The Survival Logs || Sword Art Online Fanfic

Clashing Guilds Arc: Chapter 37 - Songstress of Aincrad

17 October 2023

Ongueia, 37th Floor

"Ok, so what do we know about the 40th Floor boss?"

"Huh?"

"Were you even listening to the meeting, Z-man?"

".....It's not like I'm in the Assault Team for tomorrow's boss raid anyway."

"At least tell me what the boss is and its attack patterns."

"Well, all I got is that it's a sadistic monster that tortures people in jail cells. Satisfied, Narnia?"

I dodged an annoyed Narnia's incoming whack in the back as we came out of the Teleport Gate. Honestly, I didn't even understand the excitement of boss raids. They were a matter of life and death, so Narnia shouldn't be talking about the boss raid openly.

But I could tell why she was that excited though. She got chosen to be in the Assault Team. At least, for the 40th Floor. To her, it was a first, so she couldn't contain her surprise at that fact. To me, however....

Back when I joined the boss raid for the 10th Floor boss, the Assault Team were still only a bunch of players who were adequately used to combat, but still needed more experience in doing so. Of course, the Aincrad Liberation Squad (ALS) and the Dragon Knights Brigade (DKB) were there to lead the group, but our formation tactics were shaky. There was never a time that there was no risk that some player would perish in boss raids. That was something that the Assault Team definitely realized and took note of while climbing through the Floors.

The 40th Floor boss was---as I had described---an advanced jailer monster wielding weapons that looked like those used in jails in real life, to keep criminals in line. In fact, the Floor itself was full of smaller enemy mobs that were incredibly similar. Getting attacked by them would inflict various debuffs, the common ones being the bleed and paralyze debuffs. Because of the ridiculous danger that the paralyze debuff poses to players, no one could safely travel through the hunting fields and Labyrinth alone. Joining player parties was the only way to solve the problem.

Irokei followed right after us, looking a bit sleepy.

"Where's........the inn, Z?" She simply said.

Perhaps it was the length of the strategy meeting that caused her drowsiness, but she had applied for the Assault Team right after the meeting as well. She didn't get chosen though, but she didn't mind. She wasn't that focused on participating in the boss raid anyway, despite me noticing a tinge of curiosity from her attitude back then.

As for me, all I did was stand and watch, nothing more. I took notice of the Assault Team players who weren't from KoB or DKB though, and they seemed pretty strong enough to roam the 40th Floor without any obvious difficulty. I guess the leader guilds had a talent--if not experienced-- for choosing the well-prepared players from the crowd.

"Not far." I replied. "Haven't you went there last night? You could have marked the inn in your system map or something."

"Only once." Irokei replied back.

As I turned back on the walk in front, I noticed players running past us, and a faint something that had reached my ears at the same time. We turned to the direction they were running to, and saw a crowd forming somewhere at the corner pillars of the Teleport Gate Plaza.

We went to take a look, seeing that the source of the sound gradually became a song, but with the crowd blocking our view, we couldn't determine who was singing. I then called out to the next player that was running past us, and asked about the commotion that had suddenly sprung up in the Teleport Gate Plaza.