A/N: First and foremost, this was a request from "Tokusatsuluv". It wasn't my idea, in fact, I'm just the writer here.

This fic is an AU of both Sword Art Online (being that they use the NerveGear) and Log Horizon.

Aggro: gaining attention of (in most cases) computer controlled enemies such as monsters. It draws them out for an easier fight.

Buff: A player/players' skills are increased in either strength or abilities. This is usually done by a Cleric (or someone from the Healer archetype).

Noob: Term used for 'newbies' or new players. Sometimes spelt with two zeros instead of o's.

Enjoy!

Chapter 1

...

"I'm home!" Kise shouted as he took off his shoes at the genkan.

"Welcome back!" came two shouts from the kitchen. Kise followed and entered the kitchen where he saw both his parents cooking dinner. This was a routine anyway on a Friday evening.

His father ―Ryouhei was a tall blond man with green eyes and long corner lashes. In fact, Kise was a younger version of him, only with brown eyes instead. His mother, in comparison to her husband and her son, was short but she had beautiful black hair and brown eyes. Her name was Ritsuko.

"How was school today?" Ryouhei asked.

"It was the usual Papacchi," Kise said with a drawl. "Exhausting."

"You know you shouldn't frown." Ritsuko said while pinching his cheeks. "It'll ruin your face."

"Mom!" he whined as he wiggled out of her grip.

"Aww," she cooed, "you're so cute when you whine."

…

After Kise finished eating dinner and washed up, he bolted up the stairs to his room where he dived into his bed on his back. Taking up the NerveGear that nestled to the left of the headboard, Kise booted up the game, ready to head back into the virtual world. This was one side of him that only Kaijou and his parents knew about ―he's a serious gamer. If he hadn't discovered basketball and hadn't taken up modelling, then gaming would have been his number one past-time. He was especially hooked on these types of games, due to the life-like experience one felt whilst playing.

Unlike gaming consoles of the past and online games that one played while facing a computer, with this, it felt as though they were in the game, hence the name Virtual Reality. Kise was bursting with joy, glad to be born in this generation.

"Link Start!"

After the white screen disappeared, a familiar sight greeted Kise's eyes. The town before him was bustling with people ―players and NPCs, each in their own class and character get-up. There were Archers and Knights mingling with each other, Mages and Warriors walking around and purchasing equipment among many others.

Kise walked up the steep, meandering streets, passing by taverns and other establishments. This particular street was the noisiest, as players flocked in the aforementioned places. This was a usual route for Kise whenever he needed to upgrade his weapons or make purchases. Yet another feature of the game, upgrades are done at the various weaponsmiths instead of automatically when having gathered the necessary materials. That somewhat gave the game a more realistic feel, although sometimes it can be quite a hassle, especially, if one has any of the more common weapon types like swords or if they used an unpopular weapon.

Finally, Kise reached his destination and pushed open the door. An Elven male with bright red hair and red eyes greeted him with a playful frown.

"I'm back Rune!" he beamed as he sauntered further inwards.

"Raiden...always the dashing bastard." he joked. Yes, Kise's in-game name was "Raiden".

"Of course," he smirked, pushing back his white hair fringe, his purple eyes were sparkling with amusement. In addition to the hair and eyes, Kise's avatar was very much different from his real life body. While he was still tall, he had a cute little face as he was an Elf. His pointy ears were perked up, as if showing that he was in a good mood.

He wore a purple shirt underneath a long white coat with purple trimmings that he leaves open. The sleeves of the coat are cuffed up to his elbow. Around his waist were two thick belts that crossed each other a little below his abdomen. His white pants were tucked into white High Forest boots that had purple twine lacing at the front.

"So, what are you here for?" Rune ―or rather Runic Night asked. "It can't be for more Holy Grenades, right?" He raised his eyebrows at him.

"No, no," Kise said as he waved his hand dismissively. "I'm just wondering if you haven't heard about any raids going on. People are lively these days, but no one's whispering about going in a dungeon or setting any records or raiding."

"There were two who seemed like noobs." Runic Night said while tapping his chin in thought. "They were asking for a Cleric to join their party for some levelling or something."

"Oh." Kise nodded. He leaned on the table and let out a sigh. He wasn't bored at the moment, but he really wanted to do something before bedtime. He was a solo player, which meant he wasn't in any guilds or any parties. There were two reasons for this, basketball and modelling. They were both time consuming in their own right, and if he were to join a guild or whatever, it just wouldn't work out.

"Don't worry, I told them to come back. I had a feeling that you'd find your ass here anyway."

"Thank you Rune!" he shouted in joy.

"Anytime." Kise and Runic Night were good friends in-game, being that the now white-haired boy was a frequent customer. While neither knew each other's real name and face, they were able to converse well about not only things related to the game and their characters but normal real-life topics. Well, that and, Kise's really chatty.

Soon, the doors open and two players entered with gleams in their eyes upon seeing Kise. The Archer on the left was a Human and was clothed in a long green tunic with black accents and trim on the sleeves. His black pants were tucked into black demi-boots that had adjustable belts on the side. He had a green leather quiver on his back, packed with arrows. He had light blue hair done in a braid to the side and green eyes.

"Hello." he said as he waved to them, the bracer on his arm had beautiful ornate designs.

"Hi." Kise replied. His eyes then looked across to the Archer's other companion. He seemed to be a Thief or Rogue or someone from that archetype. He wore a dark blue hooded cloak that closes with intricate woven hempen toggles and a button. Looking at his feet, Kise saw that he wore black boots.

Archer then walked up to the counter where Runic Night was. He asked in a whisper, "Is that the Cleric you told us about?"

"Yeah, he's the one."

With a swift turn to Kise, Archer said, "Would you like to join our party?!" he beamed, the Thief (or whatever he was) beside him was clasping his hands together and nodding.

"Sure, I don't mind. But I need to ask," Kise said while looking at the other player. "What's your class, sub-class and level?"

"Thief and Chef, level twenty."

Odd combination, Kise thought before looking across to the Archer, "And you?"

"Same level, Mage is my subclass. What's your level?" Archer never asked Kise if he had a sub-class because Clerics usually don't. Or if they do, it isn't anything of the fighter type.

"Oh. I'm at level twenty-eight."

Archer and Thief exchanged glances before sighing a relief. Kise raised his eyebrows at this, but then dismissed it as just them glad that they got a Cleric with a higher level than they were. After conversing for a while about where they wanted to go and learning each other's general skills and equipment, Archer sent the invitation to Kise. Seeing their in-game names, Kise roared with laughter and nearly fell off the stool.

Archer's name was "God of the North Wind: Spring Breeze".

Thief's name was "Straight Cloak Gold Digger".

The two boys were embarrassed at Kise laughing at them, but they couldn't counter being that Kise's name was pretty normal. After the laughter died down, Kise then said,

"You know I can't call you that, right?" he chuckled. "How about Haru and Gold Digger?"

"Fair enough." they murmured. After that, they bade Runic Night farewell and headed out.

Heading into the town square, the trio sat by the water fountain to discuss their plans. Spring Breeze and Gold Digger were planning on heading to a Dungeon for some levelling.

Just then, they heard a System Announcement: « New Record Set at Spiralling Tower, Twenty-four minutes and thirty seconds by Crescent Moon Guild ―Windwalker, Kai... » and the list continued on with eight more names.

"Well, would you look at that." Spring Breeze said in disdain. "Ten members set a twenty-four minute record and from Crescent Moon no less. That's so unfair. There's only three of us here."

Kise straightened. "It's not all about numbers, it's strategy." The Elf leaned forwards with a grin on his face. "I have an idea. Wanna hear it?"

"Sure,"

"But first, we need to get Runic Night."

…

[Munabu Graveyard]

The quartet stood outside the vaulted entrance to the Graveyard, Spring Breeze and Gold Digger preparing their minds to enter the dungeon. At first, they had wanted to head somewhere for some levelling, but Kise insisted that they should come here. They would be hitting many birds with one stone ―levelling, looting, and boss kill. Runic Night had gladly joined once Kise explained the plan, grinning like the unscrupulous businessman that he was.

When they were ready, they boldly stepped inwards, Spring Breeze was at the back with his bow and arrow poised and ready to act; Gold Digger and Runic Night were at the front, Kise was in the middle. The sky was of a dark green colour, with the clouds being black. There were mist hovering above the ground, add to that eerie look, tombstones were in abundance. Some had pieces broken off, some had weeds wrapping around them like parasites. In patches here and there, were withered trees that had meagre branches and barks.

Faint, eerie ghost cries were the sound effects used for this setting, and occasionally, there were the owls hooting.

"Alright, you remember the plan, right?" Kise asked.

"Of course." the others said in unison.

"But I do feel that it's a little insane." Gold Digger said, a little jittery. "I mean, a Cleric getting aggro? I've never seen or heard of such a thing before."

Kise laughed. "There's a first time for everything."

"Trust him if you want to clear this dungeon and set a record. This bastard knows what he's doing." Runic Night said, nudging Kise in the sides.

Entering the graveyard, without hitch, the quartet dashed off in different directions. Upon encountering the zombies, all three attacked just to get aggro. Achieving this, they turned and ran, pulling the zombies with them. Regrouping with each other, Spring Breeze quickly jumped onto a nearby tree branch, and after locking onto his targets, he released his arrows, hitting the zombies squarely. He had earned this skill when he had reached level 2, it was called "Arrow Volley".

The arrows looked like bright rays of light as they sailed towards their targets, illuminating the dark area. As the Archer continued to ruthlessly take down zombies within his sight, he suddenly felt something crash into his side causing him to stagger and fall. Nearly half of his HP was shaved.

"What was that?!" he shouted. He looked in the direction and saw many Skeleton Archers, their bows poised and ready to fire. "Shit!" He said as he scrambled onto his feet.

But Kise was ready and had quickly buffed and recovered Spring Breeze's stats. Using his sub-class, Spring Breeze created a whirlwind to defend against the oncoming the arrows. He stood near to Kise, not wanting anything to happen to their Healer...if he dies, they die too.

This time, Spring Breeze decided to jump onto a tombstone, which wasn't as high as the tree branch, but still gave him somewhat of a bird's eye view.

While Spring Breeze was dealing with the Skeletal Archers, Runic Night and Gold Digger were busy with the zombies. Runic Night was a Warrior, who wore light armour but carried a deadly blade in each hand. After using the "Evasive Roll" skill, Runic Night dodged the oncoming attack from the zombies, and then used "Vortex Slash" to inflict damage. This was swinging his blade in a wide arc, slicing anything within range in half. These skills he earned when he was at Levels 1 and 4 respectively.

Continuing forwards, Runic Night was merciless and even took a look in Gold Digger's direction. The Thief was quite crafty. Using his "Backstab" skill, Gold Digger appeared from the shadows and attacked the zombies from behind, landing nasty double damages. Somehow, he and Runic Night managed to coordinate with each other, whenever Gold Digger's attack fails to finish off a zombie, in its disoriented state, Runic Night lands the final blow.

Kise, of course, kept them healthy throughout all this, but silently counting down the time for when he'll some of the action. Runic Night knows him the best out of their party, there was more to Kise than meets the eye.

They continued to navigate through the dungeon, increasing their skills as the enemies got more difficult, looting everything in sight as well. Kise used his Holy Grenades to clear out the zombies quickly, as, they were aiming for a fast time as well. After rounding a corner past a chunk of earth, Runic Night spotted a tombstone, shaking slightly.

"Guys, be careful." he warned. "A tombstone's shaking...only one."

As if on cue, the System then announced: « You have entered the Zombie Master's Tomb ».

"Well, hell," Spring Breeze said in a whimper, "A Boss."

At that, the tombstone fell forwards on its face and a thick grey hand thrust upward. Another hand followed and soon, a monstrous zombie hauled himself up out of the ground. His clothes were tattered like the previous undead, but his skin was grey and not green. Its dark eyes were bright in the darkly lit area, its red lips looked as though it had just finished snacking on a person. In his hand, the zombie carried a massive axe, almost the size of two boulders combined.

With an ear-shattering cry, the zombie boss' black eyes swept across them as though choosing which one of the four he wanted to attack. But thankfully, they weren't in its attack range.

"Shit, that's the zombie boss? How the hell are we going to beat that?" Gold Digger said in shock. "That thing is huge!"

"I've never been here before," Runic Night quickly said to avoid the responsibility of plan formation.

"No one's been here before." Kise said with a perk. "This is going to be the first boss kill of this area."

"Huh?!"

Ignoring them, Kise said, "We need to scout it out first. We already know its attack range, we need to know what attacks it uses and how fast he can run." He then looked to Runic Night and Gold Digger, "Go draw it out. Gold Digger, you use your stealth attacks to inflict damage," he turned to Spring Breeze, "Keep hidden but fire your arrows to help wear down its HP." Kise then made his million-dollar smile, "And don't worry, I'll keep you healthy."

At that, the three males headed off to do their jobs, Runic Night had run off first and as soon as he was within range, the Zombie Master dashed towards the warrior with a blinding speed. Seeing this, the others whistled, while Runic Night (barely) dodged. The large axe collided with the ground, causing the earth to quake and a shockwave to blow the boys' back.

Quickly recovering, Runic Night went towards the monster yet again, Gold Digger following closely in the shadows. With Runic Night grabbing aggro, it didn't have the time to notice Gold Digger. The Thief appeared as he disappeared inflicting damage here and there on the creature.

Spring Breeze followed Kise's orders and stayed hidden within the copse of trees, his green tunic and dark pants creating the perfect camouflage. Using his "Rapid Fire" skill where he released up to seven of his arrows in succession, he watched closely where Gold Digger struck, and targeted his arrows there.

Runic Night only struck whenever its attention was diverted to Gold Digger, although it was only a small window of a chance. But, he knew that Kise had his back, so without worry, he charged in and hacked away.

With his HP now wearing down, the Zombie Master suddenly sprang into the air, leaving behind a sonic boom. But that wasn't the end of it. It's jumping power was phenomenal, although it had a big body and weapon, the thing was surprisingly fast for an undead.

Buffing his party, Kise had now became the target of the Zombie Master. With a thrust in the elf's direction, the undead boss darted like one of Spring Breeze's arrows towards him. In that moment, Kise opened up his Holy Grimoire and put away his sceptre within. Then, crossing his hands over each other, Kise drew his weapons from his hip, switching to his Swordsman sub-class.

Two Katanas.

Gold Digger and Spring Breeze were shocked at this, Runic Night seemed a bit relieved. The blades of Kise's katanas glowed with a faint yellow light, and as they came in contact with the Zombie Master's axe, a bright light erupted from the collision. Kise was forced to jump back from the impact, the Zombie Master flew backwards the same distance, but howled out in anguish.

On its chest, there was a massive burn mark, proof that whatever attack Kise used had an effect. The Cleric then turned to Spring Breeze and said, "Aim your arrows at the burns," He dashed off, joining up with Runic Night and Gold Digger.

The Zombie Master rushed up to them in large strides, roaring in rage. But it's target was Kise, the one who hurt him so. Kise dashed forwards to face him while Runic Night and Gold Digger headed to the flanks, but they were only looking at its arm with the axe, while Kise focused on its feet. By the time Kise reached close enough to it, Spring Breeze's arrows had collided with its chest, sending it stumbling backwards. Kise and the others used this opportunity wisely and the three sliced away at its limbs. Using the "Rapid Slice" skill, Kise charged at the Zombie Master's feet and spinning like a whirlwind, sliced and diced the rotting flesh. Runic Night and Gold Digger hacked away at the monster's arms, causing it to drop its axe.

Scattering from the boss, the three boys then changed positions, Kise moving away and using another skill from his Cleric Class ―"Plague of Exhaustion". This removes buffs and inflicts damage the longer it is in use.

Seeing that the boss was close to death, Kise reverted to his Cleric class and drew out his Staff from his Holy Grimoire. "Haru, switch to Mage!" he ordered.

With a raise of his eyebrow, Spring Breeze put away his bow and darted towards Kise. He then made a gesture which meant that he should enter the fray. Wordlessly he dashed off, but using the skill "Aura of the Swift", Kise buffed his party by increasing their speed. This was especially useful for Gold Digger and Runic Night, as they were already fast from their given classes, but add Kise's buff and they were practically blurs.

Spring Breeze used this speed to cast Magic spells and evade the Zombie Master's attacks, as unlike the other two, if it weren't for this buff, he wouldn't have been able to dodge.

Glancing at the clock hovering above, Kise shouted, "Guys! We're at eighteen minutes!"

With a nod to each other, Runic Night and Gold Digger dispersed in two different directions, then, Spring Breeze started chanting some incantation, gathering energy towards his palm. In the other direction, Kise found his way upon the highest tombstone, held up his sceptre and opened up his grimoire. Gold Digger and Runic Night made sure to steer clear of the attack range of these two.

Just then, a dreadful silence enveloped the entire area as if welcoming a disaster. Within a flash, a big spell circle formed in front of Spring Breeze. A tunnel of wind shot forwards to the Zombie Master, slicing him as it raged on.

Following this, a bright ball descended from above, and as soon as it reached close enough, it exploded, enveloping everything in a blinding light. As the light dispersed, the Zombie Master was replaced with drops and rewards after which the System Announced:

« First Boss kill at Munabu Graveyard: Demolition Regiment Party ―God of the North Wind: Spring Breeze, Straight Cloak Gold Digger, Raiden and Runic Night. »

« New Record Set at Munabu Graveyard: Twenty minutes and 50 seconds by Demolition Regiment Party ―God of the North Wind: Spring Breeze, Straight Cloak Gold Digger and Raiden. »

Hearing that, the quartet was ecstatic. Getting their rewards, they exited the Graveyard with grins of joy and satisfaction.

"Man! Thank you Raiden!" Gold Digger said in glee. He and Spring Breeze had gained a total of six levels. "I never thought we could do it! And you too Runic Night!"

"I know right?!" Spring Breeze added. "But man, I have to admit, if this was a table top game, I'd be dead beat."

"We'd probably develop arthritis in our fingers." Kise joked. Due to the dungeon being a level 27, unlike Gold Digger and Spring Breeze who were at level 20 at entrance, the amount of experience Kise and Runic Night gained gradually decreased the more they levelled up. Thus, they only earned four levels.

"But, you're the first Cleric I've encountered that can kick ass." Gold Digger said in awe. "I'm pretty shocked. Usually the archetype will have low defense and attack."

"Yeah, well, I'm a solo player, so I figured I needed a way to fight and heal myself."

"If that's the case, why didn't you choose a class with self-heal or become an Alchemist and keep your Swordsman subclass? You could make your own recovery potions." Spring Breeze asked. "That makes more sense."

Kise shook his head. "Being a Cleric, I get invited to almost every party, to almost every raid that's happened so far. I get some good rewards, you know?"

"Hmm...to each his own anyway." Spring Breeze shrugged. The quartet continued to chat as they returned back to the town, going back to Runic Night's store to relax. As time went by, Kise realized that it was time for him to log out and get some sleep.

"Well, I have to go. See you when I see you again, Haru, Gold." He said to the two, "Until next time Rune!"

Kise swiped his hand downwards to open up the menu. However, his happy face turned grim in a matter of seconds. Without alerting the others, he tried to call the Game Master, but to no avail.

"Hey guys," he said with a shaking voice. "Can you log out?"

"Huh?" Runic Night asked. "You don't have a log out option?" He did the same action as Kise, and similarly, he didn't see the option. Spring Breeze and Gold Digger as well, they started freaking out. Wanting to get more information, the trio dashed out into the streets and questioned other players as well.

Little did they know that it would start a mass hysteria.

When the players found that the log out button had mysteriously disappeared and the Game Master wasn't responding to their calls, they were panicking. Some even got panic attacks, not knowing how they'll escape.

"Maybe if someone removes the NerveGear we'll get out." Spring Breeze said in hope.

"But a force removal? Won't that fry our brains?" Gold Digger wondered. "Hell, if you do anything by force, the outcome is always unfavourable."

Just then, the players heard a ping sound. Opening up the menu, they all saw that it was a "gift" and out of curiosity, they clicked on it. A bright light then enveloped all the players. Freaking out, they screamed, thinking that they were heading to their doom. After the light subsided, the players realized that they hadn't moved, but the people who they were standing beside weren't there. Or rather, had a different face.

"Raiden, is that you?" Spring Breeze asked, staring at Kise. Spring Breeze was now a black haired youth with green eyes. Gold Digger took out a dagger and gave it to Kise. He looked at his reflection and gasped in shock.

"What happened to my avatar?!"

"I take it that our avatars were replaced with our real-life selves." Gold Digger said, he was surprisingly calm in all this mess. He had ash-blond hair and blue eyes."So, where's the evil mastermind that'll tell us we're trapped in a death game?"

"What the hell are you talking about?! Don't try to scare me!" Kise asked, he prayed that Gold Digger was joking about the 'death game' part.

"He watches too much anime." Spring Breeze said with an eye roll. But, he was still perturbed by this incident. What caused them to suddenly change their appearance to that of their real bodies? And why did the log out button mysteriously disappear?

"Raiden," Spring Breeze started, "how long have you been playing this game?"

"Three months. And I've never experienced anything like this before."

"So you got the game on the day it was released?" Spring Breeze asked again. Kise nodded. "Nao and I started playing a month ago. But this just doesn't make any sense. Why of all times there's a catastrophic event such as this? What's the company doing?"

"Do you really think it's the company's fault?" Kise asked. "I mean, let's take Gold Digger's idea and say it's reality. Why would this mastermind wait until now to trap us? On the day Arcanum was released, about fourteen thousand people logged in and started playing. Why didn't he trap us then?"

"That makes sense." Gold Digger nodded in agreement. "So, if it's not the company's fault then whose is it? Terrorists? Hackers? Extraterrestrials?"

"I'd say terrorists." Kise and Spring Breeze said in unison.

"Holding thousands of Japanese hostage for ransom is pretty plausible. But the question is, how are they doing it?" Spring Breeze said.

"They probably hacked the server and removed the log out button." Gold Digger shrugged.

"Even so, it still boils down to one thing," Kise pondered, "Given that the release of Arcanum was known internationally a year before it hit the Japanese markets, why wait until now?"

Unable to counter that, the trio headed back up to Runic Night's store, only to find a despondent looking young man. Neither boy could decipher his age, but he seemed to be in his late teens-early twenties. He had spiked black hair and matching eyes, his skin was like porcelain. The boys could tell that he was Runic Night, since he was in the same clothing that the redheaded Elf wore.

His onyx eyes met theirs, and he couldn't help but gape at Kise. "Raiden..." he started, "...you were Kise Ryouta? The Kise Ryouta?"

"Yeah," Kise chuckled nervously while scratching the back of his head. "How do you know?"

"My little sister is a huge fan of yours. She has all your photobooks." He said with an eye roll.

"Tell her thanks when we get out of here."

When Kise said that, silence engulfed them yet again. The air suddenly felt heavy, and no one knew what to say. In the streets there were chaos and mass panic, people worrying about not only how they'll escape from the game, but how their real bodies will survive. This was a problem for those who lived alone, and that fear was driving them insane.

"Umm, I'll be going home." Kise said, the heavy atmosphere was too much for him. Plus, he needed to escape from all the screaming in the background. "Anyone wants to come?"

"Home? As in, in-game home?" Spring Breeze asked in surprise.

"Yeah, I told you. Once I'm spotted, if someone needs a Cleric in their party, I'll join. As such, I've racked up quite some money and decided to purchase a house. I need somewhere to chill."

"You bastard..." Runic Night laughed. "Now you make me want to change classes."

The quartet exited from the store, following behind Kise. Everywhere was currently in chaos, players were freaking out, while some fell into depression and resigned themselves to their fate.

"This really is the worst." Gold Digger said as he looked at the players' reactions. The others agreed in unison.

Thank you for reading! Don't forget to leave a review!

Also, the skills used are taken from various MMO's I've played.