"Argo, I eventually get a turn writing, right?"
I glanced at the girl I was sitting next to. Her face was covered by the cloak she always wore when we were outside on the open field of Floor 1, but inside, I knew she was giving off a tiny smirk. Deciding to toy with me, she took off her cloak, revealing her hazel eyes and curly auburn hair. Dark, crimson whiskers were painted on her face, making her give off a menacing appearance, despite her small build. She smiled a little at my dumbfounded face, because to me, seeing Argo with her cloak off is about as rare as finding a Ragout Rabbit and killing it. Her smile turned into somewhat of a smirk as she replied back with the one word that I've been hearing ever since I met this crazy girl.
"No." Her eyes dropped back down to her lap, and her fingers began to fly across the two-dimensional keyboard that floated right above the book that happened to rest on said lap.
I frowned a bit, then decided to speak up again. "Come on, Argo. Give me a turn."
"Give me one reason for me to let you write in the book." I furrowed my eyebrows together in confusion, before smirking and retorting back with my own witty comment.
"Where, perhaps, do you get my «Meditation» skill, huh?"
Argo looked at me, her eyes the size of tennis balls and her jaw almost hitting the ground. "Y-You have that skill?!" she exclaimed, her curiosity betraying her normal cold and hardened personality.
"Yup," I replied, standing up. "Wanna see?" I got into the stance require to activate the skill, with my legs spread shoulder-width and my hands guarding my chest, in case anyone were to try to attack while I was using the skill. While I was getting ready to activate the skill in front of the awed Argo, I thought back to the old days, back when I first started this game.
This game… Sword Art Online. The death game that trapped 10,000 people over a year ago... the game whose name should entice anger into my blood.
However, whenever I think about those times, I never got enraged. I would always feel… nostalgia, almost. Every day was happier and more enjoyable than the one after, and I would relive every moment leading up until now without a heartbeat's notice.
What I did… I would never forget that time when I put on the Nerve Gear and was blasted into a world full of fantasy life, sword skills, adventure, death, and best of all: friendship. Gotta love that friendship, right?
"Shinji! Remember that you can only play for a couple of hours!"
"Okay, Ma! I'll be out before you know it!"
I jumped onto the bed, doing a corkscrew midair and grabbing the cartridge. Once I landed, I plugged the clunky box into a small machine.
Sword Art Online, the cartridge read.
Putting on the bulky helmet that is the NerveGear, I rested my head against the pillow, feeling my stomach bulge out with all the food that I ate in preparation for this event. Sword Art Online, the absolute first Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Role Playing Game, or VRMMORPG, was going to be released to the public in just under a minute. I waited over 4 hours in line just to get one of the first 10000 copies. I'm not missing this event. Looking at my watch, I saw the minute hand reach the 12. It was time.
Turning my head towards the ceiling, I shouted two words that would forever be etched in my mind for the next two years. "Link Start!"
Instantly, I was blinded by streaming lights flying at my eyes, followed by a small welcome screen that read Welcome to Sword Art Online!.
Finally, I thought, as I was thrown into a blank, white room. Where was I? I couldn't see myself, but I knew I was there. It kinda felt like… you know those books, where one of the characters is in a dream in which they can see everything, but they aren't really there? Yeah, it's kinda like that. I really hope this room wasn't going to be the epitome of virtual reality. It would suck to be in a game with just empty, white rooms, like that old game, Portal. Immediately, the words Character Creation appeared in front of my face, shocking me.
"Woah, gotta get used to everything being in front of my face…" I blinked a couple of times, and seeing that the words were still there, I waved my right hand around the area the words were in. Seeing no movement from the words, I angrily pretended like I was shoving the words away, moving my hand from the left side of the words to the right in a swiping manner. As soon as I did that, the words went away, and the words saying Please say your character name popped up.
"Taka," I muttered. In response, new words appeared.
Please repeat your character name in a louder voice
"God freakin' damnit…" I grumbled. This also caused the phrase to disappear.
ERROR: "God Freakin' Damnit" cannot be used. Reason: profanity
"Wha-OH HELL NO!"
ERROR: "Oh Hell No" cannot be used. Reason: profanity
I did a small facepalm before staring down the words straight at where I supposed the eyes would be if they were part of an actual person. "Taka!" I shouted.
Is your name, "Taka"?
"Yes." I was quickly getting tired of this game's inherent sass.
The words quickly dissolved, causing yet another phrase to pop up.
What is your age?
After a bit of shock from the seemingly neverending stream of words wanting to somehow kiss my face, I replied back quickly, trying to get on with the game. "14." I had no time for this. I just want to be let into the game.
The words quickly flew upwards, and no more words popped up.
"Yes! Moving forward!" I did a quick fist pump, just before a menu full of colors that appeared to be various skin tones popped up. "Psh, I have a helmet on for a controller that makes me look like Master Chief. You'd think they would scan my face or something, saving me the trouble." Truth to be told, I normally tried very hard to keep my real life features intact for every single video game I was in, regardless of who saw. I dunno, it's always made me feel like I was actually in the game, instead of just seeing through a screen at an avatar I was controlling.
However, this was virtual reality, so there really was no point.
...Ah, fuck it. I'ma just stick with my real-life appearance.
First of all, I picked male over female. I was never interested in becoming a trap, and I never will be interested in talkin' dirty to guys. It's just… morally wrong, to fool someone into liking you just because you wanted to look like a girl. Next off, I picked a moderately dark color that matched my tan skin tone and a moderate-sized, oval-ish face, before moving on.
After that, was the hair style. Now, normally, this is where I would normally switch my hairstyle from a long, black emo-fringe that drops over my right eye just below my cheekbone, to a short, grey crew cut. I've always thought that having the emo-fringe would be a hinderance to my depth perception, but today, this character creation wasn't giving me the brightest of moods, so I decided that I'd just go with my normal black emo-fringe.
From there, I was given a menu with the picture of a body. When I tapped and pulled on the body's height and width, I felt my body changing, as well.
"Well, that's odd," I muttered, changing my height and width to something that resembled my appearance. By the end of the "morphing session", I was about 5'9", with a skinny, yet muscular build. My right arm, at a closer look, was also a lot more muscular than my left arm, by about an inch in diameter when flexed. Why, you ask? First off, it has nothing to do with masturbation. I swear to god, it has nothing to do with me beating my meat.
...Well, now that I think about it, maybe it has a little to do with wanking. Just a little, though. I don't need anyone coming up to me and asking those kinds of questions.
However, in all honesty, a fight only takes 2 hits: I hit you, you hit the ground. With a very large arm, the fight takes even less time.
After hitting the Accept button, the menu began to fly off into the unknown, causing another menu to appear. This one, however, was a list that showed all the weapons that were in the game.
"I guess you want me to pick my weapon…?" I shrugged, before picking the two handed sword. I was never one for swift attacks or nice-looking dodges. Battles are won through pure damage, no matter the injury, and I'm there to see that it was gonna happen that way.
Finally, after hitting the Accept button yet again, I felt a tug in my stomach.
Welp, that only took a little longer than forever, I thought to myself as I closed my eyes and waited for my teleport.
As soon as I felt my feet hit the ground, I immediately stuck my right hand out and moved it downwards, opening my map in the same way I recalled the beta-testers said how to do it. Quickly, checked my map to see where I was.
Floor 1: Town of Beginnings
After checking my map, I looked around to see where I was. What I saw amazed me. I was in a bustling town, filled with players who just spawned for the first time. Shops, buildings, and inns lined the streets, but what amazed me the most was the size. By size, it was huge. By huge, I mean, like,bigger than the biggest of the big huge. The whole place could probably fit a whole freakin' Tokyo district. In the center of it all, right next to my spawn point, was a big black building. Looking at my map again, I could see it was called the Black Iron Palace. The most amusing thing that jumped into my mind was that no one looked older than about 25, probably because no one wanted to appear as an old geezer, especially in a game in which you can change your appearance to whatever you wanted. I mean, some guys want to get laid in a game like this, right? No sense accomplishing that while you looked like you came from the Stone Age. Speaking of getting laid, is it even possible to go to town with someone in this game? I mean… It's virtual reality, so…
Oh, wait. You could pick your gender, couldn't you? Well, there goes that idea.
Shaking my head in an attempt to clear my dirty thoughts from running through my mind, I tried to spot some people running out of the town. If anyone was running out of town this fast, they were most likely beta-testers. Beta-testers, who played the game before its official release, had experience with all the good leveling spots, quests to grab, et cetera.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone running away from the spawn point. By the figure, it seemed like a girl, but the cloak covering the whole body, including the face, made me unsure. However, what I was sure about was that the unknown person's cloak was something you definitely could not get at the beginning of the game for cheap. I cupped my hands around my mouth and faced the running figure.
"Hey, you! The one in the cloak!" Seeing no change in this person's pace or actions, I ran after the cloaked figure.
When I started to close in, the figure started to run faster. Seeing as I had no choice, I decided I would tackle her. I quickened my pace and leaped at her, causing the two of us to hit the ground hard.
"Gah!" A girlish scream was emitted. Yup, she's definitely a girl.
I got up, grabbing her by her cloak and lifting her from the ground. "You're a beta-tester, right?"
"That information will have to cost you," the girl replied, shocking me.
"Well, to me, it seems like I have you, and you need to go somewhere," I cooly retorted back, smirking. "So, my 'pay' will be letting you go."
"...Fine. I'm a beta tester. However, I don't do much, so I have nothing of importance. Can I go now?"
"That information will have to cost you," I said in return, a smirk on my face. She growled back at me, making me flinch a little in fear. "Fine, fine." I dropped her back on the ground, still not letting go of the cloak. "However, I want to see what you're doing."
"Why…?"
"That information-"
"Fine, fine… Let's go."
I let go of her cloak, following her closely to make sure that she didn't get away.
After walking in silence for about... a good 5 minutes away from the Town of Beginnings, the girl finally stopped in front of an open field. Taking in a deep breath, I slowly took in the fresh air. It was really refreshing to be out next to all the flowers, especially when I spent most of my childhood inside of my room. The sunlight cut through the sky, resting quietly on the leaves of a single tree that lay to the right of my field-of-vision, next to my HP bar. Past the field, however, floating islands littered the background, providing a nice, bright, scenic mood to the area. Thinking about the real world, and the concrete jungle that is the urban metropolis I live in, I did a quick compare-and-contrast between the two, and realized that I loved this scenery much more, as it was pretty much the complete opposite of the city: calm, green, lots of oxygen, and no outside, bothering sounds like cars or trains that ruin your attempts at enjoying what could be a peaceful environment. When you combine the three best things in the world together, video games, the outdoors, and - best of all - no pollen allergies, which would be a great thing if I weren't stuck inside all day due to the lack of real life friends.
But why look at the scenery when I could look for stuff to kill? Looking around, I saw boars and small spiders littering the field, grazing on the couple of patches of flowers that littered this field. Over the horizon, I saw a mother bear and her cub fighting a swarm of bees for the honey that hung on the bee's nest of a nearby tree. Awed by all of the mobs that I could possibly slaughter with my bare hands, I started to run after them, before suddenly realizing that no one was following me. When I looked back, I saw that the beta-tester was standing still, on the edge of the field, about 20 feet away from the tree.
"Why did we stop?" I asked.
"Because I'm going to write," the girl cooly replied.
"...God damnit," I eventually said after a small moment of silence. "Why are you writing when you could be playing a video game? You know, like the one you happen to fucking be in, you dumb fuck?"
"...Watch your language."
"No, screw you. You haven't even answered my question, yet."
"That information will have to cost y-"
"News flash, I just started playing the game, so obviously I'm freakin' broke, dumbass! You think that I just happen to have a bunch of Col on me at the moment?"
"...Fine, I'll teach you how to play. However, you owe me."
"How much, may I ask?"
"100,000 Col," she replied without missing a beat.
I quickly checked my inventory. I started with about 1,000 Col. I also remembered that a beginner's longsword I saw in a shop near the spawn was about 100 Col. "Wait, what the hell are you trying to put me into!? That will take me about 2 months of grinding, minimum!"
"Well, sucks for you for not knowing how to play." She got up, ignoring my grumbling, and pulled something from the left side of her waist.
Claws, I noted. I looked down at my waist to see nothing. "Does everyone start off with a weapon?"
"Yes. It's in your inventory. You picked it out during character registration, remember?"
"Oh, right." I opened my inventory to see my own two-handed sword there. Tapping it, I immediately felt a weight on my back. Reaching over my shoulder, I grasped my sword and pulled it out, grabbing it with both my hands. It was a nice beginner's sword, about 4 feet long and a foot wide, with a standard cross-shaped handle. The weight felt surprisingly balanced on my particular muscular build. I swung it around a bit, feeling the sharp blade knife through the air.
"Okay, to use a sword skill," the girl started to say, equipping her own claws. "You first start to get into the position of the skill, then say the skill name in your mind. Your weapon will begin to glow, and the system will take over." She turned to a nearby pig, readying into a stance similar to one of an animal's, with bent knees and outstretched claws. Slowly, her claws started to glow red, and she quickly jumped over the boar, turning around and clawing its hind. The boar, severely damaged by the skill, exploded in a mass of blue polygons, essentially dying, if you could ever die in a virtual world.
"Now you try," She said, not even looking back at me.
"Uh, sure," I readied my stance, my legs shoulder-width apart and bent and my sword pointing out between them. After thinking hard, my sword began to glow black, and at a speed quicker than I could even twitch, I dashed at another boar, stabbing it right through its head and out of its ass. If I had to describe it, I would describe it akin to those comedy kung-fu movies that are really good purely because they look really bad and unrealistic. You know, those movies in which there are these people who can do a really strong move or multi hit combo that's pretty much impossible to do without the assistance of special effects? In Sword Art Online, it's pretty much the same thing as those movies, but instead of special effects, you are assisted by the game itself in order to perform amazing multi-hit combos or incredibly strong attacks. Anyways, like the one that died before the hands of the cloaked girl, the boar that I killed exploded into another mass of blue polygons, and a rewards screen appeared in front of my face.
"Yes, I did it!"
"Good for you, but you have to know that those boars are the equivalent of your easy slimes in any other MMO."
"Hey, shut it. I'm having a moment here." I stretched my arms, basking in the glory of my victory. My moment of accomplishment lasted for about another 20 seconds, before looking at what exactly I got for killing the monster.
10 Col. My life is over, isn't it?
Sheathing my sword, I looked at her again. She was sitting under the shade of the tree, writing that book of hers. Her face was still unseeable, as always.
Looking down at her, I started to speak."So, can I look at what you're writing?" I asked, my eyes squinting through the bright sunlight, trying to figure out what exactly this mysterious girl was wasting her precious video game time for.
"That information will have to-"
"Shut up," I replied back, getting annoyed at her reaction. However, somewhere deep within my thought process, I noticed that I was doing the exact same thing. How hypocritical of me.
"I will, as soon as you shut up." I still couldn't see her face underneath the thick cloak, but I could only imagine that it was shaped into that of a scowl. Not wanting to get killed by this beta-tester, I immediately shut up.
However, as soon as I did, the silence felt tense and uncomfortable. I wanted to say something, try to be a bit friendly and all, but it was really hard, seeing as this was the girl who had just put me into much worse than complete debt. However, I tried to start the conversation. "...You sure you don't need help on what you're writing?"
"...I'm sure I do, but not from newbies like you."
"...Ouch." I got up and sat next to her. Instantly, she scooted about 2 feet away from me. In response, I scooted about 2 feet towards her. If she can't be friendly, I guess I gotta work double the normal amount. Which… isn't much, because I really don't like working my ass off in order to just be friends with someone. It's too much work, and I really don't have that kind of energy.
"You sure? My name's Taka, by the way." I held out my hand. She shook it, before slowly starting to speak again.
"...Argo. Call me Argo, I'm an information broker." Her eyes never left her book, bothering me quite a bit about how isolated and rude this person is acting. She's almost like me, just in the Virtual World instead of the Real World.
However, I decided to let my curiosity overtake my anger. I thought information brokers only existed in reality, what with the massive amounts of walkthroughs and forums and all? "Wait, what? How do you even-"
"I sell information for money," Argo rudely interrupted, glaring at me for a short time before staring intently at her book once more.
Not really getting her, but deciding it wasn't worth the trouble to keep arguing with her, I sighed. "Ah, I see," I muttered, swiping my right hand downward to look at the time. About an hour had passed, and I was needed back home.
"Oh well, I gotta go. Talk to you later, Argo?" I sent her a friend request.
She accepted the friend request. "I'll need to find you somehow. After all, you still owe me money."
Groaning in return, I opened my menu yet again, in order to log out. Wait a second. "Argo, where's the logout button?"
"It's right in your menu, under settings."
"Um, Argo... It's not there."
"What are you talking about? Of course it's there. See, it's right-" She paused, noticing it too. "What the hell?" she asked, confused.
Before we could even say more, we were teleported out of the field.
"Hello, I'm Akihiko Kayaba. Welcome to my world."
A/N: KnightEstoc is now beta-reading my story. Dude actually helps a lot, big thanks to him.
After a bit of talk, the two of us decided that it would be best to take down and reupload the story, getting rid of the giant Author's Note at the beginning.
Now, what to expect:
-This is a runthrough of the original SAO from the viewpoint of a completely new character. He's pretty close to what I would be like if I were in SAO, so it could technically be called a Self Insert.
-This will not nessecarilly follow everything Kirito does, as this character is not glued to Kirito. Not everything that is see in the anime from Kirito's perspective will be shown in the game. For example, as of right now, Kirito hasn't been introduced in the story at all.
- Everything will be as close to canon as I can put it. It can't be completely canon, because I'm adding a new character, but as much as I want to put a Kirito/Sinon pairing in here, we're sticking with things like Kirito/Asuna, Kirito clears game at floor 75, etc.
- This was heavily inspired by KnightEstoc's Nightblade, and a bit of inspiration from UngratefulDead's Persona 4: Requiem, now that he's retired from Fanfiction. Huge shoutout to those guys, they got me into making serious OC stories.
I don't know when to expect Chapter 2. Don't expect a regular schedule, though.