“Excuse me, could we have a moment?” the man asked as I registered at the inn for that night. I looked up at the pair. It had been so long since anyone had talked to me that my mouth had momentarily forgotten how to speak, however; the man continued undeterred. “My name is Stern, and this my wife Sterra.”

“Umm, nice to meet you.” I managed to awkwardly reply before turning back to the innkeeper NPC. “I’m… Makku…”

Stern and Sterra looked at each other nervously before Stern spoke up again. “Makku. Would you care to join us for dinner tonight?”

My mouth had once again abandoned me, but my head managed a wary nod. Something like this had never happened to me before, and as such I was far too flustered to decline their offer. The couple’s eyes lit up as I agreed and excitedly told me to follow them outside.

They led me to a local restaurant. The only thing I had eaten since coming to Aincrad was the 1 col Black Bread. While, thankfully, Argo’s manuals had told of a quest that gave a cream as a reward that made the Black Bread palpable again, I had no clue how it compared to the other foods available. Sitting in the restaurant, I felt overwhelmed at all the options on the menu. Blindly I selected the first option that sounded interesting before turning back to the couple who had invited me out.

“So, Makku…” Sterra began. “Why is it that you’re fighting?”

My mouth had once again decided to abandon me as my rusty social interaction skills attempted to unravel the sudden abstract question.

“Ah! That is a silly question!” Sterra backtracked. “I mean, clearly everyone here is fighting for the same reason, to escape the game. It’s just, we saw you fighting out in the fields the other day and… you seemed to have a unique drive for someone still on the first floor.”

Stern put a hand on his wife’s shoulder as she let out an exasperated sigh.

“I believe what my wife means is, given your level, what encouraged you to start leveling up so seriously all of a sudden?” Stern asked Frankly.

I paused for a moment pondering how to respond. I had promised Argo that I wouldn’t let anyone else know I was a new player, but without that context, it was true that my actions seemed illogical. I had never been the greatest liar, but I couldn’t afford to let the truth slip out. I decided to compromise and aim for vagueness instead.

“I am looking for someone.” I responded.

“Who?” Stern asked intrigued.

“My… my sister.” I hesitated.

Stern and Sterra gave each other a troubled glance.

“Why would you wait until now to start looking for her?” Stern asked concerned.

It looked like I wasn’t going to escape this without some level of fibbing.

“I didn’t realize she had logged in until just recently.” I lied. “She doesn’t live with us while she’s attending college. I heard she wanted to play the game, but when I couldn’t find her on the launch day I breathed a sigh of relief thinking she had managed to avoid all this. Then a few weeks ago I saw her. I hesitated and missed my chance to call out to her, because I thought… I was just seeing things, but she was really here… fighting all by herself… and…” My voice cracked a little “ and I couldn’t help her.”

It was the greatest lie I had managed to tell in my life. I was unsure of when but at some point my real emotions seeped out through the fake ones and Sword Art Online’s emotion system had sent digital tears streaming down my face. I looked up in surprise as I felt two warm arms wrap tightly around me.

“It’s okay, you didn’t know.” Sterra comforted hugging me closely.

A firm hand landed on my shoulder as Stern stood beside me glancing around awkwardly, clearly struggling with what to say.

“You can’t blame yourself for not doing what you couldn’t.” He said in the most stoic voice he could muster. “It’s about doing what you can do that matters.”

The NPC waitress arrived with our food and Sterra and Stern returned to their seats.

“These are two seem like good people.” I thought to myself as the couple shifted awkwardly trying to think of what to say next.

“Say, Makku?” Sterra finally spoke up. “Do you ever get tired of trying to level up alone?”

I raised an eyebrow in suspicion which once again flustered Sterra.

“Ah! It’s just that you can take on larger enemies in a group, and we can watch out for each other as well. Plus the more people looking for your sister the faster you’ll be able to find her right?”

Stern let out a hearty laugh.

“I believe what my wife is trying to say is that if you want help in your quest to find your sister, we would be more than willing to help!”

Sterra looked up at Stern with a loving smile, which Stern returned with proud grin.

They both seemed to be good people, and they were right about the limits I was facing working alone. But at the same time, could I be sure that I could trust them? Something about the atmosphere of this game made me reluctant to trust people. If something seemed too good to be true it probably was.

“Ah! It’s not all one sided!” Stern added almost as if he could read my mind. “We benefit from this deal as well! See, we may not have the courage to fight on the front lines like the clearers, but we still want to help! That’s why Sterra and I have been working to gather materials that can repair armor, craft healing potions, and more. But there’s a limit to what we can do with just two people. And with your stealth abilities I’d imagine you could make an excellent scout!”

“What level is your hiding at if I could ask Makku?” Sterra asked.

“Sterra! You know it’s rude to ask about a players’ skills!” Stern scolded, but I put up a hand to assure him that it was alright. If I was to party up with these two, it only made sense they’d want to know what I was capable of.

Opening my menu I checked my skills window.

“I apparently have a ninety eight in hiding and a forty eight in sneaking.” I replied reading off the window. “I also have a seventy three in acrobatics in case you were interested.”

Stern and Sterra both nearly jumped out of their chairs wide eyed.

“Umm… How long exactly have you been leveling for?” Sterra asked attempting to recover her composure.

I thought for a moment. The concept of day and night had seemed to have lost meaning to me as of late. I slept when I was too exhausted to move anymore. I ate when I was too hungry to ignore it anymore. I didn’t really pay attention to how many days had passed since I arrived in Aincrad.

“I’m… not really sure.” I admitted reluctantly. “I first log— started leveling up on September 9th, so probably about two months now? Maybe a few days more.”

Stern and Sterra fell back in their chairs defeated.

“Umm, how can I put this.” Stern exclaimed. “You’re… kind of amazing Makku.”

We finished our meals and then we parted ways. Stern and Sterra offered a room at their house several floors up, but I declined as I didn’t want to intrude on their hospitality any longer, nor did I want to waste the rent I just paid for my room at the inn. We agreed to meet at the teleport plaza first thing in the morning and then said our goodbyes.

I caught myself smiling as I waved goodbye to the kind couple. I had only been with them for a few hours so far but, it felt nice having someone to talk to again.

Finding myself alone in the plaza, and quite exhausted from the last two days of grinding, I returned to the inn for some well deserved rest.