Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Digimon Fan Fiction / Crossover Fan Fiction ❯ Sailor Moon Online: Gaiden ❯ Progressive and Digital Knights 6: Shadows in the Catacombs, Part 2 ( Chapter 38 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

I know that it has been over a month since I update any of my stories, but there is good reasons. With what happened with coronavirus compared with ‘personal matters’, it was hard to write and to be honest, it is still hard to write. So, it is going to be difficult to update, everyone. I will try to update as much as possible, but, as for the reasons that I said before, updates may not be too often, folks. Hopefully, I may be wrong about that, but we are going to have to see, everyone. Now, before I start this latest ‘update’, I must give thanks and credit to Belletiger and Kanius as well as Kanius’ YuYuGiDigiMoon fanfiction series, especially his The Invasion of the Rajita story, for giving me permission to use the idea of Valkyrie Sailor Soldiers and everything that’s a part of them in my fanfiction. I would like to give thanks and credit to Kanius and his YuYuGiDigiMoon series, including this author’s Dawn of Chaos story, and LazerWulf for giving me permission to use the idea for their version of Sailor Charon, namely the fact that she is Sailor Pluto’s sister among other things. I would also like to give thanks and credit to Matty G91 and this author’s story of Kamen Rider Lunar for giving me permission to use Kamen Rider Lunar, his looks, and everything about him as well as the UNI-SHOCKER organization as well as the idea of Darth Revan Sammy Tsukino and the other alternate versions of said character.

Now, with that out of the way, as they say on SAO: Link Start!

I DO NOT OWN Sailor Moon, Sword Art Online, Naruto, Accel World, Digimon series, Yu-Gi-Oh R/GX/5Ds/Zexal/Arc-V, Kingdom Hearts, Hyperdimensional Neptunia series, Gundam series, especially Gundam Build Fighters, Dead or Alive, Ninja Gaiden, Mortal Kombat, Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed, Maken-Ki, Tenchi Muyo series, Ronin Warriors, Pretty Cure, Queen’s Blade/Gate, Dragonball Z/GT, Star Trek series, Star Wars, Log Horizon, Sonic the Hedgehog, DC universe, Marvel universe, Assassin’s Creed, Senran Kagura, Sekirei, Monster Musume, Karin/Chibi Vampire, 12 Beast, Stargate series, One Piece, Final Fantasy, Rave Master, Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu, Avatar: The Last Airbender/Legend of Korra, Code Lyoko, Transformers, and anything/anyone that comes from these and other stories that end up in this fanfiction! Sailor Moon is owned/licensed by Naoko Takeuchi and its various studios and publishers, Sword Art Online is owned/licensed by ASCII Media Works, A-1 Pictures Inc., and its various directors/publishers including Reki Kawahara and Tomohiko Itô, Naruto is owned/licensed by Masashi Kishimoto, Yuuto Date, Jump Comics, and Studio Pierrot, Digimon is owned/licensed by Toei Animation and its various directors, including Hiroyuki Kakudo, Yu-Gi-Oh is owned/licensed by Kazuki Takahashi, Toei Animation, and Studio Gallop, Yu-Gi-Oh GX is owned/licensed by Naoyuki Kageyama, Studio Gallop and its various directors, Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds is owned/licensed by Katsumi Ono and Studio Gallop, and Sword Art Online is owned/licensed by ASCII Media Works, A-1 Pictures Inc., and its various directors/publishers including Reki Kawahara and Tomohiko Itô!

Warning: These stories may and will contain mature level intense violence, blood, gore, death, mild to explicit suggestive themes, including mind-control and brainwashing, mild to explicit bad language, and mature adult themes/situations!

Second Warning: Some to a lot of OOC (Out of Character) actions and mannerisms in these series of stories!

Prelude: A castle of stone and metal floating in the sky that consist of one hundred floors. Within this massive structure, there are countless cities, villages, towns, forests, plains, lakes, and whatever you can imagine. There is only one staircase that connects one floor with another, and these staircases are located within dangerous mazes filled with monsters. The players with navigate through these floors to the top with nothing than the weapons in their hands. And yes, I said players.

This is the world of Aincrad, a floating castle in a virtual sky, and yes, I said VIRTUAL sky. This world and this floating castle world are in a realm made of digital information…the world of Sword Art Online. A world that was supposed to be game, but because a nightmare prison when its creator, Akihiko Kayaba, trapped the ten thousand players within this virtual world and if they die here, they will die in real life. The ten thousand players struggle in this ‘game death’ to reach the top of the floating castle where the final boss and the key to their freedom waits.

You may know this story and the stories that come after it, but do you know all the stories? All the tales that happened within the floating castle? What about the tales that happened after the floating castle was conquered? There are stories connected to the ‘tale’ of this floating castle, its ‘history’, and its ‘aftermath’, but they weren’t told…until now. These are those stories…

Sailor Moon Online: Gaiden

Story 38: Progressive and Digital Knights 6: Shadows in the Catacombs, Part 2

December 29, 2022, SAO/Aincrad, Floor 5, Karluin

Back inside of Karluin, the main town of the fifth floor of Aincrad, we find the Digital Knights, Kirito, Asuna, and Usagi joined by a familiar hooded female player with blond hair and familiar ‘whisker marks’ painted onto her avatar’s cheeks.

Miyako tells the familiar female player, “You know, I would say that you went above and beyond for us, Argo.”

The familiar female player, none other than Argo, also known as ‘The Rat’, responds, with a grin, “Oh, come on, Miya-chan, you are going to make me blush!”

Taichi says, with a plain tone, “I’m not, Argo. Despite the way that you do business, you are a vital to the rest of us, players. Right now, we’ve started to make momentum in the game after being stuck on the first floor for the first month and it has given hope to those staying behind the Town of Beginnings along with those following behind us, Argo. And we’re going to need new players up her ‘on the front’ sooner or later. And those players, along with us, are depending on your information. If anything happens to you…”

Argo says, interrupting Taichi, “Wow, Tai-boy, I didn’t know that you cared! You might make Kii-boy jealous!” Taichi and Kirito can’t help to give a deadpan look at Argo for her joke.

Usagi tells Argo, “Taichi has a point, Argo. Your information has proven helpful to a lot of players and if anything happens to you, we could be in big trouble.”

Argo says, with a smile, “I know! I know! But when I found out that the mid-boss was different from the one in the beta, I couldn’t just bring out my volume without such information. I have my reputation at stake, you know!”

Sam says, “Well, thanks to your efforts, we, and soon enough, everyone else, will know its strengths and weaknesses.”

Juniper says, plainly, “But solving that puzzle is going to be a pain in the ass.”

Taichi says, “Maybe for one person, but it might be different for full raid party.”

Kirito says, with a nod, “You have a good point, Taichi. With a full raid party, we could divide the duties with a group of holding the mid-boss at bay while others can solve the puzzle.”

Sam says, “We should also remember that we need to perform the raid during daytime since its weakness will only work if there is daylight to shine on it.”

Takeru says, with a nod, “Good point.”

Argo says, with a smile, “Anyway, I’ve got to get going if I want to get my volume out really quick!”

Kirito says, with a nod, “Good idea, Argo.”
Argo says, with a smile, “See you later, Kii-boy! You, too, A-chan!”

Usagi says, with a nod, “Later, Argo!”

Argo says, with a grin, “Later!” Soon after, Argo takes off into the distance leaving Kirito, Asuna, Usagi, and the Digital Knights behind to watch her as she quickly ‘vanishes’ into the distance.

Miyako says, amazed, “Man! She’s quick!”

Sam says, “Not surprising since she plays an AGI build.”

Takeru says, nodding his head, “True, but she took a big risk there. She may be able to dodge better than A LOT of us, but a lot of her other stats are below even average for other players. Plus, in order to have such speed and agility, her armor is practically nil…if she wears any at all.”

Kirito says, “You have a point. Her main focus is on evasion and if she can’t evade, she is big trouble.”

Usagi asks Kirito, “Are you concerned about her?”

Kirito responds, with a nod, “Yes, she is an important contact. Without Argo, I don’t know where I’ll be.” Usagi gives a slight annoyed expression though Kirito doesn’t see it due to her special hooded cloak.

Taichi says, “With Argo gone, we can now talk about something else.”

Kirito says, with a nod and a sigh, “With the information that we know, we believe that there is a PK gang operating in Aincrad.”

Miyako says, solemnly, “It is hard to believe.”

Juniper says, shocked, “I don’t get it! Someone like Kayaba wouldn’t be joking around this and if this were some kind of ‘big joke’, we would have been out of here a LONG time ago. This is the ‘real deal’ and death, here, really means DEAD!”

Takeru says, with a sigh, “We know. They either completely don’t get it or…they just don’t care.”

Yamato says, plainly, “And either worse, they are sick enough to believe that they can get away with murder here. But then again, they may have a ‘point’.”

Asuna asks, nervously, “What do you mean?”

Sam responds, “We can’t be sure what information, if any at all, is getting back IRL. We can’t be certain, but the real way that people die because of this sick ‘death game’ is due to the NervGear doing you-know what. And since it was Kayaba who forged SAO to be this way…”

Kirito says, with a nod of understand, “All deaths will be accountable to him and it is possible ONLY to him.”

Asuna says, horrified, “Well, it doesn’t mean that they can help the NervGear kill us! It’s wrong!”

Taichi says, with a nod of understanding, “We know that, Asuna. And we agree wholeheartedly on that point! What they are doing is accessory to murder and that’s fact! However, Sam and Kirito have a point.”

Takeru says, nodding his head in agreement, “I have to agree with Taichi. We can’t be sure what information is coming out of here that people, IRL, can access from the servers. And someone like Kayaba will make sure their access is limited. He doesn’t want to give anyone IRL any chance to find a way to end this other than on his terms.”

Kirito says, nodding his head in agreement with Takeru, “Agreed, Takeru. That means information, if any at all, is going to be very limited. And something tells me that whoever leads this gang knows it.”

Taichi says, with a nod, “Most likely. Whoever is leading this gang is a crafty one. He is playing the ‘long game’. He is trying to cause havoc and start conflict by influencing the top guilds against each other.”

Yamato says, “In which we, now, know that they have a spy in the ranks of one of the two guilds.”

Sam asks Asuna, Kirito, and Usagi, “Did any of you have an idea on who the person with Morte was?”

Usagi says, shaking her head, “No, no idea.”

Asuna says, shaking her head, “Neither do I. Morte did his best to hide his identity.”

Taichi says, “Pretty bright guy.”

Juniper asks, “You think that he is the leader of the gang?”

Asuna responds, shaking her head, “Based on what I heard, I don’t think so.”

Kirito says, “From what Asuna told us, Morte mentioned a ‘boss’, so, he isn’t the leader of the gang. He didn’t know that Asuna was there until she revealed herself like they didn’t know we were there until we revealed ourselves.”

Usagi says, nodding her head in agreement, “That’s right.”

Takeru says, “That doesn’t mean that Morte isn’t ‘high up’ in the gang…though we don’t know how many of them there are.”

Sam says, nodding his head in agreement, “True. Very true. It could be small or could be more than just three. We can’t be sure.”

Asuna asks, confused, “But why would they be acting this way?”

Kirito says, with a sigh, “It is complex to explain, Asuna.”

Taichi says, adding in, “You may think that they wouldn’t act this way IRL, but it could only mean that they are ‘wearing a mask’ IRL and this is their ‘real self’ here.”

Asuna asks, confused, “What do you mean?”

Sam says, with a sigh, “There are plenty of people that seem ‘okay’ IRL, but that’s because they are following the rules of society that everyone else in IRL. That’s the ‘mask’ that they ‘wear’. However, their ‘real self’ is completely different. But it doesn’t mean their ‘real self’ is sinister and all.”

Takeru says, with a nod and smile, “Yeah, just because what you see isn’t who they truly are doesn’t mean that they are ‘bad’ deep down. A person that you see that’s assertive ‘in public’ may be more ‘shy and reversed’ in actually.”

Usagi says, nodding her head in agreement, “True. Just because their ‘outside’ doesn’t match their ‘inside’ doesn’t mean that they are really bad.”

Kirito says, with a plain tone, “True, but it isn’t the case of MMO gamers with ‘dark sides’. They ‘play nice’ in mainstream society due to the rules, but when they go into MMO games, they show that their ‘true selves’ which are very ‘nasty’ to say the least.”

Taichi says, with a nod, “Yep. Plenty of those kinds are usually your typical ‘criminal players’ especially PK players. They get to express who they truly are because no one knows who they are IRL especially since they wear a ‘mask’ in ‘that life’.”

Yamato says, nodding his head in agreement with Taichi, “And here, in SAO, it is worse because, since most likely information coming out of here is limited, if any information comes out at all, they can become true killers and they wouldn’t get truly punished especially if they are doing it the way that they are doing now.”

Sam says, with a nod, “They are only influencing the guilds to fill them with anger and resentment to make them ‘lash out’ against each other in which the ‘blood’ that’s shed would by their hands, not the gang’s hands…at least not directly.”

Miyako says, with a sneer, “Typical cowardly tactics.”

Kirito says, with a nod, “Cowardly, yep. But also very smart. When dealing with PK, in a typical manner, you would do either directly or through a ‘roundabout method’ like Monster PK where you aggro monsters and set them loose on players, but this method is WAY ‘out of the box’ and requires a lot to go right. However, the person doing this is very intelligent since he knows how to set things in his favor.”

Taichi says, nodding his head in agreement, “And that makes him EXTREMELY dangerous. More dangerous than any weapon that he could have. His crafty mind and his ‘smooth talking’ are his weapons.”

Yamato says, “No joke.”

Sam says, “However, we know that Morte is a part of his gang and the fact that there is a spy in the ranks of either ALS or DKB.”

Taichi says, looking at Kirito, Usagi, and Asuna, “But that puts you in quite a bit of danger.”

Kirito says, with a plain tone, “I…We know.”

Juniper asks, concerned, “Danger?”

Usagi gives a solemn sigh causing her to say, “Since we know about ‘them’ now, we are basically a ‘thorn’ in the side and thus, we are a target.”

Asuna asks, a bit nervously, “Target?”

Kirito tells Asuna, “We’re a threat to this ‘group’, Asuna. We know about Morte. Plus, you overheard his plans in which we know their current plans as well as the fact that we, now, know that they have a spy in the ranks of one of the other two guilds of Aincrad.”

Taichi says, “In their eyes, it makes you a significant threat. And a threat to an ‘organization’ like that means that you are a target…for elimination.”

Usagi and Asuna winch from those words causing Usagi to think, nervously, “Oh, great.”

Kirito tells Taichi, “We’ll be careful.”

Takeru says, with a smile, “We know that you will. The three of you are very capable and it takes a lot to take you down.”

Kirito says, a bit nervously, “You might be giving us too much credit.”

Yamato says, “Maybe, but the three of you are important in advancing up Aincrad as much as Argo’s information has been a major help in assaulting up this ‘death trap’.”

Asuna says, a bit nervously, “Yeah…”

Takeru says, with a smile, “Anyway, we need to get going. We’re going to need to prepare.”

Usagi asks, curiously, “For what?”

Kirito says, “For the field boss meeting. Technically, since they were first guild to find the mid-boss, they are the ones that are going to lead the assault on the field boss.”

Asuna says, realizing on her face, “That’s right!”

Miyako says, with a sigh, “And that means that we are going to have to deal with Kibaou and Lind whining due to use taking the lead.”

Usagi says, nervously, “Oh, yeah…”

Juniper says, with a grin, “Don’t worry it, girlfriend! We can take care of ourselves with them!”

Asuna says, with a smile, “I’m sure that you can.”

Taichi says, with a grin, “Anyway, we should get going to prepare for the future…the field boss battle and meeting before that.”

Yamato says, with a smirk, “No kidding!”

The Digital Knights start to take their leave causing Juniper to say, “Later!” Soon enough, the Digital Knights take off leaving Kirito, Asuna, and Usagi alone.

Usagi looks at Asuna causing Usagi to say, “Asuna…”

Asuna tells Usagi, “You don’t need to say anything, Usagi-chan.” Asuna says, looking at Kirito, “I’ve only known you, two, for about two months, but I can say with certainty that I’m not surprised. He tends to be a little too stubborn about taking this ‘lone wolf’ act so far.”

Kirito asks, a bit nervously, “Lone wolf?”

Asuna tells Kirito, plainly, “You know what it means, Kirito.”

Kirito says, “Well, I am a solo player…”

Usagi tells Kirito, “Technically, not at the moment, Kirito…” Kirito gives Usagi a deadpan look causing him to sigh soon afterwards.

Kirito tells Usagi and Asuna, “Anyway, we need to be ready for tomorrow. Most likely, we’re going to be tackling the field boss then.”

Asuna says, with a nod, “Right.” Asuna says, with a smile, “It will be interesting to see Kibaou’s and Lind’s reactions when they find out that the Digital Knights beat them to the mid-boss.”

Usagi says, nervously, “I can only imagine, Asuna.”

Kirito thinks in his mind, seriously, “We should also be worried about the spy in the ranks of either the ALS or DKB. We’ll see if Morte shows up, but then again, since he hasn’t been seen with ALS in the boss raids since his duel with me, I doubt it. But the spy might be there. Who is it? Whoever it is, we need to stop their plans in their tracks.”

Asuna says, with a sigh, “Anyway, let’s get back to the inn and rest up. We have a long day tomorrow.”

Usagi says, nodding her head, “Good idea.”

Kirito says, nodding his head in agreement, “Right.” The three of them headed off to rest and prepare for the following days ahead, knowing that there is a ‘dark scheme’ in the shadows that they need to stop or all that they are working for, freedom for all players currently alive in SAO, could be lost.

December 30, 2022, SAO/Aincrad, Floor 5

Deep within the underground dungeon of the fifth floor of Aincrad, we find the Digital Knights assembled in front of the group players that are going to tackle the field boss of fifth floor, including members of Dragon Knights Brigade, the Aincrad Liberation Squad, our black-clad swordsman, white-hooded clad swordswoman, and Asuna, in which the Digital Knights are taking the lead in the raid since technically, they are the first guild to find the boss and based on the unofficial rules that they currently follower, the first guild whose members find the boss get to lead the raid. Right now, Taichi is discussing the plan for the field boss raid battle, much to the chagrin of Kibaou and Lind though Lind gives an impassive look while Kibaou shows his obvious chagrin with gruff annoyed expression on his face. However, the Digital Knights, including Taichi, Kirito, Asuna, and Usagi, are looking for any signs of a particular player, but they don’t see anyone fitting the player that they are looking for.

Yamato thinks in his mind, “We figured that he wouldn’t be here.”

However, as Asuna, Kirito, and Usagi look, Usagi thinks in her mind, “I don’t see anyone that looks like Morte, which isn’t too surprising, but there is no one else that I can see or hear that looks like the person with them. However, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t here. Who could it be? Who could be the spy in the ranks of Aincrad Liberation Squad?” Usagi, Kirito, and Asuna glance at each other as Taichi finishes the explanation.

Taichi yells out, “Okay, does everyone have the plan?”

The group of players nod their heads in agreement in which Kibaou yells out, in his classic Osaka manner, “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get in there and kick that overgrown rotting piece of meat up! It is nothing more than a stupid overgrown horror flick character and it’s not going to stop us, right?!”

There are plenty of cheers from ALS members of the group and Lind shouts out, “Don’t get careless, everyone! The other players are watching us closely and looking at us to show them the way out of this prison! Dragon Knights, let’s show them the way home!” There are cheers from the DKB members causing Kibaou to glance at Lind with his typical expression, but Taichi, Yamato, and Kirito can tell that there is a hint of nervousness in his expression, which is obvious to the three of them. Soon enough, everyone starts to move out into the chamber containing the field boss, which is a huge humanoid undead where the undead has resistance against slashing attacks, thrusting attacks, and piercing attacks, but thanks to Argo’s earlier recon, the raid party knows about the weakness to sunlight where they made sure to conduct this battle when there is sunlight to beam down when they solved the puzzle in which they had it easy thanks to Argo’s earlier recon of the field boss. They defeat the field boss in good and quick order where they suffered no casualties, meaning NO deaths at all. The massive undead field boss shatters into hundreds of data pixels where the words ‘Congratulations’ appear on the ceiling causing many in the raid party to cheer in celebration of their success.

Juniper yells out, excitedly, “Take that, you gross piece of rotting meat!”

Taichi says, with a sly smile, “Great job, everyone!”

After going through the rewards, Kibaou shouts out, “Okay! Okay! We’re done with that damn piece of stink meat already! It’s time to move! This floor won’t conquer itself! Move out!” The ALS members nod their heads in agreement, and they start to move out in which the DKB members don’t even shrug their shoulders at the haste of the ALS members and their leader, but the Digital Knights, Kirito, Asuna, and Usagi have a good idea on their haste.

December 31, 2022, SAO/Aincrad, Floor 5, Mananarena

Today, we find Kirito, Asuna, and Usagi walking down the streets of dusty town that are built in the remains of an ancient mine with a mortar-like depression that have stores and homes that lined the walls of said depression into the earth where all sorts of relics, ores, and fossils can be seen. This is the town of Mananarena of the fifth floor of Aincrad where Kirito, Usagi, and Asuna are now, after spending a bit of time in the dark elf village of Shivata, where only those doing the dark elf ‘portion’ of the massive ‘Elf War’ campaign quest or those joined up with players taking the quest can go. Now, they are here in this town to directly confront members of the DKB that are working with members of ALS for a New Year’s party that members of these two guilds were working on to bring them together, at least for New Year’s, but the machinations of the group that Morte and the spy within the ALS plan to divide the two guilds more than ever before causing more ‘friction’ between them and possibly even worse.

Usagi asks Kirito, “Are you sure about this, Kirito?”

Kirito responds, with a nod, “I believe that the direct route is best way right now, Usagi.”

Usagi says, nodding her head, “Okay…” Soon enough, the three of them arrived at a large restaurant where Kirito and Usagi noticed the smells of cooked food where they look inside of the window where they find DKB members, including their leader, Lind, where they can see that they are enjoying themselves.

Asuna says, curiously, “I don’t think that I’ve ever seen Lind and the others smiling like that…”

Usagi says, with a nod, “You have a point, Asuna.”

Kirito says, “Maybe he got hit with a curse that causes him to keep laughing.” Asuna elbows Kirito in the side while Usagi shakes her head.

Asuna says, annoyed, “This isn’t time for stupid jokes.”

Usagi says, with a sigh, “Please Kirito.”

Kirito says, with a sigh, “Right…Okay…” Kirito then looks a window, locates a certain player, and uses his menu to type up an instant message to that player, known as Shivata. Though the window, they can see Shivata check his menu, glance around, and when he saw the three of them, Shivata gave a look of obvious displeasure, but he left the counter, said a word to one of the other members, and leaves.

As he does so, Usagi thinks in her mind, nervously, “I don’t like the look on his face…” Usagi gives a glance at Asuna where Usagi sees a bit of a nervous look on Asuna’s face in which the three of them move away from the window into the shade of the adjacent building. Soon afterwards, Shivata exits the building where Kirito calls out to him in which Shivata then has Kirito, Asuna, and Usagi follow into an empty dwelling.

But when Asuna closes the door behind all of them, Shivata yells out, pure irritation in his voice, “What are you playing at?!”

As Shivata glares at Kirito, Usagi whispers to Kirito, nervously, “What did you say to him in that message?”

Kirito whispers back, nervously, “I just asked which ALS member had been involved in the planning the countdown party with them…”

Asuna asks, a bit annoyed, “And that’s why he’s so angry? You didn’t put anything else especially something that’s insulting in there?”

Kirito replies, nervously, “No! No! I didn’t! At least, I don’t think!”

Shivata, upon hearing Asuna and Kirito, gives a confused look causing him to ask, confused, “You…You didn’t contact me because you knew about me and my partner?”

Kirito asks, curiously, “Partner? We know that tonight’s party was joint planned between you and the ALS, but nothing more than that.” Shivata then gains a really nervous and guilty looking causing his eyes to wander around where he also clears his throat causing Kirito to get confused.

Usagi thinks in her mind, confused as well, “Um, what’s going on here?” However, Asuna seems to realize what’s going on causing her to gain a sly smirk.

Asuna takes off her hood, revealing her face, and she says, with a sly smile, “It’s all right, Shivata. We just want to know how the party was put together. If you simply tell us that, we won’t pry into anything else, and we won’t tell anyone what we have learned here.”

Shivata asks, nervously, “How can I be sure about that?”

Asuna responds, “We want the party to happen as planned.”

Usagi says, with a nod, “We want the players to come together since it will better our chances of escaping this prison that we have been trapped in.”

Shivata nods his head in understanding and Asuna says, “That’s correct. However, there might be a problem with that. I have to ask: Have you received a foreboding message from the planner on the ALS side?”

Shivata asks, surprised, “How did you know?”

Asuna says, “We’ll help you solve the problem. So will you tell us in more detail? With your ALS counterpart if possible.”

Usagi says, in a pleading tone, “Please, Shivata-san, there is more to this than you know.”

Shivata gives a nervous look and silence for a few seconds, but he then asks, “You’re certain to keep our secrets?”

Asuna responds, “I swear it on my blade.” Asuna gives a theatrical bow causing Shivata to nod his head and opened his window.

Kirito asks Asuna, confused, “What just happened?”

Asuna responds, with a smile, “You’ll find out soon.”

Usagi thinks in her mind, curiously, “Something tells me that Asuna figured out something that’s going to really surprised us, especially Kirito.” Several minutes later, a player decked out in full steel plate armor that has a heavy armlet helm that covered their head with a long mace slung behind their back in which the visor of the helm was closed to keep the face completely covered. Usagi thinks in her mind, “Wow! Steel plate armor is rare at this point right now! I don’t think that any stores sell all of the components needed to assemble that kind of ‘full armor’. Plus, the armor looks top quality stuff, so, it must be blacksmith made, but NPC blacksmiths are nowhere up to snuff and there is only one player blacksmith that I know in which he has given up blacksmithing due to the ‘upgrade scam’.”

The player in the full armor says, their voice distorted by the helm, “What’s this about Shiva?”

Usagi thinks in her mind, curiously, “Shiba?”

Shivata scratched his short hair and says, “Sorry for calling you out like this. But they said they’re going to help with the party. Plus…I think that fencer’s figured us out.”

Kirito gives a confused look while the player in the plate armor asks, looking at Asuna, “Really? How could you tell?”

Asuna replies, with a very confident smile, “From the way that Shivata reacted. It was obvious.”

The player looks in Shivata’s direction and says, after sighing, “I told you. You let too much show on your face, Shiba.”

Shivata responds, nervously, “I can’t help it. The NervGear just takes your emotions and puts them out there!”

The player retorts, “Then you ought to wear a face-covering helmet.”

Shivata replies, nervously, “C-Come on, Lit, you know I can’t…”

Usagi thinks in her mind, her eyes widening, “Wait! Could this player be…? And that means that Shivata and…”

Kirito asks Asuna, in a whisper, “Hey, what’s going on here?”
Asuna tells the armored player, kindly, “Listen, we don’t mean any harm. You see, we want your party to go through and we know that there is a problem on the ALS side. We just want to know more on how to solve the issue.” After five seconds, the player nods their head and using their window, they use it to de-equip the helm around their head causing the face of a young teen girl with neatly cut orange hair with bangs that go past her neck.

Kirito gives a look of surprise where Usagi thinks in her mind, “I knew it! She is a girl! And she and Shivata are…”

However, the cute female player says, with a kind smile, “We believe you. I have a lot of respect for you and the ‘White Swordswoman’, Asuna. In fact, I admire her.”

Usagi thinks in her mind, nervously, “I really didn’t want to hear that.” After Kirito gives a scream of pure confusion over what he just learned, Kirito, Asuna, and Usagi learn that the female player’s name is Liten and that she has been part of the ALS since December 22, nine days ago, which was the day after the fourth floor opened. However, Kirito can’t help to wonder about Liten’s armor since it is exceptionally rare at this stage of Aincrad.

As if reading his mind, Liten tells Kirito, “It is player made, Kirito. Of course, I didn’t make it myself.
Kirito, surprised by Liten’s frankness, responds, nervously, “R-Really? Which means you mined out a thousand-pus iron ores? How long did that take you if you don’t mind me asking…?”

Liten responds, with a kind tone, “You don’t have to be polite with me, Kirito. You’re my senior among the advanced group.”

Kirito replies, nervously, “Right…”

Shivata says, with a nod of his head, “Yeah, that’s fine. You are on pretty equal terms, so it would feel weird for you to act formal around Liccha…around Liten.”

Kirito says, nervously, “Well if you insist…” Kirito tells Liten, “So, about the topic at hand…”

Liten says, “Well, this is something that I’ve only told Shiba, so I’d appreciate it if you kept it between us.”

Asuna says, with a nod, “Of course, Liten. It was the promise from the very smart.” Usagi nods her head in agreement with Asuna’s statement in which Liten explains her story with this being Liten’s first VRMMO, but she is an online gamer where she doesn’t want to wait around the Town of Beginnings, but she had a late start compared to players like Asuna and Shiba due to the fact she had chosen the Heavy Armor skill as a ‘main skill’ when the game started, where Kirito assumed, correctly, she planned to be a ‘tank’, a type of player RPG games that focuses on defense in which they have high defense, vitality, and powerful vitality/defense in which made them excellent for team play where they ‘absorbed’ the attacks of enemies while the more ‘attacked based’ players would fight the opponents while being protected by the powerful defense of the ‘tanks’. But when Liten developed a significant amount, she tried to join parties, but she found no one wouldn’t accept her, not because any lack of abilities, however. It was a bias of a female player being a tank style player. A strong willed character, Liten stubbornly decided go it alone, however, one day, on the second floor, near the town of Marome, she found a vein of ore and taking out her mining tools, she started to get iron ore items, but unlike getting seven and eight ores, Liten started to get more and more ores causing Kirito and Usagi to realize what that meant.

Usagi asks Liten, “You found an infinite bug?” Liten nods her head at Usagi’s question causing her to say, “Wow. I don’t blame you for not being so proud on gathering all that ore for your armor.”

Asuna was about to ask an obvious question, so, Kirito tells Asuna, “It is a bug in the program that causes monsters or items to continue to generate past their normal limits. I’ve never heard of one in SAO, but I guess everything is prone to them.”

Usagi tells Kirito, “I’ve had a friend say, quoting ‘science law’ or something like that: ‘Anything that can go wrong WILL go wrong’.”

Kirito nods his head in which Asuna says, excitedly, “Oh, so you could just keep mining the same vein for ores as long as you wanted. It’s like winning the lottery or something.”

Everyone else in the room winched at Asuna’s ‘nativity’ causing Usagi to say, “No way, Asuna. In OUR community that’s bad decorum and within the ‘law’ of MMORPG, it is completely illegal.”

Shivata says, nodding his head in agreement, “Exactly as White Swordswoman-san said, Asuna. Taking advantage that kind of bug is known as glitching and taking advantage of it in a single-player RPG is up to the player, but doing it in an MMO, if the management finds out, they can roll back your status or even ban you.”

Usagi says, plainly, “Which means that your account is deleted. However, having your account deleted could mean…”

Asuna’s eyes widen at what Usagi is implying in which Kirito says, “But it looks like that Liten didn’t give up on the vein with the infinite glitch unless I’m mistaken.”

Liten replies, shaking her head, “No, you aren’t. I was conflicted, but I couldn’t stop myself. With an infinite supply of iron ore, I could skip right past iron armor and go into steel. It was all I could think about.”

Kirito tells Liten, “I don’t blame you. If I found a spot like that, I’d go crazy mining it.”

Shivata says, hastily, “I’d do it too!”

Usagi thinks in her mind, solemnly, “I don’t think plenty of others can blame her either. Every one of us needs every advantage that we can get to survive and hope to escape this place.”

Kirito asks, curiously, “So, just out of curiosity, this infinite-generating point still active?”

Liten replies, shaking her head, “No. I mined it nonstop for about thirty minutes until suddenly the rock texture seemed to fail. It came back to normal right away, but no ores dropped from it anymore.”

Kirito asks, curiously, “So the devas noticed the bug and fixed it?”

Usagi tells Kirito, “I doubt it, Kirito. The only ‘GM’ in this world is none other than Kayaba and everyone else must be working with the authorities to figure out how to break in as well as break us out.”

Kirito says, nodding his head in agreement, “Yeah, you have a point. None of the Argus staff can most likely tamper with the SAO server right now other than Kayaba.”

Shivata says, “Then maybe Kayaba fixed it.”

Usagi responds, nodding her head, “In a way, you are most likely right, Shivata.”

Everyone looks at Usagi causing Shivata to ask, “I am?”

Usagi replies, with a solemn tone, “You do remember ‘who’ I am, right? I’ve been to Argus during the development of SAO and I’ve overheard a lot of things including from my u-I mean Kayaba. He mentioned on how to minimize the need for ‘human intervention’ on maintaining SAO including ‘self-check’ systems and programs.”

Shivata asks, shocked, “Wait! Are you saying that this game…this ‘death trap’ has ways to fix itself?”

Kirito says, with a nod, “It isn’t baseless at all. In fact, it is very plausible. Remember, this ‘death game’ has been ongoing for over a month…nearly two months in fact and seemly without a problem. Also, we are talking about the person that created not only SAO, but also created the very NervGear that we are using that’s keeping us trapped in here. Creating programs and ‘systems’ for SAO that can correct bugs and errors is highly possible for him.”

Shivata says, looking deep in thought, “Personally, I’ve wondered how this place can keep going for so long without seemly having any problems.”

Kirito tells Shivata, with a sigh, “That means that there is no chance of escaping via an error or bug in which if SAO does have ‘auto-correct programs and systems’, which is most likely the case, due with the ‘mad genius’ that we are dealing with, it will make sure that no ‘loopholes’ can be made in here or even on the outside that we can use to get out.”

Shivata says, with a solemn sigh, “There goes any hope of that happening then.”

Usagi says, “And remember, he has had a few months before all this started to test everything.”

Shivata gives a confused look and he then says, realizing something, “Oh, right! The beta test!” Shivata says, his eyes widening, “Wait! That means that he has been plotting this thing for months!”

While Usagi gives a solemn nod, Kirito tells Shivata, “If not longer, Shivata. You don’t just do this kind of incredible horror at the drop of a hat.”

Shivata says, nodding his head in agreement, “Yeah, you’re right.”

Kirito tells Liten, moving to change the subject, “Moving on, I’m surprised that you could carry all that ore on your own. I know that iron ore has pretty high durability, making have a long ‘life’, but even then, it has to be a monster task.”

Liten responds, shaking her head, “No, I didn’t transport it all myself. In fact, even after I brought it to the village, it wouldn’t all fit into the storage at the inn…”

Kirito says, nodding his head in agreement with Liten, “Oh, good point…”

Asuna says, “In that case, what if you brought a portable forge to the mining sport and melted them all down? You can carry way more as ingots. And if that weren’t possible, you could go straight to an NPC smith to do the job.”

Usagi tells Asuna, “I don’t think that would work, Asuna.”

Kirito says, nodding his head once again, “She’s right, Asuna. Portable forges are for crafting gear and upgrading them. You can only create ingots in large and fixed forges. You could take them to a blacksmith, but a combat-centered player hauling THAT much ore just basically advertising that there’s a huge stack of it outside of town and that will lead to only trouble.”

Liten says, “That’s what I was afraid of. It was right around the time of the upgrade scam on the second floor, so I was worried about dangerous people following me around.”

Shivata tells Liten, “Licchan, there was a lot of stuff that went on behind the scenes with that scam and I can’t go into specifics, but the people who did it weren’t just plain bad people. They apologized to their victims and compensated them for their losses, so there’s no bad guys anymore.”

Liten says, with a smile, “Oh, thanks for letting me know, Shiba.”

Usagi thinks in her mind, solemnly, “I wish that were true, Shivata.” However, as Usagi glances at Kirito and Asuna, in which the two of them give her a ‘look’, in which all three of them know that Shivata’s statement isn’t true though Shivata doesn’t know that since he isn’t privy to the knowledge that the Legend Braves, the group of players behind the upgrade scam, were just pawns of another ‘sinister force’ working behind the shadows. A true group of ‘bad guys’ and the first PK gang in Aincrad who are trying to sow chaos and discord in the ‘front lines’ of those that are trying to clear this ‘death game’ and help all currently surviving players escape this nightmare.

Kirito asks, curiously, “How did you move all that ore?”

Liten responds, “Before the physical transporting of the ore came to mind, I wasn’t sure if I should use the ore. As a tank, I was desperate for it, but it was obviously an infinite supply bug. So, I wasn’t sure if I should use armor I got through a glitch because I was afraid of what would happen if I got banned…”

Usagi then says, with a plain tone, “I doubt that would have happened, Liten.” Everyone looks at Usagi causing her to say, “From what I can see that for the past nearly two months, the only way that you can die is you get into situation where your HP hits zero and your avatar is deleted. I don’t think that he would be ‘petty’ to ‘delete’ you just because you used a glitch to get some OP power this early in this situation. Remember, SAO is no longer a game…or at least, a normal game. While it follows plenty of ‘game rules’, there are plenty of MMORPG ‘laws’ that no longer apply here.”

Shivata and Liten become solemn in which Shivata says, with a sigh, “Yeah, you have a point, White Swordswoman-san.”

Usagi says, continuing on, “The only way that you can die is because you ‘died’ in the game and with what I just mentioned, I think that Kayaba is going to be okay with you using that ore. You are still here after mining it and having that armor crafted, right? In his mind, it is just fine since whatever ‘auto-correct programs’ that he has here in SAO got rid of that ‘infinite ore bug’ and no one else will use it. He’ll allow us to use those kind of things since the system will get rid of them in proper order. Plus, the main thing in this ‘death trap’ is to survive and we need to use whatever advantage we need to get.”

Liten says, with a smile, “Those are the exact same words as a friend of mine that helped repair my gear on the first floor when I asked them for advice.”

Kirito asks, curiously, “Your friend? Repair? Is your friend a blacksmith?”

Liten replies, with a nod, “Yes, but she’s not really a smith…not one with her own shop anyway…she just was putting a bit of work into the weapon and armor crafting skills. We got along, both being girls, and so I started asking her for help with maintenance and crafting a bit.”

Kirito and Asuna give looks of amazement while Usagi thinks in her mind, surprised, “A FEMALE blacksmith player?”

Asuna asks Liten, “So, she said the same words?”

Liten says, nodding her head, “That’s right, Asuna. She told me that I shouldn’t hesitate and that the most important thing in this world is to survive. Survive and then beat the game, in that order, so you should whatever bugs you need in order to get stronger. Even if I got banned, it would mean getting out of here…”

Usagi says, shaking her head, “I’m sorry to say that won’t happen, Liten. Kayaba won’t kill you for using a simple bug to beat this place, but he won’t just let you go because of some ‘MMO rule’ since SAO isn’t a game anymore.” Shivata and Liten can’t help to solemnly nod her head in agreement with Usagi’s statements.

Asuna asks, curiously, “So, it wasn’t an NPC that made your armor, but this friend of yours?”

Liten replies, with a nod, “Yes, it was barely within her skill level and she said that I should have an NPC do it. However, I insisted that she try, and she did fail over and over again, but she continued on throughout the night until she made me all five pieces: Torso, legs, gantlet, boots, and helm.”

Kirito says, with an amazed look, “Wow, she must be a good friend…and a good blacksmith too.” After Liten gives a sincere smile, she continues on with her story by explaining that after getting this armor, she went onto the third floor and while hunting treants, the ALS found her, and she accepted their offer to join based on their friend’s advice. On the fourth floor, she met Shivata and they ended up hitting off where they got closer with every single day where they planned to bring both the ALS and DKB with the first step being which would be countdown party that would have been on this night. After taking a drink that Kirito had stored in his inventory, Kirito asks, a bit nervously, “First, how much you told Shivata about the problem within the ALS, Liten?”

Shivata tells Liten, “Oh, yeah. That’s right. You sent me that message yesterday saying a problem arose, but you were going to handle it, Licchan. I was worried about what that meant…”

Liten says, solemnly, “I’m sorry, Shiba.”

Shivata tells Liten, concerned, “If something happened, why won’t you tell me? I know I’m in the DKB, but more importantly, we’re both SAO players. The ironic thing is, you were the one who helped me realize that…” Shivata placed a hand on Liten’s armored shoulder, but Liten could only solemnly stare at the floor.

Usagi thinks in her mind, solemnly, “The leadership of Liberation Squad must have ordered their members to keep their mouths shut about their plans to attack the floor boss early.” Usagi looks at Asuna and Kirito in which Kirito nods his head where Kirito clears his throat.

Kirito says, “If Liten can’t explain it to you, then I will. Listen carefully what I say, Shivata: The core members of the ALS plan to ditch tonight’s countdown party and attempt the floor boss on their own.” Shivata gives a look of shock while Liten, her eyes bulging in shock, was about to fall down off her chair.

Liten asks, flabbergasted, “Kirito, how did you know that…?!”

Kirito replies, “Sorry, I can’t tell you yet. But I assure you that it wasn’t a leak from within the ALS, and I didn’t buy it from the info broker.”

Liten replies, curiously, “Oh, I see. Well, it doesn’t matter. I’m sure that players like the three of you have your own top-level information gathering abilities.”

Usagi says, nervously, “You are giving us too much credit, Liten.”

Kirito says, with a sigh, “I have to agree with that. Anyway, we’re outsiders and we tend to do our own thing. But the three of us want to make sure that the two guilds that don’t engage from hostilities. Sure, a reasonable rivalry might help advance the pace of conquest, but this act of going behind the other’s back is crossing a line. If they succeed, it will totally ruin relations with the DKB, and if it fails, it could result in the total collapse of the ALS. I mean, they’re going after the milestone fifth boss as a single guild…”

Usagi says, adding her voice in, “And bosses every fifth floor are significant more difficult than your ‘regular’ floor boss.”

Shivata says, confused, “But why would this happen? Kibaou is gruff and rude, but he’s not stupid. He should know full well how reckless it is to challenge a floor boss on his own…”

Liten then sighs where she says, “If you already know about that, then I will tell you what I know.” When everyone looks at her, Liten tells everyone else, “The ALS stresses equality among members, so meetings are held with full attendance, as a basic rule. But the meeting about the boss strategy in question was held among only a dozen or so of the oldest members. I was still a fresh new recruit, so I wasn’t called to join. So, everything I tell you came from my group leader after he came from the meeting, which was held three days ago, back on the night of the twenty-eighth. One of the senior members of the guild got crucial information from a beta tester.”

Usagi asks, curiously, “Wait! Did you say a beta tester?”

Liten says, with a nod, “That’s right. Because the topic was so sensitive, Kibaou made the decision to limit attendance to just the senior members.”

Usagi thinks in her mind, curiously, “I’m surprised that Kibaou, of all players, would take information from a beta tester due to his ‘policy’ with beta testers.”

Liten then says, continuing the story, “The information was about an incredibly important item dropped by the fifth-floor boss…something that would change things dramatically depending on whether the ALS or the DKB got the drop. My group leader and some other officers argued that if it was that important, they should bring it to the DKB’s attention and propose joint management before the fight. The party would be the perfect setting to hash things out.”

Usagi thinks in her mind, with a weak smile on her lips, “I’m glad that there are still plenty of players that are still reasonable.”

Liten then says, solemnly, “But joint management of the item in question was apparently impossible by nature. That led to the opinion that they should defeat the boss while the party was happening, to ensure that they got the item…otherwise, the ALS might end up being absorbed into the DKB. Ultimately, Kibaou didn’t have any choice, but to approve the boss strategy. That’s everything that I know about this.”

Usagi thinks in her mind, curiously, “So, Kibaou is being forced into this due to ‘peer pressure’.”

Shivata asks, curiously, “Licchan, what in the world is this item?”

Liten responds, shaking her head, “Sorry, Shiba. I learned about the boss plain just this morning. I asked my group leader for more information, but that was top secret. The group leader was all for our party, but there was nothing they could do about this. I’m new, so what could I do? I talked with the rest of the group, and we’d just decided we should state our case to Kibaou directly, when I got Shiba’s message.”

Shivata says, concerned, “I had no idea.” Shivata asks Kirito, “Kirito, you are a former beta, so, do you know of it? What’s this crucial item the fifth-floor boss drops?”

Kirito gives a nervous look, takes a few seconds to think, and he then says in reply, “Crucial item from the fifth boss? I took part in that fight, but I think it was a two-handed swordsman who got the centerpiece drop…I mean, any boss drop is going to be great, but I don’t recall something so powerful it would destroy the balance between guilds. Besides, a weapon can just be joint managed…” Kirito then goes into deep thought in which he remembers about an ‘odd item’ that dropped during the beta version of the fifth floor boss fight. Kirito then says, his eyes widening, “A flag…”

Everyone else looked at Kirito causing Asuna to ask, confused, “A flag? What about a flag?”

Kirito then comes out of his chair where he says, “Oh, yeah! You’re right, Liten! That would cause problems! Big problems!”

Usagi asks, confused, “What do you mean Kirito?”

Shivata asks, also confused, “What is it Kirito? When you say ‘flag’, do you mean a switch? Some condition that will prompt a change in the game?”

Kirito responds, shaking his head, “No, not a programming flag, but a literal flag.”

Asuna asks, curiously, “Why would a flag be an ultra-powerful item?”

Kirito says, seriously, “It isn’t an ordinary flag. It’s a guild flag. If you carry it around, every guild member within fifty to sixty feet gets a buff to all of their stats.”

Shivata asks, his eyes growing wide and with a stunned tone, “Wh-What?!”

Usagi says, thinking back, “Wait! I think that I remember hearing of something like this!”

Everyone looks at Usagi causing Asuna to say, “You did? Oh, wait! Your brother! He’s a former beta tester that didn’t get trapped in here!”

Usagi says, with a nod, “Yeah…”

Kirito says, nodding his head, “Oh, yeah! Shingo was there!”

Liten asks, curiously, “So, it is true?”

Usagi says, nodding her head, “Yes, it is. My brother, who was part of the same beta test as Kirito, mentioned about it during the beta test. It was a few months ago…he mentioned with a laugh about the player that got the flag, which was a low-powered weapon by itself, threw it away in which the player that picked it up really helped his guild mates big time with the player that threw it away made to look foolish.”

Kirito says, plainly, “Exactly what happened.”

Shivata says, lowly, “Then it is true.”

Usagi nods her head in agreement with Shivata’s statement causing Usagi to say, “You’re right, Kirito. That’s bad. This could cause the fragile ‘peace’ between the players in the front lines to collapse.”

Kirito says, nodding his head, “No kidding.”

Asuna asks, “What can we do?”

Kirito turns to Liten and Shivata causing him to say to them, “I know that this is asking much of you, two, but right now, you need to keep this information to yourselves.”

Shivata asks, surprised, “What?!”

Kirito tells Shivata, “Shivata, you know what would happen if you told your guild about this.” Shivata then winches, knowing that Kirito is right, causing him to look at Liten in which he nods his head.

Liten asks, “What are we going to do?”

Asuna tells Liten, “Don’t worry, we will figure it out, Liten.”

Usagi thinks in her mind, concerned, “I hope so, Asuna.”

(Later that day; Elsewhere)

Within another part of Mananarena, we find Kirito, Asuna, and Usagi assembled inside of an eatery in front of a table where eight-inch-long spiral sponge cake.

Kirito says, “I’m wondering if they are an official couple.”

Asuna asks, confused, “Huh?”

Usagi says, realizing what Kirito is talking about, “You are wondering about Shivata and Liten and how they can start a relationship in here due…to ‘certain factors’. Personally, I think that their feelings are genuine, Kirito.”

Kirito asks Usagi, “How can you be so sure?”

Usagi replies, with a kind tone, “Let’s just say that I’m kind of an expert at this things. Shivata’s tone was one of true affection. I know it.”

Asuna says, with a smile, “I believe you, Usagi.”

Kirito says, “Okay, but you should know the answer to this question, Usagi: What does it mean to ‘go out’ in this world? I-I think that’s a term that couples still use in these days.”

Usagi giggles causing her to reply, “Yes, they do, Kirito.”

Asuna says, a bit annoyed, “What does THAT entail? Well, it’s the same as in the regular world!”

Usagi tells Asuna, a bit nervously, “Well, not exactly, Asuna.”

Asuna gives a confused look and she then says, realizing what Usagi is implying, “Oh, right. Because of the protective code.” Asuna says, “You have a point, Kirito. However, while you might not be able to touch the other person, but you could still be in relationship.”

Kirito says, nervously, “Oh, yeah, right. But the conditions of the code are too vague to grasp. Like, for example: How do you where the fine line is on inappropriate contact?”

Usagi says, nervously, “Actually, there is kind of a way around the harassment code.”

Kirito and Asuna look at Usagi causing Kirito to say, “Hold on, Usagi! There shouldn’t be any way around the code…!!”

Usagi responds, interrupting, “Yes, you’re right. There isn’t a way around the code. However, a player does have the ability to deactivate the code for themselves to allow other players to be a little more ‘closer’ to them.”

Kirito and Asuna give surprised looks and Kirito asks, surprised, “Seriously?!”

Usagi says, “I heard about this before. The developers were worried about the code causing problems for couples within the game, so, they wanted to figure how to maintain the code without it being a ‘loophole’, so, they didn’t make it an easy thing to do in which they also made sure that only a single player can do it for themselves. Basically, the things is, couples in here would use the menu to deactivate the code for each other and they could be like couples IRL, but as you know, they didn’t make it easy for obvious reasons.”

Kirito says, nodding his head in understanding, “Right. If you take away the protection of the harassment code for yourself, it isn’t only your ‘significant other’ that can ‘touch’ you.”

Usagi says, with a nod, “Bingo, Kirito.”

Kirito asks, curiously, “Do you think that Shivata and Liten know about this?”

Usagi says, “We have more important things to worry about, Kirito.”

Kirito says, nodding his head in understand, “Yeah…Yeah, you’re right, Usagi. We have a bigger problem.”

Asuna says, nodding her head in agreement with Kirito and Usagi’s statements, “No kidding. Hopefully, they will be able to give us a hand in this.” Just then the jiggling bell at the door of the eatery turns Kirito’s, Asuna’s, and Usagi’s attention where Argo and the Digital Knights are entering inside.

Miyako says, waving to Asuna and Usagi, “Hey, girlfriends!”

Asuna says, with a smile, “Nice to see, Miyako.”

Argo says, in her typical delict, “No ‘hello’ for me, Asu-chan?”

Asuna tells Asuna, with a smile, “Nice to see you, too.”

Argo tells Kirito, “You dragged me outta my own business, so I hope this is more important than the boss quests, Kii-boy.”

Usagi says, “It is, Argo. Extremely important.”

Takeru says, plainly, “Something tells me that we are going to need to sit down.”

Kirito tells Takeru, “Don’t blame you.” Soon after, Argo and the Digital Knights sit down in chairs in front of tables that are near Kirito, Asuna, and Usagi.

After Argo and some of the Digital Knights order something from the NPC waitresses, Kirito says, “We think that we figured out why the ALS is planning to sneak ahead of the boss.”

The faces of Argo and the Digital Knights perk up at this information causing Argo to say, “Wait, really? Even I haven’t caught that morsel in my net of intelligence. This is quite impressive.”

Kirito asks, “Rather surprising, isn’t it?”

Juniper says, “More like awesome, Kirito!”

Kirito says, a bit nervously, “It…really isn’t that impressive.”

Usagi thinks in her mind, a bit nervously, “More like a bit of dumb luck actually.”

Kirito asks Argo, “Argo, I thought that you would know about this already. Don’t you remember anything about an item from a fifth floor boss causing problems in the beta?”

Argo asks, curiously, “Trouble?” Argo then goes into deep thought for a few seconds and she then responds, “I hate to admit, but I can’t remember. If I can make an excuse, I wasn’t an info broker back in the beta. I also wasn’t a front-runner, so, I didn’t take part in the boss fight either.”

Kirito replies, “Oh, you didn’t? Well, I won’t hold it over your head then. I…We believe that the ALS is after the guild flag.”

Taichi asks, “Guild flag?”

Yamato asks, curiously, “What’s that?”

Usagi says, “A really useful item. By itself, it is a low-powered lance…nothing too remarkable. However, if the player equipped with it sticks it on the ground, all guild members within fifty to sixty feet get increased attack and defense as well as debuff resistance.”

Argo and the Digital Knights give looks of shock causing Argo to ask, shocked, “What?”

The Digital Knights look at Argo in surprise causing Miyako to ask, “Wait? You don’t know about this Argo?”

Argo responds, “Not one link, missy.”

Juniper says, amazed, “Wow. That’s a shocker.”

Argo asks Kirito, “Okay, Kii-boy, gives me the low-down. Can the player with the flag move around? How long does the buff last? Is there a limit to how many players it affects?”

Kirito responds, “The answer to your first question: A half-yes. If you take the flag out of the ground, the buff shuts off, but once you move and plant it kicks right back in. Next, the answer to your second question: As long as the flag is planted. And finally, the answer to your third question: As long as they are guild members?” By this time, the orders for Argo and the Digital Knights arrived and she takes one slice of a VERY thick banana cake in which she eats it.

Argo then says, “That’s indeed very big trouble, Kii-boy.”

Taichi says, nodding his head in agreement, “No joke. The boost in stats is one thing, but the effect on moral of the players is another. If either the ALS or DKB get their hands on the flag, the guild that has it will have their moral go up while the guild that doesn’t have that item will lose moral. This could very well destroy the uneasy balance and peace between the players in the ‘front lines’ right now.”

Sam says, “And that’s why Kibaou has been forced to make a premature attempt at the boss.”

Yamato says, “And that will end in one of two ways: They get the item and cause what Taichi just said to happen or they are going to get themselves slaughtered. Either way, the advancement that we have made so far could come to a stop and our advance to escape this ‘death trap’ will be in great danger for all sorts of reasons!”

Kirito says, “That’s why we called you here. We need to figure out a way to prevent that from happening.”

Takeru says, with a smile, “Well, you have our support.”

Usagi asks, curiously, “Are you sure?”

Juniper retorts, with a sly smile, “Girl, do you know who you are talking to?”

Taichi asks Kirito, “What should we do?”

Usagi asks, “What if we tell Lind about the guild flag?”

Kirito says, nervously, “It does sound like a good idea…in theory.”

Asuna responds, curiously, “What do you mean Kirito? Lind can be reasoned with.”

Kirito says, “I’m not saying that he can’t be, Asuna. However, the problem is that joint management of the guild flag is impossible, so, sharing its power is also impossible. Once an item like that is registered to a guild, I can’t imagine that you can alter it, and it wouldn’t be possible to split the flag and the staff apart either. Ultimately, they’re going to need to find a way to decide who gets it. It could by any number of ways: Rock-paper-scissors, roll of the dice, or a five-on-five group duel.”

Asuna says, “I can’t imagine that Kibaou would accept that proposal.”

Sam says, “Plus, we have to think of the mentally of the two guilds. The ALS are afraid of the DKB getting for the reasons that we mentioned. However, if we go over to the DKB and tell them this information, you know that they are going to be beyond enraged that the ALS is going to perform this ‘lowdown trick’. Lind might be reasonable, but his guildmates could lose all sense of reason and that could cause things to get worse.”

Kirito says, nodding his head in agreement, “You have a point. Kibaou really doesn’t want to do something really ‘backstabbing’ like this, but he got forced under ‘peer pressure’. Lind and Kibaou aren’t pushovers in all sense of the word, but there are limits on what they can do.”

Yamato says, with a nod, “You got that right, Kirito. They are strong people, but are they strong enough to handle the emotions of their guilds? I wouldn’t say ‘no’, but that’s left to be seen. When ‘certain emotions’ run high, there may be limits on what two people can do against two dozen.”

Miyako asks, with an irritated tone, “So, what do you think we should do?”

Takeru says, with a serious tone, “That’s a good question.”

Usagi asks, curiously, “Maybe you can take the flag.”

Taichi tells Usagi, “And put a bigger ‘flag’ on our backs? Sorry, Usagi, it might see like a good idea at first glance, but I think that it may be the worst idea. Plus, would either of those guilds agree to that even if it were for us to just hold the flag and not use it at all?”

Usagi says, solemnly, “Good point.” While this is going on, Kirito is in deep thought and he is remembering Diabel, the former beta tester that hid his ‘status’ to unite the players to beat them this ‘death game’.

Kirito then says, “While I agree with Taichi that not even the Digital Knights should get the flag, I think that the idea of someone outside of the guilds holding onto the flag might be the best solution. I say that we beat the boss before the ALS make their attempt.”

Everyone looks at Kirito causing Usagi to say, shocked, “What? Kirito, do you realize what you are saying? You know that this floor boss will be tougher than the rest!”

Kirito says, with a nod, “I know. I know. However, we do allies right in front of us and they are an elite front-line guild, who has shown that they are far from being ‘slackers’.”

Juniper says, with a smirk, “You got that right, buddy!”

Asuna tells Kirito, “But all of us?”

Taichi says, “I’m sure that you, guys, can get a few reinforcements, but I have to agree with Kirito. I think that the best solution for this situation is that a player outside of the guilds gets their hands on the flag and holds onto it until we can figure out a solution to use it. I’m sure that my gang would agree that if any of us get the flag, we could surrender it to you for that purpose.” Taichi looks at the rest of the Digital Knights and they nod their heads in agreement.

Takeru says, “It looks like we are in for a LONG night.”

Usagi thinks in her mind, with a sigh, “Yeah, I feel that you are right, Takeru.” Soon enough, the Digital Knights, Argo, Kirito, Asuna, and Usagi start to discuss on organizing their own raiding party to tackle the fifth floor boss to get their hands on the guild flag item before it could cause havoc among the players the front lines which is what the mysterious PK gang that Kirito, Asuna, and Usagi discovered where Kirito, Usagi, Asuna, and the Digital Knights plan to stop in their tracks.

To be continued…

Whew! It has been a long time since I posted one of these and like I said in the opening commentary, the past month into this month has been one heck of a roller coaster where it has been hard to write anything. Hopefully, I will manage to get back on track, but it is going to be difficult, so, don’t expect too many updates, folks. But I hope that I am wrong about that. Please read and review, but no flames, okay? Later and best wishes, Crossover Fans!