Looking For Something Real (Sword Art Online)

22. Extra Edition

Chapter 22- July 24th 2025 "Extra Edition"

SAO Survivors School Hostel

It was 9pm evening and I was just finishing up a report for my language class. I was determined to get as much in the way of homework assignments done at the beginning of the summer holidays as possible so that I could spend more time with Liz.

As I typed up the last sentence I leaned back with a long sigh. One down 11 to go. I thought to myself as I recalled the various projects I still had to complete. But I had to get all that work done if I wanted to graduate in two years.

However between my part time job at the electronics store and all this homework sucking up my time, me and Liz getting to spend time together was already seeming further and further away.

As I looked through the rest of my assignments my phone began to ring. To my surprise it was Asuna calling at such a late hour. I accepted the call.

"Hey Asuna."

"Hey Tyzn, sorry to call so late."

"It's not a problem, I was just finishing up a report for school. What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I was just calling to see if you were free tomorrow."

"I have work tomorrow afternoon but I'm free in the evening. What did you have in mind?"

"Well Yui wants to see a whale" Asuna said with a chuckle. "Kirito heard a rumour that there is a quest in ALO which has a whale in it and promised Yui we would try to do it. I was wondering if you wanted to help."

"Of course, I'm in."

"Thanks Tyzn, its gonna make Yui so happy!"

"What time are we meeting in ALO then?"

"Around 8:30 at Thule Island."

"Ok I'll be there."

"Thanks again Tyzn, it means a lot to us that you would help Yui like this."

"Of course, any time Asuna."

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The following day came around and the time at work seemed to drag on and on. I didn't know if it was just the work or the fact that all I could think about was the chance to see Liz later.

At around lunchtime I received a text from Liz explaining all the fun they were having teaching Suguha to swim and calling me a "Nerd" for not going along too.

These texts were shortly followed by a picture of Liz in her swimsuit while she looked sultry into the camera. The swimsuit certainly didn't leave much to the imagination, showing off her sexy legs and cleavage. It certainly didn't help me concentrate.

However I eventually managed to regain my composure and make it to the end of my shift. Unfortunately the store was still busy so it took me a while before I could slip away to head home. It was lucky that Kirito and I had recently got our motorbikes which helped with getting home faster, but I still arrived back at the dorms later than I would have liked. As I came hurtling through my rooms door I checked the time on my phone.

8:12!

"Shit!" I said to myself as I grabbed my AmuSphere, hurriedly placed it onto my head and said "Link Start".

As soon as I was logged in I set off at top speed towards the south and Thule Island. To avoid the Legrue Corridor I swung by the Butterfly Valley which would save time on the trip. It was a good thing that Leafa had been giving me flying lessons lately as it had massively increased my speed.

As I approached the Island the readout on the AmuSphere indicated that it was already 8:34 in real time. I felt bad for arriving late but at least I wasn't too far behind. I noticed four players in the water near a beach and could make out the bright pink hair of Lisbeth even from this distance.

Knowing that she was also here already made me smile as I hurtled down toward the beach and landed hard in front of a parasol set up nearby. As the sand fell back to the ground I saw Klein and Kirito laying on some beach chairs looking shocked at my sudden arrival.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late." The two continued to stare at me with exacerbated looks on their faces.

From behind me I heard a familiar voice shout out "Hey dummy what took you so long?" I turned around to see Liz in the water waving her arms at me. She had a rather exotic looking bikini on which left me speechless.

It was exposing far more than her IRL swimsuit did. It was that which made me realise how closely Lisbeth resembled Rika's body shape in the real world, in fact the only discernable difference that I could see was the ears and hair colour of the avatar.

I gave her a timid wave back when suddenly she was hit with a water breath attack from Pina and sent toppling back into the sea. I couldn't help but laugh as I watched the girls all splash around in the water, yet my eyes were constantly glued to Liz.

Klein and Kirito were discussing the quest and what we were likely to find but I was too distracted by the warm sun and fresh seaside breeze to know what they were saying, I had been cooped up indoors most of the day after all. Eventually Klein jumped up. "Let's hit this!" he shouted "Hey guys, it's time we start saddling up for the quest!"

The girls all made their way up to the beach as myself and Kirito equipped our gear and discussed the difficulties we could face with fighting underwater. Klein just stood there and after exchanging some words with the girls as they passed he fell to his knees, I have no idea why. Kirito went on to explain to everyone about our objective to spot a whale and we all flew out over the ocean.

Whilst flying along Liz took my hand in hers and squeezed it tight. Glancing in her direction I saw her giving me a big smile. "Glad you could make it hero! You enjoy the picture I sent you?" She asked with a wink.

"Yeah, kinda made it hard to work though" I smiled back making Liz snigger and her smile grow wider.

"You perv!" she giggled out "Don't go showing that around, that's for your eyes only!"

I felt my face grow a little flushed as embarrassment crept in. "Errrr... I wouldn't do that anyway" I replied timidly.

Liz giggled some more and despite my embarrassment I still couldn't help but smile back at her, the way she could do that was one of the reasons I liked... no loved... her so much.

I could feel an urge to just blurt out my confession of love right then but a fear and anxiety took hold freezing my mouth before I could.

Authors note: Much like back in the 'End of the World' Chapter, I'm not going to recount everything as it happens in the anime and at this point there is very little I could add or change about how it plays out either, other than substituting Tyzn for Agil in events as they unfold.

Also there are very few opportunities for Tyzn and Liz to get any character development in during the quest.

For this reason I'm going to leave this chapter off here, but the next chapter will be an original story I promise. :D