Silver had spent days talking to every NPC he’d ever seen, hoping to stumble upon anything that could point him to the Christmas event.
He started on Floor 1: merchants, guards, innkeepers, restaurant servers. At first he asked directly, but the answers were always the same; generic, hollow lines, the kind you get when your question isn’t part of their script.
So he changed tactics.
He tried to talk.
In some cases he managed to coax out that “something might happen tonight.” In others, that “this season is special.” On Floor 7, an old woman mentioned that something could happen in the woods. But nothing was concrete enough to be useful.
Of all the places he’d visited with Yuiha, Orly was the one that had enchanted her the most: European-style architecture, elegant streets and plazas, and the constant music of a band playing for anyone who passed through.
Despite the late hour, NPCs still wandered the streets. Silver tried speaking to a few of them, but got nothing new.
He checked the time on his interface.
Time was running out, and desperation started to squeeze his chest. He sat on a bench and buried his face in his hands.
That was when he heard a gentle, sweet voice.
—Sir… would you like to buy a flower for your wife?
Silver looked up, startled.
A little girl stood in front of him; blonde braid, blue eyes. Too pretty. Too perfect to be real. It took him a second to process it.
Then he remembered.
She was the same girl who’d once asked him for help finding Sugar Princess, that demon pony that always seemed to look at him with contempt. She’d approached him again without triggering any quest prompt.
The girl watched him with an angelic smile and held out a white rose.
There were barely fifteen minutes left until midnight. He didn’t have time to trigger a side quest just to earn a little col.
He decided to brush her off.
—How do you know I have a wife? —he asked calmly, convinced an NPC couldn’t possibly answer something like that.
The girl met his eyes before she spoke.
—Because of the ring on your hand. And because I remember a very beautiful lady who was with you when you helped me.
The air caught in Silver’s throat.
It wasn’t strange for an NPC to remember the player who completed a quest—many quests had multiple stages with the same characters.
But he had never seen an NPC remember someone else. Never Yuiha. Never a party member.
He studied the girl.
There was no cursor above her head. She wasn’t a player. And she couldn’t have been older than seven. There was no way she’d survived alone up to this floor.
Silver reached out to pat her head.
Before he could touch her, a warning flashed in front of him.
He pulled his hand back immediately.
No doubt anymore. She was an NPC.
—What are you doing, sir? —the girl asked, genuinely curious.
—I’m sorry, little one. The flower is very pretty. I’ll buy it.
Her smile brightened as she took his payment and handed him the rose. Silver stored it in his inventory without looking at it.
He watched her skip away. Just before she disappeared into the streets, she turned back and spoke with a warmth that went straight through him.
—In the woods outside Gronning, there’s a giant tree that would look very beautiful decorated.
Then she continued on, vanishing into the city’s shadows.
Silver froze.
It took a few seconds for the words to settle.
Then he remembered what Argo had said.
“Under a tree.”
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
His heart began to pound. He didn’t know whether the girl meant the event… or something else entirely. But he had nothing else.
He sprang to his feet, sprinted to the portal, and vanished in a wash of blue light.
* * * * *
December 24, 2023. 11:49 p.m. — Gronning, Floor 35
Silver burst out of the Floor 35 portal at a run, nearly stumbling on the altar’s uneven edge.
He corrected his balance without slowing and kept going, straight out of the city.
Even in the dark, he could make out a tree in the forest that towered over the rest.
He unequipped everything and drank an agility potion to maximize his movement. Then he ran.
As he neared the tree, he heard voices. He stopped short, then slipped into cover.
And that was when he saw them.
Kirito… and Fuurinkazan.
Silver’s jaw clenched hard. He’d never fought another player, but he trusted his own skills and his ability to take punishment.
But Kirito… Kirito was on a different level. His DPS was terrifying. And if he truly wanted that resurrection item, he’d defend it with everything he had.
Silver couldn’t hear what they were saying, but he could see the worry on Klein’s face.
He knew the samurai was naturally laid-back. If Klein looked like that, something serious was happening.
Then two more parties emerged from the trees.
A rumor like “resurrection item” was enough to ignite greed. Argo had been right: this could get dangerous.
Silver watched the unthinkable happen. Klein shouted something at Kirito, and Kirito sprinted toward a portal that had just opened.
Fuurinkazan planted themselves in front of it and spread out like an unbreakable wall, ready to hold the line even outnumbered. Facing them were two parties from the front line.
That was when Silver remembered the days he’d been in a party with them.
How Klein had bragged—proud as anything—that he was “friends with the beater.”
And the way he’d shamelessly promised Miwa he’d protect Yuiha with his life, and his whole guild’s, if it ever came to that.
Silver had felt anger boil in his chest when he heard it. Saying something that serious so lightly, just to impress a girl, had felt like disrespect.
And yet… here they were now, katanas drawn, standing against one party from the Divine Dragon Alliance and another from Ancient Heroes, a smaller guild, but strong.
And what hurt Silver most was this:
Back then, they’d actually kept their promise.
Yuiha had returned safe that day.
He was the one who failed in the end.
The one who couldn’t protect her.
The one who couldn’t keep the promise of reaching the end of this world together.
His jaw tightened, pain and guilt surging back. He shook his head and looked at the ring on his hand.
I’m getting that item; even if I have to fight the entire front line. I swear it.
While the three parties clashed, the samurai didn’t budge. If anything, it was the other two groups that slowly began to give ground.
They wanted the item, no doubt. But Fuurinkazan looked willing to fight to the death, and the others weren’t willing to die just for a chance at reviving someone.
Silver watched Klein. When they first met, Silver had thought he was a clown. But seeing him handle two opponents and keep them pinned back forced Silver to admit the truth:
Klein was one of the best fighters on the front line.
Minutes passed before the battle finally broke. Both rival parties sheathed their weapons and retreated. The six samurai sank to the ground, exhausted, drinking potions.
Then the event portal’s light pulsed—and the Black Swordsman stepped out, holding an oval blue crystal that glowed faintly.
Silver stared at the crystal, eyes wide.
Kirito had gotten it.
Silver didn’t notice the boy’s face. Didn’t see his eyes; dull, empty, drained of hope.
—Kirito! Did you get it? —Klein asked.
Kirito didn’t answer. He simply tossed him the crystal.
—Use it on the next person you see die —he said, his voice hollow.
Fuurinkazan’s leader checked the item and his eyes flew open.
Kirito turned and started walking out of the forest. Klein tried to stop him, begged him not to go alone, begged him to stay with them.
But the Black Swordsman left without even looking back.
Klein watched him go in silence. Then he turned to signal his team to head back to the city.
—KLEIN!
A raw, tearing shout split the air.
Klein spun toward the sound and saw Silver a few meters away, gripping a broadsword. The blade trembled slightly. But when Klein met his eyes, he felt his chest tighten;
The same kind of desperation he’d seen in Kirito before the boy entered the event.
—Silver… —Klein murmured, stunned. There was nothing left of the energy Silver had carried months ago.
—GIVE ME THE RESURRECTION ITEM!
Klein heard him… and understood everything.
He glanced at his companions. One by one, they sheathed their weapons and walked toward Silver.
—STOP! GIVE ME THE DAMN ITEM!
Silver’s shout echoed through the forest.
The samurai reached him without drawing a blade.
Klein held out the hand with the item.
The massive sword slipped from Silver’s fingers and hit the snow. He took the crystal with shaking hands.
Klein placed a hand on his shoulder.
—I’m sorry… —he whispered, before walking away with his guild and leaving the woods.
Silver opened the item window. First, the name:
His heart surged like it never had before.
—It’s real… the item is real… —he whispered, hope flooding through him.
He scrolled down to the description.
Silver’s smile shattered along with his heart and his soul.
—No…
No.
—NO!
A sound tore out of him that didn’t even feel human. He collapsed to his knees in the snow; the crystal slipped from his hands and rolled to the side.
—No… —he sobbed.— I failed you, my love. I failed you.
— There had been a way to save you.
— And I didn’t make it in time.
Only then did the truth hit him at full force.
Yuiha was gone.
Forever.
Silver crumpled into the snow, crying like he never had in his life.