Chapter Three- Entering the World of Gun Gale Online!

I stood inside Alfheim Online together with Yuuki, Luke and Shannon and waited for what I thought was going to be an obvious answer. A few long silent seconds past before Yuuki grinned and placed her hand on my shoulder. I raised my head and looked at her smiling face with surprise.

"Of course I will babe! I would do anything for you because I love you" Yuuki said with her signature cheerful grin.

I stared back at her bewildered "But you guys could be risking your life to investigate this with me, your real lives could be at risk again just like Aincrad!" I cried out as quietly as I could so I didn't alert any of the others who were standing around and chatting nearby.

Luke scoffed lightly and turned his back to me "Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't you also risking your life to investigate these deaths inside GGO too, so why is that any different to Yuuki or us accompanying you?" Luke asked with deadly seriousness.

I opened my mouth to respond, but then I realised he was right and closed it again. Them entering Gun Gale Online to investigate these deaths wouldn't be much different from myself doing it. The only real difference was that I was asked too by the government and they were not.

"We…well the main difference is that I got asked to investigate these deaths by Seijirou Kikuoka, that man from the government" I eventually managed to respond.

Yuuki raised her eyebrow in confusion "You mean the man who visited our rooms while we were trapped in Aincrad and spoke with both our families?"

"The very same, he said it has his bosses and himself troubled and he said he doubts its real but just to be safe he wanted to send in someone who is an experienced virtual reality gamer and someone who he knows he can trust" I replied with a slight sigh.

Yuuki placed her hand firmly on my shoulder. I looked at her when she suddenly cuddled me tightly "Well I'll help you no matter what it is babe, and besides even if our lives would be in danger then this way I can protect you so we both have a better chance to come back to this world and the real world together" Yuuki stated firmly as she placed her hands on her hips.

I chuckled lightly with a reassured look on my face. When Yuuki got like that there was no stopping her, reluctantly I nodded my head and kissed her gently on the forehead which made her blush bright red- she still wasn't fully used to public signs of affection even after a year of dating.

I turned to Luke who still had his back to me and was looking up at the sky of Alfheim Online. After a few tense seconds of silence he turned around and looked at me without a shred of emotion on his face- typical Luke attitude. He walked towards me and stopped directly behind me "I was just taking one last look at this beautiful sky in case I don't return here again, but of course I'm in and this time I don't plan on letting you have all the fun got that asshole?" Luke said sternly with a slight smile on his face.

I chuckled and smirked thinly in response "Got it, partner" I responded. I looked at Shannon wondering what her answer would be. She smiled warmly and nodded her head before I even had the chance to speak.

"Of course I'll help you there's no need to ask me" Shannon said with a warm smile.

I smiled back at the three people around me "Thank you so much guys! This means a lot to me" I said honestly and warmly.

We all gathered around in a small circle separate away from the rest of our friend group. We sat for a while barley speaking as we tried to think of the upcoming possible dangerous investigation into Gun Gale Online. Suddenly after a few minutes the silence was broken by Luke.

"So Jake, I know we agreed to help you and all, but where would we dive from and how would we get to it?" Luke asked curiously with a raised eyebrow.

I smiled expectedly "Well I'll dive out soon and let Kikuoka know you'll be joining me then he'll tell me where we'll be diving from" I replied simply.

Yuuki who had her head resting on my lap sat up and threw her arms around me and hugged me so tightly I thought she was draining my HP. "You're so amazing but when we do this you better be careful do you hear me?" Yuuki said seriously with a both a fierce and worried look on her face.

I smiled warmly and hugged her back tightly for a few seconds before I pulled away and gently kissed her on the lips which caused her to blush red with embarrassment "Of course I will Yuuki baby you have my word!" I vowed honestly- I wouldn't do anything to make her worry again and I would protect her. No matter what it took!

Shannon was laying on the ground twirling a blade of grass between her fingers when suddenly she sat up "Hey Jake just a thought but doesn't Kikuoka play ALO?" Shannon asked questioningly.

I raised my eyebrow thoughtful for a moment then nodded my head "I think so… oh wait you mean I can just message him in ALO rather than logging out just to ask him a question then having to log back in" I grinned slightly. I opened my menu, selected my friends list, and messaged Seijirou Kikuoka also known in Alfheim Online as Chrysheight, the message read:

"Hey Kikuoka, I spoke to Yuuki, Shannon and Luke and they're willing to help me with the investigation they need AmuSphere's and a safe and secure place to dive from"

A few moments later a message icon appeared on my display. Sensing who it was from I tapped the icon and the message appeared in front of my face, it read:

"Hello Jake, nice to see you was able to get them to agree to help you, not that I assumed it would take much to get their assistance given how close you are to them, well of course I can arrange that, I know the closest hospital to you is the LGI, the closest hospital to Yuuki Konno is St James's although the LGI isn't too far way either but for simplicities sake we'll set up her diving point from St James's, the closest hospital to Shannon and Luke is the Bradford Royal Infirmary so they're diving points will be from there, don't worry they'll be in separate rooms with nurses to monitor their bodies and make sure they're safe of course"

I tapped the reply button which made a message panel open up, I typed a message in response to Kikuoka, the message read:

"That's fine thanks Kikuoka, when do we have to be at the hospitals to dive? Also I'm guessing since our investigation is separate to Kirito's he'll be diving from another hospital?"

A minute later I received a reply message from Kikuoka, it read:

"There isn't a specific time but the rooms will be available around 11am so anytime around then would be okay text me when you've arrived at the hospital and especially when you're about to dive well speak to you tomorrow, good luck… and thank you again"

I quickly sent one last reply message and told the three others of what Kikuoka had told me about the diving locations and the time we would be able to dive from. We all agreed to get to our hospital rooms around the same time, which we agreed would be 11:20am. We planned to meet up as soon as we logged into Gun Gale Online.

With that we said our goodbyes to each other and the rest of our friends, they all seemed disappointed we were leaving so soon especially without talking with them much. I promised we would be back soon and we would talk and play with them as much as they wanted then. This made them happier, especially Silica and Lisbeth who made Yuuki promise the same thing, which she did without any resistance and a genuine smile. When we had said our goodbye's we logged out and prepared ourselves for the day ahead.

*October 16th 2025, Outside the LGI Hospital, 11:15am*

I arrived at the hospital five minutes before the arranged time due to there being little traffic on the road into Leeds City Centre where my hospital is located. I checked my phone as I took my earphones out of my ears, unplugged them, and placed them inside my pocket. I had three texts from Yuuki, Luke and Shannon. I quickly responded to their texts telling them I was entering the LGI and I would see them each inside Gun Gale Online soon. They all responded to me, even Luke did in his own gruff and antisocial way which surprised me slightly. I placed my phone inside my pocket and headed inside. Once inside the LGI I checked in with the receptionist. I told her I was here on official business from Mr Kikuoka and she welcomed me warmly, she asked if I needed directions to the room, I had to go to but I told her I knew where I needed to go.

I walked down the hallway on the way to the room I had been assigned too. Kikuoka had told me which room I had to go too this morning when I set off once I texted him like he had asked me too. A couple of minutes later I was stood outside room 50E, the room I was going to be diving into Gun Gale Online from, luckily it was relatively far away from other patients rooms. I slowly raised my hand and knocked on the door.

"You can come in if it's who I think it is" said a voice from inside the room.

I opened the door and stepped inside the hospital room. I was greeted by a young nurse. She had brown curly hair, green eyes, and a lovely warm smile. It took me a moment to realise where I had seen her before- she had been one of the nurses who had helped me with my rehabilitation- her name was Lucy Amelia.

"Hello nurse Lucy it's been a while, I didn't expect to see you here" I said kindly with a warm smile.

"Well I got a call from Seijirou Kikuoka the man in charge of the Sword Art Online incident, he asked me to supervise you while you dived into Gun Gale Online to investigate these deaths" Lucy replied simply with a warm smile.

I walked further into the room. I spotted a AmuSphere placed on a small bedside table next to a big hospital bed with machines next to it with electrodes lying on the bed. I also noticed a small sink on the left-hand side of the room.

"Can I dive into the game now miss Lucy?" I questioned the nurse who was stood beside me.

"Sure thing it's all set up" Lucy replied with a pleasant warm smile.

I walked towards the bed and took of my shirt. I placed my shirt on the small bedside table then I climbed onto the bed and laid down. I connected the electrodes up to my body in the necessary places, I then grabbed the AmuSphere and placed it on my head and pulled it down over my eyes. I turned to my nurse Lucy and smiled thankfully.

"I'm about to dive now, I don't see this taking more than 4 hours or so" I said with a thankful smile.

Lucy nodded her head "No problem sweetheart good luck, come back alive understand?" She said with a slight hint of worry in her voice.

I smiled kindly "I will don't worry; I can't die now anyway" I said sternly as I clenched my hand into a fist firmly.

Lucy smiled warmly and nodded her head "Right of course, you have a girlfriend to look out for don't you sweetie?" She asked nicely.

I nodded my head "Yeah I do, although in the virtual world she doesn't need my help she's stronger than me but in the real world or the virtual world it doesn't matter which world it's in I'll protect her with everything I can because that's my job as her boyfriend isn't it?" I asked with a light chuckle and a large grin plastered on my face.

Lucy nodded her head and giggled at my grinning face "It sure is sweetie, she's a lucky girl and you're a lucky guy" She said with a smile "Now get going otherwise you'll miss the time you was meant to meet up with everyone, good luck" Lucy added with a firm look on her face.

I nodded my head and laid down on the bed. The AmuSphere asked me to create an account because it wasn't my personal AmuSphere, and it had never been used for Gun Gale Online. I used the virtual keyboard to input my username "Jake" then I created a password. Once that process was completed, I closed my eyes and waited a few seconds before calling out the words that would send me into the world of Gun Gale Online.

"Link Start!"

The AmuSphere activated and I blinded by coloured lights flashing past my eyes then I was logged into the world of Gun Gale Online. When I was successfully logged into this new virtual world, I looked around at my surroundings. I was stood in what appeared to be a teleporter- this must be the spawn point whenever someone logs into this game for the first time. I raised my hands above my face then looked at the clothes I was wearing. I was wearing a blue jacket with a red outfit underneath; I also had a strange pair of black gloves on my hands. I looked down at my feet, I had a pair of metal looking shin pads covering my knees and long black boots on my feet- this must my standard log in gear for this being my first time.

I looked around the area, I saw players wearing different types of armour, or outfits I suppose they were more commonly known as inside this game. I saw players chatting amongst themselves on this long stretch of walkaway, I noticed players were stood on the bridge higher above me. I looked to my right and I saw some steps which lead to that bridge and to other areas of this virtual world.

I looked at the bottom right-hand side of my interface. I saw my username and health bar in small white coloured bar. Even the HP bar and the username are coloured differently and are even different sizes in this game. I looked on the bottom left-hand side of the interface and noticed there was a temperature display. I raised my eyebrow in confusion- why would that be on the interface of a virtual reality game? I also noticed a clock above the temperature icon, it read 11:25 am. I stepped out of the teleporter and walked down the steps, I walked over to the railing along the walkway and stood against it.

It looks like they're late, I hoped nothing happened to them, but in the meantime, I'll just wait here for them so if they log into the game then they should enter through the teleporter like I did. I kept my head down and waited on my own not making eye contact with anyone- not wanting them to get the wrong idea and start trouble.

Suddenly after a few moments of waiting by the railing alone I heard some voices over to the right from me. I raised my head slowly and looked over in that direction to see what was going on. Two boys were surrounding a girl who had her hair in a ponytail, her hair was bright pink and she also wore a black crop top, black shorts which are covered by a belt, she also wore black and pink tights with white and pink knee high boots covering them mostly, she also was wearing a pink, white and black cloak. She also had a pink bag hanging on her right-hand side which was attached by a pink belt.

"Hey, come on baby doll, why don't you come with us and we'll show you some real fun inside this game hehe" Said the boy on her left side in a sleazy and creepy tone of voice.

"Yeah it'll be a lot of fun I promise you" Agreed the other boy on her right-hand side in a creepy and disgusting tone of voice- creeps of a feather. Utterly disgusting.

"I don't want to go with you two I already told you now please let me go, I have somewhere to go" Said the girl with a firm tone of voice. She tried to pull away but the boy on her left-hand side grabbed her arm and pulled her back close this his chest.

"Come on babe we have to show you to someone, our squadron leader wants to meet you I promise we won't hurt you and we won't keep you long either" Replied the boy on her left hand side as they begun to carry her away over a small raised platform which lead to a narrow looking alleyway.

I moved away from the railing sharply ready to follow them. I stopped momentarily and looked at the teleporter then at the clock on my display. It was now 11:30 am. If I wander off and they show up I might miss them which would be a problem. Suddenly I heard that girl trying to break free from the grip of those boys again only to be pulled back- a little harder this time and she cried in pain lightly, but light enough I could hear it from where I was stood. I decided I'd had enough, if one of them came through the teleporter hopefully they would wait for the others like I did. I left the railing and ran towards the girl being dragged away by the two repulsive boys.

"Hey, you two, let her go" I called out from behind them firmly with a serious tone of voice.

The boys turned around which forced the girl to turn around too. The boy on her left had her pulled by her hair while the one on her right was keeping close by- most likely to make sure she didn't run off again.

"What's it to you huh pal?" The boy on her left growled in both defence and slight annoyance.

I smirked slightly "Because you guys creeps who are forcing this girl to go somewhere with you that she obviously want to go, not only that but your saying creepy and quite frankly weird things that disgust me, you sound like you're going to force her to do nasty acts and I'm sure even you two cretins know what I'm on about" I replied with a look of disgust and shame on my face.

"Oh yeah wise guy huh, well what are going to do about it? By the look of your gear you look like a newbie so what can you do here?" Snickered the boy on her right.

I chuckled lightly before I focused my eyes on the two targets "I might be a newbie, but even despite that and despite this place being a safe zone, which I'm assuming it is I'll still kick your asses and make you let go of this girl" I replied simply but with a fierceness I had thought I had buried or forgotten about- the fierceness I had towards the creator of Sword Art Online- Akihiko Kayaba!

The boys begun to tremble slightly from fear. The boy who was holding the girl, by her ponytail loosened his grip slightly due to the trembling, this allowed the girl to quickly break away from them, she fell away but before she hit the ground she managed to dash quickly away until she was a safe distance away. When she was safe enough, I ran forward slightly and kicked the boy who was on her right-side square and firmly in the middle of the chest. The boy let out a loud yelp of both surprise and pain as he landed on the floor with a loud thud, the boy who had held the girl by her hair tried to charge me down, however before he had the chance I stepped out of the way of his lunge, once I was in the right position I grabbed his out stretched arm and pulled it back firmly and quickly which lifted him into the slightly, when he was high enough I threw him away from me. The taller boy landed on the floor next to his partner with a loud yelp of pain just like he did earlier.

I stopped in my tracks and looked at the two boys laying on the ground. I then looked at the girl who was stood by the railing of the raised walkway. She slowly walked towards me unsure of what to make of me- whether I potential friend or a potential enemy. I smirked acceptingly, this girl had good instincts and impressive skills and judgment I could tell that from her short actions just now and the way she held herself while keeping her eyes narrowly fixed on the exit if she had to make a quick getaway.

I chuckled lightly which caused the girl to intensify her guard. I looked at her and smiled warmly which caused her to raise her eyebrow unsure of what my next action was going to be.

"Your clearly quite skilled in virtual reality games, aren't you?" I chuckled as I looked at her with an honest and warm expression on my face.

The girl relaxed her guard and lowered her arms until they were down by her side, after a few more seconds she smiled slightly and nodded her head "Yeah I suppose I am, although the only virtual reality game I really play is this one, Gun Gale Online" Replied the pink haired girl in a friendly tone of voice.

"Oh really, so you got this skilled after only one VR game, well colour me impressed" I responded with a slight playful smirk.

The girl smirked and pointed at me in response "Well it clearly isn't your first time playing a VR game either I can tell that much from the way you handled those creeps" Said the girl as she pointed to the two defeated creeps on the floor groaning in pain.

I laughed slightly "Yeah I guess I did get a little carried away, oh well they shouldn't bother you anytime soon especially if I'm around" I responded with a smile. A second later I remembered something "Oh yeah sorry but I just remembered I didn't tell you my name, well my username at least, my name is Jake" I added with a sincere smile.

The girl frowned "I thought you said you was going to tell me your username?" She asked with a confused look on her face.

I chuckled expectedly "That is my username and my real name"

The girl looks at me with confusion "Why did you call your username your real name?" She asked questioningly.

"It's the same username from the other game I play that's all" I replied with a simple smile.

"Well that's a fair enough reason, well my name is Kureha" Kureha responded with a friendly smile.

"Nice to meet you Kureha, is it okay if I head back to the teleporter? I'm waiting for my friends" I questioned with a hand gesture towards the teleporter.

Kureha smiled and nodded her head "Sure I can wait with you if you want for helping me?" She asked nicely.

"Sure of course that would be nice" I replied happily.

We walked back to the teleporter and waited by the railing where I was before I dashed over to help out Kureha with them nasty boys. A few minutes later there was a bright blue flash of light from inside the teleporter which temporarily blinds us, when our eyes have recovered, we saw someone walk out of the teleporter and I smiled excitedly.

Yuuki's POV

I looked around at the area I had spawned into the game from, I saw loads of players wearing military style combat outfits which I assumed was this games version of armour. I noticed Jake standing there and I smiled excitedly and ran out of the teleporter and threw my arms around him.

"I missed you baby!" I exclaimed excitedly while I hugged him tightly.

"I missed you too babe… but your hugging me too tight" Jake managed to wheeze while he hugged me as tight as he can.

I realised how hard I was hugging him and released him instantly "Oops I'm sorry babe I got carried away" I exclaimed worriedly.

Jake chuckled and stroked my hair gently "It's okay baby I'm just glad your finally here that's all that matters"

"Yeah sorry about being late babe I got held up at the hospital because the receptionist wasn't sure if I was sent here on some business from the government so I had to show her the text from Kikuoka and eventually she believed me and allowed me to go to the room prepared for me" I replied apologetically.

"It's fine baby honestly, only me and you have arrived so far so we need to wait for Luke and Shannon so we're waiting here" Jake responded warmly.

"Sure thing babe they shouldn't be too much longer" I replied. I noticed a girl with pink hair in a ponytail stood next to my boyfriend "Oh my apologies I was so excited to see Jake I didn't even notice you I'm so sorry" I added apologetically with a polite bow.

"It's fine sweetie my name is Kureha, the reason why I'm waiting with your boyfriend is because I offered to show him and his friends where to buy armour and weapons seen as your all new to the game" Kureha replied warmly with a smile.

"Oh thank you so much Kureha my name is Yuuki, also before you ask yes that is my real name I picked it because it was the name I chose from the first VR game I played" I replied with a grin.

"It's okay, Yuuki huh that's a pretty name so was the first VR game you played the same as your boyfriends? I'm asking because he gave the same reason for his real name being his username" Kureha asked curiously.

"Erm yeah it was, it was a fantasy game" I slowly replied due to the memories of Sword Art Online coming back to haunt me.

Jake's POV

After Kureha and Yuuki had finished speaking I explained what happened with Kureha and the two creepy guys who tried to take her somewhere against her will. We then waited nearby the teleporter for Luke and Shannon to show up.

A few minutes later there was another bright blue flash of light from inside the teleporter. We waited a few seconds and smiled when we saw who walked out of the teleporter.

"Sorry I'm late guys hope I didn't keep you waiting too much!" Shannon exclaimed as she ran towards Yuuki and instantly hugged her. When the girls had finished with their embrace she turned and hugged me quickly too.

"It's alright Shannon you can fill us in when Luke arrives, if he hasn't bailed on us the jackass" I snorted only half-jokingly.

After I once again explained what happened with Kureha and the guys separately to Shannon, we all agreed to wait for the last remaining one of us to show up- Luke Lawton.

A few moments later there was another blue flash of light from inside the teleporter. We didn't have to wait to see who exited the teleporter because the person walked straight out and straight towards me.

"I would apologise for being late if I actually cared that I made you wait for me, but I couldn't care less" Said the antisocial person that I called my best friend- Luke Lawton.

"No of course not, I wouldn't expect anything less from you after all jackass" I grinned widely as I clenched my fist and put it in front of him.

Luke stared at my clenched fist for a few seconds before he smirked and bumped his closed fist against mine "Yeah well at least you know what you're getting when you asked me to help you out" Luke replied with a slight grin of his own.

"Of course I do!" I smirked.

A few moments after Luke arrived inside Gun Gale Online, we added each other to our friends list so it would be easier to contact each other during the investigation if necessary. Once we were all ready, I turned my attention to my new acquaintance Kureha.

"We're all ready now so sorry for the wait Kureha, is the offer to show us around and take to a weapon shop still open?" I questioned innocently but then I remember what she had said to them guys earlier "Of course if you have somewhere else to be it's no problem" I added not wanting to seem insensitive.

Kureha looked sternly at us for a few seconds which made me feel nervous, then she smiled and laughed lightly "Of course it is silly, I can still make it in time it's fine I have a while left until the meeting time besides, I wouldn't have waited this long if I wasn't planning on still helping you out" Kureha replied warmly with a smile.

"Thank you so much!" I exclaimed gratefully. I looked around the surrounding area looking for a place on this floor which could be a weapons shop.

Kureha noticed this and smiled "Nice try, but the weapons shop is up the stairs on the right from the teleporter, up the highway and on the left" Kureha explained with a smile on her face.

I smiled as we all followed Kureha up the nearby stairs which lead to a highway which we walked up and over until eventually we arrived at a shabby looking shop with a bright pink and blue coloured neon sign.

Kureha smiled and pulled down her menu and a second later closed it again "We still have a while until I have to meet my friend so we can go in if you like?" Kureha asked.

"Of course" I replied with a genuine smile. With that we all walked into the weapons shop in order for us to buy the equipment necessary to investigate this supposed murderer called Phantom Star!