1 Prologue

Two months on from the death game.

Everything he had experienced, from the pain and struggles to the bonds created, were like a hammer fiercely striking his soul; removing the impurities of his blade.

His body was slowly recovering as life returned to his withered muscles and stiffened bones ―― his mind however, remained flustered. How could he remain calm when the girl he loved was still living in a reality other than his own?

Her body lay still on the hospital bed, beautiful and tranquil, while her mind was dimensions away; in a world unknown to him. What could she be thinking? What could she be doing?

It was well into the night. He couldn't sleep. He wouldn't allow himself to sleep, he forced himself to continue racking his head to come up with a solution; a way to save her from that nightmare and in turn save him from his. He already tried to log back into the nerve gear and dive into Aincrad, but that world was now a distant memory, he himself witnessed the castle in the clouds crumble into oblivion.

He felt the breeze slap his cheeks as he walked down the paved pathway. As he entered the convenient store he saw the newspaper headings reporting on the situation where people throughout the country remained logged into the nerve gear despite the completion of the game.

???: 「It's not just Asuna. I have to save - everyone.」

He was Kirito the ''Black Swordsman'' after all, if he couldn't find a way who else could? This was what was expected of him, even though he had already failed to live up to that expectation on multiple occasions. There was blood on his hands, of both his enemies and his closest friends.

As he left the store, the cool breeze rustled against the plastic bag clutched in his hand, the circle of light from the lamp post above him flickered around his frame. It was quiet.

He began walking towards his home, no more than a few blocks away, where he would have a long night ahead of him; just like the night before that.

Suddenly, as though a thick shadow rushed his way, he blinked his eyes. The dark street in front of him appeared once more. He blinked again.

Kirito:「――」

The sudden stark shift of colour, accompanied by peculiar sounds, left him wide eyed and speechless as he stood frozen in his tracks. Everything, from the bustling noise of people and carts being drawn across a paved road to the exuberant smell of fragrances not familiar to him, had all led him to the singular thought…

Kirito:「I've ―― dived into another world?」

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He took a deep breath as he tried to focus his mind whilst standing in the midst of multiple peculiarities. As he closed his eyes to calm his pounding heart the bustling noises slowly faded away until it was only his own consciousness speaking.

''How could I have been logged into a game without even using a nerve gear? Tch - thinking about how I got here isn't going to help right now. I need to stay calm and think this through. If this is a game, all I need to do is find a way to log out.''

He opened his eyes, trying to find a way to activate a menu pop up. There was no status bar nor any mini map in this game. Honestly, he half expected it not to work to begin with. Having been in many VR games before, this definitely felt - different. VR had never been able to replicate the sense of the real world as effectively as it was right now.

''This might be a beta game for a new VR technology? Damn it, I can't stay here and run these tests for whoever dived me into this world, Asuna needs me. I need to get out of here…''

He looked around, no one had even batted an eye towards him the entire 10 minutes he stood frozen in the middle of the street. His eyes suddenly landed on a large man standing beside a market stand, selling what seemed to be apples. He was shooting a menacing stare towards Kirito as a leaf straw swayed from the side of his lips.

''This guy's staring at me quite intensely, is the game trying to make me speak with him to beginning the story?''

Kirito hesitantly began walking towards the large man, as he maintained eye contact. He was certain it was an NPC, but a plethora of emotions seemed to emanate from the glint in his eyes.

Kirito: 「――」

???: 「So new face, want an Appa?」

Kirito: 「???」

???: 「You just gonna stand there with that confused look or what? I said do you want to buy an Appa! Tch, is this kid deaf or just stupid? Going by what you are wearing you mustn't be from around here.」

Kirito: 「Ermm - yeah - that's right. I'm not from here, are you the person who is going to explain the details of this game to me?」

???: 「The f――, what the hell are you talking about? Are you tryna piss me off right now?! Listen, if you ain't gonna buy anything then beat it. I have a business to run here.」

Kirito: 「But――」

???: 「No buts, if what you want is information, then become a customer first.」

''Hmm I see, this must be how I trigger the event. I need to buy his ''Appa'' first.''

Kirito: 「Here you go, I'll take one Appa.」

???: 「? ―― You…are… really starting to PISS ME OFF!」

The man inspected the coins Kirito had handed over to him, with a mystified look on his face, before turning red with rage and throwing it back at Kirito's chest.

???: 「Beat it kid! Right now!」

As he scurried to pick up the scattered coins rolling across the floor, he noticed the looks that had settled on him from all around.

They were just NPCs he thought to himself, but why did he feel embarrassed, what was this strange uncomfortable feeling? There was nothing uniform about the people in this busy plaza, how is that a game could reproduce so many different individuals, all with different appearances, shapes, sizes and demeanours. In some faces he saw annoyance, in others empathy; he felt uncomfortable.

As he escaped the scene he wondered, could there be other players here or is he alone in this game? The words of the man at the Appa stand suddenly echoed in his mind. ''Strange clothes he said''. He looked down to see his black tracksuit bottoms and jacket over a white vest, it was indeed strikingly different to what everyone else here was wearing, everything had so much - colour. He didn't mind being plain, in fact he preferred it, being in the shadows was something he was used to as shut in. Here however, he stood out like a sore thumb.

"At the very least, if there are any players, I'm sure they would notice me wearing this. I guess I'll take a walk around the streets to see what I can learn and hope someone who knows more about this world comes to help m––"

His expression changed as he realised something.

"This is just a fraction of what the first-time players in Sword Art Online must have felt. I was a 'beater' but instead of helping everyone, I used my knowledge mostly for myself, to farm exp and become stronger – what right do I have to seek or expect help?"

He felt immense regret, but if it was one thing he gained from spending 2 and half years in that death game, it was resilience. With a determined look on his face he refocused his senses and raised his head up to the unknown world around him.

He realised his aimless walking, whilst pondering, had led him to a dead end in a backstreet. As he turned to head back from the way he entered he saw 3 blinding auras' emerging from the distance. One large figure, one scrawny frame and finally a much smaller figure.

As they stepped within the range of his sights and away from the blinding sun, he noticed their rough faces and the violent intent hidden behind their sharp screws. His instincts instantly told him to put up his guard and be on alert.

Kirito: 「――」

???: 「 What's in the bag?」

A young man with a juvenile look, bluish hair and ragged clothing broke the silence as he glared vehemently at the bag in Kirito's hand. Kirito had been carrying the bag around all this time despite not realising it, inside was just a few energy drinks and an energy bar meant to keep him going through the night.

Kirito: 「Nothing you would find interesting.」

???: 「Tch―― Well either way you're going to have to run all of your stuff right now… or… things will get a little messy」

???: 「Ha-ha-ha, that's right you punk. You don't want to mess with us, when we get angry, things start to break」

???: 「Hahaha, I don't mind things getting a little dark, but I wouldn't recommend it for you.」

As Kirito looked away for a split second, to the voices coming from behind, the juvenile quickly charged towards him, grabbing him by the scruff of his neck and flicking out a sharp knife; waving it menacingly across his face. The shorter thug with a peculiar bowl-cut haircut and enlarged eyes laughed hysterically as he sent further taunts before the large man spoke in his deep brutish voice.

Kirito: 「Thugs huh? ―― I guess low level trash like you will always exist in games.」

Juvenile: 「What was that?! ――aghhh」

Swiftly, with perfect accuracy, Kirito powerfully struck the thug's abdomen before impressively twisting the hand holding the knife, disarming him and flipping the tables on him. It was a perfectly coordinated move, within a matter of moments he now had the Juvenile grabbed by the chain dangling from his neck whilst pressing the knife against his brittle cheek. Cold sweat trickled down on the cool blade as the remaining thugs looked on silently in surprise.

Short thug: 「Hey hey, calm down for a minute. You don't need to do anything rash; we were only messing.」

Juvenile: 「Hey dude, please ―― just let me go... I swear, we will leave and never bother you again.」

Kirito: 「Even if it's just a game. I take no pleasure in dealing with a few annoying thugs- huh?」

Just as Kirito began withdrawing the knife from the man's throat, a sudden flash of yellow light came flying towards him.

Kirito: 「Arghh」

A foot fell heavily on his face before leaping off into the distance behind him.

???: 「Heh ― sorry about that, I'm in a bit of a rush here. Anyway... see ya.」

A short girl with golden hair and a tom boyish grin looked back at Kirito from the top of the building behind him before vanishing off into the distance. As he lay sitting on the cold ground, dazed from the sudden impact moments earlier, he slowly twisted his head back forward. Suddenly, a kick smashed against his lower jaw, knocking his flat on his back; causing his head to ring painfully. The heavy impact of the back of his head against the hard ground further dazzled his senses as a wet sensation bathed his hair.

Juvenile: 「HA-HA-HA. Don't know who that brat was but she did me a big favour there. Now –– yer gonna pay!」

The 3 figures all began brutally kicking and punching Kirito who lay spread eagle and defenceless on the cool ground. His limbs, numbed with pain, could no longer move to block the flurry of attacks pounding his body.

Kirito: 「arghh」

He squealed in pain as he pressed down on his jaw. His whole body became bruised and swollen and his mind couldn't understand what was happening to him. If this was a game, then why could he feel such unbearable pain, where were the other players, what was the point of this.

He felt something break.

Kirito: 「ARGHHHhhh!」

As he yelled in pain, his vision became hazy and his eyelids felt heavy as he fought to keep himself from losing consciousness. Memories flickered through his mind, his time spent in Aincrad; the people he let down, the people he killed and of course - the people he loved. His hearing suddenly shattered, blocking out the demented shouts and taunts of the 3 people brutally pounding his broken body into the ground.

He finally released his tensed muscles, giving into the torment, gasping hopelessly, and slowly shutting his eyes. ''Asuna… Sugu…I-I'm––''

???: 「That's enough!」

Thugs: 「Huh?」

The sound of a silver chime suddenly vibrated through the walls of the bleak alley as the pounding suddenly came to an abrupt stop. The 3 thugs twisted their bodies towards the soft sound that interrupted their violence.

Juvenile: 「Ayy! - get back here you!」

In the split second that the ringing voice reached his earlobes, as though it awakened his senses, he quickly rose; mustering the last ounces of his strength to capitalise on the opportunity to make a break for it and escape.

His ragged running was pitiful, like a wounded dog dragging his bloodied body forward. The 3 thugs rushed to chase him down the alley, Kirito felt them breathing down his neck as their steps resounded with the beating ache of pain in his head.

Just as he felt a finger briskly touch the side of his jacket, 3 blocks of thick ice whisked passed his cheek and over his head before hearing the sound of collision and pained wails behind. His mind remained solely focused on getting out of that hellish alley way and away from the thugs who had beaten down on him. He felt his body nudge against something as it shifted to the side before opening his vision to a colourful scenery.

Finally – he had broken through the corridor of towering buildings and was back onto the main street. ''I made it'' he thought to himself, as tears slowly welled in his bruised eyes, but what was next? The adrenaline was wearing off quickly, he began feeling more and more dizzy as his vision spiralled uncontrollably around him.

Appa man: 「Hey Kid! What the hell happened to you?!」

He slowly began turning his neck back towards the nightmare he had just escaped from. His hazy vision slowly began focusing on the person who stood directly behind him.

She was beautiful.

Kirito: 「As—un-」

His eyes shuddered, slowly blinking twice before falling down to his knees and towards her feet; losing consciousness.

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End of chapter.