I don't know a millimetre about Accel World!

Episode Two

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Summary:

The developing Accelerated World progresses rapidly as new players are introduced to Brain Burst.

Between recruiting new players, defending his territory, and keeping up with school, Gunsou quickly realises that there simply won't be enough Burst Points to go around.

New enemies appear, ceasefires must be called, and Gunsou must come to terms with his own personal demons.

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Author's note: This is a sequel to an earlier story, I don't know a millimetre about Accel World! Next chapter may start off with a recap, if someone wishes it so.

Gunsou was only dimly aware of his surroundings. What he was seeing and hearing was not what was happening to him as he fought to keep his eyes open in class. How he longed to be back in bed, listening to his favourite songs and tucked into bed, instead of being made to listen to hours of lectures and slides of notes...

"Burst Link," he whispered, and the classroom turned electric blue. As soon as his body materialised in the virtual environment, Gunsou put his arms and head on his desk, and quietly went to sleep.

One Burst Point for thirty minutes of rest. He was quite aware that he was burning his hard-gotten gains at a phenomenal rate, but he needed to do this. Sleeping in the Accelerated World didn't quite get rid of the nagging sense of fatigue, but it allowed his cloudy mind to rest and get a break after spending yet another restless night tossing and turning in bed.

A warning chime prompted him to stir and rub his bleary eyes. His borrowed time was almost up, and the Brain Burst program would soon return him to reality, unless he spent another Burst Point. Gunsou declined and pushed away the dialog box, although he had a sinking feeling that he would be doing just exactly that soon. "Burst Out!" he called, and his senses returned - along with a strong sense of vertigo. It quickly passed, and he glanced around, hoping that nothing silly had happened while he was asleep for those two seconds-

Nothing. Everyone was either paying attention, or staring at their virtual slideshows listlessly like Gunsou. He still felt so very sleepy, and put up his hand.

"Yes, Kihara?" The teacher, in his mid-30s, looked up in surprise at the interruption in his lecture. "Permission to go to the bathroom, sir?" Gunsou said.

"O-of course," he blinked as he said, "You may go."

In the bathroom, Gunsou splashed cold water on his face, and wiped himself dry with paper towels. Examining himself in the mirror, he could only come to one conclusion: he looked like shit. Anyone would be able to tell that he wasn't getting enough sleep.

On average, he spent six Burst Points a day sleeping, another seven or eight Accelerating to duel every night, and then when he went to bed, he'd toss and turn for hours at a time, or fall straight to dreamland only to be awakened in the wee hours of the morning before the sun had risen. Technically, Gunsou did sleep for seven hours... It was just that it was all over the place. And all the time spent in a state of Acceleration had stretched his perception of a "day" by nearly six or seven hours too.

The more he needed sleep, the more he had to Accelerate. The more he Accelerated, the worse his day-night cycle was becoming. And he knew all too damn well that he was creating his own problem, but as he tossed the wad of paper towels away, Gunsou found that he could ignore these concerns. As he plopped back into his chair in the classroom, feeling like almost no time at all had passed, he rested his eyes on the little "B" icon in his virtual desktop.

Brain Burst. It made his boring days so much better.

It seemed like so long ago that Gunsou had had Brain Burst given to him by Mikiseki, swearing that he would uninstall what he called "a useless program." The fight with Klein Apprentice was messy and a waste of his time. Up until that point, Gunsou was ready to uninstall Brain Burst and go back to his old lifestyle with Misawa.

What he had not anticipated was how good it felt to be a Brain Burst player. Or, as the moniker was going around, a Burst Linker. Klein Apprentice was a pain in his ass, but it turned out that he was a big bully to nearly everyone else - and when Turquoise Duro had beaten him down in a public duel, that was when Gunsou made a name for himself. Everyone knew him by reputation, if not by name! In his regular duels, cheers could be heard from the spectators whenever he got in a good hit or won a duel. To see and hear these other players encouraging him was an incredible boost to his confidence.

Several particularly clever Burst Linkers were even able to develop an app to keep track of duels and win results. Gunsou didn't understand all of the jargon, but in a long conversation with Tin Writer, he got the gist of it, that he had presumably discovered the server which Brain Burst always connected to. Among other information that he could find was that every player was keeping their own records of their level, who they fought, skills and equipment used, and even if they learnt a skill during a battle.

The app was distributed to quite a number of Burst Linkers, and now Gunsou was using it every day to check his win rate. It was holding steady over the last month at 60%, certifying his status as one of the top five players in Brain Burst. Unfortunately, the names of other players was not in English, but rather a meaningless string of numbers - some kind of ID assigned to every player. Until he personally discovered who the other four players were, Gunsou would have to settle for being third-best in the Accelerated World.

Third-best wasn't too bad for a boy that still fell asleep in class on an embarrassingly frequent basis.

The Scissor Claw is one of the most common Enemies found in the Unlimited Neutral Field. A vaguely reptilian bipedal creature with no less than eight arms, each ending in a razor-sharp claw, engaging one of these things at close range was tantamount to suicide. They were agile, they were fast, and whenever Guardsman Railgun spotted one of them lumbering around in the game, he usually turned tail and noped right out of there.

But today, the Scissor Claw in the middle of the street let out a final growl as it toppled over onto the street, a hole the size of a dinner plate punched into its chest. It collapsed with a hollow thud and finally disappeared into a shower of glitter, which too faded from view within seconds. All that was left was a copper card, the size and shape of a playing card, and a girl's hand that was stirring from the pile of rubble she had been knocked into.

Spring Renascentia scowled at Railgun's hiding spot as she healed herself and massaged her hands, walking over to pick up the Copper Card that had been dropped. "You sure took your time with that shot!" she said shrilly. The card disappeared in her hands and a dialog box appeared: ten Burst Points had been added to her inventory.

For the last few hours, hunting Enemies together was what Railgun and Renascentia had been doing; as fast as possible, as efficiently as possible. Their second kill of the day had at least allowed them to break even, so to speak, as it cost each of then ten Points each to enter the Unlimited Neutral Field.

"At least let me rest," Renascentia whined. "Being bait for Enemies is tiring! You just sit there and charge your gun and wait until I come running. Hmph!"

Guardsman Railgun shrugged and looked away. "It's best for both of us. Play to our strengths, waste no time, and you'll get what you want."

"I want a bath," she said, "The dust just sticks to you and never really comes off. I need some heals of my own, too! I'm all out of Special Gauge. If only we could just use the Zone..." she stared longingly at a large grey dome in the distance, letting her voice trail off.

"Zones don't have baths," Railgun said. "They just have a place to rest and eat. Why would a game like this have a freaking bath?"

Renascentia's eyes lit up. "They absolutely do! Some of the upgraded Zones have baths of their own to use, for free! Can you believe that? I'm telling you, it's absolutely worth it to try and get one of our own!"

"Absolutely not." Railgun dismissed the idea. "Unoccupied ones have Death Claws around them. They're going to be even harder than Scissor Claws, and hell if you think I'm going to fight those."

"At least try," Renascentia said, "Or you know, ask to join one. Work together, team up, reap the rewards as one. How about that? C'mon, it'll be fun!" she added.

"No!" Railgun stood up and turned to go. "Let's go find another area to hunt."

"Please?"

And Railgun made a fatal mistake that evening by turning to glance at Spring Renascentia. Eyes wide, lips pouted, hands pressed together at her chest. Even as she murmured it again, Railgun could feel his resolve wavering. Don't give in, he thought, Don't give in to her silly whims...

"Fine," he said, "Let's go take a look."

Renascentia whooped and jumped for joy. "Yes! I can have a bath!" she gleefully shouted as she hopped from one foot to another. Railgun hung his head, muttering "I'm going to regret this," under his breath, as they set off in the direction of the nearest Dome.

The domes scattered around the virtual city in the Accelerated World represented Zones, areas where neither Enemies nor other players could enter, and you could rest inside them. But that wasn't their main benefit - it was all about claiming ownership of them for the real schtick. Just like how Turquoise Duro had beaten his opponents in regular duels to claim the Zone, one could also make their way inside them, solve a simple puzzle, and claim ownership over the Zone by accepting the Token, a badge of sorts. Claiming a Zone allowed its members to earn much more Burst Points for every Enemy they killed, allowing them to earn Points at a much faster rate.

The downside was that it also painted themselves as a target, so to speak. Guardsman Railgun had worked his own way up to Level 4, and he was well-aware of the two things that made people lose: working with other people, and taking unnecessary risk. When you worked with other people, especially players you've never met before, you were taking on the burden of an unspoken agreement to save his ass if he got into trouble. And he wouldn't ever need help, because he never got into trouble so bad to need saving.

And unnecessary risk was advertising himself as the owner of a Zone. Not only would word get around quickly when a Zone was taken, Tokens themselves could literally be pulled off their owner if they lost a duel to another player. His efforts to claim ownership would be wasted, more enemies might come after him just for that one little badge, and above all, he preferred to simply do his own thing over being a glorified security guard. His partnership with Spring Renascentia was tolerated for as long as they could kill six Enemies a day (an arbitrary threshold to give her the impression of a fair deal). If she ever turned her back on him, well, he could just camp her easy and kill her avatar over and over again until she stopped giving him problems.

Of course, he had never said that out loud, but he thought she knew it well enough. Because of the implication of saying "No," to whatever he asked of her. Not that anything bad would happen to her, but given that it was rare to see another person in the Unlimited Neutral Field, where even logging in a minute after someone else would mean sixteen hours' delay, getting assistance from a passerby was practically a joke.

Yet another reason why Guardsman Railgun preferred to work alone, anyway; teaming up with someone stronger than himself was a risk for himself.

"One more! Give me your best shot, girl!"

Cul Seeker needed no more encouragement. She sprang forwards, launched a straight for her opponent's face. Before her fist had even landed, she threw an uppercut. Bending and straightening her legs to give it more power. Straight, left hook, right hook, and a straight in quick succession. But Cove Fighter lazily blocked it all with his hands, forming a blue blur in the air as he countered everything she threw.

Where Cul Seeker would have given up last time from fatigue, she pressed the attack. She had not spent days training against her mentor to merely give up at the slightest sign of resistance! Straight, an uppercut, and a hook for his chin - Cove Fighter grunted as he blocked her slender forearm. Not enough to stop her grazing his forehead.

He just slightly taller than her, but not much heavier. Each step forwards as Cul Seeker continued her barrage of fists and jabs had to be answered with a step backwards by Cove Fighter. She put in all of her strength into a palm strike. Cove Fighter blocked it again by crossing his arms in front of his chest, but took two steps back to remain upright. A chance! Cul Seeker aimed her left fist at his ankle and shouted "Rocket Grab!"

Her outstretched left hand detached and fired! Fighter twisted away in a futile attempt to dodge; the fist rocketed through the air, latched on to his shin, and pulled the cable connected to itself as taut as piano wire. "Gotcha!" Cul Seeker pulled back with all her strength. A resounding CRASH echoed throughout the Unlimited Neutral Field as Cove Fighter fell on his back. He slapped the floor twice and flashed the OK sign - he was done.

"I won! I finally won that one!" She lept and punched the air. Cove Fighter sighed and chuckled as he got up, stretching his arms above his head and cracking his knucles. "Well, that's still with the Armament I gave you. Remember - those gauntlets aren't invincible, and they're just equipment. They can get you out of a pinch, but it'll never hold up against someone who knows their schtick."

Cul Seeker huffed irritably and crossed her arms several times, trying to adjust to the bulky gadgets. Finally she pulled the right gauntlet off her hand, examining it and its moving parts. She looked at it, and then at her hands, and back to Cove Fighter again. "Those gauntlets didn't look like how they did when you gave them to me. How come?"

An intrigued Cove Fighter took the gauntlet from her and looked closely. When he had accepted her request to teach her in Brain Burst, he expected her to listen to him explain about the game - how to use its controls, spending Points for Acceleration, and so on. The first question out of her mouth was "How do I fight?"

And he was since floored by her fighting spirit and willingness to learn. She didn't seem to mind much that she was a purplish-red avatar with a natural inclination to use the grappling wires built into her hands. No, Cul Seeker wanted to know how to punch. The Steel Gauntlets he had given to her was primarily to aid this purpose, although they had simply looked more like forearm guards when he had taken it off himself and transferred it to her. Now, they looked more like a pair of large gloves, if gloves were armoured and had thickened protection for her wrists. Each Steel Gauntlet also had an aperture at the base of the palm - presumably for her regular attack Wire Hook. And for when she used her special move Rocket Grab, there seemed to be a seam where the gauntlet's entire hand would detach and blast off together with her hand as well.

Besides "hooking" her opponents and dragging them to her, it was under his tutelage that Cul Seeker quickly learnt how to use her skills to close the gap and pack a nasty punch to follow up. In the two months she had been playing, she hit Level 4 the quickest out of all the players he had ever taught. To be fair, she was taking the all-in approach against low-level players, and had never suffered a serious defeat yet. If she were to meet someone who could break her fists…

Well, that time had yet to come, so he'd let it stay that way, Cove Fighter thought.

"Well, what's next?" Cul Seeker asked excitedly. "Are we going to hunt the Enemies you talked about?" Cove Fighter shook his head. "Even Tier One Enemies are going to be difficult for a new Level 4 player like you. Hell, I'm almost Level 5 and I still won't dare to take one alone! We're better off leaving those for later."

He gestured at the Leave Point a short distance away, a shining pillar of rainbow light that stretched from the floor to the ceiling of the building's interior. "Let's take a break. You came from school, right? Go offline and meetup at the cafe again. Then… We're gonna see who's online first before you have your real solo fight."

Cul Seeker nodded. "Alright! See you soon, Aoba!" She walked off ahead of him, touched the Leave Point, and vanished in a starburst. A flustered Cove Fighter took a few more seconds to muse over being called by name before following her.

Matsumato Aoba tapped the button of his Neuro Linker as soon as he exited Acceleration to disconnect from the Global Net. He yawned, stretched, and rose up from the park bench he had been sitting on. It was a sunny afternoon and school students like him were everywhere, walking to malls and along the streets, talking and laughing and doing whatever people did in groups. Not him. He very much preferred to be alone sometimes.

She was already there when he reached his regular coffee shop, sipping an iced tea when he entered the shop and took his seat across from her. Her hair had been dyed black, though some red streaks were still visible. It was a shame, Aoba thought. He liked Misawa a little bit more with her natural hair colour.

"Hello, Aoba." "Hey."

She stared pointedly at him as he typed in his order into the shop's virtual menu. "So, what have we come here for?" she asked.

"I have heard from a reputable source that there's going to be a battle for Zone One today," Aoba said. "Someone's ready to make a move on the area, and he'll be there to duel the owner as soon as he walks through it. As you might remember, there's only two ways to claim a Zone, a protected area within the Unlimited Neutral Field: either you fight your way through a series of Enemies in the Field, or win enough duels within the Zone's area in a small window, which opens…" Aoba consulted his virtual desktop's clock, "In five minutes from now."

Misawa nodded. "Tell me about who owns which Zones again." Aoba opened the chat application in Brain Burst, which came with the added functionality of not requiring Acceleration to work. He scrolled to a draft message and read aloud.

"Zone One in Shibuya is owned by Turquoise Duro. He's a formidable close-quarters fighter - we duel every once in awhile. He's good at both offense and defense with his versatile armour, called Saint's Fist."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Misawa bite her lip and clasp her hands, but since she didn't tell him to stop, he continued on.

"Zone Three in Suginami has a new owner called Garnet Artillery. He's fast, quick on his feet, and quite a lot of firepower at his disposal. I don't know much about him."

"Zone Seven in Nagano is captained by Plasma Horizon…" he began, but then Misawa raised her hand slightly to interrupt. "Sorry, but why is Zone One being contested in particular? Why not take another Zone that's empty?"

Aoba shrugged. "I was going to get to that. Zone One in particular is close to a bunch of dungeons, which some of us think is hiding powerful and valuable treasure at the bottom. There's others in Shinjuku and Chiyoda, but the duels there are getting really heated, and there's no telling who's going to come out on top."

"Also…" Aoba took a look at a single word he wrote at the bottom of his notes, "Apprentice - Klein Apprentice has a grudge against Turquoise Duro for beating him right when Zones were first released. He thinks he got cheated out of a fair fight, but everyone knows he's just salty. Oh well."

"Salty?" she asked. Aoba's coffee arrived, and he was glad for the distraction. "Thank you," he murmured, before turning back to her. "You were saying?"

"Never mind," she waved it off. "It's so difficult to remember all the terms in this game!"

Aoba nodded and sipped his coffee, savouring its invigorating aroma. "Yeah, it can get a little overwhelming."

The time ticked closer to 4 in the afternoon. In just about another two minutes, the contest for Zone One's ownership would begin. They'd go online, and wait for someone to begin a duel; spectators got to watch duels free of charge, as long as they had picked the player of their choice to follow.

"Say, M-Misawa… Why do you like playing the game?" Aoba leaned forwards slightly to ask. "You don't sound like a typical gamer. Is there something, or someone…?"

A tinge of red crept over her cheeks as Misawa's gaze grew tense. "Nothing at all," she said, "I'm just interested in the game after I heard about it from someone! He seemed to like it a lot, so I'm wondering what's there to it."

Aoba's expression remained neutral, but he was both happy and disappointed internally. Girls only behaved like this when there was someone else they liked, wasn't it? He drained the little cup of coffee, tapping a few buttons on his virtual desktop to pay for the drink. "It's time," he said. "Connect to the Global Net, and set your Brain Burst status to 'Watching'. That way, you won't be challenged, but you can't challenge others either." Misawa nodded and her fingers flicked and slashed through the air, pressing buttons on her virtual desktop. Aoba's mind wandered for a second, wondering how those fingers would feel like in his hands. Would they be warm? They looked soft. Nothing at all like the hard and cold punches of the bullies in the alley-

He shut down that train of thought right away. This was no time to think about such sad things. Both their Neuro Linkers' lights blinked a cool blue to indicate that they were connected. He stared at the wooden grain of the table, Misawa idly played with her hair. A minute passed in silence.

SLAM!

Their surroundings turned electric blue. [A REGISTERED DUEL IS BEGINNING!] Words in fiery letters announced.

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To be continued!