"2024 56th Floor • Pani 2024 56th Floor • Pani" "We'll lure the field boss into the village." "W-Wait a second." "the villagers—" "That's the idea." "we'll attack and destroy it." "NPCs aren't just mere objects like trees or rocks." "They're—" "Alive?" "Is that it?" "They're just objects." "They'll simply respawn if they're killed." "I can't go along with this." "am overseeing this operation." "You will obey my orders." "Hey." "huh?" "Agil." "Why are you and the vice-commander always like that?" "I guess we don't see eye to eye." "You'll become really powerful." "don't turn them down. but I never thought she'd become a ruthless front-liner in one of the top guilds." "550)\bord4.5\blur2.5\3cH000000\3aH44}Inner Area Incident 550.3)\ybord2.3\xbord0.5\blur1.2\1cHFFFFFF\3cHFFF8C7}Inner Area Incident" "550)\1cHE0EEB3}Inner Area Incident 550)\1cHE0EDB1}Inner Area Incident" "550)\1cHE0ECAF}Inner Area Incident 550)\1cHE0ECAE}Inner Area Incident" "550)\1cHE0EBAC}Inner Area Incident 550)\1cHE1EAAB}Inner Area Incident" "550)\1cHE1EAA9}Inner Area Incident 550)\1cHE1E9A8}Inner Area Incident" "550)\1cHE1E8A6}Inner Area Incident 550)\1cHE2E8A5}Inner Area Incident" "550)\1cHE2E7A3}Inner Area Incident 550)\1cHE2E6A2}Inner Area Incident" "550)\1cHE2E6A0}Inner Area Incident 550)\1cHE2E49D}Inner Area Incident" "550)\1cHE1E298}Inner Area Incident 550)\1cHDFE094}Inner Area Incident" "550)\1cHDEDE8F}Inner Area Incident 550)\1cHDCDC8A}Inner Area Incident" "550)\1cHDBD985}Inner Area Incident 550)\1cHDAD780}Inner Area Incident" "550)\1cHD8D57B}Inner Area Incident 550)\1cHD7D376}Inner Area Incident" "550)\1cHD6D072}Inner Area Incident 550)\1cHD4CE6D}Inner Area Incident" "550)\1cHD3CC68}Inner Area Incident 550)\1cHD2CA63}Inner Area Incident" "550)\1cHD1C85F}Inner Area Incident 550)\1cHD1C75B}Inner Area Incident" "550)\1cHD0C657}Inner Area Incident 550)\1cHD0C553}Inner Area Incident" "550)\1cHD0C34F}Inner Area Incident 550)\1cHCFC24B}Inner Area Incident" "550)\1cHCFC146}Inner Area Incident 550)\1cHCEBF42}Inner Area Incident" "550)\1cHCEBE3E}Inner Area Incident 550)\1cHCEBD3A}Inner Area Incident" "550)\1cHCDBC36}Inner Area Incident 550)\1cHCDBA32}Inner Area Incident" "550)\1cHCCB92F}Inner Area Incident 550)\1cHCCB92E}Inner Area Incident" "550)\1cHCCB82D}Inner Area Incident 550)\1cHCCB82C}Inner Area Incident" "550)\1cHCCB72B}Inner Area Incident 550)\1cHCCB72A}Inner Area Incident" "550)\1cHCBB629}Inner Area Incident 550)\1cHCBB528}Inner Area Incident" "550)\1cHCBB527}Inner Area Incident 550)\1cHCBB426}Inner Area Incident" "550)\1cHCBB425}Inner Area Incident 550)\1cHCBB324}Inner Area Incident" "550)\1cHCBB323}Inner Area Incident 550)\1cHCBB323}Inner Area Incident" "2024 59th Floor • Danac 2024 59th Floor • Danac" "What are you doing?" "it's just you." "The other front-liners are all working hard to clear the labyrinth." "dozing off?" "you need to take things more—" "This is Aincrad's nicest weather during its nicest season." "Huh?" "Crawling around in the labyrinth would be such a waste." "do you?" "Every day that we waste in here is a day lost in the real world." "But Aincrad is where we live right now." "See?" "The wind and sunlight feel so good." "Do they?" "Don't we always get the same weather?" "you'd understand." "lookie here." "Sleeping at this time of day?" "Some people just take it real easy." "Who are those two?" "Geez..." "I didn't think she'd actually fall asleep." "Wha..." "I..." "Morning." "Did you sleep well?" "A meal..." "A meal!" "no matter how pricey." "Then we'll be even." "Okay?" "628)\blur1.5\yshad2.5\1aHFE}57th Floor • Marten 628)}57th Floor • Marten" "Isn't that Asuna from the Knights of Blood?" "The Flash"?" "And who's the guy in black?" "uh..." "Thanks for today." "For watching over me." "no problem." "so you can't be attacked or player-killed." "But it's different when you're asleep." "Yeah." "Sleep-PKs that abuse the duel system." "duels are supposed to be tests of strength." "you can take damage and lose HP even at an inner area." "You can challenge a sleeping person and then use their finger to press the "OK" button." "Then you attack them as they sleep." "It's happened before." "um..." "Thank you." "W-Well..." "Y-You're welcome." "now!" "You stay down here and catch him." "Got it." "Hang on!" "Damn it..." "A duel is the only way to kill someone at an inner area." "That means..." "Everyone!" "Look around for the "Duel Winner" notification!" "There's nobody inside." "What just happened? and pushed him out of the window." "Does that sound right to you?" "But the winner notification didn't appear anywhere." "That's impossible." "Dueling is the only way you can damage someone at an inner area." "we can't ignore this." "Yeah. it'll be just as dangerous inside towns as outside them." "Indeed." "but this needs to be addressed." "then." "there won't be any time to nap." "You're the one who was napping." "Excuse me." "Did anyone see the whole thing?" "Please tell us if you did." "By the time I got here..." "I know it was quite frightening to see." "What's your name?" "my name is Yoruko." "Was that first scream yours?" "Y-Yes." "I came here to have dinner with the man who was just killed." "His name is Kains." "We used to be in the same guild." "The two of us got separated in the plaza." "hanging from the church window..." "Did you see anyone else?" "but I think I saw someone standing behind Kains." "Did that person look familiar?" "No... but do you have any idea why anyone would've wanted to kill Kains-san?" "Thank you for walking me here." "Don't worry about it." "We can talk more tomorrow." "Okay." "now what?" "Let's look at the info we have." "it might lead us to the perpetrator." "then." "Would you happen to... you wouldn't." "Of course not." "Neither would you." "could you stop addressing me so rudely?" "O-Oh... maybe... then?" "Vice-Commander-sama"?" "Flash-sama"?" "Just call me Asuna." "S-Sure thing." "do you have any friends with the Appraise skill?" "A blacksmith friend of mine does." "so it might take a while." "I see." "then." "628)\blur1.5\yshad2.5\1aHFE}50th Floor • Algade 628)}50th Floor • Algade" "Thank you!" "Please come again." "Looks like you're still running a cutthroat business." "Kirito." "sell cheap." "I dunno about that last part." "Don't go around slandering my good name." "Kirito?" "What's a solo player like you doing here with Asuna?" "!" "I thought you two didn't see eye to eye!" "Say something!" "Someone's HP dropped to zero at an inner area?" "And it wasn't a duel?" "No one saw a winner notification." "It can't be a sleep-PK if he was walking with Yoruko-san right before it happened." "The method was too involved for it to be some random duel." "We can assume it was a premeditated PK." "And we have this." "It's player-made." "Really?" "Who made it?" "Grimlock." "Never heard of him... that's for sure." "And there's nothing particularly unusual about this weapon." "It should still be a clue we can use." "Tell us the weapon's name too." "Let's see..." "That would be "Guilty Thorn." "in other words." "Guilty Thorn..." "Okay..." "Wait!" "Why?" "why?" "!" "Are you stupid?" "!" "That weapon's already killed someone!" "but we can't be sure unless we test it." "That's crazy!" "Don't do it!" "Here." "you hold onto it." "Huh?" "Right... 628)\blur1.5\yshad2.5\1aHFE}The Next Day 628)}The Next Day" "Yoruko-san." "Do you know anybody who goes by the name of Grimlock?" "Yes." "He was a member of the guild Kains and I used to be in. and we discovered that it was made by Grimlock-san." "Is there anything that comes to mind?" "there is." "I'm sorry I wasn't able to tell you yesterday." "I wanted to forget." "It's not something I really want to remember." "But I'll tell you." "It's something that destroyed our guild." "Our guild's name was Golden Apple." "a rare monster we defeated dropped a powerful ring that raises your agility by 20 points." "or to sell it and split the earnings." "we put it to a vote." "The vote was 5-3 in favor of selling it." "so she could sell it to a broker." "she never came back." "Later on we learned that she had died." "I still don't know how." "No one would venture into the outer field with a rare item like that." "Could it be a sleep-PK?" "Six months ago would've been just before the method became popular." "But it's hard to believe it was a coincidence." "Griselda-san must've been attacked by a player who knew about the ring." "In other words..." "One of the other seven members of Golden Apple..." "Those opposed to selling it would be the most suspicious." "You mean they attacked Griselda-san to get the ring before it was sold?" "Probably." "Who's Grimlock-san?" "He was Griselda-san's husband." "though." "Griselda-san was a powerful swordswoman." "She was beautiful and smart." "Grimlock-san was a kind man who was always smiling." "and they loved each other." "he must be after the three who opposed selling the ring." "Two of the three were myself and Kains." "Then who's the other?" "A tank named Schmidt." "Divine Dragons Alliance." "Schmidt?" "I've heard of that name..." "He leads the Divine Dragons Alliance's defense forces." "He's a big lance-wielder." "him." "You know Schmidt?" "I've only seen him a few times when clearing bosses." "Could you arrange for me to meet with him?" "He probably hasn't heard about what happened." "And what happened to Kains could happen to him..." "Let's get a hold of Schmidt-san." "I know someone at the Divine Dragons Alliance." "maybe we can talk to him." "We should get Yoruko-san to an inn first." "Yoruko-san." "no matter what." "All right." "How do you think the inner area murder was carried out?" "I basically see three possibilities." "The first is through a legitimate duel." "The second is through a system exploit that combines various known methods." "that sounds about right." "And the third?" "Some unknown skill or item that bypasses the safety of inner areas." "the third possibility can't be it." "Why?" "It's unfair." "but SAO's rules are essentially fair." "I can't imagine this game allowing murders at inner areas." "Oh?" "Is it true that Kains was killed with Grimlock's weapon?" "It is." "Why would Kains be killed now?" "!" "Did he..." "Did he steal the ring?" "Was he the one who killed Griselda?" "Does Grimlock plan to kill all three of us who opposed selling the ring?" "Is he after you and me too?" "!" "It could be another member using a spear Grimlock-san made for him." "Or it could be Griselda-san's revenge..." "Only a ghost could possibly kill someone at an inner area." "thinking." "all of the members were responsible for her death!" "we never should've voted!" "We should've just let Griselda-san decide!" "Grimlock-san was the only one who suggested that we let Griselda-san decide." "He has the right to take revenge on the rest of us..." "To avenge Griselda-san..." "You're kidding me..." "You gotta be kidding me." "Why now?" "six months later?" "!" "Yoruko?" "Are you fine with being killed mysteriously like this?" "!" "Yoruko-san!"