The Survival Logs || Sword Art Online Fanfic

PK Pandemonia Arc: Chapter 61 - Infiltration

18 February 2024

Canyon Maze, 43rd Floor

The entrance to Katalysis revealed itself to be a seemingly large gap between giant walls that were much taller than those that we were passing through before. The area before the gap was bordered with walls that were curved to form a circle.

I peeped from behind the corner just before the path leading to the entrance area, spotting figures walking about over there. Though far, the orange cursors floating on their heads were still easy to recognize.

"Players....." I mumbled.

"Affirmative," Krieg nodded, standing beside me with his arms crossed. "It would seem this is the only legitimate way to Katalysis, I'm afraid."

"I see 2.......no, 3, or maybe 4.....?"

"The blind spots may reveal more."

"Mmm.....I guess the number might not matter though. We're not here to fight them."

I turned around at the rest of the party, who weren't waiting as patiently as I had hoped. Meghan, in particular, had arms crossed, walking back and forth along the canyon wall. Tekion was still holding tightly to his axe, staring and hoping for me for any good news I could possibly give him.

Honestly, the bad news I would be giving the rest of the party was only just the beginning.

"Are they all orange?" Meghan asked.

"For now, yeah," I replied, reaching over to peep from the corner again. "But like I said, it doesn't matter. The point is that we're going through there in disguise."

"Disguise?" Tekion's axe shook a little.

Krieg touched his cap in habit, staring at him with his dark, pitch black face.

"You are to have your player cursors turn orange. A simple matter, really."

"What he said," I nodded, turning back to them. "It's the most logical way to enter the place and blend in. Though, if any of you have any objections to having your cursors be orange, just speak out."

Alexis' hand was up as soon as I spoke. Meghan followed suit, her face retaining its seriousness, though I could tell that the premise of having an orange cursor had certainly raised some issues within themselves.

"Eh? What's wrong?" Rakuno turned to them with genuine puzzlement.

"We're not really comfortable with turning orange deliberately," Alexis said. "SoH is a guild which takes pride in subjugating orange players, not becoming them."

"That's exactly how SoH works," Meghan added. "Have you guys turned orange before?"

Krieg stepped forward past me, and right in front of the women. From there, I noticed his height being around half a head higher than any of them, which gave him an intimidating vibe throughout his body.

"I presume that you have understood the fact that you cannot enter Katalysis without turning orange," Krieg's voice became a little too loud for comfort. "If you're not willing to turn orange, I'm afraid that you will have to--"

I put my hand onto Krieg's shoulder, cutting him off, as he turned slightly to me. "I know that you're thinking about the party, but I think forcing them won't solve the problem."

The trench coat stepped back, bowing a little as he touched his cap.

"My apologies. I was merely trying to emphasize the significance of compromising one's pride in order to deal with a challenge such as this."