IF THIS QUEST, THE “JADE KEY,” HAD DEVELOPED AS IT happened in the beta, the following should have occurred.
Whether we allied with the forest elf or the dark elf, ultimately both would end up dead. The elf we sided with would remain alive for a few seconds extra, long enough to say, “Deliver this key to such and such,” before perishing. The such and such being either the forest elf base on the north end of the woods or the dark elf base to the south. Once the bodies had vanished, a small bag of sewn leaves would be left behind, containing a large and beautiful key carved of green stone.
At that point, of course, the player was to take the key to the northern or southern camp; they could sell it at an NPC shop if they wished, but that would permanently prevent them from finishing the quest. If properly delivered without falling into temptation, the commander at the elf base would part with a special reward and the initiation of the next quest.
But I had no idea there was a different branching pathway in the quest, one in which the elf ally survived the battle. If I didn’t know it, no one else did—even Argo. We had to expect a totally new and unfamiliar story ahead.
A short distance away from me, Asuna, and the still-silent dark elf Kizmel, the forest elf’s body disappeared with a brief crackle. We received considerable amounts of experience and col, along with a couple rare items, but I didn’t have time to check that now.
A familiar bag of leaves was lying on the ground where the forest elf’s body had been. Abandoned items had to be claimed soon, before they disappeared into thin air, but I wasn’t even sure if I was supposed to pick this one up. What if I touched it, and that was the trigger that turned Kizmel hostile?
“Umm…gee, what’s this?” I said unconvincingly. Asuna bent down to pick up the key as though nothing was out of the ordinary, so I hastily grabbed the hood of her cape, which earned me a furious glare. Finally, Kizmel reacted.
She bent over and cradled the bag carefully in her black leather gloves. An exhalation of relief left her lips as she held it to her chest.
“…At least we can protect the sanctuary now,” she murmured to herself, put the bag in her waistpouch, and stood up to face us. The subtle way the ferocity returned to her eyes despite her wavering hesitation didn’t seem possible for a mere simple system-controlled object.
“I must thank you,” she said, her armor clanking as she bowed in salute. “The first secret key has been protected. Your assistance is appreciated. Come with me to our base, and the commander will wish to reward you for your help.”
Again, a ? appeared over her head to indicate quest progress. I was inwardly relieved, though I did my best not to show it. It seemed that the quest would proceed as normal, even after we beat the forest elf ourselves.
However, my original plan was to butt into their fight, let both elves perish, get the key, and return to the main town. We hadn’t taken a break to refresh and resupply since beating the second-floor boss. The elation at reaching a new floor was masking my fatigue, but exhaustion here was mental rather than physical and hit the player like a ton of bricks out of nowhere. My current partner Asuna had passed out from extreme exhaustion right after our first meeting down in the first-floor labyrinth. While it was rare to get that far, lapses of concentration led to mistakes, and controlling that fatigue safely was a vital tool for any solo player.
I peered sidelong at the fencer. She took a step forward without a glance at me and spoke to Kizmel herself.
“In that case, we’d be honored.”
“…”
I wasn’t the only one who held my tongue. Kizmel stared at Asuna in silence. NPCs in Aincrad—technically, the dark elf Kizmel was classified as a mob—did not respond to player comments unless they came in a clear yes or no form.
I coughed awkwardly, ready to give a simpler answer, but before I could get the words out of my mouth, the knight nodded and spun around.
“Very well. The base camp is through the south end of the woods.”
My quest log updated, and the ? over her head vanished. At the same time, a message appeared to the upper left indicating that a third party member had joined, and a fresh new HP bar was added to the list.
Kizmel strode off coolly, and Asuna sprang after her. I stood rooted to the spot for three seconds before hurrying off to catch up.
The elf must have picked up an affirmative nuance from Asuna’s reply. But as far as I knew, the NPCs in the beta test had nowhere near that kind of conversation ability.
Perhaps it was as simple as the NPCs’ response database being expanded between the end of the beta and the start of the retail game. But something about Kizmel’s speech and expressions felt too natural for that to explain it. She was just like any other player.
I walked at the rear of the three-man team, examining her color cursor just to be sure. It was the yellow of an NPC—technically, an event mob—and her name was listed as KIZMEL: DARK ELVEN ROYAL GUARD. Players weren’t allowed to replicate monster titles within their names, so this was proof that Kizmel was indeed nothing more than a moving object controlled by the system. If SAO was a normally functioning game, there might be a faint chance that she was actually being played by a member of the game staff, but that couldn’t be true now that it was deadly.