The Legend of 'The Rogue Swordsman'

Fifteen years have passed since it began, and yet we were nowhere near to the completion. The world's first and most probably only fully immersive VR game, Blade Work Saga or BWS was the largest prison that held us captive through the Soul Box. Soul Box was the hardware that was necessary to play the game.

In the fifteen years the population of prisoners in this MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) has dwindled from 5 million from the start to about 3.75 million then. The frontline clearing did catch up speed lately but still we were only at 700th Stage and above us were another 300 stages.

The stage was set in medieval England, perhaps during the era of Roman invasions or Anglo-Saxon Wars. 10 days ago, on Braham 7, 0015 this stage was unlocked and despite our best efforts in 10 days, we were only able to map 80% of the dungeon after it was found on Braham 12. As of that day, I was as usual venturing out in the main dungeon.

The dull gray point of the sword chipped my shoulder. I felt a chilly hand squeeze deep within my chest as the thin line fixed to the corner of my vision shrank slightly. That green horizontal line—my HP bar—was a visualization of my remaining life force. I still had more than 80 percent of my maximum health remaining, but a wiser perspective said I was 20 percent closer to the brink of death.

Before the enemy's blade could begin its motion again, I darted backward to maintain the distance between us. "Huff…" I forcefully exhaled and took another breath. My virtual "body" in this world required no oxygen, but back on the other side, my flesh-and-blood form was no doubt panting heavily as it lay prostrate on my bed. A cold sweat would be glistening on my outstretched hands, my pulse racing without end. It was only natural. Everything around me was a virtual 3-D object, the only thing I'd lost being abstract, numerical hit points, but my life hung in the balance all the same.

In that sense, this battle was the ultimate injustice. The "enemy" before me—a half-man, half-beast monster covered in pitch black cape with long arms with bat-like wings, the head of a man, and an elongated tail—was not only inhuman, it wasn't even truly alive. It was a mass of digital data that could be rebuilt by the system endlessly, no matter how many times it was killed.

Okay, it wasn't quite that simple. The batman's AI program was observing my fighting style, learning my habits, and sharpening its reactions moment by moment. But the instant this individual creature died, that information would be reset rather than carried over to the next batman to pop into the area. So in a sense, this batman was alive. It was a unique individual, one of a kind.

"…Right." It couldn't have understood what I was muttering under my breath, but the creature—a level 682 monster called the "Count Batman"—exposed the needle fangs lining its slender jaw and hissed a laugh at me anyway. It's real. Everything in this world is real. None of it is artificial. I held out the long sword in a straight line, chest-high. The batman raised the buckler on its left arm and drew back the scimitar in its right.

As we paused, a chill breeze emanated from beyond the dim dungeon corridor, rippling the torches along the wall. The flame light flickered off the damp stones. "Gruagh!!" With a ferocious roar, the batman leaped forward. Its scimitar darted for my stomach in a sharp arc, a brilliant orange curve flashing through the air. "Triple Chop" was a high-level heavy attack art for curved blades, a deadly charging blow that covered a distance of ten meters in just a second. But I knew it was coming.

Keeping my distance was the entire plan—I was daring the enemy AI to use it against me. The scimitar blade passed just inches from my face, my nose wrinkling at the charred odor left in its wake. I ducked, pressing up against the batman's belly. "…Seya!" With a cry, I slashed my weapon sideways before the second slash of his art hit me. The blade, glowing cyan, sliced through the cape of the creature's soft underbelly, spraying beams of crimson light in place of blood.

His art ended as the system detected a defect in the alignment but my combo continued unabated. The system automatically assisted my further assault, chaining into the next attack faster than I could have moved on my own. This is the advantage of weapon arts, the most significant and decisive feature of battle in this world. As the sword leaped back from left to right, it found purchase in the batman's chest again. I followed that momentum into a full-body spin and drove my third blow even deeper into the enemy's core.

"Urarrgh!!" No sooner had the batman regained mobility than it let out a roar of rage and fear, swinging its scimitar down from on high. But my combo wasn't over yet. From its full extension to the right, my sword shot diagonally left and upward like a spring, directly striking the enemy's heart—its critical point. This four-stroke combination left a rhombus of glowing blue lines extending outward from me: Horizontal Rhombus, a four-part weapon art. The brilliant light reflected off the walls of the labyrinth, then faded.

At the same time, the HP bar displayed above the batman's head vanished without a trace. As it unleashed a long, final scream, the massive black form threw itself backward, paused at an unnatural angle— And exploded into a mass of delicate fragments with a blast like the shattering of a huge glass structure. This is death in the virtual world.

A purple font in the center of my view popped up, listing my experience and item rewards. I swiped my sword back and forth before returning it to the sheath over my shoulder and later the shield over it. Backing up several steps to rest against the wall of the dungeon, I let myself slide to a sitting position. When I released the breath I'd been holding and shut my eyes, my temples began to throb dully with the fatigue of the long fight.

I shook my head several times to clear the pain before opening my eyes again. I called up my menu and the clock display in the lower right-hand corner of it showed that it was already past three in the afternoon. If I didn't leave the maze soon, I'd never get back to town before dark. "…Better turn back," I muttered to no one in particular and slowly rose to my feet. It was the end of a full day's worth of "progress."

Another day of successfully eluding the Grim Reaper's grasp. But once I returned to my bed and took a short rest, the next day would bring another endless series of battles. And when the combat is endless and the stakes are fatal, all the safety nets and backup plans in the world won't prevent Lady Luck from betraying you at some point down the line. The only real issue was whether or not the game would be "beaten" before I could draw the ace of spades.

If survival was your top priority, the smartest play would be to remain in the safety of town until the day someone else beat the game. But the fact that I spent every waking moment testing the front line on my own, risking death for ever greater statistical rewards, meant one of two things: that I was either too arrogant to think that this game could be beaten by me, without any help… or one so foolish to value rewards over life. But it was my life since the last fifteen years and now I was well adept to it.

I came out of the gloomy dungeon and faced a quite dark forest. Though I could use a transportation crystal anytime, but I chose to walk through. My route was to go through the main town of this stage to the 65th Stage where my home was, an hour's worth of journey as I anticipated.

Despite knowing that I could handle the monsters in this area while half asleep, it was hard to repress an instinctual fear of this hour of darkening. It resembled the sensation of being lost on the way home at a young age, frozen with anxiety. I didn't dislike the feeling, however. I'd forgotten this kind of primal emotion back in the real world. And after all, wasn't a solitary march across the wilderness without a soul in sight one of the great pleasures of an RPG?

A faint, unfamiliar cry broke me out of my nostalgic reverie. It was a single high note, brief and clear, like a leaf whistle. I stopped in my tracks, trying to discern the direction of the call. Unfamiliar sights and sounds in this world meant the advent of fortune—good or bad. As a solo player, I'd put lots of work into my Search ability. It was designed to help you protect against ambushes, and as it rose in level, it enabled you to spot foes and players hidden in stealth mode.

Pretty soon, the form of a monster came into view in the shadows of a large tree, about ten meters away. It wasn't very big. I could see yellow-brown fur suited to blending in with trunks of the trees and elongated ears longer than the animal's body. By focusing my vision, I prompted the game to automatically target the monster for me, bringing up a neutral cursor and the target's name.

When I saw the words that appeared, I held my breath. It was a Dribbling Dear, an ultra-rare creature. It was certainly the first I'd ever seen. The speedy things lived amongst trees, weren't particularly strong, nor rewarding in terms of experience points. Their value came from something else.

Silently, I took out my star-shaped shield from my back, though my Throwing Knives ability was quite high I couldn't use a throwing pick or blade to attack it. Unlike other monsters, who'd attack you once you targeted it, it will run away. Moreover, I'd heard that the Dribbling Dear had the highest escape speed of any monster yet discovered, so I didn't think I could actually get close enough to use my normal sword. At least I had the opportunity for a first strike, given that the dear hadn't noticed me yet.

The shield in my right hand, I said a silent prayer and queued up the motion for a basic throwing knife art, 'Boomerang'. My proficiency in Throwing Knives might not be weak, but the art's chances were adjusted based on my agility stat, which was through the roof. The shield flashed like lightning in my hand and shot into the shadows of the branches, leaving a momentary trail of light behind it.

The instant I initiated the art, the targeting cursor went from neutral to hostile, bringing up the dear's HP bar below. As I watched the trail of the spinning shield, I heard an even higher-pitched scream, and the HP bar immediately dropped to zero. When the sound effect of disintegrating fragments rang out, I clenched my fist in triumph and the shield returned back into my hand.

I called up my menu and switched to the inventory, my fingers fumbling. There it was, right at the top of the new items list: "Dribbling Dear meat." An absolute gold mine, worth at least seven figures on the open market. It was valuable enough to buy me the highest-class custom-made weapons with change to spare. The reason was simple: Out of all the limitless ingredients in the game, it had the very highest flavor rating.

Eating was about the only pleasure to be found in the world of BWS. Most of the available food seemed to be in a rustic European style—simple breads and soups. The tiny minority of crafters who chose to utilize the cooking ability could create other dishes in order to expand our options, but given how few of those cooks there actually were, and the surprising difficulty of obtaining good cooking ingredients, nearly all the players in the game were perpetually starving for quality food.

Count me among them. I didn't mind the soup and black bread at my favorite NPC restaurant, but it was hard to resist the craving to sink my teeth into a hot, juicy piece of meat. A soft moan left my lips as I stared at the name of the item. It was incredibly unlikely that I'd ever find another top-ranked food ingredient like this again.

I desperately wanted to eat it for myself, but the finer the item, the higher the ability proficiency required to cook it. I'd have to ask a master chef to do it for me, as my cooking ability was barely at 50%. I'd be lying if I claimed that I didn't know anyone who fit the bill, but tracking that person down would be a pain, and I'd been needing a new set of armor, so I made up my mind to sell the meat for dor.

Closing the status screen was a painful act of will. I engaged my Searching ability to scan the surroundings. Chances that any thieving players would be hanging out in the deadly frontier looking to make a score were absurdly slim, but when you're sitting on an S-class gold mine, you tend to err on the side of caution. I opened the pouch on my waist to rummage for a transportation crystal to return straight to Algid, operating under the assumption that I could buy all the crystals I wanted with the money I'd make selling the meat.

The crystal was elongated and eight-sided, sparkling deep blue. With the absence of any kind of magic spells in BWS, the few magical items to be found all took the form of these crystals. The blue ones were for transporting, the pink ones for healing, the green for curing poison—it was all pretty self-explanatory. They worked instantaneously, but given the price, it made more sense to simply retreat from battle and use a cheap potion if you needed to regain HP. Telling myself that this was a worthy emergency, I gripped the blue fragments and shouted, "Transport: Algid!"

I went over to my home and called up my messages, after going through the latest ones; I texted one of mine 'Got an interesting thing to sell. Wanna see?' I usually keep messages short to save my time; I was surprised to see that I got a reply within ten minutes in affirmative. I went out of my house and transported myself to the 230th Stage and into a pawn shop in the main square.

There are two main methods of selling items in the game. One is to sell to an NPC—in other words, to the system itself. There's no danger of being ripped off, but you're only going to get one fixed price for your goods, and the prices are automatically set to be lower than the market purchase value to prevent inflation. The other method is dealing directly with another player. It's possible to get a much better price for your wares this way, but first you have to actually find someone to buy them, then you have to deal with finicky buyers, people who come back wanting a refund, or plain old scam artists.

This is where traders making a living in the second-hand market come in. Of course, that's not the only reason they exist. As with item crafters, merchants have to fill the majority of their ability slots with non-combat abilities, but they still have to venture out into the wilderness. Merchants need items to sell and crafters need ingredients, which mean farming monsters for goods is necessary. As you might imagine, battle is a lot tougher when you aren't playing a traditional warrior class.

There is nothing glamorous or enjoyable about fighting as a merchant. This all means that their class identity is rooted in a pure and admirable desire to assist those adventurers who are working their damnedest on the front lines to beat the game. I held a deep and secret admiration for merchants and crafters. …But the shopkeeper I stared at now was about as far from the definition of self-sacrificing as anyone could be. "You got yourself a deal! Five hundred Dor for twenty Dusk-lizards hides!" Asri the pawnbroker swung his arm, whacking his victim, a weak-willed spearman, on the shoulder. He popped open the trading window and entered the gold amount on his side without waiting for an answer.

He was a front-liner apart from a merchant and the owner of the second GM skill known in the game till now after Heathway. The seller still appeared hesitant, but with a powerful glare from Asri's imposing face—not only was he a merchant, he was also an excellent swordsman or perhaps the only dual swordsman—the man quickly transferred his materials to the trade window and hit the accept button.

"Thanks for your business! Come again!" Asri boomed a laugh as he slapped his mark's back one last time. Dusk-lizards hide was a valuable crafting ingredient in making armor. Five hundred Dor seemed to be a steal for that many of them, but I held my tongue and watched the spearman trudge away. I told myself that he'd just learned a valuable lesson: Never let your guard down around a secondhand buyer.

"Another day making a living ripping off honest folks, Asri?" The guy craned around to see who'd called to him, and beamed. "Good to see you, Naperjet. Stock it cheap; sell it cheap: That's my motto," he lied without a trace of irony. "Not sure about the latter part, but whatever. Got some more stuff to sell you." "You're a regular, Naperjet. You know I won't do you wrong. Let's see…" He trailed off, leaning over to peer at my trade window.

He was as imposing as any barbarian foe to be found in the game. But when a grin cracked his face, that craggy scowl became lovable and comforting. He appeared to be in his late teens, but it was impossible to guess what he did back in the real world. It was an unspoken rule that no one in BWS discussed the other side. When Asri saw the contents of the trade window, the eyes under his thin brows grew wide. "Wait a second, that's an S-class item, man. Dribbling Dear meat…never actually seen one for myself. You aren't that hard up for cash, are you? You thought about eating it yourself?"

"I have. But it's hard to find folks with a cooking ability high enough to handle this sort of—" Someone poked my shoulder from behind. "Naperjet." It was a woman's voice. There weren't many female players who would call my name. In this situation, there was only one. I didn't need to turn around to know who it was. Instead, I quickly grabbed the hand over my shoulder and spoke as I swiveled around. "Caught me a chef." "Wh-what do you mean?" she asked, trying to retreat with her hand still clutched in mine. She had a small oval face framed by long brown hair on both side and aqua blue colored eyes that flashed brightly.

Under her petite, slender nose was a set of bright pink lips. Her graceful body was clad in a knight's uniform of gold and platinum, and an elegant platinum bow sat on her back. Her name was Liza, and she was familiar to virtually everyone inside the game. The reasons were plentiful.

First, there were her undeniably stunning good looks in a game with an extremely low ratio of female players. Though it pains me to be so frank, BWS re-creates its players' bodies and—in particular—faces with nearly perfect detail, and it was extremely rare to come across a truly attractive female player. You could probably count on your fingers the number of beauties at her level in the entire game.

Another reason for her fame was the golden dress she wore – the uniform of the top guild 'The Golden Knights'. The guild had the strongest players in the game and a GM skill user as its leader. Though very few people were foolish enough to take on one of the best warriors in the game, but the guild intended to ensure the safety of its officers, so multiple bodyguards always attended her.

Sure enough, two men in metallic armor and white capes stood a few steps behind her. The one on the left, a thin man with longer hair pulled back behind his head, was staring daggers at me as I held Liza's hand. I let go, my fingers drifting a sardonic greeting to the man as I responded to her question. "Strange to see you here, Liza. Didn't think you frequented dumps like this."

Veins throbbed on the foreheads of both the long-haired man at my casual address and the shopkeeper at my appraisal of his establishment. But when Liza gave Asri a friendly greeting, his scowl melted into a sappy beam. She turned back to me, her lips pursed. "What was that for? We're about to tackle the next boss, so I'm only checking in on you to make sure you're still alive." "You're already on my friends list, so you can see my status anytime. Besides, the only reason you're even here is because you tracked me down on your map." She turned her face away from me in a huff.

Despite only being a sub-leader in her own guild, Liza was a principal figure in the game's progress. It was part of her responsibility to round up solo players like me when arranging raid parties on the latest floor's boss, but coming out to personally check up on me was getting ridiculous. She jutted her chin out at my gaze of half astonishment and half admiration. "Look, the only thing that matters is that you're alive. And…what was that about a chef?"

"Oh, right. What's your Cooking ability at now?" I remembered that she had been putting time into building up her Cooking ability on a whim between all of the usual combat practice. She let a gloating smile cross her lips. "Are you ready for this? I mastered it last month." "What?!" 'That's…idiotic.' I didn't verbalize the thought. Proficiency increases the more you use that ability, but the pace is glacial, and the ability isn't fully mastered until you get it all the way to a full 10,000.

It's a separate process from the character level that goes up as you earn experience points. A level-up increases HP, strength, agility, vitality and the number of ability slots available. I had fourteen ability slots at this point but had only mastered six of them: One-Handed Swords, Search, Martial Arts, Parry, Meditation and Shield. In other words, she had poured an unfathomable amount of time and energy into a ability that had absolutely no use in battle.

"Well, I could use your help." I beckoned her over and enabled visible mode on my window so she could see it. She squinted doubtfully at first, but her eyes grew wide when she saw the item I had highlighted. "Wow! Is that…an S-class ingredient?" "Let's make a deal. If you cook this thing for me, I'll let you have a bite." Just as I completed my statement, Liza pulled up my collar and lifted me until my face was almost inches away from hers, "Equal Share! Got it."

Stunned by this unexpected menace, I nodded my head automatically. By the time I realized what I'd done, she was already pumping her other fist in triumph. I tried to convince myself that it was a price worth paying for the point-blank view of such a pretty face. I closed the window and turned to Asri. "Sorry, man. The deal's off." "It's cool, I understand. But we're bros, right? Right? You'd let me take a little taste…" Asri the burly shopkeeper was now looking like the spear user I saw minutes ago. "I'll write you a thousand word review." "You can't do this to me, man!" Asri wailed as though the world itself were ending.

I turned my back on him, and Liza tugged on my coat sleeve. "I'll cook it for you, but where is that supposed to happen?" "Uh…" In order to utilize the Cooking ability, you need ingredients, utensils, and some kind of oven or stove, at the very least. I did have all these but they would not be enough for an S-class item, they could hardly cook a D-class ingredient. She turned an exasperated eye to me as I stammered. "I'm assuming you don't have any of the necessary tools. But given the value of your ingredients, I might be willing to let you use my room," she offered, shockingly enough.

My brain lagged as it struggled to comprehend her meaning. Liza turned to the two guardsmen who made up her escort. "I'm going to transport straight to Salzburg. I won't need my guard for the rest of the day. You may go." The long-haired man exploded as though he'd been holding in his rage for quite a while. If the fidelity on BWS's facial expressions were finer, he'd have had two or three purple veins bulging out of his forehead. "M-Miss Liza! It's bad enough that you're visiting this slum, but I cannot allow you to bring such a suspect individual into your home!" His exaggerated mannerisms made me wince. "Miss" 'Liza?' He was probably no better than her obsessed stalker fans.

I noticed that she seemed just as exasperated as I was. "His character aside, he's a worthy fighter. He's probably got at least fifteen levels on you, Cordele." "Th-that's preposterous! How could I possibly be inferior to…" The high-pitched protest echoed off the alley walls. His sunken, glaring eyes fixed on me, then widened with comprehension. "That's it! You're the hoarder, aren't you?" Hoarder was a soubriquet unique to BWS, the representation of a person who had extensive knowledge of the beta, despite not participating in the tests and monopolizing them.

I'd heard the slur time and time again, but it always caused a certain level of pain. The image of someone I'd once called a friend flashed through my mind—the first person to ever say the word to my face. "Yeah, that's right," I said without expression, but he continued more forcefully than before. "Miss Liza, he doesn't care for anyone but himself! Nothing good can come from fraternizing with his kind!" Liza had been playing it cool, but now her brows knitted together in displeasure.

A crowd was starting to gather around us, and I could hear the words Rogue and Liza being murmured. She took note of the increased interest and turned on Cordele, who showed no signs of regaining his composure. "I told you to leave. That's an order from your vice commander," she growled, grabbing the collar of my coat and pulling me backward. She began tugging us toward the main square. "H-hang on, are you sure about this?" "I'm sure!" Well, who was I to argue? We left the two guardsmen and the crestfallen Asri behind and slipped into the throng.

Salzburg was a beautiful castle on the 606th Stage. The stage was a riverine based one, it had rivers for transportation. By the time we were there, it was sunset and the view of it in the countless rivers was a beautiful one. Though my home was in a spacious hill station based stage, I couldn't help but stretch here. "It's so big and spacious here. Feels liberating."

"You should move, then." Liza gave a broad smile. "Don't have nearly enough money," I mumbled, shoulders slumped. I gathered myself and cast a concerned look. "Seriously, are you sure this won't cause trouble with your folks?" Liza seemed to catch my meaning and turned around, hanging her head and kicking the heel of her boot on the ground. "It's true that I've had some unpleasant encounters while alone, but my own personal guard? It's too much. I keep telling them I don't want this, but its guild protocol, the chief of staff tells me…"

She continued in a downcast mutter. "In the past, we were just a small guild. The commander picked every member himself. But we just keep taking on more members, and people come and go…Things started to get crazy when they began calling us the most powerful guild here." She stopped talking and twisted her torso around. She looked at the deep blue of the lake and piped up in a much higher pitch, sounding eager to change the mood. "But it's not that big a deal! Better hurry before it gets dark." I started walking after her through the town.

We passed no small number of players, but none of them stopped to stare at Liza's face. I spent a few days in Salzburg about year and half year back, when it represented the frontier of our advancement through the game, but I couldn't remember ever stopping to take in the sights. Gazing at the exquisite sculptures on display, I felt a momentary desire to live here permanently, but then thought better of it, deciding it was better suited to the occasional holiday trip.

Liza's residence was in an attractive little mansion, immediately to the east of the main street. It was my first visit, of course. It was more than four times the size of my house, just from the outside. "So, uh…are you sure this is okay with you?" "It was your idea, wasn't it? Besides, there's nowhere else to do the cooking." She turned her head with a huff and trotted up the stairs. I steeled my willpower and followed her.

"W-well, pardon the intrusion." I stopped stock-still when I passed through the door, my mouth agape. I'd never seen such a neat and orderly player home. The spacious living room and adjacent kitchen were filled with lightly colored wooden furniture, and accents of moss-green cloth tied together the visual style. It was all likely custom-made of the highest quality by other players. Despite the emphasis on looks, there was no ostentatious decoration, which made the whole place seem inviting and comfortable.

"H-how much did all of this cost?" I asked bluntly. "Hmm, about forty M for the room and furnishings together, I think? Sit wherever you like; I'm just going to change." She disappeared through the door on the other side of the living room. I spent my days adventuring on the front line, so I'd probably earned that much in total during my time in BWS, but with my penchant for spending money on whatever swords and equipment caught my eye, there was no way I'd save up a lump sum like that.

Indulging in a rare moment of self-reflection, I sank into a soft couch. Eventually, Liza emerged from the back room wearing a simple white tunic and skirt that stopped above the knee. Changing clothes in the game didn't involve actually removing or putting on anything—it was as simple as dragging items onto the character mannequin in the equipment screen. Unaware of my inner conflict, she shot back a look at me. "How long are you going to wear that gear?"

I hastily brought up the menu and removed my leather coat and scabbard. I switched to my item window and materialized the Dribbling Dear meat into a ceramic pot, placing it on the table. Liza picked up the container and peered into it with a reverent expression. "So this is what an S-rank ingredient looks like! What dish are we having, then?" "Um, I'll have the chef's choice." "Okay…how about a stew? They don't call it a 'Dribbling Dear' for nothing."

I followed Liza into the other room. The kitchen was spacious, with pricey-looking cooking tools hanging next to a large, wood-fired oven. Liza tapped the front of the oven twice as though double-clicking, and a menu popped open. She set a cooking time and pulled a metal pot out of the cupboard, transferred the meat from its container, added some herbs and water, then placed a lid on top. "Normally there'd be many more steps in the process, but BWS's cooking system is really simplified and boring," she complained.

I was truly shocked. I thought the process to be highly complicated. Though the ratio had to be kept in mind, but for someone who'd mastered Cooking ability it was not much of an issue. She placed the pot in the oven and hit the start button on the menu. The timer was set to three hundred seconds, during which she hummed about quickly, pulling ingredients out of a seemingly unlimited larder and arranging dishes with the efficiency of familiarity. I couldn't help but admire her flawless speed without a single mistake. Five minutes later, there was a feast on the table and we sat on the table facing each other.

There were thick pieces of minced meat inside a thick soup with seasoning and sauces on it. Barely stopping to thank her, I shoved a spoonful of best meal available in the game. After literally cleaning out every last remains of the stew, we gave out a contended sigh, "Aah… I'm glad to be alive till now."

I began my search for words to thank her, when she put up her hand in front of me "Don't think." "Wha--" I was shocked and scrambled on maximum attention. "Don't try to think that much or you'll end up in a confused state." It was true, despite my mastery of battle skills, I had far less experience when it came to delicate matters like this. My mouth opened and closed repeatedly with no sound. I must have looked like an idiot.

Liza smiled. "Let me guess—you're not that close to anyone else, either." I sighed "Well, sorry for being a solo player." "You're in an MMORPG—making friends is the point." Her smile disappeared, and she asked me a question in the tone of an older sister or teacher. "Have you ever thought about joining a guild? I know you don't like to work in groups." Her expression grew even more serious. "But it feels like the monster activity patterns have been increasingly irregular since we hit the six hundredth stage."

I'd noticed that, too. It wasn't clear if the drop in CPU predictability was planned from the start or the result of the system itself learning. If it was the latter, we'd have our work cut out for us. "And playing solo leaves you much less capable of handling unexpected situations. You can't always make an emergency escape. You're much, much safer forming a group."

"I'm always cautious enough to leave myself a safety margin. Thanks for the warning…but guilds just aren't my thing. Besides…" My mind screamed at me to stop, but my mouth barreled onward. "Group members usually end up being more of a hindrance than a help for me." "Oh?" A silver flash of light brushed past my cheek. It was Liza's knife, stuck motionless at the end of my chair. This was a basic throwing knife art called Simple Shot. Basic, but it scaled in effectiveness based on one's agility and clairvoyance stat. She'd moved so fast, I had only seen the art's telltale movement trail.

With a grin frozen on my face, I assumed the hands-up position of surrender. "Fine, fine…you're an exception." "Good." She pulled the knife out, un-amused. As she twirled the blade around her fingers, her next words were completely unexpected. "In that case, I want you to group up with me. Being in charge of arranging raid parties, I've always wanted to see if you're as good as they say. Plus, I want to show you just how tough I really am."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Shocked by the absurdity of her demand, I weakly grasped for some kind of counterargument. "B-besides, what about your guild?"

"We don't have a leveling quota to meet."

"Y-your personal guards, then?"

"I'll leave them behind."

I raised the teacup to my lips in a bid to buy time and then realized that it was empty. Grinning, Liza snatched it from my hands and served more of the steaming liquid. To be honest, the invitation was tempting. Who wouldn't want to team up with the most beautiful woman in Arcadian? But the more enticing the offer, the more my hesitation and suspicion grew. Why would she want to be with me? Stuck in a negative thought process, I uttered the words that sealed my fate. "The frontier's dangerous, you know."

The knife again floated up and this time enveloped by stronger green glow of the Bow art Rain. Since she didn't have the bow equipped, the range would be highly diminished but in accordance to her proficiency in Clairvoyance ability, she could hit me anywhere in the house with pin-point accuracy. I nodded hurriedly and she pulled it back disengaging the art, "Good, there you go."

She manipulated her window to send a group-up request which I accepted. Liza escorted me downstairs to the door, "Thanks for the food, and we'll meet tomorrow at the transportation gate of the 700th Stage 10 o clock." I turned around and began to move towards the transportation square of the city. I had to go back to the 65th Stage, where my residence was.

It was now ten already and I was still waiting for Liza at the transportation gate, yawning. I had a very bad sleep after the lavish dinner and before I knew my alarm woke me up at 9:30 am. I had a quick shower and then rushed outside. I was expecting her to greet me with a scornful 'You are late.' But to my surprise, she didn't come. I called up my menu and saw the time, it was half past ten.

I was briefly dismayed when I caught myself hoping for a handheld game console of some kind to kill time. Itching to play a video game inside a video game? It was enough to make me want to crawl back into bed…when the white light of the transport gate flashed again.

I automatically flicked my eyes over, not expecting much, when— "Aaaah! L-look out!" "Whaaa?!" Normally, you pop out of a transport gate with your boots firmly on the ground, but for some reason, this person materialized several feet in the air—and flying directly at me. "Wh…what the…?" There was no time to duck or brace myself for the impact. We collided at full force and sprawled onto the paving stones, the back of my head smacking hard. If we weren't in the safety of town, I'd have easily lost a few ticks off my HP bar.

Summoning up my entire strength, I threw the person away to the opposite side of the gate. I bolted upright "What in the worl-" my words were half formed, when I saw a female player in front of me. She wore a golden knight's uniform and had a bow on her back. The push had made her collide with a nearby pillar and now she managed to get on her feet and was looking at me with a pure murderous intent. "Oh! Morning Liza."

It seemed as though the malice in her eyes grew hotter. They were the eyes of someone debating whether or not to draw her weapon. Just as I began to seriously consider the option of dropping everything and fleeing for my life, the transport gate flashed again. Liza spun around with a start, hastily getting to her feet and circling around behind me. "Wha…?" I stood there, confused.

The gate grew brighter and brighter until a new figure emerged. This one had the good sense to be standing upright. When the light faded, a familiar face came into view. Another golden armored man came up – it was the dress-code of The Golden Knights Guild. Clad in golden heavy metal and having an ornamental bow. It was the long-haired guard who'd attended to Liza yesterday. Cordele, if I recalled his name correctly.

As Cordele walked out of the gate and spotted us standing together, the furrows between his eyebrows grew deeper. He couldn't have been that old, probably in his early twenties, but the wrinkles made him look much older. He clenched his teeth so hard it was practically audible and spoke with barely suppressed rage. "M…Miss Liza, this willful behavior will not do!" The hysterical tone to his high-pitched voice told me this was nothing but trouble.

Cordele continued, his beady eyes flashing white. "Come, Miss Liza, let us return to the guild." "No way, I'm not on guild duty today! Besides, why were you camping out in front of my house this morning?" She sounded plenty angry herself, behind my back. "Hah! I had a premonition this might happen. As a matter of fact, I've been performing early-morning guard duties here in Salzburg for the past couple months." It was hard not to be taken aback by Cordele's arrogant response.

Liza was equally frozen with shock. She spoke after a long pause, her voice hard. "That…wasn't on the commander's orders, was it…?" "My orders are to guard you, end of story! Naturally, that includes home observation…" "N-no, it doesn't, you idiot!" Cordele's expression instantly flashed with greater irritation. He stormed over, muscled me out of the way, and grabbed Liza's arm. "Please, my lady, see reason. Come back to headquarters." Liza momentarily shrank back at the barely controlled force in his voice. She cast a pleading glance in my direction.

Until that moment, I'd been grappling with my typical instinct to flee and avoid trouble. But the look in her eyes caused my hand to move of its own accord. It closed around the wrist of Cordele's offending hand, just soft enough not to set off the anti-criminal code within the safe limits of town. "Sorry, pal. I'm renting out your vice commander for the day." It was a groaner of a line, but there was no turning back now.

Forced to acknowledge my existence at last, Cordele swung his arm away, his face a mask of rage. "Insolent brat!" he gnashed. Even accounting for BWS's tendency to exaggerate facial expressions, something in his face seemed to have gone off the rails. "I'll take responsibility for Liza's safety. We're not running off to fight the GM today. You can go back to your HQ." "N-nonsense! I would never leave Miss Liza in the hands of a no-name like you! I am a full member of the Golden Knights—"

By this time his partner came up from behind, panting. "What's going on?" He too had heavy metal armor and had a large lance along with a shield; basically a tank like built. He had a look around and didn't take much time to understand the situation. "I'll do a much better job of it than you." Honestly, I shouldn't have said that one. "Why, you snotty little…If you're going to talk the talk, then let's see you walk the walk." Their face pale, Cordele pulled open his window with a trembling hand.

A translucent system message appeared before me, but I didn't need to read it to know what it was. 'Cordele and Lucas have challenged you to a many-on-one duel. Do you accept?' Beside the clinical words were buttons for YES and NO and a few options. I glanced at Liza next to me. She couldn't see the prompt, but she seemed to understand what was happening. I assumed that she'd tell us to knock it off, but to my surprise, she gave a curt nod, her face hard. "Are you sure? Is this going to cause trouble within the guild?" I muttered.

She responded in the same low tone. "Don't worry, I'll report to the commander." I nodded and pressed the YES button, selecting FIRST STRIKE out of the list of victory conditions. This meant that whoever inflicted a heavy blow first or got his opponent down to 50 percent HP would win the duel. The message changed to read, 'You have agreed to a many-on-one duel with Cordele and Lucas', accompanied by a minute-long countdown. Cordele seemed to have found his own unique interpretation of Liza's consent. "Watch closely, Miss Liza! You'll see that no one else is fit to stand guard for you!" he cried in a tone that suggested madness, noisily unsheathing his massive bow in a theatrical display.

They assumed a tank-support strategy; Lucas the tank took a defensive stand with his shield and lance while Cordele was behind with his bow. I took out my sword but didn't bother about the shield and took an attacking stance. In these odds, it would be wise to take down Lucas as fast as possible or take down Cordele before Lucas. Their weapons had a great ornamental finish while mine was inferior in that aspect.

We took positions about five yards apart. The countdown hadn't finished, but an audience was already forming. This wasn't a surprise—we were right next to the transport gate in the middle of town, and both of us were reasonably well-known players. "Look, Naperjet the solo and someone from the golden knights are starting a duel!" someone cried out, and the crowd raised a cheer. Duels were normally between friends testing their skills, so the gallery roared, hooting and whistling, unaware of the ugly dispute that had led to this moment.

I observed the duo who were in perfect co-ordination, they must have known each others for years and trained together. A purple sign flashing DUEL!! Blinked into the space between us, and I leaped forward in the same instant. Sparks flew from the soles of my boots, and the air growled as I sliced through it. Lucas burst into motion as well, just the faintest moment after I did, but a look of shock was plastered across his face. Cordele from behind grinned and stretched the bow, a faint green glow began to emerge and take shape of an arrow; but my focus was on Lucas. Instead of pouncing low to receive his attack, I was charging full-speed.

Lucas was using a charging spear art called 'Haste Prick' with his shield right behind the blade of the spear. It was an excellent attack; even if you dodge the blade the shield will hit you at full force and can easily transit into a counter-attack. Usually I would have used my shield to stop it, but since I chose not to use it now, I had to parry it. I initiated another charging attack Sonic Dive.

Our trajectories showed that the attacks will collide mid-way. His attack was more powerful than mine due to the added weight of his armor and shield. Furthermore, when two attacks collide, the heavier one is given the advantage. Under normal circumstances, my sword would be jolted aside, and although the impact would weaken his blow, it'd probably still be enough to win the duel. But I wasn't trying to hit Lucas himself.

We closed simultaneously at blinding speed, my senses accelerated, slowing down my perception of time. Whether this was the BWS system giving me a boost or just my natural human instincts was unclear. At any rate, I could easily see every little movement he made as he unleashed his attack. Lucas was apparently a worthy member of that elite guild, as his art came faster than I was expecting. If that glowing lance hit me, it could inflict critical damage, duel or not. Lucas's face was flush with excitement, his victory all but assured. Except…

My sword was faster. It flew in a diagonal arc, its own light red-green, intersecting with the far-side of the lance just as it was about to connect with me. Sparks exploded from the collision. It was the other possible outcome when two blades meet: weapon destruction. This rarely ever happens, of course. It's only possible when an art is just beginning or ending, no hit detection has occurred yet, and a powerful outside force strikes the weakest structural point or angle of the weapon.

But I knew it would break. The most finely ornamental swords didn't stand up to rigorous combat and moreover my sword Caladbolg was a legendary weapon with maximum heaviness. And with an earsplitting metallic crack, Lucas's lance and the shield as well split apart, right along the side. Glowing lights burst in every direction like a bomb exploding. Our bodies continued through the air, and we each landed on the other's launching point. The half of his lance and shield that fractured off flew through the air, flashing in the sunlight and then clattered on the pavement between us.

The whole square was quite and even Cordele who had completed the initiation of his art couldn't release it. I turned towards Cordele whose grin was now gone and a furious look took its place. He shot multiple quick arrows but I parried every single of them. However, before he could initiate another art; I rushed towards him and closed up at point blank. With my sword at his neck, I announced "SURRENDER!!!" it was known quite well amongst the players that if a swordsman closed up against an archer, the swordsman wins for sure.

I withdrew my sword and audibly put it back into the sheath. Cordele knew that he had lost and he gritted his teeth and finally with his voice grating, he said "I resign." The system acknowledged me as the winner and Cordele stomped out of the area cursing. Lucas came towards me and I realized that I owe him an apology, "I am sorry about the shield and…" but he wasn't as bad as the other guy. He put up his hand and asked, "Don't be! However I want to know about the sword of yours. The attack felt heavier than the heaviest great-sword available, from just a speedy one handed sword."

I scratched my head for a bit and then whispered, "It's name is Caladbolg and it has the maximum heaviness by default." He wondered for a while and then shouted "It must be a…" I thrust my hand towards his mouth to prevent him from further creating a scene. Liza came beside me and ordered, "Cordele and Lucas, as the vice commander of the Golden Knights, I hereby relieve you from my guard duty, return to the HQ and await further instructions."

Lucas followed Cordele and both were gone within a few moments. I and Liza went on to the dungeon. We had very little encounters in the dungeon and en-route and the strongest enemies we faced inside was a skeletal warrior Devilish Servant. He used pretty high level weapon arts but was easily dispatched by Liza's bow 'Mahendara Vayavya'. I usually prefer to dispatch an enemy through powerful hammering blows while Liza used fast, varied and small damage per hit combinations. This managed the hate perfectly as it didn't allow the monster to go towards the archer and we defeat him fast.

When it came to seizing the advantage by overloading the enemy AI—not in sheer computational power, of course, but within the limits of the game's programmed algorithms—our two styles were actually quite complementary. It seemed as though our levels were close as well. We carefully proceeded down the long, pillared hallway. Thanks to my Searching ability, there was little fear of ambush, but I couldn't help but pay attention to the footsteps echoing off the hard stone walls.

There was no direct source of light within the dungeon, but the surroundings were bathed in a mysterious yellowish glow that provided us with visibility. I carefully scanned the hallway, watching for signs of danger. The pillars in the dungeon were finely etched with eerie images, and their bases were submerged in a lowered canal. All in all, the decorative detail of the dungeon was growing finer and denser as we moved in the unexplored region. There was little blank space left on the map.

If my intuition was right, we were nearly there. At the end of the hallway stood large, gray-blue double doors. They were covered with the same creepy reliefs of monsters as the pillars. It was all digital data, of course, but I couldn't help but feel an eerie, unnatural evil emanating from it. We stopped in front of the door and looked at each other.

"Is it just me, or is this…?"

"Yeah, I agree…this must be the GM's chamber." Liza grabbed the sleeve of my coat. "What should we do? Just take a quick look inside?" The words were confident, but her voice carried an anxious tone. Even the most powerful warrior would be fearful in this situation.

I didn't blame her—I was scared, too. "Remember, the GM never steps outside its chamber. I'm guessing that if we just open the door and look…we'll be fine…" I trailed off uncertainly. She looked exasperated. "Keep a transportation item on hand, just in case."

"Okay." She nodded and pulled a blue crystal out of the pocket of her skirt. I readied one of my own. "Ready? Here goes…" Liza hanging on my right arm, I placed my left hand against the door, clutching the escape crystal. If this had been happening in real life, my palm would be slick with sweat. I pushed slowly, and the door gave way with a surprising ease for being nearly twice my height.

Once put in motion, both doors opened simultaneously with almost alarming speed. As Liza and I held our breath, they reached full extension with a heavy thud, exposing the contents of the room, which at this point was nothing but sheer darkness. The light that filled the hallway apparently did not extend to the chamber beyond. It was a thick blackness brimming with cold, and no amount of squinting revealed any details.

Just as I was about to open my mouth, two pale blue flames softly popped into existence along the floor just past the doorway. Soon after, another two flames appeared a bit farther away. Then another pair. And another. The flames sounded off consecutively, picking up speed as they created a path straight for the center of the chamber. Finally, a much larger flame burst into life, lighting the contours of the long, rectangular room in a blue haze.

The giant flame began to move towards us, and we backed off a little maintaining the distance between us. The flame as it approached took a human shape and a hostile cursor appeared over it. I focused on the cursor to bring up a name; it was 'Arthur – The King of Knights'. The flame by now had subsided and came out a man wearing a silver-colored armor; he was a sword-shield user. The sword and shield both were golden and the shield was a kite shaped one with cloth hanging below it.

With a huge bellow the knight charged upon us, vibrating the ground underneath us. We screamed together, turned, and sprinted at full speed. I knew on principle that SM's and GM's couldn't leave their chambers, but I couldn't force myself to rely on that now. I let my significant agility stat do the work, speeding down the long hallway like a burst of wind.

Liza and I ran recklessly for the safe area established about midway through the dungeon. We leaped into the safe room and collapsed to the floor, our backs against the wall. After catching our breaths, we turned to each other, and… "Pfft!" A laugh came bubbling up from my chest.

"Ha-ha! Wow, that was quite an escape!" Liza laughed, sprawled out on the floor. "I don't think I've run that hard in years. And that was nothing compared to you!" I couldn't deny it. She giggled at the consternation and embarrassment on my face for several moments, until eventually her mirth subsided. "This doesn't look like it'll be easy," she murmured pensively.

"I agree. It's only got the one sword and shield, but I bet it has all kinds of special attacks at its disposal." "We'll need plenty of tanks for the forward line so we can just keep switching members." "I'd want at least ten fighters good with a shield…but for now, all we can do is observe its style and plan a strategy around that." "What was that sword anyways. It shone so bright that almost felt like…" I interrupted her with a hush. I saw two player cursors in my Search radius. "Someone's coming."

We stood up and watched two people coming up, a guy and a lady. Just right when I saw the man, I sighed with relief. It was a familiar person, wielding two swords over his back in a golden light metal armor. "Oh! Hi Asri, sorry about the review, but isn't this the uniform of the Golden Knights?" Koruko popped up from behind with Ralz on her shoulder. "Hi Naperjet, we last met when you were doing the corrective quests back then."

"Yeah that little job cost me a lot." I grinned uncomfortably, after-all it was a total secret that 'The Rogue Swordsman' had gone criminal. Liza gave a very sour look and it took a lot of explanation from the three of us to convince her to keep it a secret. Asri also apologized for her and told me how he had to join the Golden Knights after his GM skill was discovered.

Asri was given invitations from all guilds but Heathway somehow merged his small group of six into The Golden Knights guild. I told him about the GM Arthur and his weapons and armor. Liza again put up the sword and Koruko came up with a full explanation of King Arthur, "Arthur, The King of Knights was a British King who had a special council called 'The Knights of the Round Table'. He wielded Excalibur, the most powerful sword in the British folklore. It is said to negate all negative impacts of life and had a special scabbard with healing properties."

Liza then cast a meaningful glance at me and then asked, "There is something about you that doesn't make any sense. Lie and Leo made a sword and a dagger for you apart from the shield. You are a swordsman, so why do you need a dagger in the first place. Very suspicious…"

She was correct—I was hiding something. But I'd never shown it off in front of others before. Not only was skill information an important lifeline, but the revelation of my secret was likely to further isolate me from everyone else in the game. But I thought, 'maybe it wouldn't be the end of the world if she knew…'

Just as I was about to open my mouth, she spoke. "Well, whatever. Prodding someone about his skills is impolite, after all." She laughed. My window of opportunity closed, I shut my mouth. Liza's gaze flicked to her clock and her eyes went wide. "Oh my gosh, it's already three. Ready for a late lunch?" "What?" I perked up. "Is it homemade?" She shot me a smug look, opened her menu, removed her white leather gloves, and materialized a small picnic basket.

There was at least one excellent advantage to teaming up with her, I thought, but she stopped me short with a glare. "…What are you thinking?" "N-nothing. Can we eat now?" She pressed her lips and took out four large paper wrappings from the basket anyway, handing one to me. I hastily unwrapped it to find a circular sandwich crammed with cooked meat and vegetables.

It smelled fragrant, a bit like pepper. Suddenly I felt ravenous and stuffed it into my mouth without a word. "Mm…that's good," I said honestly, after a few more bites. It looked similar to the foreign-seeming food that the NPCs served in Arcadian's restaurants, but the flavoring was different.

I swallowed my last bite and gulped down the ice tea Asri offered in one go. I gave out a deep sigh and asked Liza, "How'd you make this flavor?"

"A year of training and study, and a full analysis of all seasoning ingredients available in Arcadian. This one's rowan seeds, chevron leaves, and ascot water." She pulled two small bottles out of the basket, pulled the plug out of one, and sprinkled it on my palm. Out came a green colored paste and it dried on my palm in a matter of seconds, into green crystal fragments. I tasted the crystal and it was simply amazing "It's…Chinese Salt, Ajinomotto!"

"Now, this one is Avella beans, sago leaves, and weal fish bones." I suspected that last one was used as an ingredient in antidote potions, but the droplet landed on my hand before I had time to confirm it. As it dried into a blue crystal fragments, I tasted it. It was more comforting than the former one, it was pure dried oregano.

Liza laughed when she saw my slack-faced expression of bliss. "That's the seasoning I used for the sandwich." "Incredible. It's perfect. You could make a fortune selling this stuff!" To be honest, I felt like these sandwiches were even better than last night's Dribbling Dear stew. "Y-you think so?" She smiled shyly. Suddenly I thought for a while, "Wait, don't do that. There'd be none left for me."

She sighed "Oh, don't be so greedy! There'll be plenty for you if I feel like it…" She trailed off. She leaned just enough that our shoulders brushed. Asri and Koruko giggled as they were spectating the drama and it took us quite some time to notice that we were not alone.

I slumped my shoulders with the resignation that I wasn't going to get out of this easily, a new set of rattling and footsteps from the same doorway told of a new set of visitors. Hearing the rigid discipline of their march, Liza brushed my arm, worried. "It's the Union's Police, Naperjet!" I turned to the entranceway with a start to see a squad of heavily armored soldiers. Asri and Koruko too got on their feet and we were standing in a line by the time they entered.

The soldiers entered in the same three-row formation. They looked sluggish, and the bits of their faces that could be seen beneath the helmets were heavily fatigued. The squad came to a halt on the other side of the safety zone. The man in front gave the command to be at ease, and the others clattered to the floor with an incredible din. He turned to us without a second glance at his subordinates. The soldiers were nearly sixty in number.

Upon closer look, his equipment was slightly different from the others'. The plate armor was of finer make, and his breastplate was the only one that contained a crest meant to symbolize the logo of the Union. The man stopped in front of us and removed his helmet. He was quite tall. I'd put him in his early thirties, with short blonde hair and a square face; thick eyebrows; small and sharp eyes; and a thin, disapproving mouth. After an imposing gaze, he turned and spoke to me, as I stood the farthest forward. "I am Lieutenant Colonel Curvets of the Arcadian Union's Army."

That last part came as a surprise to me. I'd thought "The Union" was just a nickname that others used. When did it get appropriated into their official title? And he was a lieutenant colonel, to boot. I gave him a brief, "Naperjet, solo." The man nodded, and then continued imperiously. "Have you already cleared the area?" "Yeah, we've mapped out everything up to the boss's lair." "Good. I'd like your map data." I was momentarily taken aback by his matter-of-fact tone, but Asri lost it altogether. "Wh-wha…? You think we're just gonna hand it over? Do you have any idea how much work it takes to map a dungeon?" he bellowed.

Maps of unfinished areas were a valuable resource. Treasure hunters who sought unopened chests would pay a fine price for that information. The man raised an eyebrow at Asri's outburst and jutted out his chin. "We are fighting for the liberation of all players, including you!" he barked. "It should be your duty to share your information with us!" It was sheer arrogance.

The Union had barely bothered to help clear floors in the past five years if not more. I had to hold out both hands to stop Liza and Asri from converging on the man. "I don't mind. I was going to release the data once I got back to town anyway."

I opened a trading window and sent the man named Curvets my map. He accepted it stone-faced, said, "Your cooperation is appreciated," without a shred of appreciation, and turned on his heel. I called out to his back. "I wouldn't bother the GM right now if I were you." Curvets barely turned his head. "…That decision is at my discretion, not yours."

"We just took a look at it earlier, and it's not the kind that an under-leveled raid can tackle. Besides, your soldiers look pretty wasted to me." "My men aren't weaklings, to complain about a simple march!" Curvets put extra weight on my men, but the exhausted warriors sprawled out on the floor didn't seem to share his camaraderie. "Back on your feet!"

They slowly climbed up and re-formed into two rows. Curvets took his spot at the fore without sparing us a second glance. He raised and lowered his arm, and the men readied their weapons and resumed the march. While their HP appeared full, the tense battles of BWS left invisible strain on its players. Our real bodies weren't budging an inch back on the other side, but the fatigue we felt here would not disappear without sleep or relaxation.

From what I could tell, the Union soldiers weren't used to battle on the front line, and they were at their limit. "Do they know what they're doing…?" The Army squad disappeared through the exit farther up the tower, and the measured footsteps faded out. Asri was too concerned for his own good. "I mean, they're not just going to charge right into the boss lair…" Liza looked worried. Something in Curvet's attitude suggested that they were taking a risk that was downright reckless. "Should we at least check on them first?" I suggested.

Asri and Koruko nodded in agreement. "Who's too concerned for his own good now?" I grimaced to myself, but my mind was made up. I wouldn't sleep well that night if we left now and found out later that the group never returned. I checked my equipment and was preparing to leave when I heard Asri whispering to Liza behind my back.

At first I was exasperated, but that turned to surprise when I listened to what he was saying. "So, um…Liza? Er…how should I say this? I know he might not deserve it, but be good to Naperjet, will you? Even if he is an introverted, grumpy, battle-obsessed idiot." I spun around and yanked hard on Asri's armor. "Wh-what are you talking about?"

"Oh, come on." He rubbed his stubbed chin, head tilted. "I mean, you're actually teaming up with someone now. It's a good progress." I noticed that Koruko, Asri, and even Liza were all grinning at me, so I had no choice but to clamp my mouth shut and turn around. I even heard Liza assure Klein, "I'll take good care of him." I beat a hasty retreat through the doorway, my boots clacking on the stones.

We were unlucky enough to run into a group of batmen, so by the time the four of us reached the hallway at the top of the tower, it had already been thirty minutes. We never caught up to the Army squadron. "Maybe they used some items to return already?" Asri offered in an attempt to break the tension, but none of us believed it.

Our pace quickened as we headed down the hallway. About halfway to the door, we heard the echoing sounds that confirmed our fears. I stopped abruptly and focused my ears. "Aaaahh…" It was soft, but undeniably a scream and not from a monster. We looked at one another and raced forward. Liza and I pulled away from Asri and Koruko due to our agility, but this was no time for playing nice. We sped over the slick stones shining blue, this time in the opposite direction of our last, panicked sprint.

Finally, we came to the massive chamber doors. They were already wide open; the flickering blue flames visible amid the darkness within. And behind them, a massive shadow, writhing. Periodic metallic clanging. Screams.

"Those idiots!" Liza shrieked, dashing even faster. I strained to keep up. We were going about as fast as the system could allow us. It felt like my feet weren't even touching the floor. The pillars that lined the hallway were a blur. We screeched to a halt right before the doorway, the hobnails of our boots raising sparks. "Hey! Anyone okay in there?" I shouted, leaning my upper half through the doorway.

The interior of the room was a picture of hell. The blue-white flames were flickering across the floor in a lattice pattern. At the center, its back to us; loomed the GM Arthur. The GM swung his sword with extreme speed and even the whole group wasn't unable to parry it.

It hadn't even lost a tenth of its HP and was recovering very fast. All around it, shadows leaped and fled. It was the Army. Their prior discipline was entirely gone. I tried to do a quick head count and came up twenty short. Hopefully they'd used emergency crystals to escape. One of the men took a tremendous swipe from the sword to his side and went sprawling across the floor. His HP was down in the red zone.

Somehow, the Army had managed to get trapped, with the GM standing between them and the doorway where we stood now. I shouted to one of the collapsed players. "What are you doing? Transport out of here!" His face, lit blue with the room's eerie flames, had a mixture of terror and despair. "It won't work…We can't…use any crystals!" "Wha…" My breath caught in my throat.

The chamber was a traditional zone. It was a rare trap that you occasionally saw in dungeons, where no crystals would work and you'll have to escape the classic or traditional way; slash through your opponents but none of the Master Chambers had been this way before. "They can't transport out…?" Liza swallowed. This meant that it would be much harder to save them.

On the other side of the GM, one of the players raised his sword and gave a battle cry. "Nonsense! Retreat is not an option for the Union's Army! Fight, you scoundrels, fight!!" It was clearly Curvets. "You fools!" I screamed. The fact that there were twenty people missing in a traditional zone meant they were dead, gone forever. The unthinkable had already occurred, and he wanted them to keep going? I could feel all the blood in my body boiling.

Asri and Koruko finally caught up to us. "What's going on here?!" I explained as briefly as I could. Asri grimaced. "Isn't there anything we can do for them?" If we leaped into the fray, it was possible that we could clear a path for the soldiers to escape. But without a quick and easy way to transport out, there was no guarantee we wouldn't suffer casualties in the process. We just didn't have enough people.

As I hesitated over what to do, Curvets had rallied his men to their feet across the room and was bellowing orders. "All units…charge!" Out of the forty survivors, twelve were slumped on the floor in critical condition. The other twenty-eight formed two lines of fourteen, with Curvets brandishing his mace in the lead. "No! Stop!!" But my scream didn't reach them.

It was sheer madness. Twenty-eight warriors attacking all at once wouldn't do a thing but cause chaos and limit their individual strengths. They ought to be taking a defensive stance, doing bits of damage one at a time, and switching out constantly. The Master stood upright, sword behind his shield, and spun around with the shield. The spinning - shield must have had a damaging effect, because the soldiers who came into contact with it tumbled.

Out came the GM's elegant sword again, even though it was slaughtering so many people it was still beautiful. One man was flipped straight over the knight's head by the blade, crumpling in a heap on the floor right before us. It was Curvets. His HP bar was empty. He wore an expression of utter disbelief, his mouth moving slowly "Impossible." As soon as he mouthed the words, Curvets' body shattered into countless tiny shards with a nerve-grating crackle.

Liza gave a brief shriek at his disintegration, so sudden and unceremonious. Their leader gone, the Army squad was completely lost. They fled and screamed, all discipline gone. None of the men had even half his health remaining. "No…no…you can't…" Liza seemed to be wringing the words out of her. I tried to reach out and grab her arm, but I was an instant too late.

"You can't do this!" she cried, leaping forward like a burst of wind. She pulled the string of her bow mid-air and plunged a number of arrows in the GM. "Liza!" I shouted, forced to follow in her footsteps. "Whatever happens, happens!" Asri and Koruko brought up the rear. Liza's desperation attack struck the demon directly in the back. Sadly, its effect on the GM's health was nearly imperceptible. The GM spun around with a bellow of rage, swinging its sword with fearful speed.

Liza darted out of the way, but the blade's shock wave threw her to the ground. It swung around mercilessly for a follow-up. "Lizaaa!!" Sheer terror chilled my spine, and I desperately lunged for the space between Liza and the sword. At the last possible instant, I succeeded in just barely deflecting the path of the sword's assault. The impact was breathtaking. Our weapons sent off sparks as they scraped, and the golden blade smashed into the floor just inches from where Liza lay, gouging a deep furrow with the sound of an explosion. "Get back!" I shouted, preparing for the demon's next blow. The swings came fast and furious, each individual swipe powerful enough to be fatal. There was no time for me to mount a counterattack.

Asri shouted out from behind, "Switch out! Naperjet" I floated back using the momentum of a parry and Asri came up in front with his dual swords. I and Koruko went on to help and rescue the fallen players while Asri and Liza went on to engage the GM. As we took players out of the chamber, one of them asked, "Is it okay for the two of them to engage him. We weren't able to match him with a whole assault team."

I reassured him saying, "The guy has a GM skill at his disposal and the lady is the strongest player even amongst the clearers." Asri however seemed at a disadvantage against the GM as he blocked the twin swords with his shield and then attacked with the sword. Till the time we had the last member of the army out of the chamber Asri was in the yellow zone.

Liza too came out and I shouted "Asri, back-up fast, you don't have to kill the GM. Just run out of the chamber." But Asri didn't, he was still trying to keep the GM's sword out of his reach. A member from the team said, "Its no use, we too weren't able to retreat at first. Curvets after that ordered us to go at full force." 'What! Does that mean Asri wouldn't be able to retreat unless the GM is defeated?' I thought.

Koruko brought out her machete and was about to charge at the GM when Liza and others stopped her. I felt bad seeing her tearful eyes, "Let me go! He won't last against the Excalibur for long." I looked at the struggling Asri who was now in red and then called up my menu, quickly shuffled up my inventory and ability records "You all stay back, don't enter no matter what."

I pulled out my shield and my sword, and then charged inside the chamber, "Asri switch out." Asri was dumbstruck and narrowly missed the next attack. I blocked the GM's Excalibur with my shield and attacked with my sword. "Take him out fast!" I ordered and two members from the assault team carried the exhausted Asri out of the chamber who nearly fainted.

The GM bellowed hoarsely, "Now you shall face the fury of the holy sword Excalibur." I grinned, "You aren't the only one here with a legendary weapon, King of Knights. Meet your swords twin, Caladbolg." And gave a heavy single slash in his shield. My sword was stopped but I could undoubtedly hear a crack. "This is not over yet." I threw my shield up straight into the GM's face and gave a quick thrust into his belly as he tried to defend himself from the shield.

It was the first clean hit we had and for the first time I saw the HP bar diminish visibly. But the happiness didn't last for long, in a few moments his HP was again at full. I didn't believe my eyes, at that rate I wouldn't last much long even with all my defenses. My equipment and built weren't designed for tanking. Fear of death spread through my limbs like a chill. I couldn't even coordinate well enough to escape without triggering the bounded field.

There was only one course of action remaining. I had to put all of my damage-dealing expertise to the test and fight back. "All right! Here it goes." I screamed and threw my shield into the GM's face, he blocked it and the shield flew to the wall. He charged against me and at the nick moment where he had hit me, the shield slashed in his back again going towards another wall.

I drew out a dagger from my inventory the 'Quick Equip' setting. I was using my hidden specialties – a GM level skill 'Offensive Shield' that allotted my shield a direct damage stat and I was using Infinity Loop – a high level infinite hit ranged attack and a God Skill 'Reserve Weapon' that allows me to use weapon arts on more than one weapon but alternatively.

I began using the dagger and sword to engage the GM while the shield attacked from the other-side. Occasionally, I found an opening and hit him heavy hammering slashes. The dagger was crafted by Leo and had a draining bonus. So in a sense we were at equals. Finally, I managed to stun the GM for 10 secs using Erected Slash. I couldn't miss the occasion, I chained the most massively damaging weapon arts of dagger and sword alternatively.

The fast dagger and the heavy damaging sword worked perfectly together taking out large chunks of HP from the GM. The stun had ended but I didn't bother about the defense and went full on offense, ignoring the damage he was doing to me. At last, our both HP fell within the red zone; I initiated my most trusted weapon art Hyper Vortex while Arthur the GM used Quad Circle.

All our hits landed with perfect precision, no hit was parried. But my eight part hit got an unexpected five critical; plunging his HP to zero. As the GM disintegrated into countless fragments, I wondered "Is it over?" My eyes swam with the aftereffects of the battle, and I unconsciously swiped both sword and dagger; and returned them to the scabbards. I checked my HP bar—it stood at 15/713450. I stared at them as though they didn't belong to me, and then felt all the strength leave my body. I slid to the floor without a word. Blackness came up.

I opened my eyes to find myself in the guild HQ of the Golden Knights in the 575th Stage. I was in a seemingly guest room and saw Liza, Koruko, Heathway, Koruko, Asri and Chi sitting in the sofa set in the room, discussing something. I got up from the bed and went up to the group. "Good morning! And Congratulations for defeating the GM on your own." Heathway said as I approached them.

"Um…Thanks" I replied trying to forecast what was coming in. The Cat was giving me a very sour look while Heathway and Asri were quite calm knowing that both of them had a GM skill in their disposal. "Asri what about the union's assault team." Asri spoke up "We had healed all the survivors and had them escape to Volintron castle. However, Curvets and twenty others are dead."

"I see…The last time we lost so many people at once was in the 400th Stage GM battle." I searched my memory for any other instance but couldn't find one. "Can you even call this 'winning' the battle? The idiot…What good does it do to challenge the master if it gets you killed?" The Cat argued angrily. She shook her head and sighed, then changed the subject. "But on the other hand, what the hell did you do?"

I looked at her and asked, "I believe the two of them must have told you everything. So do I need to tell you myself?" Heathway and Asri threw a scornful look and I began, "It's a GM level skill Offensive Shield and a God skill Reserve Weapon. I used the two in conjunction. The dagger I used has a healing bonus."

Asri asked, "Why did you hide it and what is your proficiency?" I gave him a quirked look "You know the answer of the first one. I have mastered both of the skills." Koruko began, "So the immortal bonus on your shield was a lie." And I nodded in affirmative. Chi was about to question more but fortunately, Heathway called off the interrogation and I returned to the 65th Stage to my home.