Alpha Phase

Before I begin this story there are a couple things I need to clarify.

I do not own Sword Art Online (ソードアートオンライン), the characters, or the storyline. All rights belong to A-1 Pictures, Aniplex USA, and Reki Kawahara.

The events depicted in this story are not part of the official SAO canon.

I am not profiting from writing this story.

Some of the events or mentioned events are based on some of my real life experiences. If one or more of these events are similar to one of your own it is unintentional and coincidental.

Please support Sword Art Online and its affiliates.

Author's Note: Hi guys! My name is Thomas and this is my first fanfiction. I hope you like it. Now before you yell at me because my character's names suck or my title makes no sense or the story is boring, I will say that I don't have a lot of experience when it comes to writing. I have written a short story or two in my time but it still isn't enough for me to really qualify as an "author". So remember, this is my first story, I am more than aware that there are flaws, and I am open to suggestions. So please, feel free to tell me what you think.

Chapter XI

POV: Ai

January 20, 2023

My name is Ai Kako. I used to live in Matsuyama, Japan, but I moved to Kyoto last summer. While I was in Matsuyama, I met someone pretty special. All his friends called him Hikaru, which was the name he used when he played games. I never asked him why he always went by his online alias rather than his real name, but he was spontaneous so I went with it. After a while, I started to get attached to him and eventually fell in love with him (if you were confused, I'm a girl). I knew that he like me too, but by the time I was ready to tell him how I feel I found out I was going to have to move to Kyoto. I was heartbroken. I would probably never see him again. The worst part: I treated him like a deity. He was my best friend. I even started calling him Karu to show him he meant a lot to me. I didn't want to hurt him, so I told him that I lied about him being my best friend and that he was creepy and I was glad I was moving. It worked… maybe a little too much. I heard that he wanted to kill himself after I told him off. He didn't kill himself, thank God, but he did hate me after that. I guess I got what I wanted. He still doesn't know that it was all for his sake. But, why was I attracted to Karu in the first place? Well, you see, Karu is a massive nerd and played a lot of MMO's. I also dwelled in the virtual world. Some of my most cherished moments are related to me playing online with Karu. When I moved, however, he cut off all connection to me. He even blocked my phone number. I was pretty upset about that but I did it for Karu, so I just did what I did before I met him in the hopes of forgetting I ever met him. Unfortunately, that was still playing games online. But I think I've told you enough about my relationship with Karu. Let's go over where I was in 2022. It was simultaneously paradise and hell. It's a little place that both made my dreams a reality and crushed them to bits. A floating castle called Aincrad in a VRMMORPG called Sword Art Online for the new Virtual Reality gaming console called the Nerve Gear. How about we go over what happened on January 20, 2023.

I was, of course, in SAO. Floor 19 to be exact. I was surrounded by some strong bear-like monsters and no matter how many sword skills I used I never killed any of them. I thought it was all over. I thought these monsters were going to kill me.

"Somebody please help me!" I shouted. When nothing happened I curled into a ball and cried, waiting for the monsters to kill me. Then, similar to the Nerve Gear thing from earlier, something happened that was both a miracle and a bad omen.

"Phantom Strike!" someone yelled. I didn't see who it was. Suddenly, a flash of black seemingly phased through one of the monsters and a giant purple shard appeared through it. Another dark flash and another big shard through another one of the monsters. Eventually, all of the monsters were impaled by giant purple spikes. They all exploded, killing the monsters. I was so shocked and relieved. I looked around for whoever saved me. There was a person in a long black jacket in the middle of the clearing. That was the guy that helped me. I got up to walk to him but, when he turned around, I realized that my savior was a face I thought I would never get to see again. It was Hikaru. I was overjoyed to see him, but he looked less than thrilled to see me.

"Oh, it's just you. I thought you were someone else," he said, turning to walk away. He stopped for a couple seconds, sighed, and opened his menu. A red stick appeared in his hand and he tossed it to me. It was a flare.

"Just don't set anything on fire." With that, he walked off, seemingly blending in with the shadows caused by the light reflecting from the moon. I wanted to follow him, but what if he caught me? He would be so pissed. What would I do if I did follow him anyway? I wasn't sure why, but I decided to follow him. He walked to town and went to the teleportation stone. I made the stupidest mistake of my life and, just as the teleportation ceased, I ran into the platform. To my surprise I was teleported to the same place Karu went. As I got there Karu was already stepping down from the platform. I hid before he felt my presence. He walked to the inn and entered the building. I had no idea what floor I was on, so I opened my menu and had to keep myself from fainting.

I was on floor 58. 58! I was only level 30 at this point! Being the same level as the floor number was bad enough; the floor number was almost twice my level! I'm so stupid. Now that I think about it I was more dead than stupid. I frantically ran onto the teleportation platform and tried to teleport to floor 19. Nothing happened. Since the floor number was higher than my level I shouldn't be allowed to teleport here. Since I normally can't get in on my own, I can't get out on my own either. I was stuck here. Since I didn't want to sound stupid I didn't ask anyone around for help. Instead, I went into the inn. I walked to the counter.

"A couple minutes ago, a player wearing a black jacket came in here. His name is most likely Hikaru. Can you tell me what room he's staying in?" I said to the NPC at the counter.

"For the disclosure of a player's room number, I am charging 1,000 col," he said. I paid him and he told me where Karu was.

"The player Hikaru is staying in room 450."

"Thanks." I went up the stairs to the fourth floor and walked down the hall until I found room 450. I could hear talking inside. I stood outside with my ear against the door for a little while. It sounded like three other people besides Karu were in there. "Who else is in there?" I asked myself. I listened very closely.

"What did you say about floor 35?" I heard Karu ask one of the other people in the room.

"On Christmas Eve of this year there will be an event on floor 35. I don't know what we'll be able to get from it but it must be pretty special for it to happen only once on Christmas Eve," another voice said. I was surprised to find that it was a female voice. Karu has been traveling with a girl? Am I completely out of the picture?

"I say we talk about grinding. Today, we all split up and grinded in the fields. How did all of you do?" said a male voice that I thought sounded familiar. I couldn't remember who it was though. "I gained four levels. Now I'm level 42!"

"I gained five. I'm at level 40 now," said a different female voice.

"I started at level 32 and stopped at 35, so I gained three," said the same female voice from before, "What about you, Hikaru? How many levels did you get?"

"I got one."

"I can never remember, so what level are you now?"

"Let me see…" the menu opening sound rang, "I am… level 72 now." 72!? What are you doing on floor 58 with these low-level wimps? And why haven't you cleared the game yet?

"Also I got this really cool and rare weap…" Karu stopped talking. Everything on the other side of the door was silent. I wondered if something happened. I waited for about ten seconds. Then, the door flew open, pushing me to the ground. Karu grabbed me from around the edge of the door and flung me on one of the beds in the room. As I rolled onto my back I saw that Karu's sword was pointed at my nose and my heart skipped a beat. He sighed when he realized it was me.

"Ai, what the hell are you doing here?!"

END OF CHAPTER XI