A/N: Yeah, I know this took awhile, but I've been focusing on To Hyrule and Back Again. Anyways, the actual plot of the story hasn't started developing just yet; right now, I'm mainly going to set the scene, set up possible conflict, add a hint of mystery, and introduce & develop characters. Then, y'know, it'll start moving forward. Also, chapters in this story will be shorter than the ones in To Hyrule and Back Again, just a heads-up.


Sword Art Online Restarted

Part 1: Alexandria

Chapter 1: New Game

Kirito's Point of View

-then-

It's a horrible thing to do.

I'm sacrificing so many people's lives, just for Asuna.

When did I become so selfish? I ask myself.

I won't even remember her…

"Kayaba," I say. He turns his head towards me. "Can I talk to her before it… it starts?"

"I'm afraid not," he replies. "I can give you this, though." He raises his hand and a small piece of paper appears. He hands it to me.

It's a picture of her…

I stare at it, nearly breaking into tears.

"Give me a pen," I demand. He forms one and gives it to me. I turn the paper over and write the words "FIND ME" on the back.

I'll find you, Asuna. Even if I don't know you, and you don't know me.

But I will.

-now-

Year 1, Day 1

Floor 1

I still haven't come to terms with what I've just been told.

Is it even possible?

I don't know, but I sure do hope not, I think as I run across a rugged, grassy terrain, dodging monsters left and right. There's not a town in sight, and a safe zone is all I'm looking for. The digital sun heavily shines on my face, like the real sun, and the grass I'm sprinting through is trampled by my shoes, likes real grass.

It's impressive, I think.

To think a grand game like this is being used for trapping so many people…

At least you can't die, I think.

A real, evil mastermind would do something like if we were to die in the game, we'd die in real life. At least that's not the case.

After running a long way I eventually find myself in a large town, with only NPCs in sight. "Would you like a sword, sir?" one asks me as I carefully walk by. I turn my head towards the NPC in some kind of weapons hut, and pick a generic beginner's sword. "You now have 200 gold. Thanks!" it tells me as I'm handed the sword, along with a free scabbard to hold my sword. A prompt abruptly greets me, saying, "Sword Name?"

You couldn't name swords in the beta, I think.

Neat.

I type in the first name that comes to mind: "Restructor". I'm pretty sure that's not a real word. I sheathe my new blade and continue traversing the new city.

Looks like I'm the first one in this city.

Despite nearly all of the NPCs nicely greeting me when I walk by, it just feels… unwelcome. The hotels, spanning multiple floors high, with nobody occupying any of the rooms; the taverns and restaurants, not a soul in any of them; nobody roaming the streets, either. Except for me, of course.

I've run so far, farther than most, probably. I'm guessing everybody else has flocked to some other town close to that coliseum.

My own little town.

Heh.

Anyways, after lurking around the city a little bit longer, I decide to go back outside of the city limits and fight some monsters. I jog until the grassy plains comes into sight, and then sprint past the obnoxiously loud NPCs and begin slashing at every monster I see. I easily beat every one in sight. I dodge all of their attacks. None of the monsters can even touch me; even when they gang up in a large crowd and attack me at once, I somehow always prevail unscathed.

They've definitely added more monsters, I think, as they die and respawn extremely fast. This area seems to be crawling with them. All are extremely easy to kill, which I eventually assume is because I'm only on floor one of Castle Aincrad.

Speaking of Castle Aincrad, I wonder where the tower is that transports you up the different floors are?

Wait, I'm an idiot.

I swipe down in the air and I'm greeted by the menu. I tap on Inventory to see my Restructor Sword, the picture of that girl, and what looks like a teleport crystal. I hold it up and study it, and while it seems like I've never held it in my life, I feel like I know how it works. Kayaba barely told the SAO playerbase anything, except that we're trapped here; maybe I used one in the beta?

I don't know.

The "logout" button catches my attention from the corner of my eye, and I tap it, only to receive no sort of response. Oh, no. I tap again. Nothing happens. After trying a few more times, I'm finally convinced I'm trapped in this game for real.

. . .

Year 1, Day 1

Floor 1

Alexandria, a town with a bustling community, just outside of the coliseum

I stare down at the picture of the girl with the words "FIND ME" on the back, pondering over where it came from, who she is, and why I found it in my pocket earlier. I guess it's one of the many mysteries of this game that will keep me going.

Alexandria, the fast-growing town I transported to earlier, already has apartments filled up to the max, and seems to be the most populous city on the first floor. I have a feeling it's gonna stay that way. As I strut through the crowded streets, with parties forming all around me and entire guild discussions taking place, I decide to try and join in with a seemingly nice group.

They're sitting outside what looks like the exterior of a coffee shop, and I tap on one of their shoulders and a small, yet kind-of scary-looking guy turns his head, and says, "Yeah?"

"I-I'm looking for a guild. Can I possibly join your guild?"

He turns his body around a bit more, and the team's discussion goes on pause, their eyes all directed at me.

"I don't know, can you?" he sarcastically replies.

"Laker, don't be an asshole," the blonde girl sitting across from him retorts.

"Fine, fine. Anyway, uh, dude… you play the beta? Looks like you've got quite the items already."

"Yeah, I played the beta, but I don't remember that much."

"The beta was last week."

"I… I have a bad memory. So, can I join?"

"You can join… on one condition."

"Hm?"

"I want one of those items."

"Seriously?" the same girl says. "You don't have to give him anything, Kirito. He's just messing around."

"Nah, nah, it's fine, uh… here," I say, as I pull out the FIND ME note, "I don't know what this is but you can have it," I reply, knowing he wanted one of my more valuable items.

"Loopholin' bastard. I like your style. Welcome to the guild."

. . .

Alright, there are five members of the guild I've just joined:

Laker, the sarcastic asshole who's the leader of the guild. Apparently he can get serious in an instant, but for the most part he'll retort anything and everything people say.

July (pronounced "joo-lee")(female), the second-in-command that doesn't like putting up with Laker's crap yet follows him around everywhere he goes. Probably secretly likes Laker.

Lonius, Laker's older brother who seems to be taking the game seriously even before he knew we were trapped in here. Puts up with Laker's attitude but seems to be secretly jealous of his skills.

Mell, a girl who barely knows anybody else in the guild except for July, and is only playing because July convinced her to. Not much else is known.

xGabrielx (prefers to be called Gabe), a guy who just hangs out with Laker & July at their school.

Not much is known about Gabe either because he's the one who told me all of this not too long ago. Seems like a pretty cool group; however, I don't like being the outlier. They all already (kinda) know each other.

Eh, I'll get over it.

I'm currently in the apartment we all pitched in gold to rent for some time, and it includes a bit of furniture, but not enough according to Laker, so he's set out to find some. July went with him because she thinks he'll buy something stupid.

"So, uh, Kirito, where ya from?" Gabe asks. We're sitting in what's probably the living room, though it may be changed later.

"Tokyo."

"Cool. You say you're a beta tester?"

"Yep."

"How'd you get in?"

"I got sent an email randomly. Are there any more questions? I'm kinda feelin' hungry."

"But you're in a video game."

"Holy crap… I just realized… How are we supposed to eat if we're trapped in this game?"

"I have no idea."

. . .

There's an uproar in the city.

They're all shouting, "LET US OUT! LET US OUT!" in what seems to be the town square; more and more players join in by the minute.

That's not going to get them anywhere, I think. Gabe and July join after a few minutes, and before I know it the entire town is in on it. They're chanting at different times, and instead of trying to protest something these dweebs look like they're just making a mess. I take a closer look at the scene, walking out of the apartment building and directly into the angry crowd as they begin almost screaming.

"Kirito!" July calls out. She runs up to me, and asks, "Why aren't you chanting? We need as many people as we can get!"

"I don't think it's really going to do anything… Besides, if it does get the GameMaster's attention, what do you expect him to do?"

"I don't know, but I want something!" I replies before joining back in the mob-chant.

I think instead of trying something that will inevitably fail these players should focus on the game and how to beat it; the faster it's beat, the faster we get home.

Sometimes I feel like logic is nonexistent within some people.

I sigh, and begin walking away from the town square, as I start to feel hungry, and a thought comes to mind: Is this feeling supposed to be that I'm hungry in real life, or in the game?

I'm gonna go eat something either way.

So, I strut into a restaurant, knowing nobody's probably going to be there because all of the Alexandrians are out wasting there time, only to see that girl Mell sitting at a table alone. She has long, brown hair, green eyes, and is just a tad taller than I. No armor on her, though I don't have any either.

"Mell," I say, when she quickly turns her head and looks at me in a surprised manner.

"Ki-kirito?"

"Why aren't you out there chanting with the rest of 'em?" I ask her as I walk up to the NPC restaurant owner, choosing what to order.

"Because I think it's stupid," she replies. "What is the game creator gonna do? All I can see him doing is muting them for a bit."

"Finally, someone agrees!" I happily say, as I clutch my large coffee cup and my buttery biscuit, taking a seat across from Mell.

"Are we the only ones not wasting their time out there?" I ask her.

"Don't know… At least I know there are other cities with less stupid people."

"Thought everyone piled up in this city."

"No. They did at first, then they started travelling to other cities, and some went to check out this floor's dungeon."

"Yeah… also, when are we going to pick our avatar?"

"Don't know, don't care. I honestly prefer it this way."

"I don't. Look at me, a scrawny fourteen year-old."

"Well, Mr. scrawny fourteen year old, maybe you shouldn't use a game to mask that insecurity."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, I guess you're right, Mell… By the way, what's your surname?"

"I'd rather not tell anybody. Mell isn't my first name either, I like to keep things private."

"Understandable."

A minute or two later, after I gobble down my biscuit, Mell looks like she's about to say something, and I look up at her. Her mouth moves like she's speaking, but nothing's coming out. Then, I see a mute symbol above her head, and say, "You're muted!"

But I don't hear my own voice, nor does Mell respond. She looks just above my head with a weird expression before she realizes what's going on too. We simultaneously stand up, bewildered, when a thought comes to mind: the protest. The GameMaster must've muted everybody to put an end to it, like Mell said before.

Dammit, I knew nothing good would come out of that stupid protest, I think. Maybe we'll get some answers?

Whilst in thought, I look down to see my hand, noticing an odd green ring on my index finger. I study it, and then it glows green for a second, followed by my hand, glowing green, then my whole body - before I know it, I'm back in the coliseum I was in earlier today, followed by a plethora of other players being transported here as well.

Another announcement?

The GameMaster's already here, looming over us, the weak, ignorant playerbase he's in control of… and then he starts speaking.

"Greetings," he starts. His voice echos through the otherwise silent coliseum.

"I know there is some wild havoc and confusion, so I want to set things straight before things go off the rails: there is nothing you can do to logout of this game, and there's no way for me to log you out, either. The only way you, as the player, can survive this game is if you beat it. Am I clear?"

'Survive'...?

"Let me inform you of something else as equally important: if someone from the real world attempts to remove your NerveGear, you will perish. If, somehow & some way you're able to hack past the darkened out logout button, you will perish. If you die in the game, you also die in real life."

WHAT

"The only way to escape is for all of you to beat all 100 levels of Castle Aincrad by going through the dungeons and clearing each floor. You may be wondering why I'm doing this... I want you to know I'm in complete control of whether you live or die, so I suggest you do not try anything: I'm actually being kind, here. And, for the beta testers, you're in for a surprise."

"Safe zones no longer exist."

Asuna's Point of View

-then-

"Asuna, I want you to find me. I know you won't remember me, and I won't remember you, but I… I… I want to meet you again. I want to become friends with you again… I want to fall in love with you all over again. I'm going to wear this green ring the GameMaster's allowed me to take into the game… here, I'll give you the red one."

I can't see him, but I can hear him. Apparently only he's allowed to see anything right now, and all of the other players are unconscious.

"I'm going to write you a note and ask Kayaba to place it in your pocket one SAO restarts. I have one, too."

I wish I could tell him I love him. That's all I want to do right now…

"Asuna, I love you, and good luck," he says, before whiteness dominates my vision.


A/N: Thanks for reading! As I said, the story's just starting out, so the pace will be a bit slow at first. Can't rush into a complicated plot out of nowhere.

Don't forget to review, favorite, and/or follow, those three things are greatly appreciated.

Twitter: byzeldro

Tumblr: zeldro

^^ I post updates about my fanfictions on these two accounts, mainly Twitter; I sometimes do polls that influence the coming chapters, and post exclusive previews there.


Review Response for Chapter 0: Prologue

Sockmonkey794: I like the story so far and I'm excited to read what will happen next.

Thank you, and I can't wait for you and everybody else to see what I have planned for this story!

Gussy Phantom: This was great! I really like the concept of the story. I would really like to see this continued. It would be lots of fun to see how you write this! Keep up the great work!

Thanks! This is a side project as of now, but that might be subject to change.

Guest "Hopeful Pain": Oh man, I can tell that this story probably ain't gonna be pretty for many parts. One can hope that certain events might change for the better (perhaps a sense of "deja vu" might allow certain events like the Moonlit Black Cats to be avoided or at least less lethal while Yui might attempt to contact Kirito and Asuna earlier to act as a source of both hope and worry), but I can't be too sure quite yet...

Whatever you do, good luck.

Events that took place in the original SAO will have a great impact on this story, including sudden deja vu/flashbacks, I will tell you that. Thanks for the review, anon.

Radenshire: Only watched season one of this anime, but I'm still gonna read this. Wonder how this story will come along.

Takes place after s1, so you're fine.