Chapter 51 - Inversion

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Soooo... I thought I had posted the chapter. Turns out I didn't. I'm so sorry, and here you go!

END OF AUTHOR'S NOTE

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Ogawa Kana and her husband, Ogawa Genji, sat on their sofa, and snuggled against each other. The last forty-eight minutes had been one of the three worse times of their lives - the other two being the broadcasts of the 1st and 2nd floor raids, obviously.

"He made it again, thank god."

"I told you, our son isn't some hot-headed teenager, he will be okay."

"I know, but I still wish he hadn't joined the frontliners. Though... This is very in character with him, isn't it? He has your genes, after all."

"Hey!"

"But, he has a lot of hot-headed teenagers in his group. I hope he is taking good care of them."

Genji didn't answer, only holding his wife closer. Looking at the TV, which was playing replays of some of the more exciting parts of the battle, he sighed. There were even special analysts breaking down the raid, could you believe it?! And some of them had the guts to say the players could've done better. No one had died, that was already the best result possible! Genji really wanted to shove them in SAO and see how they would fare.

Of course, this was just his worry taking the better of him. He was just glad Itsuki had made it through another of those harrowing floor boss raids. As for the hot-headed teenagers Kana mentioned... Seeing their fearlessness and skills, he wasn't sure if it was Itsuki who was taking care of them, or the opposite.

"Who are you calling at this time?"

Seeing that Kana had pulled out her phone and was dialing a number, Genji asked curiously.

"I'm going to call Midori. I want to ask if her boy is okay."

"Isn't he the one called Kirito? He was fine, wasn't he?"

"Bah, you are a heartless man, you wouldn't understand."

Genji shook his head. What heartless man? He had been just as worried as Kana. However, he knew better than to contradict his wife over such a small thing.

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"Mom? Who was that?"

Suguha raised her head curiously, still holding Kazuto's hand within her own. Her mother and she had been on their way to the hospital when the battle started, so Midori floored the pedal to get here faster.

Usually, when they were in Kazuto's room, Suguha's mother would be changing the flowers and cleaning the room, or simply watching Kazuto. Suguha already knew he wasn't her real brother, but actually her cousin - and wasn't that a shock - but Midori treated Kazuto as her son nonetheless. So, it surprised Suguha when her mother received a call and then proceed to spend the next fifteen minutes on the phone, mentioning her brother many times.

"It was Kana. She called to ask about Kazuto."

"That new friend of yours? How did she know about brother?"

Suguha had reason to be curious. They had been advised multiple times by the government agent, Seijirou, to avoid mentioning that they had a family member in SAO, much less that it was The Beater Kirito, who had gained a not-so-insignificant amount of fame due to the broadcasts.

But now, her mother was happily spilling the beans to someone she randomly met in the hospital corridor just two weeks ago, so how could Suguha not be surprised?

"Ah, I forgot to mention that to you, didn't I? Kana is Drifter's mother. I thought it would be nice to keep in touch with her considering her son is on the same team as your brother, don't you think?"

"I already told you, it's called a party, not a team. But, yeah, it's actually a great idea. Do you think... If we asked Mr. Kikouka, he would tell us who the families of Yuna, Sinon, Asuna, and Nautilus are? I would love to get to know them!"

Suguha wanted to know everything about the people around her brother. She obviously wasn't worried they had underhanded intentions for him, but was simply curious about the players Kazuto chose to entrust his life to. Especially the girls. Which one did he fancy? There was so much potential blackmail material for when he came back!

Thinking of that, Suguha giggled. She bet her brother never expected other people would be watching him fight. The danger apart, he behaved so differently from his taciturn self that she would have no other option but to tease him.

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Back in Sword Art Online, the players were just as excited, if not more, as the people in the real world. No, it would be more correct to say that they were ecstatic. Sure, there were still 97 floors to go, a discouraging number, but nonetheless they were one floor closer to freedom.

Over four thousand players had gathered in the main plaza of the Town of Beginnings to watch the boss raid, and even now, after it was over, many still lingered, chatting.

Amongst those players was the little ponytail girl who Drifter and the others met back when they had just unlocked the 3rd floor. Right now, Silica was watching the live stream in her menu - as the frontliners had yet to leave the boss room, the broadcast was still going - while talking with a boy sitting next to her.

The boy looked to be a little bit older than Silica, maybe fourteen or fifteen. He had a pretty normal appearance, except for his eyes. They were emerald green, an uncommon hue in the country, and which spoke of his foreign origins.

"What do you think the 4th floor looks like, Vallerk?"

"Won't we know when they unlock the teleporter? Isn't that why we are waiting here, Silica? So we can tp over to take a gander?"

"Bah! You are no fun! Where's your imagination?!"

Silica stuck out her tongue in a cutesy manner, and the player named Vallerk smiled. Silica amused him, which was one of the reasons why he decided to party with her.

"Look, they are moving to the stairs. Let's go to the teleporter. There's going to be a line."

"Coming!"

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Shortly after defeating << Nerius the Evil Treant >>, the raid-party started ascending the stairs to the next floor.

"Hey, beater! What's the next floor like?"

Hearing the obnoxiously loud voice, Kirito closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Just as he calmed down and was about to answer, an incensed Asuna stood in front of him.

"Give it a rest, will you, Kibaou?! We all know the truth, so stop using that disgusting word when you talk to Kirito!"

Seeing the furious fencer, Kibaou snarled, but didn't say anything else, and stomped off. His problem was with Kirito only, and he still had - vain - hopes of hoping in Asuna and the rest of the party the day they decided to kick out the black-haired boy - something he firmly believed would happen, since in his mind Kirito was a cheater.

"Ignore him, Kirito. He's just an idiot."

"Uhm, I know. Thanks for standing up for me, Asuna."

The chestnut-haired girl grinned brightly, and a red blush dusted her cheeks when she saw the warm smile Kirito gave her. Behind them, out of sight from the duo, Sinon and Nautilus rolled their eyes when Drifter and Yuna high-fived.

"Right, Kirito. Now that the fool is gone, can you tell us about the next floor?"

"Well... There's really nothing much to say. Compared to the floors below, it's actually really ugly. Just a bunch of canyons and sand. And dust. A lot of dust. The mobs... They are somewhat weaker, but they hide and launch sneak attacks."

Shrugging his shoulders, Kirito stopped talking. He really couldn't think of much more to say about the 4th floor, as it was very lackluster compared to the others. However, he didn't expect that he would eat his words as soon as they stepped out of the labyrinth.

When the bright sun shone upon them again, the party discovered that the ALS, DKB, and all the other members of the raid-party were standing around the exit of the tower, dumbfounded. Drifter could understand them. They were in a stretch of land covered by vibrant grass, and nothing more but a single tree. Surrounding them on all sides was water. A lot of water.

"Err... What were you saying, Kirito? Something 'bout canyons, sand, and dust?"

"Did we skip a floor by any chance?"

The young swordsman looked at the small island they were standing on, and then at the crystal clear river around it. He opened and closed his mouth multiple times, but nothing came out. Nearby, Agil sighed.

"Looks like he pulled another 'Kayaba' over us. What a bastard."

The last few words were spoken in English, but the meaning got across pretty well. As for who Agil was referring to, there was no need to ask.

Meanwhile, Drifter was already feeling a headache. From what Kirito said, in the beta this was an arid floor, similar to a desert. Now, it was a lush landscape, with rivers flowing and water absolutely everywhere. It was the complete opposite of what they expected.

'Well, this is going to through a wrench in Argo's plans. The new edition of the guidebook ain't coming out anytime soon."

"Soooo... How the heck do we get out of here? Are we supposed to swim?"

Liz raised the question that was baffling everyone. Never mind the fact of whether all the players could swim or not, but how were they supposed to fight in the water? None of them were so naive as to believe the Cardinal System would be kind-hearted enough to not put aquatic monsters in the river. Drifter was fully expecting something like the << Cyan Rock Fish >> to jumpscare them at any moment.

"Uhh... Sinon, tell me I'm hallucinating."

"You are hallucinating, Yuna. Why, though?"

"Because I think that tree is growing swimming rings."

With a deadpan expression, the archer turned to look at the singular tree in the center of the island. She raised a finger to contradict Yuna, then lowered it.

"Huh."

Logically speaking, the players should've noticed the tree earlier. However, the frontliners had been so astounded by the sight before their eyes after exiting the labyrinth, that nobody paid attention to it, even though it was very distinctive. Now that Yuna drew the focus to it, however, everyone noticed that the tree was, indeed, growing uninflated swimming rings as if they were fruits.

"Well, I think I know how we are getting to the city."

After a few seconds of stunned silence, Drifter shrugged and walked towards the tree. They were trapped in a virtual world, and had just fought an ancient evil living tree. Floating downriver with the small possibility of fish attacks wasn't enough to faze him anymore.

"The clearers are going to have a field trip with this floor."

"Yeah. Suddenly, I'm a lot more glad we agreed to focus on the elf campaign. Mapping this is going to be a nightmare."

After having 'plucked' a swimming ring - bright yellow with pink bananas drawn in it, because apparently Kayaba was in a vacation mood when he designed this floor - Drifter started inflating it while talking to his party.

On the last floor, partially because of the deal they made with Shivata, a new division had been created amongst players. Now, the player population was basically split into three groups. The first and largest was composed of the low and mid-level players. While the frontliners explored the 3rd floor, they were still fighting on the first two, where mobs were weaker.

The second unofficial group of players used to be the frontliners. They were initially the higher leveled players, who fought in whatever currently was the highest floor. And, while that still stood, frontliners were now more specifically recognized as the players who faced the floor bosses.

The third group, the clearers, referred to those players who explored the highest floor, but didn't have the confidence to go against the floor bosses. Instead, their task was to map out the floors and the labyrinths, and, more importantly, to relay any information they discovered about the floor bosses to the frontliners.

In a way, it could be said that, while all frontliners were clearers, not all clearers were frontliners. This distinction wasn't meant to cause conflicts between the players, but it was simply how things were. Not everyone was capable of standing amongst frontliners. This was not solely a matter of strength, but also of willpower. Knowing you were going to face the most deadly enemy at any given moment, but still being willing to do it was not something most players, most people could do. After all, while death was always lurking around the corner in SAO, it was never as clear as when a floor boss charged right at you.

"Here goes nothing..."

Cautiously, Drifter put his now-inflated swimming ring in the water, and waited for a few minutes. When nothing happened he, very carefully, laid down on the object, trying the best he could to find a position where he could fight back if something attacked him. Everyone was looking at him, also waiting.

"Pffft... Hahahaha!"

Finally, someone couldn't stop themselves, and burst out laughing. Drifter threw a glare at Yuna while putting on a wounded look, but the corners of his lips curled upwards. He could imagine how comical of a sight he was right now. A fully armored warrior holding a spear, while using a blindingly yellow swimming ring adorned by drawings of pink bananas, his feet dangling in the water.

After everyone had a good laugh, and Drifter inwardly thanked Kayaba for only streaming the boss raid, and not what happened after it, the frontliners each set down their swimming rings in the water, and let the current carry them.

At first, everyone was tense, ready for a battle at any moment. But, as time passed and nothing happened, they realized the system was giving them a freebie for clearing the 3rd floor.

Floating downriver with the sun shining down upon him, hearing the gurgling sound of the water and the laughter of his friends, Drifter slowly closed his eyes and smiled. Before he realized it, he had drifted off to sleep.