The Depths of Hell
November 5th, 2024 22nd Floor: Lake on the Outskirts of Coral
Hikari: "So where are we going Nishida-san?"
Nishida: "To my special fishing spot trust me it's really quiet over there so I thought I would bring you along."
Hikari: 'But everywhere on this floor is quiet..'
The two of us just were just walking to his usual spot but I realize it was near Kirito's and Asuna's home and lookie here we find KIrito trying to fish
Nishida: "Isn't that your friend Hikari-san?" I hummed
Nishida: "Let's greet him then." I nodded and just let him do his thing since he has the habit to show up out of nowhere
I just watch Kirito catch nothing and Nishida-san walking up behind him
Kirito: "Nothing..."
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Nishida: "Catch anything?"
Kirito: "Huh?!" Nishida just chuckles
Nishida: "I'm sorry for startling you." He then cast his fishing line and crouch down I walked up to them
Hikari: "Heya Kirito. Looks like your not doing well."
Kirito: "You here as well Hikari?"
Hikari: "Decided to fish for a while." I cast my fishing line and wait for a bite and I just listen to their conversation
Nishida: "My name is Nishida. I'm a fisherman here. In Japan, I worked as IT Security Director for a company called Touto High-Speed Connection."
Kirito: "I'm Kirito. Isn't Touto High-Speed Connection..."
Nishida: "Yes. It was in charge of this game's network security." Just then Nishida caught something
Nishida: "Oh."
Kirito: "It's a big one!" The fish was struggling but it was no match for Nishida's skills in fishing
Nishida: "Piece of cake." He then reeled the fish in and caught it
Hikari: "That's a nice-looking fish."
Kirito: "Well done."
Nishida: "Yes but while I can catch them, cooking is another matter." He then puts the fish in his inventory
Nishida: "I want to eat it marinated in soy sauce or as sashimi, but without the soy sauce that's Grilled fillets with soy sauce sound good too, and so does simmering it with radish."
Hikari: 'Stop making me hungry now I'm thinking about the foods in Shokugeki no Soma.'
Kirito: "Um, I know something that would work as well."
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Nishida: "What did you say?!"
~Kiritos an Asunas Home~
Nishida: "My, that really hit the spot! I never thought I'd fight soy sauce in this world!" We were pretty much eating the fish Nishida-san caught and I gotta say it's pretty good
Nishida: "But I never knew you can cook as well Hikari-san why didn't you tell me?"
Hikari: "You never asked."
Hikari: 'The good thing about fishing is that if you get lucky you can catch an extremely delicious fish and with my Cooking Skill at the max, I was pretty much eating a 5-rated restaurant food every day now.'
Asuna: "Oh the fish sauce is homemade, If you'd like, please take some with you later."
Nishida: "Can I really?! Well, I'd very much appreciate that!"
Asuna: "That aside, your Fishing skill must be quite high. Kirito-kun has never brought back a decent catch." Nishida chuckles
Kirito: "Grr. The lakes around here are way too hard to fish at."
Hikari: "Not really."
Kirito: "Huh? What do you mean?"
Nishida: "Only the large one that you were fishing at."
Asuna: "Pft..."
Kirito: "What?!"
Kirito: "Why is it set up like that?!" Asuna just chuckles
Nishida: "Yes, exactly. That lake... has a king lurking in it."
Kirito&Asuna: "A king?/king?!"
Nishida: "Yes. Although I've hooked it several times in the past... it was fearsomely powerful. I even lost my rods to it." Asuna nods
Nishida: "I even asked Hikari-san here to see if she can catch it but she refuses."
Asuna: "Eh? Hikari what level is your fishing skill?" I just turned to the side avoiding her question
Nishida: "She's at the max level."
Kirito&Asuna: "Ehhhhh?!"
Hikari: "Great..."
Asuna: "Why haven't you told us about it!"
Hikari: "You guys never asked."
Nishida: "She even caught a Shiny Marine!"
Asuna: "Really?!" Great now Asuna is going to ask me to for some fish
Kirito: "Then why did you refuse?"
Hikari: "I just thought if the king has been caught all the rare fish would split up and I don't want that."
Nishida: "But now... I have something to ask of you."
Hikari: "Oh boy..."
Night 47th Floor: Florin
I was laying on a patch of grass since it was peaceful here
Green player 1: "AHHHHHHHHH-"
*SHATTER*
Or not
...
...
I got up and noticed there were eight players
Hikari: 'Six oranges and two reds...'
Red player 1: "He was annoying glad that's taken cared of."
Orange player 1: "What do we do now boss?"
Red player 1: "Isn't that obvious we hunt for more."
Red player 2: "Like that little girl over there." One of them pointed to me
Oranger player 2: "Since when was she there?!"
Red player 1: "Doesn't matter you know what to do." They all pointed their weapons at me
Hikari: "..."
Red player 2: "Mind if I get this kill? I'm bored and I want to have some fun~"
Red player 1: "Do what you want."
One of them takes out their dagger and walk towards me
Red player 2: "Now little girl if you want to survive then take out all of your equipment if you know what I mean." He had a smirk on his face
Hikari: 'This is pointless...' I then closed my eyes
Red player 2: "Oya? so you already give up heh looks like I'll have some-"
*SLASH*
He had a face of confusion
Red player 2: "Fun..." I sliced him in half with my sword
*SHATTER*
Orange player 3: "S-She one hit him." All of the players were shocked even the other red player was shocked at how easily I killed the bastard
Hikari: "Well well well. Since you guys had the guts to bother me I guess I should give you guys an award."
Red player 1: "What are you talking abo-"
*STAB*
I stabbed him with my sword and once he looked at my face he knew he made a mistake
...
Red Player 1: "Y-You."
*SHATTER*
Orange player 4: "Boss!" the other six players were walking toward me they stopped when I turned around
Orange player 5: "W-Who are you?" My eyes were glowing red and I had the biggest smile on my face
Hikari: "Your worst nightmare." I dashed toward them and all I can hear are screams of them begging for them to live
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~Few Minutes Later~
I was walking back to the teleport gate since there's no reason to be here anymore
Hikari: "What a bunch of idiots heh oh I love how they screamed for help knowing that nobody would come for them." I was chuckling so much at what happened my eyes were glowing red till I reached the teleport gate
~The Next Day~
Todays the day was the king might be caught and I was just with Kirito and Asuna who was just looking at how many players were here
Kirito: "What in the world..."
Asuna: "Looks like everybody knew about the king."
Hikari: "Nishida has been spreading his story ever since he encountered the king so it's kind of obvious that everybody will know." Kirito just sighed
Nishida: "Okay, now then... it's finally time for today's main event."
Player 1: "Yeah, I was waiting for this!"
Player 2: "Get it today for sure!" Everybody was cheering for him
Hikari: 'It's too loud.' I covered my ears
Nishida: "Kirito-san, I'll be counting on you."
Kirito: "Okay."
Asuna looked at the bait Nishida-san was using and she was surprised it was a baby lizard and she was devastated at this
Kirito: "Just how big is this thing?"
Hikari: "You'll find out soon."
Nishida: "Here we go!"
Nishida cast his fishing rod
Players: "Ohhh..."
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We were waiting patiently when his rod got a bite then pulled a bit and Kirito went toward Nishida-san
Kirito: "Um, didn't you hook it?"
Nishida: "Not yet."
His rod was pulled again but a bit harder this time
Kirito: "N-Nishida-san"
Nishida: "No, just a bit longer."
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It then pulled his rod really hard
Nishida: "Now!" He powered up his fishing rod to try and reel it in
Nishida: "I've hooked it!" He then gave the fishing rod to Kirito
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Kirito: "S-Switch- GAAAAHHHH!" He was pulled to the edge of the water but Kirito pulled himself together
Hikari: "Pft..." His face was too funny to not laugh at
Kirito: "Fine, bring it on!" He used all of his strength to run back and the king was coming out of the water
Asuna: "Oh, I see it!" She and the others were going to take a closer look but I stopped her
Asuna: "Eh? what is it?" I then grabbed her arm and started dragging her away
Hikari: "Trust me you'll thank me for this."
She didn't resist and just nodded then we just walked farther away
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Players: "EHHHH?!"
Kirito: "All right, not a problem!" He then saw all the others running away and was confused
Kirito: "Wh-What's wrong? Hey!" He then fall down to the ground when his rod was released
Kirito: "Ouch. Eh? Aahhhhh!" He realize the rod was released and started running toward the water
Asuna: "Kirito-kun! It's dangerous!"
Kirito: "What is?!" Just then a massive explosion came out and the dock was destroyed
...
The King of Lakes was revealed
King: *SCREAM*
Kirito: "AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" He then ran back to us at full speed leaving a cloud of dust
Kirito: "N-N-No fair! Don't just run away on your own!" The two of us chuckled
*SCREAM*
Nishida: "Kirito-san!"
We all then saw the king walking on land and its coming right to us
Hikari: "It can walk on land?"
Kirito: "I wonder if it's a lungfish..."
Hikari: "Probably."
Nishida: Kirito-san, now's not the time to be joking around like that. Let's get out of here!"
Kirito: "Oh I guess your right." Asuna sighed while I shrugged
Asuna: "I didn't want to have to do this." She then took out her coat and take out her rapier
Nishida: "Miss, run away!"
Kirito: "There's nothing to worry about."
The king started coming closer
*SCREAM*
Nishida: "Kirito-san, your wife! AHHH!" The King then launch itself at her attempting to swallow her
Nishida: "Miss!"
*STAB*
Her attack went through the king
Hikari: "Relax Nishida-san she's fine."
*SHATTER*
Hikari: 'Wow she one-hit killed it.'
Everybody but me and Kirito was surprised at how strong she is
She then returned her rapier and looked back at us
Player 3: "A-Amazing!" Everybody cheered and rush toward her
Player 4: "You're Asuna-san, aren't you?"
Player 5: "Why are you here?!"
Player 6: "I'm your fan."
Player 7: "Shake my hand too!"
Asuna was getting embarrassed at the amount of compliments she was getting
Kirito: "Good job."
Hikari: "Yeah you did great out there!" I was going to go and congratulate her but I saw Kirito stopped
Hikari: "What's wrong Kirito?"
Kirito: "Heathcliff?" My eyes widen and I sighed
Hikari: 'Great...'
~Kiritos and Asunas Home~
Asuna: "Come on you two, quit moping around."
Kirito: "But it's only been two weeks..." I sighed
Hikari: "What does he want me for? I was busy doing nothing."
Asuna: "We were called to the frontlines during our leave, so it must be something major."
Hikari: "You have a point but why me..."
Asuna: "Let's at least go hear them out. Hurry, they'll be waiting."
We both took a big sigh and we both stood up
Asuna: "The faster we get it over with, the sooner we can come back."
Kirito: "Yeah."
We then walked out of the house
Hikari: 'At least it's almost over.'
November 7th, 2024 22nd Floor: Coral Teleport Gate
Kirito: "Thank you for seeing us off. Although we couldn't stay long, it was fun."
Nishida: "It was a valuable experience for me. Honestly, until I met you two, those fighting to clear the game seemed to be from a different world. Especially you Hikari-san I never knew you were in the front lines." I chuckled
Nishida: "I've been trapped in this world for two years. Even if I returned, I don't know if the company would want me. Deep down, I may have already given up on ever getting out of here."
Nishida: "And so, I decided fishing here would be for the best. It's shameful to admit."
Hikari: "Nishida-san..."
Kirito: "That's... That's not-"
Asuna: "I, too... I, too, thought the same things at first and spent every night crying alone. With every passing day here, it felt as if my reality was gradually slipping away."
Nishida was surprised to hear this
Asuna: "After I cried for a while, I devoted myself to fighting. Winning and advancing. I single-mindedly aimed to become stronger. Then, I found two people taking a nap on the grass near the plaza."
Hikari: 'I wasn't napping though...'
Asuna: "It really ticked me off, so I yelled at the two for wasting time. And one replied, "The weather today is the nicest possible during the nicest season in Aincrad." and the other saying " It's going to be a waste to spend the day like this in the dungeon."
Kirito was scratching his chin while I was looking away
Asuna: "So I tried lying down for a bit and sound asleep soon after. Heh. When I woke up, it was evening, and Kirito and Hikari were grinning at me. But then, as we partied together, I noticed."
Asuna: "Even in this world, the two were enjoying life. I wasn't losing my days in the real world. I was just living them out here. The two who taught me that..." I was expecting Asuna to hold Kirito's hand but...
Hikari: 'W-Wait W-What?' She held my hand as well
Asuna: "Was Kirito-kun and Hikari. When I slept with him, I stopped having bad dreams. And when I was hanging out with her, I had so much fun. I looked forward to seeing these two. For the first time since I came here, I appreciated this world. To me, Kirito-kun and Hikari is..." She was tearing up
Hikari: 'Y-You didn't have to include me too.' I wasn't comfortable hearing this
Hikari: 'Why... This is supposed to be for Kirito she didn't have to include me...'
Asuna: "The meaning of the two years I spent here and the proof that I'm alive." She held both of our hands tighter and I flinched
Asuna: "I put on the NerveGear that day so that I could meet these two here. Nishida-san, I'm sure there's something here for you too."
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Nishida: "You're right. You're absolutely right." He started to tear up
Nishida: "I didn't waste my life here. I really didn't" He then held Kiritos and Asuna's hands together and I sighed in relief but Asuna guided her hands that were holding mine next to Kiritos as well
Hikari: 'Why?!'
Nishida: "There's nothing I can do to help, but I wish you guys luck."
Kirito: "Let's go fishing together again sometime."
Asuna: "We'll be back."
Hikari: "A-And we'll definitely eat some delicious food once we come back." Please let this be over already!
Nishida then walked back
Hikari: 'Finally.'
Kirito&Asuna&Hikari: "Teleport to Grandum!" we teleported not before seeing Nishida waving at us
November 7th, 2024 55th Floor: Grandum
Kirito: "The scouting party was wiped out?!"
Hikari: "Are you serious?"
Heathcliff: "In preparation for the upcoming boss fight, we sent a party of twenty players from five guilds. However, once the first ten reached the center of the room and the boss appeared, the entrance door closed."
...
Kirito: "So it's an Anti-Crystal Area..."
Heathcliff: "And after five minutes passes, the door finally opened and nothing was left in the room. Both the ten players and the boss had disappeared."
Kirito: "No way..."
Heathcliff: "Nevertheless, we cannot abandon our goal of clearing the game. Our only option is to try again with the largest force possible. It's also the reason why I wanted Hikari-kun to be here so I can hear her answer if she'll join or not."
Me and Kirito looked at each other and nodded
Kirito: "We'll offer our cooperation. However, for me, Asuna's safety takes the highest priority. If the situation turns grave, I'll protect her instead of the party."
Hikari: 'About that...'
Heathcliff: "A person who has something to protect is strong. I'll be looking forward to it."
After the meeting was over we were waiting for the raid to start
Asuna: "Three hours left, huh? What should we do?"
Hikari: "I don't know really what about you Kirito?"
Kirito: "..."
Asuna: "What's wrong?"
Kirito: "...Don't get angry when I say this. For today's boss raid, could you pull out and wait here for me?"
...
Hikari: 'Here it comes...'
Asuna: "Why are you saying that?"
Kirito: "In a place where we can't use teleport crystals, it's impossible to predict what will happen. I'm scared. If anything happened to you-"
Asuna: "So you want to go to such a dangerous place alone while I wait here, where it's safe?" She walked toward Kirito
Asuna: "If I listen to you and you never come back, I'll... commit suicide!"
His eyes widen
Asuna: "I'd have no more reason to live, and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself for not going."
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Kirito: "Sorry... I'm panicking. Deep down, I'd rather just run away together. I don't care if we can never return to the real world. I just want to live together with you in our home in the forest!"
My eyes darken
Asuna: "It'd be nice if we could. Together every day. Forever."
...
Asuna: "Kirito-kun, have you ever thought about it? About what's happening to out real bodies."
Kirito: "Huh?"
Asuna: "After this game started several weeks had passed, there was an incident when most of the players disconnected for a few hours, remember? During that time. all players were likely being transported to various hospitals. Even if our bodies are somehow being sustained on hospital beds, I can only imagine that their conditions have deteriorated during these years."
Kirito: "So basically, regardless of whether or not the game is cleared..."
Hikari: "We are going to die anyways but this time our life spans are much shorter." I finally spoke
Asuna then rests her head on his chest
Asuna: "I... I... want to always be beside you. I want to date you for real, have a real marriage, and grow old together! So... So..." She cried
Hikari: 'That's it.'
I walked toward Kirito and when he saw my eyes were color red he flinched
Hikari: "Kirito you're just going to give up like that? Are you really going to say that you're panicking even after you come this far?"
Hikari: "If you're saying that then your just afraid of dying... In fact your just a coward who would run when things look impossible."
He closes his eyes
Hikari: "Kirito. Don't you still have your family? So your just going to abandon them just because you're scared? *Sigh* I'm disappointed in you Kirito." My eyes turned back to normal and I turned around
Hikari: "To be honest I can very well stay here since... I have nobody to go back to." His eyes widen
Hikari: "Unlike you, I have no father no mother no brother no sister no nothing. I don't have anything to live for. In fact, I could commit suicide at any time but the reason why I didn't is that all the players here are wanting to go back to their family."
Kirito: "Hikari..." I sighed
Hikari: "I'll see you two at the boss raid." I then walked out of the room to give the two some space
75th Floor: Corinea Teleport Gate Plaza
I was pretty much waiting for the boss raid to start so I was just reading a book
I then heard somebody coming through the Teleport Gate and it was Asuna and Kirito
Pretty much everybody was staring at the two I then walked up to them
Hikari: "So you two finally came took you guys long enough."
Kirito: "Yeah."
Klein: "Hey!" The two turned around to see Agil and Klein
Kirito: "Oh, you guys are coming too?"
Agil: "Why the surprise? I'm abandoning my store to lend a hand here. I can't believe you failed to recognize the self-sacrificing spirit."
Kirito: "Then I guess you won't need a cut of the item drops."
Agil: "No, that would be..." We all laughed
Hikari: "You're the same as ever Agil."
Agil: "Give me a break." We then heard somebody coming through and it was Heathcliff and his subordinates
He then took out a corridor crystal
Heathcliff: "Open Corridor." A corridor then opened leading to the boss room
...
Hikari: 'Looks like it's starting.'
Heathcliff: "Now, let us go." We walked through and everybody else does the same
Asuna: "It's sort of unsettling, isn't it?"
Kirito: "Yeah."
We then all did a double check on our items to see if we're prepared
Heathcliff: "Is everyone ready?"
We all nodded
Heathcliff: "Broadly speaking, the Knights of the Blood will stay upfront and keep the boss in check, so in the meantime, discern its attack patterns and counterattack as appropriate."
Heathcliff: "It'll likely be a difficult battle, but I believe that your strength will allow us to pull through."
Heathcliff: "For our freedom!"
Everybody cheered
I then see Kirito and Asuna talking to each other and I had a smile on my face
...
I was readying my sword while staring at Heathcliff and Kirito noticed this
Kirito: "Is something wrong?"
Hikari: "Hm? Oh, it's nothing..." I then get ready
Hikari: 'It's almost time.' Heathcliff then opens the door and we all readied our weapons
Kirito: "Don't die."
Klein: "Right back at you!"
Hikari "You know me Kirito I won't die that easily.
Agil: "I'm going to make a killing off today's drops, so I don't intend to die."
The door then finally opens and it showed a dark room
Heathcliff: "Attack!" We all charge inside the room to find nothing inside
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The door closes leaving us locked inside
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Hikari: "It's too quiet."
Assault Member 1: "Nothing's happening..."
We all then heard some crawling noises and Asuna shouted
Asuna: "Above us!"
We all looked above to see a large skeleton creature at the ceiling and everybody except for a few people were shaking in fear
Klein: "The Skull..."
Kirito: "Reaper?"
Hikari: "Five HP bars you got to be kidding me..."
*SCREAMS*
Everybody was in fear
Heathcliff: "Don't panic! Distance yourselves!" It then dropped itself down on the floor
Hikari: 'Now here comes the annoying part.' We all distance ourselves but the few players who were scared didn't move
Kirito: "This way! Run!" The two players run away from the center
However, It then dropped to the ground making two players lose their balance, and then the Skull Reaper uses its scythes to slice the two of them knocking them back
Asuna tried to catch them but...
*SHATTER* *SHATTER*
The room then turned to red and the rest except me were surprised
Klein: "I-In one hit?"
Agil: "That's insane..."
*SCREAMS*
It then rushed toward to kill another player but Heathcliff rushed just in time to block its scythes
But it was useless anyway as it ignores him and kills the player
*SHATTER*
It then rushes around the room while attacking the other players
Agil: "We can't even approach it!"
Kirito then rushes to save a player
Kirito: "Get Back!" However, its attacks were too strong and Kirito kneeled to the ground
Kirito: "I can't repel it..." I sighed and took a deep breath
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Hikari: 'Let's do this...' I rushed toward Kirito
The boss then used two of its sharp scythes to attack Kirito
However, one of them was blocked by Heathcliff's shield and the other was parried with my sword
How lucky I am to know it's attack patterns due to seeing it in the anime and some other games so it's easy to parry it
Asuna then came in knocked it back with her rapier
Hikari: "What were you doing out there Kirito you know you can't go by yourself."
Kirito: "S-Sorry."
Asuna: "If we intercept it together, we can stop it." She then grabs Kirito to stand up
Asuna: "It's no problem for us!"
Kirito: "All right."
The boss then attacks us but was both blocked and parried by me and Heathcliff while Kirito and Asuna attacks the boss
Kirito: "We'll take care of the scythes!" The four of us were making the boss attack us making everybody have a chance to attack
Kirito: "Everyone else, attack its flanks! After saying this everybody's fear started fading away making them attack
Agil: "Here we go!"
Assault Member 2: "Okay..." The others then started attacking making the boss flinch a bit
Agil: "Quit thrashing around!" Agil and the other players were going to attack but the boss uses its tail to attack them killing two players and damaging Agil in the process
*SHATTER* *SHATTER*
Agil: "Damn it!
*SCREAMS*
Hikari: "Come on we barely even dent it..." We were slowly draining its health but it still had five HP bars
Asuna: "Kirito-kun! Hikari!"
Kirito: "Yeah." The three of us then rush to attack the boss
The boss was kept rushing around the room and attacking at the same time but most of it was blocked or parried by me and Heathcliff
Everybody kept attacking although the boss just kept ignoring it. It then decided to attack us
Kirito and Asuna then used a sword skill to knock it back but it wasn't enough and decided to attack again
Hikari: "Oh no you don't!" I then parried its scythes leaving an opening to attack
Hikari: "Now Asuna! Kirito!"
Asuna: "Right!" The two then prepared a sword skill together
Asuna&Kirito: "HUAAAAAAAAGH!!!"
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