“I can’t believe he really just ditched us like that!”

Although a part of me wanted to express agreement with Shizuka, I knew that Jin had his own reasons for his departure from our motley crew.

By the time we had arrived at Tolbana, the first floor’s boss had already been defeated. As much as it was a relief that we didn’t have to fight again after only just experiencing a close shave with death, a sense of disappointment had filled our hearts.

We’d missed out on a key piece of the action, and to make matters worse, the majority of the playerbase had turned against the beta testers, calling them “Beaters” for reasons that we didn’t know.

Of course, no one knew that Jin was a beta tester at the beginning. After all, the game didn’t label someone as a beta tester.

We stuck together on the first floor for a few days after Rucken and Helsa parted ways with us to explore the newly unlocked second floor. The three of us had promised to catch up to them, but unfortunately, that would never come to pass.

We don’t know who it was or how it started, but somehow, more and more players were discovering Jin’s status as a beta tester. The moment we had learned about the public’s distaste of beta testers, we hadn’t spoken a word about Jin having been a beta tester.

Yet, word spread regardless.

The only conclusion that we could make was that a fellow beta tester who recognized Jin from those days had exposed his past.

However, it still seemed strange no matter how we looked at it. Not only were our appearances different from that of the avatars we’d made, but even if Jin had been identified as a beta tester, there was no way for other players to know his name.

Not unless they knew him personally.

“It’s gotta be someone that I was close with during the beta test. I was using ‘Jin’ as my name back then too.” Jin said.

“Yeah, no kidding. Got any ideas on who it could be?”

Jin thought for a second before flashing me the goofiest looking grin I’d ever seen. “Nope.”

“Serves you right for being a goddamn social butterfly.”

He shrugged. “I didn’t socialize much in school, so I thought I’d make up for it online, y’know?”

I understood how he felt very much. In fact, I used to be like that until I met my friends. Initially, I made every effort to shake them off, but no matter what I tried, it’d never work. Honestly, it was a novel feeling, and I suppose their persistence won me over in the end.

“Well, they’d have to be someone that knows how you look in real life, right?” Shizuka put in. “Doesn’t that narrow it down quite a bit?”

“Well, yeah. A lil’.” Jin let out a long sigh. “Seriously though, I dunno why y’all are so fixated on this. I mean, the damage is already done, right? Finding them won’t really do us much good.”

What Jin said was right. I knew that, at the very least. But even so, I didn’t want to just let this asshole stay anonymous forever.

At the beginning, they’d just toss a few jeers at Jin’s way whenever we walked through the town with him. Afterwards, it began escalating when players started throwing their junk at us. At first, it was only Jin who was taking the brunt of it, but after we kept standing up for him, they began labeling us as “Beater Sympathizers,” whatever the hell that meant.

It was merely two days ago when Jin left us.

We were grinding a few mobs outside of Tolbana, hoping to squeeze in just a bit more experience before we finally plateaued on the first floor. It was there that we were suddenly attacked by a bunch of random players that we’d never seen before.

At first, they focused their attacks against Jin, but when Shizuka and I joined the fight, they attempted to swarm us as well. It was then that I learned what player versus player battles were really like in SAO.

Of course, Shizuka had no trouble adapting to them thanks to her talents, but I quickly discovered that multiple-hit Sword Skills were highly disadvantageous. 

Perhaps it was because of my extensive combat experience, or maybe it was just because I was fighting with my life on the line, but my reflexes allowed me to dodge each pre-programmed attack string and exploit the openings in their flashy and wide moves.

It was terrifying.

But it wasn’t the fact that I could’ve died that terrified me.

No. 

Rather, it was the fact that I could have killed them. I brought the hit points of three assailants into the red zone. If I wanted, I could have finished them off. For a moment, I was even tempted to. The momentum of the game sucked me in, and just for a second, the exhilaration of combat made me forget that this was more than just a game.

This was reality.

Tolbana was a safe zone, but inside, we didn’t feel safe at all until we entered the sanctuary of our rooms in the inn. Thanks to how SAO’s housing system worked, it was impossible for a player to break into someone’s residence whether it was rented or purchased.

The gazes of our fellow players were hostile and unwelcoming. It was then that I was extremely thankful of the fact that the town’s shops and inn were run by NPCs. Had they been run by players, we would’ve been forced to sleep out on the streets.

When we woke up, we finally came face to face with the one who was responsible for all of the pain that Jin was going through.

Jin’s jaw had actually dropped when we stepped out of the inn.

The moment we walked out, we were greeted by a large group of players who had surrounded the entrance. In the center of that group was a tall boy who had a reasonably pleasant face. However, the aura that he radiated was filled with killing intent.

“...Yuuya?” Jin’s voice was a mixture of disbelief and confusion, as if he didn’t want to accept the reality of the person who stood in front of him.

Shizuka and I were equally shocked, but obviously not for the same reasons. As the two of them traded verbal blow after verbal blow, we quickly realized that they had been close friends not long ago.

“...Why would you do this, Yuuya? I don’t get it... Aren’t we friends!?”

The boy named Yuuya sneered, the wind causing his black hair to fall over his face as his expression continued to darken. “Friends? What a load of bullshit. She chose you in the end, and you still stomped all over her feelings!?”

“I wasn’t into that shit, man! I just wanted to play the game with you guys!”

Shizuka and I couldn’t even get a word in. Not only did we not know the context of their argument, but it looked like Yuuya was so beyond angry that nothing we could add would even make a difference.

In the end, Jin was forced to accept a Total Loss duel despite our protests. If Jin lost this duel, his hit points would be reduced to zero and he would die.

“You don’t have to go along with his bullshit, Jin! We’re headed to the second floor anyway, so let’s just fucking go!” I roared angrily.

Instead of responding in kind, Jin merely held his hand up to silence me. There was no need for him to speak. That alone had been enough.

...I see. This is... something that he needs to do.

The moment the duel began, Yuuya charged wildly at Jin and activated a Sword Skill, causing the blade of his weapon to glow a bright blue. I saw more than a dozen openings in Yuuya’s attacks, but Jin took none of them.

Instead, he simply stood there and allowed the attack to connect without even drawing his sword.

That single strike nearly dropped him into the yellow zone.

“What’s wrong, Jin!? I thought you were some tough shit, huh!? Come on, fight back, you bastard!” Yuuya shouted as he maniacally hacked away at Jin, lowering his health with each strike.

All I could do was stand there and watch Jin’s health drop lower and lower with each passing second. Although I wasn’t the one being attacked, each blow felt as if it was piercing my own heart.

Damn it! My friend is getting killed and I can’t do anything!? You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me!

Jin’s health dropped to red. 

I snapped.

I dashed forward with all my might, steel slithering against leather as I drew my sword, ready to parry Yuuya’s latest strike. I didn’t care about anything at that moment. I simply wanted to save my friend, but even that was denied to me.

Thunk!

An invisible wall stood in my way, separating me from the gruesome scene that was about to unfold before my eyes.

“JIN! DON’T YOU DARE FUCKING DIE! YOU PROMISED YOU WERE GOING TO CARRY MY ASS TO THE TOP!”

My words were carried away by the virtual wind within seconds, as if the cruel digital god of this world wanted to remind me of my powerlessness.

Yet, in that moment of despair, I heard something that I didn’t expect. It was the sound of steel striking steel.

“...You just can’t let a man pay for his sins in peace, can you?”

A warm grip found itself on my forearm, and I could feel that warmth spreading throughout my body rapidly. Despite her silence, Shizuka’s gaze was shaking as she watched in trepidation.

I touched her hand. Despite her internal turmoil, she still found it in herself to comfort me in a time like this. Truly, I was blessed to have someone like Shizuka.

But it wasn’t Shizuka who I was concerned about right now. It was Jin.

“...Jin. I don’t know what you did, and I don’t care. Whatever it is, it’s not worth your goddamn life, so kick his ass and survive, damn it! If your fuck-up means that much to you, then fuckin’ fix it! You can’t change anything if you’re dead!”

It was then that Jin did something completely unexpected. With an ear-splitting roar, he pushed Yuuya back with his now-drawn sword, catching the boy by surprise. “God damnit! Yeah, yeah, you just shut the fuck up and wait right there, Akira.”

Jin closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As he exhaled and opened his eyes, I felt something in the air shift. I knew instinctively that this was it. This was the real Jin.

Everything I knew about him before—down to his friendly and personable attitude—was nothing more than a mere facade. The person that stood behind that thin veneer was laser-focused and dangerous.

It all happened within the span of a second.

Yuuya charged forward, thinking that nothing had changed. Jin adopted a stance, his sword glowing a fiery orange. With a burst of light, he shot forward, his sword stabbing through the air.

Its clarion path cleaved an arc that turned Yuuya’s blade aside and issued a vicious cut that would have bisected his body if this was the real world. With that single blow, Yuuya’s health bar had dropped into the yellow zone, but Jin hadn’t finished his attack yet.

Whirling around in mid-air, he positioned his blade high in the air. The moment his feet touched the ground, a Sword Skill immediately activated and his blade cleaved toward Yuuya even as the black-haired boy was still reeling in shock from Jin’s previous attack.

“It’s over. Surrender, Yuuya.” Jin’s voice was hard and cold, completely unlike his usual jovial tone.

Yuuya fell to his knees, gasping in shock. To him, a reversal like this must’ve seemed impossible.

For a moment, I could see that Yuuya was hesitant to give up on the duel despite only having a sliver of health left. After all, a single hit would result in Jin’s defeat as well, but something dangerous in Jin’s eyes stopped that train of thought in Yuuya’s mind.

Reluctantly, he surrendered and the crowd dispersed with fear in their eyes. They had just seen firsthand how dangerous a Beater could truly be.

Jin sheathed his sword and approached us, his expression softening. “Didja get all that? Pretty cool right?” He grinned.

I fucking decked him across the face as hard as I could, ignoring the purple barrier that appeared around the area that I’d struck. He fell to the ground.

“Fuck no. You almost gave me a goddamn heart attack. I can forgive that shit, but did you never think about what I’d have to do if Shizuka cried because you died? I’d have to drag you out from hell just to beat the shit out of you for that, and that’s a bit too much work even for me.”

In response, Jin merely laughed as he sat up. “Simp.”

I flipped him the bird. “So, what the fuck did you even do that’d make you want to just let yourself get killed by this asshole here?”

Yuuya’s voice cut across the street before Jin could answer. “He killed her! He fucking killed Manaka! She was such a wonderful girl, and he—! He just...”

I looked at Jin in question as Yuuya collapsed into a blubbering mess of tears. Clearly, this kind of drama was far beyond my paygrade, but I was already in way too deep to pull out now.

“...I guess you could say that, yeah. A lot of things happened.” Jin paused and took a deep breath, looking into the sky. It didn’t look like this was a topic that he was ready to broach, but he spoke anyway. “The short of it is that we played in the beta test together. Me, Yuuya, and Manaka. I won’t bore you with the specifics, but Manaka confessed to me and I turned her down.”

“And then?”

Jin grimaced and his lips formed a thin line. I didn’t want to press further for fear of damaging our relationship.

“And then she killed herself! It was because of you, Jin! Her blood is on your hands! All be—”

Yuuya never got to finish that sentence. Shizuka had walked over to him and slapped him across the face. Although the safe zone prevented Yuuya from taking any actual damage, the impact knocked him to the ground.

“Shut up.” Shizuka said coldly.

I’d never actually heard her speak in such a way before, and to be completely honest, I found it a little scarousing, but it probably wasn’t the best time for me to indulge in that particular fantasy right now.

“If she committed suicide because of a single rejection, then that was all she judged her life to be worth.”

Everyone who was standing nearby was completely stunned, as if time had suddenly stopped. Even I was at a loss for words as Shizuka grabbed my hand and tugged me along. Jin followed closely behind, still in shock at Shizuka’s uncaring bluntness.

“...Aren’t you supposed to be more sensitive to stuff like that?” I said to Shizuka once I finally found my words again.

“Sensitive? Yeah, sure. If they tried everything they possibly could and still ended up with nothing but a tragedy, then sure. I’d offer my condolences. But if someone gives up on their life after only a single failure, then that’s despicable. It’s an insult to those who continue to try and try despite the hardships that they’re forced to endure.”

I tried to find words to refute her, but I couldn’t. Not because I wanted to agree with her, but because what she said was true. I wasn’t aware of what had transpired in the past, but I was sure that if only Manaka had continued to persist in her attempts to woo Jin, then she would still be alive now.

After that, Jin stated that he didn’t want to endanger us any more than he already had as a “Beater” and departed to the second floor during the night.

We headed to the second floor in the morning, but of course, there would be no trace of Jin.

“C’mon, Shizuka. It’s over there, right?” I pointed to an impossibly tall mountain toward the southern end of the floor, changing the subject as I tried my best to push away the memories of yesterday that were still running through my mind only mere moments ago.

Before leaving, Jin had left us a piece of paper with a crudely drawn map showing us the way to the «Martial Arts Quest». Apparently, it was located near the top of the second floor’s highest mountain.

“Hm... Yeah. I think it’d be easier to cut across these hills instead of going through the swamp though, right?”

I frowned as I studied the map for a few seconds. There was a large swamp that stood between us and the mountain. The easiest path would be a direct line that cut through the swamp from our current position to the mountain.

However, the swamp was apparently infested with monsters and the hills were just a small detour. At most, it’d cost us a day.

“Yeah, you’re right but... I feel like Jin would’ve said something if that was the case, right?”

“Maybe he made this when he thought it’d be the three of us going through the swamp? He probably knew a safe route or something. At least, that’s what I’m thinking.”

I nodded. What Shizuka was saying made a lot of sense, and she had a knack for this sort of thing, so I agreed with her and the two of us made our way toward the supposed hills.

That decision turned out to be the biggest mistake of our lives.