LATE GAME Ch. 1

HOLY MOTHER OF-

I woke up from dreaming, tried to put on my shoes…

What in the hell? I can't put my darn shoes on. Why the heck not? I dunno, it's like the world doesn't want me to insert my foot in the damn thing.

I began moving my hands out of frustration, flapping them as if trying to fan my anger away.

Then a menu appeared. All that was there was my name- Leo Angelo, and some options and equipment buttons.

Wait, how can I understand this? It's written in Japanese! I'm not Japanese, but I got Chinese blood, and their characters might be the same-

No! I can't even READ Chinese! (Sorry, gramps. I'm a shame to the clan. Is that even what you say?) No, it's not that I can read it; I just know it as it is.

Reminds me so much of Sword Art Online, just got hooked up on it because of my friends and-

No.

No.

I am not in Sword Art Online.

Don't tell me I am.

Oh my effing god. Small 'g' because I respect things like that. I'm Catholic

I AM in SAO. I am INSIDE the anime that I love because of the ship-

No, it's for the plot, I swear. I ride ships on the way to the plot, that's what I meant.

No, I need to focus on my problem right now.

Yeah (I spent all my 'Nos' at the beginning of the previous sentences, here's some diversity), how the hell did I get here? Am I dreaming? Is this all some big dream I'm going to wake up from?

I closed my eyes and fell asleep on the bed.


Half an Hour Later…

Woke up, flicked my right hand, and yeah…still here. Checked my menu screen and saw my name, the options and equipment buttons, and that's all.

I proceeded to equip my shoes, and having them reappear on my feet so suddenly surprised me a bit. I scrambled outside the building and ran as fast as I could.

Mostly to keep myself from going insane out of fear and desperation, gotta keep my head clear if I were going to survive.

Wait, I didn't have an HP bar…

Nor did I have the skills menu thing I've seen in the shows. I even read the light novels and even that non-canon "Chapter 16.5" the author made. Except for that last one, they all mentioned how the menu had all the buttons.

Then I remembered something from Volume 2… Didn't Yui have the same menu I did? I recall how Kirito and Asuna tried to put that sweater on Yui, and how shocked they were when they saw her menu.

It's either I'm an immortal object too, or I'm going to glitch out of existence.

Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw four figures emerge from somewhere. It was Asuna, then Kirito with- oh! There's Yui! Then at last, there was Yulier.

I get it now. I'm at the "Morning Dew Girl" arc. I have a plan now too: Follow my favorite ship- I mean characters from the anime towards that cave/dungeon thing.

So I followed them, quietly as to not make them aware of my presence. I swear I felt Kirito glance in the direction I was in from time to time, then shaking his head as if there was nothing there.

Oh yeah, I wasn't a player. Of course he wasn't going to dwell on that much. But I can see the level 1000 searching skill of his working perfectly well. Almost too well for my liking, but that's how it rolls I guess.

This is what I get for worshipping my ships too much. This is the worst-shipping moment I got, mostly because I'm here and I could die at any moment. I can't ship something if I'm not alive to see it from happening.

There goes my spying on them- I almost got seen by Kirito.

They stopped already because we were at the dungeon already. I could barely hear them arguing over Yui's safety, so I got closer-

The next second, I was being confronted by Kirito and Asuna. She was prettier up close, I loved it. No, she's Kirito's for life, bad train of thoughts, get out of my head.

Huh, I should be more worried about the two high-leveled people eyeing me right now.

"Why are you following us?" Kirito said, deeper and sexier than what I heard from my laptop's speakers. I'm not gay, but I might as well be now.

"Are you out to attack us?!" Asuna added sharply, her voice much like her anime voice, but a bit cuter and higher.

Wait, how could I know? She was screaming at me for Pete's sake.

Who the heck was Pete anyway? Why is that even something people say? Why am I thinking about my thoughts rather than the two dangerous people in front of me?

"Well?" Asuna woke me up from stupor.

"I dunno, I woke up and I just followed the people who were actually on to something productive right now, so I thought 'Why not?'" I replied hastily. I have to keep my cool around these two.

"Why'd you think that? We've been in this game for two years and now's the time you get up and walk? Who are you anyway?" Kirito asked.

"First off, I just woke up here right now." I started. "Second, I'm pretty sure I wasn't stuck here before this. Ever. I'm sure I'm not even from THIS world. Oh, and the name's Leo Angelo, but you can call me Grey for the time being, because everyone uses their 'virtual world' name except for…" I gave Asuna the long stare, I could see hints of her face reddening from frustration.

"Everyone isn't from here." Asuna replied sharply, even more aggressive than I thought she would, and maybe on the edge to OOC. Maybe it was a protective instinct mothers have? It probably was, seeing that Yui was there. Or maybe it was just because I just exposed her real name as being her avatar's name. I get that she's a hotshot and all, but that was kinda dumb on her part, lol.

"Yeah, I know. But I'm not from YOUR real world either." Gotta get serious before I laugh it off.

"How are you so sure?" Kirito replied.

"Well, I'll explain later. You've got a job to do, right? That's why I went here with you guys."

"How do we know you're not going to attack us?" Asuna said.

"Because I have my reasons, lame I know, but that's probably the most I can say, and have I got a story to tell you."

For the first time then, Yui was the one to reply.

"You're not lying… But how could you be here..? You're not from either world, so what are you?"

If it were anyone else, I would reply Goku, but the innocence/cuteness of her voice made me answer seriously.

"Maybe I'm a glitch in the universe. I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to be here anyway. I know things I probably shouldn't know, so I'm just going to tell you my hypothesis."

Seeing Yui nod, I exhaled a breath I didn't know I was holding. I didn't need to breathe here, but I wasn't used to this world yet. I don't know if I ever will, considering that this is pretty late game and all.

Seeing that I said the truth somewhat, we entered the dungeon. I mean, why shouldn't I? It's dark, creepy, and I love everything that's dark and creepy.

Then I saw the red dots that made me swear under my breath so much I could've made a whole poem with them. The toad monsters were here. Remember what I said about liking dark and creepy places? I lied.

My fear lasted only for twelve seconds, as that's how long it took for Kirito to murder these abominations of nature/Akihiko Kayaba. Did this guy honestly have no safety guarantees for all the young adventurers who were scared of toad monsters? Akihiko, you're a mad bastard.

You're probably wondering, did they let me off the hook that fast? Nope. They didn't let me off the hook, as I felt their distrusting glances every once in a while. It must've been quite a shock, how someone from a different world could be stuck in SAO, but they had more pressing matters at the moment.

Like Yui, the only person here who didn't treat me badly for a second. Oh yeah, and that Thinker guy who Yulier was going to marry after the game. Forgive the spoiler alert.

Now that I think about it, Yulier hasn't actually said much after I became part of the scene, was she that eager to see this guy? Probably; I mean, he marries her in the end and Kirito sends his belated regards, right?

Kids, this is what love does to you. Don't do love if it's not legal for you yet. Don't drink love and drive. Say no to love.

Now that I'm done bashing love (even though I technically followed Asuna and Kirito because of love), I get to see this hilarious moment when Kirito tries to give Asuna the toad legs and now I see why they actually work out in the end. Asuna loves Kirito so much, she didn't kill him for even when he suggested to cook the abominations from Hades.

Oh, and Yui is just there cheering for Kirito, what a cutie. This makes me want to have a daughter in the future, too bad I'm still fifteen.

Or am I? It's 2024 now, I'm basically 23 now. Crap, I'm already over marrying age in this world. I can have all the daughters I want… If anyone actually wants to be with me.

Should I grab someone from Kirito's harem? I probably should; not like Kirito's ever going to return their feelings. Do they have chances? I'm looking at Asuna aaand no. That's it, if I'm stuck in this universe, I might as well get a girlfriend, a good wife, and-

Oh crap, I'm about Klein's age. How can I take my pick out of this guy's harem? Darn this realization stuff. I may be into lolis, but being a pedophile might be a bit too much. Then again, I AM physically fifteen.

Crud, I lost sight of what's important again. I have to follow them before I lose them and lose the way to the exits.

Ooh, was that Thinker-san? I have no idea how to use honorifics, but oh well, he's there. Yulier gets to him, gives him a teleport crystal and-

Ahh, that Reaper thing came out. My goodness, I got scared for a second there. In truth, the monster was scarier than all those suspense flicks I watch plus all the cheesy horror/jumpscare movies I used to watch. If we weren't some programs in this VRMMORPG, I'd have peed my pants.

I'm not from here, should I be worried?

Kirito tries to defend the others, and then Asuna comes along. I know Yui's supposed to save them, but I'm going to try being the hero to one, gain their trust and two, see what happens.

I'm already stuck in a different universe or something, how is this not gonna send me back when I die?

As the scythe was about to hit Kirito, I scream my battle cry as I go in between.

"FOR THE SHIPPING!"

I watched as The Reaper thing flinched and lost its aim towards the blackest swordsman to ever black the land, then as the black swordsman and his wife, the not-so-black-and-actually-white swordsman, are both surprised and shock by my immediate involvement.

*SMASH*

I'm not dead, but that hurt SO FREAKING BAD that I tried to will myself not to cry. I crashed into a pillar and I lose sight of the fighting. A few moments later, I hear Yui delete this bitch of a monster, so I got nothing much to worry about changing the timeline too much?

Following the crash, I felt my senses fade away. I'll be missing this part, I guess. Go on without me, I guess. Leave me like every other girl did, I guess.


After the "Yui was actually an AI part…

I woke up, and then I heard it.

"You… You're… an immortal Object?" I hear Asuna stammer out.

Oh, I'm an immortal object. Let me just crash headfirst into every enemy now, now that would be loads of fun.

I shake my head as I open my eyes, and it HURTS. Never mind the 'every enemy' part, Let me just hit the weak ones.

Then again, SAO was nearly complete, so I might not be able to do much anymore. But does that clear my 'every enemy' pact? No.

I stand up, and exclaim:

"I'm chill, bros! Do what you need to- OW!"

Asuna just slapped me. I just got slapped by one of the hottest girls in anime fandom. Hooray.

"Why are you so reckless? If you weren't an immortal object…" She stopped midsentence.

"… Did you know you were an immortal object?" Kirito inquired.

"Nope." I said quite childishly. "I just thought it'd be a good idea to see whether or not I was going to die. It was fun while it didn't hurt."

"What would we have done if you weren't…" Asuna trailed off.

"You like to live dangerously, I like it." Kirito said with a grin. Here's his bro part, I love this part of him. It doesn't show much, but when it does, it does.

"Don't encourage him." Asuna said with hints of danger in her voice.

"Why not?" I asked. "I'm freaking immortal! Nothing can kill me now! MWAHAHAHA!"

They both raised their eyebrows.

"I could be a good addition to the team, you know. I could just charge at all our enemies now."

Asuna sighed. Being in the Knights of Blood Oath, I heard (and read) that she was really into discipline, so I guess this is that side of hers. I remember that one part though, when she saw Kirito napping and she snapped at him. Then he convinced her to try it out and then she got pissed and fell in love with him at the same time when she woke up.

I love this romance; it's the best. It's cute and it's-

"We're going back. Do you have anywhere to stay in?" Kirito announced.

"Uh, yeah. Let me go with you; I've got loads to tell you, and then I'll just sleep outside your house, deal?"

"Why outside though? Me and Asuna would be alright if you would go in-"

"Bro." I said. "It's not right for a man to stop a budding romance, especially in the honeymoon stage. I'll give you space once I've said my spiel. I'm totally fine with that."

"How did you-" Asuna started, but I stopped her.

"Tell you later."

After that, time passed quickly as I followed the two to their home. The log cabin looked really… Homey.

Must. Not. Think. About. Family...

Crap.

Gotta get this out of my system, gotta get this out of my system, gotta get this out of my sys-

"Explain." Asuna commanded.

Honestly, I had no idea whether or not I should tell them the whole thing, but I plan to do an abridged version, and not exactly talk about the actual details of the fight with Heathcliff/ Akihiko Kayaba. It'd probably change the outcome of the shit, and I don't want that to happen.

It already has a happy ending, I'm pretty sure of that. So why change it?


AN.

I'd like to thank you all for reading the first chapter of Late Game, a story I plan to expand on with arcs right after the Aincrad arc. This is my first fan fiction, so please bear with me for the time being. If you're interested, please PM me about mistakes I made in this chapter and the next ones, seeing as it might have been out of the universe of Sword Art Online, and I plan to please as many of you as I can.

For anyone asking me why Grey was hurt by the impact of the attack, I am rolling with the idea presented in the same episode this chapter was based on. In the episode, where Asuna strikes an Army member, she mentions how she cannot kill him within the walls of the starting town, but she could still faze him and potentially terrify him with the knockback that her rapier creates.

Grey might have been an immortal object and he cannot be killed, but he can still be hurt. Think of it as if he were carrying the effects of the town with him everywhere.

If there are any further questions, please PM me about it, and I'll gladly answer your questions just because you took the time to read all of this. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy the next chapters.

Peace out.