The Court of Nex

(AN: The concept of this game and the NerveGear are heavily based upon the light novel series Sword Art Online and it's anime adaption. Many of the towns named are based off the ones in the series. However, the series' world is named AINCRAD and the game is SWORD ART ONLINE, while I used the name KOKIA and called the game COURT OF NEX. Because the concept is so heavily based on Sword Art Online, there may be some spoilers. And while much of the beginning comes from the novels, the rest, I plan, to make it centered more on the Kurobasu gang. The characters are originally of Kuroko no Basket and their RPG AU is based upon healingwind's detailed AU concepts. To learn more about the character and to view their RPG variant image, please check the links on my profile. Thank you!)

April 10, 2078

To anyone who knew him, Kagami Taiga was a hardcore gamer. While he wasn't one of those "pathetic types who wait outside the game store for a new game", he spent his days in multiple worlds, randing from iPod games to Xbox servers. He had nearly all the consoles any gamer would die for, collected over the years from family and friends. Some even ranged back to the 1900's, so they were collectables that were rare. If Kagami sold his entire collection of games and systems, he would be the richest fifteen year old on the planet of Earth. Kagami Taiga had nearly every console on the face of the planet.

All except one.

He had not bought the most recent, the newest, most high-tech console there was ever to exist – the NerveGear.

From what he had seen in the commercials, the NerveGear was like a giant helmet with an internal battery. It sent signals to the player's brain so that the player's mind was engulfed into a virtual world. To be honest, Kagami didn't want it at all. So far, the only games that were compatable to the NerveGear system were some boring puzzles and a dieting program. It seemed amazing – people who used the NerveGear to diet lost weight because the system controlled the five senses while people were in the game, so while a player ate delicious foods and felt as though they really were eating in the game, they wouldn't have eaten a thing in reality. Not even the body would move if the game was working – the program didn't allow the physical body to move, in case players would injure themselves without realizing by jumping around. It was like the ultimate illusion machine, but the redhead had not any interest in it.

Until now.

Recently, the company that created the NerveGear and all of its games, KageRou Corp, had created a brand new game that attracted gamers around the world – the Court of Nex. Even though it wasn't out yet, it was currently the hottest game of the century. Normally, an MMORPG out on the markets would not earn any special attention. However, this was a KageRou MMORPG. The borderline of realism and fantasy that was the NerveGear mixed with RPG game elements was something no one – gamer or not – would want to miss out on. And it was for this reason that Kagami bought the NerveGear at the last second and had waited three days in a line for copies of Court of Nex. It was the reason why Kagami completely contradicted what he said before about gamers who would literally camp out for the sake of a tiny little chip or CD with data pressed onto it. Though he was late to the line, he bought the very last copy, leaving all the other gamers behind him thoroughly angry.

And tonight, he'd rev up the NerveGear and coordinate it to join the biggest MMORPG gathering of the century – the opening of Kokia, the world within the Court of Nex.

And tonight, he'd never log out again.

Kagami knew that everything he saw was all just numbers and data. But at the same time, he couldn't believe that simple numbers and data created such an amazing virtual world. He looked through a window of a shop and flexed his arm. He had stylized his avatar to have dark blue hair and to be a bit shorter, but still as athletic as he was in reality. He hoped it would be easier to make friends with this sort of appearance, since people were apparently scared of his appearance in real life. But besides that, he was amazing he could even be the way he was. Everything seemed so real. Despite it all just being technology at work, everything – the breeze, the NPCs, the buildings, the monsters…everything seemed real.

But…it wasn't…

"Ah, what does it matter? I get to be here, even if it's just a game anyway!" he grinned cheerfully as he turned from the window that reflected his avatar to the plaza of The Town of Beginnings. Many players were already logging in and every one of them were uncannily beautiful, thanks to the game's avatar stylization system. Some had ridiculous usernames, such as "hime-chama04" or "3971793", but others, like Kagami, had simple names they probably had used all their lives as gamers.

A few people were already creating guilds! Kagami raised an eyebrow in surprise, but he shook it off. They were probably IRL friends or online gaming friends. Something Kagami had a hard time making, because of his rashness, boldness, and when in reality, his appearance. Kagami unintentionally scared a robber once, which scared kids at his school as well. He didn't really mind though. Solo playing wasn't as fun as partying, but it wasn't as bad as others made it out to be, in his opinion. He walked past the flashes of blue that indicated teleporting and logging-on players and out of the Town of Beginnings to begin training in the monster field next to the city.

"Ah, this is somewhat irritating…" he sighed as he scratched his head of red hair. Despite having such a ridiculous hair color, the other players all had their share of strange colors, so he blended in quite nicely. The tall, red-headed avatar leaned against the wall, swiping his hands in the air and pulling up the menu bar. He wasn't showing it, but the player was a tad bit displeased at the sight of a starting pack sitting alone in the corner of his inventory. Somehow, he had faintly hoped that the items he had gathered from beta-testing would still be there. Groaning, he checked his level and stats. Seeing them made him groan louder and close the menu altogether. "Kuroko" blinked faintly next to the green HP car floating beside the player's head. He took no notice and walked on.

"Eh?" a female player leaned above the small hill she was laying on to look onward. An average-sized, blue-haired player was fighting some hogs on the other edge of the hill. She squinted her eyes and concentrated on his HP bar.

"Ka-ga-mi? What a boring username…he should stop fighting for a second and drink a potion or something, he's in the yellow zone…" she muttered to herself as she stared. She had raised her Searching and Tracking only by a few levels, so she couldn't really see beyond his name and HP bar. Quietly, she crawled closer to the player and squinted again.

"Kagami…level twelve already?!"

Oops.

She clamped her mouth shut with her hand, for she had screamed the last part aloud. Kagami, who had finally killed off another boar and it burst into sparkling hexagonal shards, turned around at the sound and caught sight of the girl.

"Who are you? And how do you know my level?!"

She choked, "Dude, you're displaying your level a little too obviously. How else would I know your level?"

"Eh?! I thought I hid the level a while ago!"

"You must've hit the wrong button or something," she snorted. "Anyway, nice going! The game's only begun about half an hour ago and you're already on level twelve!"

Kagami gave a snort in return, "It's not like it's that hard. When you're beginning, leveling up is easier than anything else in the game."

"Eh? That might be true, but considering that this is supposed to be an MMO, how come you're all alone? Most people are out there socializing right now, which is why they're still stuck at level five."

He clicked his tongue, "I came here to play Court of Nex, not to gossip."

She gave a large grin and chuckled, "A serious gamer! I like you! I'm Riko!" Riko stuck out her hand, "I plan to become a Rapier-Wielder, but that's only to protect. I'm going to be the strategist in my guild!"

"I'm Kagami. I don't know what I'm going to be…but a strategist?" Kagami frowned as he shook her hand, "Is there even a class like that?"

"Nope. But my power lies more in my mind than in my physical skill, so I'm more of the background coach kinda guy!" the talkative girl paused for a second then asked, "Wanna join our guild?"

His blue-headed avatar raised a brow, "Why?"

"Well, why not?" the pink-haired girl frowned. "Won't it be fun?"

"Eh…I dunno," Kagami shrugged. He wasn't very used to fighting in a group.

Riko smiled and shook her hand, "If you don't want to, that's fine! Just remember us! Seirin takes in serious gamers! There are too many happy-go-lucky ones around here, so it's rare to find someone like you!"

"Ah…alright. I'll think of it," he replied, scratching the back of his head. She gave him one last smile before turning around.

"It's already 8:29 PM?!" she exclaimed, "Aw, I'll miss dinner! I should log off now!"

"Sure then!" Kagami waved, "See ya around!"

"Ah, wait, lemme friend you!" she said as she pressed a few buttons on the menu chart. A friend request popped up at Kagami's end of the system. Without thinking twice, he pressed the yes button.

"Well, hope ta see you around, Bakagami!"

"Hey!" he snapped as she laughed. He shrugged it off before heading back, planning to go further into the fields and hope for bigger monsters to attack before she heard a small shriek emit from Riko's mouth. "What's the matter?"

"…The exit button…it's not there!" she cried as she quickly went through her entire menu selection.

"Eh? What're you talking about?" the blue-haired avatar that was Kagami asked as he opened his own menu. "It's right the…."

It was gone.

The familiar orange button that was labeled "Exit" wasn't at the end of the menu anymore.

"Maybe it's a glitch?" he suggested.

"Aw damn, I was going to have pizza with my dad today too!" Riko groaned.

Kagami growled as he fumbled with the menu screen. Finally, he sighed and switched the menu off. "Hey, Riko, I-"

"What's that?!" Riko cut him off, silencing him.

There was a quiet hollow sound that filled the gamers' ears. It was unsettling.

"Isn't that the sound that happens before you tele-"

Before either of them could react, a flash of blue appeared before their eyes and they disappeared from the meadows. The area was silent once again.

"This wasn't in the beta test," was all Kuroko could think as he was whisked back to the plaza of the Town of Beginnings. He leaned against the wall as he observed the other players forcefully being teleported to the same location. Some panicked, others were calmer.

"This is part of the opening ceremony…right?" he overheard another player stammer nervously.

Oh, that was a good conclusion. "It's part of the opening ceremony." Kuroko wondered why he hadn't thought of that himself. Anyway, there must be a logical explanation to this. He himself had been leveling up his stealth and tracking skills, since his fighting style centered on those. Glancing to his left, the red-headed avatar he played as was glaring at a familiar character.

Ah, it was so very like him to keep the same character image as the one he used during the beta test, though his clothes and equipment were mediocre at the moment. Kuroko shuffled aside, hoping he wouldn't notice him. In fact, Kuroko had purposely changed his character appearance so he would not be found by that familiar person, or any of the ones they had associated with in the beta. It was certain that they would not forgive him for what he had done. And despite his usual method of being completely honest and forward, Kuroko wasn't ready to face them. He had to prepare himself. It was still too soon.

Despite his best attempts to blend in with the crowd, the appearance he had chosen was a few inches taller than those who had chosen a more common height, so he stood out quite a bit. He mentally hit himself for not leveling up Stealth Skill any higher. He could probably use that gift he had received for being a beta tester, but not yet. If he used it and at that time, the familiar one turned around and saw, he would be instantly recognized. Cursing himself, he slipped through the crowd to stand at another side. Of course, there too would be another familiar player. Cursing again, Kuroko was about to make his way to another side of the gigantic plaza. However, he didn't need to. Everyone's attention was directed to the sky.

"Look!" someone cried.

Simultaneously, the crowd of at least ten thousand players obeyed and shouted at a small hexagonal shape in the color of deep red.

"Warning"

"Warning"

"Warning Warning Warning Warning Warning Warning Warning Warning"

More of the similar warning signs appeared, turning the orange sunset sky into a bright, nerve-racking scarlet.

"What's going on?"

"How is this a part of the opening ceremony?"

"Is it a bug?"

Kagami and Riko stared at the sky, filled with that eerie Warning sign.

"Riko!"

The duo turned at the voice to see four other characters with brightly colored hair and similar basic equipment and clothing.

"Hyuuga!" she cried, running over to the group. "You guys okay? What's going on?"

"No clue," Koganei shrugged. "We just got here! Who's your friend, by the way?"

Riko turned around to face a very confused Kagami, "Oh, this is a new gem I found! His name's Kagami! What was your level again, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Huh?" he frowned in an even more confused look before his look turned into realization. "Sorry, I forgot I disabled the public viewing on my level. Twelve at the moment. You?"

"Sixteen, noob," the guy called Hyuuga grinned, "Koganei is at thirteen, Mitobe here is at fifteen, Tsuchida's at fourteen, and Izuki was workin' on leveling up his skills more than levels, so he's stuck at ten right now."

Izuki gave a shy grin, "I'm getting a run-down feeling just from thinking about how low of a level I am at the moment…Run-down feeling…"

He took out a small notebook and scribbled as he mumbled, "I should avoid that run-down feeling by looking both ways before crossing the street…"

Hyuuga tried to punch his head, but purple sparks appeared and the poor guy was saved by the rules of the Safe Area.

"This guy's always making stupid puns…we're the newbie guild, Seirin, by the way," Riko sighed.

"Oh, so you're the guild Riko was talking about…nice to meetcha. Do you know when the ceremony will be over? I have stuff to do…" Kagami scratched the back of his head.

They shrugged, "Don't ask me, I didn't plan any of this. Anyway, it shouldn't be long, so just relax."

"How could I relax when there's a bunch of error Warning signs in the sky…" he thought impatiently as players began to scream.

A dark red liquid was leaking from the cracks of the many-layered errors in displayed in the sky. It was horribly ominous for an opening ceremony of a cheerful VRMMORPG, but no one seemed to notice. The thick liquid blended together and from the mass was an enlarged hooded figure that towered over the multitudes of players who stood, watching.

"What, it's only a game master?"

"What's this about?"

"Where's his face?"

It wore the hood of a GM, yet unlike those Kagami had seen in magazines and reviews written by beta testers, the person's face was not visible.

"Greetings," the figure's voice was distorted electronically, making him or her sound demented and strange. "My name is Tsukuko Royate. Welcome to the Court of Nex."

Riko and Kagami visibly flinched at the name. The female player, who had a habit of collecting as much information as she could before jumping into something, and the game freak who endlessly attempted to satisfy his lust over the game before he was able to purchase it, had both poured themselves over magazines and news articles about anything related to KageRou Corp prior to playing the game. Tsukuko Royate was the creator of the NerveGear and the director of the KageRou Corp who had programmed much of Court of Nex on his own. Everyone regarded him as a genius. However, he was told to be eccentric, rarely coming into the office and never showing his face to the public.

A faceless hooded figure was ironically suitable to a faceless prodigy.

"As you have already noticed, the Log Out button is no longer on the end of your Menu Selection. This is not a bug. This is not a defect. This is a function supported by Court of Nex."

"What?"

"How the hell is this not a bug?"

"Is he fuckin' retarded?!"

"Until you reach the top of the castle that is the land of Kokia…and defeat the 100th floor, you cannot log out."

"What?!"

"This bastard…Let's go!"

Kagami directed his eyes to a couple who attempted to leave the plaza, only to be knocked back in. They complained and screamed obnoxiously, demanding to know what was going on.

"Also, let it be known that disrupting or dismantling of the NerveGear is forbidden. If any of those actions are to be taken outside of the game…"

A haunting silence.

"The signal sensors in your NerveGear will emit a strong electromagnetic pulse, destroying your brain and stopping all of your basic functions."

The silence lasted for about five seconds before more complaints were burst out.

"That's ridiculous!"

"What kind of bullshit is this?"

"Cut him off!"

"Hey…that isn't possible, right?" the blue-haired avatar that was Kagami asked nervously to the guild and it's leader.

Riko tapped her chin in deep thought before replying solemnly, "...Theoretically, it's possible, but... he must be bluffing. Because if we pull the plug on the NerveGear, there's no way it can emit a strong pulse of that type. Unless there's some form of battery with a huge storage capability inside-"

She paused.

"The battery!" Kagami exclaimed, "That shit has an internal battery!"

Everyone grit their teeth anxiously. So far, all of what Royate had said wasn't technically false."

Over the waves of complaints and anger, he went on, "Disruption or dismantling of the NerveGear outside of the game will cause a death, both in the game and in reality. The government already knows of this. Needless to say, many will not be touching your headgears for a very long time…regretfully, 213 players, whose family and friends attempted to force it off, have already disappeared. They will not be returning ever again."

Kagami visibly paled. He lived alone, thankfully, since his parents were in America at the moment, but what about everybody else?

Would they die because of a mistake their loved ones made out of foolishness?

"What is this?! I sure as hell didn't pay for this shit!"

"Stop messing with us, Royate!"

"The media has confirmed these deaths and the causes of it, so the danger of having your headgear forced off has been dispelled. However, there are other ways to die."

Riko was shaking violently at this point. All of his theories were correct, and no matter how much she used her amazing brainpower, she could not think of a counterargument which would prove Royate wrong. Hyuuga, without thinking, instinctively held her with an arm and rubbed her shoulder, as though he knew it would help calm her down. She started taking deep breaths and her trembling ceased.

"From this point on, Court of Nex is no longer a simple game. It is a second reality, as to say. All forms of revival are nullified."

This time, Kagami gave a shout.

"What?! The point of an RPG game is to die and level up while taking quests! Quests require risks that could lead to a player death!"

Shouts of agreement echoed throughout the plaza.

"Your HP is your life force," he continued, as though he hadn't heard the blue-haired avatar shout in dismay. "Once your HP bar hits the 0, it's all over. Your avatar will disappear. And at the same time…"

Everyone held their breath.

"The NerveGear will instantly destroy your brain."

Absolute silence. Not even Kagami had the will to scream and shout.

"The only way to escape this death game is to reach the 100th floor of Kokia and defeat the final boss. Once the final boss has been defeated, the game will end and the first guild, or solo player, to reach the top and beat the game will log out. The rest will stay in Kokia forever."

"Forever?!"

"100 floors…?!"

100 floors…

100 floors were a lot.

Even in MMORPG games Kagami had played prior to Court of Nex had led him to character death at least fifty times. He remembered dying constantly during training for the next boss.

There was no way he could do this.

"Then I will show you evidence that this is the only reality. In your inventories, there will be a gift from me."

A gift…?

Everyone unfroze in hopes that this gift would somehow make everything better. The level twelve player opened his own inventory and found the "gift".

"…Mirror of Reality…?"

The object's name didn't comfort Kagami as he hoped it would've. Selecting it from the inventory menu, he pressed "Open". The item appeared from thin air in a flash of blue and Kagami caught it before it could fall and break.

It wasn't very special. It was a simple hand mirror. He frowned in confusion, staring at the blue-haired avatar that reflected back at him.

"Kaga-"

Hyuuga took a sharp breath of air as white light surrounded players. Koganei and Tsuchida were panicking while Mitobe, Izuki, and Hyuuga himself just seemed surprised.

Kagami's initial thought was that they were being forcefully teleported somewhere again, before he realized that the light that shone around their avatars when teleporting were blue, not white. He too was engulfed in white and gave a yelp as the light blinded his eyes.

Kagami clamped his mouth shut and opened his eyes once the light faded away. Groaning, he shook his head to attempt to get rid of the dark spots that dotted his sight of vision, thanks to the blinding of the light. Once his vision returned to normal, he audibly gasped at the sight. The large group of handsome and beautiful avatars with unrealistically beautiful bodies had been replaced with average, dull faces and wider, more realistic body types.

"You're a guy?!"

"And I thought you said you were seventeen!"

He bit his lip as he raised the mirror again.

Instead of the cool blue-haired, yellow-eyed avatar with the delicate handsome body he had set for himself, a tall, muscular red-head with red-brown eyes stared back at him. His eyes widened and he dropped the mirror in shock. It crashed into the ground and dissolved into hexagonal shards.

It wasn't as though he didn't like his face and body type. In fact, he was rather proud, considering that he wanted to be strong so that he could play basketball as best he could, during the times he wasn't playing RPGs. But it was because he was so tall and muscular and had a mean face that Kagami had an excruciatingly hard time trying to make friends. Everyone was just scared of him. By crafting an average body with a fair face, he thought it would be easier to talk to people that way.

Well, so much for that idea.

Riko groaned audibly as the mirror dissolved in her hands. "Aw shit, that just ruins the fun!"

He couldn't help but give a small laugh at how much the girl didn't seem to care that she no longer had pink hair and large breasts. She was actually rather cute, with short brown hair and a thin body, but he would never tell her that.

Hyuuga turned out not to be a purple-haired hottie, but a simple guy who needed glasses. Izuki was rather good looking with silver eyes, but he still made stupid puns, the newest one being about a mirror, so the image that he was a cool guy was immediately cancelled out. Mitobe was a gentle giant, Tsuchida looked friendly, and Koganei had a funny looking face that he didn't seem to mind very much. They all gave a gasp at Kagami's fierce appearance and he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"You didn't tell me you were a damn jock!" Riko grinned.

Hyuuga looked thoroughly annoyed.

As did all the other players who had purposely made their avatars extremely beautiful and had been reduced to their actual appearance. Especially the ones who were male and made their avatars females.

"But how is this possible…?" Riko tapped her chin again in thought. "The NerveGear covers the head, but how would it know our body types?"

"Ah, I set up my NerveGear just a few hours ago, so I know this!" the red-headed player said. "The thing has that calibration thing where you had to do these exercises like touching your toes and stuff so it would have all your body-type info!"

"Ah!" they all cried in unison at the realization.

"And now, this is definitely reality. This has been the official tutorial for Court of Nex. Welcome to Kokia. Players, I wish you all good luck."

And without another word, without reason or an explanation, the giant hooded figure that was Royate shattered into hexagonal fragments and scattered into the wind. The Warnings faded and the sky was black and shone with stars. A single, mysterious looking large moon swept over them all.

A long silence was penetrated by screams and shouts of disbelief.

"I have a meeting after this!"

"This better as hell be a joke!"

"Are you fucking kidding me?!"

"Let me out…let me out!"

The plaza burst into chaotic rage as players pushed and shoved each other as though if they made it to where Royate once stood, he would appear again and offer an explanation to this situation.

It took a while, but reality finally hit Kagami when he went back to his menu selection.

He would never return to reality ever again.

No more school, no more basketball, no more mother and father.

It was just him and a sword.

And the only way out

was up.

End of Chapter 1: Log-in.

(AN: I haven't written anything creative in a very long time...essays and letters are dreadful...forgive me for any inconsistencies or errors. It is unedited. Thank you for reading!)