A/N Hey everyone. Commando here with my first story, a crossover of GGO and SAO. Original idea for the story is courtesy of Tellhim8inches, who has graciously given me permission to continue it. As of right now, there will be pairings, both canon and non-canon, as well as OC characters. Rating is T for now, may change to M. I increased the population of Phantom Blade to 25,000.
Bold text is indicative of system announcements or an A/N.
'Italicized text is indicative of character thoughts.'
"Quotes indicate regular dialogue."
All rights belonging to Reki Kawahara.
Phantom Blade Online
Chapter 1: Origins
12:55, November 6th, 2022
Sighing, Katsu Moyomo stared at the metal helmet, the Nerve Gear, before him. Ever since the beta test of the first VRMMORPG, Phantom Blade Online ended six months ago, a physical hole had opened in his life which could only be filled by the aforementioned game. That hole would soon be filled, as the servers were due to start at precisely 1:00 p.m that day.
'Argus are light-years ahead of the competition in the VR market. Kayaba Akihiko is an unparalleled genius, with the way that PBO utilises the Nerve Gear's hardware fully. No other game developers were able to even come close to PBO's graphics and physics systems…
What sort of acronym is PBO, anyways? Sounds like some sort of peanut butter brand. Phantom Blade sounds much better.'
Katsu glanced back to the clock. 12:58 p.m. The second hand marched remorselessly onwards, not speeding up no matter how hard Ken wished it would. He contented himself with the knowledge that 25,000 people were most likely doing the same thing as he was at that point, judging by the extreme measures people went to in order to obtain copies of Phantom Blade. Being a beta-tester, he was provided one for free, but the remaining 20,000 copies were sought by hundreds of thousands of people, with queues reaching over a thousand people in some instances.
The clock finally reached 1:00 p.m. Katsu, having pre-calibrated the Nerve Gear due to his time in the beta, instantly put on the Nerve Gear and uttered the words that would soon be hated worldwide, without exception.
"Link Start!"
Instantly, his world burst into an explosion of colour, the login screen for Phantom Blade. Katsu was prepared to blitz through the character creation stage, but as he was starting the process, a robotic voice interrupted him.
"Greetings player, would you like to use the character data from the beta test?"
'How convenient of them. I'll be able to start almost immediately with this feature.'
Katsu confirmed that he would take his beta data and was immediately transported to the spawn point, the Town of Beginnings. He took a moment, revelling in the feel of his character, Ken. He had kept it to be relatively close to his actual body. In real life, Katsu was 6', with black hair, lithe and flexible, owing to his martial arts upbringing. His facial features were sharply defined, with angular cheekbones, a clean jawline and prominent chin, giving him a slightly haughty appearance that contrasted both his demeanour and his common upbringing. Perhaps his most interesting physical feature was his heterochromia: his right eye was an azure blue whilst his left eye was a verdant green. He had opted to omit this from his online persona due to the moderate bullying he had received during his early years. Despite this having tailed off in recent years, they were still a touchy subject for him. In game, his character was a few inches taller, dressed in a plain navy blue shirt and white trousers, with black hair and blue eyes.
From the beta, Ken knew that he would be a hybrid build of melee and ranged, with focus on melee, and hence went to the nearest weapons store to purchase his preferred weapons: a Long Sword and a M1911 Colt , the two basic weapons for their classes: Long Swords and Pistols, respectively. He purchased five additional magazines for the Colt in addition to the fifteen complimentary ones. These purchases drained most of his Col, the currency of Phantom Blade Online, to 150 from the 1500 provided to each character upon spawn. After this, he opened his character profile and equipped the skills that he knew would be his primary skills: One-handed Sword and Pistol. He then spent his Skill points obtained at level 1, putting 3 into AGI and 2 into STR . Ken knew he was lucky to be early: the store only sold 15 Photon Swords and was the only location in the Town of Beginnings to sell them at all. He decided against spending the rest of his money on Health Potions as the enemies outside the Town of Beginnings were simplistic, and held little threat to the player. Despite this, they still provided experience and col, so with a resigned sigh Ken headed off to start grinding mobs, the feeling that MMO players around the world knew. However, the monotony of farming would be broken this time, as he heard rapidly approaching footsteps.
Turning, Ken collided with two players, after which the three immediately proceeded to fall over in an unglamorous heap on the ground, drawing chuckles from surrounding players.
Ken extracted himself from the knot of bodies and assisted the other two up, after which he somewhat indignantly asked, "Why did you run into me? Did you not see where you were going?"
One replied, "We're sorry, but we were chasing after you. We're new to this game and guessed from your movements that you were a beta tester, and we were wondering if you could teach us about the game."
Ken was surprised that they had deduced his status solely from his purposeful movements, and appraised them in an entirely new light.
On the left was a female, approximately 5' 8", dressed in a green outfit with white highlights, with plain brown hair and eyes, with a shy personality whilst on the right was another female of a much shorter stature, barely passing 5', in a maroon ensemble with red outlines. Her eyes were of the same hue as her clothes whilst her hair was jet black. The latter was much more outgoing, to the point of being childish, and was the one who had spoken. Their weaponry was an SR-25 sniper rifle and a MP5 submachine gun, respectively.
Ken briefly considered the request. It would cost him some experience and col, but not to the extent that it would be a major hindrance. Besides, teaching would detract from the exceedingly boring task of grinding.
Nodding once, he turned and began walking to the field outside the spawn, motioning for them to follow.
A short walk later, Ken and company had arrived at the mob fields. He took the opportunity to explain the details of the combat system to his companions.
"In Phantom Blade, there are two main classes of weaponry: Energy and Physical. Each of these classes subdivide into categories, such as pistol, sniper, etceterae. Energy weapons focus on lightness and accuracy, whilst physical weaponry focus on fire rate and damage output, but are significantly heavier. Additionally, energy weapons do not require ammunition whilst physical weapons require ammunition to be purchased. Weapons of every type have durability, however, and must be maintained correctly or risk malfunction, or in extreme cases, total destruction. There are also two main combat systems: Sword Skills and Prediction lines. Sword Skills are system-assisted skills that a player can perform which are faster and/or more powerful than unassisted slashes. However, they incur a movement penalty based on the level of the skill. Prediction lines are produced by the system and are a representation of a bullet's path. These will be produced for every shot, with the exception of a sniper's first shot."
Ken broke off there, having encountered a small herd of Feral Boars about fifty metres away that were the basic mob. He went to address the sniper, but realised that in the confusion of crashing into one another, he had neglected to obtain their names.
"Excuse me, but what are your names?" Ken queried of the pair. "I'm Ken."
The two looked at him in brief surprise, before the sniper quietly stated "My name is Sinon" whilst the SMG user replied cheerfully "My name is Yuuki!"
Ken nodded briefly, and turned to Sinon. "Lay down on the ground, and use the scope on the rifle to aim at the herd of boars. You should be able to see a green, pulsing circle. That is what is referred to as a 'Bullet Circle'. Upon firing, your bullet will land somewhere within the circumference of the circle. You should see that the circle is constantly shrinking and expanding."
Sinon briefly nodded her agreement, stating "I see it."
Ken continued, "There are two ways to shrink the circle and hence make your shot more accurate. One is to physically move closer to the target, whilst the other is to slow down your heart rate and breathing. A sniper is meant to be efficient, calculating – the system measures your heart rate and adjusts the circle accordingly. The slower the rate, the more accurate the shot will be. Once the circle is smaller than your target, fire."
"Yuuki, as a submachine gunner, the same basics apply to you as well, but controlling the circle will be harder, due to the fact that you will be extremely mobile in battle and hence have a higher heart rate. It is easier to fire bursts of 3-5 shots that are less well aimed than try to be as accurate as possible, like Sinon. However, do not go full automatic either – long, continued fire expands the circle more than a higher heart rate ever will."
As Ken finished speaking, Sinon fired her rifle. The bullet sliced through the air, slamming straight into the chest of a Feral Boar with an accompanying thunderous report. The remaining three Feral Boars began charging straight at them, determined to avenge the loss of their fallen comrade. Yuuki gasped slightly, suddenly nervous, and barely acknowledged Ken saying that he would take the rightmost two and leave her the one on the left. Yuuki lined the scope on her MP5 with the charging boar however at the last minute panicked and dragged her shots wide of the boar, resulting in it headbutting her onto the ground, in the process reducing Yuuki's health to the yellow zone in her HP bar. At this, Yuuki screamed violently, kicked the boar fully off of her, found it in her crosshairs and unloaded a full magazine's worth of ammunition into it, only stopping once the creature had dissolved into blue particles and she heard the stifled laughter coming from Ken.
"Overkill, but effective, I suppose. Congratulations, you've both killed your first enemies in Phantom Blade Online." Ken stated, laughing the entire time. Yuuki's resultant expression caused him to start howling with laughter, and even Sinon giggled a bit. Eventually, Ken calmed down enough to apologise to Yuuki.
"Alright, now I just need to demonstrate Sword Skills to you two. Although right now you are not sword users, some mobs can and will use Sword Skills in combat, so it is best that you can recognise them."
So saying, he pulled his Long Sword out of its sheath at his waist and began charging a low-level Sword Skill, Horizontal. Ken held his stance until the blade began glowing yellow, then slashed the air in front of him, freezing momentarily.
"As you can see, it was much faster than I could do unassisted, but came with a momentary paralysis. To perform the skill, assume the stance required and hold it. It will be ready to release once the blade of the sword begins glowing a distinctive colour. The duration of paralysis increases with the complexity of the skill."
The trio proceeded to hunt down remaining Feral Boars until it was sunset, in the process each person levelling up two times. There were no drops excepting col, which was disappointing to Yuuki and Sinon but not to Ken, as these were the lowliest of mobs and would not have any item drops.
Tired, yet content, they sat in a field, watching the sunset silently. Rays of orange and gold streaked across the sky, signifying a new beginning, christened in fire.
'Kayaba Akihiko is a genius. The dichotomy between the real world and this one is clear, but even so this game is just as realistic.'
Ken's reverie was interrupted by Yuuki.
"Ken, this sounds really silly, but where's the log-out button? I can't find it anywhere."
Surprised, Ken stated "It's at the bottom of your menu. Just open it and scroll to the- oh" as he belatedly realised that Yuuki was indeed correct, there was no log-out button, having checked his own menu.
"That's a major oversight" Sinon commented. "I understand that this is the first day of release and all, and bugs are to be expected, but such an obvious thing as being able to logout?"
Ken agreed. "Ordinarily, I'd call a GM, but right now there's no one answering. They're probably being inundated with calls right now about it."
As Ken finished, a bright blue light surrounded the trio of persons. "A teleport?" Ken wondered out loud. There were Teleport Crystals that could enable this, however they were ridiculously expensive and furthermore could not be obtained in the starting zone. "It must be a forced teleport, considering that no one can teleport on their own right now."
As he finished his train of thought, he saw that he was back in the plaza at the centre of the Town of Beginnings, furthermore, it appeared that all 25,000 players were summoned here as well.
Immediately, a thrum of voices started up, all asking variants of the same question: "What is going on right now?" with varying degrees of emphasis.
Ken began to tell Sinon and Yuuki that he was equally as lost as everyone else, but was interrupted when the sky turned into blood red hexagons, "SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT" written clearly on each one.
This was sufficiently unexpected that everyone in the plaza ceased speaking immediately, and watched in silence as the blood coalesced into a humanoid, robed figure, some 20 feet tall.
Ken knew from the beta that the robe was indicative of a GM, but was lost as to why it appeared to have no face.
A voice boomed out from underneath the hood.
"Greetings, players, and welcome to my world."
'His world? But, that could only mean one thing – that this man in front of us is none other than-'
Ken's thoughts were interrupted by the same voice.
"I am Kayaba Akihiko, creator of this world and everything in it. As you have already noticed, judging by the numerous calls I've received, the log-out button is eminently missing from your menus. I must inform you that this is not a bug, but a feature of Phantom Blade Online."
At this pronouncement, every voice in the plaza began speaking, at a much louder volume than before. Reactions of players ranged from disbelief, to anger, despair, shock and acceptance.
"Furthermore, should your life points be reduced to zero, you will die in real life as well as in Phantom Blade Online. There is no second chance."
Compared to now, the plaza was quieter than a mouse. Screaming, crying and swearing all took place, in varying magnitudes of volume and length.
Ken turned around to see the shocked faces of Yuuki and Sinon.
"Could….could he really do that? Make it so that if we die in here, we die in real life?" Yuuki asked in disbelief.
Ken replied sadly, "Unfortunately, yes. The technology in the Nerve Gear is not dissimilar to a microwave. If the limiter is removed, it could easily fry your brain. And even if it was disconnected from a power source, it has its own internal battery, so we can't escape that way. I believe also that if it is forcefully removed, it will trigger the kill-sequence."
His suspicions were quickly confirmed.
"Attempts to remove the Nerve Gear will automatically kill you. Unfortunately, despite warnings to the contrary, 1260 players have already been killed by family members or loved ones removing their Nerve Gears. Due to the widespread media coverage occurring now, you may consider yourselves safe from this fate."
"There is one way to escape from this game alive: you must complete it. Progress through each level, and once the final level is completed everyone surviving up until that point will be free to go."
People began irrationally screaming at Kayaba. "It took the beta testers 2 months to complete 8 levels, and you expect us to complete them all without dying?!" These persons were quickly quieted when Kayaba began speaking again.
"Some of you may be wondering, why I have trapped you all in here. The reason is not what you may expect: I simply wanted to create a world unbound from the laws of your own, where your life is literally in your own hands, to do with it as you please. However, to convince you that this is indeed your reality, I have given everyone an item."
Ken went to his inventory and selected the out-of-place item: a Hand Mirror. Materialising it, he looked at it curiously, before being bathed in white light accompanied by the sound of the item shattering.
Looking back to Sinon and Yuuki, he found….. two strangers?
"Who are you two?" He asked of the pair.
Indignantly, they replied back, "We could ask the same of you!"
Shock flooded his body as he realised that they were Sinon and Yuuki, and hence what the Hand Mirror had done.
Sinon had shrunk a few inches, but otherwise stayed largely the same – 'She must have thought the same thing I did and matched her avatar and real body closely' whilst Yuuki became noticeably younger - explaining her childish nature: she really was just a child, after all.
'If they are Sinon and Yuuki, then the Hand Mirror must revert everyone's appearances back to their real selves! This is what he meant by "reality", we cannot hide behind our avatars!'
Both of the girls quickly reached the same conclusion as Ken.
"Somehow, the system knows the exact dimensions of our bodies, but how did it get the information?" Yuuki wondered, confused.
"It could have obtained information about our faces when it scanned them as part of the set up for the Nerve Gear, and likewise when we had to calibrate the system by scanning it over our bodies." Ken replied, his mind running through the implications.
Kayaba's voice returned once more.
"Thus ends the tutorial of Phantom Blade Online, players. Just remember, this is a game, but it isn't meant to be played."
The full import of the game's logo – long considered strange by media and players alike – became clear. This was no game. This was reality, where death lurked around every corner.
Spinning, Ken grabbed Yuuki and Sinon's arms, ignoring their cries of protest, and dragged them down into a side alley.
He spoke rapidly, without pause.
"There's 25,000 people in this plaza. Some, undoubtedly, will be too terrified to leave the city. Nevertheless, a great many will leave and try to farm the surrounding areas. We must leave before this happens, or risk getting underleveled as mobs are hunted down on sight for exp and col by thousands of players. There's a village, Horunka, about an hour's journey away, where we can set up base. It has good hunting grounds and beginner quests."
Sinon nodded her agreement, seeing as it was a sensible course of action, but Yuuki remained stationary.
"I hate to say this, Ken and Sinon, but I am the leader of a guild, the Sleeping Knights, and my guildmates are still in the plaza somewhere. I am their leader, and cannot leave them behind."
Ken opened his mouth to argue, but stopped upon seeing the steel in her eyes. Her childish demeanour was gone, and for a moment, she was mature beyond her years. He nodded once. "I understand. However, if you need any help, don't hesitate to message myself or Sinon. Speaking of which, we should add each other as friends, to facilitate this."
The three quickly exchanged information and added each other as friends.
"Ken, thanks for the training you gave me. Without it, we'd be in a really tight spot right now. Thank you for everything."
So saying, Yuuki waved once, then sprinted back to the plaza.
Turning, Ken looked at Sinon.
"Ready?" he asked.
"As I'll ever be." came the reply.
Together, they ran outside the city limits, exterminating any and all Feral Boars that they encountered.
'Kayaba Akihiko, I will not just survive in this world. I will prosper, thrive, LIVE. You cannot daunt me, and I will not back down from your challenge! You cannot, nor will not, break me! I. Will. Defy!'
Hey again.
Now that the first chapter's done, would you guys prefer a multi-POV approach or keep it in Ken's POV?
Additionally, any reviews would be much appreciated. As I said before, this is my first fanfiction, so any and all advice is welcome. Especially relating to physical descriptions. I was happy with Ken, but Sinon and Yuuki are just…meh.
Out.