The year is 2022.
The concept of a video-game was created a long, long time ago, and decades later, games have now advanced to unprecedented levels. Going from horrible graphics, terrible game designs and lack of genuine passion to games that practically mirrored the reality everybody lived in. Of course, across the years, there were games that stood out among the rest, and hidden gems that only fortunate people discovered.
Technology has advanced much more than expected, and as a result, a certain game has been created.
Sword Art Onli—
"Someone actually spent time and got paid writing this repetitive promotional stuff out? Talk about easy money," a certain boy thought as he scrolled down an online advertisement of the game Sword Art Online, containing an absurd amount of paragraphs. "Who wants to see the same stuff being explained to you over and over? Kinda boring..."
Y/N L/N placed his phone gently down on his desk next to his laptop, then stretched in his room, while glancing at the clock mounted on the wall above his door. It was 12:49PM on Sunday, November 6th 2022. It was probably impossible to forget this date, since not a single hour went by without someone hyping up the release date of Sword Art Online.
At least that would come to a long-awaited end in about ten minutes and thirty-two seconds.
Y/N picked up his NerveGear headset, the contraption that would allow him and 9,999 other people to play the most hyped up game of all time. 1PM marked the date it would officially be live to the public, but almost all of the people fortunate enough to get the game were probably already logged in and waiting.
"I worked my ass off to even get the NerveGear, and that says a lot since I'm in middle school... Such a pain in the ass to get a job, and when you do, it's like you're earning nothing at all with how little they're allowed to pay you!" he grumbled as he ranted in his head and slouched down depressingly. "And I somehow managed to get a copy of the game... even though I was threatened several times to 'back off'."
Unfortunately, the other gamers, who were just as crazy as he was, failed to understand that pouring such an absurd amount of his youth into working just to grind enough money to afford an expensive headset and game because his parents refused to lend not even a singular yen to help him out naturally motivated a guy to do the opposite.
"But it'll be all worth it in the end. First VR game, and it's SAO, the game that got praised to death by all the beta testers... I'm not gonna log off for a good seven or so hours," he stated determinedly in his head. "...Unless I get forced out. Can I get forced out?" He hummed to himself, before deciding to search it up online. "Nope, the only way to log out is through the actual button, or through one of the devs using the system to log you out themselves. Lucky me."
He laid down on his bed, then placed on his headset. "Oh wait... I was meant to do the daily exercise thing..." he recalled all of a sudden, but sighed. "Nah, too much work to get out of bed now, I'll just do it after."
He hummed again. "What do I say again? Oh right... Link start!"
One minute to spare, too.
"Okay, time to play," he said to himself in his head as he bore witness to a few seconds of tunnel-vision colours. He then had to wait an additional few seconds as the system checked that all five of his senses were successfully connected, before a language-select screen appeared to him. Of course, he chose the right language, which prompted a log-in screen to appear. "Uh... Wait, I still need to sign up."
Somehow, he forgot that he needed to sign up.
Thus, less than a minute before the game was officially live, Y/N had to go through the hell that was signing up.
And why was it hell you ask?
"Select a username..." Y/N read the instruction on the screen, as he stared at the blank field of space where he was supposed to input his username. "Well, I guess I'll go with the usual." He entered in 'Overseer'—
Username is taken.
"...What? My username is taken? I can't use Overseer? Who the hell is using Overseer?" Y/N questioned in his head, before he sighed. "Good thing I already have an alternative." He then entered in 'Overlord'—
Username is taken.
"I'm sorry, what? Someone also has that? Since when?" Y/N grumbled. "Uh... What's another cool synonym? Uhh... 'Overman'? That sounds lame... I don't know... Guess I'll just use the cheat code then..." He entered in 'Over_Seer'—
Username is taken.
"For fu— I don't have time for this, damn it!" he said annoyedly, replacing the 'O' with a zero—
Username is taken.
Unable to bear this any more, he entered in 0v3r_533r—
Username is taken.
"...HOW THE HELL IS THAT TAKEN?! WHO THE HELL ELSE IS PUTTING IN THAT KIND OF NAME?!" he shouted. "Screw it, I'll just make a new username on the spot!" After a second or two of thought, he inputted U/N.
Username accepted.
"Thanks, can I go and play the game now?" Y/N 'calmly' asked the system, which replied as if it was waiting for this.
Enter a password.
"Shoulda figured..."
Anyhow, he got through the signup process fairly quickly after that. That was only a mere hiccup in his gaming experience, but he wouldn't let that set him back or affect his opinion of the game itself. Everything had a BS signup system anyway, what with some random person happening to have his name.
Speaking of which, he didn't care how long it took because he was going to find those guys who took all those abbreviations of his username, which he'd stuck with for all the last games he'd played in the past. Because of their selfishness, he now had to enter his first VR game, and SAO at that, with a completely new username.
Welcome to Sword Art Online!
"What a nice welcome," Y/N thought with annoyance, before he was unsurprisingly greeted with a character creation screen. After suffering through the horrors of signing up, he completely forgot that this was an MMORPG (how he managed to forget it, when most of the trauma was from other people having his names, was a mystery only L could solve), which naturally meant he'd have to create his own unique character.
"Why the hell are there so many options?! There's like a hundred different hairstyles! No, scratch that, two-hundred! And that's not even forgetting anything else, like eye colour! Why the hell can I input specific hex colours?! Why're there so many damn choices? This is too stressful! How am I supposed to create a character like this?!"
There was a part of him that wanted him to keep most of the default options for a male avatar, but he decided against that and chose to invest some time into this. 'Some time' turned into a good thirty minutes, ignoring the ten minutes he spent having a panic attack from all the options shoved in his face.
And thus, after close to an hour of just going through the process of starting the game, Y/N L/N finally started the game.
...
Distant chatter, sound of footsteps everywhere, and a warm breeze.
Looks like I'm finally in the game, huh? 'God-tier of God-tiers', the beta-testers said. There were so few criticisms that it's surprising this was even made by people who were human. A near-perfect game seems like it'd take a lot of effort to create, though, and I heard a lot of time was poured into it, so that's not a surprise.
I look down at my hands and bring them closer to my face, testing the movements. Then I wave them around, slowly processing the fact that I was truly playing a VR game. I'd enviously watched videos online and such about people playing VR, and now that I'm finally experiencing it, I gotta say... It's pretty cool.
And SAO is living up to its expectation, what with the nonexistent lag and delays with my movements. Seriously, with so many people playing and the sheer size of the world, no lag whatsoever is a genuine achievement. Well, that could be said for most games actually.
Anyhow, the town I was currently standing in... Unless someone messed up the name, this should be the Town of Beginnings. The starting town, as the name suggested. And since I spent almost a whole damn hour just logging in and making this avatar, I was definitely behind.
I say that, but what even is the goal here? First VR game, and it's an online one... Do I want to grind like crazy for the late game? Or do I want to participate in the raids to get to the next floor? Both? Or do I want to just have fun and do something less grindy?
Man, I don't know. My gaze fell on my level, though. In the top left of my vision was my HP bar, along with my level and username—
Wait. My username. After spending so long making this avatar, I completely forgot about the cause of my pain earlier.
One of the players here took my name.
That was all I needed to know. Now my goal's coming back to me; I'm going to find and kill that name-stealing creature if it's the last thing I do! Screw floor bosses, screw guilds, screw everything else! That guy is going down! I'm gonna show him I'm the superior Overseer!
Ah, that being said, right now, I should probably get levelled up a bit. No matter the goal, levelling up is an absolute necessity. If I wanted a material, I would need a high enough level. If I wanted to visit somewhere, I would need a high enough level. If I wanted anything at all, I'd definitely need my level to be decently high.
Right then, that means it's time to equip a weapon and abuse some enemies for a while. Level ten sounded like a good goal, at least for today, and that would give me some leeway with whatever I needed to do next. Maybe after a few levels, getting a quest or something to speed up the process would be nice.
Okay, first step, equip a weapon... Just need to open the men—
...How do I open the menu?
Uh... "Menu open," I said quietly under my breath, mainly because I lacked the confidence to say something like that out loud with a decently high risk of failure. And lo and behold, no type of menu opened up for me. I spat out a few more abbreviations of 'Menu open', but none of them worked, meaning this wasn't going to require a voice command.
I placed a hand on my chin. If opening the menu doesn't require a voice command, then I'll probably need to do something with my hands, right? But it can't be a simple hand sign, otherwise a player might accidentally open the menu during combat or something...
Erm...
Mmm...
Hmmmmmm.
Yeah, I have no clue. I looked around, seeing a bunch of players around. They ranged from small groups of people who decided to party up together to grind, lovey-dovey couples (some of them were probably catfishes) and solo players, which also included me.
...This has too much of a different vibe from computer games and all that. Actually saying things out loud is a whole lot different than typing it out in a chat— Speaking of which, chats must exist, right? Otherwise it'd be hard to communicate to other players who're far away.
But it's not like I can go up to a player and be like, 'Hey, bro, let's use the in-game chat instead of actually speaking 'cause I'm too introverted for this shit.'
Yeah, that would require talking to pull off anyway, so I'd be back at square one. Well, even if I could use the in-game chat, how the hell can you look someone in the face as you communicate with them using text? They'd just think of me as an absolute weirdo!
Okay, if I put some trust in the beta testers, then there's a solution to my problem. I can't be the only person here who's having trouble with the controls and everything. If this game was as good as they said, then it would've been designed with a tutorial somewhere. A way for players like me to learn without needing the help of someone else to do it!
Just gotta search!
So I ran around town for a good ten to twenty minutes, and boy was it large as hell. Seriously, the beginning town alone looked like it had months worth of development poured into it, containing so many minor details that I probably didn't even spot half.
During my search, I happened to encounter a couple of weapons-dealers. Apparently, SAO wasn't as simple as most MMORPGs, or maybe just RPGs in general. There wasn't just NPCs in proper-looking shops or stands outside— There were actually a few in more obscure spots, like a little treat for those who did some exploring.
As for what they sold...
"Damn, there's a bunch of weapons for sale..." I muttered under my breath.
After speaking to the NPC standing in front of me just outside some sort of small restaurant, which required taking an odd path down a few streets to arrive at, I got given the screen of what they had for sale. There were separate categories you could choose if you were looking for a specific weapon type, or a category containing them all... for whatever reason. I probably wouldn't use it that much at all.
Oh wait... Now that raised the question of what to choose. 1-H straight and curved swords; daggers and claws; polearms; 2-H axes; and maces and hammers... Using specific weapons in SAO could also unlock more weapon categories, which only added to the stress of picking a specific weapon type.
Well, for starters, SAO is a VR game and not a computer or console game. Choosing a weapon here was much different. Usually, I keep things simple and unoriginal by picking swords. I mean, swords are just badass no matter what. But for SAO, I'm actually using the weapons instead of controlling a character. That means choosing is a lot more important...
Also, I'm not stupid enough to forget about the stats in SAO as well. Strength and Agility are the only two you can actually increase with levels. I wouldn't want to invest in Agility only to pick a two-handed axe or something else that would hinder my overall speed. Similarly, investing in strength only to use a weapon like daggers wouldn't be smart either.
Mmm...
Hmmmmmm...
Eh, screw it, I'll just go with a sword. I took a look at the one-handed straight swords, and they all seemed pretty nice. A sudden thought came to mind, though, before I could make a decision on what to buy.
That being, how was I supposed to equip the sword after buying it? I still needed to open the menu for that.
...
And this NPC had like... 5% cheaper weapons too... What if it was a limited time thing...?
Wait, I probably have a starting sword, don't I? What's the point in investing in a new sword right off the bat? Wouldn't it be better to grind with the starting sword, then get a new sword once I arrived in a new town or something? That would make more sense. Yeah, I'd go with that.
"Sorry for wasting your time," I muttered an apology to the NPC, as I walked away.
"Do come again soon!" the NPC proceeded to reply to me, as if this was an actual shop. It wasn't. This guy was just standing outside a random restaurant—
And speaking of restaurants seemed to have made myself hungry, because I heard my stomach rumble. ...This was a game, but I was hungry? Wait, I ate like two hours ago, how was I already hungry? Or did it not match my IRL hunger?
"Do we have hunger in this game...? That's gonna be a pain..." I said quietly, realising the consequences of such a system. I'd need to buy food or something constantly, and also keep some in my inventory in case I was too far away from a town. Chances are, I'm gonna get debuffed if I don't eat. A stat reduction, maybe?
Not like I'd even be able to do anything about it—
Oh wait, I'm standing outside a small restaurant. Scratch that—
As my attention went to the restaurant, I realised something. There was a guy wearing full steel-plated armour, with a cape and all to boot alongside a ring on his finger, and there was a big-ass battle axe on his back. Despite the appearance, though, he was somehow eating a piece of bread through his helmet. Game logic, I suppose.
Wait, was this guy always here? Or did he just spawn in now? And I thought he was another player, but there's a yellow cursor above his head... I'm pretty sure all the NPCs have yellow cursors, and players have green ones, so...
He was not here before though, unless I'm seriously going blind.
Actually, this NPC spawned in at this restaurant at random times, designed for people who spent too long exploring, and Y/N happened to be around.
Who is this guy, anyway? His gear seems really high-levelled, since none of the armour guys were selling stuff like that. And even if they did, it would be expensive as hell. This guy's battle axe also looks like a weapon suited for someone of a much higher level than I am.
"Aha! Salutations, traveller!" the knight abruptly called out to me, catching me off-guard. What, he's entering into a conversation with me himself? Did I trigger something simply by being nearby and acknowledging him? What the hell is going on?!
"Uh..." I just stared at him, unsure what to say. If I don't say anything, will he continue anyway? Or am I supposed to say something? The game isn't exactly helping me here, what with not giving me any choices. Does the AI just adapt to what I say? "Hey?"
"Ah, I see it!" the knight suddenly shouted out, and I had to cover my ears from how loud he was. Props to SAO for replicating the feeling of your ears being abused, but also screw you! "I see it, clear as day! Traveller, you are plagued by the curse of confusion, no?"
"...No, I'm just a bit shy, is all," I explained to him, but I regretted saying this almost instantly. Why was I treating this like a real conversation? This was an NPC— I didn't need to explain myself to him. He probably wouldn't understand anyway.
"You truly are cursed, unable to even acknowledge its presence! But not to worry, I shall guide you, lost one! I shall show you how to free yourself from the shackles imprisoning you!" the knight declared to me with such passion that it was like a real person voice acted for him. It's probably AI, right? Like a fake voice or something... Seriously, it sounds so real though.
Wait, what does he mean, 'I shall guide you'—
Tutorial Quest: The Passionate Knight
The Passionate Knight shall free you from the curse that imprisons you.
Accept the Quest?
...WHAT?
How the hell did I just get a tutorial NPC to spawn in out of nowhere? Did they put in some kind of system for players that spend too long exploring the town or something? Or is it because I spent too long without actually opening the menu that the game realised I needed help?!
Hold on, this is perfect! He'll teach me how to open the menu!
Accepted.
The knight suddenly rose from his seat, an event triggered by me accepting the quest, and he hit his chestplate hard with his forearm. "Ready yourself, young traveller! For we shall depart at once! Arm yourself, traveller! And onward to the grasslands—"
"Uh, I appreciate the enthusiasm and all... but how do I arm myself?" I shyly raised my hand like I was addressing a teacher, but regardless of how embarrassing this was, it was still a tutorial NPC. It was quite literally designed to help me out, so there wasn't any harm in asking a question like that.
"How surprising! Young Charlie did not teach you?" Mr. Passionate Knight appeared shocked by how I wasn't taught. ...I have no clue who the hell 'Charlie' is, but if he was supposed to teach me how to play the damn game, then I'm pissed off that he's nowhere to be found. "Very well, allow me to explain the basics of our world!"
Huh. That was easier than I thought—
"In this world, travellers such as yourself are plentiful and possess outstanding abilities! Some of these abilities include BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAHBLAH BLAH BLAHBLAH BLAH BLAHBLAH BLAH BLAHBLAH BLAH BLAHBLAH BLAH BLAHBLAH BLAH BLAHBLAH BLAH BLAHBLAH BLAH BLAHBLAH BLAH BLAHBLAH BLAH BLAHBLAH BLAH BLAHBLAH BLAH BLAH—"
"SUMMARISE IT!"
"Very well! Lots of tr—"
"Just tell me how to open the menu! That's all I care about!" I practically begged the guy to stop yapping and teach me something more beneficial than the lore or whatever the hell he just said to me.
"Ah, I see! I shall now explain the 'menu' to you, as you wish!" he nodded his head, and I breathed a sigh of relief. "Moveyourhandlikethistoopenthemenuandonceyouopenityou'llseethatyouhavemanyoptionsuchasthisthisandthisbutitwouldbemostbeneficialforyoutoconcentrateonthisotherwiseyoumayfindyourselflostinawalloftextthatistoooverwhelmingforanundevelopedtraveller'sbrainsuchasyourstocomprehend—"
Yeah, that went on for ten minutes, since I mistakenly forgot to tell him to summarise it. And since I must've used all my uses or something, the guy wouldn't stop talking or listen to what I had to say. I would've tried leaving, but I didn't want to fail the quest or anything. Speaking of which, it didn't even show me the quest rewards, did it? I was too busy thinking about the tutorial aspect that I didn't realise that earlier.
Anyway, although that was a good ten minutes that I'll never get back, I at least can play the game properly now! It was all worth it in the end!
Since I could use the menu, my theory was right. There were starting weapons; they were basic but you couldn't complain since they were definitely the weakest of weak. Still, I equipped the starting straight sword and set off with 'Passionate Knight', who also joined my party in the process. That's how I knew his name. It's quite literally Passionate Knight. Poor guy didn't get a proper name...
Anyway, Passionate Knight led me through the most obscure pathing of all time to get me to a secret exit of the Town of Beginnings. I was fully expecting to see some kinda special enemies, since this was a different exit than the one everyone usually went out of, but... I quickly discovered you could just walk for a few minutes to arrive here if you left from the main exit.
This tutorial NPC kinda sucks.
"Welcome to the grasslands, traveller! As you can see, it is the land of grass!" he also felt the need to point out the obvious to me, like I didn't know what a 'grassland' was. What, do people naturally assume that because a guy can't open the menu, he doesn't know what a grassland is? And I know I said 'people', which can be seen as an anti-feat for my intelligence by making a mistake since he's actually an NPC, but shut up!
"...Thanks, Mr. Passionate Knight," I just thanked him anyway, since it felt awkward not to say anything.
"I am honoured to be of source, young traveller! And aha! Do you see?!" he said loudly, grabbing me by the head with his oversized hand and making me look in a specific direction, as he pointed with his free hand at an enemy.
The name above it reads, 'Frenzy Boar', and I'm guessing it's a basic enemy. It doesn't seem all that powerful. I could probably beat it.
"Now then, young traveller, please watch closely!" declared Passionate Knight as he released me, then reached out to his back, seizing his large two-handed battle axe. He promptly approached the boar. "I shall show you how to defeat an enemy combatant!"
I don't know if it's just me, but everytime this guy speaks, I feel like a bit of my sanity has vanished all of a sudden. And that says a lot, because I'm probably really, really crazy. Also, could that boar be considered an 'enemy combatant'?
Because Passionate Knight was Level 20, which means that there shouldn't even be a fight.
Still, I assumed that not following his instructions would fail the Tutorial Quest, so I watched him. I'm hoping I get some kind of exp reward, or at least some money, for putting up with this guy though, because he's beginning to get on my nerves with how passionate he is.
"Young traveller! As you can see, this enemy is attacking me!" Passionate Knight stated as the boar charged, and headbutted him right in the knee. In the corner of my eye, I saw Passionate Knight's health points drop by a singular point. "You must not be hit! Do you understand me?!"
Well, that's kinda the whole point of a battle is, but anyway... "Yessir," I gave him an unenthusiastic response, wanting this to be over already. I didn't even want help for this stuff, I just wanted to learn how to open the menu.
"To win, you must do this!" he claimed before he lifted up his battle axe and swung down, which did serious damage to the boar and oneshotted it. Well, he was a Level 20 NPC with presumably overpowered gear fighting against a boar that's meant to be the first enemy you encounter in the game. Not oneshotting it would actually be concerning. "Do you understand?!"
"...Yessir." I'm beginning to realise the flaws of this 'tutorial', more specifically the instructions and such, but I'm not going to judge until it's completed. Besides, most tutorials suck anyway.
"Now then, fly free, my young friend, and enter into a battle of your own!" commanded Passionate Knight, as I saw a screen pop up in front of me.
Tutorial Quest
Clear Conditions:
— Dispatch 20 Frenzy Boars (0/20)
It just popped up now, huh? I'm guessing actual quests don't work like this, but since it's a tutorial quest, they're not gonna just bombard you with things all at once. Makes sense, if you're asking me. I might unlock more clear conditions as the tutorial goes on, like reaching a certain level or something.
I looked ahead and spotted a Frenzy Bear spawning in nearby. At first, I thought leaving through a 'secret exit' that only led to a part of the grasslands that could be accessed anyway was kinda useless, but now that I think about it, it's actually beneficial for me. There's gonna be less players around here, since they'd naturally stick on the other side of the map because of the main exit. I'm glad that won't be an issue.
Heading over to the Frenzy Boar, I unsheathed my sword. It wasn't immediately aggro'd onto me, which suggested that I'd need to attack the boar for that to happen. Basically, I could get a free hit. Crits existed in this game, so if I'm smart about it, I can land one and defeat this guy pretty easily.
Ah, but it's still my first time actually playing a VR game, so I better be careful. My aim probably won't be all that good for a bit, but since this quest requires me to take out twenty, I'll probably get the hang of it soon enough.
I contemplated what area would be best to hit for a second, then swung at the head, assuming headshots might be best. My slash left a long cut across the somewhat small head of the boar, but since SAO couldn't be too gory, what should've been a bleeding wound was rather just a glowing red effect where I had struck.
Oh, but that aggro'd the boar, so I quickly took a few steps back, watching as it charged at me. It's a beginner enemy, so I'm not surprised that its attack patterns seem to be rather simple or predictable.
I hastily moved to the side, thankfully avoiding the attack. I contemplated trying to parry or block with my sword, but I wasn't entirely sure if that could be done, so I didn't want to risk getting hit. It was a trivial matter, but I wanted to prevent myself from being hit for as long as I possibly could.
"Splendid movements, young traveller! But can you finish the job?!" I heard Passionate Knight's distant voice, but I wasn't really listening to him since my full concentration was on this boar. I wasn't all that good at VR games, clearly, so I didn't want to make any mistakes.
Anyhow, the boar's failed attack left itself open, and I prepared my sword to strike it with a diagonal slash. However, to my surprise, after I stayed in that position for a second, my sword became engulfed in a red light just as I swung, like I'd unintentionally activated something. Nevertheless, it didn't seem to affect the movement of my attack itself, so by the time I realised what was happening, I was already about to strike the boar.
Whatever I used was probably a special attack (a Sword Skill, I think it's called), since the damage I did with this attack compared to my normal one was much greater. The boar quickly fell and shattered into particles, and I was presented with a small window, showing me what I earned from beating this thing.
I gained some exp, a common-looking material and some 'COR'. That's the currency of SAO, apparently. By the looks of it, monsters and such drop it, so I wouldn't need to sell materials or farm quests if I wanted to grind some cash.
"HUZZAH!!!" Passionate Knight let out a triumphant cheer for my victory, and when I glanced back at him, his arm was in the air like he was apart of a cheer squad. Even though his passion could get kinda annoying at times, and he was just an NPC, I felt a bit happy to see my efforts being appreciated.
"Oh, hold on," I blurted out all of a sudden, realising something. Turning to Passionate Knight properly, I then asked, "Hey, Passionate Knight. You killed that boar, but I got no rewards for it. Did you get something, or are there no rewards for your kills?"
"Aha! Brilliant observation, young traveller! The reason for this is simple: you and I have not reached the stage of sharing the spoils of battle during your lessons!"
"...Uh, what does that mean, exactly?"
The knight cleared his throat, then began, "Allow me to explain—
"Mind keeping it to a very short summary?" I hastily requested, cutting him off before he'd enter one of those unstoppable yap sessions again. Seriously, I wasn't expecting to have this issue in SAO, but I suppose this god-tier game certainly has its own eccentric NPCs.
"Why, of course! Essentially, the spoils of battle is dependent on your performance! The amount of damage you inflict and the one who performs the killing blow are vital factors in experience and material gains!" he declared, thankfully keeping it short like I asked while also giving me a sufficient amount of information.
I already suspected this, but it turns out that people in parties get the rewards from a battle divided between them. The more damage you do, the more you gain, basically. Otherwise it'd be insanely easy to power level your way through this game. Most players would also reach the party cap and basically no-diff monsters for easy exp. Dividing it prevents that. Seems like the guy who does the killing blow gets slightly more too, and maybe most of the materials.
"So since I didn't contribute at all, I got nothing, huh?" I said my thoughts out loud. That means that while I could use an NPC to help me level up, it'll still be at a reduced rate since I won't be receiving all the shares. The percentage given to Passionate Knight probably gets blipped out of existence.
At the same time, it's fair to assume the rewards from killing that boar earlier were the full deal.
Also, after I killed that boar...
Tutorial Quest Clear Conditions updated:
— Dispatch 20 Frenzy Boars (1/20)
— Use 5 Sword Skills (1/5)
— Kill a Frenzy Boar with one attack without the use of a Sword Skill (0/1)
I got two new errands, huh? Using five Sword Skills seems self-explanatory, and that explains what happened earlier with the boar I killed. But the third part of the quest was what interested me the most. I needed to one-shot a boar?
That would be easy if I levelled up enough, but I had a small suspicion the game was hinting at a possible alternative. There's definitely a weak spot to the Frenzy Boars, which means that the game is telling me to find that weak spot to presumably kill it with one attack.
Killing Frenzy Boars gets you into the PVE aspect of the game. Using Sword Skills gives you a basic knowledge of the fundamentals of the attacks at your disposal. And locating a weak spot teaches you that there's more to battles than just 'hit it until it dies', which'll probably become more and more important the later we go into this game.
This really is a tutorial, huh? And now I was getting excited just thinking about what else the game had in store for me!
"Passionate Knight!" I called out to my NPC companion as I turned away from the screen showing the quest. "Let's grind— Wait, that sounds— Let's kill some boars!"
"It would be an honour to fight alongside you, young traveller! Let us do battle with the beasts plaguing these lands, and move onward to the next frontier!"
...
I spent a few hour or so completing the Tutorial Quest. At first, I assumed those three conditions would be it, but I unlocked a couple more, which certainly consumed time. That led to Passionate Knight basically teaching me all of the fundamentals, something he'd tried to do at the start before I stopped him.
Wait, did that technically mean this guy was my mentor?
Anyhow, as I completed the quest, I ventured towards the end of the grasslands, mainly because I didn't want to run into any players. They'd definitely question why and how I had this huge-ass NPC with me, and Passionate Knight was someone I wanted to keep to myself for now. Maybe I was getting a bit attached over time too.
I learnt a bunch of stuff from him, so that was a given. He didn't just teach me about fighting, but about the other aspects of the game too. Ranging from renting out rooms in inns to the value of exploring 'suspicious' areas (basically an area that looked like there was hidden stuff around) to the various skills outside of combat— Passionate Knight was certainly doing his job.
As it turned out, Passionate Knight had some blacksmith skills, and he even upgraded my weapon with some portable smith thing. My starting sword had a '(+1)' next to it in its name, which showed that it had been upgraded. Maybe it'd be a good idea to invest in that skill, too, so I could upgrade my own weapons without needing to rely on NPCs or other players?
Alas, after multiple encounters with enemies, both new and old (those Direwolves were a bit smarter than the boars, which caught me off-guard the first time), I completed the Tutorial Quest.
Tutorial Quest: Complete
It popped up in front of me as I stood on a small hill, with Passionate Knight standing behind me. The rewards were basically just a bunch of money and exp, which was enough that it shot me all the way up to Level 5. I went up to Level 3 from fighting all those boars and wolves alone though, but maybe that was also included in the rewards.
Speaking of which, I learnt something interesting about SAO's exp mechanics. For whatever reason, whenever you level up, the amount of exp you gain from enemies decreases slightly. On top of that, the amount of exp you need to level up again obviously increases as well, which made it a deadly combo.
I didn't take SAO for a game that required a bunch of grinding, but the way it was, it looked like you needed to pour dozens of hours to level up a few times. Where the hell would anyone find that time? Maybe SAO's a lot longer than we think, though. It could be changed later on by the devs, assuming it becomes a problem.
Well, whatever. If it applies to all players, then that's not a problem with me.
"Hold on... since I've completed the quest..." I had a sudden realisation again, and I turned to Passionate Knight with dread. His purpose was to act as a tutorial, but now that I'd completed it... is he going to go? Sure, he can be kinda annoying, but he's like that one cool mentor the main character gets from the show that everyone ends up liking because of his interesting personality.
"Ah, I sense your worries, young traveller!" Passionate Knight chuckled, not exactly giving off 'I've taught you all I know, now I'm gonna go for the milk' vibes. "However, I am inclined to at least escort you back to the Town of Beginnings! And if you'd like, I shall show you to the building in which I live. Perhaps we can get off to another new adventure soon!"
Huh? He wasn't going to disappear, but would be waiting around his home? Does that mean I snagged the one-time use Tutorial NPC, and can now initiate another quest with him if I talk to him another day? Now that was good to hear.
"Glad to hear that, Passionate Knight!" I said with a smile, because if I lost this guy so soon, I would've been depressed. "Okay then, let's head back to town and kill all the monsters we see on the way!" The Sun looked like it was going to set soon enough anyway, so it'd be smart to—
...Huh?
When I turned to the direction of town, I noticed something that definitely wasn't there before. It was a sort of 'entrance' that was on the side of a nearby hill, and from this distance, it looked like it was a staircase going downwards.
That seems out of place, for some reason. I mean, it's like slapping a sticker on someone's face and not expecting anyone to notice. Is it like a mineshaft entrance or something? But it wasn't there before, so where'd it come from?
I contemplated what triggered it to spawn in, and then it hit me.
Completing the Tutorial Quest— more specifically Passionate Knight's one— did that trigger a dungeon to spawn nearby the player/players? Was this maybe an additional quest, like a secret one, because I completed a rare quest?
In any case, my gamer instincts were telling me to go and check it out! Since I'm Level 5 right now, what with getting an absurd amount of exp from the quest, I'm fairly confident I can take whatever's down there. Worst-case scenario, I can just rely on Passionate Knight, right?
"Hey, Passionate Knight. Do you think you can come with me into that dungeon-looking thing over there?" I asked the tall knight as I pointed at the staircase, lit up by torches (even though it wasn't dark).
"Ah, I see... A labyrinth, here of all places? It is vital that we explore what could be a limited opportunity!" Passionate Knight stated, and judging by his words, that was a 'Yes'. If Passionate Knight was coming with me, then I'd be fine for sure.
Thus, we headed over to the 'labyrinth', as Passionate Knight put it. I assumed it was a dungeon, but maybe it was his NPC privileges that gave him the ability to discern what it really was. Well, a dungeon is technically the same thing as a labyrinth, so I wasn't wrong, was I?
"Any clue what's inside it?" I questioned him as I peered down the stairs, but there was darkness preventing me from seeing inside. I'm guessing the moment I try to enter it, it'll make a screen pop up that'll give me the option to enter it, transporting me to another area. That would explain the appearance.
"A labyrinth in this world usually contains the Floor Boss," Passionate Knight informed me, which sent a shiver up my spine. I knew that it would probably be dangerous to do it with just an NPC, but I didn't think it could contain the toughest thing on this floor. "However, there are some labyrinths, such as this one, that contain a Dungeon Boss instead. We are likely going to discover treasure, traps, and powerful enemies!"
Ah, that cleared my worries for sure. Passionate Knight was definitely overpowered for this floor, so a first floor dungeon wouldn't be any trouble for us at all. Plus, the idea of finding some kind of rare treasure in this dungeon was appealing to my gamer soul. I couldn't let this opportunity pass by! What if someone else found it and looted it before me?
"Okay then, let's enter."
I didn't know this at the time, but that was a dire mistake.
...
"Whoa, this place looks grand," I commented, looking around after we were teleported inside. I was expecting stone bricks and torches mounted across the ceiling— You know, the stereotypical dungeon appearance. But the walls were black with amber lines running across the walls, and it was lit up by blue lights from above.
Secret Quest accepted.
"...Pardon?" I looked at the screen with confusion, wondering what and when a secret quest came from.
Secret Quest
Clear Conditions:
— Escape the dungeon
Huh. I got scared for a second, but that sounded relatively straightforward. I basically needed to defeat the boss, right? With Passionate Knight, that wouldn't be too difficult. I doubt he would let me enter this place in the first place if he thought I couldn't handle it, so we're good.
Right then, time to check out the map of the dungeon. If it gave me one, anyway. Maybe it could be one of those sub-maps that got filled in as you explored, keeping the exploration aspect while also allowing you to keep track of where you've been and such.
So I opened my menu and took a look at the ma—
...Huh? That... couldn't be right.
In SAO, there are 100 floors. Each floor would have its own map, and sub-maps would be included within those for places like these dungeons. Since the first floor was the only one available right now, we didn't need to select a specific floor's map first. When we got the second floor unlocked, we'd probably be able to flick between the two.
Now, unless I started to hallucinate all of a sudden, I'm fairly sure that... it's now giving me that option. But... My only two options are the first floor... and the hundredth. That couldn't be right, though. Is this a bug?
My curiosity got the better of me, so I selected the hundredth floor's map. If it really is the right map, then I'm down to get a sneak peek thanks to this bug—
Hundredth Floor: Sub-map
??? (Dungeon)
Wait. Wait, wait, wait. Why's it showing this dungeon? That couldn't be right. We were just on the first floor a second ago! How the hell could there be an entrance to a dungeon for the last floor from the first floor?!
"Passionate Knight—" I turned to the knight, seeking some sort of answer, like 'Ah, there must be a mistake, young traveller! This is undoubtedly the first floor!'
But he looked grim, all of a sudden. "...I cannot understand this. This... is inconceivable. A dungeon from the hundredth floor...?!"
...
...
...
.
.
.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S A HUNDREDTH FLOOR DUNGEON?!" I shouted out at him, grabbing the knight by his arms. "IS THIS A BUG?!" Did I really just stumble into an endgame dungeon by accident, through a bug?
"I... do not understand! But... please do not be afraid, for my gear is truthfully from the hundredth floor too! Therefore, I can protect you!" he claimed, but he got the wrong idea about me. About how I felt about this...
A hundredth floor dungeon? That just means easy exp. I'll snag some slow kills, level up a bunch of times, yoink late game materials, and probably die to the boss, then respawn in the Town of Beginnings a completely changed man!
It seemed the day where I'd enact my revenge on the false Overseer was closer than I thought.
"Okay then, Passionate Knight! Here's the drill! We're gonna loot the treasure in this place and get a bunch of high-quality materials, then we'll try to kill some enemies and finally test our luck on the dungeon boss! Sound good?"
"I admire your spirit, young traveller! You are unafraid of the dangers that lie ahead, for one wrong move will spark an instantaneous death for you!" he attempted to warn me, but that made sense. He was an NPC who didn't understand my status as a player, so naturally, he didn't know I'd just respawn. He would definitely do the same if he happened to die, but I have a suspicion he'll just get teleported back if I die first.
"Don't worry, I've got this," I reassured him, before pointing ahead. "Now then, let's get to looting!"
Thus, we went forward. This wasn't a labyrinth like Passionate Knight said, so there weren't too many confusing paths and such. That would make it easier to loot whatever resources I can find down here.
My main priority right now was to snag the loot. I didn't want to risk dying from an overpowered enemy, which was inevitable, and losing out on high-quality and 'unique' materials. Even if I died to the first enemy, failing to kill at least one, that could definitely still be a win from me, netting me a lot of money and materials to possibly make high-quality gear with.
We unsurprisingly ran into an enemy fairly quickly though; it was some sort of knight dude with a broadsword that had a fair amount of range. He looked tanky as hell, which wasn't very appealing on a survival aspect, especially since it wasn't my main goal to fight him right now.
But, hey, I'll just run past him—
Or so I thought, for the instant he spotted me, his aggro went on me. Honestly, I should have seen this coming, what with him being an endgame enemy and all. Frenzy Boars were basically the slimes of SAO: weak and designed to teach beginners the ropes of the game. Speaking of which, I'd even been given a Tutorial Quest, which taught me something specific.
I needed to be smart about my battles, and right now, I was doing the opposite.
"Passionate Knight! Let's get outta here!" I said hastily, running past the enemy and narrowly missing his swing. Passionate Knight followed along, while 'Aggressive' Knight tailed us. To my dismay, I saw a bunch more of his knight buddies waiting up ahead. Just running away from one is bad enough, but a whole group? Yeah, death is coming.
"This way, young traveller!" Passionate Knight said loudly, before he took an abrupt left down a hallway I didn't see before. I hastily followed, and we ran into some sort of room of the dungeon, which appeared to have made the knight lose aggro on us.
"Phew, thanks," I now appreciated Passionate Knight's presence even more, with him successfully leading us somewhere safe, and he did a sort of bow. Then I redirected my attention to our surroundings. "Whoa, jackpot!"
The room we ran into seemed like a mine of sorts, with dozens of these strange amber ores littered all over the place. They were definitely items I could put into my inventory, so I approached the nearest one, promptly taking a look at the screen that popped up when I did.
???
Item Details:
???
"...Well, I am not supposed to be here, so I guess it's bugged out," I reasoned, before picking it up, which sent it to my inventory. Still, when I checked it, it still retained the '???', which made me fear I wouldn't be able to use it at all. Well, it was better to have it than to not have it at all, so I picked up all the ore inside the room.
"Young traveller, what shall we do about this enemy?" Passionate Knight asked me, and I turned to him, seeing that he was referring to the knight from earlier, who was just camping outside the room. Could he not enter this room then? But if he was going to wait here this entire time, then we'd be forced to fight him.
Hold on a second. If he couldn't enter this room, then couldn't we just stay in this room and keep hitting him until he died? He probably wouldn't be able to do anything back to us, so regardless of his HP and his defence, he was going to go down sooner or later. And then I'd get a bunch of exp, shooting me up several levels and giving me a good headstart.
When I unsheathed my sword, though, Passionate Knight placed his hand on my shoulder to stop me. "Please restrain yourself, young traveller. This room is known as a 'break room', which enemy combatants cannot enter. However, if you inflict even the most minuscule damage onto them, they will gain the privilege to enter."
It just couldn't be that easy, could it? And to make matters worse, a few seconds after he told me that, we heard the sound of footsteps. Then the group of knights from earlier turned the corner and, spotting us, joined the lone knight. I'm guessing that even if they can't damage me or enter this room, they can still camp the hell out of it, like the smart NPCs they were.
"So our only option is to run, right?" I sighed in annoyance as I placed my hand on my chin, trying to work out how to get out of this situation without dying. There was probably a death penalty, which I wanted to avoid if possible. It took a few moments of thinking before the answer came to me. "Aha! ("Is he mimicking my speech?" came Passionate Knight's distant voice) If I log out, they'll probably disappear!"
Well, that wasn't a given, but it was worth a shot. In a lot of games, simply saving and quitting the game would change where enemies stood, and even where you stood at times. If I logged out, it could reset their positions, giving us the chance to slip by without any of them being able to jump us.
I opened my menu and scrolled to where the logout button was. But next to what was presumably an icon representing it (not sure what else a door with an arrow signifying you leaving would mean), there was only a blank white box. To be sure the text wasn't just bugging out, I clicked on it anyway, but nothing happened.
Don't tell me... you can't log out...
Inside of dungeons...?
"Passionate Knight, I think we're dead," I told the knight, losing all hope. There was a good dozen or so of these enemy knights, whose names I didn't know because it was just ???, which thereby meant that the two of us were not going to get out of this alive. I originally wanted to exploit their AI to kill them, but they were way more annoying and somewhat smarter than I took them for.
"Not to worry, young traveller. There is no shame in fleeing a battle if we conclude that we cannot win," Passionate Knight informed me, which sure did sound like something a tutorial NPC would say. 'Flee if you don't have the gear or levels' or an abbreviation of that was something I'd seen many, many times.
And this was the first time where I really wished I followed that.
But maybe it was at the mention of 'fleeing' that reminded me of the two stats of SAO, and I quickly went to the stat menu. As I expected, I had a total of 12 points to allocate to the stats, which I'd forgotten (never received a tutorial) to do earlier. A bit of a miracle, if you ask me.
I promptly invested all of my points into my AGI stat, since I needed the speed more than the damage right now. Then I turned back to the knights and did a few stretches. "Do you think you can keep up, Passionate Knight? I'm thinking about beelining it straight to the boss, picking up any loot we find along the way, and avoiding the enemies."
"As it happens, I am rather agile regardless of my build, so I believe so," he informed me promptly, which brought a smile to my lips.
"Good. Now then..." I went to the far left of the exit out of this room. It was an open exit, which meant that the hallway just led into it without a door. The moment I took a step on the far left, all the knights' aggro went on me, prompting them to charge in that direction. Then I swiftly leapt back, dashed to the far right, and bolted out of there, with Passionate Knight following in pursuit.
By abusing their aggro like that, I made them move the other way and opened up the path out of here, which allowed us to get pretty far. It's fair to assume that these guys are a lot quicker than us, even if they're in huge bits of armour, which made moves like that absolutely necessary if we wanted to live.
I picked up a few things about the dungeon as we quickly traversed through it. Firstly, whoever designed it put a lot of those 'break rooms' around, letting us rinse and repeat the same strategy whenever we gained an enemy's aggro. Defeating them would be another thing, but with the rooms, it was easy to flee from them.
Still, that implied to me that it was almost like someone accounted for a low-level player, or multiple, to be inside this place, unless the game itself just spawned in a bunch of these rooms when it realised how underleveled I was. Either way, I wasn't complaining.
I found a bunch more of those ores, too, and I'm assuming they're mostly used for equipment, which means that I'd probably need to find a blacksmith at some point. Still, it looked like all the treasure chests were being guarded by the enemies, and I swear I saw some gigantic knight in a distant room (I chickened out, no way in hell was I gonna check that area out).
Thankfully, that place wasn't an obligatory direction, so I could avoid it.
Anyway, after running the entire time, Passionate Knight and I arrived at the boss room. Well, I'm assuming it's the boss room, since this was the first time I encountered an actual door in this place, and a gigantic, boss-looking one at that. I really wanted to find some treasure on the way, and maybe a few high-quality items that I could use to beat the boss with, but I didn't have a choice. It was locked away by a dozen enemies or so that would definitely oneshot me.
"I must remind you that the enemy behind this door will be overwhelmingly powerful. Please stay behind me at all times, so that I am able to tank all of the damage," Passionate Knight requested of me, probably aware that I'd get killed in a single, basic attack if I was hit. Meanwhile, he apparently had gear from the top floor, so despite his level, his tank build could let him be a meat shield for me.
Hey, it sounds like I was being a dick here, but he suggested it, not me!
"Yessir," I said simply, wanting to get this over and done with as quickly as I could. The truth is, I checked the time a second ago, and it was 5:24PM. I didn't know when I would have to leave for dinner, especially since I never asked, so I wanted to play it safe and be done by 6. For all I knew, this would take a long time with hit-and-run tactics or whatever I employed to beat this thing without getting killed.
"Let us enter at once, then!" Passionate Knight declared enthusiastically, opening the doors for us to enter. We stepped inside...
The boss room was basically just a large and circular empty room, lit up by a blue light from the ceiling like the feet of the dungeon. It gave us a lot of space to work with, but considering I was severely underleveled, I was seriously hoping for the environment to give me a hand. Looks like I'd need to rely on my tank then.
We looked at the figure standing at the very middle of the room, literally just eyeing us with a glare so intimidating I'd probably piss my pants if this was real life. Maybe it was because of the level gap between us, but I could just feel his power.
Matching the other enemies of the dungeon, he was also a knight. However, his armour looked so detailed and crisp, and he also had a cape longer than Passionate Knight's.
Boss of the Dungeon: ???
Wow, what a surprise. He's ??? too, so isn't that just great? Gotta love bugged out dungeons, sure are original with those names. Anyhow, how much health did this guy have? Would he have a single health bar, but just have an absurd amount? Or would he have several—
I watched as the health bar appeared... and then another one... and then another one... and another... and another... until he was at a total of ten.
...I'm sorry, I know this guy is a top-floor dungeon boss, BUT TEN?! TEN HEALTH BARS?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
The dungeon boss then reached out for the weapon on his back behind his cape; it was a big-ass amber two-handed sword with a black outline. There were also streaks of black running across it in unpredictable ways, making it an overall nice design to look at. Also matched the walls— Wonder if it meant anything?
Well, regardless, we needed to be on our guard.
"Ready yourself, young traveller! He approache—"
An instant.
A mere instant.
That was all he needed to disappear from the middle of the room, which was again large, and appear right in front of us. I fully expected Passionate Knight to block with his two-handed axe, which was fairly giant in its own right, but instead he grabbed me by my arm and threw me away.
"Hey! What're you do—"
I didn't even have time to finish my sentence, before the dungeon boss pierced through Passionate Knight's hundredth-floor level armour as though it was paper. And he pierced Passionate Knight so deeply with his sword that the knight was right at the blade's handle. Had I remained there, I would have been hit as well, and killed.
"Young traveller... I apologise... I—" Passionate Knight, in what must've been a painful moment, attempted to utter last words, but the dungeon boss turned around and swung his sword, which made his body fling off of it and shoot straight into a wall, forming a dust cloud.
And even though I couldn't see him, I already knew his fate the moment I heard that sound effect.
*SHATTER*
...He was just an NPC, but that hurt on an emotional level that I couldn't describe. And the fact he was killed in such a disrespectful way, not even being allowed to share his 'final words' with me... It hurt a lot.
I got to my feet and looked at the dungeon boss, who just stared back, standing completely still. Okay... so despite the fact Passionate Knight had a tank build, gear from the top floor, and was a good fifteen levels higher than me, he still got one-shot. That doesn't make my odds at survival any higher.
This is probably the end. I couldn't survive a single attack from him, and even if I did, I wouldn't be able to do enough damage before he did enough to me. I had a slightly better starting sword, and the default STR stat. On top of that, even though I buffed my AGI stat exclusively, I still didn't see his attack coming. In other words, I have no shot at winning.
But...
"Hey, bastard! You killed my sensei!" I shouted at him, genuinely angry. He was such a positive and upbeat NPC, who taught me much more than I would've been able to learn on my own. Without him, I wouldn't have been be able to open the menu, for God's sake! And that's why I'm gonna go all-out and die fighting! "You're gonna pa—"
In my anger, I forgot something. I was playing a game, and in that game, I, as a solo Level 5 player, was facing an opponent who definitely required a squad of players over Level 100 to beat. It didn't matter how angry I was, or how determined I was to put this guy in the ground to avenge my fallen comrade. Because this wasn't an anime, or a manga, or a movie, or anything... I wasn't going to get a boost simply because of that.
Which obviously meant—
Before I could even prepare my sword, he was already in front of me. I quickly raised my sword to block, as he slowly swung at me. And with a single swing, my starting sword, which Passionate Knight spent time upgrading, was split in two, before shattering exactly like its upgrader.
I quickly backed up, wondering what the hell the plan was now. My weapon was gone, and if I tried to equip a new one, I'd be dead by the time I opened the menu. ...I should've known it would've been a futile effort the moment Passionate Knight died. He was my only chance at winning, and... he couldn't even react—
No, he did react. But instead of trying to defend himself... He knew it'd be pointless, so he threw me away to protect me instead. That was only delaying the inevitable though, because I couldn't exit this dungeon without killing this overpowered boss!
I glanced over at where Passionate Knight died, and hastily ran towards it. To my surprise, the boss didn't even try to stop me. He just turned as I moved, and watched me. Is he that confident? Well, I can't blame him, because there's no way I can win this. Even if I get gear that Passionate Knight dropped or something, it won't be enough to beat him. Definitely not.
Still, I wanted to see if my friend left behind a remnant.
And lo and behold, there was an item on the ground... so I picked it up.
Ring of Passion (Accessory)
Item Details:
A ring left behind by a warrior whose passion for his craft went unmatched. It gives the wearer no effects, but it serves as a reminder for the man who lost his life in battle.
...
No effects, or anything. But at least I had something to remember that legendary NPC by. A companion that wasn't useless, or a hindrance, or a pain to deal with.
Sorry for thinking you were annoying at the start, buddy.
I took a deep breath, then pointed at the dungeon boss. "I don't care about the lore of this game, or the players, or the final boss. I just wanna level up enough to kick your ass the next time we meet."
Kill me, boss, and I'll start the grind.
At the time, he didn't know that there wouldn't be a second chance in SAO.
The dungeon boss looked at me, and I didn't know why, but it felt like he was acknowledging my words. Then without another moment of hesitation, he charged forward with his sword ready, and I accepted my fate. There's no way to win, anyway.
Stupid-ass boss, you're dead when I get back to you—
But right before the boss swung at me, I was engulfed in a white light, brighter then the damn sun, and without being given the chance to process what the hell was going on, all of my senses disappeared.
...And when they came back, I was back in the Town of Beginnings. At first, I thought I just got killed and respawned, but looking around, I wasn't the only one who got teleported here. The very same light was appearing in spots all across the town square, and other players were appearing. In fact, I wasn't even the first one, since there were a bunch of people already talking, wondering what prompted this.
A forced teleport? Is it a welcoming event or something? The bell is ringing and everything...
...In any case, that sure as hell saved my ass back there! Great timing, devs! I owe you one!
Then a red hexagon appeared in the sky, reading: WARNING
Multiple others appeared, now saying: SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT
So many of those two hexagons appeared that the sky itself, which was the amber colour of the setting Sun, became red. And then, in a horrific twist of events, blood began to leak through the hexagons at the middle of town. But it looked like the blood was forming something.
A gigantic man in a crimson robe then appeared.
...Gotta say, SAO has an A+ for the atmosphere or whatever you'd call this. I wonder if this thing is like the final boss or something, and it's like an introduction to the world's story?
"Attention, players. Welcome to my world," Final-Boss-looking guy spoke, extending his arms to the side in the most stereotypical villain way. "My name is Kayaba Akihiko. How many of you have seen Tron?"
It was from that point that the god-tier game transformed into something else.
A death game.
...
End of Chapter.
This chapter wasn't meant to be so long. 11K words is kinda crazy. I was just trying to write a nice opening to the story, then had too much fun with it and somehow created this. But anyway, welcome to the SAO fic. Yap session incoming!1!1!1!
I contemplated writing an SAO fic back in like the end of 2022, and wrote a bit of a draft, but got bored and decided against it. Looking back at the unfinished draft, I don't really like how it played out either, so I'm glad I got bored. Anyhow, I'm much happier with this Chapter One, as long as it is.
The last time I wrote a first-person fic and actually published it, that was my starting days as a writer... Been doing third-person ever since, so this is kinda weird yet interesting at the same time. I've been trying to get a handle of it too. Using past tense for actions or whatnot and present tense for actual thoughts and stuff feels the best, but also feels wrong at the same time-
Anyway, this is the first chapter. I haven't written any more than this, but I have my ideas of course. Whether or not I continue this fic is based on the readers, aka you. If people are interested and enjoying the fic, and want it to be continued, then I'll do it, otherwise this'll stay as a one-shot for some time, until I decide to unpublish it.
The main premise of the fic is to introduce another perspective to the story of SAO, a gamer who gets lucky one time then gets wrapped into something he didn't sign up for. He's not here to replace Kirito, so if you wanna read a fic like that, there are a handful of them around. Take your pick.
That doesn't necessarily mean Kirito will get all his moments and stuff though. Y/N being around will naturally change the story and how things go, and he'll also take a few of the things Kirito does.
OCs will make an appearance, of course. Just sticking to the canon characters wouldn't make this fic as original as I'd like it to be, but I'll try not to stray away from the canon characters too much as well, otherwise it becomes too original. Mix of both, you know how it is.
I'm mainly trying to have fun with this fic, so it might not be serious at all times. Still, it's not like SAO has all that good writing in the first place—
Anyway, one last thing. That being, I haven't really decided on a love interest for Y/N. I have someone who might be a candidate, but aside from that, nobody really. Meaning it's up to the readers to decide! Yes, you get to pick the love interest.
Just a few things to be aware of— Asuna isn't becoming the love interest, because A, we're not cucking Kirito (sorry, Ghost, but I don't wanna do the guy like that), and B, I haven't decided if I want to go past SAO for this fic (ALO and everything past it), so making Asuna the love interest would kinda be an issue if I decided against it (yeah I'm letting Kirito do all the work post SAO).
Also, the only other girl who's off-limits is Silica, since she's twelve at the start of the Aincrad Arc and fourteen at the end of it. I will just say that Y/N is in his last year of middle school, basically the same age as Kirito, so the age gap would be kinda weird. Don't really feel comfortable writing that. And also, if you've read one of my other fics, there's a plot reason why Y/N wouldn't consider her as a love interest in the first place (iykyk, don't spoil it for others kindly)
Anyway, aside from Silica, Asuna and any other weird pairings, go crazy. Girls only of course. But no love interest is a valid option too, so... do whatever you want.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please have an amazing day!
Secret Quest
Clear Conditions
— Escape the dungeon (1/1)
Quest Rewards:
— Phenomenon System
— Phenomenon Skill Tree
— Title 'The Phenomenon'
— Rusted Greatsword
Restriction gained:
Non-'2-H Straight Sword' types are incompatible