"We're finally going out again~"
"Don't overreact, it's not even a week since our last hang out."
Right now, Shiro has a company beside him. She examined the huge lake with great interest like it's her first time seeing one - it really is her first.
This is a novel experience to Strea, after all.
As to where they are heading?
"Oh~ A log cabin!"
"Guess that I'm right, then."
"Right about what?"
"You'll see."
With a smile, he asked her to knock in the door while Shiro hid behind her.
Knock-! Knock-!
"There's no response."
"It's still early in the morning. Wait for a bit..."
Five seconds later, the doorknob was opened. He wore a set of black t-shirt and black pajamas while his eyes are still sleepy. Of course, his face is familiar to those belonging to the clearers.
It is none other than the anime's protagonist and fake harem protagonist, Kirito.
"Who is it..?"
"Uhm..."
"We meet again, Kirito-kun."
The moment Shiro undid his stealth and appeared behind Strea, his sleepy eyes is no longer. He immediately gestured to grab his sword behind his back reflexively.
"Woah, we come here with no harm." Shiro replied.
Meanwhile, Strea was stunned for a second upon witnessing what is happening. Confused, she asked, "Shiro, who is he?"
"Well... You'll find out soon."
Shiro is right on the mark as Kirito stopped the gesture. Being just as confused as Strea, he asked, "Who are you..?"
"You never recognize this voice?"
As if recalling something, his eyes widened before looking straight at his face under the hood.
Even though it greatly obstructed his vision, Kirito can tell from the lower half of his face that the player standing in front of him is someone with peerless appearance.
Meaning, he couldn't have gotten anonymous with it! Unless...
"You're the White Hero?!"
"Bingo."
Whilst shocked, a small figure approached from inside the house.
"Papa, what's wrong?"
The child behind Kirito has waist-length black hair and black eyes. She wore a long-sleeved pale pink sweater and a purple skirt, making her cuteness reach new heights.
Upon seeing this "child", Strea became just as stunned as Kirito. She froze in place, her eyes widened in shock. The moment she broke on that stupor, she smiled brighter than ever.
"Nee-san..!"
Kirito thought that Strea is about to lunge down to Yui and was about to protect the latter when she saw that she simply hugged her.
"Nee-san, we finally met again..!"
*****
"Want some sweets?"
Shiro popped a huge cake in the table upon asking this.
"Papa, can I?"
"Uhh... Sure, feel free to eat."
"Un!" She looked at the beautiful man in front of her and said, "Thank you, mister!"
He smiled at the cute little girl opposite of him before Asuna helped her have a slice of cake.
"For the proper introduction, I am Shiro, a member of NEXUS."
"I'm Strea, Yui nee-chan's younger sister! Oh, I'm also a part of their group."
The two beside Yui, Kirito and Asuna, absorbed this important piece of information quietly. Soon, Asuna is the first one to ask a question.
"You're her younger sister, right?"
"Un! That's right!"
"Why is Yui... this small?"
Due to the synchronization, everyone's appearance should look the same as real life, yet there's a legal loli here. It's not that Asuna doesn't believe her, it's just that hard to believe that they're related given their difference in size and appearance.
It didn't make any sense with common logic.
"Ah, that? It's because we're born in this world!"
""Eh?""
Dumbfounded, they could only exclaim. A few seconds later, they caught up to that explanation of hers. Thankfully, Strea isn't done with explaining yet.
"I, no, we are the mental health programs designed by Argus."
"Mental health programs?! The AIs responsible for monitoring a player's physical and mental health while gaming?"
"You're right~!"
As a beta tester, Kirito knew more about SAO than other normal players. One of them is the top-down AI that Argus specifically made just for this game.
With their supervision, the players can be forced to log out once their mental health is deemed unsuitable for playing the game. Of course, they might also function as a psychologist to try lessen their mental health problems.
Minutes had gone by with Strea explaining the general gist of their situation. The things about Yui's and Strea's suffering, Cardinal, and so on are some of what she told them.
"It makes sense now... Why she would appear in the forest alone."
"Yui..."
Though they have different responses to it, one thing remained the same: Their concern for Yui.
"How can we help her?" Kirito is the first one to ask this question, showing how he got attached to this little girl in a span of a few days.
"Hm... We can have two ways regarding this."
Surprisingly, Shiro is the one who said that. This further cemented Kirito and Asuna's guesses of him being an insider in the company; or at least have a better computer skills than most.
"The first way is the GM Console that Strea had told me."
"GM... Console?"
"Yup, it exists in the hidden dungeon beneath the Black Iron Palace." Strea said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"A hidden dungeon?!"
His shock is understandable since no one knew that there's such a high-levelled dungeon right below the beginner's town!
"The second way is to threaten 'it'."
"What's 'it'?" Asuna asked, firm resolution can be seen in her eyes.
"The Cardinal System."
"The what?"
"The game's administrator?"
Kirito and Asuna asked consecutively.
"That's right." Shiro said so with a smile. "That's how Strea got her freedom in the first place."
"But how?"
Even for Kirito, what Shiro had just said doesn't make any sense.
"How did it work? I broke the game's balance."
"Ah."
Recalling their precise skills, he now knew how it worked. Cardinal is a management system that sometimes has some limitations, thus if one can exploit one of its loophole, he'll be in the even grounds with it!
Of course, this is nigh impossible to do; only players like Shiro can make it be like that.
"Though, I recommend the first one since it'll be relatively easier than the second one."
Looking at Yui who's happily eating her share of strawberry cake, the couple made their resolve to help her whatever it takes.
"What do we need to face?"
"Nothing much, just some miscellaneous frog monsters that might disgust you. Oh, and a level 100 dungeon boss."
*****
Fact #34: In Arknights' canon, there had been only 3 types of eldritch abomination that got introduced. One is the Seaborn's genesezoics (Queen in the Hive), Ishar-mla the tentacle monster. The second is the Foehn Hotland monsters (I imagined it as Balrogs). Lastly is the ones in the northern part of Terra which is being fought against by the Emperor's Blades and the Sami guards. There wasn't any other mentions other than these, thus you can expect that anyone other than this is a fic.
"We're finally going out again~"
"Don't overreact, it's not even a week since our last hang out."
Right now, Shiro has a company beside him. She examined the huge lake with great interest like it's her first time seeing one - it really is her first.
This is a novel experience to Strea, after all.
As to where they are heading?
"Oh~ A log cabin!"
"Guess that I'm right, then."
"Right about what?"
"You'll see."
With a smile, he asked her to knock in the door while Shiro hid behind her.
Knock-! Knock-!
"There's no response."
"It's still early in the morning. Wait for a bit..."
Five seconds later, the doorknob was opened. He wore a set of black t-shirt and black pajamas while his eyes are still sleepy. Of course, his face is familiar to those belonging to the clearers.
It is none other than the anime's protagonist and fake harem protagonist, Kirito.
"Who is it..?"
"Uhm..."
"We meet again, Kirito-kun."
The moment Shiro undid his stealth and appeared behind Strea, his sleepy eyes is no longer. He immediately gestured to grab his sword behind his back reflexively.
"Woah, we come here with no harm." Shiro replied.
Meanwhile, Strea was stunned for a second upon witnessing what is happening. Confused, she asked, "Shiro, who is he?"
"Well... You'll find out soon."
Shiro is right on the mark as Kirito stopped the gesture. Being just as confused as Strea, he asked, "Who are you..?"
"You never recognize this voice?"
As if recalling something, his eyes widened before looking straight at his face under the hood.
Even though it greatly obstructed his vision, Kirito can tell from the lower half of his face that the player standing in front of him is someone with peerless appearance.
Meaning, he couldn't have gotten anonymous with it! Unless...
"You're the White Hero?!"
"Bingo."
Whilst shocked, a small figure approached from inside the house.
"Papa, what's wrong?"
The child behind Kirito has waist-length black hair and black eyes. She wore a long-sleeved pale pink sweater and a purple skirt, making her cuteness reach new heights.
Upon seeing this "child", Strea became just as stunned as Kirito. She froze in place, her eyes widened in shock. The moment she broke on that stupor, she smiled brighter than ever.
"Nee-san..!"
Kirito thought that Strea is about to lunge down to Yui and was about to protect the latter when she saw that she simply hugged her.
"Nee-san, we finally met again..!"
*****
"Want some sweets?"
Shiro popped a huge cake in the table upon asking this.
"Papa, can I?"
"Uhh... Sure, feel free to eat."
"Un!" She looked at the beautiful man in front of her and said, "Thank you, mister!"
He smiled at the cute little girl opposite of him before Asuna helped her have a slice of cake.
"For the proper introduction, I am Shiro, a member of NEXUS."
"I'm Strea, Yui nee-chan's younger sister! Oh, I'm also a part of their group."
The two beside Yui, Kirito and Asuna, absorbed this important piece of information quietly. Soon, Asuna is the first one to ask a question.
"You're her younger sister, right?"
"Un! That's right!"
"Why is Yui... this small?"
Due to the synchronization, everyone's appearance should look the same as real life, yet there's a legal loli here. It's not that Asuna doesn't believe her, it's just that hard to believe that they're related given their difference in size and appearance.
It didn't make any sense with common logic.
"Ah, that? It's because we're born in this world!"
""Eh?""
Dumbfounded, they could only exclaim. A few seconds later, they caught up to that explanation of hers. Thankfully, Strea isn't done with explaining yet.
"I, no, we are the mental health programs designed by Argus."
"Mental health programs?! The AIs responsible for monitoring a player's physical and mental health while gaming?"
"You're right~!"
As a beta tester, Kirito knew more about SAO than other normal players. One of them is the top-down AI that Argus specifically made just for this game.
With their supervision, the players can be forced to log out once their mental health is deemed unsuitable for playing the game. Of course, they might also function as a psychologist to try lessen their mental health problems.
Minutes had gone by with Strea explaining the general gist of their situation. The things about Yui's and Strea's suffering, Cardinal, and so on are some of what she told them.
"It makes sense now... Why she would appear in the forest alone."
"Yui..."
Though they have different responses to it, one thing remained the same: Their concern for Yui.
"How can we help her?" Kirito is the first one to ask this question, showing how he got attached to this little girl in a span of a few days.
"Hm... We can have two ways regarding this."
Surprisingly, Shiro is the one who said that. This further cemented Kirito and Asuna's guesses of him being an insider in the company; or at least have a better computer skills than most.
"The first way is the GM Console that Strea had told me."
"GM... Console?"
"Yup, it exists in the hidden dungeon beneath the Black Iron Palace." Strea said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"A hidden dungeon?!"
His shock is understandable since no one knew that there's such a high-levelled dungeon right below the beginner's town!
"The second way is to threaten 'it'."
"What's 'it'?" Asuna asked, firm resolution can be seen in her eyes.
"The Cardinal System."
"The what?"
"The game's administrator?"
Kirito and Asuna asked consecutively.
"That's right." Shiro said so with a smile. "That's how Strea got her freedom in the first place."
"But how?"
Even for Kirito, what Shiro had just said doesn't make any sense.
"How did it work? I broke the game's balance."
"Ah."
Recalling their precise skills, he now knew how it worked. Cardinal is a management system that sometimes has some limitations, thus if one can exploit one of its loophole, he'll be in the even grounds with it!
Of course, this is nigh impossible to do; only players like Shiro can make it be like that.
"Though, I recommend the first one since it'll be relatively easier than the second one."
Looking at Yui who's happily eating her share of strawberry cake, the couple made their resolve to help her whatever it takes.
"What do we need to face?"
"Nothing much, just some miscellaneous frog monsters that might disgust you. Oh, and a level 100 dungeon boss."
*****
Fact #34: In Arknights' canon, there had been only 3 types of eldritch abomination that got introduced. One is the Seaborn's genesezoics (Queen in the Hive), Ishar-mla the tentacle monster. The second is the Foehn Hotland monsters (I imagined it as Balrogs). Lastly is the ones in the northern part of Terra which is being fought against by the Emperor's Blades and the Sami guards. There wasn't any other mentions other than these, thus you can expect that anyone other than this is a fic.
