It's been five months since I logged off Sword Art Online. When I first woke up after that last fight, I could barely move. Three years of lying motionless in a bed will do that to you. Muscle atrophy really sucks. Fortunately, physical therapy got me back on my feet after a few months, though it did take me a while to get used to a slightly taller body. While I was in SAO, my body in real life grew about three inches, bringing me to the same height as my brother.
Speaking of Kichiro, and the rest of my family, they were incredibly happy to see me, as well as proud of what I'd done. After the world realized that every player in SAO was trapped, Kichiro felt so guilty that he turned all his energy into finding a way to get me out of SAO without killing me. Obviously, this proved to be impossible. Kayaba Akihiko had uploaded his consciousness into the SAO server, as a sentient computer virus.
However, my older brother and others like him devised a way to observe the world of Aincrad from outside. This proved to be the key to our survival. Seven months into the SAO Incident, as it came to be known, the government very nearly decided to pull the plug on life support for those who had been trapped in the game. However, Kichiro and the others who opened up a window into SAO revealed that we were fighting to get through the game, that we were doing our best on our side to end the nightmare. The government had no choice then but to keep the players on life support. So in a way, my brother saved my life.
He and I are actually headed to the reunion party now. Yeah, after all that happened, we're finally going to celebrate. All the Clearers, as well as the guys who made it possible for the outside world to watch us, have been invited to the Dicey Cafe, owned by Andrew Gilbert Mills, who you might know as Agil.
Oh yeah, Agil's alive. Every player who died during the game is still alive. Turns out Kayaba lied to us when he told us that we'd die in real life if we died in-game. What actually happened was that you became a ghost, unable to interact with the living players for the most part, but still in the game. And when we beat SAO, they were able to log off as well. Only twenty-six people died as a result of the SAO incident, when their Nerve Gear was forcibly removed. Twenty-seven if you count Kayaba Akihiko himself, since he fried his own brain when he uploaded his consciousness into the SAO servers. Though, he's probably still around somewhere online, so I don't consider him to be dead.
"Looks like this is the place." Kichiro interrupts my brooding. I look up to see a plain wooden exterior, with a pale red wood door set into it. It doesn't look very impressive, I have to say. Kichiro pushes the door open, and I follow him in.
"NAITAMA!" As soon as I walk in, I'm met with a huge cheer. Around thirty people are crammed into the tiny cafe. Most of them I recognize as Clearers, though there's a small group in the corner that my brother and Khai are with that I don't recognize. They must be the people Kichiro worked with.
"You're late, man!" A tall man with brown hair wearing a red bandana on his forehead grabs me in a headlock. "We've been waiting for ages!"
"Let him go, Klein." An even taller man with dark skin calls from the bar. Whether in the SAO or the real world, Agil is still the tallest guy around. "He's only five minutes late, and we're still waiting on Kirito and a few others."
"Kirito?" I look around to see that my friend is indeed missing. "That's odd, he left school before I did." Kirito, or rather Kazuto, and I both attend the SAO Survivor school, a specialized school in Tokyo for players who were underage when the game started and need to catch up on their education.
"He had to go pick up Asuna." Silica pipes up. She's also a student at the SAO Survivor School, though I haven't interacted with her much.
As if on cue, the door swings open, and Kirito walks in, supporting Asuna. She still can't walk very well, having only come out of her FullDive about a month ago, but once she finishes physical therapy, she'll join the rest of us at school. "Sorry I'm late!" Kirito smiles.
"Great, you're here!" Klein raises his drink over his head. "Let's get this party started!"
Before long, the room is filled with loud chatter, and I find myself at the bar. "One bourbon, please." Agil hands me a cup of oolong tea instead.
"You might be a hero, and part of the reason we're all here today." Agil rumbles. "But you're still underage."
"One bourbon please." Klein leans on the bar beside me. Much to my disappointment, Agil gives him what he ordered. "I'm not going to work overtime without alcohol."
"That can't be healthy." Silica remarks.
"Well, what do you know about alcohol?" Klein smiles, sipping his bourbon.
"Not much." Silica admits.
"Say, Silica, what's your real name?" I ask. I can't go on calling her by her in game name forever.
"Ayano Keiko." She orders a soda from Agil, before turning to me. "My family has a tradition of naming children after elements, that's why I chose Silica as my gamer ID. I'm named for the element silicon."
"Nice." I comment. It's an interesting tidbit, not that I really wanted to know.
"What about you? Why go with Naitama?"
"Well, my real name's Tanaka Niten, and there was this show I watched a lot as a kid, One Punch Man. The main character's name was Saitama, so I just based my name off his." I shrug.
"Oh, I used to love that show!" Keiko exclaims. "I always wanted to be like that psychic, Tatsumaki!"
Keiko and I begin chattering happily about old anime that we watched as children. Around us, players who fought alongside one another in virtual reality greet each other in the real world, often exclaiming with shock how different they look. I even spot Urian, who does have long golden hair. He and I nod to one another, and leave it at that.
My name is Tanaka Niten, and I am eighteen years old. I don't need to remind myself every day anymore though. I'm back in the real world. I'll never forget the three years I spent in Sword Art Online, or the people I met during that time. How could I? It's gonna stay with me for the rest of my life.
A/N: What a journey it has been. SAO Eternal was not the first fanfiction I ever wrote, but it was one of the first that I started. It's been over a year, and a lot has happened since I first came up with the idea of what if Kirito never realized the truth about Heathcliff on the 75th floor? What if the players were forced to keep on going, playing the game the way Kayaba intended them to? What were the other Unique Skills besides Dual Wield and Holy Sword?
At first, I did toy with the idea of telling this story from the perspective of an existing player, such as Kirito, or perhaps Klein. But ultimately, I decided on an original character instead, and that ended up changing a lot of the story, as well as SAO lore. After all, there aren't supposed to be ranged weapons in SAO besides throwing knives, yet I made the main character use a bow and arrows as his primary weapon. And Yui is still around! What was up with that?
Since SAO Eternal was told from the POV of Naitama, he's not gonna know about everything Kirito does. Long story short, Kirito, Asuna, and Yui managed to escape the Fatal Scythe boss by teleporting out of the dungeon. Consequently, Kirito never learns that it is possible for an in-game character avatar to be an Immortal Object, and doesn't manage to put two and two together regarding Heathcliff, setting in motion the events of SAO Eternal and leading to the discovery of Unique Skills.
The Unique Skills are something I'm particularly proud of. Some, like Battoujutsu, Infinite Spear, Shurikenjutsu, and Darkness Blade were actually conceptualized by Reki Kawahara, though I did change the requirements for players to obtain said skills. I believe Battoujutsu and Shurikenjutsu were originally supposed to be given upon the completion of the katana and shuriken skills, respectively. Darkness Blade was supposed to be given to the player with the most PKs, but that would have been problematic, wouldn't it? The other Unique Skills, like Unbreaking Shield, Extrasensory, Blazing Fists, and Eternal Life were my own creations.
There may be occasional updates to this story after this epilogue, probably detailing how background characters like Alina, Kotona, Jaina, and Urian obtained their Unique Skills, as well as fleshing out their characters a bit more. I don't have a sequel planned, though it's not impossible Naitama picked up ALO...