Okay my writing style is still pretty rough although I'm trying. I'm including the index in each chapter I write to clarify which one is the show cast and which one is the current. I will also include the same disclaimer as before as well.
Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the sword art online franchise. That belongs to Kawahara Reki. This is my own story that I came up with. Please support the 3rd series, Sword Art Online Alicization. Hope you enjoy
Bold- character talks, settings, descriptions in the show.
Bold Italics- characters thoughts in show
Regular - In story content
Italics- Character thoughts in story.
Bold Underline- Scene change
The screen immediately shifts to a vision of clouds in the it transitions to a black screen with kanji.
"In 2022 mankind finally…
A forest area that shows vines and a dense fog covering the area. It transitions again to a black screen with kanji.
brought a virtual world into existence."
Camera eventually moves into a grand view of Aincrad along side a cliff.
Scene changes to a birds eye view of the city with the announcer proclaiming the release of SAO and people that lined up for it.
"And now we begin! It's this week's MMO stream. For starters, we had you watch the PV. Looks like this is from last week's launch. What were all these people In line for? Sword Art Online! Those in front said they started waiting for three days prior to the release. Unbelievable!"
It shows Kirito's computer of a live footage of the people in line for the release.
Klein shouted in surprise at his self showing on the screen.
"Wait! That's me in there along with my friends that got the game! That day it was-
"When Sword Art Online was released." said Kirito.
Kirito clenched his hands as he remembered that day.
"No I should say it's natural for true gamers! On today's MMO stream, we'll be covering the internationally renowned Sword Art Online, or SAO for short. Frankly speaking, none of the nervegear software so far has been able to tap into the machine's full potential." said the announcer girl.
"Onii-chan, I'm off to practice."
A scene showing a girl leaving the house.
"That's me! Onii-chan that was your room and you there as well!" shouted Suguha.
"I know Sugu I recognize my room from anywhere."
"Still how in the world did he get this footage?!"
"Thankfully, SAO was invented by Kayaba Akihiko, the man who created the nervegear. Better yet, it's the long-awaited VRMMORPG that we all have been waiting for! It earned outstanding praise from the beta testers as well. I wanted to try it to! With only 10,000 units available, it sold out instantly online. And as you saw earlier, you won't have much luck looking for a physical copy to buy.
The scene moves to Kirito equipping the nervegear on with him laying of the bed. Kirito smiles as the timer beeps to signal his moment to dive.
"Link start!"
Myriad of colors cover the screen, eventually showing UI huds processing his info and his avatar. Another screen pops up showing Welcome to Sword Art Online! A heartbeat resonant's as it's showing a town in Kirito's vision alongside his hand firmly grasped into a fist. It finally shows Kirito's avatar on screen.
"I'm back… into this world!"
Millions of other players started popping up all around the city. Camera zooms out showing the majesty of the city and AIncrad. The Sword Art Online screen pops up.
World of Swords
The scene show a whole town of people enjoying the city life of the 1st floor. Along with people forming groups and planning strategies. Kirito is seen running through the town, a red haired man manages to catch a glance at Kirito as he is running down the alleyway.
"Hey, you there!" said the red-haired man as he tried to catch up to Kirito.
"Me?"
"From looks of your confidant stride, I'm guessing you're a beta tester?"
"Y-yeah."
"I just started this game. Mind showing me the basics?"
Kirito looked a bit hesitant of his request.
"I'm begging you please!" as the red haired man clapped his hand together in a prayer.
"The names Klein, nice to meet you."
'I'm Kirito."
"Did you two avatars really look like that? You two just look a bit older than your real-selves. Also you look like a pirate Klein." Said Rika.
"Hey, it was my first VRMMORPG. I wanted to look as close to myself as possible but still look like a charming man."
"Charming, right."
"I bet yours was made the same as ours too. Probably got rid of those freckles of yours just to look cuter right?" said Klein.
"T-That's not true! Hey! Are you saying I look ugly with freckles!"
The rest of the girls giggled at Rika's denial.
"I'm surprised you guys are acting calm about this whole thing." said Agil.
"We don't have any way to stop this, the authorities will find some way to handle this." said Sinon.
"Yeah, all we can do is watch for now." said Asuna.
Agil nodded at that.
"Still though, is he planning on showing us our experiences in SAO?" asked Agil.
"I don't know, we just have to wait and see." said Kirito.
At the concert
"Those guys are kinda cute. The pirate guy seems pretty manly, think he's single?" asked Miyu
"Miyu, we need to get to Elsa-san and Goushi-san. C'mon Saki-chan and the rest of you, we need to stay together.
"O-Okay." Saki and the rest of team SHINC nodded as they moved around the crowd.
They still see people still watching the screen as they move about. They eventually make it to the stage where Elsa and Goushi are. However, Elsa is still rooted to her spot watching the screen, while Goushi is watching with her.
"Your not moving her to somewhere else Goushi-san?" asked Karen.
"If I do, she'll snap at me. There's nothing I can do. The staff are unable to change the channel or even shut off the power." Goushi grimaced.
"N-No way, then there is no way to do anything?" asked Karen.
"I've contacting the station but their lines are busy. All we can do is watch for now and hope the authorities settle this matter".
Karen watched the screen with of Kirito and Klein conversing. Her gaze shifted on Kirito.
"The in-depth story of a hero, is he the one?"
The screen transitions to Klein getting knocked back by a boar. Klein is laying down clutching his sore spot.
"My balls…"
"You're making it look worse than it actually is. You can't feel pain." said Kirito.
"Oh yeah. I just did that out of reflex."
"Like I said, the key is your first action. Said Kirito.
"I know, but he won't stay put.
Kirito picked up a rock and got into a throwing stance.
"If you get your first action right and activate a sword skill…
The rock in Kirito's hand starts to glow. He throws the rock aiming directly onto the boars behind creating a red mark.
.. the system will correct your aim and ensure a hit."
"Action… action…"
The boar starts charging at Kirito as he sidestep out of the way. He uses his sword to pin it in place.
"How should I put this?" Pause for a second, and once the skill activates, just let it rip."
"Let it rip?"
Klein gets into a stance holding his sword behind his head. The sword glows as if bursting with energy.
Kirito smiles and kicks the boar towards Kleins way.
With a shout Klein thrusts his sword through the boar creating a long slash mark on it's side. Hp bar goes straight to empty making the boar burst into shards of data. A window pops up showing the EXP, items, and money earned.
Klein enthusiastic, that he managed to kill it shouts in victory.
"HELL YEAH!"
"Congrats."
Kirito high fives him for his kill.
"Unfortunately… Kirito sheathes his sword.
.. that boar was just low-level fodder, like slimes."
"Wha-?! You kidding me? I thought it was just some sort of mini-boss."
More spawns of boars appear.
"Of course not."
"Noob. I was able to kill more boars in a second." thought Elsa
Klein uses up a sword skill impressed at the mechanic.
"Easy to get a hang of, right?"
"Yeah."
Klein starts practicing his sword swings.
"There are a ton of skills like Blacksmithing and stuff, right?" asked Klein.
"Well… supposedly there's an unlimited number of them." Kirito answered.
"However, there are no magic-based skills."
"An RPG without magic skills? They're normally a given."
Klein does another sword skill thrust. He starts shaking his whole body feeling the thrill.
"Isn't it more fun to use your own body to fight?" asked Kirito.
"Sure is!"
"Okay, let's go to the next area."
"Yeah, I'm more than ready!"
Scene changes to near the end of the day. The sun is setting down over the area showing the various views around Aincrad.
"This place never ceases to amaze me. I still can't believe it's all just a game. The guy who made it is a genius. Puts me at a loss for words…
Honestly, I'm glad I was born in this generation." said Klein.
"You're a melodramatic guy." said Kirito.
"But this is my full-dive experience. "
"Then it's your first time playing a Nervegear game?"
"Truth is, I rushed to get the hardware just because of SAO. I'm pretty fortunate, considering I was able to get my hands on one of only 10,000 copies. Well, you're ten times luckier, since you got to participate in the beta. Only a thousand people were allowed, after all. "
"Hm, I guess your right."
"So how far did you get in the beta?"
"I took two months to get to the eighth floor." replied Kirito.
"But now, I should be able to do it in half the time."
"You're pretty absorbed in this game."
Kirito unsheathes his sword as if making a declaration.
"To be honest, during the beta, whether I was asleep or awake, SAO was all I could think about. In this world, a single blade is your ticket to the entire world. It might be just a virtual world… but I feel more alive here than I did in real life."
Those in the concert and in Kirito's group could relate to that. Experiencing a new world to enjoy and explore. Unshackled by things in the real life was a VR worlds appeal.
"He managed to get if a little farther than I did, I played it endlessly till I reached the 7th floor." thought Elsa.
Kirito sheathes his sword.
"Now then, how about we get back into hunting?"
"Count me in! … Is what I would like to say.
Klein's stomach started growling due to the amount of time they spent playing.
"But I'm starving, so I'm gonna log out for a bit."
"Eating food in this world only tricks you into not feeling hungry."
"Hehe, I ordered a piping hot pizza for 5:30 ahead of time."
'Looks like you have it all planned out."
"Yup! Anyway, I'll log back in after I finish eating."
"I see." Kirito said sadly.
"Hey, later on I'll be meeting with some friends from another game. How about it? Want to be friends with them too?"
Kirito seemed a bit hesitant at the invite to meeting Kleins friends.
"Of course it's completely up to you. There'll be plenty of chances for socializing."
"Yeah, sorry. Thanks."
"Hey, that's my line. I'll be sure to return this favor sometime in this world.
Kirito chuckled at that.
"Well, thanks a bunch. I'll be looking forward to seeing you on."
Klein stretched out his hand for a handshake. Kirito takes it to confirm their friendship.
"If you have any more questions, feel free to message me whenever."
"Yeah, I'll be counting on it!"
Klein gives a goodbye hand gesture and opens his screen. As Kirito was about to leave, Klein makes a questioning sound.
"Huh."
"There's no logout button."
"Take another look.
"Hmm yeah, I can't find it anywhere.
"At the bottom of the main menu… "
Kirito started checking his menu in settings for it but could not find it.
"You can't find it?"
"You're right."
"Well it's the first day of official service. It's only natural to find a bug or two. I'm sure management's freaking out."
"The same should go for you."
"huh"
"It's 5:25."
Panic spreads around his Klein's face at the missed order for his pizza.
"MY TERIYAKI MAYO PIZZA AND GINGER ALE! "
Some sounds of disgust rang through the concert audience. Goushi put his hand over is mouth to prevent himself from vomiting.
"My god, the amount fattening stuff in that".
"ew that sounds disgusting". Said Misa of team SHINC.
"That doesn't sound too bad, We should get a pizza together next time Kohi." said Miyu.
"How can you two even think about eating that! Your on your own for that."
"Aww c'mon."
With Kirito's group
"I think you need to order a different type of pizza Klein-san." said Siluca.
"Hey, it's actually pretty good, we'll try it next time we hang out."
"NO!" shouted some of the group.
"I tried it myself, it's not bad, but I prefer the honey and cheese one myself." said Shinon.
"Thank you Sinon-chan!"
"Hurry up and call the GMs." said Kirito
"I tried, but nothing is happening. Is there another way to log out?"
"No, the only way for a player to log out on their own is through the logout button on the main menu."
"That's impossible. There has to be another way."
"Return!"
"Logout!"
"Escape!"
However nothing happened at all. The feeling of dread filled everyone's mind about the SAO incident. Everyone knew that the players were unable to log out at all once they dived in.
"I told you… There wasn't anything written in the manual about emergency logouts." said Kirito.
"Wha… You're kidding right?"
"I know."
"I'll just pull the Nervegear off my head…"
Klein tried pulling on the helmet from his avatar. Obviously it didn't work.
"You can't. We can't move our bodies in the real world. A component in the Nervegear is designed to intercept all brain signals concerning movement."
"Seriously. Then the only option is to wait for the bug to fix."
"Either that, or until someone in the real world takes the Nervegear off for you."
"But I live alone. How about you?"
"I live with my mom and little sister. They'll probably notice at dinnertime-"
Kirto was cut short by Klein putting both hands on his shoulders.
"H-how old is your sister?"
Suguha sends a condescending gaze toward Klein, which he turns away shamelessly.
"Really Klein, you would date your friend's sister? No wonder your still single." said Agil.
"I don't need you to lecture me!"
"She's athletic and hates games… She wouldn't fit in with people like us-"
"That doesn't mat- "
Kirito knee's Klein in the groin for pestering him about his sister. Klein falls over to the ground grabbing his groin to try and soothe it.
"Right, I can't feel pain."
"Anyway, don't you think it's strange?"
"Of course I do. It's a bug after all."
"It can't be that simple. Inability to let players log out is a major flaw that would heavily impact the game." said Kirito.
"I see what your getting at.
"This situation would easily be resolved by rebooting the server, which would forcibly disconnect everyone. But there hasn't been an announcement."
Klein showed discomfort in Kirito's words. Suddenly a bell starts ringing off in the distance surprising the two. The two were suddenly enveloped in a light, which the scene changes to them appearing in the central plaza. They see more players appearing within the plaza. Sounds of confusion can be heard by the rest of the players.
"Forced teleport?" said Kirito.
The bell stops ringing, most likely telling that all the players were gathered up. An onlooker sees something in the sky and tells everyone else.
"That's-".
A warning message is shown in the sky, then multiple start popping up all at once, covering most of the sky. A liquid type substance starts oozing out taking form of a giant hooded figure.
"What… is that?" Klein said in disbelief.
People started talking saying if it's the GM or some sort of event. The hooded figure starts his speech among the populace.
"Attention, players. Welcome to my world."
"My world?"
"My name is Kayaba Akihiko. I'm currently the one and only person who can control this world."
Surprise shown on Kirito's features. The people started talking again about what's going on.
"I'm sure that you've all already noticed that the logout button on the main menu has been removed. However, this is no means a mistake.
I repeat… this is not a mistake but a feature of the true Sword Art Online."
"A feature?"
"You are unable to log out of SAO and nobody in the real world can remove the Nervegear or interrupt it's operation. Should it be attempted, a powerful burst of microwave radiation emitted from a transmitter in the Nervegear will destroy your brain, thus ending your life."
People expressed disbelief at this revelation. A couple people tried getting out but blocked by a barrier.
"What's he blabbering about? He's out of his mind. Right Kirito?" said Klein.
"The signals emitted by the Nervegear's transmitter are really the same as microwaves. If the safety was disabled, frying a brain wouldn't be impossible." Kirito replied.
"Then, if we cut off the power… "
"No the Nervegear has an internal battery."
Klein dissatisfied with the answers shrug off with a frown.
"But that's ridiculous. What's going on?"
"Unfortunately, it's currently impossible that a player's family or friends would ignore this warning, and attempt to forcibly remove the Nervegear. As proof of this, 213 players have retired from both this world and the real one." said Kayaba.
"213 people?!"
"No way… I can't believe it!"
"As you can see, news of my warning and the numerous victims are being spread worldwide. Thus, it should be safe to say that the danger of removal attempts has become minimal. I hope you will all be at ease and focus on completing the game."
Videos of families grieving over the deaths of the lost ones were seen. Kirito clicked his tongue and glared at Kayaba.
"But I'd like you all to keep this in mind. From this point on, all methods of revival in the game will no longer function. If your HP reaches zero, your avatar will perish for all eternity, and at that moment… the Nervegear will destroy your brain."
A scene in Kirito's mind started pop up. His avatar got finished off by a boar, hp bar went to zero, and his body scattered into data. Kirito clenched his fist in frustration at the reality upon him. Many others were staring at Kayaba in disbelief at his declaration.
"There is only one condition you must meet to be free, the completion of this game. You are all currently on the first floor, the lowest point of Aincrad. If you conquer a floor's dungeon and defeat the floor boss, you may continue up to the next one. Assuming you manage to defeat the final boss on the 100th floor, the game will be considered cleared."
Murmurs on clearing the dungeon passed along the people.
"Clearing a hundred floors! That's too much of a high hurdle! Shouted Miyu.
"To do that, you'll need the cooperation of all the players to make it to the top." said Karen.
"However people aren't that simple. Other people would have different goals they would achieve instead or toss off that workload onto someone else." said Goushi.
"Indeed that is true, people are not so simple after all" said Elsa.
"Clear all 100 floors? How the hell can we do that? The beta testers couldn't make it anywhere near that high! "
"And lastly, I've prepared a present for all of you in your item storages. Take a look."
Kirito immediately started going through his storage and found a mirror inside.
"A mirror?"
Kirito materialized the mirror into his hand and with it his reflection. Light started covering the people around him including Klein and himself.
"Klein?"
Light started covering the plaza instantly and then died out as soon as it started.
"You okay Kirito?"
"Y-yeah. Huh? Who are you?"
"That's what I wanna know."
Kirito brought up the mirror to see his surprised real face in the reflection. Everyone is else is having the same reactions as well.
"Then that means… "
"Your Klein!"
"Your Kirito!"
"Wow, I did not expect Kirito to be such young cutie boy. As for Klein, he got a bit more scruffy than his pirate look, but I dig it. Said Miyu.
"I have to admit he was younger than I thought, then again it was just an avatar after all, appearances are deceiving. Said Karen.
"Yeah, us team SHINC all look tough, but we are all cute girls right Karen-san" said Saki.
The rest of team SHINC nodded as well to confirm that fact.
"Y-yeah of course" replied Karen.
"Although having the desire to shoot and kill me in GGO offset's that cuteness a bit".
"Wha- Why?" asked Klein.
"The scan… The Nervegear covers your entire with a high-density transmitter. So it can calculate what your face looks like. But our height and body… " said Kirito.
"When we first put on the Nervegear, it made us touch all over our body "for calibration", remember?"
"O-oh yeah.. I see it was collecting data at that time."
"But … this is… Why? Why is this happening?" asked Klein.
Kirito pointed out to Kayaba's figure.
"I'm sure he'll answer that soon enough."
"Right now, you're probably all wondering, Why? "Why would I, Kayaba Akihiko, the creator of Sword Art Online and the Nervegear do such a thing.?" I have already achieved my goal. I created the world of Sword Art Online solely for my personal enjoyment."
Kirto glared at Kayaba's figure in hate for trapping them in here.
"Kayaba…"
"And now, the preparations are complete. This concludes the tutorial for the official launch of Sword Art Online. Players, I wish you the best of luck."
Kayaba's figure starts distorting and gas starts emitting from his body. It deforms as it returns into the warning messages that appeared and suddenly disappeared along with the red ambient sky, returning the original look.
Silence pervades the entire area. No one spoke, no sound was made, the very air was thick with tension. The looks of disbelief were etched on the faces of all the players. The scene shifted straight to Kirito who stood with a shadow covering his eyes. A droplet of blood dropped on the stone floor, it starts showing the blood is coming from Kirito's thumb. The scene reverts back to Kirito, then back to his hand showing there was no blood at all. Kirito clenches his fist accepting this new reality.
"This is…. reality."
Scenes showing the rest of Kirito's friends at their shocked state.
"A genius created the Nervegear, and in doing so, gave birth to a true virtual reality…. Kayaba Akihiko. I can understand, since I admired him. His declaration was the truth, and nothing but the truth. Death in this game… is nothing short of reality!"
A mirror broke under Silica's feet and she cried out. That was the signal that broke the silence to the people there. Cries of protest rang out among them to the sky, desperately asking Kayaba to release them from this new reality they were trapped in. Kirito seeing their unrest started to make his move.
"Come with me, Klein!"
Scene changes to Kirito and Klein standing in the alley.
"Listen up. I'll be heading to the next town as soon as possible. You should come too. If everything he said was true, if we want to survive in this world, it's vital that we get stronger. The resources available in a MMORPG… in other words, money and EXP, are limited in number. The fields around the starting town will be wiped clean of mobs. The best course of action would be to quickly move to the next town. I know the way there and any dangers we might encounter. So even if I'm only level 1, we'll make it there safely." Said Kirito.
"You were real quick on the uptake Kirito. I would have done the same thing, if I was in your shoes." said Sinon.
Kirito grimaced at that, feeling a bit guilty in getting ahead of the other players."I had to, we needed to survive in that world. It was a do or die in that game."
The rest of the group understood that. They also had to get as strong as possible in order to survive as well. Memories of that time made them wear solumn expressions. Suguha and Sinon gave them looks of sympathies to their plight.
"But… you know… I was in line all night to buy SAO with friends that I met in another game. I'm sure they're over there in that plaza. I can't just leave them." Said Klein.
Kirito looked at his stats and it shows his health at 250 and his LV at 1.
"I can manage with only Klein… But with two others… No, even one more would be…"
"Sorry."
"I can't keep you making you look out for me like this. So don't worry about me and head to the next town. In the last game I played, I was the leader of my guild. I'll be fine with the tricks you taught me!
"I see. Then, I'll leave you here. If anything happens, send me a message."
"Yeah!"
With a depressed look that he was leaving alone he bid Klein farewell.
"Then… I'll see you, Klein."
"Kirito!"
He stopped to hear what he had to say but Klein couldn't come up with the words. Kirito started moving again till Klein said something.
"Kirito. You… have a pretty cute face."
He turned around surprised a bit by that.
"Your just my type."
"Hmp. That unkept face of yours suits you ten times better!"
"Oh my god, are we gonna have BL! Quick turn off the screens, it's gonna get intense!" shouted Miyu.
"I think that's not the case Miyu." said Karen.
Kirito ran a bit then stopped to turn around to find Klein gone. With a sad look he turned and ran outside the town onto the paved path. He saw a wolf spawn in front of him. With a warcry he activated his sword skill.
"I'm.. I'm.. going to survive to the end….
A line of light from it's sword passed through the wolf from his starting position to his new position. The wolf bursted into particles signifying it's defeat.
.. in this world!"
With one last war cry he shouted to the skies as if denying that he will not die. The scene changes to the opening. ( Author:I'm not going to bother writing that out. Too much work. You guys know it and seen it already.)
After the opening ends, Kirito and his group could only stare and gape in shock at that. It was complete silence in the only sound being made was a call coming from his phone.
After the opening the scene switches to a cathedral area. A stone slab with names are on it is shown along with a message appearing as names are being crossed out.
One month into the game 2000 people have died.
It zooms onto Kirito's name. The name Kitaro was slashed through right under Kirito's, a bad omen foretelling that he narrowly escaped death.
The 1st floor and yet to be cleared. December 2nd 2022.