"Dialogue"

"Thoughts"

'Reading'

2022/11/06 12:54

A boy sat on his bed staring at the clock, which read 12:54. He had brown hair and green eyes, appearing to be at the age of sixteen and a hight around five feet. A NerveGear helmet laid in his lap. His name is Nicholas Braski, and he may not look like much, but he was a trained killer. Well, not through any training an average person would go through, Animus training. This essentially made him one of the most capable young Assassins in Japan. Him, along with his brother and sister, had trained with three Assassins rather then the typical one or two. More specifically, his three were Edward Kenway, Shao Jun, and Nikolai Orelov. This gave him a verity of skills through the bleeding effect. Shao Jun gave him a nearly unmatched speed and versatility in hand to hand combat, she also gave him the ability to fluently speak Chinese and Japanese. Due to the time she spent in the two countries. Nikolai gave him a great deal in rifle usage and interrogation techniques. Edward gave him excellent leadership and improvisation skills, along with eagle vision. His phone buzzed to life, a text from a friend.

'From: Rika

Five more minutes, are you ready'

Rika, one of his closest friends. After he transferred to Japan by request of the brotherhood, he was put into a public school. He met Rika about a week later, and the two have been almost inseparable. He unlocked his phone and quickly typed his reply.

'To: Rika

I'm ready, what are you going to set your username to. I'm setting mine to Orelov'

He waited a few seconds for a reply. Just as he got it, his brother Alexander entered the room.

"No stoping you on going in there," Alexander asked.

"Nope, waited forever on this," Nicholas replied.

"Fine, I want you out by 5:00"

"Okay," Nicholas complained as Alexander left. Nicholas looked at his phone.

'From: Rika

I'm setting mine to Lisbeth, only one minute!'

Nicholas placed his phone on the charger. The putting the NerveGear on his head and lying down.

"Link start," he almost shouted in excitement. His vision was then flooded by a tunnel of colors. Followed by circles listing the five senses and moving off to the side. After that his vision was flooded by another tunnel of colors. A landscape appeared i from of him, he had no control but the view was brilliant. Not only that but he was seemingly flying, as the landscape flowed under him. In a mater of seconds he was raised higher, showing a view of Aincrad. Everything then turned dark.

'Welcome to Sword Art Online'

He was then placed in a room, "this must be the avatar creation room"

"Welcome to SAO," an energetic female voice came from nowhere, "please begin by creating your playable avatar"

He quickly scrolled through the options. Making himself look like a gender bent Shao Jun. A text box and keyboard appeared in front of him.

'Please select your username'

He hastily typed in 'Orelov' and hit confirm. He was then consumed by a blue light. Once it stopped, he found himself among thousands of other players.

"Welcome to the new world," he thought to himself, looking around he saw green crystal thing floating over everyone's head, "what is this, Sims." He then swiped his finger down and opened the menu, navigating to find the 'communication' section. He selected 'befriend' and typed in 'Lisbeth'. The request was accepted in a matter of seconds, he then went to send a message so they could find each other.

'Meet me in front of the cathedral'

Once he sent the message he took off for the structure. Standing idle for a bit before the pink haired Lisbeth approached the cathedral, completely oblivious to him. Her avatar looked nothing like her in real life. But she still walked the same, and that all gave it away to him.

"Hey Rika," he called out. She turned at the sound of her IRL name. Upon realizing who he was, she ran to him.

"Come on," she said, "bet I can make it farther then you on the first day"

"Getting competitive are we," he teased. They took off with the swarm of other players headed to the markets. Stopping at various stores to buy basics. Potions, the in game manual, and most importantly, weapons. Rika got herself a one handed mace, saying that "it's a game, so I'm doing something I can't in real life". Nick had a harder time choosing a weapon. Because of the bleeding effect he could use almost any weapon in game, but he wasn't going to do that. He wanted to use one weapon throughout the entire game. He could use a cutlass like Edward, but he doubted that they had those in game. Plus he was used to duel wielding them, and that wasn't a feature. He could also use a dagger, but the bleeding effect didn't transfer those skills as well as the other weapons. So that was also a no. Then there was a jian, he was almost a natural with those thanks to Shao Jun. It was also a starter sword. He bought one without hesitation and observed it. It was an average length, with a basic design. The tassel was short and thin, just a basic ribbon about twenty centimeters in length.

"Took you long enough," Rika complained. Given the fact that he had spent a good ten minutes picking his weapon, she had the right to complain.

"Let's just head out to the fields," he said with a grin, "I can't wait to beat you"

"Someone's feisty," Rika teased.

"You know I hate that word," Nick said as he made a grab at Rika. Who ran off before he could grab her. The two ran aimlessly through Beginnings, eventually arriving at the fields surrounding the city.

2022/11/06 17:06

(Important note, Alex and Cat don't know much about SAO so they won't refer to Kayaba by name)

Alexander stood over Nicholas waiting for him to exit his game. They were elite Assassins, highly trained and very punctual. For normal Assassins, being six minutes late was acceptable. But for them it was almost a crime. He was about to rip the NerveGear off Nicholas' head before Catherine ran in.

"You need to see this," she said sounding panicked.

"What is it," he asked.

"I can't even begin to explain it," she said looking over to Nicholas, "but it has to do with that game"

"What about it," Alexander said as he made a move to remove the helmet. Catherine grabbed his arms in an effort to stop him. He was much stronger then her, but he still stopped.

"What's wrong," he asked. She signaled him to follow her and walked out. Something told him that this was far more important then waking up his brother, so he followed. Catherine stood by her laptop in the living room.

"Read it," she said, almost in a demanding tone. Alexander tops a seat and began to read the article she had loaded.

'Thousands trapped in game

For ten thousand gamers, the day started off like any other. Aside from the anticipated launch of Sword Art Online. At one o'clock, ten thousand players logged in to the SAO servers. Unaware of the dangers that would soon trap them in the game. With in hours, it was discovered that the players could not log themselves out, effectively trapping them in the game. Friends and family of two hundred players attempted to remove the NerveGear helmet to forcefully log them out. Instead the helmet killed them the moment it was half way off. It has also been confirmed that deaths in game would result with the NerveGear killing the player at the same time. We urge readers of this article to spread the news to friends and family of know SAO players so further deaths can be avoided.'

Alexander looked back at the door to Nicholas' room, then turned to Catherine.

"Did you tell Rika's family," he asked.

"They were the ones who told me," she replied, "what do we do"

"The creator should tell them soon. Nick is smart, he'll know not to be out on the first night unless he needs to. We'll call the brotherhood and request a safe house for him once he's in a safe zone"

"That's it"

"No, we'll investigate on the side, if we can prove that the creator is a Templar, we can consider it a full assignment and work on it full time. He'll get out, promise. He has three lifetimes worth of experience to rely on, he won't die"

2022/11/06 17:28

Nick brought his sword down on a wild boar as a final blow. The boar in turn shattered into numerous polygons, shortly after a rewards message appeared in front of him.

'Congratulations

EXP:20

Col:10

Items:N/A'

"That's forty-two," he called out to Rika.

"How do you kill them so fast," she asked as she whacked a boar of her own off to the side finishing it off. A rewards screen of her own appeared in front of her. Nick knew what it was, the bleeding effect from Shao Jun. But telling her would mean having to break the third tenet.

"Guess I'm a natural," he replied with a half lie, "what time is it"

"5:29, why"

"Crap, I was suppose to be out by five," he said in panic as he opened the menu, "I'll be back on tomorrow, bye." He scrolled down to the 'settings' menu and paused.

"Something wrong," Rika asked in her usual teasing manner.

"Yeah, the 'logout' option is blank, I can't use it. Try yours." Rika opened her menu and found the same problem.

"Same here, that's odd," she said. Bells off in the distance started to ring. The two were engulfed in the same blue light that brought them into the game. They were back in Beginnings, more specifically, the spawn area. People everywhere just as clueless as them.

"Look, up there," someone yelled. In the sky was a lone red hexagon. In it was the words 'system message'. Once everyone noticed, more hexagons spread from the first forming a dome and turning the sky red. Then a crimson ooze seeped through and took the form of a red robe with nothing but darkness inside.

"Attention players, I welcome you to my world," a booming voice came from the robe.

"My world," Nick questioned in his mind.

"My name is Akihiko Kayaba, and as of this moment, I am in control of this world"

"Well yeah, you made the game"

"I'm sure most of you have noticed an item missing from your main menus, the logout button. Let me assure you, this is not a defect in the game. I repeat, this is not a defect. This is how Sword Art Online was designed to be. You cannot log yourselves out of SAO, and no one from the outside will be able to shut down or remove the NerveGear from your head. If anyone attempts to do so, a transmitter inside the NerveGear will discharge a microwave signal into you skull, destroying your brain and ending your life."

"Bull, no one can, of course he can, he made the thing to begin with. He knows all the security bypasses"

"Despite my warning, the families and friends of some players have attempted removing the NerveGear. An unfortunate decision to say the least. As a result, the game has two hundred thirteen less players then when it began"

"This can't be happening"

"As you can see," the robe made a swiping gesture, bringing up news websites detailing the event, "international media outlets have round-the-clock coverage of everything, including the deaths. At this point, it is safe to assume the likelihood of a NerveGear being removed is minimal at best. I hope this brings you a little comfort as you try to clear the game. It's important to remember the following, there is no longer any way to revive someone within the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be deleted from the system, forever. And the NerveGear will simultaneously destroy your brain. There is only one way for a player to escape now, you must clear the game. Right now, you're gathered on Floor One, the lowest level of Aincrad. If you can get through the dungeon and defeat the boss, you can advance to the next floor. Defeat the boss on Floor One Hundred, and you will clear the game."

"In that case, expect to see me there"

"Last but not least, I've placed a little present in the item storage of every player"

Nick swiped though the menus to see what Kayaba was talking about. All it was, was a mirror. Upon pulling it out, he was once again engulfed in a blue light. Converting his avatar into his real self. Around him, the same effect was placed on other players. Which led to some humorous sights of guys cross dressing.

"The calibration, that's how he did it," Nick thought as he looked back up to Kayaba.

"Right now, you are probably wondering, why. Why would Akihiko Kayaba, developer of Sword Art Online and NerveGear, do this."

"No, I wonder why you sound just like a Templar"

Ultimately, my goal was a simple one. The reason I created Sword Art Online was to control the fate of a world of my design. As you can see, I have achieved my goal. This marks the end of the tutorial and the official launch of Sword Art Online. Players, I wish you he best of luck." With that, Kayaba disappeared and his robes dissolved. Everyone around him panicked, demanding that they be released. Next to him, Rika dropped to her knees. Her mind still trying to process what just happened.

"Every Assassin has their drives, Shao's was freedom of the less fortunate. Edward's was riches and glory. Nicolai's was doing the right thing. And now I have mine," Nick thought as he looked down at Rika, "protect those closest to me and free them from this hell. No mater the cost." He knelt down and called her name.

"Rika," she didn't respond, "Rika," again no response, "Rika," he said it more forcefully this time. She looked at him, still in a panic.

"We're stuck here aren't we," she asked, years starting to come out of her eyes.

"No we're not, listen to me. Just as he said, death here means death there. So please, please, stay off the front lines."

"What will you do"

"I'm a warrior, I was born to fight. I'll clear this game for us. This is goodbye for now, I'll send you a message so you know I'm alright," Nick looked around and saw two players run off, "take care Liz, and please be safe." He stood up and made his way through the crowd. Following the pair that ran off. He could tell one was a beta tester based of how he moved through the city. They entered an alleyway and stopped. Nick moved to the corner and started listening.

"Look," the younger one said, "the fields around Beginnings are going to be hunted clear soon. If we head to the next village now, we'll have an easier time collecting cash and points. Don't worry, I know all the paths and places we should avoid. Even if I'm level one, I can get there easily." Nick knew this was his chance. A way to advance himself and another step to escaping SAO. He had to take it.

"Thanks but," the older one started speaking, "you know those friends I was telling you about, they're back in the plaza somewhere. I can't leave them." Nick took his chance and rounded the corner.

"I'll go," he said, "two is always better then one in a jam." The older one gave a small smile to the younger one.

"Don't worry about me," the older one said, "you just get to the next village Kirito." The older one took off back to the plaza.

"Lets go," Kirito said as he took off in the opposite direction, Nick right behind him. They made it out to the fields and a wolf spawned right in front of them. Nick reached for his sword, but Kirito was faster. Drawing his sword and executing a sprinting slash that killed the wolf in one hit, afterwards doing a warrior's cry.

"With people like him," Nick thought, "we have a chance. We can make it out!"

Hey there, here's my first crossover. As to where it will go, it will mostly follow the main canon timeline (Nick kinda following the main cast) with a few breaks here and there to deal with the Templars in the game or to show what's going on in the real world. And expect Nick to reference a few games. Before you ask, no, he will not be getting hidden blades in game. And yes, I did BS his last name. If you have any other questions, I'll most likely answer them next chapter. When ever the hell that comes around. Grimlock out!