The Survival Logs || Sword Art Online Fanfic

PK Pandemonia Arc: Chapter 78 - Info Exchange

23 February 2024

Katalysis, 43rd Floor

I could more or less see the change in atmosphere in the streets. It was so blindingly obvious.

The good news was that I had instantly learned to identify Council members by myself. It wasn't gonna be at a 100% success rate, but it was better than no success rate at all.

A big factor that had hindered my ability to do that were the crowds covering the streets. The more players that are in the vicinity, the harder it is to look out for patrolling behaviour from Council members.

That was why the sudden decrease of players on the streets proved to be helpful. Indeed, it was strange, but I never forgo a good opportunity when I see one.

After wandering around the southern area of the city with Rakuno, we came to a conclusion of a few pointers about the Council members:

- They work in pairs

- They only patrol the main streets

- They're from the orange guild Laughing Coffin, as seen from their guild icons

That last point definitely screams some shocking revelations about Katalysis. Being in a city run by the most dangerous orange guild was concerning, but it did make sense. If KoB was the most powerful guild in clearing the Floors, LC would be the most powerful guild in terrorizing players. They're counterparts of each other, I guess.

There was another thing that I intended to investigate along the way, but currently had no leads on. The smithies and merchant shops that we went to weren't even the least helpful, so I was hoping that the bars later on at night would give me even just a single clue about it.

Rakuno was itching to check on Meghan and Alexis, and their progress in getting along with the player they called the Reaper. I guess, if I had known that my investigations would turn out to be that futile, I would've checked on them first.

Following Rakuno, who had Alexis already in her friend list, we travelled to the only entrance of Katalysis, and simply waited there.

"She seems to be returning to the city," Rakuno swiped her friend list off as I watched the entrance from a spot near a building.

The ability to track down the location of a player in your friend list was priceless. If it weren't for that, we would've tried to find them all day and probably wouldn't even meet them by chance.

However, in Krieg's case, his tracker disappeared a few hours after he got caught. He was still considered alive by the system, but it simply just wasn't anywhere on the map.

To which the only intelligent guess that can satisfy this mystery for now was that he could be underground. For some reason, players can't be tracked in underground locations, whether it would be a field dungeon or not.

Naturally, instances, where campaign quests are normally held, also never disclose players' locations while they are inside.

The Reaper's party entered through the entrance. Rakuno waved at Meghan and Alexis with a bit too much enthusiasm as I stared on without a word. It didn't take long for them to notice us, even from such a considerable distance.

I couldn't help but direct my stare at the player who interested me the most. The only guy walking in with a scythe on his back didn't react much as he heard whatever Alexis told him before they jogged over to us.

Other than a brief stare back at me, the Reaper continued into the city area with his party members with almost full ignorance.

I nodded to Alexis, who nodded back, as Meghan fist bumped with Rakuno. She gave a little sigh as she approached me.