Persona: HEAVEN (Persona/Sword Art Online/Isekai Multicross)

[afreaknamedpete]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[X] Uh... Agil pretended to be your dad over the phone already! Dad probably won't fly but uh... close family guardian? He's quick on the uptake and has a car. You'd be kind of imposing on him even more though. [You have enough Empathy for this option to be free.]

[X] A giant fairy dragon.

[X] Plan No Cool Name
-[X] MAJOR ACTIONS
--[X] [A PRUDENT Talk]: Call your mom. [Costs 20 D] [SL]
--[X] [A Study in Velvet]: What is a Persona? You called it forth in Alfheim, and you know that Havfrue is not the extent of your power. The «Velvet Room» is the basis of your power, it's high time you visited it properly and introduce yourself to your strange allies.
--[X] [Yggdrasil Inc]: The World Tree appears both in reality and the virtual world. From what you can tell the one in the waking world gets smaller as you travel away and bigger as you get closer. You can't exactly tell a taxi driver to get closer to the invisible tower only you can see... but with a map, Tokyo's train system, and some good ol' fashioned footwork you can probably figure out where exactly the tree is originating from.
--[X] [Entertain Endou]: Endou's going to hang out in your apartment! Eh, at least she seems more fun than all the other mobs at school. Might want to check out an arcade together or something cause there's nothing really to do in your apartment.

-[X] MINOR ACTIONS
--[X] [Wiki-Warrior]: You're going to be spending ALOT of time in Alfheim Online. Maybe you can watch a tutorial video? Read the wiki? I mean, you needed someone to tell you how to even log out of the game. [Trains CHT]
--[X] [Report//OBERON]: Compile what you know of Oberon based on the information you've gathered so far with Meimi. Agil promises that information about the inner workings of Alfheim and the World Tree are valuable to Argo's bosses who will pay you for the task. [Gains 5000 Yen]
--[X] [Sparring//Leafa]: She's not exactly hard to find. Leafa is evidently famous as one of Sylph race's strongest fighters and fastest fliers. She's offered to duel you to help you train, though you'll have to deal with her intense LARPing. [Trains STR] [Costs 5 D]
--[X] [RMT Scout]: Look. You're here to do a job. Alfheim Online is a VRMMO so there are going to be farmers... you don't have time to grind it out yourself so why don't you go play around and see how people sell gold in an AI-controlled economy?

Reports are just coming in about a suicide on the Tokyo Skytree this afternoon at 4PM. A press release from the Metropolitan Police Department indicates the victim died from injuries sustained attempting to break through the windows on the upper observation deck.

The Police have noted a marked uptick in suicides over the last month, with an unusual skew towards suicide by jumping from height. This is the first suicide reported in the Tokyo Skytree since its opening, and the police are choosing to classify this incident as part of the current trend involving high elevation events. Pending further investigation the attraction will remain closed throughout the week.

Analysts have pointed to a recent resurgence of Apathy Syndrome cases as a potential culprit for the uptick in suicides. The Tokyo PD urges all individuals who are having thoughts of suicide to contact the suicide prevention hotline at 03-3772-0982.

---

SUNDAY - April 13th, 2025
Evening

"Please turn that off."

Agil glances in his rear view mirror while he silently turns off his radio. Looks like the incident was already making headlines, and true to their word the Tokyo PD was keeping your name out of the news. Whether it was because the officer believed you or was simply too apathetic to dig deeper you don't know and don't care to find out.

"...you doing okay? Want to talk about it?"

"Not particularly."

Your eyes stay focused out of the window, staring at the «World Tree» even now towering over the skyline of the city. Agil drives through gridlocked rush hour traffic, and you can tell he has many questions but is respectfully staying quiet.

You honestly weren't sure who to call, and Agil was the first person that came to mind who owned a car. It was a big ask to make such a request of someone who was, functionally speaking, a stranger you had just met this week.

There was a brief period of panic when Agil showed up, the police didn't allow you to speak unattended so you couldn't actually coordinate your story right. As with most lies it was best to use as much truth as possible, especially for Agil. Turned out the police also had a file on him too, every SAO survivor was already fingerprinted and placed in the police database during the initial hospital move. He simply had to introduce himself as the organizer of an SAO survivor support group, a statement that surprisingly had the benefit of being true. Evidently Agil's "regulars" were often SAO survivors themselves— all the more reason for you to avoid being seen by them.

"Hey, Hiyori."

A noncommittal mumble is all you respond with.

How do you even explain what happened? You could hardly understand it yourself, and your Shadow's only explanation was a glib 'it felt right'. Even setting aside the reasons the most shocking thing you can recall is how... certain you feel as your Shadow's memories coalesce in your brain. Somehow you knew that some... part of that man didn't die when his brains spilled out of his body. That «World Tree» wasn't just your hallucination, that man also saw it too. Who else could see that tree? What did it mean that you could see it in the real world? You hadn't even heard of Alfheim Online when it started showing up!

You think that's a problem? Need I remember our entire school reputation is now firmly in the hands of Endou!

"You don't have to talk. Just... listen," Agil responds, slowly.

He lowers his voice, recalling a painful memory. You look over at him, his eyes softening as he speaks.

"I knew a guy... just like you. Strong, hardworking, always there to lend a hand. Even to strangers, even to those who had wronged him. He would always offer help but he would never ask for it in return."

"Sounds like he was a hero." The opposite of you.

"Heh, about right. But the thing is... up until the very end he never asked for help. The first in line, the first to put himself in danger, the first to sacrifice his safety, his reputation for others. Only working together when absolutely necessary. People had to reach out to him, never vice versa."

Agil pauses for a moment, lost in thought before continuing.

"I never asked him if he was happy. It would've been a stupid question, but I like to think near the end he found his own peace... but those first few years... must have been quite lonely."

"...was he an SAO player?"

"Yeah. You know my biggest regret? It was lying there on the floor, paralyzed, watching him face down evil by himself. The whole time the same thought kept running in my head: 'why does he have to fight alone?' Could I have done more? What did I truly accomplish? Was I just relaxing in a shop simulator while others were dying on my behalf?"

Your gaze returns back outside where traffic is crawling along at a snail's pace. In the distance the World Tree remains a silent reminder of the job left unfinished.

"I get the same sensation watching you, Hiyori. I... can't really fathom what's going on, it's clearly something beyond even SAO. But I can tell when someone's trying to take on the world by themselves."

You glance back again. There isn't any anger in Agil's tone, no judgment. If anything, they sound sad, almost wistful.

"Just don't make the same mistake he did. Don't be afraid to show vulnerability. Ask for help when you need it, even if its from someone you can't trust or dislike. If you wait for people to reach out to you... well, unless you're very lucky you'll be waiting for a very, very long time."

"Are you talking about Argo?"

"I understand the two of you have history together... but you're both working towards the same goal, right? And if she's not reaching out to you... maybe you can reach out to her instead? And I'm always here, if you need a ride, if you need someone to talk to. I know we're mostly strangers... but there's a few people still trapped in there that I owe a drink to. If by helping you I can help them... well that's the least I can do."

"I... I can't promise that."

Agil shakes his head, smiling, "That's okay. Just take it one step at a time, just think on what I've said, alright? Now where to? Heading home or do you want me to drop you off at the train station?"

"You've still got to work, so just drop me off at your bar. I can make my way back from there."

---

The Dicey Cafe. This is the second time you've been here and the first time you've been here at night. Last time the whole scene was empty, here in the middle of evening you were expecting more activity.

"Why aren't there any people here?"

"Someone called me in a panic so I had to close early."

"Oh..." Whoops. The man did run a business after all...

"Well if you want to dive into ALO, just use the upstairs. You should really consider buying an Amusphere, they aren't that pricey and even if it's theoretically safe the idea of putting on one of those deathtraps..."

The Amusphere was supposedly much safer than the Nervegear, but universally considered to be a lower fidelity dive experience. Turns out there was even a small black market demand for the discontinued NerveGear, itself technically illegal.

"Thanks. Uh, can I ask you something Agil-san?"

"Sure," he responds, handing you a soda from his fridge while he pours himself a glass of water.

"What exactly is Argo planning? With regards to the «World Tree» at least?"

He scratches his chin as he thinks about your question. "Honestly speaking... the details are a bit beyond me. It's best asking that to her directly. I know she organized the Undine's last big attempt on the «World Tree», to disastrous results." He takes a sip of cold water and swallows. "She chanced on some kind of... item or something that she suspects will let her into the unfinished region. We have it on good authority the whole Grand Quest is a bit of a sham anyways, the whole «World Tree» zone is unfinished... but that unfinished zone is our only lead. No, it's more accurate to say that picture of Asuna is the only lead we have."

You nod along with this explanation before taking another drink of cola and swallowing hard against the burning sensation in your throat.

"Till I got involved."

Agil shrugs slightly. "Yeah. This whole situation with your friend is catching everybody off guard. Suffice to say she's suddenly become our newest lead, but uh, from what I've heard she and Argo aren't really getting along right now."

Sounds about right. Meimi was strangely proud of being a PKer in SAO, something you doubt Argo appreciates.

"So what happened with the Undine raid?"

"Hmm, a bit of background. You remember the «Aincrad Liberation Front»?"

"You mean «The Army»? They ended up splitting up near the end of SAO."

"Yeah. You know their leader, «Thinker»? He's a writer for MMO Tomorrow and is a bit of a celebrity now. I don't know if you've kept up but he's been publicly writing about his experiences in SAO since his release. As the leader of essentially the biggest guild in SAO he certainly has a lot to say. Check it out if you have the time, didn't realize it at the time but there was quite the bit of drama within the guild behind closed doors. Kidnapping, usurpation, some real Shakespeare stuff."

No surprise there, the story is pretty well known in the SAO gossip mill. A false imprisonment charge by the second in command followed by the Army's complete and utter implosion as a functional guild. You remember «Thinker» leading a smaller splinter guild soon after but the game was cleared before that endeavor ever bore fruit.

"Anyways Argo and him were pretty tight, so she asked him to leverage his popularity..."

"He's popular?"

"Yeah. When the public thinks of an SAO Survivor they think of him. Turns out first hand accounts of SAO really capture the public interest, he's made a bit of a business out of it. Talk shows, the works, heard he's working on a book."

Something about that... riles you up. «The Army» was hardly an innocent player, though compared to the likes of «Laughing Coffin» they came off as saints. "So he's just profiting off our suffering..."

"I hear a lot of ex-players make decent money doing these types of talks nowadays. It's not my thing but... well, two years away from society. Making money IRL isn't so simple as leaving town and killing the first boar you see. Trust me, «Thinker» is one of the good guys, he doesn't exaggerate, tells the truth as he sees it. Guy has a family to feed, I'm honestly happy for him. Key thing to know is, well, guy's fairly popular. And Argo was counting on that, asked «Thinker» to start ALO and get himself elected a Fairy Lord."

You're surprised. Among the young players of SAO there wasn't exactly a high demand to jump into another VRMMO, present company excluded. Unsurprisingly the situation with adults was significantly more complicated.

"...Long story short, «Thinker» wins the Undine election by a landslide. The Undines had already made a few attempts at the «World Tree» before without much success but Argo wanted full commitment. Mercs, the best equipment, a coordinated, well researched plan. Pretty much every Undine on the server who could hit things with a stick. The works. You can probably guess the result of that."

An utter wipe.
"So then what happened?"

Agil looks at the ground sadly and continues. "«Thinker» tried to rally them again, but no dice. Even worse, word spread quickly around ALO about how bad the Undines' did. Now Argo thinks the only way up the «World Tree» is with a coalition. The Undines have lost so much capital she can't count on them anymore, and is trying to organize some kind of Cait Sith and Sylph alliance to make another attempt. Part of the rush are rumors that there's going to be a prolonged maintenance and update at the end of May— who knows if Asuna will still be there after that."

"...I see. So the whole point of all this is simply to try and reach the top of the tree...? By any means necessary."

"Yup. But there's not much incentive for the races to play along, each race is like one big guild. The QMs were pretty clear, only one race can benefit. Argo's considered just going public, accuse ALO of kidnapping the still sleeping SAO players, but if RECT gets spooked they might just pull the plug on ALO in general and there goes Argo's one and only lead. If you want to help, best thing I can reckon you can do is go try to ingratiate yourself to other Fairy Lords and negotiate some kind of alliance... or, well, come up with a better idea than Argo's."

You look at him, considering everything that's gone down tonight, and shake your head. "I'll try things my way for now. Thank you, Agil-san. And sorry about messing with your business..."

"Don't worry, I said I want to help and I meant it. But you really should get going, got school to go to tomorrow, right?"

---

MONDAY - April 14th, 2025
Daytime

>STRESS: 2 points
2d6 roll = 6, 6
No stress response this week!
>Your mom has transferred 8000 yen into your discretionary funds! Next allowance arrives in 2 weeks!

We haven't logged on to ALO in DAYS. C'mon, what's the hold up?
This again? You'll login tomorrow or something. After all the whole fiasco involving the Skytree you were going to get to the bottom of the «World Tree» or die trying.

Okay. Just so you know she's stealing your lunch.

"HEY!"

Your loud schoolmate is currently wiping the sauce off her face. Your pure yakisoba pan has been murdered, half the toppings are missing. It was more bread than yakisoba now.

"I was eating that..." you grumble. It was the only thing your anemic cafeteria sold that was mildly palatable, and you were too exhausted to actually prepare lunch last night.

The SAO Survivor school has a fully stocked cafeteria. I think they have a private chef.

"Sorry Hiyori-chan! I asked if I could have some but you didn't really respond..." your loud friend responds, putting her hands together in a big exaggerated bow. "I know! Why don't you have some of my lunch? Mom makes the best pickles!"

A somewhat large bento box is brought out. Damn it, why did she steal your lunch if she still had her own!? And half the box was filled with cucumbers...
"They're good, right!?"

...they were. Nice crunch, a bit of a sweet aftertaste. Was this the secret? Cucumbers? You've seen how much she eats but if anything she was much thinner than you. Maybe personality? If you had as much energy as her could you eat whatever you want and not get fat? If only you could work out in VR, considering the amount of time you'll need to spend there... OUCH!

"Earth to Hiyori, you're spacing out again!" your friend admonishes. Did she just hit you on the head!?

"Hey, don't be rude! And don't hit Hiyori-chan!" says Atsuko, pulled away from her lunch to scold her friend.

"Sorry Acchan, but Hiyori wasn't listening..."
Okay, she was stronger than she looked. Having a voice in your head wasn't helping your reputation in school... and what did she hit you with?

"Hey if you're having trouble keeping awake, let me you in on my secret weapon!" your friend proudly proclaims as she hands you the book she just bashed you over the head with.

​

"It's... a book? About what?"

"Nothing at all! The pages are completely blank!"

It's official. The insanity is spreading.

"And this will help me... how?"

"You can sleep through all of English class with this! If you put your head down and look engrossed in a book the teacher'll totally leave you alone, I've noticed she only calls on people who look like they're not reading!"

Now that you look closely her 'book' is just an empty notebook with a generic sleeve awkwardly pasted on. It looks like you already had a blank check to just read things in English class? Who knew. It was rather hard to keep up with classes considering all that was going on, and you've spent almost no time going through curriculum review.

"I... can't recommend sleeping in class," Atsuko adds, "but have you been getting enough sleep Hiyori-chan? You always look so tired. And there's that upperclassman..."

"What upperclassman?"

"I don't know who she was, but I saw her staring at you for like 5 seconds straight when you were eating your yakisoba. She looked pretty mad about something. Are you in trouble?"

"Uh, depends. What did she look like?" You're already dreading the answer.

"Hmm... she didn't really stand out? Brown hair, had some cute accessories? I think I've seen her around in the halls before."

Ah shit, probably Endou.
Well this is YOUR problem! You go talk to her or something so she doesn't turn me into the class serial killer!

Eh, nah. Seems like too much trouble.
Too much trouble!? This is YOUR fault! She's YOUR friend!

She's your friend too!
NO SHE'S NOT! I barely even know her! You're the one who keeps trying to hang out with her!

And now it's gotten boring. And annoying. You want to make up with Endou, do it on your own time.
I don't want to make up with her! I just don't want her spreading horrible rumors about me!

It's not a rumor. Besides I look pretty badass covered in blood.
"Hiyori! Stop hitting your head against the desk!"

---

MONDAY - April 14th, 2025
After School

I'm sure you realize this, but you're going to end up with a virus visiting this website.

In any other MMO you could just wander around randomly until you inevitably got accosted by a gold-seller in some kind of global chat, but evidently the Seed based MMOs had fairly active moderation - the Seed AI didn't take breaks, didn't have to be paid and abhorred spamming. It adds up to a rather hostile environment for gold sellers, but, well... greed finds a way.

<$MistCoin$: (*・ω・)ﾉ WTB? WTS?>

Not even a 'hello how are you doing'. Rude.
It's a gold seller! You're not going to get waited on hand and foot when doing illegal activity!

<TempAccount: Rate?>
<$MistCoin$: 1Mithril = 1MistCoin. Currently 1 MistCoin is 5000 yen. More if bulk.>

1 Mithril coin was worth 100,000 Yrd. The price of a decent weapon on the market was about half of that, and a high level crafted weapon a full Mithril. Fully kitting out your avatar would probably cost at least 5 Mithril... the amount needed to deck out every member of a race was likely unfathomably large by these numbers.

What the hell is a MistCoin? We're exchanging real money for fake money to buy more fake money!?

<TempAccount: WTS>
<$MistCoin$: Srs? Aren't u new?>

We have like 30 minutes total play time, a handful of mid tier skills and an inventory full of corrupted SAO items.
Which are still sitting in our inventory. They're doing you no good, but rather than dumping them maybe they'd be worth something to the right person?

<TempAccount: New to ALO. Experienced in Seed games. New to buying gold, but have transferred glitch items from other Seed game in ALO account.>

<$MistCoin$: (╯°益°)╯彡┻━┻ Impossible. Items and money don't transfer.>

<TempAccount: Have proof.>
Upload: itemlist.png

<$MistCoin$: w(°ｏ°)w. Maybe interested. 1MistCoin for lot!>

<TempAccount: What's a MistCoin? Can u just pay in yen?>

<$MistCoin$: Yen too traceable! Magic of blockchain. You give me items in game as gift. Can use mail, best in avatar for this many items. Tell me time and place and I'll be there. After gift and u not scam, i send u MistCoin.>

<TempAccount: If yen's no good, no problem. Just pay in yrd.>

Whatever the hell this MistCoin was it sounded entirely too complicated for you. Is this the kind of crap that got popular while you were stuck in SAO? Whatever happened to good old fashion gold for yen...

<$MistCoin$: U def new. I don't have yrd, too much in one place v sus for mods. You get MistCoin, buy yrd from grinders with your MistCoin, I can facilitate for fee! Or you sell yrd for MistCoin, then sell MistCoin for yen! But I don't recommend it.>

<TempAccount: You don't recommend I sell MistCoin for yen?>

<$MistCoin$: MistCoin great, will get more valuable with time! Will go to the moon! You can be rich!>

Uh-huh. You're-
Being scammed. Yeah, pretty obvious.

Well what else are you going to do with all your dumb corrupted SAO items? What did we even have? Some mid-floor weapons, a disguise kit?
Your entire inventory was filled with poison crafting ingredients you hadn't bothered offloading. Selling it off for some fake funny money didn't exactly appeal to you, but the alternative was just deleting the items.

<$MistCoin$: MistCoin useful. ( ˙꒳˙ ) Everyone deal in MistCoin!>

<TempAccount: Can I sell MistCoin for yen?>

<$MistCoin$: Yup! Small fee. 10%, converting MistCoin to yen very annoying, easier to just use MistCoin in other VRMMO! MistCoin been around forever now, very safe. Put all your money in MistCoin, better than bank!>

<TempAccount: Thank you. Will think on it.>

<$MistCoin$: Think? Have fun staying poor! Or worse, being loser in ALO! Want to be big strong fairy? Open secret all great players buy power. Buy power! Buy MistCoin! (✧∀✧)/>

This MistCoin fellow makes a pretty hard sell.

Yeah, no kidding. You close the chat and do a bit of research— wow, there were a lot of these coin thingies. When the hell did this start getting popular? The salesperson didn't seem to be outright lying, looks like MistCoin really was being used by many VRMMO players as a currency of exchange. The most popular service the website offered was money transferring across accounts, players could dump their entire inventories as MistCoin then use the MistCoin to buy currency in the game they transferred their avatars to.

Lots of caveats though. Limits on conversion rates, recommended strategies for dodging the mods... seems the major benefit was since MistCoin was not actually part of the VRMMO itself the Seed AI actually couldn't see transactions performed out of the game itself. Evidently even if the Seed thought you were trying to cheat without hard proof it rarely acted, hence human mods had to be involved.

You did need power in ALO. Some hand me down weapons from Sigurd wasn't going to cut it and you needed in game money for that. At least it seemed your old glitched items could actually get you some benefit, if you really want to risk dealing with this suspicious MistCoin...

---

MONDAY - April 14th, 2025
Evening

You had a thought that this would be challenging. That you'd wander around lost trying to triangulate a giant tree based only on sight.

Instead you took a train to Minato Ward, opened up your navigation app, searched through a few buildings and immediately found your target.

You had expected some old run down shrine, a lost lot, maybe the site of some grisly murder. Instead you found something much more mundane and obvious. Nothing in the world was created de novo, everything had a creator, even ALO. Presumably even the «World Tree» itself was created.

Taking that question to its logical conclusion, who was the creator of the «World Tree»? OBERON? The Seed? No... the answer was staring you in the face all along, in the start up screen of ALO and the back of the box.

RECT Progress.

​

Its parent company RECT Inc was a technology manufacturer that took over responsibility for maintaining the SAO Servers after the government shut down ARGUS. It thus came as no surprise that with near unlimited, unrestricted access to SAO server data that RECT Inc would dip their toes into VRMMO game development, leading to the establishment of RECT Progress, its development arm.

From the research you've been doing in ALO a lot of online speculation pointed towards this SAO data as ALO's special sauce. While every developer had access to the Seed VRMMO design package, tech enthusiasts believed ALO ran off a higher fidelity version scraped from SAO's servers. You've not tried other VRMMOs so you couldn't compare, but in terms of sheer sensory verisimilitude ALO was just as amazing as SAO itself.

Okay. We're here... uh, great. So what now?

Your eyes wander up into the sky. Rather than the «World Tree» masking over the building, once you actually got close the bottom of the tree faded away like a mirage, though off in the distant sky you can still see the spiraling branches in all their glory.

You've come all this way, you're not going to stop here. This isn't anything different than what you've done in the past.

Whether it's spying in SAO or in real life, there was refuge in audacity. All you needed was an excuse, any excuse, to walk inside and at least get the lay of the land. Maybe even talk to the dev team? But you had no connections... well, maybe you actually did.

Something was going on in this building. Argo thinks the solution involves penetrating the «World Tree» from the virtual world, but wasn't she just ignoring half of the equation? Argo only had power in the virtual world, so naturally she would only imagine solutions involving the virtual world. But ALO wasn't summoned forth by magic, it wasn't even the creation of a single mad genius like Kayaba Akihiko.

This was a company. It wanted to make money, it cared about publicity... you could work with this.

You take a deep breathe. Strangely two years of being a «Laughing Coffin» spy has prepared you well for this day. Hell, for one, what were you truly risking? Your life? A reputation as a high school student? You're safer here than you ever were in SAO.

A plan's already forming in your mind. You march through the automatic doors as the security looks up at you in confusion. One way or another you're getting some answers.

---

What's your infiltration plan?

[ ] You're a fan of ALO. Like, MEGA fan! You're such a huge fan you have a life sized picture of your avatar glued to your ceiling! You must meet the dev team!

[ ] Have you ever met Seijiro Kikuoka? He's Argo's boss, and you only know the name because that's the person whose email you're sending your report on OBERON to later today. A quick online search places him in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. You are... technically, sort of, maybe working with him? Just throw his name around and see what happens.

[ ] Does RECT offer an internship program? You are a high school student after all, plenty of companies allow enterprising students to do work study, provided you aren't actually performing labor. It may be hard to justifiably ask questions if you do this...

[ ] You've... actually gotten offers for this. Some company named RATH was cold-calling SAO Survivors asking for experienced FullDive users to test some kind of new dive system. Who would volunteer for that kind of thankless work? You, of course! Leverage your status as an SAO Survivor and volunteer yourself for pro bono FullDive QA Testing! Don't worry RECT Progress, YOU don't mind being paid in exposure! In fact, you insist on it.

[ ] You're a concerned citizen. As an SAO survivor you believe the government should increase oversight over VRMMOs and recent reports of players becoming so addicted to the game they're losing their jobs worries you deeply. You plan on writing an op-ed piece as a known SAO Survivor and wish to give RECT Progress a chance to respond before you go ahead with it.

[ ] You know what? You're MAD! Your best friend (that you totally didn't just make up with half a week ago) just woke up from a months long coma, and she was trapped in ALO during it! You DEMAND to see the guy in charge, otherwise you'll go to the news with this!

[ ] Write-in (1 D requirement, more if complicated)

 

[afreaknamedpete]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[X] You're a concerned citizen. As an SAO survivor you believe the government should increase oversight over VRMMOs and recent reports of players becoming so addicted to the game they're losing their jobs worries you deeply. You plan on writing an op-ed piece as a known SAO Survivor and wish to give RECT Progress a chance to respond before you go ahead with it.

MONDAY - April 14th, 2025
Evening

​

"Uh-huh. I'm sorry."

The office lady is tapping away on her keyboard. She's not looking at you. She just keeps typing away.

You clear your throat and try once more, trying to sound as annoying as possible. "I simply cannot fathom how irresponsible RECT Progress has been. Aren't there lessons to be learned from the SAO incident? I find the very concept of a virtual reality game to be a moral poison! This goes beyond mere entertainment, VRMMOs are attempting to create a simulation nearly indistinguishable from reality while giving no thought to how it may affect the minds of the young and vulnerable!"

"Uh-huh. I'm sorry."

"You should at least implement an age cut off! From my first hand experience in SAO, subjecting a young developing mind to realistic depictions of death can induce psychopathy! And don't you dare defer to the lack of blood in ALO, it's not the set dressing that's important, it's the actions and incentives the game presents. What do you think is more harmful," you pause and stare at the manager's name tag: Assistant Manager Azusa Aizawa, "Aizawa-san? A young developing mind that sees realistic bloody violence, or a young mind being incentivized by the game system to kill his fellow man in bloodless violence!?"

"Uh-huh."

That's some high grade bullshit you're spouting but I don't think she's listening.
This time, after another long pause, you hear what sounds like some papers being shuffled around in front of the desk. That's the only response, you might as well be invisible to her.

...

"Uh-huh. I'm sorry."

"Aizawa-san... how long have you been working?"

"Uh-huh."

You didn't exactly show up to this building planning on infiltrating it, but you were already here so you thought: why not give it a shot? The stars were aligned in your favor, much of the office was already vacated. A sleepy security guard was all that awaited you past the front gates. The moment he realized you weren't a rabid fan or trying to rob the place he paged the PR team.

Which, evidently, went home at 5PM. Like normal people.
General managers? Home.
Legal? Home.
President? Hah.

Who was left? One poor assistant manager, fast at work in anticipation of some manner of major update to ALO. You came in expecting to uncover a grand conspiracy surrounding ALO, and what've you found is a conspiracy of an entirely different kind.

The... Ministry of Labor should really audit this company.
You cannot help but agree. The office lady's eyes shift, ever so slightly, towards the clock before settling back on her computer screen. Her eyes are bloodshot and there's thick dark bags barely hidden by hastily applied makeup. She lifts her coffee cup, empty, and robotically takes a sip of empty air before resuming her typing frenzy.

...If this is your future, maybe I can let you keep the body after all.
At this point you doubt anything short of a strip tease would get her attention. Was she even conscious? You've heard of sleepwalking but sleep working was a significant step up. You lean over her shoulder and look at the rest of RECT Progress to behold an ocean of cubicles and computers. The combined noise of two dozen high power PCs and keyboard clacks echo throughout the open space. In the distance you see glass walls packed end to end with high capacity gel beds - the ones that automatically cleaned body wastes - and a small group of workers taking turns napping and locked in a FullDive. The mod team, you presume.

"Thank you for your interest in ALO. If you have any further questions please return in the morning when the PR team is present."

Oh. So she wasn't asleep.

"Hold on, I still have questions. How do you respond to the circulating rumors tying the popularity of ALO to the increasing rates of VR Psychosis? Is the planned update going to include any mandatory timers?"

"Uh-huh."

She's back in the loop.

You're getting nowhere with this lady. Since she seemed so dead set on ignoring you why don't you just go look around?

You rather stand out, a girl in her high school uniform in a crowd of half dead corporate slaves. Weren't SEED based VRMMOs supposed to be easy to make? Set some parameters, write up a few lore documents and the AI would take care of the rest? What the hell were all these people even here for?

"Aizawa-san?"

"Uh-huh."

I have an idea! Pretend to be her boss!

Sure, why not? You suck in a deep breath and lower your voice before getting close to the woman and screaming into her ear.
"AIZAWA! ARE YOU SLACKING OFF AGAIN!?"

The response is immediate. The worker in front of you yelps and jumps out of her seat, already beginning to kowtow. "AHHH! Sorry, Sugou-sama, I swear I'll have the report on your desk first thing tomorrow even if I have to pull an all-nighter to do it! Please understand, there's simply too much player data to comb through!" Before you can even correct her the lady has finished her big dramatic bow. You notice half of the workers behind her doing the same thing in synchronized unison.

"You... you can look up. I was just trying to get your attention."

"Wh... reporter-san? Oh, sorry, I must've mistaken you for someone else. Hold on one second please?"

She turns around and screams into the corner of the room, red-face with anger, "MIKAMI WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!?"

"HE'S GETTING MORE COFFEE!" replies some voice from the distance.

"I KNOW, THAT WAS 20 FUCKING MINUTES AGO! Sorry, reporter-san. What was your question again?"

You're filled with an overwhelming urge to get this woman a cup of coffee, if only to decrease the overall misery of this environment, but you hold your tongue. Looks like she was ready to finally give you some attention.

"Let's start with this one. What, exactly, are you all doing here?"

What kind of question is that? Developing ALO right?
The lady sits back in her desk and begins typing again as she responds in a tired monotone. "I thought we went over this the last time you showed up. Again, we cleared this with Legal and got the all clear. Even if you report on it there's no laws being broken."

Last time? She didn't think you were... some kind real reporter did she!?
"Remind me. Remember your words could end up on the news, so please summarize it succinctly," you bluff.

"It's in the terms of service that every player signed. Metadata from emotional states, neurotransmitter saturation ratios and psi-wave amplification is gathered by the Amusphere on all active players. The data is compiled here in this office for research into cognitive psience and neuropsychiatry. In many ways users of the Amusphere are contributing to the world's largest database of brain-states and fluctlights. Rumors that metadata will be sold to advertisers remains just that: rumors. Also please remember Legal says that we absolutely could do that without breaking any laws. Not that we're doing that."

Okay. Technobabble mixed with political babble. Useless to you. You need to know what's happening with the World Tree.
"I was hoping to talk more about the upcoming development rumors regarding the World Tree."

"Oh, my apologies reporter-san, I thought you were with the NHK. There's so many coming around lately I must've gotten you confused for someone else. If you have game development questions... Famitsu then? You weren't expected until tomorrow but I can appreciate a go-getter. I imagine it's hard to get ahead in that industry."

"Er... thank you?"

"Keep at it. Take it from me, work enough overtime and you can be promoted past those lazy bums who think they can just coast through on seniority. You just have to show the boss who's the hardest worker in the company. Now then... CAN SOMEBODY CALL MIKAMI!? IS HE GETTING THE COFFEE FROM FUCKING COLUMBIA OR SOMETHING!?"

​

There's some movement in the far corner of the room where you see a man emerge from a cubicle. A plain faced smiling salaryman comes rushing over holding three mugs. He sets them down next to Aizawa-san on the table while giving you a friendly wave.

"Mikami-senpai," the office lady growls between clenched teeth, "you already have the cushiest job in the building so you have no excuse taking so long for cofee. Where were you!?"

"I got waylaid by Takuma-san who had some questions about the dev platform and I got held up. Sorry, sorry! Here's your coffee Aizawa-san," says the salaryman before you, his ID badge reading: Satoru Mikami, Head of Moderation and Curation.

"About time. While you were gone I was stuck doing your job for you, again. This reporter has questions for your department."

The wide-awake Mikami eyes you up and down with visible confusion. You technically were still wearing your school uniform, with your school ID loosely shoved into a blank lanyard on the insistence of the security guard downstairs.

"Aizawa-san, a reporter for what? Her school newspaper?" asks Mikami with open skepticism.

"Famitsu or something. Now leave me alone, I'm 40 minutes behind schedule!"

Uh-oh. I think he's onto us. Should've milked this zombie girl for more info when we had the chance.
Mikami's eyes dance between his coworker and you as if weighing his options. In the brief mental war between correcting his angry coworker and dealing with a high school student your side wins a rapid and overwhelming victory. With a shake of his head, he turns away from Aizawa while offering his hand to you with a smile. "Of course, I'm sorry to keep you waiting Kashiwazaka-san. Please, let's finish this conversation in my office."

---

Mikami takes you to his office in the back, adjacent to the glass cage housing the moderation team. It seems his entire department was just him and a handful of moderators, tiny compared to the utter ocean of workers you passed on the way over.

"I'll have to apologize for Aizawa-san. She's been working for nearly 50 days straight now."

You nod at the excuse. That was pretty obvious just from her appearance. "Is that... safe?"

"Probably not, but she's looking for a promotion. She's 10 years younger than me but already outranks me! You won't catch me working that hard though, haha. I'm pretty happy where I'm at."

You glance at his nametag. "You're the Head of Moderation and Curation?"

"That's just a fluffed up title," laughs Mikami as you sit across from him. His desk is covered in piles of paper and other objects including an old PC tower that looks like it's seen better decades. An Amusphere lies in the corner, the paint already peeling off from frequent usage.

"I'm head of the Game Masters and I manage much of the day to day development of the game itself. As you know the SEED AI does most of the hard work, so my department is pretty small, I mostly just veto and sign off on the big decisions, write a few quests if I'm bored. Most of RECT Progress is filled with data-analysts like Aizawa-san."

You glance back her in the ocean of cubicles then compare her to Mikami. Compared to the talking corpse from earlier, Mikami looks relaxed and more importantly well rested as he talks. "Moderation is a full time job given we have to cover overseas servers so we work shifts instead of being in a state of, uh... perpetual overtime, I suppose? ALO mostly runs itself nowadays so I have some free time to help out with the data-crunchers."

Mikami pauses to sip his coffee before staring straight into your eyes with a piercing gaze. You feel a shiver run down your spine and suddenly realize that you may actually be trespassing.
"But anyway, enough about that," he says. "First order of business: who are you? A fan?"

You mentally rehearse your cover story, in the end your goal was to get SOME information from the World Tree from the development team.

"Hardly. I've barely tried ALO."

"Oh? Then what brings you out all this way, and on a school day no less?"

"Concern. Fear."

Mikami tilts his head quizzically. "Concern and fear about...?"

"Addiction, psychosis and the role ALO plays in both," you reply without missing a beat.

He sighs. "So you some kind of school journalist? Why'd you come all the way out here? Surely you don't want to interview the whole staff of RECT Progress for your school paper."

"Well, yes...but not for school. Online publication. I'm an SAO Survivor you see... and I have major concerns about ALO."

That got his attention. While being an SAO Survivor didn't make you a celebrity, it gave you a certain appeal to most media corporations. In truth, if you had a unique enough perspective it wasn't hard to get a piece published, especially if you leverage Argo's connections.

"Mikami-san, this is my concern. Have you considered the psychological effect ALO is having on its players? You are a GM, surely you know what I'm talking about." You actually have no idea what you're talking about but you hope you can cold-read your way through this. You take advantage of the silence to lean forward slightly and rest your palms against the table, letting him know you're dead serious. Your fingers tremble, betraying how nervous you really are. But you need to sell this. If you're wrong you might never get another chance.

"It's not as if I'm blind to the issue," answers Mikami calmly after several moments pass. "Certainly we've noticed a... significant proportion of players enjoy roleplaying to what some may argue is an excessive degree."

Your heart skips a beat but you maintain your poker face. Not what you were looking for but if he was volunteering information...

"We haven't found any evidence that intense roleplaying leads to behavior changes in the real world and none of our studies suggest anything beyond 'normal' roleplaying. Of course, that doesn't mean we ignore these issues entirely; it would be irresponsible and ALO certainly already has a reputation for it. So far however there hasn't been any reason to shut down the service. However..."

"Yes?" You prompt impatiently.

"However, things will be changing. My department is hard at work reinitiating the «MHCP» from SAO alongside the next major content update, I'm actually quite excited to roll it out."

You're confused. "«MHCP»? I endured SAO and don't recall any such system," you ask, genuinely clueless.

"The Mental Health Counseling Program," explains Mikami patiently. "This is the system used for detecting signs of mental illness. It monitors your vital stats, hormone levels, neurotransmitter saturation ratios, a host of other factors related to physical and mental health. If a critical mass of indicators point to a possible mental condition, such as depression, it sends a warning. If left ignored the system automatically triggers a shutdown of the game."

You gulp nervously. "That... would have been useful to have in SAO."

"Likely. Unfortunately, Kayaba Akihiko decided to axe the system, since the shutdown ability is hard coded into the program. You know, all the old «MHCP» models were actually repurposed into the 99th Floor Boss «MHCP Army». Imagine a raid where the boss could disconnect you if it noted emotional distress! All of the post 90 bosses were rather... creatively cruel like that."

A... boss that disconnected you from SAO for something as common as emotional distress, likely fatally because fucking Kayaba Akihiko, sounded like an absolute nightmare. Exactly how many people did Kayaba Akihiko actually expect to make it to the 100th floor in the first place?

"Ah! Me and my big mouth! Sorry, that was rather insensitive of me. But I do want to reassure you that my team is taking measures to ensure that ALO can be enjoyed in a safe manner."

Oh no, a reasonable human being, archenemy of spies everywhere.
"I'm sure you're aware of former SAO players jumping to ALO. What are your thoughts regarding that?"

"If they find their home in ALO, isn't that a good thing?" asks Mikami matter of factly. "I guess one should be wary of them becoming isolated and withdrawing themselves from reality, but ALO as a game values cooperation and social bonds. I've had SAO Survivors respond positively to ALO, and we have more Survivors playing ALO than any other VRMMO on the market." He fiddles with his coffee cup absentmindedly. "Kashiwazaka-san, as an SAO survivor what would you say your biggest regret is?"

The question catches you unprepared, you freeze, then look up towards him and bite back your first answer. He didn't need to know about «Laughing Coffin».

"I suppose... it wasn't being strong enough. Not contributing to the clearing of SAO."

He nods, knowingly. "I've spoken with other SAO Survivors, that's a fairly common sentiment. If nothing else a game like ALO can provide a sense of... closure to SAO players, in more ways than one. You know... why don't I show you something?"

His chair creaks as he leans back and rotates his monitor to face you.

​

"What's this?" You ask.

"A new boss monster we're adding to ALO as the «Guardian of the World Tree». This is actually SAO's 91st Floor Boss, «Dorz'l the Chaos Drake». As I said earlier, the post-90 bosses were all rather unique. This one was flagged to spawn out of the body of any tamed «Fairy Dragons» as a bit of a nasty surprise, its the only floor boss that's allowed to free roam in non-Labyrinth environments and is explicitly programmed to attack «The Town of Beginnings». This isn't the only boss monster we're repurposing - eventually we hope to port the whole of «Aincrad» into SAO."

He points to a model of a dark dragon-like creature with wings and long teeth protruding from its jaws. The details aren't particularly impressive but it still looks horrifically deadly.

"My idea is to offer SAO Survivors a form of catharsis. To face the old demons in a controlled setting while also letting the current ALO players in on a slice of history. So Kashiwazaka-san I want to reassure you, we're not doing anything nefarious here at RECT Progress. All we want to do is create a game that people can enjoy."

Alright, so this has been a humongous waste of time.

Mikami isn't directly lying, you can at least tell that much. But there's more than one way to obfuscate information while telling the truth, you've employed such tactics before. Read between the lines... no, read instead what's being omitted. This... middle management employee spoke of ALO like it was his project, his team. If the workers outside were working on metadata analysis, and Mikami was working on content generation... well, what was the president working on? And why aren't you hearing anything about the «World Tree»?

"I appreciate your candor, Mikami-san," you reply, smiling thinly. "I must admit that I am reassured by your words, so I only have one more question. What exactly is the purpose of the «World Tree»?"

Mikami stares at you blankly for a moment, then breaks eye contact to scratch his cheek and mutter, "It's ALO's grand quest, the first major storyline in ALO." He looks extremely uncomfortable at this line of questioning.

"A grand... quest," repeats you flatly. "Is that all? There seems to be very little actual content beyond a giant tease."

"Haha, well, I'd say it's working in getting the players interested, isn't it? Nothing wrong with generating some buzz."

You think you're getting under his skin now and decide to press harder. "You'll forgive me if I seem skeptical, but from here it seems the emperor has no clothes. I've heard the quest to access the «World Tree» is literally impossible, that doesn't sound like a very ethical way of retaining player interest, does it now?"

"You make it sounds bad when you put it that way." He shakes his head slowly. "But I'm afraid there's not much I can say about the «World Tree», it's literally a separate department."

Another... department?

"Let me clarify. President Sugou is personally developing every aspect of the «World Tree», from what he's told me it's going to be complete by the end of next month. I'm in charge of all the content generation and AI quest curation under the «World Tree». The plan to add «Aincrad» bosses to the environment is an initiative headed by my department, the President doesn't really care what we do down here."

"You handle all of the content?"

"Not everything, that's the AI. I'm no genius programmer, but the SEED is quite simple to use. Load up a model, write up a few quest ideas and the system will just generate it for you. Economy balancing, storyline generation, with just simple curation ALO plays itself. The only thing that needs direct programming are general features and UI elements. My department is honestly quite small, as you can see..."

You frown. "Then the «World Tree»?"

"Something entirely new the President has been working on behind closed doors. All I really know is that I'm supposed to generate content to make it impossible to actually reach the «World Tree», some kind of invisible wall or lock or something..."

Mikami-san smiles and gives you a conspiratorial wink. "But between you and me, I think that's rather boring. Some players have already used exploits to cheat up the «World Tree», not that there was anything there to find! Even if the «World Tree» itself is unfinished, I'd say the journey beats the destination! So let's just say the «Grand Quest» isn't as impossible as it seems, though even if you make it all you get is a nice view and a cool story to tell your friends. Without administrator privileges higher than me you can't actually enter."

Interesting. So the World Tree is isolated off from the main content creation team, which means the President of RECT Progress was your next major lead.
"So do you think I could talk to President Sugou then?"

"Haha, probably not, you know? I'm a glorified minion. I wouldn't bother him unless it was a matter of life or death." Mikami laughs heartily at this. You smile politely and nod. In the end, you doubt your bluff could get you through the door of the President.

"Now I'm impressed you managed to bluff your way through, but I think you should get going before Aizawa-san's coffee kicks in and she realizes you're not actually a reporter. I know you have misgivings about ALO but I think it's important for us to keep communication open between RECT Progress and the ALO community."

He stands up and walks around his desk. He stands before you and gives you a light bow, handing you a business card in one practiced motion. At the very least you now have his work email and office phone number.

"Thank you for coming today, Kashiwazaki-san. If you do end up writing that article, send me a copy!"

"Of course." You return his bow with a smile, then follow him back out of the room while he leads you to a back exit that avoids the cubicles.

"And one more thing!"

You turn around at the last minute and catch a glimpse of Mikami grinning ear-to-ear.

"What's your ALO username? I'll add something special to your account as thanks for the riveting conversation!"

>For a successful infiltration mission your MASK Greatly Increases!

---

tysdagr- 15th of Einmánuður
Evening

The sword grazes the edge of your shoulder, sending you tumbling back down into the dirt.

You scramble away from the follow up strike as Leafa plunges her katana straight into the dirt, mere moments away from a decapitating strike. She pulls out the gleaming blade in a shower of dirt. The fairy stands upright before turning to face you once more with that cocky smile on her lips.

​

"I see now," she says in an even tone. "You prefer the arcane arts like Lord Sigurd, no?"

You bite back your response, in actuality you had two years of experience in melee combat since that was the only way of fighting SAO would allow you to use. For every one spear, great sword, or shield user in SAO there were a dozen one-handed sword fighters like yourself. Simply put it was the easiest to learn, easiest to use and had the most robust suite of «Sword Skills». You saw other players trying to use an off hand dagger for parrying, a skill you tried to emulate with decidedly mixed results.

At the end of the day, you weren't a clearer. You didn't face a single floor boss, you barely ever challenged yourself, the only things you had ever fought were monsters far under your level, a few friendly duels against Gwen, and a few lone PKers bored out of their minds.

So Leafa wasn't wrong. If SAO allowed you to use magic that would have been your build. Mages existed in ALO, but the DNA of SAO still shown through in the balance of the game. Mages individually had almost no ability to fight off a dedicated melee fighter, the flight system allowed an opponent to close distance extremely quickly and only in big parties could mages actually dedicate themselves to the long tedious process of magic casting.

"KOTE!"

You raise your sword in a panicked overhead guard, only for Leafa to slam her blade straight into your hand, the weapon flying away along with several fingers. As you fall back to avoid getting beheaded, the girl leaps at you again with her foot slamming down on your own. With your escape cut off you can only stare at the blade being driven straight into your face.

"I YIELD!"

The katana stops a millimeter away from your eye as you try to calm your breathing. If you were using an Amusphere right now your heart rate would've triggered the disconnect. Your HP was a hair thread away from the yellow zone, though Leafa's final strike was liable to outright kill your avatar with the force she was using.

Leafa sheathes her katana with a flourish of steel and looks down at your mangled hand, slowly recovering as the «Dismemberment» debuff timer ticks down. Her green eyes are tinged with disappointment. "Lady Lux surely that's not the extent of your strength?"

"I... I think you're just too good. What was that move earlier? Kendo?"

Leafa's brow furrows as her face flashes between recognition and confusion. "Ah... yes. Kendo, I've been practicing it for..." Leafa slaps her cheeks suddenly and blinks. "...a very long time. Since my creation."

Impressive, no wonder she was dancing all over you. There were SAO players with real life martial arts training, but much of that didn't actually make much of a difference in a system designed around fantasy «Sword Skills» and PvE against giant monsters. In a PVP focused game like ALO without any discrete «Sword Skills» real life skill likely played a bigger role. GGO, for example, was fairly notorious for its high population of real soldiers using it for firearms practice.

Seriously? People actually still practice KENDO!?
"A life time of practice. Kendo must be very important to you Leafa."

She nods but her words come out with great hesitancy. "Yes... It is. My... family?"

"Leafa?"

"It's nothing. Just some strange memories. More importantly, Lux..." she smiles at you, a glint of anticipation in her eyes. "Are your fingers recovered?"

You look down at your hands and feel the strange sensation of digital blood pumping into them. The damage is gone, the debuff timer now resolved, and your hand is unmarred.

"Huh? They're fixed... AHHH!!!!"

LOOK ALIVE!
Leafa's blade swings straight at your neck again while you recoil in shock. But then the tip bounces aside as if repelled by something invisible, forcing the girl to pull her arm back instead. Only when your brain catches up to your body do you note your blade raised in guard.

Your wings flicker into existence as you backpedal through the clearing as fast as your avatar will permit it, Leafa hot on your heels katana raised for a two-handed strike.

"Wait, wait! Duel mode, DUEL MODE!" you scream out. A Duel to half health at least!

"I've figured it out, Lux!" Leafa's katana slams down onto your sword. You're forced down onto one knee, holding up the blade with your offhand, the cheap material of your weapon for once helping you by being too blunt to hurt your own hand.

"Leafa, stop!"

"The difference between you today and in the fight against the charlatan!"

A spark as Leafa's katana dents your blade, any more punishment and your borrowed weapon was going to break in two.

"You're holding back, Lux!"

No you weren't!
Shit, this isn't working.

Your foot leans forth to trip up Leafa in between her next strike but you're already too slow. The girl steps forward and sucker punches you with the hilt of her blade, this time across your cheek with a hard thudding impact, knocking you against a tree.

"Gah... ahaha..."

"We are FAIRIES! Blessed with eternal life by Lord OBERON!" As you slide down the tree in a tangle of branches and damage indicators she points her katana at you in challenge.

"Yet the way you fight, Lux... it's as if..."

High, you have to go higher! Using the tree as a stepping point you fly straight up in a sudden dodge, as Leafa's horizontal strike bisects the tree behind you just as your feet clear her blade.

"You're afraid to DIE!"

With a roar of fury Leafa unleashes a whirlwind of blows on the falling tree. To your eyes the motions were inhuman, pure willpower manifesting as some manner of «Sword Skill» created into the world of ALO. By pure wind pressure the splinters blow into your face as you desperately try to clear your vision just in time to deflect another one of Leafa's two-handed strikes. You attempt to counter attack with a cut at her shoulder but with a lazy shrug your sudden stab is easily dodged, her leg slamming your avatar back into the dirt being the only reward for the attempt.

"And the way you strike! As if you're afraid to KILL!"

You jump up from the dirt, heaving in exertion as you eye your HP. Already down in the yellow zone while Leafa remained untouched. Her blade, soaked in virtual red polygonal shards glints beneath the moonlight as Leafa towers over you wings outstretched.

"Let me show you Lux. The blessings of the Fairies!"

"Wait, stop!"

Some primal instinct makes you run towards Leafa, hand outstretched and fight forgotten. As usual you are too slow.

Leafa's katana plunges into her abdomen. With a sickening spray of red particles and Leafa's scream the blade twists as she drives it deeper into her abdomen.

"LEAFA!"

If you have forgotten about your fight Leafa sure hasn't. As soon as you reach her the katana surges out of her body in a spray of damage effects, her HP dropping straight into the yellow zone as the bloody blade wastes no time being driven towards your face. You manage to roll leftwards just in time as the katana cuts into the air trailing particles through the air as the sheer pressure of the strike clears the underbrush around her.

"I won't die Lux, and neither will you! We are FAIRIES and when fairies fight? It's TO. THE. DEATH!"

Damn it you're still diving in a freaking Nervegear! You really didn't want to test your mortality in a sparring match against this crazy Sylph.

No more bullshitting around. I want to see Tinkerbell DUSTED.
You were just here to spar! Well if she wanted a fight, you were going to GIVE HER ONE!

Leafa's two handed strike goes for a diagonal cleave but you feel bolstered... stronger. Not just you, but your blade too, as it a sickly purple sheen surrounds it, protecting it from further damage. You feel the weight of your soul manifesting over your shoulders.

"Oh? Did it look like this last time?"

The Rakshasa's thoughts poison your mind. You have no time to waste with this child's ramblings. She may have been able to take you before thanks to her superior technique. But you know what? You've faced down death and laughed. A child playing with swords? How convenient.

Killing children was your speciality!

"SYSTEM CALL! PERSONA!"

​

System Call: Incarnate PERSONA [Pūtanā]. ReferenceID:12.Droit
​

​

Beauty, sheer beauty. The goddess Lakshmi manifest upon the earth. Shining red eyes and a full bosom. A voice and presence enticing enough to fool a mother into surrendering her babe to you.

But what lies underneath such beauty? Rakshasa. A bloated hideous corpse. Poison dripping out of your breast, the blood of children upon your tongue. Hatred, fury, force fills your sword as you grip it in two hands.

This is how it felt. You've never wielded your blade in anger, but you've seen it many a time.

In a tournament in the 75th floor a dual bladed swordsman unleashes a flurry of desperate blows against an indomitable guard.
An undefeated champion hides behind his bulwark until he composes his one perfect strike.
A mad scientist carves through his paralyzed victim.
A masked assassin delivers a stab with his estoc. Boring, cold, practiced a million times.

But that's not what you truly remember. What comes to mind is a strike without skill, without technique. It has no higher purpose, it is simply motion. A arm raises, a man laughs and a life is ended. He strikes, not for the challenge, not to appease his demons, not out of sheer madness.

Strike because it's fun to kill.

System Call: Reactivating feature[Sword Skill]. Category:[Two-Handed Axe] ID:[Collapse]​

>>STR has advanced to Rank C!

Spoiler: Lux vs Leafa

+1 Advantage for surprising Leafa with a Sword Skill!
Opposed STR Check!

Lux STR = C (3 Dice)
Persona = D (2 Dice)
2,3,1,1,3 = 0 SUCCESS

Leafa STR = B (4 Dice)
6,2,4,5 = 2 SUCCESS

The ground splits, the forest parts and a tree crashes into the dirt. Your blade strikes with the force of a thunderclap, cutting through everything in front of you as a plume of dust blankets the forest.

W... what were you doing...?

Leafa, about half a meter to the right of the devastation, whistles in appreciation. "Very impressive, Lady Lux! I see you've taken my advice to heart! I think we can consider today's sparring session to be a great success."

You put so much force into that attack your hands are numb. Simply the act of swinging your blade filled with power made your arms tremble.

Leafa smiles proudly at you while she claps your paralyzed avatar on the back. "That could've killed me, a masterful strike! Keep fighting like that and you could one day beat Mortimer, or even Zekken!"

Please shut up Leafa...

"Though uh... might I suggest working on your aim next time?"

---

TUESDAY - April 15th, 2025
Evening

​

*BRRRRINNGGG*
*BRRRRINNGGG*

You groan as you try to will the phone to stop ringing. You had just managed to cozy up...

Today sucked. After almost dying against Leafa you had to spend all night writing a stupid paper that you weren't even being graded on!
That report about OBERON took so long to write for what could be summarized as "he exists" and "I dunno the rest". You had to fill out so many subforms and the private server you had to upload the file to took so long to load...

*BRRRRINNGGG*
*BRRRRINNGGG*

Mom bothering you again!? She knows not to call you this late...
Where was that damn phone?

*BRRRRINNGGG*
*BRRRRINNGGG*

After a few fruitless seconds of searching you find it sandwiched between your pillow and Kuma-kun. You're about to reject the call by habit when you glance at ID in shock.

<Hihi Lux! Finally picked up!>

"...Meimi!? A... are you alright!? How's rehab going?"

<Right... real names. Uh, you weren't kidding. Bathrooms are not fun. But they let me eat real food for the first time today!>

That's great! You remember your first meal, and also the consequences of that first meal, but you don't want to ruin Meimi's good mood right now.

<Listen! I got my butler to buy me an Amusphere, so I can come to help you out in ALO. Let's meet up in-game tomorrow.>

"Already? Shouldn't you take some more time to recover...?"

<Phff, I get enough rehab. Sides, can't let you have all the fun. I've actually already logged in a few times, let me tell you, bothering Argo is more boring than you realize. The Rat's such a stick in the mud.>

"If you're sure Meimi... where do you want to meet?"

<Figure we could scope out the «World Tree». You have access to «Alne» right?>

You confirm to Meimi what little you know so far and note your possession of the «Town Portal» to her glee.

<Perfect! I haven't just been idle these few days, what spare time I have is spent crawling over the ALO forums. Even got my butler to do some of the tedious stuff. I'll say this, after a bit of research my conclusion is that Argo's a real stupid idiot. She's trying to establish some kind of alliance between the races to get to the tree, which is the dumbest most inefficient way I can think of to do this. Anyways Lux I'll see you tomorrow, you'll love my plan!>

"Meimi..."

<Ah... sorry, give me a break it's hard to get used to! Uh... goodnight H...Hiyori. I'll talk to you tomorrow!>

"Good night Meimi."

Glad to hear the chibi's getting better.
For once you agree with your Shadow. Looks like tomorrow was proving to be an eventful day.

Wait a minute.
You... didn't actually give Meimi your phone number, did you? You were planning on it the next time you visited, so how did she find your phone number?

Take a guess.
Did that Rat know anything about privacy!?

Fucking Argo.

---

>+5000 Yen from writing the report
>Rank C STR achieved!
>MASK Greatly Increased!

Satoru Mikami has asked for your username. You suspect he could find it out if he really wanted to, but he's busy enough he won't go through the trouble unless you give him an excuse.

[ ] It's «Lux».

[ ] I'd rather not say.

[ ] Honestly, I don't even play ALO. Was just asking for a concerned friend.

[ ] Write-in (1D default).

 

[afreaknamedpete]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[X] It's «Lux».

SIXTH STAR - April 20th, 2024
07:00 AINCRAD STANDARD TIME

"Gwen, it's too sour," you complain but continue sucking on the jawbreaker. Real candy that just didn't taste like pure a lump of pure sugar was a very rare commodity in SAO. Turns out «Confectioner» was an entirely different Skill from «Cooking», so there were practically only two or three players in the game with the skill. «Johnny Black» actually was one of them, to your great surprise and disgust. When a potion crafting backfired you usually ended up with poison... but when poison crafting backfired the waste product was evidently candy.

"Don't worry, I didn't pick it out of JB's trash pile. Found it on a midget squash run."

Gwen constantly complained about squash runs. Dwarf Villages were NPC villages in the 30 floor range that were just low enough level and far enough away none of the real players actually bothered with them. Outside of you, LC members had to avoid towns so it was hard to find food and ingredients for day to day living. Regularly raiding NPC villages as soon as they respawned - the so called squash run - was a pretty regular chore for LC that even PoH had to participate in. Ironically, in order to preserve your «Green Cursor» it was the one task you didn't have to do.

You nod absently as you put another jawbreaker in your mouth. You had developed a taste for them these last few months, and Gwen had a crate full of the stuff. Say what you will about NPC Dwarves, but they really loved their hard candy.

"Lux I said I'd help you with work... but c'mon, don't make me suffer like this!"

You were doing your favorite job - waiting. Some mid level player was interested in killing his guild leader and you were here to iron out the payment details. In the initial message there was some long winded insane rambling about his wife that you skimmed past, one thing you learned fast in this business is that knowing the details didn't help you sleep at night. Payment, Plan and Target, that's all you need and all you care to know about.

"UGH, this is such a pain," complains Gwen while her legs dangle from the branch she's perched on. A poor hiding space but with her «Hide» so high skill she's practically invisible anyways.

PoH had accepted a contract to assassinate the leader of some no-name guild called «Golden Apple». Meeting with contacts was always a... tricky job. «Argo» had started making fake assassination requests in order to apprehend LC members, and some clients were so crazy they actually tried to kill the LC contact. So you usually had a bodyguard assigned to you, as your ability to actually fight back was stymied by your «Green Cursor».

"If you're so bored why don't you take a nap? I only need your help if the client's illegitimate."

Gwen visibly shudders. "Haha, very funny Lux. I trust you not to Sleep PK me but god I don't know how anyone can be comfortable sleeping in the open anymore."

"Sleep PK isn't actually all that common. The conditions for it to work are actually hard to meet."

"Yeah, well maybe tell that to JB 'cause he just won't SHUT UP about it. Try to show up to a safehouse for a few winks and that creep's all like 'sleep tight little lamb'. Like fuck, does that guy have an off switch."

"JB's just been getting annoyed since someone set fire to his favorite sack. It's on my shopping list." It happened enough you usually bought a few extra, just so you didn't have to keep going on return trips.

"Then do me a favor and put a scorpion in it."

You were feeling rather sleepy. "Gwen, if you're not going to then I'll gladly take a nap," you yawn. You've been up for almost a whole day now. "Wake me up when the client gets here."

"You're way too relaxed," says Gwen as she stretches lazily before jumping onto the floor next to you. "You know I'm a Orange Player right?"

"Blah, blah, sleep PK or something. I haven't gotten a good night's rest in ages, and you couldn't pay me to sleep in the safehouse." She grunts in protest before giving in, waving her hand in annoyance.

"Fine, fine. Go get your beauty sleep."

You lean behind the tree and try to get comfortable. Ah, if there's one thing you missed the most about the real world it was your bed. Ever since you were small you couldn't fall asleep without something in your arms, and to your great chagrin nobody in SAO had invented stuffed animals yet.

"Uh-huh, thanks Gwen..." Your eyes were growing heavy. The contact said he'd show up in an absurd half-day window, so you have plenty of time to catch some winks. "Just wake me if some nervous guy shows up..."

It's a restful few hours, enjoying the sounds of the distant city and the feel of wind against your hair. Sleep was a rare luxury for you, and the times you could truly relax were becoming rarer and rarer. Even now you couldn't fall into a true deep sleep, most LC members couldn't unless they were behind a locked door.

"Lux?"

"..."

Gwen sighs dramatically as she pokes your cheek. "Luxie, I know you're awake."

"Contact here yet? If not give me 5 more minutes..."

"AHHH I'm going crazy here. We could be doing something fun instead of waiting to get ghosted by this client! How long have you been doing this now?"

"Mmm... a few months now... why?"

"...and you still haven't killed anyone...?"

"..."

"Cause... that would solve your problems, you know? You can't be an LC spy as an «Orange Player» anymore. Take this client you're meeting. I figure, if he's hiring LC, he can't be a standup guy right? So why not kill him, lose your cursor?" Gwen asks.

You shake your head slightly. "If I stop being useful they'll kill me."

"Then become a full member! Outside of traitors, PoH prevents LC members from killing each other. At this point everyone knows you, hell you even work directly under the boss man himself! It's just... PvP is LOADS of fun and you're just missing out," grumbles Gwen.

An old discussion. Gwen bought the words of PoH hook line and sinker: SAO is just a game, and PKing is part of that game, to the extent that gear could drop that boosted damage against players. Clearing SAO? At the current attrition rate SAO would never be cleared anyways, so why not have some fun? What's the point of fighting mindless 1s and 0s or getting yourself killed by some poorly balanced gimmick boss? The real challenge, the real hunt, was in PKing. It was practically PoH's dogma.

"I... just don't want to cross that line." You wanted to say you didn't want to become a full-fledged killer, but even if you were never holding the knife, you couldn't think of yourself as anything other than a killer. "Say Gwen. Why do you do it? ...why kill players even knowing...?"

She looks up at you quizzically. It's a simple question that should have a short answer. But instead Gwen frowns deeply and scrunches her face. "Cause it's fun? I mostly did PvP before starting SAO. Fighting mobs just isn't the same. You used to game right? Didn't you find PvP to be way more fun than just farming crap?"

You did... but that was that and this is this. "PvP was fun when the only thing you lost was pride. When it was just a game."

"Hmmm... I dunno, it's still a game, so why not play it like one? There's a UI, there's mobs, and there's even PKing. I'd say that makes it a game, harsh rules aside."

"But they're people..."

Gwen hums in your lab as she formulates a response. "Are they? I've seen PCs die, and I've done so many squash missions I must've killed hundreds of NPCs by now. They're... not all that different in the end. Everyone begs for their lives in the same way. This isn't like the real world, I'm wearing a machine that controls everything I see, hear... Hey, Luxie... are you an NPC?"

"What? No!"

"Just something I'm thinking about. What proof do we have about... any of this?" asks Gwen quietly. "Am I really rotting in a hospital somewhere, or are we all just brains in jars? What proof beyond Kayaba's word that all the dead players are really dead? Maybe I'm the only one trapped, you're just some annoying fluffy NPC that latched onto me. Way I see it there's equal odds we're all already dead, or that Kayaba is one console command away from resurrecting everyone, so why bother worrying? Just have fun instead."

Your eyelids begin to droop, you were genuinely exhausted and sleep continued to beckon to you. You were finally finding a comfortable spot...
"C'mon, why are we talking about this again? I'll have you know this NPC still needs to sleep."

Gwen groans, "Right. Nightie night Luxie, I'll wake you when your creep shows up."

---

óðinsdagr - 16th of Einmánuður
Afternoon

​

"Ooooh, that's crazy. You got to try this one next!"

You bite into the aptly named «Rainbow Surprise Pie» before «Gwen» decides to force feed you. There's very little to worry about, considering she was rather busy diving into the massive spread of virtual food in front of you.

Sweet... then salty. Wait, now it's bitter!?

*COUGH* *COUGH* You fight off your gag reflex as the dirt flavored pie rapidly turns sour in your mouth, leaving you with two hideous aftertastes one after the other. Why bother simulating gag reflexes!?

"Yeah... not my favorite one," comments Gwen in between mouthfuls of the comically large turkey leg she was polishing off. "Weren't really that many cooks in SAO but here? It's everywhere! The meat practically grows on trees!"

"You should slow down! Just how much have you eaten right now? You'll spoil your appetite..." You felt full already, this was going to completely ruin dinner for you. VR Food wasn't the silver bullet for dieting that people thought it was, when you VR overeat on an empty stomach you develop an abominable combination of bloated and starving that usually just translated into overwhelming nausea.

"Phff, I gotta eat this much to really taste it. Even if it looks more appetizing SAO grub had more kick to it. Got to say, Lux, I'm jealous you managed to keep your NerveGear. The Amusphere just isn't the same, it's like... I'm diving with only one eye? If I focus really hard I can see the dinky hospital bed and smell the air freshener. Dunno if that makes sense." complains Gwen as she tosses the bone behind into the street where it promptly dissolves into particles. "Tried to find a used NerveGear but they're crazy expensive. I could ask my dad but all that'll do is make him increase my therapy hours..."

You're still not certain how safe the NerveGear was now. Agil mentioned how technically it would be impossible for another program to access the brain-frying microwaves in the NerveGear, so arguably ALO was perfectly safe. Of course ALO was practically copied from SAO's servers, so who the hell knows at this point.

Don't get rid of it!
Gwen helps herself to a slice of pork shoulder while you decide to finish your ice cream sundae. One good thing about VR food - doesn't melt!

"Bleh, don't eat that in front of me," Gwen says as she sticks her tongue out. "Reminds too much of hospital slop. You got too much of a sweet tooth, Lux."

Well the ice cream is delicious so Gwen will just have to deal with it.

"So Lux... you've been a busy bee eh? You know, I'm still a little lost."

"Yeah, Gwen, me too. Things were simpler..."
"When we were just running around being PoH's errand girls. Bleh. Pork's too dry. Can't wait till I can eat the real thing."

You didn't see the point in being vague with Gwen, if anything she was just as deep in mysterious VR nonsense as you were. For a girl you've known to be a pathological liar and probably a murderer it feels... nice to talk again. To fall back into old patterns. Lux, gopher for «Laughing Coffin» and Gwen your PKing friend. Her avatar was even carried over from SAO.

"But I gotta ask, what's it like having an evil voice in your head!?"

Annoying.
"Annoying."

"Uh-huh. So... who's the real one? Lux or... other Lux?"

I'm the true self!

"I just call her my Shadow."

Gwen eyes you with a dubious look. "Shadow. A word you got from the other voice in your head? The two-toned butler dude? Who works for like... head boss voice in your head?"

"Uh, yeah. ETTEILLA. I speak with him but I can't actually remember his words, just... impressions. I'm not even sure it's a him. I'm not even sure it's an it." It spoke volumes that all the voices wasn't even all that high on your list of weird mysteries to worry about.

"So, can I speak to your... Shadow?"

"Gwen! Oh, I'm glad you're back to your old avatar! Stripper-ninja was not a good look for you!"

"Hey! I don't even remember designing the damn thing, but it had style!"

"I half figured you'd remake your avatar. Big Gwen is a sin against nature!"

"Oh, I still remember the time you tried to use me as a pillow. I was very tempted to go taller but by using my SAO account I at least get to transfer some stats," says Gwen as she finishes another dish.

You suppress your Shadow, still no more difficult than concentrating. "Sorry, she just kind of comes out at times."

"You're right. Does sound annoying." At that Gwen jumps out of her seat, flinging her arms wide open. She pats her stomach in satisfaction. "Aaaaaahhhhhh.... oh, that feels nice. Haven't felt full in ages."

​

You finish up your ice cream as the funds are subtracted from Gwen's account. You're not sure where she got the money from but it probably involved an allowance bigger than your rent and plenty MistCoins.

"So... Gwen. What's the plan? We're already here in «Alne». World tree's right there, do you want to try the quest just to see what we're up against?"

"And get skewered by a giant horde of guardians? No thanks. My memories from the tree are fuzzy as hell but I do remember those hulking statue things everywhere. Trust me, we'd get slaughtered."

"Are your memories more clear now?" You're genuinely curious. When your Shadow takes over the memories slowly backfill into your mind, maybe Gwen's memories would follow a similar pattern.

"Kinda? Let's fly somewhere more private. This ain't the kind of talk we should be having in public."

---

"This is embarrassing. No, this is demeaning."

"Stop pulling on my hair! Do you want me to drop you!?"

Gwen was riding piggyback atop your shoulders as the two of you fly towards tall hill underneath the «World Tree». Despite her claims of being the best flier ever, she had the midair dexterity of a dead pigeon. Something about being an «Alf» gave her a special flight bonus, but now back to a normal avatar she could barely stay aloft with the flight controller.

"Flight sims suck anyways," she complains as you feel her tug on your hair.

"They're not reins! I could carry you like a toddler instead!"

Your destination was the top of the hill overlooking the city. Although ALO had a large population most of the central city remained unoccupied, outside of a small handful of raids the game drastically discouraged inter-racial parties and cooperation. Racial PvP was considered always active even between party members, with «Alne» being the only city with a blanket ban on violence. There was a small group of renegade players who left or were exiled, but they were vanishingly rare. Staying in the good graces of one's Lord simply offered too many benefits between the safe zones, global buffs and even Skill Exp bonuses they offered.

For that reason you're not surprised to find the hill empty.

Gwen and you spend a few minutes admiring the city, but when Gwen turns her head towards the «World Tree» she shows only an expression of disgust.

"You remember something?"

"Kind of. Like I said, it's all so hazy. I remember... a grand palace. Pools of wine, forests of game, cornucopias full of sweets and delicacies always in arms reach. There were... girls, I think? Just everywhere I could see."

"...like NPCs?"

"I'm not sure. I don't think I was anyone special, I wasn't freaking Titania. There were just... a lot of us. Hundreds at least? Most of them all looked the same but there were a few like me with unique avatars."

A harem up in the sky, a dream come true for any man with delusions of grandeur. Your first reaction is to scoff at the absurdity. But then again...? This was a virtual world after all, and there were already shady companies looking into creating an adult entertainment VRMMO. Is that all the «World Tree» was, some kind of virtual harem? But why involve all the old SAO survivors?

"So you were brainwashed?"

"I guess so? It wasn't like I lost my memories, I just didn't care about them. I remember thinking, believing I was Lady Gwendolyn. It was still me but all my priorities, my desires, were twisted into pleasing OBERON. You know there's nothing holding anybody up there? You can't go into the tree but leaving is no problem. I just didn't want to leave, I couldn't fathom leaving. The only fairy trapped in a cage was Titania, er, «The Flash». I'm pretty sure whatever it was that OBERON did to us, she was immune or something. I remember her trying to talk to me... to all of us, at some point? I think she gave up when she realized we wouldn't listen."

"...so why did you leave?"

Gwen blushes slightly. "I... uh, never really turned down your friend request back in SAO. I left it unanswered, so my UI popped up an alert when you logged in. I just decided... well, I wanted to see you again. Share the «World Tree» with you- AHHH!"

You grab Gwen's back and throw your arms around her. "I'm just glad you're back. And I'm sorry you were stuck there for so long, if I knew I would've tried to help..."

She squirms in your arms before slowly returning your hug. "It's fine. That place was... I mean it felt... amazing? But now I realize how awful it was. I don't miss it."

You release Gwen as you gaze upwards at the tree. "So Gwen... what was your plan to get up there?"

"Uh, two actually!" she responds, smile gracing her face one more. "Way I see it there's an easy way and a hard way to get up tree!"

"Let's go with the easy way."

She nods like an overeager puppy. "OK, great! We're already here so let's just try it now!"

"Wait Gwen what ar-"

"OBERON!" shouts Gwen suddenly, scaring away a flock of nearby birds. "YOU HEAR ME YOU INCEL LOINCLOTH LEGOLAS!?"

Her scream echoes off the distant tree, before fading into silence. You stare up at the tree, its branches rustling in the wind as nothing happens. The momentary calm is shattered as Gwen screams out once again:

"YOU'RE A PATHETIC CUCKOLD KING! YOU CAN CONTROL MINDS AND TITANIA'S STILL PINING FOR ANOTHER MAN!"

"Gwen!" you hiss, "What are you doing!? What if he hears us?"

"Uh, that's what I'm counting on? I don't remember a whole lot about him beyond being forced to love him, but I figure a guy like that has to have a rather fragile ego. Also he clearly has some kind of thing with «The Flash», considering the whole cage thing."

You sigh as she continues. "I don't think this is going to work."

"Bah, if I'm going to take revenge on him anyway I might as well use it as a chance to vent all my pent-up rage! He messed with my brain! I won't sleep right until I can kick him in the nuts in both worlds. Now where was I..."

"YOU'RE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A FAT UGLY BASTARD FUCKS A FIREFLY!"
"A VIDEO GAME MASCOT HAVING A MIDLIFE CRISIS!"
"WHY DON'T YOU COME OUT OF YOUR STUPID TREEHOUSE OR ARE YOU TOO CHICKEN YOU PENCIL-DICK LOSER?"

Gwen huffs as she stops shouting. You turn to look at her; she looks exhausted from all the yelling. "Whooo, that takes some effort. Wanna get in on this Lux? Maybe if we both try he'll hear us."

"I'll pass."

Leave it to Gwen. I don't have any good insult ideas right now.
A few more minutes of screaming doesn't do much to change the situation. "Welp, nothing for it. Hard way it is then," says Gwen as she lays spread eagle on the grass staring at the tree.

"I take it the hard way is what Argo is trying to do?"

"Phff, I said easy and hard way, not stupid way. Here's what I know from bugging Argo: she's got all the cats working for her and is trying to get the Sylph Lord on her side now, some kind of coalition. The Undines all hate her right now for the last World Tree disaster attempt but at least their leader's in her pocket. She's barely made any inroads to the other races."

"So assuming everything works out that's what... two races to blitz the «World Tree» at best?"

"Yeah, pretty much! Nobody has an incentive to work together, only one race gets the flight benefit. You can pay some mercs, sure, but mercs in a video game? Hah, like they'll have much investment in the outcome."

You sit next to Gwen as she continues to brainstorm. "Way I see it, getting people to work together? That's a losing battle. You're fighting against player nature and you miss the biggest problem - what do the other races even get for helping out? Some brownie points? A fucking favor? Phff."

"So what do you suggest Gwen?"

"At first, I figured we should join the strongest side. The Salamanders have the strongest army, the biggest player base, the most money too. If we sign up as like, lizard spies or something, we could maybe power them up instead."

But you were a Sylph. And Gwen was.... "Gwen, what race are you anyways?"

"Uh... Slyph. I figure I'd pick the same race as you..."

Well flattered as you are that still presented a problem. "But neither of us are Salamanders."

"Well, all the better! There's no reason for a Sylph to betray the Sylph lord, there's no reward in it. But you and I, we don't care about that, all we want is the «World Tree». Way I see it Lux, we could ingratiate ourselves to the Sylph leaders and betray them all to the lizards."

There's something you're confused about. "But how would that work? Say I want to help the Salamanders, how would I even do that?"

Gwen grins as she holds up 3 fingers. "30%."

"What?"

"30%. Check the forums if you don't believe me, but if a Lord gets killed... the killing race gets 30% of the entire race's assets, and gets to set tax rates for a week. You seeing what I'm seeing?"

You do. "So if we can somehow get a Salamander to kill the Sylph Lord... hell multiple lords..."

"Yup! Suddenly the Salamanders become the balance breaking dominant force. People aren't stupid, players will start making Salamander Alts, population will soar while the other races dry up..."

So... work with Argo and try to convince disparate races to work together.
Or work as an agent of chaos and power up the strongest race in the game.

You look up at the tree. A team had managed to somehow cheat their way up there regardless, high enough to take a picture. "Maybe we're thinking about this too narrowly Gwen. I've been scoping out the real life headquarters of RECT Progress, if we think out of the box there might be a way to go without dealing with the quest itself."

"That's an idea. Maybe get a mod to teleport you straight into the zone, I'd love to see the look on Argo's face if you pull that off. Just... we don't actually want the game cancelled, if we spook the guys running the show too much who knows what will happen."

It's not a perfect plan but it's another avenue to explore, and you had the contact information of a Dev now so some progress was already made.

"So just a group of less than perfect options..." you mutter.

"Hey, you still haven't heard my best plan yet Lux!"

"Oh? It wasn't betraying the Sylphs to the Salamanders?"

Gwen grins and rubs her nose as she flips to a standing position. "That's what I thought at first, but hell, that's the just doing what the game wants us to do. No, I realized I was thinking too small!"

She gestures grandly towards the city «Alne», lying beneath the trunk of the «World Tree». "You see this world Lux? ALO itself? What would you call it as a game genre?"

Hmm... a VRMMO? But you suspect she's asking a different problem. "If SAO was a PvE game, then this is a faction based PvP game..."

"Yupyup, got it in one Luxie! But you know, SAO had PvP too. I'm sure I don't have to remind you."

«Laughing Coffin». The king of the corpse pile. Player Killing.

Gwen is getting visibly excited, jumping and down like a pixie on a sugar rush. "PKing! It's the one thing this game doesn't really have. If you want to kill another player just go fight in the constant territory wars! It's boring it's what. Why do people PK in ALO? I'll tell you. It's for loot, for their race, for community, some dumb shit like that. But in SAO there was only one reason to PK - for FUN!"

She pauses dramatically to draw breath, and then continues with newfound passion. "What's a PKer to do in ALO? Join some race and work as the underling of some NEET loser masquerading as a Lord? ALO is just a milquetoast BS PvP game! Nobody does anything just for the hell of it here, this stupid race faction system makes it so that even PKing is extrinsically motivated. And that's why I say, let's give everyone a fun way to do it!"

"You're suggesting we... PK our way up the «World Tree»?"

Gwen smiles as she lifts up three fingers again. "Yep. 30%. When you kill a Lord you get 30% of the the entire race's assets. But if you're exiled... well the 30% goes into your own pocket, or a guild's pocket if you're part of a guild. So if both get exiled from the Sylphs and create a guild..."

"...we'd have to kill at least 3 Lords just to approach the strength of one race. And where would we get the players assuming we can even kill the Fairy Lords?"

"Oh, they'll come. All we need is ONE success, one big public event. Listen, Lux. We don't need these hyped up LARPERs and their fairy lords. They're not gonna get us up the tree. You're not gonna go up the tree by trying to recruit people who are fighting for some dumb in-game reward. What we need... are trolls. Trolls, losers... PKers. A whole bunch of them. You need people who will throw themselves at the tree out of nothing but a sheer stubborn desire to fuck with everyone. "

"A... guild of PKers. Gwen I hope you're not suggesting..."

Oh yes, I like this idea!

"Let me finish! We need to manufacture a story Lux. This is a SEED MMO, which means transferring a character in is piss easy. They're out there, scattered across a hundred different games. People who'll pile onto a hate train just to see where it'll go. There's an army of bored gamers waiting for something FUN to happen, something to make their afternoon an interesting one. Can you imagine Lux?"

Gwen laughs, stretching out her arms as if to grab the tree itself. "What do you think would happen if «Laughing Coffin» comes back? If SAO's PK guild comes to ALO by killing a Sylph Lord in broad daylight? If we can pull it off and then advertise that we're recruiting? We'll get our army, they'll pour in from every bored low level grinder in ALO to PK addict in GGO will transfer into ALO to be part of history. And we won't need to stop, we'll run rampant and kill Lord after Lord and the more we kill? The bigger the legend of «Laughing Coffin» becomes. The bigger army we gather. And the best part? No fucking negotiations, no stupid in game rewards. We'll get a horde of players throwing themselves at the «World Tree», not for some stupid flight system, but because they think it'll be FUNNY!"

To actually PK...

Wait a minute... Doesn't that mean... hehehehe...

What are you doing?

"Hehehehe... hahahaha. Gwen I just thought about this, but if we do this right, if we get the momentum and become the best shot at breaking into the «World Tree»? Well if that happens... Argo will be forced to help us won't she?"
Go back it's not your turn!

But it's... true. Argo wanted to get up to the «World Tree» no matter what. It's... not as if anybody would be dying in real life this time. If supporting a PK guild was the only way to reach the top...

Gwen is grinning ear to ear. "See? I can see you're thinking Lux. Can you imagine the look on Argo's stupid face when she has to join «Laughing Coffin»? And I've seen you fight Lux, you have some strange hacking power right? We're already cheating, so what's the harm in taking it to its logical conclusion?"

"Yeah? PKing a Lord won't be easy pickings. Aren't they mostly holed up in their home cities in the first place?"

"Heh, I've already got a target lined up. Lord of the Pookas, «Seven». Lordship is just a popularity contest and that girl's an idol IRL so she won without any real in game skill. She also frequently transfers her account to other SEED games in order to hold concerts so she's not all that strong. Given space requirements she holds her concerts out here on the «Alne Plains». Now she has a security team of high level players and a rabid crowd but... you have your little hacking trick. We assassinate an idol in the middle of her concert... well, I can't think of a better venue for our debut."

Gwen visibly calms as she clasps her hands on your shoulders. "And look, Lux... I know «Laughing Coffin» did horrible things to you. This is a way for you to get revenge too, you know? Make their name your own. Show PoH that you could run his stupid guild better than he ever could. So what do ya say Lux? Let's go kill some Faires together, for old time's sake?"

<PERHAPS WE CAN START WITH YOU, TRAITOR!>

System Call: Generate Fuliminant Particle. Discharge. ​

Gwen, whose arms are still around you, pushes you harshly down the hill in sudden shock while screaming in pain. You roll down the hill, the smell of ozone and charred grass hitting your nose as a bolt of divine punishment rains down from the «World Tree». Your wings deploy to stabilize your descent while Gwen jumps down with you, clothes torn and singed from the unexpected lightning strike, short sword drawn with her left and throwing knives already readied into her right.

Three angels, no «Alfs», descend from the heights of the «World Tree». Each are lavishly beautiful, radiant skin glistening off the sun's rays. Their figures are inhumanly proportioned, walking cartoon caricatures of beauty wearing flowing robes that leave little to the imagination. Oddly enough they all look almost identical, auburn hair that flows halfway down the waist.

<LADY GWENDOLYN. YOU ARE UGLIER THAN LAST WE MET.>

Gwen's only response is to blow a raspberry at the central figure.

"Gwen! You know these people?"
"No! This is like... the default appearance of OBERON's consorts. There's like hundreds that look just like them."
"Why do they all look like «The Flash»!?"
"I don't know! My appearance was set to that too before I asked OBERON if I could change it!"

<YOU WERE FAVORED AMONG OUR COURT AND YET YOU SPURN OUR LORD'S LOVE! WHAT'S MORE YOU DARE INSULT HIS MAJESTY AT THE SEAT OF HIS POWER!?>

Gwen takes a moment to consider how she should answer such an absurd accusation. Then she says simply, "Oh my god, is OBERON such a loser that he had to send his nursemaids to fight instead? Phff."

The female Alf looks livid, and her two companions don't seem much better. <LORD OBERON HAS NO TIME TO DEAL WITH THE LIKES OF YOU, TRAITOR! IF HE KNEW WHAT VILE LIES SPEWED FORTH FROM YOUR FILTHY LIPS YOU WOULD ALREADY BE ASH IN THE WIND!>

You feel your Shadow settle back into your mind. These idiots just hurt your friend, and you're not going to take that lying down.

"Hey, Lux, doing that hacking thing again!? I'm not sure if a Mermaid is gonna do much against lightning..."

<I SEE YOU, HARLOT! PERVERTING THE LAW OF OBERON!>

Excuse me? "I'm not taking that from OBERON's clone harem!"

<HOW DARE YOU INTERLOPER! I SHALL DELIVER DIVINE JUSTICE IN HIS NAME! I CALL UPON THE LAW OF OBERON TO GRANT ME YOUR GRACE!>

You feel a strange pressure building upon the hill. Black ink seeps out of the Alfs and whirls around the field, something you've seen before when you were fighting Gwen. You can see it, just a peek as their angelic forms melt away, the true faces underneath the mask of beauty. A plain faced high school student. A middle aged woman. A young child. All faces you vaguely recognize from Argo's list of comatose SAO victims.

The inky black ooze morphs, creaks and changes, wrapping itself around the three Alfs. They tremble, shake and then explode.
Ooze and shadow dissolve into the air, the weight of something old coats the Alfs like a suit of armor. When the storm settles you see three figures, resplendent yet filled with rage. In the back of your head you recognize their names, figures form the Sea of Souls. Shadows. Nedja, Vivian, Silky.

​

The strange child in emerald eyes giggles and pounces at Gwen, hands shrouded with biting winds. Your wings sprout forward in an attempt to intercept but Gwen's face gives you pause. You know that look. You've seen it time and time again, that mocking smile, the one she gives you whenever you're about to lose a duel against her. She's planning something.

"Alright you losers, thanks for showing me that trick. I did it every day for months after all, I just needed a refresher." says Gwen as she laughs.

​

What was she talking about?

The pressure returns. Shadows coalesce, only this time not around your enemies. Instead, Gwen is the one radiating darkness. They gather, not around her like an armor, but above her. Besides her. A soul made manifest, servant to one's will.

You see the shape. It's the same as before, Gwen's Alf form. Pale beautiful skin, full figure, stockings and flowing long hair. This was Gwen's idealized vision of herself, the person she wished she could be polluted by OBERON's will.

The charging Nadja shadow hisses in annoyance as Gwen's Alf body intercepts the attack, dodging under the poorly timed charge and grabbing the fairy by the neck.

"See, I've figured out the trick. Lux, sorry in advance, but after seeing you do it, well... I got a bit jealous. Why not let me join in on the fun?"

Gwen's smile widens and her Alf avatar does the same, the beautiful features marred by a grin that widens. Blood seeps out her avatar's mouth as her ninja outfit stretches, elongates into an ornate dress.

Oh? Hmm... such hatred towards this world. Delectable. You meet such interesting people, contractor.

"SYSTEM CALL."

To you who wish to tear down HEAVEN, I grant you my blessing.

"PERSONA!"

​

System Call: Incarnate PERSONA [Daji]. ReferenceID:14.Droit​

The soft hands morph into razor sharp claws.
Ears sprout from the top of the head and blonde hair stains black.
A fluffy white tail emerges from the backside and wraps around her torso.
But what you notice most is the smile. Wide, teasing, red lips, Gwen's smile mirrored on her Persona. Until it plunges into Nadja's neck.

System Call: Reactivating feature[Sword Skill]. Category:[Martial Art] ID:[Devour]​

"AHHHH!!!" The shadow screams in agony as Gwen laughs beneath the shower of shadow, the wounds from the electrical strike rapidly repairing themselves while her HP meter maxes out. She briefly admires her hands, stained with blood, viscera and the shadow material - licking her lips in anticipation. She sucks her fingers, covered in shadow and shudders in delight.

"Oh my, you taste delicious. So much better than that shit they sell in the city."

"Gwen focus! The rest are readying an attack!"

"I know, I know. I'll save a few for you Lux. Do be a dear and take care of the electric one for me? I can handle this one. I have to lick my plate clean after all."

With a sneer of rage electricity gathers in the hands of the Alf in front of you as you brace for its attack. Meanwhile the willow maiden in the back has her arms down on her lap, smiling with her eyes closed. What is she planning?

Spoiler: PLAN PHASE

TACTICAL INFORMATION:
You are in combat with three SHADOWS.
You are unsure of their elemental affinities.
Nadja plans on attacking Gwen. It appears wounded.
Vivian plans on attacking you.
Silky is planning something.

Lux:
HP : 6/6
SP : 10/10

STR: Rank C (3 Dice)
MAG: Rank D (2 Dice)
AGI: Rank C (3 Dice)
VIT: Rank D (2 Dice)
CHT: Rank D (2 Dice)

Gwen:
HP : 4/4
SP : 10/10

*For simplicity party member statistics include their Persona automatically instead of tracking them separately since they do not possess the wild card.
STR: Rank B (4 Dice)
MAG: Rank D (2 Dice)
AGI: Rank B (4 Dice)
VIT: Rank D (2 Dice)
CHT: Rank C (3 Dice)
Weak: Slash, Elec
Resist: Wind, Fire

Skills: [Devour] : Blunt melee strike that heals based on damage done.
[Pulinpa] : Attempts to confuse target enemy.
[Agi] : Magic Fire attack

Please submit a plan.
You have TWO major decisions.

First is PERSONA POOL.
You have 3 SLOTS
Choose 3 out of your 4 PERSONAs to use. This cannot be changed for the entire duration of the fight, this represents what Personas you have available.
Check PERSONA Compendium for details.

[ ] LIST THREE PERSONAS

---

Second is the actual combat plan. Gwen will follow commands.

Prebuilt Plans:

[ ] Act Naturally
>Gwen will focus on Nadja and attempt to kill her.
>QM will pick a random Persona and start attacking Vivian.

[ ] Prioritize Support
>You and Gwen will prioritize support moves and status effects.
>QM will pick a Persona with a status move.

[ ] Switch targets.
>You and Gwen will swap targets.
>QM will pick a random Persona and start attacking Nadja.

[ ] Direct Commands
Pick TWO Skills (or choose to attack without a Persona to save on SP)
Designate the target of each attack.
If you pick skills from Two different Personas you assume the weakness for the scene of both Personas (this is the cost of using multiple Persona in one turn)

[ ] Write-in (1D minimum, more if trying to cram too many actions into one turn)
For write-in plans if I can justify giving ADVANTAGE I will give it. More if you try to do something very cool or narratively interesting.
Be as detailed or vague as you want.
If you just want to specify targets of attacks pick DIRECT COMMANDS then. Consider this a beefed up version of DIRECT COMMANDS. This is for Gaia attacking Floatation Rings level of nonsense.

AN: This is the first combat encounter you can lose, and I'm trying to iron out the kinks in the mechanics as things go. Things may change as I figure out balance. I don't want the fight to last a ton of chapters though (barring setpiece encounters) so I will try to wrap things up quick.

 

[afreaknamedpete]

​

Gwen
World of Origin: Aincrad
Current World: Alfheim
Race: Sylph
Persona: Daji (DEVIL Arcana)

Derived Statistics (how the quest calculates success and failure)
HP : 5/5
SP : 8/8

Notable Equipment: «Blossom Pastiche»: +1 AGI, +1 CHT. Increases likelihood of being targeted by OBERON.
«Mjölnir»: Unlocks special attacks.

Stats
STR: Rank B (4 Dice)
MAG: Rank D (2 Dice)
AGI: Rank A (5 Dice)
VIT: Rank D (2 Dice)
CHT: Rank B (4 Dice)
Weak: Slash, Elec
Resist: Wind, Fire

Skills (Persona):
Devour: Blunt melee strike that heals based on damage done. [1 SP]
Pulinpa: Attempts to confuse target enemy.
Agi: Magic Fire attack
Agilao: Magic Fire attack that strikes with +1 ADVANTAGE. [1 SP]

Skills (Special):
Toss Health: Heals target ally 2HP. [3 charges per encounter]
Toss Junk: Pull from your bag of tricks. Attacks a single target twice in one turn with attacks of random elements (includes physical). Uses MAG if the element is elemental, using STR if the element is physical. [2 SP]
Toss Mjölnir: You are not worthy. But that doesn't stop you from throwing the damn thing. BLUNT/ELEC single target attack that uses effective STR of Rank S (6 Dice). [2 SP]

Skills (Combination):
Bronze Toaster: Coat your Hammer in flames and cast it into the sky. Food tastes better when it's cooked! BLUNT/FIRE single target attack that uses effective STR of Rank S (6 Dice). Makes target WEAK to BLUNT. [4 SP]

Passive:
Runic Interception: Any enemy that wishes to use a MAG based attack must compete with your AGI roll. If you roll OVER the enemy MAG roll (ties resolve in favor of the enemy) the spell does not cast, costing the enemy caster their turn. [1 SP per interception attempt. May freely toggle on and off at no action cost]

Spoiler: 14.DEVIL - Daji

Fifty eunuchs and fifty palace maidens are selected.
Take off all their clothing, tie a eunuch to a maiden to make fifty pairs
and let them frolic in the Wine Pool and the Meat Forest.
They are to play games like foot races or swimming.
They are to drink the wine from the pool and eat the meat from the trees.
They must get drunk and have fun.
At sunset when we are tired of watching them, each day a few pairs will be beaten to a pulp and stored in the new pulp trough.
Then new ones will take their place.
-Investiture of the Gods, by Xu Zhonglin

BACKGROUND
Su Daji was a maiden possessed by a thousand-year fox spirit in the goddess Nuwa's plot to punish King Zhou for lusting after the divine.
Known for her love of torture, Daji's beauty and depravity drag King Zhou further and further from the path of righteousness.
Her many inventions include a Bronze Toaster that cooks victims alive, and the Wine Forest and Meat Forest, created to appease her desire for human meat seasoned in alcohol.
While ultimately a servant of Nuwa, Daji was instructed to not harm others in her punishment of King Zhou. Her flagrant disregard for this order leads Nuwa to lend her no aid when she is ultimately captured and exorcised.
Origin: Investiture of the Gods

---

Alfheim Online Party Members
​

Rain
World of Origin: Aincrad
Current World: Alfheim
Race: Leprechaun

Derived Statistics (how the quest calculates success and failure)
HP : 8/8
SP : 6/6

Stats
STR: Rank C (3 Dice)
MAG: Rank C (3 Dice)
AGI: Rank B (4 Dice)
VIT: Rank A (5 Dice)
CHT: Rank S (6 Dice)
Weak: Wind, Fire
Resist: Blunt, Elec

Skills (Leprechaun):
Melee: Slash Physical Attack.
Lightning Arrow: Elec Magic Attack.
Resist Element: Declare a non physical element. Eliminates a single party member weakness against that element for 3 ROUNDS. [1 SP]
Enhance Element: Makakaja effect on a single party member. Lasts for 5 ROUNDS. [2 SP]

Skills (Special):
Dual Blade Assault: Perform two SLASH attacks in a single action. [1 SP]
Faux-Vorpal Strike: Perform a PIERCE/SLASH attack. Resolves using CHT stat. [1 SP]
«Thousand Sword Rain»: Widespread Pierce Attack. Rolls CHT to attack. Always targets AGI. Can only cast once per turn, but once cast the spell automatically recasts for 1SP at the start of the next turn, and does not expend Rain's action. [2 SP activation, 1 SP drain per turn]
Rain may expend an action to 'guide' the attack towards a single target, turning it into a Pierce Attack that is made with +2 ADVANTAGE.

Passive:
Faux-Once More!: Once per turn, upon striking a weakness, perform a free Melee or Lightning Arrow on the same target. Does not consume or benefit from SMIRK.

​

Yuuki
World of Origin: Serene Garden
Current World: Alfheim
Race: Imp

Derived Statistics (how the quest calculates success and failure)
HP : 7/7
SP : 8/8

Stats
STR: Rank SS (7 Dice)
MAG: Rank C (3 Dice)
AGI: Rank SS (7 Dice)
VIT: Rank C (3 Dice)
CHT: Rank B (4 Dice)
Weak: Bless, Blunt
Resist: Slash, Curse

Skills (Imp):
Advanced Melee: Slash/Pierce Physical Attack.
Sledgehammer: Blunt Physical Attack. If damage is dealt, enemy has DISADVANTAGE on their next offensive roll. [1 SP]
Ali Dance: Augments your evasion ability for 3 ROUNDS. Taunts enemy (preferentially attacks Yuuki, DISADVANTAGE when striking other targets). [2 SP]

Skills (Special):
«Flashing Penetrator»: Rolls only HALF of your STR Dice (rounded up), PIERCE damage. Guarantees +1 ADVANTAGE for next strike even if missing. [1 SP]
«Mother's Rosario» (Setup): Slash Physical Attack. Places a MARK on enemy if ANY damage is done from this skill.
«Mother's Rosario» (Finish): Pierce Physical Attack. If an enemy is MARKED and ANY damage is done from this skill, perform 4 points of ALMIGHTY damage. [3 SP]

Skills (Incarnate)
«Incarnate: Sleeping Shinobi»: A flash of green and a blade in the darkness. Slash Sword Skill, utilizing Yuuki's stats. An additional Slash Sword Skill AND an additional Blunt Sword Skill utilizing STR A (5 Dice) attack are simultaneously made on your target - these additional two attacks ignore any current ADVANTAGE/DISADVANTAGE bonuses you currently have. [2 SP, once per combat]
When the walls of the world come crumbling down, this skill changes.

«Incarnate: Sleeping Maiden»: You better half, always watching, always supporting. Heals Yuuki 4 HP and provides ADVANTAGE to VIT rolls. [Automatic upon health < 50%, once per combat]
When the walls of the world come crumbling down, this skill changes.

Passive:
Spell Blast: Enter a special defensive stance. You may use your STR dice to defend against MAG attacks. Can toggle or disable as a free action, when active you cannot utilize «Flashing Penetrator» or «Mother's Rosario».

​

Cayna
World of Origin: Serene Garden
Current World: Alfheim
Race: Sylph

Derived Statistics (how the quest calculates success and failure)
HP : 6/6
SP : 12/12

Stats
STR: Rank A (5 Dice)
MAG: Rank A (5 Dice)
AGI: Rank A (5 Dice)
VIT: Rank A (5 Dice)
CHT: Rank A (5 Dice)
Weak: Elec, Pierce
Resist: Wind, Ice

Skills (Sylph):
Skill Master: Declare any physical element and perform a Physical Attack.
Meta-Magic: Declare any magic single element (including Bless/Curse) and perform a Magic Attack.
Fairy Blessing: Mimics the effect of any single target -Kaja spell. Lasts 3 ROUNDS.
Golden Hoop Staff: Widespread Blunt/Elec Physical strike. [1 SP]
Isaz Armlet: Pierce/Ice Physical strike with +1 ADVANTAGE. [1 SP]

Skills (Special):
Catastrophe: Widespread Magic that strikes four times with each cardinal element (WIND/ELEC/FIRE/ICE). Requires a one turn charge, whereby Cayna will attract enemy attention. [5 SP]
«Witch of the Silver Ring»: Once deployed the «Silver Ring» can only be deactivated via death, retreat or running out of SP. Activation takes 1 round. [2 SP consumed per round starting the turn after activation.]
>MAX and CURRENT HP increases by 4
>ADVANTAGE to all VIT rolls
>Gain one free usage of Meta-Magic every round.

​

Shiroe
World of Origin: Elder Tale
Current World: Alfheim
Race: Spriggan

Special Equipment: «Yggdrasil Branch», can freely heal targets by 1 HP.

Derived Statistics (how the quest calculates success and failure)
HP : 4/4
SP : 6/6

Stats
STR: Rank D (2 Dice)
MAG: Rank C (3 Dice)
AGI: Rank D (2 Dice)
VIT: Rank D (2 Dice)
CHT: Rank S (6 Dice)
Weak: All Physical
Resist: Curse, Bless

NAVI: Shiroe is a Navigator, and functions from the backline. He is immune to all attacks UNLESS an opponent spends a turn explicitly targeting him (your foe is chasing down your navigator, etc).

Skills (Spriggan):
Electrical Fuzz: Give enemy DISADVANTAGE on next MAG or STR roll.
Astral Bind: Give enemy DISADVANTAGE on next AGI roll.
Augmentation: Give ally ADVANTAGE on next STR or VIT roll.
Astro Hypno: Attempts to put enemy to Sleep. Even if successful will only last 1 ROUND. [1 SP]
Shadow Arrow: Curse magic attack.
Yggdrasil Wind: Heal ally by 1 HP.
Mana Channeling: All SP counts of the party are averaged. (QM will add up the SP of all conscious party members, divide, then redistribute equally. Any spillover goes to Lux) [2SP, subtracted prior to averaging]

Passive:
Full Control Encounter: Increases the frequency and accuracy of QM clues on enemy actions and intents so long as Shiroe remains undistracted. Shiroe gains additional actions equal to the current TURN/CHAPTER count. (ie, If you're on the 3rd chapter of the encounter, Shiroe can act an additional 3 times)

«Incarnate: Enchanter»: When the walls of the world come crumbling down, this skill unlocks.

Spoiler: Incarnation Forms

​

Yuuki
World of Origin: Asuka Empire
Current World: Alfheim
Race: Human
Class: Samurai Level 80

HP : 8/8
SP : 6/6

Passive:
«Harae»( Purification) : The party member with the lowest health is healed 2 HP at the end of the chapter.
«Uchikaeshi»( Return Blow) : Yuuki automatically uses her STR dice when rolling for defense.
«Kawarami»( Replacement) : Once per chapter, Yuuki can intercede on behalf of an ally if they are about to be hit with an attack they are weak to or if the attack would cause them to die.

Stats
STR: Rank SS (7 Dice)
MAG: Rank C (3 Dice)
AGI: Rank SS (7 Dice)
VIT: Rank C (3 Dice)
CHT: Rank B (4 Dice)
Weak: Pierce, Ice
Resist: Slash, Curse, Bless

Skills:
Suminagashi( Flowing Ink) : Slash physical attack.
Akezuki( Scarlet Moon) : Perform a Slash physical attack and a Pierce physical attack in one action. [2 SP]
Haraiuchi( Purifying Strike) : Perform a Bless Magic attack and a Blunt physical attack in one action. Heal yourself by 2 HP. [2 SP]
Suminagi( Quick Draw) : Pierce Physical attack. Grants automatic ADVANTAGE on the next attack. [2 SP]

Mother's Rosario: Roll a Slash physical attack. If you hit, instead of rolling for damage, deal 5 Points of ALMIGHTY Damage. [4 SP]

​

Shiroe
World of Origin: Elder Tale
Current World: Alfheim
Race: Half-Elf
Class: Enchanter Level 90

Special Equipment:
«White Staff of the Wings of Ruin»: Increases Max SP +10. By doubling SP costs, single target spells can be spread to all viable targets.
«Sacred Robe of the Stars»: Unlocks bonus effects when casting ASTRAL class magic. Regenerates 4 SP per TURN/CHAPTER.

Stats
HP : 7/7
SP : 20/20

Stats
STR: Rank D (2 Dice)
MAG: Rank C (3 Dice)
AGI: Rank B (4 Dice)
VIT: Rank B (4 Dice)
CHT: Rank S (6 Dice)
Weak: All Physical
Resist: Curse, Bless


Skills (all skills can be upcast to WIDESPREAD at DOUBLE SP cost):
Advanced Mana Channeling: All allies gain 2 SP, then, all SP counts of the party are averaged. (QM will add up the SP of all conscious party members, divide, then redistribute equally. Any spillover goes to Lux). [Free]

Thorn Bind Hostage: Roll CHT to inflict BIND on your opponent (cannot roll AGI). So long as the opponent remains bound, the enemy takes 1 point of ALMIGHTY damage every time they are attacked, up to 5 hits in total. [4 SP]

Singularity: Automatically, without a roll, forces enemy to suffer one degree of DISADVANTAGE on their next defensive roll. [3 SP]

Nightmare Sphere: Roll CHT to inflict SLEEP and attempt to debuff AGI on a single target. [3 SP]

Infinity Force: Target ally, for the next TWO actions, has all SP costs reduced to 0. They become exhausted, gaining DISADVANTAGE to AGI and STR for 2 Actions after this effect resolves. [4 SP]

Buff Rotation: Select TWO STATS and ONE TARGET. Those stats are buffed (+2 Dice) for 3 PHASES/ACTIONS. [4 SP]

Passive:
«Full Control Encounter»: ONCE per PHASE, so long as Shiroe can act, he automatically inflicts enemies with DISADVANTAGE for offensive actions, for free, when appropriate. Shiroe will expend this on the attack with the most dice. Every time this occurs, he loses [1 SP]. [Deactivates when below 6 SP]

«The World in 30 Seconds»: Enemy stats and abilities are revealed to you.

 

[afreaknamedpete]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[X] Persona pool
-[X] Shakuntala
-[X] Havfrue
-[X] Pūtanā

[X] Direct Commands
-[X]Shakuntala: Marin Karin on Silky
-[X]Shakuntala: Agi on Vivian

Gwen will be ACTING FREELY

System Call: Generate Fuliminant Element. Discharge.​

<NOW DIE!>

The fairy in front of you is translucent, but not entirely transparent— a shape akin to living water coalesced into a form of a woman. A living embodiment of the lake, holding an unadorned blade in her lap. Did she intend on drawing it? You've had plenty of experience facing swordsmen and something tells you the blade is more ornamental than functional. You don't have time to wonder what the sword is for, because the lightning strikes true.

It's too late to dodge: It shoots like a bolt to your head, a decapitating strike right at the start. You raise your arms in guard as your soul coalesces around you. Your body feels warm...

​

System Call: Incarnate PERSONA [Shakuntala]. ReferenceID:02.Droit​

A fine silk dress, gifted by the king himself when he professed his love. Its fabric clings to every inch of your soul, so unlike the cloth robe you typically wore in the temple. As you are now, surrounded by love, not even the fury of Indra could hope to harm you.

And with that alien thought penetrating your mind you look up to behold your soul, your Persona. A woman of rags now laden in silk, radiating divine beauty. You smile. You feel invincible, beyond death itself. The fairy before you is no threat, her curses akin to casting stones at Lord Shiva. "Lady of the Lake, this one has brought disgrace to mine exalted father, for I have neglected to show you due hospitality. You have traveled so far, and the journey must have been tiring. Allow me to offer you due rest—"

The Vivian interrupts you with a wave of her hand and another crackle of lightning bolts. Her hair flies wildly about her face, eyes nothing more than reflections of clear water as another bolt of fury dissipates against your robes.

<WHY WON'T YOU DIE!?>

"—but I beg of thee patience, for it is my duty to welcome your companion. As you can no doubt see, I lack the sisters needed to care for a guest of your caliber. But worry, not, for I shall call in another assistant to service you in my stead."

System Call: Requesting External Override of Core Protection. Initiate Stage 1 Synthesis Ritual. Authorization: [ADMINISTRATOR][LUX]
System Call: Requesting External Override of Core Protection. Initiate Sleep Mode. Authorization: [ADMINISTRATOR][OBERON] ​

Your vision begins to darken. You meet the gaze of the silent fairy, far in the back. She's dressed as a simple housemaid, eyes clothed, cradling magic in her arms. The Silky meets your gaze, eye to closed eye. You focus your soul on her as she focuses on you.

You've augmented your body. You've created magic. But now? You're going to try something different.
Your vision is growing more and more black. A side effect of what you're attempting to do? No matter, even with your eyes closed this should work.

It's a form of self-hypnosis, no, world hypnosis. Remember your name, remember the shape of the soul.
You are Lux. You are Hiyori.

But in this instance in time you are Shakuntala. Mother of heroes, daughter of Asparas, wife of a King. A servant, daughter of a hermit, you were nobody and would become nobody.

But still, even still.
Even clad in barken robes.
Even with arms sore with the weight of the water jug.
Even with feet stewed in mud.

Your beauty ensnared kings.

You feel an overwhelming desire to rest, to lay down your arms and rest. Oh, it was soon time for your journey, you were so tired. You bore the King's son, a great hero in the making, within your body. You remember your promise to the King, he would recognize you as his legal wife and make you Queen of the realm. Oh... but that sage... no. No need to worry. So long as you have the ring he gave you, surely he would recognize you, surely...

"LUX WHAT THE FUCK, STOP DAYDREAMING!"

It's all you can do to dive out of the incoming path of your foe, the Vivian having surrendered her magic assault and now resorting to grappling. A burst of speed from your wings as you and your Persona escape the grasping liquid arms that were about to ensnare you. Shit, did that damn Shadow just try to put you to sleep!?

You turn to look at Gwen, who casually removes her blade from the belly of the screaming goblin child in a spray of shadow and red pixels as she glances at you in concern. While she contemptuously throws the remains down a look of worry crosses her face. "You alright Lux?"

"Fine..." you manage to whisper. Tch, your enemies could do tricks similar to you, it seems. Did it at least work?

<HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU ROB ME OF LORD OBERON!?> screams the Silky, her calm demeanor replaced with screams of hysteria. <I CANNOT REMEMBER HIS FACE! I CANNOT REMEMBER HIS GLORY! YOU HARLOT, WITCH! TO TRY AND REPLACE HIS PLACE IN MY HEART WITH YOUR LOWLY SELF! HAVE YOU NO SHAME, TO TEMPT ME SO!?>

Okay. Guess it didn't work after all.

"Oh chill out," snarks Gwen behind you. "You're like... sub-100 at best. If OBERON held a popularity poll you wouldn't even be included in the candidates. Like seriously, your ideal form is a fucking maid and not even the French kind!"

<SHUT UP SHUT UP!> Screams the Silky, but shaking off your attack has clearly left it dazed and unable to fight back.

Spoiler: Combat Results

Vivian uses ZIO > Lux. Attack with DISADVANTAGE.
5, 5, 3 = 0 Successes. Automatic Failure.

Nadja uses BITE > Gwen.
4, 2, 4 = 0 Successes. Automatic Failure.

Gwen uses MELEE > Nadja.
4, 3, 4, 5 = 1 Success.

Nadja defends.
1, 4 = 0 Success.

Lux uses MARIN KARIN > Silky. Attack with ADVANTAGE (attempting to brainwash someone already brainwashed)
Silky uses DORMINA > Lux.
Opposed CHT roll. Winner gets affected by turn = degree of success.
Lux: 1, 3, 3, 5, 3 = 1 Success.
Silky: 4, 5, 3 = 1 Success.

Tie. Both targets are HIT. Both targets will attempt to resist at DC1.

Lux Resist (no advantage on resist, beat DC 1) = 6, 3, 5, 2, 5 = 3 Success.
Silky Resist (beat DC1) = 4, 6, 6 = 2 Success.

RESULT: Nadja was damaged.
No other changes.

"Lux, look sharp." says Gwen. "At least we evened up the score. A strange feeling, usually I'm on the side that outnumbers instead of getting outnumbered. Gonna try that trick again?"

"It didn't work as planned."

"Eh, that isn't anything new. Just think of it like... hunting. Sometimes the first strike doesn't go as planned. 'Sides, desperation is the best spice. Now who's next...?" Gwen glances at the targets, licking her lips.

If tricks weren't working then time to resort to pure brute force. You know this feeling, no need to use strange runes or act within the confines of the ALO magic system when you can act directly on the system itself. You weren't casting fire, you were going to create it.

"Eeep! What, still alive you little shit stain?"

A spray of pixels and a grunt of annoyance accompany Gwen's interruption. While you were distracted casting, the little gremlin, the Nadja, managed to clamber up the hill and plant its teeth straight into Gwen's arm, drawing minimal blood as the teeth are stopped by her armband.

"Tch, persistent little one aren't you? Was gonna save you for dessert but since you're so eager!"

The creature squeaks as it fruitlessly tries to suck away at her life. Gwen grimaces, before throwing her arm up into the air, the Nadja still hanging on by its teeth.

What happens next is so gruesome even your enemies were too shocked to move. Gwen's Persona just starts... carving. Flesh is grabbed by the mouthful and torn free, dripping down onto the ground below them in wet, glistening chunks. Entrails and bones stick out of the Nadja, rather unlike the inky shadow you were expecting. It was such an odd scene, while in the hands of Gwen's persona it was meat, sinew and blood, but as soon as it dropped some global blur suddenly applied as the giblets turned into simple red pixels before dissolving into shadow. The whole thing was a heavily censored execution.

"What? Don't look at me like that, I can't eat pixels so my Persona just... made it into meat. Makes sense to me." says Gwen while she sticks her tongue out, catching drops blood on it before it fully dissolves. "Tastes sweet. Kinda weird but I like it."

Underneath the shower of blood the Nadja is rapidly dissolving to reveal a young girl, unconscious but HP meter still in the green as she rolls down the hill. She too rapidly dissolves - thankfully not the explosion of pixels that represents a player's death, but with the fade-out effect that accompanied a player log out. There were SAO players trapped in those shadows.

<YOU MONSTERS!> Sscreams the Vivian in hysteria. <LORD OBERON WILL HEAR OF YOUR PERVERSIO—ARGGGGHH!>

"If you could remain silent!" you snap, the soul of Shakuntala manifesting her annoyance. "She is trying to enjoy her meal. Now kindly burn!"

System Call: Generate Thermal Element. Discharge.​

A scream emanates from your foe alongside the sound of boiling water. The liquid flesh flash boils as the Lady of the Lake melts, her unadorned sword turning red hot before being flung aside. Her skin shrivels in a blaze of orange flame that you materialize inside her body, cooking her from the inside out. In one final roar of pain the Vivian explodes, the hilltop suddenly smeared with steam and shadow as the cloud blocks your view of your opponents.

Spoiler: Combat Results

Lux uses AGI > Vivian. Attack with ADVANTAGE (weakness)
6, 2, 2, 5 = 2 Success.

Vivian attempts to dodge.
1, 3 = 0 Success.

Gwen uses MELEE > Nadja.
2, 6, 5, 5 = 3 Success.

Nadja defends
5, 2 = 1 Success.

Nadja is deceased!
Vivian is on the verge of death!

"That was easy," mutters Gwen, looking over cloud. Then she pauses. "...you're sure she's dead?"

You step forward, guard raised. Tracking enemies was your forte, and you had the «Bloodhound» skill to show for it, grinded from the hours you spent stalking targets for Laughing Coffin. It was said that in SAO the only way to max out a stat, given the absurdly high EXP requirements, was to breathe it, live it, to use the skill every hour of every day starting from the launch itself.

«Bloodhound» wasn't maxed, but it was damn near close. Mechanically, outside of a sixth sense, it provided one very simple benefit. Once studied, you can track a target on your map even if they weren't on your friend list, provided they didn't teleport or you didn't lose track of them for longer than 10 minutes. You knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Vivian was still alive.

But there was one thing that was confusing you. The Vivian was alive, but the Silky? The one who shrugged off your charm attempt? Gone.

"Gwen, focus. That Vivian's up to something."

The steam dissipates off the hilltop. As expected the Silky was gone, a motionless SAO player avatar of an older woman in default starting town gear lying on the grass. She too fades away, some old SAO code likely recognizing her as a player and appropriately removing her from the world.

<hehehe... HAHAHAHA! DID YOU SEE THAT LORD OBERON!?>

You turn towards the voice, seeing the source of it. The Vivian was damaged and half dead, but was still managing an impressive cackle. Beyond her shredded body, a font of power gathers, pooling into her hands from the fading bodies of her companions. A whirlwind of shadow covered her, no... covered the sword she was holding. Standing tall, holding the red hot blade in both hands, steam still searing out of her palms the Vivian laughs and prays in equal measure.

<SHE BROKE YOUR WORD, YOUR LAW! DID YOU NOT HEAR HER? SHE, EVEN IF BRIEFLY, LOVED ANOTHER! SHE BETRAYED YOU, LORD OBERON, SHE NO LONGER DESERVES TO STAND IN YOUR RADIANCE!>

"Uh, so they killed each other? Okay then?" asks Gwen, looking as confused as you were.

The Vivian points her sword, now firmly grasped in her hand, straight at Gwen's head. And as she does so, a black circle forms around her, growing larger and darker as her words become louder.

<YOU WHO DARE INSULT AND CASTIGATE YOUR GOD! IN THE NAME OF MY LOVE I SHALL BRING YOU BEFORE MY LORD TO RECEIVE YOUR PUNISHMENT!>

The shadows coalesce around the blade as it points to you next.

<AND YOU! YOU FOUL TEMPTRESS! YOU HAVE ROBBED LORD OBERON NOT ONLY LADY GWENDOLYN BUT TWO MORE OF HIS FAIR CONSORTS! TO YOU I GRANT ONLY DEATH!>

Your gaze locks onto the dark mass hovering above the sword. It swirls faster and faster, forming into a vortex of darkness. What else would be born from this unholy ritual?

<I LOVE YOU LORD OBERON! I ADORE YOU!>

A small, glowing blue ball of light appears within the swirling shadow.

<GRANT ME YOUR BLESSING! THE LAW OF OBERON!>

System Call: Generate Object. ID: [Excalibur]
System Call: Show CharGen Menu.
System Call: Debug mode on. Adding NPC data to CharGen.
System Call: Set ID: Category:[NPC/Quest] Quest Chain:[Calibur] NPC ID:[Urðr]​

A massive explosion of magic occurs, shattering the hilltop. The earth splits and collapses inwards. Your vision goes white and you find yourself flying through space, wings catching the wind and arresting your momentum in the sky. Even through the dust and shadow, you can see it, clear as day, a sword of pure radiant gold adorned with emeralds. Its light was so blinding you could scarcely stand to look at it even through the cover of the dust explosion.

​

"What the- what happened? Are you okay, Gwen?"

"Yeah... guess so. But shit, I recognize that sword..." she says as she grasps her invisible flight controller, just barely managing to stay upright in the air. You have to be careful, Gwen never really got the hang of uncontrolled flight yet. "I... think I recognize the design. I saw it on a forum..."

"A forum!? Gwen you've been out of a coma for only like four days!"

"Eh, I get bored easily! 'Sides, I think every ALO player has heard of that weapon. It's even featured in the game ads. It's called—"

<By the light of Excalibur, I Urðr the «Queen of the Lake» shall smite you in the name of Lord Oberon.>
The commanding voice of your foe, firm and resolute, echoes across the shattered hill.

​

She's completely changed. The pale blue skin of the Vivian is nowhere to be seen, instead, a Fairy Queen with long blonde hair wearing an ornate dress rises from the dust of the hilltop, sword pointing in the direction of you and Gwen. You don't see any wings, her bare feet dangle from her robes while rings of magic encircle her neck. It appears your enemy floats via sheer magical levitation, the picture of a goddess who moves as she pleases instead of a fairy forced to use wings. What's stranger is her demeanor, gone were there screams and pleas of the foes you had just fought, her eyes are instead cold, distant, and judging.

You've fought Leafa enough to know how a skilled swordsman holds their weapon, her form didn't even deserve the name of a stance.

Instead «Excalibur» was held in her open palm, gripped to her hand not by fingers but by pure magic force. The only point of contact between her sword and her hand was the pommel, her pose more reminiscent of a caster readying a spell than a swordswoman about to strike.

"You think Oberon has a type? First, it was clones of «The Flash», then it was monster girls, and now it's just a generic elf queen."

"I was hoping she'd go back to «The Flash». I've always wanted to kick her ass."

Gwen and you ready your weapons as a smirk graces your face. Fancy glowing sword bullshit, so what? You were utterly unharmed and the enemy was already resorting to their trump card.

With an imperceptible shift in her arm, your enemy points her blade at Gwen.

<Now die.>

Spoiler: PLAN PHASE

TACTICAL INFORMATION:
Vivian has initiated Fusion with Silky! Vivian has transformed into Urðr.
You are in combat with ONE SHADOW. It has multiple actions per turn!
Affinities may or may not have changed.
For striking a critical blow Gwen is under the effects of SMIRK. (+1 Advantage for next attack)
For striking a weakness Lux is under the effects of SMIRK. (+1 Advantage for next attack)
Urðr plans on attacking Gwen first.

Lux:
HP : 6/6
SP : 8/10

STR: Rank C (3 Dice)
MAG: Rank D (2 Dice)
AGI: Rank C (3 Dice)
VIT: Rank D (2 Dice)
CHT: Rank D (2 Dice)

Gwen:
HP : 4/4
SP : 8/10

*For simplicity party member statistics include their Persona automatically instead of tracking them separately since they do not possess the wild card.
STR: Rank B (4 Dice)
MAG: Rank D (2 Dice)
AGI: Rank B (4 Dice)
VIT: Rank D (2 Dice)
CHT: Rank C (3 Dice)
Weak: Slash, Elec
Resist: Wind, Fire

Skills: [Devour] : Blunt melee strike that heals based on damage done.
[Pulinpa] : Attempts to confuse target enemy.
[Agi] : Magic Fire attack

---

Next phase consists of 3 ACTIONS.

[ ] Rinse and Repeat
>Lux will attempt Marin Karin > Agi > Agi
>Gwen will attempt Devour > Devour > Devour; using normal Melee if at max health

[ ] Bronze Toaster
>Agi x 6

[ ] Affinity Screen
>Gwen Agi > Pulinpa > Devour
>Lux switches to Havfrue, Bufu > Garu > Exploit Weakness if capable otherwise default to Garu

[ ] Switch targets.
>You will take the first hit for Gwen and attempt to take all hits you can for Gwen.
>Lux Poisma > Collapse > Collapse
>Gwen will attempt Devour > Devour > Devour; using normal Melee if at max health

[ ] Direct Commands
Pick THREE Skills (or choose to attack without a Persona to save on SP)
Designate the target of each attack.
If you pick skills from Two different Personas you assume the weakness for the scene of both Personas (this is the cost of using multiple Persona in one turn)

[ ] Write-in (1D minimum, more if trying to cram too many actions into one turn)
For write-in plans if I can justify giving ADVANTAGE I will give it. More if you try to do something very cool or narratively interesting.
Be as detailed or vague as you want.
If you just want to specify targets of attacks pick DIRECT COMMANDS then. Consider this a beefed up version of DIRECT COMMANDS. This is for Gaia attacking Floatation Rings level of nonsense.

AN: Decided to give rolz a try and it's actually surprisingly feature-rich. Link is in character sheet.

 

[afreaknamedpete]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[X] Direct Commands
-[X] Lux: Eiha > Bufu > Garu
--[X] If one hits weakness, reuse it.
-[X] Gwen: Agi > Devour > Devour
--[X] If weak to fire: Agi > Devour > Agi

Holy Blade «Excalibur», the fabled sword of King Arthur, a fitting name for the greatest weapon in all of ALO. Do the terms original or replica even have any meaning in a VRMMO? Even if it was a unique object, there wasn't anything stopping a GM from simply generating another copy of it from some console.

It's fitting that a Shadow modeled after the Lady of the Lake would wield such a weapon, but what confused you was the elf queen in front of you. Her name was Urðr, a Norn from Norse Mythology, a fact you osmosed from a lifetime of fantasy video games. Was this some kind of quest NPC or something? She didn't look like a monster.

As a side effect of your high «Search» skill you had a sixth sense for value and threat detection. The cursor of your enemy in your user interface changed colors based on the game's prediction of its strength vs your avatar, in SAO anything deeper than a light red was an ominous warning that the monster needed to be avoided. Outside of the clearers, fighting in SAO was heavily discouraged unless you had a minimum of a 5-level advantage, preferably 10, so your only experience fighting monsters was with yellow-cursor mobs that vastly under levelled you.

This enemy, this Urðr was a deep crimson. It was simply ALO warning you that this enemy was beyond you.

"Hey Lux?" asks Gwen as she flounders in the air. "Think maybe we can take this fight to the ground? I'm, uh, a sitting duck up here."

Before you can respond «Excalibur» rockets forward, not to slash as you had expected, but to pierce. A flying blade that slices through the air with a whistle of wind, leaving a trail of light in its wake.

"Oh shit!" screams Gwen while her wings blink out in sheer panic. Your friend falls from the sky, going into a tailspin while gravity takes hold, but the drop causes the sword to miss. The sudden dodge aside, seeing Gwen fall sends you hurtling toward your friend, arms wide to catch her. If you'd done nothing but charge full speed ahead, the pair of you would have slammed together. Instead, you aim for a sweep, flying below Gwen to catch her falling body in your outstretched arms.

"Gwen!" you yell in relief. "You should really learn how to fly!"

"Hey, they didn't have this kind of stuff in SAO, cut me some slack! Now lemme go, I'm gonna get the last hit on this bitch!" Gwen struggles out your grip, wings outstretched and readying a charge.

"Gwen, wait, we can fight at range! No need to get close!"

"In case you couldn't tell the sword is flying right now! Getting close to the boss monster is the best option with it out of her hands, and it's not like Kunai will do enough damage to actually hurt a sword!"

"No, damn it, I don't mean throw a knife at it! Magic, you can do magic now!"

You look down at Urðr who is already charging some manner of spell in her hands. You see the strategy, a simple mage and warrior combination— only the mage was some kind of NPC god avatar and the warrior was a telekinetic sword being blasted around the arena.

"Magic!?" asks Gwen. "That bullshit where you have to scream mumbo jumbo while a giant curtain of words gives away your position? That magic?"

"No, not ALO's shitty in-game magic! Look, just follow my lead."

It's an extremely strange sensation. The influence of Shakuntala fades rapidly from your mind, when using the abilities of your Persona you feel the weight of their legend infusing your attacks, your very avatar. It wasn't anything like changing clothes, popping in a different game cartridge, or equipping a new item. It was... changing the paradigm, your perception... your cognition. Of yourself, of the world.

This shift would be easier than most, though the two couldn't be further apart in temperament they shared the same mythology. This was the basis of all Persona shifting, go back far enough, everything was connected. Figures melt into legends who in turn melt into archetypes. Your mind reaches within and without, to the sea of souls.

In the end, every myth, and every story came from but one source: from the human who looked at their shadow and began to wonder.

"Pūtanā!"

System Call: Incarnate PERSONA [Pūtanā]. ReferenceID:12.Droit
​

Your soul reshapes, the cursed Rakshasa coalesces around the princess, engulfing and then replacing her. You feel the curse of her victims, the poison upon every inch of her body, and her overwhelming desire to bring misery upon the world.

Hmph. Older than your usual targets, but you've had slim pickings of late. The false goddess below you is gathering blinding light into her hands - but what had you to fear from such a pathetic light show? You who bore witness to the light of the supersoul?

You refuse to enter reincarnation head bowed down and begging for mercy. You will survive, you will live, you will preserve for you are Rakshasa! And a Rakshasa hungers eternal!

System Call: Generate Umbral Element. Discharge. ​

Urðr's shadow, cast long by the brilliant light of the goddess' spell, begins to ripple. It was spread against the backdrop of the «World Tree», so thin as to be invisible, but with your declaration, it thickens and deepens. Indeed all shadows, yours, Gwens, even the looming shadow of the «World Tree» thicken as primordial darkness blasts forward from your fingers, bearing a curse of eternal hunger.

"Huh. Alright, I think I get it..." says Gwen as she draws a Kunai from her holster. Her Persona cups its bloodstained hands around the weapon as the tip glows red hot.

System Call: Generate Thermal Element. Imbue Item. ​

The enemy, so concentrated on casting the spell, didn't even bother dodging. This was the model of some quest-NPC? You suppose it wasn't even programmed to dodge, likely it was just going to vaporize its foes with pure magic force.

Gwen's kunai strikes first, engulfing the Norn in a blaze of fire that is quickly augmented by your curse, blackening the fire and spreading to cover every millimeter of flesh, exposed or not.

As expected, there's no scream of pain, no visible sign of damage. The only indication you did any damage in the first place was the HP meter, and it was dropping hideously fast.

"Wow, this boss is kinda weak, don'tcha think?" Gwen whistles in appreciation. "If all the floor bosses in SAO were this easy, I would've tried Clearing!"

"It's a weak, false god. What more did you expect?"

"I dunno, another phase?"

You briefly shake off the influence of your Persona. "Don't give it any stupid ideas Gwen!"

"Sorry, sorry! Let's try that move again!"

Spoiler: Combat Results

Excalibur PIERCE > Gwen, 5d6e5 = 4 3 3 4 3 → 0 successes against 5 AUTOFAIL, no defense roll.
Urðr charges Makouga.

Gwen casts Agi > Urðr, 2d6e5 = 6⊕ 1 → 1 success against 4 (SMIRK)

Lux casts Eiha > Urðr, 3d6e3 = 2 6⊕ 3⊕ → 2 successes against 3 (SMIRK + WEAKNESS TO CURSE)

Urðr DEFENDS against Agi, 3d6e5 = 2 2 1 → 0 successes against 5
DEFENDS against Eiha, 3d6e5 = 1 3 2 → 0 successes against 5

3 DAMAGE to boss
No protag damage

Lux retains SMIRK!

She thrusts her fist upward, joining your outstretched hand. With each swing of your hands the dark flames grow stronger, until suddenly, in a blast of heat and light, your enemy dispels the flames with a sudden burst of shining radiance. Whatever she was casting just finished, though you took out a fair chunk of her health bar before she could finish the cast. The light was intensifying, a sphere of pure force radiating out of the goddess intent on striking both you and Gwen down in one single strike.

"Gwen! We're gonna—"

And then it bursts. There's a flash and a thunderclap. You feel your soul burn.

It's not pain, the light sears into your Persona and through the conduit of your soul it rends into your body. It felt like... the time mother scolded you for sleeping in and missing school. Just a feeling of simple shame... But unlike the gentle disciple of a parent, this shaming burns, it eats away at the core of your identity. Every bit of sinful knowledge, every unhappy memory, every strong emotion— all reduced to ash.

There's a moment of silence as you float in space, your thoughts scattered across eternity. For those brief few seconds there's no thought, no self. Only an empty shell drifting along, devoid of personality.

Then you remember you are «Lux» and the world comes roaring back. You're collapsed against a pool of rubble, knocked out of the sky by your enemy's magic attack. You're not in pain, the system was still dampening it, but you had the strange numb feeling that always accompanied massive damage. Your HP was about the enter the yellow zone, though you could deal significant damage to the shadow, she could do the same in reverse.

"...Oh crap, are you dead?!" yells Gwen frantically above you.

You blink the dust out of your eye as Gwen, herself injured in the blast but less so than you floats above you in worry.

"It'd be a lot easier if I was," you say.

"I'll take that as a no," repeats Gwen. She looks over her shoulder, eyes locked onto the glowing form of Urðr floating high in the sky. "She has some serious power. But not as much as us combined!" shouts Gwen defiantly.

You nod and stand, stretching your back and call forth your wings.

"Heh, never seen you so fired up Lux. But there's one thing you have to remember, Lux!"

"Yeah?"

"I call dibs on the sw-"

One second Gwen is there and the next she's gone. In a flash of gold and red pixels your friend is impaled on the tip of «Excalibur», the blade careening back in the direction of Urðr, charging another magic spell, this one much smaller than the first blast but certainly faster on the draw.

"GWEN! HOLD ON!"
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH"

You push your wings to full extension. They carry you higher and you reach out towards her flying figure, riding the flying sword impaled into her stomach. The maximum wing speed of fairies was capped and a reflection of your magic power, practice let you fly longer and make tighter turns, but sheer raw speed? That had nothing to do with technique, just pure power.

You were going to lose your friend again. The first time she was in danger, captured at the LC base, your fear prevented you from saving her. You stood by and watched her lose her freedom, all in the name of your cowardice.

This time you won't allow it. Even if it means sacrificing yourself.

"Lux!" cries Gwen desperately, struggling with the blade in her avatar. "THIS ISN'T SAO! I'LL BE FINE EVEN I DIE HERE!"

"I DON'T CARE! I WON'T LET YOU DIE!" you shout in reply. Your wings flutter wildly, buffeted by the wind from behind. You hear her voice fading in and out as she fights against the air resistance.

You know it's irrational but you have to catch her. You can't watch her die in front of you. You can't watch another friend give their life for you. As much as your heart screams for you to run away now, to regroup and fight with a different tactic, you find yourself pushing harder and straining against the wind, trying to beat your way closer.

You've been here before. Your greatest regrets from SAO were all here, concentrated on this stage.

Gwen, who you betrayed.
Laughing Coffin, whose mark still stains you.
And «Rossa», the girl who saved you. The girl you let die, who took the hit for you. The final victim of «Lux».

Your wings shine with the light of the wind as your desire, your wish, your prayer reaches out to the world. You will catch her. You will not see another friend die.

A simple burst of speed. Your wings catch an updraft. A glitch in the system. A miracle.

Whatever the distance between you and Gwen empties in one headache-inducing flash of wind and magic. You break free of the gust, your hand gripping the hilt of Excalibur's shaft. A quick glance reveals the golden-haired Urðr, spell still unfinished, widen her eyes in surprise.

Gwen stares at you dumbfounded. Then she throws you a smile and gives a thumbs up.
"Fuck yeah!" she says. "Now pull the sword out, we're still flying towards it!"

Gwen grits her teeth as your arm pulls. You were gonna beat the shit out of this stupid boss with her own damn weapon!

You require a «One-Handed Sword» level of 700 or higher to equip this weapon.​

For crying out loud, who balances this shit game!? Equipment PREREQUISITES!?

"Gwen!? Did you try pulling it out yourself earlier?"
"Yeah. I mean, who wouldn't? You, uh, happen to have a high «One-Handed Sword» skill do you?"
"NO! You were a higher level than me!"

The sword shifts directions, aiming for a distant tree in a nearby forest, your foe no doubt trying to impale Gwen against it for a clean shot. Gwen was the one that insulted OBERON, it was likely the Shadow took that rather personally.

"LUX! If you can't grab it what about your Persona!?"

That... was a good idea! Your Persona was some kind of hack into the world of ALO, so it could likely bypass equipment rules! You will your soul into your hand, the dark cursed skin of the Rakshasa superimposed with your Sylph avatar. Now PULL!

Error: User possesses insufficient Object Control Authority to equip this weapon.​

"It's not working! Says I don't have enough Object Control Authority!"
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?"
"I DON'T KNOW!"

The sword pulls further and you strain mightily, your arms quivering under the weight. You look over at Gwen, her face contorted with effort, as she tries her hand at your feat, her Persona cupping the front of the sword sticking out of her stomach. Her lips curl into a grimace, shaking violently, but somehow she manages to grab hold.

"It doesn't matter if we can't equip it! Our Personas can touch it, which means we can move it! Drive it to the boss!"

"Gwen!" you cry, bending the blade towards the Norn. "You sure!? The sword's still in you!"

"DOESN'T MATTER! I CAN'T BITE IF I'M NOT CLOSE!"

The two of you strain against the object control of Urðr, the competing forces sending the weapon on a spiraling trajectory aiming toward your enemy. Flashes of discharging spells surround you, but the chaotic movement of the blade makes aiming nearly impossible, the spheres of light emitted by Urðr missing you by leagues.

With a snarl and roar, the first emotion your foe has truly shown since transforming, she gives up on resisting your control. Instead she leans into the maneuver pulling the blade closer on purpose. Was she planning something?

There's a dull thud followed by a jolt, sending you tumbling forwards off the flying sword. Its momentum is halted, the blazing fast sword is immediately arrested in the hands of Urðr by sheer telekinetic force. The sudden deceleration knocks you clear away from her, tumbling through the air behind her.

Gwen, however, was subject to the same forces as you. In a moment of sheer irony the deceleration knocks her forward, her avatar sliding off the tip of «Excalibur» as physics takes its due. Gwen's body rams into the boss with the force of a tiny meat cannonball, slamming headfirst into her foe.

"GOTCHA! Now you're just MEAT!"

System Call: Reactivating feature[Sword Skill]. Category:[Martial Art] ID:[Devour]
​

Gwen's hair goes undone, her twin tails unraveling in the midst of the roaring wind. There's a sharp crack of snapping bone when Gwen's mouth bites straight into the Norn's neck, her Persona shredding flesh alongside its master.

Urðr falls backwards, whatever words she had planned scuffed by the blood filling her throat. All it can do is scream.

The entire scene is too surreal for words. One second Urðr was standing there, towering over you both, ready to cast a deadly spell at any second, and then she drops like a stone right into the middle of the trees below, turned into nothing more than a sack of falling meat.

Her shriek of agony echoes throughout the forest before being cut short as her limp body crushes a large tree beneath her, splitting the trunk with a deafening snap. You see Gwen ricochet off the tree, her body being knocked deeper into the woods away from Urðr, while the Norn's remains slide down the shredded trunk in a river of sinew and blood. For a second it looks as though Urðr is attempting to rise from the wreckage. Blood gushes everywhere, pouring down the sides of the tree as the censors rapidly replace it with red pixels. It seems she isn't dead after all, despite the evidence.

You blink and all the evidence is gone. The system, suddenly realizing that Urðr still had HP left and shouldn't actually be a sack of flesh and meat, rapidly repairs your foe's body. The goddess rises from the crater and splintered bark, unharmed save for one detail.

Her HP bar. Flashing down to the last pixel.

<How dare you...> whispers Urðr quietly. <You are a curse upon this very world, demons one and all. In lieu of lord OBERON, and in defense of Alfheim I must slay you here. My friends, my kin! Hear my plea! From the depths of Jötunheimr, I call upon you to honor our pact and defend this world! «Hill Giants», come forth and recall your sacred purpo->

System Call: Generate Umbral Element. Discharge.​

The curse strikes Urðr in the chest, cutting off her speech. She staggers back, clutching her forehead, looking confused for a moment before she looks down at the burning hole in her torso. Whatever last words she tried to say died alongside the shatter of rainbow pixels.

Spoiler: Combat Results

Urðr uses Makouga > Party, 4d6 = 4 2 3 5 1 success vs Gwen, 2 successes vs Lux (WEAKNESS)
Gwen defends w/ VIT (sucks at flying), 2d6e5 = 2 2 → 0 successes against 5
Lux defends w/ AGI (flying savant) 4d6e5 = 3 4 6⊕ 2 → 1 success against 5

1 damage to Gwen. 1 damage to Lux.
Urðr SMIRKS for discovering your weakness.

Excalibur PIERCE > Gwen, 5d6e5 = 3 5⊕ 6⊕ 5⊕ 3 → 3 successes against 5
Gwen defends w/ VIT, 2d6e5 = 4 6⊕ → 1 success against 5

2 damage to Gwen.

Gwen Devour > Urðr, 4d6e5 = 2 6⊕ 1 5⊕ → 2 successes against 5
Urðr defends, 3d6e5 = 1 3 4 → 0 successes against 5

2 damage to boss.

Lux Eiha > Urðr, 4d6e3 = 1 6⊕ 2 3⊕ → 2 successes against 3 (SMIRK, WEAKNESS)
Urðr defends, 3d6e5 = 6⊕ 3 2 → 1 success against 5

1 damage to boss. Defeated.

And then there's silence. A young woman in the gear of a mid-level player of SAO flashes into being before fading away in a logout effect. You'll have to check in with Agil later to see if that meant there were three more SAO Survivors released from purgatory.

That... was harder than you thought it'd be. Your HP bar is surprisingly healthy, though last you saw of Gwen she was on the verge of death. If this was SAO you'd probably be leveling up right now. Your eyes glance towards your top right, Gwen's HP bar was still present— in fact it had recovered to the Yellow zone already. How far did she get knocked away?

With an instinct borne from two years in SAO you idly open up your menu. You had to have increased some skill points right?

«One-Handed Sword» was stuck at 550. You didn't actually hit it with your sword, not once in fact. You couldn't even hit Leafa. Magic was just much too convenient... and the type of 'magic' you were using wasn't actually recognized by the system. You had «Wind Magic» at a nice even 001, the default level for all Sylph players. If you were gonna get strong in this game it wasn't going to be through the in-game systems.

It's just desserts for beating a boss via hacks. No skills were grinded at all in this fight. But it's not a complete loss, you feel more in tune with your Persona— stronger even.

Oh. Something did change... you check the notifications.

«The Holy Sword of the Ice Palace» Quest FAILED!
«Holy Sword Excalibur»x1 rewarded for killing Urðr. Please claim your reward within the next 5 MINUTES.

«Beast God Slaughterer» Quest [ACCEPT]/[REJECT]?
Description: Oh heroes who have defeated the accursed Urðr! I, King Thrym of Niflheim beseech you to lend me your aid! There is only one more seal left before we may initiate Ragnarok! Slay the foul Beast Gods who roam Jötunheimr, their hideous visages are the last obstacle in our path! Do this and I will name you my champion, second only to me in the new world order, and together we shall conquer even Yggdrasil itself!

A quest? The avatar you just killed looked a lot like a quest NPC, even if the Fairy was simply assuming its form. You probably broke some random late-game quest line with that fight. Oh well, not really your problem.

"HEY LUX! YOU ALIVE!?" asks Gwen as she emerges from the nearby brush, «Excalibur» being dragged behind her, tracing a divot in the floor from its sheer weight.

"Oh, there you are. Did I get her?"

"Uh, kinda. She was trying to summon an add, so I had to finish her off." I mean, last thing you wanted to do was fight whatever the hell a Hill Giant was. Sounded tough.

"...Lux."
"Uh, yes?"
"Did you just steal my kill?"

---

"I can't believe this."

"Gwen..."

"Last hit rules!? Really? This game is just copied from SAO. I was totally MVP!"

You're having a conversation with Gwen overlooking the shining city of «Alne». You're admiring your new sword— or rather the inventory icon of your new sword. You couldn't equip it, you could barely hold it, but thanks to the «Last Hit» system the item drop was yours by right.

Gwen's been pretty upset ever since you took the final strike of the boss fight against Urðr.

"Gwen, I'd give it to you if you could actually equip it."
"I could sell it for loot!"
"And so can I. Tough luck Gwen, next time be faster on the draw!"

Your friend grumbles as you open the item box for Excalibur. The weapon falls into your lap - not truly any heavier than a normal sword but the moment you tried to lay your hands on it the weapon's weight multiplied in protest of your poor stats. Still, this was... an unexpected boon. A sword you couldn't use, couldn't HOPE to use, but you were holding onto what was probably the most expensive, rarest item in ALO history.

"Hey Lux?" asks Gwen, her bad mood changing into curiosity. "What's the description say? Any cool abilities?" She leans forward and swipes her hand against the blade in your lap.

«Holy Sword Excalibur»

Sharpness: 1800
Heaviness: 300
Durability: 9999
Enhancement: N/A [This weapon cannot be enhanced by a blacksmith]

Skill Requirement: One-Handed Sword 750

Description: The Sword that Cuts through Steel and Tree. The ultimate weapon of the gods, capable of cutting through the roots of Yggdrasil itself.

"Doesn't seem to have any special tricks. Flavor text says it cuts through the roots of Yggdrasil." Beyond an absurd stat spread. Your best weapon in SAO had a Sharpness of like... 300. Clearers tended to require a minimum of +600 Sharpness gear. And that Durability? Insanity, it was probably just a placeholder for an unbreakable weapon.

"No tricks? Well who needs a gimmick when you have a Sharpness of 1800! Wait, that kind of weapon should knock out my max health two times over in one hit," says Gwen as she pats her stomach. "Guess she was throwing it around cause she couldn't actually use it?"

"Who knows. NPCs work via different rules but I'm not sure if that counted as a PC or an NPC..."
"Well Lux, whatcha gonna do with the blade? Sell it for some quick cash?"
"I... don't know. But I think... this will be useful. I'm going to hang on to it for now."

Gwen frowns at you, thinking hard about where to put the blade. Her gaze lingers on the hilt for a moment longer, before returning to face you full on, an idea coming to her.

"Wait, this could be our in. The Lord of the Leprechauns «Granze»... she's probably the richest player in the game right now, and she pretty much never leaves her city. I have her scratched off my target list as being too much trouble to access... but if we go to her with this I'll bet we could arrange a face-to-face meeting."

"Huh?" You look quizzically at Gwen, "I thought you wanted public executions?"

"Yeah, and «Granze» won't really be any good for that, but the Leps are loaded. 30% of their assets? I'd wager it's more than the full treasury of most races. You could also just sell it to her legitimately for a king's ransom."

The Leprechauns were the obvious option for selling the weapon, at least as far as overall price went, but this thing could be your in to any of the Fairy Lords. The amount of players in the game who could actually equip this weapon were likely numbered in the dozens at best, but it was still hot property; who knows what kind of favors you'd be able to extract in exchange for this weapon. Alternatively, you could find a player capable of wielding it, but how did that advance your goal of reaching the top of the tree?

"Uh... you think that's the real weapon or just a copy?" asks Gwen. She made a good point, even as a copy it was no weaker than the original, but if anyone found where the real «Excalibur» was things would get very complicated. Maybe it was best to offload it to a black market dealer? You already knew one, and potentially you could even sell it for real-world money through them...

And that description... flavor text or... a real property of the weapon? Could you... cut down the World Tree? No, that's ridiculous, it'd take you like 300 years at best.

...

"Hey, Lux."

Gwen looks you in the eye, the sword momentarily forgotten.
"You know I won't die for real in this game, right? Amusphere, remember? Thing's safer than a flip phone."

You're too tired to talk about this now.
"Sorry, just... some shitty memories of SAO. You know how it is."

"Sure," Gwen says, averting her gaze. "But you doing okay?"

"Yeah," comes your reply, somewhat unconvincingly.

Gwen gives a nod, seemingly satisfied by your answer, then goes back to watching «Alne» below. "I'm just a bit worried. I didn't really notice but you're acting pretty different than usual. A lot more... happy, I guess? You seemed to be enjoying yourself there. You're even arguing with me about loot, you never used to do that... but then you're melancholy again. That last part I'm used to, but I've never actually seen you enjoy a game before."

"...enjoy?"

You try to remember why you felt particularly joyful. It wasn't anything big, but maybe... the thrill of taking a boss in ALO, after avoiding bosses in SAO the whole time? Or was it.... ugh...

Ugh... shit, what? Ah, Gwen, no! The boring one's in control again!
I never lost control. You just finally gave me some peace and quiet.

"See? Even your eyes seem different now. Was that the whole Shadow thing you were talking about?"

"I... I think that was just some strange influence from my Shadow messing up my personality." That was exactly it. You were still in control, but using your Persona allowed your Shadow to color your thoughts.

That's not what happened!
"I'm sorry for... not being me, Gwen."

"I don't mind," says Gwen, turning towards you. She puts holds her hand to you. "I do want you to be... happier, Lux. It's why I was trying so hard to get you to PK with me. I think that was you... just another version of you. I recognize it, it was that Lux that saved me from OBERON. We were going to start fresh, right Lux? As friends. This time around, I want to do it right. That means I'm going to befriend all of you!"

Ah you little gremlin, gonna make me cry.
You grab her hand back and squeeze it. "Thanks, it's... nice to have you back Gwen."

She laughs at your antics. "Lux, look that's not how you do it!" Her hand zips back before she re-offers it. "Time like this, after beating a big boss there's only one thing to do."

Of course. There's only thing to do.

Good game Gwen!
"Good game Gwen."

You high-five your best friend.

---

AN: A few combat details.
SMIRK works when you discover a new weakness, you can't chain them.
Hitting all weaknesses of mook tier enemies in one combat phase triggers an All Out Attack.
Knocking down bosses requires narrative solution instead of purely mechanical ones.
Bosses will often change weaknesses.
Allowing a party member to die, even in a consequence-free environment, builds STRESS.

Rolz Log can be viewed Character Sheet

---

Spoiler: PLAN PHASE

PLAN Phase

My agent, a reminder.
You have until the end of May.
Do not allow his dreams to pollute your world.

Discretionary Budget : 30500 Yen
Determination: 20 D
Stress: 2 POINTS

Select actions for the period of April 17-20. [4 DAYS. For the remainder of 4/16 you can perform 1 MINOR action]
Meimi will join you in any combat oriented mission unless specified otherwise.
You may select 4 MAJOR actions and 5 MINOR actions. (Mandatory event on 04/16 has eaten your Major action)
You may freely select MINOR actions in place of MAJOR actions (but not vice versa).
You may select as many FREE ACTIONS as you care for.
You may take an additional MAJOR action for 10 D.
You may take an additional MINOR action for 5 D.
The GRAND TOTAL for all actions this period cannot exceed 13.
DETERMINATION is also spent to select special choices so it may be beneficial to leave some banked!
Don't worry about specifying the exact date, that will be determined by QM for narrative convenience.

Shadow Tag: Several options are labeled as [Lux]. Generally you should choose 30% of MAJOR actions from this pool, failure to do so will cause your Shadow to take over your body randomly during routine actions to unpredictable effects. Voluntarily taking more [Lux] actions than is necessary remains at your discretion, but has no mechanical benefit.
Lux will frequently make decisions without player input. Large decisions when Lux is in control will usually only have skewed options, with normal options requiring high DETERMINATION costs.
Be aware taking multiple MAJOR actions using DETERMINATION is still subject to this rule.

HINT CORNER:
Further advancement in PRUDENCE requires higher EMPATHY.
Paths are not mutually exclusive, a cobbled together path to the World Tree if narratively justified is more than possible. The Paths simply represent the ones the QM has somewhat outlined.
EXILE is a Minor Action with FAR reaching implications. Take or ignore with care.
Lux is satisfied. You must take 1 ACTION with Lux this phase to keep her satisfied. You will need to take 2 ACTIONS next phase. Or 2 ACTIONS this phase.

---

Major Actions (REAL WORLD)

[ ] [Sincere Apologies]: The SAO servers are maintained by RECT Progress, and Meimi's family is demanding answers from their president about why their daughter took so long to emerge out of SAO. Alas, as the Tsurusaki family is old money, RECT Progress cannot afford to ignore their demands. Meimi is inviting you to join her along in an eventful meeting with RECT Progress' President, Sugou Nobuyuki.

[ ] [Hang Out//Gwen]: Gwen is bored. Outside of Rehab she has little to do, and her time with the Amusphere is being heavily rationed by her caretakers. Go spend an afternoon with her and just hang out.
Party Members do not advance via SL, but hangouts can provide stat bonuses or provide opportunities to meet other interesting people.

[ ] [FORTUNATE Son]: The loud boy keeps greeting you every morning. He's apparently doing the same thing to EVERYBODY at school. Honestly, it's rather creepy... Your intuition tells you this kid is best off being ignored. But you do sense a seed of power within... [Costs 10 D] [SL]
FORTUNE trains FITNESS.

[ ] [Rising SUN]: Hang out with your friend from school. There's a local restaurant that's all the rage she wants to take you to! [1d10*500Yen] [SL]
SUN unlocks more efficient DETERMINATION shops.

[ ] [Absolute JUSTICE]: The only people you hate more than Argo the Rat are literal murderers. Does that mean you also hate Hosaka Carina Tomo? Agil has recommended you talk to her... not about work, ALO or the current situation. He says you're more alike than you think, an opinion Agil can keep to himself. But maybe you can stand to be more civil. How about starting by asking Argo why she still insists on subjecting you to a witch hunt when SAO is long over? [SL]
JUSTICE usually builds STRESS when taken.
JUSTICE decreases the D penalty when taking actions that involve Argo.
You may meet some interesting people.

[ ] [Bunking around Bunkyo]: Explore the neighborhood. Find out what there is to do and where you can hang out. Maybe find a part-time job?
Unlocks more efficient ways to increase social stats and part-time jobs.

[ ] [Damage Control]: Meet with Endou and offer her an explanation. Alternatively, you could just wait her out and let her release the photos. You think you can deal with some stupid rumors.
Endou is UNLIKELY to act during this period if ignored. (1d6, DC 6 to release the pictures)

[ ] [The G-Man]: Argo is working with someone. Why not meet the man behind the curtain and find out what he knows? [Costs 10 D]



Major Actions (ALFHEIM)

[ ] [Consult//Sigurd]: Apparently... he's actually a Sylph Lord. That means he's a big deal in the internal politics of your race. He actually paid Argo's exorbitant fees and has been spamming your inbox with message and friend requests. You'll have to throw him a bone but asking his thoughts on the race to the world tree could prove to be illuminating.
Advances CHAOS.

[ ] [Consult//Argo]: Argo isn't stupid. If she's trying to climb the world tree she likely already has a plan hatched. She prefers you to go out and find your own leads, mumbling something about not letting an "amateur" like yourself get in her way, but if you INSIST you could probably help her with whatever her current plot is. Or at least find out exactly WHAT her current plot is. [Costs 10 D]
Advances LAW.

[ ] [Consult//Glitch Hunters]: A thought. How did the picture of Asuna get taken in the first place? It strikes you that SOMEONE had to have taken that picture... so how did they get up into the World Tree? Agil says he can introduce you...
Advances CHEAT.

[ ] [Beast Hunting]: Grab Gwen, grab your sword, and go on an adventure!
By adventure, you mean a long tedious grinding quest killing the Hello Kitty Cthulu monsters currently rampaging around the lower levels of Alfheim. What could possibly have them so riled up?
Advances CHEAT?

[ ] [Assassinate//Seven]: LIVE! ON STAGE! THIS WEEK ONLY! IT'S THE RAINBOW IDOL, SEVEN!
The Lord of Pookas is holding a concert on Alne plains. This won't be her only concert, another will be held next month, but why not strike while the iron's hot? The concert is expected to be heavily attended and guarded by not only Pooka leadership but Seven's personal guild, «Shamrock». Assassinating a target in such a large crowd could prove tricky... but maybe there's a way to use the crowd to your advantage?
Advances DEMON. May also advance other paths.
Remember, if you have yet to be exiled from the SYLPHS a successful assassination will enrich the SYLPH race instead. Perhaps this is something you desire?

[ ] [Assassinate//Granze]: Gwen has the whole op planned. Simply put, you're two weak ALO characters that can suddenly become frighteningly powerful at a moment's notice. As a sane and cautious individual, Lord Granze of the Leprechauns won't meet you unless under heavy guard. Sometimes the simplest plan is the best, show up bearing hot gear and slaughter her during the transaction. [Requires Excalibur]
Advances DEMON. May also advance other paths.
Remember, if you have yet to be exiled from the SYLPHS a successful assassination will enrich the SYLPH race instead. Perhaps this is something you desire?

[ ] [DEVIL in the details]: You have an inventory full of corrupt SAO items. The Gold Seller MistCoin is willing to take them off your personage for the cool price of 1 MistCoin! Meet the contact and learn about the vast Seed Nexus underground RMT market! [SL]
MistCoins are preserved between SEED games.
DEVIL unlocks the ability to manipulate MistCoin prices! Don't be rug pulled, be the puller!

[ ] [NATURE of a GM]: Satoru Mikami, your "contact" with RECT Progress. Do you trust him? Do you know him? Well you have his contact information and he's promised a gift for you in-game. Why don't you meet him and collect your prize? There may be some other things you want to talk about too... [SL]
Unlocks special social actions.
NATURE provides unique opportunities for bolstering ALO stats.

[ ] [Grand Tourney]: Leafa, impressed by your combat prowess, has invited you to the Grand Tourney hosted by the Salamanders. It proves to be an exciting arena in which to meet the greatest swordsman of ALO, maybe you could participate yourself?
Rewards for victory. Meet interesting people.

[ ] [Farm//Racing]: You've taken to flight quite naturally, now it's time to challenge yourself. Fly through hoops, participate in time trials and test yourself against the best fliers of the Sylph Race. [Advances AGI]

[ ] [Farm//Runes]: Magic as per the system of Alfheim involves calling forth runic words of power, stringing them together in order to create various exotic effects based on the words chosen. The problem is that runic words are unlocked using the skill system and you have absolutely no formal magic skill to speak of, your Persona abilities notwithstanding. You'll never be an archmage but with some dedicated grinding you could at least give yourself a baseline magic skill. [Advances MAG]

[ ] [Farm//Rocks]: Pick up rocks and then put them down. Over and over. For an entire goddamn afternoon. Cause you sure as hell don't know where else to train right now. [Advances VIT]


Major Actions (Lux)

[ ] [Bother Shino]: You know what? Endou, not cool. Ran away at the first sight of blood. You know who won't run away from blood? SHINO! She's even killed someone before! Knock on her door and pull her away from whatever dumb game she keeps spending on her time on. Maybe she can teach you how to shoot a gun? Sounds metal.

[ ] [Stalk//Sigurd]: Your character is preferentially spec'd for tracking targets and hiding... so why the hell aren't you abusing this for all it's worth!? You don't WANT to Stalk Sigurd but you don't really know anyone else to stalk...
Advances CHAOS?

[ ] [Torment//Thinker]: Writer of MMO Tomorrow, famed blogger on his SAO experiences. Apparently, the guy's married too. But you know what he sucks at? Running guilds. Like his SAO guild the Army? It literally ran a slumtown and a motherfucking PRISON! Go give him a piece of your mind and see how much he's fucking up the Undine race. For Gwen's sake if nothing else.
Advances DEMON? Advances LAW?

[ ] [Stalk//Argo]: What's the damn rat up to now? Probably something stupid, expensive and unnecessarily complicated. Why don't you spy on her operations and find out what exactly she has planned? Certainly beats ASKING the cretin.
Advances LAW?

[ ] [Torment//Mortimer]: Maybe you'll work with the Salamanders. Maybe you'll kill them all. But one thing's for sure, you need to meet with the leader of the Salamanders. No invitation? Phff, just bluff, assault and brazenly walk into the middle of Salamander territory demanding to meet their boss.
Will achieve EXILE from Sylphs. Complicates LAW? Advances DEMON? Advances CHAOS?

[ ] [Playing in Shibuya]: You live alone. ALONE! In Tokyo! Let's go play around in Shibuya cause who's gonna stop you?
Will drain 2d6 * 1000 Yen. Will gain a souvenir. If both dice match gain Yen instead.

[ ] [Shadow//<INSERT>]: Have your Shadow perform ANY of the other Major Actions! Will have rather unpredictable results, but she'll make her own fun. If you make your Shadow run a SOCIAL LINK event the events will be even more unpredictable and may lock that SL into a Shadow-exclusive route for better or worse (probably definitely worse). Your SHADOW greatly appreciates being involved in DEMON path actions.



Minor Actions Available this Period:
Unless specified otherwise you may take individual Minor actions multiple times.

[ ] [EXILE]: Walk up to the office of the Sylph Lord Sakuya with Gwen and kindly tell her to shove her fancy Sylph katana up her fancy Sylph butthole.
Once EXILED your options will change. A prerequisite for DEMON path, killing a Lord when still a member of the Sylphs will instead empower the Sylphs instead (and drop a political bomb on them). Does not lock you out of LAW but complicates things.

[ ] [Sleep-in]: You need to study. You need to train. You need to save the world. Instead, go to sleep EARLY and snuggle up with Kuma-kun.
Reduces STRESS x 1. Becomes less efficient the more it is used (applies across the lifetime of the quest).

[ ] [Medicinal Baths]: No, not the local one down the street by the old folk's home. The big one. By the IMPERIAL PALACE. That has private rooms. [Costs 10000yen]
Reduces STRESS x 1. Repeatable.

[ ] [Study]: It's a boring task but someone's got to do it. At your current CURRICULUM level, you are likely to do AVERAGE on your next exam.

[ ] [Exercise]: You can do about 10 pushups a day now! Provided you take a minute break between each pushup. Gotta grind that FITNESS.

[ ] [Meditate]: Sit underneath a cold shower and contemplate the world. Build up your GRIT.

[ ] [Socialize]: Only with purpose. Find out what counts as small talk in your school, start memorizing classmates' names, and bolster your MASK.

[ ] [Sightsee]: Bunkyo ward is blessed with many shrines and gardens not to mention the bustling Tokyo Dome City. Go people-watching, appreciate nature, simply enjoy existing in this world and bask in the collective's EMPATHY.

[ ] [Gunpla]: I mean, you already bought it... there's nothing sadder than a model kit that lies incomplete. Can be taken up to 3 times with a completion bonus. Builds up your GRIT.

[ ] [Rehab Cheer!]: Meimi needs moral support while she's learning what muscles are again. Keep her company and try not to laugh when she inevitably throws a tantrum. Bolsters your EMPATHY.

[ ] [Elf Lore]: There's a whole cottage industry of content creators hyperanalyzing the absurdly complicated lore of Alfheim Online, half of which involves trying to predict in what direction the lore AI will steer the world plot. Learning about the actual lore behind the World Tree... might help you? Or it might be a waste of time.

[ ] [Report//NORNIR]: A strange interaction with a strange NPC. The mystery of ALO grows deeper, and you're the only one who knows about it. Until now. Now your boss's boss knows about it too. [Gains 5000 Yen]

[ ] [Gopher-Change]: Not much you can do to make money right now - but chores remain universally unpopular. Ask to take care of some of the other classes' chores for them in exchange for chump change. Inefficiently trains GRIT. [Gain 1d4 * 1000 Yen].


Free Actions:
As the quest progresses the amount of "bang for your buck" will change as I try to balance the DETERMINATION/YEN economy.

[ ] [Sweets!] A famous french pastry chef has created a pop up restaurant in Shibuya! Macroons, Eclairs and enough Cream Puffs to stuff your cheeks to bursting. But the price tag...
Purchase 5 D for 5000 yen. One time per period.

[ ] [More Sweets!] It's not enough. I demand more cream puffs.
Purchase 3 D for 5000 yen. Repeatable.

[ ] [Argo RMT] Damn it, you're pretty sure Argo's Alfheim avatar is rich. Why isn't she funding you!? Go beg Argo for some in-game cash so you can actually buy something... [Costs 20 D]

[ ] [Amusphere] It's safe. They promised. SAO cannot happen again. But you remain unconvinced. Still... almost everything was being folded into VR now. Online lessons. Cram schools. Training. Even concerts. Possessing an Amusphere is rapidly turning from a luxury item to a necessity.
Purchase [Amusphere] for 20000 yen. Unlocks other options.

[ ] [Augma] You can't say you enjoy VR anymore but you've yet to try Augmented Reality. The AUGMA was just announced to massive hype and all SAO survivors were offered an opportunity to beta test the device... but as you aren't affiliated with the Survivor School you'll have to buy the hardware yourself and boy is it pricey...
Purchase [AUGMA] for 30000 yen. Unlocks other options.

[ ] [RMT] Buy power? Buy $MistCoin$!
Current exchange rate is 5000 yen = 1 MISTCOIN when purchasing. 4500 yen when selling.
Specify what you are buying. Specify if it's for LUX or GWEN.
[Mithril Camisole]: It looks like a sweater with an exposed back, but uh, apparently it's high-quality armor. Video games... [2 MistCoins][+1VIT]
[Living Potion]: A high-potency healing potion enchanted by an alchemist to automatically heal you when you are severely injured. The annoying voice that insults you cannot be removed from the enchantment. [1 MistCoin][Consumeable][Provides +2 Health in a pinch]
[Weizen]: Masterpiece Straight Sword specifically designed to maximize damage with low Skill Equip requirement. Shines a brilliant white. [3 MistCoins][+1STR]
[Fragment of Bifrost]: Pooka-manufactured magic wand containing the essence of a rainbow. Is most DEFINETELY not a rainbow glowstick. [3 MistCoins][+1MAG]
[Mistcoin]: You can also buy MistCoin now and not spend it. The price of MistCoin will fluctuate with time.

[ ] [Sell Excalibur]
Excalibur is a useful "token" that can be used in many situations, but you only have one of them. One use for it is to receive a sudden bolus of resources. Specify ONE suboption below.
[Sell to the Leprechauns]: Granze will bend over backwards, forwards and sideways to accommodate your sale. She will crack open her vault and give you literally the best equipment you can possibly equip. [+2 ANY STAT (specify)][+1 to any non CHT stat][Specify if you or Gwen is receiving it]
[Sell to $MistCoin$]: Gain 5 MISTCOIN.

Submit as a PLAN VOTE please
You have 4 MAJOR
5 MINOR

And the option to take an additional action per day for Determination of up to 13 Actions grand total.

 

[afreaknamedpete]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[X] Plan: Making Friends (?) and making things happen
-[X]Major Actions
--[X] [Sincere Apologies]
--[X] [Absolute JUSTICE]
--[X] [DEVIL in the details]
--[X] [NATURE of a GM]
--[X] [Shadow//Bunking around Bunkyo] (-10D)
-[X] Minor Actions
--[X] [Gunpla] x3
--[X] [Rehab Cheer!]
--[X] [Report//NORNIR]
-[X] Free Actions
--[X] [Sweets!]
--[X] [Amusphere]

Spoiler: Endou Roll

1d6 at DC 6 to release the pics

Roll = 6

WEDNESDAY - April 16th, 2025
Evening

'Get us a job' she says.
'Don't end up covered in blood again' she says.
'Whatever you don't make things worse' she says.

You're not blind. This is quarantine. A naked attempt to assign you a task so utterly basic that there was absolutely no chance anything could possibly go wrong. Nice, harmless... consequence-free.

Phff, you'll accept that challenge.

She wants you to find a job?
You know what? You'll do it. All in, 1000%!

You'll find a job. You'll find ALL the jobs. You'll find so many goddamn jobs that your resume will be thicker than a One Piece box set! That'll show her!

---

<Hello, this is Kamura Electronics! Kamura: Envision Your Future, together with us! Our Augma AR device is now entering beta testing. Augma: Welcome to your New Life, your Augma Life!>

"Hey, cool. You're the Augmented Reality guys. That slogan could really use some work."

<...thank you for the feedback kind customer. I could direct you to our PR team for—>

"Nah, I got the right number. I'm looking at a brochure here, says you need part-timers to do... hold on I got too many magazines... ah. Here it is. An 'intense but fulfilling experience.' That sounds right up my alley!"

<That's wonderful! Now for confidentiality reasons, we could not include the specifics of the position in print media. The details of the job are quite simple but I must warn you that the time commitment is considerable for a part-time position. Nevertheless—>

"Great. Hire me. When do I start?"

<Uh... next week if possible, but don't you want to know what you'll be doing?>

"Not my problem, but shoot."

<Okay? In anticipation of the launch of our revolutionary Augmented Reality - first of its kind! - headset, Kamura is looking for driven young locals to participate in a once in a lifetime opportunity—>

"Please get to the point. I have like 5 more phone calls to make."

<Ah, of course. You'll be spreading AR stickers around public landmarks, mostly parks and open plazas. This is a necessary preliminary step to minimize connection problems in high-traffic zones. We will provide you with a map and the planter device, please only place the stickers where the map tells you to. Now the best part about this job is that you can set your own schedule. But please complete the quota by the due date otherwise you won't get paid!>

"Lovely. Mail me the stuff and I'll get right to work."

<Thank you ve—*click*>

Okay. One down.

---

<You hold signs.>

"Cool. For how long?"

<Until your shift ends.>

"What's the sign for?"

<Don't read the signs.>

"Oookay? Do I have to wear anything special?"

<You wear what we send you.>

"So... what exactly would be...?"

<You wear what we tell you to wear. You hold the sign where we tell you to hold the sign.>

"Okay. Simple. Nice. Quick question, is this front for the Yakuza?"

<Don't ask questions. Just hold the sign.>

"...sounds legit. When do I start?"

<When you get the sign. *click*>

---

<No, no, you don't get it.>

"What? I'm a high school girl! I'm fresh and in high demand! You're paying chump change!"

<Yeah? You can be fucking Kanzaki Elsa for all I care. This. Is. A. VIRTUAL. Catgirl. Maid. Café. Our employees use a voice changer so I don't give a shit who you are IRL. Now do you have an Amusphere?>

"I'd make an AMAZING Maid Catgirl. I'll send you some pictures. You should be begging me to work."

<Sure thing. Go to those skeev holes and get arrested by the police during their next sweep or end up the victim of a stalker murder suicide. What we're offering? It's a dream come true. Catgirl Maid café services so discrete, patrons don't even have to leave their rooms. Safe for them, and safe for you. Do you have any FullDive experience?>

"Loads. Two years worth!"

<Har har, very funny. You serious about this job?>

"As serious as I've ever been."

<Whatever. Now we have a very exacting clientele, so you have to log in via the accounts we give you.>

"That's it? No vetting, nothing?"

<Oh, don't you worry about that. We'll know real quick if you have what it takes. Your first shift is next week. *click*>

---

<The physical labor can be very strenuous, are you sure you're up to it?>

"Oh, I'm fine. Picking up boxes and putting them down? I'm a bona fide expert at it!"

<Hmm, you sound eager. That's good! But there's a bit more to it than that. Our company employs many workers who are only recently reentering the workforce after a long hiatus. We ask that you be discreet and not pry into your coworkers' pasts. >

"Please, discreet is my middle name."

<We also have a lot of frail people working here, so you may need to provide assistance as needed to help them get through the day.>

"No problem. They called me the bull queen of junior high."

<Perfect! Now because we serve such a small geographic area our pay is a tad below the industry average. In return, we won't need you to do too many hours to start with.>

"Alright. So... can I drive the truck?"

<What?>

"The truck. I want to drive the truck."

<I, uh, appreciate the eagerness. But you need to be at least 21 to drive heavy transports. Tell you what, you can sit up front on your shifts! It always helps to have a second pair of eyes nowadays. Way too many close calls lately.>

"Boo. Well, the law's the law."

<Sorry to disappoint. You do a good job and I can let you try a few laps in an empty lot, if you're just looking to get a feel for it?>

"Nah, that takes all the fun out of it. But I'll still take the job. When do I start, boss?"

<Let's pen you in for next week, this one's a bit too packed for me to onboard you. Welcome to Titan Movers, Kashiwazaka-san.>

---

This was a productive evening.

Of course not every phone call was successful. You tried to find a tutoring position, but considering you were one spitball away from Tokyo freaking University the market was what you might call "oversaturated". They couldn't pay you enough for a janitorial position. And the employee of the first convenience store you checked in on looked more haggard and overworked than Aizawa.

Well, a job's a job. Not like you were the one who actually had to go grind it out, you'll leave that to the boring one instead.

You were hoping for more, but four jobs are a solid start. A nice round number, nothing wrong with four. What could possibly go wrong?

>You have unlocked part time jobs! Part time jobs offer you payment, social stats and occasionally special perks!
>Normally you would select which part-time job to sign up for from a pool of available jobs. Unfortunately, your Shadow has decided to sign up for ALL of them at the same time.
>You are not locked into these jobs. However, every single job is "expecting" you next week. Part-time jobs have minimum commitment requirements. Failing to show up will lead to you being fired and the job becoming permanently unavailable.
>Essentially this means any job you do not IMMEDIATELY commit to will be locked out for good. Because what kind of terrible person just signs up for a bunch of part-time jobs at the same time and then shows up for two shifts a year?
>Working all four part time jobs at the same time is... not advised. But I'm not the boss of you! You want to be a super part-timer? Go for it!

---

THURSDAY - April 17th, 2025
Daytime

*Huff* *Huff* *Huff*

"Uh, cheer up Hiyori-chan! You did pretty good!" your loud friend claps you on the back, trying to show you some encouragement. She has a thin sheen of sweat on her forehead but is otherwise as energetic as ever, almost as if she didn't just run half the relay race carrying you on her back.

Bless her heart but she's a bad liar, unless she counts collapsing halfway during the race as 'pretty good'.

"Haaaah.... haaaa.... thanks for the... save..." your lungs are burning, about ready to burst. It's like someone poured molten lead down your throat and then washed it down with gasoline. Your face feels hot and with the pain in your chest, every breath feels like it's going to be your last.

Don't be a drama queen, you got to build up your strength. Got boxes to move later!

You're trying a new strategy. If you ignore her maybe she'll go away. One day, you just want one day where she doesn't make things demonstrably worse for you. You'll have to call some of these jobs and apologize profusely for wasting their time, god what if they talk to each other!? Are you going to be added to some do-not-employ list!?

"Hiyori-chan, you're frothing! Relax!"

"W... water..." you mumble.

"Here you go. Don't look so down, you'll do better next time!"

You would vastly prefer there never be a next time. You should've asked school administration for an exemption, the teachers technically knew about your past as an SAO survivor so accommodations weren't impossible. You should've talked to them but since you've been so busy Sports Day caught you completely off guard.

At least someone was enjoying herself. Your friend was filled with boundless energy, carrying your class to victory in the girl's relay race. "You... you're really fast," you gulp down the water, finally managing to catch your breath. "You planning on joining a sports club?"

"Hmmm..." she twirls a lock of unkempt brown hair around her finger, thinking of a response. "I was hoping this school had a hiking club but there's nothing there. Say Hiyori-chan, do you like hiking? Acchan isn't interested, but I've always wanted to climb Mt. Fuji! We can do it together!"

"Please, no. I'll die."

"Ah... maybe it's a bit too soon for you? There's a gardening club, but I dunno? I'd rather just go home early."

It... seemed to be the popular response. Isei High School didn't require a student club and few students were interested outside of the sports teams. It was a bit disappointing to you, a lifetime of anime and manga had built up such high expectations for high school. They were supposed to have clubs and societies galore, right!?

You sigh, "Well maybe it's for the best. I've been so busy lately."

She nods. "Yeah, there's not enough time in the day anymore! Go home club forever!"

Some commotion over the field, the boys in your class were taking their turn on the track field. Natsuki, the loud annoying boy from earlier was whooping and hollering— he skipped ahead and was trying to run the relay all by himself. Shouldn't a teacher stop him? You scan the field, but your homeroom teacher is far in the back under the shade reading something. You doubt she'll be of much help.

"Hey, wait! Stop!!" someone yells, but your classmate keeps running, oblivious to his surroundings. He collides straight into the back of another runner and falls flat on his face.

"Gahhhhhh!!!" he cries, hopping back up, "But you're 100 years too early to stop me, bwahahaha~"

After a few more minutes of tomfoolerey, he throws his arms up in victory at the end of the field. It's a short-lived celebration when the PE teacher finally manages to tackle him. You hear the class laugh at his antics, not that you have the energy to join in on this clown show.

3 more hours of this insanity. You just want this day to be over.

Should've just skipped.
That's your solution to every problem!

"HIIIIYOOOORRRIII! Earth to Hiyori!" yells your friend, uncomfortably close to your ear.

"I'm listening," you grumble.

"You always look so melancholy Hiyori-chan." Suddenly she claps her hands in some manner of sudden realization. "I know! You're like, the secret final boss of an otome game! The quiet girl in class who's secretly the level 99 mega demon lord! The airhead queen of class 1-D!"

"Is that what are people are calling me?"

"Ehehe, kinda? There's a girl just like you in class 2-D. Real quiet and mysterious-like. The curse of class D's mysterious beauties manifests upon our world!"

A girl that stayed quiet and didn't bother anyone? Sounds like a sane individual. "Well, life isn't an Otome game. And if it is I'm happy being a background character. I hear 1-C has an actress in it. Wouldn't that make her the protagonist?"

"Nah, rule #1 of protagonists is they can't stand out, and she mega stands out. And don't knock otome games until you've tried it! You can learn tons of life lessons from them!" If there's one thing that captures your friend's attention, beyond food, it seemed to be otome games. It wasn't your favorite genre, though it was experiencing a bit of a renaissance right now. Before SAO you did play You Are My Princess, you weren't a complete barbarian, but outside of the classics that genre went over your head.

"...Oh. Uh, yeah. I guess so. I mean, whatever works for you."

Your friend pouts. "Well what do you like to do Hiyori?"

Like was a bit of a strong word. "Been spending some time in Alfheim Online." It was against your will, but time was time. "Before that... uh, RPGs? I went through a Gundam phase?"

She lights up at this revelation. "Oooh, you have an Amusphere then!? Right!? Try Alto Liebe! It's got giant robots, RPG fights and cute guys galore! I think the VR port is coming out this week on the Amusphere!"

"I'm not buying the game just so you can borrow it later."

"Bwuh?" She seems surprised. "Cross my heart, my motives are pure as the driven snow."

"Uh-huh. You're a bad liar, you know?"

"Just trying to share the love! But please, pleeease try it, I promise you you'll like it! I can help you with the happily ever after ending!"

What a desperate plea. You had no choice but to give in. "Fine. I'll consider it. Just don't spoil anything."

"Alright! One of us! One of us!" She bounces excitedly.

You had committed to finally buying an Amusphere, the order was coming in the mail. Even setting ALO aside, it simply seemed too inconvenient to not get one now. So much had transferred to the platform in the months since you'd woken up it was borderline insane. Virtual cram schools, virtual shopping malls, virtual cafes. So many game series were transitioning to VR forms, you hear there's actually a backward compatibility app on the Amusphere that was literally just a simulated couch and television in a white void.

"Holy shit, is that her?"
"Oh my god."
"Crazy..."

The chattering of the student body is rising to a fever pitch. You haven't been paying much attention, but the cries struck you as odd. Rather than cheers of the sports festival, you hear a mix of gasps and whispers, accompanied by the echoing click of 200 hundred students checking their phones at the same time.

Your instincts whisper in the back of your head. Something is wrong. You stand and look around the event, your eyes meeting that of the crowd.

Sudden, inexplicably, the crowd has gone quiet, almost unnaturally so. All at once, as if possessed by the spirit of the school itself, they're all looking. The eyes of every single person in the room are turned towards one point.

Straight at you.

You freeze, a cold sweat breaking out across your forehead. What could possibly be going on? Is this a joke? Are they playing a trick on you?
In the corner of your eye... a click, followed by a flash. A camera shutter, snapping away. Like a breaking dam, one turns to two which turns to 100.

"What's going on?" asks your friend, standing next to you, clearly spooked.

"I... I don't know..." You mumble, looking around.

"Is that you!?"
"Hey, you there, you should get away from her!"
"Wow, she was quiet but I didn't know she was crazy."
"Are we even safe here? There's a killer here!"

You take a step forward, aiming to ask the students what the hell was going on. As you put one foot forward the crowd steps back, a collective wave scared to even get within spitting distance of you.

...

"Hey."

You jump, barely managing to suppress a scream. Someone just snuck up on you!?

A hand rests on your shoulder, jolting you back to reality. "Relax, I'm here to help. Listen, Hiyori, you should get out of here."

It's a voice you recognize. Shino, your neighbor pulls you back towards the corner of the school building, the crowd inching forward to see where you were going. She's wearing the tracksuit of the 2nd year, staring down the growing crowd of murmuring students. If anything Shino's appearance made the human wave tither further, the chatter intensifying. The teachers are worked up in a tizzy, blowing their whistles and trying to preserve order in the crowd of students, the festivities of Sports Day forgotten for the moment.

You look around, confused. "What's going on? Why are you here?"

Shino shakes her head. "...You don't know? Let's get out of here first."

"But how?" You had somehow captured the attention of the entire school.

"Heh, leave it to me!" Your loud friend claps you on the back and runs past, waving as she goes. You see her a few feet down the field, largely forgotten in the commotion, hands reaching towards a long green garden hose.

"One distraction, coming right up Hiyori-chan!" With nary a hint of hesitation, she opens the valve and lets loose a torrent of water upon the crowd. "TAKE THIS! MAGIC JET STREAM ATTACK!" The stream hits the crowd dead center, drenching students and teachers alike. The effect is instantaneous.

"Wah!"
"It's cold, it's cold!"
"Whoa! What the hell?"

The students scream and scatter, running in every direction. They scramble to escape the sudden deluge, shoving past each other in a panic. You and Shino slip past the throng.

"Hurry," says Shino quietly. "This way." She leads you into the athletic building where the winter sports gear is stored and pulls open a creaky iron door. She pushes you inside and shuts the door behind you, the two of you wait with bated breath. A minute passes, then two... no one was coming.

Utterly confused, you stutter out a quick thanks to Shino, "...I appreciate the save. But what's going on?" To say you were lost was an understatement.

"Before you ask me, you should take a look at this. Pretty much everyone in the school received this a few minutes ago." Shino pulls her cell phone out and opens her messaging app, flipping it around to show you what's gotten everyone in such a tizzy.

Spoiler: Released Photo

Wake up. Wake up you stupid Shadow, this is YOUR DAMN FAULT!
Oh hey, I look pretty good.

You've been in high school for a WEEK. A single damn WEEK. This is going to be your reputation for the rest of your school life. Hiyori Kashiwazaki, the bloody Sadako of Class 1-D, rolling around in blood pools. A picture speaks a thousand words, doubly so if it's a picture of you soaked in the blood and brain matter of a suicide victim.

There are other photos too, of you grabbing the corpse, trying to shake it awake, even a close-up of your face, grinning wildly while pointing out of a window. How exactly were you going to explain this to the student body?

"This is horrible," you whisper, feeling sick.

Well shit, Endou works fast. Didn't think she had the guts.
Can you stop sounding IMPRESSED!?

Why do you care what these mobs think? You've got a rep now! No one's going to bully you, not when they're scared shitless of you!

"I'll give you a minute to collect yourself..." Shino reaches out to grab your arm, then hesitates. After a second she lets go.

"I saw you hanging out with Endou... it's none of my business who you befriend Hiyori, but Endou? Not a great idea," she says. "I'm surprised she didn't try to blackmail you first, usually she plays her cards close to her chest."

Shino Asada... she killed a man in junior high, a case of self-defense that nonetheless ostracized her from her previous school... all this you heard from Endou, the girl gleefully betraying your neighbor's secrets at the drop of a hat. All your Shadow had to do to get that info was act friendly and gossip. If Endou could find out about Shino's past, could she find out about yours? Setting aside Laughing Coffin, you had a two-year gap in your personal history, if someone were to look hard enough discovering your past as an SAO survivor would be fairly trivial.

Think she's gonna try to blackmail us? The picture would've been better material. Inefficient, Endou.

"I'm not gonna ask you what's up with the picture, I bet it's some dumb prank Endou forced you into. Just... be careful who you trust in the future, alright? This might blow over but I really doubt it will. People talk. It's not just you. Your friends, people you hang out with, maybe even your whole class. You might all get bullied or ostracized."

"I know... thanks for the warning," you say, staring at the floor. "But why are you helping me?"

A sad smile graces Shino's face. "I used to be friends with Endou. I didn't have any girlfriends my age, and to start she was fun to hang out with. Gave me the real Tokyo experience, at least until I realized she was just using me. I just... see a bit of myself in you. Another girl victimized by that bully."

"...how do you deal with it Shino? Should I fight Endou?"

Shino shakes her head. "Endou's a queen bee, the kind of person used to manipulating rumors and gossip. She's actually a pretty smart girl, I wouldn't be surprised if she has dirt on most of the school. The way I see it, the best thing you can do is to avoid playing her game. You know she's threatening me too?"

"...I had some suspicion."

"It's true. Endou has threatened to expose everything if I don't give her what she wants. But I won't do that. My only option is to ignore her, if she's going to hurt me regardless, then I'll just deal with it then. What doesn't kill me will just make me stronger. Which brings me back to you: my advice is to do the same," Shino grimaces. "Even if it means becoming the school pariah. Give her an inch and she'll ask for a mile."

And there it goes. Your new school life, gone in a poof of smoke, strangled in the crib.

"Look, this building connects to the lockers. Why don't you get changed, then just head out early? I'll talk to the teachers for you, no doubt they're too busy trying to calm the crowd right now."

You nod. It was as good a plan as any.

"One more thing..." She takes a deep breath. "...I don't want to sound cliché but... hang in there, alright? We have to show those stupid bullies that we're STRONGER than them."

So do nothing? Hmm... I don't buy it.
You are the LAST person I want to hear advice from!

Tch, how many times do I have to say it? This is my idea, which means it's YOUR idea. I know you're thinking what I'm thinking.
...this wasn't over. Endou could easily find out about your status as an SAO survivor, use that to worsen your reputation or even blackmail you with SAO information. But... this was ground zero. Right now was the exact time and place the rumors begin about you, and for once the entire student body was in one location.

Couldn't you... turn things around? A few ideas come to mind. Rather than escaping go out and take control of the narrative. You came to this school explicitly to avoid being recognized as an SAO survivor— to give that up so quickly? But if you revealed it, publicly, you could... maybe phrase the picture as a PTSD episode. Launch into a sob story about how you were at the scene of a suicide, and the horror of the event caused you to flashback to SAO. Turn yourself from a crazed lunatic into a sympathetic victim.

And deal with every dumb curious moron bugging you about SAO every minute of every day? Might as well just go to the Survivor School.
You have a better idea!?

Eh, Shino has the right of it. Who cares what the mobs think?
But what about Endou making things WORSE!?

You know what? I'm sick of hearing about this. You give me control and... I'll deal with Endou. Permanently. Today, even! And no, I'm not going to do something as crass as killing her or getting us arrested.
Knowing you!? You'll just go out there and punch her just to make things hard for me!

Nah, no violence! Promise.
I'd sooner go out and scream at the crowd than leave things to you.

Oh, that's an idea! We can't punch our way out of a paper bag, but if we go out and act MAXIMUM crazy we can scare away the morons for the whole year. I've always wanted to be a delinquent!

...you can't stay hiding in this building forever. Shino's giving you a chance to leave, but do you take it or do you make your own path?

[ ] Do nothing: Walk away, show no reaction. Pretend the rumors won't bother you. As Shino says, show them you're stronger.

[ ] Shadow Tag: Your Shadow isn't going to deal with the crowd, but she promises to shut up Endou for good. [Will count as a unit of satisfaction for your Shadow next time period.]

[ ] Sympathy Play: Go out there and publicly out yourself as a former SAO victim, break down into tears, and label yourself a victim instead of an axe murderer. [You have a high enough EMPATHY for this option]

[ ] Teenage Delinquent: They're scared of you? Well, you're just fine with that! Go out there and scare the shit out of the crowd! Go wild, cackle madly, spit at a teacher, run around like a lunatic, whatever! Just make sure they NEVER mess with you again. [You have a high enough MASK for this option.]

[ ] Endurance Game: You won't run. Not today, not ever. Go out there, endure the rumors, endure the stares. If anyone asks you simply panicked at the sight of blood - refuse to elaborate any further. If they steal your school bag you'll buy a new one. If they ignore you in class you'll still greet them every morning. Endure the worst Isei High has to offer until they grow bored with you. [Costs 5 DETERMINATION, as you lack the GRIT for this option.]

[ ] Write-in, minimum 1 D, more if more complicated.

 

[afreaknamedpete]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[X] Shadow Tag: Your Shadow isn't going to deal with the crowd, but she promises to shut up Endou for good. [Will count as a unit of satisfaction for your Shadow next time period.]

THURSDAY - April 17th, 2025
Daytime

It's a warzone outside.

On one end, standing atop a sturdy tree it's your loud friend, surrounded by a growing pile of wet bodies. She brandishes the garden hose of death while staring down a brave 2nd year taking his turn at dislodging her from the tree. She seems like she's having fun.

"Oh? So you're approaching me? Instead of running away, you're coming right to me?" taunts your friend from her high ground.
"I can't drag you out of that tree without getting closer."
"Oh ho! Then come as close as you like." It's the only warning she gives before blasting another poor sod with a stream of water.

A mob of students comprising the majority of the school is gathering behind the soccer team, a united front against the tyranny of Isei High's new water-spewing monkey queen.

You spend a few seconds admiring the chaos. Hey, that creepy thin eyed loud boy is helping out too! Seems he was press-ganged into guarding the faucet, the lone weakness of the death hose. Godspeed, your sacrifice will almost certainly be forgotten.

Now wouldn't it be awfully convenient for Endou to be somewhere in the crowd? Alas, you suspect she's almost certainly skipping. Now, where could she be? Knowing her she would want to be somewhere she could see the fruits of her labors.

Oh! Just who you were looking for.
Most of the teachers were away trying to maintain chaos, but you see Shino pleading with Hatayama-sensei, the civics teacher. Just the girl you were looking for.

"Heeeeyyyy, Shino! Come here, I need a goon for this to work." You put your hand on her shoulder, trying to pull her away from the teacher.

She's shocked to see you here, though quickly suppresses her reaction. "Why'd you come out? I'm trying to get Hatayama-sensei to excuse you for today..."

"Yes, what exactly is going on Kashiwazaka-san?" asks your teacher, clearly overwhelmed by the whole situation. Her authority was significantly curtailed by the 4 steps she needed to stand on just to reach Shino's eye level. She drew the short straw, in more ways than one, and was the only faculty member not currently trying to resolve the water wars.

"Sorry, sorry sensei! Just felt a little out of breath, but I'm fine now. You should probably go stop the chaos out there before someone gets hurt."

"Ah! Yes, of course. I'm glad you're feeling better Kashiwazaka-san, but you should stay here so you don't get soaked. The Sports Festival is ruined anyways..." your teacher scurries off without a moment's hesitation, leaving you alone with Shino. You spare a thought for your poor friend, hopefully she doesn't accidentally spray the teacher. God knows she was so short it'd be near impossible to see her in a crowd.

With that distraction resolved, Shino turns back to face you, fists clenched. "What are you doing!?"

"Well, I want to ask Endou something, and I figured a chaperone might be good. You know where hangs out?"

"...she's in my class, 2-C, so I'm guessing she's up in the building. But what are you planning? She's just going to blackmail you if you do anything stupid."

You grab Shino by the arm and begin to lead her back into the building. "Don't worry about anything Shino, all I'm going to do is have a talk with her, girl to girl! I'm sure seeing two defenseless and crying girls begging for mercy will make her see the error of her ways."

Shino's eyes widen. "Are you insane!? That's your plan!? I'm telling you, Endou isn't stupid! And if you threaten her she's going to follow through and snitch. Don't forget she has dirt on both of us!"

"Didn't you hear me? We're simply going to convince her with the power of love and friendship! We got nothing to worry about."

"I've got plenty to worry about!"

"Yeah, yeah, c'mon Shino. You're sick of dealing with her too right? Trust me, after today you'll feel a whole lot better, promise. Now stop nagging and bring me to her."

She hesitates before nodding, muttering under her breath. "Fine, but if this goes sideways remember I said this was a bad idea."

---

You're making your way through the school building, empty of any teachers and students, all locked outside in mortal combat. You climb the stairs one by one - damn muscle burn - listening to Shino complain about how many ways this whole thing could backfire.

"Shino, gonna have to interrupt you for a sec. Got a call to make," you say, interrupting Shino's latest warning. Let's see, recent contacts, ah, there you are...

"Wait, who are you call-"

<...hello? Hiyori? What's up?>

"GWEN! How's it hanging?" she took only a single ring to pick up, bet she's bored out of her mind in rehab.

<...Gwen? I thought we were using - oh. Wait, this is the other Hiyori right? You can talk in the real world? How's that work?>

How did that work exactly? Eh, no sense worrying about that now. "No idea! But listen, doing anything important right now Gwen?"

Shino waits at the top of the stairs, the entrance to class 2-C visible down the hallway. She doesn't interrupt your conversation but she sticks her thumb in the direction of the classroom, beckoning you to follow.

<I'm trying to learn what ankles are again.>

"Ouch. And here I thought I had problems." You sigh, shaking your head. "Welp, I need a favor. Listen, exactly how rich are you?"

<What? Uh... very? But if you're gonna ask for money there's no way my parents will go along with it, and I've already blown my allowance this week.>

"Nah, nah, nothing so crass Gwen! Just want to know what I've got to work with."

<Well, okay... I'm not sure how I can help from the hospital but what do you need from me?>

"Want to help me ruin a dumb bitch's life?"

<...>

"I'll record the whole thing!"

<Deal.>

"Perfect!"

You go back and forth with Gwen for a few minutes finalizing the plan, before you turn around and wave at Shino, clearly confused and out of her element. "Shino, catch!"

The cellphone goes sailing through the air, Shino barely catching it in her arms with a squeak of surprise. You spy Gwen waving at Shino through the video call window, set on record mode, your neighbor waving back with a confused, hesitant wave. The two of you have reached your destination, class 2-C and your target is in sight. Endou sitting at the window, having not even bothered to change into her gym clothes, staring down at the track field in intense concentration, hands flying through her phone at lightning speed. You follow her face and note she's scanning downwards in anticipation of drama, likely looking for you.

She hasn't noticed you yet.

"Why am I here? Can I leave?" whispers Shino, not wanting to get anywhere near Endou.

"Nah, listen Shino. Just stand there, hold the phone and look scary."

You eye Shino up and down. Okay, a bookish girl with thick glasses, shorts and a school jersey. Not... exactly the type of person you'd normally pick to intimidate someone like Endou. You decide to count on Endou's own stupidity and hope for the best. At least Shino has one hell of a stinkeye.

Endou stares intently at her screen, oblivious to your approach, right up until you slam open the door of the classroom. You lean against the doorframe and give Endou a nice, friendly award-winning smile.

​

"Yoooo, Endou! Fancy seeing you here."

The shock is plain across her face, but she quickly covers it up with a sneer. "Firstie?! What are you doing in here?!"

"Oh, I was looking for my good friend! You ran away sooo fast up in the Skytree that I was worried you lost your marbles! And I couldn't find you in the Sports Festival, why if I didn't know any better I'd say you were ditching. But it's so good to see you hale and healthy, Endou!"

This is the key moment, everything else that comes after this was just simple execution. You look at her the way you remember PoH teaching you, studying her up and down. The briefest hitch in her breath, her hand grasping her arm, as if she was trying to comfort herself. Her voice, just a bit more forced, her teeth imperceptibly biting into her cheek.

Heh, you've already won. Not even a challenge.

You give Endou a wave, sauntering closer, while Shino stands guard at the door. Your cell phone remains pointed at the two of you, Gwen watching your performance. Whatever fear and trepidation Shino was experiencing is quickly replaced by hatred the moment Endou opened her mouth. She silently glares, her hands clenching tightly around your phone.

"DON'T GET NEAR ME!" screams Endou, backing up farther into the window.

"Wha—? Oh my, Endou-chan, why so hostile? Aren't we the best of friends?"

"I don't care what you think, you psychopath! Do NOT come any closer! If you so much as touch me, I will personally make sure you regret it for the rest of your life! Understand?"

"Touch you? Oh, nononono! I detest violence!" You chuckle, holding up both hands. "Look, we're even recording this whole conversation! See, if anything... violent happens I'll totally get caught. See? No violence at all!"

"Don't bullshit me!" shrieks Endou, eyes going wide. "I saw what you did in the Skytree! I looked into you Firstie, fucking village my ass. You pretty much disappeared for two years didn't you!? Don't think I don't know what that means!"

You're overcome with the urge to slowly clap. "Wow, you've already figured that out? I'm impressed Endou. I should introduce you to a rodent I know, she could use someone of your talents. But don't you know how... rude it is to air out the secrets of your poor, defenseless classmates?"

Summoning forth a well of hitherto untapped courage Endou stands and makes for the door, your body sliding forward to intercept the escape attempt. "Let me go Firstie, you and Shino can't hold me here."

"Why the rush Endou-chan? Our conversation isn't over yet."

Seeing no purpose in talking to you further, Endou turns to Shino, who is seething with rage. "Shino, why are you helping this creep? She's a genuine psychopath, she was rolling around in the blood like a pig in heat! I'm telling the school as a service to them!"

"That's rich coming from you Endou, after the way you've been tormenting me," responds Shino. Cool, looks like the bridges were well and truly burned there.

"That's not all!" adds Endou, "this crazy bitch was all but begging me to tell her your secret! She's hardly innocent!"

"...you're already spreading that around!?" asks Shino, anger continuing to flare, some of it you now sense directed at you. "And why were you asking around about it!?"

"Well, you were pulling off the mysterious thing so well Shino. By the way, I think killing a robber in junior high is metal as fuck. On that note, you... wouldn't happen to have a gun on you right now would you? That would make this go a lot faster."

"What, NO!"

You sigh. "Ah, guess that'd be too easy. Well, since that's out of the picture, I suppose we'll just have to settle for words. Shino, be a dear and turn on the speakerphone?"

You turn back to Endou, and she stops in her tracks. She looks at you, then whips her head to the side eyeing the door being guarded by Shino, your cell phone still taping the entire interaction. "So what now? If you do ANYTHING at all to me I'm going to expose EVERYTHING. About you, Shino, EVERYTHING! SO BACK OFF AND LET ME GO!"

"Uh-huh. Gwen, you catching this?"

<Loud and clear. She's kinda pathetic.>

Suddenly noticing the camera, Endou scoffs. "Y... you think you can threaten me with a recording!? In case you forgot the one threatening people are you two! I haven't done anything wrong!" screams Endou, panic and confusion evident in her voice.

"Oh, this recording? It's just to discourage violence and to give my friend a show. You're right, nothing you've said has been incriminating." You look to the left, where Shino is glaring daggers at Endou and focus your attention instead on your phone. "Well Gwen? Think you got enough to file a complaint?"

<Oh yes, such an unpleasant person. I'll have daddy file a complaint with her school. If it doesn't cost money he'll do anything I'll ask.>

"Aw, thanks for that! But Endou's been arrested before. Got a record for trespassing and everything! Best let the police know too."

Endou looks at you two wide-eyed, still trying to escape. "Wait... police? I haven't done anything wrong here! I haven't broken any laws!"

"What? Really? But you've bullied me for SO LONG. And Shino too! Why, I think my good friend Gwen here saw you shaking me down from her hospital bed! You followed me ALL the way to Yokohama just to shake me down for spending money. It's causing me so much stress knowing I'm being blackmailed, bullied AND stalked..."

"T-that's bullshit! I didn't do any of that!"

<Oh yeah, I remember! My best friend broke down in tears right in front me because not only her but her whole school is being bullied by this mean ugly girl. Telling people to go commit suicide and shaking down first years for money, what a horrible person. Hear she's running a bullying ring too, the delinquent queen of... whatever your school's called. It's my solemn duty as a member of the public to report this to the authorities.>

"It's not true! Who the hell even is that!?" asks Endou, pointing at the phone still being held by Shino.

"Not true?" asks Shino, quietly. "I know I'm not the only one Endou. How many people have you tormented? If... the school would finally take the matter seriously... I wonder how many people would come forward..."

"Bullshit, bullshit BULLSHIT! You think the school or police care enough to investigate your fucking false rumors!? Who the hell do you think you are?"

<Me? Just a concerned member of the Tsurusaki family. You know I have to wonder what kind of shit parents would bring up such an unpleasant human being. Certainly whoever is employing them should reconsider their hiring decisions.>

"Whoa, whoa, hey—don't bring my family into this! And you think you can bluff me? You're all a bunch of nobodies!" shouts Endou, standing up straight and folding her arms over her chest.

You sigh. Just braying from a dead horse.

"You love researching so much Endou-chan, so I'll leave you to figure out who it is you're messing with on your time. Let's just say my stick... has as bit more luster than yours. Besides..."

...

You step closer now, getting right into Endou's personal bubble. Her body stiffens but she doesn't raise her arms to stop you. Your smile widens as you throw one arm around her shoulder.

"W... wha. I told you not to touch me!"

"Endou-chan, Endou-chan. Time to admit it. You're in over your head here. It's not too late to make... amends."

"Amends? Haven't you forgotten, I know your secret! Shino's too! I'll do it you know! Call off your pet attack dog or I'll ruin your fucking life! Now get your hands off me!" screams Endou, shaking under your one-armed hug.

Time for the «Last Hit». Your lips approach Endou's ear, Shino and Gwen too far away to hear your words, for the next ones are for Endou alone. She bristles at your breath, blowing into her ear and sending shivers down her spine.

"I want you to consider something very carefully Endou-chan," you begin, speaking gently and softly to her. "You strike me a smart girl, so why don't you think on this riddle?"

She freezes, unable to move.

"6000 people walked out of SAO, most of them kids just like me. You know why they gathered them all up in that little fancy Survivor School? A nice gilded cage? It's cause they don't know. They can't actually tell... who killed and who didn't. The wolf and sheep all wear the same clothes. Isn't that wonderful?" you continue, enjoying the shivers of the girl in your grasp. "There were hundreds of them. They killed, they laughed, they had the time of our lives, and when SAO was over? Nobody cared. They're everywhere, they could be anyone Endou-chan."

You cup her chin with your hand. Her face is scarlet, her eyes darting around, looking for an escape. "The creep at the convenience store who stares just a bit too long. The delivery driver with his hat hiding his eyes. The girl walking her dog. Anybody could be one of them Endou-chan. Why... one could be here, at this very school."

Whatever response Endou was planning dies on her lips. She looks at you with newly minted terror. "The feeling of blood running down your hands... it's indescribable Endou-chan. Nothing like the sanitized pixels of SAO. All I wanted to do was experience it... vicariously. But here you are trying to ruin my fun. Now why would you do that? Why would you make me seek amusement... elsewhere?"

With a twist you force Endou's eyes to meet yours. They're dilated, like a wild animal. Her mouth opens but no words come out. "So what's it gonna be Endou-chan? Are you gonna make me call my... friends? Shall we have some fun together? Or would you like to make... amends?"

"...I..."

"Speak up. I can't hear you."

...

"...I'm sorry," Endou spits out, eyes glued to the floor.

"It seems you've got a lot of people you need to apologize to, don't you? Some of them are even here with me."

Shino watches on silently, her jaw hanging open. Endou bows, tears staining the ground beneath her. "I... I'm sorry Shino. P... please. J... just leave me alone. Please. I don't want anything to do with either of you, please. My lips are sealed just..."

Shino is speechless, unable to muster any response. You idly take your phone back from her stunned hands, Gwen's laughter audible even through the crappy connection of your smartphone.

"Thanks, Gwen, you're the best!"

<Please, I should be saying that. That just made my day.>

"Always happy to spread the love. Thanks and good luck with your ankles!"

Shino is still there, seething. The two of them were friends once, though any hope of that rekindling died long before you got involved. Endou is still bowing, unable or unwilling to meet Shino's eyes.

"You can hit her if you want. A few taps, probably best to avoid the face."

Your neighbor considers your words and for a second you see her resolve waver. Her right-hand raises... and falls. "No... I'm done. I... never want to see you again Endou. Ever."

Endou's only response is silence, Shino turning on her heels without another word. You watch your neighbor stomp away, her anger barely contained, her fists tightly gripping the hem of her jersey. Endou's head never rises the whole time. You can practically feel the fear radiating from her body.

"Well, then," you say, returning to your victim, "I think we've handled everything here. See ya Endou, and try not to fuck things up in the future, alright?"

"...s-so that's it? You're not going to...?" she asks, hope rising in her voice.

"Yup! I'm a girl of my word. You leave me alone and I'll leave you alone. Ah... well, there's just one more thing Endou-chan."

You stand over her, making sure your victim's eyes stay locked on your own. A puny little mouse caught in your trap, oh you'll let her live, but not before you take a nibble. "I've been running short on cash. Care to give me a loan?"

---

"We need to talk," says Shino, waiting at the stairwell. Off in the distance, the chaotic din of the Sports Festival was dying down, likely with the sacrifice of your loud friend. You'll go treat her to creampuffs tomorrow, it's the least you can do.

You flip through the bills you lifted from Endou's wallet. 20,000... 30,000... wow. Endou was LOADED. Why did she even need to blackmail Shino for money in the first place?

Shino eyes the bills, her brow furrowed. "W... what the hell is that!?"

You shrug, pulling a handful of bills out from the stack. "It's your share."

Before she can protest half of it is shoved into her hands. You might have gotten in the «Last Hit», but it was simply courteous to divide the loot when it came in the form of money. And in your opinion Shino's earned her fair share of the spoils.

"This... is theft," she says, staring at the pile of bills.

"No, it's just Endou showing us her sincerity. One time only, I promise."

"But it's not right... that we did was just... bullying her."

You don't even bother trying to suppress your eye roll. "Okay. Well, it's your money now Shino, do with it what you like. Endou's still back there crying in the classroom, so why don't you go in and give it back to her? I'm sure she'll appreciate it coming from you."

Shino opens her mouth but no words come out.
"But if I were you Shino... I'd treat myself. I hear you play VRMMOs? Buy a cash item or something, maybe change up your avatar. You deserve it for putting up with her for so long."

Shino takes a deep breath and examines the money in her hands. After a brief moment of hesitation, she shoves the bills into her jersey jacket. "Hiyori, about what Endou told you..."

"Yeah?"

"She was right. About my past... but please, just forget all of it. It's not... who I am..."

"Heh, you got nothing to worry about Shino. You may not believe me but I've heard worse, and I'm not going go around snitching. Sides' as you can no doubt surmise, I've got my fair share of secrets too."

Her face darkens slightly at your words, but she nods. "I could've guessed. You're... not who I expected you to be, Hiyori."

"You could say I get that a lot. Thanks for your help Shino, best we get going before the teachers figure out we're here." You make your way down the stairs to the exit, waving goodbye to Shino as you go.

"Wait!" Calls Shino from the top of the stairs. "If you don't mind me asking... how did you pull that off? No, that's not what I really want to know. How did you get... strong?"

"Hmm... well. I'd say you got your priorities mixed up. All backwards."

"What do you mean?" she asks, eyes trained on you.

"It's simple. Just survive. Use who you have to. Fight who you have to. Betray who you have to. It's that simple, really. The last one standing laughing atop a pile of bodies? That's the strong one."

Shino doesn't respond. She looks down at her hands, tracing a weapon into her palm that only she knows the shape of.

"Ciao Shino. Don't be a stranger!"

>Your muscles burn with exhaustion! FITNESS has increased! ♪♪♪♪
>You have socially defeated Endou! MASK has increased greatly! ♪♪♪♪♪♪
>You have stolen acquired 15000 yen!
>The strength of your SHADOW deepens. [TRAITOR RANK 2 ACHIEVED]
>Havfrue can now be UPGRADED (will be distributed during next Velvet Room visit)

AN: Vote next chapter (imminent).

 

[afreaknamedpete]

AN: Two chapters were posted in quick succession, so if you're checking in via notifications check the threadmarks.

þórsdagr - 17th of Einmánuður
Afternoon

A dirty back alley, a darkened grove in the woods, or a secret meeting place spoken of only in hushed whispers. A bar at the worst. When you started spying on players for Laughing Coffin, you had expected liaisons to occur in places like these.

Turns out? SAO simply didn't have seedy back alleys, not when it had a robust system that kept Orange Players from even entering town. As a result, most of your meetings were simple affairs. Open plazas, shops or through exchanged system messages and dead drops.

After the disaster of a morning, you wanted to end the day on something... calm. You'll start working on your Gunpla tonight, whereas this afternoon was filled by a meeting with the elusive $MistCoin$.

It'll be nice to make some money, even virtual money, that didn't involve outright theft. You had a bit more time than usual, the school let you all out early on account of the impromptu water war. Endou... wouldn't be bothering you again, courtesy of your Shadow. She... went too far.

Please, I solved the problem.
You threatened to ruin her life.

She deserved it, the snitch.
You also threatened to kill her.

But I didn't! Just like I promised!
The rumors will remain a problem, for the immediate future school was going to be difficult. You couldn't very well have your Shadow threaten the whole student body into submission.

Your thoughts continue to simmer while you head toward the rendezvous spot. The narrow business street seems to go on forever, filled with the bustle of NPC vendors mingling with the banging of a thousand forges. You pass by door after door, all too small for you to enter without bending over, spying countless Leprechauns running through the streets on one errand or another. There were plenty of other races too, even Sylphs and Salamanders walking side by side, admiring wares together.

This was «Goldpot», capital city of the Leprechaun race. Unlike most capitals, the Leprechaun leadership had no issues with other races entering their capital, even going as far as to allow rival races to own property in the city. It was one of the few capitals that welcomed visitors, to the extent most Leprechauns would freely offer to teleport you to their city simply by asking.

The Leprechauns took pride in calling themselves the best merchants and craftsmen of ALO. Strange how a single race could nearly monopolize a mechanic as ubiquitous as crafting. From what you hear Leprechauns aren't necessarily better crafters than other races, their skills simply make crafting more efficient. Mass-production was an ability notably exclusive to the race.

You finally reach your destination. The building is a squat stone structure with a set of double doors at the front, a sign hanging saying: «General Store Mitsuha». How helpfully generic. Perfect as a front for a shady operation.

As you step inside, you're greeted by a large room full of shelves lined with goods. There's stationary, pens, combs... was that cup ramen in the corner? It's... awfully anachronistic.
This looks like a conbii from the 80s. You can craft cup ramen in this game?

​

A counter extends down the center, where a female Leprechaun sits, giving you the same blank smile you see on the faces of every clerk in the city. Her hair is long and black, accentuated only by the hairpins she's wearing. Outside of that she's normal in every respect except her height. She looks so unlike a fairy you briefly wonder if you accidentally logged out.

"Hello dear customer, please help yourself to anything you like. Our products are of the highest quality," she says, clearly not intending on moving away from her counter. Outside of yourself, the store is utterly empty. The shelves are all fully stocked, if this store's business model was based on the novelty of selling IRL junk in a fantasy world, it clearly wasn't doing very well.

"Uh..." You look around, trying to remember the stupid code phrase they wanted you to use. "... I'm new here and I'd like to buy some items...?"

"...I am sorry for my rudeness, dear customer. What are you looking for?" She smiles.

What the hell was the code phrase...
Good god, just be direct for once.

Alright, fine. "I'm looking for $MistCoin$."

"I'm sorry, I don't follow. Perhaps you can rePHRASE your statement?" the girl says, the picture of innocence.

You are too tired for cloak and dagger bullshit. "Look I don't remember the stupid catchphrase. My name is Lux, I was trying to fence some goods through you. I can't check my cellphone in game, so can we just get one with this? Are you $MistCoin$ or not?"

The Leprechaun frowns, hands on her hips. She's not budging.
"Fine. I'll take my SWORD ART ONLINE items elsewhere. Later."

You barely make it a meter away from the counter before the clerk shouts, "WAIT!" She grabs onto your arm. You turn to see the girl gripping tight enough to cause damage.

"...finally interested?"

"There's a reason I use a codephrase!" the girl, presumably $MistCoin$, says while puffing up her cheeks. "Practice good information hygiene! You never know when a GM, or worse a narc, might be watching!"

"Okay..." You shrug and give her a half-smile. "So what's the real code phrase?"

"...the code phrase is 'I'm going to buy a lot of things!'"
A phrase no one will ever accidentally say in this dump.

She lets go of your arm and points to the shelves behind her. "Dear customer, since the cat's out the bag please put your items on the shelf. SAO items... sounds profitable. If your goods are legit I'll pay you handsomely."

You open your inventory, filled to the brim with corrupted items and error messages. The only legitimate items you had were Sigurd's gifted vendor trash sword, a vendor trash magic wand you didn't know how to use, and...

«Excalibur», the best, rarest, most highly valued sword in the entire game. You're tempted to show $MistCoin$ just to see her reaction.

"As I said in my message, the items are corrupted. I don't think releasing them here is a good idea."

"Uh-huh. If you're gonna scam me you'll need to try harder than that."

This stuff is just garbage to you in the end. "You know what? I'll just give them to you, all of them. If you don't want them, then just throw them away, they're useless to me anyways."

"Well now, isn't that generous of you." The Leprechaun sighs dramatically. "Very well, let me take a look."

You spend nearly 10 minutes in the trade inventory screen, transferring all the junk items you have. In the meantime the salesgirl goes to work, checking each item carefully in her menu, the concentration on her face clearly indicating some manner of skill usage.

"Is this everything?" She asks, finally.

"Everything I'm willing to sell."

"Hmm. That's quite a haul indeed. But it's mostly junk... I think the crafting ingredients will work in Insect Site, so they aren't entirely worthless, but the weapons and armor are a lost cause. Eh, the deal stays. The most I can offer is 1 MistCoin."

"How about two?"

"I am offering an exclusive service here! I mean I was totally excited a minute ago but this is mega disappointing. Good luck selling this crap to anybody else."

Your eyes narrow at her. "How exactly are you going to make use of corrupted items?" You sense she's lowballing you hard, but to your frustration there really wasn't any alternative but to sell to $MistCoin$. What else were you going to do with corrupted mid-level dungeon gear and a hundred units of poison-crafting ingredients? You didn't even know how crafting worked in ALO.

"Trade secret. Simply put I figured out a way to transfer items between Seed games. Obviously, I'm not telling you the details, dear customer! I need to preserve my competitive advantage."

"Fine." You throw your hands up in defeat. "Just give me the... MistCoin."

"Perfect!" She presses the register button on the countertop and types in your name and account number.

After a few seconds, the transaction screen pops up. You look over in confusion as an item - the so-called MistCoin - is dropped into your inventory. It was... a piece of colored glass. It's flat and transparent, a vivid gold color. There's a symbol etched in the middle of it, a stylized M. It looked like an arcade token.

"Hang on a sec. I'm still lost. This is like... a currency? Can I buy more?"

"ABSOLUTELY!"

"Gah!" Your almost deploy your wings, $MistCoin$ surging forth the moment you said the word 'buy'.

$MistCoin$ smiles widely, filled with a sudden surge of excitement. "I didn't know you were interested in investing! How much do you want to buy? 10? 100!? You get a discount if you buy more than 500!"

"Why don't you explain how this works?"

"OF COURSE! Anything for a potential investor! Why MistCoin is the safest investment you could possibly make! It's a revolutionary cryptocurrency using a decentralized AI-generated blockchain mimicry model running on SEED architecture! It even persists between SEED platforms! Furthermore owning a MistCoin grants you exclusive nontransferable access to cross-SEED currency and inventory transfer services! So what are you waiting for? Don't be left behind in the old world of fiat currencies and centralized banking. Join the Mistcoin revolution today and experience the future of finance for yourself!"

Are we speaking the same language?

"...where do MistCoins come from...?"

"A good question, investor! The key to MistCoin's success lies in its innovative consensus mechanism, which is based on a complex combination of proof-of-work and proof-of-stake protocols. This hybrid approach enables the network to achieve unprecedented levels of scalability and efficiency, while also minimizing the risk of malicious attacks and double-spending. MistCoin is also uniquely protected from social engineering attacks because all generation protocols are performed through an exclusive centralized repository run by yours truly!"

"I see." You nod slowly. You've never seen someone put so much effort into their scam.
Technobabble aside the important points are that we can only buy, spend and acquire MistCoins through this weirdo.

So it's fiat currency and she can just run away with the money at any time. Truly the best investment of your limited allowance.
I mean... if we find a bigger idiot we could still cash out big. Besides, I don't think she's lying about $MistCoin$ being preserved between games, that alone makes it useful. It might actually be the only way the economies of different VRMMOs can directly interact.

"You still need convincing, dear customer? Well, if you're feeling hesitant I have a very special offer for you!"

$MistCoin$ holds up both hands. "Stop me if you've heard this before: 'Want to make a deal?' Here's mine! Let's say you invest in 500 MistCoins in right now—just 250,000 yen! Chump change! And let's say I guarantee you'll double your money within two weeks. Would you take it? Of course you would! That's why you should join the Mist Coin revolution today!"

"Uh..."

"But wait, there's more! I also offer exclusive concierge services to valued investors! A new sword, a dress, some rare books, or even a pet! Just tell me what you want and I'll provide! Whatever you need, $MistCoin$ can get it for you, provided the price is right!"

The girl huffs and puffs, her eyes lighting up as she talks. "Well!? Want to buy some MISTCOIN!?"

You wince and shake your head. "I... can't afford any purchases right now?"

She deflates immediately, the smile falling off her face. "Oh, so you're just a normie. Have fun being poor."
Please punch her.

Please be polite to the black market saleswoman. "W... well if I get more money perhaps ...I'll consider it?"

"You won't get any more money without investing in MistCoin. Buy now and you'll make back double in two weeks!"

"Can I sell gear? For... regular yen?" you ask, praying you could sidestep this whole funny money business.

"Nope. Buyer's market right now, your gear must be something real special for me to deal with it. And I only sell in MistCoin, if you want it in yen, you have to pay my 10% arbitrage fee," she says, interest continuing to wane.

"Hold on. I have to pay you money to turn MistCoins into yen? Why!?"

"Uh, mostly to account for value loss during SEED transfers. I have to do everything in GGO, converting MistCoin into credits eats into my margins something fierce. If you're serious about making money I suggest transferring to GGO, that's where all the serious grinders are. And guns are much cooler than dumb flying magic mumbo jumbo!" she capstones this claim by pointing at you with a finger gun.

You're having enough problems with one VRMMO, thank you very much.

"All right, then... thank you for taking the time to explain how this works to me." You bow deeply to the saleswoman, who waves off your gratitude.

"No sweat. You could do with some deeper pockets, but my merchant's intuition is telling me you're a useful person to know. Tell you what..."

Hmm?

Spoiler: RANK 1: THE DEVIL

I AM THOU, THOU ART I.

A FORCE SMALL YET GRAND.

THE INVISIBLE HAND.

THE GREAT MOVER OF HUMAN ENTERPRISE.

GREED REVEALS THE DEVIL WITHIN.

AND GRANTS YOU POWER TO DESTROY THE HEAVENS

​

She hands you a business card, an email address and LINE ID proudly displayed in gold leaf. "Name's Mitsuha, like the sign says outside. You get any hot property or need some special gear fast, give me a shout. Now next time you show up buy more MistCoin, you cheapo!"

Before you can respond, the woman turns and logs out of her empty shop leaving you speechless. What did you just get involved with...?

>You have barely comprehended the depths of the MistCoin! GRIT has increased! ♪♪♪♪
>The price of MistCoin can be modified by your actions in Quest! Generally, news that increases societal confidence in VRMMOs, Virtual Reality and gaming drives up the price, whereas actions and news that do the opposite sends the price of MistCoin down.
>The price of MistCoin fluctuates week by week. Each week the QM will roll for price changes. Provided nothing happens the price of MistCoin will statistically trend down with time.
>$MistCoin$ is speculating that the price of MistCoin will double in two weeks! $MistCoin$'s predictions are not always accurate, but her ability to influence the market remains immense. Advance in the DEVIL to get in on the action, or not, I'm not the boss of you.

---

THURSDAY - April 17th, 2025
Velvet Room

You have been busy. You gather them with such speed.

An unusual one, even my standards. Weakness and strength side by side.

Will your soul weaken? Or will that weakness drive you to greater heights?

...

...

But let us first have a taste.

How refreshingly pedestrian.
A world need not be complicated.
It doesn't even need a hero, nor does it need a villain.
All it needs is a wish.
A simple one. A peaceful retirement.
Work and toil, for the promise of a rest that will never come.
Endless greed.
The world is her trough.
She shall feed. Again and again.
When the greed is finally satiated, I wonder what will remain?
The taste is quite plain. But there's enough to gorge on.

...

She works hard so that one day she need not work at all.
Cheat so that one day you need not fear cheats.
Kill so that one day you need not fear killers.
An ironic, but fruitless goal.
Now remind the DEVIL she will never escape her endless toil.
And take from her HEAVEN.

[ ] Maneki-Neko

Spoiler: Maneki-Neko

If a cat raises its paw over the ears and washes its face, then patrons will come.
If you are grateful to me, bring some fortune to the temple.
If you kill a cat, it will haunt your family for seven generations.
-Assorted Proverbs

STR: Rank E (1 Dice)
MAG: Rank D (2 Dice)
AGI: Rank E (1 Dice)
VIT: Rank C (3 Dice)
CHT: Rank D (2 Dice)

Weakness: Wind, Ice, Curse
Resist: Elec, Bless
Passive: Beckoning Gold: Performing the Last Hit with this Persona OR dealing greater than 3 Cumulative Damage to a target with this Persona will generate 1 MistCoin. Can only apply once per opponent.

Skills:
Zio: Electric magic attack.
Rakukaja: Augments an ally's defensive ability.
Kouha: Bless magic attack.

[ ] Midas

Spoiler: Midas

'Make it so that whatever I touch with my body, turns to yellow gold.'
Bacchus accepted his choice, and gave him the harmful gift, sad that he had not asked for anything better.
The Berecyntian king departed happily, rejoicing in his bane,
and testing his faith in its powers by touching things, and scarcely believing it,
when he broke off a green twig from the low foliage of the holm-oak:
the twig was turned to gold.
-Metamorphosis XI, book by Ovid

STR: Rank C (3 Dice)
MAG: Rank F (0 Dice)
AGI: Rank E (1 Dice)
VIT: Rank D (2 Dice)
CHT: Rank D (2 Dice)

Weakness: Blunt, Fire, Curse
Resist: Pierce, Ice
Passive: The Curse of Greed: When this Persona is active you may burn 1 MistCoin to augment a SINGLE attack or skill. An augmented attack automatically targets ALL foes and grants you +2 ADVANTAGE.

Skills:
Savage Fulcrum: An Ice/Slash Sword Skill. If the target is resistant to one element and weak to the other, deals neutral damage.
Shooting Star: Pierce Sword Skill.
Pulinpa: Attempts to confuse target enemy.

[ ] Aladdin

Spoiler: Aladdin

"Forgive my ignorance," he asked, "what is the palace you speak of?"
"Have you not heard of Prince Aladdin's palace," was the reply,
"the greatest wonder in the world? I will direct you if you have a mind to see it."
The magician thanked him who spoke,
and having seen the palace knew that it had been raised by the Genie of the Lamp,
and became half mad with rage.
He determined to get hold of the lamp, and again plunge Aladdin into the deepest poverty.
-Alladin and the Magic Lamp, from One Thousand and One Nights

STR: Rank D (2 Dice)
MAG: Rank D (2 Dice)
AGI: Rank B (4 Dice)
VIT: Rank E (1 Dice)
CHT: Rank E (1 Dice)

Weakness: Pierce, Curse, Bless, Elec
Resist: Slash
Passive: One Step Ahead: When this Persona is active you may burn 1 MistCoin to grant yourself +1 ADVANTAGE to the next 3 VIT and/or AGI rolls. This bonus persists even if you change Personas. Applies only to yourself.

Skills:
Vertical Arc: Slash Sword Skill
Sukukaja: Augments an allies evasive power
Garu: Wind Magic Attack

AN: Upgrades will be distributed once all the Social Link events this period have been completed.
Dear confused theoretical future visitor: whether you come from the post-cryptocurrency crash timeline or the blockchain techno-apocalypse timeline please be aware that 303 bitcoins is, in fact, worth about 1 billion yen at the time this chapter was first posted.

 

[afreaknamedpete]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[X] Maneki-Neko

FRIDAY - April 18th, 2025
Afternoon

The two of you glare across the table from one another, the glass of soda in front of you stale and flat. Agil had left the two of you alone in his bar to, as he says, 'sort things out'. His parting advice was that sharing a drink can smooth things over even between bitter enemies.

The lone glass sits unattended, two untouched squiggly straws sticking out of it like antennae. Cheapskate couldn't even be bothered to get you separate beverages.

"Why don'tcha drink? Must be thirsty running around arrangin' all this bullshit."

"Oh, you first. Please, go ahead, I promise I didn't poison it."

...

Argo the Rat... at first you didn't have a particularly strong opinion regarding her, at least back when you were just a normal SAO player. While she sold exclusive information to the Clearers, her field guide was freely distributed to all lower floors with accurate, comprehensive information. Descriptions of dungeons, safe routes between labyrinths, conditions of special field bosses, and recommendations for anti-status effect equipment... everybody had a copy of it stored in their inventory.

Argo was elusive, but on the lower floors, no name engendered trust quite like «Argo the Rat». 'It's Fine, It's Argo's Guide!' For the players of SAO, those words were worth more than gold.

Of course, everything changed when you became her enemy.

"So... I guess Agil set this up. Sneaky bastard when he wants to be." Hosaka Carina Tomo gives you a lazy wave. You can't help but notice she looks more... haggard than last you met. The fake smile that doesn't reach her eyes, you remember that from your last meeting. But the dark circles? Those were new. "While your here, mind callin' off little miss attack dog? Can't work with her barkin' everywhere."

"No. Meimi will do what she likes."

She rolls her eyes and scoffs. "Yeah, this ain't gonna work. Waste of time. So whatcha want Lux? Figure it's best if we keep this strictly business."

...it was always like this. You were enemies in SAO, though only by happenstance. In another life, if you weren't forced into working with Laughing Coffin you could've been allies, strangers at least. Argo... made every day worse, hunting you from the light while Laughing Coffin stalked you in the shadows. No way out but a virtual grave or a virtual prison.

And that would have been the end of it. You would have forgotten, forgiven. It's not as if Argo was in the wrong.
But she had to drag you back. She couldn't let SAO just END.

"I... just want to know something, Hosaka," you spit out, forcing yourself to use her real name. You were well past the point of honorifics, and addressing her by her first name made you nauseous just contemplating it. "Why are you so obsessed? Why couldn't you just ask me for help instead of threatening me!? In case you forget, SAO is over."

"Really? Tell that to the 300 peop-"

"That's an entirely different issue! You threatened me! And don't you dare lecture me otherwise, have you forgotten I'm the reason there's been any progress in your little mission."

Hosaka growls, rearing up as if to shout, but catches herself before she does so. "Fine, so ya made yer point. Toldja already, I leave your secrets be if ya help me with this. I keep my word."

"Tell me. Say we rescue everyone. Are you going to stop with all... this? Stop being Argo the Rat?" you stare into her eyes. "Stop obsessing over Sword Art Online!?"

"Ya know what gopher-chan, since you're the one that's bringing it up... After this is over, do you go back? Go back to your little high school life and forgot about what ya owe your victims?"

You stare into her eyes without blinking. "Y... you. Do you have ANY IDEA what kind of life I had!? You think I wanted to work with Laughing Coffin!? You think I CHOSE any of this!?"

"Spare me the story," she says, giving a half smile. "I can guess. They forced me into it, they forced me to cooperate, blah blah something like that right? Tch, don't sell me that bullshit. Wasn't there a choice ya had, same as everyone? Could've turned yourself in."

"And what? Spend the rest of SAO in the Army's private prison? Locked up for who knows how long? Live an eternity in a lightless cell?"

"You could've done MORE! You could've shown even a TINY PIECE of the courage the Clearers did!" Hosaka's standing now. Her voice is low and dangerous. "You could've fought back, you could've resisted, you could've informed us! But you just kept working! You were so concerned with your damn survival you never stopped to look at the corpses you left in your wake!"

She's shouting, making fists, shaking with anger. But you stand your ground. "I'm not proud of what I did. But SAO is over. I want that behind me, and I want you to put it behind you."

"Izzat it? It's over, just amnesty for everyone! No closure, no answer, no JUSTICE!?"

"And who are you to administer justice? You were just a player. It's not your responsibility and never was your responsibility to judge me, no, judge any player!"

...Hosaka goes quiet, her early anger spent.
"Responsibility, huh," she says quietly, looking down. "Ya know something? Nobody took Responsibility. Ever. Funny how that works, huh?"

"...what do you mean?"

Hosaka looks up at you again. "I was waiting for the whole game for one ya know. A leader. Someone willing to take responsibility. My friend... Kii-bou, he took all the hate on behalf of the beta-testers... so he took responsibility in his way. But he was the only one. And it wasn't enough."

Hosaka taps her fingers against the table, continuing with a wistful tone. "The Army? We both know how 'effective' they were. «Divine Dragon Alliance» just cared about themselves. I thought... the «Knights of Blood» had the right idea. Lead by example, give everyone a shining star to aspire to. Heathcliff was always kinda quiet and all mysterious-like, but I had high hopes for him. I thought he could learn to lead us all, Aincrad united as one. Heh, turns out I bet on the wrong horse."

The information broker stares down at her feet, struggling to find the will to continue. "You know what I realized Lux? In those early days of SAO, when most people died... they were looking to us. To beta testers. For some kind of... leader. I spent months... then a year looking for one too. Putting up my guides, figuring out where everyone was, trying to... just make things less shit. Nobody ever stepped up. Just headless chickens worrying more about loot, drops and fucking PKing each other."

Silently, almost absently, Hosaka balls up her fists. She's shaking. "But one idiot was trying to hold it all together. One stupid girl who just liked writing guides. It took me a year to realize it but... somehow it was me all along. I was running all the labyrinth scouts. I dictated the safe areas. I was coordinating the anti-LC response. The clearers didn't even move without my say-so, I was the only one who could force them to work together. I woke up one day and suddenly realized the person who was running the show... was me. Maybe if I realized it sooner, 4000 people wouldn't have had to die."

...you never considered it from that perspective but Argo the Rat in many ways was the closest thing SAO had to a leader that everyone had to listen to, one way or another. Certainly, the only thing SAO had to an authority. She didn't rule, dictate or lead... but by controlling information she had her finger on the pulse of every player.

"Whatever you may think, you were just one person. You're no more responsible for SAO than I was. And you have no right to judge me."

"What a hoot, seeing the likes of you squirm. Ya know what it's like? Hearing a scout never returned from the labyrinth, sent to death on your orders? Hearing a guild got decimated cause your guide missed the boss's enrage timer? Hearing a friend died helping ya escape from a stupid little LC gopher's bodyguards? You think you're the only one who was put in an impossible situation!?"

Her eyes light up, her hands slamming down on the table. "So don't ya dare ask me about responsibility! I thought SAO was over too! Ya think I want to be here doing this!? I thought I could just be Tomo again, not Argo the Rat! That the damn adults would take care of everything! But NO! There's NOTHING. No punishment. No investigation! NO JUSTICE! So I'll do it again. I'll take responsibility again. BECAUSE NO ONE ELSE IS GOING TO!"

You stand up to meet her, chair tumbling underneath you. "So that's it? I live the rest of my life in fear of you doxxing me to appease your own sense of justice?"

"Nah, I got a better idea," Hosaka snaps at you. "How's this for an old memory? 'We have decided to make you confess all your crimes with your own mouth.' Remember them? That's what I want. That's true justice. I ain't gonna expose ya, as per our agreement, but if you're going to keep bringin' this shit up, I'm not gonna stop hounding ya. I want ya, all of ya, to confess your sins. To take responsibility."

"No. I'm done with SAO. Everyone is. It's time to move on!"

A ringing bell cuts through the room, interrupting your staring contest. The creaky door to the Dicey Cafe open as Agil bumbles into the room, arms cradling several bags worth of groceries.

"Hey! You girls getting along all... right...?" asks Agil, his eyes wandering across his bar to the completely untouched flat soda, chairs scattered across the floor and Hosaka's steaming red face.

"...no," you answer bitterly. Hosaka just huffs and turns away from you.

Agil shuts the door behind him and sets the bags down on the counter. "Well, uh, feel free to keep talking. I have to get the bar ready for opening, so could you refrain from taking your frustrations out on my furniture?"

"It's fine Agil. We were just finishing up," says Hosaka.

You nod along. For once you agree.

Hosaka looks at you in contemplation, as if testing an idea in her head. "So I take it your not going to do the right thing."

"No, I'm not going to subject myself and my family to the harassment of the public just so you can feel better about yourself."

"Fine, then. You know what? Let me give you a few names." She pulls out her smartphone, scrolling through some list stored there.

"Kashiwazaka Hiyori. Spy for Laughing Coffin."
Your name. What was she plotting?

"Fukazawa Seiichiro. Killed his own damn wife.
Hanako Akazawa. Orange Guild leader, orchestrated the death of an entire guild.
And Kanamoto Atsushi. You should recognize this one."

"Never heard of any of them. Why should I care about these names?"

"No? Guess you Coffins didn't talk about your past lives much, huh? But no matter. They're the only ones I've been able to track down. So ya want to keep hanging around me? Agil trying to make us play nice? Well then, how about you come with me? I'm going to make each and every one of them confess, and I want ya to be there too. I'm going to stare ya in the eye and DARE ya to tell me they deserve to go free. And once that's over, I want ya to tell me one more time if it's just that ya get to walk away."

After that the conversation dies. Hosaka excuses herself, stopping only to apologize to Agil for the mess. You couldn't exactly say this was a productive conversation. The implication wasn't lost to you. For Argo, you ranked right up there with the real murderers on SAO. She wanted confessions, public shaming, some perverse obsession with punishing you all.

Following her around just to have her try to guilt trip you by showing you the worst dregs of SAO didn't exactly sound like a fun way to spend an afternoon. As far as you're concerned, Argo can take her stupid justice and shove it up her rat ass, you had no reason to ever talk to her—

Spoiler: RANK 1: JUSTICE

I AM THOU, THOU ART I.

ALL BENEATH THE LIGHT OF TRUTH.

BRING FORTH THE CONDEMNED.

RAISE THE GALLOWS. TIE THE KNOT.

DELIVER ABSOLUTE JUSTICE.

TO GRANT YOU POWER TO DESTROY THE HEAVENS


​

Damn it.

This is your fault. For the briefest of moments, you sympathized with her. You understood, in the broadest of senses, who Hosaka Carina Tomo was. Of course, she possessed a wish of her own. If you wanted to continue obtaining power from her, you'd need to play along.

But even if you didn't... at least you're not afraid of her anymore.

"Hey, Hosaka," you call out, stopping the girl at the door.

"What? Changed ya mind?"

"No. I haven't. SAO is over, and the only reason I'm involved at all is that I care about saving everyone. Call it penance, whatever you like, but that's why I'm here, Hosaka." The girl looks at you for one last time as you call out to her, "...and that's why you're too here, right? To save everyone?"

The question hangs in the air between the two of you.

At first, it seems like she isn't going to answer, but then she lets out a small smile. The first genuine one you've ever seen on her. "Hmph. Sometimes ya make a good point. That's right... what we're really here for... is to save them."

"Just making sure you stay focused, Rat."

"Yeah, yeah, I hear ya. One last thing gopher-chan. I'm not sure what you and your PK friend are planning, but if you think it can get you up the Tree then go for it. I figure letting you do your own thing would be more efficient than folding ya into my crew. But if you're really outta ideas... well, I suppose I could use a hand. And if not..."

"Then I'll see you at the top of the World Tree."

"Right. I'm off now, try not to murder anyone gopher-chan."

"Try not to dox anyone, Rat."

>You have barely tolerated Argo the Rat! GRIT has increased! ♪♪♪♪
>Grit ranked up to [Brittle]
>Decreased D penalties for future interactions with Argo the Rat.
AN: No vote, bunching everything together for next chapter.