Baka-Tsuki - User contributions [en]

Sword Art Online:The Fourteenth Autumn

2013-05-29T21:43:23Z

Drake:

==The Fourteenth Autumn==

'''''Aincrad Floor 35, October 4th, 2024'''''

'''''Kunori Fumio'''''

"Kirito-san, congratulations on clearing Floor 73!" announced Silica, holding up her wine glass. The black-haired swordsman touched his glass to hers looking slightly embarrassed as he did so.

''Clink'', a crisp echo rang out and a small, blue dragon gave a high-pitched cry, "Kyuru!" from her place on the table. The sound caused by the glasses may have triggered the response, but Pina somehow looked happy, too.

Taking a sip of the light-pink wine, Kirito carefully raised his glass again. "Thank you, Silica. Though...I barely had any action this time."

"...Really? Is that true?"

"Yeah. The boss was one of those 《Giant and Solid》 types. In theory, something like that takes a coordinated attack by a lot of people, so the major guilds like KoB or DDA went up against the boss while I cleaned up the underlings the entire time," said Kirito, who laughed like he couldn't care less about it, but Silica pursed her lips in his stead.

"I don't quite get it. Shouldn't the whole party handle the boss and the minions while rotating players?"

"Nah, that would've made the operation more complicated... But I do feel kinda bad that I didn't have a chance to take the LA." Kirito chuckled lightly and blinked a few times, then stared straight at Silica. She subconsciously hid her mouth behind her wine glass and peered back up at him.

"W-What is it?"

"Nothing... I was just thinking how time flies and you're even using words like 《minions》 and 《rotating》 now..."

"T-That's normal! How many years do you think we've been here?!" Silica shot back and gulped down her drink to conceal her burning cheeks.

No matter how many liters of alcohol were consumed in this world, the player's real body would never ingest a single drop. The player could still get a little light in the head though when the wine-flavored liquid was downed in one shot, like it was more sour than sweet.

This day was October 4th, 2024. It had been one year and eleven months since the start of the Death Game 《Sword Art Online》, so the "how many years" line from Silica was a slight exaggeration, but it really did feel like many years had passed. She was completely used to life in the steel floating castle with its day-to-day adventures―even mastering various MMORPG terminologies―but her level still fell short of Kirito's and the clearers'.

So opportunities for Silica to see Kirito were typically scarce. The reason they were meeting in the NPC restaurant on the first floor of the inn 《Weathercock Pavilion》 in the town square of Mieche on Floor 35 was because she had summoned him under the pretext of treating him to a celebration for clearing Floor 73.

Silica had used the same 《ruse》 several times before, but the feelings hidden in her heart were just a little more special today. Of course, she didn't plan on confessing this or anything at all. Far from it, Silica had no intention of telling him why today was special to her. She was content with being able to spend just a few hours together with Kirito during the early evening.

Kirito set his glass down on the table. He lifted the bottle and refilled it with the pink liquid. Even a gesture as simple as that made Silica's virtual heart skip a beat. Convincing herself to act normally, ''just normally'', she returned to conversation.

"...If the Floor 73 boss was the 《Giant and Solid》 type, then the Floor 74 boss has gotta be the 《Tiny and Cuddly》 type. You're going to get lots of action next time!"

"Hmm, those bosses are a massive pain in the butt to fight...so I don't really want to take them on." Kirito gave a faint, wry smile at Silica's words, then poked at the nut tart on the table with his fork. The cake tart with a fluffy crust, that was loaded with a cheese mousse and tons of nuts, seemed like it would've been all but impossible to eat neatly in the real world. In this world however, it was sliced into perfect proportions with just a light stab of his fork. The crust didn't fall apart, nor did any nuts fall out. Kirito started to bring a bite-sized piece of the tart to his mouth when―

Pina, who had been quiet the entire time on the table, stretched her long neck toward Kirito and crooned, "Kyuru?" She looked as if she was begging for cake...and she wasn't making any other motion.

"H-Hey, Pina, that's bad manners!" Silica hurriedly reached toward her pet dragon, not unlike a pet dog. However, Pina slipped freely through her hands and kept looking straight up at Kirito's face with her beady eyes.

By principle, pets in SAO―officially, Tamed Monsters―would only eat when personally fed by their owners. Even when they found their favorite nuts or bugs while in the Field, they would ignore them. Since pets didn't complain directly when they were hungry, the hidden parameter for affinity would fall if the owner forgot to feed a pet for a prolonged period of time, leading to the abrupt termination of the Tamed status and the ex-pet would flee. In the worst case scenario, they would even attack their former owners.

Silica always kept Pina's favorite nuts in her waist pouch and even wore a timer earring on her right ear, so she never forgot to feed Pina regularly. She had even faithfully fed Pina before entering the restaurant, so she shouldn't have gotten hungry for another hour and half... No, even in this case, Pina absolutely shouldn't show interest in the human cuisine that another player was eating, even if it was a nut tart chock-full of her beloved nuts.

Thinking of something along those lines in a corner of her mind, Silica tried to pick up Pina. "Geez, I said no..."

However, she was held back by Kirito's hand inches away from Pina. The black-haired swordsman smiled faintly and moved his fork in front of Pina. The small dragon instantly sank her teeth into a piece of the nut tart and blissfully munched on it.

"Ohh... Pina, you..." Silica bowed her head and apologized for her pet. "I'm sorry, Kirito-san. Her manners usually aren't this bad..."

"You don't need to apologize. In the real world, I'd get chewed out instead for giving treats to someone else's pet without permission."

"Hahah, that's true...but that's not the problem. I'll ban her from the table from now on!" Silica declared firmly, reaching out again to put Pina down on the floor before she could ask for seconds.

But what nerve. The small, blue dragon nimbly dodged her master's hands and took flight from the table, flying a small circuit before landing on a head.

Not Silica's but Kirito's.

"Ah, augh! I-I'm so sorry..." Silica bolted upright and threw out her hands, but the table was too wide and she couldn't reach.

In the meantime, Pina folded her wings, beneath which she tucked her head after wrapping her neck around herself, and assumed a sleeping position. Before the speechless Silica's very eyes, she was fast asleep, breathing peacefully with a "kyururu...spee..."

"<nowiki>~~~~~~</nowiki>!!" Uttering a muted growl at her pet for the terrible misbehavior, Silica tried to circle around the table, but Kirito stopped her again with a single raised hand.

"It's okay. Let her sleep."

"B-But that's not..."

"I'm fine with it. She's not heavy at all, and my head's all warm."

"...I'm really sorry..."

Silica hesitated about plucking Pina regardless from Kirito's head despite being told otherwise, but she forced herself to sit back down. She quickly glanced around the eatery. Luckily, there weren't any other players. It was still a little early for dinner; 《The Bewildering Woods》 on Floor 35 that had once been popular with mid-level players half a year ago had become deserted as of late with the successive discoveries of more efficient leveling grounds.

When Silica looked forward again, Kirito was nonchalantly stuffing his face with the nut tart while Pina rested atop his head. Spurred on by him, Silica also lightly jabbed into the cheesecake that had been placed in front of her. It responded with a ''plop'' as a light-yellow piece was sliced off, which Silica then brought to her mouth as mannerly as she could. A sweet, rich, and refreshing taste radiated through her.

Silica was especially fond of 《Weathercock Pavilion》's baked cheesecake and whilst she was leveling regularly in The Bewildering Woods she had it almost daily, but now she was ordering it only when there was something special, because―

"...This sure brings back memories," Kirito mumbled quietly, across from her. He continued to gaze out the window steeped in sunset hues. "I think we toasted with the wine that I had brought back then, didn't we? ...Has it been half a year already...?"

"It really has been... Your wine was delicious. It raised my AGI as well."

Hearing those words, Kirito looked back at her and grinned. "The drop rate for that wine has been patched and you really can't get it anymore. If you're thinking of having some now, a single glass of it is like 1,000,000* col."

''*Pronounced as 'one mega'''

"Wha..." Silica reflexively covered her mouth with a hand. If she had 1,000,000 col, she could afford a fairly spacious place in the neighborhood of 《Mieche》. For a moment, she almost imagined 100,000 col in gold jingling in her stomach, but she promptly perished the thought. "...To me, what happened on that day is a precious memory that not even all of the col in Aincrad can buy. One mega col can't shake me!"

"Hahah, really? ...Yeah, I guess so... To me as well..."

The swordsman paused and looked out the window again. No matter how much his head bobbed, Pina showed no sign of waking up. She appeared as relaxed as when she slept by Silica's side at night, still snoozing with a "kyururu...kyururu..."

"Maybe..." whispered Silica, but Kirito's gaze shifted to her immediately. Staring into his pitch-black eyes, she repeated, "Maybe Pina remembers that you're the one who brought her back to life, Kirito-san."

"Really...?"

"I'm sure she does. That's why I love you."

The words tumbled out naturally. In the three whole seconds it took for Silica to recognize what she had said, her hands thrust out in front of her and waved wildly as she cried, "Oh, n-no! For Pina! Pina! I didn't mean anything else!"

"...Uh, okay."

Seeing how speechless Kirito looked, Silica realized that her reaction had been over the top. She flailed again, screaming shrilly―

"Oh, f-forget what I just said! Forget it!"

―But was that the best idea? By retracting the statement that it was Pina who loved Kirito, the subject inevitably had to be someone else and the only candidates in this place were Silica and the NPC waiter. If only it was a waitress, then there might've been some room to construe it...

Silica was incredibly flustered, her embarrassment magnified. She was ruining this 《Special Day》 and she felt so miserable that tears started to pool in her eyes, when―

Kirito suddenly raised his right hand and flicked down. A menu window opened, accompanied by a ringing sound. As Silica watched, caught off-guard her thinking abruptly halted, his slender fingertip fluidly navigated the screen and a single object materialized in no time flat.

A small, white box fell into Kirito's palm from the closed window with a soft ''fwump''. A blue ribbon criss-crossed its opaque exterior.

With the box in his right hand, Kirito smiled, "It's late, but here's the answer to your quiz."

"...It is...? I gave you...a quiz...?" she asked, stunned.

The swordsman looked somewhat taken back and answered, "You did. The last time we met, when I asked about where your character name came from..."

"Huh... Oh...!" Silica's hands flew to her mouth and her eyes opened wide. She recalled that they did have such a conversation when she had a meal with him last month under the excuse of a celebratory party for clearing Floor 70.

The name 'Silica' was based on her name in the real world, so its origin wasn't quite something to keep secret. Rather, she felt strangely embarrassed about its lack of substance, so she turned the answer into a riddle: "My real name comes after Arumi but before Rin."

At the time, Kirito looked baffled, like "what was that?" but apparently he had arrived at some sort of an answer after a month. However, why didn't he say it but present a box? Could the answer have been written on a slip of paper inside it?

With Pina still sound asleep on his head, Kirito skillfully spun the box on a fingertip. "Well, actually, I should've caught on when I heard Arumi and Rin. I was thinking that Rin was a girls' name...and Arumi could be spelled like 有美-chan or 亜瑠魅-chan... So I put a lot of thought into what name would come between the two."

Silica burst out laughing at the unexpected reply. "Hahahah... I did have a real friend named Rin-chan, but I've never, ever, had anyone named Arumi-chan."

"I wouldn't know that. My dad really liked that name... But that's not the point." He returned the small box atop his finger to his hand and heaved a sigh. "It took me a week to realize that Rin and Arumi weren't girls' names. Arumi was short for aluminum and Rin was the phosphorus used in matches...and what comes between them, to put it simply, is on the periodic table."

''*Rin is Japanese for phosphorus''

"Yes, you're on the right track!" Silica clapped lightly. She clasped her hands together and brought them up to her mouth. "...So, do you know what comes between them?"

"Of course. ...Or that's what I want to say, but all I could remember was 《Happy Henry Likes Beer But Can Not Obtain Four Newts》...so I asked an acquaintance about what comes after that: sodium, magnesium, aluminum, silicon, phosphorus. So what comes between them is silicon. In Japanese, it's called ''keiso''. When bonded with two oxygen atoms, it becomes oxidized, which is...silica."

"Oh yes, that's right!" Silica clapped again, but she still didn't understand why Kirito produced a small box from storage. As if she was the one being quizzed now, she waited for Kirito to continue.

"So I think your real name has something to do with silicon, possibly by containing the character for 《kei》... Though I won't follow up on that," smiling broadly, he leaned his head as forward as he could without dropping Pina. "By the way, why is your character name 《Silica》, and not something like 《Silico》?"

"Oh, that's just because...Silico doesn't sound too cute..." She giggled and tugged at the red ribbons tying her hair to the sides of her head. "And now I get to have oxygen...two O atoms bonded right here."

"Whoa... I see, so those ring baubles are supposed to be O<sub>2</sub>. They make SiO<sub>2</sub> with silicon... I see why you're called Silica. ...Anyhow, I've solved the quiz you gave me. Now I'm curious why your parents used the character 《kei》 in their kid's name..."

"Oh... Normally, you'd use the 《kei》 without a radical or the 《kei》 with the person radical," remarked Silica, thinking that he didn't know why, just as she expected. However, since it was Kirito who she was talking to― No, because it was Kirito, that was the only thing she couldn't tell him. It was directly linked to the secret lying in her heart today.

However, Kirito placed the small box on the table and grinned knowingly again. "I started to wonder about it when I got the message from you. It's rare for you to specify a meeting date, isn't it? You wrote, "on October 4th," but before this, you've always written "tomorrow" or "the day after tomorrow."

"Huh... O-Oh, really?"

"Really. That's when I wondered... ―So anyways, umm...Happy Birthday, Silica." With those words, Kirito slid the small, blue-ribboned box right in front of Silica.

She stiffened for a full five seconds, then―

"Whaaaaaa?!" Silica jumped up from her seat while screaming at the top of her lungs.

Immediately, Pina perked up from Kirito's head and hastily scanned around. Confirming the absence of monsters, she let out a great, lazy yawn, took off from Kirito's head, and settled at her usual spot, Silica's left shoulder.

As if squashed by the weight of the small dragon, Silica slumped back into her chair and whispered, stupefied, "U-Um, why...?"

"Oh, am I right, given that reaction?

"Uh, y-yes, you are... But how...?" she asked again, forgetting to even thank him. The 《special》 reason that she'd planned to keep secret forever was thwarted just like that.

Relieved, Kirito unclenched his jaw and ruffled his flattened black hair. "Thank goodness, I was wondering what I'd do if I got it wrong. The reason why that character 《kei》 is used in your name is because your birthday's on October 4th...right? Because together, they make 14...the atomic number of silicon. Maybe your mom or dad is a chemist?"

Still in a state of shock, Silica answered reflexively, "Oh... Um, my grandfather is the chemist. And he named his child...my dad; he was born on February 6th, so he named him 《Tetsuhiko》 after iron*, which has the atomic number of 26... My dad is really into arts and literature, but I think he wanted to carry on the naming trend, so when I was born on October 4th, he tried to name me after atomic number 104."

''*Tetsu is Japanese for iron''

"Erk, 104...? What element is that...?"

"It's 《Rutherfordium》. But no matter how he finagled it, he couldn't get a girls' name out of it...so he resorted to adding 10 and 4 together to make 14 and came up with the name 《Keiko》 from silicon..." She knew she had revealed her real name after going into so much detail, but with her birthday disclosed as well, she no longer thought of it as a big deal. Silica withdrew herself, as if hiding behind the wings of Pina on her shoulder, and she continued, "...So, um...I'm sorry, Kirito-san, for calling you here without telling you it's my birthday..."

"N-No, please, don't apologize." Seeing Silica getting further depressed, Kirito hurriedly waved it off. "Uh, um, there's like a taboo around bringing up the topic of the real world here in Aincrad... so I understand how you felt like you couldn't say it's your birthday... so I should be the one apologizing, for prying into your real name and birthday..."

"N-Not at all! I'm actually glad!" Now Silica was waving. If she was the one who had summoned him for her birthday, then she should be the one to reveal her real name. There was nothing for Kirito to apologize about.

Her downcast eyes caught the sight of the small, white box. She glanced at it for a moment, then looked up with a jerk. "Er...um...s-so, is this box...is it, uh, f-for m-...?!"

As if rattled by Silica's outburst, Kirito pulled back somewhat and nodded with a wry smile. "It'd be cruel of me to say that it wasn't a birthday present for you now. ...Though I didn't have any time to prepare something big, so please don't get your hopes up too much."

"W-W-W-Why would I? I'd be happy with anything from you. Um, may I please open it?"

Kirito had barely nodded his approval before Silica picked up the box from the table with both of her hands.

If this was the real world, then she'd be eagerly untying the ribbon, but unfortunately she couldn't experience the process in this world. She tapped the box with her fingertip and selected 《Open》 on the displayed pop-up screen, after which the box auto-unlocked and disappeared.

Into Silica's palm, down fell―

A thin ring shining in gold.

So startled that she couldn't even cry, "Whaaaaaa―?!" Silica was completely frozen.

There were four types of accessory items in SAO: earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and rings. Kirito could've picked any one of them, but he dared to pick a ring because it meant that...it meant that―?

With the beautiful ring designed like an angel's wings in her hand, Silica looked up nervously.

Their eyes met. The black-haired swordsman gave a small smile as he slowly nodded, "That's the reward item for the 《Angel's Ring》 quest, which showed up recently. Its proper name is 《Ring of Angel's Whisper》. It doesn't really raise stats, but it does have a pretty powerful magic ability..."

"...Magic...ability?"

"Yep. It can send voice messages to registered players once a month. You know, Silica, don't you send me messages about that often? It must be tough for you to think of what to write each time, so you can use that ring like a cellphone from now on."

"...Like a...cellphone?" She eyed the ring in her hand again.

―In other words, this ring had never had an underlying meaning... It was only meant to be a convenient way to communicate...

"...Umm..." Lost for a moment on how to react, Silica took a deep breath, then broke into a smile. "...Thank you very much, Kirito-san. I'm so happy!" She gently held the ring with her right hand and equipped it on her left hand's ring... ―nope, index finger.

No matter the connotations, it didn't change the fact that she was able to receive a ring from someone whom she loves on her birthday. It'd be too greedy to ask for anything more.

The current front line was Floor 74. The clearing of the floating castle was no more than three-quarters complete. The estimated time for reaching the highest floor was another year and Silica's secret goal was to join the clearers there.

''―I'll never miss a month contacting him with this ring until that day.'' Making up her mind, a pure joy, after some time lag, spread through Silica's body from the depths of her heart. A wide grin lit up her face once more and she uttered, "Daddy said that my fourteenth October 4th would be a special birthday. And it's true!"

On her shoulder, perhaps Pina sensed her master's emotions, as she also spread her wings wide and happily cooed, "Kyururururu!"

However, in the end, Silica never sent her voice to Kirito with 《Angel's Ring》.

Approximately one month after her birthday, on November 7th, Sword Art Online was cleared with 25 floors remaining.

The steel floating castle collapsed and resurfaced about half a year later in the skies of another world. With the new Aincrad as the setting, this time Silica took on the challenge to obtain 《Angel's Ring》 through her own power―

But that's another story.

《Fin》

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User talk:Tap

2013-04-02T20:17:22Z

Drake:

====Editors====

Hey, if you go to http://forums.mangafox.com/threads/238831-Light-Novel-Discussion a group of us are doing it, just post a request there, I know I'll help--[[User:Darn2k|Darn2k]] 02:46, 5 April 2011 (EDT)

Is anyone already translating it there? I really can't be bothered to go over 500 pages of random chat... I'm fine with anyone decent to help out with it. --[[User:Tap|Tap]] 03:13, 5 April 2011 (EDT)

No one is translating it, but if you post there that you are, there are three or four people who will help with the editing. If you PM me there I'll help.--[[User:Darn2k|Darn2k]] 03:41, 5 April 2011 (EDT)

In addition to official editors, there are a lot of lurking editors. The translation is the critical task. If you get that done, there are hordes of people willing to edit as they read. --[[User:Novium|Novium]] 09:25, 5 April 2011 (EDT)

I'll just go with direct wiki edits, every now and then. I believe you've subscribed to the chapter page? For now, I just re-translated everything up to the point that was previously done. I'm personally not that confident in my grammar and tenses, so if you have some time, please, do go through it. The first part was done months ago (posted on the talk page back then), so you might have to check that part for readability as well. Feel free to ask any questions here or on the discussion page. --[[User:Tap|Tap]] 18:48, 6 April 2011 (EDT)

It looked good, much better then what I did (not really too surprising), there were only a couple things that I saw that needed to be changed. Overall it looked very good.--[[User:Darn2k|Darn2k]] 19:15, 6 April 2011 (EDT)

Dude you're amazing, everything seems pretty good to me. I'll continue to edit any grammar mistakes I see when reading your translations. I'm one of those editors Novium was talking about. Your going at a decent speed! --[[User:lp113|lp113]] 9000:01, 15 April 2011 (EDT)

Yeah MAN! Overwrite that shit! I just got too antsy and had to see what happened next and did a little. Thought i might as well share it. your good to go. And i have no clue how to add the user date stamp... so this is Lp ahaha

If you didn't check the forum...:

by Sharramon » Wed Apr 20, 2011 4:28 am
I've actually got about 7 pages of chap 2 of morning dew girl done. Do you want it?

So BCOTFM has this unedited if you want to cross check or use: SS Ch.4 part 2 / SS Ch.2 part 4 Don't know if they are going anywhere, they havent been edited in a month [[User:Lp113|Lp113]] 06:22, 12 July 2011 (UCT)

== Tenses ==

The thing is that whenever a Character is narrating and it isn't a flashback then it must be in present tense because those are his thoughts then and there so they must be preserved in present tense. On the other hand flashbacks where the Character narrates would be in past tense. Also Non-character (ie: author) narration is supposed to be in past tense, but depending on the circumstances it could be different. [[User:Zero2001|Zero2001]] - [[User_talk:Zero2001|Talk]] - 14:05, 13 March 2012 (CDT)

As for the two examples you gave me, in-short: the first one should remain '''do have''' but it can also be '''did have'''. The second could use '''didn't''' because he is talking about what he did in ''his'' past (when he refused to wait there for Cline and his friends). [[User:Zero2001|Zero2001]] - [[User_talk:Zero2001|Talk]] - 14:05, 13 March 2012 (CDT)

The intuition of tenses is something that develops after '''years of practice''', my advice to you is that you should stick to translating as you did normally. If there is a difference in how the tenses should be, we editors will correct it automatically. After all this is a team effort where each part of the team works together to cover our partners' shortcomings. I reverted your tense edits because they were mostly incompatible with how it should be. Be assured that I went through all of your edits and chose which ones were acceptable and edited them into the chapter after the rollback. I'm here so you shouldn't worry so much and just translate. We need those chapters pronto! (Good Natured Smile) Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu. [[User:Zero2001|Zero2001]] - [[User_talk:Zero2001|Talk]] - 14:05, 13 March 2012 (CDT)

PS: You don't have to feel too down. I'm used to making the edits. In one of the projects where I edited I had to edit the chapters into past tense wherever author narration would occur and make sure that character naration was present tense. So I am quite experienced. You don't need to worry you're in good hands. [[User:Zero2001|Zero2001]] - [[User_talk:Zero2001|Talk]] - 14:08, 13 March 2012 (CDT)

:On your first sentence, I simply changed it so that the tense was the same as the later tense, as highlighted below.

:"I '''do have''' a considerable liking for death game themes in fiction, and '''had''' gone through many novels, comics, movies and such from all over."

:I do try to change narration to past tense, but it is not always so simple, an example would be papakiki. The narration keeps switching between the past and the present and I can't easily tell which is which, which is my edits for those are so slow... --[[User:Pryun|Pryun]] 21:21, 13 March 2012 (CDT)

Yes, like I said before, tense intuition is something cultivated after years of practice. But basically author narration is majorly past tense while character narration is majorly present tense. There are exceptions though. For example when the character narrates a flashback or past event. Etc. So care must be taken. [[User:Zero2001|Zero2001]] - [[User_talk:Zero2001|Talk]] - 13:52, 14 March 2012 (CDT)

BTW we're waiting for the rest of the chapter... [[User:Zero2001|Zero2001]] - [[User_talk:Zero2001|Talk]] - 17:51, 16 March 2012 (CDT)

== SAO Vol 8 ch 3 ==

Can I replace β with beta because that's how it's been written in the other volumes plus that's how it's commonly written on the net. Also those who don't have English as a first language can make mistakes by reading it as B. So please... [[User:Zero2001|Zero2001]] - [[User_talk:Zero2001|Talk]] - 12:11, 19 April 2012 (CDT)

How about italics on it, along with a reference explaining what it is on the first occurrence? The main reason for me opposing the change to "beta" is because I want to keep it the same way the author presented it. --[[User:Tap|Tap]] 15:42, 19 April 2012 (CDT)

That's a thought... but... then you'd have to go through all the chapters and everything and so it's more feasible to change one chapter. Plus, I really haven't seen beta testers being written with a β anywhere else on the net until now. Dakara... ''ne?'' [[User:Zero2001|Zero2001]] - [[User_talk:Zero2001|Talk]] - 17:46, 19 April 2012 (CDT)

Also, Japanese is a compact language where they're willing to do a lot to make the sentences shorter, whether while speaking or writing. So that's probably the reason for the β Tester. Writing it as Beta Tester fits English more which is a language that covers much more ''area'' (for lack of a better word). [[User:Zero2001|Zero2001]] - [[User_talk:Zero2001|Talk]] - 17:51, 19 April 2012 (CDT)

I've seen the raw of both First Day & Aria SS which had many references to the word 'Beta Tester', in vol.1 and Aria SS, author used the word beta test normally, but in the First Day, it's the only SS (as far as I know anyway) that he used 'β'. While I don't know his intention for choosing to use it in that specific SS, I'd prefer it to be kept as the original to preserve his intention. -- [[User:BeginnerXP|BeginnerXP]] 18:49, 19 April 2012 (CDT)

Understood. Thanks. [[User:Zero2001|Zero2001]] - [[User_talk:Zero2001|Talk]] - 02:15, 20 April 2012 (CDT)

Wow, that's a lot of edits for Aria 16-20, hope Pryun is ok with them, haha. I wanted to make some changes too, but would have been annoying to put them all on the talk page, glad you got to it. Oh, for those whole page name changes, you should try moving pages next time. Cursor to the down arrow to the right of View History for the page and select Move. [[User:Xplorer30|Xplorer30]] - [[User_talk:Xplorer30|Talk]] 20:40, 27 April 2012 (CDT)

Yea, that's what I thought too, I would had gone "the heck?" if someone did that to something I was handling too. >_< Seemed kindda rude to do all that out of the blue, but I hate mistranslations, so...
And there was a simple button for that task? Damnit. --[[User:Tap|Tap]] 20:44, 27 April 2012 (CDT)

I'm always OK with edits so long as the translation gets its meaning across. I must say, you sure have a better way of putting sentences together than I do... BTW, you using the published version?(as opposed to the web version I'm using)Since I think that one is more accurate. And has pictures, which I hope someone can insert inside *hint, hint*. --[[User:Pryun|Pryun]] - [[User_talk:Pryun|Talk]] 22:41, 27 April 2012 (CDT)

Ahh man! I wish I could read Japanese. Then I could help you guys with the translation too. I'll have to read through the whole thing again. I'm looking forward to it though. ''(Tsundere mode activated)'' Don't misunderstand! I-It's not like I love the work you guys are doing, okay? I just like reading. That's all there is to it. BTW, what about SAO Vol8 Ch1? [[User:Zero2001|Zero2001]] - [[User_talk:Zero2001|Talk]] - 00:32, 28 April 2012 (CDT)

== SAO Ceramic Heart ==

Why was it removed? [[User:Zero2001|Zero2001]] - [[User_talk:Zero2001|Talk]] - 07:06, 22 May 2012 (CDT)

Eh? What was? --[[User:Tap|Tap]] 07:11, 22 May 2012 (CDT)

SAO ME3 Ceramic Heart. Duh. The link to the page was removed and replaced with a link to a mediafire file page. It would have been better with both the page and a link to mediafire rather than just one. After all mediafire files get deleted often. [[User:Zero2001|Zero2001]] - [[User_talk:Zero2001|Talk]] - 07:45, 22 May 2012 (CDT)

Well, there wasn't a page for it in the first place, so I just replaced he link to a non-existent page to that... Does BT allow uploading of zip files? Or would a gallery, like the novel illustration ones, be better? --[[User:Tap|Tap]] 07:52, 22 May 2012 (CDT)

I think it's possible to make a page displaying only images (like for ME2: Early Characters, but without the text part).--[[User:MaerisCrisis|MaerisCrisis]] 08:24, 22 May 2012 (CDT)

Thanks a lot for ME3. But I was wondering... Is there no page 38?--[[User:MaerisCrisis|MaerisCrisis]] 08:11, 22 May 2012 (CDT)

Yea, I want that page too. No one seems to have a raw copy of it. --[[User:Tap|Tap]] 08:13, 22 May 2012 (CDT)

I see. That's too bad. Thanks for answering.--[[User:MaerisCrisis|MaerisCrisis]] 08:21, 22 May 2012 (CDT)

Since it was on Batoto I linked ME3 to it. Of course I kept the download link as well. You can choose to keep it like that or put a gallery in another page With next and pervious links in each Image page. [[User:Zero2001|Zero2001]] - [[User_talk:Zero2001|Talk]] - 11:13, 22 May 2012 (CDT)

A download link for ME03 will only be allowed if the translation is available using a wiki format. [[User:Vaelis|Vaelis]] 12:59, 22 May 2012 (CDT)

The raw translated text or the edited images? --[[User:Tap|Tap]] 18:34, 22 May 2012 (CDT)

The raw translated text. [[User:Vaelis|Vaelis]] 23:51, 22 May 2012 (CDT)

Huh? What's the point of that? I've seen the whole thing. Without images it's like seeing a movie while being blind. [[User:Zero2001|Zero2001]] - [[User_talk:Zero2001|Talk]] - 07:47, 23 May 2012 (CDT)

== SAO Edits ==
Could you please stop changing all the "punctuation" (“”, ’ and …) when you're editing? [[User:Vaelis|Vaelis]] 05:14, 27 June 2012 (CDT)

It improves access rate at the cost of close to nothing visually, unless you expand text size by 4 or 5 times. Is there an actually logical reason for not doing so? Well, I've read through that conversation between the two of you now, anyway. If you want to change it back, go ahead. Honestly, you two have too much spare time, arguing over something like that... --[[User:Tap|Tap]] 05:47, 27 June 2012 (CDT)

== , too ==
Reply: When "too" is used as a conjunctive adverb meaning "as well"/"also", it should be separated by a comma from the rest of the sentence in the same way that conjunctive adverbs such as "however" and "therefore" are, regardless if it is at the end of the sentence or embedded in the middle of the sentence. In spoken English, a sentence with "too" is often spoken without any pauses before and/or after, unless the speaker wants to emphasize the "too", but in formal written English, it should be separated by a comma. --[[User:Perfect Chaos|Perfect Chaos]] ([[User talk:Perfect Chaos|talk]]) 18:37, 20 January 2013 (CST)

:I would avoid characterizing such a usage as a hard and fast rule, which it is not. Consider the following recommendation from the editors of the Chicago Manual of Style:
:"Use commas with too only when you want to emphasize an abrupt change of thought:

:''He didn’t know at first what hit him, but then, too, he hadn’t ever walked in a field strewn with garden rakes.''

:In most other cases, commas with this short adverb are unnecessary (an exception being sentences that begin with too—in the sense of also—a construction some writers would avoid as being too awkward)." --[[User:Hiyono|Hiyono]] ([[User talk:Hiyono|talk]]) 19:57, 20 January 2013 (CST)

::I did some research beforehand, and I came across various places that all quoted that exact line (including the original place, itself). What bothers me is that it doesn't really give a reason as to why the rule is like that, so it kind of makes me second-guess it. Something like this (http://preciseedit.wordpress.com/2011/06/14/comma-with-too/), which clearly states logical reasoning that one can associate with, as well as counter reasons to things that contradicts it, just seems much more ideal to me. But I guess grammar is sometimes a very vague and disputable subject, especially regarding why certain things are the way they are and whatnot, so I'll just go with what the majority here believes and just leave the "too"s the way the translator wrote it, unless it's absolutely needed (such as with the contrast in thought, I guess). --[[User:Perfect Chaos|Perfect Chaos]] ([[User talk:Perfect Chaos|talk]]) 21:47, 20 January 2013 (CST)

ty

== SAO A Spot in the Sunshine RAW ==

Just asking, do you have the RAW text version of "A spot in the Sunshine"? My friends are translating it into Vietnamese, I'm trying to cross-check it (just in case). And thanks for your awesome translation :) If sharing RAW on main site is against the rule, plz email me: sonako.sozuoka@gmail.com

== SAO - A Spot of Sunshine in the Winter ==

Hey, I've had another go at the passage I wasn't too happy with (regarding spice of grief). When you have a chance I would greatly appreciate it if you could check it against the original text. Thanks, --[[User:Drake|Drake]] ([[User talk:Drake|talk]]) 15:17, 2 April 2013 (CDT)

Sword Art Online:A Spot of Sunshine in the Winter

2013-04-02T20:10:07Z

Drake: Minor change to troublesome passage

==A Spot of Sunshine in the Winter==
'''''New Aincrad 22nd Floor'''''
[[Image: SAO_Silica_Edition.jpg|thumb]]
'''''December 31st, 2025'''''

When fulldiving while wearing an AmuSphere, it seems that people feel either a falling or a floating sensation.

Keiko belonged to the latter group. Lying down on her bed in comfortable attire, she would call out the «Link Start» voice command and her consciousness, now separated from her body, would be immersed in a sensation as though she was floating straight upwards. An image of infinitely rising through a pure, white expanse, with eternal prisms of rainbow light cascading downwards.

Previously, when she considered a credible view she found on the net, that "the type of people who experience floating sensations feel that reality is harsh and wish to escape into the virtual world", she had ended up brooding over it, despite getting indignant over how baseless it was. She didn't feel that reality was bleak in the slightest—or so she had thought. After all, she had been imprisoned in a virtual world for a period of two years when she was twelve years of age, before finally being released slightly less than a year ago.

In comparison to that heartless, severe place, where her remaining hit points had been connected with her real life, reality was such a tranquil place. From April, she had even started attending the school set up for SAO survivors who were still minors in terms of age and had made many friends there. It does get a little awkward back home, but she's welcomed by her reserved father, her mother who's skilled at cooking and loves to sing, and her Munchkin breed cat, Pina, that she keeps. Here, she could read the continuation of the manga she likes (not to mention the two years worth of back issues!) and even get to eat actual cheesecakes. Hence, she had no reason to feel that reality was harsh whatsoever.

She shouldn't... but still.

While entrusting her body to the transient floating sensation, Keiko recalled the argument she had with her parents tens of minutes ago. To be specific, this was the first quarrel she had, since returning from SAO.

It was the thirty-first of December, 2025. New Year's Eve. The three members of the Ayano family, Keiko, along with her father and mother, had arranged to visit the home belonging to her father's parents in the Yamanashi prefecture, with the cat joining them as well. It was something that had been decided a month ago and at the time Keiko had obediently nodded as well when she first heard about it.

However right before departing, in the garage at home, she had ended up saying it. That she didn't want to go no matter what.

Her parents tried gently persuading her by saying how her grandfather, grandmother and her male cousins were all looking forward to meeting her, but as Keiko stuck to her obstinate behavior for tens of minutes, their words gradually grew harsher, resulting in her father uttering "Then just do as you like" before leaving in the car. Left alone at home, Keiko locked up the entranceway, returned to her room on the second floor and put on the AmuSphere after slumping onto her bed.

That's why this one and only particular dive might be a form of escape. Even so, that didn't matter. At the very least, crying in the virtual world rather than the real world would end without the need to worry about swollen eyes later on.

After turning into her Cait Sith character Silica, the place Keiko emerged was on a porch leading to a log house built on the shore of a large lake, on the twenty-second floor of the new Aincrad which orbited through the skies of Alfheim. It appears to be early in the afternoon in the abode of the fairies, with plentiful warm sunlight beaming down upon the garden's lawn.

This wasn't a player home that belonged to her, but since she was able to get herself registered on the sub-owner list, she could freely log in and out anywhere within the premises of the homestead. That said, she takes the original two owners into consideration, making sure not to start off indoors, just in case.

Shortly after Silica's dive, a light blue glimmer appeared in the space right beside her which coalesced, before changing into the shape of a small dragon.

Though defined as small, that's only when compared to the larger versions of the dragon race mobs, with its wingspan stretching close to over a meter. However, with its entire body covered in downy fur in a shade of light blue that matched its two round, ruby eyes, there was no sign of ferocity in its outward appearance.

"Here, Pina."

The moment Silica reached out with her two hands, the small dragon, which had the same name as her pet cat, dove into her arms after letting out a single coo, "kururu!". She tightly hugged its fluffy body and it started licking her right cheek with its tiny tongue. Pina, with an AI at the level of familiars, or in other words, «tamed monsters», was not terribly smart, but at times, it reacted as though it could read Silica's mind. This was one such time, and while it licked Silica's face, it continuously let out a "kuru... ruru..." from its throat, as if it was showing its concern.

"...Thank you, I'm alright now. I'm fine now, after meeting you, Pina."

While whispering that, she placed Pina who was unexpectedly light for its size onto her head. Its feathery wings tickled those cat ears unique to the race of Cait Sith and its long tail wrapped around her neck, much like a muffler.

Enveloped in a warmth that seemed impossible for a moving object in a virtual world, Silica felt herself slowly perking up from the chagrin of the dispute she had with her parents, as she strode to the door of the log house.

Upon touching the doorknob, a crisp click rang out, representing the door unlocking. Gently pulling it open, she headed in and called out, "Good afternoon". As expected, there was no reply. She could open up the Friend List from her Main Menu to check on their login status, but she could believe that there wouldn't be anyone here without needing to resort to that. After all, it was New Year's Eve...

However, just in case, Silica minded her manners and said her greetings for intruding before she entered. Closing the door, she headed for the main room on the left side of the hallway.

The moment she stepped into the living room, with a breadth impossible for a detached house in reality, or at least, for an average one in Tokyo's special wards, Pina slowly flew off from her head. The reasons for a familiar to leave its master without orders should be either due to detecting monsters closing in, or having its intimacy value drop from not being fed enough and changing to a defiant status; that said, there was a possible third reason when considering this room in this house.

Conscious of her virtual heart now beating harder, Silica chased Pina as it flew, flapping its wings. She went around a huge log that was used as a pillar and cast her eyes towards the south facing window.

Placed in a spot with lemon-yellow sunshine falling onto it, was a solitary rocking chair. Atop that chair which was moving constantly and rather gently without making any noise lay a Spriggan with black hair, clothed in black, with his eyes closed. His sleeping expression was far from the one that he shows in battle, here showing signs of boyish innocence.

Pina, who had flown off Silica's head, circled once above the Spriggan before it landed near his stomach. Folding its wings, it coiled up its head and tail before finally falling asleep. No, it's a familiar, so that ought to be merely «looking as though it's asleep», but the "kyururu, kyururu" sounds of it breathing in its sleep was no illusion.

"...Geez, Pina."

After muttering under her breath, Silica continued to stand as she gazed at the sleeping poses of that person and that animal. Her beating heart gently slowing down from the somewhat quick rate it had been and a calm tranquility soon spread within Silica as well. For a short while, the spice of remorse flowed around her while she took shelter in the warmth. 

This went on for close to thirty seconds before she regained her wits and looked around her. If he, the owner of this house, was logged in, it was likely that either the other owner, an Undine healer, or his real life little sister, a Sylphid magic swordswoman, was around as well, but she could find no traces of other players. Cait Sith were the race bestowed with the highest level of perception ability among the nine races, so she should know if there was anyone else in the house. Of course, it's different if hiding spells or skills were used, but there should be no reason to hide inside the house in that manner.

—Having decided that, Silica was still at a loss for several seconds before carrying a single chair from the dining table to the side of the rocking chair. She softly sat down after aligning them.

She sprawled her body towards the left and stared hard at the profile of the sleeping Spriggan's face right in front of her.

In mere seconds, Silica could feel her eyelids weighing down as well. Having that boy sound asleep in this room releases a sort of magical power that causes sleepiness in the surrounding players—or at least, that was the accepted conclusion among her friends. However, she must not allow herself to succumb to this magic. Silica had the «Automatically Disconnect When Asleep Function» set to fifteen minutes, so if she fell asleep she would soon be logged out. Going through the connection sequence once again was certainly a bother, but her main reason was to not waste this precious time available. The chance she could be alone with that sleeping boy—generally were no longer possible, not since the night of the day that they met in a certain different floating castle.

Come to think of it, that had happened nearly two years ago.

She had lost her familiar, Pina, and even her own life had been like a candle flickering in the wind when Silica was saved by the black-clothed swordsman, Kirito.

He didn't just protect Silica, but was even willing to help revive the once-killed Pina. She still remembers that single day of adventure, when they went to retrieve the item that could resurrect a familiar, down to its very last detail. The gigantic flower monsters with tentacles sprouting out from them and the orange players that assaulted them on the way back were extremely scary, but those memories were all important to her.

—No, it wasn't just that day.

With her hands raised to her chest while tightly grasping each other, Silica began to ponder while sitting on the chair.

All the days they had adventured and played together since she first met Pina gave off a special sparkle within her memories. That radiance was so vivid that it could cause the entire time she spent in the real world to pale in comparison. Of course, she could meet up with Pina whenever she wanted if she dived into ALO, and she was conscious of the fact of that already being a blessing by itself—after all, Pina really should have disappeared when SAO was cleared—but at times, she wondered about something.

About how it would be nice if this side was the true reality instead.

A thought that couldn't be told to anyone, one that definitely couldn't be released from her lips. A thought that would betray her parents who were worried to death over her for those two years when she was trapped in that death game and enthusiastically celebrated her return. But. But still—

The teardrops that gathered in her lower eyelashes without her noticing faintly pattered onto the chair's armrest.

Perhaps due to that noise which could barely be called one, the black-haired Spriggan—Kirito languidly opened his eyes. Silica frantically turned back to face forward before blinking countless times to dissipate the remaining tears effect. She stayed frozen in that position for several seconds before she heard his voice.

"...Huh, Silica? When did you get here?"

She timidly turned to the left and was met with the sleepy-looking face of Kirito's right before her own.

"Go-Good afternoon, Kirito-san. Erm, fift... five minutes earlier or so, I think."

"Woah, you should have just woken me up."

Getting up with a flustered expression, Kirito seemed to have finally noticed Pina on top of him. With a gentle smile, he lightly caressed the area near the base of its neck with his fingertips. The small dragon rolled over while still asleep, showing its belly that was of a shade slightly more pale than its back and shook its tail to plead for more rubbing.

Silica exchanged another look with Kirito before they both broke into soft laughter.

Upon settling down, words flowed from between her lips, almost as though it was only natural.

"...Earlier, I had a fight with my parents."

Kirito raised his eyebrows slightly before calmly asking.

"Despite it being New Year's Eve? Or maybe because it's New Year's Eve?"

"Because it's New Year's Eve... I believe. Actually, I was supposed to go over to my grandfather's place in Yamanashi today, but just when we were leaving, I went ahead and said that I didn't want to go... ah, i-it's not like I thought that the popular hunting areas in ALO might be empty on New Year's Eve, I didn't do it for anything like that."

"Haha, you would be let down if that ''was'' your true reason. It seems that there were loads of players with the same thought, so it's practically no more empty than usual."

"...So you've checked it out already, huh. Or rather, Kirito-san, that was what you were here for...?"

Silica looked up at him for a brief moment and the Spriggan shook his head with a ruffled expression.

"Th-That's totally not it. I could have been wanting to test out the sharpness of «Excaliber» that I got the other day, or maybe showing it off to Eugene, so that's definitely not-"

"I didn't ask about all that, geez."

"I-I see. Wait, that's not it, we were talking about your home visit, Silica."

Kirito casually cleared his throat, returned to a serious expression and stared straight at Silica.

His avatar was the only one among her friends from the past SAO period with a different face and figure. However, those jet black eyes deep enough to suck you in remained the same. She could not tear her eyes away and they continued looking at each other, before Kirito finally spoke in a whisper.

"...You don't want to... meet with someone?"

"That's right."

She nodded at her innermost thoughts, hidden from even her parents, being seen through without any sign of surprise.

"It's not just one person though, but multiple. I don't want to meet my male cousins. ...I went back for the Bon Festival the other time, that was when I met them for the first time in three years, but... that night, when all of us children were left alone, everyone wanted to hear about it..."

"About what happened in SAO, huh..."

"Yes. ...I understand they didn't have any bad intentions. If our positions were reversed, I might have asked about this and that as well. But... I didn't want to. I really didn't want to talk about that world."

"That's because... those memories were awful? Or maybe..."

He cut his words off then, and Silica looked back at his face, this time with a trifling amount of surprise.

"Kirito-san, there are times when you're extremely dense, and times when you're extremely sharp, huh."

"R-Really?"

"Really. ...As you guessed, the reason why I didn't want to talk about it is because those memories are really important to me. But I didn't want my parents to know that was how I thought... so I told my cousins about how scary that world was and how glad I was when I escaped from it; those were all I talked about. But as I continued speaking, it was like I was sullying something precious to me... So, at that time, I decided that I wouldn't talk about SAO again. But if I go to my grandfather's place, I would definitely meet them again, so... I..."

When Silica spoke no further, her lips trembling, Kirito took the action of extending his right hand in exchange for words. Poof, he placed his palm onto Silica's head, gently stroking the base of her cat ears akin to how he did earlier to Pina.

The triangular ears and long tail unique to the Cait Sith race were able to feel through some sort of mechanism. Especially the tail which produces a jolting stimulus flowing down the spine alongside the utmost «sense of oddity» when strongly gripped; but on the other hand, caressing the ears definitely did not bring about an unpleasant feeling.

It seems that her tension eased off little by little as she immersed herself in the strange sense of pleasure not found in reality. Faced with Silica who was loosening the stiffness in her shoulders with her eyes half-closed, Kirito asked about an unexpected matter.

"Silica, you were twelve back when SAO started, weren't you?"

"...Yes, that's right. I was in the second term of my sixth year in primary school."

"I see. Did the Nerve Gear belong to you? Or perhaps, your father...?"

"It was mine. That said, it's not like I bought it myself or got my parents to buy it for me; I got it as a prize from a magazine. Along with the software for SAO. It was the first and last time I won something that expensive."

"Oh! Those must have been amazing odds... perhaps even more lucky than me when I was chosen for the beta test. Ah, no, I'm not sure if you could call that lucky, though..."

Silica unintentionally giggled at those faltering words that he had added on.

"If that was supposed to be unlucky, it would be the punishment for lying about my age when I applied. ...At least, that was what I often thought right after I got trapped in SAO. That it would be nice if I hadn't won the Nerve Gear; that it would be nice if it was some other software; things like that..."

"I see... —But if that was the case, you sure were amazing, being able to leave the Beginning City. And almost all of the kids around your age lived together without leaving the city too."

"No, that actually might... be the reason why I left the city. After all, while I was cursing my fate at an inn there, in the Beginning City, winning the Nerve Gear could become the worst misfortune I have had in my life... so I made the decision to definitely find something that would make me glad to have come to this world, and that's why I left the city. It was considerably much later than Kirito-san and Asuna-san though."

Upon hearing that, Kirito returned his glance back to himself while rubbing Silica's cat ears. On top of his black shirt, the small, light blue dragon was sound asleep with its face up as always.

"...I'm glad you found it."

He murmured, and Silica nodded with a smile on her face.

"Yes. Meeting Pina was... and that's not all. Meeting Kirito-san, Asuna-san, Liz-san and the rest, and becoming friends with all of you too. That's why, to me... those memories from that world are simply irreplaceable."

The topic made a full circle back to the start, but she remained calm. Soaking in the sensation of those virtual appendages being stroked, Silica slowly contemplated the problem she faced and opened her mouth.

"That said, it's not like I didn't want to return back to reality. It's all thanks to Kirito-san and everyone else trying their best to clear SAO that I am able to live in peace like this now, and I'm really glad about that. But... somehow... I feel like something is different. Something in this real world... feels just a little... different. My cousins who wanted to hear about SAO too... Papa and Mama who always look at me with worrying eyes... even my cat, Pina, is somehow different... from the past..."

After expressing all of that, Silica became aware of what caused the biggest sense of discomfort for the first time. And that was herself. The one who had already turned fifteen this year, Ayano Keiko of the real world. Compared to the avatar that was taken verbatim from the SAO era, her real body had grown quite a bit and her figure had changed.

I see, she thought. It's only natural to feel that something is different. After all, I must be afraid of these various changes deep down in my heart. Afraid of the time in reality constantly flowing past at such a forceful speed. Afraid of what is yet to come.

"...I'm... scared. Of things changing, things disappearing... that someday, a time might come when I can't meet Kirito-san, everyone else, or Pina in this world anymore... If that's the case, I would rather just, once again......"

Be trapped here. Forever. And for time to stop.

But that wish was not one that could exit her mouth. The black-haired swordsman reflected in her eyes cleared SAO with his life on the line and freed over six thousand players, inclusive of Silica. There was no way she could say that she would like to be taken prisoner again by the virtual world in front of him.

Silica cast her eyes downwards and bit her lips hard.

The fingers rubbing her ears came to a sudden stop. His hand did not leave but rather, snugly enveloped her right ear with his palm. The core of her mind felt as if it went numb and the moment Silica loosened the tension in her entire body once more in response to that, she heard his voice.

"...I'm happy that I was able to meet you here and now today, Silica. The next time too, and the time after that too; that's definitely what I'll believe. That's why... thank you, Silica. For staying alive until that time we met in the «Forest of Wandering», two years ago."

"Eh......"

As she glanced upwards at those unanticipated words, Kirito's smiling face was right before hers.

The meaning behind that gratitude belatedly sank in.

Though she hasn't even actually tried to think about it, Kirito should also be suffering from difficulties and hardships of his own in these days. Perhaps he might have recalled that memory during his bleak moments as well. Of that girl, who he met and saved the life of, deep in the forest consumed by night. That the girl was alive, living on peacefully in the real world.

That time was still flowing for her, second after second—

Silica raised both of her hands up, took Kirito's right hand which was covering her triangular ear and brought it before her face.

The dark tone of his skin, characteristic to Spriggans, was different from that of the Kirito from the SAO era. However, the warmth remained exactly the same. The hand that covered Silica's shoulders as she cried at the end of the adventures on that day was exactly the same.

In actual fact, many things will change, even in the virtual world. Thinking about it, it was because she left the Beginning City, demanding change, that Silica was able to meet Pina, and thus, Kirito. However, there certainly are things that don't change there. Important things will definitely not leave her behind.

That probably applies to the real world as well. The way her male cousins and parents treated Silica was different from before. However, their feelings were... their feelings for Silica remain unchanged within all of them. And thus, an unchanging self inside of Ayano Keiko definitely exists, with time flowing through her one day at a time.

With Kirito's right hand wrapped within her two palms, Silica took a long, deep breath. She brought them up to her sight and then asked of the slightly embarrassed-looking Spriggan.

"Kirito-san, are you free today?"

"Mo-More or less... I'm free enough to take a nap in a place like this, after all. Dad's coming back from America late at night, but I should be free until then..."

"Then please have a New Year's Eve date with me."

It was a line she would normally never manage to say, even if she were to try with all her might, but perhaps backed by the thought of "I'm not a kid anymore", it came out without any difficulty. Upon hearing that, Kirito let his sight wander for a moment, but soon nodded with a smile.

"Sure, if someone like me will do. Well, shall we go to the main city of the twenty-fifth floor, then? Or the lower world? It should be right around the Undine territory at the moment..."

"No, let's have it at Ikebukuro, one hour from now!"

"Alright, then Ikebuku... eh, eeh!? In the real world!?"

"I won't allow you to take those words back now."

Silica tightly gripped Kirito's hand before letting it go and spoke while grinning.

"I'll go to Yamanashi by train after that. Papa and the rest must be worried, after all."

Against that, Kirito blinked countless times before he nodded with a smile as well.

"I see. Then I'll send you off until the Shinjuku station."

"Ah, you didn't actually think that would be enough, did you! That's only four stops on the Yamanote Line, isn't it!"

"It's only one if you go by the Saikyou Line."

"You're horrible! You can't call that a date!"

Perhaps due to the intensifying commotion from the exchange, Pina awoke on top of Kirito and let out a big yawn. An iridescent bubble shot out from its mouth and flitted through the southern window, flying far, far away into the skies as it brilliantly shimmered in the sunlight.

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File:Sword Art Online Vol 09 - 004-005.jpg

2013-03-19T22:16:58Z

Drake:

Illustration of Sword Art Online Vol 09

「We won't know until we try, right?」

Kirito

The boy who got lost in the mysterious fantasy type «virtual world».

「This is unexpectedly difficult. At first I couldn't even strike at the right place too」

Eugeo

The first dweller of this world Kirito met. Due to the Sacred Task, he has the duty to cut down the evil tree «Gigas Cedar».

File:Sword Art Online Vol 09 - 004-005.jpg

2013-03-19T22:15:53Z

Drake: Drake uploaded a new version of "File:Sword Art Online Vol 09 - 004-005.jpg": Changed name Yujio to Eugeo

Illustration of Sword Art Online Vol 09

「We won't know until we try, right?」

Kirito

The boy who got lost in the mysterious fantasy type «virtual world».

「This is unexpectedly difficult. At first I couldn't even strike at the right place too」

Yujio

The first dweller of this world Kirito met. Due to the Sacred Task, he has the duty to cut down the evil tree «Gigas Cedar».

File:Sword Art Online Vol 10 - 006-007.jpg

2013-03-19T22:08:39Z

Drake: Drake uploaded a new version of "File:Sword Art Online Vol 10 - 006-007.jpg": Updated the names Ronye and Tiezé. Some slight adjustments made to make them fit.

Sword Art Online:A Spot of Sunshine in the Winter

2012-12-04T23:22:51Z

Drake: /* A Spot of Sunshine in the Winter */

==A Spot of Sunshine in the Winter==
'''''New Aincrad 22nd Floor'''''
[[Image: SAO_Silica_Edition.jpg|thumb]]
'''''31st December 2025'''''

When fulldiving while wearing an AmuSphere, it seems that people feel either a falling sensation or a floating sensation.

Keiko felt the latter. Lying down on her bed in comfortable attire, she would call out the «Link Start» voice command and her consciousness, now separated from her body, would be immersed in a sensation as though she was floating straight upwards. An image of infinitely rising through a pure, white expanse, with eternal prisms of rainbow light cascading down.

Previously, when she had considered the credible view that "the type of people who experience floating sensations feel that reality is harsh and wish to escape into the virtual world", she had ended up brooding over it, despite getting indignant over how baseless it was. She didn't feel that reality was bleak in the slightest —or so she had thought to herself. After all, she had been imprisoned in a virtual world for a period of two years when she was twelve years of age, before finally being released slightly less than a year ago.

In comparison to that heartless, severe place, where her remaining hit points had been connected with her real life, reality was such a tranquil place. From April, she had even started attending the school set up for SAO survivors who were still minors in terms of age and had made many friends there. It does get a little awkward back home, but she's welcomed by her reserved father, her mother who's skilled at cooking and loves to sing, and her Munchkin breed cat -Pina, that she keeps. Here she could read the continuation of the manga she likes (not to mention the two years worth of back issues!) and even get to eat actual cheesecakes. Hence, she had no reason to feel that reality was harsh whatsoever.

None at all... but still...

While entrusting her body to the transient floating sensation, Keiko recalled the argument she had with her parents tens of minutes ago. To be specific, this was their first quarrel since she had returned from SAO.

It was the thirty-first of December, 2025. New Year's Eve. The three members of the Ayano family, Keiko, along with her father and mother, had arranged to visit the home belonging to her father's parents in the Yamanashi prefecture, with the cat joining them as well. It was something that had been decided a month ago and at the time Keiko had obediently nodded when she first heard about it.

However right before departing, while in the garage at home, she had ended up saying that no matter what, she didn't want to go.

Her parents tried gently persuading her by saying how her grandfather, grandmother and her male cousins were all looking forward to meeting her, but as Keiko stuck to her obstinate behavior for those tens of minutes, their words gradually grew harsher resulting in her father uttering "Then just do as you like" before leaving in the car. Left alone at home, Keiko locked up the entranceway then returned to her room on the second floor and put on the AmuSphere after slumping onto her bed.

That's why, this one and only particular dive might be a form of escape. Even so, that didn't matter. At the very least, crying in the virtual world rather than the real world would end without the need to worry about swollen eyes later on.

After turning into her Cait Sith character Silica, The place Keiko emerged was on a porch leading to a log house built on the shore of a large lake, on the twenty-second floor of the new Aincrad which orbited through the skies of Alfheim. It appears to be early in the afternoon in the abode of the fairies also, with plentiful warm sunlight beaming down upon the garden's lawn.

This wasn't a player home that belonged to her, but since she was able to get herself registered on the sub-owner list, she could freely log in and out anywhere within the premises of the homestead. That said, she takes the original two owners into consideration, making sure not to appear directly indoors, just in case.

Shortly after Silica's arrival, a light blue glimmer appeared in the space right beside her which coalesced, before changing into the shape of a small dragon.

Well -it's defined as small, but that's when compared to the larger versions of the dragon race mobs. Its wingspan could stretch to almost over a meter. Its entire body was covered in a downy fur in a shade of light blue that matched its two round, ruby eyes, however it contained no sign of ferocity in its outward appearance.

"Pina, over here."

The moment Silica reached out with her two hands, the small dragon which had the same name as her pet cat, dove into her arms after letting out a single coo, "kururu!". She tightly hugged its fluffy body and it started licking her right cheek with its tiny tongue. Pina, with an AI at the level of familiars, or in other words, «tamed monsters», was not terribly smart, but at times, it reacted as though it could read Silica's mind. This was one such time, and while it licked Silica's face, it continuously let out a "kuru... ruru..." from its throat, as if it was showing its concern.

"...Thank you, I'm alright now. I'm fine now, after meeting you, Pina."

With that whisper, she placed Pina who was unexpectedly light for its size onto her head. Its feathery wings tickled those cat ears unique to the race of Cait Sith and its long tail wrapped around her neck, much like a muffler.

Enveloped in a warmth that seemed impossible for a moving object in a virtual world, Silica felt herself slowly perking up from the chagrin of the dispute she had with her parents, as she strode to the door of the log house.

Upon touching the doorknob, a crisp click rang out, representing the door unlocking. Gently pulling it open, she headed in and called out, "Good afternoon". As expected, there was no reply. She could open up the Friend List from her Main Menu to check on their login status, but she could believe that there wouldn't be anyone here without needing to resort to that. After all, it was New Year's Eve...

However, just in case, Silica minded her manners and said her greetings for intruding, before she entered. Closing the door, she headed for the main room on the left side of the hallway.

The moment she stepped into the living room, with had a breadth impossible for a detached house in reality -or at least for an average one in Tokyo's special wards, Pina slowly flew off from her head. The reasons for a familiar to leave its master without orders should be either due to detecting monsters closing in, or having its intimacy value drop from not being fed enough and changing to a defiant status. Still, when considering this room in this house, there was a possible third reason...

Conscious of her virtual heart now beating harder, Silica chased Pina as it flew, flapping its wings. She went around a huge log that was used as a pillar and cast her eyes towards the south facing window.

Placed in a spot with lemon-yellow sunshine falling onto it, was a solitary rocking chair. Atop that chair which was moving constantly and rather gently without making any noise lay a Spriggan with black hair, clothed in black, with his eyes closed. His sleeping expression was far from the one that he shows in battle, here showing signs of boyish innocence.

Pina, who had flown off Silica's head, circled once above the Spriggan before it landed near his stomach. Folding its wings, it coiled up its head and tail before finally falling asleep. No, it's a familiar, so that ought to be merely «looking as though it's asleep», but the "kyururu, kyururu" sounds of it breathing in its sleep was no illusion.

"...Geez, Pina."

After muttering that under her breath, Silica continued to stand as she gazed at the sleeping poses of that person and that animal. Her beating heart gently slowed down from the somewhat quick rate it had been and a calm tranquility soon spread within Silica as well. For a short while, the spice of grief sprinkled onto her while she took shelter in the warmth. 

This went on for close to thirty seconds before she regained her wits and looked around her. If he -the owner of this house, was logged in, it was likely that the other owner -an Undine healer, or his real life little sister -a Sylphid magic swordswoman, were around as well, but there were no traces of other players. Cait Sith were the race bestowed with the highest level of perception ability among the nine races, so she should know if there was anyone else in the house. Of course, it's different if hiding spells or skills were used, but there should be no reason to hide inside the house in that manner.

—Having decided that, Silica was still at a loss for several seconds before carrying a single chair from the dining table to the side of the rocking chair, which she softly sat down in after aligning them.

She sprawled her body towards the left and stared hard at the profile of the sleeping Spriggan's face right in front of her.

In mere seconds, Silica could feel her eyelids weighing down as well. Having that boy sound asleep in this room releases a sort of magical power that causes sleepiness in the surrounding players —or at least, that was the accepted conclusion among her friends. However, she must not allow herself to succumb to this magic. Silica had the «Automatically Disconnect When Asleep Function» set to fifteen minutes, so if she fell asleep she would soon be logged out. Going through the connection sequence once again would be a bother but above all, she didn't want to waste this precious time available. The chance she could be alone with that sleeping boy -generally were no longer possible, not since the night of the day that they met in a certain different floating castle.

Come to think of it, that had happened nearly two years ago.

She had lost her familiar, Pina -and even her own life had been like a candle flickering in the wind when Silica was saved by the black-clothed swordsman, Kirito.

He didn't just protect Silica, but was even willing to help revive the once-killed Pina. She still remembers that single day of adventure when they went to retrieve the item that could resurrect a familiar down to its very last detail. The gigantic flower monsters with tentacles sprouting out from them and the orange players that assaulted them on the way back were extremely scary, but those memories were all important to her.

—No, it wasn't just that day...

With her hands raised to her chest while tightly grasping each other, Silica began to ponder while sitting on the chair.

All the days they had adventured and played together since she first met Pina gave off a special sparkle within her memories. That radiance was so vivid that it could cause the entire time she spent in the real world to pale in comparison. Of course, she could meet up with Pina whenever she wanted if she dived into ALO, and she was conscious of the fact of that already being a blessing by itself —after all, Pina really should have disappeared when SAO was cleared— but at times, she wondered about something...

About how it would be nice if this side was the true reality instead...

A thought that couldn't be told to anyone. One that definitely couldn't be released from her lips. A thought that would betray her parents who were worried to death over her for those two years when she got trapped by that death game and enthusiastically celebrated her return. But.
But still—

The teardrops that gathered in her lower eyelashes without her noticing faintly pattered onto the chair's armrest.

Perhaps due to that noise which could barely be called one, the black-haired Spriggan —Kirito languidly opened his eyes. Silica frantically turned back to face forward before blinking countless times to dissipate the remaining tears effect. She stayed frozen in that position for several seconds before she heard his voice.

"...Huh, Silica? When did you get here?"

She timidly turned to the left and met with a sleepy-looking Kirito.

"Go-Good afternoon, Kirito-san. Erm, fift... five minutes earlier or so, I think."

"Woah, you should have just woke me up."

Getting up with a flustered expression, Kirito seemed to have finally noticed Pina on top of him. With a gentle smile, he lightly caressed the area near the base of its neck with his fingertips. The small dragon rolled over while still asleep, showing its belly that was of a shade slightly more pale than its back and shook its tail to plead for more rubbing.

Silica exchanged another look with Kirito before they both broke into soft laughter.

Upon settling down, words almost impulsively flowed from between her lips.

"...Earlier, I had a fight with my parents."

Kirito raised his eyebrows slightly before calmly asking.

"Despite it being New Year's Eve? Or maybe because it's New Year's Eve?"

"Because it's New Year's Eve... I believe. Actually, I was supposed to go over to my grandfather's place in Yamanashi today, but just when we were leaving, I went ahead and said that I didn't want to go... ah, i-it's not like I thought that the popular hunting areas in ALO might be empty on New Year's Eve, I didn't do it for anything like that."

"Haha, you would be let down if that ''was'' your true reason. It seems that there were loads of players with the same thought, so it's practically no more empty than usual."

"...So you've checked it out already, huh. Or rather, Kirito-san, was that what you were here for...?"

Silica looked up at him for a brief moment and the Spriggan shook his head with a ruffled expression.

"Th-That's totally not it. I wanted to test the sharpness of «Excaliber» that I got the other day and I also wanted to show it off to Eugene, so that's definitely not it at all."

"I didn't ask about all that, geez."

"I-I see. Wait, that's not it, we were talking about your home visit, Silica."

Kirito casually cleared his throat, returned to a serious expression and stared straight at Silica.

His avatar was the only one among her friends from the past SAO period with a different face and figure. However, those jet black eyes deep enough to suck you in remained the same. She could not tear her eyes away and they continued looking at each other, before Kirito finally spoke in a whisper.

"...You don't want to... meet with someone?"

"That's right."

She nodded at her innermost thoughts, hidden from even her parents, being seen through without any sign of surprise.

"It's not just one person though but multiple. I don't want to meet my male cousins. ...I went back for the Bon Festival the other time, that was when I met them for the first time in three years, but... that night, when all of us children were left alone, everyone wanted to hear about it..."

"About what happened in SAO, huh..."

"Yes. ...I understand they didn't have any bad intentions. If our positions were reversed, I might have asked about this and that as well. But... I didn't want to. I really didn't want to talk about that world."

"That's because... those memories were awful? Or... maybe?"

He cut his words off then, and Silica looked back at his face, this time with a trifling amount of surprise.

"Kirito-san, there are times when you're extremely dense, and times when you're extremely sharp, huh."

"R-Really?"

"Really. ...As you guessed, the reason why I didn't want to talk about it is because those memories are really important to me. But I didn't want my parents to know that was how I thought... so I told my cousins about how scary that world was and how glad I was when I escaped from it. That was all I talked about. But as I continued speaking, it was like I was sullying something precious to me... So, at that time, I decided that I wouldn't talk about SAO again. But if I go to my grandfather's place, I would definitely meet them again, so... I..."

When Silica spoke no further, her lips trembling, Kirito took the action of extending his right hand in exchange for words. Poof, he placed his palm onto Silica's head, gently stroking the base of her cat ears akin to how he did earlier to Pina.

The triangular ears and long tail unique to the Cait Sith race were able to feel through some sort of mechanism. Especially the tail which produces a jolting stimulus flowing down the spine alongside the utmost «sense of oddity» when strongly gripped. While on the other hand, caressing the ears definitely did not bring about an unpleasant feeling.

It seems that her tension eased off little by little while she was immersed herself in the strange sense of pleasure not found in reality. Faced with Silica who was loosening the stiffness in her shoulders with her eyes half-closed, Kirito asked about an unexpected matter.

"Silica, you were twelve back when SAO started, weren't you?"

"...Yes, that's right. I was in the second term of my sixth year in primary school."

"I see. Did the Nerve Gear belong to you? Or perhaps, your father...?"

"It was mine. That said, it's not like I bought it myself or got my parents to buy it for me; I got it as a prize from a magazine. Along with the software for SAO. It was the first and last time I won something that expensive."

"Oh! Those must have been amazing odds... perhaps even more lucky than me when I was chosen for the beta test. Ah, no, I'm not sure if you could call that lucky, though..."

Silica unintentionally giggled at those faltering words that he had added on.

"If that was supposed to be unlucky, it would be the punishment for lying about my age when I applied. ...At least, that was what I often thought right after I got trapped in SAO. That it would be nice if I hadn't won the Nerve Gear; or it would be nice if it was some other software; things like that..."

"I see... —But if that was the case, you sure were amazing, being able to leave the Beginning City. And almost all of the kids around your age lived together without leaving the city too."

"No, that actually might... be the reason why I left the city. After all, while I was cursing my fate at an inn there, in the Beginning City, winning the Nerve Gear could become the worst misfortune I have had in my life... so I made the decision to definitely find something that would make me glad to have come to this world, and that's why I left the city. Although that was considerably much later than Kirito-san and Asuna-san though."

Upon hearing that, Kirito returned his glance back to himself while rubbing Silica's cat ears. On top of his black shirt, the small, light blue dragon was sound asleep with its face up as always.

"...I'm glad you found it."

He murmured, and Silica nodded with a smile on her face.

"Yes. Meeting Pina was... and that's not all. Meeting Kirito-san, Asuna-san, Liz-san and the rest, and becoming friends with all of you too. That's why, to me... those memories from that world are simply irreplaceable."

The topic made a full circle back to the start, but she remained calm. Soaking in the sensation of those virtual appendages being stroked, Silica slowly contemplated the problem she faced and opened her mouth.

"That said, it's not like I didn't want to return back to reality. It's all thanks to Kirito-san and everyone else trying their best to clear SAO that I am able to live in peace like this now, and I'm really glad about that. But... somehow... I feel like something is different. Something in this real world... feels just a little... different. My cousins who wanted to hear about SAO too... Papa and Mama who always look at me with worrying eyes... even my cat, Pina, is somehow different... from the past..."

After expressing all of that, Silica became aware of what caused the biggest sense of discomfort　for the first time. And that was herself. The one to have already turned fifteen this year, Ayano Keiko of the real world. Compared to the avatar that was taken verbatim from the SAO era, her real body had grown quite a bit and her figure had changed.

I see, she thought. It's only natural to feel that something is different. After all, I must be afraid of these various changes deep down in my heart. Afraid of the time in reality constantly flowing past at such a forceful speed. Afraid of what is yet to come.

"...I'm... scared. Of things changing, things disappearing... that someday, a time might come when I can't meet Kirito-san, everyone else, or Pina in this world anymore... If that's the case, I would rather just, once again......"

Be trapped here. Forever. And for time to stop.

But that wish was not one that could exit her mouth. The black-haired swordsman reflected in her eyes cleared SAO with his life on the line and freed over six thousand players -including Silica. There was no way she could say that she would like to be taken prisoner again by the virtual world in front of him.

Silica cast her eyes downwards and bit her lips hard.

The fingers rubbing her ears came to a sudden stop. His hand did not leave but rather, snugly enveloped her right ear with his palm. The core of her mind felt as if it went numb and the moment Silica loosened the tension in her entire body once more in response to that, she heard his voice.

"...I'm happy that I was able to meet you here and now today, Silica. The next time too, and the time after that too; that's definitely what I'll believe. That's why... thank you, Silica. For staying alive until that time we met in the «Forest of Wandering», two years ago."

"Eh......"

As she glanced upwards at those unanticipated words, Kirito's smiling face was right before hers.

The meaning behind that gratitude belatedly sank in.

Though she hasn't even actually tried to think about it, Kirito should also be suffering from difficulties and hardships of his own in these days. Perhaps he might have recalled that memory during his bleak moments as well. Of that meeting, deep in the forest at night. Of the small girl whose life he saved. That the girl was alive, living on peacefully in the real world.

That time was still flowing for her, second after second—

Silica raised both of her hands up, took Kirito's right hand which was covering her triangular ear and brought it before her face.

The dark tone of the skin characteristic to Spriggans was different from that of the Kirito from the SAO era, but the warmth remained exactly the same. The hand that covered Silica's shoulders as she cried at the end of the adventures on that day was exactly the same.

In actual fact, many things will change, even in the virtual world. Thinking about it, it was because she left the Beginning City, demanding change, that Silica was able to meet Pina, and thus, Kirito. However, there certainly are things that don't change there. Important things will definitely not leave her behind.

That probably applies to the real world as well. The way her male cousins and parents treated Silica was different from before. However, their feelings were... their feelings for Silica remain unchanged within all of them. And thus, an unchanging self inside of Ayano Keiko definitely exists, with time flowing through her one day at a time.

With Kirito's right hand wrapped within her two palms, Silica took a long, deep breath. She brought them up to her sight and then asked of the slightly embarrassed-looking Spriggan.

"Kirito-san, are you free today?"

"Mo-More or less... I'm free enough to take a nap in a place like this, after all. Dad's coming back from America late at night, but I should be free until then..."

"Then please have a New Year's Eve date with me."

It was a line she would never normally manage to say, even if she were to try with all her might, but perhaps backed by the thought of "I'm not a kid anymore", it came out without any difficulty. Upon hearing that, Kirito let his sight wander for a moment, but soon nodded with a smile.

"Sure, if someone like me will do. Well, shall we go to the main city of the twenty-fifth floor, then? Or the lower world? It should be right around the Undine territory at the moment..."

"No, let's have it at Ikebukuro, one hour from now!"

"Alright, then Ikebuku... eh, eeh!? In the real world!?"

"I won't allow you take those words back now."

Silica tightly gripped Kirito's hand before letting it go and spoke while grinning.

"I'll go to Yamanashi by train after that. Papa and the rest must be worried, after all."

Against that, Kirito blinked countless times before he nodded with a smile as well.

"I see. Then I'll send you off until the Shinjuku station."

"Ah, you didn't actually think that would be enough, did you! That's only four stops on the Yamanote Line, isn't it!"

"It's only one if you go by the Saikyou Line."

"You're horrible! You can't call that a date!"

Perhaps due to the intensifying commotion from the exchange, Pina awoke on top of Kirito and let out a big yawn. An iridescent bubble shot out from its mouth and flitted through the southern window, flying far, far away into the skies as it brilliantly shimmered in the sunlight.

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Sword Art Online:A Spot of Sunshine in the Winter

2012-12-04T22:11:49Z

Drake: /* A Spot of Sunshine in the Winter */

==A Spot of Sunshine in the Winter==
'''''New Aincrad 22nd Floor'''''
[[Image: SAO_Silica_Edition.jpg|thumb]]
'''''31st December 2025'''''

When fulldiving while wearing an AmuSphere, it seems that people feel either a falling sensation or a floating sensation.

Keiko felt the latter. Lying down on her bed in comfortable attire, she would call out the «Link Start» voice command and her consciousness, now separated from her body, would be immersed in a sensation as though she was floating straight upwards. An image of infinitely rising through a pure, white expanse, with eternal prisms of rainbow light cascading down.

Previously, when she had considered the credible view that "the type of people who experience floating sensations feel that reality is harsh and wish to escape into the virtual world", she had ended up brooding over it, despite getting indignant over how baseless it was. She didn't feel that reality was bleak in the slightest —or so she had thought to herself. After all, she had been imprisoned in a virtual world for a period of two years when she was twelve years of age, before finally being released slightly less than a year ago.

In comparison to that heartless, severe place, where her remaining hit points had been connected with her real life, reality was such a tranquil place. From April, she had even started attending the school set up for SAO survivors who were still minors in terms of age and had made many friends there. It does get a little awkward back home, but she's welcomed by her reserved father, her mother who's skilled at cooking and loves to sing, and her Munchkin breed cat -Pina, that she keeps. Here she could read the continuation of the manga she likes (not to mention the two years worth of back issues!) and even get to eat actual cheesecakes. Hence, she had no reason to feel that reality was harsh whatsoever.

None at all... but still...

While entrusting her body to the transient floating sensation, Keiko recalled the argument she had with her parents tens of minutes ago. To be specific, this was their first quarrel since she had returned from SAO.

It was the thirty-first of December, 2025. New Year's Eve. The three members of the Ayano family, Keiko, along with her father and mother, had arranged to visit the home belonging to her father's parents in the Yamanashi prefecture, with the cat joining them as well. It was something that had been decided a month ago and at the time Keiko had obediently nodded when she first heard about it.

However right before departing, while in the garage at home, she had ended up saying that no matter what, she didn't want to go.

Her parents tried gently persuading her by saying how her grandfather, grandmother and her male cousins were all looking forward to meeting her, but as Keiko stuck to her obstinate behavior for those tens of minutes, their words gradually grew harsher resulting in her father uttering "Then just do as you like" before leaving in the car. Left alone at home, Keiko locked up the entranceway then returned to her room on the second floor and put on the AmuSphere after slumping onto her bed.

That's why, this one and only particular dive might be a form of escape. Even so, that didn't matter. At the very least, crying in the virtual world rather than the real world would end without the need to worry about swollen eyes later on.

After turning into her Cait Sith character Silica, The place Keiko emerged was on a porch leading to a log house built on the shore of a large lake, on the twenty-second floor of the new Aincrad which orbited through the skies of Alfheim. It appears to be early in the afternoon in the abode of the fairies also, with plentiful warm sunlight beaming down upon the garden's lawn.

This wasn't a player home that belonged to her, but since she was able to get herself registered on the sub-owner list, she could freely log in and out anywhere within the premises of the homestead. That said, she takes the original two owners into consideration, making sure not to appear directly indoors, just in case.

Shortly after Silica's arrival, a light blue glimmer appeared in the space right beside her which coalesced, before changing into the shape of a small dragon.

Well -it's defined as small, but that's when compared to the larger versions of the dragon race mobs. Its wingspan could stretch to almost over a meter. Its entire body was covered in a downy fur in a shade of light blue that matched its two round, ruby eyes, however it contained no sign of ferocity in its outward appearance.

"Pina, over here."

The moment Silica reached out with her two hands, the small dragon which had the same name as her pet cat, dove into her arms after letting out a single coo, "kururu!". She tightly hugged its fluffy body and it started licking her right cheek with its tiny tongue. Pina, with an AI at the level of familiars, or in other words, «tamed monsters», was not terribly smart, but at times, it reacted as though it could read Silica's mind. This was one such time, and while it licked Silica's face, it continuously let out a "kuru... ruru..." from its throat, as if it was showing its concern.

"...Thank you, I'm alright now. I'm fine now, after meeting you, Pina."

With that whisper, she placed Pina who was unexpectedly light for its size onto her head. Its feathery wings tickled those cat ears unique to the race of Cait Sith and its long tail wrapped around her neck, much like a muffler.

Enveloped in a warmth that seemed impossible for a moving object in a virtual world, Silica felt herself slowly perking up from the chagrin of the dispute she had with her parents, as she strode to the door of the log house.

Upon touching the doorknob, a crisp click rang out, representing the door unlocking. Gently pulling it open, she headed in and called out, "Good afternoon". As expected, there was no reply. She could open up the Friend List from her Main Menu to check on their login status, but she could believe that there wouldn't be anyone here without needing to resort to that. After all, it was New Year's Eve...

However, just in case, Silica minded her manners and said her greetings for intruding, before she entered. Closing the door, she headed for the main room on the left side of the hallway.

The moment she stepped into the living room, with had a breadth impossible for a detached house in reality -or at least for an average one in Tokyo's special wards, Pina slowly flew off from her head. The reasons for a familiar to leave its master without orders should be either due to detecting monsters closing in, or having its intimacy value drop from not being fed enough and changing to a defiant status. Still, when considering this room in this house, there was a possible third reason...

Conscious of her virtual heart now beating harder, Silica chased Pina as it flew, flapping its wings. She went around a huge log that was used as a pillar and cast her eyes towards the south facing window.

Placed in a spot with lemon-yellow sunshine falling onto it, was a solitary rocking chair. Atop that chair which was moving constantly and rather gently without making any noise lay a Spriggan with black hair, clothed in black, with his eyes closed. His sleeping expression was far from the one that he shows in battle, here showing signs of boyish innocence.

Pina, who had flown off Silica's head, circled once above the Spriggan before it landed near his stomach. Folding its wings, it coiled up its head and tail before finally falling asleep. No, it's a familiar, so that ought to be merely «looking as though it's asleep», but the "kyururu, kyururu" sounds of it breathing in its sleep was no illusion.

"...Geez, Pina."

After muttering that under her breath, Silica continued to stand as she gazed at the sleeping poses of that person and that animal. Her beating heart gently slowed down from the somewhat quick rate it had been and a calm tranquility soon spread within Silica as well. For a short while, the spice of grief sprinkled onto her while she took shelter in the warmth. 

This went on for close to thirty seconds before she regained her wits and looked around her. If he -the owner of this house, was logged in, it was likely that the other owner -an Undine healer, or his real life little sister -a Sylphid magic swordswoman, were around as well, but there were no traces of other players. Cait Sith were the race bestowed with the highest level of perception ability among the nine races, so she should know if there was anyone else in the house. Of course, it's different if hiding spells or skills were used, but there should be no reason to hide inside the house in that manner.

—Having decided that, Silica was still at a loss for several seconds before carrying a single chair from the dining table to the side of the rocking chair, which she softly sat down in after aligning them.

She sprawled her body towards the left and stared hard at the profile of the sleeping Spriggan's face right in front of her.

In mere seconds, Silica could feel her eyelids weighing down as well. Having that boy sound asleep in this room releases a sort of magical power that causes sleepiness in the surrounding players —or at least, that was the accepted conclusion among her friends. However, she must not allow herself to succumb to this magic. Silica had the «Automatically Disconnect When Asleep Function» set to fifteen minutes, so if she fell asleep she would soon be logged out. Going through the connection sequence once again would be a bother but above all, she didn't want to waste this precious time available. The chance she could be alone with that sleeping boy -generally were no longer possible, not since the night of the day that they met in a certain different floating castle.

Come to think of it, that had happened nearly two years ago.

She had lost her familiar, Pina -and even her own life had been like a candle flickering in the wind when Silica was saved by the black-clothed swordsman, Kirito.

He didn't just protect Silica, but was even willing to help revive the once-killed Pina. She still remembers that single day of adventure when they went to retrieve the item that could resurrect a familiar down to its very last detail. The gigantic flower monsters with tentacles sprouting out from them and the orange players that assaulted them on the way back were extremely scary, but those memories were all important to her.

—No, it wasn't just that day...

With her hands raised to her chest while tightly grasping each other, Silica began to ponder while sitting on the chair.

From the first day she met Pina and all the days that they had adventured and played together since gave off a special sparkle within her memories. That color was so vivid that it could cause the entire time she had spent in the real world to pale in comparison. Of course, she could meet up with Pina whenever she wanted if she dived into ALO and she intended to be conscious of the fact of it already being a blessing—after all, Pina really should have disappeared when SAO was cleared—by itself, but at times, she wondered about something.

About how it would be nice if this side was the true reality instead.

A thought that couldn't be told to anyone, one that definitely couldn't be let out from her lips. A thought that would betray her parents who were worried to death over her for that two years she got trapped in that death game and enthusiastically celebrated her return. But.
But still—

The drops that gathered in her lower eyelashes without her noticing faintly pattered onto the chair's armrest.

Perhaps due to that noise which could barely be called one, the black-haired Spriggan—Kirito languidly opened his eyes. Silica frantically turned back to face her front before blinking countless times to dissipate the remaining tears effect. She stayed frozen while looking forward for several seconds before she heard his voice.

"...Huh, Silica? When did you get here?"

She timidly turned to the left and met with a sleepy-looking Kirito's face.

"Go-Good afternoon, Kirito-san. Erm, fift... five minutes earlier or so, I think."

"Woah, you should have just woke me up."

Getting up with a flustered expression, Kirito seems to have finally noticed Pina on top of him. With a gentle smile on, he lightly caressed the area near the base of its neck with his fingertips. The small dragon rolled over while still asleep, showing its belly that was of a shade slightly more pale than its back and shook its tail to plead for more rubbing.

Silica exchanged another look with Kirito before they both broke into a soft laughter.

Upon settling down, words almost instinctively flowed out from her lips.

"...Earlier, I had a fight with my parents."

Kirito raised his eyebrows slightly before calmly asking.

"Despite it being New Year's Eve? Or maybe because it's New Year's Eve?"

"Because it's New Year's Eve... I believe. Actually, I was supposed to go over to my grandfather's place in Yamanashi today, but just when we were leaving, I went ahead and said that I didn't want to go... ah, i-it's not like I thought that the popular hunting areas in ALO might be empty on New Year's Eve, I didn't do it for anything like that."

"Haha, you would be let down if that was your reason. It seems that there were loads of players with the same thought, so it's practically no more empty than usual."

"...So you checked it out already, huh. Or rather, Kirito-san, that was what you were　here for...?"

Silica looked up at him for a short bit and the Spriggan shook his head with a ruffled expression.

"Th-That's totally not it. I wanted to test the sharpness of that «Excaliber» I got the other day and I wanted to go show it off to Eugene, so that's definitely not it at all."

"I didn't ask about all that, geez."

"I-I see. Wait, that's not it, we were talking about your home visit, Silica."

Kirito casually cleared his throat, returned to a serious expression and stared straight at Silica.

His avatar was the only one among her friends from the past SAO period with a different face and figure. However, those jet black eyes deep enough to suck you in remained the same. She could not tear her eyes away and they continued looking at each other, before Kirito finally spoke in a whisper.

"...You don't want to... meet with someone?"

"That's right."

She nodded at her innermost thoughts, hidden from even her parents, being seen through without any sign of surprise.

"It's not just one person but multiple, though. I don't want to meet my male cousins. ...I went back for the Bon Festival the other time, that was when I met them for the first time in three years, but... that night, when all of us children were left alone, everyone wanted to hear about it..."

"About what happened in SAO, huh..."

"Yes. ...I understand they didn't have any bad intentions. If our positions were reversed, I might have asked about this and that as well. But... I didn't want to. I really didn't want to talk about that world."

"That's because... those memories were awful? Or maybe..."

He cut his words off then, and Silica looked back at his face, this time with a trifling amount of surprise.

"Kirito-san, there are times when you're extremely dense, and times when you're extremely sharp, huh."

"R-Really?"

"Really. ...As you guessed, the reason why I didn't want to talk about it was because those memories were really important to me. But I didn't want my parents to know that was how I thought... so I told my cousins about how scary that world was and how glad I was when I escaped from it, that was all I talked about. But as I continued speaking, it was like I was sullying something precious to me... At that time, I decided that I won't talk about SAO again. But if I go to my grandfather's place, I would definitely meet them again, so... I..."

When Silica spoke no further, her lips trembling, Kirito took the action of extending his right hand in exchange for words. Poof, he placed his palm onto Silica's head, gently stroking the base of her cat ears like what he did to Pina earlier.

The triangular ears and long tail unique to the Cait Sith race were able to feel through some sort of mechanism. Especially the tail which produces a jolting stimulus flowing down the spine alongside that utmost «sense of oddity» when strongly gripped, while on the other hand, caressing the ears definitely did not bring about an unpleasant feeling.

It seems that her tension eased off little by little while she was immersed in the strange sense of pleasure not found in reality. Faced with Silica who was loosening the stiffness in her shoulders with her eyes half-closed, Kirito asked about an unexpected matter.

"Silica, you were twelve back when SAO started, weren't you?"

"...Yes, that's right. I was in the second term of my sixth year in primary school."

"I see. Did the Nerve Gear belong to you? Or perhaps, your father...?"

"It was mine. That said, it's not like I bought it myself or got my parents to buy it for me; I got it as a prize from a magazine. Along with the software for SAO. It was the first and last time I won something that expensive."

"Oh! Those must have been amazing odds... perhaps even more lucky than me when I was chosen for the beta test. Ah, no, I'm not sure if you could call that lucky, though..."

Silica unintentionally giggled at those faltering words that he added on.

"If that was supposed to be unlucky, it would be the punishment for lying about my age when I applied. ...That was what I often thought right after I got trapped in SAO. It would be nice if I didn't win the Nerve Gear; it would be nice if it was some other software; things like that."

"I see... —But in that case, you sure were amazing, being able to leave the Beginning City. And almost all of the kids around your age lived together without leaving the city too."

"No, that might... actually be the reason why I left the city. After all, while I was cursing my fate at an inn there, in the Beginning City, winning the Nerve Gear would become the worst misfortune I had in my life... so I made the decision to definitely find something that would make me glad to have come to this world, and that's why I left the city. That was considerably much later than Kirito-san and Asuna-san, though."

Upon hearing that, Kirito returned his glance back to himself while rubbing Silica's cat ears. On top of his black shirt, the small, light blue dragon was sound asleep with its face up as always.

"...I'm glad you found it."

He murmured, and Silica nodded with a smile on her face.

"Yes. Meeting Pina was... that's not all. Meeting Kirito-san, Asuna-san, Liz-san and the rest, and becoming friends with all of you too. That's why, to me... those memories from that world are simply irreplaceable."

The topic made a full circle back to what it was, but she remained calm. Soaking in the sensation of those virtual parts being stroked, Silica slowly contemplated on the problem she faced and opened her mouth.

"That said, it's not like I didn't want to return back to reality. It's all thanks to Kirito-san and everyone else trying their best to clear SAO that I am able to live in peace like this now, and I'm really glad about that. But... somehow... I feel like something is different. Something in this real world... feels just a little... different. My cousins who wanted to hear about SAO too... Papa and Mama who always look at me with worrying eyes too... even my cat, Pina, is somehow different... from the past..."

After voicing all of that out, Silica became aware of what caused the biggest sense of discomfort　for the first time. And that was herself. The one who have already turned fifteen this year, the real world's Ayano Keiko. Compared to the avatar that was taken verbatim from the SAO era, her real body had grown quite a bit and her figure changed.

I see, she thought. It was only natural to feel that something was different. After all, I must be afraid of these various changes deep down in my heart. Afraid of the time in reality constantly flowing past at such a forceful speed. Afraid of what is yet to come.

"...I'm... scared. Of things changing, things disappearing... that someday, a time might come when I can't meet Kirito-san, everyone else, or Pina in this world anymore... If that's the case, I would rather just, once again......"

Be trapped here. Forever. And for time to stop.

But that wish was not one that could exit her mouth. The black-haired swordsman reflected in her eyes cleared SAO with his life on the line and freed over six thousand players, including Silica. There was no way she could say that she would like to be taken prisoner by the virtual world again in front of him.

Silica cast her eyes downwards and bit her lips hard.

The fingers rubbing her ears came to a sudden stop. But his hand did not leave, but rather, snugly enveloped her right ear with his palm. The core of her mind felt as if it went numb and the moment Silica loosened the tension in her entire body once more in response to that, she heard his voice.

"...I'm happy that I was able to meet you here and now today, Silica. The next time too, and the time after that too; that's definitely what I'll believe. That's why... thank you, Silica. For staying alive until that time we met in the «Forest of Wandering», two years ago."

"Eh......"

As she glanced upwards at those unanticipated words, Kirito's smiling face was right before hers.

The meaning behind that gratitude belatedly sank in.

Though she hasn't even actually tried to think about it, Kirito should be suffering from difficulties and hardships of his own in these days. Perhaps he might have recalled that memory during his bleak moments as well. Of that meeting, deep in the forest at night, that small girl whose life he saved. That the girl was alive, living on peacefully in the real world.

That time was still flowing for her, second after second—

Silica raised both of her hands up, took Kirito's right hand that was covering her triangular ear and brought it before her face.

The dark tone of skin characteristic of Spriggans was different from the SAO era's Kirito. But the warmth remained exactly the same. The hand that covered Silica's shoulders as she cried at the end of the adventures on that day as exactly the same.

In actual fact, many things will change, even in the virtual world. Thinking about it, it was because she left the Beginning City, demanding for change, that Silica was able to meet Pina, thus, Kirito. However, there certainly are things that don't change there. Important things will definitely not leave her behind.

That probably applied to the real world as well. The way her male cousins and parents treated Silica was different from before. However, their feelings were... their feelings for Silica remain unchanged inside all of them. And thus, an unchanging self inside of Ayano Keiko, time flowing through her a day at a time, definitely exist.

With Kirito's right hand wrapped within her two palms, Silica took a long, deep breath. She brought them up to her sight and asked of the slightly embarrassed-looking Spriggan.

"Kirito-san, are you free today?"

"Mo-More or less... I'm free enough to take a nap in a place like this, after all. Dad's coming back from America late at night, but I should be free till then..."

"Then please have a New Year's Eve date with me."

It was a line she would never manage to say out normally, even if she were to try with all her might, but perhaps backed by the thought of "I'm not a kid anymore", it came out without any difficulty. Upon hearing that, Kirito let his sight wander for a moment, but soon nodded with a smile.

"Sure, if someone like me will do. Well, shall we go to the main city of the twenty-fifth floor, then? Or the lower world? It should be right around the Undine territory right now..."

"No, let's have it at Ikebukuro, one hour later!"

"Alright, then Ikebuku... eh, eeh!? In the real world!?"

"I won't allow you take those words back now."

Silica tightly gripped Kirito's hand before letting it go and spoke while grinning.

"I'll go to Yamanashi by train after that. Papa and the rest must be worried, after all."

Against that, Kirito blinked countless times before he nodded with a smile as well.

"I see. Then I'll send you off until the Shinjuku station."

"Ah, you didn't actually think that would be enough, did you! That's only four stops on the Yamanote Line, isn't it!"

"It's only one if you go by the Saikyou Line."

"You're horrible! You can't call that a date!"

Perhaps due to the intensifying commotion from the exchange, Pina woke up on top of Kirito and let out a big yawn. An iridescent bubble shot out from its mouth and flitted through the southern window, flying far, far away into the skies as it brilliantly shimmered in the sunlight.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Return to [[Sword Art Online|Main Page]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

User:Drake

2012-09-25T22:01:20Z

Drake: Created page with "Drake's Page"

Drake's Page

User talk:Zero2001

2012-08-27T14:16:41Z

Drake:

'''Archives:''' [[/Archive 1|1]]

==Punctuation==
===Somewhat interested in Punctuation Changes===

How does the bytes work for those anyway? From what you did on IS, the apostrophes for Microsoft Word uses more space than wordpad. Can you explain that to me? Thanks--[[User:Teh Ping|Teh Ping]] 15:19, 29 May 2011 (UCT)

The types of punctuation used formally were: …‘’“” . I used the characters ... and ' and " to replace them. The thing is,
that every type of character has an id set to it in the form of a combination of bits (01010101). This is done because bits,
bytes, kilobytes, megabytes, etc, is how data is stored. In other words " does not equal “ or ” in the storing language.
However in English they would mean the same thing. " occurs earlier in the storage character table than “ or ” therefore it
has a smaller id. Thus space can be saved by using it. My advice is to either stop using MSWord and use WordPad or TextPad
editor. OR... first write in MSWord then take it to TextPad and then use the find and replace functions to switch the above
characters. You can also use FoxReplace addon if you are using Firefox but that's just a little more complex in initializing
the settings but the result is that the replacement process becomes fully automated (It's a major pain if you make a mistake
though, if you don't exclude pages you need to, then the replacement could affect something you did not wish it to). The final
way is to use this site's own search and replace function. [[User:Zero2001|Zero2001]] 15:41, 29 May 2011 (UCT)

Personally, I use the FoxReplace method. So there might be ''rare'' cases where something unintended was changed. I apologize for that. [[User:Zero2001|Zero2001]] - [[User_talk:Zero2001|Talk]] - 00:37, 4 June 2011 (UCT)

BTW, … and ... actually do not have any differences in the bytes used. I tried replacing them in an Oreimo chapter, but 0 bytes
changed. [[User:Kira0802|Kira]] 14:08, 6 July 2011 (UCT)

Hmm. I suspected as much. Basically that means that the … character is equivalent to three fullstop(.) characters.
[[User:Zero2001|Zero2001]] - [[User_talk:Zero2001|Talk]] - 16:49, 6 July 2011 (UCT)

===FoxReplace Method===
If you are using FireFox ([http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/fx/?ref=logo download here]). All you have to do is install the [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/foxreplace/ FoxReplace addon]. After that open Notepad and copy the following line into it:

<nowiki>{"version":"0.13","groups":[{"urls":["-http://www.baka-tsuki.org/*Sword_Art_Online*","-http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=User*","http://www.baka-tsuki.org/*&action=edit*","http://www.baka-tsuki.org/*&action=submit*"],"substitutions":[{"input":"“","inputType":"text","output":"\"","caseSensitive":true},{"input":"”","inputType":"text","output":"\"","caseSensitive":true}],"html":false},{"urls":["-http://www.baka-tsuki.org/*Talk:*","-http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=User*","http://www.baka-tsuki.org/*&action=edit|","http://www.baka-tsuki.org/*&action=submit|"],"substitutions":[{"input":"…","inputType":"text","output":"...","caseSensitive":true},{"input":"‘","inputType":"text","output":"'","caseSensitive":true},{"input":"’","inputType":"text","output":"'","caseSensitive":true},{"input":"<!—","inputType":"text","output":"<!--","caseSensitive":true},{"input":"<<","inputType":"text","output":"«","caseSensitive":false},{"input":">>","inputType":"text","output":"»","caseSensitive":false},{"input":"ï","inputType":"text","output":"i","caseSensitive":true},{"input":" ","inputType":"text","output":" ","caseSensitive":true},{"input":"i","inputType":"wholewords","output":"I","caseSensitive":true},{"input":"[ \\t]+\\n","inputType":"regexp","output":"\\n","caseSensitive":false},{"input":"❤","inputType":"text","output":"<big><big>♥</big></big>","caseSensitive":false},{"input":"<3","inputType":"text","output":"<big><big>♥</big></big>","caseSensitive":false}],"html":false}]}</nowiki>

Save the file as PuncReplace.json ('''Note:''' make sure the file extension is JSON). Open Firefox then FoxReplace Settings and click Import. Select the file to load. The Replacement settings will load into FoxReplace. Whether you overwrite or append is your choice.

'''Note:''' These are the settings I use for replacement. After loading you can change then from Foxreplace Settings box. It's difficult to do it otherwise so it's better to do through the options box. Since Vaelis doesn't like to have typewriter quotes thus SAO has been excluded from that. Examine settings after loading to understand. You can choose which links to allow changes in and which links to exclude.

Click the "Okay" button and after that whenever you edit or see the preview of the edits the FoxReplace addon will automatically make the appropriate substitutions. Good Hunting! [[User:Zero2001|Zero2001]] - [[User_talk:Zero2001|Talk]] - 17:10, 6 July 2011 (UCT)

===Stuttering===
Everyone should be warned. Stuttering is denoted differently in Japanese and English. In Japanese stuttering is denoted by '''comma''' or three dots. Whereas in English stuttering is denoted by '''hyphen''' or three dots. The reason is to ensure that the <big>'''I'''</big> in stuttering words like <big>'''I-I'''t</big> aren't mistaken with the self reference word <big>'''I'''</big>. There are other similar instances as well. Since '''commas''' would allow for such mistakes to happen thus '''hyphens''' are used instead. Such conflicts do not occur in Japanese (due to watashi, boku, etc instead of in English where <big>'''I'''</big> can be confused since most stutterings are of words that start with <big>'''I'''</big> or similar circumstances, <big>'''A'''</big> is another one). [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stutter#Primary_behaviors See here.] Take care to properly translate thus. [[User:Zero2001|Zero2001]] - [[User_talk:Zero2001|Talk]] - 12:37, 9 February 2012 (CST)

==Messages==

If its not too much trouble, can you change the template nav on Toaru Majustsu no Index from Spin-Offs to Side Story's? Well this is not an urgent matter so its fine if its done within a month or so. --[[User:Hiro Hayase|Hiro Hayase]] 15:32, 3 September 2011 (CDT)

Alright then, thanks. -[[User:Hiro Hayase|Hiro Hayase]] 23:16, 3 September 2011 (CDT)

I have just received the green-light from Teh Ping, you're free to make the changes at any time now. -[[User:Hiro Hayase|Hiro Hayase]] 00:55, 4 September 2011 (CDT)

I talked it over with him on Animesuki forums, but I told him to message you later about implementing the changes since you need a direct confirmation. -[[User:Hiro Hayase|Hiro Hayase]] 21:03, 4 September 2011 (CDT)

Yup, I gave Hiro Hayase the green light--[[User:Teh Ping|Teh Ping]] 23:14, 4 September 2011 (CDT)

On Infinite Stratos. Young Japanese women or school girls usually say "Ehhh~" just to sound cute or in a cutesy manner in Japanese societyespecially in conversations between fellow woman. So its better to keep them in most cases in IS. It's staying true to the author's original intent since "Whaaat" isn't very cute sounding for the most part, although it does fit in the sentence. -[[User:Hiro Hayase|Hiro Hayase]] 22:01, 7 September 2011 (CDT)

Thanks, please do that then. -[[User:Hiro Hayase|Hiro Hayase]] 01:08, 8 September 2011 (CDT)

Can I ask you help me change all these unnecessary got's in IS? The got's are far to numerous and could easily be replaced to was, were, get, become, became, and etc. Except in dialogues since grammar doesn't matter much there. I don't think it changes the meaning if you change it. -[[User:Hiro Hayase|Hiro Hayase]] 19:05, 17 September 2011 (CDT)

Agreed, two heads are better than one. Let's do as you proposed then. -[[User:Hiro Hayase|Hiro Hayase]] 22:41, 17 September 2011 (CDT)

Zero, I've just logged in now and saw this wonderful template you created. It's very handy. Thank you so much! sorry for saying thank you so late.
BTW, I've just uploaded a chapter. It's shown in the collapsable Nav Template. My questions are:
1. Is there a link where I can go directly to the Nav rather than clicking it from the msg you left on CSR?
2. What edits do I need to make so that on the main page of CSR, it's shown that the chapter has been uploaded? (I did the usual edit but the chapter - vol 15, Ch1 - is still red in colour)
I'm terrible with computer codes and stuff. Thanks in advance for the help!
-[[User:Blewin|Blewin]] 21-10-11

Just so you know, the incomplete template is not obligatory for translators to use. They can choose to use it or not, the liberty is up to them. --[[User:Hiro Hayase|Hiro Hayase]] 19:00, 6 July 2012 (CDT)

Umm. which one are you taking about? [[User:Zero2001|Zero2001]] - [[User_talk:Zero2001|Talk]] - 19:13, 6 July 2012 (CDT)

The one for Heavy Object. Volume 3 Chapter 1. --[[User:Hiro Hayase|Hiro Hayase]] 19:16, 6 July 2012 (CDT)

Ah the '''incomplete''' template. What's wrong with me telling them to use it? If they don't want to they can just ignore my comments. Simple. But seriously I don't think it's nice not to be forewarned that the chapter isn't complete. I read it to find that it's incomplete or get confused when it seems complete and it isn't. It's happened more times than I remember. So, your choice. You may ignore my comments and leave the posting of the template to me, or take a few seconds of you time to write a single line of easily recallable code. But I don't think I did a bad thing my telling them to use it. I've seen what happens when you don't and it's not pretty. Believe it! [[User:Zero2001|Zero2001]] - [[User_talk:Zero2001|Talk]] - 19:23, 6 July 2012 (CDT)

Regardless, if you take a closer look upon the page, there are up to 17 parts in it and 4 parts done while the rest are blank, if a viewer looked at the page then they would be able to infer that it's incomplete. The way you're phrasing this argument really makes it seem arrogant, once again its a matter of choice. This topic has already been discussed in the past on the forums, the compromise was to leave it to the translator. I would prefer you use diplomatic language on a public forum such as this, since it is not like your facebook status. --[[User:Hiro Hayase|Hiro Hayase]] 19:48, 6 July 2012 (CDT)

I'll keep that in mind. I'll ask more diplomatically from now on. [[User:Zero2001|Zero2001]] - [[User_talk:Zero2001|Talk]] - 01:45, 7 July 2012 (CDT)

I already copied and saved the entire script on my machine now, plus the JP script of this SS is already circulating on the internet for a while too, so it's just matter about who is going to do it. As for myself, I have yet to finish reading Alicization web version, so I would prefer to avoid spoiling myself translating it. As for google translate for JP to EN, it might be okay searching single word, but translating entire sentence will give wrong meaning most of the time, so I don't think it's good enough. I heard Atlas is currently best, but I can't comment about it, you could try by comparing its result with the human translated script and judge by yourself.

I do plan to translate Cradle of the Moon once I finished reading Alicization arc if by then it was still untranslated, however, the Alicization arc is massive so I don't think it'll be soon. -- [[User:BeginnerXP|BeginnerXP]] - [[User_talk:BeginnerXP|Talk]] 13:05, 16 July 2012 (CDT)

I saw your edit notes on Caliber SS about HolyCow being new and would like to make some corrections: First, while he doesn't active lately, he joined here since 2006 and contributed to many projects as translator, so he knows what he's doing. Second, he has supervisor rights on the wiki. -- [[User:BeginnerXP|BeginnerXP]] - [[User_talk:BeginnerXP|Talk]] 04:46, 23 July 2012 (CDT)

Hi nice to meet you, I am seeing you are very popular here, I am just wondering when you will finish the currents Translations for Chrome Shelled Regios and When you'll begin to translate volumes 16 to 20? [[User:Sylkud|Sylkud]] 16:30, 25 July 2012

Sorry, I honestly wasn't trying to do that. Ah, can't argue with that... Thank you very much. -/-[[User:User753|User753]]-[[User talk:User753|Talk]]- 12:55, 29 July 2012 (CDT)

Sorry, forgot to sign back there 'cause I was watching anime. I'll be careful next time. -:- [[User_talk:Lan013|Lan013:Talk]] 08:54, 7 August 2012 (CDT)

Excuse me, there's a need to do a mass replace in SAO project, and do it manually would take me many hours, as you're using FoxReplace, would you mind changing all instances of "Knights of the Blood" to "Knights of Blood" in all volume, and Cradil to Kuradeel in volume 1, please? -- [[User:BeginnerXP|BeginnerXP]] - [[User_talk:BeginnerXP|Talk]] 01:10, 8 August 2012 (CDT)

Thank you very much, that should be good enough for now. About JP name of KoB, we just discussed about it in forums, please check the SAO term&names thread. -- [[User:BeginnerXP|BeginnerXP]] - [[User_talk:BeginnerXP|Talk]] 17:24, 8 August 2012 (CDT)

No, it was manually find & replace, so that's why I need help from someone who could do it more efficiently, my primary browser is Safari so I can't use FoxReplace either. -- [[User:BeginnerXP|BeginnerXP]] - [[User_talk:BeginnerXP|Talk]] 14:14, 9 August 2012 (CDT)

Thank you. This is my first time translating Accel World, so I'll probably be relying on your editing to fix the mistakes I miss. I'll try to adjust my translating to suit this series as quickly as possible. --[[User:Eternal Dreamer|Eternal Dreamer]] ([[User talk:Eternal Dreamer|talk]]) 10:33, 24 August 2012 (CDT)

I was originally saving edits at the end of my session, however after experiencing someone else editing the same text under me and then having to spend a further 1.5 hours re-integrating the two altered text streams, I prefer more regular saves and it should hopefully mean anyone else editing under me will be in a different area of the text -- [[User:Drake|Drake]] - [[User_talk:Drake|Talk]] 14:45, 27 August 2012 (BST)

Well, it was the 1.5hrs that was spent within the conflict page with two text boxes, doing pretty much as you explained (other than the history page part; I will have to check that out) there were a lot of changes!. I read and edit in the edit page then save immediately reopen the edit page and use the find function to take me directly back to where I was; it's a simple process for me, but if it create problems for other users then I can save less often. If however your concern is my perceived ill-use of my time, then i think I'm OK as I am... Cheers :) --[[User:Drake|Drake]] ([[User talk:Drake|talk]]) 09:16, 27 August 2012 (CDT)

==Idiffer's Beta Files ==
what do u mean by "stay in my personal userspace"? that nobody will see it?--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] 17:43, 3 August 2012 (CDT)

ok, i'll do that from now on. thanks for the tip.--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] 06:17, 4 August 2012 (CDT)

i don't know how exactly it's done, but yeah i've noticed it a few times. but unless adding in the talk page somehow requires one button like the signiture without the talk page, then i highly doubt i'll be using it. it's not that hard to go to the talk page of a person you want to leave a message to.--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] 11:08, 4 August 2012 (CDT)

okay, i'll try it out sometime in the near future then. again, thanks for the info.--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] 13:25, 4 August 2012 (CDT)

User talk:Zero2001

2012-08-27T13:46:21Z

Drake:

'''Archives:''' [[/Archive 1|1]]

==Punctuation==
===Somewhat interested in Punctuation Changes===

How does the bytes work for those anyway? From what you did on IS, the apostrophes for Microsoft Word uses more space than wordpad. Can you explain that to me? Thanks--[[User:Teh Ping|Teh Ping]] 15:19, 29 May 2011 (UCT)

The types of punctuation used formally were: …‘’“” . I used the characters ... and ' and " to replace them. The thing is,
that every type of character has an id set to it in the form of a combination of bits (01010101). This is done because bits,
bytes, kilobytes, megabytes, etc, is how data is stored. In other words " does not equal “ or ” in the storing language.
However in English they would mean the same thing. " occurs earlier in the storage character table than “ or ” therefore it
has a smaller id. Thus space can be saved by using it. My advice is to either stop using MSWord and use WordPad or TextPad
editor. OR... first write in MSWord then take it to TextPad and then use the find and replace functions to switch the above
characters. You can also use FoxReplace addon if you are using Firefox but that's just a little more complex in initializing
the settings but the result is that the replacement process becomes fully automated (It's a major pain if you make a mistake
though, if you don't exclude pages you need to, then the replacement could affect something you did not wish it to). The final
way is to use this site's own search and replace function. [[User:Zero2001|Zero2001]] 15:41, 29 May 2011 (UCT)

Personally, I use the FoxReplace method. So there might be ''rare'' cases where something unintended was changed. I apologize for that. [[User:Zero2001|Zero2001]] - [[User_talk:Zero2001|Talk]] - 00:37, 4 June 2011 (UCT)

BTW, … and ... actually do not have any differences in the bytes used. I tried replacing them in an Oreimo chapter, but 0 bytes
changed. [[User:Kira0802|Kira]] 14:08, 6 July 2011 (UCT)

Hmm. I suspected as much. Basically that means that the … character is equivalent to three fullstop(.) characters.
[[User:Zero2001|Zero2001]] - [[User_talk:Zero2001|Talk]] - 16:49, 6 July 2011 (UCT)

===FoxReplace Method===
If you are using FireFox ([http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/fx/?ref=logo download here]). All you have to do is install the [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/foxreplace/ FoxReplace addon]. After that open Notepad and copy the following line into it:

<nowiki>{"version":"0.13","groups":[{"urls":["-http://www.baka-tsuki.org/*Sword_Art_Online*","-http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=User*","http://www.baka-tsuki.org/*&action=edit*","http://www.baka-tsuki.org/*&action=submit*"],"substitutions":[{"input":"“","inputType":"text","output":"\"","caseSensitive":true},{"input":"”","inputType":"text","output":"\"","caseSensitive":true}],"html":false},{"urls":["-http://www.baka-tsuki.org/*Talk:*","-http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=User*","http://www.baka-tsuki.org/*&action=edit|","http://www.baka-tsuki.org/*&action=submit|"],"substitutions":[{"input":"…","inputType":"text","output":"...","caseSensitive":true},{"input":"‘","inputType":"text","output":"'","caseSensitive":true},{"input":"’","inputType":"text","output":"'","caseSensitive":true},{"input":"<!—","inputType":"text","output":"<!--","caseSensitive":true},{"input":"<<","inputType":"text","output":"«","caseSensitive":false},{"input":">>","inputType":"text","output":"»","caseSensitive":false},{"input":"ï","inputType":"text","output":"i","caseSensitive":true},{"input":" ","inputType":"text","output":" ","caseSensitive":true},{"input":"i","inputType":"wholewords","output":"I","caseSensitive":true},{"input":"[ \\t]+\\n","inputType":"regexp","output":"\\n","caseSensitive":false},{"input":"❤","inputType":"text","output":"<big><big>♥</big></big>","caseSensitive":false},{"input":"<3","inputType":"text","output":"<big><big>♥</big></big>","caseSensitive":false}],"html":false}]}</nowiki>

Save the file as PuncReplace.json ('''Note:''' make sure the file extension is JSON). Open Firefox then FoxReplace Settings and click Import. Select the file to load. The Replacement settings will load into FoxReplace. Whether you overwrite or append is your choice.

'''Note:''' These are the settings I use for replacement. After loading you can change then from Foxreplace Settings box. It's difficult to do it otherwise so it's better to do through the options box. Since Vaelis doesn't like to have typewriter quotes thus SAO has been excluded from that. Examine settings after loading to understand. You can choose which links to allow changes in and which links to exclude.

Click the "Okay" button and after that whenever you edit or see the preview of the edits the FoxReplace addon will automatically make the appropriate substitutions. Good Hunting! [[User:Zero2001|Zero2001]] - [[User_talk:Zero2001|Talk]] - 17:10, 6 July 2011 (UCT)

===Stuttering===
Everyone should be warned. Stuttering is denoted differently in Japanese and English. In Japanese stuttering is denoted by '''comma''' or three dots. Whereas in English stuttering is denoted by '''hyphen''' or three dots. The reason is to ensure that the <big>'''I'''</big> in stuttering words like <big>'''I-I'''t</big> aren't mistaken with the self reference word <big>'''I'''</big>. There are other similar instances as well. Since '''commas''' would allow for such mistakes to happen thus '''hyphens''' are used instead. Such conflicts do not occur in Japanese (due to watashi, boku, etc instead of in English where <big>'''I'''</big> can be confused since most stutterings are of words that start with <big>'''I'''</big> or similar circumstances, <big>'''A'''</big> is another one). [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stutter#Primary_behaviors See here.] Take care to properly translate thus. [[User:Zero2001|Zero2001]] - [[User_talk:Zero2001|Talk]] - 12:37, 9 February 2012 (CST)

==Messages==

If its not too much trouble, can you change the template nav on Toaru Majustsu no Index from Spin-Offs to Side Story's? Well this is not an urgent matter so its fine if its done within a month or so. --[[User:Hiro Hayase|Hiro Hayase]] 15:32, 3 September 2011 (CDT)

Alright then, thanks. -[[User:Hiro Hayase|Hiro Hayase]] 23:16, 3 September 2011 (CDT)

I have just received the green-light from Teh Ping, you're free to make the changes at any time now. -[[User:Hiro Hayase|Hiro Hayase]] 00:55, 4 September 2011 (CDT)

I talked it over with him on Animesuki forums, but I told him to message you later about implementing the changes since you need a direct confirmation. -[[User:Hiro Hayase|Hiro Hayase]] 21:03, 4 September 2011 (CDT)

Yup, I gave Hiro Hayase the green light--[[User:Teh Ping|Teh Ping]] 23:14, 4 September 2011 (CDT)

On Infinite Stratos. Young Japanese women or school girls usually say "Ehhh~" just to sound cute or in a cutesy manner in Japanese societyespecially in conversations between fellow woman. So its better to keep them in most cases in IS. It's staying true to the author's original intent since "Whaaat" isn't very cute sounding for the most part, although it does fit in the sentence. -[[User:Hiro Hayase|Hiro Hayase]] 22:01, 7 September 2011 (CDT)

Thanks, please do that then. -[[User:Hiro Hayase|Hiro Hayase]] 01:08, 8 September 2011 (CDT)

Can I ask you help me change all these unnecessary got's in IS? The got's are far to numerous and could easily be replaced to was, were, get, become, became, and etc. Except in dialogues since grammar doesn't matter much there. I don't think it changes the meaning if you change it. -[[User:Hiro Hayase|Hiro Hayase]] 19:05, 17 September 2011 (CDT)

Agreed, two heads are better than one. Let's do as you proposed then. -[[User:Hiro Hayase|Hiro Hayase]] 22:41, 17 September 2011 (CDT)

Zero, I've just logged in now and saw this wonderful template you created. It's very handy. Thank you so much! sorry for saying thank you so late.
BTW, I've just uploaded a chapter. It's shown in the collapsable Nav Template. My questions are:
1. Is there a link where I can go directly to the Nav rather than clicking it from the msg you left on CSR?
2. What edits do I need to make so that on the main page of CSR, it's shown that the chapter has been uploaded? (I did the usual edit but the chapter - vol 15, Ch1 - is still red in colour)
I'm terrible with computer codes and stuff. Thanks in advance for the help!
-[[User:Blewin|Blewin]] 21-10-11

Just so you know, the incomplete template is not obligatory for translators to use. They can choose to use it or not, the liberty is up to them. --[[User:Hiro Hayase|Hiro Hayase]] 19:00, 6 July 2012 (CDT)

Umm. which one are you taking about? [[User:Zero2001|Zero2001]] - [[User_talk:Zero2001|Talk]] - 19:13, 6 July 2012 (CDT)

The one for Heavy Object. Volume 3 Chapter 1. --[[User:Hiro Hayase|Hiro Hayase]] 19:16, 6 July 2012 (CDT)

Ah the '''incomplete''' template. What's wrong with me telling them to use it? If they don't want to they can just ignore my comments. Simple. But seriously I don't think it's nice not to be forewarned that the chapter isn't complete. I read it to find that it's incomplete or get confused when it seems complete and it isn't. It's happened more times than I remember. So, your choice. You may ignore my comments and leave the posting of the template to me, or take a few seconds of you time to write a single line of easily recallable code. But I don't think I did a bad thing my telling them to use it. I've seen what happens when you don't and it's not pretty. Believe it! [[User:Zero2001|Zero2001]] - [[User_talk:Zero2001|Talk]] - 19:23, 6 July 2012 (CDT)

Regardless, if you take a closer look upon the page, there are up to 17 parts in it and 4 parts done while the rest are blank, if a viewer looked at the page then they would be able to infer that it's incomplete. The way you're phrasing this argument really makes it seem arrogant, once again its a matter of choice. This topic has already been discussed in the past on the forums, the compromise was to leave it to the translator. I would prefer you use diplomatic language on a public forum such as this, since it is not like your facebook status. --[[User:Hiro Hayase|Hiro Hayase]] 19:48, 6 July 2012 (CDT)

I'll keep that in mind. I'll ask more diplomatically from now on. [[User:Zero2001|Zero2001]] - [[User_talk:Zero2001|Talk]] - 01:45, 7 July 2012 (CDT)

I already copied and saved the entire script on my machine now, plus the JP script of this SS is already circulating on the internet for a while too, so it's just matter about who is going to do it. As for myself, I have yet to finish reading Alicization web version, so I would prefer to avoid spoiling myself translating it. As for google translate for JP to EN, it might be okay searching single word, but translating entire sentence will give wrong meaning most of the time, so I don't think it's good enough. I heard Atlas is currently best, but I can't comment about it, you could try by comparing its result with the human translated script and judge by yourself.

I do plan to translate Cradle of the Moon once I finished reading Alicization arc if by then it was still untranslated, however, the Alicization arc is massive so I don't think it'll be soon. -- [[User:BeginnerXP|BeginnerXP]] - [[User_talk:BeginnerXP|Talk]] 13:05, 16 July 2012 (CDT)

I saw your edit notes on Caliber SS about HolyCow being new and would like to make some corrections: First, while he doesn't active lately, he joined here since 2006 and contributed to many projects as translator, so he knows what he's doing. Second, he has supervisor rights on the wiki. -- [[User:BeginnerXP|BeginnerXP]] - [[User_talk:BeginnerXP|Talk]] 04:46, 23 July 2012 (CDT)

Hi nice to meet you, I am seeing you are very popular here, I am just wondering when you will finish the currents Translations for Chrome Shelled Regios and When you'll begin to translate volumes 16 to 20? [[User:Sylkud|Sylkud]] 16:30, 25 July 2012

Sorry, I honestly wasn't trying to do that. Ah, can't argue with that... Thank you very much. -/-[[User:User753|User753]]-[[User talk:User753|Talk]]- 12:55, 29 July 2012 (CDT)

Sorry, forgot to sign back there 'cause I was watching anime. I'll be careful next time. -:- [[User_talk:Lan013|Lan013:Talk]] 08:54, 7 August 2012 (CDT)

Excuse me, there's a need to do a mass replace in SAO project, and do it manually would take me many hours, as you're using FoxReplace, would you mind changing all instances of "Knights of the Blood" to "Knights of Blood" in all volume, and Cradil to Kuradeel in volume 1, please? -- [[User:BeginnerXP|BeginnerXP]] - [[User_talk:BeginnerXP|Talk]] 01:10, 8 August 2012 (CDT)

Thank you very much, that should be good enough for now. About JP name of KoB, we just discussed about it in forums, please check the SAO term&names thread. -- [[User:BeginnerXP|BeginnerXP]] - [[User_talk:BeginnerXP|Talk]] 17:24, 8 August 2012 (CDT)

No, it was manually find & replace, so that's why I need help from someone who could do it more efficiently, my primary browser is Safari so I can't use FoxReplace either. -- [[User:BeginnerXP|BeginnerXP]] - [[User_talk:BeginnerXP|Talk]] 14:14, 9 August 2012 (CDT)

Thank you. This is my first time translating Accel World, so I'll probably be relying on your editing to fix the mistakes I miss. I'll try to adjust my translating to suit this series as quickly as possible. --[[User:Eternal Dreamer|Eternal Dreamer]] ([[User talk:Eternal Dreamer|talk]]) 10:33, 24 August 2012 (CDT)

I was originally saving edits at the end of my session, however after experiencing someone else editing the same text under me and then having to spend a further 1.5 hours re-integrating the two altered text streams, I prefer more regular saves and it should hopefully mean anyone else editing under me will be in a different area of the text -- [[User:Drake|Drake]] - [[User_talk:Drake|Talk]] 14:45, 27 August 2012 (BST)

==Idiffer's Beta Files ==
what do u mean by "stay in my personal userspace"? that nobody will see it?--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] 17:43, 3 August 2012 (CDT)

ok, i'll do that from now on. thanks for the tip.--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] 06:17, 4 August 2012 (CDT)

i don't know how exactly it's done, but yeah i've noticed it a few times. but unless adding in the talk page somehow requires one button like the signiture without the talk page, then i highly doubt i'll be using it. it's not that hard to go to the talk page of a person you want to leave a message to.--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] 11:08, 4 August 2012 (CDT)

okay, i'll try it out sometime in the near future then. again, thanks for the info.--[[User:Idiffer|Idiffer]] 13:25, 4 August 2012 (CDT)