Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet Reloaded

Prologue

He was running from his enemy. There in the Remnant Wastelands, in the ruins of the Extinct Civilization, he knew he was done for. It was supposed to be an easy job. His target was one player. They outnumbered fifteen-to-one and yet, he was the last man standing.

Looking behind him, he saw what was supposed to be his prey. That wicked smile on his face. He enjoyed the slaughter. Turning the corner, he readied his rifle out of the alley; he took cover in. I can't die here! I can't lose my loot! I can't lose my rep! he thought as the world fell to a standstill.

Silence. The world itself grew quiet. Wind stirred and dust blew in the breeze, but there was nothing. A moment ago, he was being chased by a demonic player named: Yokoni. Now, there's nothing. He panicked as he heard the dust pick up again. They entire magazine was unloaded into the air. "You want some more!" he shouted, trying to sound brave, but he wasn't convinced that he was.

There was still the silence. Nothing. Just in case, he threw his last grenade out of the alley. If there was someone lurking beyond the corner, they would surely die. Or at least get hurt. When it exploded, he turned and saw Yokoni; the demon in white. Yokoni had his pistol aimed at him.

Scared stiff, all he could do was shout at Yokoni. "WHY WON'T YOU DIE!"

A metallic click was heard. The safety was off. "Why won't you accept your death?" Yokoni asked in a mocking tone.

"We worked hard to gather the resources to kill you! How is it possible that you could beat fifteen of us?"

Yokoni sighed, "Ooh boy. You guys have a lot to learn about video games. VR or not, certain laws are creeds." Yokoni could tell that he wasn't getting it. "Certain rules in video games exist. No matter what Virtual Reality tries to bend or break, to suspend disbelief." The guy he pursued only looked confused by his words. "At the end of the day, I know what can be bent..." he begins to squeeze the trigger. "And I know what can be broken. Later."

He fired and killed his prey.

Twirling his gun, Yokoni smiled as he saw the healthbar reach the red. "Might makes right. You weren't good enough." The man he shot then shatters into a dozen red shards.

Holstering his gun, Yokoni then went to the nearest teleporter to transfer himself to SBC Glocken, the only safe-zone in Gun Gale Online.

Entering his personal-zone, Yokoni sat on the couch and had a good laugh. Looking up his name in the registry, Yokoni brushed his long black hair aside. There was a bounty next to his ID. Apparently, if anyone could kill him they'd collect over eight-hundred-point-seven-million credits. A hefty price, especially for him.

Seeing the names above him made Yokoni frown. "Yamakaze, Itsuki, XeXeeD, Usujio Tarako, and Ardin..." he said these names in a low tone. Their bounties were higher than his. Their ranks were also better. In the last Battle of Bullets compition, they ranked as the best players in all of GGO.

Not wanting to be discouraged, Yokoni turned on the television to catch up on the latest news for GGO. He saw that there was an event taking place next week. It's supposed to be a patch update for the upcoming expansion, that's supposed to happen in the next three months. A lot of new players are joining and even older-resigned players are returning. If you can complete the event, you have the chance to obtain an ArFA-Sys AI unit to accompany you throughout the entire game.

"A VR pet that can actually do something?" Yokoni murmured to himself. "That's worth the ammo needed to shoot down everyone."

He then saw that Itsuki was signing up with the lieutenant of his Squadron. "Oh... things just got better!" Yokoni shouted in excitement.

Twirling his pistol, Yokoni loaded a mag inside. Just as he was about to head out into SBC Glocken, the door flashed red. It was locked. To Yokoni's surprised, he immediately received a message from Zaskar, GGO's administration team.

We regret to inform you, Yokoni, that you've violated our terms and conditions for playing Gun Gale Online, for invalid use of Macros and data-mining. Your email is black listed and you are no longer allowed to play Gun Gale Online.

-Sincerely Yours,

Zaskar.

Visibly confused, Yokoni only had moments to process what he had just read, before being booted from the game's servers. He woke up on his bed, still in his nightly attire; a gray t-shirt and black sweat-pants. Grabbing his wire-framed glasses on the nightstand next to his bed, Yokoni removes the AmuSphere from his head.

His brown hair and disgruntled face releases a sigh. Yokoni's real self is of average height, with a slender build. He may look sick, but really he's just malnourished. He stepped over to his computer, ignoring the letters sent from his family. Despite everything, Yokoni kept a calm air about him.

He began to look up how he can file a counter-claim to get his account un-banned. However, all that he could find were similar cases of others being banned. Although, their reasons were vastly different. The only connection Yokoni could find were that these people were all banned for minor offense. It appeared as though Yokoni was never going to get his account back.

Sighing in defeat, Yokoni went to social media. It seemed like a long time since he's last been on here. Actually, it's only been a day. But, going online with his computer instead of the AmuSphere is something he's fallen out of practice of.

To his surprise, he's gotten a message from an old childhood friend. Kurenai Sugiyama, they were once friends, but she moved away and they began to drift apart. They've barely kept up on social media since then.

Hey Kokei, can you make an account for Zaskar and join me in GGO? I really need a partner for the event that's happening next week!

Yokoni/Shido Kokei smiled. "This day just keeps getting weirder," he murmured. Pulling up the event news for GGO, Kokei's smiled turned into a cheeky grin. He replied to Sugiyama while making his new account.

Sure, I'll be on first thing tomorrow. What's your character name?

She instantly replied, Kureha. What's yours?

Finally done setting up his second email and account information, all that was left was for him to pick a name. Kokei thought of using his usual online aliases, but that may draw the attention of the person or persons who got him banned. Instead, he went with a new name. A hybrid of his name and his mother's maiden name.

Shiro, that's my character's name, Kokei responded.