The First Step part 01
King_Rule
The Guy With The Things.
- Location
- Yes
And done. It still feels choppy but it's tons more streamlined.
Plus, we finally get to see some deep changes from canon.
****
You, Ryoutarou Tsuboi, have hardly ever had an easy life. For instance, this girl, for the few moments you've known her you can tell she's a professional. Every darting twitch, every little wide eyed stare and even her simple childish act of jumping on the bed or looking in the dresser drawers was really her secretly judging and comparing everything to something else only she really knew. You yourself had done the same a good number of times when you were around her age.
If she was a monster from this game she'd be a floor boss for sure. Of course you also thought a simple boar mob was a secret field boss so you might not be the best judge of level yet.
"I still don't believe it." Dynamn finally broke the silence of your team watching her scurry around. "You're really this Argo character that's supposed to help us out?"
"Yep." She replied not even batting an eye from her mouse like search. "Info Broker 'Argo the Rat' at ya payin' pleasure." Huh. It fits. "Tho' ya noobs would be able ta tell tat if ya just looked and concentrated at my player icon." She mockingly waved above her head still not even willing look at any of you.
And there it was <<Argo>> written plain as the nose on your face. You really should have noticed that.
"Okay." Dale started this time. "But how did you get here so fast?"
For the first time since she entered the room she stopped and turned towards one of you. At a simple leisurely pace she walked towards and stopped in front of Dale, held out her hand and with a small smirk asked "Fifty thousand Col."
"F-fifty thousand." Dale, and most everyone else, rebound in shock. "Even together no of us have that amount." To which her grin grew wider.
"Alright." She began again. "Then how 'bout tis. You." She said turning and pointing at you.
"Eh? Me?" You also began pointing at yourself.
"Trade info for info." She began taking the bed she did the first time entering room, only now sitting on it like a chair with her left foot on her right knee and leaning over with her right hand on her chin. "I'll tell ya some a my secrets if ya tell me why Ki-bou, ah, I mean Ki-ri-to, seems ta be interested in ya."
"Eh…I didn't really do anything special." You say taking a set on the opposite bed and scratching the back of your head. "He's just a kid so I said if he needed any help with anything or just wanted to hang out to message me and I'd try to be there for him."
For a few seconds she looked at you with wide stare of confusion before it soon became one of bemusement as she tried to hold back a laugh. Eh, was it really that strang….wait, did she think you were….OH GOD, was that why Kirito was laughing?
"I got to say Klein," Issin broke in, "that's got to be one of the lamest things you've probably ever done."
"Oi. It was a heat of the moment kind of thing." You bashfully retort. "I needed to do something to comfort the kid since I had to go find you losers instead going leveling up with him."
"Yeah, sure Klein." Kunimittz jabbed in. "Whatever you say."
You had thought it before but this had confirmed it. Your friends were a bunch of assholes. Of course that was the reason they were your friends but that had nothing to do with it.
"Okay, okay." Argo spoke back up with a chuckle in her tone. "I think I see what Ki-bou saw in ya."
You can tell, this night is going to end badly.
"Alright, 'bout me." She said finally getting back to how she was before. "I got here so fast because I was rentin' room one down tha hall."
"…Seriously." Harry again spokes for you all.
"Seriously." She echoed. "Ki-bou had messaged me earlier ta look out for a message from some rough lookin' guy named 'Klein' who seemed like tha great leader type so I just waited at a simple spot for ya. An' what do ya know, we choose tha same spot."
You? The great leader type? That makes you want to blush. Actually you probably are and 'leading' Argo to more odd nighttime thoughts.
"So," She interrupted your discomforting thoughts, "now tat my opinion a ya has gone up I'd like ta make another trade. No, more like a partnership."
"…Like what?" You say find admittedly intrigued.
"I've noticed some things have changed since tha Beta." She says, almost sounding like a completely different person, no smile or anything. "It's small, like tha architecture's more artsy, some items have different names and NPC's speech have changed saying 'May tha Goddesses be with you' and such."
"But…isn't that just some flavor text?" Dale speaks up.
"Yeah," Issin speaks this time, "didn't the Beta have any story to it?"
"Tats my point. It didn't." She exclaims. "Which means all tha info I collected is now wrong." She moans flopping down on the bed and returning to her child like façade.
"So, you want us to be your lackeys?" Dynamn groans.
"Not really." She says as she just lays there. "Tha real reason I was holdin' up in my room is because in just these few hours since tha game's 'official' release more an' more people have been complainin' 'bout how tha Beta Tester's haven't been holdin' their hands like a lost child." Says as she sits back up, going back to the serious tone she had before.
"Those bastards!" Harry says surprising you at his outburst. "Can't they do anything for themselves?"
"So I take it," You realize, "that with all the wrong information the Beta Testers are going to be blamed even more?"
"Correct." She answered. "So here's my deal. I give ya tha info on something tat ya want, monsters, quests, items drops, whatever, and you report it back ta me but keep what col or item drops ya find and help spread the fact tat tha game has changed more than Kayaba just lockin' us in here. Maybe even be the first step in settin' up a network of info tradin'. What do ya say?"
What do you say?
[ ] Promise to check on the monsters. See if their movements and locations have changed.
Plus, we finally get to see some deep changes from canon.
****
Chapter 2: "The First Step"
You, Ryoutarou Tsuboi, have hardly ever had an easy life. For instance, this girl, for the few moments you've known her you can tell she's a professional. Every darting twitch, every little wide eyed stare and even her simple childish act of jumping on the bed or looking in the dresser drawers was really her secretly judging and comparing everything to something else only she really knew. You yourself had done the same a good number of times when you were around her age.
If she was a monster from this game she'd be a floor boss for sure. Of course you also thought a simple boar mob was a secret field boss so you might not be the best judge of level yet.
"I still don't believe it." Dynamn finally broke the silence of your team watching her scurry around. "You're really this Argo character that's supposed to help us out?"
"Yep." She replied not even batting an eye from her mouse like search. "Info Broker 'Argo the Rat' at ya payin' pleasure." Huh. It fits. "Tho' ya noobs would be able ta tell tat if ya just looked and concentrated at my player icon." She mockingly waved above her head still not even willing look at any of you.
And there it was <<Argo>> written plain as the nose on your face. You really should have noticed that.
"Okay." Dale started this time. "But how did you get here so fast?"
For the first time since she entered the room she stopped and turned towards one of you. At a simple leisurely pace she walked towards and stopped in front of Dale, held out her hand and with a small smirk asked "Fifty thousand Col."
"F-fifty thousand." Dale, and most everyone else, rebound in shock. "Even together no of us have that amount." To which her grin grew wider.
"Alright." She began again. "Then how 'bout tis. You." She said turning and pointing at you.
"Eh? Me?" You also began pointing at yourself.
"Trade info for info." She began taking the bed she did the first time entering room, only now sitting on it like a chair with her left foot on her right knee and leaning over with her right hand on her chin. "I'll tell ya some a my secrets if ya tell me why Ki-bou, ah, I mean Ki-ri-to, seems ta be interested in ya."
"Eh…I didn't really do anything special." You say taking a set on the opposite bed and scratching the back of your head. "He's just a kid so I said if he needed any help with anything or just wanted to hang out to message me and I'd try to be there for him."
For a few seconds she looked at you with wide stare of confusion before it soon became one of bemusement as she tried to hold back a laugh. Eh, was it really that strang….wait, did she think you were….OH GOD, was that why Kirito was laughing?
"I got to say Klein," Issin broke in, "that's got to be one of the lamest things you've probably ever done."
"Oi. It was a heat of the moment kind of thing." You bashfully retort. "I needed to do something to comfort the kid since I had to go find you losers instead going leveling up with him."
"Yeah, sure Klein." Kunimittz jabbed in. "Whatever you say."
You had thought it before but this had confirmed it. Your friends were a bunch of assholes. Of course that was the reason they were your friends but that had nothing to do with it.
"Okay, okay." Argo spoke back up with a chuckle in her tone. "I think I see what Ki-bou saw in ya."
You can tell, this night is going to end badly.
"Alright, 'bout me." She said finally getting back to how she was before. "I got here so fast because I was rentin' room one down tha hall."
"…Seriously." Harry again spokes for you all.
"Seriously." She echoed. "Ki-bou had messaged me earlier ta look out for a message from some rough lookin' guy named 'Klein' who seemed like tha great leader type so I just waited at a simple spot for ya. An' what do ya know, we choose tha same spot."
You? The great leader type? That makes you want to blush. Actually you probably are and 'leading' Argo to more odd nighttime thoughts.
"So," She interrupted your discomforting thoughts, "now tat my opinion a ya has gone up I'd like ta make another trade. No, more like a partnership."
"…Like what?" You say find admittedly intrigued.
"I've noticed some things have changed since tha Beta." She says, almost sounding like a completely different person, no smile or anything. "It's small, like tha architecture's more artsy, some items have different names and NPC's speech have changed saying 'May tha Goddesses be with you' and such."
"But…isn't that just some flavor text?" Dale speaks up.
"Yeah," Issin speaks this time, "didn't the Beta have any story to it?"
"Tats my point. It didn't." She exclaims. "Which means all tha info I collected is now wrong." She moans flopping down on the bed and returning to her child like façade.
"So, you want us to be your lackeys?" Dynamn groans.
"Not really." She says as she just lays there. "Tha real reason I was holdin' up in my room is because in just these few hours since tha game's 'official' release more an' more people have been complainin' 'bout how tha Beta Tester's haven't been holdin' their hands like a lost child." Says as she sits back up, going back to the serious tone she had before.
"Those bastards!" Harry says surprising you at his outburst. "Can't they do anything for themselves?"
"So I take it," You realize, "that with all the wrong information the Beta Testers are going to be blamed even more?"
"Correct." She answered. "So here's my deal. I give ya tha info on something tat ya want, monsters, quests, items drops, whatever, and you report it back ta me but keep what col or item drops ya find and help spread the fact tat tha game has changed more than Kayaba just lockin' us in here. Maybe even be the first step in settin' up a network of info tradin'. What do ya say?"
What do you say?
[ ] Promise to check on the monsters. See if their movements and locations have changed.
Experience and levels go up higher.
[ ] Promise to do some of the quests. See if can find out something about these 'Goddesses'.Aincrad lore goes up.
[ ] Promise to see if item locations have changed. Maybe even get some rare loot.Chances of better items and weapons.
[ ] Check with your team and see what they think. You may be the leader but they have their own voice.Teamwork goes up.
[ ] Refuse, making a contract with a rat feels wrong. You'll tell everyone that the info might be wrong but you'd like to do your own exploring. That's why you bought the game after all.More locations become available.
[ ] Promise to do it all. Every little bit helps.All go up. But do who have the time?
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[Being Evil jpeg].