Interlude II: Faith

To become blind is to lose one's way in navigating the tricky waters of deception, danger and death.

Within the floating castle of Aincrad, survival was nothing short of necessary; be it against the countless monsters that roamed the wilderness, or the mysterious invaders that weld completely unique powers called 'Shadows', or even the monsters wearing human skin. Another day to live is another day to fight, and that meant reaching the final floor no matter what.

All that Koharu Honda expected was playing a game and beating it alongside the others.

Unfortunately, however, the cards had been dealt and the players were all tossed into a deathly game that promised to kill them should they fail. And more than ever, she understood just how doomed all of them were.

In a moment of seemingly helplessness, the average person might just shut down and crumble away, crushed beneath the pressure. Why fight and die when you could just hide away and live long enough? It had been a compelling thought for the Beta Tester.

But as it was once said in the Völsunga saga, 'better to fight and fall than live without hope'. And Koharu, for all her weakness and the fear she possessed, chose to place faith in her skills and those around her. That, no matter how long it would take—a year, or two, or five—they would someday emerge victorious, and would return to the people they love.

She would keep such hope alive within her at all costs, even if some would call her a fool.

11th August 2022—Aincrad. Floor 1, Town of Beginnings

"Seriously, when are you going to learn that you're not helping anyone? Just leave the game already, loser."

"Nngh…"

Calm. Stay calm. She couldn't let him get to her, no matter what.

She was by no means an angry person, and she wouldn't let some cheap provocation like that get under her skin. She was strong! A strong girl with a heart of steel! There was absolutely no way that she was going to get angry!

"I know, right? Every time we're in some fight, she's the first to run away," someone sneered, ugly scowl on his face. "Seriously, what good are you if you can't fight?"

That was… a little hard to argue. Knives were her go-to weapon, but because it was the weapon with the shortest reach and didn't really deal much damage compared to swords, maces and spears, she was at a pretty huge disadvantage compared to other players.

She'd once entertained the thought of fighting with a ranged weapon, though she hadn't been able to get her hands on bows and the like—now that she thought about it, were there even any in this game? She'd wanted to try the spear, but it felt awkward in her hands, heavy and constantly weighty that she felt like she was going to lose her grip and trip.

"Oi, loser. You hear us?" Someone stopped her by the shoulder. She looked behind, to where some guy with holy crap why is his hair green? staring down at her with a smirk. "You know, if you'd want, you could always join us and make yourself useful. I'd bet even a weak player like you could be of some use."

"I…" She didn't want to stay calm, but she really didn't want to waste her time with this guy, or anyone else. "Look, I'm busy, so I'm sorry that I can't join you but—"

"Huuuh? Busy? You don't look busy to me," snorted the player. "I mean, what are you even going to do? Waste more time gazing at the sky and picking flowers? Come on, you can do way better than that!"

Damn it. She really didn't want to stay here any longer. She had a mission! W-Well, not really a mission, per se, but there was something she had to do. And she seriously shouldn't be dilly-dallying! She has places to go! The new gear sitting in her equipment was calling for her, and she wanted to put it on so baaad!

He must have noticed her desire to refuse him, since his smirk turned into a frown. His grip over her shoulder grew tighter, and Koharu fought against the pain and the desire to punch his face in before she—

"Hey," a new voice cut the air, familiar enough that it even made her perk up in shock. "Why don't you do her a favour and leave her alone?"

All the bullies had basically parted like the Red Sea, and one of the most famous Beta Tester walked through them like Moses had, a very long time ago. Incredibly tall, he was, though whether that was his avatar or his actual height was up for debate. His eyes were sharp, his black hair long enough to reach his shoulder, his equipment looking much better than anyone else's.

The Beta Tester Kirito, had made his presence known.

"Y-You..!" Gasped her bully, unconsciously letting go of her shoulder in fear. "W-What do you want?"

"You're bothering her," he said simply, gesturing towards Koharu. "I'd rather you leave, or I'll have to make you."

It was an unveiled threat, one that he took seriously. Kirito was respected amongst their group for how good of a fighter he was. He hadn't lost a single duel thus far, and such skill showed in his ability to somehow predict his opponents, make use of the game's motions and skills to outmanoeuvre them, and at a level much higher than anyone thus far.

This was the first floor, but already he was at level five! And everyone else were still sitting on the two or three threshold, herself included. It was crazy!

The glint of metal from the sheathe on his back was enough to get him to back off, taking a step back before spitting to the side. "Tch. Fine. Have it your way."

He shot her one final look, promising murder, before he eventually took his leave. One glare was all it took before the others dispersed as well, leaving her, Kirito, and a handful of curious bystanders.

His earlier expression melted away into a relieved one as he let out a sigh, his tone gentler than his previous one. "So, you okay?"

"I… yeah, I am," she nodded. "Thanks for that, by the way. Guy was being annoying and he wouldn't even listen to me, so you kind of saved me the trouble of fighting him to get him to leave me alone. Then again, I doubt I could have done much…"

She'd always known that fighting wasn't really her strong suit. In any other game, she'd be fine, no sweat! But now that she was in a VR world, utilizing her body to fight, the fact that it was a virtually-constructed avatar aside, was a different experience altogether, and it made combat incredibly challenging.

So really, she focused her attention elsewhere. Rather than combat, she wanted to learn more about the game. Discover its secrets, little bugs and glitches that she could possibly utilize and make use of in the future—kinda' cheaty, she knew, but she'd always done it before in those old console games. It was just so much fun!

Thankfully, Kirito was unlike the other players, shaking his head. "It's fine. Even if you can't fight good, you could do other things to help."

He'd meant it in complete honesty, and such left a warm feeling in her gut as she smiled at the boy. "Right? I'm glad you understand!"

"Heh, I would know, considering how I'm friends with Argo," he chuckled at the thought of her. She was quick to recall Argo, the famed information broker who really delivered on her end in just about anything. "Seriously… She's the same as you. Don't tell her this, but fighting isn't just what she's good in. She pooled all her points into speed, so she isn't exactly the strongest fighter. Yet look at her, the best information broker there is."

"Heh, that's so true. Not everyone has to be good at fighting in a game," she nodded her agreement, happy to find someone that shared her views. She extended a hand to him, catching him by surprise. "Name's Koharu, by the way. Nice to meet you!"

It took him a while to recover before he eventually took her hand in his, smiling back. "Kirito. Same to you."

11th August 2022—Aincrad. Floor 1, Dungeons, Outside of the Boss Room

'Are people going to call me crazy for trying something like this? Yes they will. Are people going to be so shocked when they realize that you're actually right for once? Hopefully. Can I do this?' She needn't even answer that question before her response to herself was articulated. "Yes I can!"

Honestly, it has to be the craziest idea that she's ever had so far, and she wasn't even certain where this idea came from. Perhaps it was because other people made fun of her for being a weak fighter? Because she was supposedly bad at the game?! Well, excuse them! She was a great gamer, she'll have them know!

Well, okay, maybe she was more on the casual side of gamers. Not a speedrunner or pro or whatever, but she knew how to play smart when it came to it. She won't let them mock her for being bad or anything anymore! She'll show them!

Although, she wondered if this was really a good idea.

Koharu looked up, gulping slightly. The massive doors were yelling 'Boss!' at her, and she understood it well enough. Beyond these doors would be the dungeon boss's room, and the moment she stepped inside, she would immediately trigger the battle. There would be no escaping it.

It wasn't a bad idea, by any means, but if it involved her going in alone without a raid party to fight with? Yeah, you can tell why even she thought it was a poor idea. And if you died, you'd receive a penalty in the form of a deduction in your funds, and you'd lose some of your items. It was enough to give her pause and reconsider her options.

She could go back and wait for the other players to form a new raid party. This time, she would join the group and fight alongside everyone else, just as any good player would—

Only for her to slap both cheeks with her hands. No! She can't back down now! Only she can be the one to test this hypothesis of hers, and she wouldn't let anyone else take it from her!

Honestly, it was just a shower thought (seriously, she'd gotten this idea while taking a shower the previous day. She'd been so excited at trying it out that she'd accidentally slip on some soap and fallen on her bum) that she really wanted to test out. It would be so cool if it works!

Nodding to herself, Koharu tapped into her equipment and slipped on the dark-coloured coat, hiding her features and hair from the world. She'd made sure to spend some of her money on lightweight equipment and dye her clothes with dark colours. It was an insane thought that she was absolutely certain was totally feasible!

She looked back to the doors, took in a deep breath, counted up to fifty sheep because her nerves were pretty frazzled, and gently pushed the doors open.

A tiny crack of light slipped into the room, the gap between the doors just barely enough for a person to squeeze themselves through. A rather dumb choice of action, really, since most people would just barge in and rush towards the boss. Not like it does anything good, really; they lose the element of surprise immediately once the room is triggered, and the battle would begin right away.

What Koharu was after was the complete opposite; she'd gambled on the possibility that, maybe, just maybe, there was a chance that she could bypass the sensors in the room? That she could somehow enter the room without triggering the boss battle?

It sounded like a crazy notion, but hear her out!

Boss rooms are designed with sensors that track the presence and movement of players. It need only be one person before it triggers the monsters and the boss, thus initiating the battle. The lights on the walls would get lit, the minions would spawn to assist their master, and therein starts the fight.

But there was one thing that she'd come to realize during her shower yesterday; what if, and this was a crazy idea, she could basically sneak into the room without alerting the boss of her presence?

It sounded impossible, but the game was a sandbox in its own right. Granted, it didn't give its players the ability to build and construct like other games, but there was still a multitude of things that you could do in this game by smartly utilizing every aspect of the game and working around the mechanics.

It certainly sounded insane on paper, and even crazier to pull off in theory. But Koharu was a trier; she wouldn't give up before she'd even give it a shot, no matter how ridiculous it may have seemed!

Fortunately, Koharu had made use of her «Hide» skill quite a lot of times, particularly with other players and monsters. And for this experiment to work, she needed her «Hide» skill, which was at a pretty high level.

The «Hide» skill worked in a way that it would erase the user's presence from all the entities around, said skill being affected by factors like clothes' colours, light intensity and body motion. To level it up, one would have to extensively use it and manage to keep it activated from near-deactivation. And she'd done a pretty good job in that regard.

She'd learnt of a nifty trick to level it up even quicker, and that was to purposely get closer to an entity. The «Hide Rate», which determines just how well-hidden the user is, would get low from that way. All she would have to do, then, is keep it as low as possible for as long as possible, and escape unseen. This amplified the amount of skill experience she received by three times, allowing her to easily pour experience into that skill.

So right now, as she activated «Hide» and sneaked into the room, making sure to gently shut the door behind her… the room remained dark.

'I-It works!' She wanted to squeal in excitement but restrained herself at the last moment, knowing that, to do so, would utterly shatter her cover and trigger Illfang. 'O-Okay, now let's try out more things…'

Illfang sat on a throne, supposedly sleeping, in the far end of the dungeon room. Were this in a normal scenario, he'd get up from his throne and charge towards the players, Ruin Kobold Sentinels right on his tail. Yet here he was, still unmoving as her presence was not registered by the room.

She was still invisible, which was great! That meant her initial hypothesis was indeed correct; boss rooms don't activate when the players step into the room. Well, they do, but it would have to be in an entirely palpable manner that the room would be forced to recognize them and trigger Illfang.

Instead, if people moved into the room slowly and carefully, they could basically keep themselves hidden until the very last minute. Maybe do a sneak attack? Ooh, that sounded so cool! Would that actually be plausible?

'Okay, onto my next hypothesis,' she nodded to herself, pulling her hood tightly over her head as she crouched, moving towards the boss slowly. 'How close can I get to Illfang? Would my cover get blown? I need to find out!'

No one would willingly approach a sleeping monster, especially one that would be more than happy to hack you in half with his gigantic axe, but she was a special girl with special ideas. Sue her!

Koharu kept her centre of gravity low and the sound of her footsteps even quieter, to the point that she could barely hear it. The «Hide» is designed in a way that it would hide the player's cursor and appearance, basically making her invisible. But, to some extent, it could also mask the sounds she makes, like her breathing and footsteps. It's an incredibly handy skill to have.

Ten meters became five. Five became four. Four became two.

Koharu gulped.

It was extremely close, now, the entirety of his body swallowing her vision as she approached it even more. It was snoring, a deep and rumbling sound that belonged more to an old man than it did a monster. Koharu froze when its arm rose into the air..! Scratched its belly, and then hang limp by its side once more.

Five seconds. She waited before she approached it again.

Her «Hide Rate» was still going strong. Really strong, actually. Haven't dipped below 75%, which was really good!

She moved closer. And closer. Just a meter away, or a foot, she couldn't really tell. She gulped, deciding to test things out by moving towards his lower limb. She didn't dare try and touch him, in the case that it would get him to wake up.

Five seconds. Four. Three. Two. One.

Koharu reached its foot, right in her nose. It was massive, red in colour. The plantar surface was a soft peach. The nails were sharp, ivory-white. And it was in her face.

She clamped down on the urge to scream. She was practically breathing against it through her nose, yet Illfang had not twitched nor opened its eyes to rain down wrath upon him. She was literally in front of him!

T-This was insane! S-She'd actually managed to get so close to the boss! There was just no way—it actually worked!

The nerdy part of her brain was already hyperventilating at all the possibilities that this presented! If players snuck into the room one by one, carefully and slowly, they could technically just pull off a surprise attack on the boss! Illfang wouldn't know how to react to the sudden attack, and that momentary lapse in action would give them all the opportunity to deal as much damage to him!

Oh, wait a minute, what if they tried to steal his weapons? Sure, it sounded so insane, but even this alone had been insane. They could take it away from him, and he would have no weapon to use! It would practically render him useless!

But wouldn't that force him to rely on his body next? Would he change from sword and axe-based «Sword Skills» to using martial arts? C-Could that actually happen?

"Eeeh! That would be so cool!" She cried out, overjoyed. God, this was so exciting! She couldn't believe she'd—"Eh?"

Koharu had done something pretty insane today, and she'd admit that she hadn't seen just about everything. She was proven right in that regard when Illfang, now awake, hadn't immediately attacked her but was actually staring at her. Frantic green met shellshocked red.

The silent lasted for a good minute before she eventually broke it.

"Umm… hi?"

*Ghrroaa!*

Well, that calls it. Time to make like a hedgehog and roll out!

Koharu's terrified screams bounced off the walls of the boss room as she raced for the exit, one angry red monster and its followers right on her trail.

8th January 2023—Aincrad. Floor 4, Dungeons

On the day that Akihiko Kayaba had officially changed the game, he'd summoned all players—the strong, the weak, none were spared from the forced teleportation—to the first city of Aincrad. To where everyone's mask were ripped from their selves, exposing their true faces to the people around them and forced to adapt to an even more cutthroat world.

Now, it would be highly unfair to assume everyone had changed greatly following the event. Such isn't the case at all.

Sure, those who seemed to see the bigger picture and, in a way, be directly involved in it understood the heavy implications of this forced happenstance, promising to keep moving forwards and work towards changing the situation at hand.

Others were… well, they're stubborn. Those who refuse to cooperate despite the situation at hand were ultimately doomed to fail again and again, and wasn't that just the worst?

And of course, there are those who'd been woefully unprepared for literally everything; the game, the weird stuff, the fact that they could die… well, the fact that the game will literally kill anyone IRL if they die in-game was not lost on them. But not truly understood—or at the very least—felt the weight behind the situation.

And this brings us to our next character of focus. A young girl who, most certainly, had been one of the lucky few who were part of the Beta Test phase of the game. A girl who, quite frankly, was actually pretty good at the game.

A keen understanding on how the game worked and an even better understanding on making preparations was key to survival, and the girl had succeeded in both parts quite well. In fact, one would think that she was one of the best players, if not for one thing…

"Oh nooo… Where is this?" She looked to her left. A corridor. She then looked to her right. Another corridor. "Noo..! Did I seriously get lost?!"

Woe is she as she's left stranded in the middle of the dungeons, exasperated, tired and so sick of seeing the same brick wall for the umpteenth time.

Koharu Honda was not having a good time. She'd thought that, after making the rather risky decision of following a certain fellow Beta Tester's footsteps and playing solo, she'd have done a pretty good job. And she did! For the first few weeks, she'd managed quite fine in terms of grinding some Exp. points, getting her hands on good equipment and not having to worry about rations in the long run.

Sure, it was risky to play solo now that 'Sword Art Online' had become a death game, but she couldn't help it. The pros outweighed the cons, and she found herself working much better on her own anyways. She wouldn't need to burden herself with looking out for others and vice versa.

Unfortunately, however, there was an itsy-bitsy little problem that she kind of forgot to take into consideration. One that most certainly wouldn't have been something to worry about if only she had a friend to help her out.

Her poor sense of direction.

Hey! It's not her fault, alright? A lot of places, dungeons more notably, tend to have repeating patterns that end up making the entire place looking the same, to the point that she'd end up forgetting where was the entrance and whatnot. Sure, she had the minimap to help, but she'd somehow even managed to mess up despite having it.

Great. Just great! She was stuck in some dungeon with literally no help in sight. What was she supposed to do?

"You ruined big time, Koharu…" Sighed the girl as she slid down the wall, pulling her knees to her chest as she stared down a random corridor. "And just when you think going solo's the answer, he ends up getting a party too…"

It was not all that surprising to know that the famed summoner swordsman (people call him that considering his skill with the blade and his strange, yet cool ability of summoning a phantom) was one of, if not the best player there is. Accompanying him were curious individuals, all of whom exceeded him in terms of popularity, and whom she secretly admired for how cool each of them were.

Asuna, the one who many believed was his first friend here in this world. Argo, the infamous information broker who had spies in every corner of Aincrad and was also another Beta Tester. Vabel, a mysterious girl with seemingly overpowered gear from the start. And Kizmel, who was an NPC!

Every girl was amazing, no doubt, but none could compare to their leader himself. Kirito, whom she hadn't the opportunity to really meet face-to-face before, yet someone who seriously knew his stuff. She was just glad that he was on their side, and not someone who was out for their blood. In fact, she laughed at the thought. It's not like there were a bunch of sickos amongst them who would actively hunt and kill players and form some sort of evil organization for the sake of just that. Totally.

*Trf… Trf… Trf…*

"Huh?"

Something caught her ear, and though she'd consider it to be the movement of some stray mob, it sounded too… uniform. It had a steady beat to it, like the rhythm of a drum played at a parade as countless people marched down the road. Wait a minute, this sound… it sounded exactly like marching.

On one hand, Koharu would prefer to wait things out and try aimless wandering once more to find her way out of here. On the other hand, curiosity ordered her to go and check the source of the sound.

"Well, not like there's anything to lose from this," she shrugged to herself, pulling herself to her feet with a small 'oomph'. Patting down her skirt, she looked around for any sign of mobs before looking back to the corridor from where the steady sounds were coming from. "Right. Time to check it out. Oh, right! Don't forget."

By now, it's become a habit to quickly activate her «Hide» skill. She put on a dark cloak, switched out her gear for something lighter and dark-coloured, and turned on her skill.

Koharu walked at a pace that ensured her footsteps wouldn't ring across the dungeon walls, though she had a feeling they'd only get drowned out in the sounds of the marching, which was growing increasingly louder the closer she got to the source. Was it an enemy? Other players? Oh! Maybe they were going to fight the dungeon boss again? That would be nice.

From what she'd heard, the players' first attempt at defeating Wythege the Hippocampus had been a shameful defeat. The party of humans were split between Kibaou and Lind, both of whom were unwilling to cooperate with one another against the common foe. Their defeat had been inevitable, though it was a small blessing that no one had been slain.

It was a shame that they'd ran ahead instead of calling all the strong players together. She would have totally joined the fight (even if she wasn't that strong to begin with, even now)! And she knew that the player Kirito would have done the same as well, though he hadn't been informed. Kibaou was probably still salty towards him for wounding his pride, she bet.

The boy was a Beta Tester whom she particularly admired, not simply because of his powers or because he helped her out that day, but because of his natural charisma and ability to adapt to the situation. Not something that she'd seen other Beta Testers displayed in a fight, making him one of the most respectable person in her list.

So it wouldn't exactly be too surprising if they'd decided to try the boss fight a second time. In fact, she had a good feeling that that was exactly what they were—

'What the what?!' Koharu abruptly stopped, jaw dropping as her back slapped against the wall. 'D-D-Dark Elves?!'

And so many of them! All of them organized not like a tribal group or a drove, but an actual army. A full squad of armoured men and women with swords, spears and shields. A darker shade of skin, unique hair colours and pointy ears were indication of their different status than being human, and all of them wore looks of determination as they marched onwards.

That hadn't been the only surprise, however. For when she looked to the fore of the massive group of fifty or sixty knights…

"So the guardian Wythege relies more on attacks that crush its enemies like lunging and body-slamming? Interesting…"

"I'd prefer the term 'deadly', compared to 'interesting', but sure. Why not?"

The famed summoner swordsman, Kirito, was right there, conversing with some scary-looking Dark Elf who looked so concentrated. He had a scar running over his left eye that made him look terrifying. Behind them, his group of close friends were simply talking with one another about stuff that she couldn't really hear since she was so far behind.

Koharu was certain that the group wouldn't really attack her if they'd realized she was following them, and yet…

Plan in mind, and keeping a safe distance between herself and the massive army, Koharu followed the group.

NPC's, as she and basically everyone else know, aren't real players. They're just in-game entities that wear the looks of a person, but are just computer-generated intelligence with given instructions.

Many were quest-givers. Many were enemies. Many were temporary allies.

She'd thought that was how things would stay, but Aincrad had changed since that fateful day. A new group of monsters had shown up, based on Argo's intel. Nothing was the same anymore, yet she hoped that maybe somethings could stay the same.

Nothing did.

She watched with disbelief and awe as Kirito actually talked to the elf leader. Talked! Like holding a conversation with another person who could think, feel and choose.

Lord Yofilis, as he called him, was a Dark Elf, which naturally made him an NPC. Yet the amount of intelligence that he displayed was unsettlingly realistic. It almost made her consider him to be some player in disguise, yet she knew such couldn't possibly be the case.

She looked to Kizmel next. Popular amongst the players because she was an NPC who'd actually shown up to join the summoner swordsman's party, she too was capable of so many advanced things that she wasn't sure was the game's internal system pulling it off, or because it was just some mystical power. But that sounded absurd!

But no, ladies and gentlemen. That hadn't been the cream of the crop. No, no, no! That reward goes to—

Koharu gasped, green orbs wide with disbelief. 'I can't believe it! T-They're actually going to fight the boss together!'

What was going on? How was this even happening? NPC's and players working together? She'd believe it if this was part of the quest, b-but..! This was way beyond normalcy! Everything just felt waaay too natural!

There was no quest indicator. No specific commands. No nothing. Just an elven noble promising to fight alongside Kirito and his group against Wythege. When asked that he stay out of the fight, he placated his men by telling that it was his duty to do battle with them. What kind of noble would he be, then, were he to hide away?i

And that particular bit shocked her. This sort of ability to think for themselves, feel and choose was incredible. It was so different from the way the NPC's functioned just a few months ago, or even during the beta phase. They're just so… so alive!

Koharu wanted to give Kayaba the benefit of the doubt. Madman as he was, he was still a computer genius, so she had half a feeling to assume that he'd managed to tweak personalization of the NPC's to be much more since its beta days, but that couldn't be it! These elves were talking like normal people. So fluent and natural, it made her wonder just what was going on.

So many questions, but no answer.

Yofilis said something to Kirito before speaking to his men, a motivational speech that gave them the strength to fight with him in the upcoming battle. The humans looked particularly impressed by his natural charisma, enough so that it raised the army's morale just through words. A true leader, he was.

Koharu swallowed audibly, watching as the ravenette and the noble pushed the doors open together. They nodded together before, as one, yelling as they ran in. The army roared as they charged into the room. The room was becoming illuminated by the lights on the walls. She followed after them, her «Hide» skill ensuring her invisibility as she quickly slinked away from them and towards a corner.

She thanked her inner nerd. She'd always loved thinking up problems and colourful methods to solving them. Never were they standard or logical; they had to be insane, crazy, reckless.

And in 'Sword Art Online', even with her life on the line, Koharu wasn't willing to do any worse.

She'd pick up so many nifty tricks during her solo days of risky experimentation, but to this day, she was proud of her discovery of the «Hide» skill's potential. It had helped her observe Illfang during her first days, realize that it had a different weapon than the beta, and theorize on its fighting pattern.

Call her lame, but she prided herself for being a pretty crafty Beta Tester—if not on the level of The Rat, then at least enough to put her on a different level compared to the average player. Sure, she wasn't the best fighter by any means, but she knew how to play smart. Not hard.

…O-Oh, right. She never did tell anyone about this, did she? Err, well, she had been kinda' nervous to share it with anyone else. M-Maybe someday! And then, it would be great material for… bragging rights?

That aside, by no means was she planning to take on any boss on her own! That'd be suicidal! No, she'd only use this method to determine what was the next boss of the dungeon, to check out the boss room for any traps or gimmicks that might activate during the fight, and to calculate any escape routes or possible hiding spots.

It sounded silly on paper, but in a real fight? Sometimes, a tactical escape was just too necessary to live another day, and fight another day.

'Then again, all of that means nothing since everyone's just charging in to fight Wythege already, so there's that,' she'd wanted to roll her eyes, but she'd been more than curious to watch as the massive hippopotamus rose up with a bellowing cry, the fighters all dispersing in a uniform fashion that clearly showed their experience. Yofilis was shouting out orders, everyone unfailingly following them. 'Ooh, I can't wait! I'm definitely watching this fight!'

Wythege was certainly a foe to watch out for. Its legs were little stubs that managed to look as thick as logs. Its hide was covered with thick plates, enough so that it made striking it almost impossible. It was massive, and mass-y (if that was even a word, she didn't know), with fat and muscles that weighed it down a bunch. Truly, it was the slowest boss she'd ever seen in a long while.

The army of eighty or so Dark Elves fought viciously, most of them prioritizing bows over swords as they sniped from a distance. The human fighters were the ones that closed in on Wythege, Kirito in particular diverting its attention from everyone else by using his magic powers to draw aggro onto himself.

A dangerous thing, she would admit. Unlike in-game tanks, who make it their mission to soak up the damage in their team's stead by wearing heavy armour and maximizing defense, Kirito was still more of an offense-oriented fighter. He wasn't built for taking damage.

Or so she thought.

Koharu gasped as the creature lifted its fore legs and stomped down on the boy, who weld both swords (two swords! That should have been physically and game-realistically impossible!) in a cross block before pushing back, aided by the black demon that accompanies him in his fights. And she couldn't help but gasp a second time.

Arsene. She'd heard people speak its name once, and to lay eyes upon the gentleman demon… gentledemon? Well, it was a sight to behold.

Jet-black wings. Tall top hat. Red coat, pants and boots with blade-like heels. A mask for a face with a massive, bright red grin that sent chills down her spine.

His cackling could be heard even from her hiding spot. It was loud, booming, sadistic. So this was Kirito's 'Persona'. The demonic thief Arsene.

She beheld the sight as Kirito, with a roar of his own, willed more strength into his arms to knock the boss back. The boss was staggered thanks in part to its weight, and Kirito wasted no time to dish out even more spectacular damage; Arsene's ignited claw tears into the enemy's flesh, drawing out a pained cry as arrows rained down upon its body.

'How does he do it?!' She couldn't help but fangirl, even now, mind going through a multitude of thoughts. 'Is Arsene a separate entity that moves on its own accord? Does it take orders from Kirito? Does it have some sort of special skills of its own? Oooh, I want to know so bad..!'

Though he was certainly the main attraction, his teammates weren't half bad either. She had to stop herself from swooning at the sight of Asuna's incredibly swordplay, moving from left to right at speeds unimaginable to stab and poke at unprotected regions to whittle down its health, Vabel right by her side. Their elven friend was physically capable as well, able to take the hits with her shield and strike back when necessary.

"Ready the spearmen!" Shouted the fencer, backflipping into the air to avoid a tackle, at which point countless elves prepared themselves in a line and brandished their lances. "Kirito-kun!"

"Yeah, I hear you! Arsene!" Fire burned around him as the demon materialized, its claws burning with powerful energy.

"Hrah!" The demon slashed up in a vertical swipe, akin to a «Vertical», yet with both claws that burnt with fire, it was awing to see just how much health had been depleted from that single attack. The force behind the attack was enough to send it toppling onto its side, a tremor caused from its weighty impact.

"NOW!"

"Hroaaah!"

Their weapons glowed bright yellow as they unleashed a line of «Sonic Charge», all of them lunging at the beasts and stabbing it in its exposed flank—aha! So Wythege's weak spot was in its underbelly! That made perfect sense! Would other monsters similar to Wythege have that sort of weakness as well?

She'd become mesmerized the longer she watched them fight, from how synchronized the Dark Elves had been to how incredibly calculated each attack was. She'd wondered just how was it that they were able to work so well together despite their difference in race, considering how even the human side failed spectacularly, eventually chalking it up to a great amount of trust solidarity amongst one another.

The battle lasted a full forty minutes, much shorter than she'd thought. She could have said it was a hard-fought battle, yet with the summoner swordsman present, they really hadn't much problem to begin with. Victory was absolute, and they'd won with no casualties. The elves roared in a cacophony.

"Amazing…" She muttered quietly, stars in her eyes. So this was the power of an actual Beta Tester… that was amazing. Everything had gone so smoothly, it was shocking to see the once-was solo player working so well with a group. 'Guess everybody changes every now and then.'

With the battle over, the elven noble by the name of Yofilis bade the human and his companions farewell, nodding to the Dark Elf that accompanied the group. He and his men turned the other way, marching back home and with the intent of returning to their castle. Kirito pressed on, his group right with him, and Koharu quick to trail behind them at a distance.

She couldn't believe it! Koharu had actually gotten a backseat view to a boss battle with the famed party in it!

It was a bit annoying to know that she wasn't able to join the first boss battle that day, all because she had been grinding on some Little Nepenthes in the forest. Had she showed up during the conference, she might have had the chance to party up with him and watch him fight!

She could have witnessed the moment when he gained his new power! Uurgh! What a lost opportunity!

Even so, it was a good thing that she'd followed them into the boss room. She hadn't fought alongside them, sure, but she'd gotten the chance to watch the famed summoner swordsman in action. It was just so good!

Her fellow Beta Tester was just so powerful… He'd gained such a power on one fateful day, when everyone were close to being defeated by Illfang. Well, he'd only awakened to the power once he realized that his teammates were in grave danger, and that gave him the push he needed.

His teammates in danger… Was that the necessary key to unlocking the power of the Persona in her too? She… She wants to fight too. She wants to become stronger! She can't just sit back and let everyone fight in her stead while she hides away!

She knew that she was going against everything that she believed in. Who needed to fight to survive? But there would come a time when she would truly be unable to do anything but fight her way out. And when that day comes, she—

"Okay! Whoever it is that's following us, stop!"

"Eep!"

S-She'd been discovered? How?! Her «Hide» skill was incredibly high! There was just no way that anyone would have noticed her! Unless..! No!

The «Hide» skill may be powerful, but every boon must have a vice. Just as Newton states in his third law, 'For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction'. And in this case, the «Search» skill was the sword needed to pierce through the powerful shield that is the «Hide»!

That can't be it! W-Was Kirito's «Search» skill just that good?!

So shocked she had been at having her cover blown that she'd taken a few steps back, unaware of the slight gap in between the concrete as the heel of her boot slipped into the little space, inevitably tripping the girl as she cartwheeled her arms in the air before wonderfully falling backwards onto her bum, her skill immediately cancelling.

Four out of five of them stared at her in surprise, while their leader watched her with an unimpressed, if only slightly wary gaze, one eyebrow raised and arms crossed.

Well, geez! Talk about a failed first impression!

Author's Notes:

This chapter is inspired by Orange by LeviTamm. Go check it out! Such a cool take on the story.

I don't know. The thought of making Koharu from Sword Art Online: Integral Factor a smart Bets Tester just seems like a fun idea. Why not, am I right?