SAO: A Day in the Life

Chapter 3

When we arrive at Mishe, Erika and I head off, leaving the other four to explore the town or whatever else they might want to do. Already wearing most of our gear, materializing my two-handed spear and Erika her one-handed sword and shield completes our list of necessary equipment before battle.

We walk toward the dungeon of choice, the Forest of Wandering, in silence for the first bit. Then Erika, who must have had these questions in her head all day, seems no longer able to resist asking:

"What do you think you might change, if you join the front lines? You're just one more player. How many are acutally fighting out of the seven thousand people still alive and in this game? Will you be a benefit to anyone but yourself and your self-esteem?"

I realize I have no answers for most of these questions, and the only one with which I do would only make my want to fight seem even more idiotic. There are maybe five hundred players in the front lines, and this number is only going to lower as more of them die and no one replaces them.

My silence, however, answers the questions and give even more information than I could offer verbally, and she sighs.

"Well, if it's what you want, then I can't leave you alone. I'll join you in the front lines, if you're so insistent on fighting for us idiots that really don't deserve it."

I didn't realize how alike the two of us thought before that, and pull her into a hug, muttering a quiet "thank you" into her ear. Then, now reaching the border of town and its protection, we pass through it, knowing that the outside world beyond the anti-crime code and the lack of orange and red players will, starting now, be a much larger part of our life than she or I previously thought.

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So, I lied. I guess. I made this chapter really short and it's been two weeks at least since my last chapter. School caused trouble, I ran out of ideas and I knew it would be near impossible to type 333 words a day with my extra-cirricular life, so as mentioned I officially gave up on JustWriteIt, and my 30 days ended a week or so ago anyway. The total is maybe (including A/N) between 2,500 and 2,750 words (not in the mood to do math), so I have my regrets for trying.

Also, this thing has turned into a bit of an experiment for me, because I don't know what kind of writing style suits me, particularly with chapter lengths. I've been trying to make chapters longer but the way I write is heavily inspired by James Patterson. (Particularly Maximum Ride series: chapters are 2-3 pages with 14 point font and 1.5 spacing.)

Anyway, as always, comment on typos or other things I can improve on. Thanks for reading! (I realize my note is half as long as my actual chapter... I'll try to fix that.)