure you’re aware of them already...” I lowered my voice and
looked around the bar. The entrance was at the end of a narrow
alleyway, and no other players had come in. “I want info on a team
called Legend Braves that took part in this morning’s fight against
the Bullbous Bow. All their names and how they got together.”
“Ahh. And...your condition?”
“I don’t want anyone to know that I’m looking for information
about them. Especially the people in question.”
The scariest thing about Argo the Rat is that not only did she not
practice client confidentiality, she actually made it her motto that
every buyer’s name was another product to sell. So normally,
there was no way I could buy information on the Legend Braves in
total secrecy. Argo would follow her own rules and go straight to
the Braves, asking if they wanted to buy the name of the person
snooping into their business. Of course, I could pay her more than
what they offered in order to keep my name out of it, but it would
still let them know that someone was asking about them. That was
what I wanted to avoid.
My condition was that I wanted her to collect information on the
Braves without making any kind of contact. It was in direct
conflict with Argo’s motto and principles.
She twisted her curly hair with a finger as she mulled it over, then
shrugged and said okay with surprising ease. But my relief only
lasted a split second.
“Just remember this: Big Sister prioritized her feelings for Kii-bou
over her rules of business.”
Again, I felt a burning sensation emanating from the right, and
froze solid. Argo never let the smile leave her face.
“Now, what did you want with me, A-chan?”
282
Ten minutes later, Asuna and I were back at the eastern plaza of
Taran.
As a village, the scale of Taran was much smaller than the main
town of Urbus. However, it shared the same basic construction in
being carved down out of a flat mountaintop, with only the outer
walls left standing. Therefore, it had at least twice the vertical
space of any village built on flat plains.
The circular plaza was no exception, surrounded by tall buildings
in every direction. But most of them were not NPC shops like inns
or item stores, and there were no player-owned homes yet, so
anyone could walk in or out.
More than a few players used these empty houses as squats
instead of paying for an inn. The biggest difference was that an
NPC-run inn offered full system protection on its rooms.
Of course, while it was impossible to hurt anyone in one of these
places, there was always that uncertainty about sleeping without a
lock, and the beds were painfully hard. I’d tried them out a few
times when trying to skimp on expenses, and barely got a wink of
sleep–I bolted to my feet every time I heard a noise inside the
room or outside in the street. It was truly unfair; my real body was
probably in some safe, sanitized hospital, with all of my senses
disconnected from their external organs, but I was still terrorized
by awful beds and outside noise in this virtual world.
After I’d suffered enough, I finally swore off of such frugality, and
had been staying in proper inns or NPC homes ever since.
But there were other uses for an empty home than just sleeping.
You could have a meeting in private, divvy up loot–or spy on
someone.
“This is a good angle,” Asuna said from the chair in front of the
window, looking down at the plaza below, but careful not to get
too close.
283
“It’s probably the best spot you can get. Straight behind him, the
angle would be too extreme to have a good idea of what’s
happening. I’m gonna set the dinner down here.”
I placed four steamed buns of uncertain filling I’d bought from a
street vendor on top of the round table. Their skin was the usual
milky white, and nothing seemed out of order with the scent of the
rising steam. In fact, they looked good. The official item name was
“Taran Steamed Bun.”
Asuna turned away from the source of the clanging outside and
casted a doubtful look at the steamed buns.
“What’s...inside of those?”
“Dunno. But it’s a cow-themed floor, so I’d guess it’s probably
beef? By the by, in western Japan, when they talk about streamed
meat buns, they mean beef. It’s in eastern Japan that the generic
term means pork.”
“And is this town western or eastern?” she asked exasperatedly.
I apologized for my pointless trivia and pushed the pile toward
Asuna.
“Go on while they’re hot.”
“...Very well.”
She removed the leather glove from her hand and took the bun
from the top of the pile. I hurriedly grabbed one of my own.
We’d been in the dungeon since this morning, and hadn’t had time
to stop for a snack, so I was nearly starving. If our avatars
exhibited biological processes other than emotion, my stomach
would have gurgled all through our meeting with Argo. I opened
my mouth wide and was about to stuff the steaming treat into
mouth, when–
“Nyaak!”
A strangled shriek hit my ears and I looked over in surprise. Asuna
was sitting frozen in her chair, the steam bun held in both hands.
284
The large, five-inch bun was missing one small bite–and the
opening had squirted a thick cream-colored liquid across her face
and neck.
She stayed dead still, properly chewing the bite she already took
while resisting the impulse to cry, then finally spoke in a soft
voice.
“...So the filling is warm custard cream...and some kind of sweet-
sour fruit...”
“...”
I slowly lowered the Taran steamed bun from its position an inch
away from my face, down to the table. The moment I let go, her
voice struck again, sharp as a rapier.
“If...if it turns out you ate this during the beta test and knew what
was inside, and intentionally didn’t tell me what it was...then I may
not be able to stop myself from what comes next...”
“I swear to you that I did not know. Absolutely, positively,
categorically.”
I took a small handkerchief out of my belt pouch and handed it to
her. Fortunately, “mess” effects here would disappear in only a
few moments, even if left alone, and wiping them with any item
categorized as cloth made them disappear entirely. With each
mess, the durability of the cloth would fall, but I’d heard rumors of
a magic handkerchief that could be used forever. Mess effects
caused by mobs or special terrain often contained their own
debuff effects, so an unlimited handkerchief would be really handy
to have. If only it weren’t such a rare piece of loot...
“Mm.”
I was shaken from my reverie by the return of my handkerchief.
After a few seconds of wiping, Asuna’s face was free of cream.
285
She gave me one last glare, turned back to the window, and
announced, “I’ll cook my own food the next time we have a
stakeout. I’d rather not have to eat something terrible like this
again.”
I felt tempted to point out that with a Cooking skill of zero, she
couldn’t make anything that wasn’t terrible. But even as a
fourteen-year-old, I was smart enough to know I shouldn’t.
Instead I gave her a forced smile and opined, “Th-that sounds
great.”
Two arrows shot forward and wiped the smile off my face.
“When did I say, ‘I’ll cook my own food...for both of us?’”
“You didn’t,” I admitted sheepishly. When I actually tried the
cooled-off Taran steamed bun, it wasn’t bad...It was pretty good,
actually. But only as a dessert.
The outer skin was soft and chewy, and the cream inside was
smooth and firm and not too sweet, the perfect match for the sour,
strawberry-like fruit inside. I suspected that the preset flavor
values for the bun were meant to resemble a strawberry cream
pastry, but through developer error or some whim of the system,
it was sold heated. Asuna’s mood improved eventually–she even
ate two of the buns.
That was all well and good, but unlike the buns, the actual purpose
of our stakeout was turning out to be fruitless. The entire point of
doing this, of course, was to monitor Nezha the blacksmith and
attempt to discover the means of his weapon-switching trick.
His business was thriving, but nearly all of the requests were
maintenance repairs, and only two players in the hour that we
watched asked him to upgrade their weapons. Both of those
attempts were successful. I suspected that it was because they
were only mid-rank weapons, but it was starting to make me
doubt the possibility that there was any deception at all.
286
What if Asuna’s sword breaking and then reappearing thanks to

the MATERIALIZE ALL ITEMS button were just freakish errors,
bugs in the system...?
“No, that can’t be it,” I muttered to myself, trying to shake aside
my self-doubt.
The means of the weapon-switching trick were still a mystery, but
we knew how it was that the Wind Fleuret was destroyed on the
first attempt–it was the very piece of information that Asuna
bought from Argo.
When Argo had asked Asuna what her business was, the answer
surprised me. She said, “I want you to find out if destruction is one
of the possible penalties for an unsuccessful attempt at upgrading
a weapon.”
Argo’s answer was just as unexpected as the question. “I don’t
need to look it up. I already know the answer.”
We were stunned. Argo said up-front that she’d give it to us for the
cost of her drinks, and explained.
“Strictly as a failure penalty, weapon-breaking will never happen.
However, there is one way to ensure that a weapon will break
with absolute certainty: when you attempt to upgrade a weapon
that is out of upgrade attempts.”
Meaning this. Last night, the Wind Fleuret that crumbled to pieces
before our eyes was in fact switched in at some point...and it had
already used all of its allotted upgrade attempts. It was a “spent”
weapon. But the Wind Fleuret +4 hanging from Asuna’s waist still
had two chances left. So even if the attempt had failed, it could not
have caused the sword to crack.
Now that the spent-weapon concept had entered the picture, I
thought back to Rufiol, the fellow who tried out Nezha before
Asuna did.
I couldn’t determine if Nezha had indeed switched out his Anneal
Blade with a different one.
287
But the result was three straight failures, not destruction. Perhaps
he couldn’t do his normal trick because there were so many
people around, or perhaps he just didn’t have a spent Anneal
Blade to switch it with.
If that was the case, it explained why Nezha offered the crestfallen
Rufiol a sum of money much higher than the going rate for that
spent +0 Anneal Blade. He wasn’t compensating the man for his
loss, but stocking up for the next attempt...
“Kirito.”
I blinked, snapped out of my speculation. My eyes focused and
saw that the plaza below was shrouded in night, and few players
were still going to and from.
One player walked directly across the circular plaza. He wore
metal armor that reflected the light of the lampposts, and a dark
blue shirt–clearly the uniform of Lind’s group, the top team among
the front-line players.
Asuna and I watched with bated breath as he approached Nezha’s
smith shop and removed his sword from his waist attachment. Its
length and shape identified it as a one-handed longsword.
But it was slightly shorter and wider than my Anneal Blade.
I couldn’t be sure because of the distance and darkness, but the
large knuckle guard appeared to be that of a Stout Brand. That
was a broadsword, a sub-category of one-handed swords that
prioritized attack strength over speed. It was about as rare as a
Wind Fleuret, if not slightly higher.
“Certainly good enough to be a target for his switcheroo,” Asuna
whispered. I was surprised that she’d identified it at a glance, but I
didn’t let it show.
“Yeah. Now, whether he asks for maintenance or an upgrade...”
There was at least fifty feet in between us at the southwestern
side of the plaza, and the outdoor blacksmith shop at the
northwest edge.
288
The Search skill’s parameter adjustment brought several details

into focus, but it was much too far to hear a conversation at
normal volume.
“Do you know that guy’s name from the Lind team?” I asked.
Asuna thought it over. “I think his name is Shivata.”
“With a V? Not Shibata?”
“It was spelled ‘S-h-i-v-a-t-a.’ Seems pretty clear to me.”
“...All right, then.”
We both practiced the foreign sound of the letter V by biting our
lower lips. Meanwhile, Nezha and Shivata had finished their
negotiation, and the Stout Brand changed hands, sheath and all.
This was the important point. We craned as close as possible to
the window without being visible from the plaza and focused on
the blacksmith’s hands. Inevitably, our shoulders and even hair
brushed up against each other, but the proud fencer would
certainly understand, given the circumstances.
If it was a maintenance request, Nezha would remove the sword
and place it against the small grindstone affixed to the side of his
anvil. But he turned away from his client and reached out with his
right hand to one of the many leather sacks on the carpet. Those
sacks presumably contained different types of crafting materials.
Meaning...
“An upgrade!” I hissed.
Asuna nodded vigorously and whispered, “The left hand! Keep
your eyes on his left hand!”
She didn’t have to tell me. I kept my eyes fixed on that left hand,
fighting the natural urge to follow the movement of his right.
Shivata’s broadsword hung from Nezha’s hand, still in the sheath.
There was nothing unnatural about the position or angle of his
arm.
289
Very close to the sword was a display of premade weapons for

sale, but there was no way he could switch them. All of the display
weapons were common iron weapons; there was not a single rare
weapon among them, and certainly not another Stout Brand.
Besides, dropping the sword onto the carpet and lifting a nearby
weapon would draw too much attention. I couldn’t imagine that
we’d have missed such an action when the Wind Fleuret was
nearly stolen...
Nezha’s left hand was completely still, holding the broadsword,
while the right hand did all the work. He picked out all of his
materials from the leather sacks and tossed them into the forge
next to the anvil The dozen or so items burst into flame and
eventually melted into one big lump–I assumed. I wasn’t actually
watching. At any rate, it was the highlight of the upgrading
process. For an instant, the deep red light that signified a
Heaviness upgrade shone from the forge, then subsided into the
waiting state.
“...!”
Every muscle in my body twitched.
At the same moment the red light flared, Nezha’s left hand did
something. Asuna must have sensed it as well, because our
shoulders jumped.
“Did he...?”
“The sword...”
We kept staring but couldn’t finish our sentences. That brief flash
of light, barely half a second, was enough to blind us from the
exact sight we needed to witness.
As I watched, teeth grinding, the blacksmith gingerly raised the
Stout Brand. If he had indeed done something to it, the sword
looked absolutely identical to the one Shivata gave him.
290
He grabbed the hilt with his right hand and slowly pulled the
sword out, then placed the thick blade into the red flames of the
forge. After a few seconds, all of the light transferred to the
weapon. He placed it on the anvil, picked up his smithing hammer
with his right hand, and began striking the sword. Five. Eight...Ten.
Just as we feared, the dark gray blade of the Stout Brand shattered
into pieces. This time, neither of us missed it.
“...What now?” Asuna asked, watching the quiet plaza from the
windowsill.
It was clear what she was referring to. Shivata showed remarkable
restraint in bottling up his anger and disappointment, and left
with minimal complaint to Nezha. Asuna was wondering if we
should track him down and reveal the existence of the deception.
From a sympathy standpoint, I wanted to tell him, because within
an hour, he could use the MATERIALIZE ALL ITEMS button to
retrieve his sword. But from a more practical standpoint, Shivata
would not be happy just to get his sword back. He would surely
return to the plaza and confront Nezha with this evidence, and I
could not predict what would happen after that.
Nezha’s actions were evil–of that there was no doubt. He ought to
suffer proper punishment for his misdeeds. But without a GM
holding court in this virtual world, who would determine what
was “proper”?
Even a crafter could not just hang out in town all the time. What if,
when he left the safety of the village limits, some player attempted
to punish him through means within their control? What if they
took it to the ultimate conclusion?
If we told Shivata now, it could ultimately lead to the very first in
Aincrad. That concern was the driving force behind Asuna’s
question, and I did not have an easy answer in mind.
As I sat wracked by indecision and unease, I heard the calming
ringing of bells. It was eight o’clock. At the same moment, the
hammering outside stopped.
291
I moved next to Asuna and looked to see that Nezha was closing
up his shop. He extinguished the forge, put away the tools and
materials, folded the sign, and began laying them all on top of the
carpet. His back looked so very small and unassuming.
“Why did Nezha and the Legend Braves decide to start doing this
fraud, anyway...? And how?” I murmured to myself. Asuna
shrugged. “I mean, even if they came up with the idea to switch
the weapons, there’s a huge hurdle between something that is
theoretically possible within the system, and actually doing it.
SAO’s not just a normal VRMMO. Our lives are on the line now.
Surely they have to realize what might happen if they steal other
people’s weapons...”
“Maybe they do realize...and decided to kick over the hurdles
anyway.”
“Huh?”
“Ignoring the ethical side of it, the actual hurdle is just knowing
that you could risk your life if you get exposed, right? So they can
eliminate that issue if they just get far stronger than anyone else
before anyone finds out what they’re doing. That way they can
fight off any attempts to take their lives in the wilderness. The six–
er, five members of the Legend Braves probably aren’t that far off
from their goal.”
When Asuna’s words sank in, I felt my virtual skin crawl
“C-come on, don’t tell me that. A team of guys that doesn’t shy
away from wicked acts, strong enough to destroy any front-line
players? I mean...”
My throat became so constricted that even I could barely make
out the next words I said.
“...They’d rule the world.”
While I wasn’t inclined to think that this weapon scam wasn’t my
problem in any way, I also assumed that I wouldn’t have to suffer
from it. I just had to make sure I didn’t ever give Nezha my sword.
292
But that was a terribly shortsighted view of the situation.

Thirty-three days before, the moment we were trapped in this
game permanently, I left behind my first and only friend in the
game, Klein, and abandoned him back in the Town of Beginnings. I
avoided the wilderness zones, which I expected to be bled dry in
no time, and headed straight for Horunka, the next town. In other
words, I prioritized the quickest and most efficient way to
upgrade my equipment and stats so that I could maximize my
chance of survival.
Using all the knowledge from my beta experience, I tore through
countless quests and mobs, racing onward and onward. From the
moment I chose to sprint out of the gates, I’d never slowed in my
progress.
But the speed of my advancement was always based purely on the
rules of the game (if not personal morals). If I were to ignore those
rules, there were far more efficient ways to advance than what I
did now–for example, monopolizing the best hunting grounds, or
stealing rare loot from other players.
Of course, swindling weapons only earned them cor and the item
itself, not experience or skill points. But as Asuna had said, with
enough money, there was no limit on how much you could power
up your gear.
I had bumped my main weapon up to +6, but my armor was
currently averaging around +3. Against a player with fully
upgraded armor, even at a lower level, there was no way I could
win.
In other words, allowing the Legend Braves to continue in their
weapon fraud would be tantamount to allowing the creation of a
group of players stronger than me and unbound by rules or
morals.
“...I’m sorry. It took me until just now to realize how serious this
is,” I murmured. The fencer looked at me suspiciously.
“Why would you say sorry?”
293
“Well, you almost had your sword stolen, right? And this whole
time, I’ve only been half-concerned, as if it was someone else’s
problem...”
The words emerged naturally, without thinking, but for some
reason, Asuna scowled even harder, blinked a few times, then
yanked her head in the other direction, angrily.
“There’s no need to apologize. It’s not as though you and I are total
strangers...I mean, um, we know each other and we’re party
members, but there’s nothing more than...arrgh! Look what you
did! You’re acting so weird, I’m all confused!”
I thought I was more confused than she was, but before I could
respond, she looked out the window and her eyes narrowed. “That
carpet...”
“Huh...?”
“So keeping your items from wasting away isn’t its only function.”
I turned to look at the east plaza of Taran. In the northwest corner,
Nezha had finished packing away all his tools and was now
fiddling with the pop-up menu on his Vendors Carpet. It started
rolling itself up, and the assortment of objects on top of it was
automatically sucked into storage.
“Hey...Do you suppose he’s using that function to switch the
weapons?”
I shook my head instantly. “No, that’s not possible. The carpet’s
absorption ability has to be activated via the menu, like he’s doing
now, plus it swallows up everything on top of the carpet. You
couldn’t have it take just one sword and spit another one
out...in...exchange...”
I trailed to a stop.
The Vendor’s Carpet’s ability to store items could not be used to
exchange them.
294
However, what if he used his own storage...meaning, the inventory

tab of his main menu? I rolled away from the window and
slumped to my knees.
“Wh-what are you doing?” Asuna asked. I didn’t reply. I brought
up the menu with my right hand and switched to the item list. As I
had done the last night when I showed Asuna the equipment
mannequin, I tapped the top and bottom edges of the window to
make it adjustable, then lowered it down until it was almost stuck
to the floor–right below where my left hand would dangle if I let it
hang.
Lastly, I pulled the Anneal Blade, sheath and all, off my back and
held it in my dangling left hand. I didn’t have a folding chair, but I
was about the same distance off the ground as Nezha was when he
accepted the weapon from his customer.
Asuna held a deep breath, understanding what I was about to try. I
looked up at her face and said, “Watch close and count the time.”
“Okay.”
“Here goes...Three, two, one, zero!”
I dropped the sword directly onto the window. Just as it touched
the surface, the sword vanished in a puff of light and turned into
text in the menu. I promptly touched the item name. When the
sub-menu appeared, I selected materialize.” With another splash
of light, the sword reappeared and I picked it up again.
“...How was that?”
I looked up and met the fencer’s wide-eyed gaze. Her hazel eyes
blinked slowly, moved to my left hand...and she shook her head.
“It was a similar sight. But much too slow to be the same thing. It
took well over a second for the sword to disappear and reappear.”
“Maybe if I practice, I can do it faster...”
295
“There were other differences. There are big fancy effects when
you put it in and take it out of the menu. Even timed to happen at
the same time the upgrading materials flash in the forge, you can’t
hide that kind of effect. Plus, it shines twice.”
“...I see...” I sighed, and tapped the window on the floor to make it
disappear. I stood up and slung the sword back into position.
“I thought I was onto something. I figured all the stuff stacked on
the carpet could hide his menu...”
“Wouldn’t that be impossible, too? I mean, if you put something on
top of a window set to the inventory tab, wouldn’t it all sink into
it?”
“...Urgh.” She was right. I nodded and looked out the window
again. Nezha was just leaving the plaza, rolled-up carpet balanced
on his shoulder. His head was down, as though feeling the weight
on his shoulder, and plodded heavily away. It was not the image of
a man who had just scored himself a rare and valuable Stout
Brand.
“If we can’t expose the trick he’s using, I suppose we’ll just have to
go reveal the truth to Shivata,” she said.
“If the sword returns to him, that will prove that there was a
deceptive attempt to steal it. But if that happens, all the blame will
fall on Nezha’s shoulders, and the other five Braves could get away
scot-free. Obviously, what he’s doing is wrong. But...I just get this
feeling...”
I trailed off. Asuna fixed me with a direct stare. For a moment, it
seemed as if the powerful light in her eyes softened just a bit.
“You can’t imagine that Nezha is doing all of this entirely of his
own volition...Am I right?”
“Huh...?”
My eyes widened. She’d hit the nail on the head. Asuna turned
away and leaned against the wall, looked up at the dark ceiling
and spoke in a slow cadence.
296
“Do you remember what he said yesterday, when I went to ask

him to upgrade my Wind Fleuret? He asked if I wanted a new
weapon or to repair my old one. It was as though he left out the
option of upgrading, hoping he didn’t have to do it...”
“I see...Good point. That would explain why he made such a sour
face when you asked him to upgrade.”
“Honestly, if Shivata was able to expose his fraud and all the
Legend Braves stood up for Nezha and said they were false
charges, I wouldn’t mind that much. But...if they abandoned him
and tried to pin all of the responsibility on his shoulders...”
In a worst-case scenario, all the rage of the player population
would be focused on Nezha, and he might be executed. In fact, the
probability was fairly high. After all...
“The five warriors all took the names of legendary soldiers and
heroes, and they didn’t include Nezha the crafter in that pattern...”
“Oh, about that.” Asuna held up a finger as though just
remembering something.
“What?”
“Something’s been bugging me ever since you told me he was a
member of the Legend Braves. His name...Nezha. So I asked
Argo...”
At that precise moment, a purple icon started blinking on the right
side of my vision, and I held up a hand to cut her off. I clicked the
icon and it opened a long private message. Speak of the devil–it
was from Argo.
FIRST REPORT
Beneath that header was all the information I’d requested about
the Legend Braves: names, levels, rough character builds. It was
an impressive amount of info to compile in such a short time.
297
I set my window to visible mode and beckoned Asuna over to look

at the message. At the top was Orlando, their leader. Level 11,
used a longsword and shield, heavy armor.
Along with these data was a simple sentence explaining the source
of his name. That part was requested by Asuna. As my uncertain
memory recalled, he was indeed based on one of the Twelve Peers
of Charlemagne, his paladin knights. But Orlando was the Italian
styling of his name, while in the original French, he was Roland.
“Where do you suppose Argo got this information?” I noted wryly.
Asuna giggled.
“She must know someone who’s a major history buff...So Beowulf
was Danish, not English. Cuchulainn was from Celtic Mythology,
like we guessed.”
We went down the list, ignoring the character info and reading the
sources of their names. When we reached Nezha’s name at the
bottom, I let out a long breath.
His level was 10, a fairly high number thanks to the fact that
crafting gave experience points on its own. But it didn’t help his
combat skill proficiency, which would make fighting on the front
line difficult for him. Naturally, his player build was tuned to be a
blacksmith. And at the end, the source of his name...
“Huh?!”
“What...?”
We yelped together. The answer was totally unexpected.
“Does this mean...we were pronouncing it wrong?”
“B-but I remember the other Braves were calling him Nezuo...”
We looked at each other, then back to the message. If what was
written in his lengthy name background was true, I had terribly
misunderstood him.
298
A moment later, several pieces of information stored in my brain

as separate clumps suddenly began to rearrange themselves,
linking together and shining bright.
“Oh...!”
I lifted my left hand and squeezed it, watching closely. Opened
again, and closed.
In that instant, I knew that I had finally grasped the secret of
Nezha’s weapon-switching trick for good.
“Of course...That’s what it was!!”
299
10
“Upgrade, please.”
I roughly thrust my sword and scabbard forward. Nezha the
blacksmith looked up at me doubtfully.
He was suspicious because he wasn’t looking at my face, but the
great helm that completely covered it. The only thing it featured
were narrow slits at the eyes. Such helmets were excellent in
terms of defense but terribly limited the player’s vision. It was one
thing for a tank in the midst of a group battle to use it, but hardly
any player would bother to wear such a thing in town.
As I was a vowed disciple of light, versatile armor, the only reason
I’d ever wear this great helm was for disguise. And because I’d
been present for the destruction of Asuna’s Wind Fleuret three
days earlier, I couldn’t use my favorite bandanna instead, or
Nezha would recognize me.
Perhaps this disguise was not that much better, but Asuna insisted
that if I didn’t want to stand out because of the funny helm, I
should commit to the full outfit and simply play one of those
people.
So the great helm was only part of the costume, I was covered in
thick plate mail all over and held a tower shield the size of an
entire door. All the items were the cheapest of that type available
at NPC shops, and the equipment weight was just light enough not
to send me into the red, but the cramped, closed-in sensation
threatened to make me go claustrophobic within half a day.
Feeling a newfound sense of appreciation for those tanks who’d
taken part in the boss raid, I handed over my sword–the Anneal
Blade, my only truly rare piece of equipment right now.
“I’ll take a look at its properties,” he said quietly, tapping the hilt.
When he saw the contents of the window, his downcast eye-brows
shot upward.
300
“Anneal plus six...two attempts left. And its upgrades are S3, D3. A
challenging sword, but a very good one...”
I watched his lips creep into a tiny smile, and I confirmed that my
initial suspicions about him were correct. This blacksmith wasn’t
an irredeemably evil person.
But just a second later, Nezha’s smile of admiration disappeared,
replaced by a grimace of pain. Through gritted teeth, he
murmured, “...Which value did you want to upgrade?”
Sunday, December 11, just before eight o’clock in the evening.
A chill wind blew through the eastern plaza of Taran. There were
no other players or NPCs in sight. There were only Nezha the
blacksmith, just before he closed up his street side shop, and me,
his mystery customer. Somewhere in the empty houses lining the
plaza, Asuna was watching our encounter, but I couldn’t feel her
gaze for all the thick metal armor.
It was the preceding Sunday that we defeated the first-floor boss
and opened the teleport gate to the main city of the second floor,
so today marked a full week since then. I had run into Asuna in the
eastern plaza of Urbus three days ago, and it was two days before
that I had discovered the truth behind Nezha’s upgrade fraud.
Technically, I hadn’t identified the trick, only been “certain” that I
had, but there was a reason that I’d waited a full two days to
attempt to ascertain the truth of the matter. I needed to master
the technique Nezha was using to switch out weapons.
Of course, this all depended on Nezha accepting my work request.
Telling myself that the hassle of all this full plate armor had
succeeded in convincing him, I murmured an answer to the
blacksmith.
“Speed35, please. I’ll pay for the materials. Enough for a ninety
percent chance.”
35 The "S" in weapon parameters is supposed to mean Sharpness, but it is referred to as Speed here,
although it had been written correctly as Sharpness in other instances in the book.
301
Nezha had heard my voice three days ago, but the distorting effect
of the great helm helped disguise it enough to keep him from
realizing that I’d been the companion of the woman with the Wind
Fleuret.
“Very well. For enough to boost the chances to ninety, that will
be...two thousand seven hundred cor, including the cost of labor,”
he explained, his voice tense. I agreed in as flat a tone as I could
muster.
Beneath the thick breastplate, my heart was already racing, and
my gauntlets were clammy with sweat. If my suspicions were all
entirely wrong, and Nezha wasn’t in fact a fraudster, and weapon
destruction had indeed been added as a possible failure state, then
my beloved Anneal Blade +6 might be gone forever in a manner of
minutes.
No.
That was not all. After all, we had retrieved Asuna’s Wind Fleuret
through the use of the MATERIALIZE ALL ITEMS command. Even
my theory about the trick was wrong, I could still get the sword
back within an hour by using that button.
So all I had to do was stay calm, watch everything that happened,
and hit one icon at the proper moment. Nothing more.
I waved my left hand to bring up the menu, flipped to the trade
tab, and paid Nezha his price. Normally I might have closed it after
that, but this time I left it open on the top screen. Fortunately,
Nezha did not seem to find this suspicious.
“Two thousand seven hundred cor, paid in full,” he muttered, and
turned to the forge. Very naturally, he let the end of the sword in
his left hand dangle just inches above the many products
crammed on top of his carpet.
It all started here.
My concentration had been sucked toward the portable forge the
last time, so I kept my gaze directly fixed on his left hand.
302
My field of view was greatly limited by the helms eye-slits, but

that helped me ignore any misdirection he attempted through the
flashy forge display.
Nezha must have tossed the upgrade materials straight from his
stock into the forge, because everything flashed bright green for a
second. If I’d had a view of the forge, my eyes would have been
dazzled by the light for just a second.
But the next moment, Nezha’s left index finger stretched and
lightly tapped between two swords on the carpet. For just the
briefest of instants, the Anneal Blade blinked.
That was it. The switch was complete. Such a brilliant, perfect
trick. He could do this in front of a crowd of a hundred in broad
daylight, and not a single one would notice.
Like Nezha when he saw the detailed properties of my sword, I let
out a sigh of admiration. But I said nothing–I let the blacksmith
finish his upgrading process.
Once the green light filled the forge like a liquid, Nezha lifted the
sword in his left hand and pulled it from the scabbard with his
right. The blade was the darkened steel color unique to the Anneal
Blade. But to my eye, its shine was just a bit duller than usual.
The sword Nezha was holding right now was not my +6 sword,
but the spent +0 blade he had bought from Rufiol three days
before. It was only a guess, but I was sure of it.
The blacksmith laid the weapon in the portable forge, suffusing
the blade in its green glow. He moved it to the anvil and started
striking it with his smith’s hammer. Clang, clang, the same crisp
sound I heard when he upgraded Asuna’s fleuret.
When the fleuret broke and Nezha offered to return the cost of his
labor, I’d said, “It’s all right, you did your best. There are some
crafters who say it doesn’t matter how you do it as long as you hit
the weapon enough times, so they just whack away”
303
However, the reason these strikes sounded so heartfelt was not

because he was praying for the operation to be a success through
them. Nezha was mourning the loss of the weapon he was about to
break for the sake of his deception.
Once a piece of gear was spent–no more upgrade attempts left–it
would break without fail when the process was initiated again.
Argo had confirmed that for us two nights ago. That phenomenon
was about to happen right before my eyes.
...Eight, nine, ten.
The last hammer strike rang loud and high.
304
305
The sword burst into shards atop the anvil. Nezha’s back shivered
and shrank. His right hand with the hammer slumped downward,
and the sword-bound sheath in his left hand disappeared.
Hunched over, Nezha took a deep breath, screwed up his face, and
was about to shriek an apology–until I cut him off.
“No need to apologize.”
“...Huh...?”
He froze. I went up my equipment mannequin from the bottom,
switching out armor. Giant ski-boot greaves, plate leggings,
gauntlets, plate armor, heater shield...The items that made up my
disguise vanished one by one.
When the great helm came off, my bangs flopped down over
forehead I pushed them back and heaved a deep breath.
Finally, I equipped the Coat of Midnight, its black hem swaying.
Nezha’s narrow eyes went wide.
“...Y...you’re...the guy...from...”
“Sorry for dressing in disguise. But I figured you would refuse my
request if you recognized me.”
I meant to say this in my most friendly, understanding tone of
voice, but the moment he heard it, Nezha’s shock morphed into
fear. In that moment, he knew that I’d discovered the existence of
his scam and even how it worked.
Without taking my eyes off the frozen blacksmith, I pushed an icon
on my main menu–the weapon skill mod activation button. With a
quiet swish, another sword appeared in my right hand, heavy and
wrapped in a black leather sheath. It was my partner in battle
since just after this game of death began; my Anneal Blade +6.
306
Nezha grimaced. It almost pained me to see that expression.

“No one would suspect another player of having the Quick Change
mod so early, especially not a blacksmith...And hiding the menu to
use it between the wares lined up on your carpet? Brilliant.
Whoever thought that up is a genius.”
Nezha’s shoulders slowly sank, until he finally slumped over and
hung his head.
A skill mod–short for modification–was a skill power-up available
to the player at certain intervals of proficiency in a particular skill.
For example, when the Search skill reached a level of fifty, the first
mod became available to the player. You could then choose from a
number of options, such as a bonus to search for multiple targets,
a bonus to increase search range, or the optional augmentation
ability of Pursuit. There were tons of useful mods, and choosing
between them was as hard as it was enjoyable.
Mods could also be applied to the numerous weapon skills in the
game. Quick Change fell into that category. It was a common mod
available at the very first choice for most one-handed weapons,
but very few players ever picked it first. There was no need for
anyone to make use of it until at least the fifth floor of Aincrad.
Following that theory, when my One-Handed Sword skill reached
fifty halfway through the first floor, I chose the “shorten sword
skill cooldown” mod. When I reached one hundred, I would
choose “increase critical hit chance,” and only at one fifty would I
go for Quick Change.
Quick Change was an active mod, not a passive one. By pressing a
shortcut icon on the front page of the menu, my equipped weapon
would switch out instantly.
307
The regular method of changing weapons was a five-step process:

(1) opening the window, (2) tapping the right-(or left-)hand cell in
the equipment mannequin, (3) selecting “change weapon” from
the list of options, (4) selecting the desired weapon from the
available items in storage, and (5) hitting the OK button. When
faced with a monster that had the Snatch ability, it was a long
enough process that anyone would take at least one defenseless
hit while trying to equip a backup weapon.
But with Quick Change, several steps were removed: (1) opening
the window, and (2) hitting the shortcut icon. With enough
practice, it could be done in half a second. The instant after you
lost your weapon, you could have another one in hand and ready
for battle.
On top of that, Quick Change had a great variety of options to
specify exactly which hand received exactly which weapon when
the icon was hit. You could set it to pull up a specific weapon, tell it
to make you empty-handed–even allow you to automatically pull
the same type of weapon as the one you were equipping, if you had a
spare.
That last part was the secret at the heart of Nezha’s weapon-
switching trick.
He held the customer’s weapon in his left hand temporarily
creating the condition in which it was “equipped” there. The
ownership right was still with the client, but it was the same as
the hand-over feature that made it possible to toss weapons to
each other in the middle of battle. He could still use that weapon
to activate sword skills...even Quick Change.
Next, Nezha extended the pointer finger of the hand holding the
weapon to touch the shortcut icon on his window, which was
cleverly hidden beneath his tightly packed wares.
308
At that instant, the client’s sword in his hand went into his
storage, and a sword of the same type was automatically pulled
out. Except this weapon was spent, guaranteed to break into
pieces as soon as he attempted to upgrade it.
The only outward signs of this elaborate trick were a momentary
blink of the weapon and a faint swishing sound. Given that it
happened at the exact same time that he tossed the upgrading
materials into the forge with a bright flash and bang, you’d have to
be watching for that precise action to even notice he was doing it.
And if the customer realized he was switching weapons and tried
to confront him about it, Nezha could simply employ the same
trick just as quickly and get the client’s original weapon back. Plus,
once he shattered the spent weapon on his anvil, there was no
proof of anything.
In other words, to prove Nezha’s upgrade fraud was happening, I
either had to utilize the MATERIALIZE ALL ITEMS command to
spill all of my belongings onto the ground here, or use Quick
Change myself, thus pulling the sword directly out of Nezha’s
storage whether he liked it or not.
It was following the latter choice that had taken me two days from
the time I noticed the trick to actually attempting it myself. I had
spent all of the previous day and today in the second-floor
labyrinth fighting endless hordes of half-naked bull-men tauruses
to get my One-Handed Sword skill to one hundred so that I could
take the Quick Change mod earlier than planned.
As a side benefit of this activity, I got some rare loot and mapped
much farther into the twenty-level labyrinth. As usual, I offered
the map data to Argo at no cost, and this generosity was
apparently rankling both the Lind and Kibaou squads.
309
They were upset because someone else was always one or two
levels ahead of them in the tower, but they hadn’t realized yet that
it was Kirito the evil beater. It was only a matter of time before
they knew the truth. If there was one reassurance, it was that our
relationship couldn’t possibly get any worse.
At any rate, the two days of trouble were worth it, as I had finally
uncovered and proven Nezha’s upgrade fraud trick. I looked down
at the curled-up blacksmith and sighed in satisfaction.
My goal was complete. It was not a quest, so there was no reward
or bonus experience. On the contrary, it had cost me the 2,700 cor
for labor and ingredients, but all I really cared about was making
sure that Nezha didn’t attempt this dangerous scheme anymore.
The trick itself was brilliant, but if he kept filching valuable
weapons from other players, someone was going to notice.
Depending on who that person was, Nezha might find himself on
the wrong end of an ugly lynch mob.
The worst possible outcome was if all the players decided he
ought to be executed and it became a precedent for how to deal
with such crimes.
I wasn’t of the mind that Nezha should be forgiven for his part in
this. Rufiol and Shivata had lost their beloved swords...and even
though it was returned in the end, Asuna cried at the loss of her
Wind Fleuret. They deserved to see some kind of justice.
But that punishment must not be the murder of another player. If
that was allowed once, it would lead to pure anarchy–squabbles
over hunting grounds and loot would be solved with violence
rather than words. I’d taken on the scarlet letter of the beater to
prevent the retail players from purging the former beta testers.
That sacrifice couldn’t go to waste.
310
My solution to this was to demand that Nezha either function as a

proper, honest blacksmith from now on, or to give up his smithing
hammer and become a warrior. Asuna and I had talked it over and
decided on this choice. Once the source of their ill-gotten wealth
dried up, the Legend Braves would sink back to a level
appropriate to their skill.
I stood there, lost in thought, sword dangling from my right hand,
when the blacksmith spoke in a tiny voice.
“...I suppose this isn’t something that a simple apology will atone
for.”
Nezha’s body and voice were scrunched up in such a compact
form that it seemed as though he were trying to disappear
entirely.
“...It would be nice if I could return the swords I stole from all
those people...but I can’t. Nearly all of them were turned into
money. The only thing I can do now is...is this!”
His voice reached a shriek by the end. He unsteadily got to his feet.
The smithing hammer fell from his hand, and he took off running
without a backward glance.
But he didn’t get farther than a few feet. A new player descended
upon his exit path, long hair gleaming in the streetlamps beneath a
wool hood: Asuna the fencer.
She’d jumped out the second-story window of an empty house and
blocked his path, lecturing sternly. “You won’t solve anything by
dying.”
This time, Nezha recognized the face within the hood immediately.
She was the female fencer whose Wind Fleuret he’d (temporarily)
stolen three days earlier.
311
His already-timid face crumpled even further. I was the very

model of an imperceptive dunce, and even I feel the powerful
guilt, despair, and abandon raging within him.
Nezha turned his face down and away from Asuna, as though
trying to escape her gaze. His voice was strained.
“...I decided right from the start...that if someone discovered my
fraud, I’d die in atonement.”
“Suicide is a heavier crime than fraud in Aincrad. Stealing
weapons might be a betrayal of your customer, but suicide is a
betrayal of every player working to defeat this game.”
Her eloquence was every bit as sharp and piercing as her Linear.
Nezha trembled and tensed–and his face shot upward as though
on a spring.
“It’ll happen anyway! I’m such a slow, clumsy oaf, I’ll die
eventually! Whether I get killed by monsters or kill myself, the
only difference is whether it happens sooner or later!”
I couldn’t stifle a small chuckle at those last words.
Asuna glared daggers at me, Nezha’s teary face looked hurt among
the desperation, so I put up both hands and tried to apologize.
“Sorry, I wasn’t laughing at you. It’s just that it was the exact same
thing this lady here said just a week ago...”
“Huh...?”
Nezha, wide-eyed and bewildered, looked at Asuna again. He took
several breaths, then finally worked up the will to ask, “Um...are
you...Asuna, from the front-line fights?”
“Huh...?” Now it was Asuna’s turn to blink in surprise. “How did
you know?”
312
“Well, the fencer in the hooded cape is pretty well-known around

here. You’re the only female player on the frontier...”
“...Oh...I see...”
She sounded very conflicted and shrank back beneath her hood. I
took a few steps closer and offered some advice.
“Sounds like your disguise is actually starting to identify you.
Maybe you should try something else, before you get stuck with a
nickname like Little Gray Riding Hood.”
“Mind your own beeswax! I happen to like this hood! Besides, it’s
nice and warm!”
“Oh...I see.”
I wisely chose not to ask her what would happen when the
weather got warm again. Instead, I glanced at the stunned Nezha. I
couldn’t overcome the urge to ask him a follow-up question.
“So, erm...Do you know who I am...?”
It wasn’t because I was interested in finding out how famous I was
around the game. This was purely research to see how far the
stories about “the first beater” had spread from that initial front-
line squad.
“Um, well...I-I’m afraid I don’t...”
My reaction was equal parts relief and shock. That conflict must
have showed on my face, for Asuna patted me on the shoulder.
“There, what have I always told you? Stop worrying about it so
much.”
“But...I really like that bandanna.”
“Tell you what–I’ll give you your own nickname, How about the
Ukrainian Samurai?”
313
“Wh...why Ukrainian?”
“That bandanna’s got blue and yellow stripes, just like the
Ukrainian flag. I guess you could also be the Swedish Samurai, if
you prefer.”
“Sorry, can I choose neither?”
Nezha listened to our back-and-forth in timid silence, then worked
up the nerve to interject.
“Um, pardon me...Is what you said true? Did Asuna really say she
would die eventually...?”
It was obviously a difficult thing for her to answer. I tried to
smooth things over by answering for her in as light and breezy a
tone as I could
“Oh, yeah, yeah. It was wild, she just passed out right in front of
me during a four-day camp-and-hunt expedition in the labyrinth. I
couldn’t just leave her there, and I didn’t have the strength level
yet to carry a player, so I had to take a sleeping bag and–”
Shunk.
Asuna slammed her heel down hard on my toes to shut me up. She
composed herself and said quietly, “To be honest that feeling
hasn’t disappeared. We’re only on the second floor, and there are
a hundred. There’s a constant conflict inside me between my
desire to get that far, and resignation that I’ll probably fall along
the way. But...”
Her hazel eyes shone bright from the shade of her hood. While the
brightness of that shine was no different from what I saw that first
day in the labyrinth, it seemed to me that the nature of it had
changed.
314
“...But I’ve decided that I’m not fighting in order to die. Maybe I’m
not quite optimistic enough to say that I’m doing it to live, to beat
the game...but I’ve found one simple goal to strive toward. That’s
what I’m fighting for.”
“Oh...really? What’s your goal, to eat an entire cake of that Tremble
Shortcake?” I asked earnestly.
Asuna sighed for some reason and said, “Of course not.” She
turned to Nezha again.
“I’m sure you can find your own reason. It’s already inside of you.
Something you ought to fight for. I mean, you left the Town of
Beginnings on your own two feet, didn’t you?”
Nezha looked down, but his eyes were not closed. He was staring
at the leather boots on his feet. I realized that they were not non-
functional shoes for wearing in town, but actual leather armor.
“...It’s true. There was something,” he mumbled. Amid the
resignation, it sounded like a tiny kernel of some kind, a burning
ambition. But he shook his head several times, as if trying to
extinguish the flame. “But it’s gone now. It was gone before I even
got here. That happened the day I bought this NerveGear. When
I...when I tried the first connection test, I got an FNC...”
FNC. Full-Dive Nonconformity. The full-dive machine was an
extremely delicate apparatus that sent signals back and forth to
the brain with ultra-weak microwaves. It had to be finely tuned to
work with each individual user.
But of course, they were producing thousands and thousands of
units for mass-market use, and they couldn’t spend ages of time
on fine maintenance.
315
The machine had an automatic calibration system that went

through a long and tedious connection test on first use. Once that
was done and it knew the player’s settings, you could dive in just
by turning on the unit.
But on very rare occasions, a person received a “nonconforming”
response during that initial test. Perhaps one of the five senses
wasn’t functioning properly, or there was a slight lag in the
communication with the brain. In most cases it was merely a slight
obstacle, but there were a few people who simply could not dive
at all.
If he was here in Aincrad, Nezha’s FNC couldn’t have been that
serious–but he would have been luckier if it had prevented him
from playing. He wouldn’t be trapped in this game of death.
We packed up all the tools and items into the carpet and moved to
an empty house near the plaza to continue hearing out Nezha’s
story.
“In my case, I have hearing, touch, taste, and smell, but there’s an
issue with my sight...”
As he spoke, Nezha reached out to the cup of tea Asuna left for him
on the round table. But he did not immediately grab it 一 he
reached his fingers closer, and only when his fingertip brushed the
handle did he carefully lift it up. “It’s not that I’m entirely blind,
but I have a binocular dysfunction. It’s hard for me to grasp
distance. I can’t really tell how far my avatar’s hand is from the
object.”
For an instant, I thought this didn’t seem so bad...but I soon
reconsidered.
316
If SAO was an orthodox fantasy MMORPG, Nezha’s disability

wouldn’t be such a big deal. There were classes that had
autohitting long-range attacks–a mage, for example.
But SAO didn’t even have archers, much less mages. Every player
who fought in the game did so with a weapon in his hand. And
whether sword, axe, or spear, the ability to judge distance, to tell
exactly how far away the monster was, made all the difference in
the world. The very cornerstone of combat here was
understanding, on a physical level, how far your weapon could
reach.
Nezha took a sip of tea and carefully returned the cup to the
saucer. He smiled hollowly.
“Even hitting a stationary weapon on top of an anvil with my

short little hammer is extremely difficult...”
“So that was why you carried out the steps of the process so
painstakingly.”
“Yes, that’s why. Of course, I did also feel apologetic toward the
swords I was breaking...but...” He looked back and forth at me and
Asuna, smiling weakly. “It might not be right for me to say this,
but...I’m impressed that you saw through my switching trick. But it
wasn’t just today...you remotely retrieved Asuna’s Wind Fleuret
plus four three days ago. So you must have known then...”
“Oh, at that point it was just a suspicion. At the time I noticed, the
hour limit to maintain ownership was nearly up, so I had to burst
into Asuna’s bedroom and force her to use the MATERIALIZE ALL
ITEMS command, then–”
I felt a piercing stare from the right and narrowly avoided spilling
the beans on what her inventory contained.
317
“–the Fleuret came back. That was when I knew you’d committed
fraud...but it was two days ago that I figured out you were using
Quick Change to pull it off. The key was in your name, Nezha...or
should I say, Nataku.”
Nezha (or Nataku) sucked in a sharp breath. His fists clenched and
he even lifted up out of his seat for a moment. When he sat again,
he looked straight down in shame.
“...I had no idea you’d figured that out, too...”
“Well, that required an information dealer to discover. I mean,

even your friends in the Legend Braves were calling you Nezuo. It
means they didn’t know either, did they? Why you’re named after
Nataku.”
“Just call me Nezha. I picked that spelling because I wanted

people to call me that,” the blacksmith said. He nodded and began
to explain. “Yes, you’re correct...”
Nataku. Also known as Na-zha, or Prince Nata.
He was a boy god in the Ming period fantasy novel, Fengshen
Yanyu. He used a variety of magical weapons called paopei and
flew through the sky on two wheels. He was every bit the
legendary hero as Orlando or Beowulf.
In the Western alphabet, the Chinese name was transliterated to
“Nezha,” but only a true fanatic of Eastern mythology would
recognize that as a reference to Nataku. It would be especially
difficult here in Aincrad, without any Internet search engines.
I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of brain trust Argo had in
her network of contacts. At any rate, when I saw the blacksmith’s
true name at the end of her write-up on the Legend Braves, I
finally had an epiphany.
318
He did not join this game intending to be a crafter. He tried to be a

fighter, but due to his circumstances, he was eventually forced to
become a blacksmith.
However, that meant that despite playing as a smith now, his
weapon skills might already be above a certain level. Following
that line of logic, I eventually hit upon the possibility that he was
using the battle skill mod Quick Change to switch out weapons,
and the rest was history.
“The Legend Braves are a team we formed for a different Nerve-

Gear action game, three months before SAO came out,” Nezha
explained after another sip of tea. “It was a very simple game,
where you used swords and axes to fight off monsters in a
straight-line map, and tried to get the high score...but even that
was difficult for me. Because I had no perspective, I’d swing when
the monsters were too far away, and then they’d come in close
and hit me. The team could never get into the top ranks because of
me. It wasn’t like I knew Orlando and the others in real life, so I
probably should have left the team or quit playing the
game...but...”
He clenched his fists again, his voice trembling. “...No one told me
to leave the team, so I used that as an excuse to stick around. It
wasn’t because I liked that game. It was because we decided that
we’d all switch over to the very first VRMMO, Sword Art Online,
when it came out in three months. I really, really wanted to try out
SAO. But because of the FNC, I didn’t have the guts to start it up on
my own. I was...weak. I figured, if I got to be in Orlando’s party in
SAO, I might be able to grow stronger...even if I still couldn’t fight
that well...”
We could only sit in silence as we listened to his painful
confession. It would be easy to say that I understood how he felt.
319
The moment I saw the very first trailer for SAO, I swore to myself
that I would play this game. Even if I’d had a worse FNC than
Nezha, I’d have gone in headfirst, as long as I was able to dive.
But I couldn’t say that aloud. I abandoned my very first friend
back in the Town of Beginnings–someone seeking help, just like
Nezha.
However he interpreted my silence, the blacksmith smirked in
self-deprecation and continued his tale.
“I went by a different name in the previous game...I used a name

that anyone would recognize as a hero, like Orlando or
Cuchulainn. The reason I changed it to Nezha was a sign of
humility, or flattery. I was trying to say, ‘I won’t call myself a great
hero like you guys, so can I still stick around?’ When they asked
what it meant, I said it was based on my real name–that was a lie,
of course. Every time they call me Nezuo, I want to say that it’s still
a hero’s name. I don’t know...It’s silly...”
Neither I nor Asuna denied or agreed with Nezha’s self-
flagellation. Instead, a quiet question emerged from her hood,
which was still up, even indoors.
“But then things changed when we got trapped in here, didn’t

they? You stopped venturing into the fields and switched to
crafting. As a blacksmith, you can still support your friends
without fighting. But...why would you make the jump to swindling
people? Whose idea was it in the first place? Yours? Orlando’s?”
She leapt to the point as quickly and accurately as if she were in
battle. Nezha had no response. When he did answer, it was a
surprise.
“It wasn’t me, or Orlando...or any of us.”
320
“Huh...? Then, who?”
“For the first two weeks, I tried to cut it as a fighter. There’s one
skill, just one, that allows you to fight remotely...I thought I might
be able to hack it that way, even without being able to judge
distance...”
That didn’t seem like it would work to me, but I explained for
Asuna s sake. “Ahh, the Throwing Knives skill. But that’s kind of...”
“Yes. I bought as many of the cheapest throwing knives as I could

in the Town of Beginnings, hoping to train up my skill, but once I
used up my stock, there was nothing I could do. Plus, the stones
out in the field you can throw hardly do any damage. So it wasn’t
really much use as a main weapon skill...I gave up once my
proficiency reached fifty or so. And because the other Braves stuck
around to help me with that, we ended up getting off to a slow
start...”
The Legend Braves’ slow start was probably not due to them
helping Nezha train with throwing knives, but because the other
beta testers and I rushed off at top speed on the very first day and
left everyone in the dust. I had a feeling Asuna would throw me
some very dirty looks if I mentioned that, however, so I kept it to
myself.
“Things got very...tense when I said that I’d give up on learning

how to use throwing knives. No one said it out loud, but I’m sure
they were all thinking that the guild got off to a slow start because
of me. Even after becoming a blacksmith, training a crafting skill
takes a lot of money...It seemed like the other guys were just
waiting for someone to suggest that they cut me loose and leave
me back in the Town of Beginnings.”
321
He bit his lip before continuing, “Really, I should have offered on

my own...but I just couldn’t say it. I was afraid of being
alone...Anyway, in the corner of the bar where we were talking,
someone I thought was just an NPC came up and said, ‘If you’re
going to be a blacksmith with some weapon experience, there’s a
really cool way to make more money.’”
Asuna and I shared a look. It hadn’t occurred to us that the idea for
the Quick Change weapon trick came from someone outside of the
Legend Braves altogether.
“Wh-who was it ...?”
“I don’t know the name. They only told me how to switch the
weapons, and left immediately after that. Haven’t seem ‘em since.
It was a very...strange person, too. Funny way of talking...funny
outfit. Wore a hooded cape like a rain poncho-glossy and black...”
“Poncho...?” Asuna and I repeated together.
Hooded capes were a fairly common item in fantasy-styled RPGs

like SAO–practically a staple of the genre. Asuna herself was
wearing one of her own at this very moment, though it was on the
shorter side.
Just minutes earlier, she had claimed she wore it for its warmth,
but the real reason for those hoods was not the ability to keep out
the cold and rain but to hide her face. And whoever this man in the
black poncho was, he likely wore it for the same reason...
Asuna seemed to read my mind, and she pulled back her gray
hood with a snort. Even in the empty room, lit only by a single
lamp, her gleaming chestnut-brown hair and pale skin seemed to
give off a light of their own.
322
Upon seeing her face clearly, Nezha’s wide eyes squinted, as

though staring into the sun. Given that player names were not
displayed by default in SAO, the main means of recognizing a
person was the face, followed by the body. Eventually, the
equipment and fighting style of a player might become part of
their persona, but at this point in the game, everyone was rapidly
switching to newer gear and even changing their main weapon
skill. Someone playing a knife-wielding thief in leather armor one
day might be a heavy warrior decked out in full plate armor the
next.
Essentially, with an average build and a concealed face, pretty
much anyone could pass anonymously. Even voices could be
altered using a few special means, such as the great helm I was
wearing when I approached Nezha.
But there might be a way to learn more identifying features of this
man that taught Nezha how to swindle others. He was still staring
at Asuna, so I brought him back to the topic at hand. “About the
guy in the black poncho...”
“Ah...y-yes?”
“How did he demand the margin be paid? I mean, how did he

want you to hand over his share of the money you made?” I asked.
Asuna nodded in understanding. If they were making cash
handoffs, we could stake out the place and catch a glimpse of the
man.
But Nezha’s answer blew that possibility to smithereens. “Um,
actually, he didn’t really say anything...”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
323
“Well...like I said, he taught me how to use Quick Change and the

Vendor’s Carpet to pull off the weapon-switching trick, but he
didn’t say a word about a share, or the payment for his idea, or
anything.”
Asuna and I stared at each other again, dumbfounded.
The trick was brilliant and nearly flawless. I made sure Nezha
knew my opinion of it. The trick was certainly possible back in the
beta test, but not one of the thousand testers had come up with
the idea. Whoever devised it was a creative genius. If Nezha had
chosen a player handle based on his own given name, or Asuna
hadn’t asked Argo for info on “Nataku,” I would never have figured
the trick out.
But because of that, it was very jarring to hear that the poncho
man who devised this brilliant idea would hand it over without
asking for anything in return. If he hadn’t asked for cor...what did
he stand to gain from giving his idea to the Legend Braves?
Clearly it wasn’t out of sheer altruism. It was fraud, a means of
ripping off other players.
“So you’re saying...he just butted into your conversation,

explained how to switch weapons like that, and then
disappeared?” Asuna asked. Nezha was about to agree, but he
stopped before committing.
“Well...Technically, he did say a bit more. A scam is a scam, so

Orlando and the others weren’t into the idea at first. They knew it
was a crime. But then he just laughed. It wasn’t put on or
menacing. It was just a really pleasant laugh, like out of a movie.”
“Pleasant...laugh?”
324
“Yes. It was like–like just hearing it made everything seem so

unimportant anymore. The next thing I knew, Orlando, Beowulf,
all of us were laughing with him. Then he said, ‘We’re in a game,
don’t you know? If we weren’t supposed to do something, they’d
outlaw it in the programming, right? So anything you can
do...you’re allowed to do. Don’t you think?’”
“Th-that’s total nonsense!” Asuna exploded before Nezha had

barely finished. “That would mean you could butt in and attack
someone else’s monster, or create a train that attacks someone
else, or any other thing that’s completely against proper manners!
In fact, since the anti-crime code is turned off outside of towns,
that would mean it’s totally okay to –”
She stopped mid-sentence as if afraid that saying it out loud might
cause it come true.
Without thinking, I reached out and brushed Asuna’s arm, the
white skin even paler than usual. In most cases, she would pull
several feet away in disgust, but now, that contact grounded her
emotions and the tension drained out of her.
I pulled my hand away and asked Nezha, “Was that all the poncho
man said?”
“Er...yes. We nodded to him, he stood up, said ‘good luck’ and left
the bar. I haven’t seen him since,” he said, his eyes wandering as
though searching his memory banks. “Now it all seems very
mysterious...After he left, the guild most certainly changed.
Everyone seemed very gung ho on the idea. I’m ashamed to admit
that I decided I would rather be the centerpiece of the money-
making scheme than be relegated to useless baggage, dragging
everyone down. But...”
325
Expression flooded back into Nezha’s face. He squeezed his eyes

shut and grimaced.
“But...the first time I tried the trick...when I broke that substitute

weapon and saw the look on the customer’s face, I knew. Just
because it was possible within the game didn’t make it right. I
should have given the real sword back and explained
everything...but I didn’t have the guts. When I went back to the
hangout bar, I was going to say we should call it quits but...but
when they saw the sword I stole...they were so, so happy, and they
said how great I was, and...and...and I just couldn’t–!”
Wham! He suddenly slammed his forehead down straight onto the
table. Purple light flashed off the walls of the room. He did the
same thing again, then again, but his HP were protected by the
game code in town.
He didn’t know what to do. We’d prevented him from attempting
suicide, he had no means of replacing the victims’ belongings, and
he couldn’t even return to his friends.
If there was one way to atone for his sins, it would be to publicly
admit his actions and apologize to the player base. But I couldn’t
demand that he do it. I couldn’t guarantee that all of the honest,
upfront players fighting to free us all from Aincrad, some of whom
were his victims, would forgive Nezha for his actions. And I
couldn’t imagine the punishments they might devise for him if
they didn’t.
The only realistic solution I could come up with was to have him
go through the teleporter back to the Town of Beginnings and hide
himself in that vast city. Or perhaps he could reverse course, going
back to fighting, and find some way to contribute through battle.
The problem with that was that throwing knives were a total sub-
skill, better for nothing more than distracting enemies...
326
But then I remembered a rare piece of loot I had gotten from a

difficult Taurus Ringhurler in the labyrinth just earlier that day.
It was rare but not particularly valuable, and of no use to me–
something very eccentric and long-ranged.
“...Nezha.”
He raised his forehead off the table an inch. I saw cheeks wet with
tears.
“What’s your level?”
“...I’m level 10.”
“Then you’ve still only got three skill slots. What are you using?”
“One-Handed Weapon Crafting, Inventory Expansion...and

Throwing Knives...”
“I see. If I told you that I had a weapon you could use...would you
be prepared to give up on crafting? On your Blacksmith skill?”
327
Wednesday, December 14, 2022.

11
The tenth day since we had beaten the boss of the first floor, and
the thirty-eighth day since we’d first been trapped inside this
game of death.
The collective “front-line players” including me and Asuna, had
finished progressing through the massive labyrinth tower
brimming with muscled bull-men, and finally reached the
chamber of the second-floor boss.
Our raid, made up of eight different parties, was at a total of forty-
seven, just under the limit allowed by the game. Despite the loss of
Diavel the knight and those too shocked by his death to take part,
the group had grown, thanks to the addition of the five warriors
from the Legend Braves.
Lind the scimitar user, formerly Diavel’s right-hand man, led his
blue group with three parties totaling eighteen members. Once
we’d cleared the second floor and they initiated the guild quest on
the next floor up, they were planning to establish the Dragon
Knights guild. The knights part was clearly an homage to the spirit
of their fallen leader, but I didn’t know where the “dragon” came
from.
With another eighteen was the green group, gathered around
their opposition to beta testers. Led by Kibaou, who swung a one-
handed sword just like me, they’d already decided on their own
guild name: the Aincrad Liberation Squad.
That accounted for six parties and thirty-six members. Next was
Agil, the massive axe-wielder and his three friends (all muscled
like he was, for some reason), Asuna the fencer, the only female in
the group, and then Kirito the evil beater. That made forty-two.
With the five added members of the Legend Braves, that made a
total of forty-seven, just one under the limit.
328
I sat in the corner of the large safe zone just outside the boss
chamber, watching the separate groups check their equipment
and distribute potions. I leaned over to Asuna, who was once
again wearing her trademark hood, and whispered, “Just one more
and we’d have a full raid.”
“True...I guess he didn’t make it in time.”
“We got to the boss chamber a lot faster than I expected...It’s a
tough quest to beat in just three days,” I bemoaned. Asuna shot me
a dirty glare.
“Well, from what I hear, it even took a certain someone three days
and two nights to finish it.”
Three days earlier, in the village of Taran near the labyrinth, I had
given Nezha a special kind of ranged weapon and a map.
The map pointed out the location of an NPC hidden in the rocky
mountains along the outer perimeter of the second floor, and the
secret passageway to reach him. This NPC was none other than
the bearded Martial Arts skill master who had drawn the whiskers
on my cheeks that turned me into Kiriemon.
I asked Nezha if he was prepared to give up on the weapon-
crafting skill he’d spent so much time on, and take up Martial Arts
instead. The weapon I’d picked up in the second-floor labyrinth
required both the Throwing Knives and Martial Arts skills to use.
Abandoning a skill was not an easy decision to make, even when it
was only a day or two of experience being lost in the case of a
blacksmith, working the skill upward was both a matter of time
and considerable money. In other MMOs, it was as easy as rolling
an alternate character, but now that SAO was a “one character per
account” system by virtue of our predicament, that wasn’t an
option. The most rational choice was to wait until he reached the
level that would open up another skill slot. Another choice might
be to remove the Inventory Expansion skill that gave him extra
room for items.
329
But instead, in exchange for the weapon and map, I demanded

that Nezha remove his blacksmithing skill.
In SAO’s current state, attempting to balance crafting and combat
was too dangerous. A player venturing into the field needed to
focus everything under his control on maximizing the chances of
survival, from his skill choices, to his equipment, to his inventory.
Plenty of even the most well-prepared players had lost their lives
because they were missing that last bit of attack strength, or
armor value, or one more potion. Nezha took just one deep breath
before accepting my harsh demands.
“As long as I can be a swordsman here, I don’t need anything else,”
he said, then smiled and added, “but I suppose using this thing
won’t make me a swordsman.”
Surprisingly, it was Asuna who answered, “Everyone fighting to
help beat this game is a swordsman. Even a pure crafter.”
We had guided Nezha past the battles to the entrance of the secret
passage and left him there. His level was high enough, and I
considered inviting him to join the boss battle if his Martial Arts
training finished in time, but it seemed three days wasn’t enough
for him to break that rock. There was no need to rush.
Nezha wouldn’t be risking danger by attempting weapon fraud
again.
“He’ll be a big help in beating the third floor, I’m sure. It’s a pretty
good weapon if you can master it, and he’ll be able to find a spot in
some guild or other. One aside from the Braves, I’m guessing...”
“Yes...I hope so,” Asuna agreed. We looked across the safe zone at
a group of five. Orlando was wearing his usual pointed bascinet
helm and Anneal Blade. Beowulf was the short man with the
double-handed sword next to him, and the skinny spearman was
Cuchulainn. There were also two others that weren’t present
during the battle against the Bullbous Bow: Gilgamesh, who
fought with a hammer and shield, and Enkidu, who was outfitted
with leather armor and daggers.
330
At this morning’s meeting, I detected a mixture of unease and

discontent among the Legend Braves. I had to assume it was the
disappearance of Nezha, their sixth member. If they had been an
established guild, they could use location trackers to find him, but
here on the second floor, guilds were nothing but names.
I could understand their concern, but I was under no obligation to
explain the situation to them. After all, they’d forced Nezha to
undertake a weeklong string of dangerous scams that easily could
have led to his execution if anything was exposed to the public.
“That’s all nice and good, Kirito, but we shouldn’t be spending our
time worrying about the state of other parties.”
“Oh? Why?” I blinked. She sighed in exasperation.
“Lind said we’d put the raid group together just before the boss
fight, but think about it. There are three parties for the blue team,
three parties for the green team, one for the Braves, and probably
one last one for Agil’s group. That makes eight.”
“Oh...g-good point.”
I hadn’t given it any thought since she mentioned it, but eight
parties was the maximum for a raid. In the first boss fight, we’d
had a lower number, and Asuna and I got to be in our own leftover
party, but that wouldn’t be an option this time.
Without any magic, SAO didn’t have the usual full-raid heals and
buffs, so it was quite possible for extra people to take part in the
battle outside of the raid. The problem was that being outside the
group meant you couldn’t see the HP of the other members, and
they couldn’t see yours. It made gauging the proper timing of
potion rotation very tricky.
I had to make sure that Asuna at least made her way into Agil’s
party. I looked around for the axe-warrior’s distinct shape.
“Hey, you two. Good to see you again,” came a baritone voice from
behind me. I turned around to see the very man I was looking for.
331
His craggy face split into a grin, the light shining off his bald head.
“I hear you two have paired up. I guess I should congratulate you.”
“Um...we’re...”
Not a pair, I tried to say, but Asuna set the record straight. “We’re
not a pair. It’s just a temporary partnership. Nice to see you, Agil.”
Agil smiled again and looked at me, raising an eyebrow. It was a
cool gesture, but it felt as though he meant it in a consoling way. I
hastily cleared my throat.
“Y-yes, well, um...that’s right. So I’m guessing we’re about to
finalize the raid structure, since we’re almost at the absolute limit
for eight parties...”
I was planning to ask them if they would take Asuna in their party,
but again, I didn’t get the chance to finish. “Yeah, that’s what I
came to ask you about, There are four of us, so why don’t you two
join our group?”
It was such a breezy, careless invitation that I couldn’t help but
hesitate.
“Um...well, that’s really generous of you, but are you sure? I mean,
given my standing...”
Asuna sighed and Agil shrugged his shoulders and threw his
hands. That gesture, combined with his appearance, was clearly
not Japanese, but his command of the language was perfect, so
there was a strange mixture of exoticism and familiarity about the
man that made him both fascinating and charismatic.
“What do they call you, a beater? It’s only a tiny percent of people
who actually call you that.”
Even the word beater sounded fresh and new coming from his
lips. Most people, including me, pronounced it with a flat
intonation, like cheater, but he stressed the bee and softened the
ter, which made it almost sound like a cool title to have.
“We actually have our own nickname for you.”
332
“Really? What is it?” Asuna asked. Agil glanced at her and grinned.
“The Man in Black. Or Blackie.”
She snorted. I wasn’t exactly thrilled with that epithet–I hadn’t
chosen the color of the coat I looted from the kobold boss–but
even more startling to me was that she’d actually laughed. I
peered into her hood in curiosity.
Asuna quickly composed her expression and gave me a familiar
glare before continuing, “Thanks for the offer, Agil I suppose we’ll
take you up on it–me and Blackie-san.”
“Oh, come on, you’re not going to run with that, are you?” I
protested.
Asuna replied, “Blackie, as in, the prompters who wear all black
during a play, right? Sounds perfect for a guy who hates being in
the spotlight.”
“...Oh...I see. But that’s not exactly the same...”
“I mean, if you’d prefer that I just call you Kirito-kun all the time, I
can do that.”
“...Like I said, that’s not exactly the same...” Agil, who grinned as he
watched our bickering, burst out laughing at that point. “If you
two are that in tune, then I’m leaving the switch timing up to you.
The four of us will focus on tanking, so you guys do the damage.”
He held out both hands, and Asuna shook his right, while I took
the left. I bowed briefly to the other three behind him and
received waves and thumbs-up in return. I hadn’t talked with
them much at the first-floor boss battle, but they all seemed to be
as good-natured as Agil.
I accepted Agil’s party request and noted the six HP bars lined up
on the left side of my view, just as we hit fifteen minutes until the
battle would begin. The noise of conversation died down toward
the front, so I turned to see that two players were now standing
before the massive doors to the boss’s chamber.
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One of them was Lind, decked out in silver armor, blue cape, and
scimitar at his waist. The other was Kibaou, with his dark armor
and moss-green jacket. “Ugh, not another double-leader situation,”
I groaned. “Isn’t there only one leader by definition within the
system?” Asuna asked.
“That’s a good point...”
As if sensing our confusion, Lind raised a hand and spoke loudly to
the group. Unlike the area outside the first-floor boss chamber,
this was a safe zone, so there was no fear of tauruses coming to
investigate the noise.
“Well, it’s time. Let’s start forming the raid! First, an introduction:
I’m Lind, chosen to be your leader today. Greetings, everyone!”
Before I could even wonder how Kibaou would willingly give up
control, the cactus-headed man interjected, “Only chosen ‘cuz ya
won a coin flip.”
Half the gathering laughed at this, while the other half looked
upset. Lind shot Kibaou a dirty glare, but he did not respond to the
bait.
“...The fact that we’re already here, just ten days after opening this
floor, is a testament to your skill and dedication! If you lend me
your help, there’s no way we can fail to beat this boss! Let’s finish
the day on the third floor!”
He raised a fist, and all of those who didn’t laugh at Kibaou’s jibe
roared in approval.
With his rousing speech and long hair, formerly brown but now
dyed blue, Lind seemed to be fully accepting the role of Diavel’s
heir. I couldn’t help but feel that here and there, hints of self-
consciousness that his predecessor never displayed peeked
through the facade.
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“Now let’s form the raid! Of the eight parties, the Dragon Knights
will form teams A, B, and C. Kibaou’s Liberation Squad will make
up teams D, E, and F, and team G will be Orlando’s Braves. And
team H...”
He looked to us in the very back. For an instant, his breezy smile
seemed to vanish when his eyes met mine, but he looked past me
just as quickly.
“...will be the rest of you. Teams A through F will concentrate on
the boss, while G and H handle the mobs...”
This news did not come as a surprise to me. What was surprising,
however, was the voice that spoke up in response.
“Hang on just a moment.”
It wasn’t Agil and certainly wasn’t Asuna. It was the leader of the
group of five on the far wall: Orlando.
When he spoke, the eyes staring out from beneath his bascinet
visor were just as piercing as when they’d nearly seen through my
hiding ability outside the bar.
“We’re here to fight the boss. If you want us to rotate around, I
might understand, but we’re not going to just hang back and deal
with mobs.”
His brassy voice echoed off the walls and died out, the ensuing lull
filled by the fevered murmuring of the blue and green players. I
could make out mutters of “Who do they think they are?” and
“Bloody newcomers.”
Then it all clicked into place for me.
With the disappearance of Nezha, Orlando and his team had just
lost a huge source of income. This was their chance to leap out to
the head of the clearers. The money earned by the raid party was
equally shared between all members, but the experience points
and skill boosts were not.
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The enormous store of experience points the boss was worth

would be distributed by the amount of damage done (or blocked),
and the skill proficiency gained by attacking a powerful enemy
was far beyond that of a normal foe. None of that went to them if
they didn’t attack the boss directly.
The five Braves had upgraded their equipment to about the
maximum it could be at this point, but their player levels were
below the average of the raid. They probably saw this boss battle
as the best chance to close that gap.
And yet, disagreeing with the raid leader’s orders wasn’t going to
get them anywhere. The scene could have easily turned into an
ugly shouting match, but the blue and green players didn’t let it
get any worse than whispers.
I suspected that was due to the powerful aura the Legend Braves
were exuding. Level, stats, and skill proficiency were all hidden
variables not exposed to the public–but equipment power was
different. Weapons and armor augmented close to the limit began
to glow with a depth that reinforced their value.
At the present moment, the best any player–including me–could
do was upgrade their weapon, and perhaps their shield, to that
glowing state. But the Braves were a different story. With the
massive sum of cor they reaped in the past week, they’d been able
to buy full sets of excellent equipment and power it all up. All of
their gear was glowing as if under a powerful buff spell, and it
created the strong impression that these five men were not to be
trifled with.
Of course, equipment strength was not all there was in the game.
More important than anything in SAO was personal experience
and the ability to react and adjust. But in the battle ahead against
Baran the General Taurus, every value was important–especially
armor strength.
This was because General Baran used an elite version of the
taurus races special attack...
336
“All right. In that case, team G can join the fight against the boss,”
Lind said stiffly. I looked up and found myself staring right into
the blue-haired man’s eyes again.
While his hairstyle might have been the same as the one worn by
breezy affable Diavel, Lind seemed to have a significantly more
obstinate side to him. He held my gaze this time and said,
“According to our prior intelligence, the boss only has one
accompanying mob that does not re-pop. I trust team H will be
able to handle that alone?”
Asuna and I sucked in a sharp breath, our hackles raised, but team
leader Agil waved a hand to calm us. His voice and manner stayed
perfectly calm.
“It might be one monster, but the intel says that it’s not your
average mob, but more of a mid-level boss on its own. Plus, maybe
it’s only the one, but we don’t know that for sure. That’s a lot to
ask of a single party.”
The prior intelligence they were referring to was, of course, the
second-floor boss edition of Argo’s strategy guide, which appeared
just yesterday in Taran. It held the attack patterns and weak
points of the boss and its attendant mob, but as the disclaimer on
the cover said, all information was based on the beta test.
The first-floor boss used katana skills that hadn’t been there in the
beta, and it led to the death of Diavel the knight. We had to assume
that there were alterations since the beta here, as well. In a worst-
case scenario, there might be two or more of “Nato the Colonel
Taurus” accompanying Baran instead of just one.
But Lind actually agreed with Agil’s rebuttal.
“Of course, I have no intention of repeating the mistakes of the
first floor. If we spot any difference in the patterns listed in our
prior intelligence, we will immediately retreat and rethink our
plan. If the attendant mob is too much for one party to handle,
we’ll send another team to help. Will that do?”
337
It was about as much as we could hope for at this stage. Agil

murmured in the affirmative, and Asuna and I let out the breaths
we’d been holding in.
Next came a review of the boss’s attack patterns and a final check
of each team’s individual strategy, leaving just two minutes until
the scheduled fight time of two o’clock. That was only a general
guideline, so nothing was stopping us from beginning the fight
slightly before or after the hour.
Lind raised his hand and said, “All right, it’s a bit early, but...”
Suddenly, he was cut off by a familiar phrase from Kibaou, who
had, somewhat surprisingly, kept quiet this entire time.
“Now, hang on just a sec!”
“...What is it, Kibaou?”
“You been basin’ everything on this strategy guide so far, Lind.
Now, all this info is comin’ from the info dealer who ain’t even
been in the boss room, right? Is that really good enough for us?”
Lind’s mouth twisted in displeasure. “I won’t claim that it’s
perfect, but it’s better than nothing, isn’t it? What’s your
alternative? Are you going to walk in there to check out the boss
for yourself?”
Now it was the green-clad Liberation Squad that bristled in anger,
but Kibaou simply smiled confidently.
“What I’m sayin’ is, we know we got at least one person here
who’s seen this boss for himself. So why don’t we get his take on
it?”
What?
I took a step back and to the left, to hide behind Asuna. But Kibaou
lifted his right hand and pointed straight at me. Dozens of eyes
turned in my direction, and Asuna callously stepped aside to avoid
them.
338
“Whaddaya say, Black Beater? Why don’cha offer us some advice

on this boss battle?” he bellowed. I couldn’t read his expression to
see what he was really thinking.
“...What does he think he’s doing?” I muttered quietly, but Asuna
could only shrug.
I’d heard that Kibaou’s Aincrad Liberation Squad rallied around a
resistance to the former beta testers. As a means to compete with
the testers who rushed out to monopolize the game’s best
resources, they aggressively recruited new members from the
thousands left down in the Town of Beginnings, distributed
money and items fairly, planned to conquer the game through
sheer numbers. At least, according to Kibaou’s theory.
So what did he stand to gain by giving a known ex-tester a
platform? You’d think it was clearly some kind of trap...but there
was something in the cactus-haired swordsman’s eyes that could
be taken as honest fervor.
If that look’s an act, yer one helluva actor, I muttered to myself.
One, two, three steps forward, and I had a proper view of every
face in the raid.
“Let me just make this dear. I only know the boss from the beta
test as well. So it’s totally possible that something...or everything
about this boss has been changed.”
As I spoke, the muttering players eventually fell silent. Even Lind,
who I figured would interrupt, did not speak.
“But I can say that the regular tauruses in the labyrinth use the
exact same attacks that they did in the beta. So I think it’s a
certainty that the boss will use sword skills that are an extension
of that pattern. As you just discussed, you want to evade when he
goes into his motion, but what’s most important is how to react
when you take the first hit. Avoid getting hit with double debuffs
at all costs. In the beta, every player that got stunned and then
paralyzed...”
Pretty much died, I stopped myself from saying.
339
“At any rate, if you stay calm and watch his hammer, you can avoid
the second hit. As long as we all take that into account, this lineup
can beat the boss without any casualties.”
Nothing I said couldn’t be found in Argo’s guide, but virtually all
the players present nodded in understanding when I was done.
As usual, Kibaou’s expression was a cipher to me, but Lind had a
look of surprise. He clapped his hands briskly. “All right, everyone:
Avoid the second hit! Now let’s get started!”
He turned around and faced the giant set of doors and loudly drew
his scimitar, holding it aloft.
“We’re going to crush the second-floor boss!!”
The dim corridor shook with the roar of the gathering.
Blue hair waving, his left hand pushing the door open, Lind looked
very much like Diavel had in that same exact moment back on the
first floor.
340
12
Monster attacks against players fell under two general categories.

One was direct attacks that dealt HP damage.
The other was indirect attacks that did not cause direct damage
but occasionally posed a significant threat, in other words,
debuffs.
Akihiko Kayaba, the designer of this game of death, at least had a
minimum of sympathy for new players, for he did not grant any of
the kobolds in the first-floor labyrinth debuff attacks. The delay
effect that led to Diavel’s death was a debuff, in a way, but it was
an effect that occurred at a high likelihood when suffering
multiple consecutive attacks, and wasn’t a special skill that the
kobold lord could use at will.
Which meant that the tauruses that dwelt in the second-floor
labyrinth were the player’s first real experience with serious,
regular debuffs.
“Here it comes!” I cried, recognizing that the double-handed
hammer was being lifted straight aloft.
The rest of my party called out their acknowledgment and jumped
backward. The hammer stopped high overhead for an instant, its
wide surface glowing with brilliant yellow sparks.
“Vrrroooooo!!”
With a roar so fierce, it might as well have been a long-range
attack of its own, the beast brought down the hammer. The mass
of metal, rippling with lightning, slammed against the dark stone
floor. It was the taurus face’s special debuffing skill, Numbing
Impact.
No one was standing within the direct damage range of the blow,
of course, but there were also narrow sparking tendrils that
extended out from the impact point.
341
One of them shot toward me along the floor, fading out, until it
just barely licked the end of my boot.
Instantly, I felt an unpleasant prickle at my toes. Fortunately, I was
just outside of the debuff range, so there was no stun icon showing
beneath my HP bar. Everyone else kept farther away from the
shockwave, so none of them were affected.
“Full-power attack!” I shouted, and the six of us fanned out in a
semicircle around the taurus and closed. Each person unleashed
the strongest sword skill in their weapons repertoire. Agil’s two-
handed axe, his crewmates’ similar weapons, Asuna’s Wind
Fleuret, and my Anneal Blade blasted the beast with an array of
colored lights. The bull-man’s three-part HP gauge finally emptied
its first bar and opened the second.
“I think we can do this!” Asuna shouted from her familiar position
to my left.
“Yeah, just don’t get overconfident! Once we get to the third bar,
he’ll start using consecutive numbing attacks! Plus,” I raised my
voice to ensure that Agil’s group heard me, “based on the first-
floor battle, we should assume there might be a new attack when
we hit that last bar! If that happens, we all pull back!”
“Got it!”
The taurus recovered from its delay at the same time our skill
cooldown ended. Agil’s tanks recognized that the next attack
would be a sideways blow and took defensive stances along its
trajectory. Asuna and I hung back, waiting for the right moment to
counter.
Just over five minutes had passed in the battle against the boss.
So far, our team was performing well. None of us had suffered the
Numbing Impact effects yet, and none had taken heavy damage.
The four tanks were losing HP with each attack they blocked, of
course, but the pace of damage was slow enough that we were
making do with just a one-man pot rotation so far.
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And yet, the fact that our battle was going well meant hardly
anything.
The blue-skinned, bull-headed beast that team H faced right now
was only Nato the Colonel Taurus, an extra thrown into the boss
monster fight...a distraction at worst.
“Evade! Evaaaade!” came a somewhat panicked scream from the
other side of the vast boss chamber. When I had the chance, I
glanced over the heads of the dozens of players to see a frightfully
large shadow.
A bristly, crimson red pelt enveloped rippling muscles. His waist
was covered with a luxurious golden cloth, but in keeping with
taurus tradition, his upper half was bare. The chain dangling over
his shoulders was also made of gold. To top it off, the golden battle
hammer in his hands shone with a dazzling brilliance.
Coloring aside, Colonel Nato might as well have been a body
double of Baran, but there was one other major difference: size.
General Baran, the boss of the second floor, was at least twice the
size of Nato.
Because of the physical height limit of the ceilings in the
labyrinths of Aincrad, Baran was not as tall as the mammoth
Bullbous Bow that prowled the landscape, but there was no
escaping the primal fear inspired by a sixteen-foot beast man.
Even the kobold lord from the first floor felt huge, and he was only
seven feet tall and change.
Naturally, General Baran’s golden hammer was massive as well, its
powerful head the size of a barrel. When he lifted it, the surface
shot golden sparks. The tanks and attackers pulled back as one, in
accordance with Lind’s order.
“Vrruuuuvraaaaa!!”
Baran’s roar was appropriately twice as fierce as Nato’s, and he
smashed the floor. Even at our distance, we could feel the
shockwave, which was followed by a burst of sparks.
343
Again, the effective range was twice that of his subordinate. It was
Baran’s unique skill, Numbing Detonation.
The queuing-up motion was very easy to identify, but the blast
Radius was so wide that two members failed to get to a safe
distance, and their feet were swallowed by the golden sparks. The
lightning wrapped around their limbs and demobilized them–the
stun effect, one of the most common debuffs of the many in the
game, though not one to be overlooked. The stun effect caused by
the taurus’s numbing attacks lasted three seconds, and unlike
many debuffs, it wore off automatically.
But while three seconds might not feel long against garden-variety
mobs, it was a lifetime against a deadly floor boss. Even at this
distance, I was keenly aware of the fear and panic those stunned
warriors were feeling.
One second, two seconds...and just before the third, one of the
stunned fighters dropped his short spear to clatter onto the
ground. It was a fumble, a secondary debuff that sometimes
occurred in the midst of a stun. In the next instant, the soldier was
free, and the blue-shirted member of Lind’s group bent over to
pick up his weapon.
“No–”
Get back, here comes the next one! I wanted to yell, but I held it in.
He wouldn’t hear me at this distance, and my companions in team
H would confuse it for an order directed at them. After a brief but
powerful Slant to Colonel Nato’s ribs, I looked to see General
Baran raising his hammer again.
Thwam! A second Numbing Detonation.
The hammer struck the same spot as the last one, and more
yellow lightning shot forth. Again, they swallowed the spearman
attempting to pick up his weapon.
But while he’d been standing upright last time, he fell down to the
floor in this instance.
344
The visual effect that surrounded his avatar was not yellow, but
pale green. This was not a stun but a more powerful and
dangerous debuff, paralysis.
It was the true terror of the tauruses’ numbing skills–the second
hit in succession would turn the stun to a paralyzing effect.
Unlike a stun, paralysis did not disappear after a few seconds. It
wasn’t indefinite either, but even the weakest effect would last ten
minutes...a full 600 seconds. Obviously, no one could survive a
battle while prone for that length of time, so healing items were
necessary.
The main methods of recovery were healing potions or
purification crystals. The latter were impossible to find until later
in the game, so potions were the only choice. However, paralysis
left only the dominant hand of the player able to move–and
slowly, at that–so even pulling a bottle out of a pouch was a trial.
Crawling out of the boss’s attack range was completely out of the
question.
I told them not to pick up their weapons but wait until they were
sure the boss wasn’t going to attack twice!
But there was no use complaining to myself. Besides, picking up a
dropped weapon was just human instinct. I couldn’t count the
number of times I’d done the same thing and suffered additional
hits during the beta. I only learned to deal with that particular
challenge with a cool head once I gained the Quick Change mod so
that I could call up a replacement from my inventory.
Baran callously targeted the paralyzed spearman and prepared to
stomp him with a massive foot. Fortunately, his party members
quickly intervened to pull him out of harm’s way.
I heaved a sigh of relief, but when I saw where they were taking
him, my eyes bulged.
Lined up along the back wall were already seven or eight players,
clutching green potions in their stiff hands and waiting for the
effect to wear off.
345
The entire time that we’d been carefully chipping away at Colonel
Nato, a large number of the main force was suffering from
secondary numbing.
“Things aren’t going well in the main fight,” Agil rumbled as he
returned from his potion rotation.
I quickly responded, “Yes, but the more they fight, the more they’ll
get accustomed to the rhythm. I haven t seen any differences from
the beta yet, so I think–”
We’ll be all right, I was about to finish, but Asuna cut me off with a
sobering note.
“But Kirito, if any more of them get paralyzed...it’ll make a
temporary retreat much harder.”
“...!”
I tensed and clenched the handle of my Anneal Blade. The weapon
wouldn’t fall unless I intentionally dropped it (or an external
factor caused me to fumble it), but my subconscious was working
in overdrive after witnessing the prior scene with the spearman.
The boss chambers in Aincrad, at least as far as I’d seen, did not
lock the players inside once the battle had begun. If things got
hairy, it was always possible to beat a hasty retreat. That didn’t
mean it was a simple matter, of course; there was a considerable
distance between the battle zone and the door, so if everyone took
off running at once, the boss would catch up to us in no time and
cause delays, stunning, and ultimately, death.
So in a way, escaping from the boss chamber required a trickier
coordinated effort than actually fighting the adversary. Could we
even pull it off, burdened by a large number of paralyzed fighters?
For one thing, lifting an immobile player in your arms to carry
them out required a significant strength value. I couldn’t lift
Asuna up with my skinny arms when she had passed out in the
first-floor labyrinth, so I had had to drag her out using a sleeping
bag–an emergency measure still fresh in my memory.
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From what I could see, about four-fifths of Lind and Kibaou’s

forces were balanced or speed-first fighters, with only a few pure
strength tanks. As Asuna pointed out, if many more players got
paralyzed, it would be much harder to disengage.
“We might need to refocus and prioritize dealing with the
numbing,” I said, stepping out of the way of a three-part hammer
combo from Nato. Asuna nimbly matched my steps beside me.
“I agree. But if we start calling out orders for the main force, it’s
only going to confuse the chain of command. We need to get our
ideas to Lind’s ears.”
Her hazel eyes darted over the HP of team H, and then Colonel
Nato.
“We can handle him with just five. Go and talk to Lind, Kirito.”
“Um...a-are you sure?”
“Yeah, no problem!” boomed Agil, who must have overheard. “The
four of us can handle guarding for now! You’ve easily got two or
three minutes to go talk with him!”
I turned back to look at the chocolate-skinned warrior and his
friends, who seemed resolute, and I made up my mind. The key to
defeating Baran was to keep his paralysis out of the equation. The
battle was holding up for now thanks to our large number and
high average level, but if this was the same party that tackled him
in the beta, we’d be wiped out by now.
“All right, just for a bit! I’ll be right back!”
Before I left, I unleashed a Vertical Arc into Nato’s back as he
stood frozen after missing with a big attack, and sped off for my
target.
I shot across the coliseum-styled chamber, more than a hundred
yards across, and headed for the main battle in the back.
347
My pasty, skinny real body back home would be lucky to break

fourteen seconds in the hundred-meter dash, but the agility-heavy
Kirito crossed the space in ten flat. My boot heels screeched to a
halt as I lined up next to a blue cape at the rear.
For a moment, it occurred to me that this was the first time I’d
ever been face-to-face with Lind, leader of this raid and former
confidant of Diavel the knight.
Ten days earlier, just after we defeated the previous boss, he’d
screamed, Why did you abandon Diavel to die? You knew the
moves the boss was using! If you’d told us that information to
start with, Diavel wouldn’t have died!
I hadn’t apologized. I’d met him with a cold smile.
I’m a beater. Don’t you ever insult my skill by calling me a former
tester.
And having said my piece, I had put on the Coat of Midnight I was
still wearing, and left the first-floor boss chamber. I hadn’t
interacted with Lind since that very moment.
So it shouldn’t have been a surprise that when I sidled up next to
him, Lind’s first reaction was a grimace of disgust. His narrow
eyes went wide, his blade-sharp chin trembled, and his thin lips
went even thinner.
But that manifestation of his true emotions soon sank back
beneath his skin. It bothered me that both he and Kibaou were
attempting to mask their true feelings about me–though it also
wasn’t my business to care about it–but now was not the time to
worry about feelings.
“I ordered you to handle the sub-boss. Why are you–” he growled
before I interrupted with the line I’d prepared,
“Let’s regroup. If any more members get paralyzed, it’s going to
make escape nearly impossible.”
The raid leader looked back at the seven or eight players waiting
to recover, then at the state of the fight itself.
348
Following his lead, I checked the HP bar of General Baran. Out of

his five bars, they’d lowered the third to the halfway point–we
were already half-done with the boss.
“We’re halfway there. Why would we need to retreat now?”
I had to admit, there was a part of me that thought it would be a
waste to give up now. In the ten minutes since we had started the
battle, several people had been paralyzed, but no one’s HP had
fallen into the red zone, and the pace of our damage against the
boss was better than expected. There was more than a small
chance that we could continue to press on, and make it
through...But as if seeing through my hesitation, a voice rang out
from behind us.
“How’s about we pull back if one more person gets paralyzed?” I
turned around to see Kibaou’s familiar, light-brown spikes of hair.
No doubt he was also filled with a powerful disgust at me for
being a tried-and-true beta tester, but the look on his face was
honest and forthright.
“Everyone’s got the hang of the numbing range and timing.
They’re focused, an’ morale is high. We been poundin’ paralysis
and healing potions, so if we stop now, we might not have the
supplies ta give it another shot until tomorrow.”
“...”
Again, I let my mind race for half a second before reaching a
conclusion.
The most important thing here was not the number of tries or the
sum of spent resources but human life. We had to succeed without
losing anyone. That was the first rule of any boss battle in Aincrad.
But Lind and Kibaou already knew that. And if the leader and sub-
leader of the raid decided that we could still win, the only thing
that a single fighter from an outlying party would do by
disagreeing was sabotage the chain of command–obviously, a bad
decision.
349
And on top of that, my own instincts were telling me that if we

could just maintain our current progress, we could defeat Baran
without any casualties.
“All right, one more. Just be careful when we get down to the last
HP gauge,” I said. Kibaou growled in acknowledgment and turned
back to his station. Lind nodded silently and resumed his
command.
“Team E, prepare to retreat! Team G, prepare to advance! Switch
at the next stagger!” he ordered as I turned back and crossed the
coliseum to rejoin team H.
Asuna wasted no time in asking, “What happened?!”
“We’ll pull back if one more person gets paralyzed! But at our
current pace, we can probably make!”
“I see...” She briefly looked upset and glanced over at the main
battle, but grudgingly agreed with the decision.
“All right. In that case, let’s finish off this blue guy quick, so we can
join the others.”
“Yeah!”
Having reached a rapid consensus, we turned back to see that
Colonel Nato had just unleashed a massive attack that was
expertly blocked by Agil’s group. There was just a bit over one full
HP bar left. With perfect precision, we hit the beast with sword
skills to either flank.
That attack brought Nato to his final HP bar, and the blue skinned
minotaur bellowed up at the ceiling. He stamped the ground with
hooves as big as buckets, then hunched over to expose his horns
and tensed like a coiled spring. It was a new pattern to this fight,
but not one I’d never seen before.
“He’s gonna charge! Watch the tail, not the head! He’ll go along
that diagonal!”
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Nato turned to his left and charged right for Agil. But the axe-
warrior, poised and prepared, easily dodged out of the way and
unloaded his double-handed combo, Whirlwind. He stepped back,
and Asuna and I switched in to continue the onslaught. The
damage was so great that spinning yellow rings appeared over the
colonel’s head, and he began to wobble. We’d inflicted our own
stun status on him.
“Now’s our chance! Everyone use two full-power attacks!!”
“Raaah!!”
All six of us surrounded the taurus and pummeled him with
flashes of light in red, blue, and green. His HP bar lost refreshingly
large chunks in quick succession and soon plunged into the yellow
zone that signified less than half remained.
Our full attack a success, we held distance once more, and the
taurus’s skin turned purple as he raged even louder. This berserk
state before he died was, again, the same as in the beta. His attack
speed was half again as fast as before, but with a calm head, this
was not an issue.
On the other side of the chamber, the players let out a roar. I
nearly lost my balance for a moment before I realized it was a cry
of high spirits. General Baran’s final HP bar had gone yellow as
well. Meanwhile, the number of paralyzed along the wall had not
risen but had shrunk to five.
“It’s a good thing there weren’t any surprises since the beta,”
Asuna opined to me while we waited for our skills to cool down
behind Agil’s protective wall. I looked back to the battle at hand
and nodded.
“Yeah. But if we’d been paying attention against the kobold lord,
we’d have noticed that the weapon on his back was a katana, not a
talwar. And General Baran hasn’t changed an inch from the beta.
So...”
I suddenly realized that a shadow had passed across Asuna’s face.
“What’s wrong?”
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“...Um...nothing. I’m just overthinking things...I was just noticing

that it’s weird the first-floor boss was a lord, but the second one is
only a...”
Ga-gong!
A sudden crash interrupted our conversation. We all turned as
one to the source of the sound–the center of the coliseum
chamber.
But there was nothing there. Only a series of concentric floor rings
made of blackish stone...
No. It was moving. The three circles of paving stones were sliding,
rotating counterclockwise and slowly picking up speed. The
stones were rising from the floor before my eyes, elevating into a
three-step stage at the center of the room.
Suddenly, the view of the far wall over the center platform began
to waver.
“Uh-oh...” I grunted. That was the visual effect that signaled a very
large object being generated into the map. As I feared, the
wavering in the air rapidly spread and began to generate a thick,
menacing shadow at the center.
The shadow soon coalesced into a humanoid form and grew legs
thick as tree trunks that thudded heavily onto the stage.
Sturdy, dark chainmail covered the figure’s waist, but its torso
was, as usual, bare. This one had a long, twisted beard that hung
down to its stomach. The head was that of a bull, but it had six
horns instead of two, and atop the center of its head was a round
accessory of silvery platinum–a crown.
The mammoth figure, so black it might as well have been painted
with ink, reared back, and the third and largest of the tauruses let
out a roar. Flashes of lightning spread around the minotaur, filling
the chamber with blinding light.
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Finally, a six-part HP bar appeared so high in my field of view that

it seemed to be stuck to the ceiling. I gazed dully at the letters that
appeared.
ASTERIOS THE TAURUS KING.
Keep your mind moving! Think! I told myself so hard that if I
wasn’t gritting my teeth, I’d have spoken the words aloud.
It was clear what had just happened. General Baran, whom every
player present, including me, had assumed was the second-floor
boss, was just as much an opening act as Colonel Nato.
Baran’s final HP bar turning yellow must have been the trigger to
generate the true boss pitch–black King Asterios. But speculation
about the origin of the creature was pointless. What mattered was
what we did next.
There was no need to think. We had to retreat out of the chamber.
We didn’t even know how this monster would attack...and the
risks of fighting this taurus king were clearly far greater than that
of the general.
The problem was that Asterios had spawned in the center of the
chamber, and the raid party was fighting in the back of the room.
The group would need to charge through his attack range in order
to reach the exit. Team H, fighting Colonel Nato, was the closest to
the exit, and we could probably make it out safely now, if we
broke for it...but if we did that, and teams A through G were wiped
out by the king, our chances of beating this game of death
disappeared along with them.
How to evacuate a forty-seven-man raid party? The first step was
eliminating our present foes as quickly as possible.
Time seemed to spring back into motion once our path became
clear, and I promptly raised my sword high and shouted, “All
units, all-out attack!!”
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I tore my eyes away from Asterios atop his three-step stage, and
fixed a gaze on the berserk Colonel Nato. I leapt as hard as I could,
following the path of his hammer as he raised it behind him.
As a speed-focused swordsman with no heavy metal armor, I
could jump about six feet from a standing position. Nato was
closer to seven or eight feet, but with the added reach of my
sword, I could easily get to his head.
My Slant skill hit the shining black horns directly. Nato’s attack
motion stopped partway, and he reared back and roared. The
tauruses of the second-floor labyrinth, excepting only a few (say,
the Taurus Ironguard, which wore a heavy metal helm), were
weak to blows to the horns. I hadn’t tried to strike their foreheads
at any point until now because jumping attacks were inherently
risky, and even a clean hit from a sword skill was no guarantee
that the opponent would suffer a movement delay. But this
situation called for desperate measures.
At the exact moment I landed, Asuna and Agil’s team followed up
with attacks of their own, knocking Nato’s HP into the red zone.
His delay wore off, and the minotaur roared and began his motion
for a numbing skill. In any other case, now was the time to pull
back, but I pushed forward.
“Raaah!”
With a roar of my own, I unleashed my very best Horizontal. Even
if I hit the beast’s weak point, I couldn’t stagger the creature on
consecutive attacks, but it wasn’t the forehead I was aiming for–it
was Nato’s giant hammer. The timing window was extremely
short, but if I hit his sword skill with one of my own just before he
fired it off, it was possible to cancel the attacks out.
There was a piercing clang that seemed to strike directly into the
center of my brain, and my sword shot backward. Meanwhile, the
hammer was pushed back overhead. Without missing their
chance, my five companions proceeded to launch another wave of
attacks. Only a few pixels of HP remained.
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Under normal circumstances, chaining sword skills together was

impossible. But I knew from our hunting of the Windwasps the
other day that you could get past that limitation if you used
weapons of different categories. I curled up in midair and kicked
out with my left foot. The resulting Crescent Moon, a vertical kick
attack as I spun backward, caught Nato right on the forehead.
The taurus hurtled backward and let out a high-pitched screech
before freezing stiff, then exploding into a massive cloud of
polygons. It must have been treated as a proper sub-boss, not just
a typical mob, because I promptly saw a Last Attack bonus read-
out. I didn’t have time for that, however; I spun around as I hit the
ground.
The first thing I saw across the room was a towering ebony back.
King Asterios was on the move. Fortunately, he hadn’t targeted
any of the five paralyzed along the east wall, but his destination
was the thirty-six remaining fighters of the main party–who were
still busy with General Baran.
My worst fear was that the main force would fall into total
panicked chaos and retreat if faced by a boss on either side.
Fortunately, that was not happening. But very soon, his lumbering
steps would take him within attack range of the raid. We had to
defeat the general before then.
“Let’s go, Kirito!” said Asuna, her voice tense. But I wasn’t sure if I
should agree. It wasn’t that I was afraid for my own life–for some
reason that I couldn’t explain, I was gripped with a sudden feeling
that once I set foot into the battle ahead, I could not guarantee that
she’d survive,
I knew damn well just how good Asuna was. I wasn’t even sure if I
could beat her in a one-on-one duel. But there was no denying my
urge to force her to escape right there and then.
After I had abandoned my first and only friend at the start of this
game, and was nearly killed by a fellow beta tester just hours
later, I had sworn to live as a solo player, relying on no one but
myself.
355
The week that we had just spent as a partnership-of-sorts was

only a means to uncovering and stopping Nezha’s fraud. Nothing
more.
So why was I being ruled by this emotion...this sentimentality?
Why was I so desperate to keep Asuna from dying? “Asuna, you
need...”
To run, I wanted to say–but I saw the powerful light in her hazel
eyes. They told me that she knew full well what I was thinking.
Her eyes were full of an emotion that was neither anger nor
sadness but something even purer. Again, she said, “Let’s go.”
There was enough strength in that voice that it bottled up the fear
that had overtaken me.
“...All right,” I said, and looked back at Agil’s party. The axe-
warrior nodded at me, not frightened in the least.
“We’ll swing around the right flank and defeat Baran first. If the
king attacks before then, we’ve got to pull him away as best we
can to help buy them time.”
“Got it!” the others shouted. Bolstered by their courage, I leapt
forward. By the time I reached full speed, my hesitation was gone.
The monster’s reaction zone, also called its “aggro range” was
invisible to the naked eye. But the more experience one built, the
more it felt like a tangible thing. I followed my instinct and circled
around the right side of the plodding King Asterios toward the
main party.
Baran’s HP bar was already down into the red zone. But as with
Nato when he was nearly dead, Baran had gone into a berserk
state and was using his Numbing Detonation at every possible
chance, slowing the group’s attack progress.
We had thirty seconds until the king started to attack, I gauged.
I darted right between the wide-eyed Lind and Kibaou, directly in
front General Baran, and leapt high into the air, aiming for his
blazing orange horns. But the general was nearly twice the size of
356
the colonel. Even my highest jump combined with my longest

reach couldn’t make it all the way.
“Rrraah!”
At the apex of my jump, I took pains to hold my stance and just
barely managed to throw off a sword skill. My Anneal Blade
glowed green, and my body sped back into motion as though
pushed by invisible hands: Sonic Leap, a one-handed sword
charge skill.
This desperate attack hit him right in the weak point, and the
general’s body arched backward. This staggering was our final
chance.
Asuna and the other four didn’t need my order to know what to
do. They raced in to land blows, then pulled back. The rest of the
raid followed their lead, and General Baran was enveloped in
flashing effects of every color.
But once again, it wasn’t quite enough. There was still a pixel or
two left on his HP bar.
“Not again!” I cursed, clenching my left fist. Coming out of a major
sword skill off-balance, my only option was a simple attack. I
roared and swung forward with a Flash Blow, hitting him square
in the chest. It was just enough damage to do the job, and that tiny
little jab sent the massive body expanding...and exploding.
I landed hard, ignoring the LA bonus readout entirely, and took a
deep breath to command everyone to retreat back against the
wall. There was no time to worry about whether I was
overstepping my bounds or not.
But my breath caught in my throat before I could speak.
The onyx taurus king, who should have still been ten seconds
away, was leaning backward, his massive chest bulging like a
barrel. That looked like...
A breath attack. Long range.
357
And right in his path, back to him, her eyes fixed straight at me,
was Asuna.
If she didn’t move now, there would be no escape. I couldn’t waste
time racing over to her. But that kind of logical reasoning went out
the window.
“Asuna, jump to your right!” I shouted as I dashed toward her.
There were other players in the breath range, of course, but my
tunnel vision was fixed on no one but the hooded fencer. She must
have sensed the danger approaching from behind in my voice and
expression. She leapt as I commanded, not bothering to turn
around.
358
359
As soon as her boots left the black paving stone, I reached her and
slipped my left arm around her slender body, leaping in the same
direction to add to our momentum. Even at full strength, the jump
speed was unbearably slow. The arabesque pattern in the floor
flowed past, glacial in pace...
The right side of my vision went pure white.
The dry shockwave that hit me was exactly a clap of thunder.
Asterios the Taurus Kings breath attack was not poison or fire but
lightning. And by the time we realized it, the both of us, and over
twenty other players in the raid, were enveloped in its white
blaze.
There was no such thing as attack, healing, or support magic in
Sword Art Online. But that didn’t mean that all traces of magic
were absent from the game world. There was an infinite variety of
magical items to be found that raised stats or provided buff
effects, and the blessing of an NPC priest at a church in one of the
bigger towns granted a player’s weapon a temporary holy effect.
But those supernatural effects did not exist solely for our benefit.
In fact, the majority were a detriment. For example, the many
special attack skills employed by monsters: poison, fire, ice, and
lightning breath.
The most powerful breath attack in terms of damage was fire, but
lightning was no joke. For one, it was instantaneous–it traveled
the full length of its range in the instant it was unleashed.
Worse, it had a very high chance of stunning its victims, with the
worst-case scenario involving an even more dangerous debuff.
Asuna and I took Asterios’s lightning breath to our legs, and we
both lost close to 20 percent of our health in one go. A green
border began to blink around the gauge, and a debuff icon of the
same color appeared as well.
360
Instantly, I felt my physical senses growing distant I couldn’t move

my legs to land upright, even if I tried. Asuna and I slammed into
the ground on our backs. This was no mere tumble effect–after all
of my warnings, we were now paralyzed.
“Asu...na,” I rasped. She was laid across my chest like an immobile
plank. “Heal with...potion.”
I tried desperately to move my stiff hand. There were two red HP
potions and one green paralysis antidote in the belt pouch on my
right side. Somehow, I felt around and grabbed the green one,
popped the cork and held it up to my lips, even as the rumbling
footsteps grew closer.
Once I finished the minty liquid, I hesitantly looked up to see that
the massive taurus king was barely ten yards away. His attack had
hit several other players with paralysis, and over a dozen of them
littered the ground between us and him.
The other thirty players who escaped the lightning breath were
making their way around the slowly moving boss, but they
weren’t sure how to react. The reason why was clear: The raid’s
leader and sub-leader, Lind and Kibaou, were both paralyzed, and
the closest to the boss’s position. They were desperately trying to
give orders, but a whisper was the best anyone suffering from
paralysis could produce. None of the players outside Asterios’s
attack range could hear them.
But very close to my ears came the sound of a fragile, beautiful
voice.
“Why...did you come?”
I looked back to see two very large hazel eyes right in front of my
face. Asuna was collapsed directly on top of me, empty potion
bottle clutched in her hand. She repeated herself. “Why...?”
She was asking me why I’d run toward her when I realized the
taurus’s breath attack was coming, rather than darting directly out
of harm’s way. I wondered what the answer was myself, but it did
not become apparent All I could say was “I don’t know.”
361
And for reasons that were once again a mystery to me, she smiled
gently, closed her eyes, and set her hooded head against my
shoulder.
I looked over Asuna’s back to see Asterios raising his massive
hammer high overhead. The crushing implement, twice as large as
even Baran’s, was aimed right at Lind and Kibaou.
So this is it, I told myself.
If our two leaders died, the rest of the raid party would flee out of
the boss chamber, leaving behind the ten or so paralyzed,
including me and Asuna, to die...But at some later point in time,
they would be able to use the information gleaned from Asterios’s
appearance and attacks to launch a second attempt The worst
regret of all this was that I wasn’t able to save Asuna and her
limitless potential. As I’d told her after the first-floor boss, she
could have one day led an enormous guild and been a leader to the
player population. Like a shooting star, endlessly lighting up the
sky of this dark, hopeless game of death.
I hallucinated a strange light, passing across the ceiling of the dim
chamber.
But even after opening my eyes wider, the shining arc did not
disappear. It reached an apex and began to fall, heading right for
the crown on Asterios’s brow as he was preparing to swing his
hammer...
It wasn’t until a high-pitched squeal of metal rang through the
coliseum and Asterios lurched in pain that I realized the light
wasn’t a trick of the eye.
That was a long-range attack that shouldn’t have been possible at
this point in SAO, a sword skill under the Throwing Knife category.
But the thrown weapon didn’t simply fall to the ground after
hitting the boss’s weak point; it spun around and flew back across
the room, as though pulled by an invisible string.
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Asterios recovered from his delay and roared in anger, making a

slow turn back to his attacker. That was the first actual hit on the
boss, so it automatically drew the enemy’s attention.
Suddenly, a powerful set of arms pulled me and Asuna off the
floor. The mighty warrior, holding two people aloft without any
help, spoke in a deep baritone.
“Sorry about that! I actually got a little spooked!”
Agil the axe-warrior carried us over to the eastern wall. His three
companions were also busy moving paralyzed party members to a
safer position. As if brought to their senses, the remainders of the
blue and green teams raced over to the other immobilized
fighters.
I tried to crane my neck up so I could see as he ferried us under
his arms like suitcases. As we moved, the southern side of the
coliseum came into view behind the boss’s massive bulk.
About thirty feet from the entrance, a small figure clutching a
bizarre weapon was staring up at the looming giant with a
resolute look on his face.
“Isn’t that–?!” Agil cried in surprise as he dropped us on the floor
against the wall. And it wasn’t just him–virtually everyone in the
chamber was staring with shock at this new, forty-eighth player.
Not because he had suddenly appeared just before the boss routed
us, or because he used a strange and unfamiliar weapon. It was
because we had all seen this man hammering away at an anvil in
the eastern plaza of Taran just a few days ago. It was Nezha the
blacksmith.
He was dressed much differently now, of course. The brown
leather apron was replaced by a bronze breastplate, gauntlets of
the same material, and an open-faced helmet. But the image of a
beardless dwarf that his short, stocky build and round, dour face
created hadn’t been neutralized by this new look; if anything, his
accentuated it.
363
The entire raid was shocked that a blacksmith would be here,

participating in the boss raid, with only two exceptions: Asuna
and me, the ones who’d convinced him to change careers in the
first place. I was surprised as well, of course, but only because I
hadn’t expected him to be able to charge straight through the
labyrinth alone, after just three days of training.
But there were others here who would be shocked in a much
different way from the rest of us. As soon as the thought occurred
to me, a group rushed forward from the raid party in the center of
the room. They came to a stop once they reached an angle that
gave them a clear view of Nezha’s face around the side of the boss.
It was team G...the Legend Braves.
“Nez...”
Orlando started to call the name of his missing partner, but he
held back at the last instant. It seemed the Braves were still trying
to hide the fact that Nezha was part of their guild.
For an instant, Nezha looked back at his silent former companions
with a pained look, but he composed himself and yelled, “I’ll draw
the boss away! Get everyone back on their feet now, while you
can!”
Asterios’s walking speed–for the first of his many HP bars, at
least–was quite slow. If Nezha used the hundred-yard hall
effectively, he could probably continue to occupy the enemy’s
attention all by himself. If he held out until all of the paralyzed had
recovered, we might be able to evacuate the entire raid group
safely...
But no. It wouldn’t work. The boss moved slowly, yes, but he had
that instantaneous lightning breath to make up for it. There was
no way to dodge that onslaught on your very first encounter with
it. And based on the moment of Nezha’s appearance, he probably
hadn’t seen Asterios’s first attack.
“Agil, warn him about...”
364
The breath attack, I wanted to say, but I was already too late.
Asterios stopped still and pulled his head back again, sucking in
breath. His chest puffed up into a round ball, and little sparks
crackled out of his nostrils. Nezha was standing still, looking up at
the boss’s head.
“Move...” I rasped.
“Get out of the way!!” someone in the raid shouted. But Nezha
nimbly leapt aside before the words were even out of his mouth.
The next instant, a brilliant cone of white lightning shot from the
boss’s gaping mouth. The breath attack reached nearly to the exit
of the room, but Nezha was clear of its path by a good six feet.
The way he moved...Did he know exactly when to dodge?
My eyes went wide, and I suddenly heard a very familiar
voice...but not one I would have expected to hear here, of all
places.
“The boss’s eyes glow just before the breath attack.”
I looked up from the floor, stunned, to see the tile pattern on the
wall warp out of place. An even smaller figure than Nezha
appeared out of thin air. My mouth fell open (as did Asuna’s and
Agil’s, if I had to guess) as I stared at that familiar whiskered face–
Argo the Rat, the information dealer.
It was only afterward that I learned that she’d undertaken a series
of quests beginning in the jungle outside the labyrinth that
eventually earned her information on Asterios the Taurus King,
the true boss of this floor. She learned not just his attack patterns,
but the best way to counteract him–such as staggering him with a
thrown weapon to the crown atop his head.
When Argo discovered that quest, she zipped around turning in
objectives, and only finished just after the raid party entered the
labyrinth. Messages couldn’t reach anyone in a dungeon, and it
was a question whether Argo and her agility-heavy build could
make it through the labyrinth alone.
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As she wavered with indecision outside the tower, she happened

across Nezha, who was also preparing to brave the dangers of the
labyrinth alone. They worked together–using Argo’s Hiding skill
and Nezha’s throwing weapons to avoid or lure mobs out of their
way–and reached the boss chamber just before Asterios appeared
and threw the battle into chaos.
“Why are you still lying around? You’re not paralyzed anymore,”
Argo said. I finally noticed that the paralysis icon beneath my HP
bar was gone. I sprang to my feet and sprinted over to the Anneal
Blade where it lay after I was hit by the breath attack. Asuna’s
Wind Fleuret was also nearby so I brought them both back to the
wall. I considered whether or not to address what Asuna said
while we were on the ground, then decided it wasn’t the right
moment.
A quick look around told me that nearly everyone else had
recovered from their paralysis. Lind and Kibaou were on their
feet, but I saw Argo marching over toward them. For an instant, I
even forgot that Nezha was single-handedly keeping the boss
occupied.
Argo the Rat was, along with me, one of the most prominent
publicly known beta testers in the game, and Lind and Kibaou
were leaders of the anti-tester movement. As I expected, Lind
didn’t even pretend to hide his disgust, while Kibaou’s expression
was more uneasy and uncertain.
“Hey, spiky. Long time no see,” Argo greeted Kibaou, ignoring Lind
entirely. That’s when it hit me.
Kibaou was the very man who’d attempted to buy my Anneal
Blade through Argo. It was the kind of shady dealing that no
leader would want associated with him, and Argo could sell the
details to anyone who paid the price.
He didn’t respond to her greeting, so she continued, “If you’re
gonna pull out, better do it now. But if you want info, I can sell it to
you. For the low, low price of...nothing.”
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The moment Asterios’s lightning breath hit Lind and Kibaou, they
were at the greatest risk of dying of anyone in the raid. So it was a
bit of a surprise to me that after just a few seconds of deliberation,
they chose to continue the fight. Of course, we wouldn’t know if
that was the right choice or not until the end of the fight. But the
tables had turned significantly since the moment just after the
boss appeared. Nezha had successfully pulled Asterios’s aggro for
over two minutes, giving the rest of the raid enough time to
recover from paralysis and refill their HP. On top of that, now we
had the details on the boss’s patterns.
“All right, let’s begin the attack! Teams A and D, forward!” Lind
ordered. The heavily armored tanks rushed in at King Asterios.
Their body-blow charge hit him in the legs, finally drawing his
attention away from Nezha.
Instantly, he started to sway, as though all of the tension keeping
him upright had snapped. Asuna and I raced over.
“Nezha!”
The former blacksmith looked up, his expression as weak as
usual...but with a new core of strength behind his smile. He held
up the throwing weapon in his right hand.
It was the weapon I’d given him–a thick, bladed, circular throwing
tool about eight inches across. The only way to get it at this point
was as a rare drop from the Taurus Ringhurler enemies in this
labyrinth. It fell under the Chakram subcategory of throwing
knives, but unlike the actual chakrams from ancient India, this one
had a leather grip along part of the circle. The grip made it useful
for both throwing like a disc, or augmenting a punch like a set of
brass knuckles.
Because of that versatility, chakrams in SAO couldn’t be used with
the Throwing Knives skill alone. They also required the mastery of
Martial Arts, the extra skill that could only be learned from the
bearded master hidden deep in the mountains.
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As he said himself three days ago, he could hit monsters with a

thrown weapon without having to worry too much about his
perspective issues. But orthodox throwing knives were a
quantifiable weapon that ran out over time and weren’t suited for
a main weapon. But the chakram was like a boomerang: It
returned to the thrower’s hand automatically. Thanks to that, he
didn’t need to worry about ammunition.
Nezha steadied his weary legs and held up his chakram. The was
glowing yellow. Even though I was the one who’d given him the
weapon, I didn’t know the name of this sword skill.
“Yaah!”
With a powerful cry, his hand flashed, and the sparkling ring flew
high in the air. It raced across the ceiling, a brilliant burst of light,
and hit Asterios on the crown with perfect accuracy as he raised
his giant hammer. There was another high-pitched clang, and the
boss’s muscled torso writhed. One of the attackers in Kibaou’s
team shouted, “Nice!” from the taurus king’s feet.
The chakram hurtled back with alarming speed and smacked right
back into Nezha’s hand, thanks to the assistance of the game
engine. He turned to me and Asuna and smiled again as though he
were about to burst into tears.
“It’s like a dream come true. Here I am...in the boss battle, playing
a role...”
His voice quavered and died out there. Nezha swallowed and tried
again.
“I’ll be fine! Go ahead and join the battle!”
“All right. Do your best to read his lightning breath ahead of time
and stagger him before he uses it. You’re the key to our victory!”
I turned around and not just Asuna but Agil and his band of hearty
toughs, ready for action.
368
Wasn’t Agil supposed to be the leader of this team? I’ll have to

apologize to him later for taking over. I shouted an order to the
group. “Let’s go!”
They echoed my call, and we headed for the unceasing series of
sword flashes centered around our foe.
The true boss of the second floor of Aincrad, Asterios the Taurus
King, was a third bigger than even Baran the General Taurus. His
paralyzing lightning breath had terrified us momentarily, but with
Argo’s knowledge of his patterns, the group had devised a safe and
steady strategy that was chipping away at his health.
The greatest role in the battle was undoubtedly Nezha and his
throwing weapon, but it soon became clear that the single
strongest group was team not Lind or Kibaou’s forces, but the
Legend Braves.
Like General Baran, Asterios used the area-effect skill Numbing
Detonation, but Orlando and his team were able to take the
numbing effects at very close range without ever being stunned.
When the king lifted his mighty hammer, the other groups had to
evacuate to safety, but team G stayed right on him, continuing
their assault without fear of his detrimental attacks. Even Lind
had no idea when to give the order for them to retreat.
All of the Braves had high debuff resistance, thanks to their
heavily upgraded gear. The unfortunate truth was that they’d
“earned” the money for that herculean task through Nezha’s
upgrading scam, but now that Nezha was no longer a blacksmith,
there was no longer any chance that they’d take the heat for it.
“...It’s a complicated feeling, isn’t it?” Asuna mumbled when we
retreated temporarily to drink healing potions.
“Yeah. But at least they shouldn’t be able to do it anymore,” I
replied, referring to the weapon-switching fraud. “If they’re able
to help us advance through the game like this, we’ll just have to
accept it. I still feel bad for those who lost their weapons, though.”
369
“Yeah...”
She still looked conflicted, so I took her mind off things by leaning
in close and sharing an idea.
“Y’know, I don’t really feel like letting them win the battle MVP, so
how about we fight back a little bit? If the timing permits it, of
course.”
“Fight back...?”
I lifted the edge of her hood and whispered into her ear. Asuna’s
eyes looked skeptical and exasperated, but she nodded in
agreement. When she pulled the hood back up over her head, I
thought I detected a hint of a smile on her lips, but I couldn’t peer
in close for a second look.
“Hey, Kirito,” Agil rumbled from behind, with an odd tone in his
voice and an empty bottle in his hand, “You said you weren’t a
pair, right?”
Asuna straightened up and pivoted on her heel. Her voice was
frosty.
“We are not.”
Fortunately, I didn’t need to weigh in on the topic, because a cheer
broke out from the direction of the battle. Asterios’s last HP bar
had gone red. Our team’s HP had just hit maximum again, which
was perfect timing.
“Team E, pull back! Team H, up forward!” Lind commanded.
I held up my free hand and clenched my Anneal Blade +6. Even if it
was our turn in the rotation, it spoke to Lind’s fairness as a leader
that he didn’t try to hold me back.
“Okay, hang on,” I said, waiting for the right timing. “Go!”
We darted in to take the place of green team E along the boss’s left
flank. First, Asuna and I traded off with single skills against those
tree-trunk legs. The monster roared in rage and swiped at us,
which Agil and his friends blocked as they switched in.
370
Asterios’s size was certainly frightening, but on the other hand,

the larger a monster was, the more people could attack it at once.
One full party was all that could fight Colonel Nato at a time, while
two could tackle General Baran, and King Asterios was large
enough for three at once.
Team H took the left side, blue team B handled him front and
center, and Orlando’s team G was still tearing away at his right
flank. The king’s black skin was burning through like coal, a sign of
his berserk state, but we were on pace to finish him off with this
set.
“Vrrruaaraagh!!”
With a terrible, primal roar, Asterios began to suck in air again.
I didn’t t need to see the sparks around his mouth to know he was
preparing his breath attack. But just as quickly as he started, the
chakram flew in and struck him on the crown. Lightning exploded
harmlessly from the king’s nostrils.
If this was a normal MMO, that 100-percent-guaranteed stagger
from the chakram would get nerfed to oblivion, I thought to
myself, referring to the practice of reducing its power to restore
proper game balance.
Floor bosses in SAO were a one-time affair–once defeated, they
would never return. If Akihiko Kayaba was indeed watching over
the battle from afar, would he be gnashing his teeth at the sight of
his guardian, unable to stay poised long enough to unleash its best
attack? Or would he be applauding the ingenuity (and luck) of the
players who hit upon this unlikely strategy?
We’re going to beat your second floor in just ten days, Kayaba! I
thought triumphantly. A glance at the king’s HP bar showed just a
tiny sliver of red about to disappear. He raged even harder,
stomping three times in succession before raising his hammer!
Team B pulled back, recognizing the Numbing Detonation motion,
while team G readied their best sword skills.
371
If the Legend Braves seized the Last Attack bonus here, they’d go
from the backup force during the Bullbous Bow fight to the best
fighters in the game. But I wasn’t charitable enough to sit back and
let them reap those rewards. I had a beater reputation to uphold.
“Now, Asuna!”
I leapt as high as I could. The fencer kept right up with me–in fact,
her jumping speed was faster than mine. The force ripped the
hood off of her head, and long chestnut-brown hair flowed
through the air.
“Vraaaah!!”
Asterios brought down the hammer. A circular shockwave spread
from the impact point, followed by bursts of sparks. Two of the
Braves couldn’t fully resist, succumbing to the stun effect of this
final attack. Numbing Impact was weaker, but Detonation couldn’t
be avoided just by jumping, so Asuna and I would suffer the same
effects once we touched the ground.
But...
“Sey-yaaaa!”
Asuna unleashed a fierce cry and shot off the rapier charge attack
Shooting Star in midair.
“Rrrmaaah!”
I followed her with the one-handed sword charge attack Sonic
Leap. We both shot up vertically, followed by trails of blue and
green light. We were headed straight for the forehead of King
Asterios, which was protected by his metal crown.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the flashing of the three mobile
members of the Legend Braves firing off their own sword skills.
The next instant, our Anneal Blade and Wind Fleuret pierced the
crown entirely and sank deep into the enemy’s head. The crown
splintered and cracked into pieces.
372
The massive body of King Asterios burst in an explosion that filled

the entire coliseum chamber.
373
13
“Congratulations,” came a familiar voice, making a familiar

statement in English with a familiar native accent. Asuna and I
turned, exhausted after the long battle, to see Agil’s smiling face.
His meaty hand was curved into a thumbs-up, which I returned.
Asuna didn’t bother with that, but there was a rare smile on her
beautiful face.
Agil lowered his hand and let his eyes gaze into the distance.
“Your skill and teamwork are as brilliant as ever. But this victory
doesn’t belong to you...it’s his.”
“Yeah. If it wasn’t for him, we’d have lost at least ten people in this
fight,” I replied. Asuna nodded in agreement.
Standing done on the far side of the celebrating mass of players
was the small figure of Nezha the former blacksmith. He stared up
at the ceiling, watching the vanishing fragments of the boss,
golden ring clutched in his hand.
I was distracted by a sudden cheer that rose from the group. At
the center, Lind and Kibaou were locked in a bracing handshake.
The blue and green squads were applauding wildly, and I joined in
by clapping.
“Sheesh. They’re best friends after all...”
“At least until we reach the third floor,” Asuna noted sardonically.
I got to my feet, whispered thanks to my Anneal Blade for its duty,
and returned it to the sheath. After pulling Asuna up to a standing
position and sharing a brief fist bump, I finally felt the satisfaction
of the victory...of winning safe and sound.
We’d finished the second floor of Aincrad. It had taken us ten days,
and there were zero fatalities in the boss battle.
374
After taking an entire month on the first floor, and losing our
promising leader Diavel in the fight, this was better than I could
have hoped for. But I reminded myself that we were a hairs-
breadth from being wiped out entirely. The sudden and surprising
appearance of King Asterios nearly killed Lind and Kibaou, not to
mention Asuna and me.
We learned two lessons from this battle.
One, fulfill every quest around the last town and the labyrinth,
because they might impart info on the boss.
And two, we had to assume that every boss from this point on had
been changed in some way from the beta test. Of course, we’d only
made it to the ninth floor in the beta, so once we reached the
tenth, it was all new to us regardless.
Not only did gathering info through quests become important, but
so would scouting out the boss first. The latter would not be easy,
however. Most boss monsters didn’t appear until you reached the
back of the chamber and destroyed some key object, so there was
no guarantee that a reconnaissance party would escape safely.
There were a fair number of speedy scout types among us, but
very few that could use throwing tools.
From this point on, the role of Nezha the chakram-thrower, as
well as Argo, would become even more crucial.
I took a quick look around the room and didn’t see the Rat, even
with my Search skill–she must be hiding again. I nudged Asuna
and we made our way over to Nezha.
When the ex-blacksmith saw us, he smiled radiantly, as though a
great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Nezha bowed and
said, “Great work, Kirito and Asuna. That last midair sword skill
was incredible.”
“Well, actually...”
375
I scratched my head uncomfortably. I didn’t want to tell him that it

was just me trying to make sure I beat Orlando’s group to the
prize. Instead, Asuna answered for me.
“Incredible? That was your appearance. How did you manage to
use a brand-new weapon with such skill? You must have practiced
quite a lot.”
“No, it didn’t seem hard to me. I mean, I finally got to be what I’d
always wanted. Really...thank you so much. Now I have...”
He trailed off and bowed deeply one more time, then turned back
to face the center of the room. I followed his gaze and saw a group
of five about twenty yards from the crowd. They were lined up
and exchanging handshakes–Orlando with Lind, Beowulf with
Kibaou, and the three others with other leading players. They
wore the proud smiles of true heroes.
If you looked at the results screen for the battle against Asterios,
the score based on damage defended and caused by the Legend
Braves would easily outclass any other team. They’d found their
place front and center among the best players in the game. I didn’t
know if they’d end up joining Lind’s Dragon Knights or Kibaou’s
Liberation Squad, or if they’d start their own guild. But...
“Nezha, shouldn’t you be there with them?” I asked.
But the single most important person in the fight simply shook his
head.
“No, it’s fine. There’s something else I still need to do.”
“Huh? What’s that?” I asked. Nezha looked at me and then at
Asuna, whose brows were furrowed in apparent understanding.
He bowed once more, then lovingly traced the surface of his
chakram’s blade with a finger, and began to walk away.
That’s when I noticed that three players from the raid were
coming this way. At first, I assumed they were coming to thank
and congratulate Nezha, but their faces were hard.
376
After examining the tall man in front with the broadsword, I

finally realized why. This man, now wearing a breastplate over the
blue doubly of Lind’s group, was none other than Shivata, the man
who’d asked Nezha to upgrade his sword five days ago. Next to
him was another man in blue, and the third wore the green of
Kibaou’s team. They were all scowling.
Shivata pulled up in front of the Nezha and growled, “You re the
blacksmith who was working in Urbus and Taran just a few days
ago, aren’t you?”
“...Yes,” Nezha replied.
“Why did you switch to a fighter? And how’d you get that rare
weapon? It’s a drop-only item, isn’t it? Did you make that much
money from smithing?”
Oh, no.
Shivata’s tone of voice said that he already suspected Nezha of
shady dealing. Even if he didn’t have a clue about the weapon
switching trick, he was clearly guessing that some kind of foul play
had occurred.
In truth, Nezha’s chakram was a rare weapon, but not particularly
valuable. After all, it required both the Throwing Knives
supplementary skill and the Martial Arts extra skill to use. But
explaining all of that wouldn’t remove the suspicion from
Shivata’s mind.
Eventually, all of the celebrating players fell silent, including Lind,
Kibaou, and the Legend Braves, watching this new turn of events.
Most had looks of grave concern, but even at a distance, the panic
and tension on the faces of the Legend Braves was written plain as
day.
In the moment, neither I nor Asuna knew what to do.
It would be easy to speak up and say that I gave him that chakram.
But was deflecting the brunt of Shivata’s anger and forcing him to
back down really the right choice?
377
It was undeniable truth that Nezha had seized Shivata’s precious,

treasured Stout Blade and broken a spent weapon in exchange.
Shivata used all of his willpower to control himself at that
moment. He left without insulting or blaming Nezha. The
broadsword he wore now was two ranks below his old Stout
Blade. Shivata had done his best to power it up in the five days
between then and now, and had managed to survive through this
terrible battle. Did we really have the right to trick him again, to
lead him way from the truth?
Nezha sidestepped my indecision entirely. He laid his chakram on
the ground and got down on his knees, then pressed his hands to
the ground and lowered his head.
“I deceived you, Shivata, and the two others with you. I switched
out your swords before attempting to upgrade them, replacing
them with spent weapons that I broke instead.”
The coliseum was full of a silence even heavier than the one
before the battle, ear-piercing and thick.
Sword Art Online had an astonishing system of recreating players’
emotions on their virtual avatars, but if there was one glaring
weakness, it was a tendency to exaggerate for effect. I hadn’t seen
it for myself, but from what others said, it took very little time for
sadness to manifest as tears. A happy feeling translated to a wide
smile, and anger was represented by a reddened face and a
bulging vein on the forehead.
So the fact that Shivata’s only response was a furrowed brow was
a true testament to his self-control. By contrast, the two men at his
sides looked as though they were ready to explode, but they held
it in as well.
I looked over at Asuna and saw that she was trying to suppress
her feelings as well, but her face was visibly paler than usual. I
must have looked the same way.
Shivata’s hoarse voice finally broke the painful silence.
378
“Do you still have the weapons you stole?” Nezha shook his head,
hands still firmly on the floor.
“No...I already sold them for money,” he rasped.
Shivata clenched his eyes shut at the answer, but he knew it was
coming. He only grunted and then asked, “Can you pay me back
the value?”
This time, Nezha had no immediate answer, Asuna and I held our
breath. Far behind Shivata, standing at the left edge of the raid,
Orlando’s group was visibly uncomfortable.
In terms of simple feasibility, the sum of money that he’d taken
from them was far from impossible to raise again.
Only ten days had passed since Nezha and the Legend Braves had
started their fraud. The market prices for those items couldn’t
have changed that much, so if they sold off the assets they’d
bought with the money they received, it should turn back into
roughly the same amount.
But that was where the problem lay.
It wasn’t just Nezha who had spent the money they’d unfairly
earned, but the entire Legend Braves. The brightly gleaming
armor covering their bodies was that very sum of money in
physical form. In order to pay back their victims in cor, Orlando
and his group would have to sell off their equipment. After they’d
just played a major role in this boss battle, would they really just
give up the source of their power? And more fundamentally, how
did Nezha plan to get out of this situation?
As I watched, holding my breath, the short ex-blacksmith
answered, forehead still scraped against the floor tiles.
“No...I cannot repay you now. I used all of the money on all-you-
can-eat meals at expensive restaurants, and high-priced inns.”
Asuna sucked in a sharp breath.
Nezha wasn’t trying to weasel his way out of anything.
379
He was going to take responsibility for all of the crimes, and force
Shivata and the others to focus their anger and hatred solely on
him. He was covering for his companions, the ones who treated
him like a nuisance and egged him into committing those acts.
The large member of Lind’s team to Shivata’s right finally
snapped.
“You...why, you filthy–!!” He raised a clenched fist and stomped his
right foot on the ground multiple times. “Do you have any idea
what it’s like to see your favorite, beloved sword smashed to
pieces?! And you sold it off...to have yourself a feast?! To stay in
deluxe hotels?! Then you use the rest to buy yourself a valuable
weapon, barge into the boss battle, and fancy yourself a hero?!”
Kibaou’s companion on the left shrieked, “When I lost my sword, I
thought I’d never fight on the front line again! But my friends
donated some funds to me and helped me gather materials...You
didn’t just betray us, you stabbed everyone fighting to complete
this game in the back!” And like a lit fuse, those shouts caused all
the other players who’d been silently watching this scene to
explode.
“Traitor!”
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?!”
“You caused our pace to slow down!”
“Apologizing isn’t going to fix anything!”
Dozens of voices overlapped into one mass of angry noise. Nezha’s
lonely back shrank, as though succumbing to the pressure of all
that rage.
When the crowd’s anger at beta testers threatened to explode
during the planning for the first-floor boss battle, Agil had been
the voice of reason. But there was nothing he could do here. He
and his companions stood off at a distance, watching pensively.
380
Orlando’s group was equally quiet. The five of them were

whispering to each other, but it was inaudible over all the angry
bellowing.
I couldn’t do anything but watch, either. There was no magic word
to solve the situation at this point. Now that the truth of Shivata’s
weapon was open knowledge, the only thing that could mend the
wrongdoing was an equal sum of cor, or something similarly
heavy...
Suddenly, I remembered something Nezha had said minutes
before.
I finally got to be what’d always wanted. Really...thank you so
much. Now I have...
...nothing left to regret.
Those were the final words he’d said, the ones I couldn’t hear.
“Nezha...you can’t mean...” I mumbled.
One of the two people who had the power to bring this scene to a
close strode forward, his hand held high. Blue hair and blue cape.
A shining silver scimitar at his waist. Lind, the leader of the raid.
Shivata’s trio stepped back to give him the stage, and the furious
shouts that filled the chamber gradually died down. When it was
at least quiet enough to have a conversation, he spoke.
“Will you tell us your name?”
At that point, I realized that Nezha was never a part of the raid
party as classified by the system. It was one thing for Argo, who
passed on her info and split, but Nezha took on a crucial role in
hitting the boss’s weak point. He deserved to be part of the raid,
and we’d been one short of the limit, anyway. The only team with
five members was G...the Legend Braves.
381
Something rubbed me wrong about the fact that Orlando hadn’t

extended a party offer to Nezha, a friend since before the days of
SAO. But more important than that was how Lind decided to rule
on this situation.
“...It’s Nezha,” the ex-blacksmith said, still prostrate on the ground.
Lind nodded a few times. His features were sharp by nature, but
he looked more nervous now than he did in the midst of the battle.
He cleared his throat.
“I see. Your cursor is still green, Nezha...but that speaks to the
severity of your crime. If you’d committed a properly recognized
crime and turned orange, it would be possible to return it to green
through good karma quests. But no quest will wipe your sins clean
now. If you cannot repay what you owe to others in the game...we
will have to find a different means of punishment.”
He can’t, I thought to myself, teeth gritted. Lind’s thin lips
grimaced, then opened again.
“It was not just swords that you stole from Shivata and others. It
was a great amount of time that they poured into those blades.
Therefore...”
Some of the weight lifted off my shoulders. Lind was about to
demand that Nezha pay back his crimes by contributing to the
game’s advancement, and most likely regular payments over a
long-term period. It was the same punishment that Diavel would
have meted out if this had happened ten days earlier.
However...
Before Lind could finish, a high-pitched voice drowned him out.
“No...it wasn’t just time that he stole!”
A green-clad member of Kibaou’s team ran forward. His skinny
body shook left and right as he screeched–
382
“I...I know the truth! There are plenty more players he stole
weapons from! One of them had to use a cheap store-bought
weapon, and ended up getting killed by mobs he’d handled just
fine before!!”
The vast, masterless chamber fell silent once more.
After a few seconds, the blue-clad man next to Shivata spoke
again, his voice hoarse.
“If...if someone died because of this...then he’s not just a swindler
anymore. He’s a puh...puh...”
The scrawny green man jabbed a finger forward and said what the
other one couldn’t.
“That’s right! He’s a murderer! A PKer!!”
It was the first time I’d heard the term PK in the open since we’d
been trapped in the flying castle.
It was one of the most well-known terms among all the many
MMOs out there. It wasn’t short for “penalty kick,” or
“psychokinesis,” or anything like that. It stood for “player kill,” or
“player killer”–the act of killing another player, rather than a
monster.
Unlike most MMORPGs made these days, PK-ing was possible in
SAO. There was absolute safety within any town, thanks to a
stringent anti-crime code, but that protection disappeared outside
of town limits. The only things that protected players then were
their own equipment, skills, and trusted companions.
In the month-long beta test, a thousand players cooperated and
competed in a race upward, sometimes erupting into combat
where players crossed swords with one another. But PK did not
apply to honest duels between two willing combatants. A player
killer was someone who set upon unsuspecting adventurers in the
wilderness or dungeons, a pejorative term slapped on those who
killed for fun and profit.
383
Several times during the beta, I’d been attacked by PKers, but not
once since the full game launched. On the very first night, I was
nearly killed by another former tester who formed a party with
me, via MPK: a monster player kill, using monsters to do his dirty
work. But that was a passive means of killing and done in an
attempt to win a quest item to further his own survival.
Now that the chaos of that initial starting dash had died down, it
was impossible to imagine someone committing a true PK for the
purpose of sick pleasure.
With the linking of our virtual and physical fates, PK-ing was out-
and-out murder. In a normal MMO, engaging in such behavior was
a form of roleplay, but that excuse didn’t fly anymore. After all,
killing players–in particular, players who showed enough
willpower to venture into the wilderness and fight for
themselves–only prolonged the possibility of our eventual
freedom.
The day I met Asuna again in Urbus and we went Windwasp-
hunting together, I said that wearing a burlap sack for a mask
would make me look like a PKer. The only reason I made a joke
like that was my belief that no one in Aincrad would actually stoop
to such a thing. But here we were, and that ugly term was out in
the open.
The skinny dagger user from Kibaou’s team kept shrieking, his
finger still pointed at Nezha’s head.
“A few bows and scrapes can’t make up for a PK! No amount of
apologizing or money is going to bring back the dead! What’s your
plan? How are you gonna make this right? Well?!”
There was a painful edge to his voice, a screech like the point of a
knife scraping against metal. Within a cold, sobered corner of my
mind, I wondered where I’d heard it before. The memory came
within an instant.
384
This dagger-wielding man had leveled a similar charge against me,

right after we beat the first-floor boss. “I know the truth! He’s a
beta tester!” rang the voice in my ears. I’d shut him up haughtily
demanding that he not lump me in with the other testers, but that
trick wouldn’t work here.
Nezha’s tiny back absorbed all of the accusations hurled at it. He
clenched his fists atop the stones and spoke, his voice trembling.
“I will accept...whatever judgment you decide upon.”
Another silence.
I felt like every person present understood the meaning behind
the word “judgment.” The air in the coliseum grew even colder
and pricklier than before. That invisible energy reached a critical
point, everyone waiting for the one person who would break the
tension.
Eventually, I succumbed, ready to tell everyone to just wait a
moment, even though I didn’t have any ideas of how to follow it
up.
But I was half a second too late. One of the dozens of raid
members who’d been inching up on Nezha finally uttered a short
burst.
“Then pay the price.”
It was just four words, a statement that didn’t hold any specific
meaning of its own. But it was like a pin that burst an overinflated
balloon.
Suddenly the chamber was full with a roar of noise. Dozens of
players were shouting all at once: “Yeah, pay the price!”
“Go apologize to the ones who died!”
“Live by the PK, die by the PK!” Their cries grew more and more
overt until spilling into direct threats.
“Pay with your life, fraudster!”
385
“Settle your account by dying, you PK-ing bastard!”

“Kill him! Kill the filthy scheming scum!”
I couldn’t help but feel like the rage on their faces wasn’t entirely
anger at his crime. There was fury and hatred for the game of
Sword Art Online that had trapped them here, as well. It was the
thirty-eighth day since we’d been locked in this flying fortress.
Ninety-eight floors remained to conquer. The overwhelming,
desperate pressure of those astronomical odds had finally found
an outlet, a target ripe for punishment: a swindler and murderer
among our ranks.
Neither Lind nor Kibaou had the means to resolve this situation
now. Even I’d just been sitting on my heels the entire time,
watching the scene unfold, since Nezha had admitted to his
crimes. My eyes wandered until they happened across the five
Legend Braves standing at the side of the raid. They weren’t
shouting like the others but staring down at the ground, avoiding
looking at Nezha.
You should have known this could happen someday, Orlando...Didn’t
you ever see it coming? I asked silently, but there was no answer.
In fact, if I was making accusations, the same went for the man in
the black poncho who’d taught them the trick. If he was generous
enough to show them a fancy trick for free, why didn’t he explain
the potential dangers to them?
Unless...
What if this situation–the group turning on Nezha, demanding his
execution–was exactly what the black poncho was hoping for in
return?
In that case, what he wanted was not the help of the Braves, but
the opposite. He wanted Nezha to be killed at the express desire of
all the top players in the game for his direct role in the scam. That
would create a precedent for direct player-on-player killing and
lower the mental hurdle to reaching the act of murder across
Aincrad.
386
If my fears were correct, that man in the black poncho was the
real PKer here. But rather than soil his own hands with the act, he
set up other players to do the dirty work for him, dragging them
down to his level.
This was bad. We couldn’t allow his devious plan to work. We
couldn’t have Nezha publicly executed. After all, I was the one who
recommended that Nezha switch to a combat role and make up for
his crimes by helping advance the game. In effect, I brought him
here to this situation. I had a responsibility to prevent his death.
Amidst the hail of jeers, someone finally moved into action. Not
Lind, not Kibaou, not even Nezha–but the Legend Braves. They
slowly crossed the vast room, metal armor clanking, toward the
prostrate Nezha. Orlando’s bascinet visor was half-down, so I
couldn’t see his face. The other four marched in step with him,
their faces downcast.
The semicircle of Lind, the dagger user, and Shivata sensed that
something was happening, and they stepped back to make room
for the newcomers.
The group came to a halt with heavy footsteps. Nezha must have
sensed the approach of his former comrades, but he did not look
up. His fists were still balled on the floor, his forehead pressed to
the tile. Orlando stopped directly across from Nezha, the chakram
placed on the floor in between. His right hand moved to his left
side. Asuna gasped.
His gauntleted hand gripped the hilt of his sword and pulled.
Orlando’s weapon was, like mine, an Anneal Blade. It appeared to
be powered up to a similar level. If he was going to strike Nezha’s
unprotected back, it would only take three or four hits to finish
the job.
“Orlando...”
I called out the name of the paladin who had just helped defeat the
boss monster minutes ago.
387
You spent far more time with Nezha than I ever did. But I can’t
stand here and watch you kill him–no matter what that does to my
reputation.
I put all of my weight into my right foot, preparing to dart forward
the instant he raised his blade. At the same time, I sensed Asuna
shifting position as well.
“Don’t do anything, Asuna.”
“No,” she said flatly.
“Don’t you get it? If you interfere with this, you won’t be allowed
among this group anymore. You might even be labeled a criminal.”
“I still won’t stop. Don’t you remember what I said the first time
we met? I left the Town of Beginnings so that I could be myself.”
“...”
I didn’t have any time or arguments with which to convince her.
Instead, I merely signed in resignation and nodded.
Somehow, the angry shouting that filled the coliseum had turned
to silence again, everyone watched wide-eyed, waiting with bated
breath for the fateful moment.
And perhaps because I was concentrating so hard...I picked out the
quiet voice from Orlando’s helmet, even though I was nowhere
near close enough to hear it. “I’m sorry...I’m so sorry, Nezuo.”
The paladin laid down his sword next to the chakram on the
ground. He took a few steps and got down on his knees next to
Nezha, facing the same direction, removed his helmet, and put his
hands flat on the tile.
Beowulf, Cuchulainn, Gilgamesh, and Enkidu followed his lead,
setting down their weapons and helmets and getting into a line
with Nezha at the center.
Amid dead silence, the five–no, six Legend Braves bowed in
apology to the rest of the raid.
388
Eventually, Orlando spoke up, his trembling voice the only sound
in the coliseum,
“Nezuo...Nezha is our partner. We’re the ones who forced him to
commit that fraud.”
389
390
14
“So why do we have to be the errand-runners here?” Asuna

grumbled as she trudged along.
I shrugged and answered, “What can you do? It’s just the way it
is.”
“No, not that! We were a party of two during the first boss fight,
but this time we had a full six!”
“Only because Agil was considerate enough to let us join him.
We’ll need to thank him when this all blows over.”
Asuna raised an eyebrow at me. “W-what?”
“Nothing. I’m just wondering if your skill at getting along is
earning a few proficiency points.”
“That’s...” my line, I wanted to say, but I held it in. “That should be
clear, since I have a gift for him, too.”
“Oh? What’s that, the Mighty Straps you found in the labyrinth?”
“...Ooh, good idea. I’ll have to give those to him, too.” I patted my
fist into my palm.
Asuna looked at me doubtfully, then her eyes went wide with
understanding.
“Oh, I know! You’re going to foist that thing you’ve been keeping in
the inn chest off on Agil!”
“Indeed.”
She was referring to the large Vendor’s Carpet that Nezha left with
me when he abandoned his blacksmithing and went off to learn
the Martial Arts skill. It was an expensive and useful item, but
offered little benefit to a combat-focused character. Plus, it
couldn’t be placed in one’s inventory, so it had to be rolled up and
hoisted around by hand.
391
“Agil might be a warrior, but he seems likely to know some

promising future blacksmiths, wouldn’t you suspect? I’m sure
Nezha would be happy knowing that it went to good use.”
“But what if Agil himself wakes up to the lures of running his own
business?”
“...Then I’ll be his first customer,” I answered glibly.
Asuna sighed and glanced ahead. We were walking up the spiral
staircase between the second and third floors. But for some
unknown design purpose, the stairs spiraled around the entire
eight-hundred-foot-wide tower, meaning that we actually had to
walk a distance of over 2,500 feet...plus height.
But because there were no monsters on the staircase, it was still a
much easier exit from the tower than going from the boss
chamber all the way down to the front entrance.
As the roving strikers (or, if you prefer, leftovers) of the raid,
Asuna and I had been given our orders by Lind: to leave the
labyrinth, which was shut off from all instant messages, and
deliver the news of our victory to all the players who were eagerly
awaiting an update.
Normally this would be the job–no, privilege–of Lind or Kibaou.
But the main raid force could not leave the boss chamber for
another hour or so. Not because they were locked inside but
because they were too busy talking. The debate raged on about
how to deal with Nezha and the Legend Braves.
But I no longer had any concerns about the outcome of that
discussion. The instant that Orlando and his partners had laid
down their weapons and admitted their sins, the conclusion was
foretold. No matter how heated up the group was, they weren’t so
bloodthirsty that they would execute a group of six players, and
the addition of the Braves to the guilty side changed the equation:
Now Shivata and the others could realistically be repaid for their
lost weapons.
392
Orlando explained every last detail of the deception and removed

all of his equipment, not just the sword and helm. The other four
followed his lead, and produced a small mountain of high-level
gear that would fetch a price beyond my estimation.
He told the group that if they turned all of these items into cash, it
would surpass the value of the lost weapons–they’d sunk their
own honestly earned money into the armor as well–and serve as a
repayment for all the victims of their scheme. If there was cor left
over, it could be used as a potion fund for the next boss battle.
Now that the damages were able to be repaid, the remaining
problem was the player who died because his weapon was stolen.
Under the current configuration of SAO, no amount of money
could make up for a lost life. The Legend Braves offered to go find
the fellows companions and apologize in person, if that would
help in any way. When they asked the dagger user who’d brought
this story up, he backed down on his assertion, saying that it was
just a rumor and he didn’t know the name.
In the end, the group decided to ask the information agent to
discover the truth of the matter. The first controversy over player-
swindling in Aincrad was about to reach a close without
bloodshed, but there was one problem remaining: how to convert
the dozens of pieces of high-powered equipment into cash.
There was always the option of selling them to NPC merchants in
town. But the NPC’s prices were always kept below the market
rate by the “invisible hand” of the system in order to combat
inflation. If we were going to get the maximum value, the
transitions had to be with other players.
The people with the most cor and the largest need for good
equipment were the front-line players. So Lind and Kibaou
considered the possibility of selling that equipment to the few
dozen players present in the boss chamber and donating the
money to Shivata’s group of three.
393
Of course, there were more victims of the scheme than just the
people present here, so proper payment would need to be made
once everyone went back to town.
So the delay in leaving the boss chamber was due to a
spontaneous auction. Sadly, none of the items was suitable for
agile leather-wearers like me and Asuna–and even if there were
some, I wouldn’t have been in the mood to buy and equip them. As
we stood around feeling relieved that a peaceful solution was
found, Lind came over and said, “If you don’t have anything better
to do, could you leave the dungeon and tell the newspapers that
our conquest was successful?”
I couldn’t find a good reason to decline his request, so I prodded
the reluctant Asuna, and we went out the door in the back of the
chamber to the next floor. Agil and his friends waved good-bye,
but we didn’t have an opportunity to say anything to Nezha the
former blacksmith.
As soon as Orlando and his friends lined up around him, his little
back trembled and shook with constant sobs.
“Well, it seems like the case of fraud is going to wrap up
safely...What do you suppose Nezha and the Braves are going to do
next?” Asuna wondered as she climbed the gently sloping
staircase.
I mulled it over. “Depends on them. They can’t prevent the tale of
the Braves’ shady behavior from spreading around the front line.
Either they’ll have to avoid everyone here and go back down to
the Town of Beginnings, or start over from scratch and try to
reach our level again. Before we left, Lind told me that if they
wanted to, he’d allow them to keep a minimum of cor necessary
for the equipment they’ll need to hang around. But no matter what
they choose, they won’t treat Nezha like a third wheel.”
“Hmm...To be honest, I’m still not sure how I feel about
Orlando...But if they do make it back to the front line, I’ll do my
best to work with them. I mean, even you did all right with Lind
and Kibaou, didn’t you?”
394
I nearly missed a step.

“I-I haven’t changed my attitude a bit! If anything, they’re the ones
who are acting weird. Kibaou’s totally anti-tester, and Lind’s
trying to raise an elite fighting force, so solos like me are only an
obstacle to his goals. And yet, both of them were being oddly
normal...”
Asuna momentarily looked frosty when I uttered the word solo.
She sighed and said, “As usual, you’re completely clueless.”
“Huh? How so?”
“If all of the frontier players were under the lead of either Lind or
Kibaou alone, they would have been much more open about
excluding you. But the blue Dragon Knights and the green Aincrad
Liberation Squad are jockeying for power even as they work
together, right?”
“Um, yeah...”
“In the current situation, they’re both on edge. They think that if
they antagonize you too much, you’ll end up aligning with the
other team.”
“Me? With either blue or green?” I came to a standstill and
chuckled. “Ha-ha, no way. They’d shut the door in my face, even if I
actually wanted to join. I’m the evil beater, right? I mean, even
today...”
I shut my mouth and started hopping up the steps. Asuna hurried
to catch up, looking skeptical, then raised a finger in sudden
understanding.
“Hey, by the way, what happened to the boss’s last attack bonus?
On Asterios the Taurus Xing, I mean. I didn’t get the prompt.”
“Uhh, ahh, umm...”
“And now that I think about it, didn’t you win the LA on Colonel
Nato and General Baran? You didn’t get the king too, did you...?”
“Um, well, that’s, uh–hey, is that the exit?”
395
“Oh, no, you don’t! You did win it, didn’t you? What did he drop?
Tell me!”
Suddenly we were both jogging up the stairs. At the end of the
gently curving staircase was a thick door decorated with a relief.
The scene was of two swordsmen facing off among gnarled old
trees. The left was dark-skinned, and the right was pale, but both
were slender and fragile, with pointed ears.
The picture was meant to represent the theme of the floor ahead, I
thought to myself.
Nezha–no, Nataku. You were the real MVP of the second floor.
Come on back to us. The front line’s a scary, dangerous place...but
it’s where you’ll find what you really wanted. And the front line
needs you, too. After all...
“In a way, the third floor is where SAO really starts,” I said aloud.
Asuna caught up to me, looking puzzled rather than harassing me
more about the LA. “It is? Why is that?”
I started off with my now-familiar, unhelpful refrain: “Um, well...”
And savoring each and every step, I crossed the final thirty feet of
the second floor of Aincrad.
396
Afterword
Afterword
Hello, this is Reki Kawahara, author of Sword Art Online

Progressive 1.
The word progressive might make you think of video formats, but
in this case it is meant in the “incremental increase” sense. I chose
this title to represent the task of conquering Aincrad bit by bit,
from the very first floor. From this point on, I’ll be using the
abbreviation SAOP.
So first of all, I should explain why I decided to start writing this
series.
If you’ll permit me to repeat what I said in the afterword of the
first volume of SAO, I wrote the story as a submission for the
Dengeki Novel Award, so I had to finish the story with the game
being beaten, right in the very first installment. Later on, I wrote a
number of shorter prequel stories that filled in gaps (see Volumes
2 and 8), but they’re more like little episodes, and don’t focus on
the meat and potatoes of the players advancing through game.
So I’ve always harbored a secret desire to write about how Kirito
and the others cleared each floor and defeated each boss in the
game, it just didn’t really happen until now. Because I’m now
trying to write it all over again from the first floor, it creates a
number of issues.
Biggest of all is how to deal with Asuna, the heroine. In the
previously published series, Kirito doesn’t get to know Asuna until
much, much later. If I depicted Kirito as working with Asuna on
the first and second floor of Aincrad, it would contradict what I’ve
already published.
For a long time, I wavered between two options: avoiding that
contradiction by starting off Progressive with a different heroine,
or embracing the contradiction and going with Asuna right from
the start.
397
Afterword
Ultimately, I admitted to myself that it didn’t feel right having

anyone but Asuna at Kirito’s side, and I suspect that most of my
readers feel the same way. So I decided to have Kirito meet Asuna
right away.
Of course, I’m certain that some readers will not be able to accept
the contradictions with what I’ve written before, and that’s okay.
But I will do my utmost to make sure that the choices I make line
up with the established events as best I can. My hope is that you’ll
be able to overcome my inconsistency and enjoy this new series
for what it is.
Now that I’ve gotten my customary apologies out of the way, let’s
go over each of these stories.
“Aria of a Starless Night,” the story of the first floor of Aincrad,
picks up right after the story of “The First Day,” which is found in
Volume 8 of the main series. We see characters that had only
appeared in name before, such as Kibaou, future leader of the
Army, and the information dealer, Argo the Rat. Then, of course,
there are old favorites like Agil before he became a businessman,
and Asuna when she was just a beginner to MMORPGs. It was a
very strange mix of the new and familiar as I was writing. Of
course, Kirito is still Kirito.
Part of the point of Progressive is to explain the systems of in
greater detail, so “Aria” spends a lot of time covering the concept
of a “boss raid.” I hope you really got the feel for a great big group
of eight parties of six members each. If it didn’t make sense to you,
watch the second episode of the SAO anime series, please! Ha-ha.
The story of the second floor, “Rondo of a Fragile Blade,” features
a whole host of new faces. It took me quite a while to decide if the
character of Nezha should be a man or a woman. Eventually, I got
the feeling that having him be a girl would pose a whole new set of
problems, so I took the easy route in making him a man.
I meant to have this tale feature the weapon upgrading system,
but I let it slip away from me a bit, and the result was more of a
mystery story surrounding the concept of upgrade fraud.
398
Afterword
Since there wasn’t much fighting in the early part of the story, I
wanted to feature a nice, meaty boss battle, and ended up bringing
out quite a nasty boss for just the second floor of the game. If that
happened in a real MMO, I would totally throw in the towel!
Those two stories made up the first volume of SAOP. I’ve already
got the title of the third-floor story picked out: “Concerto of Black
and White.” In game system terms, I’m going to focus on the theme
of campaign quests.
Well, now that I’ve gone and done a sneak peek for the next
volume, I should probably come clean and admit that I don’t think
I can write more than one volume of Progressive a year. So if I
cover two floors a year, when will I actually get to the seventy-
fifth floor...? I’m too scared to consider the possibilities! Hope to
see you in Volume 2!
And of course, I’ll be continuing with the main SAO series. Part
Three of the Alicization arc, Volume 11, should be coming out in
December. Kirito and Eugeo will be tackling the mysteries of the
Underworld. Please check it out.
Also, the continuation of SAO means that I’ll need to skip Accel
World this time around. Deep apologies! But since Volume 9 and
10 of that came put in quick succession, it should be back to its
normal schedule now. I’m not sure how long I will be able to keep
up writing a book every other month (in fact, it’s already looking
hairy)...but I’ll do my best!
Thanks once again to my illustrator abec-san for eagerly tackling
two series at once, to my editor Miki-san for eagerly (I think)
tackling this five hundred-page monster of a book, and to my vice
editor Tsuchiya-san for dealing with the ulcers (I assume) of
waiting for my very late replies to every message. And to those of
you who read to the end of this very thick book, the greatest LA
bonus of my gratitude!
Reki Kawahara–August 2012
399
Sword Art Online Progressive– Volume 01
Credits
Credits
Translation:36
Black Cats of the Full Moon
Thinklife
Pryun
BeginnerXP
Yen Press: Stephen Paul
Editing:
MySpl33n
Gsimenas
Mttblue2
Illustrations:
http://ruranobe.ru
Mttblue2
Thanks!
Compiled:
Mamue
36 Translation from of Aria from https://www.baka-

tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Sword_Art_Online:Aria_in_the_Starless_Night on March 30, 2014.
Translation of Intermission from http://dreadfuldecoding.blogspot.de/2012/11/sword-art-
online-progressive-volume-1.html on May 5, 2016.
Translation of Rondo from the official release https://www.hachettebookgroup.biz/titles/reki-
kawahara/sword-art-online-progressive-1/9780316259361/. Thanks to plsnoriperino for providing the
digital copy.
400

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1

Just once, I saw a real shooting star.

One could describe the fight as bloodcurdling.

To wordlessly distance myself and find my own prey was my

For a few seconds, the rapier user continued to watch me with

"Overkill means…in comparison to the monster's remaining HP,

Also, after the Gamemaster forced all avatars to be the same

For a moment, I thought about mumbling an apology and leaving

In front of me, as I stepped forward in reaction, the rapier user

As she was falling to the dungeon floor, a prosaic thought drifted

Sensing her movement, the man's dark-grey leather coat covered

After being imprisoned in this world, Asuna had asked herself

Though not as extreme as Koichiro, the only experience of game

'The importance of life' and 'How everyone should team up and

Since the floating castle Aincrad had a tapering structure, of

The mysterious female fencer and I set out together—that is,

"A strange girL."2

Someday, when I find an ultra-rare item, I really will pay that

Whenever the enhancement of any of the parameters succeeded,

At my inquiry, Argo calmly nodded and said,

3 -shi is a more formal version of the honorific -san

Argo and I were both certain of each other's identity as a beta

A troublesome person that had used some method earlier to move

After a few seconds, Asuna wondered, 'Why would he say that?'

Of course, the male-to-female ratio was extremely skewed. The

In addition, his long hair flowing down in waves on either side of

His equipment and hair style were different, so it was hard to

"Wait a minute, Knight-han6."

After taking plenty of time to look at everyone once, Kibaou

If a player's colored cursor had a [β] mark, then of course it would

However, more than that, it wouldn’t be smart to reveal my status

"…I got it too."

If we based our strategy on information from the beta and rushed

Although the meeting lacked any real discussion, it still seemed to

Of course, the meeting was temporarily paused as all the

"—Then, it's a bit fast, but I am thinking of starting the actual

"Then, how about forming a party with me? A raid is up to eight

I estimated that her response would be 'Unnecessary' with more

At 5:30 PM in the afternoon, the meeting was ended and dissolved

"…Anyway, most of the private rooms at inns in this world cannot

10 100 Cor in the web, 50 in the published version.

Although she had said it herself already, Asuna thought that,

With a trembling body, she would suddenly jump up in bed and

"………What did you say?"

"I-It has a bed with a nice view…?"

"About that, actually, I am already very satisfied after staying

They had eaten cream-covered bread together, been pushed into

The farmhouse that the black-haired swordsman had rented was

13 Kanji = 鍵開け(lock opening), furigana = ピッキング (picking)

"…W-Well, please come in."

Thinking up to there, Asuna finally removed her gaze away from

Asuna couldn't help but let out another low moan.

To think I would be forced to use such a high Will Saving Throw15

For example, suppose that this was in my home in Kawagoe,

But fortunately, this was the second floor of a large farmhouse

Or rather, I have no reason to go to the bathroom anyway. When

Shaking my head, I returned my attention to the guidebook on the

Surprised, my whole body trembled, and I timidly turned around

I couldn’t deny that I didn’t momentarily consider this option.

As far as I know, the only three sounds that could be transmitted

Deciding on that with the speed I normally used in battle, I

The phrase I had earlier prepared in my mind came out from my

"…That kind of thing would have fundamentally no effect on

"Unfortunately, when you remove it from the farmhouse, its