[Wilhelm POV]
I reappeared in what looked like the middle of a town decked with renaissance-style architecture. This town is Arc Sophia, and this was to be our base of operations for the next little while. This is because of that below-75th-floor-no-go glitch that I mentioned earlier.
Me - Looks like I'm back.
I dusted myself off a bit and did a little test with the teleport gate to see if I could get back to the Hollow Area since I need to have that access if I want to help Philia in the future. Luckily, it seemed that I could go there.
Me - Thank the lord. Looks like I can head back any time.
I then headed away from the teleport gate and sat on a bench just nearby. At this point, it was pretty late in the day, as evident by the fact that the sun was starting to set, so I figured that I'd go back to the inn, eat dinner, hit the hay, and maybe do a little bit of training in the morning. However, I began thinking about Philia, and as such, started monologuing to myself.
Me - Philia truly is very interesting, not to mention she's quite beautiful. But I don't understand something; she has this orange cursor, but I don't think she'd be the type to kill another player; I just know it. I just need to figure out a way to help her somehow. But how?
But before I could think of anything else, I heard a voice emanating from the streets nearby.
??? - Will!!!
Me - I know that voice...
The voice belonged to Leafa, which, if you had been paying attention, was one of the girls that had accidentally been sent here. However, she wasn't alone; she was accompanied by a girl in pigtails, who I immediately recognized as Silica.
Silica - Will!
Leafa - Th-thank goodness!
Me - What's up? You two seem a bit panicked.
Silica - We lost your location info, Will! And you were gone for such a long time. I-I...
Leafa - I-I'm so glad to see you. I was really... I thought...
Oh... that's right. I was MIA the whole day from my teleportation stunt and didn't even realize. Which reminds me: what's Asuna going to say about my absence, considering that I'm a KoB member? Surely, I'd get a talking to for going AWOL on her.
Me - It's okay, you two. The most important thing is that I'm alive. Even if I died, the Monument of Life would have... said...
I then remembered that the Monument of Life was on the 1st floor, part of that aforementioned no-go zone. As a bit of context, the Monument of Life lists all the players in SAO, and any dead players have their names crossed out. But now that we can't go down there, we'd have no idea of who's dead or will be dead going forward.
Me - Oh yeah... I forgot. We can't go down there, can we?
??? - Will!!!
Me - Oh no...
Remember how I mentioned Asuna a minute ago? Well, there she was. Kirito and Yui also accompanied her, the former being one of my best buds and the latter being their adopted daughter. However, I knew for sure that I'd get the scolding of a lifetime, but what surprised me was Asuna's expression. She had a look of worry instead of the expected face of anger, considering that I wasn't at my post for the past few hours. She began touching and examining me all over to ensure that I wasn't too badly hurt.
Asuna - A-are you... Have you... Are you okay?
Me - I'm fine. And before you ask, yes, I know I've probably missed an assignment today from my disappearance, and I am deeply sorry.
YOU ARE READING
The Hollow Swordsman
ActionArc 1 - Hollow With only 25 floors remaining in the floating castle of Aincrad, Wilhelm, also known as Will, suddenly finds himself in an unknown area normally sealed off to players known as the Hollow Area. In doing so, he meets a girl named Philia...
