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Chapter 1
Aria in the Starless Night
Aincrad 1st Floor, November 2022
1
Just once, I saw a real shooting star.
It wasn’t during summer vacation; it was from the window of my house. For people living in town with crisp air and truly dark nights, shooting stars are not uncommon, but unfortunately, Kawagoe City of Saitama prefecture, where I have lived for all fourteen years of my life, has neither of those qualities. Even on a clear night, the most that can be seen with the naked eye are second magnitude stars.
But, late one midwinter night, when I happened to glance outside my window on a whim, I definitely saw it. On that deep night without many stars, the city lights formed a pallid shroud covering the sky. And in an instant, it was cut through by a quick flash of light. My soon-to-be 5th grade self thought childishly, "I must make some kind of wish"…which up to that point was fine, but the wish that appeared in my mind was, "I wish my next monster drop will be a rare item", without a hint of feeling in it. I suppose it sprang from the fact that I was playing an MMORPG I was hooked on at the time.
The shooting star I glimpsed that day, I saw once again three (or was it four?) years later, glowing with the same color, moving with the same speed.
However, this time, I didn't see it with the naked eye, nor was I beneath a dark grey night sky.
I saw it in the depths of a gloomy dungeon, produced through a Nerve Gear—the world's first full sensory type VR interface.
One could describe the fight as bloodcurdling.
The level 6 humanoid monster, «Ruin Kobold Trooper», was swinging a barbaric hand ax, and the person fighting the Kobold was barely able to dodge. I felt a chill run down my back as I watched the battle. But after the player dodged three consecutive strikes, the Kobold completely lost its balance and, without missing that chance, the person used a sword skill at full strength.
It was the first skill that could be learned in the rapier category: the single thrust attack «Linear». It was a simple basic skill that consisted of thrusting straight forward by first holding the sword in front of the body and then putting in a twist from there, but the speed was terrifying. Clearly, the speed hadn't been left to the system motion assist alone, but was boosted by the player's own movement commands.
During the beta test, I had seen with my own eyes numerous party members and enemy monsters use this very sword skill countless times. But this time, I could not see the rapier itself, only the trajectory drawn by the light effect that was characteristic of sword skills. That pure white flash, as it pierced through the darkness of the dimly-lit dungeon, made me recall the shooting star from that day.
The rapier user continued to dodge the Kobold's three strike combo, following with a counterattack using «Linear». After using this attack-defend pattern three more times, the player finished off the armed beastman, one of this dungeon's stronger monsters, without a single wound. Despite this, the battle didn't seem to have been an easy one. Once the lethal sword skill had pierced the center of its chest and the monster dispersed into particles as it collapsed backwards, the rapier user then staggered as if pushed by the insubstantial polygon shards and leaned back onto the corridor wall. The person slowly slid against the wall down to a sitting position, and began breathing heavily.
The person didn't seem to notice me standing about 15 meters away at the corner of the intersection.
To wordlessly distance myself and find my own prey was my normal procedure. A month ago, on that eventful day, I decided to selfishly live as a solo player. Ever since that day, I have never approached a lone person. The only exception was if I saw a player in battle who was clearly in danger; however, the rapier user's HP gauge was still near full. At the very least, the person didn’t seem to need the help of some busybody at all.
Even so…
After about five seconds of deliberation, I left the shadows of the intersection and strode toward the still-sitting rapier user.
Skinny figure, somewhat slender. The torso was equipped with a dark red leather tunic with a lightweight copper breastplate, while the lower body was dressed in neat leather pants, with boots up to the knees. A hooded cape cloaked the body from head to below the waist, so the face could not be seen. Other than the cape, the equipment seemed to be that of a fencer, but my own appearance as a swordsman was almost the same as well. My beloved sword «Anneal Blade», the reward from a high-difficulty quest, is very heavy. So, to keep my skills on point, I wear very little metal armour—just a small chest guard with a dark-grey leather coat over it.
Noticing my approaching footsteps, the rapier user's shoulders trembled suddenly, but didn’t move any further. The fact that I wasn't a monster should have been revealed by a green-colored cursor in that person's view. He had his face buried deep behind raised knees, giving a strong 'Just pass by and move on'
impression, but—I stopped about two meters from the rapier user and opened my mouth.
“…That was an extreme overkill just now.”
The small shoulders covered by the thick cloth of the cape moved slightly again. The hood jerked, moved up about 5cm, and from the darkness within, two pupils sharply shot towards me.
The only thing I could discern was light brown irises. The features of the face couldn't be seen at all.
For a few seconds, the rapier user continued to watch me with that same sharp gaze he used in the battle earlier, but eventually his head tilted slightly to the right in an 'I don't get it' kind of gesture.
Seeing that, I thought, 'So it's as I thought'.
For what looked like solo play to me, there was one huge incongruity.
The «Linear» released by the rapier user was so perfect that I couldn't help but shiver. The conciseness of the pre-motion and post-motion, and, most of all, the speed of the thrust that prevented perception of the rapier itself. Never before have I beheld such a terrifying and beautiful sword skill.
So from the beginning, I thought that he must similarly be a beta tester. Before this world became a death game, extensive battle experience must have been accumulated to attain this speed.
However, seeing «Linear» a second time, I had doubts about my guess. The skill was perfect, but the pace of battle was too risky.
Certainly, «Minimal Side Step Defense» has a higher counterattack speed over parrying or blocking, and won't decrease weapon/armor durability. However in exchange, when the defense fails, the danger is the greatest. At worst, counter damage may be applied and a stun could occur. In solo battles, a stun is fatal.
The imbalance between the perfect sword skill and the risky defense tactics. For some reason I wanted to know the reason why, no matter what. That's why I moved closer and greeted the person, saying that no matter what the circumstances were, it was overkill.
However, the opponent didn't seem to understand the well-known net game term.
Meaning, the rapier user in front of me was not an original beta tester. Not only that, he might not even have been an MMO player before coming here.
I took a short breath, and explained anew.
"Overkill means…in comparison to the monster's remaining HP, the damage dealt was way too much. The Kobold earlier was almost dead after the second «Linear»…no, it was practically dead already. Its HP gauge had only two or three dots remaining.
Instead of finishing it with a sword skill, a light normal attack would have been more than enough."
In this world, how many days…how many weeks had it been since I had talked so much? Pondering that question, I close my mouth.
Even after listening to my speech, the fru
it of my hard work and poor speaking skills, the rapier user had no reaction for over ten seconds. Just when I thought I hadn't managed to get through, a small voice finally slipped through the lowered hood.
"……Overkill, is there any problem with it?"
At that moment, I belatedly realized this rapier user huddled in front of me was one of this world's extraordinarily rare— especially in the depths of a dungeon like this—«Female Players».
It had already been a month since the official launch of the world's first VRMMORPG, «Sword Art Online».
By this time, the average MMO would begin to see players approaching the level cap, and the world map should have been explored from end to end. However for SAO, even the current top class group was barely Level 10—I didn't know how high the cap was, but—there was no way that could have been it. The floating castle Aincrad, where the game is staged, had only been conquered by a few percent in total as well.
The reason was that the current SAO was a game that wasn't a game; in a sense, it had become a «Jail». Manual logout wasn't possible and death of the avatar amounted to death of the real player. With these conditions, not many people entered dungeons filled with dangerous monsters and traps.
Also, after the Gamemaster forced all avatars to be the same gender as their real-world players, females were very rare. Even after a month, I think almost all of them still stayed in the «Starting City». In the first sizable dungeon, the «First Floor Dungeon», I have seen female players only two or three times, and they were all members of big parties.
That's why I would never have imagined the solo rapier user I met in an unexplored area of the dungeon would be a female player.
For a moment, I thought about mumbling an apology and leaving the area. It wasn’t because I found fault with the kind of male players that always spoke out to any female player they saw; I just sincerely didn't like to be thought of that way.
On the other hand, if the opponent had said something like 'It's my choice' or 'Leave me alone,' I would have said 'I see' and left immediately. However, the rapier user's curt reply had been a question. So, I stopped myself from moving away at the last minute, and once again answered by desperately putting to use all my language skills.
"……Overkill has no penalty or demerit from the system, but…it's bad for efficiency. Sword skills require concentration, so using them continuously is mentally exhausting. There's also the return path, so it's better to not fight in a way that makes you tired."
"……Return path?"
Again, a questioning voice emanated from deep inside the hood.
Fatigue made it very faint and the intonation was also thin, but regardless, I thought her voice was quite beautiful. Of course, that's not something I'd say out loud, though.
Instead, I explained once more.
"Yes. It takes about an hour to get from here to the dungeon exit, and from there to the closest town is about 30 minutes even when moving quickly, right? Exhaustion increases mistakes. You look like a solo player, and for a single person, any small mistake might cost you your life."
While my mouth moved, I asked myself, 'Why am I speaking with all my might?' Because the opponent is female—that couldn't be the reason, since I had given a long speech before knowing that.
If I was her, and an upper rank person had lectured me like this, I would have said, 'It's my choice, so leave me alone,' or something like that. So, with my personality and actions rather at odds, I was about to break a sweat, when the rapier user finally replied.
"…Then, there's no problem. I'm not returning."
"What? …N-Not returning to town? But…replenishing potions, repairing equipment…and sleep. ."
I asked dumbfounded. The rapier user's shoulders shook slightly.
"I don't need medicine when I'm not taking damage, and I bought five of the same sword…As for resting, I use the nearby safe area."
As the murmur faded, I was speechless for a while.
Safe areas were certain rooms in a dungeon that monsters would not enter. A safe area could be recognized by a special colored torch placed on the wall in each of its four corners. While hunting and mapping, it's a nice place; but, even so, it could only be used for maybe an hour of short rest. The floor was made of cold stone and of course there was no bed, and the footsteps or growls of nearby monsters could be heard frequently. No matter how courageous a player was, deep sleep was absolutely impossible.
But, based on what I just heard, this rapier user had been using a safe area in lieu of a town inn and has continued secluding herself in the dungeon…is that what she means?
"……How many hours has it been?"
I fearfully inquired.
The rapier user answered after taking a long breath.
"Three days…or four days…Is that all? The monsters around here will revive soon, so I'll be going."
With her delicate left hand wrapped in a thick leather glove, she pushed off the wall and stood up unsteadily.
Her still-unsheathed slender sword drooped down heavily as if she was holding a two-handed sword one-handedly, and the rapier user turned her back to me.
As she took one, two steps away from me, her cape was in tatters all over, revealing that much of its durability had been lost. No, for cloth equipment that had been used for a four-day hunting expedition, the mere fact that it had maintained its shape was a miracle. The earlier 'As long as I don't take damage' comment might not have been an exaggeration…
After realizing that, I spat out some unthinkable words to her slender back.
"……If you fight like that, you will die…"
Suddenly stopping, the rapier user leaned her shoulder on the right wall and turned around slowly. From within the hood, her eyes, which I had seen were hazel before, pierced through me with a light red inner glow.
"……Everyone is going to die anyways."
The hoarse, cracked sound made the cool dungeon air even colder.
"In just one month, 2000 people have died, and still not even the first floor has been cleared yet. It isn't possible to clear this game.
Where and how you die, and whether it's sooner…or later, is the only difference……"
The longest, most emotion-filled speech that I had heard up until now faltered in the middle and trailed off.
In front of me, as I stepped forward in reaction, the rapier user was struck by an invisible paralyzing attack and slowly sank to the floor.
2
As she was falling to the dungeon floor, a prosaic thought drifted through her mind. 'How is it possible to faint in a virtual space?'
Loss of consciousness meant the brain's normal blood flow was momentarily delayed, and its functions stopped. The reason for this ischemia could be a malfunction in the heart or blood vessels, anemia or low blood pressure, hyperventilation or many other reasons; but while FullDiving in a VR world, the physical body is resting on a bed or reclining chair. Furthermore, the physical bodies of the players imprisoned by this death game «SAO» were probably currently placed in a hospital; their health would obviously be checked and continuously monitored, and if necessary, even medicine would be used. It's hard to believe that loss of consciousness would be due to some physical abnormality—.
After she thought that far within her fading consciousness, at the end she thought, 'That kind of thing doesn’t matter.'
Yes, nothing matters to me anymore..
Because, she will die here. Fainting in a dungeon full of violent monsters, there was no way she would be unharmed. There was another player nearby, but she did not think he would go so far as to endanger his life to help another who had fallen.
Anyway, how could he help? In this world, the maximum weight a single player can carry is strictly limited by the system. In the depths of a dungeon, everyone carries medicine and extra equipment to their weight limit, leaving space for monster drops such as gold and items. With all those combined, the act of carrying a whole person is absolutely impossible.
/> —Upon thinking to this point, she finally realized something.
What she thought as she was hit by a strong sense of dizziness and she fell to the ground was, 'Finally, I can relax without thinking for a long time'. The hard stone floor of the dungeon was what should have been under her body, but somehow, the feeling against her back was curiously soft and fluffy. Her body felt warm, and a light breeze caressed her cheek…
She opened her eyes with enough force to make a sound.
She was no longer in a dungeon lined by thick walls. She was in a clearing in a forest, surrounded by old trees covered in golden moss and thorny brushes with small flowers. At the center of a round space of about 7 or 8 meters in diameter, she seemed to have been lying on a soft carpet of grass while unconscious…no, asleep.
But—why? How had she, who had fallen in the depths of the dungeon, been moved to this far away field?
The answer to that question was found when she turned her view 90 degrees to the right.
At the edge of the clearing, there was a grey silhouette crouching over the root of a particularly majestic tree. He held a somewhat large one-handed sword both arms, and its sheath was propped up under his lowered head. Long black hair covered his face so that it couldn't be seen, but judging from his equipment and physique, there was no mistaking that he was the male player who had spoken with her before she fainted in the dungeon.
Most likely, that man had used some kind of method to move her out of the dungeon to this forest after she had fallen. She quickly looked past the grove of trees forest in the background. On the left side, about 100 meters away, a huge tower reaching up to the sky—the First Floor Dungeon of Aincrad stood towering above there in deep black.
She returned her gaze to her right again.
Sensing her movement, the man's dark-grey leather coat covered shoulders shook and he lifted his head slightly. Even in the bright midday forest, the man's two eyes were black, like a starless night.
Sword Art Online Progressive - Volume 01 Page 1
