Well well well. Welcome friendos to something I've been wanting to do for a while but never could get write. Heh. Get it?

Puns aside, this is SAO, yeah, but I ain't gon keep too close to the anime (or manga but I've never read it). Maybe I'll make Kirito not so much of an OP character. Maybe I'll make some others more than harem fodder. Who knows?

Read on through. I'll meet cha at the other side.

I sat up dazed, with several spears at my neck. Taking a quick look around, the terrain was so much different from the harsh military simulation I was partaking in. A bright sky was framed by grey stone, and the breeze was lazily blowing the tree leaves.

"On your feet! Remove your weapons and come with us!" One of the spear users shouted. His face was mostly hidden under a helmet of metal, as was most of his body. "Didn't you hear me!?"

Shoving the spears away, I stood up. "Did the server bug out..? Am I in some sort of fantasy RPG?"

The soldiers around me looked at each other and poised their spears at my chest. I sighed, and drew a standard M1911. The stats were buggy, and the only numbers that weren't all screwy were the current magazine and my spare ammo. "Three more mags… I wonder if I can make more…"

I felt a sharp prod, and saw a green bar in the corner of my vision flash. No damage, but it still hurt. "Didn't you hear me? I said drop your-"

"Shut up," I interjected, placing the barrel of my pistol against his helmet. "Is this a castle or something? You look like a palace guard." Even if this was set in a medieval time or a fantasy type thing, the guard knew the danger. Was this a human or an AI?

"My, my, do we have a hacker in our ranks? Using guns in a fantasy game… Tsk, Tsk. Doesn't that seem a bit unfair?" A voice called out from above. Looking up, a fairly overconfident guy was standing on the wall. "Couldn't even give the magic a chance?" Judging from his clothes and the way he spoke, this guy must've been pretty high level. And a no-lifer.

I pulled my gun from the soldier's head and pushed past, holstering it. "Pfft. Yeah right. Get over yourself, pal. I was running a live fire simulation for the military before I ended up here."

I tried to force a shutdown, but found I couldn't. Logging out was out of the question too. Just what kind of sick prank my squad was playing on me. "Come on, guys, it isn't funny! Let me out!" I shouted. "Sergeant Darius, shut the system down!" When nothing happened, I growled a bit. This was stupid, absolutely insane! Was this some sort of military hazing I didn't know about?

The guy came around, robe gone now. He looked a lot more like a regular person and had a softer demeanor. "My apologies. I received a notification that someone had broken into my palace and found surrounded by my guards. I thank you for not blowing them away," He added. "My name is Javolen. It's nice to meet you, and it's unfortunate you're here."

I paused. Uh… What? "Why is it unfortunate? It's not like I'm stuck in here am I?"

About an hour later, several high level players had come through and offered me advice and places within guilds and gear. I sat in the room Javolen had temporarily given me, sorting through my menus when I found a couple of spells that might help me out a ton.

First was a spell called «Bullet Time», where it would slow time down in a radius around me and let me move at regular speed to properly aim my shots. It didn't last for too long and wasn't too far away from me, but if someone– Or something– was closing in on me, I could use this and pop a round into them easily.

The next spell I had access to was «Recycle», which let me use up spent ammo and get a certain percent back. The base level only gave me back 10% of my spent ammo, but ammo is ammo, so… I'll need to find some way to craft more.

I got up, sent Javolen a Thank You message, and then departed to the first floor of the game. The teleporter made me shudder after I went through, but my short trip was pretty hassle-free. I headed toward some open field when player soldiers blocked my path, swords and spears drawn. "Is there something I can help you with?" I asked as politely as I could.

"I am General Corvatz of the Liberation Army, and we've heard some rumors of a new "Gunslinger" popping up." I felt his gaze drop to my M1911, and his grip on his sword tightened. "Looks like the rumors are true… Give us that gun."

I scoffed. "No dice, pal. Oh, and by the way, you're not a general, you're a Sergeant, tops. That's a squad following you, not a brigade or anything higher." I drew my pistol. "As far as I know, this is the ONLY gun in this hellhole of a game. Until they patch in more or patch mine out," I adjusted my grip and pointed the barrel at him. "I'm keeping it."

His men shuffled in discomfort: Undisciplined, untrained, unprepared to die for their cause. Corvatz, on the other hand, was trained. Disciplined, however…

"Fine then, punk. How about we settle this with a little duel. If I win, you hand over the gun and join my squad. If you win, you keep the gun and stay unaffiliated." He smirked. "And just so we're clear, I won't be holding back one bit."

I sighed. This was what some of my veteran family members referred to as squashing. It was a way some leaders would pull ahead of others through contests of strength or strategy. "I never thought someone would try to squash me so early in my military career, but I guess you being the first one isn't so surprising, "General"," I mocked, accepting the duel request.

I stepped away as the duel timer counted down.《Bullet Time》only lasted 7 real-time seconds, but that should be enough time.

5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

Duel Start!

Heheh. I like cliffhangers, don't you? Look, next chapter, if there IS a next chapter, I'll give Corvatz exactly what he deserves.

I hope you enjoyed reading!

Tata~~