Kaiyaga walked into the large central room of the inn. He looked around it for a moment, taking in the scenery, and savoring the sweet smell of tobacco. There was a lightheartedness about the inn that he now stood in, and he gave a pleased smile at the nonchalant way in which the players were spending their morning.
Like many online games, SAO had a polar opposite community to it. There were some players that were content to hold a shop, play the game for the fun of it, and waste their days away chatting with friends in inn’s and bars. Then, there were players like the Crestfallen guild; hardcore MLG’ers that were more focused on becoming and staying the best. Crestfallen was far from the only guild that had this sort of reputation, though they were one of the top guilds in the “Pro Circuit”.
Kaiyaga didn’t belong to either of these classifications. He was not so absent minded as to be able to flit way the day doing nothing but chatting or quests, but neither was he so devoted that he could be considered a legendary player in SAO. That didn’t mean that he was unskilled in combat, or that he didn’t know the lore, he just wasn’t concerned with becoming the top parser on the server, or being part of a guild that dominated in every event they entered.
He generally preferred to keep things light, though the past week had been no sort of reflection on this preference. He had spent the last eight days following a player named Hiroku, and though it had been difficult at times to keep up with the strange man, he had not found any great challenge in the task. At least this was what he told anyone who would have asked. In truth, it had been one of the most challenging things he had done in a long time. The player that he had been tasked to follow was extremely powerful and resourceful, having detection skills that were far above anything he would normally expect to encounter. There were numerous times that he barely escaped detection, one event of which had nearly been the death of him.
Still, he had managed the task fine, and when finally the time was right, his employer had instructed him to deliver a message. He had taken no small amount of care in choosing the perfect place and time. The news that he was to relay was likely to be very stunning and shocking to the intended recipient, and there was no telling how he would react. For this reason, he had chosen to reach out to him in the middle of town. It was impossible for one player to PK another inside a safe area, and the Town of Beginnings was just such a place.
Every move, from the way in which he had spoken to Hiroku, to the words that he used, and the places he went after the fact had been carefully planned out. It wasn’t that he was afraid that Hiroku would attack him; he wouldn’t have given his name out if that had been the case. He was more concerned that the news would not have the desired effect.
Kaiyaga had been hired by a guild named Caveat. It was a secretive and relatively unknown group of players, but the pay had been excellent, and seeing that the guild master was an old acquaintance of his, he couldn’t refuse the job. Still, it had been more work that he had originally anticipated, and the time commitment had been far more stringent than he had budgeted for. He had several other jobs that he was supposed to see to, and though he was doing this as more of a personal favor to Caveat’s guild master, Shiro, it still weighed on his mind.
The prospect of following a player, writing a report on their actions and patterns, and delivering a message had seemed like an easy paycheck initially, but he had soon come to realize that Hiroku never logged off the game. No matter what, the account never went offline at any point. Occasionally, he noticed that Hiroku would go into an inn and spend several hours there asleep, but he would then return to the game as though it was the real world.
Just a few hours ago, he had finally collected enough data and been able to relay the message, thereby fulfilling the terms of the contract. The relief had been profound as he pressed the send option on the message alerting his contact that the job was done. Dread had returned, however, when the response came back with another job, and a reward that was larger still that the previous payout. It had been no question of whether or not he would take it, and so he didn’t even bother sending a message to confirm acceptance.
The orders within the mail had stated that he was to head to an inn in the Town of Beginnings where he would meet up with another contact. This was another member of Caveat, and one with which had had previous dealings.
As he now stood in the inn, he looked out over the throngs of people that were enjoying the music and drinks of the tavern like interior, once again taking note of the pleasant aroma. His eyes eventually fell upon a table in the back of the room. A single figure sat, and he made his way causally over to the table, sitting down and leaning his elbow upon the water soaked wood.
“Heya, Eve. How’ve ya been?”
Like many online games, SAO had a polar opposite community to it. There were some players that were content to hold a shop, play the game for the fun of it, and waste their days away chatting with friends in inn’s and bars. Then, there were players like the Crestfallen guild; hardcore MLG’ers that were more focused on becoming and staying the best. Crestfallen was far from the only guild that had this sort of reputation, though they were one of the top guilds in the “Pro Circuit”.
Kaiyaga didn’t belong to either of these classifications. He was not so absent minded as to be able to flit way the day doing nothing but chatting or quests, but neither was he so devoted that he could be considered a legendary player in SAO. That didn’t mean that he was unskilled in combat, or that he didn’t know the lore, he just wasn’t concerned with becoming the top parser on the server, or being part of a guild that dominated in every event they entered.
He generally preferred to keep things light, though the past week had been no sort of reflection on this preference. He had spent the last eight days following a player named Hiroku, and though it had been difficult at times to keep up with the strange man, he had not found any great challenge in the task. At least this was what he told anyone who would have asked. In truth, it had been one of the most challenging things he had done in a long time. The player that he had been tasked to follow was extremely powerful and resourceful, having detection skills that were far above anything he would normally expect to encounter. There were numerous times that he barely escaped detection, one event of which had nearly been the death of him.
Still, he had managed the task fine, and when finally the time was right, his employer had instructed him to deliver a message. He had taken no small amount of care in choosing the perfect place and time. The news that he was to relay was likely to be very stunning and shocking to the intended recipient, and there was no telling how he would react. For this reason, he had chosen to reach out to him in the middle of town. It was impossible for one player to PK another inside a safe area, and the Town of Beginnings was just such a place.
Every move, from the way in which he had spoken to Hiroku, to the words that he used, and the places he went after the fact had been carefully planned out. It wasn’t that he was afraid that Hiroku would attack him; he wouldn’t have given his name out if that had been the case. He was more concerned that the news would not have the desired effect.
Kaiyaga had been hired by a guild named Caveat. It was a secretive and relatively unknown group of players, but the pay had been excellent, and seeing that the guild master was an old acquaintance of his, he couldn’t refuse the job. Still, it had been more work that he had originally anticipated, and the time commitment had been far more stringent than he had budgeted for. He had several other jobs that he was supposed to see to, and though he was doing this as more of a personal favor to Caveat’s guild master, Shiro, it still weighed on his mind.
The prospect of following a player, writing a report on their actions and patterns, and delivering a message had seemed like an easy paycheck initially, but he had soon come to realize that Hiroku never logged off the game. No matter what, the account never went offline at any point. Occasionally, he noticed that Hiroku would go into an inn and spend several hours there asleep, but he would then return to the game as though it was the real world.
Just a few hours ago, he had finally collected enough data and been able to relay the message, thereby fulfilling the terms of the contract. The relief had been profound as he pressed the send option on the message alerting his contact that the job was done. Dread had returned, however, when the response came back with another job, and a reward that was larger still that the previous payout. It had been no question of whether or not he would take it, and so he didn’t even bother sending a message to confirm acceptance.
The orders within the mail had stated that he was to head to an inn in the Town of Beginnings where he would meet up with another contact. This was another member of Caveat, and one with which had had previous dealings.
As he now stood in the inn, he looked out over the throngs of people that were enjoying the music and drinks of the tavern like interior, once again taking note of the pleasant aroma. His eyes eventually fell upon a table in the back of the room. A single figure sat, and he made his way causally over to the table, sitting down and leaning his elbow upon the water soaked wood.
“Heya, Eve. How’ve ya been?”
