The Die is Cast (Sword Art Online x Male Reader)

Chapter 3: The Demon

(Y/n) = Your name

(P/n) = Player name

(S/c) = Skin color

(H/c) = Hair color

(F/c) = Favorite color

Third Person P.O.V

The day arrived for the frontline players to venture into the labyrinth and finally challenge the first-floor boss. Players from all around heard about this and held their breath. It was finally time to see if the game was truly beatable, and that they stood a chance to clear all one hundred-floor. Hope returned to the players who hid in the Town of Beginnings as several players made their way into the room that was once known as the Chamber of Resurrection, which is now called The Monument of Life. Since the first discovery of the enormous stone tablet with every player's name was engraved, many names have been crossed out and now, the players in the room looked at the names of the players who would be facing the first boss. And leaning against one of the pillars in the room was Argo as she stared at (P/n) name worriedly.

Argo: "..." she didn't say anything.

She was worried. This was the day she feared, the day where he enacts his "great" plan. She tried several times to make him reconsider, but he was hellbent on doing it. In his own words, there was no other way to achieve his goals. Of course, she was worried for his life, but that wasn't what worried her the most. She was worried about the terrible burden that he was about to hold.

Argo was probably the only person in all of Aincrad that knew (P/n) the best. His habits, his thoughts, his personality, his fears, and his secrets. Because of this, she knew that the burden that he's about to take on will break him and she knows that he's well aware that it as well. Stating that it was only right that he'd be the one to bear that burden. And no one can stop him. All she could do was be the role given to her, The Eyes and Ears.

Meanwhile, it took the frontline players a few hours to get ready before their raid was ready to venture up the labyrinth. It took some time before they reached the top floor due to the amount of stairs and floors they needed to climb. Now they were walking down the dark narrow hallway with the players in the front clearing the way. So most of the players walking had to deal with the sounds of combat echoing in the distance with the only source of light being the torches on the walls. This caused most of the players to become rather anxious about the whole situation they were about to get in. The thought of facing the boss monster was a scary one, what if they failed, what if they were all wiped out, what if the casualties were high, and would they be the one to die? To ease tension, the players would talk with one another to keep their nerve.

Walking in the back of the group of players was (P/n) looking through his stats and items with Kirito and Asuna following behind him. The day before, Kirito and Asuna trained against one another, and to Kirito's horror, Asuna was very similar to (P/n) when it came to combat. She was ruthless. Her thrusts were quick and precise, using anything to her advantage, her intelligence was frightening, and there was only one thing that she was better at both (P/n) and Kirito. 

While Kirito had the fastest reaction time and (P/n) having the fastest attack speed, Asuna had the fastest movement speed that both of them had seen. One minute, she could be standing ten feet from you, and the next thing you know it, the tip of her rapier is about to pierce your eye. Not only that but (P/n) was personally training her and Kirito could easily tell by the fact that her attack speed wasn't something to laugh at. 

However, that wasn't the only thing that made him compare Asuna to (P/n). It was her unwillingness to give up a fight the moment she loses. The moment she loses a fight, she would ask to go again repeatedly. In the beginning, he humored her until he continued to notice that she would get better and better with each fight until he realized why. Asuna not only learned from his rival but also learned one of his Outside System Skills. Insight.