''Ugh…so…cold…'' Konata groaned in agony as she slipped herself away from her computer chair, switching off her desktop for the evening. For her of course, this was a rarity. She often pretended to be ill so she could skip school, either because she had a new game she wanted to play, or she simply felt too lazy to go in. Yet this time around there was no way she could lie or pretend.
It was November 6th, 2007. Two days prior, Konata had woken up with a rather high fever and had to call out sick for the day. She had expected to be better in a day or so, seeing as her own immune system was quite strong for someone who wasn't all that active. Yet the fever had only worsened with each passing day and had now reached a point where she couldn't even play on her computer or read any manga without getting a serious headache. That, plus her body temperature rapidly changing from hot to cold and back to hot again had sent her normally calm and aloof mind into a spiral of discomfort, making most normal thoughts and actions a chore. Much to her dismay, the only option left for her was to rest, but even after only being ill for 2 days she felt sick and tired of doing so.
''Suppose I have no option left. Least Kuroi Sensai can't get mad at me this time…'' Slowly, the blue haired otaku made her way over to her bed, switching off the room light as she went, before climbing into her bed with some struggle. Every part of her body ached as she climbed in and pulled over the covers, sending another groan of discomfort out from her mouth, followed by a more satisfied sigh. She had a feeling she'd overheat soon enough, but for now her bed helped warm her cold body bit by bit, as well as allowing herself to relax.
The day before, she had been visited by Kagami, Tsukasa and Miyuki, who had offered her the best for her recovery. This in turn, had allowed them to inform Nanako that she was in fact actually sick, which had put an end to the angry calls from her homeroom teacher over her absence in class. ''Still…I'll be backed up on homework now, which gives Sensai more time keep reminding me. What a painnnnn!''
Konata turned over to her side before pulling the covers tighter around herself. The heat was starting to make her sleepy, as she felt her eye lids slowly starting to shut. ''Well…might as fell forget all that for now. Need to get better if I want to finish grinding to level 20 before the new event starts….'' With another sigh and a small yawn, Konata finally drifted off to sleep, hoping her condition would show signs of improvement by the time she woke up.
What happened next however was something she could of never expected. All of a sudden, her eyes shot open, only to find that her room was no longer enveloped in darkness. In fact, she wasn't even in her room anymore. The sight of white, puffy clouds filled her vision, surrounded by a wonderful blue sky. Far off, some strange creatures, rather like oversized birds or small dragons, beat their wings, slowly moving along with the breeze's current. She blinked, eyes wide with wonder, that is till she looked down towards her feet.
''AGH! W-where's the….how am I?'' Beneath her feet lay what looked to be a sea of mountains, all of them covered with greenery for as far as the eye could see. However from where she stood, she was high up in the clouds, floating upright on seemingly nothing. Her body stiffened, realizing that a single step forward could lead to a quick demise. Her mind no longer felt discomfort, but rather great fear. Where was she? Why was she up so high in the sky? But most importantly, who had brought her here.
Her final question was answered by a newcomers voice.
''Such a wonderful view up here, isn't it?'' they asked. Konata jumped, nearly losing her balance from the sudden interaction. Slowly, the blue haired otaku turned her head to see who was speaking to her. Her gaze was met with the sight of a tall man, likely somewhere in his mid to late 20s, wearing a long white lab coat. He sported short dark brown hair, which looked somewhat scruffy and unkempt. His eyes were a light brown, or at least that's what Konata thought. It was hard to tell since he wasn't looking towards her, but rather out towards the landscape far below.
''You can move. You will not fall from up here'' the man spoke, as if reading Konata's current fears. Taking his word, she sheepishly put a foot forward, thankfully finding that it didn't merely touch nothing. Now that she could move about, it was as if they were floating atop a massive piece of glass. But if such a thing was the case, then surely there would need to be supports holding it up. Konata couldn't see any in front of her, and a quick glance behind showed the same result. With this in mind, Konata quickly realized what was likely going on in this moment.
''I'm having a dream'' she said to herself, though she was startled when the mysterious man responded as if he'd read her thoughts once again. ''You could call it that. But this is no ordinary dream. What you are about to witness is the dawn of a new world.''
''A new…world?'' Konata asked, her curiosity peaking. ''Ohh! Do you mean a new world I can see in an upcoming anime? What is it, tell me, tell me!''
''It is a game world, but not like one you have ever experienced before. The virtual world and real world will soon be seen as one in the same.''
''OHHHH! Now I'm excited, please, show it to me, can I get early access. I'm sure to give all the feed back needed to improve it if any bugs show up!'' Konata's excitement was growing ever further. She didn't often remember her dreams, but she most certainly hoped she could remember this one. Her words of excitement were met by a mere sidelong glance from the white coated figure, before he looked forward once again, though this time his vision was more directed towards the ground beneath them. Konata followed his gaze, which allowed her to bare witness to a most spectacular sight.
The ever far stretching mountains and plains that had set the breathtaking backdrop for her whole dream were beginning to shift. All around, massive circular chunks of land began breaking away from the world below, slowly floating off the ground and up towards the heavens. Konata watched with utter disbelief as each circular chunk began to stack themselves atop each other, raising up higher and higher, soon enough surpassing the height of the floating glass platform she stood on. Each circle of land was smaller than the one below it, which as they grew in cumulative height slowly narrowed out the level of each land chunk. As they stacked, each one was rounded off by a large metal ring, enclosing the land chunks one by one. It was as if each circle was being sectioned off. As Konata awed at this fantastical sceptical, the man next to her spoke once again.
''The castle's name is ''Aincrad.'' A world of swords and battle that will swallow thousands of players up and hold onto their lives. Inside that castle, there are many floors. In each one, there are cities, forests and meadows that are spread throughout. There is a stairwell that you must climb to move up to the next floor, guarded by a deadly powerful boss at it's top. When you climb all those stairs, you will find a castle that looks out onto the world below. It will the ultimate test of strength, will and courage to clear the one hundred floors.''
''O-one hundred!?'' Konata exclaimed in shock. It was certainly far more than she would of expected for a leveled structure. Yet as she watched more and more of this supposed 'castle' forum itself, she began to see what the man spoke of. Each level, or floor as he called it, was filled with all sorts of structures and foliage, each one vastly different from the last. Positioned at random locations across each floor was a single tall spire of marble, which she presumed was the staircase he had spoken of. Then, finally, as the last of the structure finished it's magical construction, a large red ruby stone palace appeared, acting as the spire of the large cone. The walls were now finished, dark Grey in color, with some area's painted with strange white symbols.
All of this, massive in size as it was, seemed to be supported by a few mere outward facing spires, connected by long beams that connected to the cones base. Surrounding the cone itself could be seen a few small floating islands, remaining chunks of land that were too small to fit inside the castle itself. All in all, it was most certainly a very impressive structure, though Konata's first response to it's finished state was far from glamorous.
''Heh… it looks a little like a chocolate cornet.'' she snickered. The man did not laugh with her, but merely cracked a smile. ''Soon, the gaming industry will come to understand the importance of this world. It is not just another game, but another reality. The lives lost here will be real and irreplaceable. People will come to realize that they cannot simply 'log out' like any normal MMORPG would allow. They must clear the 100 floors and defeat the final boss within the Ruby Palace to escape back to the real world. That is assuming of course, they don't all die before they reach that end goal.''
''Wait…'' Konata stuttered, starting to worry that her dream of fantasy was about to turn into a nightmare of death. ''Doesn't that mean they are…trapped in the game? What happens if they die in game before clearing all the floors?''
''Then their life in both the virtual and real world, will come to an abrupt end.''
Konata gulped. The concept of ingame death had always been a staple in the MMORPG's she played. But this was taking that concept way too far. Yet despite this fear and disgust within her, her curious side still seemed to edge her on. While one side told her to run away as fast as she could, the other half of her mind said ''You want to see more of this world for yourself?''
''-Don't you?'' The man finished Konata's thoughts once again, before walking forward so he stood in front of Konata's vision. The great castle of Aincrad floated behind him, acting as an imposing backdrop for his final words.
''Young player. I offer you the chance of the lifetime. To play the greatest virtual game to have ever been created. I welcome you, to my world.''
Konata's rational began to kick in. Even with curiosity edging her on, she didn't want any more of this. The dream was starting to become a nightmare. She began to back up, wanting to keep distance between herself and the man, only to find that the massive glass like floor that had once supported her was no longer there. Her body's momentum was enough to send her hurtling off the edge and into the plunge towards the ground below. The wind speed picked up around her, howling and wailing like a demented banshee. She was now falling head first to her death.
Konata finally lost it. The normally level headed oktau screamed and shouted, flailing her arms with the hope of grabbing onto something. But of course, there was nothing to grab onto. Only the air was grasped in her palms, and it did little to slow her descent.
Faster and faster she fell, the sound of the wind only getting louder and louder. Her vision was no longer filled with clear blue sky, but rather bright flashing lines of multicoloured light. They too were picking up speed, likely equal to that of the wind speed. This, all the while was complimented by what looked to be strange lines of computer code, pulsing and glowing a faint yellow alongside the lines of light. It would be a wonderful spectacle to behold, we're it not for her current situation.
As she fell closer to the land below, all her vision began to be filled with blinding white light, washing out the previously mentioned codes and lines. For Konata, this was what she believed to be the climactic end to her unwelcome death
''Please, leave me alone, I don't want to be here anymore'' she screamed one final time before the blinding light enveloped her entirely.. ''Kagami, Tsukasa, Miyuki, Otōsan! Someone, anyone! Please! I don't want to die! I don't want to die! I don't want to die!''
Her final cry for help echoed throughout her mind, though it took her a second to realize what had happened. Her nightmare had finally come to an abrupt end. Now, Konata sat upright in bed, tightly clutching the edges of her bed sheets. Her breathing was heavy, as were the beads of sweat falling down across her face. Sweat it seemed, that was also mixing with tears. The nightmare had most surprisingly, been enough to make her cry.
She tried to move her hands up to her face to rub the tears away, but struggled as she found them unwilling to let go of the sheets. The sight of a near death experience had sent her body into a temporary shock. Her head was still willing to move however, allowing her to glance about and confirm her surroundings, before a sigh of relief escaped her lips. She was home, safe and sound, and most importantly, not dead. But that did little to remove the shock of what she'd just experienced in her mind.
''Just….what sort of nightmare was that'' Konata thought, feeling her body begin to loosen up, allowing her to rub her eyes. She couldn't remember the last time she'd cried. It was unlike her to cry, since very little things upset her enough to cause her to shed tears. Yet of all things, a simple nightmare had pushed her over the limit.
Taking a moment to listen, she was thankful to hear the house was still dead silent, meaning none of her load screams had been heard by her father or Yutaka. She certainly wouldn't of wanted to cause a commotion while the others were sound asleep.
Deciding to check the time, Konata found that her clock only read 1 in the morning. ''Jeez…didn't even sleep all that long'' she thought, sighing once again. Her fever had seemingly gone down a decent amount, as she didn't feel anywhere near as bad as she had three hours before. Yet as she flopped back onto her pillow, hair messily thrown out across her sides, her mind had seemingly forgotten she was ill at all. All she could think about was the ever strange nightmare she'd just experienced.
''…-and then I began to fall down through the sky, my vision filled with loads of really colorful lights and code lettering! Then I was consumed by a really bright light and woke up.''
''It really does sound very…well….very much like a nightmare you'd have'' Kagami said, chewing away at her lunch as normal. It was now November 12th , and Konata had recovered from her bad fever. She'd fully recovered on the Thursday the week before, but had decided to stay home for the rest of the week. Thankfully, Nanako had no clue this was the case and had not scolded Konata any further over her extended absence.
''I remember hearing somewhere that your dreams and nightmares are often influenced by what you see around you and what you get up to on a daily basis'' Miyuki noted. ''Well that explains the video game setting'' Kagami chuckled, followed up by giggles from all the group. Konata had told her friends all about the nightmare in great detail, only leaving out the fact she'd cried after having the dream. If she had told them all, she knew that Kagami would slag her about it to no end.
''I just wish I could remember the name of the floating castle…palace thingy'' she said as she bit down into her usual chocolate cornet. ''I often forget the things I see in my dreams'' Tsukasa responded in reassurance. ''Sometimes you'll remember things at the most unexpected of times, so maybe you'll remember something about your dream when you least expect it!''
''Ehh, I suppose'' Konata said, licking off the chocolate that oozed out from the bottom of the cornet before eating it from the top again. ''Anyhow, dream or no dream, your still really behind on your homework since you've been out'' Kagami said, turning the conversation back something more normal. ''I know your lazy half of the time, but if you don't start to catch up at least a little, then Sensai is going to get quite mad at yo-.''
''OHH! I remember the name of it!'' Kagami was cut off as Konata stopped eating her cornet, now holding it up high like it was some sort of trophy. ''What was it, what was it?'' Tsukasa asked. Miyuki watched with keen interest to hear Konata's answer.
''I joked to the man in my dream that the castle looked like a big choco cornet. He called the place 'Aincrad!'…I think.'' ''Aincrad? Even with the places in games you mention to us now and then, Aincrad really sounds like a very strange name'' Kagami said. ''I like how it sounds!'' Tsukasa added. ''It sounds like something out of a fantasy fairytale!'' ''Probably because it is'' Kagami responded bluntly. ''As Miyuki said, you probably saw the name somewhere before and your brain used it in your dream as a result. The fact it turned into a nightmare was just unexpected.''
''Still, even after all I went through, I survived the perilous fall, and now I yearn to see more of the floating castle for myself!'' Konata proudly announced, much to Kagami's annoyance. ''Maybe instead of trying to survive a dream you should consider surviving through school first.'' ''But don't you want to see such a magical place for yourself?'' Konata teased. ''Absolutely not! Why would I want to play a game where your life is on the line!'' Kagami looked away in annoyance, though knew very well that Konata was just teasing as usual.
Yet as the blue haired oktau began to boast in a fantastical manner further to the other two girls, Kagami couldn't help but have the name of the castle remain stuck in her mind. ''Aincrad….Aincrad….I wonder where it originates from?''
''Kagami?…Kagamin?'' Kagami's mind shot back to reality as she found Konata pulling at her cheek. ''S-stop that!'' the purple haired girl stammered, pushing Konata away. ''What? We're you spacing out over my story?'' ''Not at all, why would I do such a stupid thing!'' Kagami said, doing her best to defend herself, though she already had a feeling Konata could see past this act. ''Look, classes are about to start again, I'll be heading back to my home room now, alright?'' ''See you later Kagami. Or should I say, 'Aincrad Dreamer, hmm?'' ''S-shut up!'' Kagami scowled, before leaving the other three just as the home room bell rang.
By the time evening came about, Konata's life had returned to normal. Now no longer sick, she got home and prepared dinner as usual, before going to play games for most of the evening. Kagami's warning abou Konata's homework had rung true, as Nanako had kept Konata behind after the end of classes for a world regarding how behind she was.
''If you don't catch up soon, your going to be overloaded with work over Christmas, and I know neither I nor you want that to happen, no do we?''
Naturally Konata had responded in her normal aloof manner, and once again was leaving her homework until the last minute. She gamed away on her Playstation for most of the evening, only stopping once her twice to get herself a drink. When she did finally decide to start on her homework however, she was interrupted by a most unexpected phone call.
''Oi! Kagamin. Didn't expect to get a call from you this late. What's up?'' Konata answered. ''You calling to check in to see if I'm doing my work again?'' ''N-no, I'm not your teacher you know'' Kagami responded on the other end of the line. ''Though if your slacking off again..'' ''Hai hai, It'll be fine. I just started working on it anyway. But putting that aside, what did you want to talk about?''
''Well….it's about that dream you mentioned earlier today..'' ''Ohh, so you were fantasizing over it, hmm?'' Konata teased once again, much to Kagami's annoyance. Of course, it was because the tsundere had no comeback. ''Yes, yes, fine, alright. I got a bit curious about it after you explained that dream you had. I decided to look up a little online to see if I could find the source of that name. I thought you said you didn't like reading light novels Konata?''
''Eh? I don't. I thought you knew that'' Konata responded, holding the phone up against her ear with her shoulder, twirling her pencil between her fingers. ''Too much text for me to read without getting all sleepy.''
''Well that doesn't add up then if you've heard about 'Aincrad' before. The name comes from an online web novel series called 'Sword Art Online.' It's hasn't been published into book format, but considering your on your computer so often I had a feeling you would of at least seen it somewhere before.''
There was a short pause through the fine line, which Kagami quickly thought was an issue on her end of the line. ''Hello, Konata, you still there?'' ''I'm here, I'm here. Sorry just had to check something'' Konata said. ''Still, I don't ever remember seeing the name of that series before anywhere. As said, I much prefer reading manga, so I'm not sure as to why I would of remembered something that specific if I did see it online somewhere accidentally.''
''Our brains are weird things at times. Sometimes they'll pick and choose what the feel like remembering. Of course they can also be conditioned to remember specific things, like getting your homework done earlier.'' Kagami's eventual comeback sent a groan through the microphone, a sign Konata was still being as lazy as ever. ''Anyway, I've leave you to get back to your work. Talk to you tomorrow Konata.''
''Hmm, same to you'' the oktau said, before clicking the hang up button and putting her phone back on her table.
The next few minutes didn't involve any major physical distractions. Konata kept away from her console and computer, though didn't write a single word into her history book. Her mind was far too engrossed in thought. The events of her dream turned nightmare played out through her mind once again, the ups, downs, and seemingly her own demise. Despite the fact the dream had frightened her greatly, Konata's curiosity hadn't diminished whatsoever. The final words of the strange man returned to her, echoing through her mind like her final screams had.
''I offer you the chance of the lifetime. To play the greatest virtual game to have ever been created. I welcome you, to my world.''
''My world….huh?'' Konata said aloud to nobody but herself, before glancing across to her PC. It sat idle in standby mode, waiting for the otaku to finish trying to do her homework and return to the net gaming world. Konata felt her free hand twitch, urging her over to the machine. This urges grew too great to ignore. Tossing the pencil aside, she got up and walked over to the computer, clicking the power button and bringing it out of it's temporary sleep.
''Sword Art Online…so that's your world mister 'Aincrad' man'' Konata thought, sitting down in her seat before opening up the browser and beginning to type in the same name into the search bar.
''Maybe it's time I gave light novels another chance….''
Authors note:
So this story was meant to be a short story, but I ended up getting a little bit carried away and this wrote something far longer. Then again, maybe just over 4000 words is still considered short by some. None the less, I've written what I wanted to.
His whole idea came about after I finished watching Lucky Star for the first time. I really enjoyed watching the show, and loved all the different characters present throughout, especially as this story clearly reveals, Konata. Considering Konata's interest in online games, I wanted to try and throw something SAO themed in her direction, as I've been a big fan of said series for a while. I could of gone and written the somewhat stereotypical ''character from another series get's thrown into another anime world'' sort of thing, but that would of lead to a full length piece that as of now I am not willing to write. So instead, I came up with this short-ish story, which makes the SAO elements all part of a dream rather than reality. Of course, the weird part is that since Lucky Star takes place in the early 2000s, SAO didn't even have an anime production at that time, let alone any official light novels. Back in 2007, you only had the web novel series for SAO, and it wouldn't be until 2008 (or maybe 2009, I'm not exactly sure) when the official light novels began production.
I was never around to read the original web novel. Then again. I wouldn't have been able to read it back then anyway since it was too young…and also since the whole series was only in Japanese back then. Still, not many SAO fans mention the original web novel series, so I thought it would be cool to have that be the tie in of this story.
Anyway, that's enough rambling from me. Thank you for reading this little story about two series I very much enjoy, and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!