If This Were Any Other Game...

May 3rd, 2023

(Four months later)

The rest of the guild and I waited anxiously for Bran's return at the round table in the centre of the inn. It'd been 40 minutes already.

"I don't like it. He's been gone longer than he should have been," Astrid voiced her concern.

"I know what you mean. I wish he wouldn't insist on going everywhere alone. It's dangerous," Luisa sighed, the worry in her voice becoming evident.

"He's only goin' to Vaehl. You know 'ow big that place is. The worst that's gonna 'appen is he'll get mugged, and in case you hadn't realized it yet, we don't exactly have a whole lotta cash." Dyrk reassured us in his own, twisted way. "As of today, we're officially 'we can only eat every second day' broke. All because we're throwin' our money to that damn info broker ever time we make it to a new floor."

"But Chiyo keeps us safe," I added. "Without her info-"

"Chiyo's a criminal who capitalises off of people's fear o' dyin'. No wonder people call her 'the Rat'. She's as bad as the thieves."

Chiyo. Despite being the most well known person in all of Aincrad, nobody knew anything about her other than her job. Known as 'The Rat' among players, she held a reputation of unscrupulous dealings and crafty manipulation tactics. There was no way anybody could ever trust a person like her to not stab them in the back if it benefited her, but due to the dynamics of Aincrad, it was impossible not to acknowledge her crucial role in our survival. In this unforgiving world where survival hung in the balance, it was Chiyo's web of connections and accurate intel that proved to be an invaluable survival tool, and she knew it. Without her, there would be hundreds of players dead each day, though I was uncertain she'd even care about that.

"Her info is always solid though," Astrid protested.

The room grew tense and the argument began to become heated, with voices being raised and fists slamming against the table. The strain on our finances was really getting to them, and all I could do was sit back and take an occasional sip of my juice as it unfolded.

"It doesn't matter how solid it is if we're forced to sleep out in a field some where and end up gettin' killed by monsters anyway! But of course you wouldn't care, would ya? You're the other reason we're broke! Wastin' all our money on booze and fancy foods," Dyrk accused, the frustration in his voice echoing through the room.

"Oh fuck off!" Astrid growled. "You drink as much as me!"

"Can we stop?! Please?" Luisa interrupted. " There's no point in fighting among ourselves. It won't change our situation. We just need to sit back, relax and wait for-"

The door burst open and Bran made his entrance.

"Your grand, fearless leader has returned!" he announced, his triumphant entry momentarily breaking the tension.

"Yeah, that," Luisa finished, her voice a mixture of relief and impatience.

Bran slid into one of the seats and looks around the table, clearly noticing the tension between Astrid and Dyrk, but obviously had other things on his mind, because he didn't ask about.

"Come on, you two. Enough of the doom and gloom. I've got good news. I've found a solution to our money problem!" he announced.

"You did?!" asked Luisa, showing enough surprise in her voice for the whole guild.

"Also, we've still got 3,000 cor left. Anyway, I went and saw Chiyo and got some information about a dungeon. High level enemies littered through it. High risk, high reward. Also, we'll be the first to clear it, so the best rewards will be all ours."

That was how it always was with these games. There were only two options. Either you could fight a lot of low level enemies and level up slowly but safely, or you could take risks fighting stronger opponents for quicker gold and XP gain. If this were any other game, taking a risk would always be the way to go, because if anything went wrong, you could always just respawn, but as we all knew, Sword Art Online wasn't just 'any other game'. We didn't have the luxury of respawning and trying again later.

"I'm not sure," Luisa expressed her concern. "High level monsters are pretty worrisome."

Astrid explained, "I'm with Luisa on this one. Fighting strong monsters has always given us trouble. And you've seen Osaka trying to fight anything she claims 'looks too scary'. No offense, but she's a mess. I'm sure even you still remember what happened with the fire beetle.

The memory of the creature came back to me, sending shivers down my spine. A giant, flaming exoskeleton that secreted a red puss from underneath every one of its eyes like tears, and there were a LOT of eyes. It still haunted my dreams.

"We'll be fine," Bran reassured us. "There are five of us. Also, the enemies probably aren't giant flesh eating bugs with twelve eyes and a million teeth, so Osaka should be fine."

"We don't really have the cor to say no," Dyrk sighed, realizing we didn't have a choice. "If we wanna make some gold, we're gonna need to step out of our comfort zone and work for it. The lower floors just ain't cuttin' it anymore. With floors 1 through 12 bein' farmed constantly, we need to step it up to the 13th."

"But it's far more dangerous," Luisa explained. "We could die."

"We could also get some sweet loot too, right? What'd Chiyo say about that?" asked Dyrk.

"That's…one of the reasons we still have money left," he chuckled nervously, scratching his head.

"I thought you said you'd sorted out our money problem, or was I just 'earin' things?"

"No, I did. I mean, I think I did."

"Bran, are you hiding something?" I asked, concern beginning to become more apparent in my voice.

"You know how Chiyo is. You ask for some good places to earn money and she tells you. If you want to know how you'll be making that money or what you'll have to fight to get it, you need to pay extra."

"So let me get this straight. We don't know what we're fightin', or what we're fightin' for? Sound right to you, boss man?" asked Dyrk, clearly annoyed.

"You only paid for half the information?!" Luisa exclaimed nervously, hoping she was wrong. "Bran, that's why you took all that money. To get all the information. Its far too risky to go in anywhere blind."

"She was charging more than usual for this dungeon," he defended himself. "Said it was 'need to know info', but that's just Chiyo talk for 'give me all your money', so I left. She clearly wasn't happy about it because she told me not to get greedy. We don't need to know what the reward is. It's bound to be valuable, right?"

"So what do we know?" asked Astrid. "What about the enemy levels?

"Level 19 on average."

"19?!" I exclaimed. "But you're only level 18 yourself! A-And I'm only level 12! I can't fight level 19 monsters!"

"Like I said, there are 5 of us, but you don't have to fight. You can sit back and look cute while the 4 of us flight," he smiled. "So? Are you in?"

I ran my hand through my hair, trying to think of what options we had. Everything about this screamed 'bad idea'. The enemies were 11 levels above me, so it was going to be dangerous, but as I'd just seen earlier, this money was going to tear us apart. If Bran hadn't showed up when he did, Astrid and Dyrk probably would have gotten into a fist fight. I didn't want to, but what choice did we have? We needed the money. With a sigh, I slowly nodded my head.

"That's the spirt!" he cheered.

Luisa reiterated, "This is a bad idea."

###

(A few hours later)

Bran let out a fierce cry as he activated his sword skill, cracking the skull of the level 17 troll, though only stunning it, despite the powerful strike.

"I've got you!" Astrid yelled, repeatedly firing arrows from her bow. The troll retaliated by swinging its giant axe into her stomach and sending her hurtling across the room.

"ASTRID!" Dyrk's urgent cried echoed across the room as far as Astrid was flung.

Luisa, in a fit of desperation rushed the creature, piercing it through the eye with her spear and killing it. As soon as the battle was over, we all rushed to Astrid.

"I'm ok," she reassured. "Really."

"Jeez! That one hit took half your HP. Luisa, hand me a potion," Bran ordered.

"Can't do that," she replied. "We're out."

"Huh? What about crystals?"

"You think we can afford crystals? We already spent all our cash on teleport crystal. Come on," Luisa urged with a hit of desperation in her voice. "Lets just go. We've made enough money to last us a few days. If we kill about 70 low level enemies, we'll have another 1,000."

"Or we could kill three troll in 'ere and get the same amount," Dyrk added.

"But Astrid's hurt!" I pointed out.

"I'll be fine," Astrid grunted as she got to her feet. "I'll just stay in the back."

"Then we keep moving forward," Bran declared.

We continued our journey through the dimly lit cave, relying solely on the lit torch sconces to illuminate the path before us. As we descended deeper, we cross a sort of invisible threshold where the temperature abruptly dropped about 10 degrees. The chilly air bit at my lungs, sending a frosty burn through my chest with every breath.

"I'm starting to feel dizzy. And I'm cold," I voiced my discomfort.

The eerie shadows danced around me, making everything feel far more ominous than it already did. Why did I agree to come here? I hated caved. I hated the cold, and most of all, I hated the dark.

"That's the tin air down here, but yeah, it did get pretty cold all of a sudden," Astrid confirmed my suspicions with a hint of unease in her voice as it echoed echoing through the cavern.

"And my feet hurt," I complained, my soft voice more prominent than usual in the silence.

"I didn't even think you were capable of complainin'," Dyrk teased.

"So… Luisa. I was wondering. Like, if you're down for it, after we get out of here, do you maybe, sorta, kinda wanna, like, get something to eat? Together?" Bran nervously proposed in a rather hilarious way.

"Yeah. Sure. I'd like that," Luisa replied, her voice steadying my nerves for a moment.

"I knew it. I-oh my god! Look at all those chests!" Astrid's sudden exclamation cut through my thoughts, causing my eyes to shift to the centre of the room. There, a group of five chests sat in a circle.

"We're gonna be rich!" Dyrk and Astrid rushed to the chests, eager to open them, allowing a wave of relief to wash over me. Now we could get out of here.

"Huh?" There's nothin' in it?" Dyrk's confusion mirrored my own.

"Nothing here either," Astrid confirmed.

"N-Nothing?" I questioned in a timid voice. "Nothing at all?"

My eyes nervously darted around the shadows of the cave as chills ran down my neck. That wasn't how it was meant to be. Even if there was only a single cor in there, chests were always supposed to have something in them. Nobody had ever heard of a chest that spawned empty. Dyrk shoved his arm deeper into the chest, digging around while Astrid tried her luck on another chest. Dyrk looked back up at us and shook his head, moving to the fourth chest.

"Did we get something wrong?" I whispered to myself.

"Bran, what else did Chiyo say about this place?" Luisa inquired revealing a layer of concern in her usual composure.

"Nothing," He replied, confused. "The last thing she said to me was to not be greedy. Why do you ask?"

"What if she wasn't talking about the money?" Luisa's ominous suggestion sent shivers down my spine.

The colour immediately drained from Bran's face when the realization dawned on him. He urgently screamed at Dyrk, "DON'T TOUCH THAT CHEST!"

Before Bran could even utter the word 'chest', it was too late. Dyrk had opened the last chest and the wall beside him burst open. A tall being, clad in heavy, white and gold armour with thin limbs wielding a futuristic, almost magical sword emerged from the gap in the wall. My attention shifted from its appearance to its name and level. Sentinel. Level 24.

"Wha-" I barely got a word out.

The monster moved with unparalleled speed. Dyrk had no time to react before the Sentinel planted its sword through his back, forcing him to the ground. With a thud, he landed on his belly on the cold stone and let out an anguished cry that filled the cave. We all froze, except Bran, who shamelessly fled back the way we came.

"Oh my god! Dyrk! NO!" Astrid screamed, running closer to the monster and firing arrows that failed to pierce the Sentinel's thick armour. "FUCK YOU!"

"Oh god! Please! I don't want to die!" Dyrk desperately plead.

"Astrid, get out of there!" Luisa jabbed her spear at the Sentinel, but it remained unphased, continuing its brutal assault on Dyrk. I watched as his HP bar plummeted. 7,659/9,285. 6,333/9,285. 5,007/9,285.

I mustered all of my strength to join the fight, wobbling towards the enemy with my dagger clutched tightly in my trembling hands. The Sentinel, however, backhanded me, sending me crashing back into the cave wall. As I struggle to recover, I noticed that my own HP gauge was deep in the red, down to about 15% already. Before I was given the time to panic, the screams ceased, being replaced by the ominous sound of glass breaking. As I turned to where Dyrk was, all I saw were a million crystals floating into the sky.

"D-… You f-… HYAAAA!" Astrid's anguish cut through the cave as she let out a scream similar to a dying animal. The cold air stabbed my lungs as I inhaled. I wanted to stream, to shout about the tragedy I'd just witnessed, but all I could muster was a low, raspy whisper.

"H-He's…" I gasped.

"Use your teleport crystals!" Luisa urgently suggested.

Frantically, I accessed my menu and fumbled through my inventory until I found the blue teleport crystal. Grasping it in my hands, I pleaded, "Teleport, Taft!"

Nothing happened. Panic set in as I repeated, "T-Teleport, Taft! Lulu! It's not working!"

The cruel truth dawned on me. This room had an anti-crystal trap; antidote, healing, and teleport crystals were useless. The exorbitant information cost, the cold air, the untouched dungeon – all signs pointing to a deadly trap. Those who attempted this dungeon weren't unsuccessful; they were dead, and we were next on the list of fools stupid enough to try.

"Run, Saka! Now!" Luisa urged, but the Sentinel turned its attention towards me, approaching slowly. My attempts to retreat only led me to back into a wall.

"No! NO PLEASE!" I pleaded desperately.

Astrid rushed at the creature, striking its head with her bow, but it effortlessly grabbed her. A bone-chilling sound echoed as the Sentinel tightened its grip on Astrid's head. Her screams ceased abruptly, and her lifeless body dropped to the floor. The cave resonated with the shattering of glass once more as her form dissipated. Luisa continued screaming at me to run, but my legs wouldn't comply. Resorting to force, she lifted me up under my arms and threw me closer to the entrance. Reality had finally sunk in as I looked back at Luisa. Completely devoid of all hope of not just victory, but her own survival, she stood before me, her body quivered, but showing no signs of any attempt to flee.

"Please, Lulul!" I reached out to her, but she remained still. A single tear ran down her face and she smiled at me. In a single, swift motion, the Sentinel's sword pierced Luisa's back. Her expression shifted to one of pain. She whispers three words before dispersing into iridescent crystals.

"Live for us."

Those words acted as a sort of activation phrase, kicking my body into action. I jumped to my feet and I ran. I ran until my stamina was depleted, until my lungs ached, until my legs burned and then ran some more. As I emerged from the dungeons oppressive darkness, I sprinted back to the inn. Once back in familiar surroundings, I dropped to my knees, the pain and toll of running for so long finally taking away my ability to stand, though the emotional pain was far greater than any physical pain I was feeling. The memories of loss clung to me, suffocating me like a noose around my neck. I frantically opened the menu for some sense of solace, but it was no use. The friends list – once a source of connection and camaraderie – now a bleak reminder of the truth. Astrid, Dyrk, Luisa. All their names, once a vibrant green – now a washed out grey, extinguished by the horribly reality of Sword Art Online. I clutched my head with my trembling hands, attempting to silence the screams of their last moments that haunted me, but it was to no avail. The walls around me felt as if they were closing in, attempting to get closer to witness my soul shatter. 

How was I expected to continue? The guilt of surviving gnawed at me. The friends who I'd shared countless memories with were now themselves, nothing more than memories.

A message from Bran interrupted my grieving. The message urged me to meet him on the thirteenth floor overlook. My heart sunk as I realized why he wanted to meet there specifically.

"Oh no," I pleaded. "Please, not you too."

I wiped my tears and jumped to my feet, sprinting once again.

Practically every floor of Aincrad had an overlook. A part where the wall of the floating castle was open so you could see the sky outside. It was like a window. Though there wasn't a lot out there besides clouds, it was beautiful. It was anyway. Over time, the sightseeing location became known for something far more sinister.

I didn't take very long to get there, but even as I arrived, he didn't turn back to face me. He stood, continuing to stare out at the abyss. It was silent, save the sound of wind rushing outside our iron prison.

"They're all dead, aren't they?" he asked, his voice maintaining an eerie calmness.

"I..." I stammered, struggling to articulate a complete sentence."

"I failed leader. I failed them all. Some leader I am, huh?" Bran's words hung heavy in the air, a self-imposed judgement that he couldn't escape.

"It wasn't your fault," I tried to reassure him, but my feeble words were nothing against the wave of guilt he felt.

"I was so stupid. So focused on saving money that I didn't stop to think about everyone's safety. If I'd just paid the damn broker, I'd have known about the anti-crystal trap and the Sentinels.

"We needed the money. That's why we all agreed-"

"There's all dead, Osaka," his voice cracked. "Dead because I was too busy thinking about money. I might as well have just stabbed them with the blade myself."

"You're wrong!" I protested.

"Oh how I envy your childlike perception of the world," he chuckled. "So clear. So pure. So untainted. I never had the luxury of thinking like that when I was a kid. With the line of work my father was in, I had to assume that everybody was my enemy from a young age."

We stood in silence at the edge for a moment, watching the sun set over the horizon.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" he smiled. "I'd hoped to take the others here for a picnic after we cleared the dungeon. I'd hoped that Astrid and Dyrk could have resolved their differences. And of course, I was going to ask Luisa to go on a date with me. I guess some things just aren't meant to be."

Bran didn't mean any of this. He was always looking out for us. Making sure that we're healthy. Ensure we eating right, and if we weren't, he'd cook is something. He always wanted to know how his guild mates were doing. He acted similar to a doting mother at times, which was rather funny, but he always had our best interests at heart. Yes, he ran away, but so did I. I was just as at fault as he was.

"No, Osaka. I am to blame for this. And for that, I must be punished. Don't worry. I'm sure you'll find another guild in no time. I mean, you're cute, and it's never a dull moment with you around, and you give people hope, so it'll be pretty easy for you"

"Ano- I don't WANT another guild! What about YOU?! W-We can start again! Find new members and-"

"Osaka, please," he interrupted. "Just…make it out of this game. Beat the final boss for everyone."

I turned my back and clenched my hands against my head, trying to think about a way to convincing that it'd all be ok, but then I remembered why I was here and quickly turned back to face him, though it was too late.

"Wait!" I cried. "STOP!"

He leaned forward from the railing, falling into the digital abyss. I dropped to the floor, reaching out beyond the railings with my hand. I was able to grab his wrist for a brief moment, but that was all I could hope. I was neither fast, nor strong enough to do anything, so he slipped out of my grasp. I watched him fall for a few moment, deep into the clouds until he was completely obscured by them. Moments later, a notification appeared in my view. Cold an detached, it informed me that the guild had been disbanded. As if the game hadn't mocked me enough. My eyes darted up to the clock at the top right of my vision. Twelve minutes. In the time between the first and the last death, I'd lost everybody I cared about in just a mere twelve minutes. Why? Why was this world so cruel? Why did they have to die for real? Why, Kayaba? This was meant to be a game.