Chapter 8
November 6th, 2023
(A few hours later)
The two of us walked up the large stone steps, up to the platform and stand in the middle of the giant blue crystal arc. The teleport gate. A way of navigating from floor to floor without the use of expensive teleport crystals, or going the whole way through the floor dungeon and up the stairs, one floor at a time. We shout the phrase 'teleport, floor 28' and suddenly, my vision goes entirely white. Once the light fades, I blink my eyes a few times, adjusting to the change in light level, but one my eyes adjust, I let out a large gasp.
I'd never seen a field as beautiful as this. I breathed in the crisp fresh air and took it all in. A kaleidoscope of vibrant colours and patterns paint the landscape. Flowers of every hue imaginable carpeted the ground with nature's finest creations. Blue, black, red, green, violet, indigo – everything, each emitting their own unique fragrance that tantalized the senses. It was at that moment that I realized something. This environment could only be possible in the virtual world. This was a time where fantasy transcended reality. A gentle breeze blew over the field, caressing my cheeks with its warmth. Unable to control myself any longer, I embraced the scene around me, running around the spawn area, spinning in circles in blissful abandon. Dizziness quickly overtook me and I fell to the soft grass, still giggling to myself as I looked at the fluffy clouds above in the azure sky. A faint chuckle briefly interrupted frolicking. I reared my head back to face Shiraki, who was covering his mouth, trying to hide a smile.
"What?" I asked, still with a large smile on my face.
"It's nothing," he waved his hand in dismissal, revealing his own toothy grin. "I'm just used to seeing everyone act so serious. It's nice to see somebody actually acting their age. Anyway, here we are. The Field of Life. The lake of Resurrection should only be about a fifteen minute walk if we're left undisturbed, but from what I've heard, this place is crawling with high level monsters, so it'll take longer. Oh, I almost forgot. Take these."
He opened the trade menu and selected several items from his inventory. Leather elven skirt, elven boots, gloves of inferno, mistwoven breastplate and a few healing crystals.
"What's all this?" I inquired, puzzled by the unusual gesture.
He cleared his throat before answering "Well, your armour isn't exactly the strongest, and- Well, let's be honest, it stopped providing adequate protection six floors ago, and-"
"What does adequate mean?"
"Right, you're a kid," he sighed. "It means 'enough'. It doesn't matter. Just take the armour. I keep getting this stuff from quests and haven't gotten around to selling it yet, but I'm not desperate for money, and you'll get more use out of it."
"I don't have a whole lot of money to give you for all this, but I can-"
He cut me off. "Like I said, I don't need the money," he said, his tone indicating he was a little frustrated that he had to repeat himself. "I'm not selling it to you, I'm giving it to you. So just accept the trade and put it on. Fuck, are you always this picky?"
"Hey!"
"What?"
"Watch your language! It's not good to swear," I stated.
I watched as his face tensed up, like he was holding back a scream and his fingers started twitching. Not wanting to upset him any more than I already had, I did exactly as instructed, clicking the accept button and hiding behind a tree as I changed my armour. Finishing up, I ran back over to Shiraki.
"It fits perfectly! But…why give this to me?" I asked.
"Well I'm not going to wear it."
I couldn't help but chuckle at the mental image I'd created. "Yeah, that would look pretty silly."
As I looked at his face, I saw no semblance of a smile. His statement wasn't originally intended as a joke, but rather a genuine reason. As if he thought that I might actually believe he'd wear it, though like most of his unusual mannerisms, I shrugged it off.
"Just stick close to me," he said, drawing his weapon. "The monsters out here are meant to be pretty…big."
I followed his gaze until I spotted a giant Venus flytrap lumbering towards us. "You mean like that?" I pointed, my voice filled with both awe and shock.
The plant monster stood about 10 metres tall with a giant green and red head full of jagged teeth. It legs, if you could call them that, were made of thick roots, though I couldn't see any arms.
He confirmed my suspicion with a casual tone. "You mean that big flower running towards us with the intent of killing us? Yeah, that's a pretty good example. Good eye."
Confidence from last nights training session still ran through my body as I gripped the hilt of my dagger and suggested, "Stay away from the mouth, right? Seems simple enough. Let's do this!"
"Wait-!"
I rushed headfirst towards the monstrous plant. Though I'd sunk most of my stat point into becoming fast, the hulking beast was surprisingly faster. Vines shot out of its stem and began snaking around me with surprising speed. Before I had time to react, they wrapped around my waist and hoisted me into the air, suspending me upside down above its gaping maw. I clung to my skirt with one hand and frantically waved my dagger with the other as I begged for Shiraki to save me.
With lightning reflexes, Shiraki sprang into action, diverting the monster's attention away from me. I watched from my precarious position as he engaged the enemy, his movements fluid and precise. With each strike, he chipped away at the creature's defences, gradually wearing it down.
As the battle raged on, I felt a strange mixture of fear and admiration wash over me. I couldn't help but marvel at Shiraki's skill and composure under pressure. With each well-timed strike, he drew closer to victory, his determination unwavering. But despite his well-timed attacks and calm exterior, it was evident by how hard he was attacking that he was being fuelled by pure rage. The look in his eyes was ruthless and sent shivers down my spine, I couldn't deny the necessity of fighting all out. Even so, I'd never seen a person fight like that.
Finally, with a decisive blow, Shiraki landed the finishing strike, causing the monstrous plant to collapse to the ground in a heap. Relief flooded through me as I watched him approach, his expression filled with concern.
"Are you ok?" he asked, voice laced with concern.
"I-I think so, but I can't move."
"It's ok," he reassured. "It's dead. You can-"
"No, I mean, I...actually can't move. My body isn't...working."
I followed his eyes as he looked at my HP bar. Underneath it was a small yellow lightning bolt symbol.
"Ah, shit," he groaned, leaning his head back.
"Language!"
"Gah! The vines must have been coated in a paralysis poison. Why are you so careless?!"
"I was trying to be helpful!" I defended myself.
"Well you just screwed everything up."
He stopped, closing his eyes and taking a few deep breathes and returning to a calmer voice.
"I doubt you've got any antidote crystals."
"Nope. Too expensive."
An all too regular occurrence in not just my life, but the lives of many Aincrad residents. The lack of basic necessities. With all of the good monster spawning locations constantly being farmed, the rest of us were always left out in the cold, unable to make enough money to buy valuable healing items. Attacking higher level monsters was really the only option to make money. However, attacking higher level monsters was an incredibly dangerous and reckless thing to do without the necessary healing items, and so, the constant loop of never having enough cor continued.
"I used my last one yesterday. Damnit. Ok. The way I see it, is we've two options. Option one, we wait for it to wear off. We have no way of knowing how long it'll last because neither of us have a high enough level in the poisoners skill tree, and we'll be sitting ducks out here, and as you've clearly seen, the monsters aren't too friendly. Option two. I carry you."
"L-Let's just wait for it to wear off," I stuttered, blushing.
"Have you got something against being carried? I would have thought people would pick you up all the time."
"What's that supposed to mean?!" I growled.
"Because you're like, 4 foot nothing."
The enemy to my self-confidence. My height. For as long as I could remember, I'd always been the runt in every situation. Last I checked, I stood an incredibly underwhelming 4'4", and being a child, it always made for easy ammunition for the other children at school to bully me about it. Even so, video games were meant to be a place where I could be someone else, and I wasn't going to stand idly by at his rude comment. Taking a deep breath I prepared to finally stand up for myself with a carefully worded, snarky response.
"Hey!" I yelled as my anger took over and any plans of a worthwhile comeback completely slipped from my mind. "It's not my fault that I'm small! I'm just a kid! And I don't grow as fast as everyone else! And I-"
"Ok! Ok! Jeez. Sorry," he groaned.
"You should be sorry! Very very very ve-hey!
Without even waiting for me to finish my sentence, he picked me up with one hand and threw me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"What are you doing?!" I shouted, trying desperately to move so I could break free.
"If you're gonna complain so much, we might as well get somewhere while you do. Let's see which happens first. If the poison wears off, if we make it to the lake, if you stop complaining, or if you ever actually grow taller," he laughed.
His statement left me at a lose for words. I couldn't believe the audacity of this man. We'd only gotten acquainted last night, and already he was mocking me.
"Here we go!" He yelled, breaking into a run.
###
(A few minutes later)
"There!" Shiraki huffed., his words punctuated by his heavy breathing. "Just! Over! This hill! Jesus!"
"I don't see it!"
I frantically bobbed my head around, searching for the supposed magical lake.
"Oh, so you can move now?"
My cover was blown. I had to come up with an excuse.
"I-I... Urrr... You see..."
"I saw the icon disappear like, 10 minutes ago, but you seemed happy over my shoulder, and you don't weigh a whole lot, so I didn't say anything. Just wanted a free ride, huh?" he asked.
I climbed down from him and onto the grass below. To avoid embarrassment, I began sprinting towards the lake.
"Holy crap! She's fast! Hey! Slow down!" he yelled, chasing after me.
Describing the lake as simply 'gorgeous' would have been a disservice to its sheer incomparable beauty. A serene expanse of crystal-clear water, so transparent that the bottom was visible. Lily pads and vibrant flowers scattered throughout, adding splashes of colour to the tranquil scene before me. I'd never seen a place so incredible that I was at a loss for words.
"This must be it," Shiraki said, breaking me out of my trance. "Pretty sure you're meant to place the feather in the centre."
And with that one sentence, I groaned – all feelings of tranquillity washing away and quickly being replaced with irritation.
"UGH! I hate getting wet!" I grumbled, slowly climbing down into the lake. Almost immediately, I slipped on a stick and fell into the cold water, completely submerging myself for a second. My entire body shivered as I quickly scrambled back to my feet. Turning around, I noticed Shiraki chuckling.
"It's not funny!" I snapped, a small smile tugging at my lips despite myself
Wading through the water, it quickly began to get deeper and deeper, far quicker than I had previously anticipated. Very quickly, the water was at my neck, tickling my chin.
"Shiraki," I called out, feeling uneasy.
As if I'd flipped a switch, he kicked into action, immediately glancing around the area, likely for any sign of danger. After not spotting the immediate issue, he replied back with a confused 'yes'.
"The water's really deep, and...well..." I trailed off, embarrassed.
"Well, it is a lake. What's the issue?"
Was he really going to make me say it? Was he purposely trying to embarrass me further? No, that didn't seem right. By his answer, I could tell that he was genuinely clueless, which made me feel even worse, because if he couldn't get the hint, I'd have no other choice than to say it out loud. I tried making as obvious as I could.
"If I walk any further, I won't be able to touch the bottom."
"Then...swim?" He replied, even more confused than before. In his eyes, I was the oblivious one.
A few seconds passed of us staring at each other until I finally gave in, shamefully announcing to the world "I can't swim!"
"OH! Ok! Hold on."
He dove into the water and waded through it towards me, lifting me onto his shoulders and continuing forth until we reached the centre.
"Ok, here we are. Do your thing, kid."
I opened my inventory and navigated to the miscellaneous section, retrieving Enzu's feather and placing it atop the water. About fifteen seconds passed with no indication of any progress.
"So how long does this normally take?" I asked him, hoping for some reassurance that everything was going fine.
"I...don't know. Like, I said, I only heard about this from an NPC the other day. I didn't actually ask him about it.
Once again, silence fell upon us and we waited, for about a minute this time.
"N-Nothing's happening," I stammered, a hint of desperation building.
He muttered to himself under his breath, sighing an "Ah shit."
Overhearing him, my heart sunk as I realized we'd been defeated.
"Look, maybe it was bogus. I'm sorry, Osaka. I should never have taken you here without verifying. Let's just go ba-"
"ENZU!" I cried. "PLEASE!
My tears began falling from my face, creating ripples in the otherwise still lake. Just as Shiraki began turning around, a large beam of white light shot out from the centre of the lake and into the sky, creating a shockwave powerful enough to knock us both into the water. After recovering, Shiraki quickly grabbed my hand and hoisted me out of the water. While gasping for air, I spot a small, blue hawk flying around above.
"ENZU!" I cried out, my heart swelling with joy as the bird landed on my head. With a chuckle, Shiraki carried me out of the water. Once we reached shore, she perched on my arm and I snuggled my face against her soft, feathery body, which created a sensation reminiscent of hugging my old teddy bear.
I looked up at Shiraki, who had a large smile across his face, only rivalled by my own. As the sun reflected off of the water droplets sitting on his forehead, he seemed to almost glisten in the light. There was something about the way he looked that made me want to stay in this exact moment forever. Holding his hand, feeling the most joy I'd felt since entering this world. I not only did I not want it to end, but I didn't want to let him go. It was a strange feeling that I couldn't quite put into words, but I wanted to stay close to him. Unfortunately, just as I was about to say something about it to him, he let go of my hand and I felt a strange sense of sadness, though I didn't let that take my focus away from the real reason I was so happy.
"Thank you so much! Thank you thank you thank you!"
"It's ok," he replied. Let's just get back to the tavern so you can show everyone."
He navigated his inventory and took out two rectangular crystals, handing me one. Clutching the crystal in my hands, the two of us said the activation phrase, along with the location.
"Teleport, Sorrowise."
In another flash of silver light, we spawned in the small village of Sorrowise on floor 27. The second I spawned, the brisk air attacks me - A stark contrast to the sunny weather of floor 28.
"Did he really have to buy a tavern on a floor that's snowy half the year?" I grumbled.
"You should buy yourself a coat."
"Non-armour clothes items are considered luxury item, so they're expensive. REALLY expensive, and I'm already barely able to buy enough potions to survive," I replied, shivering as I walked through the snow towards the tavern. Outside, I spotted Azura leaning against the wall.
"Osaka! You're back! And you have a little hawk," Azura exclaimed, her face lighting up.
"Yep, I'm back. And this is Enzu. I guess you haven't met her until now. I-wait," I said, suddenly suspicious. "Kuram said that you were going to the next floor."
Azura stammered, "Me? Oh, I-I was. I just..."
"What are you hiding?" I narrowed my eyes at her."
"M-Me? Hiding? N-Nothing. Nothing at all."
"What's inside?" I demanded, pushing past her and entering the tavern.
To my surprise, Kikina, Toru, Raigen, Kuram, Raymon, and Remi all jumped out with smiles on their faces. "Happy birthday, Osaka!" they all shouted in unison.
My scepticism quickly melted away, replaced with overwhelming joy. "Y-You guys remembered?" I asked, tears welling up in my eyes.
"Of course we remembered," Raigen said with a grin. "Do you really think I'd miss this?"
"I-I..." I was speechless. In a world filled with so much uncertainty and danger, this was the last thing I ever expected to happen in Aincrad.
"I guess it's a good thing that I took her out for the day. Before you ask, no, I had nothing to do with this. I didn't even know today was your birthday," Shiraki said, rather confused at the whole event.
"We aren't done yet," Kuram announced, stepping out from behind the counter with a three layered cake.
"I-I don't know what to say. Thank you! Thank you all so much!" I cried, unable to hold my tears back any longer.
"Well, you're a big girl now. I know it's not much, but I made you this," Kikina said, materializing a beautiful dark, shiny dagger. I swiped down on the item to view its description. Ebony Heart.
"I've been putting away some cor for awhile now. Saved up a bit. It cost me an arm and a leg, but I got you this," Raigen said, handing me a pink nightgown. "This should make sleeping more pleasant."
"I guess I'll...Jeez, I don't know. I'll take you clothes shopping or something. I've got a bit of gold stashed. Just don't spend too much!" Remi snapped, trying her hardest to be nice.
"This is the best birthday ever! Thank you everyone!"
Yes, we were stuck inside of a death game, but yet, despite everything, there's a part of me that was glad I got stuck. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have gotten to meet these amazing people. We would have never gone on the adventures we had. We would never have gotten this close. In a world where there was so much bad, it's the small, good things that really stood out, and this was one of those times. There was nothing that could ruin this day.