March 2033

The three months since the victory over the 1st floor boss flew by in the blink of an eye. Despite this, the lasting effects of their triumphant return still remained in the form of the terrified players huddled in the beginning town finding the resolve to stand and fight, riding the waves left behind by their brave predecessors to bulldoze through the next floors, all the way up to the 25th before taking a short break.

"Wow... I, uh, don't know how to react to that." A man in an inn on the 14th floor leaned back in his seat, casting his gaze toward the ceiling as his brain tried to wrap around the information presented to him. His four guild members also shared his sentiment and exchanged uneasy glances before turning their wary gazes to the sixth person sitting at their table.

An enigmatic woman sat on the other end of the table away from the rest of them, wearing an attire that resembled that of a shrine maiden: a traditional white kimono with a red obi around her waist and traditional okobo sandals. As if her clothes weren't odd enough, a pair of crimson oni horns rested atop her head of long dark purple hair that reached far below her shoulder and eye level with her hips.

"I see." She slowly scanned the guild members' faces with her patient violet eyes, the red eyeliner fully accentuating the electrifying color. "Then, allow me to start from the beginning-"

"No, there's no need." The man from earlier who also happened to be the leader of the guild sat up and waved his hands dismissively. "It's just.. your story is difficult to believe, much less take seriously. You say that, one day, you woke up and found that katana," He pointed at the sheathed weapon resting on the table in front of her. "in your inventory with no recollection of ever picking it up. Not to mention, it cannot be unsheathed? Now, you wanna ask for our help in getting it out of its sheath? Yeah, no. No matter how you look at it, this is clearly a trap for newbies."

"I assure you, that is not the case."

"Well, that's nice and all but we ain't got the faintest clue to who you are. How can we take your wo-"

"My name is Acheron." She cut him off. "Captain of the Main Advance Team's 3rd Squad. I am Level 33 and prioritize an AGL build, however, my STR isn't too far behind. Here." The strange woman now known as Acheron pulled up her menu and swiped it over to the guild leader for him to see. "You may take whatever you wish from my inventory and you can look in my private messages for anything suspicious." She offered.

The guild members nervously looked around at each other, sharing a brief yet silent moment of "Wtf?" before they shuffled over to look over their leader's shoulder. Meanwhile, Acheron had her eyes closed as she remained in her seat without any change in her expression even after she heard the uneasy whispers of the other inn patrons.

"H-Hey, she isn't joking, is she?"

"Of course not, you can get in some serious trouble for attempting to impersonate as a member of the Main Advance Team - especially a Captain and she publicly gave her name."

"She could be using a false name, you know."

"Yeah, maybe, but I'm not going to ask."

The sound of onlooker's chatter soon blended into the background along with the waitresses' call-out for orders and the conversation between the guild members. Soon, the world around Acheron disappeared, leaving her alone in an empty black void without the slightest decibel of noise as she tuned out everyone else's voices. 

"You're really serious about this, aren't you?"

Acheron opened her eyes upon hearing the guild leader's voice cut through her meditative slumber and the noises of the inn soon returned as quickly as they had left.

"Yes."

"I see... What will we get in exchange?"

"I will personally reimburse you 10,000 Cor every night, and cover any and all expenses your guild may face. In addition, judging by your equipment, I estimate you all are around Level 22. If you so desire, I will escort you to the higher floors and ensure your safety as you level quicker from the mobs located on those floors." Acheron offered, quietly watching the guild's faces light up in a mixture of surprise and excitement.

"10,000 Cors daily..."

"...all expenses..."

"...higher floors..."

"...AND quicker leveling?"

The four members' eyes gleamed like the stars in the night sky and they turned to their boss who himself didn't look too convinced.

"Your offer is pretty damn enticing... Is that katana really worth essentially your entire life savings. Plus, couldn't you ask your squad or someone from the Main Advance Team to help you out? I'm sure being a captain would make them Or is there another reason for-"

"That's none of your business." Acheron firmly stated, the shift in her voice was very minor but compared to her usual calm tone, the difference was louder than the crackle of thunder. Just as quickly as the hint of aggression surfaced, it was just as swiftly shoved back down under the waves that were her mask of emotions. "My apologies. I shall take my leave and let you five talk amongst yourselves. If you choose to accept, then meet me at Floor 17's teleport gate."

Acheron bowed her head, then elegantly left the inn without making a sound.

When the door closed behind her, the suffocating tension in the air vanished and the patrons collectively let out a sigh of relief.

"Boss, what do you think?"

"I... I don't know. If I was on my own, I would have taken her up on her offer in a heartbeat. But..." The guild leader looked around at this friends. "I have to take everyone in the guild's feelings into consideration too. Although, something tells me that I already know what your answers are." He laughed and pointed at the shining stars in their eyes.

"Isn't it obvious?!"

"Right, of course, of course. Her offer is basically perfect for a mid-level guild like us." His beaming smile was replaced with a frown as he leaned forward with a serious expression. "Which is why we must be cautious." He looked around the table to see his friends with similar faces. "We're used to farming monsters from this floor and below, and we have no clue what monsters are waiting for us on the higher floors. There's the possibility that we may die from accepting Acheron-san's offer. Despite this, is everyone here still willing to go through with this? If I feel even one of you falter, then we won't do it."

The entire table was silent, the people's faces were scrunched in thought as they thought quietly to themselves. After a few minutes, they looked to each other and nodded - the decision was already made long ago.

After paying the tab, the guild left the inn and began their search for Acheron, unaware of a conversation between two players tucked away into a corner.

"You heard that, right?" A player wearing gray metal armor whispered to his friend who nodded.

"Yeah, I had my doubts but that katana she's carrying around matches the description of the «Raijin» Katana that the 3rd Captain uses. Although... I never heard of a katana that couldn't be unsheathed."

"What should we do, Yamata-san? There's no way we can take her on even with a party of ten."

"I know that, Captain Obvious." Yamata sighed and a small silence fell upon their table until he smirked evilly. "I have an idea, Shivata."

Meanwhile, on the 17th floor, Acheron waited diligently by the teleport gate and opened her eyes when she heard the sound of teleportation. She looked up to see the five-man guild approaching her.

"Yeah as long as you're not hiding anything from us, then we would be idiots to reject your generous offer." The leader stepped up and placed a fist on his chest. "The name's Keith by the way. Since your next question will probably be what weapons and roles we use and have, I use a two-handed sword and one of the three damage dealers. Let's get along, Acheron-san!" He smiled, the golden glow of the nearby street lamp casting a golden glow on his white hair and blue eyes.

"...Right." Acheron nodded as the rest introduced themselves too.

Timeskip, One Month Later

April 2033

"Komata, switch!" Keith shouted and leaped back to allow a young dark-green-haired boy to charge in and slash the lizardman across the chest with his katana, leaving behind a large gash.

The lizard man roared and swung its weapon - only for a hulking figure, clad head-to-toe in heavy metal knight armor, to step in and raise his massive shield to block the lizard man's sword. He didn't flinch even as the lizardman's sword shattered upon impact.

"Thanks, Kalwar!"

"Zip it, brat! Shu!" Kalwar shouted, his voice coming out deeper and gruffer thanks to the helmet covering their face.

"Got it!" A man with short gray hair dashed forward, brandishing his knife as he leapt over Kalwar's shield, slashing the lizard man's back. The creature roared and went to turn around, only to realize that its body wouldn't listen to its commands. "Don't worry, the paralysis only lasts for a few seconds. But..." 

Shu's magenta eyes looked up to see a short girl with blue hair spinning through the air with her comically large hammer. "You won't last that long."

CRACK!

The chilling sound of the lizardman's skull being caved in was off-putting to them at first, but after spending days slaying hundreds of them, it was no different to hearing birds chirping in the morning at this point.

"Kuru-kuru~!" The girl sang. Her expression, much like Acheron's, didn't change much from the usual blank stare she always had but there was a prideful glimmer in her pink-colored eyes as a golden glow engulfed her body, signaling her level up.

"Nice work, Grin!" The group congratulated the light-blue-haired girl, except for Kalwar who simply grunted and Acheron who nodded in approval, standing a few feet away.

The group found themselves on the 24th floor of Aincrad - a serene-looking floor comprised mainly of water with countless islands connected by thin strips of land to serve as bridges to traverse the floor.

"Phew, I think that's enough for today. How about we turn in for the day?" Keith proposed when he saw the orange color dying the skies to which everyone agreed and they searched for a spot to rest, leaving the leader alone with Acheron. "So, what do you think of us so far? We getting better?"

Acheron's lips twitched and her eyebrows knitted together at his question. It was clear to him that there was some form of inner turmoil going behind the calm pair of eyes that's been observing them closely for the past month. "...There's much to work on - especially with switch timing, but that will happen as time passes. Compared to the first time I watched you five fight together, you've all improved leaps and bounds in teamwork, skill, and equipment."

"Hehe, that's reassuring to hear." Keith chuckled and looked out into the distance. He closed his eyes and breathed in the salt lake's air. "It's funny. If this were a normal game, I would have dived straight into the lake or ran around the islands in search of treasure. Obviously, that would be suicide now since who knows what's under the lake or waiting for us on one of these islands?"

"Nothing good." said Acheron steadily.

"Hey, you gotta lighten up, Acheron-san." Keith lifted his two index fingers and pushed his cheeks upward, causing his lips to curl upward into a smile. "Can you do this for us next time? It would do wonders for our morale."

"I... I can't promise anything."

"That's fine. Just keep it in mind, okay?" Keith smiled.

"Heeeey! We found a nice spot to set up camp!" Komata's shout caught their attention and with a nod, they joined the rest of their party.

By the time they finished setting up camp and clearing flattening the land, night had fallen upon Aincrad, the obsidian gem-filled sky looked down on them.

"P-Pardon?" For the first time since she joined them, Acheron was lost at a loss for words at the unexpected predicament she found herself in. 

The campfire was small and its flames were prevented from igniting the grass underneath their sleeping bags by the circle of rocks trapping them. However, the light was enough to illuminate the clearing they discovered on a tiny island with a large tree as its only other inhabitant.

But, none of that mattered to Acheron at the moment. What stole her attention was the neatly wrapped present resting on her lap.

"It's been exactly one month since you joined us." said Shu. "It's only right that we get you a present to commemorate it." He explained as Acheron pursed her lip.

"We wouldn't have gotten this far in such a short time if it weren't for Acheron-san." Komata mumbled and twiddled his thumbs, averting his gaze with an embarrassed blush when he had locked eyes with Acheron for a brief second. His eyes reflected the color and warmth of the campfire as a similar warmth caused Acheron's vision to blur.

"You definitely wouldn't have, brat." Kalwar pointed out, not bothering to face the younger man as he was too busy stirring the pot containing their dinner. An elbow from Keith made him sigh. "Okay, maybe you would have."

"Kalwar." Keith warned slowly.

"Alright, alright. I'll lay off him for tonight." Kalwar backed off.

A pull on Acheron's clothes made her look down to her right to see Grin looking up at her. "Hope you enjoy it, Acheron-neesan." Grin said.

"...!"

"H-Hey, what's wrong?!" Keith and the others stood immediately when they saw the hot tears streaming down Acheron's face.

"It's... nothing." She wiped her face and took a deep breath, her face returning to its normal stoicism but the cracks had already started to show themselves. Acheron slowly opened the present with her slightly trembling hands and her mouth sucked in air when she saw the beautiful silver necklace with an amethyst embedded into it.

"We didn't know what to get you." Keith admitted, scratching the back of his head. "So, we just took Grin to the jewelry store and asked her what reminded her of you."

Acheron looked up to see the sheepishness on everyone not named Kalwar's faces. "It's beautiful..." She whispered and tied the necklace around her neck, purposefully ignoring the excited "yes"es from the party's damage dealers.

When she finished, however, she was at a loss of what to do until she noticed Keith pushing both index fingers against his face and remembered what he said earlier.

"I... I love it. Thank you, everyone." Acheron thanked them with a tiny smile. True to Keith's words, the gesture made everyone's spirit soar past the clouds and into space - or whatever it was that existed in this world. "I've... never received a present before." 

"R-Really? Not even from your subordinates or real life?" Komata blurted without thinking and was elbowed promptly by Keith. "Oh no. I didn't mean to-"

"No, it's... fine." Acheron's expression remained the same. However, the patient look behind her eyes had vanished, instead replaced with a gentle tenderness as she whispered, "The presents I received as captain were never given with the intention of love, respect, or even admiration - only to gain my favor. This is the first time I was given a gift from people who see me as equals. My father didn't have a lot of time for me and my I. He was always busy with his responsibilities at his job. Most kids avoided me because I didn't act like them and after my parents divorced, they took more... direct measures. Until a few years ago, it was only me and my mother."

An unsettling stillness fell upon the guild, the only sounds being the crackling of the campfire and Kalwar stirring the ladle.

"My folks... I never met them. I was raised in an orphanage until I was 12 before I was adopted by my current family. They tried to raise me as one of their own, but no matter what, I saw the line dividing me and their kids. I'm sure they also saw it." Keith shrugged.

"My parents were... are strict. I wasn't allowed to play with the other kids growing up since they wanted me to follow in their footsteps and become a doctor. That meant I had to attend afterschools, weekend classes, and spend my summer in class instead of going to the playground. I'm in college now so it doesn't bother me, but I can't say I agree with their parenting." Shu said in his usual unbothered tone while inspecting his dagger.

"I, uh... I don't have a complicated relationship with my family like Keith and Shu, but there are things we don't see eye-to-eye on." Komata scratched the back of his head. "They don't approve of my hobbies and tried to convince me to turn my focus towards more... meaningful activities - whatever that meant. The last time we talked, it ended with us screaming at each other."

Kalwar was silent as he swirled the mouth-watering stew. He noticed everyone looking at him. "Oh, I guess it's my turn for this mushy crap?" He sighed. "My life isn't all that interesting. I just work odd jobs here and there, trying to support my little sister's education. That's it." Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Komata opening his mouth - no doubt to say something along the lines of "So, why were you playing SAO?" and threw his ladle at him, the metallic utensil bouncing off the younger man's forehead and dealing 1 DMG.

"My mom... She..." Grin took a deep breath and looked down at her lap. "She's been taking care of me by herself since my dad died in a car accident. She wasn't the same after he passed away and frequently went into panic attacks. I can't even imagine what she's feeling right now. I... I-I wanna go home and see her again." She started sobbing.

"Hey, hey. Don't cry." Keith leaned over to wipe her face. "We're all going to get out of this game, alright? Then, you can see your mom," His sapphire blue eyes slowly looked around the campfire, lingering on everyone before stopping on Acheron. "and we all can return to our lives."

"...Keith is right, Grin." Acheron offered Grin a reassuring nod. "Your mom and you, you're both strong. Hang in there until we get out of this game."

"O-Okay..." The younger woman sniffed and wiped away the tears with the back of her hand.

"Hey, I got an idea." The group turned to their leader as he placed a hand above the campfire after the metal pot was taken off. "Let's make an oath!"

"An.. oath?"

"Yeah! Let's make an oath that we'll all survive to see the end of his game!" Keith grinned and bounced on his feet like an excited child.

"That's not a bad idea. Let's all meet in the real world after all of this is over and done with." Shu was the first to place his hand ontop of Keith's.

"Like the knights of the Round Table? I'm in." Komata gave his peculiar reasoning and joined the two.

"If it means we can finish this emotional bs, then... I guess seeing you all wouldn't the end of the world..." grumbled Kalwar who placed his hand underneath theirs.

"I..." Grin steeled herself. "I wanna see Momma... and everyone in the real world."

Acheron watched them. There was an indescribable warmth feeling she felt that wasn't from the campfire. At first, she thought she was inflicted with an undetected status ailment or there was a game bug affecting her. However, it wasn't until much, much later when this chapter in her life was done when she realized it was the comforting sensation of finding friends that cherished her as much as she cherished them.

"...Yeah." She placed her hand ontop of theirs. "Let's continue this journey together until the end."

* * * * *

Later that night, after a hearty meal cooked up by Kalwar, Acheron laid down in her sleeping bag, staring up at the night sky. She slowly closed her eyes and saw various images pop up in her mindscape.

A lone girl sat alone at a lunch table in her school's cafeteria, trying to hold back her tears, while the other tables were crammed full of students trying to find a spot to sit away from her.

The same girl sat in her luxurious bedroom bigger than most people's houses. It was filled with many things that could keep children occupied for days upon days without boring them. Things that could make them happy forever. Keep them happy forever. However, the girl didn't seem to think so as she sat in the corner, curled up into a ball and covered her ears to block out the arguing voices echoing throughout the mansion.

In the next image, she saw the girl being dragged away from her mansion towards a run-down old car by her mother who also had tears falling down her face as she pulled along a suitcase in her other hand.

Left in a similar situation as the first image, the girl sat by her lonesome but this time, the other students didn't bother to hide their disdain for her. They tore up her notebooks, broke her pencils, stuck gum in her hair, and poured milk on her head.

The next image depicted the same girl - a year older now and wearing all black without any tears left to shed. She sat in front of a picture of her mother framed that sat on top of a small shrine, surrounded on both sides by a singular candle.

Finally, Acheron could see the same girl all grown up now and swinging a kendo stick, a few loose strands of hair clinging to her face due to the sweat on her skin. The frightened look that always snuck its way on her face was long gone and instead replaced with a burning resolute determination that made the purple of her eyes crackle with strength. Other kendo practitioners thought of approaching her but the intensity behind her dedication deterred any and all from approaching her, leaving her alone and isolated by everyone else in the black void.

Acheron soon opened her eyes and solemnly gazed at the stars. She listened to the crackling of the campfire two feet away from her and turned her head to look at the others. They were all fast asleep and sleeping peacefully, probably dreaming of finding new treasure, exploring more floors, or, in Kalwar's case, bashing the faces of his enemies with his shield.

With a small warm smile, she shut her eyes and allowed the temptation of sleep to take her away.

Timeskip, Two Months Later

June 2033

"Acheron-neesan, can we buy this?" Grin pleaded the older woman who took a closer look at the hammer she wanted from the trade vendor. Her eyebrows furrowed when she saw the price.

"This hammer is quite expensive. I believe I remember it dropping off a field boss on the 16th floor. It might be better if we farmed it instead-"

"Pwease...?" Grin used her most effective skill: Puppy Eyes, and while it didn't affect Acheron initially, she soon found herself falling victim to its effect after a few minutes. She gave in and bought the new weapon. "Yay~! Thank you, Acheron-neesan!"

"No need to thank me." said Acheron with a small smile as she watched Grin run over to show it to Komata who himself was ogling a newly crafted katana in an auction. With a sigh and knowing what was going to happen next, she stepped in before he could ask her to and together, they walked out with two new weapons.

"Th...Thank you, Acheron-san..." The young man stuttered and hastily looked away when he saw the smile gracing her lips.

Ever since that night, Acheron had slowly started to come more and more out of her shell. She began smiling more often and said a few more words here and there. It might not sound like much but for someone as taciturn as her, it meant the world to her new friends.

Speaking of whom, the rest of their guild were staying at an inn on the 22th floor.

"Oh, by the way, Acheron-san. I overheard from two other players that a new sub-dungeon popped up on this floor."

"On the 22th? How odd. But, I don't think there is any merit to entering it. Our levels are too high to gain any meaningful experience and there's the risk of it being a lie to trap players."

"But... What if it helps us learn how to unsheathe your katana?"

"...That is unnecessary. I've grown accustomed to it remaining sheathed." Acheron coldly brushed him off. In truth, however, she had entirely forgotten about her katana, having enjoyed the time she spent with them so much that it had become nothing more than an afterthought as it was now.

"Oh... O-Okay." Komata nodded. He and Grin locked eyes with one another and silently nodded.

Later that night, when Acheron was asleep, Komata sent everyone a message to meet in his room.

"You better have a good reason to bother me, brat." Kalwar scowled underneath his helmet.

"I do. It's about... that." Komata told everyone and the atmosphere shifted as they leaned forward.

"I see..." Shu stood up and leaned against the door, keeping an ear out for curious players trying to eavesdrop. "Go ahead."

Komata nodded and went on to explain what he accidentally overheard from the players, detailing the sub-dungeon that had sprung out of nowhere in a random pocket on the current floor.

"If we are quick, we may be able to get inside before everyone else wakes up." He looked out the window, squinting to peer through the dark veil covering the dim streets.

"You severely underestimate the sweat of some players here." Kalwar pointed out. "I bet there's at least someone heading over there right now. Hell, they've probably already beat it."

"We should go anyways, maybe it'll give us an answer on how to unsheathe Acheron-san's katana." Komata replied.

An uncomfortable silence filled the already stuffy room.

"Perhaps, it will. Or perhaps it won't." Keith sighed. He pulled out a device and tapped it, causing it to display a 3D hologram projection of Aincrad. Then, hundreds of arrows pointed at different floors they had explored as a team. "We've searched everywhere we could and followed through with any rumors we heard. Maybe the item is just bugged."

"Probably... But, she's our friend. We still have to try, don't we?" Komata's question went unanswered and lingered in the air until someone sighed. To his surprise, it was Kalwar taking his side.

"As much as I loathe to admit it, the brat has a... point. Now, I don't intend to scour through every pixel of this game to help her, but if this dungeon has the answer, then we should give it a shot." The knight-clad man saw the look in Komata's eyes and held up a hand. "Let me finish. If this dungeon is another dead-end, then that's that. We can't keep wasting our time on a weapon that might have never been intended to be wielded like Keith said, and neither should she. If we can't help her, then she has every right to know. Whether she wants to give up, continue traveling with us, or seek out another guild for her commission is up to her - and her alone."

Another silence replaced the previous, and somehow ended up being more suffocating.

"Do you think Acheron-neesan will leave our guild, Shu-san?" Grin approached Shu and tugged on his clothes.

"I... I don't know." He gently smiled and patted her head. "But, even if she did, that doesn't mean you and her can't stop being friends." He told her, bring a small smile to her face.

"Yeah!"

"It seems that everything's been settled." Keith tapped the device and put it away. "Then... this makes it official. If we can't find even a clue, we'll tell Acheron and have her decide on what to do next." He stood up and checked his gear. "Make sure you're ready. We head out tonight." He commanded them as everyone nodded.

* * * * *

Sunlight peered through the windows of Acheron's room and roused her from her deep slumber. Her amethyst purple eyes opened and she sat up with a quiet yawn. Compared to when she had met Keith and the others

"A note?" Acheron leaned down to pick up the piece of paper at the bottom of her room's door. Normally, such a thing wouldn't be possible, but adding Keith, Kalwar, Shu, Komata, and Grin, gave her the option to whitelist friends.

Unfolding the paper, her purple eyes scanned every word of the note before she tucked it away into her inventory. She almost broke the door with how hard she yanked it open and she walk over to everyone else's room, knocking on their doors.

No one responded.

"Where are they?" Acheron muttered. The uneasy feeling she felt yesterday before she went to bed was coming back to bite her.

"Excuse me, ma'am." A voice calling out to her made her wheel around to find two men standing behind her. One of them wore gray steel armor that covered him head-to-toe while the other wore leather armor. "Are you looking for your friends? I saw them exiting the city's gate this morning. They said they were heading to investigate the new sub-dungeon that popped up."

"This morning?" The breath Acheron hadn't realized she was holding left her mouth in the form of a soft exhale. She thanked them and after getting directions, she started to make her way towards the town's main gate.

When Acheron left the town's boundary, however, one of the men leaned over to the other and whispered, "Tell everyone to get ready. We have a God to claim."

《Acheron's POV》

I let out a sigh of relief and quickly made my way towards the city's gate after thanking the two players. In the back of my mind, I could hear a voice screaming for me to not trust random strangers, but with the lives of my friends on the line, I didn't have the luxury of time to be worried about others.

Unfortunately, there was still one problem that I never managed to solve even after months of playing/living in this game. Even after the hundreds of hour spent leading my squad through the first 20 floors.

I was lost almost immediately.

It was difficult to not be lost. The hills, trees, and roads never seemed to stand out to me, instead blending into one messed up conglomerate in my mind's eye. Not to mention, it certainly didn't help that those two players didn't give an exact direction and instead gave directions along the lines of "go left after the 2nd fork in the road" and "turn right when you see a large yellow tree."

Not exactly the best directions compared to just telling me to go Northeast or, the easiest solution, sending me the location on the map function all players had.

However, the town was already merely a speck in the distance by the town I found myself lost and confused at the bottom of the trail up to the mountains, and there was definitely not enough time to backtrack.

"This isn't good. I should have asked Komata for more details yesterday." I pinched the bridge of my nose and pulled up my menu. 

Just then, I heard the sound of an ear-piercing squeal and looked up to see an albino-hide boar running down towards me, followed by an entire stampede of more, all squealing in terror. Confusion made me pause. I recognized these species of boars as a stronger variation of the starter mobs found outside the Town of Beginnings - around Lv. 30. What would make them run away in terror?

"Come here, lil piggies!!" An unfamiliar voice made me look up to see the shadowy silhouette of a young man in the air, falling towards the now even more terrified boards. In his hand was a large black-steel nodachi which glowed F/C as he landed in the swarm of boars and swung in a circle, culling every single one of the tusked animals. "And, that makes 105. Need to kill 45 more and then I can turn in the quest."

The man stood up and stretched with a wide cheerful grin that made the sun beaming down on us look cold and desolate in comparison.

"Oh, hey." He noticed me and faced me with the flat end of his nodachi resting on his shoulder. "What's up? You need something?" His E/C eyes looked me up and down curiously before they stopped at the sheathed katana on my left hip.

"No, I'm merely passing by."

"Oh, okay. Take it easy then." He turned his back to me and began to walk away, his H/L H/C hair calmly fluttering in the gentle morning breeze.

"Wait." I called out to him. He stopped and looked over her shoulder with a raised eyebrow. "That weapon. Where did you get it?"

"Oi, oi. I got this fair and square." He jabbed a finger towards me, a stern frown on his face. "I got it from landing the killing blow on Illfang and I took it for myself, got it?" He said in a babying tone and tapped the side of his head.

He's annoying, was my first impressions of him. Hopefully, I didn't have to deal with him after today.

"I recall hearing of two male players dealing the final blow on the 1st floor boss long before I joined the Main Advance Team." His face paled. "However, they vanished without a trace afterwards. Where have you been?"

"Crap... a scout. I'm bouta be drafted to the frontlines against my will, aren't I...?" I heard him groan. "Listen, Princess. I don't have any interest in returning to the frontlines right now. The first time was only because a friend of mine was practically begging me to join him. He doesn't do good with new people." He chuckled as I tilted my head. 

Did he just call me "Princess?" Yeah, he definitely had some screws loose.

"Never mind. That's not important right now." I heard him sputter, "You were the one who brought it up!" and chose to ignore it. "I'm looking for my guild. Have you seen them?"

"Your guild? Oh, your guild! Right, your guild!" He smiled and for a moment, relief filled my lungs, until I realized that- "How the heck am I supposed to know who your guild members are?"

I sighed.

"A group of five people left the town in search of a new sub-dungeon. The leader is young man who looks like he's in his early twen-"

"Woah, hold on. Did you say that there's a new sub-dungeon? Where?" He cut me off and I resisted the urge to smack him upside the head. I told him everything that I heard from the two men. To my surprise, his eyebrows knitted together in thought as his jovial expression turned confused. "Huh... That's weird. I coulda sworn that..." The man trailed off in thought.

Eventually, he shrugged and locked eyes with me. 

"I know where that sub-dungeon you're searching for is." I let out a sigh of relief. "From what I remember, it's not too difficult and I was able to beat it by myself. I'll send you the cords... only if you answer four questions I have."

I froze. Questions? What could he possible learn from me?

"I'll answer to the best of my abilities." I told him.

"That's fine with me." He shrugged. 

I couldn't but notice the tense atmosphere around us and looked up to see stormy gray clouds forming in the skies. He also seemed to be surprised by the sudden change in weather, but remained focus on me.

"First, what is your name?"

"...Acheron."

"I figured as much." His eyes darted to my katana. I placed a hand on it and was about to inquire the importance of my name when he moved on. "Second, what is the name of your weapon?"

"...«Raijin» is its name." I answered as the pitter-patter of rain around us filled the void of silence between us, tapping against the ground and our weapons. 

After an eternity of staring into each other's eyes, he finally moved on.

"Third, what purpose do you have with that guild?"

Where was he going with this?

"This weapon... It appeared in my inventory one day, and I cannot unsheathe the blade. I enlisted their help me discover a way to get the blade out."

"I see... Final Question: Do they know then? Your guild, that is." The man asked me and closed his eyes.

"Do... Do they know what?" I hesitated to ask him and wished I hadn't.

"...Know that you're lying about your katana?"

BOOOM!

A bolt of lightning struck somewhere in the distance, causing my ears to ring but that was the least of my problems. I felt my blood froze when the man opened his eyes, the pair of E/C diamonds staring straight into my soul and began to judge me. 

"I've heard about you, Acheron-san. It's not every day that a captain from the Main Advance Team leaves the frontlines to join a no-name guild. Not to mention, I've read about your impressive feats in the news, and I can't imagine you did all that without unsheathing your weapon. Now, I won't pretend to know why exactly you're doing all of this, but remember this: a relationship built on the foundation of lies is like my sanity during escort missions - healthy at the start but quick to deteriorate."

What the hell is he even saying?

My hands balled up into fists and I hadn't realized it at the time, but my nails dug into the palm of my hands and drew blood. The crimson ichor ran down my cold skin and landed on the puddle of rain next to my feet.

"...I believe I've answered all three of your questions."

"Yeah, I guess you did." He smiled and his expression returned to its natural smiley self. However, the rainstorm causing the wind to howl and lightning to strike down from the sky remained present. "Alright, here's the coordinates." He sent me the location. "It was nice to mee-"

Whatever he was about to say, it didn't matter as I was already gone and sprinting towards where my friends were. Hopefully, the man wasn't lying to me about the sub-dungeon's difficulty and the others already finished up by now and were getting ready to head back. He certainly didn't seem like the type of lie, but it's impossible to tell nowadays.

Speaking of the man, my thoughts always seemed to wander back to him and despite being the reason why I was this close to a migraine, a part of me wanted to go back and thank him. Not just for the help but also for taking down the 1st floor boss and inadvertently inspiring the remaining players to take up arms and fight for their future. A small part of me wondered if he hadn't, would I have met Keith and the others?

Such thoughts were pushed aside as it didn't take long for me to reach the sub-dungeon's entrance - a dark cave and when I approached it, a prompt popped up asking me:

《Do you wish to enter the sub-dungeon?》

《Yes / No》

Without hesitation, I pressed the yes button.

The sub-dungeon's interior was dark but thankfully torches lit the way forward and illuminated the entire hallway. I looked around to see the eroded stone bricks that served as the building blocks of the sub-dungeon; everything other than the occasional worn wooden door and the rusty iron chains hanging from the ceiling was made of it.

The enemies I found were also unusual. Instead of the usual knights in full metal armor, I only came across rotting corpses moving mindlessly without purpose. Granted, they were wearing scraps of metal but it was more like the bits of steel were a part of their body just as much as the black slime on their bodies were.

Clink!

I felt my foot hit something and looked down.

"Huh? That's-" I trailed off and kneeled to pick up the item and immediately recognized the katana I bought Komata in the hand of an undead whose entire body was covered in the slime. Its head showed signs of being bashed by an heavy object.

A smile made its way onto my lips.

"I always you had a soft spot for him, Kalwar. But..." I plucked the sword out of its hand and continued onward. "Why didn't you pick it up for Komata?"

Perhaps it was because of the months I spent away from the frontlines that made my skills deteriorate to the level they were on. Maybe I would have noticed that something was off about those two players. Maybe I would have noticed my heart beating against my chest, trying to get out. Maybe I would have noticed the shards of glass at my feet. Maybe I would have noticed the small glimpses of Komata's armor under the slime at that time.

However, I didn't.

By the time I found the boss room, my anxiety had spiked considerably as I found Keith's greatsword, Shu's dagger, and Kalwar's massive shield - all in the hands of different undead.

"Grin?" Fear gripped my heart when I saw the hammer lying on the floor and heard her sobs coming from the dark room. The moment I stepped inside the room, the door behind me closed and the torches on the walls flickered to life.

"A-Acheron-neesan..." I looked to see Grin sitting with her back turned to me, holding her face as she sobbed louder.

"Grin..." I hastily approach her without thinking. "Where is Keith? Kalwar? Shu? Komata?" As I was getting closer and closer, my body tingled with fear. Something was off, I knew that, but I still decided to approach Grin regardless, trying to push that feeling down. She was my friend.

My blood froze when her body shook in a rigid manner and she looked over her shoulder to reveal the black veins on her face, extending down to the rest of her body.

"G-Grin...?"

"I-I don't want to die, Acheron-neesan..." She whimpered as black liquid leaked from her eyes, ears, and nostrils, mixing with her tears and began to solidify on her skin. 

"Acheron-neesan..."

"Acheron-neesan..."

"Acherson-neesan..."

I heard Grin's voice grow desperate every time she said my name until... until...

"ACHERON-NEESAN!!!"

"ACHERON-NEESAN!!!"

"ACHERON-NEESAN!!!"

"ACHERON-NEE-"

SNAP!

...until she fell to the floor with a loud snap of her neck.

《3rd Person POV》

Acheron was still as a statue, her body unable to move and her mind unable to comprehend what she just witnessed.

"...N-No... No... No. Nononononono..." She fell to her knees and her tears landed on the floor with a wet plop. Her eyes were wide like saucers and her breath came out in ragged exhales while she watched the black ooze consume her body.

Then, four figures were spawned and she recognized them as the ones holding onto her friends' weapons. Realization soon dawned upon her and she crawled backward as the four along with a newly resuscitated Grin staggered towards her.

"Th-This has be a nightmare..." Acheron tried pinching herself, slapping herself, biting her tongue - everything to help her wake up.

It didn't work. She was still here.

"I-I..." Acheron closed her eyes and gritted her teeth as the memories of that night two months ago played out in her head.

Let's make an oath that we'll all survive to see the end of his game!

Let's all meet in the real world after all of this is over and done with.

Like the knights of the Round Table? I'm in.

If it means we can finish this emotional bs, then... I guess seeing you all wouldn't the end of the world.

I wanna see Momma... and everyone in the real world.

With her hair covering her face, Acheron stood and placed a hand on her katana. She set her gaze on a shimmering figure in the darkness, the veil of magic disappearing to reveal a robed skeleton with black soulless eyes.

A necromancer.

...Yeah. Let's continue this journey together until the end.

Acheron slowly drew her blade as it crackled with red lightning and petals. When the blade was freed from its sheath, her hair turned an ashen color and her eyes were crimson like the lightning dancing around her weapon.

"I'm sorry."

With one slash, the entire world turned red.

* * * * *

When Acheron finally exited the sub-dungeon, the rain finally let up and allowed the moon to take over the role of looking down on this world. Behind her, the sub-dungeon glowed an ethereal white, the color reflected in the moon, before disappearing into shards of data.

Acheron didn't make it five steps before she collapsed face-first onto the ground, her katana clattering along with her.

"I want to die." Her words went unheard and she did not care. She flipped onto her back and stared up at the moon, her purple eyes that once shone with silent admiration for the world had turned dull and lifeless in just one day.

"Ah, right on time." She heard a man's voice and recognized it to be the player who told her about the sub-dungeon. Not a second later, out of the corner of her eye, she could see the flashes of people teleporting here and tried to push herself up when a painful rush shot up her leg.

Looking down, Acheron saw two arrows embedded in her thighs and she fell back down, unable to feel her body.

"You know, this is almost anticlimactic. I was expecting a lot more from the 3rd Captain of the Main Advance Team." The man chuckled and picked up the katana on the ground. "I even went through the trouble of hiring people to help me wrestle this away from you, but it looks like that wasn't necessary."

Acheron felt a kick to her side and saw her HP drain; yet, she didn't feel any pain. Was it because of the paralysis or did her brain give up on detecting pain?

"You're an evil person, Acheron-san, for lying to your friends by telling them «Raijin» could not be unsheathed and you needed their help." Hot tears welled up in Acheron's eyes and she couldn't deny the validity of his words even if she wanted to. 

"Awww, don't feel too bad. It's not your fault they went to that sub-dungeon without you there. If you want, you can blame me. After all, it's my fault that kid with the green hair just so happened to eavesdrop on my conversation." He cackled, pulling down to reveal the tattoo on his wrist that she quickly recognized.

"...Laughing Coffin!" Acheron's eyes widened, the gears in her head turning.

"That's right. It was me who put that idea in his head." Yamata confessed as Shivata joined his side.

He kicked her again.

"It was me who set up that trap that splashed them with hallucinogenic potions and made them turn on each other." 

And again.

"It was me who told you where to go so you find their corpses after they were done ripping each other apart."

Another kick, this time from Shivata.

"Although, it seems you took a little longer than I expected, but it doesn't matter." The chilling scraping of metal against its scabbard cut through the cold night air as the man raised his steel sword over his head. "I have the legendary blade «Raijin» at my side! Which, unfortunately, means," He brought down his sword, towards Acheron's neck. "THERE'S NO NEED FOR YOU TO LIVE!"

Schlink!

A tense stillness followed in the wake of flesh being cleaved and Acheron slowly opened her eyes to find herself in the arms of someone she recognized.

"It's... you." She looked into his E/C eyes that shone in the pitch-black night.

"Nice to see you again, Acheron-san. Drink up." He popped open a potion and gently poured it into her mouth, and within seconds its effects were immediate and her health returned to full. He pulled out a crystal and used it on her, allowing Acheron to move her body (after plucking out the arrows of course). "I think this belongs to you, Princess." She glanced down to see him handing back her katana and sheath.

"What are you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious? To save you." The man chuckled and helped Acheron to her feet.

"WRAAAAAGH!!!" They watched the man stumbled backward, holding his stump of an arm while screaming like a banshee. "HOW DARE YOU?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO I-"

"Nope. Don't care. Didn't ask." The man stepped up and summoned a different blade, one that was much shorter, thinner, and reflected the moonlight. He then noticed the tattoo on Yamata's wrist. "Oh, you're from that PK guild, right? Laughing Coffin, was it? You guys already have a lot of members. What's the harm in cutting its ranks by 28 members? I'm sure your leader is an understanding guy." He smirked, causing the entire group to back up.

"Ha... Hahaha! You idiot! You didn't know that there's 30 of us here?" The leader of his group pointed at him with his remaining hand. "Fire!"

"Nah, I counted right." The man opened his inventory and kicked two bows over to him. "I said 28, didn't I?" He was about to charge in when he felt a powerful tug on his arm and inquisitively glanced at Acheron from the corner of his eye.

"Those two..." Acheron placed a hand on her katana and nodded toward Yamata and Shivata. "...are mine." She glared darkly at the two as she slowly unsheathed «Raijin» and her hair turned ashen.

"Haha, alright! You got it, Princess!"

"W-Wait! If you attack us, then you'll become yellow players!"

"Did you forget your little stomping session?" Y/N pointed upward at their yellow cursors. "The system only punishes you for attacking Green Players. So," His friendly expression darkened. "This is fair game."

"W-WAIT!!"

Their protests fell upon deaf ears. The two charged at the group of ambushers and soon the night air was full of their screams, shortly followed up by the iconic noise of glass breaking to signify their deaths.

* * * * *

Acheron spent another night at the 22nd floor's inn. Obviously, the bed and furniture were the same as before, and yet it failed to instill the same warmth she felt when she was here with her guil- no, friends.

The purple-haired swordswoman sat on the edge of her bed and looked out the window, gazing solemnly at the moon.

"How are you holding up, Acheron-san?"

Acheron looked to her right to see the H/C-haired man from earlier sitting on the windowsill, watching her closely with those empathetic E/C eyes of his.

"I... I don't know." Acheron lied. She knew what she was feeling. She felt like shit. "How did you know where to find me?"

"That sub-dungeon's been around for weeks, and I've thoroughly combed through it many times already. I only stopped once a large group of players started to set up camp around it. At the time, I didn't understand why they were so interested in that dungeon until after I came across you and your weapon. Then, later on, everything suddenly clicked in my head. PKers usually set up ambushes and use other dirty tactics before overwhelming their target with numbers. I'm sorry to say this, but your friends were just bait and you were the target."

Acheron didn't respond and stared at the ceiling, somehow feeling even worse than before. 

"...You were half right."

"About what?"

"You were right about me being fully capable of unsheathing my katana, but I wasn't lying about not knowing where it came from. I only noticed it had been placed in my inventory one day without my knowledge, along with..."

"With?"

"...Along with a new skill called «Nihility Bladework»." Acheron's answer surprised him, but he motioned for her to continue. "You saw me use it earlier."

"The red lightning and crimson lotuses... And, I assume your hair and eyes changing colors are the side effects?"

Acheron nodded. "To my knowledge, no one else has this skill. That along with «Raijin» was what drove me to search for answers. But, if I had known what path my curiosity would've led me down, then I..." Acheron trailed off and buried her head into her hands.

The room was dead silent to the point where even dropping a pin would have made a sound and, for a few grueling minutes, it stayed that way until the man finally stood up and approached her.

"May I sit here?" He gently asked to which Acheron nodded and scooted over. "I won't lie to you, I don't know what to say to cheer you up. This is a touchy subject and I'm no expert, but... Maybe, if I spoke from the heart, it'd be easier. I'm-"

Acheron grimaced and braced herself for the word she heard repeated to her like a broken record: "Sorry." She had to wonder how many times she heard those words in her life.

I'm sorry. Daddy's too busy with work. I'll make sure to buy you new pencils and notebooks when I get back from my trip.

Sorry, honey. Mommy has to go to work but I'm sure your picture is very beautiful.

I'm sorry, but I can't send your "bullies" to the principal office. The other students are saying that it was an accident.

We cannot hire just anyone. If you don't have any work experience in this field, then it'd be a waste of our resources. Sorry.

Acheron could have listed countless more moments off the top of her head, each more recent than the last, but she didn't have the energy to do so. Instead, she chose to simply prepare herself to add another tally to the list and write what he had to sa-

"-I'm glad that you're alive."

...What?

Acheron blinked in confusion, her perplexed expression making him chuckle. "Wh-What?"

"I'm glad you're alive. I'm glad you're still breathing. I'm glad you're sitting next to me.  I'm glad you're here. Acheron-san. That's it." He repeated with a smile, the kind gesture compelling her to avert her gaze. "I'm sure your friends are also glad you're alive."

Acheron's face darkened and she felt a lump in her throat. She managed a bitter chuckle and shook her head. "Why would they be? I lied to them about my weapon. I'm the reason they're dead. If I hadn't existed, then they might still be..." She fought to hold back tears.

A dreadful silence followed in the wake of her grim words.

"Existence isn't a crime. No one should blame themselves for existing, and that includes you. We could go on all day and night about what-ifs, but that won't change reality. It'd only drive a nail of resentment into our souls and cause us to be bitter towards the world. All we can do instead is to accept what happened and try to move on with our lives - for their sakes." Acheron remained silent and he continued. "Of course, I don't know much about having friends."

"You're kidding, right?" She weakly laughed at his 'joke,' not understanding how someone as outgoing as he was would struggle with the same problem she had. Only when he remained quiet did she realize he was telling the truth and she felt sick to her stomach. "...Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Anyway, that's all in the past. I have friends in this game that I can rely on and vice versa. They're counting on me to help them and I intend to do exactly that."

"Even if they don't want you to?"

"Especially if they don't want my help. I don't care if they hate my guts afterward. As long as they are alive, I couldn't care less. I'd rather have them yell at me than never hear their voices again." The man said while staring out the window, his E/C eyes glazed over with remembrance.

"...You're a good person... erm..." Acheron trailed off. Only now did she realize she never bothered to ask him for his name.

"P/N." replied the man.

"You're a good person, P/N." She repeated with a small nod. Another silence fell upon them but this time, it wasn't as bleak as the previous one. "Did... Did you truly not have any friends before coming to SAO?"

P/N shifted uncomfortably. "Well... When I was a kid, there was a girl in my grade I was friends with. But because of her... personal circumstances, I didn't see her again after a month of being her friend. After that, I only made one friend and he's an online friend. I've never seen his face, much less meet him face-to-face. Maybe after we beat this game, I can start over in high school and try again."

"You're in high school?"

"Yeah, I'm a... well, I was a first-year. I've already turned 16."

Acheron blinked repeatedly, at a loss for words. "You're... wise for someone your age."

"Oh, c'mon. You can't be that much older than me so stop with that patronizing tone." He muttered under his breath, trying to hide the faint pink color on his face as he turned said face away from her. "You're like, what? 24? 25?"

"You're not wrong. I'm not that much older - just 19." Acheron couldn't hold back a smile when she saw his eyes widen and he started sputtering nonsensical sounds.

"You look way older than 19!" Instead of taking offense, the purple-haired woman giggled at his antics. He was certainly blunt with his words like she remembered from their first encounter this morning, but that trait of his had its own charm. "Anyways," He cleared his throat and moved on. "You had a long day so I'll leave you to rest-"

"Wait." Acheron's hand seized his wrist and gently let go. She felt her face turn pink from embarrassment but kept her eyes locked with his. "...Stay. Please. I don't want to be alone anymore. At least... not for tonight." 

Acheron wondered how she must have looked to the younger man. Did she look pathetic in his eyes? She thought she did as she watched the emotions flickering through his E/C eyes, not unlike someone switching T.V. channels.

Eventually, the young man nodded with a soft "...Alright." and he looked at her with a gentle glimmer in his diamond-like orbs as he laid down next to her on the bed, placing a hand over hers. "Good night, Acheron-san."

"...Good night, P/N-san." said Acheron under her breath as she closed her eyes. She forgot to cover her body with the inn's blanket for which she had paid good money. However, the heat from his touch kept her warm. In fact, it was better than the blanket. Was it because he was another player? Was it because her mind honed in on it to the point where she forgot about the cold night air? Or, was it because she was just too tired and came up with any excuse for her actions?

Acheron's thoughts were interrupted by light snoring. She opened her eyes to see the man fast asleep facing her, drool trickling down the side of his lip, and she smiled.

Ah, that's right. It wasn't either of those reasons she came up with. The warmth in her chest stemmed from one reason, and one reason alone: nothing was more comforting than knowing one person was glad you were alive.

That night, Acheron's dreams were reminiscent of the ones she saw that night under the stars with her guild members. However, upon further inspection, she watched in shock as the little girl climbed over the fence lining the perimeter of the school's roof and peeked down at the bottomless void underneath her. Then, with her eyes closed, she let go of the fence and stepped while Acheron could do nothing but watch as if it were a car crash in slow motion.

Thankfully, at the last moment, a young boy with H/C hair and sparkling E/C eyes grabbed her hand to the surprise of both of them. Despite the grim situation, he had a bright grin plastered on his face as he pulled her up to safety and hugged her tightly. The little girl froze from the kind gesture before breaking down into tears while in his tight embrace.

With a small smile, Acheron watched from the sidelines as a bit of color began to dye the once empty world.

* * * * *

"Are you absolutely, positively sure you wanna party with me? No one would blame you for taking some time for yourself."

"I'm certain. The sooner this game is beaten, the fewer lives will be lost. It's... It's what they would have wanted." Acheron calmly stated as she stood across from him in front of the floor's teleport gate. It was late afternoon and most players on this floor were busy grinding on the mobs outside the city's walls, leaving only NPCs around.

To cheer her up, the man had taken her shopping around town and offered to buy her anything she wanted. It was in no way going to help with her grief, he thought, but a step in the right direction even if it was a hundred miles in front of him was better than nothing.

"As long as you're absolutely sure..." He shook his head and sent her a party invitation which she wordlessly accepted. "I guess I should say something along the lines of: 'Let's work together, Acheron-san.'"

"Bosenmori." Acheron cut him off and did it again when she saw his mouth open. "It's my real name. If you'd like, you can call me this... Preferably when we're alone." Was it dumb to give your real name to someone you didn't know? Yeah. Was it possible that he would use this information against her? Also yes. But at that moment, it felt like the right thing to do.

"Bosenmori...? That's definitely a mouthful." Y/N muttered to himself before extending a hand.

"You already know me as P/N, but my real name is Y/N. You can call me that whenever you want instead. Let's work together, Bosenmori-san."

"...Right." Acheron nodded and shook his hand before they teleported somewhere else. A bright white light engulfed their bodies but through the blinding flash, their black silhouettes stood by each other's side. 

"Let's see the end of this journey together, Y/N."

《Chapter End》

The next chapter will be out a little later than I'd like (I'm going camping for a few days, sorry).

Anyway, let me know your thoughts on the chapter's length (10k Words) - if it was too short, long, or the perfect length.

Enjoy your summer, everyone.