Sword Art Online - CRYSTAL PART THREE

Chapter 5
Regret

I finally make it back to the village, still in shock of the events that previously unfolded. I don’t know what to say to Kanji and Youhara, that the loner that saved me twice now named Kirito came out of nowhere and killed the bastard wolf in one hit. If I tell them that, they will feel weak and inferior to the players of this game—for which is a reason why we didn’t immediately leave the Town of Beginnings. We would be back at the first step.

I made it alive with one inch of health left, that’s what I’ll tell them. They’ll be none the wiser. I thought to myself as I reach the inn we are residing in. The idea was smart and they couldn’t deny my claim, the perfect lie. I look up at my health before walking into the reception of the inn, forty percent or so full—yellow zone. I stop in my tracks to think up more false information, oh yeah and I got a health potion from the wolf and drunk it to make sure I can get back alive. I shake off the feeling of repent and open the wooden door into the inn. I am greeted with a gust of warm air and a smell of rum. I see the receptionist, a nice young lady who Kanji has hit on once—which was replied with “What do you want to drink adventurer?”. Now that was funny, rejected by an NPC! Could it get anymore low than that?
I go up past the bar and up the stairs that leads to the resident rooms. I past two doors to end up facing a door with the name “Youharai”, Youhara’s in-game name. I walk into the room and greeted with Kanji looking out of the window at the dawning night outside. Youhara is also there, sitting remorsefully on his bed with a look of disgust on his face. They both notice me walking in, but didn’t look in my direction. I break the silence.

“So, guys, I got the claws!” No response. “It was a hard fight, almost got killed but I made it.” Still, none of them turn to me or even mutter a sound. “What the hell is-”

“Korusu is dead,” Kanji mutters almost inaudibly. “He got killed by that stupid wolf thing with the rest of his group, Youhara was the only one who survived.” His words seem to echo in the room that is as small as our bedroom in the real world. Korusu is dead? By that- that thing?! I couldn’t say a thing, only my mind was shouting in anger.

“That’s why I wanted to kill it, not for the stupid claws but for revenge,” Youhara says, choking up a bit. “The claws would be a reminder of the time I cut the killer of my friend down.” They both look at me for a response, for which I give none. My face is just straight, but my emotions and thoughts are not. Korusu was a great friend to us in real life. He is Kanji’s age, but was far more down to earth than Kanji ever was. We were suppose to get together at the start of the game, but never got the chance to since that day. Unlike us however, Korusu was not deterred by Kayaba’s words and walked right out of the Town of Beginnings with a group and advanced the game. He worked with Diavel and all the rest of the powerful players to clear the first floor.
Youhara went with his group to level up two days ago and came back alone. When we asked him why, he just said that the enemies came too difficult so he broke away from the group. That group had five other people, Youhara and Korusu included. Six people died in-front of Youhara? That’s—that’s fucked up!

“Haha guys,” I finally muster. “Death in this game ain’t to be worried about—”What am I saying, of course it is!“—, it’s like Schroedinger's cat. A paradox to fuck with our minds. We will never know until it happens to us. And the chances are, Kayaba lied about the death in the real world and wants us to succumb to this paradox.” I lied through my teeth, something I thought I would get away with. Well, no, Kanji and Youhara know me too well.

“Naoki, shut up!” Youhara angrily shouts. “You know full well someone as esteemed as Kayaba wouldn’t lie about something this serious. Stop lying to us and to yourself!” He is correct about everything. Kanji adds to the infuriated outpour.

“Who actually killed the fucking boss, Naoki?!” His shouting could be heard for miles, much to the distress of the players sleeping in the rooms surrounding Youhara’s. “Was it that fucking solo-player—the beta-tester?!” Now thinking about it, he probably was a beta-tester, but that is irrelevant now.

“So you guys wouldn’t of care if I died to the wolf?!” I shout, in hope of self-redemption and to turn the blame on them. What a pussy move. “You guy want to lose another friend to this fucking world?! Then shut yourselves up! If that guy didn’t come, I wouldn’t be here giving you this!” I throw the ten nails the wolf boss dropped on the ground, which thankfully didn’t break on impact with the floorboards. They stare at the items on the ground in disgust, before Youhara gets up and stomps on them. Still, they didn’t break.

“That doesn’t matter anymore, you lying bastard!” He grabs my collar and pushes me up against the wall. I bang my head on it which didn’t hurt, something I still haven’t gotten used to. “You can go take your fucking nails and go die!” Go die… go die… go die… Why would you say that? Why are you both against me? It wasn’t me who killed Korusu- Then, I remembered something that brings the whole situation together. I was the one who convinced everyone to get the game on the first selling date. I was the one who convinced everyone to get in the game on the first selling date, even when everyone else wanted to wait for the reviews to start coming out. I was the reason why we are all trapped in this world.

However, something clicked within my brain, something that hasn’t been in my life since the loss of my innocence. I equip a small, rusty dagger and with it use my unique skill on Youhara. We are in a safe zone so it does no damage, however he flies backwards and hits the wall on the other side of the room. A ray emits from the blade as this happens, lighting up the entire room in a blue aura. Youhara tries to gain his balance but fails to do so, landing his ass. Kanji, who was about the unsheathe his sword, is paralyzed by this new development. I give them both a stare and run out of the room, leaving the blue aura in my wake. I sprint down the stairs and bash through the people who were standing by the door. I run through the courtyard at my full pace, ignoring the onlookers.

I need to get out of here. If I stay any longer, I will… I will… I jump over a brick wall and continue to run outside the town.

I don’t look back as I run into fields where not just a few minutes ago I almost died. I dodge all the mobs with my speed ever increasing at an alarming rate, not wanting to waver a moment of my time on any of them. The grass progressively gets longer and eventually my knees were hidden it. I feel tears build up in my eyes, my vision blurring and nearly making me trip. The unique skill, my unique skill, was something I have had since Day One. It was just in my skill menu, sitting comfortably with my other sword skills. The name, Force of the Demons, was a fitting name for it as all it gets me is unwanted attention and unneeded shit.
I have used it multiple times before, however every time someone spots me using it and I get stupid questions and even was targeted by a Player Killer. Yes, it has only been three weeks and I am already targeted by unlawfully players. That is why I never showed Youhara and Kanji, so I could stop getting attention. I want to be a normal player who clears a game of death, that’s all. But now, knowing how much of a blabber-mouth Kanji is, that is no longer an option. I didn’t even use on that wolf boss in knowing that someone might be watching—my analogy was proved correct of course. I pick up the pace, my breath visible in the cold night air. Eventually I make it back to the Town of Beginnings, the gate unwelcoming and dark.

I could of went with Korusu, he would be alive if I did. I could repel that mother fucker to space if so desired, but… I stop by a familiar inn, the same building that housed those first few depressing days. I barge through the door and flung myself onto the bar, waiting for the AI to notice my presence. This is also the same bar we were at on that day, drinking and enjoying our innocent lives. Now I stare at the wooden table in disgust, the color in the room seems more dull than from back then. It was only a few weeks, yet it felt like years. The stunning brunette bartender comes through the back door and spouts her usual dialog. I throw my col onto the bar and run up the stairs, smashing into the door that was nearest the stairway.

Finally, no-one can get to me in here. I bounce onto the bed, lying my head down on the fluffy pillow. I wipe the tears that noticeably trickled down my face and open up my menu, still shaken by what happened. Two New Messages is the message that I am greeted with. One from Kanji and one from—Korusu. I sit up on my bed, wiping my eyes to see if they have tricked me. A message from Korusu? But, that’s…
It is a voice message, sent to me just a few minutes ago. I open it and listen to the message, which is with no doubt Korusu’s voice.

———
“Hey Naoki. I am recording this because I am going to die. I know, why would I assume such a thing? Well I didn’t, I know I am going to die. Not from fighting mobs, but from... *clears throat* I know right, odd thing to say outright like that, but it’s true. After two weeks of being in this game, no word has been sent from the real world of release. I was fine by this at first, but then—

But then, my family—my dad and my sister—were both in this game as well. To be fair, it was me that sent them in here with me, you know, just for fun. But recently, someth- something happened. I can’t say but you get the picture. Because of that, I have no reason to return to the real world. My family were my life and because my life is—

is gone per say, I can’t deal with it all anymore. I am weak and always was weak. I thought maybe Youhara could cheer me up, but he has changed. You may not see it, but he has been acting up recently. He is no longer the Youhara you know. He— he…

…

HE KILLED MY FAMILY. HE KILLED THEM IN COLD-BLOOD THAT BASTARD! I COME BACK TO MY ROOM IN THE INN TO FIND THE NEXT TWO DOORS WERE NAMELESS AND MY DAD’S AND SISTER’S NAMES WERE CROSSED OUT ON THE STONE IN THE TOWN OF BEGINNINGS. I— I—

I initially think they went out and got killed by a mob or something. Well, no, it wasn’t a fucking mob. It was Yoh. How do I know? Well, I got a message from my sister crying her eyes out as I hear in the background my Dad’s final shrieks of horror. Then— then—

Youhara says to my sister, footsteps obviously approaching her direction ‘Cry for your brother, you little bitch!’ Then I hear some-sort of sword magic that I haven’t heard before and then—

*cut* the audio cuts. I need you to kill him. Don’t listen to him, if he says I died to a mob, don’t fucking listen to him. He is trying to get away with a crime. You see that red icon above his head? That isn’t from self-defense or anything stupid like that! THAT WAS FROM KILLING MY FAMILY—

*Youhara’s voice, eerily calm* ‘Oh hey, what are you doing? Come on we are going to go kill that wolf mob.’ YEAH YEAH DUDE, I WILL GO NOW.

Help me… *cuts*”
———

I lie on the bed, my eyes widen half the size of my face.

I couldn’t process it, did he really say that? Is that why he didn’t party with us? Is Youhara a murderer… My eyes swivel to the message Kanji sent me. This one was sent a minute after Korusu’s one. Originally I thought it was of him saying ‘Oh sorry for over-reacting, come back please’ but now, the meaning could be completely different. The idea almost makes me ill, I don’t want to read it. I can’t read it.

Almost puppet like, my hand opens the message and a mess of words greet me on the screen.




Chapter 6
Save Yourself

“Ha ha ha…”, I breath more of the cold, crisp night air as I sprint for Horunka. I retrace my exact path that previously I ran an hour or so ago. The pass the forest, through the open fields and over the hills. The journey is about three or four miles, but it seems to take a matter of a few minutes to cover when in full sprint mode. I definitely am running faster than before, the wind biting my cheeks as I fly through the thick grasslands. I could barely see in the night but the light that irradiates from the settlements provides enough of a direction I need. I hear growls of wolves and the grunts of boars, but I quickly avoid them just as I did before. This time it isn’t to save my skin, it is to save Kanji’s.

———
NAOKI, YOUHARA HAS WENT BONKERS! GET THE HELL BACK HERE AND STOP HIM BEFORE HE KILLS—MORE—PEOPLE.
———

I hope when he means more people, he is talking about the late Korusu and his family and not new victims. I feel the dew ridden ground underneath me squish and splash with the weight of my feet as I make my way back to the place where I almost died—and where a murder was committed.

This means I am close to the village, I am almost there— A blue flash appears in-front of me, consuming all of my vision and disturbing my marathon. I grind my boot into the soil and unsheathe my dark purple blade and point it at the glowing flash. It finishes the animation and—it appears. The wolf boss that caused so many problems has re-spawned right in front of me. His four eyes glimmer in the moonlight, them all pointed directly at me. However, unlike before, I am not scared. I scream at the top of my lungs and jump at the beast, my sword centered in on the area between his eyes.

“Get the hell out of my way!” I shout at the wolf, a force shoots out of the blade. The color wasn’t the blue I came to knew, it was void black. I could see it in the night as the ambient light the moon gives makes the world a dark blueish color. The dark void that came out of my sword was very see-able. The void cuts directly into the boss, from its head, down its spine and out its tail. A red trail left in its wake and eventually the wolf split in half. This was unheard of, well for me at least.

For the last few weeks, the Force of Demons only repelled creatures and players. Now it cuts? That thought however didn’t concern me as much as the message Kanji sent me so I discarded it and continue to the amber glow that was almost covered by a hill.

* * *

Smash, a player who tried to calm him down gets flung so hard against a stall that the Immortal Object indicator lagged in showing up. The entire street is in a panic over this psychopathic out lash by a popularly known “nice guy”. A young man that towered over Youhara, ended up crawling away in fear of the sadist. Unfortunately, two people have died due to this out lash. The once close friend Kanji was facing Youhara, circling the street in a duel like form. Some bystanders try to calm Yoh down, but to no avail. They activated a duel to the death, something that no-one heard of in the game has done yet. A small crowd gathers around the two opposing characters.

Kanji strikes in at Youhara, moving his new blade into the blond’s chest. However, Youhara has a higher agility skill so dodging it was no worry. Youhara swipes around at Kanji, slicing the nape of his neck. It doesn’t decapitate him, but it does a high amount of damage, pushing Kanji face first into the ground. Kanji stares up, out of breath, at his health-bar.

Shit, red zone. Another full hit from Youhara and I am finished. He regains his balance to be greeted by the once graceful—now creepy smile of Youhara. His eyes, pale-blue, seemed to emit their own light from behind his fringe. The orange street lights aren’t even as luminous as that glare. Just like that, the eyes seemingly luster with malicious intent and he pushes his foot into the ground, swinging frantically at Kanji. Kanji sticks his foot back and dodges the bombardment before hitting Youhara in the back of the leg. Youhara’s health lowers slightly, but Kanji still is losing.

“Yoh, stop with this shit!” Kanji pleads with the furious force. “We can sit down and talk calmly over this…” This was far from the truth. Kanji wanted him to calm down so he could be restrained by the nearby guards. Yoh could easily see this bluff and dash forward again, in the same formation. This time however, Youhara hits… something? Something metal as it makes orange sparks in the cold air. Player Interruption - Duel Ended. The huge notification appears over the two duelers’ heads, meaning someone was ballsy enough to step in the middle of the match. They both look in-front of each other and see the head that separated them both.

It is Naoki, Kanji thinks relieved. “Hey Naoki, could you calm—” Naoki’s foot sticks into the dirt flooring and kicks up dust in Kanji’s face. Wha…? Naoki charges his sword and swings in the air at Youhara, a dark stream flying out of it. It hits Youhara and… deals damage. A large red strike mark on his chest appears and pushes him into the building behind him. ImMorTal ObbbjecCT the notification says before shattering and Youhara genuinely destroys the entire wall with his impact—almost like the wall was made of sponge. Then, for a split second, the world glitched. The blue crystals that brought them into this world consumed everyones vision, including Kanji’s and Youhara’s. Naoki is the only one left alone in the small village, the hole that once was there forming slowly together again with a blue light.

* * *

“Hey what’s going on?” I ask, shouting seekingly around the village street. “Kanji?! Youhara?!” I hear a horrifying grinding sound behind me, like the grinding of metal in a blacksmith’s shop. I don’t want to turn around, but… I swivel my head around to see a tall red hooded figure. His gloves white and his facial features completely blanked out.
He looks like… no it couldn’t be! I pull out my sword and point it at the hooded mass. However, I am standing paralyzed. I couldn’t move or strike the mass before me.

“Player Name—Naoki. ID—15221. Violation ID—24 = Destruction of in-game object-”

“Hey fuck-up! Kayaba, talk to me you ass! Why did you—Muted”

“…” The mass stops with the coded dialog and turns directly at me.

“Normally if this was a normal game, you would be banned or killed. But, since you found a glitch that was left in this game, I will award you for it.” He opens his right hand and in the center of the palm, a crystal. It was blue in color and elongated. An item I haven’t seen yet.
“This is a revive crystal. You can use it once on a fellow player of your choice. However, you only have ten seconds of terminal admission to use it, you can’t use it on yourself, and the person has to be in your group/guild.”

Any fellow player of my choice? I look at the hooded feature, wanting to stick my blade into it and destroy its stupid existence. Kayaba sends the item into my inventory and disappears in a flash of blue light. Finally, I could move again. I fall on my knees, gasping for air; it was like Kayaba’s presence was suffocating me. Well, it isn’t far from the truth. I eventually pick myself up and gather my thoughts. I look in my inventory and there it is, Revive Crystal. I look around me to see if anyone is around me, but the village is still as barren as before. I close my eyes and listen into the air, to see if I could hear anyone with my low listening skill. Nope, not a single person for a mile all around. I see the wall and as if nothing had ever happened, the wall is perfectly fine. Then I remember something.

Oh shit, Kanji… Youhara. I try to figure out where they went then the most probable answer came to me. They were probably sent to Town of Beginnings so Kanji is fine. Youhara might be detained, but I think it is for the best to find out why he flipped out and why… The idea chokes out the normal image of Youhara’s purity. I need to get back to that bleedin’ town again, hah. I start to sprint back the same path I keep taking, the moon now lower in the sky.

A few minutes later I make it back to find out that Kanji is fine, but Youhara has ran off into the wilderness. He is now a wanted criminal and is not to be approached if saw unless you could capture him… alive.




Chapter 7
Illfang of the Labyrinth

The streets of Tolbana are bustling with players in preparation of the first floor boss raid. Finally, after a month of living in this game, we can finally progress forward into the world of Aincrad. Too many people have died in the first month so the need for hope was extreme. Now, that hope could sprout. The strongest players in the game, a brave group of fifty or so players are readying up in the amphitheater in Tolbana, waiting for orders from the leader, Diavel.

It has been a week since the Horunka incident. As previously mentioned, Youhara has became a wanted criminal in multiple murder cases. While such a justice system in the first month hasn’t been fully written for all players to abide by yet, killing another player is considered treason by every sane person stuck in this world. Those who assist in such acts will also get hunted down for a bounty. This unwritten rule is generally followed and understood by most, but some occasionally slip up—Youhara being a prime example of this.
For what reasons why Youhara decided to murder his friend and an entire family plus two guards is still unknown, but reason is not needed. Almost every person knows Youhara’s name, and Kanji’s name… and unfortunately mine. Whilst the games doesn’t allow names to show automatically, the people who recognized my face points out to every surrounding person that I am the one who broke the fight and also the game.

I was questioned almost indefinitely by the justice knights—who spend extreme amounts of their time getting wasted and angry at girls who don’t want anything to do with them—about what happened afterward when I was left alone in that town. I said nothing of course, knowing if I said I met Kayaba, more ridiculous, pointless questions would be thrown my way. After a while, I gained the ability to walk down a street again without being bombarded by questions, but people still stare at me as if my existence offends them. Ahh, what a beautiful world we live in.

I take my seat beside Kanji in the limestone amphitheater, awaiting the appearance of “Diavel” himself. I look around at the populated rows of seats surrounding us. People of different body types surrounded us, mostly tall and lanky with pale complexions. Of course, as expected with such a gender ratio, no females were there. Or of what I could see.

“Ahem,” the sound of someone’s throat clearing attracts everyone’s attention to the stage. There he stands, Diavel. Of what I can see, he didn’t have much charisma. His stance is of a young child, standing in front of his classmates, about to say a speech on how he why he likes movies over books—or whatever kids make speeches about today. I see his legs slightly quiver underneath the pressure and aboding eyes of the players. This is going to be a blast.

“Hello everyone, I’m Diavel!” He shouts boldly, bringing my perception on him sounding like a prepubescent kid to a crashing hold. “I am sure why you all came here today so I’ll cut to the chase.” He clears his throat once again before continuing with the all important “pre-battle speech”.
“From the information gathered from players, we can comprehend the first bosses’ attack formation and the mobs situated in the labyrinth. Now, we have devised a strategy on how to…”

His speech is so mind-numbingly boring, I stretch my back and yawn as loud and purposely as I can. I look at Kanji who is writing down notes from the speech—hey what? I punch Kanji in the arm to get his attention, however he seems completely occupied by his writing. I sigh and look around once more at my “fellow comrades”, keeping mental notes of physical and person characteristics. This way I could make stupid names for them so I don’t have to remember every single one of their names.

Green hair, green eyes… Grasshopper. Red eyes and blue and white armor… Patriot. Dirt brown hair and red eyes… Generic-Guy. Dark brown hair with a red stripe on the fringe… Kanji—no no, Lovey Dovey. I slightly smirk at the idea of Kanji kissing Diavel right on the lips right now, but it would be too out of character unfortunately. Black hair and black eyes… Emotionally Grey Guy. Red beard with— I look back at “Emotionally Grey Guy” and realized who it is. Kirito, the loner guy… who needs friends. I see him sitting in his generic starter gear and I remember the two times he saved my ass.
Sure that was cool and all, but the guy looks as sad as one can get. No, I bet he wants to act that way. Just so his ego can fill up when people whisper stuff behind his back and he finds out about it. I imagine some cute girl is eventually going to fall for this guy.

The idea turns my mind back to me, what am I doing? Sure we are trapped in a world that we had no right for so to happen, but that doesn’t mean I should miss out on trying it on the gamer ladies. Sure my real life persona is of no lady killer, but I can sure as hell cook better than any guy I know, and I could play the guitar. I am also at least a six out of ten in the looks apartment, so why can’t I go and ask a girl out? I am not one of those stereotypical oh-look-I-am-shy type of guys and I know when and can acknowledge without being a dick about a girl liking me.
I think the idea of that much commitment is a bit jarring for me. I wouldn’t cheat of course—and if I did, I wouldn’t live with it—but I would have to spend three-quarters of my attention on some girl, just so I could end up marrying her and having offspring that would annoy us daily. I- I…

I over-think things, I conclude with my inner ramblings. I look back over to Kanji and see that he has already written three pages of notes on his journal. I really wanted to grab that book and throw it into the nearby pond beside the amphitheater. But knowing Kanji, he would cut my throat in the dead of night whilst the moon shines through the window, lighting up the now empty bed. I shiver at the thought, so much it is visible to Kanji.

He turns to be and asks, “What’s up? You cold?”

“Nah lad, go back to your Diavel fan-fiction, lover boy-” He smacks me over the head with the book before grunts and returning to his note taking. I am immeasurably bored.

“…this shouldn’t be a problem, as the beta-testers have laid out a plan on how to attack the boss effectively. It could be possible to win this game—” As if my boredom was heard by a God or something, my interest spikes again when I hear someone from the back row heckle the now more calmed Diavel.

“Beta-testers?! What are they good for?!” My eyes catch the silhouette of a man against the sun. My view adjusts and I can finally see the savior of my mental state. His body is buff in shape, stocky arms and legs packed with muscle. He, however, stood with underwhelming height—about up to my chin I’d say. His hair is orange in color with about six to eight superficial spikes sticking out of it. He has a small patch of hair underneath his lips that matched his hair and eye color. His armor is more advanced than most people here, but still, nothing too special. He points at the now slightly perturbed Diavel.

“If it weren’t for the beta-testers, we wouldn’t be stuck in this fucking game!” He jumps downs the rows of seats towards Diavel.

“Oh right? Who are you?” Diavel says, keeping head strong. It seems to be working as his legs aren’t shaking anymore.

“I’m Kibaou!” He shouts, jumping onto the center stage. “This is retribution to all beginner players!” He clears his throat and bashes his chest like a monkey. What a ridiculous little man.
“I know a lot of yous are beta-testers! Come up here and face me off, right here!” Wow, this guy has fire. He might actually be a “threat” to the peace. No-one goes up to him, spawning a few laughs from the crowd.

“Alright, beta-testers. Why don’t you pay for the deaths of all beginner players?” Wait, huh? “That’s right, it’s all your fault. Hundreds of beginners died because of mis-information and you had that information. Did you share it? Of course not, you pieces of shit!” The crowd started to slowly agree with the Kibaou, heckling and shouting in agreement. This is until someone stood up in the crowd. I adjust my eyes to observe the figure. He is tall and buff and has no hair on his head. He is of African heritage and has a brown goatee.
He walks up to Kibaou and surely, dwarfs the blithering idiot.

“So you think that the beta-testers did nothing after all?” His voice boomed over the entire amphitheater, enough to wake up some sleeping players sitting near me. “Well then, what’s this?” He looks into his inventory and after a few seconds of scrolling, pokes at the button on his screen and materializes it. It was a small, brown book with yellow font on it. He shows the entire crowd the small book. “My name is Agil by the way.”
“This is ‘Argo’s Strategy Guide: First Floor Boss edition’. A book purchasable at all NPC stores. It’s relatively cheap and easy to read.” He looks over at Kibaou. “The reality is these people who died had this to prevent such a thing happening. The beta-testers tried everything they could. In-fact, I bet many of the people here have at least heard of the book or have it in their inventories.” I have it. Everyone I met had it also so this man was mostly correct. The only person who doesn’t have it is Kanji.

“Hey, they should of been with us as well—”

“Shut up pip-squeak and let us hear the bloody plan already!” A person from the crowd shouts, the rest of crowd shouting in agreement. The now disgruntled Kibaou is “guided” back to a seat by Agil, the crowd jeering at him. Diavel, who was sweating extremely furiously, stands back to where he stood previously a claps his hands together to get the crowd’s attention again. Everyone looks back at the blue haired legend.

“Right, so everyone who has this book turn to page forty-five. We are going over…” I zone out again and look over at Kanji, frustrated that he spent five pages on writing something that already was written with less spelling errors and scribbles. He glares at me and throws the book at my face. I chuckle at him and pick up the book to look at the notes he wrote. Surely enough, the spelling was off and scribbles bordered the pages. I chuckle at the book and throw it back at him.

* * *

Eventually, Diavel stopped rambling and finally I get to stretch my legs. I walk out onto the street that is now spilled with people and NPC stalls. The only thing I got from that speech is that we are to meet back here early next morning which sounds like such fun. I look over to see a hooded person walk out with Kirito. I see underneath the hood to see a feminine face—or of that description. Could be a guy all I know. I look behind me to see if Kanji is still behind me. To my surprise, he is… not behind me. I sigh and continue on the path to my comfy, warm inn room. I stroll down the alleyways and shortcuts to make it to the inn, passing by multiple players and NPC stalls.
I finally reach the decrepit door of the inn, sighing in relief at the sight.

I swing open the door to be greeted with a gush of warm air. The amber light flickers and the room greets me with a friendly aura. The man behind the counter starts with his normal greeting.

“Welcome to Old Windmill Cottage. May I-” I fling a few col onto the table and rush up the stairs beside the bar; a sense of deja vu rushing through me, and run into the door on the right on the first floor. I am greeted with the same thing I was greeted with a week ago: a dusty bed and a table with spider webs entrancing the walls. The color is a bland, disgusting yellow reminding me of the hotel room I stayed in when me and my family went to Spain a few years back. I sigh and flop my back onto the bed.
I’ve been doing this everyday now, the repetition almost mesmerizing. I always want to sleep before ten as I love getting up early in the morning to do cool things like mob-grinding and… that. I look through my inventory to see what time it is. “8:00pm” it read on the top left of my panel.

...
Author's Note: This is where the fan fiction kinda stopped. I stop writing because I was not fully into the story and knew that this work would get me no closer to my goal in professional writing. It is just practice. But, if you did enjoy this (which must be some super human ability), then thank you. I hope to see you reading my actual future works... in the FUTURE!