Chapter Text
“Prepare for broadside!”
Dozens of explosions raked the side of the ship, sending the bridge crew to their knees. Commander Kirito stood through it all, hands gripping the railing of his command platform. His effeminate features were hardened in frustration. He gazed at the Destroyer-class ship assaulting them with hate.
“Damage report, now!”
“Port side took significant damage sir. The shields are down. The hanger was also hit, limiting fighter response.”
Kirito cursed, hand tightening on the pommel of his sword.
“What about our thrusters?”
One officer near the front of the bridge stood up and saluted. “Sir! Our sensors are down, but Lizbeth in engineering says thrusters on all sides are fully operational.”
“Thank you Lieutenant Silica.” The commander bit his lip, deep in thought. “Have all players close to the outer decks evacuate more inwards. Cycle the player gunners with NPCs.”
He clicked open one of the ship's control panels, the hologram flashing before his face. Flicking through some of the menus, he eventually found the button he was looking for.
“Unidentified Destroyer, this is Commander Kirito of the PCS Anneal. You have opened fire on a military vessel, what is your reason for this?”
“Oh, I apologize, commander.” A feminine voice replied. “Some equipment malfunctioned. I’m sure you understand. How about I come over and we can… talk it out?” The woman trailed off the end of her sentence with a seductive lit.
“You mean let you board my ship so you can steal from me?” Kirito rolled his eyes in annoyance. “Please, I wasn’t born yesterday.”
The woman laughed. “Oh my my commander, you certainly have a way with words. But yes, alright. Open your docking bay and this can end peacefully. If not, well…”
Kirito muted the communicator with a growl. “Lieutenant Silica, get ready to fire the starboard-bow thrusters.”
“Aye sir!” The girl said in reply.
“Alrighty then.” The commander said, unmuting the communicator. “Extend your docking tube. You’ll have a clear path to the cargo hold from the bow.”
“Good choice, commander.” The transmission was cut, before the Destroyer slowly drifted closer to the Anneal . Kirito could see the name on the side; Titan.
The Titan began extending a docking tube from below its bridge. Kirito watched it with bated breath as the tube grew closer and closer. When it was a few dozen meters out from the ship, he shouted.
“Silica, now!”
The ship lurched in response.
In 2022, the world's first ever Full-Dive VRMMORPG, StarNought Online, was released worldwide. The game was advertised as the perfect Sci-Fi experience, with massive space battles, sprawling ground conflicts, realistic cities, and more jobs than players could fill.
The closed beta, consisting of only a measly 10,000 players, blew all expectations out of the water. Players called it the ‘perfect game’, which ensured its success upon release.
One month later, the game was officially released. The five million copies in circulation were sold out within the first few hours.
On the outskirts of Tokyo, in Saitama Prefecture, a young 17 year-old named Kazuto Kirigaya placed his copy of SNO in the NerveGear headset required to play it. Being one of the beta testers, Kazuto was awarded a copy for free.
“Onii-chan, I’m heading out!”
Kazuto hesitated at the sound of his little sister's voice, debating whether to reply or not. In the end he decided against it, right as the front door closed, signalling her departure.
He placed the bulky grey helmet onto his head, laying down in his bed a moment later. His excitement was almost uncontainable as he uttered the words that would haunt him for years to come.
“Link start!”
Kazuto’s vision swam with color, individual diodes of light almost blinding him. Small menus came up, each one labeled with one of the five senses. One at a time, all five flashed green as they checked his brain activity. The language selection came up, pre-set to japanese. Finally, a text box flashed before him.
Would you like to use your data from the beta test?
>Yes >No
Moments later, a handsome black-haired man spawned in the City of Beginnings. Clutching his hand into a fist, Kirito grinned.
“Hello world. I’m back!”
The City of Beginnings was a sprawling metropolis, spanning hundreds of miles in any direction. It consisted of four major areas, of which players could receive quests pertaining to the area's theme.
The first and largest area was the Space Port. Stationed on the edge of the city's lake, the Beginnings Space Port was the hub of all trade and commerce, as well as hosting the planet's main military force. At least, that was the lore behind it. In game, it served as a quest hub for players to join NPC ship crews and earn Col, the in-game currency, or even start their own crews.
It was here that players spawned, coming into the city as ‘refugees’. One such player broke into a sprint only seconds after spawning, rushing through the vast crowds of people. The player, Kirito, turned off the main road, slipping through the much less populated back-alleys.
“Hey man! Wait up!”
Kirito slowed as someone called out to him. Turning, he saw a tall man with long pink hair and bright red bandana rushing to catch up with him. As the man got closer, Kirito could see some light facial hair decorating his face.
“Yeah? What's up?”
The man stopped to catch his breath, something Kirito noted was completely unnecessary due to his body not being real.
“You look like you know where you’re going. You were in the beta test, weren’t you?”
Kirito was surprised the man could figure him out that easily. “Yeah, I was. Why do you ask?”
The man dropped to his knees before him, hands clasped in front of him like a prayer.
“Please teach me beta-sensei! I just need some tips and pointers.” Kirito’s eyes widened at the display, not used to having someone clearly older than him prostrating themselves.
“U-uh yeah, sure. I’ll be happy to help.” The man brightened up immediately, jumping up with a shout.
“My name's Klein by the way.” The man said with a smile, holding his fist out.
“I’m Kirito.” He returned the fist bump, before looking the pinkette up and down. “Well, I guess to start you need some starter gear. How much Col did you start with?”
The player, Klein, scratched the back of his head while replying. “Only one thousand. I still have all of it because I didn’t know what gear I needed.”
All new players started with 1,000 Col, which was enough to get a weapon and some food. Beta testers, however, started out with 3,000 as a bonus. More than enough to get some decent gear and still have some left over.
“Alright, I know a place we can go…”
“Argh what the hell!?” Klein shouted as he rolled away from another strike before slam firing three slugs in the general direction of the giant tentacle monster, which even now was preparing another hit. Purple tendrils raced towards Klein, who lacked any other options, racked the pump on his shotgun and prepared to die a warrior's death, and then come back for revenge later. Perks to dying in a video game, you can always come back.
Before Klein could have his moment of glory, all four tentacles suddenly severed and hit the ground, before bursting into polygons. His black haired savior rushed past, almost a blur as he jumped onto the side of the creature's head. Kirito used his combat knife to climb up the side of the creature, before his off-hand drew a short-barreled shotgun from his belt. He emptied it into the thing's skull, dropping the last of its HP to zero.
The creature let out one last mournful warble, before bursting into bright polygons, same as its severed parts. Kirito landed on the ground in a roll, before stashing his weapons back in their respective holsters. Klein did the same with his pump shotgun, slinging it onto his back, before rushing up to his mentor with a massive grin.
“Holy crap Kiri-dude! How did you do that?”
The other player smiled sheepishly while scratching the back of his head. The action didn’t match his avatar, which looked like a confident anime protagonist.
“Heh, fight the same mobs over and over again, you start to find shortcuts. I also put all my points in AGI so that helps.”
Klein contemplated for a moment before replying. “But wait, you told me to split my points between STR and AGI.”
“Well, yeah. That way your stats are balanced. I’m a very specialized fighter, which is why I use mostly AGI. It fits my combat style. Since we don’t know how you fight yet, it's better to start off balanced, and figure out your style from the- wait are you taking notes?”
Klein looked up from the small notepad in his hand. “Yeah! That way I can help my friends when they log on.” He paused. “That's uh, not a problem right?”
“No no, by all means.” Kirito just shook his head in amusement, before turning towards a small break in the trees surrounding them. “Hey, follow me. I have something to show you.”
Klein looked up to find Kirito already across the clearing, heading into the woods. The man rushed to catch up, falling in step just behind Kirito.
“So, Kiri-dude.” He started. “You never did explain why we had to come out here to fight stuff and level up. Isn’t this supposed to be a space game?”
“Kind of. This game is more complicated than that. While the main goal of the game is to get your own ship or join a player crew, it takes a good bit of time and money to do so. The most profitable way to do this is to work on an NPC ship, but those quests are rare, not to mention they can be incredibly boring. The next best thing is to work on your normal combat, because while this is a space game, plenty of ground fighting happens. Especially in planet raids.”
“Huh… so it's like a strategy game and an FPS put together?”
Kirito paused, an amused expression on his face. “I don’t think I’ve heard anyone explain it like that. But yes, basically. Although those aren’t the only job options in the game either. The hardcore roleplayers can get jobs in the cities, like bartending or being a newsboy. On the flip side, you can also open your own shop and sell loot you get. Basically, you can be anything you want in this world.”
The two of them came out to an exposed cliffside. Klein had to shield his eyes from the sun before his vision finally adjusted. His breath caught in his throat as he saw the sight before him.
The City of Beginnings shone beautifully in the evening sun, the lake it was situated on adding to the city’s charm. Fields of blue-grass were visible on the outskirts, wind sweeping the tall fields.
“Is this really… a game?”
“Breathtaking, isn’t it.” Kirito stood right on the edge of the cliff, wind shifting his wild hair. “I used to come here when I needed to get away. It’s the best view you’ll find, real or virtual.”
Klein found he had to agree. It wasn’t just the view. He could feel the sun on his skin, the wind blowing through his hair. He’d never been so relaxed in his life.
They stayed like that for a while, simply enjoying the atmosphere. After a bit, Klein’s mind drifted to a question, something he had been curious about since Kirito explained how to make Col.
“Hey, Kirito? Did you ever get a ship in the beta?”
The black haired player let a small smile creep on his face. “Yeah, though I almost lost my chance. It was the last week of the beta, and I only had half the credits needed for my own ship. All of a sudden, a friend of mine messaged me, asking if I wanted to split the price on one and just share. I agreed, and we got ourselves a little blockade runner.”
Kirito stared wistfully over the distant city as he spoke, a look of nostalgia on his face.
“That was probably the best week of my life, just exploring with her. We even managed to join a front-line fleet in one of the final battles.”
He trailed off, seemingly deep in thought. At least, until Klein grabbed his shoulders with desperation.
“Did you say ‘she’? How old is she, what's she like? Is she single?”
“She's my age, but she doesn’t have any interest in romance. Just money. Seriously man, calm down!”
Klein finally backed off in defeat. He checked the time with a sigh before looking over the clearing.
“I gotta get off soon. Pizza coming at 5:30, and I’m meeting up with some friends after that.” He paused for a moment, before turning to Kirito. “Say, want to come meet up with us later? I’ll introduce you to the gang. They’re friendly, and I think they’d like you.”
Kirito hesitated, before a small smile adorned his overly confident avatar. “Yeah, I’d like that. Just give me some warning first.”
“Heh, you got it.” Klein took one final look at the beautiful view, before bringing his hand up and calling forth the menu.
“Hey, uh, Kirito? Kinda dumb question but uh, how do I log out?”
The black-haired boy gave a short laugh. “Seriously, man?” He called up his own menu. “It's right there, at the bottom of the-”
“See, I’m not dumb. It's gone.”
“You’re right but… that's really strange. If this is a bug, it's a pretty big one.”
Suddenly, the sound of a bell tolling rang out over the area, before both players were suddenly encompassed in a flash of blue. Klein opened his eyes to find they were in the central plaza of the city.
“Somebody forced a teleport, but who?” Kirito said, causing Klein to notice he was still right next to him.”
“Uh, just a wild guess, but I think it might be him.” Klein pointed up towards the sky, which was blocked by a red hooded and faceless figure.
“Welcome players, to my world.”
Run
This was no longer a game. Kayaba had turned it into a death trap, and to survive, Kirito had to get ahead.
Run
The space port was his best bet. The NPC ships there paid handsomely and there was usually a chance to keep the ship at the end of the questline.
I have to run.
Maybe he could find one that docked at the moon? He knew of a boss there that gave decent drops. If he could sell those he would be better off. Once he got a ship, he had a good chance at surviving the death game, maybe even beating it.
“To clear the game, you must capture all one hundred planets in this small galaxy. You will be fighting an NPC government known as the ‘Federation of Trade Systems’.”
Kayaba’s words haunted him. One hundred planets? It was impossible. Even with a fleet it would take months to clear the game. Months until he could see his family again.
I didn’t even say goodbye to Suguha. She must hate me now.
“Kirito, wait!”
It was only then he realized that he had dragged Klein with him in a panic. It was still strange to see the man with short ginger hair. Then again, Klein must also find the difference in Kirito’s avatar shocking as well.
“Klein, listen, if we hurry to the space port, we can get a ship to the nearest moon and make some quick money. If we do that, we can survive.” The man looked nervous, something Kirito also felt in large droves.
“I… I’m sorry, I can’t come with you. My friends, the ones I mentioned earlier? They’re back in the plaza. Probably scared out of their minds. I have to go back for them.”
Kirito cursed in his head. More people were fine, welcome even. After all, if they all got on the same ship, they could make the money together. But going back now would mean leaving the other beta testers to snatch up all the available quests.
“Hey, don’t worry about it. I can’t ask a guy I just met to risk everything to help me. I’ll catch up.” Klein gave him a confident smirk, one Kirito tried to return.
“Alright. But if anything happens before then, message me. I’ll steal a ship if I have to.”
“Same to you buddy. And hey, I think you look better like this. Way better than that stupid protag avatar of yours.”
Kirito looked at himself in a nearby shop window, noting his short stature and immature looks. It was a startling contrast to his overly confident avatar.
“Yeah, and I think that scruffy look suits you.” Kirito gave one last watery smile to the man, before turning towards the docks and sprinting away. When he looked back, Klein was already gone.
Kirito ended up getting passage on a trading ship called the ISC Anneal. The Anneal was a former military frigate-turned merchant ship, which was owned and operated by an entirely NPC crew. Kirito managed to get the position of ‘First Lieutenant’ for no other reason than the game throwing players some easy quests to start out with. Being such a high rank ment that he was getting paid good money, but it also meant he didn’t have much to do on board, which gave him plenty of time to think.
According to Kayaba, the five million players logged in had to capture and hold one hundred planets, and only then would the game clear. If Kirito remembered correctly, the last battle of the beta test was the conquest of the planet Dai, the eighth planet. That was after two months of grinding planets, with the added benefit of being able to replenish their numbers as soon as players respawned. That was no longer an option, what they had was what they were working with.
So adding into account the added time for caution, it could take years to break out of the death game. Years where Kirito wouldn’t see his family. And if he died? Then Suguha would go on thinking he hated her. He would never have a chance to apologize for ostracizing her.
“Attention all hands, we will be docking in Centoria Space Port in approximately thirty minutes. Landing crew please prepare for atmospheric entry.”
The announcement broke Kirito out of his train of thought. He stood up from the small bed he had been sitting on before making his way out of the cramped officers cabin. The metallic door opened with a swish, revealing a long narrow hallway. Kirito made his way down the bright hall, meeting up with some NPCs that were going in the same direction.
The small group made their way to a large elevator bay, before piling into the few that were available. Kirito stood awkwardly among the lifeless NPCs as the lift slowly moved upwards. Even if social interaction had never been his forte, the option was usually always there. To be thrown into a situation where he couldn’t really speak to anyone was more than a little unnerving, especially when being stuck in a death game was stacked on top of that.
The elevator reached its destination with a ding, letting the doors slowly slide open. Kirito waited until the NPCs exited before doing so himself. He walked past the scores of terminals and officers to stand beside the captain's observation platform, which overlooked the entire bridge of the ISC Anneal.
The elevator opened behind him, causing Kirito to look back. When he saw who it was, Kirito snapped to attention.
“Captain on deck!”
Stepping out of the lift, Captain Anders stopped to observe all the officers present, before slowly making his way to the observation platform.
“At ease.” The NPC captain said before turning towards Kirito. “First Lieutenant Kirito, you should know that you will have a day and a half of shore leave when we land. The ship will be departing tomorrow evening at 1700 hours. You need to be back at least two hours beforehand.”
Anders then turned back towards the bridge, going back to his default state. A day and a half would afford Kirito just enough time to fight the moon's field boss before returning to the ship. Assuming the drops were just as good as they were in the beta, Kirito might be able to get some decent gear or money, though still far off from his goal of getting a ship like the Anneal.
The space port of Centoria was more of a pit stop than a real port. Intended as the last checking point for cargo, the port only took up around three kilometers of the wooded moon. As such, its market left much to be desired, especially for someone like Kirito, who was searching for weaponry instead of supplies.
Eventually he found a small shack selling second hand equipment. It was run by a little old lady, who seemed bright and cheerful, a stark contrast to the huge shotgun adorning her back.
“Hello young lad, how can I help ye?”
“Can I please see the store?”
A menu popped up in front of him, detailing the inventory of the shop.
[Weapons]
[Clothing]
[Other]
Kirito still had a decent amount of Col, even more so than before thanks to his hunting session with Klein. He hadn’t gotten any money from the Anneal yet, but that was to be expected since he’d only been working for a few days at most. Still, with what he had, Kirito knew he could get a decent spot of gear.
Twenty minutes later, He walked away from the shop looking like a new man. Instead of his old blue fatigues, he was dressed in a combination of black and silver. His chest was adorned with a silvery breastplate, with a bandolier crossing it, holding several large bullets. On top of that was a black jacket with white accents, which was left open with the collar popped. He wore black cargo pants, which were tucked into a pair of combat boots.
Instead of his starter shotgun, the holster on his thigh had a black handgun in it, with an average sized, serrated combat knife placed behind it. Extra magazines hung low on his belt as well as a small flashlight, and a miscellaneous pouch. His boot held a small stiletto. He spotted his reflection in a tall window, looked to make sure no one was watching, and did a small spin.
His footfalls had a nice click to them as he strode down the space port corridor. Kirito made his way towards a small hanger-looking building, which had a small entrance nestled into the side of it. The door slid open, letting Kirito see into the building.
Vehicles in various states of repair were scattered around, some being worked on by NPCs. One such character stood up from the small bike he was fixing, before approaching Kirito.
“Welcome to my shop, lad. Got somethin’ ya need fixed?” The rugged mechanic spoke in a gravelly tone, inspecting his newest customer with programmed interest. Kirito ignored it, as well as the menu that popped up asking if he had something that needed repair.
“I would like to rent a vehicle.”
The NPC looked at him with confusion for a moment, making Kirito worry his hunch was wrong. Before he could back out, a new menu popped up.
[Confirm Purchase]
Kirito did so, causing a pair of keys to materialize in his hand.
“Bring ‘er back in one piece, ya hear?” With that the NPC went back to his pre-programed task. Kirito just smiled in return, happy his hunch had worked.
In the beta test, some of the players figured out that not every business was what it seemed. If you used specific voice prompts, you could find secret services that would normally be unavailable to you.
This feature was used quite frequently in questlines, but some crafty beta tester found out it applied outside of pre-set situations. Said tester was now mounting a sleek silver dirt-bike. Kirito slid the key into the ignition, and waited for a tutorial menu to pop up.
And waited.
And waited.
Please tell me Kayaba didn’t remove vehicle tutorials. Kirito waited another few minutes, before tentatively reaching towards the key, turning it in the ignition.
Nothing happened.
He looked around the bike for some explanation before his eyes saw a silver rod extending from the bottom. His foot came down on it sharply, causing the engine to come to life with a sputter. Thick, black smoke coughed out of the exhaust pipe.
I don’t think it's supposed to do that. Well he did rent it from a mechanic's shop. Kirito remembered some of the times he attempted to drive in the beta. He had only driven a bike once, but he remembered the basic theory behind it. He reached for the clutch on the left handle bar, shifting the vehicle into first gear.
Heh, this’ll be easy.
“Holy shit!”
Kirito swerved the bike, narrowly avoiding a large rock jutting out of the ground. In doing so, he lost control of the bike entirely.
“Not easy, not easy!”
He desperately tried to pull the handbrake, succeeding after a moment. This proved a mistake, however, when the front tire seized up, sending both the bike and Kirito flying.
Kirito impacted a tree face first, knocking a decent amount of health from his bar. The bike fared no better, coming to a skidding halt a few feet away from him.
“Ugh… fuck me.”
The black haired boy slowly picked himself off the ground, one hand cradling his face. The green bar that displayed his health had a decent chunk taken out of it, almost putting him in the yellow.
“Never again. That thing is a death trap.” On the bright side, he had made it to his destination, only a few dozen meters away from the boss clearing. Kirito popped a small syringe open, pushing the needle against his virtual skin and pressing the plunger down. His health slowly went up as the med kit did its wonders, leaving Kirito to think about the upcoming fight.
The field boss was called ‘Urnauk the Cyborg’, and as advertised he was a large humanoid robot. Kirito didn't know how he was a cyborg exactly, since he seemed to be all machine. However he did know that according to the game's lore, he was an old battle bot, whose AI program had developed intelligence and decided maybe it didn’t want to live as a military slave.
None of that really mattered, Kirito just liked learning about a game's lore. What really mattered was the bosses' attack patterns. If he remembered correctly, the boss was a STR heavy one, relying on mostly telegraphed wide attacks. Kirito, being an AGI build, was the perfect counter to Urnauk, being able to dodge any attack he threw.
Mentally preparing himself, Kirito opened his menu with a swipe of the fingers. He scrolled through for a moment, before finding exactly what he wanted.
‘Item: FAL
Class: Weapon Subclass: Old World’
Kirito selected the item, causing a rifle to appear before him. He caught it in both hands, inspecting the wood furnishings on the barrel and stock.
In StarNought Online, there were two main categories of small arms, Old and New World. Old World guns were usually based on real life weapons, whereas the New World ones were based on SNO original items or even items from other sci-fi series.
Kirito loaded a large magazine into the rifle, before racking the charging handle. It was time to get down to business.
A hulking form of metal exited the treeline, coming into the open clearing. His single red eye scanned the area before focusing on a single form standing on the opposite side.
“Human…” Urnauk said with barely hidden disdain. “I shall not be enslaved agi-” The ‘cyborg’ cut off as multiple projectiles hit him.
Kirito kept pulling the trigger until the gun clicked empty, firing thirty rounds of 7.62x51 into the boss monster. Urnauk’s health dropped slightly with every shot, ending up at about ninety percent. He ejected the magazine, reaching for the rounds on his bandolier.
“Damn, kinda hoped that would kill you…” Urnauk seemed slightly agitated at being interrupted, if the giant arm of metal whipping towards Kirito was anything to go by. “Whoa, you’re faster than I remember.”
Kirito jumped over the appendage, shifting into a roll as he hit the ground. He popped back up with his handgun, firing three shots at the boss before another attack came. Urnauk bull charged the boy, impacting Kirito before he could dodge. He went flying into the opposite side of the clearing, weapons falling with him.
“Ugh, note to self, new gear doesn’t make me a badass…” Kirito clutched his head before taking a cursory glance at his HP. The normally green bar was firmly in the yellow. Before he could even be concerned about that, Kirito noticed another slight issue.
“Oh shit!” The tree he had been leaning on was obliterated as Urnauk slammed his fist into it. Kirito ran a few meters away before reaching for his holster.
Shit! It's empty!
His pistol was laying a few feet away from the boss. The FAL was similarly positioned, not that the rifle would help anyway since it wasn’t loaded.
Kirito pulled out his combat knife with a grimace, which turned into a wince as he put weight on his left leg. When the Death Game started, Kayaba had toned down a lot of the player aids that had once been essential. One such aid was the Pain Absorber. Whereas before, almost no pain could be felt in the game, now Kirito was struggling to stand on his injured leg.
The boss was getting ready for another charge, giving Kirito just enough time to jab a healing capsule into his leg. It didn’t raise his health much, but it did dull the pain.
When Urnauk’s fist launched towards him, Kirito jumped onto it, before running up the arm onto the neck. The cyborg began to panic, writhing around and reaching back to try and swat Kirito from him. Kirito just rode through it all, watching as the boss tried to push its arms past where the joints could go.
His knife came up with a flip, before Kirito jabbed the tip between two metal panels. He wiggled the knife deeper, before prying one of the panels off completely. Wires and blinking lights were exposed as he did so, before Kirito raised the serrated blade and plunged it into a circuit board.
The result was Urnauk freezing in place before he suddenly began bucking in rage. Kirito went flying for the third time that day, a feeling he wasn’t getting fond of anytime soon.
Urnauk let out an enraged roar before turning towards its prey. The center red eye focused on the boy before a blast of heat and metal slammed into the red light.
Kirito approached the boss as it slowly collapsed onto the ground.
“Finally… thank you human. I can finally be free.” Urnauk the Cyborg shut down, before bursting into bright polygones. Kirito collapsed against a nearby tree, before reaching into the pouch on his belt and grasping his last health capsule.
The needle pierced his skin easily, allowing his health bar to slowly raise from the red to yellow. Not as high as he’d like, but better than being one hit away from death.
The black haired boy slowly picked himself up, moving towards his discarded rifle. Picking it up by the barrel, he pressed the stock against the ground as a makeshift cane. He hobbled over towards where Urnauk had expired, and found a small bag of items.
Before Kirito could grab the items, he heard a sharp hiss behind him. Suddenly, something impacted his back, knocking him to the ground. Kirito landed on his side, and attempted to flip onto his back. He was halted by a sharp pain running through his chest. Looking down, he saw the cause.
Is that a… harpoon?
Kirito reached up to grasp the metal weapon protruding from his chest. His grip was weakening, he could see a small pool of blood beneath him.
“I’m sorry about this man. But I really need that drop, and I couldn’t fight the boss like you did.”
Kirito couldn’t see who was talking, but he could tell they were behind them. That was proven true when the harpoon was suddenly ripped from his back. Kirito screamed.
Raw visceral pain raked his entire body. The barbed end of the harpoon had torn an even larger hole through his midsection, though thankfully SNOs rating prevented it from having too much blood shown at once.
Someone stepped in front of him, taking the bounty Kirito had rightfully earned. He tried to stop it, or just to call out. Only groans of pain came out, however.
“I’m really sorry, but I need this stuff to survive. I figured if it was me or you, it might as well be me on top.”
Kirito watched as the person ran away from him, bag in tow. He couldn't make out much through his hazy vision, just brown hair and a long-sleeved shirt of the same shade.
In real life, Kirito would have been flooded with adrenaline, a natural painkiller. It might have been anyway, for all he knew. But while he was logged in, the NerveGear didn’t let him feel it. He had to feel the pain.
Until suddenly, all he felt was bliss.
“Peter, did you see where that bastard went?”
Kirito looked towards the voice, finding a figure crouching over him, health capsule in hand. The green healing aura encompassed Kirito's body filling him with a feeling of great ecstasy. He couldn’t see the face of his savior, but their voice sounded like an older lady.
“Looks like he headed towards the port. I can track him if we hurry.” The answering voice was definitely male, and sounded around Kirito’s age. It had a strange quality to it that reminded him of text to speech AI.
“No, just leave him.” The lady said in return. “We have to get this ‘un back first.”
Kirito’s vision began to fade after that. He realised he was losing consciousness.
“It's alright lad. I’ll get ye back safe.”
It was the last thing he heard.
“...is… okay?”
He could hear voices around him, speaking in quiet tones as if not to disturb him.
Bit late for that…
Kirito opened his eyes, only to be blinded by light.
“He’s awake! Peter, go fetch some water.” The only reply was the sound of boots on wood.
Kirito’s vision began clearing up, revealing a thatched roof above his head, a small light rigged to its wooden support. Kirito looked down to find another hand grasping his own. He followed the arm it was attached to, finding a woman looking at him intently. She looked older, maybe sixty or seventy, and was definitely Japanese. Her hair was covered by a shawl, but Kirito could see a few silver strands hanging loose.
“You’ve been through quite the ordeal young man. How are you feeling?”
Kirito was surprised to find it easy to reply. “Fine, all things considered. Where…. Where am I?”
The older lady simply chuckled. “You’re in a small hut near the space port. My name, or I suppose my handle, is Mizu. The young man I just sent for water is my grandson Peter.”
“My handle is actually Vanguard, but she refuses to call me that.” A voice called out from the other side of the room. Kirito looked towards the source and found a young man with blond hair holding two cups of water. His features were Western, a surprise to Kirito.
“Peter here-” Mizu ignored his protest “-is American, and doesn’t understand much Japanese, something I blame his mother for. Regardless, he has to use the game's translator to communicate with non- english speakers.
So that's why his voice is off, it's the game translating and mimicking the sound. The boy in question approached the bedside before handing Kirito one of the glasses. He took it gratefully, drinking from the cup greedily.
“Now now, pace yourself.” Mizu said. Kirito followed her advice, taking just a few sips at a time.
“How did you fight that boss on your own?” The boy, Peter, asked.
“I just went for its weak spot. Most bosses have one, and a good bet is always the neck. It's the same for players, we have critical spots where our organs would be.” He turned his attention back to Mizu. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but what is someone like you doing playing this game?”
The woman chuckled. “You mean 'what's an old lady doin’ playing some video game? Well, Peter bought me a NerveGear some time ago, which I admit confused me. At least, until he let me play on his SNO beta account for a bit. I felt like I was back in my twenties, it was amazing. So, I decided to get the full game when it came out. Even had a kickass sexy avatar made, not that it did me much good.”
Mizu took a deep breath, calming herself. “I admit, I’m probably one of the only people better off here than in the real world, but that doesn’t matter. I have to break out of this game, if only to save Peter.”
Kirito was taken aback by the story. He hadn’t even considered the idea that the elderly could take advantage of full-dive like that. The idea opened up so many possibilities, such as disabled people using the technology to experience the world. As he pondered the idea, his gaze shifted to the clock beside his bed.
“Um, Mizu? How long have I been asleep?”
She thought for a moment, before replying. “Oh about eighteen hours or so. Why?”
“Crap, I have to get back to the ship!” He shot out of the bed, startling both his hosts. “Sorry, thank you for everything! I promise to pay you back at some point!”
“Oh! Your things are by the door!” Mizu called out.
“Thank you!” Kirito grabbed the bundle of items, slinging the rifle on his back. He rushed out the door, finding his rental bike laid next to the hut.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to him, Mizu and Peter just stared at the door before looking towards each other.
“Strange boy…”