Hi there! Thanks for taking a closer look at this story. There are a few things I'd like to mention before I start with the actual story.
I've had some of the ideas for this story for a long time, and when watching a playthrough of Alicization Lycoris recently, I finally decided to use them for a complete story. So here we are!
First of all, as mentioned in the summary, this story is based on the game Hollow Fragment. Since the plot of the game differs from the plot of the LN/anime, I'd advice that you know the general plot of the "main games". Otherwise, this story might be quite confusing.
The title "The Hollow Instructor" is indeed a reference to the name of the game, but it will also have a "hidden" meaning you'll learn in due time. It's also the best idea I had... Ugh, I hate naming stuff...
Anyway, the central character (for most of the story) will be an OC. There will be a few more, less important OCs later. Apart from that, the story will feature all major canon characters of Hollow Fragment.
I won't include every event of the game - since I'm not crazy - but a few of them. There will also be references to some of the events as well as several original scenes/chapters. I'll try to stay true to the original as far as possible/reasonable. However, due to the fact that there will be a new character with a... let's say specific role, there will be changes. You've been warned. ;)
By the way, I'll use Japanese honorifics since there are things that simply can be brought across better with them. I have something specific in mind. I'll try to use them as they are used in the game whenever canon characters use them.
There is one more thing I should mention: I'd like to write this story in script format, at least the dialogue. It's a personal preference for writing longer stories with many different characters.
I know it's actually against the rules of , but I've written a different story that way without noteworthy issues, so I'll try it. If I receive to much negative feedback because of the dialogue formatting, I'll change it or stop uploading the story here. Whether I'll do the first or the latter would depend on how much effort I'll be willing to put into writing a version with "normal" formatting. Frankly, I'd rather focus on just progressing the story, so I can't promise anything if the worst comes to worst.
Either way, I'll also post this story on AO3, so you'll definitely find the story there. I'll complete it there regardless what happens here.
For future reference and for anyone who isn't familiar with script format dialogue, here are the general rules:
The lines of characters have the general form "character label: speech". "Character label" will usually be the character's name, but it can also be a role if the character doesn't have a name. I'll also include short phrases in []. Those "comments" describe the tone or mood of the character, minor actions/events while the character is speaking or if the character thinks or whispers the line (or anything like that). I'll usually omit these comments whenever the tone of the character can be deduced from the context or if the tone hasn't changed since the character's last line.
It's usually intuitive, but if anything is unclear, I'll gladly explain it if you ask about it. The same applies to any other questions you may have about the story.
So... That should be all I have to say for now, so let's get started with a little introductory chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own Sword Art Online Re:Hollow Fragment or Sword Art Online in general.
It was another busy day at Arc Sophia (well, relatively speaking), the main city on the 76th floor. This comes as no surprise since the town had turned into the headquarters of the Assault Team after a huge, unprecedented system error had basically cut Aincrad in half at this floor.
Three weeks had passed since that incident. The players who got stuck here had began to settle down, albeit slowly. Given everything that had happened since the boss battle on the 75th floor, nobody was surprised that the majority of the players were quite shaken.
Well, at least the weather subroutine had had mercy on them for a while now, although that wasn't much of a comfort to most people… The majority of the players in Arc Sophia was either busy fighting for their freedom or at a loss as to what to do, so hardly anyone cared about the nice weather.
One person tried to, though. A player had returned to the town at sunset and was currently going for an evening stroll. Pretty much every player he passed by turned around to take a look at him, the infamous Black Swordsman, Kirito.
After a while, he sighed whenever he saw that kind of reaction. The players eyed him curiously or enviously, except for a "selected few" who refused to look into his general direction out of... spite, probably. Actually, he was used to it, but it had become so much worse since the Assault Team arrived at Arc Sophia.
The main problem was that there were only a few dozen players – all of whom knew exactly who he was – on the highest available floors these days, and they were all stuck here… and not happy about it.
Frankly, the same applied to Kirito. More than anything else, he wanted to take a break at the lakes of the 22nd floor, but that was out of the question.
If it had only been unwanted attention from admirers and haters and the exhaustion due to his efforts of clearing the remaining floors, he would've coped with it easily, but there had been so much more going on recently.
In the end, he could only try to make the best of the situation. At least he didn't have to face all these difficulties alone anymore…
Right on cue, he spotted one of the people he could rely on these days right when he finished his stroll and was actually about to head back to Agil's inn. In fact, it was the person he relied on the most: Asuna.
She stood near the teleport gate and watched it tensely. Now that he thought about it, Kirito hadn't seen her standing there when he had returned to Arc Sophia. Sure, he had taken his sweet time walking around town, so it's not as if she had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Her tense expression worried him, though. Was she waiting for someone? Maybe for him?
Kirito: Hey, Asuna!
When she heard him calling out to her, Asuna turned to Kirito. At the very least, she put on a smile now.
Asuna: Ah, Kirito-kun, you're back! [slightly worriedly] You know, you've really spent all day in the field.
Well, guilty as charged. Kirito rubbed the back of his head and chuckled.
Kirito: Sorry about that! Say, were you waiting for me? Sorry if I made you wait, I just wanted to take a walk before calling it a day.
Asuna [shakes her head]: No, that's not it! But I am waiting for someone, you're right about that.
Kirito [curiously]: Oh, really? Who is it? Is it perhaps for a strategy meeting? [slightly surprised] Wait… Is it already time for the next floor boss?!
Asuna shook her head, and she also waved her hands around.
Asuna [nervously]: No, that's not it! Not yet! [slightly worriedly] We've only discovered the labyrinth yesterday, and we don't know how complex it's going to be. Frankly… I think we might challenge the floor boss by the end of the week.
Kirito [calmly]: So that's how it is, huh? [worriedly] However, that's… actually not good.
Asuna: Yes, I know what you mean. After clearing the seventy-fifth floor, our clearing speed has plummeted, hasn't it? Only two floors within a month…
Kirito: Yeah, that's a bit worrying. If we can't pick up the pace again, we might spend another two years in SAO. [determinedly] I'd rather not have that! We've got to keep pushing and fight even harder!
Asuna [chuckles]: That's the spirit! As long as we keep up that attitude, I have no doubt that we will clear this game and make it back to the real world!
They spent a moment in silence. Kirito's thoughts wander back to the current state of the Assault Team. Sure, a positive attitude would help for the moment, but they also had to deal with their actual issues.
Kirito: It sure has been rough lately, hasn't it? I thought that clearing the seventy-fifth floor would be an important step towards clearing the game, but somehow, it actually threw us back.
Asuna [slightly dejectedly]: I know what you mean. It was bad enough that we lost so many skilled players, but to think that the commander would be…
Asuna couldn't bring herself to finish that sentence. She still hadn't completely recovered from the shock that the man who had trapped all the players in Aincrad and the man she had once believed to be the leader who would free them all were the same person.
Kirito: I know. [contemplatively] But it's not just about Heathcliff… This strange… error that occurred…
Asuna: Yeah… [at a loss] Just what happened? To be honest, this question is really bothering me. [dejectedly] To think of all of our items and skills that got messed up…
Kirito [reassuringly]: I know what you mean, and it's a bit frustrating after working on them for so long, but at least it's not so bad that we can't fight anymore. Besides, we got Yui back thanks to that, so it's not like everything is bad about it.
At least that remark made Asuna smile.
Asuna: Yes, that is good… I was worried that we wouldn't see her ever again, or at least not for a long time, so I was really relieved. And it's not just Yui. I know I should feel bad because they are stuck with us on the higher floors, but I'm glad that so many of our friends are with us.
They enjoyed talking about the happier memories they had made these days for a while. However, Asuna's expression turned gloomy again soon enough.
Asuna: Hey, Kirito-kun?
Kirito [slightly worriedly]: Hm, is something the matter, Asuna?
Asuna: Yes, it… It is actually pretty bad, and I've been meaning to tell you about it for a while now, but we were already struggling with so much else that I couldn't bring myself to…
Kirito [interrupting, reassuringly]: Don't worry about it! I'm sure I can take it, so don't hold back. Tell me what's on your mind!
Asuna: It's about the state of the Assault Team. A few parties have quit, and many others seem to consider it, even if it's just temporary.
Kirito [slightly shocked]: Huh?! Why?! I felt that we were already understaffed against the boss on the seventy-sixth floor, so what should we do if even more players quit?!
Asuna: That's exactly what worries me. To be honest, it has already begun immediately after we reached the seventy-sixth floor. Many players among the raid party for the boss on the seventy-fifth floor lost comrades or were discouraged when the commander didn't seem to keep his promise to you. Not to mention the corruption of their skills and items… Some people simply lost the will to fight.
That was indeed a huge problem. Kirito had to admit that he saw relatively few people outside Arc Sophia these days, but he hadn't thought much about it.
Asuna: We tried to persuade high-level parties from the lower floors to join us, and a few agreed, but most people hesitate. They can't return once they come here, and many party or guild leaders fear that it would be the wrong decision. They want to level on the lower floors as much as possible before joining us.
Kirito: Well, I guess they also don't want to risk the corruption of their skills and items. I can't blame them, [slightly dejectedly] but that issue won't go away…
Asuna: About that: Some of the players who arrived lately have reported that only a few of their items got corrupted.
Kirito [slightly surprised]: Really?
Asuna [nods]: It was just a guess, but Yui mentioned that the Cardinal system might have repaired itself partially. The teleport gate is still not fully operational, but the damage to the players' data seems to be minimised.
Kirito [contemplatively]: Well, that's a start, but what exactly should we do for now? I'd rather not wait too long until more players decide to join us on the upper floors.
Asuna: I've talked about it with the leaders of the other guilds and parties in Arc Sophia, and it seems that we also have the problem that some players here are simply not ready to fight the monsters here.
Kirito: Hm… Now that you mention it, didn't a lot of relatively low-level players come to Arc Sophia soon after we activated the teleport gate? I mean, I remember Liz and Silica, but I think there were a few more.
Asuna: You're right. Just like Liz and Silica-san, a few members of our raid team had friends on the lower floors who were worried and came to check on them. There were also merchants and players who hoped to buy drops of the Skull Reaper. And now there are also Leafa-san and Sinon-san...
Kirito [worriedly]: Yeah, I guess these players have trouble right now…
Asuna: We could probably strengthen the Assault Team a lot if these players could get stronger and join. [sighs] It's just easier said than done. The Divine Dragon Alliance actually summoned all their players from the lower floors to train them. Fortunately, I could convince them to join the upcoming boss battle...
Kirito [curiously]: Oh, is that why they are nowhere to be seen these days?
Asuna: Yes, they are just… busy.
It was really like the DDA to do something like that. They probably intended to use all their members on the frontlines to establish themselves as the leading force of the Assault Team – a quite realistic goal at the moment.
However, it also reminded him of an idea he had had a while ago.
Kirito [slightly contemplatively]: Hey, Asuna, what if we do the same thing? I've actually considered it already, but we should take our time and train with the players who got stuck here. I could do training sessions with them every once in a while. Leafa and Sinon voiced their interest a while ago, and Liz and Silica also seem interested.
Asuna [chuckles slightly, cheerfully]: How kind of you to step up, Kirito-kun!
Kirito [thinks, slightly exasperatedly]: Why does it sound as if she's making fun of me?!
Asuna [calmly]: It's nice of you to think of them, [worriedly] but wouldn't it be too much for you? You're already busy clearing the remaining floors, and now there's the Hollow Area as well. You can't handle everything on your own, you know?
Kirito looked down for a second. He hated to admit it, but Asuna was right. With everything that he already had to do, becoming a teacher for some players would simply consume too much of his time.
In addition, he had doubts about his teaching skills, especially after playing either solo or only with strong players for such a long time. The last time he had tried to "guide" inexperienced players, they… He tried to get that thought out of his head as soon as possible.
Asuna [reassuringly]: But don't worry! I had the same idea, and the division of the KoB that stayed behind on the lower floors found a player that seems to specialise in teaching and training mid-level players.
Kirito [surprised]: There are players like that?
Asuna: Apparently. According to rumors, they call him the Hollow Instructor. [slightly awkwardly] Frankly, that's a weird title… [calmly] Anyway, he apparently has given helpful advice to many parties, and he's strong enough to play solo on the sixty-eighth floor. If my information is correct, he even was a member of the Assault Team at one point. I was waiting for him when you got here. [looks towards the teleport gate] He should actually arrive any minute now. Ah!
At that moment, the teleport gate activated, and a single player appeared.
That's all for now. Stay tuned for the next chapter!