- The Swordsman Chronicles -
A Story By Twisted Films
All rights reserved, SAO is the property of Reki Kawahara
The phenomenon known as Sword Art Online has long acted as quite the source of inspiration for me, as evident by my countless (failed) attempts at writing a story set within its universe. Most of these stories were written back when I was a horny 14-year old, and as such, the quality of my writing was about as horrible as you would expect. But now, after multiple all-nighters and several horrible plots thrown to the wayside, I think I might have finally come up with something worthwhile.
So let me start off by providing you with some quite important details about this story, and where I plan to take it. This is crucial information, so I urge you to take your time reading this little segment.
This will be a mature fanfiction, which means that it will include mature themes such as excessive violence, swearing and hints at sexual behavior.
If you are not comfortable with that, I recommend turning around right now, because this will undoubtedly turn you off. Whilst the story itself is T-rated, I intend to push said rating to its limits, which might prove to be too much for some people.
The story follows the teenage boy Kirigaya Kazuto (aka Kirito) on his journey through Sword Art Online, and will include descriptions of psychological struggles.
Thinking about it from a rational standpoint, if you were to be suddenly trapped in a game of death against your will, you most likely wouldn't be running around all happy and carefree, at least not at the start. You would, in all likelihood, be suffering from depression, and maybe even contemplating suicide. These are topics I will be dealing with and taking very seriously throughout this story. HOWEVER, that does not mean that the main character will be stuck in a state of "constant depression" or anything along those lines, but psychological suffering is definitely something that will be brought up during this fanfiction.
I will also be making some changes to the Sword Art Online game and its mechanics.
1. The pain absorption meter will be dialed back quite a lot. Whilst an attack won't hit just as hard as it would in real life, cuts, bruises and taking damage in general will hurt. However, the feeling of pain will subside much faster than it would in real life.
2. Blood is a factor here. If you cut someone, blood will (naturally) leak from the wound. Dismemberment is therefore a real possibility. Dismembered limbs will, however, regenerate, although at a much slower rate than in the anime.
3. I have added multiple new status effects to the game, the first of which you will encounter in the chapter you are about to read. I did this due to the belief that it will add more flair to some of the in-game systems, and generally make it a more interesting experience.
4. The hidden "Ethics Code" option buried deep in the player settings is always set to off. Yes, that means that there will be sexual themes showcased in this fanfiction. There will also perhaps be "lemons", or detailed descriptions of sexual interactions in this story, but if such a thing ever is introduced, the story will change its rating to M to reflect this.
5. And finally, there will be no overpowered characters. This means that your beloved Jesus-kun (Kirito) will be receiving a rather hard nerf. Now I don't want to completely take away his superiority, because I do believe that at least part of the fun lies in seeing Kirito pub-stomp noobs every now and then, but he will be considerably weaker than in the main SAO story. I want this to be a believable story, and not one filled with "deus ex machinas" and OP characters who can one-shot bosses on their own (honestly Reki, what were you thinking?).
MMORPG TERMS EXPLAINED FOR NEW READERS
(SKIP THIS IF YOU HAVE PLAYED AN MMO IN YOUR LIFE, OR KNOW THESE TERMS FROM BEFORE)
This part is dedicated to informing new readers about all the different terms used in an MMORPG. If you know this from before, feel free to skip this section.
EXP – Experience Points. You collect these by doing quests, killing monsters, utilizing your skills and so forth. Once you have enough, you will advance to the next level. This will improve your current stats. Simple as that.
Mobs – Mobs is a term used to define multiple monsters. If I for instance write: "Kirito saw multiple mobs wandering about in the forest", that means I'm referring to a group of monsters walking around.
Skills – Different things you can train yourself in and level up. Example: fishing, cooking, smithing and so forth.
Guild – Group of players playing together under the command of one (or multiple) "guild leaders". Can be small or large, depending on the amount of players currently in the guild. Members have to follow rules set by the leader.
Stats – Statistics displaying your current level in different skills, your armor rating, total damage output and so forth.
That marks the end of the informational chapter. I honestly do hope you enjoy the story, as I have put in a lot of time and effort into this. And finally, I hope I managed to create the version of Sword Art Online we've always wanted to see!
-Twisted