NOT SO LATE GAME Ch.1

TWICE AWAKENED, STILL SLEEPY

Woke up from dreaming, didn't bother putting on my shoes. More accurately, I couldn't; the menu screen won't open, and I was on a bed, as white sheets and white walls covered me. I was alone, in a room in Sword Art Online-

No, that can't be right.

No, SAO was done, it's supposed to be.

Ugh, head hurts. I can't remember what the hell happened after all that.

Wait, I'm in a hospital? Could it be possible I was in a comatose and it was all a dream? Gods, no… It's not like I belonged in that world, more like I wanted to be with it for a little while longer before I woke up-

"I see you're awake now. There were better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know."

Holy Crap, was that FemChrom? Wait, it sounded familiar… It sounded like-

It was her!

It was Rheas!

"Rheas, is that you? It's possible I could be staring at a figment of my imagination; a hot, sexy figment of my imagination, that is."

Rheas grimaced and made a face that looked disgusted and annoyed.

"That's the first thing you tell me after I lost you for nearly two months?" Rheas pouted.

Wait, two months? Crap, I'm late! Kirito is going to need me soon, and I've already planned my grand entrance!

Wait…

"I've been gone for that long? What happened?" I asked.

Rheas came running to my side and gave me a hug so tight, my whole life flashed before my eyes.

"You reckless, idiotic, crazy, mad…" She ran out of adjectives, lol. "YOU PROMISED YOU WOULDN'T DO ANYTHING STUPID!"

I shrugged. "Did I really?" Then I shook my head. "Well, I'm kind of back now, what am I supposed to do now?"

Rheas shrugged and asked me. "You weren't lying about falling from another universe, right?"

I nodded.

She continued. "It's also true that you have no relatives, by any chance?"

Again, I nodded. She smiled.

"Well, it's settled then! We are going to adopt you!"

…

What?

"Are you serious?" she nodded. "Do I have to change my surname now?"

She shook her head. "It's up to you, whether or not you want to change it." I exhaled in relief.

"Well, I might need to do a bit more though, because I'm planning to save the 300 SAO players that never woke up." Rheas had her eyes wide open, maybe it was surprise behind them. Yet, she shook her head.

"Let's deal with that later, introductions first then, starting with the two of us." Rheas said.

"Okay." I said. "The name is Leo Angelo Aquino, fifteen and ready to fight."

"My name is Say'ri Chan." Rheas, I mean Say'ri said. "Fifteen, and we welcome the challenge. It is nice to meet you, brother."

Days Later…

Out of the hospital and into a larger world. Larger, because I've never really been in any country other than my own, and I've never been outside much then either. Here I was in the heart of Japan, and I never would have dreamed seeing its daylight, never would have thought I would feel the breeze against my skin, never would have believed I would be staying here ever.

I took in a deep breath, and I let it all out with enthusiasm.

I'm in the very same world as my heroes. I am seeing the same shit as they are.

I felt the realization sinking in. I never thought I would be in a world like this, in a world that isn't mine.

In that moment though, I was. I could never deny how my thoughts raced as I walked in sync with my new family.

I'm alive here, right now. I'm finding out what it means to live here.

I will be happy here with my heroes-

No, with my friends. They are my friends now, and the others who I haven't met will be my friends soon enough.

I am so happy to be alive somewhere that isn't made of pixels and trapped thoughts and dreams of ivory that were agents of deception. I was outside the game, and inside reality.

Who knew stepping out of the first building I've ever been conscious in could make me so poetic?

"Don't get too lost in thought, Grey. Or else you'll get hit by a car and we'll have to drag you back inside the hospital." Say'ri said.

"Can you at least call me Leo now? We're not in game, you know." I replied.

"Oh?" She questioned. "I suppose you were just kidding when you kept flapping your right hand earlier, huh? Not trying to bring up a menu or something?"

I shrugged. "You've been in game far longer than I have, and as an actual player. How are you not confused?"

She laughed, her brown hair sparkling in the sunlight as her face caught the breeze. Rheas- I mean Say'ri, was beautiful in real life just as she was in game. She's been really happy around me, though it could just be that she's happy all the time.

"Two months of rehab does that, though it could be that you're so into yourself that you forget to see anyone else."

I shrugged. "Narcissism does that, my dear padawan. I love me so much I could make sweet, sweet love with myself and I'll still call myself straight. Or maybe I'm a bi, because I really don't know."

We laughed as we watched cars come and go at the parking lot. We were waiting for mom and dad (yes, I am calling them mom and dad now) to pick us up and get the certificate of adoption or something like that.

Oh, and I get to keep my surname because why not? It makes me happy simply remembering that whoever I am and will be is still the same person I used to be.

"Leo, they're here!" I snapped back into reality as a white car stopped in front of us.

Two people came out of the car; a bespectacled man who looked to be in his late thirties or early forties, and a brunette woman who seemed about the same age.

The man stood in front of me and offered his hand. I took hold of it and shook it firmly, like the fancy businessman I had inside me.

"I am John Daniel Chan, and this is my wife, Kamui Chan. Leo Angelo, welcome to the family."

Like that, I was not alone anymore. I had a family now, and I had friends too. Looks like things aren't off to a bad start.

We went in the car and drove into their- our new home.

It was late afternoon by the time we finally got there, and it was a modest, white home. The front lawn was clean and the grass wasn't too big, nor was it too small. The building was two stories high and it had huge glass walls that were covered by intricately designed grey curtains that complimented the white cement walls. The front door was made of thick wood and was simplistic in design.

It was looked comfortable and looked like a delicate balance between strong and cozy, an ideal home in my opinion.

"So, you want to step in first or what?" Say'ri asked as she dragged me out of the car and inside the house.

"If you're trying to make this memorable, then you're more sentimental than I am. Besides, this day was too crazy not to call 'memorable'."

She sighed. "It's not always that we get new members of the family, you know."

I looked at her. "You seem oddly enthusiastic for this kind of thing."

She rolled her eyes. "You seem oddly quiet for this kind of thing, haven't you heard of 'gawking'?"

I chuckled a bit. "You do that, and I'll just be that kid who never gets out of his room."

She smirked. "Good luck."

Something about how she said it gave me shivers down my spine.

Hours Later…

After the mandatory settling down, we went to the markets and the malls, getting myself clothes and other important things I might need. Being the grey person that I was, I got myself some dark colored t-shirts, hoodies, jackets, and jeans. Say'ri kept throwing vaguely annoyed comments about how unfashionable I was, but I shut her down.

As long as I looked good and felt good about myself, it was all good.

After the clothes shopping, mom and dad let me get five of anything I wanted. They said it was some grand celebration over being in the family, so I let myself go.

First things first, I needed an Amusphere and ALO. The next was an old "New 3DS XL" that was fairly cheap(being in the future had its perks), Devil Survivor Overclocked (Also surprisingly cheap), and an SD Card for memory.

I was a simple man with simple needs, and I needed something that let me go back to the past I've lost. Also, I felt unfulfilled at how I wasn't able to finish Devil Survivor before getting stuck here, so there's that.

I saw mom and dad flash worried expressions when they saw the Amusphere and ALO, but I told them that it was by far safer than the Nerve Gear.

After they let me buy all these things, we went home. I went to my room and arranged all my things accordingly, much to the shock of Say'ri.

"I didn't think you were the neat type…" She mumbled.

"I might have a bit of OCD, at least until I become focused on something else, where I will become the biggest slob in the country."

She shook her head. "I'll miss this cleaner side of you after you become a dirty bag of meat."

I just had to smile.

When dinner came through, I sat next to Say'ri at the dinner table. Chopsticks were stationed near everyone's bowls, but mine had a spoon and fork too. They probably figured out that chopsticks were some things I wasn't good at yet.

Darn my Chinese blood for not kicking in.

We ate quietly, and the silent atmosphere was refreshing. I ate as the wind shook the branches of the trees that surrounded our home, as the crickets chirped in the dead of the night, as the clock's hands moved.

After the meal, the table was filled with conversations that were mostly introductory; dad was an engineer, mom was a businesswoman, and Say'ri was going to enroll soon as someone in the same year level as yours truly, when you look at it correctly.

Apparently, my birth certificate now shows that I was born seven years later from my actual date of birth, just to show the time skip I've been through rounded off.

Mom and dad weren't used to it, but it seemed as though they were slowly taking in the information Say'ri gave them; that I was not from this universe and that I was basically an orphan in this world.

Considering she did that, it seemed like Say'ri could be really believable when she wanted to. Maybe she lacked a sense of humor? It seemed unlikely, seeing her now, but then again, the game did change a lot of people's perspectives, so who was I kidding.

After dinner, we went to our respective rooms. The fact that I was sleeping in a dead person's room, Issei's room, was still unbelievable.

Thinking about it that way, I felt kind of sad knowing Issei died about a week before the game ended.

No, don't think about it like that. He was a hero who sacrificed his life to save the lives of his companions from the scouting team. Leo, do not let his sacrifice be in vain.

"Leo, don't stay up too late, okay?"

Say'ri tells me before she closes the door from across my room. Less than a day of being her brother and Say'ri already knew what I was going to be like, huh?

Sorry, sis, but I'm going to have to be a night owl if I want to be as strong as Kirito and Leafa in such short notice.

I'll find it out somehow, I have to. I had goals in mind now, as my mind raced to find ways on how to solve the problems like a piece of paper holding questions to answer in an exam. Preparation is the key to the success I will be having to the end.

I put the game cartridge into the console and started the game.

-Meet Kirito and Leafa

-Get to the top of the World Tree with Kirito

-Save Asuna and beat up the pedophile

-Win

"Link start!"

Like that, I fell into the realm of the pixels that broke my mind for a while.

AN.

This is the sequel, and just right on time. Welcome back to the mind of the one guy who still can't find maturity. I hope you'll enjoy Grey's full-dive into ALO, mostly because this is his first actual full-dive.

Please tell me what I've done wrong and what I'm doing wrong in my chapters, and like the last story, I hope you'll enjoy.

I love you guys, and I appreciate every single view I receive from you.

-Grey