Thank you for deciding to read "Sword art online, Aincrad but different".
This is a reboot of the series in Aincrad with many changes involved. I won't go into the specifics but I assure you that these changes are not minor. There will be more players trapped in Aincrad interacting with its canonical and not canonical game mechanics, bosses, and mobs. This story follows multiple players and their progress to conquer one floor after another in Aincrad.
The first five floors are the prologue of the story, holding the thread of Progressive Novels as an ode to them. From chapter 17 forward, non-canonical mechanics originated from other games will jump into this fanfic and the real story begins. Consider these elements a part of the game in this story.
My inspiration to write this story is based on multiple fan-fictions in the community of Sword Art Online, the manga, the first and second seasons, the Progressive series, the games, and the movie "Ordinal Scale". Since the bosses, mechanics, mobs, and more will be drawn from the canon, it is greatly advised that you have at least read the Progressive series to Progressive novel four and have seen the first two seasons.
To understand things easier firsthand;
- Italicized = Someone thoughts and recaps of the past.
- [] = In game message and updates.
- {}= Private messages.
Lastly, I should mention that I am Dutch. Although I shall do my best to develop my English and make it as readable as I can, I will make mistakes, and I hope you can read past this. If you have any feedback on this, please let me hear your opinion. Earlier mistakes from chapters I will reread and rewrite to make them as readable as I possibly can.
Please take the time to review this story and let me know what you think. I value and use all feedback.
For now, I hope you enjoy "Sword art online, Aincrad but different".
Disclaimer; I do not own Sword Art Online. Sword Art Online is owned by Reki Kawahara and ASCII Media Works.
06-11-2022. Kawagoe City. 11:45 AM.
''Onii-chan, I'm off to practice!''
''Okay! Good luck, Sugu!''
The one the black-haired boy named Kazuto answered was his sister, Suguha as she was heading for Kendo practice as she did every Thursday. When the sound of a shutting door reached his ears, a smile appeared on his face; He had the house to himself. And so there he was, a fourteen-year-old kid preparing to enjoy an entire afternoon of gaming.
On his desk sat his newest purchase: a gray helmet designed for the just-released game, Sword Art Online, or SAO for short. It was the first of its kind, ushering in the birth of Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (VRMMORPG), an entirely new type of gaming that placed one's mind in a virtual world, yet left the body resting in the real world. The inventor of both this game and the hardware that came with it was Kayaba Akihiko.
Kazuto would never say so, but he had become more a fan of Kayaba's work than he wanted to admit. At least, "fan" was what anybody would call an Internet follower who had read every interview and article about a game before its official release. And it hadn't just been out of curiosity since he had already experienced the world of that game once three months earlier as a beta tester. A thousand lucky players had been chosen to test it, and he could count himself among them.
Oh, it's almost 12. Gotta get moving, the black-haired gamer thought, eager not to miss a single second of this legendary moment in gaming history. Making sure that he was lying comfortably on his bed with his headgear on his head, he closed his eyes and spoke, ''Link, start!''
Beams of all colors flew in his sight. Seconds later, he arrived to a completely white room. The only evidence that he hadn't just died and gone to the afterlife was the simple window in front of him that indicated this place was the starter room. [Create your avatar], said the message in front of him.
Normally, this was one of the most difficult parts in any game, but luck was on this gamer's side. [Use a saved character?] with a [Yes] and [No] underneath were all displayed on a secondary window in front of Kazuto. With the suggestion to use his saved character confirmed, another barrage of beams flew past him, blinding him completely for a second time.
By the time he regained his sight, he found himself in the square of an old medieval city. It was the central plaza of the Town of Beginnings in the world of Aincrad. The plaza was enormous as it was the starting point for every player that logged into the game. In the center stood an enormous rectangular golden platform that was the inactive teleporter of the first floor. Four ten-foot conical pillars were placed in each corner of the platform. And to finish the plaza's design off, a tall thin clocktower stood behind the platform topped with an Arabian cupola. Apart from the latter, everything here reminded the black-haired gamer of pictures he had seen of the palace in the Vatican.
If this had been his first time, he would have admired the sight a lot longer. Instead, with memories of his time here during the beta still crystal clear in his mind, he ran towards the exit of the city. Left, right, and center, players spawned in the big plaza, evidenced by their flashes of blue light. A total of 15,000 could be online at any given moment, and since SAO was a milestone in the world of gaming, its popularity would bring quite a lot of traffic. And that could be seen in the streets as blue lights appeared one after another at a rapid pace.
''Hey, you there!'' Stopped in his run, the black-haired gamer turned around to see a red-headed pirate approaching. ''You seem confident in where you're going. This might be rude, but were you a beta tester?''
With a surprised expression Kirito asked, ''Figured that one out pretty quick. Is it that obvious?''
''Just a lucky guess. Can I ask you a favor? I'm new at this game, so I was wondering if you could teach me the basics.''
Giving it a quick thought, he realized he had no reason to decline the pirate. ''Well, I guess I can teach you some things. I was on my way to the fields just outside the city, so why won't start the basics with some fighting?''
''No problem at all... Oh, I forgot. My name is Klein.''
''I'm Kirito.'' Shaking hands, they left the city for the fields outside the Town of Beginnings. Never could the boy have known that, for him, this encounter would be one of the most important in the years yet to come.
''Dodge, Klein! He's charging!''
BAM! Out of reflex, the pirate cradled where he had been hit, bracing himself for the oncoming rush of pain. Fortunately enough, that pain never came, but he only noticed this when the black-haired boy named Kirito brought it up. ''You know you don't feel pain in this game, right?''
''Oh, yeah, I figured. Still, it's weird to get hit and not feel it.''
''Yeah, it took me two days in the beta to get used to that.''
After being helped to his feet by his new companion, the pirate stared at the Frenzy Boar that had just charged him. Apparently, Klein had flown so far back that it de-aggroed and started to eat grass again. His first fight and the game was already mocking him. ''This is way harder than it looks...''
''It's not that difficult. You need to let the game's fighting system assist you with your skills. You just place the weapon at a certain angle, and the game will recognize it as a sword skill, guiding you through the rest of the motion.'' Kirito bent down to grab a stone from the ground and wound his arm back for a throw. The rock glowed red and launched with impressive speed towards the boar's rear.
The boar turned its attention to them, clearly not happy about the incident, and charged at Kirito. The black-haired gamer anticipated the charge and blocked it with his sword. Feeling it could beat the other player instead, the Frenzy Boar switched its attention to Klein. This time, though, Klein was ready. In one clean movement, the game recognized his weapon's position and launched it forward, cleaving the boar in its side. The boar cried in its last moments and shattered into thousands of blue polygons, disappearing into oblivion. Feeling overjoyed that he had not only defeated his first monster but also gotten the sword skill right, Klein jumped for joy.
'Nice one!''
''All thanks to you, man.'' With smiles on their faces, their hands met in a high-five.
That was until the black-haired players stated, ''That was good and all, but you do know that was the weakest mob in the game, right?''
''You're kidding! I thought it was a boss or something!''
Kirito laughed as they walked towards another boar further ahead. He taught Klein a lot more that day. By the time it was nearing nightfall, Klein could tackle simple monsters, or mobs, on his own. It was sunset when he finally noticed the time on his Heads-up Display or HUD. The HUD was a typical game feature that displayed certain information in your line of sight. There was the time, your health bars, your party members' health bars, status changes, and more. Speaking of the time, it was 5:15 PM.
''Kirito, I should go. I ordered a pizza for 5:30, and I can't leave the pizza guy waiting at my door for too long.''
''You've got everything organized, I see.''
Giving his companion a firm handshake, Klein thanked him for the help he received. ''You know, I have some friends waiting for me in the plaza. I can introduce you later if you want.''
Kirito stared at Klein with an unreadable expression. After several seconds of silence, Klein wanted to apologize for making the suggestion, but then the black-haired boy returned with a surprising answer. ''Sure, I'd like to meet them.''
A little perplexed, the pirate tried to regain his composure. Judging from the smile on his face, Kirito was happy about his answer. The pirate summoned his menu by swiftly moving his index and middle fingers downwards, intending to log out. Those next seconds would be the start of a life-changing moment. ''Hey, Kirito? The logout option was on the first part of the menu, right? I can't find it.''
''Yeah, right corner of the main menu.''
''Well, it isn't there!''
Kirito made the same downward motion and although Klein couldn't see his companion's menu, he knew Kirito was seeing the same thing he was. ''You're right. This is weird. As far as I know, this is the only way to log out.''
''Dammit, my pizza! I gotta get this helmet off another way!''
Placing his hands on his head, Klein tried to pull the Nervegear off, but to no avail. ''It's no use. The Nervegear stops your body from moving in the real world so we don't hurt ourselves.''
It was then the players heard the sound of bells.
The blue light surrounding the two gamers vanished and left them standing in the plaza of the Town of Beginnings. Both players shared an expression of utter confusion.
''What just happened?'' Klein asked his temporary teacher.
''Forced teleportation. Seems it's happening to everyone on the server.'' Kirito answered when he noticed other gamers appearing in the plaza as well. More and more players showed up, indicating that every last player online was experiencing the same thing.
When the last blue light disappeared, the ceiling turned blood red, and the words [Warning: System Announcement] could be seen. Seconds passed in deafening silence until each and every one of the 15,000 faces were turned towards the ceiling, and then a red liquid that looked like blood came dripping from the ceiling. Instead of landing on the ground as expected, it hovered, collecting to form a figure floating in the air. The result was a red-cloaked human around thirty feet tall: white gloves where its hands should be and only darkness under its hood, no face to be seen. The atmosphere in the plaza grew inexplicably thick. Finally, the figure started to speak.
''Welcome to my world, players. I am Kayaba Akihiko. From this point on, I am the only one who controls this world.''
Kayaba Akihiko. The man who invented SAO and the Nervegear. The man the black-haired boy had looked up to since he'd heard about this game a year ago.
''I'm sure almost every one of you has noticed that the logout option is missing from the menu. This is not a bug. I repeat, this is not a bug, but a feature of Sword Art Online.''
Whispers could be heard around them, but they were not loud enough to understand.
''There is no way to revive a player once he or she dies. You are only given one life, and once that is over, you will die here.''
There was a short pause.
''And at that moment, the Nervegear will fry your brain in the real world, killing you at the same time.''
The players present remained silent. They all shared the same expression of shock and disbelief. In Kirito's mind, he was trying to understand what Kayaba was saying while the beating of his virtual heart began to rapidly increase.
''Hey, Kirito. He's joking, right? He can't be serious right now, can he?'' Klein wanted to sound tough, like it was all a joke, but Kirito could hear the fear in his voice.
''Well, the biggest part of the Nervegear is in the battery, and the Nervegear works like a microwave. It's almost definitely strong enough to fry our brains.'' Klein looked terrified at this reveal, but Kirito felt that now was not the time to be keeping his friend happy.
Kayaba wasn't done yet.
''Any attempts from the outside to remove the Nervegear are futile and will have the same consequences. Regretfully, three hundred and twelve players have already died due to outside interference. The government and media have now been informed of this situation, so there should be no more intervening from the outside. I have given the location of every player to the government so that your comatose bodies can be transported to a hospital. I think it is safe to say that the danger of you suddenly perishing has decreased to a minimum, and you can focus on the only way to escape this game alive. You must travel the hundred floors of Aincrad and beat the boss on each floor. Even if only one person manages this, the game will be cleared and everyone will log out."
There was an uproar in the crowd, and Klein said something about how not even the betas had made it that far. The cloaked figure raised his hand to silence them and gave another announcement.
''I have a gift for you all. Please check your inventories now.''
Doing what Kayaba Akihiko said, the black-haired gamer found the item [Mirror]. The moment Kirito looked into it, he became surrounded by another blue light. But when that light vanished, he thought nothing had changed.
''Kirito, is that you?'' The familiar voice that was Klein's came from his right, but the face didn't match. As Klein had been a good-looking pirate, this person was more of an ugly bandit. What was even stranger was that this new person had the exact same hairstyle, hair color, and clothes as his friend had.
''Klein?'' Showing shock and disbelief, the boy shifted his attention to the mirror in his hand, only to see himself in it. Not the face that should have been there-the one he had customized within the game-but his own, from the real world.
''How is this possible?'' Klein asked.
''The Nervegear covers your entire head, right? So that means it can measure your facial features. But how did it know the proportions of my body?''
''Oh, I know. I bought the Nervegear yesterday, so I still remember. We had to touch our entire body from head to toe. I think it was called calibrating. But why, Kirito? Why do all this?''
''I think he's about to tell us.'' Kayaba didn't let him down on this one.
''You must all be wondering by now: why would I, Kayaba Akihiko, creator of the Nervegear and Sword Art Online, do such a thing? The truth is it was to realize my ambition: to create a world to live in and interact with. I wish you the best of luck, players. This concludes the tutorial for Sword Art Online.''
With that, the cloaked figure vanished the way it had come, and the ceiling returned to normal. It took some time for the realization to sink in for everyone, but after a good five seconds, the first sounds could be heard in the crowd. After ten, everything went mad. Kirito, as one of the victims, knew how everyone was feeling. He looked back to see Klein sharing the same expression: fear.
Despite his rapidly rising heartbeat and the cold sweat forming on his brow, fear was not the feeling that took over Kirito at that moment. There was something else on his mind that took control, those last words that Kayaba spoke before he had disappeared and left the players in this game to their fate.
''This concludes the tutorial for Sword Art Online.'' That's what Kayaba had said. But these players were not ready for the new SAO. There was no actual tutorial in the game. Players had to learn through experience; in other words, by making mistakes and moving on. If this game had truly become a death game, then a mistake could mean the end of a life, in this world and in the real world. Something had to be done.
Kirito grabbed Klein's arm and pulled him along. ''Come with me!''
''To where?''
''To the middle of the crowd!''
What do I do?! What do I do?! a cloaked player known by the name of Argo asked herself. Seconds ago, Kayaba's terrible revelation cut her from the real world. As a beta tester and information dealer, she knew the only thing that could help her in this new and desperate situation was information.
She knew she had to progress as quickly as possible. The limited resources surrounding the Town of Beginnings wouldn't last very long. When she tried to make her way through the chaotic crowd, she noticed two players running in the opposite direction.
The overwhelming number of players was either moving uncontrolled from one end of the plaza to the other or trying to leave this chaos to get a headstart on everybody else. It was for that reason she found it strange that two players were moving so steadily to the center. Aside from that, she thought she recognized one of them, his black hair being the only feature that resembled his avatar.
Is that Kii-bou?' It was that moment she received a private message. Speak of the devil.
{Hey, Argo. Can you stay in the plaza? Gonna need your help with something.}
What's he up to? Secrets, something the info broker didn't like. With a swift motion of her fingers, she searched her friends list for the location of the black-haired swordsman. Her stats and items had been deleted since the beta, but luckily some of her data, such as her friend's list, remained.
Her actions were interrupted by a loud sound similar to a mic being tested. The sound originated from the golden teleporter in the very center and echoed throughout the plaza. Two short coughs could be heard before someone began to speak.
''Fellow players of Sword Art Online, my name is Kirito. I'm a beta tester.''
The hell are you doing?! Argo would have yelled if it wasn't for the enormous crowd surrounding her. Giving away information like that could be fatal. Now that SAO had become a death game, it would be an act of suicide, or so the rat thought.
Kirito was apparently using the mic stored in the main menu to talk to the remaining players. It was a built-in option in the menu, because if you were ever in a group, raid party, or huge guild, sometimes you needed a little more volume to reach everyone's ears. The noise in the plaza stopped as everyone's attention turned to the young black-haired boy and the red-headed bandit on the platform. The black-haired beta player began to sweat from the pressure, but he continued nevertheless.
''Kayaba Akihiko told us that it was the end of the tutorial. But, in my opinion, he forgot something important. I can't take away your fears. I don't understand everything that was just said to us either. However, I can do one thing that gives us all an equal chance of survival!''
''Damn, Kii-bou. I knew you were good with words, but I wasn't expecting this.'' Argo whispered, thinking back of the beta.
Kirito had been a solo player during that time but despite that, he'd given a lot of good advice to the other players. The rat had noticed at the time that Kirito was eloquent-never left speechless or grasping for words. The large crowd of players listened to the boy as if this moment could change their entire life. Little did they know how true that actually was. Kirito continued.
''As for now, Sword Art Online's real tutorial starts!''
The world of Aincrad was a place of its own, with mechanics unique to gaming. Aincrad was made up of a hundred floors, each the size of Tokyo and floating in mid-air. Each floor was separated from the next by a huge pillar, the location of that floor's dungeon. Every dungeon had a floor boss, a named monster guarding the entrance to the next floor. In addition to that, from the second floor up, there were field bosses. Those could be found standing in front of each floor's dungeon entrance-the only way in was to beat it. Every floor was a world all its own, with a theme, climate, quests, monsters, and more that could only be found on that floor.
Kirito shared his knowledge, from using the menu to the information on the HUD. He talked about stats such as agility and strength, skill slots and sets, different weapon classes, the leveling system, and more. Kirito kept talking, making sure everyone in the crowd could hear him and could keep up with the enormous information drop. Every now and then, he demonstrated something, using his companion or himself as a visual display. Other times, he just talked, using his hands to emphasize his words.
The black-haired boy kept going, as the sky turned dark and the last bit of sunlight dipped below the horizon. He must have stood there for hours, relaying everything he knew. Argo kept her eyes on him the entire time, enchanted by his speech. When the clock on everyone's HUD read 9:30 PM, Kirito stopped his tutorial. ''There's so much to talk about, I could go on forever! But after everything that's happened, I think now is a good time to break for the night; let it all sink in. Don't worry... If you missed or forgot something, we'll be stocking the NPC shops with free guidebooks in a couple of days!''
NPC (non-player character) were computer-controlled characters, like robots made up of data instead of metal and run by SAO's system.
The noise around the plaza started to build again, so Kirito raised his hands. There was one last thing he wanted to say.
''I hope this has helped some of you understand how SAO works, and I hope it helps you survive to the end! There isn't much else I can do. The situation right now is... the worst thing that could ever happen. However, if what Kayaba said is true-and there's no reason not to believe him-we have to adapt to this game as quickly as possible. If you still can't wrap your head around the current situation, then stay in the city. There are quests to do here that won't get you killed. On the other hand, if we want to get out of this game, we will have to leave the safe areas and defeat the floor bosses. I want to get out, so I will fight for what it is worth. I hope some of you share this view and will join me in this fight! This is the end of the real tutorial for Sword Art Online.''
The crowd remained silent. After a few seconds, a clap could be heard. It wasn't until after the first two claps that more people followed. The sound of clapping changed to a deafening applause. Kirito raised a fist in the air, and the applause rose to a roar.
Nice one, Kii-bou. You did amazing.
''Nice speech, man.'' The voice belonged to the red-headed bandit, Kirito's companion who had stood by his side during the entire speech.
''Thanks. I couldn't have done it without you.''
The surprised expression on Klein's face was something that he had not expected but had welcomed nevertheless. ''What did I do?''
''Gave me the courage to do this. Thank you, friend.'' Klein's face lit up, showing the biggest smile one could have at this point. However, there was something Kirito still had to do. ''I'm sorry, Klein, but I have to move. I need to gather some info on the new floor and get this guidebook out before anyone dies.''
Klein's smile never disappeared, but in his eyes, there was an emotion Kirito could not identify. It was only there for a second, a flicker in his expression, then it settled back to the one he was so familiar with by now. ''Don't apologize, Kirito. You've done more than enough. I couldn't ask for more.''
After saying their goodbyes, the black-haired player went to an inn near the city's exit. At night, it was too dangerous to enter the fields. New monsters could pop up anywhere in the darkness. In the beta, most deaths tended to happen at night or against the floor bosses, but the latter was to be expected. Kirito was glad he had mentioned this during the tutorial.
It had just been spur of the moment, and he hadn't expected to stand there on his own. But at the time, he was just going with his instinct. Like so many times before, his instinct had never let him down.
He messaged Argo his location and was waiting at the bar of the inn when she came in. ''Hiya, Kii-bou. Nice speech.'' Her compliment came with a teasing grin because she knew the black-haired gamer wasn't a fan of talking in front of large crowds. She approached her beta friend and sat next to him. ''Now, what was that thing you needed my help for?''
Author's notes:
So this was the first chapter. What did you guys think?
Warning: Long Afterwards, (sorry, I like interacting with you all).
I remember reading something that mentioned traveling to the past to save the players who had died at the start of the game. That's what gave me the idea to make Kirito do this.
I mentioned this before, but English is not my first language. Every bit of English I have learned is the British kind, so I asked a beta reader to read over this and change accordingly. Therefore, Thank you Skyogenic for beta reading this chapter.
As you might have noticed in one certain point in the story, I switched the perspective from Klein to Kirito without the separation line. This was not a mistake but a thing that will be used more often in the game. This story will have a lot of players in the future and requires this.
I always value feedback and try to adjust as much as possible to everyone's liking (yeah I am perfectionist regarding writing), so feel free to Private message me or leave a review with feedback. If you do not want me to respond to you in a message (because I will thank you for your words and love interacting with you all), leave a #noreply in it. If you have something you want to see in this story or wonder what I am planned to do, you can message me as well.
I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, and I hope to see you again in the next one. Beyor out!