Progressive Factor

Raid Meeting and Party Formation

December 2nd, 2022

The first thing she notices is that she's alive. Her health and status bar is still above her head, so she's still in Sword Art Online. Third, she's out of the dungeon she's spent three or four days inside. Everything would be fine if she could explain the last part to herself. The last thing she remembers is a boy dressed in a long black jacket talking to her before she collapsed on the dungeon floor. She expected to be dead now...but not even passing out virtually initiates the kill sequence on the NerveGear and destroys the physical body's brain.

But how did she leave? Her..."companion" couldn't have carried her, the game limits how much weight one can possess at one time, and a human would surely come close if not surpass that limit for the average dungeon hunter. Yet, as she lifts her upper body off the cool grass of the forest, she turns her head to the right and sees the young man who she spoke with inside the labyrinth. He sits against a tree, at rest with his head on the scabbard of his large one-handed sword, his hair a mess as the short black bangs hang freely off his scalp.

Scanning the woods, she spots the first-floor labyrinth, a large tower rising skyward to the "sky"--the bottom of Floor 2. Sensing movement back to her right, she faces the boy against, frowning as his dark eyes meet her brown orbs. "Good morning, Miss--"

"Why? Why didn't you leave me behind?"

The boy looks away. "You're free to pursue your glamourous death all you want, but as I told you, I want that map data first." He looks back at her, seeing Asuna's scowl partially hidden under the hood in the light of the afternoon sun. He smirks. "Then again, there are ways to get around that stuff when the other person is asleep--EEP!"

Quick as lighting, Asuna draws her rapier and thrusts it at the boy. If she didn't stop an inch from his nose, Asuna would have a human skewer. "What did you do to my body?"

"N-Nothing! Nothing at all! Cross my heart, hope to die, don't stick that needle in my eye!"

"You... Y-Y-Y-You liar! You used my map data as an excuse to do things to my body, like...like things! Things!"

"N-No way! It's a bum rap!"

"Draw. Your. Damn. Blade--" Asuna's stomach, inconsiderate of whether the boy touched her body or not, makes its presence known that it has been neglected by its owner. Asuna's temper shifts to embarrassment and annoyance as she turns away. "Stupid game! Stupid game! Stupid game!"

The boy chuckles, relieved he gets to live...for now. "First, we'd better get you some food."

"I-I don't need it! I'm not going to die from a lack of food here!"

"No worries. Think of it as an exchange for your map data." He opens his menu and selects an item. "Plus, you can't say for sure that your passing out had nothing to do with extreme hunger. If you're going to try your best, it's worth eating, right?" The boy hands her a piece of bread, the same Black Bread Asuna finds disgusting to eat. "Plus, this is just plain tasty."

"...Now I'm questioning your sense of taste."

The swordsman takes a vial and hands it to Asuna. "You just need to throw in a little wrinkle."

"What's this?" Asuna takes the recommended amount out on her bread, seeing a gooey white substance flow on her bread. Wait a moment, can this be... "Cream?"