The Survival Logs || Sword Art Online Fanfic

PK Pandemonia Arc: Chapter 65 - The Unsettling

Meghan waved at us, as she stood with Alexis, who was facing the entrance. The tall doors were half open, as players flowed between them in both ways.

"You got something?" I asked the moment I stopped in front of them.

"Something worth--and necessary---to take note about," Meghan crossed her arms, turning to the doors. "And by the way, we met the scythe user."

"What?!" Rakuno exclaimed.

"He was here a few minutes ago," Alexis turned to face us. "It seems that they call him the Reaper. How surprising."

"Hmm, well," I said, unamused. "How else would they choose to call him?"

"Heh, maybe 'Thanatos' rolls off the tougue better," Meghan pitched in."In any case, he didn't turn out to be.....that.....bad....."

Her voice trailed off, as if she didn't expect herself to say those words.

Clearly, her attitude towards orange players was improving, even if it was only a little.

"He approached us because of Meghan's green cursor," Alexis explained. "Asked us if we're still using the green bait method to, you know, do that."

"He's still buying that bluff?" Rakuno asked.

"It's a fairly common tactic among orange players under level 50," Meghan added. "Or so he told us."

That scythe user, whose name was Shi, if I wasn't mistaken. A one-of-a-kind player with the rare ability to wield a scythe as a weapon. I saw him in action during the Gladiorium, but it was only for a few seconds.

If he turned out to be an enemy that I had to fight against in any circumstance, I probably wouldn't be a match for him. His attack swings cover a much larger area than an axe user's, and that alone can already kill middle level players in just one hit.

Yet, even though he slaughtered mercilessly without a care in the world in the Gladiorium, he sounded friendly outside of the stadium.

Friendly enough to get along with a green player, though who knows what he would do if he knew the truth about Meghan's green cursor.

"Anyway, he was leading a bunch of players about 2 parties (14 players) out the entrance," Alexis crossed her arms. "He even invited us to tag along, but we declined."

"Was it hard to decline him?" I asked. "Won't you become more suspicious?"

"It's voluntary," Meghan replied. "And it's not just him. There's many other parties out there for the same reasons. It just feels like....."

".....Being in a teleport area of a safe zone, full of players looking for others to party up with," Rakuno looked around. "Katalysis's got that same vibe."

But, instead of going out as a party to fight monsters or bosses, the players around us were walking out of the entrance to---I dare assume---find vulnerable green players to target their attacks on.

"We believe that this is a cause of the PK surge," Meghan turned to me with a serious face. "We're not saying that it's the main one, but it's a contributing factor, for sure."

"Mmm, a good point there," I held my arms in a thinking stance. "Is the SoH planning to stop this?"

"On the behalf of SoH, we should, and we will," Meghan's proud tone made its point clearly, as she made a fist with her hand.

"If you would leave us to take care of this issue, we would be most grateful." Alexis added.

I stood thinking for a while, before giving my smooth reply.

"Sounds like a plan: I'll leave SoH to settle this issue that you guys found. Raku and I will settle an issue that we've just found in the morning regarding the Council, the players who run this city."

It was a plan that was, although simple, efficient enough. After all, splitting the work up did seem like an idea that I thought about as the leader of this party. Letting the SoH members do their thing wasn't a problem in my book, as long as they didn't get into any trouble.

"Splendid!" Meghan nodded at me, before turning around and walking off at once. "Where shall we start?"

Alexis gave me a nod as well, before going after her fellow guildmate, towards the entrance.

"Should we have told them about the Gladiorium?"

Rakuno asked, watching them disappear behind the giant doors, before turning to me.

"They'll find out soon enough," I turned back to the buildings. "But I have a feeling that now's not the time to tell them that."

"Because of the PKs?"

"You can imagine what Meghan would do if she knew."

"That might be true, but....."

I stopped short, turning at Rakuno as she stared at me with uncertainty. It was as if she really wanted to call Meghan and Alexis back just to tell them about the Gladiorium. They weren't far, but chasing after them would seem as conspicuous as Meghan's green cursor.

"Raku, let's put it this way: " I turned back, my hood facing her. "The SoH shouldn't be dealing with every PK they see and hear. Much like they don't have to confront the Council for the shit that it has done."

"Cos I'm pissed off enough to be able to confront the Council myself."

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