(NOTE: This is the first full-fledged fanfiction I will be doing. I am also not the greatest writer or the fastest typer so please keep that in mind. I am going to try and stick to the canon as much as possible, but since my character will not be accompanying the main SAO cast through most of the story, there's not much to worry about. This story is going to be all about my OC, Zeno, as he goes through the game and possibly rise to save the players from death. He does swear a lot, but since Zeno is a representation of the real me, this is to be expected. Other than that, I hope you enjoy it. Feedback is welcome, positive or negative.)

DISCLAIMER:THIS IS A NON- PROFIT FANFIC. I DO NOT OWN SWORD ART ONLINE NOR THE RIGHTS TO IT.

SWORD ART ONLINE: THE LOST SOUL

CHAPTER 1: THE DEATH GAME

NOVEMBER 6TH, 2022

OFFLINE; SUDDEN IMPACT COLLISION, ILL

My eyes lit like stars as I saw the glowing green letters on my computer screen: DELIVERED. My excitement almost had me flying out of my chair at my desk. The thought that I was going to be one of the only people to play the first ever virtual reality mmorpg in America had me silently snickering to myself.

"Jeremy, why don't you go to lunch?" I heard my boss yell over to me from the adjacent office. I've been so busy watching my package on vie neglected to notice the time in the bottom right corner of my screen: 12:17pm.

"Shit!" I rushed through the clock-out menu on my computer screen not even taking notice of how many hours I was working, and then quickly rushed through the back door to the body shop area of my workplace.

I don't know if I said this, but I work at a body shop, pretty much a doctor's office for cars that were in accidents. Throughout my 4 years here, I've been moved through a lot of positions but for right now I am stuck as the shop's receptionist. Answering phones, greeting in customers, not the greatest job in the world but it pays my way. To be honest, I kind of like being at a desk all day. I am still young so I don't really gain a lot of fat from sitting around. Best of all, I get to fuck around on a computer all day. Well if I don't get caught that is.

I made my way to my coworker's car parked in the back of the shop. I promised to pay for lunch today seeing as how he's bought the past 3 days. I will admit, I enjoy going to lunch with him a lot (seriously, no homo. Mostly because he buys lunch most of the time...) we actually have a lot in common with video games and various RPGs.

"Guess what just arrived at my doorstep today?" I asked him which a rare smile on my face. By his look, I didn't know if he was struggling to figure out my riddle or struggling to figure out why I'm so randomly happy all of a sudden.

"What is it buddy?" he said after a subtle 20 seconds of silence.

"Fuckin' Sword Art Online man! The new virtual reality stuff they got goin' on in japan."

"Wait, how did you get something like THAT over here?" The puzzling look of his grew larger with every sentence I sputtered.

"It's called the magic car fund I was saving up. I was even able to afford the limited edition version too." my face filled with joy at just the thought of coming home and putting on the nerve gear.

"You literally spent ALL your car fund on that?"

"Dude, this is worth it. Japan is literally light years ahead of us in the video game industry. Look, we're still on the PlayStation 6 and they're over there with virtual reality helmets. I am gonna be one of the only Americans to play this game."

"So if the game is like 95% Japanese people, how will you be able to understand anybody?"

"It's freakin' virtual reality. I'm sure they have some kind of translation bullshit or somethin'." I said nonchalant.

"Watch everything is in Japanese just like your kingdom hearts final mix rips!" he blurted, followed by his famous Japanese impersonation that gets me dying from laughter almost every time.

"Oh god I hope not."

4:30 pm, my house

I gazed at the oversized package lying before me. But there was no time to lose, I quickly threw out my trusty pocket knife and ripped the cardboard box open. Nothing could prepare me for the magic that was inside. I was held in awe as I held the Nerve gear for the very first time. It sort of reminded me of what mewtwo wore in the opening minutes of Pokémon: The First Movie. Except without all those cords.

"Holy sheet." I said with all the excitement I could muster.

Suddenly, I remembered: I ordered the limited edition! Realizing the fact, I looked underneath the right side where the ear would be placed. Bingo! A small audio jack lay dormant underneath the earpiece with a small rubber cap held over it to prevent dust or bacteria from getting into it.

I grabbed my iPod touch out of my pocket and one of the hundreds of Aux cords I have lying around. I hooked them up and then placed the nerve gear onto my head. The fit of the helmet felt snug, but surprisingly was really light as to what I expected.

"Lets see if this works…"

Scrolling through my iPod, I tried to find a suitable song for a test. I figured I would try some traditional video game music, so I shuffled my Kingdom Hearts playlist. Just as 'Tension Rising' appeared on the screen, my ears quivered at the sound of the music protruding from the helmet.

"Nice!"

After quickly tampering with that, I paused the music and decided to use the nerve gear for what I really wanted it for. I lied down on my bed and prepared to say the two words I've been waiting to utter for almost 6 months.

"Link Start!"

A flash of white covered my whole visor and in a moment, a text bubble showed up on my screen:

WELCOME TO SWORD ART ONLINE!

I was then confronted with the character customization screen. I gazed across the list and easily molded a character that mostly fit what I looked like in real life. Average build, 5'10, black hair, hazel eyes, pretty much a boring, average character. In games, I usually model the main character what I look like, but I choose mostly to wear hooded clothing and capes to mask myself. After the customization process was done, I was allowed to choose my avatar's name. I found this to be a no brainer.

'Z-E-N-O'

It was a name I used for my OC. I wrote a lot of short stories using him and I usually use the name when the option comes to name the main character in various video games.

Now that the boring beginning parts were done, the game flashed once again in a white light, and in an instant I was teleported. I couldn't believe my eyes as I was suddenly standing in a huge town surrounded by vast amounts of people.

Now, I see myself as quite knowledgeable in this game off the bat. Thanks to the beta testers of this game, I've learned a lot from the extensive wiki pages documenting it. I knew a lot already on how to use sword skills, where certain quests were, and what monsters to kill starting out. But nothing could prepare me for the virtual reality aspect. I was overcome with shock as I was able move my hand and at the same time my avatar could mimic my every thought. I'm sure some players watched me stare at all my body parts moving and thinking I was some kind of noob.

After my small noob moment, I made my way through the town of beginnings. It was filled with many players of all genders, sizes, and races all conversing or going through their daily RPG lives. None of them really stood out to me, all were wearing the standard long sleeve shirts, pants, and chest plate just like me. The only difference was the color shirt. I looked down at me to notice I was wearing a red long sleeve, which happened to be my favorite color.

I gazed in amazement at all the merchants lined across the town. I figured I would stop at one and buy a weapon considering my avatar spawned in unarmed. I walked a few more steps until I saw a character I recognized from my wiki explorations: Ziki the swift. I read he serves as a tutorial NPC that starts the player off with a starting weapon of their choosing. Obviously all the starting weapons are shit, but it's either a shitty weapon or no weapon at all at my stage.

"Good evening, kind sir." The Saudi Arabian looking Ziki spoke. "May I interest you in my wares?"

I flick my finger to enter his store menu. There was only one of each kind of weapon in his stock, which led me even more to believe these weapons were pure shit wrapped in tinfoil. I slowly wondered at my options; I had the sword, dagger, mace, rapier, axe and a spear to choose from. I preferred to use more of a one-handed weapon as I favor speedy strikes as to slow and powerful attacks. That led me to between the sword, dagger or the rapier. I deduced it down to picking the sword. Sure it's cliché and common, but it's the most balanced of all the weapons and will allow me to use two handed swords in the future once I master its predecessor.

"Excellent choice, my friend." Ziki said honorably. "Seeing as this is the only weapon you own, I'll give it to you on the house! How's that sound?"

"Fine by me." I said as I chuckled in my head at this predictable event. Note to self: the wiki is your best friend.

Without hesitation, I equipped the 'dignitas sword' to myself. It appeared in a flash of light onto my back. The game must assume I prefer swords holstered to my back as opposed to my hip, which was good with me. Now that I was well armed, I prepared to turn towards the exit gate of the town of beginnings. It was already almost sundown, so I knew I had to hurry out the gate before the more powerful enemies spawn at night. In fact, I don't even know why the sun is going down at 5:00 to begin with. Around here its more around 6 or 7, but hey what do I know.

Just then, a flash of light surrounded me and in an instant, I was teleported to the courtyard of the town of beginnings. I looked around me and noticed many other players teleporting in too. In a matter of a few more seconds, I felt as if every player in SAO was in the same place. I figure this must be some kind of opening day announcement or possibly a first day event challenge to gain a special item. As I pondered what this could all be, we were all suddenly confronted by a floating man in a red robe above the edge of the courtyard. There was silence for a brief moment as the red hooded figure spoke to us.

"Attention players. I welcome you to my world. My name is Akihiko Kayaba and as of this moment, I am in control of this world."

Kayaba? I swear I heard that name on the wiki before. I am pretty sure he's the guy who created SAO and the nerve gear. Whoever he has, he has a kickass robe.

"At this moment, I am sure most of you have already noticed an item missing from your main menus: the logout button. I assure you, this is not a defect in the game. I repeat, this is not a defect."

Wait, the logout button was missing this whole time? I quickly flicked my finger to open up the menu and sure enough, he was right. Where it should have been in the settings tab was a blank button that was not clickable.

"This is what Sword Art Online was designed to be. You cannot log yourselves out of SAO, and no one from the outside will be able to remove the nerve gear from your head."

I could see the anxiety boiling in the players around me. I felt like some of them could drop to their knees and have a nervous breakdown right before my eyes. I however find this idea to be fine with me. I get to be stuck in a videogame for the rest of my life supposedly, without having to worry about work or responsibilities? On top of that, I get to go questing all day and become the hero as I kill monster after monster? This is starting to sound too good to be true, which led me to believe there's a catch involved.

"If anyone attempts to do so, a transmitter inside the nerve gear will discharge a signal into your skull, destroying your brain and ending your life."

You could feel the emotional breakdown of every player in the courtyard as the sentence ended. I felt as if the courage from even the greatest warrior was stripped from him at that moment. I myself took a small moment to absorb this statement. I stood in shock as I looked around and saw many players try to leave the area, only to be stopped by an invisible barrier surrounding the courtyard.

"Despite my warning, family members have attempted to try and remove the nerve gear. As a result, the game now has 213 less players than when it began. They have been deleted from Aincrad and the real world."

Well, it makes me feel kind of better inside that my family wasn't stupid enough to take my helmet off. Not yet anyway. I do live in the basement though. They probably thought I went to bed for the day and most likely find me tomorrow morning so I don't be late for work.

"As you can see, international media outlets have around the clock coverage of everything, including the deaths. It is safe to assume the likelihood of a nerve gear being removed is minimal at best. I hope this gives you a little comfort as you try and clear the game."

Easy for you, asshole. Im not like all 98% of these players in japan. I live in america. Will this news even make itself to america?

"It is important to remember the following: there is no longer any way to revive someone in the game. If your HP drops to 0, your avatar will be deleted from the system forever, and the nerve gear will simealtaneously destroy your brain."

Great, now I cant die in this game AND hope my family doesn't kill me in real life. I guess I can't be Leeroy Jenkins-ing everything now.

"There is only one way a player can escape now. You must clear the game. Right now you're gathered on floor one, lowest level of Aincrad. If you can get through the dungeon and defeat the boss, you may advance to the next floor. Defeat the boss on floor 100 and you will clear the game."

Holy shit, floor 100? Looks like I am going to be here awhile. Hate to say this, but I'm kind of getting excited over this. I say this as everyone around me is literally shitting their pants not knowing if they'll ever see their family again. To be honest I don't care to see my family for awhile, so I guess I can view this as a 'vacation' of sorts. A vacation filled with death.

"Last but not least, I have placed a special item in the storage of every player. Please, have a look."

I open up my menu in excitement wondering what this special 'item' could be. Turns out… it's a mirror. Wow, a fucking mirror. Cool, now I can check my hair before I stroll into batt… what the fuck?"

I was engulfed in a burst of light for a quick instant upon looking in the mirror. I look around to see all the other players having the same problem. However, they did something different. Most changed looks dramatically, and some even changed genders. Im going to guess these mirrors have the power to change player's appearances in some way? Interesting that I was somehow not affected.

"Right now you're probably wondering why? Why would Akihiko Kayaba, the developer of Sword Art Online and the nerve gear, do this? Ultimately my goal was a simple one: the reason I created SAO was to control the fate of the world by design. As you can see, I have achieved my goal."

Interesting. Very interesting. Basically, you want to watch us all die.

" This marks the end of the tutorial, and the official launch of Sword Art Online. Players, I wish you the best of luck."

Rather slowly, the hooded spectre known as kayaba then what seemed to be melted into streams of red and finally disappearing. The sky quickly then reverted back to the sun-setting atmosphere, as if this never happened. I looked around as all 10,000 ish players stood in total silence. They seem to be taking this okay.

That moment of silence ended rather quickly. Almost every player erupted in tears and cries, all screaming similar things like wanting to go home or wanting to see their parents. All their wonderful, most likely rich and snobby lives.

I for one, was contempt with this little announcement. I took this small panic by the players to collect myself. I realized I have to get out of this place. I can take the time while all these players are panicking to escape the town and go out into exterior. Grab the quests, collect items, and level up as fast as possible. That's how one is going to survive. I am sure as hell not inviting one of these crybaby players with me as a liability.

Just then, saw a player running out of the crowd into an alley like he was late for a meeting. Hmm.. I wonder if he's one of those 'beta testers' I hear about. It would explain why he's the only one I see running to get ahead of everyone. Either that or he's just as uncaring about human life as I am. Either way, I took the chance. I barreled my way through the never ending crowd to follow to suspected beta tester. I felt like shopping on black Friday all over again.

After what seemed like an eternity, I finally reached the alleyway where the player ran into. It was barren, except for some random dude with orange spiky hair. He looked like he should try out for the samurai guild. Unfortunately, I have to ask him if he saw the player I was looking for.

"Hey! Did you see a player run by here? He might possibly a beta tester?" I screamed at the player. I had to time to dilly dally.

"You mean Kirito? Oh uh yeah he's a beta tester but i don't know if that's the same…."

"I don't know his fucking name I just want to know where he went!"

"He said he's heading for the next town.."

"Which fucking way?!" I started to lean in towards him and slowly getting angrier in my voice.

"East gate, up ahead, past the.."

"Move the fuck over!"

I pushed against him as I dashed past the alley making my way to east gate. I couldn't let this kid escape. If anything, I could kill him and loot his shit. If what that kid said was true and he is a beta tester, then he's gotta have a bunch of shit from his previous beta save. Survival of the fittest is what I say.

"You're mine, Beta tester."

I ran out the east gate to discover this 'Kirito' up the meadow hill killing a wolf on his path. He was just finished in the middle of a sword skill, which left his body immobile while completing the attack. This was my chance. I ran towards the hill and pulled my sword back. It lit bright red indicating I was ready to unleash my sword skill, the Horizontal. I was just a few hundred feet away from him.

"Survival of the fittest, bit…"

ERROR 3412

"Whaa…"

I was suddenly facing a white flash with an error message. I couldn't control my body no longer as it fell to the floor, and my eyes slowly closed as the setting sun faded to a black screen…..