Sword Art Online Gameverse x Reader

Chapter 117: Sinon, what ails you so?

13th December, 2024 (7 days before the Raid Team reached Floor 77)

*SLASH* *SLASH* *SLASH* *SHATTER!*

Y/N: "Well done Sinon! Being able to beat a Named Monster as easily as you did completely by yourself is pretty great! And you've only been training in this Hollow Area for a little while still!"

Sinon: "Hmmm... thanks, I guess. It still doesn't feel right though, using a dagger that is..."

Y/N: "Well, I mean we can try going through the other weapons again if you want? You haven't levelled up any of your weapon skills yet after all, so it's not too much a headache to swap your weapon of choice... although..."

Sinon: "Although...?"

Y/N: "Maybe its that you haven't specced into any of the weapons that is the problem? I can't imagine fighting these higher-levelled mobs without any combat skills will feel that great."

Sinon: "Hmmm... I just, I'm just too close to the monsters I think. I'd like more range, but I just couldn't get the hang of using a spear."

Y/N: "Well, we still have probably another three months at least of being in Aincrad before they clear the game. So we have some time to figure that out still-"

Sinon: "-It's just so frustrating! Does nobody else have these problems... or is it just me? Am I... Am I broken?"

Y/N: "No... no, I don't think you're broken. You're just late to the party is all. I never had that problem, but that's because of the way I started playing and how much I wanted to get strong back then..."

Sinon: "You wanted to be strong back then?"

Y/N: "w-Wouldn't everyone...? It was right at the beginning of SAO, just after it was announced to be a death game. I went from enjoying my time out in the Field like it was a game to instead fighting to get as strong as I could... it's been a while since those days though, I can't really remember the exact reasoning now... but I know that if I wasn't as strong as I was I wouldn't have been added to the friend's list of any of the friends I have today."

Sinon: "Really?"

Y/N: "Yeah, I mean: Argo added me because I was the highest level player at the beginning of the game and that was good for intel-gathering, Asuna and Kirito added me to keep an eye on me as I was soloing a lot of dangerous stuff, I wouldn't have been able to save Silica from the bullies if I didn't have the equipment to intimidate them, Philia and Rain I helped out in Dungeon encounters, I never would have met Agil and Klein if I wasn't in all the Boss Raids, and Lux... Lux would have died if I didn't-... if I wasn't strong enough to protect her."

Sinon: "Huh... What about Lisbeth?"

Y/N: "Well, she added me because I had quite a high blacksmithing level, and she wanted to get into that area of expertise. So it was because I had a high-levelled skill still... and a couple hours after that I had to defend her from a Boss monster alone, if I wasn't as high a level as I was then we'd both be dead. I don't think I-... n-no, never mind me..."

Sinon: "... huh."

Y/N: "What's up Sinon?"

Sinon: "Nothing, just... I always imagined that the stronger you get the less people you would need around you. But... I suppose it's less that they're around you and more that they're... following you?"

Y/N: "Yeah... that's how it feels sometimes... and sometimes I can't help but wonder... what would my life have been like, if I didn't fight to be as strong as I was... if I hid in that first town like some of the others did?"