The Survivalist

by draconianerror

A young man with a dark past begins to play Sword Art Online hoping to escape depression. However the player accidentally comes across a glitch that allows him to quickly farm XP. Once Kayaba Akihiko realizes there's a glitch he decides to punish the player. The gamer soon looses the ability to use melee weapons and is forced use throwing weapons and wit to survive.

1. Chapter 1

The Survivalist

By Draconianerror

Hey guys this Is just a random Idea I had after playing a video game called Let It Die. So basically the main character is going to find a glitch in Aincrad and use it to grind XP/ Farm monsters. Then as a reward for finding a flaw in the game Kayaba Akihiko rewards the player in the form of a blessing and curse.

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The year is 2022. Over the past decade Japan has witnessed a massive boon in technology. The video game industry was particularly effective by this next-gen technology. In fact a video game called Sword Art Online was just released today. Beta testers and staff members alike have boasted about its immersive virtual environment. Which, for the first time allows gamers to truly experience virtual reality. The game's servers will come online in twenty minutes. However players can begin to customize their Avatars now-

With the click of a remote the TV screen flickered out of existence. Now without the noise from the television the living room was completely devoid of sound. Sparing the TV a second glance, the sole occupant of the house exited the living room and entered the bedroom. The dwelling was bare of any decoration. The only furnishings inside where the basic essentials; a bed, dresser and closet. However the person's attention wasn't focused on the meager furniture. No, it was focused on the large box on the floor labeled Nerve Gear. In a slow, almost reverent manner the unnamed person lifted a metal helmet out of the case. Pausing a moment to admire the technology, the individual plugged it into a wall outlet next to the bed before donning the helmet. With the flick of a switch colors erupted into the user's eyes. Soon dots of blue, pink, and yellow appeared before coalescing into text that read.

"Link start?" The unknown person read aloud before being taken to a character customization menu. Soon multiple text boxes appeared, each asking for different information. The operator quickly began to fill out the required personal information. With a scrutinizing gaze the individual re-read the text that was input.

Name: Hayashi Tsuneo

Username: Tsuneo

Gender: Male

Age: 19

Height: 170 cm (5.57 ft)

Weight: 61.24 Kg (135 lbs)

Body Type: Lean

Occupation: College Student

After making sure the information was correct. The now identified Tsuneo clicked the next button. Suddenly the screen in front of the young man began to flash and "Body Scan Complete" appeared overhead. Afterwards a mirror popped up allowing the teen to confirm his appearance. Looking back at him was a boy of medium height with spiky, platinum blonde hair. Lifeless forest green eyes with an apathetic visage face over his body. His sagging shoulders only further served to increase his detached appearance. The male in question was garbed in nothing more than a gray cloth shirt and blue jeans with a simple leather belt. Satisfied with his character Tsuneo clicked 'confirm'. The text 'Welcome to Sword Art Online!' floated overhead before the scenery changed.

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Tsuneo POV

'I hope this game takes my mind off that. I still can't believe they're gone... I feel like my life has no purpose now. Like a leaf drifting in the wind,' I lamented thinking about a past event.

After finishing my avatar customization I materialized inside of a plaza. Awe stricken by the environment, I could only stare wide-eyed at my surroundings. Houses made of stone brick and roofs of wood encircled the plaza Cobblestone roads connected each building together, forming a sort of stylistic unity. All in all the landscape looked like a medieval painting, except more vibrant and full of life. Soon enough other people began to materialize around me, and looked around the town in amazement.

Upon asking a few other players some tips, namely about the menu and skill interface, I figured out how to access my inventory. I swept my hand downward and equipped the only weapon I had, a small one handed axe. Tapping the 'equip' button the axe, in a flash of light materialized in my hand. The design was basic but that didn't keep me from admiring it's workmanship. A mahogany handle about 15 inches in length connected a silver crescent shaped axe head. The blade itself was five inches thick and as I lightly ran my finger along the edge I was instantly cut. After taking a few practice swings in the street I felt confident enough to leave the town and begin farming monsters.

As I exited the town I passed two people and overheard them talking about going monster hunting. I was tempted to ask if I could join them. But it was doubtful the black haired boy would let me join, considering the red haired teen to practically beg him. Also ever since That happened I've been keeping people at bay, unwilling to get hurt again. Unwilling to lose someone again.

I ran down the dirt path leading away from town until I found a Boar causally roaming along the path. Looking above the animal I saw a red diamond floating next to a health bar. Identifying that the creature was an enemy I ducked behind a nearby bush and slowly crept over towards my prey. I stealthily crawled forward until I was directly next to the boar. Peering through a gap in the foliage I noticed that the boar had turned in my direction. Realizing my cover may be blown I immediately put my ambush into action. Leaping out of my hiding place, I raised my axe which shone brilliantly as the suns rays reflected off the blade. In one quick, fluid motion I slammed the blade down like a gavel onto the Boar's face. The blade cleaved the beast in two and in an instant it's health dropped to zero. In an explosion of blue lights and pixels the beasts body disappeared leaving a small bag in its wake. However before I could pick up the bag a notification popped up saying that I received 16 XP for killing the monster.

Seeing that pop up I suddenly had the urge to face-palm. How could I forget to check my stats, that's one of the most basic concepts of RPGs. Taking moment to navigate the menu I clicked on the 'Status' tab.

Tsuneo

HP: [100/100] (This stat governs your health. Once this bar drops down to zero you die and resurrect at a nearby town.)

HP Regen: [0.1 HP/s] (HP Regen allows you to regenerate health outside of combat.)

MP: [60/100] (This stat allows you to use abilities. However once this bar reaches zero you receive a fatigued status condition, slowing down the rate of MP regeneration. Gain 5 additional MP per level)

MP Regen: [0.5 MP/s] (MP Regen allows you to regenerate MP inside and outside of combat)

Lvl 1

XP: [16/50] (XP is gained by killing monsters. Once the max amount of experience is reached you will gain a level, increasing all stats by one and granting one stat point to allocate.)

STATS

Str: 10 (Strength increases the damage of physical attacks.)

Vit: 10(Vitality increases HP by 10 per level)

Wis: 10 (Wisdom increases MP by 5 per level)

Skl: 6 (Skill increases the cooldown of abilities and increases weapon critical chance rates)

Lck: -20 (Luck increases the possibility of rare items appearing. If luck is negative then it decreases the chance of rare item drops and increases the chance of negative stat conditions)

Available Stat Points: 0

"What the hell is up with my luck?" I said as I continued to scroll down the page.

SKILLS (Keep in mind hidden skills will be added after completing prerequisites. Skills can also become mutated if you complete challenges with them and gain the necessary amount of XP. Skill XP is gained by using that skill. After gaining a lvl skill XP will be reset and the threshold will be increased. Certain Body skills and challenges are unique to each player. These are marked with *)

Body Skills

Sprint Lvl 1: [XP 2/10] A Basic ability that allows for faster movement at the expense of your movement being louder. Uses 1 MP every meter (Lvl Up increases speed and decreases MP drain.)

Sprint Challenges:

Use Sprint 50 times near an enemy without being detected.[0/50] REWARD:?

Use Sprint to escape from 100 enemies.[0/100] REWARD?

Sidestep Lvl 1: [XP 0/50] A basic movement ability that allows the user to dodge attacks. Can attack while sidestepping. Uses 10 MP per sidestep (Lvl Up increases speed of dodge and increases the probability of the enemy overextending after sidestepping)

Sidestep Challenges:

Use sidestep to get behind an enemy and kill them 20 times.[0/20] REWARD?

Use sidestep to get to a higher place 10 times.[0/10] REWARD?

Block Lvl 1: [XP 0/50] The ability to decrease damage taken when blocking with a weapon or shield. (Lvl Up decreases damage taken when blocking and decreases stagger chance.)

Block Challenges:

Block 60 attacks with a weapon.[0/60] REWARD?

Use block to survive serious damage 3 times.[0/3] REWARD?

Stealth Lvl 1: [XP 20/50] The ability to avoid detection. Successful sneak attacks will do bonus damage.(Lvl Up increases sneak attack damage, decreases detection chance and decreases armor noise)

Stealth Challenges:

*Use stealth to kill 50 enemies from above. [0/50] REWARD?

*Use stealth to kill 10 enemies from bushes. [1/10] REWARD?

Weapon Skills

Axe Mastery Lvl 1: [XP 16/100] A skill devoted to the usage of Axes (Lvl increases damage and unlocks skills)

Axe Skills:

?

?

'The Axe skills leave much to be desired but I am only lvl 1,' I mentally stated as I reached down to grab the small bag before emptying the contents into my hand. Or perhaps I should say content as in singular instead of plural. My total loot was one Cor. "Okay I have no idea how much this equates to. So I'll just settle for being mildly annoyed instead of outright furious," I muttered begrudgingly, as I continued down the dirt path.

Xxxxxx

This day will be know to me as the 'aporkalypse'. Under the beating sun 17 boars were vanquished by my blade. During the slaughter I gained several levels but the notifications and stat increases were ignored in favor of hunting monsters. Currently my attention was split between observing my surroundings and following the hoof-prints of three runaway boars.

For the last two hours I had been tracking the renegade boars through a forest. The forest's thick underbrush prevented me from spotting the beasts; so I had to rely on only my sense of sound and the hoof-prints for guidance.

Despite the greenery blocking the heat emitting rays of sunlight, I still felt hot, sweaty, and irritated from trekking through the forest. Every three steps I took resulted in my getting whipped in the face by a stray branch or random vine. I carefully moved the branches in front of me, hoping to minimize any tree related injury. I released the branch after moving past it only to get whacked by another. "Thwack," a random branched coughed out as it impacted the back of my head. '"I swear I'm going to castrate these pigs once I find them," I sputtered out in a mixture of anger and embarrassment from being harassed by nature. However before my anger could boil over I discovered that the boar's prints lead to a strange hole in the ground.

Upon approach several alarms went off in my mind. The hole was a perfect circle that spanned about four feet in diameter. Stepping closer I stared down into the hole which was actually no more than 12 feet deep at the very bottom was a faint pale blue glow. I also noticed several rectangular extrusions which appeared to serve as a pseudo ladder. Gripping the ledges I descended down into the dark abyss intent on turning my luck around by killing those boars. Midway down one of the rungs gave out under me and I felt a sudden weightlessness before gravity took hold. The last thing I remember was an auric blue wisp emitting from my body before as I tumbling to the ground.

Xxxxxxxx

Laying prone on the ground I groggily awoke to a notification chiming "Congratulations for being the first person to entering floor five! You are now in the Desert of Despair." Startled I immediately opened my eyes and examined the surrounding landscape. Sand covered the landscape for miles and miles. As far as the eye can see golden grains blanketed the ground and created dunes of various sizes.

Rising to my feet the earth violently began to shake. I was barely able to sidestep as a gigantic worm erupted from the ground intent on devouring me. The beast in question had a pale yellow body with a diameter of five feet and a length of around twenty feet. Razor sharp fangs shone in the sun as the worm opened its cavernous mouth. Teeth dripped with saliva in anticipation of its kill. Four red eyes peered down at me, recognizing an easy meal. Staring at the beast a health gauge materialized above it, and I could only gawk at the insects stats.

'It's a level 18 Dune Shifter! And its health bar is huge!' I thought in fear and confusion. 'This is probably a glitch in the game. There's no way I'll be able to kill this'. The monstrous creature slowly crept towards me, making it's intentions known. Thinking fast I equipped my axe and pointed it at my foe, however I knew my tiny weapon wouldn't do much against the grotesque creature. Roaring at me, the worm sprang forward entrapping me in its mouth as it sank back into the ground.

"Shit shit shit" I muttered as two of its fangs slashed my back as I entered it's mouth, causing my to drop my axe into the dark pit. Completely powerless I fell deeper into its mouth. For seemingly an eternity I fell, until, with a wet plop I landed in the monsters stomach. Looking around I noticed the stomach's walls slowly clenching, drawing nearer to me. Standing in a knee high vat of stomach acid I noticed my health slowly ticking down. HP:[70/160] Realizing my impending doom I began groping through the liquid for my axe. Finding it, I started slashing at the fleshy walls. However in doing so the walls began to constrict faster and everything around me began to shake. Seeing that I would get crushed before I could cut my way out I swiped my hand down and accessed my stat menu.

Tsuneo

HP: [65/150]

HP Regen: [0.1 HP/s]

MP: [125/125]

MP Regen: [0.5 MP/s]

Lvl 6

XP: [6/200]

STATS

Str: 15 (Strength increases the damage of physical attacks)

Vit: 15(Vitality increases HP and passive HP Regen)

Wis: 15 (Wisdom increases MP and MP Regen)

Skl: 11 (Skill increases the cooldown of abilities and increases weapon critical chance rates)

Lck: -15

Available Stat Points: 5

I dumped all five stat points into strength because If I don't escape in the next few minutes I'll be worm chow. After raising my strength stat to 20 with renewed vigor I hacked and slashed at the stomach lining. As I continued cutting into the walls more stomach acid came rushing in. Soon the dangerous liquid was waist high then chest high and still rising. "WARNING LOW HP" the system alerted me checking my health I redoubled my escape attempt. HP: [20/150]! In an explosion of blue pixels the stomach wall burst open. The worm began to erratically thrash around and I was launched through the hole.

Landing on my back I watched the worm continue to spasm until it fell limp to the ground. In a mixture of morbid fascination and pride I walked over towards the downed insect. After only moving two steps the presumed dead worm lunged at me again.

I withdrew my axe and swung at my aggressor The slime from the stomachs innards made the axe's handle extremely slippery so I ended up accidentally throwing my weapon as I slashed at the creature. I could only watch as my only form of protection awkwardly wobbled through the air.

Luckily enough the axe embedded itself in one of the worms eyes. "SCREEECH" It squealed out in agony as the finishing blow landed. After yet another sequence of spasms the fiend suddenly collapsed on the ground, having exhausted all its energy. I waited for the worm to erupt into familiar blue pixels before making my way over to the loot.

[Gained 1500 XP for killing a Dune Shifter]

[lvl Up]

[lvl Up]

[lvl Up]

[lvl Up]

[lvl Up]

Slack jawed I watched my notification bar fill with level up notifications. That single kill brought me from level 6 all the way up to level 11. Clearing my the notification bar I picked up a small bag where the worm died at. Emptying the contents I found that I gained a bottle of toxic acid and 20 Cor. Satisfied with my progress in the game I decided to log out. To log out.

'Wait where is the logout button?' It should be here I rationalized. Ominously the sky began to change fom a bright blue to a blood red. Besides the sky changing I was given no other indication that something was wrong in the game. Unexpectedly a faceless man garbed in a red robe apparited into the air above me.

"Oh what's this? Did you find a glitch in the system?" The being asked me curious

"Yes that's how I ended up here. And where is the logout button? I can't find it anywhere." I replied hoping to get some answers.

"Oh that's how I intended to make the game. It is impossible for you to logout and if anyone from the outside world attempts to remove the nervegear your brain will be fried." The person paused in order to show me news feeds of people died after having the accursed helmet removed. "As you can see the threat is very real. The only way for you to escape is to clear all 100 floors. Now since you managed to find this glitch I suppose a reward is in order"

The way he said 'Reward' set off alarms in my head. But I wasn't given a chance to voice my unease.

"I will grant you the ability to equip up to ten weapons at a time" Already the deal seemed almost to good to be true " However you are banned from using conventional weapons in melee combat and to block with. I'll also be sending you straight back to floor one with the other players. Have fun!"

With that his hand shot forward launching a yellow beam of light at me. Given no time to avoid it the light, It struck me head. The beam enveloped me in a cloak of light and I soon realized my body was disappearing. Within seconds I blinked out of existence.

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Hey so I've never actually written a story with elements from The Gamer before. So I have a question for my readers. Should I type in an updated stat and inventory list at the end of each chapter? Or should I update the stat/ inventory list at the beginning of the next chapter?