"Link Start!"
The machine whirred to life and then everything was white, followed by a barrage of color as I fell into the virtual world once again.
Touch. Ok.
Sight. Ok.
Hearing. Ok.
Taste. Ok.
Smell. Ok.
Language. English.
Username. **********.
Password. ********.
One more screen and I was in. Sword Art Online, the most anticipated game since Red Dead Redemption 3, and hopefully a bit less of a disapointment. On the internet, the streets, in schools, and even the news, people were excited everyone is talking about this game. For once I decided to jump on the bandwagon. A friend of mine living in Japan offered to pay my way over if I would join his in-game guild. Me and my younger brother. That last part was annoying, but I got over it pretty quickly considering the offer.
Anyway, as the colors of Aincrad faded into existence, I took in the sights and sounds. From the looks of it, I had spawned right outside a town, probably for low-level players like me. A bird flew directly over my head, chirping happily. I smiled, this was going to be fun! I could see it now, the things I could get up to in this new world. I swiped my hand down like I had been told, bringing up the menu. I smiled at what I saw, admiring the design. I grabbed the dagger that had been hanging off my lower back and swung it cautiously. Feeling my virtual body go into autopilot when I swung was good, it meant avatars came with the muscle memory needed to fight, even if it was ultimately up to the player to actually figure out how to use it. Looking at my menu, I casually flipped my dagger, not worrying about damage. I had done it in my last life and only got hurt once. Checking my skills, it said I only had one. The name shown was "Flicker Slash," which sounded pretty damn cool, though it took a hefty chunk from my stamina bar. I had maybe four or five uses before I would need to rest, but I didn't feel like doing the exact math. Oh well, that could be worked on later.
As I was thinking, a message alert appeared in my menu. Following the notification, I noticed that someone named Tabu sent me a message. I pulled up the message screen, chuckling as I realized who it was from.
Hey man, you know who it is. I know you're sorta new to virtual online gaming so lemme give you some advice. Basically, this is an entirely new world so rule numero uno is obviously to never use real names. EVER. Of course, this message would be the only exception. This is an understood rule throughout the gaming community so it will be easy to keep. Second, and this goes along with the first rule, DO NOT share private information of any kind if it has to do with rl. Third, be aware, some crimes you commit in-game you can be tried for irl depending on the situation because of how close these types of game emulate realism, so even virtual consent (and obviously age laws) are very important. But I trust you on that one. Lastly, this is a game so do try to have fun. I'll be working on setting up our guild for now (and I have a great name for it too), so use this time to get used to the game mechanics and lvl up a little. Whew, that took a while to type. Anyway, I'll send you a message once I'm done telling you where to meet me. Sincerely, you know who.
Well, that was a lot. I would read it through properly at a later point but for now, a skim through would do. He said to get used to the mechanics, and luckily enough I was able to pretty quickly find a wolf of some sort, likely a dire wolf or something considering the type of game I had joined. It hadn't spotted me yet so I decided to test out my body a little so that I knew what I was dealing with. It would be embarrassing to have to resplendent immediately. I chuckled quietly at the thought and started jumping in place. Once I finished that I went into some basic stretches. Unsurprisingly, this virtual body was extraordinarily responsive and powerful. While being athletic in my last life my reflexes and flexibility had not been great, but now even the slightest thought and I felt like I could jump over a mountain, figuratively anyway. And I was only level one, but this feeling was absolutely exhilarating. I could only imagine how I would feel at level fifty or even one hundred.
Setting those thoughts aside, I grinned viscously and dashed out from behind the bushes where I was hiding, activating my sole skill while focusing on the wolf. The world blurred as I felt my skill go into effect. My blade started glowing and I felt when to swing my blade on instinct it seemed. When my tunnel vision went away, I was standing next to a very angry wolf with about half of its health gone. It lunged at me, tackling and pushing me down. Panic pricked at the corners of my mind as I slashed desperately at its face. I felt its claws taking down my health but I also saw that I was doing more damage to it than it was to me. Finally, after what seemed felt like an eternity of struggling, I felt the wolf stop as it's health hit zero. I jolted, shocked, as it's body shattered into light. Well, that was something. I let the "adrenaline" leave my virtual body, which it did surprisingly quickly.
I stood there for a moment, staring off into space, trying to process what had happened. I was jolted out of it by the chirping of another bird. I smiled and broke into a brisk run over towards the closest gate. My virtual hair, a little longer and darker than my real hair, flew against my shoulders and tickled my cheek as I ran. My smile grew even more as I saw people, definitely players but also what I could only guess were NPCs, running around, looking just as happy as I was. Seemed everyone was excited. And why not? We were in Sword Art Online!
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"Hello. So, this is my first fanfic and it's an idea I've been working on for a while. It's a collaborative project with a bunch of my friends, and since it was my idea I'm the lucky one who gets to write it. Yay..." -Ignis
Half-assed celebrations and sarcasm aside, that was your author. He's lazy, unreliable, and annoying but a damn sight better at writing than me lol. I am somewhat of a master of ceremonies and will be providing what would usually be an author's note. It's my job to let you know what's going on as well as teasing a bit of what you have to look forward to in the next chapter. Also, my position is always fluid and as such my writing style may very well be consistently prone to inconsistency. In other words, if you notice my style change, my role may very well have changed hands. So let's get on with it then!
First things first, the next chapter is, unfortunately, unscheduled at this time as Ignis' phone is broken and communication is therefore somewhat hindered. The chapter will be up before April though! And after that the chapters will be MUCH closer together, MUCH more consistent, and MAYBE longer. Feel free to PM us about original characters, as we may use them for quests or otherwise. We have main characters picked, we have a storyline, we even have a lot of arcs planned, but we NEED filler characters. That means details, weapons, everything. While, as the creators of this side-story, we reserve the right to, at any time, refuse a character, we usually won't. Also, reviews are nice and so are you if you leave one. Till next time!
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Bam? No, he has nothing to do with Tower of God. Also, new friends! And of course, a dark turn right off the bat.
Next Chapter: Death Game pt. 1