A/N:

Hello everyone...this is gonna be a little odd. Considering the fact that I haven't finished my previous Sword Art Online fanfiction...I haven't actually made any plans to continue it sadly. I ended up playing Fatal Bullet and I wanted to write something centered around it. GGO is such an interesting game, and so different from Sword Art Online and I'm sad that not a lot of people actually use this game as a setting, other than rewriting SAO so GGO is the death game, which isn't a bad call, I've read some really good stories out there that use this premise.

But, this is gonna be based loosely off the game and my experience through it. One thing I loved about this game was how you were the protag and didn't have to play Kirito. Not that it isn't a bad thing, but it gets stale after awhile. I was thinking of not having them in this game, but decided on making them minor characters at most, I will be keeping the interactions with Rain, Yuuki and Yui as I found those to be really cute. There will be parts of the story with Asuna and Kirito as well as some of the others, I can't exactly ignore them all but this will be mostly centered around the nameless main character You-kun! That's not his name, that was just me making a reference to the great many second pov stories I have read in my time on the interwebs.

I will be focusing more on the new main characters, Kureha, Zeliska, Itsuki, Bazalt Joe and even Daisy, as I feel that a few of those weren't that well explored. Aside from the awkward dates I had with Itsuki which bothered me a lot since I was playing as a guy. At least they didn't do art for Bazalt Joe, that would have been weird af. I will be trying some different weapon classes before revealing the final choice that the main character will end up picking for the late game, and I will be trying to create original missions as well. Honestly, I was surprised they didn't try to make PvP missions, like there's a faction of players who took over a factory and there's some precious information so you gotta kill everyone and clear it out, or give you some covert operation missions like in the old really good Call of Duty games. I will be doing a nod to Modern Warfare in a few chapters since I want to convey a bit of a war theme to this game. Aside from PvP and PvE there should be some other really good missions, so I might go with it an add Cover Operations or Black Ops to the mission choices to give it a bit of my own twist. The Main story will still happen, just not as it does in the game, there will be time in between everything.

Still reminds me of the time I was leveling up affinities to get the true ending, what a pain in my ass that was. They also patched the Exp. exploit so I couldn't level up after awhile. Ah yes that reminds me, I might include the characters LLENN, Pitohui, M and Furikazoh as well, I haven't decided because I've been slacking off on reading SAO Alternative Gun Gale Online. I heard it was written by someone more competant than Reki Kawahara so I might give it a gander, I know the anime is coming out soon, but I want to read the manga first.

Well...I guess I'll leave this chapter here, no idea when I'll post chapter 2, I've currently written four. I plan to build the characters a lot more, and was considering on doing alternate chapters for the Normal end modes and show the main character's reaction at the loss of his friends. Keeping it spoiler free for those who haven't played the game yet. So Let me know what you all think in the reviews... I have also made a bit of my own canon, since this is the video game world, SAO was cleared all the way through Floor 100, the three hundred players were still captured, and that was all hidden by using the Svart Alfheim update which gives us the events of Lost Song, I didn't play Hollow Realization because of how bored I got, and I haven't played Accel World vs Sword Art Online, but I will consider that canon as well, just something that Kirito will mostly talk about. I might also put Yuna in this story, because I want to see how she will do in GGO and how my character would react to a character that isn't dead but isn't alive either. I apologize before hand if it isn't very good, I actually rewrote chapter 1 three times before I settled on this. The main character is half Russian half Japanese, so there might be some Russian words in there sometimes. Just so you know, Priviet means Hello, and Do Svidanya means goodbye, but that's pretty much second hand knowledge, I actually learned those two words from both school and from Rain as she is also part Russian, I believe so anyway...So I'll see you all later!

SAO Alternative

Gun Gale Online: Fatal Bullet

Chapter 1

Welcome to the World of Guns

He sighed as he glanced at his ceiling. He was laying on his bed, a pensive look on his face. He wasn't exactly sure why he was still in bed on a weekend. But it wasn't because he didn't have anything to do, in fact there was one thing he loved to do to kill time, and that was to play video games. He was a very avid gamer from a young age, having a collection of console games all the way from the early 1980s. He lived alone with his mother and his little sister, but was mostly alone. His mother worked a lot, and his little sister was left in his care. She was currently staying with a friend for the weekend, so he was very much alone. His curtains had been closed, a single fleck of sunlight pouring into the room from the parted crack. He frowned as he reached for his cellphone, a Samsung smartphone, which was protected within a light blue case. He sifted through his messages, not seeing a single one among them. There were some old ones from his guild in an MMO he was playing, asking him to log in, but he couldn't be bothered. He just didn't find it appealing anymore.

He bit his lower lip tentatively, thinking about his best friend. He hadn't spoken with her in a couple days, mostly because he hadn't felt like playing anything. They usually played Call of Duty or Left4Dead2 whenever they had the chance, they were both pretty good at the game too. They usually made the leader boards, but he had noticed that his friend had been slacking a bit, her usual k/d being a bit lower than normal. He had asked her if something was wrong, knowing how she was whenever something happened in her family. She assured and reassured that she was fine and that had been that. They hadn't seen each other for years, thankfully they both had their PSN and Steam Gamer Tags so they could easily connect whenever they were free. He however suspected she was just playing another shooter or MMO during her free time, not that he blamed her. C.O.D, usually got very boring after awhile, especially with the myriad of little kids on the servers nowadays, the game was a shell of its former self, not even worth buying, but since he was a gamer and a collector, he was always in line whenever a new one dropped.

With the advent of VR however, the genre was becoming a bit stale. Almost over night, hundreds of VR games had spawned. He remembered back in 2022 when it first game out, the NerveGear had been all the rage. He had bought one for himself with his saved up allowance, he was thirteen at the time, and was old enough to legally buy the only game for the system, SAO or Sword Art Online, the first VRMMORPG for the NerveGear. It had been in production for ten years, then announced as a regular MMORPG, but Akihiko Kayaba had taken his game and brought it into the new 3D world. The NerveGear was a system that replicated the five senses inside the brain. All signals from the brain down the central nervous system were rerouted so one could control their avatar in game. It was almost like a dream, you would be playing a game with friends, swinging swords and hunting monsters, all from the comfort of your bedroom. He had thought it was too good to be true, and it had been. He hadn't made it on time to purchase his copy of SAO and that was ultimately what had saved his life. For five hours after the official service launched, it had been announced that no one in game could log out, and anyone who tried taking the helmet off would have their brain fried instantly.

A great many players had died during the first month of the game, and eventually even Argus, the company behind it all, declared bankruptcy, with Kayaba still at large. It was around that time that the second iteration of the NerveGear, the AmuSphere had come out. It was a safer VR device made out of the same FullDive technology behind the original. It had also spawned a game titled Alfheim Online, centered around fairies and Norse Mythology. Two years after SAO started, it had been completed, and the survivors had been release, or so they thought. 300 players that had been trapped within SAO didn't wake up, and people were growing worried, it turned out that their minds were all locked inside Alfheim Online. It had all been hidden by a perfectly timed Update, Svart Alfheim had been added to the world, and used to hide it.

The whole thing had come crashing down when it was discovered that one man had been experimenting on mind control with the captured SAO players. RECT Progress had been forced to shutdown the servers for ALO right after this was discovered, and people thought that was it for VR. Two incidents one after another turned people away from the game genre all together. However, a small company named Yvir had bought the rights to ALO from RECT Progress and had brought the game back, not just that they had also added Castle Aincrad to the original ALO and removed the flight limit as well. Yvir was a company that was funded by veteran gamers who didn't want the genre to die, they had brought it back from the brink. With it also came something known as the Seed, which was a FullDive system, that anyone could use to create a great number of VR games, and now the genre had all but exploded.

The question however was, why didn't he get into VR if it was so popular? The answer was simple, he couldn't afford it. He was still a student, and didn't get enough money to pay the ludicrous price for an AmuSphere. On top of that, he had to pay the monthly subscription fee to actually remain playing online, so it wasn't worth it to him. However, he had been looking into a new game, one that was named Gun Gale Online. The forums had said that it was the first VRMMORPG that was also an FPS game. He loved Shooters just as much as he loved Horror and Visual Novels. He had also discovered that it was a game with a credit system, meaning one could take in game money and turn it into real world money. As it was a game from America, it had become very popular with gamers and had become a source of income for some. Tournaments held a lot of cash prizes for the top three winners along with various other small prizes. It had sounded like a fun game to him, getting paid to play a game full time? Who wouldn't want that. But there was still the issue of him getting the AmuSphere.

He sighed as he stood up from his bed, pulling his curtains open, letting the morning sun into the room. It was ten in the morning, his mother had left the day before right before he had gotten home from school. His little sister Mitsuhide went home with her friend Sayaka, so he would be alone until Monday when it was time for them to go back to school. He glanced around his room, seeing his work desk, which had his PC, which he had built himself. It had three monitors all hooked up together, and a monster of a CPU running everything. Above it was a shelf filled with PC games, all of them in alphabetical order. He had a picture frame on it, which had a picture of himself, his mother and his little sister in it, when he had entered high school, a day that he really didn't find too interesting. Near the front of the room was his dresser, which held his forty-five inch flat screen television.

Attached to it was his Playstation 5, one of his favorite systems. He also had the predecessors to it, the Playstation 4, Playstation 3 and Playstation 2, all of them being placed in their own spot in his small entertainment system. There were two shelves resting next to the dresser which had his television on it, filled to the brim with games for each systems, the ones that he played the most at least. Another shelf was attached to his left wall, next to his closet. This one was filled with retro games, including some consoles, a Super Famicom, an Atari 2600, the Sega Mega Drive and Master Systems, even a Sega Dreamcast, which had all of the game that had been made for the system. It had been hard for him to collect those, but garage sales and internet auctions made it easy. He had been saving his allowance for quite awhile, and whenever he did chores or his mom gave him spending money, he would use it wisely. It was all about luck for him, as for some reason or another he had been a lucky kid. His mother often joked that he was her lucky charm as whenever he gave her a hug, something good happened to her.

The final part of his room was next to his bed, pressed up against the wall, a tall floor to ceiling bookshelf filled with manga. He usually read manga online, only buying doujinshi or manga that actually interested him. He had figurines and build it models as well though he hadn't built them. There was a single picture frame on this shelf, one that he held very dear in his heart. It was a picture of two little kids, a boy with black hair and brilliant blue eyes, standing next to a auburn haired girl who also had bright blue eyes. Both of them were covered in mud, with the girl flashing a peace sign to the camera. It was a picture he had taken the day before his best friend had moved away, years ago. He remembered it had been due to family issues, but he didn't understand why. He vaguely did remember her sister was a genius of some sort, something that only happened to few children, he guessed she had been offered a scholarship somewhere and they had moved. He also remembered grabbing his friend's hand and begging her to stay with him and his mom. She had told him to man up and gave him a tight hug, promising to see him again soon, they never really did after that.

Now the only thing he recognized about her was her voice. He had been listening to it for ten years, as he hadn't bothered with social media at all. He didn't really know what she looked like, but figured she had grown into a fine young woman. He just wanted to see her again, to hang out like they used to as children. He glanced at his reflection in the mirror, his medium length hair reached to his neck, being black in color. His brilliant blue eyes hadn't changed at all, and the expression on his face was void of happiness. He hadn't been truly happy in years, he didn't have any friends to talk to, aside from the ones in games, and his guild, though he never met any of them IRL. He wasn't anything special, he was tall, about five feet nine inches in height, had a bit of a lanky build, wasn't lean, but wasn't chubby either. He was just...average. An average Joe in the sea of men and women that lived in Metropolitan Tokyo.

He brushed his hair out of his eyes and walked to his closet, taking off his shirt, grabbing a new one. It was a bright blue Playstation shirt that he had bought at the Tokyo Game Show the year before. He grabbed a pair of violet skinny jeans, slipping them on one leg at a time. Finally, he grabbed his combat boots and laced them up, tying them tightly. After freshening up a bit in the bathroom, he grabbed his wallet and keys, donning a light jacket and fingerless gloves as he left the house. It was a bright and sunny day, in the early autumn.

The air had just started growing cold, but not cold enough for a full winter get up. He walked toward his drive way, opening his garage door. Inside was his motorcycle, a Kawasaki Speed bike that his uncle had given him for his seventeenth birthday. He had gotten his license the year before, and had been allowed to drive his mom's car whenever she was inside. He had gotten his motorcycle license earlier that year, but didn't have a bike. Thankfully, his uncle had come in clutch and given him an amazing gift, and with it came an all new sense of freedom. He grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder, climbing onto the bike. He turned the key and flicked on the ignition, slowly pulling out of the garage. Once it was closed he pulled away from his house into the streets of Tokyo.

He wasn't exactly sure where he was going at first. He just looked around for something interesting, through the visor of his helmet. The next convention in Akihabara wouldn't be for awhile, so he didn't feel like driving there. He figured he could check out the mall in Shibuya for a few hours before getting bored and ultimately going home. He really wished he could have a friend to hang out with in the real world. He was tired of speaking to his best friend through voice chat instead of face to face.

He was tired of typing his replies in a chatbox whenever he was playing WoW or Overwatch. He just wanted someone to hangout with and something fun to do, something that wasn't mediocre as some of his other games had started getting. It wasn't long before he found himself at a local game store. He didn't even know why he was there, he just needed something to occupy his mind. He did have enough saved up for food, games or anything else he would need for awhile. He had spent so much time in this place, he already knew the staff by name, but he didn't really consider them friends, since they really didn't hangout after they clocked out. This time however, the cashier was a pretty girl. He rolled his eyes.

"Typical, GameShop can't get their hands on gamers so they bring in a pair of tits to sell shit to them. How low can this company get? Why am I even here?" he thought to himself. He wondered over to the Playstation section, his eyes drifting through all of the selections. He noticed Kingdom Hearts 3 was out for PreOrder, now that it had an actual release date. He shrugged, glancing around for a few more seconds.

"Excuse me sir, is there anything you are interested in getting?" the cashier asked in a cutesy voice. The boy glanced over at her, giving her a single look.

"Bright purple hair, check, tight fitting shirt, check, big pair of knockers, check, cute voice, double check, nice body in general, check...god they better be paying this girl good if they expect to keep her here." he thought. He shook his head, eyes returning to the rack in front of him.

"Alright, just let me know if you need anything!" she said cheerfully. The phone started blaring loudly, bringing her attention to it, and giving the boy a bit of reprieve. He heard another jingle as a couple of people walked into the store.

The boy grabbed an RPG from the New Releases section, checking the case for it. It was a reboot of a game he remembered playing when he was a kid, one that dealt with an amnesia girl who had gravity powers and a starry pet cat. He and his friend used to talk about that game all the time, and if they had rebooted or re-released it for the much sleeker Playstation 5, then he would definitely slap some money on it. It was only 4,000 Yen too, so it wasn't like he was spending an arm and a leg on it. He walked over to the line, snagging some gummy sharks as he did, placing both on the counter, the girl still chatting away on the phone, listing off some preorder bonuses the store had for some games.

"Are you sure you don't wanna try your luck? I mean that raffle is being drawn in like ten minutes. In fact there's a line starting outside, you could win a free AmuSphere. Then you could play GGO with me and my friends." the boy said, glancing at his female friend, who had a pensive look on her face.

"Yeah, but winning a raffle are like, one in a million...and hundreds of people have bought tickets for it, multiples in fact. I guess the second prize, a Playstation 5 or Xbox Two S isn't that bad." the girl replied.

"You could always get the third place prize, three free games for any console, including new releases. That's not a bad deal if you ask me."

"Ugh...GameShop can't get customers anymore so they resort to fucking raffles? Sheesh, how the mighty fall." he thought sarcastically, a smirk on his face.

"So, did you find any good games out there? There are quite a selection." the cashier, who was named Kizuna, asked, giving him a smile.

"Oh uh...yeah...here." he said, sliding the game case over to the girl. She looked it over, grabbing a sealed copy from the shelf behind her.

"Do you have the..."

He cut her off before she even said it, handing her his Reward card. He barely used it, but he really didn't want this girl to start begging him to sign up for one. He had found out that he barely saved jack with it, as the magazine that he got every month added to the savings. He was basically paying 1,500 yen for a stupid card that didn't save him anything. She scanned the card, reading the name that had popped up.

"Fukuyama Kazuharu-san, that is you correct?"

"Yeah, do you need to see an ID or anything? This is an M rated game." Kazuharu replied, his voice smooth and even.

"No that's alright, I've played this game before, it's really fun. No idea why it's rated M, there's barely any M rated stuff in it."

"They say shit and fuck a few times, grounds for an M rating I guess. Hell, that's pretty game considering the games that have been coming out in the last few years. Christ, one game killed people, if anything that one deserves the M rating." he replied, glancing at the magazine.

"I don't think you should be talking about that game in that manner. It's a rather serious topic." the silver haired girl said, bringing his attention to the VR section of the store, where the other two teenagers were standing, looking at a few VR titles.

"Yes, I know that...I'm not being heartless or callous. Three kids from my middle school died during the first three months of its release. I was actually in line to get that game when it sold out, a blessing in disguise I guess. Even then, I think I would have loved to see Aincrad...shame the Government confiscated my NerveGear, it isn't like I didn't earn that 50,000 Yen all by myself." he said sarcastically. He handed the bills over to the cashier, who handed him the change back.

"Before you go Fukuyama-san, would you like to enter the raffle currently being held here? The top three prizes are very good, they include an AmuSphere, a Playstation 5 or Xbox Two S or three free games of your choice. Come on, you look like a lucky guy!" she said.

"Honey, you're just trying to get your numbers up, don't deny it either. But since you have cute eyes, I'll buy a ticket." he said, earning a giggle from the girl, who entered his name in the raffle, and handed him the receipt. He handed her the 1,000 yen he owed her, glancing at his numbers.

"I wish you luck, the drawing is in a few minutes, I'll be nice and let you stay in the store. I gotta go check on the line, don't steal anything!" she cried, walking around the counter toward the doors.

"What is there to steal? Anything interesting is behind the counter!" Kazuharu cried back, rolling his eyes at the ditsy girl's actions. He decided to go back over to the Playstation games, looking at all of the old and new games. He had a decent collection for both the PS4 and the PS5 but there was always a reason to buy a new game, and he still had plenty of money left.

He had been hanging around the store, seeing several good games on sale. Twenty minutes had passed, and the store had been steadily filling up with customers and raffle ticket holders. While he didn't have an interest in the raffle, he did have an interest in the three games he had found, Nier Automata, which had been a game he missed out on, and had been a great game according to one of his older guild mates. He found a few visual novels as well as some Neptunia games which were in their collectors edition cases. He had also found a Persona 5 steelbook, which he was definitely going to buy. All together, it didn't even dive that deep into his savings, only taking a third of what he had already spent. Another employee had apparently clocked in during this time, one that he didn't really notice walk into the store. He was wearing a black shirt, meaning he was most likely a manager for the store. He grabbed a bullhorn and pressed the trigger, bringing it closer to his lips.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages. We are about to list off the winning numbers for GameShops yearly raffle. As you know, this year's prizes are very awesome systems. First place will get a brand new AmuSphere 2, a new sleeker version of the original AmuSphere, these systems aren't even out in stores yet, they're set to release during the holiday season, so you will definitely be one lucky camper if you get it. The second place prize will receive a Playstation 5 slim which comes with one terabyte of storage for all of your games which you will have room for. You will also receive an Xbox Two S if you prefer that over the Playstation. The third place prize will receive three free games of their choosing, including New Releases! So if you are feeling lucky, pull out those tickets, because our lovely Kizuna will read the numbers to you!"

Kazuharu rolled his eyes as the man let the younger Cashier stick her hand in the fishbowl filled with numbers. She stirred it around for a few seconds before pulling out a single slip. The black haired boy wasn't even paying attention, deciding to check out the bargain bin of Ps3 games, finding the two Date A Live visual novels he had been lacking for his collection. He cheered inwardly when he found them, a grin on his face.

"Okay! The first place price will go to the holder of these numbers. 7, 5, 34, 56, 2, 15. I repeat, the numbers are 7, 5, 34, 56, 2, 15." Kizuna cried out, enthusiastically. Kazuharu glanced at his ticket, frowning when he saw the numbers. Five numbers matched his, but the first one was 17 instead of 7. He knew he didn't have a good chance to win, so he wasn't even bothered by it.

"Has everyone checked and double checked? If no one says anything, then I'll be forced to pick again. Let me read the numbers again, the first one is...oh whoops, my bad. I was blocking the first number with my thumb, I'm so sorry~!" the girl cried, earning chuckles from the crowd. Kazuharu sighed, knowing if he wanted the games in his hands he would have to wait until the raffle was over.

"Allow me Kizuna, the numbers for the first ticket are as follows. 17, 5, 34, 56, 2, and 15."

The black haired blue eyed boy gasped a bit, dropping the came cases in his hands, rather audibly too. A few people from the crowd looked at him, wondering what his problem was when they noticed him looking intently at the ticket in his hands. One older man grinned, parting the crowed a bit.

"Hey, this kid got it. Go on man, claim your prize!"

Kazuharu dumbly nodded as he made his way to the front of the crowd, having picked out all of the things he had selected. He placed them all on the counter, giving Kizuna a sheepish smile. She placed her hands on her hips, a grin on her face.

"See, I told you to try your luck. I gotta admit, if it wasn't for me you probably wouldn't have won."

"Uh...yeah." he said, rubbing his neck as he handed the manager the ticket. He nodded, grabbing a box from under the counter.

"There you are son, congratulations. RECT Progress, the creators of the AmuSphere also threw in a free on month subscription to any VRMMORPG that you might be interested in. All of them are online, and if you don't have a credit card, you can come here and pay for the cards over there. You uh...want me to ring that stuff up?" the man asked, earning a nod from the boy. Once everything was rung up, he grabbed his games and shoved them in his bag, turning around to face the crowd, who all applauded him. He held the box up, a smile on his face.

xxx

Lady Luck was most likely his only friend. He hadn't been expecting to find so many things at GameShop for such bargain prices. He had spent 8,000 yen in total when he had bought everything. Yet he had come out with a system well worth more than that. On top of that it was a model that wasn't even on sale anywhere in the world. He had arrived back home after an hour, still stunned after what had happened. When he locked up the garage and entered his home, he was surprised to see his mother there. She watched the boy walk into the room, carrying a large bag in his hands, something he had trouble holding on top while driving out on the streets, but somehow he had managed to make it unscathed. He set it down on the counter top, sitting down on a bar stool, resting his hand on his cheek as he glanced at his mother.

"Do you believe in luck mom?"

"Of course I do, you're my lucky charm...why do you ask?"

Ayane Fukuyama was a middle aged woman, with long black hair reaching down to her mid back. She had piercing blue eyes just like her son, something he had inherited from her. She was wearing a long sleeved business jacket, over a white blouse which was unbuttoned and showed a bit of her ample chest, something that embarrassed the boy whenever he was shopping with her. A great many guys hit on the single mother and he always wanted to sock them in the face. She was wearing a tight fitting blackish violet skirt, with dark panty hose, she had left her heels in the front of the house, just like he had left his boots out in the garage, keen on getting them later on.

"I wasn't at all trusting of it at first, but I think I believe in it wholeheartedly now." he said, pulling out all of the things he had bought at GameShop, in total, he had bought one new release game. He had bought two visual novels, one steelbook which had been hard to find, and a collectors edition for one of his favorite games.

"You bought a lot of stuff, you must have spent a lot of money."

"I didn't spend over 10,000 Yen. All of this stuff was from the bargain bin, the only game I spent a lot on was the Gravity Rush reboot which was 4,000. I also entered a raffle and won this." the boy said, pulling the box containing the AmuSphere 2. Her eyes widened in shock, jaw dropping as she grabbed the box.

"No way, how did you get one of these? They aren't supposed to hit the shelves until the winter season!"

"Eh? You know what this is mom? But you aren't a techy person." Kazuharu said, earning a frown from the woman.

"You should really pay attention to my job honey. I'm work in the translation department of Yvir, translating Japanese games for the western audience, and I focus mostly on VR games. I thought you knew this?"

"Sorry...I guess I'm a hardcore console gamer. That would explain why you are gone for weeks at a time, speaking of, what are you doing here? Weren't you supposed to be gone until next week?" Kazuharu asked, grabbing some snacks from the pantry.

"I was, but my boss saw how hard I was working on the new patch for ALO that he gave me the week off. He let someone else handle my work, since the new patch won't be added until later this month. What were you doing out? Bored?"

"Mhmm...I have no friends, so I gotta occupy myself somehow."

"Right, I'm sorry honey...I just wish Momiji didn't live so far away...you really miss her don't you?" the woman asked, earning a nod from the boy.

"Yeah, I really do. I texted her earlier, asking for a recommendation for this AmuSphere. I got a free month subscription to any game I want, so I'll most likely play whatever she says."

"Why not ALO? It has a flight system, and I know you like games for their lore. Come on, I have a work account, we can quest together when I'm on break."

"I dunno...I'm a bit tired of fantasy games...I wanna play something fun, something gritty. An FPS game, just gotta see what Momiji says." he replied, finishing his snacks. Just then, his phone went off sounding like the MLG airhorns that he knew annoyed the hell out of his little sister.

"Looks like you were saved by the horn. I gotta say though son, you have been getting luckier and luckier as of late. Maybe you'll get lucky and bring a girl home this time." Ayane said, earning a sigh from the boy.

"Yeah yeah, you just want me to give you grand kids already. Sometimes I wish Mitsu was the older sibling." he said, causing the woman to laugh, her body shaking slightly with mirth.

"Ah...I haven't laughed like that in awhile, well since my co-worker found a way to send me dank memes while I was in game. It's really hard to debug a game and check the translator when you keep getting memes."

"Why even translate it though? Won't the Americans do it when the game releases over there?" he asked, opening his message on his phone.

"Well yeah, but we usually do most of the work. Alfheim is a large world, so we work together to translate it, makes the whole thing easier. The Americans will translate whatever we don't get to, and they'll polish it before the update. It's how it's been working, son you really have to pay attention to what I say during dinner time." the woman scolded, earning a chuckle from the boy.

"Clearly, but you gotta be home more so that I can listen to your oh so wise words...hey, does that mean you have GM access?"

"Nope, I'm just another player. Sadly I can't play much, and my AmuSphere is an at work version, so I can't take it with me. I'll have to buy myself one and dive from here. But I don't have time, maybe if you find a good game you can play with your little sister?"

"Yes, because I want my sarcastic and often very blunt sister in VR." he replied, rolling his eyes. He got another message, bringing his attention to his phone. He sighed, glancing at the all Caps message he had gotten.

"GET YOUR BUTT IN GGO RIGHT NOW! I'LL CALL YOU IN TEN MINUTES, DON'T DO ANYTHING YET!"

"She tells me to get my butt into GGO then tells me right after not to do anything. Make up your mind woman, don't make me ignore you!" he snapped.

"Aw, that's so cute, you and Momiji still argue...of course as children it was funny, but as adults it's a little more serious. Won't be long until you start fighting like a married couple."

"Heaven forbid, shit that wouldn't be fun...I'm gonna head up stairs. I'm in for a lengthy instruction manual set up." he said, grabbing his AmuSphere, along with all of the other things he had bought.

"Have fun dear, the calibration is a pain in the ass but you'll do fine."

"Calibration? Ugh...I'll just figure it out." he muttered, climbing up the stairs to his room.

He went up to his room, placing all of his new games in their proper places, leading the collectors edition of Megadimension Neptunia Victory II and the steelbook of Persona 5 out on the shelf to display them along with his other steelbooks and collectors editions. Finally, he sat down at his computer, taking out a small box cutter to slice open the tape keeping the AmuSphere in its cardboard prison. He pulled out the device, along with all of its cords, which weren't that many. He took the foam pieces off, and took it out of its plastic bags, placing them all back in the box, setting it aside. He grabbed the instruction manual, which had been a rather thick booklet which he hadn't seen in quite awhile. He flipped through them, the first being in Japanese, the second being in English, then Spanish, Chinese, French, Russian and various other languages. He sighed, flipping to his original tongue, Japanese and reading the first few things.

"Congratulations for purchasing the new AmuSphere 2, an upgraded version of the AmuSphere. Yadda yadda yadda, this new console features sleeker game play and WIFI connectivity, that's neat. No longer do you have to stay at home for this. Let's see what else...for a more immersive experience, make sure you are in a comfortable position in a well ventilated room. This device monitors heart rate and blood pressure, that's pretty cool." he muttered, flipping through the pages. He got to the page that explained the parts.

The rig itself was a small visor like headset, with a dark screen at the front. It wrapped around the head with two plastic like straps that kept the device in place. Unlike the NerveGear, the AmuSphere removed a majority of the microwave scanners using an alternative device instead. There was no battery, so that meant it had to be plugged in at all times, a bit of a hassle, but the power cord was rather long. There was another part, where the cartridge went if one wanted a physical copy. There was also a lengthy cord that would be plugged into that very cartridge slot, the other end being plugged into the Ethernet port of the PC. Finally, there was a card that had a code for one free month on any VR game he wanted. He flipped to the next page in the manual, which explained how to set it all up. He turned his computer on, waiting for it to start up, he was glad that he had built his PC for gaming, because he wasn't sure if could run the damn thing.

Once his computer started, he plugged everything into its proper slots, turning the AmuSphere on for the first time. A new download had been initiated on his Computer. He had read that it was a system that would be tied to his AmuSphere, and would be used to calibrate and update the hardware itself. It would also store all of the other information, like game saves and other information, including his avatars and other information. He clicked on his Google Chrome icon, going straight onto Google. His phone started ringing, making him sigh, as he reached for it, swiping the screen, placing it on speaker.

"Priviet, who am I speaking too?"

"Me dumb ass, you haven't done anything have you?"

"Hi Momiji, no I haven't...I'm just getting through the initial set up bullshit. I actually haven't decided on what game to get."

"That's what this call is for. Listen, you told me two days ago that you wanted to meet up, and now we can, in VR. I've been playing Gun Gale Online for the last couple of weeks and it's the best shooter out there. It is nothing like Call of Duty, Battlefield or any other game we've played in the past. You get a free month, so you can abuse the hell out of it."

"Like?" he asked curiously, clicking on the new AmuSphere Icon that had appeared on his desk top. He started reading the instructions, seeing it was asking him to put the rig on his head, which he did. He stood up, glancing at the icons popping up in his line of sight.

"Seriously? GGO is one of the few games that has a Game Coin to Real Money Conversion System. Meaning, if you make money in game, you can use that money in the real world. Come on, how do you think I can afford my game and manga collection?" she asked, earning a hum from the boy. He was currently feeling his body for the calibration, patting himself down almost like a police officer would a detainee. It was sort of embarrassing, but he was glad no one could see him do it.

"Sorry Kas, I'm calibrating this shit...but you do have a point. I am currently unemployed and could use the cash, especially if I can rake in the millions."

"Ha! Rake in the millions, I've been playing this game for three months and I haven't broken over 500,000 thousand yet. Then again playing Solo doesn't get me anywhere. But seriously, join me! There's a new update coming soon with tons of new stuff, the last one brought in a new Gold Rush system so people are getting loaded with items and treasure. Not to mention there's an item I've been hunting for awhile."

"Great...so you want me to join you in GGO so you can be benefited instead of me joining you for fun. I knew there was a catch." the boy said in a joking manner, glad his calibration was over.

"Ugh! It isn't about that, you get to hang out with me like you've been whining on about for months. Of course, you could go and play ALO and be a boring fairy, instead of firing a Gatling gun or blowing shit up with grenades. It's all on you."

"Alright, alright! You've convinced me, oh gaming goddess! I'll join you soon, I gotta set up everything first." Kazuharu said, chuckling slightly. The girl sighed with relief, and he could almost picture the smile on her face.

"Okay, I'll be waiting for you near the teleport gate in the SBC Glocken. Do yourself a favor and look up some forums, it would be good for you to pick how to build an avatar before you mess it up. You won't believe how many people are pissed that they got the wrong advice."

"You got it, I'll check out some stuff and join you in say...an hour? Gives me time to get a snack and beg my mom to make something cheesy for dinner." he replied, glancing at his wall clock.

"Yeah sure, whatever. I'll be waiting there, so I'll see you later."

"Do Svidanya!" the boy said cheerfully, ending the call a second later.

"Who were you talking too? You barely speak Russian here anymore." his mother Ayumi asked, causing the boy to glance at her, taking the rig off his head.

"Oh, I was speaking with Momiji. I still greet people in Russian you know, not my fault dad hasn't invited me to the Motherland to visit him." he said, disappointment on his face. The woman sighed, choosing to drop the conversation. She smiled, entering his room.

"So, you look about ready to dive in. Did you pick a game to play?"

"Yup, I'm gonna get GGO. Kas convinced me, plus the Game Coin to Real Money system has me hooked. I can get extra money for playing a game, which is way cool if you ask me." he said, searching for the official Gun Gale Online website. Once he clicked on it, he started searching for the full game download. He clicked on purchase, typing in the code he had gotten with his AmuSphere.

"Hmm...I hear there's a new update for that game. In fact, my boss was planning on sending me to Zaksar to work on translations, since I speak fluent English, it would do well to translate it to Japanese."

"If you want...sounds like a cushy job...and you'd probably get to shoot a double barrel sawed off shotgun at some point." he joked, clicking the download icon on his purchase. It would take about twenty-five minutes to download the full game since it was so immersive and expansive.

"Maybe...well, I'll leave you to it. Have fun dear."

"Oh mom, before you go...are you planning on making anything for dinner? Particularly with cheese?" he asked, a pleading look on his face.

"Well, if you log out and help me, we can make a Shepard's Pie, just how you like it, with extra cheese."

"Done, you peel the potatoes, I'll fry the bacon!" Kazuharu said happily, earning a thumbs up from his mother. Now he was definitely looking forward to dinner, and playing GGO would definitely kill time.

xxx

After almost an hour downloading, setting up his account and searching for information, Kazuharu was finally ready for his first full dive. He had learned quite a lot about GGO during that time. It was apparently a post apocalyptic game, taking place in a dystopian future. There was a great war that lead to humanity leaving on Space ships. After a thousand years, humans returned on the SBC Glocken, only to be greeted by powerful mutated monsters and androids and robots that were left behind after the war.

There were a lot of destroyed ruins all over the place, but the most appealing part of the game was the PvP aspect. Players logged in to hunt other players, or PK'ing as it was known. There were bounty hunters, monster hunters and treasure hunters as well, currently everyone was waiting for the SBC Flugel update, in order to tackle the next big area of the game. No one knew when the next update was going to drop, so they all spent their time level grinding and hunting for weapons. He also found out that GGO, just like its namesake, was a game that used real guns, or rather virtual versions of real world weapons. He wasn't exactly sure what he wanted to do in game, but he had seen some screen shots of cool gun mods, and even a sweet looking sniper rifle that someone had found.

He walked over to his bed, placing his headset on his head, he had run his cords behind his desk from his PC, so that he could leave the headset itself on the table top next to his bed. He had turned his A/C on and had closed his door to make sure no loud sounds would come into the room, though he knew his room was mostly sound proofed, something that he did so his loud games and rage quits didn't disturb his mother, sister and his neighbors. The last thing he did was something that he had read on forums. He put on a pair of soundproofing headphones, that he usually used to listen to music. It would help to reduce a lot of the noise just in case. He glanced at the small clock on the side of the visor, seeing that it was exactly 12:59PM. He did a mental check of everything. He had added his new account, told his mother he would log out at six to prepare dinner, had shot a message to Momiji which he hoped she would get in game, and had calibrated the headset. He nodded to himself, seeing the clock finally change to 1:00PM. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes.

"Link Start."

In an instant, his sight went white, seeing hundreds of multicolored orbs flying directly at him. The device checked all of his senses, Sight, Hearing, Taste, Smell and Touch, and moved onto the next menu. He typed in his account information, quickly moving past that window. He was brought to another place, seeing himself standing in a black space. He looked around for a few seconds, seeing golden letters in front of him spelling out the name of the game he had purchased.

"Welcome to Gun Gale Online, the first VRMMORPG that is also an FPS! Explore vast areas, destroyed and abandoned cities and hunt other players as you aim to reach the top! You will now select your gender!"

"Ugh...that voice is grating." he muttered, seeing the option before him. He knew the avatars were randomly generated, so there wasn't anything he could do. The AmuSphere normally locked a person to a gender, but new players to the game were allowed to pick the opposite gender. He had thought briefly about picking female, if only to feel what it would be like to be a woman, though that would just be odd and confusing, and knowing Momiji, she'd never let him live it down. So he picked Male and clicked the holographic keyboard in front of him.

The avatar before him vaguely resembled him. The only thing he had that matched the avatar was his black hair and blue eyes. It had a slightly androgynous look, hiding some more masculine features with feminine charm. Its upperbody was a bit leaner than he was normally, and his arms were of the same length and muscle size. His legs were the same legs as well. It was currently wearing the beginner gear, which consisted of a light blue parka like jacket, with a black undershirt and a violet bulletproof chest plate over it. It was wearing a pair of dark pants, and thick leather combat boots which were also blue in color. Around its waist was a black belt, with small square shaped buckle on the left hip. Hanging from its right hip was an empty holster, and its hands had black fingerless gloves. He knew he couldn't change anything, so he just clicked accept and moved on.

"Excellent, now you must input your user name. This will be the name players will refer to you as. Please note that any offensive or derogatory names will be rejected."

"Damn, and I had so many good ones." Kazuharu muttered under his breath. He shook his head, hovering a hand over the virtual keyboard, his finger tip clicking four keys, H...A...R...U. He hit accept, hitting Yes a second time, finally done with the character selection screen.

"You will now be transported to SBC Glocken, good luck and once again, welcome to Gun Gale Online, the world of Guns is proud to have you!"

The newly named Haru watched on as his vision once again turned white. From now on, he was just another VRMMORPG player. He wasn't sure what Gun Gale Online had in store for him, but he didn't deny that he wasn't excited. Perhaps he would get lucky and find himself some friends to call his own, and he did have Momiji to hang out with. The world of VR was an expansive one, with a single gun one could travel anywhere, the question that Kazuharu wanted to answer for himself was simple, where would that one gun take him? And what adventures would be in store for him when he did get there?