Over a year has passed since the SAO Incident. Frank, Kazuto and all their friends have finally adjusted back to living in the real world again. But when Seijirou Kikuoka, a member of the government, tells the duo of players who died in real life from inside another VRMMO, they must dive into the game and find out how the deaths happened and stop more from happening. Marth and Kirito will fight old enemies, make new friends, and confront the demons of their past from Sword Art Online. It's time for battle.
"Italics"- Thoughts
(In Dark Swordsman 1, there was a writing error where Marth had the Imp's wings instead of the Spriggan's. This was because Marth was intended to pick the Imp race before I changed it to him choosing the Spriggan race. The error has since been fixed and I'm sorry for any confusion it might have caused.)
Chapter 1- A New Threat
November 9th, 2025- Gun Gale Online
There was a large group of players hanging in a bar watching the live stream of "This Week's Winners", which was featuring XeXeeD, the latest winner of the Bullet of Bullets tournament, and Yamikaze, the runner up.
"Oh please," XeXeeD bragged. "The notion that AGI builds are all-mighty is just an illusion. Sure, AGI is important for «Rapid-firing» and «Avoidance Rate», and if you master them, you'll make your way to the top ranks, until now, that is. To anyone who that was dumb enough to spend the last eight months using their points to increase their AGI, it sucks to be you right now!"
Most of the players booed in annoyance at the BoB winner. There was also a mysterious player wrapped in a cloak sitting at the edge of the room.
"That's just what you'd expect from the top player of Gun Gale Online, one of the most challenging VRMMOs out there," the reporter in the live stream said. "Talk about controversial."
XeXeeD scoffed and folded his arms. "Well, who knows if I'll ever be on M-ST again, so might as well make an impact when I can," he replied.
"Oh please," the reporter said. "So, do you think you've got a shot in the next Bullet of Bullets?"
"Damn right I do," XeXeeD said confidently. "I wouldn't be in it if I didn't think I couldn't win."
Most of the players booed again.
"It won't be that easy, XeXeeD," Yamikaze spoke up. "BoB is a solo tournament, so whatever worked for you before doesn't mean it'll work again. If I were you, I wouldn't imply that I won due to my stat type."
XeXeeD simply smirked. "Please, this is all because of the overall trend of GGO," he explained. "You're an AGI (agility) player, so of course you're in denial…" Yamikaze grunted in frustration while XeXeeD stood up from his seat, "Wake up, people! Until now, boosting your AGI and firing powerful guns at rapid rates was the best style! But MMOs are always changing their balance mechanics, especially in level-oriented games like GGO, where we can't switch out our stats! You have to think ahead and be smart when using your points. It's not a given that the best style in one level zone won't be the same for the next. Besides, the firearms coming in the next update will have higher STR (strength) requirements and Accuracy bonuses."
One player scoffed. "I remember when XeXeeD boasted that AGI builds were the best," he said bitterly. "That bastard totally scammed us."
Suddenly the cloaked player stood up and approached the monitor. He then pulled out a pistol and aimed it at one of the screens showing the live stream with his right hand.
"You're nothing but a fake, XeXeeD," the cloaked player monologed. "And now, you'll face judgement from someone with real power!"
Everyone looked at the cloaked player in confusion before they all burst out laughing. The cloaked player then did the sign of the cross with his left hand before firing at the screen. The bullet easily went through XeXeeD's head on the monitor, and for a moment, nothing happened.
Suddenly XeXeeD began groaning with pain as he clutched his chest, catching the other players off-guard. XeXeeD then disappeared due to a disconnection error.
"Huh?" the reporter said in confusion. "We seem to be having a bad connection. Don't worry folks. I'm sure he'll be back soon."
But XeXeeD never reappeared. Everyone then stared at the cloaked player with terror as he aimed his gun at them. A metal skull-shaped mask with red eyes was revealed under the player's hood.
"This is real power!" the player boasted. "Real strength!" He aimed his gun at the ceiling. "Let your fear carve one name into your brains! The name I share with this gun. Death Gun!" His eyes briefly lit up as steam shot out the sides of his mask.
December 7th, 2025
Asuna and Yuuki were waiting by the East Garden of the Imperial Palace for their boyfriends to arrive. Asuna was wearing a white jacket, a pink undershirt, a necklace with a silver cross, a red skirt, white leggings, and white boots. Yuuki was wearing a red headband, a purple jacket, with a black shirt underneath, a purple skirt with red trimming, and black boots. They were both eighteen and seventeen respectfully.
"I can't believe that its been a year since SAO ended," Asuna said.
Yuuki nodded in agreement. "I know. Sometimes, it feels like it was just a bad dream, only it wasn't." She looked up at the clear winter sky. "I wonder what the difference between the real world and the virtual world is."
"The amount of data," a new voice answered, startling the girls. They turned around and saw none other than Frank and Kazuto behind them. They were both wearing a jacket, t-shirt, pants, and boots that were all black. They were now seventeen years old.
"You scared us!" Asuna chided, causing the Darkness Duo to laugh.
"Sorry," Kazuto replied. "But we're on time, aren't we?"
"It's alright," Asuna said. "Guess I was on autopilot. Anyway, hello Kirito. Hi Marth."
"Sup Marth," Yuuki greeted. "Hey Kirito."
Both boys groaned. They had long since given up on correcting the girls with their names, but it was still a little annoying.
"Some things will never change," Frank said. He then looked the girls over. "I see you two are in your old colors."
It took them a second to realize that he was referring to SAO. "Yeah," Yuuki agreed before reaching towards her waist as if trying to grab something. "But minus the swords." She then giggled. "The same can be said for you and Kirito! Do you guys try to match, or does it just happen?"
Both boys simply scratched their heads. "This is only because we had to wash the rest of our clothes and these were the only ones left," Kazuto replied.
"Then you shouldn't put your laundry off!" Asuna scolded before taking her boyfriend's arm. "It's great that we're all wearing our old colors. What are the odds?"
"Well, if we see each other enough its bound to…" Kazuto started.
"That was a rhetorical question," Asuna interrupted.
"C'mon!" Yuuki said impatiently. "Let's go!" She grabbed boyfriend by the arm and started leading him into the garden, with Kazuto and Asuna right behind.
"I don't know about you all," Frank said. "But I find the imperial palace pretty interesting."
"What do you mean?" Yuuki questioned.
"Its two kilometers from north to south," Frank explained. "1.5 kilometers from east to west, and it takes up a whole 20 percent of the Chiyoda Ward. There aren't any subways or tunnels underneath it, and it's a no-fly zone. It's kinda cool that there's a restricted area right in the heart of Tokyo."
Kazuto nodded in agreement. "Not only is it isolated on the outside, but information wise too," he said before pointing at a pole with a strange sphere on top. "That's a surveillance camera. This place has its own closed-network set up here, and you can't access it from the outside."
"Wow," Asuna said, sounding impressed. "That's one weird camera."
"Yeah. Not only is this place the heart of Tokyo, it's also its own isolated world," Kazuto continued. "Actually, I'm probably exaggerating that, but it's still pretty cool."
Asuna simply giggled. "You think."
The boys then led the girls to the park, who were in awe of its beauty.
"This used to be the inner citadel of the Edo Castle," Frank started.
"C'mon, let's go!" Yuuki said eagerly before dragging her boyfriend to the park, with Asuna doing the same with Kazuto.
The quartet simply wandered around the park, enjoying their surroundings. They even managed to have a stranger take their picture, so they could remember their time. Once the sun started setting, the group decided to sit on a park bench to rest.
"Hey, you know that questionnaire they gave us at school?" Asuna questioned. "The one asking about our future plans."
Yuuki nodded in acknowledgement. "Yeah. I had a hard time with it because I don't know what I want to do after I graduate." She eyed her boyfriend. "What about you, Frank?"
"Well, Kazuto and I have been thinking of instead of playing games, we become the creators," the Dark Swordsman voiced.
"Do you mean for games?" Asuna asked.
Kazuto shook his head. "No, not games," the Black Swordsman replied. "We're thinking of creating a man-machine interface to replace the full-dive technology we have now. Frank and I have been going to all these tech forums to learn more, but there's a lot of info to absorb."
Asuna smiled in content. "All I want is to stay with you, Kirito," she whispered.
"What was that?" Kazuto asked, startling the Lightning Flash.
"I mean, I wish that someday we could be with Yui in this world, too," Asuna said hastily.
"We'll be able to live with her in this world," Kazuto replied. "Once we manage to access augmented reality at will. The only thing holding it back is the amount of data."
"Didn't you guys mention that earlier?" Yuuki asked. "What did you mean by that?"
Frank paused to think. "Let's see… If we were holding hands in ALO, it wouldn't be the same as doing it in real life, would it?"
Yuuki took Frank's hand into her own and said, "Yeah. You can sense a lot more from a real hand. Is that what you meant by the difference of data?"
Frank nodded. "Yup. Imagine if you could reproduce the feeling of skin or pulse. There's no way you could tell a difference if the hand was real or virtual."
"I could if it was Kirito's hand," Asuna voiced. "But it's not just touch. There's still more data in sound and taste in the real world, right? Even if our Amusphere rigs could access augmented reality, we'd still know the difference."
"Yeah," Kazuto agreed. "You'd know if something was real or not as soon as you come into contact with it. Hopefully someone will come along with a technological breakthrough that lets us receive tons of sensory data at all times…"
"Then we could bring the real and virtual worlds together and be with Yui forever," Asuna finished. "Do you think it will ever come?"
Kazuto shrugged. "Yeah, especially if Frank and I are behind it."
"Then you two better get to work," Yuuki said cheerfully.
Frank and Kazuto then thought about what happened earlier that day, before they met up with Yuuki and Asuna.
Flashback- 4 hours earlier
Frank and Kazuto had gone to a café to meet up with Seijirou Kikuoka, the man who questioned him and Kazuto when they were still in the hospital. Once they approached the dining room, they were greeted by, "Kirito. Marth. Over here!"
The duo saw a man in a business suit with brown hair and glasses, who was sitting at an empty table, waving at them. They both let out a groan as people were staring at them before walking over to the man and taking a seat.
"Did you seriously just call us by our avatar names?!" Kazuto said in a hushed, irritated tone.
Kikuoka waved his hand dismissively. "Sorry, but if you're worried about getting any unwanted attention from people, it's already too late," he replied. "Everyone knows that you two were the ones who stopped both the SAO and Alfheim Incidents. And Frank, where the heck did you get the idea to name your character 'Marth' anyway?" He had been playing Alfheim Online as an Undine mage named Chrysheight for a classified government research project in the Virtual Division.
Frank folded his arms and leaned back in his chair. "I got it from an old video game series I used to play," he answered. "I thought it was a good idea to use that name for my avatar handle in both the beta and the full version of Sword Art Online. So why'd you call us here in the first place? We already told you everything we knew about both those incidents."
Kikuoka shook his head. "That's not why I called you two," he said as he opened up his menu and a waiter approached the table. "But before we get into that, pick something to order. Don't worry about the cost, it's my treat."
"Thank you, sir," Kazuto said formally. "I think we'll take you up on it."
Kikuoka simply chuckled. "You don't need to be so formal with me. Just talk to me like you would in ALO."
"If you say so."
Frank and Kazuto opened their menus and nearly fell out of their seats. Everything on the menu was crazy expensive. They both ended up ordering light snacks and drinks.
"I'm sorry to make you two come all the way here," the Undine player said.
"Then why'd you bother asking us to come to Ginza?" Frank questioned. "What's this about, anyway?"
"You're as cold as ever, Frank," Kikuoka said. He handed the duo a tablet revealing a picture of a man.
"Who's he?" Kazuto asked.
"This won't be pleasant, but on November 14th, the landlord of an apartment complex in Nakano Ward, Tokyo, was cleaning the place when he noticed an unpleasant smell," Kikuoka explained. "He followed the trail to one of the apartments and discovered this man named Tamotsu Shigemura, age 26, dead. He'd been dead for five days. The landlord found him in bed and there were no signs of a break-in, and the victim was wearing an Amusphere."
"What?!" the SAO Survivors exclaimed in shock.
"It was ruled as an unnatural death, so there was an autopsy," Kikuoka explained. "The cause of death was deemed acute heart failure."
"Heart failure?" Frank said curiously. "Why would a twenty-six-year-old have heart failure?"
That was when their food arrived.
"Your guess is as good as mine," the government agent replied as he took the tablet back. "Unfortunately, since so much time had passed and there was no evidence of foul play, the autopsy wasn't very thorough. We do know that he hadn't eaten for two days since he was logged in for that long."
"But that's not unusual," Kazuto voiced. "Gamers do it all the time. But why are you telling us this?"
"He had a game called Gun Gale Online installed in his Amusphere. Have either of you heard of it before?"
Frank nodded. "Of course, we have. It's the only MMO in Japan with professional players."
"Last October, this man had won a tournament called Bullet of Bullets to be ranked as the most powerful player in GGO," Kikuoka explained. "His avatar's name was XeXeeD."
"Was he playing GGO when he died?" Kazuto asked as they ate.
"No, apparently, he was appearing as XeXeeD's avatar on a program called MMO Stream," the Undine player answered. "We know what time from the logs. That's when things have yet to be confirmed. According to another player's blog, at the precise moment Tamotsu suffered from a heart attack, something odd happened in GGO. It seems that at that moment, in a certain bar, there was a player who started acting strangely. The blog states that he shouted at XeXeeD's image about judgement and power before shooting the image with his gun. There was a player there who happened to be recording the audio and uploaded it to a video site. Since the file had a Japan Standard Time counter, we know that the shot fired, and Tamotsu's death happened at the same time."
"It's probably just a coincidence," Frank passed off.
Kikuoka simply smirked. "You'd think that, but there was another death," he said, shocking the Spriggan players.
"What?" Kazuto said in disbelief.
"This one happened on November 28th," Kikuoka stated. "Somewhere in Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture. Same set-up as before. A body found in a two-story apartment. A newspaper salesman happened to look inside and saw the victim in bed while wearing his Amusphere. You don't want to know the details on the corpse's condition, trust me. Anyway, heart failure was the cause of death for this one too. The victim was another top ranking GGO player and named…" He struggled on trying to pronounce the name, "Usushio Tarako? This one, however, took place in-game.
"He was in the Central Plaza in Glocken, in a meeting with his squad, which I'm guessing is the equivalent of a guild. A strange player came up to him and shot him point blank."
Frank took a sip from his drink and said, "Do you know if it was the same person who shot XeXeeD?"
"Most likely," Kikuoka confirmed. "He said stuff about judgement and power and identified himself by the same character name."
"What name?"
"Death Gun," Kikuoka said firmly.
"Death… Gun…" Kazuto said slowly. Suddenly, both Spriggan players came to a realization. "Are you positive that they both died of heart failure?"
"What do you mean?" Kikuoka asked in confusion.
"Was there any damage to their brains?" Frank questioned.
Kikuoka smirked. "I was wondering that myself, so I asked the coroner to check, but he said there wasn't any damage to either of their brains," he explained. "Besides, while the NerveGear used high-output microwaves to fry the signal elements and destroy the brain, the Amusphere was designed so it couldn't emit such powerful electromagnetic waves. Or so the developers claim."
"You sure did your homework," Kazuto said. "But for this story is built around coincidences and rumors."
"True, it could be a coincidence or even a hoax. I'm just talking hypothetically here. Kirito, Marth, do either of you think to stop a player's heart with in-game gunfire?"
Both teens pictured Death Gun firing a bullet from the virtual world and killing Tamotsu with it, which made them nervous.
"No," Kazuto said firmly. "It can't be done. But… hypothetically, let's say that this Death Gun character sent some sort of killer signal to XeXeeD and Usushio Tarako's Amuspheres, but what it be?"
"I doubt it could be the sensation of a touch or sound," Frank voiced. "The Amusphere doesn't have the capability of producing something that powerful. Not to mention that the Amusphere doesn't even connect to the heart." He then glared at Kikuoka. "But I bet that you already thought of this, haven't you? You guys couldn't figure it out, so you called us in to pick our brains on it!"
Kikuoka raised his hands in defense. "No, no, no," he said hastily. "I would never do such a thing to you two. After all, I enjoy talking with you and I wanted your opinion."
The Darkness Duo didn't look convinced by his statement and stood up. "We're done here," Kazuto said. "You want our opinion, so here it is. Its impossible to stop a person's heart from actions in-game. The shots fired, and the two heart attacks are coincidences."
"Yeah," Frank added.
The teens turned to leave but were stopped when Kikuoka said, "Wait! You guys can order more cake, just stay with me a little longer. Seriously, I'm relieved that you both came to that conclusion. Fact is, my opinion is the same as yours. I don't believe these deaths were caused by in-game gunshots. I've come here to ask you and Kirito if you would log into Gun Gale Online, and make contact with this 'Death Gun' character?"
"And once we do find him, then what?" Frank questioned fiercely. "You want to let him shoot us? No thanks! I don't want to get killed!"
"Neither do I!" Kazuto added.
"Wait! Let me finish!" Kikuoka begged. "We just agreed that wasn't possible! Besides, this Death Gun guy seems to have a very strict criteria for his targets."
"Huh?" the duo said in confusion. They then eyed each other and nodded before sitting back at the table.
"Here's the deal," Kikuoka explained. "Both XeXeeD and Tarako were renowned top players. That means he's probably not interested in shooting newbies. And since you guys beat Brandon and Kayaba…"
"But that's different!" Kazuto proclaimed. "GGO's no joke! It's full of professional players!"
"Hold the phone," Kikuoka said as he pointed a finger at the duo. "What do you mean by 'professional players'?"
"Easy," Kazuto said. "Gun Gale Online is the only VRMMO with a game coin-to-real life currency conversion system. That means you turn whatever money you earn in the game into real currency. Pro gamers are the ones who earn a constant stream of income every month from GGO. I heard that the top players can make two to three hundred thousand yen every month."
"That's why so many hardcore gamers play GGO," Frank explained. "They pour so much more time and passion into the game than any other MMO players. Even if Kazuto and I were to log in, no one would give us a second glance. You should find someone else."
"Hold up, hold up," Kikuoka said. "You guys are the only ones I can ask to do this! I need both of your help with this investigation. I'll even pay you for your trouble!"
That got the SAO Survivors' attention. "I don't get why you're so hung up over this," Kazuto passed off. "You hear horror stories on the Internet all the time."
Kikuoka nodded in agreement. "I know," he said. "But my superiors are worried about this. The effects of full-dive technology on the real world is the hottest topic in all fields today. Literally everyone is researching it. People are going to use these deaths to regulate the technology to their advantage, so we need to get the facts straight before that happens. How's that?"
"Why not ask the admins about it?" Frank asked. "Wouldn't they be the best people to question?"
"Unfortunately, Zaskar, the company who developed GGO, is in the U.S.," the Undine player replied grimly. "They haven't made their phone number or email address public, so it'll be difficult to contact them. Ever since the World Seed was released, shady-looking VR worlds have been popping up everywhere."
"Oh," Frank said. "Sorry about that."
Kikuoka waved his hand in dismissal. "Relax, I'm not accusing you and Kirito. I know you both had good intentions when you two released the World Seed to the public. Whether Zaskar is legit or not doesn't matter. If we want to discover the truth, we have to contact Death Gun in the game. I'm not asking for you two to get shot. We'll take every precaution necessary. Just evaluate the situation and report back. So, Kirito, Marth, will you help us?"
Both SAO Survivors lowered their heads as they thought about their time in the death game. "Four thousand people died in Aincrad," Frank said to himself. "Those memories are just now starting to fade away. But now, in some other virtual world, someone is committing murders in the virtual world, and I'm getting pulled back in. It's like someone's trying to stop me from forgetting."
Kazuto then nudged his best friend. "So what do you think, partner?" Kazuto asked.
Frank looked the black-haired teen in the eye. "I'm game if you are," he said.
Kazuto nodded before they faced the government agent. "Okay, we'll help you," Kazuto said.
Kikuoka smiled in content. "Thank you both. And I swear that I won't let anything happen to you both while you investigate this 'Death Gun Incident'."
Present Day
"Hey," Asuna said suddenly, snapping the boys from their thoughts. "I know why you brought us here."
"What do you mean?" Kazuto asked.
"If our world is made from an axis called 'Time', and a plane called 'Space', then the center of our reality is this place," Asuna explained. "And the axis of the virtual world that is constantly expanding thanks to the World Seed, is old Aincrad. That's why this sunset feels so familiar to me."
Yuuki nodded in agreement. "Now that you mention it, this does remind me of our last moments in SAO," she said.
"Yeah," Frank added. "You could even take it a step further and connect it to Aincrad's shape. Maybe its shape was meant to represent the Time Axis and the Space Plane."
"I can see where you're coming from," Asuna said. "Then that means the world Heathcliff and Zelgius were trying to create was to be tapered off and eventually converge, and finally vanish. Unfortunately, we'll never know because two certain people cleared it three-fourths of the way up."
The Darkness Duo cringed in fear. "Sorry, our bad," Kazuto said quickly.
The quartet then shared a laugh. Both boys wanted to tell their girlfriends about what Seijirou asked them to do but chose not to.
"It's getting cold," Frank said as they felt the evening chill start to emerge. "I think we should start heading back."
"Okay," Yuuki agreed. "But next time let's bring Thorrnn and Leafa and the others! We could have a picnic here!"
"Sounds like a plan," Asuna said.
"Definitely," Kazuto added. "But in the spring."
GGO
Meanwhile, a young woman with short blue hair was on the roof of a destroyed building, aiming her sniper rifle, a PGM Ultima Ratio Hecate II, at a group of players below her. She was wearing a desert-colored military outfit, bulletproof armor of the same color, black fingerless gloves, combat boots, and had a white muffler around her neck. Her name was Sinon.
"We're in position," a man named Dyne said through a communication device.
"Roger that," Sinon responded. "Targets haven't changed their course or their speed. They're 400 meters from you, 1500 for me."
"Pretty far off," Dyne said. "Can you make the shot?"
"No sweat," she said.
"Okay. Fire when ready. I'm counting on you, Sinon."
"Roger," Sinon said as a green circle appeared in her vision as she looked through her scope. "This pressure. This anxiety. This fear." She aimed towards the enemy player with a live ammo gun. "1500 meters. That's nothing. Like tossing a balled-up wad of paper into a trash can. This is nothing like how it felt that day!"
Once Sinon locked onto the player's head, she pulled the trigger on her rifle and watched as the bullet soared towards its target and hit its mark, killing the player.
"Next," Sinon said simply.
To be continued