Ice-blue tears

The first monsters spawned on the mine's second floor when Wang Shui went down the stairs for the third time. He spotted their slow-moving figures wandering aimlessly from a distance.

They were three skeleton monsters, classified as undead.

There was not a scrap of flesh on them. Their bones were dark yellow and rough, even weathered and cracked in places, but when Wang Shui crept up and brought his sword down for the first strike, he felt as though he had hit a rock.

Fortunately, these pickaxe-wielding undead moved slowly and had little HP. The ghostly blue flames inside their skulls were their weak points-a classic design.

They gave very little experience, and their drops seemed to consist only of ore. Their only purpose was to tell Wang Shui that monsters had started spawning here.

The monotonous days of mining continued. Wang Shui displayed a patience that lone-wolf players could not understand-a tolerance for solitude.

Even someone as socially anxious as Kirito enjoyed visiting night markets. They were merely afraid of interacting, not devoid of the desire for it. Loneliness was still terrifying to creatures born to live in groups.

The internet age had produced many people who liked being alone, but even they needed a steady stream of information from others online. It might be real-time chats or comments left across time; a little attention and interaction could make them feel they still lived in this world.

What they enjoyed was a simple, convenient life free from interruptions, not the loneliness of total isolation.

Wang Shui was an outlier, a madman when it came to social interaction. He had a shallow knowledge of psychology and understood the human need to socialize, but he was among the very few who genuinely enjoyed solitude.

But that did not make him anything special.

It was not until November 28, the twenty-second day since this death game began, that Wang Shui left the mine.

The few monsters in the mine had pushed his level up to 7, and he still had six pickaxes left, but he had run out of food and water.

Life in the game had given Wang Shui a habit: whenever he ate, he checked his remaining food to avoid panicking.

So after finishing his last food, he used the last of his water to wash his hands and face, then walked into the dim valley covered in dust, wearing battered cotton-and-linen clothes with leather panels.

The night breeze gradually stirred his numb mind to life, and even his dead-fish eyes became a little more lively. For some reason, Wang Shui felt much calmer. Now he really was beginning to like this game world.

Walking toward [Tolbana], three kilometers away, Wang Shui planned to rejoin the other players starting today. There was no hurry to enjoy solitude; now he had to catch up with the elite players in the first and second tiers again.

He would find a decent party and become a solid background extra for Lord Kirito. Wang Shui was even beginning to consider enjoying these two years in the game. After all, so far, nothing seemed to have gone off the rails with the plot.

But those who failed to plan ahead would soon find trouble at hand. The first thing that greeted Wang Shui fresh out of the mine was a player-killing encounter.

PK in SAO did not mean a simple, fair PVP duel. It meant [Kill]: killing a player and causing their death in reality as well.

Such incidents had appeared about a week after the game began. Perhaps they had initially been robberies, but later, scum who specifically enjoyed killing seemed to have emerged.

So when they saw three orange cursors chasing another orange cursor, most players in this game would probably step aside and quickly get away from them. Wang Shui did the same.

In the dim light, Wang Shui, dressed like a beggar, yielded the road. Only after all four ran past him did he open his inventory and drag equipment onto his character model.

The [Miner Set] dropped by the mine's monsters, which granted mining bonuses, was replaced by cheap early-game leather armor. The [Anneal Blade], with its black-lacquered spine, appeared in Wang Shui's hand as well. But the first thing to announce his presence was the iron pellet that shot from his left hand.

Whoosh!-[-211!], [Stun], [Daze]

Wang Shui had not targeted the person at the very back,

but the one leading the three pursuers. The iron pellet struck the back of his head, dealing heavy weak-point damage and inflicting status effects while loudly announcing Wang Shui's entrance. The two behind him naturally stopped quickly, turning with their swords raised, instinctively preparing for a standoff. But Wang Shui had already charged without hesitation. [Rage Spike] plunged into the nearest man's lower abdomen. Wang Shui delivered a left front kick and used the force to retreat a step, then advanced with a rising slash that turned into a downward chop. The sword skill's light flashed, and [Vertical] successfully activated.

The man under Wang Shui's assault took the entire combo without being able to respond. Unable to find purchase to advance or retreat, he could not keep his balance. His companion immediately moved up behind him with his blade held sideways, ready to help him out.

At that moment, the orange-cursor player who had been fleeing at the front noticed the passerby's help and immediately turned to join the fight. He passed the first man, who was still disabled, and headed straight for the fellow preparing to help with his [Curved Sword]. Green sword-skill light shone from his shortsword as a [Side Bite] latched onto his opponent like a venomous snake.

With no help arriving from his teammate, the orange player at the rear wielding a one-handed straight sword rapidly lost HP under Wang Shui's suffocating pressure. Crying out in terror, he fell onto his backside and scrambled backward, waving his hands.

The other three people present turned their attention toward him.

"Ah! Ah! Stop hitting me! Don't kill me! I'll give you everything I stole!"

Shouting, he materialized the items in his inventory. A large quantity of equipment and items instantly appeared on the ground.

Wang Shui seemed to slow his steps.

"It-it's all here!"

Those words became his last.

Wang Shui stepped forward through the scattered items and thrust his sword down, emptying the last of the man's HP. Without any delay, his horrified figure shattered into motes of light.

Those present fell into an inexplicable state of shock at Wang Shui's ruthlessness. Wang Shui ignored the things on the ground and immediately charged again.

The third man, the first one he had stunned, also shattered beneath Wang Shui's sword. The last two pursuers seemed to have sensed Wang Shui's killing intent; rather than offering their belongings and begging for mercy, they had simply fled.

But the [Flying Sword] skill was simply too well suited to dealing with small and medium-sized targets.

After killing three people in succession, the cursor above Wang Shui's head had also turned orange. With an inexplicable air of pressure about him, he turned toward the fleeing player with ice-blue hair and eyes and approached step by step.

Perhaps cowed by Wang Shui's slaughter, or perhaps knowing escape from that unfailingly accurate [Flying Sword] skill was impossible, the hunted orange player-also an exceptionally beautiful female player-slowly backed away in indescribable fear.

Wang Shui moved quickly. As he walked, he released his sword, letting his beloved weapon fall into the dust. He seized the girl's collar with both hands, lifted her clean off the ground, and shoved her hard against the valley's rock wall.

"You-why are you in this game?!" Wang Shui's voice carried the fatigue of his long days of mining, along with unmistakable anger.

"I... you... you're... Satō Itsuki?!"

Pinned hard against the rock wall and barely able to move, Shino exclaimed the name in astonishment.

"Why are you surprised? You already knew I would be in the game."

With that, Wang Shui set Shino down, turned to pick up his sword and return it to the scabbard at his waist, then went to gather the items scattered across the ground.

Shino's brain was crashing. Tonight she had been ambushed, chased, and then rescued, only to discover her rescuer was her real-life neighbor and the classmate who sat beside her. Then that classmate had killed three people without hesitation... even after they stopped attacking and begged for mercy.

After nearly a month in the death game, Shino had thought she had become much stronger and more independent, but now her mind was in complete chaos. She had not even recovered from the initial attack.

All Shino could do was lean against a large rock and stare blankly at the pitch-black sky, letting the cool valley breeze cool her down.

Thud-

A heavy figure dropped beside Shino. By the dim, hazy yellow lights beside the distant tracks, she looked at this friend she had made a month ago.

Calm and mature, he gazed up at the sky, the orange cursor overhead pointing toward his face.

There was no sense of security, and now there was no fear either. Shino felt a sense of... unfamiliarity. Yes, they had only known each other for less than a week in total, and this fellow was a psychology enthusiast extremely skilled at hiding his inner thoughts.

"Why are you in this game?"

Reclining to rest, Wang Shui asked the same question again. Shino thought seriously for a long time, but fell silent without giving an answer.

"Silence means you don't want to say it. In other words, it has something to do with me. Whether you're afraid of burdening me or held back by the awkwardness of our current unfamiliarity, that's why you're staying silent."

"So... were you drawn in after seeing the NerveGear? Or did I seem too strong, especially mentally, and make you want to learn from me to become stronger yourself? It seems you've already acted on it. You bought the gaming equipment, and you may even have started reading psychology material. You began approaching me, observing my lifestyle up close-all because you wanted to become as strong as me?"

The experience of seemingly having her mind read made Shino sit up in embarrassed anger and turn toward Wang Shui, but a right hand soon gripped her chin. His grip was hard.

"Asada, do you really think I'm strong?"

Shino slapped Wang Shui's right hand away and lay back down in silence. She considered his words. This fellow who had killed three people without expression a short while ago seemed to be lamenting his own weakness.

"Did you kill anyone before they started chasing you?" Wang Shui changed the subject, though not by much.

She had not killed anyone. She had merely attacked an enemy with a green cursor while fighting back, and the system had judged it intentional harm against another player, turning her orange.

"It seems you didn't. But you have before. A long time ago, you killed a robber with a handgun. Though it was self-defense, those terrifying memories were etched into your mind and your body. You still retain a normal person's aversion and resistance to taking someone else's life. But now, you seem to have persuaded yourself to accept me..."

"Those orange players just now killed your teammates, didn't they?"

That final sentence instantly chilled Shino's jumbled thoughts from tonight. An inexplicable pressure began swelling in her mind.

"It's very simple logic. Shino, you probably never played this sort of game before. Your age, gender, usual interests, and how hard you study all told me that. And SAO is an extremely hardcore, extremely novel full-dive game, the first in the world. The early difficulty of this world is manageable for veteran RPG players, but it should be very hard for a beginner like you."

"Given your personality, I imagine you probably wouldn't wait in the Town of Beginnings for your body and mind to rot. But because you were unfamiliar with the process and had no concept of how to become stronger, your first day probably ended in a desperate escape, followed by inefficiently learning from others."

"Then you received help. It isn't hard to imagine it was Argo the Rat's strategy guide. You learned the basic techniques and followed the guide's advice to find a party, then spent a long time grinding monsters near the Town of Beginnings, practicing and familiarizing yourself with combat."

"Having never played games before, you didn't hide your appearance, and naturally received your party's care. Your teammates were decent, both in skill and character. They protected you through a long period of progression, eventually reaching the vicinity of the last town outside the labyrinth zone-here."

Wang Shui described it all in an even tone. At this point, Shino, whose head had slowly lowered, suddenly shuddered.

"I guessed right. They treated you well. Even tonight, they covered your escape. Robbers generally don't kill indiscriminately. Usually, they just force other players to hand over items and money. But your teammates fought back desperately. I imagine the robbers made an additional demand."

Wang Shui turned onto his side and gripped Shino's chin with his Strength stat of 35, making her lowered face turn toward him. Tears poured from her beautiful ice-blue eyes like clear spring water.

"They demanded you enable [Ethics Code Off] and give them your body. That was what made your stupid teammates, with their heads full of righteousness, rise up against them."

Thud-

Wang Shui was knocked onto his back, just as he had expected.

Shino's slender body pressed against his chest. Both hands pushed against his neck with all her strength as she forced a few words through clenched teeth:

"They! Weren't! Stupid!"

Large tears dripped onto the corner of Wang Shui's mouth. Their salty, bitter taste was so real that Wang Shui marveled at the developers' idleness.

"But they still died. Every last one. The robbers didn't want what happened today exposed, so they chased you." Lying on his back, Wang Shui did not struggle. His voice remained cold.

"They were already accustomed to simple robbery, even disdaining to cover their faces. But murder is different. It could bring a united crackdown from high-level players. If they'd made it to this town, they probably counted as experts themselves. Leaving the front lines would make them much weaker, so they certainly wouldn't accept that. They were decisive in pursuing you, and you could only flee blindly, without even considering that you were moving away from town, until you met me."

"You were afraid when you saw me kill three bandits. Then you saw I was someone you knew and wasn't attacking you, so you lowered your guard and accepted my killing them, because that also counted as avenging your teammates."

Wang Shui felt the pressure on his body gradually waver and continued:

"Just before I spoke, you had developed very strong positive feelings toward me. Perhaps it was all gratitude. But more than that, it was a longing for my strength and mental fortitude, an expectation of me. That's why I asked you: do you really think I'm strong?"

Wang Shui looked into Shino's eyes. Shino not only closed them but turned her head aside.

"Yes, you think I'm strong. Even your attitude toward life has wavered because of me. You haven't emerged from your grief yet, but after some time, once time has eased that sorrow a little, you'll change without realizing it, becoming weak and accustomed to relying on others."

"Perhaps you'll become gentle and mature, developing blind trust in me, or even love. Those changes could be called positive, especially for me. I could practically win your heart through social skills alone."

Wang Shui reached out with both hands, took Shino's shoulders, and sat up, drawing her into an embrace without holding her tightly.

"But that isn't the Shino I like."

"Perhaps it's selfish, but I don't even want you to like me. I only want you to retain your independent thinking and strong heart, your determination to face every difficulty. Gender isn't the shackle on strength, nor is the body. The soul is."

"Only a strong soul can have a strong self, and only then a strong body. And I don't have that. The decisiveness in killing you saw was a decision I made after thinking through the situation and finding no way to defuse it. It came from my guilt over influencing you and getting you trapped in this death game. But I'm not a strong person."

Only then did Wang Shui tighten his arms, hugging Shino hard.

"I'm sorry for bringing you here and giving you false expectations."

Shino, trembling and crying again, hugged Wang Shui tightly too.

"I'll become your new teammate and help you grow stronger in SAO. I'll do everything I can to protect you, but I'm not a knight. I can't promise to bring you out of the game safely. So you have to become stronger too, strong enough to protect me, all right?"

The small body in his arms shifted. Wang Shui did not care at all whether Shino had nodded. Nor did his face show the rich emotion one might expect after sharing so many "heartfelt words." Instead, it held an unnervingly flat indifference.

Taking advantage of someone's vulnerability was the crudest method. Its success rate would not even exceed fifty percent unless the other person already loved you but had not chosen you for various reasons-a backup option.

Without a hundred-percent success rate, Wang Shui would not even bother making the effort. So he steered Shino's personality back on course and integrated his presence into her thinking.

This was a method of psychological suggestion with many restrictive conditions, whose detailed execution required considerable improvisation. It could not make Wang Shui become Shino's entire world.

But Wang Shui was not emphasizing his presence with the intention of winning Shino over, either.

He did not need a warm doll. He needed an independent, powerful warrior!

A warrior who would give her life for him.