Arc 1: Chaos
Hope
23, September 2022 21:30
Kiyoi stared in silence at the form of her brother in the hospital bed. She watched the IV's drip through her scruffy hair. She hadn't washed it since she saw the news. It was her fault. She hadn't touched him since she saw the news.
Her fault.
She was the smartest of the family, and she didn't see this coming.
HER fault.
She furiously scratched her head, stray hairs going to and fro. She watched as several of them, completely detached from her control land on the sterile tile. She felt as if they were her last vestiges of sanity, limp and ready to decay.
What could she do?
She couldn't pull the helmet off his head, as it would end his life.
Se searched her mind for the last vestiges of will he had imprinted on her. What was the last thing he wanted? Maybe if she understood him better, she'd be able to make up some of her fatal mistakes. Maybe she from there could grow to forgive herself…
What.
What?
Her fingers dug into her knees, drawing blood. It rolled down her knees before mixing with her tears. She felt a moment of trepidation.
Was she crying?
Did she deserve to cry?
She decided that she didn't. No. Not after the sin, she had committed. She wiped her tears away, determination working its way up her features. She vowed to only cry once Taiyo had woken up, and had forgiven her with his own words. Her thoughts were broken by a magazine at the edge of her vision. It read NeuroScience Today! in Japanese. Unlike her brother, she was fluent in Japanese writing, reading, and vocally.
An idea sprouted in her mind.
Books.
That's how she'd do it.
Maybe she couldn't get him out, but she could at least look in on him. She would read and study until she could see what he sees in that damn world. She stood up robotically and made her way to the door.
She gave her first words in three days to her brother.
"I vow to make this up to you."
She gave a silent chuckle.
It was her birthday too.
I frowned as I looked at the suit, staring skeptically at the information broker that had handed it to me.
"You really think I need this?" I asked her, unease edging my tone
"Yes. If you really want to go through with this you're gonna need it."
"I think armor might do a bit more…"
"Not if you're going to be pitching your idea to nearly 600 players."
"Fine."
I glared at Argo as I sifted through my menus, selecting the suit. I put a comb through my white hair, which I maintained from character creation unlike most of the other people in this hellscape.
Apparently, I blanked through the entire part where Kayaba mentioned putting the mirrors in everybody's inventory. So… I looked pretty badass. I was a solid 6ft, had white hair, amber eyes, and a handsome scruffy face if I do say so myself. All in all, I looked like someone who knew what they were doing. Couldn't be much farther from the truth, but eh. If this all worked out, we could expect a significant drop in Murders. My heart fell at the thought. People were calling the front gate a bloodbath. As soon as the safe zone effect wasn't present, they turned into rabid animals.
And here I was, suggesting laws and taxes to roughly 6% of the game population… more like 8% with all of the deaths.
I had to thank Argo though. Without her help, it would have been impossible to gather so many people, especially in three days. I asked her the price to spread the word, and she just told me dead customers don't pay.
I couldn't disagree.
And so, here I was.
I wipe my sweaty palms. Damn you Kayaba. I could really go without the presence of sweat.
I walk out of the curtains of the gathering area. It's packed with chattering players. My heart races for a moment before a steady breath slows it back down. I take a step up to the podium, shushes and hisses overcoming the crowd. It brought me some comfort knowing that they were at least interested in what I have to say.
Silence permeates the area.
"Thank you all for coming." I stumble out, before catching myself a bit, "You all may wonder why I've called the speech together. To answer that… I wish to present a few ideas that I cannot accomplish alone. As you all may have noticed, the chaos that has followed Kayaba's announcement has brought ruin among the player base. Murder, theft and assault run rampant out of the safe area."
I pause gauging the crowd. They seemed mildly interested.
"I propose we implement a set of laws and use players to enforce them. Like in real life, Anarchy will be the demise of any group of people. With order, these people will fall in line and we can begin striving toward getting ourselves out of this game! We can't expect the Japanese government to save us. If Kayaba could hide the deadly features of Nerve Gear from thousands of employees who worked with the hardware on all of our heads for years what chance does the government have?"
Most of the crowd seemed disheartened.
"So, my suggestion is that we organize ourselves! We form five branches of government. First would be to make our laws, second would enforce them and collect taxes. The last three would be designated to our liberation from Aincrad and Sword Art Online!" My voice rose, causing murmurs among the crowd
"How would these liberators be organized?" A smooth voice rang just as clearly as mine, charisma flowing from it
I glanced through the crowd to properly address the question. I couldn't find the speaker.
"Could you identify yourself so I can properly address that great question?" I asked, grin sneaking onto my features
A man stood, appearing in his late 40s with steel gray hair in a ponytail and one strand hanging in front of his face. His high cheeks and proper posture exuded tact and intelligence.
"Heathcliff, Guildmaster of Knights of the Blood Oath."
My grin grew even further. This would be perfect for convincing the crowd.
"Well, Heathcliff. I plan for these to be organized into three lines. Front, Middle, and Auxiliary. Front would consist of the best and brightest. They would be the ones taking on the newly unlocked floors and clearing the bosses. Middle would be responsible for maintaining mob populations, collecting general supplies so the front line can receive cheaper supplies to properly do their jobs. Blacksmiths, Merchants, and those good with logistics would fit this role best. Auxiliary would be those in training to be either Front or Middle. In their free time, Front and Middle liners will have the choice of passing on their skills and talents to those in the Auxiliary line. This would ensure that no player took unnecessary risks trying to reach the other line's skill level. All of these players would be supported by the benefits of their occupation. Front Liners are paid in better gear and cheaper supplies, Mid-Liners are paid in support and by the guaranteed business of the Front Liners. The Auxiliary are paid with free training and help in leveling up."
Heathcliff raised his hand to his chin for a moment in thought.
"As a Guild… The Knights of the Blood Oath support you. We can discuss the details later."
I wanted to squeal when I heard that. The KBO was the largest guild at the moment, and well respected. Their backing would definitely help this cause.
"Any other questions?" None were presented, but there was an audible buzz among the crowd
"Thank you for your attention, and application forms will be present on the way out. Please feel free to apply for any position."
I quickly walked off to behind the stage, heart thumping in my chest.
I did it.
Argo looked at me with a raised eyebrow, her drawn on whiskers seeming to taunt me.
"Oh shut up. Three days ago I was a recluse nerd. I probably had a total of 10 minutes of conversation a day. This is a big jump for me!"
"If you say so…" Her smirk taunted me worse than the whiskers
I sat down in a chair nearby with a sigh of relief.
"How long do you think everybody will take?" I said, referencing the applications
"Well, it's not like we're asking for too much information so not more than 20 minutes…"
"Icecream?" I asked
She grinned.
"I'll take that as a yes."
There was a misconception about the food here. People seemed to have the impression you could only find incredibly stale bread. While that was true, it wasn't entirely accurate. Various stores could sell MUCH better food but at a ridiculous premium. To put it in perspective, the ice cream I so adored cost 3,000 col a bowl. That was roughly the same price as a moderately good dagger and since you earned only 5-7 col per boar, it took a while.
Hell, the only reason I could manage it was because a theory I had proved to be correct.
Being in the game was treated similarly to a coma by the body. As such, while uncomfortable, it was entirely possible to go days without sleep with no drop in cognitive ability. It meant I could kill mobs for 18+ hours straight with only minor breaks for eating and to restock. This could continue for days straight. That fact alone gave me a solid level 7. It wasn't easy, but it gave me the pull in situations when people called me a "noob".
Argo had to explain that one to me.
Simply put, it was hard to call someone a higher level than you incompetent.
That was something I loved.
Anyway, after the ice cream, we headed back and collected the applications. I was surprised to find a solid 200 in the bin. So, papers in hand, I made my way to the inn so I would have somewhere comfortable to go through the applications. I sat down and ordered a ginger juice. It was a sweet thin and refreshing drink that also happened to provide a boost to agility. It was only 3 points, but at this level, it was still nice.
I slipped on a pair of glasses as I quickly scanned through the papers. Some were promising, others were flat out lies. The ambassador of Japan? Really? At least come up with something a bit more believable…
"Ah, there you are." That smooth voice from earlier called my attention
"Heathcliff! It's nice to see you! Thanks for the question and support. It really sold the idea to the crowd." I said cheerily
He sat next to me, ordering the same drink as me before responding.
"I'm happy to help anyone willing to bring some order to this godforsaken city."
"I hear you guys are searching for the boss room?" I ask, denying another bogus application
"Yes, we think it's in the Gobsden Dungeon. It seems to be much more heavily fortified than the others we've crawled. My scouts are having difficulty getting past the Minotaur though."
I sip my drink.
"How's that?" I ask genuinely, curious how some bull men have them in such a rut
"Well, they seem to be immune to the hide skill, and they are also immune to bleed and blunt damage."
"Why not get some swordsmen in there?"
"They are resistant to slash damage." Heathcliff deadpanned wearily
It was obviously tiring the man out.
I winced.
"Can't find any Rapier or Estoc users?"
"Apparently they don't look "cool enough" for most of the player base." Heathcliff mocked with air quotes
"I may be able to find a few rapier and estoc users looking for front lines in these. Care to help me sort them out?" I gestured to the stack of papers
"I came here to escape the work… only to find it again." He sighed out, grabbing a page
I felt there was something more to it, but let it drop. The real world was not something to be focused on right now. I grabbed another page, seeing something Heathcliff was looking for.
"Hey, Heath. I think I got something."
"Heath?" He seemed confused
"It's faster." I explained away, "Look at this though. This girl, Asuna. Rapier user, Level 5, she even got 176ms on the reaction speed test! I think she's a great pick fo- Auxiliary line? This must be wrong… Oh."
Heathcliff seemed amused.
"What is it?" He asked with a smirk
"She's a dumbass. Like… SAO is MY first game and I scored a 72 on the test portion."
"What'd she make?" He seemed as ready to laugh as I was
"12." My face hit the table after saying that
"I'll check her out anyway." Heathcliff gestured for me to hand him the page
"Oooookaaaay then…" I handed him the page, glancing at another
A guy named Agil. Hmm. His skills and reaction were ok, but he actually had some good merchant stats. His retrieval rate on items was actually really nice. He'd be a nice pick for midline.
I scoured through until I found a fellow Estoc user. He was gunning for front lines, 199ms reaction time and his Estoc skill was actually not too far from mine...
What was this guy's name?
"PV55YSL4Y3R96." I said in disbelief
I heard a snort from Heathcliff.
"I'm sorry… could you repeat that?"
"There's an Estoc user with pretty nice stats… the only problem is his name."
"His name."
"Yes."
"I asked you to repeat his name…"
"PV55YSL4Y3R96." I repeated, "No to him?"
"No, he's not up to the job I'm afraid." Heathcliff said with mock sorrow
"Ok, after that, I'm taking a break."
A/N:
I'm really liking this fic and I think it's a nice way to get over my writer's block with some of my other stories.
So, here's his character sheet:
Character Profile:
Name: Taiyo Sukai
Age: 15
Sex: M
Avatar Name: Amat
Avatar Class: Estoc Badesman
Skills (1 every 5 levels):
Barter (17/1,000)
Avatar Level: 7
XP to next level: 610
Stats (5 per level +3 base increase):
Agl: 6
Str: 4
Vit: 6
Def: 5
Sword Skills:
Flowing Stream: Unlocked
Blade Dance:
Damage: 5x Base
# of Hits: 4
Range:
~6.3ft (translated from 2m)
Cooldown:
5s