Scene 134

Ugh... So, it's been pretty smooth sailing getting here, but it won't be the same when we reach the Sanctuary, right?

Will the monsters there be so strong we have to run? Will we get separated? Or should we just leave the rest to Arne and pray that Aincrad doesn't explode?

You still need to make sure I get to Dessel, remember? Make yourself useful and I might even hire you as tour security.

Yeah, yeah... Don't worry. We get it—you're a popular idol.

Uhm, Lara?

Yeah?

You were an idol in the real world too, right? Like, on television?

Eh, I did some small videos for our agency. But I hadn't made a proper debut yet. I was a trainee.

Well, you've got a voice—that's for sure. You sang that Lucette song at the Teleport Gate Plaza, right?

I did—it was a cover of "Reach for the Rainbow."

They made us practice that song till we were singing it in our sleep. I remember it like I wrote it myself.

Joining SAO was one of the agency's publicity projects... The rest is history.

I was feeling pretty low, you know? Like, how can I become an idol while trapped in a video game?

But I didn't want to give up, so I just...sang by myself. One woman even told me it gave her the courage to keep going.

Did you become friends?

Yeah—her name's Lucy. She's a bit older, but still a pretty hardcore gamer. She's my number one fan, but she's also like a sister to me.

Huh... It's surprising, the kind of people you meet here.

Right? Anyway, she was the one who suggested I try being an idol here. After that, she joined some raid party trying to map out the different areas...

And that's why I need to get to Dessel. Lucy's saved up a ton of Col and is setting up a stage for me there.

She sounds like a good person.

She really is...

Gotta say, that song's catchy as hell. I used to belt it out at karaoke all the time.

Me too—when I was in Japan as an exchange student. It got me through some hard times...and the main vocalist is so cute...

Hm... Didn't she retire?

I don't remember the details, but it was a big deal. She disappeared, right? I even read somewhere that she'd died.

I saw that, too...

Come to think of it, she looked a lot like Iori...

Funny you should say that, 'cause—

"Everything that you believe..."

"Never waver from the path you were born to lead, and the sadness that I feel..."

" It's my reality And I’ll take a chance no matter how bad the odds, Sometimes love will shine a light to guide you"

"Trouble's in the past, never looking back cause I know the future lives in my dreams."

As the song goes!

Enough of that, old man! All that karaoke didn't do much for your singing ability, did it?

It's pretty late. Should we head back to town?