Sword Art Online:The Day Before

Status: Incomplete

22% completed (estimated)

   

The Day Before

Part 1

Aincrad Standard Time, Year 2024, 23rd October, 9 PM.

I, the level 96 swordsman, Kirito, have proposed to the level 94 fencer, Asuna, and she has accepted.

Of course, this happened in a VRMMO known as Sword Art Online—a scene within a RPG. In the real world, Asuna and I have not even seen each other's faces, and in the first place, I'm not even at an age that can legally marry. —Asuna might be just about there in terms of that, though.

I do not know what was the game that first adopted the «Marriage System», but marriage between fellow characters has always been popular in the world of MMOs, even back since twenty years ago. Some sort of advantage is provided to «spouses» characters in most series, so there are many cases where marriage was done for that purpose alone, and of course, with there being players who marry as a part of their earnest roleplaying, it seems there were also some among those where the in-game marriage ended up being an impetus for marriage in the real world. This is merely my own assumption, but I believe that if even all of the MMO players in the entire world were to be asked the question «Do you have any experience of marrying in a game?», it's possible that more than half of them would give an affirmative reply.

However, even if it's regrettable (though I'm not quite if I should describe it as so), I have never ever married anyone, within all of the MMORPGs I have played thus far.

The reason is—well, it's probably due to my weak interpersonal communication skills, but alongside that, I had absolutely no idea on what to make of the concept of an «in-game marriage». If the male character, Kirito, controlled by me, Kirigaya Kazuto, were to marry a female character, Somegirl (fictional), controlled by a female, or perhaps a male (this is easily possible as well) who exists somewhere in this world, is it okay for me to simply to interpret it as a permanently fixed party with this Somegirl-san? Or would I have to go to the extent of roleplaying my love for that Somegirl-san? Or perhaps—I would even have to be wary of that certain living being behind Somegirl-san...?

To be honest, it's not like I had no experience of receiving the offer, "Wanna get married （〃＾▽＾〃）", from female characters who were registered as friends or guild members in the games I played before SAO. However, in every single one of those cases, I would freeze in front of the monitor while breaking out in cold sweat and end up giving a reply like "（´ノω；｀）".

I was too cautious, too analytical, too nervous; even I think so myself.

However, to begin with, the reason why I indulged in MMO games was because they were temporary worlds. Behind each and every character, there exist unfamiliar players with unrevealed genders and ages. As a result, it can't be helped but to wonder "Who exactly is this person?". Everyone aren't quite themselves, myself included.

Despite that, to me, the system, «Marriage», is to collide head-on into that recognition. Even if the marriage was within a game, one can't help but to be conscious when linked to a certain someone through a special relationship. Of that «certain person» moving the mouse and typing on the keyboard in the real world.

As such, I shirked away from becoming permanent partners with people in net games and of course, that shouldn't have changed even in this unnatural death game, Sword Art Online. No, with their avatars and actual appearances being the same, it might provide all the more reason to keep a distance from others.

However, the one who slowly dispersed, shrunk and finally erased my discomfort—or perhaps anxiety, was certainly Asuna.

In the slightly less than two years since the start of the death game, though the situation differs at times, that girl did not ever disappear from my sight. She was first a casual party member of mine, and shortly after that, a comrade within the clearing group even after she joined the guild, Knights of the Blood. There was that time we investigated the strange murder case in the area together and that other time I got her to cook an S-grade food item for me. Through those exchanges with Asuna, I realised it.

That in this world—and definitely in the real world as well, and just maybe in the non-fulldive MMO games I played before SAO as well, what determined whether the people before my eyes really are themselves, was my own self. If I were to leave those doubts and distance aside, they would become lies. If I were to put my trust into them and compromise, they would become real.

Now, right before my eyes, there is a swordswoman named Asuna.

I enjoy the time I spend with her. Asuna fighting, Asuna laughing, even Asuna getting angry, watching each and every one of those brings forth strong emotions in my heart. She was always within reach and it seems clear that she was interested too. When I look at Asuna now, I don't ponder upon what exactly her true self is like anymore, not even in the slightest.

Hence, I proposed to Asuna.

Honestly speaking, it's not that my various doubts are gone. I still do not have the conviction to claim that this emotion of mine that seeks for Asuna to be that so-called «love». I've always kept a distance from my family in the real world and ever since I've come to this world, I've relentlessly persisted on in my solo playing, making me wonder if I really do have the heart to love someone else.

However, I figured I might be able to find the answer to that final doubt if I'm together with Asuna.

—And, all of that was the «comprehension of marriage in SAO» I have arrived at thus far.

On another topic, as it really is marriage, even if it happened in the world of a game, there are still the customary material aspects to it. To be specific, what to do about getting a new home, so to speak.

We will naturally live together after marriage, but in that case, before even considering my refuge in the back alleys of the main city of Algade on the fiftieth floor, Asuna's mansionette in Salemburg, on the sixty-first floor was already slightly too cramped. Not to mention, putting the issue about the physical area aside, there are circumstances that forces us to be unable to live where we've resided in until now.

The sub-leader of the guild, «Knights of the Blood», Asuna the «Flash», could be said to be the player most highly idolized in Aincrad at the present moment.

She was almost always first in the player popularity polls in the newspapers published by the information brokers, even having several fan clubs, with a major general store chain offering not a CD debut, but a RC (recording crystal) debut, though it seems that she drove them off with thrusts from her rapier.

It feels like ages since her «Little Red Riding Hood» phase at the start of the death game when she kept her hooded cape on the entire time, but anyway, if the public were to know of the marriage of an idol like that, there's no doubt it would get picked up by each and every one of the newspapers, all at once.

Her many fans will lament and moan, and energy might just be formed by that, eventually converting into a curse property attack, causing her partner in marriage, me, to suffer a drop in my real luck—even if you were to leave that aside, being interrogated and the like is no way to spend a newlywed life, so I would like to keep as much of the truth behind the marriage under wraps as I could.

Of course, we did send messages to that girl's many friends, and my few ones, so we didn't expect it to stay a secret for long, but nevertheless, we weren't in any position to stay immersed in our honeymoon mood for too long. It has only been four days since the floor boss of the seventy-fourth floor, «The Gleameyes», has been defeated and it should take some time before the boss room on the seventy-fifth floor, the current front lines, is found, but both Asuna and I have no choice but to participate in that boss battle, even if we can desert the labyrinth tower's mapping.

As such, if we could have ten days... no, two weeks... until that happens, we would have to search for a home where we could pass our time slightly more peacefully.

If we list the items we have accumulated through our gameplay on the newspapers' classified section, converting most of those we have no pressing need for into col, we might just be able to afford a detached house in the area... or in other words, one within the city walls. However, if we were to set up a new home in a place like that, it would end up being found out by the information brokers on that very day. One that's on a cleared floor unfrequented by players, not to mention built on its edge and having a reasonable amount of space while not being eye-catching—such a house would be ideal.

Those were rather harsh conditions, but in actual fact, I have already had a inkling of a fitting unit before I proposed.

It has already been more than a year and a half since the front lines was stationed at the twenty-second floor of Aincrad. It was a low floor while being spacious, but nearly all of it was covered in deep forests, grass plains and lakes, possessing a beautiful, yet smooth topography, and furthermore, neither important quests, nor field bosses exist there. The players of the clearing group took a straight route to the labyrinth from the main town, Coral Village, scrambled up the tower with its mild degree of difficulty, defeating its boss in a number of days quite below the average back then. At the present moment, the only players who visit the twenty-second floor would probably be fishermen heading to the assorted sized lakes and woodcrafters gathering wood materials in the forests.

Hence, it would be a place I haven't visited for over a year either, but for some reason, a certain spectacular view it had was fixed in my memory.

It was on the day the twenty-second floor's boss was crushed, when I ran about alone, trying to clear as much of the quests I've left undone ever since I accepted them.

I found a narrow, small path on the bank of the clear, blue lake, one that wouldn't be noticed unless close by. It seemed unrelated to the quests, but when I tried following the path and climbed the hill, I found a deserted detached log house erected there at the end, surrounded by a thick forest of coniferous trees.

Its log walls were covered in moss here and there, while two or three saplings poked out from the roof, but it didn't give off the sense of rotting away away at all. Rather, it blended in with the nature surrounding it, giving off a sense of beauty, as if it was a home owned by one of the Elven race.

I quietly opened the wooden gate (as that was possible, it couldn't have belonged to another player), checked the interior with my Search skill (as it was empty, it wasn't a NPC's home either), and after I approached the terrace at its front, I finally found it. A «FOR SALE» wooden tag that hung from the door knob.

Not having made it to even level 40, I could only point at the price listed on the wooden tag while I counted the number of digits, let out a sigh, and left the place behind while stubbornly glancing back over and over again. Whilst holding on the dream that someday, I will get my item storage bursting with enough col to buy this house.

In actual fact, when my level was in its seventies while the fiftieth floor was conquered, there was nothing I couldn't afford if I really wanted it. But as one of the clearing group, I couldn't have a place that requires a twenty minutes trip to get to the nearest teleport gate as my base of operation. In the end, I set up a refuge in the main city of the fiftieth floor, Algade, and ended up spending my sleeping time there up till several days ago.

It has actually been a year and a half since I found that house in the forest on the twenty-second floor—

I decided to propose to Asuna and when I thought about what to do about a new home, what immediately came to mind was that log house. I believed there was no better choice.

As my proposal speech, I first revealed information on the aforementioned log house, suggested to move there and finally, I said, "Let's get married".

I do believe that at least a tiny part of the reason behind why Asuna replied "Yes" without even a trace of hesitation was thanks to the divine protection of that house.

Part 2

And, so.

It's been a night since the proposal, it's the twenty-fourth of October, some time after 2 PM. Asuna and I visited the twenty-second floor together.

We called upon the Knights of the Blood headquarters in Grandum, on the fifty-fifth floor yesterday and have already settled the request for both of us to temporarily withdraw. Even if it's temporary, we properly left the guild system-wise, with the guild emblem, the red cross, not existing on our colour cursors any longer.

We exited the teleport gate at the main town, Coral Village, and as we walked towards the large lake to the southwest, I casually asked Asuna at my side.

"Hey, how long has it been since you joined the KoB, Asuna?"

"Let's see..."

Shaking her chestnut-colored hair, the fencer lightly tilted her head.

"I think the leader invited me in February last year, so... it would be close to a year and a half, I guess. It was right after the boss battle on the twenty-fifth floor ended, so..."

"I see... The KoB was made right after half of the «Force» got annihilated, wasn't it..."

I glanced up at the underside of the floor above.

Three floors above this peaceful one was the twenty-fifth floor of Aincrad that ended up being the next true trial for the players of the clearing group, ever since the first floor.

Abnormally strong mobs, compared to those on the twenty-fourth floor, obstructed our progress immediately after we left the main city and the field's topography was as complex as a maze; its difficulty created multiple casualties even while we were en route towards the next town. There were barely any NPCs we could obtain information from, while on the other hand, there were plenty of pitfall terrain traps which led to poisonous swamps and by the time we somehow managed to reach the labyrinth tower on foot, the clearing group players were at the end of their rope.

We roused ourselves with all the spirit we could muster, and the one who motivated everyone was the player who led the guild, «Aincrad Liberation Corps»—that's right, it wasn't a «Liberation Force» yet, back then—who was named Kibaou. His wanton cursing of everyone in that Kansai dialect got them into the mood through those "You bastard!" lines, empowering them to get back onto their feet.

However. That was how Kibaou, who was unmistakably regarded as the leader of the entire clearing group back then, got hooked onto false information spread by someone with the twenty-fifth floor's boss battle right before him. With only forty or so guild members that couldn't even make up an entire raid group, they rushed into the boss room first. As a result, over half of the Liberation Corps died... and the main force of the clearing group, inclusive of Asuna and me, finally caught up to them at that point, and although we didn't escape without quite a number of casualties as well, we managed to take the monstrous boss down somehow.

But the joy from crossing Aincrad's quarter point was lacking in everyone. The boss room was permeated in the cries of resentment from Kibaou, echoing throughout the place.

That was where he parted from the clearing group, bringing along the comrades who were still alive, he left for the first floor on distant bottom. And thus, they merged with the mutual aid organization, «MMO Today», active in the Starting City—it was from that huge congregation, that the «Force» was eventually formed.

"...The entire clearing group certainly was in a state of despair at that point... The ones fighting on the front lines were suddenly reduced to two-thirds of what they were and no one even found out who was to blame for setting up that trap, so I guess that was only to be expected. ...Everyone had sullen expressions on even in the first field boss strategy meeting on the twenty-sixth floor... but, that was when the newly-formed guild, KoB, proudly marched in. All of the members were fortified in customized white and red equipment; that really had an impact, huh..."

As we walked on the lake's bank, I recollected what had happened back then and spoke about them in halting sentences. However, the one at my side kept awfully quiet, so I turned to take a glance and strangely enough, Asuna was growing red at her cheeks and subtly looking elsewhere. I snickered in my mind and continued on, pretending not to notice.

"...Especially that sub-leader who stood at the head of the group; all of us... putting Klein and I aside, even Agil was mesmerized, you know. An outfit that was the exact opposite of all of those plain ones till then, that pure white sleeveless bodice with that deep red miniskirt and those white knee highs to top things off... in that single moment, how should I say this, the hearts of those clearing group that were becoming divided all came together and..."

Smack! And a blunt-type attack came flying at my left shoulder, stopping just short of causing damage and interrupted my words. When I took a look, that particular sub-leader had her face in a shade of deep red and her right hand clenched into a fist.

"Geez! Honestly, that time was incredibly embarrassing, you know! I thought that the leader would naturally be at the front, but then with his usual composure, he went, 'I believe we could achieve a much greater effect if Asuna-kun were to stand at the front', having that serious look on, so I went out there in despair!"

"Ha-Hah... —That reminds me, that equipment really was custom-tailored, right? Who came up with the design?"

"......All of the other guild members held meetings for the design countless time while keeping it a secret from me. When they first showed it to me, I rejected it with a 'I can't wear something like this!' and was told, 'The cost of even a single set of this was colossal!' by Daizen-san with tears in his eyes, so I had no choice but to..."

"...I-I see."

It seems that even the guild, Knights of the Blood, said to be truly the strongest with their ironclad rules, were up to pretty humorous antics at the start. That said, there was no mistaking how the debut of the KoB increased the morale of the entire clearing group at that time and have always stood at the front lines of this death game ever since then. —Even at this very moment, parties with figures clad in red and white must be carrying out fierce battles on the seventy-fifth floor, opened not so long ago...

I glanced up at the underside of the upper floor once more. It seems Asuna had read my inner thoughts from merely that. While gently holding onto my left hand with her now unclenched right hand, she spoke.

"You defeated the seventy-fourth floor's boss mostly by yourself, Kirito-kun. You barely had even two or three pixels left in your HP bar. Even if you get away from the clearing for a little while, no one would complain."

"...If the reason for my break were to be exposed, I'll probably get complaints from everyone around, though."

I gave that retort sprinkled with laughter and returned Asuna's gesture. The sub-leader showed an expression unsure of whether to get angry or embarrassed and I gave a short chuckle.

After going about halfway round a large lake, with a diameter of likely one kilometer, noticeably imposing Japanese cedar—or at least, coniferous trees that looked like them, were sprouting up high. When stared at closely from somewhere near those grand roots, the wide path of the lake shore could be seen splitting into a thin, narrow path heading southwest.

"...You found this path? You sure are just as observant of these sorts of hidden routes as always."

I took those thoughts as a compliment and puffed out my chest.

"Back then, I didn't even have «Detection» Mob from the Searching skill, so I found it with only my eyes and instincts. You can see the house right after climbing that hill."

With that, Asuna's face beamed with joy in an instant as well, this time.

"I wonder what's the house like, I'm really looking forward to it! Let's hurry!"

"......Hey, Asuna-san, it's really a log house with nothing unusual, so even if you anticipate it that much, nothing will..."

"Well, it has always been my dream to live in a log house ever since I was small. I would be totally, completely and absolutely satisfied if it just has a Russian stove and a rocking chair!"

Asuna quickly climbed the hill as she spoke, making me chase after her in a hurry. A rocking chair can just be bought from a furniture store, but really now, I can't possibly be expected to recall if there was a Russian stove. No, it's not definite that there wasn't one. The reason why I found the log house just ahead a year and a half before was for the sake of this very day. If this is the guidance of fate, there must be a Russian stove there as well.

While praying for the existence of a chimney atop the log house's roof, I ascended the hill several seconds after Asuna. I moved beside Asuna, who was standing still in silence and searched for a chimney with my eyes opened wide.

——However.

It wasn't there.

Not the chimney.

What spanned out before our eyes was a round space covered in verdant undergrowth, without even a single man-made object of any sort... in other words, the house itself did not exist.

Notes

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