Sword Art Online: Reprogrammed
Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online. All rights reserved to Reki Kawahara and ASCII Media Works. However, I do own my story as a whole, the original concepts put in and my original characters.
A/N Greetings: This is a big project. I spent a lot of time planning on this. I curse my fanboy side, not being satisfied with the light novels (I only read GGO and further. I can't read The Aincrad and ALO arcs arcs anymore QQ). Fingers crossed I don't abandon this. (Hopefully) If I don't, you're in for a ride. No dirty jokes intended.
Only thing you need to know: Italic= thoughts
Chapter 1: Cruel World
I wonder if I died and went to heaven.
Or hell.
Whichever one, I can't get out of it.
I'm trapped in Sword Art Online.
I'm walking around the beginning town: Stone Step. (A/N: Tell me what the first town's name is because I don't know) This place is designed between a breed of Renaissance and Modern architecture and style.
Everywhere, I see people wandering about like me. They're talking to friends. Some of them are even just randomly conversing with strangers. Of course, there are those who are sulking. They're exactly what most of us don't want to turn into. If you look hard enough, there are reliable adults who are consoling everybody. Even so, they don't what to do. Deep down, nobody knows what to do.
I don't know what to do.
I could go to the dungeon field, outside of the protection offered by the town. I could level up. Even become the person with the highest level. A few players are EXP grinding like their lives depended on it.
But what would be the point?
I buried my head in my hands, and advanced haphazardly through the crowd gathering in the fountain, the first landmark you see prior to getting inside the VRMMORPG. I bumped into someone, and I lifted my head to see who it was. The person had long white hair, contrasting the black eyes in her elegant face, and the way she carried herself made other people very aware of her. I am now.
But the way she looked at me. It was merciless. Most people would just feel annoyed or even pity for a person like me, but it's as if she held considerable contempt towards me even though I had never met her in my entire life.
She studied for an arduous moment, then said to me, "Go kill yourself." She continued going down the direction she was headed.
I stood there in shock. Her words doesn't make sense.
You can't kill yourself in this game, or any form of death in that matter. When people found out that they were stuck in here, they tried suicide immediately. It didn't work. No matter what they did, their health wouldn't go down one bit. Maybe by that, she meant kill the current me? My mental state right now?
She probably didn't mean that, but I took the meaning to heart. I pushed my way to the fountain, scooped water in my palms and splashed it on my face.
Let's go over things that I know. Maybe things would become clearer that way. I looked at my reflection in the ripples of the water. My in game name is Kirito. I have black hair, black eyes, a somewhat feminine face. I am an introvert, I admit that. However, I am supposed to meet my friend Klein. Maybe he got the news in the outside world and didn't come inside the game. The outside world. I don't want to think of my life outside yet, so focus on the game. The game.
What kind of game is Sword Art Online?
Sword Art Online is a VRMMORPG. VRMMORPG stands for Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game. It is the child of a compilation of neuro-science and technology, along with tons of money sponsored by big shot companies. The company Argus made Sword Art Online. But the one who can take most of the credit is Kayaba Akihiko. He was the chief in the research of neurology regarding the game, along with the development of it. Sword Art Online was just released a few days ago. Copies were sold out within hours of hitting the shelves. What's strange is that it made its debut throughout the whole world, even third world countries. Now the game has a wide array of players. The players. The players were all stuck here the moment they entered, their chosen avatars switched with copies of their real life bodies. It's been 3 days since, assuming the time in here went along with the flow of time in the outside world. No one has made any announcement or shed any light to the reason as to why we are here. The players are getting anxious each day. We're stuck in First Floor. The beta testers don't know anything. They say it's a completely different world than before. I should know. I'm a beta tester myself.
I slammed the concrete containing the water in the fountain out of frustration. Even if I think even more, it all comes down to one thing. Beating the game. Sword Art Online has 100 Floors, and each Floor as a Floor Boss players must defeat to advance to the next floor. I'm going to guess at least that fact hasn't changed. I took deep breaths, and looked upon the sky. It was probably already noon. But first things first. Let's assume the worst by thinking that Klein is not in the game. In that case, I need a companion. If possible, I don't want to pick a gamer. They're jerks. I'm a gamer myself. I know I act like a douchebag sometimes (or maybe most of the times). But that doesn't mean I want to be stuck with those kind of people. It's not good for me. I need someone who has his/her ground in reality.
Suddenly, I was pushed into the fountain. I came out drenched, and incredibly surprised. People around me laughed at my situation. The person who pushed me was a girl with long, orange-brownish chestnut hair. It was as long as the girl's hair who told me to kill myself. She looked about as the same age as me, which is 16. She was sitting in the spot in which I was pondering. She was shaking her head, her face buried in her hands like me earlier.
I was just about to go yell at her when someone got out of the crowd just to point and laugh at me. That guy's an idiot. Then something even more unexpected happened.
The girl pulled out the sword in her waist and slammed it in the guy's stomach. She then raised the sword high above, and struck down on his head. She shouted as she did so. The poor player collapsed. The girl continued her attacks, for she repeatedly stomped on him. The guy was screaming, then finally crawled away and ran. The audience quickly gave her a wide berth, and were muttering within themselves. Meanwhile, the girl herself fell down and cried. Numerous players said to each other, just loud enough for her to hear, "She's crazy." They dispersed, but they were still watching her with wary, as if they were expecting something entertaining to happen.
I stepped out of the fountain, and approached her, my shoes squelching with every step. She probably is just like me. I'm not helping her. I'm just going to make sure she's okay.
I tapped her shoulder, and she jumped in shock. The players looked at me as if I was just as equally mentally unstable. Considering how everybody seemed to be treating her, I wasn't surprised. She turned around reluctantly. Her hazel eyes said that she yearned for someone who could just tell her everything would be ok.
I gulped. Time to act like a man for once in your life. I extended my hand towards her and asked, "Are you okay?" To my delight, she took my hand and got up. I smiled.
Then she stabbed me.
My breath was forced out. She would've actually stabbed me if I was somewhere else but the town. I looked at her, and she was trembling, barely able to hold her sword. I pushed her away, and put my grip on my sword in waist just in case. I was furious. "Why are you doing this?!"
The question seemed to have hit a nerve for a second, then she yelled, "It's stupid! All of this is stupid! This game is stupid! I don't want to be here! I DON'T WAN'T TO BE HERE!"
I was accustomed to people just randomly shouting out that they really want to get out. That doesn't mean you shouldn't at least try to move on. "Do you think you're the only one?! Huh? Still, why are you doing this? Why are you attacking others?" I was hoping that she would have the capacity to give me a sane answer.
"M-maybe…if I act as a bad person…they would kick me out of the game. Why can't I kill myself? Why doesn't the game allow that? So now there's only one way…"
"Just wait for a few more days! Maybe this is just a glitch! Surely, they didn't predict the event that the game would be filled to the max in a day!" This is the thought that kept me going. It has to be true.
The girl staggered for a moment. She's considering it. Then she screamed, like she rejected the thought. She rushed towards me with sword held up high. "I can't wait that long!"
I was hoping things wouldn't go down this way. She swung her sword to my left side. I blocked it, intending to return with a kick, but she hit with so much force that my sword flew and I was pushed away. She didn't give me any time to rest, for she ran to my side and brought down the tip of her sword from right above my head. I rolled a couple centimeters to the right, but I felt the sword touch my right ear. I tried to pick up my sword, but she planted her foot on my back and stabbed me in the back of my head, this time succeeding. My vision dimmed a bit upon impact. Then I heard her sword clatter on the ground. I felt tears dropping on my head. I got off my chest, and looked at her out of confusion.
She was muttering, "Please, just let me die. Just…get me out of here."
I realized that the players were gathering again. They looked at the girl with more cruelty this time, as if she was a monster. Some players were giving me words of praise, and even tried to help me up. But I didn't care about all that. I kept my gaze to the girl, who was now sobbing uncontrollably. I just realized that she has no one.
She's all alone. No one to be with her. I looked around the crowd to see if anyone has even a tiny urge of talking to her. No one.
"Damn you all", I muttered to myself. I stood up and picked up both of our swords, which were both identical. I sheathed on what I guessed was mine, then held hers in my right hand's in backhand form. They were swords given to players only on their first day as a gift for playing Sword Art Online, along with other equipment, so that you could earn Col to be able to buy other stuff. I walked over to the girl, much to the surprise of the audience, who shouted words of dissatisfaction.
I have always been an outcast of society. I learned to only give myself to the few who deserve it. She's capable, I can definitely feel it. I need a partner. Who better than someone you just fought?
I extended my hand towards her once again. "I'm Kirito." I smiled at her. Once again, she was shocked at the notion of someone approaching her. She just looked at me with those large, teary hazel eyes. She didn't respond, so I took her hand and started to walk in the direction of the apartment I'm living. When she didn't get up, I said, "I'll give you your sword back." I tossed it to her, and she caught it with ease, sheathing it back to her waist. She stood up this time, and I let go of her hand. I ignored the stares and comments the players were giving. I slowly walked back to the inner streets of the town. The girl jogged a bit to catch up with me.
She didn't talk to me or give me her name while we were walking. But I was just glad she was with me.
Chapter 1: Cruel World
End
A/N Afterword: Asuna's state gets explained at the next chap. Also, I'm cereal. I am going to make this into a series. Besides, my author side is going to flip if I don't finish this story, unless I get really bored of it, which I probably won't, because I planned a plot that was interesting for me, and I'm going to like writing it. To clear up future misunderstandings, let me just say this in advance: This is very different from the original Sword Art Online. It will have some characters from the original one, but it will also be filled with my own Original Characters. The plot is unique, and even some of the settings will be too.
Here's a little something for you XD.
This fan's all sad. This fan wants more Sword Art Online. I looked around the crowd to see if anyone had plans of even doing something to the Aincrad Arc. No one. Fucking no one. (Well except Reki Kawahara with his Sword Art Online: Progressive. I approve).
"Damn you all", I muttered to myself. I stood up and walked over to the fan, much to the surprise of the audience, who shouted words like, "Oh my god, he's fucking crazy!"
I have always enjoyed every damn anime and manga thrown at me, no matter how horrible it was. But I just can't let go of fucking Sword Art Online. This fan's just like me. This fan needs more. I'll give this fan more. We'll go on a journey together, and at the end of that journey, lies even more journeys, cuz there ain't no brakes on the story train. Choo Choo motherfuckers.
I extended Sword Art Online: Reprogrammed towards the fan. "I'm Fate's Author."
