I do not own Sword Art Online or affiliated names. I only own my OC(s).
Jinzou Kokoro: Chapter 1
Sword Art Online. The newest, most anticipated game of 2022. A VRMMORPG, it utilizes the full-dive technology of the Nerve Gear to send player to the virtual castle in the sky, Aincrad. Only 10,000 copies of the game were made, including those of the beta testers. This is the story of one player.
"Link start!" A rainbow of colors passes by, then five circles appear, all flashing a green color and saying "OK". The language selected is Japanese, and our hero enters his username and password. A text box pops up.
"Beta test data available. Would you like to use it?" He selects the text box saying "Yes." The words Sword Art Online appear in black, then a rush of blue colors.
He opens his eyes, staring at hands clad in black fingerless gloves. Below the gloves is a dark forest green shirt. On his chest is a metal chest plate, small enough to allow mobility but still add enough defense as to be useful. His pants are black as well, and are kept in place by a brown belt. His face is covered on one side by somewhat long black hair, and his eyes are royal purple. He is about five feet, ten inches (177.8 cm) tall, and lean, but not skinny. His visible ear has a small silver earring, in the shape of a dragon's head. On his back is a simple spear, made of dark brown wood and a simple but efficient metal blade. "It's good to be back." His voice is semi-deep, with a musical tone to it.
He starts walking out to the field to hunt when a man in blue with a sword passes by him. A voice calls out: "Oi, you there!" The spearman turns his head and sees a man with pink hair in white clothes chasing the blue clothed man. He looks forward again and keeps heading to the field.
Once there, he takes the spear off his back, holding it in his left hand about halfway down the shaft. He begins to run, straight towards a group of boars. He grips the spear in both hands, holding the blade to his right. He passes by the first boar, slashing its flank, then spins, catching the boar's counterattack on his spear. Kicking at the boar's leg, it falls to the ground and he brings up his spear and stabs it, dispersing it into rainbow particles. The next boar rushes at him and he spins, dodging and slashing at it at the same time. Flipping the spear upside down, he slashes at the beast's belly, and immediately stabs it in its neck. It also explodes, and he turns to the final boar of the group. It charges at him and he rolls to the side. Picking up a stone, he uses a sword skill to enrage it. It charges again and this time, he jumps up over the boar, slashing along its back. The boar turns and he lowers the spear, and it glows purple. He surges forward, a rippling effect appearing as he flashes toward the boar. He passes by the monster and a red line appears along the beast's side. It stops and disperses as the spearman recovers from the motion-freeze from the sword skill.
He continues killing mobs for the next few hours, until at about 17:30. A bell sounds out across the server several times, and suddenly he glows as he is force teleported to the town square. He looks around and it seems as though all the players have been teleported here. Suddenly, red system announcement panels appear in the sky and start oozing a red liquid, forming into a gigantic being in a red robe, his face hidden by a hood.
The figure speaks: "Attention players. Welcome to my world. I am Kayaba Akihiko. I am currently the only person who can control this world. I'm sure many of you have noticed that the logout button in the main menu has been removed. This is not a mistake. I repeat, this is not a mistake, but a feature of Sword Art Online. You are unable to logout of SAO, and nobody in the real world can remove or disrupt the NerveGear. If this is attempted, a powerful burst of microwave radiation will fry your brain."
"Of course, people have already tried to remove the NerveGear from their friends and family. As of now, 213 players have retired, both in-game, and in real life." Several news articles pop up. "As you can see, news of my warning and the victims is being spread worldwide. Thus, removal attempts should stop by now. But I'd like you to keep this in mind. All revival methods in this game are now non-functional. Should your HP hit zero, then your avatar will disappear, and your life with it."
"There is only one way to escape SAO. That is to clear all 100 floors and beat the game. Finally, I have prepared a present for each of you in your inventories." At this everyone checks their inventories and a mirror materializes in each person's hand. Everyone starts glowing blue, and when the light ends, they appear as what the man assumes to be their real life appearances. The spearman now has slightly spiky hair that points backwards, and is still black. His face is softer, but his eyes are the same. There is general panic and confusion before Kayaba Akihiko speaks again. "Right now you're probably wondering 'Why?'. 'Why would I, the creator of SAO and the NerveGear, do this?' I have already achieved my goal. I have created the world of Sword Art Online for my enjoyment. And now, the preparations are complete. This concludes the tutorial for the launch of SAO. I wish you the best of luck.
He fades away and chaos ensues as people have breakdowns, unable to believe what was happening. Almost all the beta testers run off to take advantage of their experience, and run off to the next town to take the experience, including the boy in blue from earlier, who leaves behind the man in white. Analyzing the situation, the spearman turns and walks away to go grind more mobs. His face and mind are inhumanly calm considering that he's trapped in a death game. Silently, he turns and walks off calmly toward the city edge.
A month later, a meeting is being called for a raid on the floor boss, who had finally been found. The spearman has a new weapon, a decorative spear with a dragon spiraling from the blade down about three inches of the shaft, and a claw at the bottom, sharpened, but not very long, limiting its use in combat. He also has new gloves, still black, but with silver armor plates n the finger segments and the back of the hands. He approaches the meeting place softly, as it has already begun. He sees a blue haired man wearing a sword and shield speaking, as the others sit on the bleachers. The blue haired man says to split into parties of six people. Everyone immediately pairs up with their friends. The spear user scans the others, and spots a few that stand out. A tall, dark-skinned man, the boy in blue from the Town of Beginnings, and a girl in a cloak. He sees the boy scoot over to the girl and start talking to her.
Suddenly, a man with orange spiky hair appears at the top of the bleachers. "Wait a second!" Jumping down, the others are impressed, but he seems a little unbalanced, and it's surprising that he makes it. "I'm Kibaou. I wanna say something before we take down the boss." He turns to the crowd. "Some of you here need to apologize to the two thousand who have died so far!"
Murmurs sound out throughout the crowd. Diavel, the blue haired man, addresses Kibaou. "Kibaou-san, are you talking about the beta testers?"
"You bet! The day this death game started, the beta guys ditched us new to the game, and all disappeared. They took all the easy quests and good hunting spots, so they could get stronger. Then they just ignored us! Someone here must be from the beta! Whoever it is should get on their knees and beg forgiveness, and give up all the money and items they've hoarded. Otherwise, we can't trust them as party members, and they shouldn't trust us."
The spearman just smirks and the boy in blue starts looking nervous. However, the tall, dark-skinned man interrupts. "May I speak?" He walks up to Kibaou, and towers over the man. "My name is Agil. Kibaou-san tell me if I'm right. You're saying that because, the beta testers ignored them, many players died, so they should apologize and compensate us, right?" Kibaou gives a fairly confident agreement. "You got this guide book, right?" He pulls out a small book, which is tiny in his large hands. It was free at the item store." Kibaou confirms this. "This book was compiled of information from the beta testers." Surprise rings out among the crowd. "Listen. Everyone had access to this information, and many still died. This meeting is supposed to be about how we can learn from their deaths and beat the boss." Kibaou storms off and pouts, and both sit down.
Diavel then goes over the boss, Ilfang (Illfang?) the Kobold Lord. He has minions known as Ruin Kobold Sentinels. He has four health and uses a shield and axe for the first three, then switches to a curved sword called a Talwar. This means his attack patterns change. He also goes over the loot and exp rules. The meeting disbands and everyone goes their separate ways. The spearman disappears into the town.
The next day, the spearman joins the main group, unnoticed by everyone else. They walk through a forest and the labyrinth to reach the boss room. Finally, they arrive. Diavel addresses the raid group. "Alright everyone. I have one thing to say. Let's win!" A general cry of approval sounds out.
Diavel pushes the door open, and the parties move into position as the boss and his minions approach. The boss room is large and has many tall pillars. The floor, walls, and ceilings are rainbow colored, like stained glass. The boss is gigantic, red, rotund creature, with a thick tail and a dog like head. It has an axe and a round shield, and wears black metal armor from the knee down, a pinkish-purple loincloth with armor, green metal bracers, and a weird hood. The minions wear plate armor and carry large, crude maces. Their exposed hands, feet, and tails are also red.
The battle starts, and the biggest parties, the full ones of six, head to the boss. The smaller ones fan out and engage in combat with the Sentinels, including the spearman. The larger groups block attacks from the boss and switch out to attack under the careful watch of Diavel. He makes a fine commander. The groups are color coded, and the spearman just aids whoever seems to need it, moving almost lazily.
Finally, the boss drops to the last bar of health, all without a single casualty. The red zone is hit and the boss tosses aside his axe, reaching behind him. Diavel suddenly rushes in on his own. The spear user kills the engaged Sentinel and stops, frowning. He notices Diavel smirking at the boy in blue.
The boss pulls out his weapon, and the boy looks surprised. The spear user takes a look at the boss and blinks. Everything moves slowly, and the weapon in Ilfang's hand breaks down into a grid, and a 3D model appears in his peripheral. Text flashes under it. "Nodachi. Weapon type: Katana." The man feels chills as he runs towards Diavel, hearing the boy yell out.
Ilfang leaps into the air, dodging Diavel's attack. The beast leaps down, viciously slashing Diavel. The knight flies away, landing next to the boy, who pulls out a health potion. "Last attack bonus? Unexpectedly greedy of you, Diavel. Still, it really only raises my admiration of you. You helped the beginners, despite being a tester."
Diavel burst into rainbow colored fragments. The man rolls his head, turning toward the boss, who the others had been occupying. "Let's do this." He lowers the spear and charges, registering that the boy and cloaked girl are behind him. He slides under Ilfang as he charges up his skill. The boy blocks the attack and the girl moves to attack. The man slashes at the boss' legs, as he hears the boy call out a name, presumably the girl's. She narrowly avoids the attack and counters. However, the boy clashes with Ilfang and gets hit, taking major damage. He's about to get killed when Agil saves him, and several others rush forward. The spear user rejoins the battle, slashing at the boss. Ilfang jumps in the air, aiming for the other players. The boy dashes to meet the boss. The display appears again. "Ilfang: 1.7 seconds. Player Kirito: 1.9 seconds." Deciding that this was the time till sword skills activate, the man throws his spear at the boss' arm, delaying the attack. The spear imbeds in the shoulder, and the boy charges. He hits Ilfang mid-air, and the boy and girl use the switch system to take him down, the boy landing the last attack. The boss dies, and everyone celebrates as the man picks his spear back up. A message comes up. "Last Attack Bonus: Wyrm Mask." The room fades to a normal stone color.
Suddenly, a voice breaks through the cheering. "Why!? Why did you let Diavel die!? You knew that technique the boss used. If you'd told us about it, we could have avoided it!" Suddenly, the air turns cold as hostility and suspicion spread.
A random man cries out. "He must be a beta tester! That's how he knew the attack patterns! Other testers are here too right? Come on out!"
The boy starts looking around in thought. Suddenly, he starts to laugh manically. "Beta tester? Don't compare me to them." He stands up and starts walking. "Most of the thousand beta testers were beginners, who didn't know how to level up. You're all better than them. But I'm different. I reached higher than anyone else in the beta. The reason I knew the boss' skill was because I've fought enemies with katana skills on floors high above. I know a lot. More than any info broker."
Kibaou bursts out. "That's way worse than being a beta tester. That's cheating. You're a cheater!"
Soon varied cries fill the room, of beta tester and cheater, melding into one sound. "Beater, huh? I like it. Yes, I'm a beater." The boy opens his inventory and equips a black coat, giving him a menacing appearance. He starts walking away. The girls stops him and asks how he knew her name. He points to the party HP gauge. He leaves after breaking the party up.
The man starts laughing as well. Genuine laughter. He addresses the blamers. "You know, Diavel was a beta tester too. Also, the weapon was a Nodachi, not a Tengwar." He begins to walk away, equipping the mask as he does so.
"You knew about that too? Are you a beater as well?!" Kibaou.
The man turns his head. His face is covered above the mouth. Fang like spikes are at the edge of each mouth, the nose has slits over it, and his eyes are covered by translucent panels that he can flip up, showing that the mask makes his eyes look like a snake's, with slit pupils. The mask is made of metal with a slight scale pattern visible, and leather straps keep the mask on his head. "No. I'm what I guess you would call a hacker, although it's not on purpose. I can see… things. I guess you can call me the Eye. Yes… my name is Jin the Eye." He faces back forward and walks away.
I'm so sorry. I have been working on this for almost half a year, I think. At least a quarter of one. I was just too lazy, and the anime site I used to watch it for reference was buggy, so it was a little too much trouble. Then I switched to Crunchyroll, and the problems go away. Thanks, Crunchyroll. Also, I will be using parts from both the anime and the original material, (manga or light novel? I don't really know myself).
So, the title of the story roughly translates to fake/artificial heart/soul/mind. Some foreshadowing. Like in Blood of Grimm.
The Wyrm Mask… I literally made it up last minute, and I changed its name two times. The first was Vesp Mask, and it was based on a wasp. Then I made it the Serpent Mask, and it was the same as the Wyrm Mask in design.
Also, should I add romance like in my other story? Or not? I'm not planning any at the moment, but I can use a character from the show or make a character if you guys really want.