“Do you always carry this stuff around?”
“I spend the night in dungeons all the time.”
This was apparently not a joke. He clicked on the lantern to light it, absolutely straight-faced. With a faint poof, a bright orange light brightened the surroundings.
Kirito placed the small pot on top of the lantern, then shoveled up some snow and tossed it in. He opened the small bags, emptied them into the pot, then put a lid on top and double-clicked it. A cooking timer floated up.
The scent of herbs immediately tickled my nostrils. I hadn’t eaten a thing since those bites of hot dog earlier today. My stomach suddenly growled to life, as though just realizing it was hungry.
The timer dinged and disappeared. Kirito lifted the pot and poured its contents into the two mugs.
“My Cooking skill is zero, so keep your expectations low.”
“Thanks…”
I took the proffered cup and felt its warmth spread through my hands. The contents were a simple soup of herbs and dried meat, but they must have been high-quality ingredients, because it tasted good enough. The heat of the meal slowly spread through my chilled body.
“This is all…so weird. It’s like it’s not even real,” I muttered into my soup. “I’m here in an unfamiliar place…with an unfamiliar person…just sipping on soup together.”
“Well, you’re a crafter, Liz. But when you do lots of dungeon-crawling, you often have to camp out in impromptu parties with people you meet along the way.”
“Oh, really. Tell me about dungeons, then.”
“W-well, um, I don’t really have any great stories…Oh, but before that—”
He grabbed the empty cups and pot and shoved them back into his menu, then rummaged around some more. This time he produced two large bundles of cloth.
They appeared to be camping bedrolls. They resembled real-life sleeping bags but were much larger.
“These are high-class articles. They shut out the cold and have a hiding effect that protects you from active monsters.” He grinned, tossing one to me. Laid out on the snow, it was large enough to fit three of me inside.
“Seriously, I can’t believe you carry all these things around. And two of them…”
“Gotta make the most of your inventory space.”
Kirito took off his equipment and dove into the left side of his bedroll. I followed his lead, removing my coat and mace and slipping into the bag like it was a glove.
His boast wasn’t empty; the inside really was warm. And it was much softer than it looked.
We were facing each other a few feet apart, the lantern between us. I felt strangely shy about it. I decided to break the awkward silence.
“So, tell me a story.”
“Uh, okay…”
Kirito folded his arms behind his head and began to speak.
There was the story of how he fell into an MPK trap—the act of luring powerful monsters into a confrontation with other players to kill them. There was also the tale of the boss monster with low attack but extremely high defense, requiring the group to take shifts sleeping while the others occupied the monster’s attention, a battle that took two whole days. And the story of a party of a hundred fighters, who had to divvy up their spoils through a dice competition…
They were all thrilling tales with a touch of humor to them. And together, those tales told a story of their own: that Kirito was indeed one of the clearers, the very best players in the game.
But if that was the case, the fates and lives of thousands of players were resting on his shoulders from moment to moment. He shouldn’t be risking his life looking after the likes of me. Who was I?
I rolled over to look at his face. His black eyes glittered with the light of the lantern as he gazed back.
“Hey, Kirito…can I ask you something?”
“So polite, suddenly…What’s up?”
“Why did you save me? There was no guarantee you’d survive the fall. In fact, it was way more likely that we’d both die. So…why…?”
His mouth tightened for an instant but relaxed just as quickly.
“If I had to watch someone die, I’d rather die with them. Especially if it was a girl like you, Liz,” he responded calmly.
“You really are an idiot. No one else would be like that.”
But despite my bold words, I could feel the tears threatening to well up. Something twisted and pulled deep within my chest, and I fought to calm myself.
It was the first time I’d heard such honest, straightforward, heartwarming words since coming to this world.
In fact, I’d never even felt such kindness in the real world.
I could sense that pent-up longing for human contact, the loneliness that had built up for months, forming into massive waves that threatened to throw me off-balance. I wanted to sense Kirito’s warmth up close, to touch it directly with my heart…
And before I knew it, the words spilled out.
“Here…hold my hand.”
I tilted to my left and extended my hand out of the bedroll, reaching over to his side. Kirito stared for a moment with his obsidian eyes, then quietly agreed and echoed my action. Our fingertips touched, we both retracted, then clung tighter.
His hand was much warmer than the mug of soup I’d been holding just a few minutes earlier. The underside of my hand was resting on the icy floor, but I didn’t even notice the cold.
The difference was human warmth.
In that moment, I finally understood the truth of the thirst that had wracked a part of my heart ever since I’d set foot in this world. I was afraid of thinking about the fact that this reality was virtual—that my true body was far, far away, impossible to reach. So instead, I found my own goals to pursue: to improve my crafting, to grow my business, telling myself that this was my real life.
But deep in my heart, I always knew. That this was fake, that it was data. That I was starving for true human warmth.
Kirito’s body was just a mass of data as well, of course. The warmth that enveloped me now was only an illusion, the product of electric signals stimulating my brain.
But at last I realized that this wasn’t the problem. The only truth—in the real world or this virtual world—was what I felt in my heart.
I smiled and closed my eyes, still holding his hand tight.
Despite the quickened pace of my heartbeat, sleep found me disappointingly fast, pulling me down into a comforting darkness.
3
A pleasant scent tickled my nose. Slowly opening my eyes, I found the world to be full of white. The morning sun, bouncing endlessly off of the icy walls, set the snow pile into the vertical shaft a-shimmer.
Looking around, I noticed a steaming pot had been placed on top of the lantern. That was the source of the smell. In front of the lantern, facing sideways, was the man in black. The glimpse of him seemed to light a tiny fire within my breast.
Kirito turned to me and grinned.
“Morning.”
“…Good morning.”
Upon pushing myself up to a sitting position, I realized that the hand I’d fallen asleep extending had been tucked back underneath the bedroll. I touched it to my lips, imagining that the warmth was still saved in my palm, and hopped up to my feet.
Kirito handed me a steaming cup. I accepted it gratefully and plopped down next to him. The cup smelled like flowers and mint, a kind of tea I’d never tasted before. I took in a sip, then another, feeling the warmth spread through my heart.
I tilted sideways, leaning over to lean on Kirito. When I turned my head, our eyes met, and we both turned away immediately. For a minute, the only sound was the sipping of tea.
“Hey,” I murmured into my mug.
“Yeah?”
“What if we never get out of here?”
“Then we’ll need these sleeping bags.”
“That was a quick answer. I was hoping for a bit more contemplation.” I laughed, elbowing him. “But it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world,
I guess…”
I tilted my head to rest on Kirito’s shoulder, but he suddenly leaped upward with a cry, and I sprawled over onto the floor instead.
“Hey, what’s the big idea?” I complained, but Kirito didn’t turn back around. He started racing for the center of the large hole. Grumbling, I stood and followed.
“What is it?”
“Hang on…”
He knelt down and started scraping away the snow, digging out a hole in the layer that covered the ground.
“Wha—?”
A silver flash leaped across my face. Something under the snow was gleaming, reflecting the morning sunlight.
Kirito brushed away the snow, then grabbed the thing with both hands to lift it up. I bent over for a closer look, unable to suppress my curiosity.
It was a rectangular object, silver and translucent, just big enough to overflow both of Kirito’s hands, if he held them together. An object of a very familiar size and shape to me—an ingot. But I’d never seen one this color.
I extended a finger and tapped on the surface of the block. A pop-up appeared, describing it as a CRYSTALLITE INGOT.
“Could this be…?”
I looked up at Kirito and he nodded hesitantly.
“Yeah…it’s the metal we came here to find…I’m guessing.”
“But why would it be buried down here?”
“Hmm…”
Kirito craned his neck, scrutinizing the ingot clamped in his fingers, then let out a brief exclamation of understanding.
“The dragon chews the crystals…and smelts them into the alloy in its belly…Ha-ha! That’s neat.”
He chuckled in appreciation and tossed the ingot to me. I hastily reached out to catch it with both hands, clutching it to my chest.
“Would you fill me in already? I’m tired of being left in the dark.”
“This shaft isn’t a trap. It’s the dragon’s nest.”
“Wh-what?”
“That ingot is the dragon’s waste product. It’s poop.”
“P…”
I looked down at the ingot held tightly to my chest, my cheek twitching.
“Eugh!” I tossed it back at Kirito.
“Whoa!”
He deftly bounced it back with his fingertips. We played a brief game of hot potato, tossing it back and forth like a pair of kids, until Kirito quickly opened his inventory and shoveled the ingot inside.
“Well, now we’ve got what we came for. The only thing left…”
“…is escaping.”
We traded glances and sighed in unison.
“I guess we should just brainstorm and start testing our ideas.”
“Yeah. If only we had wings like a dragon,” I began to say, then realized something and stopped still, mouth agape.
“What is it, Liz?” Kirito peered into my face, puzzled.
“You just said this was a dragon’s nest, right?”
“Yeah. I mean, there’s poop here, so…”
“Enough about the poop already! If the dragon is nocturnal, doesn’t that mean it’ll come back to the nest in the morning…?”
“…”
We stared at each other for a moment, then turned to look upward at the aperture of the pit. The very next instant—
A black shadow bled into the white circle of light far, far above. It grew larger and larger. Within moments, I could make out two wings, a long tail, and four powerful limbs armed with claws.
“H…h…”
We both started backing away, not that there was anywhere to hide.
“Here it comes!” we cried in unison, drawing our weapons.
As the white dragon descended the shaft, it noticed us just before it reached the ground and gave a shrill, piercing cry, stopping in midair. Its red eyes and long, vertical pupils were glaring at us angrily, intruders in its sanctuary. But there was nowhere to hide in the narrow pit. I readied my mace, trying to stifle my nerves.
Kirito stepped in front of me, sword in hand, and rattled off some quick commands.
“Listen, don’t step out from behind me. If your HP start to drop, drink a potion right away.”
“O-okay.” I nodded, determined to listen this time.
The dragon opened its maw wide for another screech. The beating of its wings sent the snow flying. It smacked its long, powerful tail against the ground repeatedly, carving deep furrows into the mounds of snow.
Kirito brandished his sword, preparing to charge and seize the initiative—when he stopped for some reason.
“…Wait…no way…” he murmured.
“Wh-what is it?”
“Um…”
He sheathed his sword without answering my question, then turned around and pulled me to his side.
“Huh?!”
Ignoring my panic, Kirito hoisted me up over his shoulder.
“H-hey, wait, what are you—Whoa!!”
The surroundings suddenly turned to a blur as a shock wave exploded around me—Kirito had started racing toward the wall. He leaped just before we hit it, then raced sideways along the curved walls, just as he’d attempted last night. Only this time, he stayed level rather than going up. The dragon’s head craned as it tracked us, but Kirito hit his boosters, racing faster than the beast could follow.
A few seconds later, Kirito landed back on the ground as my eyes raced with dizziness. Once I blinked them into focus again, the dragon’s backside came into view. It had lost sight of us and was searching left and right on the wrong side of the hole.
It seemed to me that Kirito was going to attack it from behind, but instead he approached it quietly, reached out, and grabbed it firmly by the tip of its tail.
In that instant, the dragon let out another screech. Was it just me, or did it sound like a scream of surprise? Now I was thoroughly confused as to Kirito’s plan, and I let out a yell of my own, but the dragon beat its wings and began rising with terrifying speed.
“Bfft!”
Air beat my face. I felt myself flying through the air as though I’d been shot from a bow. We were rising quickly through the shaft, swaying left and right as the dragon’s tail whipped back and forth. The floor of the circular pit grew smaller and smaller.
“Hang on tight, Liz!” Kirito bellowed, and I clung to his neck for dear life. The sunlight reflecting off the ice walls was getting lighter and lighter, and the pitch of the air whistling past my ears shifted subtly. There was an abrupt explosion of white, and then we were outside the hole.
When I opened my eyes again, I could see the entirety of the fifty-fifth floor laid out in front of me. Directly below was the snowy mountain, a pristine cone. Farther away was the tiny village. Beyond the vast snowfield and intricate forest was a procession of sloped roofs that marked the floor’s main city. Everything I saw glittered brightly in the light of the morning. For a moment, I forgot my fear and exclaimed in wonder.
“Wow…”
“Yeaaaaah!!”
Kirito whooped and let go of the dragon’s tail. He tightened his grip around my side and our momentum sent us spinning through the air.
The flight only lasted a few seconds, but it felt ten times that long. I think I was laughing. The overflowing light and wind cleansed my heart. My emotions were fit to burst.
“Hey, Kirito!!” I shouted at the top of my lungs.
“What?!”
“I really like you!!”
“What?! I can’t hear you!!”
“Nothing!!”
I hugged his neck and laughed wildly. Our miraculous moment came to an end as the ground approached. Kirito took one last spin and braced himself for impact, his legs wide.
Bawoof! Snow shot upward. There was a long glide. We slowed down gradually while weaving through the white crystals like a snowplow, and finally we came to a halt at the edge of the peak.
“…Whew.” Kirito sighed, plopping down on the snow. I reluctantly released my grip on his neck.
We turned around to look at the massive hole, while the dragon
circled overhead, having apparently lost sight of us.
Kirito reached back to his sword and started to pull it out of its sheath, then shoved it back. A wry grin crossed his face as he murmured to the dragon.
“Sorry about all the hunting, day after day. Once word gets out on how to find the item, they won’t be trying to kill you anymore. Live in peace.”
Yesterday, I would have thought, Are you crazy, talking to a monster that’s just a series of algorithms? But for some reason, my heart accepted Kirito’s words as true and honest. I reached out and gently gripped his hand.
As we watched silently, the white dragon craned its head around; gave a crisp, clear screech; then descended back into the shaft. Silence returned.
Finally, Kirito turned to me and said, “Shall we go?”
“Yeah.”
“Wanna take a crystal back?”
“No…let’s walk.”
I started walking forward with a smile on my face, still holding Kirito’s hand. But then I remembered something and looked back to him.
“Oh…we left the lantern and sleeping bags down there.”
“Now that you mention it…oh, well. Someone else might find them useful.”
We grinned at each other and started hiking down the mountain, headed home for sure this time. The sky beyond the outer perimeter of Aincrad was a brilliant, unblemished blue.
“I’m home!”
I shoved open the familiar door of my shop.
“Welcome back,” the NPC girl behind the counter returned politely. I waved to her and took a look around the shop. I’d only been gone for a single day, but somehow it all looked new and different.
Kirito followed me inside the door, another hot dog from that same street cart shoved into his mouth again.
“It’s almost lunchtime; we should eat at a proper restaurant,” I complained, but Kirito grinned and opened his item window instead.
“Before that, let’s get this sword made.”
He flipped through his inventory and materialized the platinum ingot, tossing it to me. I caught the metal—willfully ignoring the source of the substance—and nodded.