Scene 134

Zash

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

Zash

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?

Lara

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

Zash

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

Stina

Uhm, Lara?

Lara

Yeah?

Stina

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

Lara

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

Zash

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

Lara

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

Lara

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

Lara

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

Lara

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

Lara

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.

Stina

Did you become friends?

Lara

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.

Zash

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

Lara

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...

Lara

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.

Lara

She really is...

Musoh

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

Stina

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...

Zash

Hm... Didn't she retire?

Zash

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

Stina

I saw that, too...

Stina

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

Lara

Funny you should say that, 'cause—

Musoh

"Everything that you believe..."

Musoh

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

Musoh

" 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"

Musoh

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

Musoh

As the song goes!

Zash

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?