Chapter 14: First Floor Strategy Meeting

[Third Person Pov]

[2nd of December, 15.47]

Today was a boring day. It was the day when in Tolbana, the Strategy Meeting would be held once again, at 4 o'clock at the Amphitheater. Despite his efforts, they were only able to reach the nineteenth floor of the Labyrinth. Well, he was guiding them safely there, due to them having his Map for such a small price, as 5.000 Cor's that is.

If he wanted to, he could clear the floor by himself, but it wasn't worth the trouble of letting everyone be aware that there is an anonymous person out there or an anonymous group who are able to clear the floor boss without anyone noticing by themselves. He wasn't fond of gathering attention, which is the reason why he was mostly only with his robes outside, hiding his face from other people.

But then again, he also had some open outfits when he met people like Agil or Kirito or some of his classmates.

In the end, he didn't wore any of the robes that he bought from the NPC, but instead, he wore the ones Kei sewed for him. He gathered some materials she needed, and well, that was all he did. She did the rest.

Unlike the robes he had, the robes Kei was sewing, didn't simply look far better, but had also some effects on them. Well, as of now, it had only one effect, which was enhancing the [Hiding] Skill by making you less noticeable with the outfit you wore.

It didn't raise the profiency for the Skill, which would be absurd, but those were some effects it had. For better effects, she needed to raise her profiency. Well, he hoped for stats like [Agility] essentially. Perhaps it was possible for him to get something like 1% [Agility Bonus] if she would raise her profiency quite high, perhaps between [300/1.000] or [500/1.000].

It was something he only hoped for, but neither Kei nor Argo knew that. Argo never heard of someone using in the Beta the [Sewing] Skill, but she would keep her eyes open and message him if she ever heard of something.

Then again, it wasn't like it was quite important either way. In the future, there'd be tons of equipment offered, and he'd naturally be able to easily afford it, considering the large number of Cor's he had with similar effects he hopes for.

Right now, that wasn't important at all. The important thing is the meeting that they would have today.

Deeply sighing, he walked to the meeting area. There, he encountered a familiar person.

"Hey, Ayanokoji. How are you?"

It was the voice of Lux, the girl he had saved.

"Lux? Are you also here to help with the fight against the Labyrinth monsters?"

"Yes. It was a spontaneous decision that I made right on the spot."

"I see. I was a bit surprised since I didn't expect you here. But are you really sure you want to do this?"

"Yes, I can't stay forever weak. I need to take some risks. Besides, I leveled ever since you saved me quite a bit up. I'm now at Level 8, almost Level 9."

"If you say so. Well then, how about we sit down?" Ayanokoji suggested, sitting at the last row with Lux. She wore a robe, which was somehow extraordinary because it resembled his prior robe exactly the same.

"Lux... I'm sure that I never saw you with a robe? Do you having a new sense of fashion?"

She looked a bit shy, wondering how she should explain it to him. "You know, ever since that day, I somehow wanted to become so strong like you. I thought when I'd wear this robe, I might become like the person I admire."

Ayanokoji didn't know what to say. She was innocently cute, he admitted. Besides, it was quite a surprise for him that she admired him. He didn't have any admirable trait on him if he had to be honest.

Lux then looked a bit disappointed. "Perhaps I should have worn something entirely else."

Ayanokoji was having an open outfit, unlike what she imagined. She was now feeling deep embarrassment.

"I think it's fine. You look great in it."

Even without Ayanokoji realizing it, the words he just said made her form small blushes. Well, he wasn't a romantically expert, even when he was already more than almost eight months with Kei together.

From the side, Ayanokoji felt someone tapping his shoulder, sitting right next to him. "Hey, Ayanokoji, you're a bit soon here." Kirito said, moving himself from Asuna, whose name he had yet to know, to Ayanokoji.

Although Kirito was quite the introvert, him and Ayanokoji had been farming quite often. He was someone whom he could trust his back, likewise with Ayanokoji.

Kirito was quite skilled. Even though he didn't know any martial arts, from what Ayanokoji observed was that Kirito had one of the best reaction speeds he encountered inside this game.

Well, for an ordinary person, it was quite impressive. For someone like him, who trained his whole life, likewise with the White Roomers, they were without a doubt superior to him in that area. But if you don't count him and the White Roomer in, he might have the next best reaction speed inside this game.

It didn't quite matter to him either way. Kirito was someone useful, both for information and for a potential ally in the future. Forming connections were quite important after all, especially for floors that might prove a higher difficulty than this one, where he might not be able to defeat the Boss Monsters by himself.

If something like that happened, he might as well try to solve peace with the White Roomer if a future floors hold such a high difficulty.

Well, and also, he might as well need to stimulate some growth for the likes of other people so that they can aid him in the future, just like what he did to Horikita.

She trusts him now more than ever. But he had to say, Kayaba had really aided him quite a bit. He was already thinking whether Kayaba would really spawn such a low-level monster, giving the BetaTester an edge over the other players, but it went far better than expected.

There were three possibilities, either he spawned the special Frenzy Boar, he did not spawn any monster, or he spawned a complete different monster with a far higher difficulty, as he had done in some cases before.

It was the third option that even if Horikita were to have doubts, she'd never suspect him on going on a Kamikaze mode, sacrificing himself if he wanted to manipulate her, by luring her to the event monster. Even then, it was unlikely that she were to have doubts about him, but the probability wasn't Zero.

He had to say, however, that it was unlike his other plans simply plain and simple, but in the end, it did its purpose, stimulating Horikita's growth and changing her mindset, that she never should fall into guilt, if anyone ever were to die.

He was curious, would she appear today here? Well, for her sake, she should appear today.

Besides that, he was quite satisfied, since yesterday evening, about several things. Yesterday evening, he finally achieved it.

He was able to get his weapon proficiency to [500/1.000], and as he speculated, he was able to unlock the [Extra Skill: Katana], and thus, was also able to equip the [Nozarashi] which was a weapon that was only one time available in the whole game.

He didn't equip the weapon yet, as it would make the whole progress for his weapon proficiency for the curved sword go away, but he knew, for a matter of fact, that the [Extra Skill: Katana] was permanent, and could not go away.

Well, it was reassuring to know that, just for reference. For now, he focused back on the conversation again.

"Yeah, I hadn't much to do anyways, so I came a bit sooner than I initially planned."

"Likewise," Kirito said.

Normally, he was quite the socially awkward guy, but around Ayanokoji, it didn't happen quite often. He and him had done some of the first Labyrinth floors together.

Only then, he recognized that Ayanokoji wasn't alone. He looked at the person next to him, thinking it was a guy for a small moment, until something didn't add up.

'A girl?' he frowned inside of his mind, being a bit surprised, until realizing that he wasn't in the proper position of being surprised, as his company also happened to be a girl.

He had yet to find out her name, but well, it seemed like that wouldn't happen anytime soon.

"Do you know him?"

It wasn't Lux who asked this question, but rather Kirito's companion, Asuna.

"Yes," he answered. "Wait, what are you doing next to me?"

Kirito was left in awe. She had distanced herself ten meters away from him, despite them having spent the entire day together.

Well, it was more or less appropriate to say that when he encountered her at 4.00 A.M. in the morning in the Labyrinth, on the nineteenth floor, she suddenly passed out, so he had to move her away from there. Both him and her slept for seven hours straight, which felt nice.

But well... after she woke up, there were quite a few misunderstandings he had to solve and she didn't entirely trust him.

"Nothing. I was just a bit curious," she answered. "So? Who is he?"

"He's a friend of mine, with whom I did many quests and killed some monsters in the Labyrinth."

'A friend, huh?' Ayanokoji thought in satisfaction, knowing that he succeeded in creating a bond with Kirito.

Asuna seemed satisfied with the answer.

"Pleasure to meet you, I'm Ayanokoji," he introduced himself.

She seemed a bit surprised. "Ayanokoji? Don't tell me you're using your surname as your username?" she asked.

She used her first name, but she'd have never used her surname. And she would have never thought about that too.

"Yes. Is there anything wrong with that?" he asked.

"No, I was just a bit surprised. Nothing more."

Asuna wasn't sure how to reply, so she remained quiet because of the awkward atmosphere.

The person next to Ayanokoji, who had already done this conversation with him before, couldn't help but slightly giggle at the situation occurring right next to her.

'A girl's laugh?' Asuna thought in surprise.

Besides Argo, she never encountered a girl. But it was also partially her fault, given that until the 19th of November, she was only in her room depressed.

On that day, she met Argo and the boy next to her, whose name she had yet to know, saving her from almost dying.

She was there because there were rumors around the city about a secret log-out spot in the cave, which was obviously a lie looking at it now, but given her desperation, she only wanted to leave this hellish game. The first own decision she ever made resulted her in being trapped inside Aincrad for who knows how long.

She simply wanted to test the NerveGear her brother bought out, given that he couldn't test it out on his own, being busy as he was sent overseas and missed the SAO launch, so she logged herself for today in, after getting the allowance from him to use his NerveGear.

She felt like fate hated her enormously. But somehow, it felt like it wasn't like that anymore after the 19th of November. She didn't need to listen to her mother or father anymore and could finally make decisions on her own that weren't made by her parents.

Asuna walked past Ayanokoji, going to the person who giggled. "It's my second time seeing a girl here. Pleasure to meet you."

Lux was a bit surprised by the directness of the girl in front of her. "Pleasure to meet you. It's also my second time seeing a girl here."

'Hiyori' was the first girl she ever met, and the girl in front of her coincidentally happened to be the second one. It's quite astonishing how these coincidences happen when she's around Ayanokoji.

"Do you mind if I send you a friend request?" she asked.

"Not at all."

Asuna immediately sent a friend request to Lux on her left side, engaging to a small conversation, before returning to her initial seat back again.

Meanwhile, Kirito and Ayanokoji engaged in a conversation, too. "Is she one of the Labyrinth clearers? I never saw her inside the Labyrinth before."

Kirito nodded. "Well, from what I know, she's only since a week inside the Labyrinth, so I guess that's the reason. Besides, she's mostly during midnight in the Labyrinth, probably the reason why you never saw her or that's what I know."

"I see. It's always great to encounter someone in the frontlines who want to clear the floors."

"Yeah. Is your companion perhaps also here to help clear the Labyrinth floors?"

"Yes."

Both the Boys and the Girls had talked about different topics, waiting until Diavel, the leader of the group, arrives here.

It took more or less twelve minutes until Diavel arrived there, completely exhausted alongside the people that were accompanying him.

"Diavel? Why do you guys look so exhausted? What happened?" Agil, a man midway his middle twenties asked.

Diavel smiled. "Don't worry, everyone! We're here to announce some good news! We've cleared Labyrinth floor 19 and 20 and cleared every obstacle until the Boss Room."

What Diavel said was true. It wasn't like they were skilled enough to clear the initial amount of monsters during this short timespan. It was more or less because Ayanokoji had cleared many of these monsters on the 20th Floor, that there weren't as many there as there should be.

He did move a few there, but he focused himself rather on the floors 16, 17, 18, and 19. His Map Data, however, sure aided them because you could see the amounts of monsters awaiting you on every floor.

Diavel's group consisted out of thirty-four people, including him, which was quite the number of players. Due to Ayanokoji's interference early on the game, offering his Labyrinth Map Data, more than five hundred people evaded death. In the first month, 1.476 people died through various means. If Ayanokoji had not interfered, the death count during the first month would be at 2.000 people, one-fifth of the players.

[A/N: I changed the amount from 50.000 to 10.000 players back again. Don't ask me why, though, probably because the original web novel of SAO contained 50.000 players, so I tagged along]

"Then that means we can clear the Boss Monster today, right?" A player asked from the sidelines.

Diavel heard that, but shaked his head. "I'm sorry guys, I know how this sounds, but all thirty-four of us are a bit exhausted since we were inside the Labyrinth for more than eight hours, clearing the remaining two floors. Can we set the schedule for tommorow in the morning? It'll surely aid you too, since we all need to buy sufficient equipment and enough [Lesser Health Potion] for the Boss battle and try on getting some informations of the boss beforehand."

Agil then stood up. "I'm sure I talk for everyone when I say that we can wait a bit."

Almost everyone present, supported Agil's answer, shouting, 'Yes, take your time', or a simple 'Yes', that nobody expected them to fight today.

"Thank you for your understanding, everyone. How about we set the schedule tomorrow at 1 P.M?" he asked.

Most people nodded their heads. Then, a sudden brown-haired stepped up, jumping all the way up to the front. "Hang on a sec! Gotta get this out of my chest before we all walk away and start playin' like we're all pals."

"What's on your mind, friend? Positive opinions are always welcome. However, I'd ask you to introduce yourself first," Diavel said, with a genuine smile.

"Hmpfh, the name is Kibaou."

Then, he breathed all the way to the top of his lungs. "C'mon, you cowardly BetaTesters. Show yerselves! I know there's five or ten of em here! Come out and name yerselvss!" he shouted, anger written over his face.

Then, he continued. "You owe an apology to the 1.500 people who have died because you were too busy hoggin' everything to yourselves!"

"Now get down on hands and knees to apologize and donate your stockpile, Cor, and items!" Kibaou shouted.

Ayanokoji looked a bit surprised that this guy, who he had never seen before until this day, was having such a loud mouth, given that he never helped the people at the front with the killings of the monsters.

Another person moved from his seat to the front, right behind Kibaou. It was Agil. "May I speak?"

Without waiting for the response of Kibaou, Agil spoke further. "My name's Agil. Kibaou-san, if I have this right, you're claiming that many newbies died because the former Testers didn't help them, so they ought to pay reparations. Is that correct?"

Kibaou backed one step away. "Y-Yeah. They abandoned all the new players that didn't know left from right on the day this damn game started and hightailed it right outta the Town of the Beginnings to pursue their own selfish ends. Do you know anyone around that fits the bill?"

"These Beta assholes hogged all the best hunting grounds and lucrative quests while they kept beginners from the good leveling spots, so they had to venture into dangerous zones and wound up dead!"

Agil didn't seem to deny this. "That's true. The resources available in this game are limited by the system. But consider this question, Kibaou-san. If you were a self-interested BetaTester who only cared about your own survival, and you could monopolize one thing, what would you choose? The best hunting ground? The lucrative quests?"

"What's yer point?"

"I'd choose information," Agil announced, showcasing everyone a book in his hand. "Every time I reached a new town, this guidebook was available at the item shops. And for free, too. I'd say everyone has made use of them, right?"

Asuna, Ayanokoji, and Lux nodded their head. "Without this book, I might have not been able to catch behind the levels at all," Lux said.

"Same. It was an enormously great help for someone who had never played MMOs before," Ayanokoji said.

"It was very helpful..." Asuna muttered.

"... What?" Kirito said in shock. "For free? That rat! She charged me five hundred Cor for it."

"But it felt like it was all too quick. I suspect the only people who could have offered this kind of information and Map Data are the former BetaTesters who have been well past anything we've seen so far."

"Listen, the information was out there. There's no better gift you could give a group of beginners."

"Yes, many people died. But that was because they assumed SAO was like any other MMO's and failed to put back when they needed to. Meanwhile, we've got this information from the guide and are still alive."

"He met his match," Lux said, slightly giggling.

"Thankfully. I can't imagine myself trying to converse with such a type of person because it'd take a huge amount of energy, and yet, in the end, they'd never comprehend your point."

Lux giggled a bit. "You certainly seem to have experience in that regard."

"I have plenty of it."

In a relaxed manner, Diavel began to speak. "Your point is well-taken, Kibaou-san. But isn't this the time to look forward?"

"If the former Testers are going to lend us their help to defeat the Boss, what greater ally could we possibly hope for? Now, if you mind, can we get back to the topic again?"

"Diavel-san," a person shouted, coming from the direction of Tolbana, of one of the Item Shops. "Look," he said, showing a different book than he or any other had.

"A new strategy guide for the Boss?"

"The item shop just got them in."

"Ayanokoji, have you seen her here?"

He shaked his head. "No."

'Argo, did you perhaps give me another version of the guidebook that only contained the basic information about everything?' Ayanokoji pondered in thought.

What he thought about was true because the 'guidebook' she had given him was more or less simple notes she had done about everything. In the following 'guidebook', she did more thoroughly explained notes.

The reason why she couldn't include everything was because there was a [word count] on how many words the book was allowed to contain.

When she first met Ayanokoji, he was someone who looked like one of those who never played any MMO's before. He was watching the Town with incredible curiosity, wore the basic noob equipment, even though in the inventory there was a slightly better equipment inside, and looked ready to fight, because he was just like her at 5 A.M outside and there was no reason to be up that soon, if you don't want to kill Monsters.

She felt like he would die, if she hadn't done anything, which was the reason why she gave him her 'guidebook' that however only contained notes and was more or less vague written, as she planned to write a detailed 'guidebook' later in the evening. Ayanokoji's 'guidebook' didn't contain any instructions how you wield the sword, what advantages they offer, what position is suitable with the weapon, nor the sword skills about every type of weapon that was discovered until the Beta nor many other throughly explained aspects, like the strategies you should chose when you encounter large amount of monsters, what weapon drops mean, and far more informations she explained.

But he didn't need that. The 'guidebook' Argo gave him was more than enough for him. After fighting a bit, he figured the information that Argo didn't include out himself.

At this point, Ayanokoji didn't listen as attentively as before. He was a bit bored, but well, there couldn't be anything done about that part.

And within a few minutes, the conversation was over too, luckily.

There was an instance where the situation was awkward, when the people recognized that two girls were present, sitting next to Ayanokoji and Kirito, saying how jealous they were, calling them 'princess', until a part of them lost their interest, in either realizing the Age Gap was too high, or the stereotype that existed that they were 'gamer girls' and lost their interest like that.

For people like Agil, Diavel, and another small portion of the group, they seemed to have rooted for them, but Ayanokoji considered Lux normally, as a 'friend'.

Besides, he had a girlfriend. Although, she appeared to be vividly mad at him, because of a dispute they had one day. Well, it didn't concern him as much as it should whether he were to break up with Kei or not.

In any case, now that the meeting was over, he decided on 'inviting' Lux on one of the restaurants nearby.

"Lux, I'm planning on going to a restaurant in Tolbana to eat something, do you want to tag along? Since I'm inviting you, I'll be paying."

'Was that right? Since nobody ever really teaches you about the social norm in the White Room, I guess the person who invites the other one will be paying for whatever they invited the other person.'

Ayanokoji never really invited someone to eat dinner with him. For Ichika, he cooked, as it was her approach on getting closer to him, for Kei, it was also the same, but well, what did he know.

He was still quite new to the things that are regarded as 'ordinary' by society. He has learned quite a bit, but the other White Roomers didn't, which was one of the few ways on identifying the second White Roomer, by trapping him through that. But well, that didn't quite work.

Ayanokoji just hoped there wasn't the social norm that 'men' would be paying, because that was certainly stupid.

She nodded her head. "Sure, I'll come with you. But you don't have to pay, since I've enough Cor's myself."

'Well, perhaps I might have been wrong and it's completely different,' Ayanokoji thought.

Before leaving the Amphitheater, Ayanokoji winked Kirito farewell. "Goodbye, Kirito, and uhm, you, the other person."

Lux giggled a bit, seeing that Ayanokoji wasn't aware of her name. "Goodbye, Asuna, Kirito, we'll be going."

When both Ayanokoji and Lux were an appropriate distance away from the Amphitheater, the two, who until then had no idea of each other's name, looked quite surprised.

"So, your name is Asuna."

"And yours Kirito."

'Well, it isn't a bad name,' these two thought simultaneously.

--

[2nd of December, 18.36]

[XX Private Hospital]

A person, estimatingly at a height of 6 feet could be seen, entering a hospital room, with a malicious grin written over his face, walking all the way up to the patient that was laying in a comatose state.

With his hands, he reached all the way to the plug, that connected the 'NerveGear' with electricity, and thus, kept everyone who was trapped there alive.

The battery at this point had frankly said no use anymore. The only use it had was to 'transport' everyone who was trapped into the hospital within two hours, the timespan Kayaba gave the government.

After that, they were entirely reliant on the plug, that was connecting the players lives.

"Who could have predicted this kind of scenario to occur, Ayanokoji-kun? Just the tiniest bit of my efforts can result to your death."

The person was gripping the plug with slightly more force.

"Your life which you hold so dearly, is reliant on this single plug. Who would have expected to see the 'Masterpiece' in such a vulnerable state?"

A slightly grin formed his face, until the phone of the person rang.

"Kijima-sensei, what'd you like for me to do? Should I..."

"No, you know that this boy has immense use for me, don't you? So? Have you taken the necessarily precautions that a 'blackout' won't occur?"

"It's already been dealt with. Even if the electricity were to fall of for an entire year in this hospital, he won't die. The emergency generators will do their tasks."

The process was fast and effective. Tsukishiro had already tested from a few people, how long they'd survive without electricity.

The timespan was 25 seconds, something Kayaba had deliberately installed, since if a 'blackout' were to occur, the emergency generator had enough time to work and deliver electricity to those who were wearing the 'NerveGear'. The emergency generators need to provide electricity within 15 seconds, as per law, and ultimately need to last 24 hours long, until a solution can be found.

Kayaba did gave them ten seconds more, as depending per hospital it might differ. The only thing he knew was that the highest is said to be at 21 seconds in Japan until electricity is provided.

Tsukishiro loosened his grip. "Kijima-sensei, I'm sure you haven't called me only because of this reason. What task do you have prepared for me?"

"There's a journalist of whom I want you to take care of. He seems to follow the foolish mistake like the last one to antagonize the citizens party."

"He'll be dealt with."

With that, the phone call ended.

"Ayanokoji-kun, I hope for you, that Kijima-sensei won't ever change his mind about you. The moment he does, it'll result in your immediate death."

Tsukishiro Tonari left the room with a satisfied smile, leaving the TV open.

[Head News:]

[Former Prime Minister Kijima becomes once again the Prime Minister, being three times in a row elected by the National Diet.

With this, the sixty-four year old Prime Minister will be for additional four in the office, continuing his reign...]

--

A/N: And this concludes the chapter.

First of all, regarding Kijima, he became Prime Minister when Kiyotaka was 9, and according to Japanese Law, the duration for the Prime Minister is four years long until you get elected by the National Diet again. In V0 Atsuomi never mentioned Kijima's age, he only said he was in his sixties, when Kiyotaka was 14, so I made him at that time 61, now being 64. These are all just estimates, but they are more or less true, I think.

After Aincrad, I might make it a bit more with politics and all that, since I'm trying to approach this fic realistic. Ayanokoji will loose quite a bit of his physical prowess, which definitely will prove to be a hindrance to him.

But for now, there's not much reason to think of the future so far ahead, since I'm still at the first floor, and I might cover all floors in Aincrad. Obviously, of those I don't know there'll be some skips, but it should contain quite the number of chapters.

I didn't upload quite a time. My upload schedule entirely depends on my mood, so well, I'll think of making it more consistent if possible.

Well, anyway, that'll be all.

Goodbye, have a great day!