### Prologue – Welcome to the Second Server  _It’s been a few hours since players have been able_ _To log-in but as of yet no one has been able to log-out_ _Bells chime all over the first floor, drawing players to_ _The Town of Beginnings where they are about to hear_ _A very shocking announcement…_ --- Shoulders knocked by each other repeatedly as players scrambled and milled around the town square. Hawke grumbled and shoved aside any that would not move for him. He felt clustered and the warm of so many bodies made him feel clammy and uncomfortable, even in this virtual world. “Stay close to me!” he barked loudly, his voice straining to beat the chaotic chorus of chatter around them. His friends followed his every step, both a little surprised by how aggressively he was pushing through the sea of people. It may have been a game, but to Aang and Maric this already felt very real and they did their best not to bump into others. Rather than head to the centre of the square (which was actually a circle), Hawke tried to lead the trio out of the mosh pit and towards the Black Iron Palace. It wasn’t for any particular reason, he just wanted to leave the crowd and the Palace was the first landmark he spotted. The trio just managed to pierce out of the circle when their eyes were drawn to the skies above. “What the fu-?” Aang’s draw dropped in synchrony with his friends. Large red warning signs emerged from above the palace and quickly spread to cover the sky in massive dome over the city. Most signs read ‘Warning’ and ‘System Announcement’, but some flickered and lagged and seemed to bare unintelligible writing. That was strange, but what really freaked people out and made them shit their pants was when the signs began to ooze thick red blood. Some people began to scream but the majority of people merely watched in shocked silence. As the various drops of blood seeped downwards they began to draw close to each other and slowly formed into a mysterious giant figure wearing a red hooded robe and who bore no face. “Is that a GM or something?” Maric asked without taking his eyes of the flying being. Hawke didn’t answer though, he was too focused on the announcement. **“Welcome to Second Server. My name is Kayaba Akihiko. This world you currently inhabit is but a forgery of my creation, a copy you have all brought out of greed and desperation. I do not hold it against you… but I do pity you.”** The booming voice of Kayaba seemed to have a hint of regret to it. **“You may have already noticed that the logout button is missing from the main menu. But this is not a defect in the game. I repeat... This is not a defect in the game. It is a feature of Sword Art Online. You cannot log out of SAO yourselves. And no one on the outside can shut down or remove the NerveGear. Should this be attempted, the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit a powerful microwave, destroying your brain and thus ending your life.” ** With the revelation people begun screaming and trying to run away. Some reached the edge of the square and found themselves bouncing off an invisible barrier, which only added to their frantic behaviour. Hawke caught someone doing so in his peripheral vision and realised he must have only been a couple of feet from the barrier himself. **“Unfortunately, several players’ friends and families have ignored this warning and have attempted to remove the NerveGear. As a result, many players from both servers are gone forever, from both Aincrad and the real world. As you can see, news organizations across the world are reporting all of this, including the deaths. I hope that many of you have at least been honest about your purchasing of a pirate copy, or else the chances of someone removing your NerveGear are much higher.”** As Kayaba said this he summoned a series of large screens that showed media broadcasts from around the world, all reporting the crisis. **“I had only intended for 10,000 people to live in my castle; neither too little nor too many. I realise now that I see how many of you there are that I was being selfish. That is why I shall let you stay on Second Server. I shall be fair and let you play SAO like those on the official server. As with them, I hope you will relax and attempt to clear the game. But I want you to remember this: There is no longer any method to revive someone within the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be forever lost. And simultaneously, the NerveGear will destroy your brain.”** For many this additional shock sent them over the edge, and there was suddenly a revival in the amount of the amount of people screaming and wailing in despair. **“There is only one means of escape. The complete the game. You are currently on floor 1. If you make your way through the dungeons and defeat the Floor Boss, you may advance to the next level. Defeat the final boss on Floor 99 and you will clear the game. Had you been on the official server you would have faced me on the 100th floor, but in that respect you have been granted a false mercy. The Cardinal System that controls the game will compensate for this, and for the larger number of players, and therefore you will find this game much harder than intended.”** Kayaba’s avatar seemed to look up towards one of the glitching warnings before continuing, **“And unfortunately I fear that this version may have many bugs. It is too late to fix the bugs caused by the piracy, but I sincerely hope that there are no technical barriers that make this game unfair. Now, please look in your inventories for I have left you all a present. Please see for yourselves.”** Whether it through obedience, fear or interest, every player managed to eventually calm down enough to look into their inventories and find a mirror. At first nothing seemed to happen when people looked at themselves, but all of a sudden blinding blue lights exploded around the square only to reveal the true appearance of the players underneath. **“Shit Hawke! You look like you! You too Aang!”** Maric jumped back in surprised and only a second later realised the same must have been true of him. **“That concludes this tutorial. I wish you all luck.”** Kayaba’s last words trailed off as his avatar seemed to evaporate into thin air. Simultaneously the warning skies that lit the sky faded away, with the glitching ones lingering for a few seconds longer. Without thinking Hawke lunged ahead with his hand stretched out and found that the barrier had gone. “Holy crap! I can’t believe this is happening! What the hell do we do?” pleaded Aang, echoing the voice of many players. Hawke couldn’t think of a response but with a small wave he signaled for his friends to follow as he stormed away from that place; he wanted to get as far away from it as possible. Maric cleared his throat and decided to be the voice of guidance, “Hawke, we need to meet your friend as we planned…”

A rather lusty and buxom woman stood among various stalls, mostly glancing at the many weapons most them held. Only a few hours in, and the person behind the avatar was extremely bored. As expected, starting over from a fresh character was never any fun. No special weapons, no enhanced armor, just the basic leather armor that newbies received when they started up the game. At least he had a bit of fun, tricking some hound dogs with his choice of character. Tall, blonde, big chest. Sort of an amazonian woman that a lot of hopeless people balked at. It was really just to get an odd laugh out of them. That and to test out the capabilities that the Nerve Gear had and how it all felt so real. His only problem was how heavy the damn things were. He had no idea how women dealt with them all the time. Of course, as of recently he had found he had been unable to change characters, as the log out button was gone. And then the bells began to toll. Soon enough, the entire starting town was filled with the inhabitants of the game so far. Every last one. It was starting to get uncomfortable, seeing as every meter of space was filled with at least one person. It was even worse as panic began to spread as it was soon revealed that something was going down. The red bubble over their heads with the apparition of a giant robed man surely didn't help. Wes had done a tiny bit of reading on the man. And by tiny bit of reading, that would be the back of the case. Kayaba Akihito, developer of SOA. He clenched his feminine hands in anger as he listened intently to the man. He didn't have time for the kind of bullshit being spouted. Only did he stop when he heard of a certain gift. A mirror had found its way into his inventory, and, being like most everyone else, he was gullible enough to pull it out. Flashes broke out through the crowd, and one burst came from himself. A second later, the tall ox of a man stood well over most of the young people in the crowd. Thankfully enough, the leather armor seemed to have fitted to his size. With a sigh, Wes leaned against the stall he was standing next to. Someone was going to pay, but not now. He looked down at his waist to the short sword that looked pitifully small, barely more than a dagger. He was going to need to find a bigger weapon.

Hazard watched everything unfold with a shocked look in his face. _'This can't be real'_, he thought, _'This is only a trick! Yeah, they are tricking us! A joke! It has to be!'_. As soon as he started seeing the news of people who had died, Hazard left the safety of his mind and started saying what came to it. **"C-C'mon! It's impossible! Plain impossible! How... How can you program something like that! Dammit, Kayaba! I trusted you! I thought that a fellow programmer would understand me! Why would you do this!?"** He was reminded of the fact that Kayaba wasn't a simple programmer like him. Of course, if you are a genius with everything at reach, why wouldn't you do something like this? It's a way to throw away boredome. Designing the game and then putting in a few pawns to entertain you. Not hard, right? Right!? He was the god of the game, why wouldn't he do as he pleased? But what was the cherry on top was when he said that this pirated game was fairly more difficult than the original one. Hazard effective immediately regretted having purchased it. It was foolish to think that everything would be all right if he purchased a pirated copy of the most famous game ever, though he was grateful of the fact that he told his mother about it, and that his dad read everything about the Nervegear, so his chances of being disconnected and killed by his own family were low. Hazard barely managed to open his inventory and fetch the mirror inside of it. He looked into it. His avatar had green hair, yellow eyes and a though face, unlike his own. Then, when he was engulfed by the blue light, his despair reached its peak. He was about to shout out and drop to his knees, but he waited for the blue light to disappear, for one reason or the other. Afterwards, he looked again at the mirror and he saw his real self, just with green hair and yellow eyes. To call it a shock wouldn't be enough. The mirror fell from his hand and he dropped to his knees. **"NOOOOO!! GODDAMMIT! LET ME OUT! I WANT TO GET OUT OF HERE! I DIDN'T ASK FOR THIS! I DON'T WANT THIS!! LET ME THE HELL OUT DAMMIT!!"** He started shouting. It was too illogical, Hazard couldn't understand it, maybe, he didn't want to. He was so deep in his despair that he didn't know what to do. He continued shouting unintelligibly until he felt his lungs giving out on him. He dropped to the floor and stood like that for a bit. He searched through his brain, what would a hero do in this kind of situation? A hero from those games he loved so much... He would probably fight back, but Hazard couldn't do that, he was too much of a coward. Wait, coward? What kind of character is a coward and yet manages to make his way through things? **"A villain."** He whispered under his breath. He stood up again, his body swinging around as if he had no life. A smirk came across his face. He knew what he had to do, he had his objective. He would put it on his mental notebook for quests. Clear Floor 99 and get the hell out. That was what he was going to do, and there was no way anyone would stop him. His legs were still shaking, and, to be honest, Hazard himself didn't knew how far he could get on his own, but it was better than sitting there and waiting for his death to come. A lot better, actually. He started laughing like a crazy man and brought his hand to his face. **"Kyahahaha! Yeah... That's what I'm going to do.. Yes... Just you wait, Kayaba Akihiko."** Not only his legs were shaking, but all of him actually. He was scared shitless all right, but that was the only way he would survive, or so he thought. Many looked at him like if he was crazy, either those on their way out or those who lingered in the town square. He felt himself blushing a bit, but that's why he had his hand over his face. **"Now then... Where to start?"** He turned around, his hand still over his face and his eyes barely peeking through in-between his fingers. He was now facing the exit of the town square, but he was still unsure of whether or not should he proceed on to the hunting grounds. Zero HP here means death in both worlds. Risking it like that and only with a pitiful dagger like his... --- Rather than enjoying the game as she should, Ann was merely searching for her friend. When she tried to contact her through the menu, she would get a message saying that such a player did not exist. It was worrying, since she knew just how excited she was about the game. Still, Hikaru did buy a pirated copy instead of the original one with her friend, she wondered if that had anything to do with it. Ann wondered is she should just, grab some sword and go to the fields and see what she could do. Until she was forcibly transported to the town square, that is. Dumbfounded and scared, Ann was looking around and saw how more people were transported there, and then there was the blood falling from the ceiling, and the faceless monster now in the sky. She squated down and covered her head. _'I thought this was a sword game, not a horror game!'_ She thought as she tried to ignore the big monster that was now in the sky. It started saying things, things that seemed to be nonsense and yet, somewhere in her heart, Hikaru was afraid of them. There was no way to prove that dying in the game would also result in dead in real life, or that taking the Nervegear off would fry your brain. There were too many unknowns, and Ann didn't want to unravel them. She was fine just like that and, if worst came to worst, she could just hide in the safety of the town. Still squating down, she opened her inventory out of sheer curiosity, and hope. Maybe it was some kind of thing that would return the log out button. Maybe that guy was giving them a way out. **"A... mirror? What..?"** She gazed at herself. She made a character with long hair in the game with black hair, but she dropped the mirror as soon as the blue light surrounded her. She felt like screaming, but she didn't. Too many people were already doing that, and it was annoying to just hear them, but tears still rolled down her cheeks. When the blue light left her, she picked up the mirror and looked at herself. Yep, that was her all right. She touched her face, still unable to believe it. This time, she really was about to scream and leave the place running, but when she looked at her side, she saw a kid. A kid that was crying for her mom and shouting between sobs. 'I don't want to die!' He shouted. Ann suddenly couldn't believe herself. She was the adult and yet she was as unreliable as a kid. She quickly wiped away her tears and stood up. **"Hey, kid, you alone?"** She said after walking to where he was. The kid stopped crying for a while and nodded a bit. Ann smiled kindly at him. **"Then, why are you crying? Aren't you a man? Men are supposed to protect women in these kind of situations, aren't they? Take up their swords and be like 'You won't get away with it, evil man!'"** She posed exaggeratedly to go in accord with what she was saying. The kid was confused, regardless, but Ann held up her smile. **"If you don't do it, who will?"** The kid wiped away his tears quickly and then nodded at Ann. **"That's a good boy. Now, why don't we go search for anyone in need of a hero? I'm sure someone could use your help right now. Who knows, we might find your mom in the way."** She said and took the boy's hand. Now, just how the hell would she manage to keep this boy from doing anything stupid, now that she encouraged him?

Umiko kept toward the back of the large crowd that had formed so quickly, the amount of people making her uneasy and nervous. So she merely stood there by herself, twirling a strand of her strange yet pretty navy blue hair. The NerveGear was truly something else, allowing her to take on an appearence and be whoever she wanted to be. That was the hope, anyway. Even though looking so different made her feel a little less like herself, that was exactly why she loved it. She could be stronger, more confident, anything. She could be anything she wanted to be here... Several gasps draw her out of her strange chain of thought, looking about everyone began to look to the sky. Umiko, followed there gazes until she saw the strange sight; a man in a strang cloak floating over the area , his face hidden in the darkness under his hood. As though on queue, large red warning signs appeared above the area and stretched out to cover the sky, forming an ominous crimson dome. What was happening? Was this some sort of game event of something? Umiko began to step back slowly, every fiber in her body telling her to run, though the barrier was a mere few feet away from where she stood near the exit. She peered back to the strange barrier, as though there may be a sign of escape behind her. The sight she saw was truly sickening, though, a thick and oozing red liquid pouring out from the seams of the barrier and flowing to the ground like streams of... blood... Oozing streams of blood. Umiko merely shook her head slowly, inching back slowly in disbelief. She could barely hear the voice that boomed over the entire area, only catching every phrase in bits and pieces as she attempted to process the situatiion she found herself in. '... cannot log out...' '... powerful microwave...' '...ending your life.' She could her legs begin to give out and buckle beneath her as it all settled in her brain. Why was this happeneing? This wasn't supposed to happen, this couldn't be possible. Umiko burst into a sprint, running toward the exit as fast as her weakening legs could take her. She couldn't stay there any longer, she didn't want to hear any more of this. SHe just had to get away. Regardless of her efforts, she came into a hard impact with the barrier, sending her tumbling back with a yelp. She doubted she could actually make it through, but she couldn't just sit there and listen to this... this madness. At first she merely lay there, her eyes wide and filled with desperation as she stared at the barrier. At first, it was like her body had just shutdown, or maybe it just realized it was useless to even try anymore, but as more of the man's words sunk into her, she found herself finding her strength back, slowly hoisting her upper body at the very least to sit on the ground. Her legs had officially become useless at the moment, so she had no choice but to simply sit there with her knees together and hands on the ground. She listened as he went on. This Kayaba man, painting an even darker picture with zero escape and what would happen if your HP went to zero, but then... he offered a gift. What sort of gift was he- Without any sort of warning she saw as people began to change, birght blue flashes of light altering their appearence in strange ways. Still, Umiko opened her inventory and waited as what looked to be a mirror appeared in her hands. She looked into the mirror to see her faux appearance of a woman with long navy blue hair and seafoam green eyes before the sudden flash of blue light, almost blinding her. She opened her eyes slowly only this time seeing a young woman with long blonde hair and bright... blue eyes... and fair skin... Her eyes began to fill with tears, every last ounce of confidence she had left leaving her in that instance, any sort of hope that maybe she could get through this strange world. Gone. The girl that looked back at her was not her avatar, not the Umiko that could be whoever she wanted to be, but the cowardly, weak, crybaby Aoi Umikaze, and she knew there was no way that Aoi could ever make it through this ordeal...

Mythrilite had been killing boars when he was suddenly teleporting to the town square. He was a bit confused as to what was going on. At first, he assumed it had something to do with the fact that it was the first day, although it was a bit odd to see raining blood and a giant cloaked creature appear in the sky. Then the creature spoke, and he knew then that it was no ordinary event. _No logout button? That can't be,_ he thought as he opened his menu. Sure enough, he couldn't find one. "OK, that's not good," he said, thinking aloud. Then Kayaba Akihiko gave everyone a gift, which Mythrilite was curious about. He opened his inventory and was wondering why he got a mirror. Bringing it to his hand, he looked at his reflection to see his Avatar, only for it to be replaced with his actual appearance in real life. Now that was weird. Well, at least he had set his Avatar's height to be the same as real life, so that wasn't too much of an issue, but his appearance could leave a bit to be desired. He had meant to cut his long hair after he had finished playing a bit, but now that wasn't possible. He looked around, and saw so many people who were panicking and crying for their parents. He was nervous, sure, but there was no need for full blown panic attacks. Mythrilite just needed to keep a cool head. First things first, he should find some people to team up with, then go grinding. With a plan in mind, he started wandering around the square, looking at people while trying to determine who would make good teammates.

Aren looked at the ground and thought for a moment _if he was able to pull this off, how many other things were being hid...wait where's Tanner?_ she went into her inventory as she seen others do and they began to look more normal and less like their game avatars. She went into her inventory and pulled the item out. looking into it, she suddenly started glowing and her blonde hair was now replaced with brown. Her eyes turned from blue to gold and she appeared significantly shorter than her original avatar _freaking perfect..._ she wasn't the shortest by far, but she now was having trouble looking over people. "TAN-!" a hand met her shoulder and she looked up to see the blue haired man she called her best friend. "Hey, lets use user names here ki-" Aren punched him in the stomach and he leaned over slightly, holding his stomach "ow..." "In case you didn't notice, we're in a serious situation here, so I'm going to need you to get your head in the game, and I'm not a kid" he smiled and saw a girl fall over, being pushed from the sudden rush of people getting ready to leave. Jaegar ran over quickly and helped her up patting her shoulders off. He smiled and patted her back "Everything is going to be fine, don't worry, I'm sure the outside world is doing all they can to get us all out" she nodded and tugged at his sleeve "Uh, sure you can tag along?" he looked at Aren and she rolled her eyes, turning on her heels and getting ready to move, if this was as serious as the GM made it sound, then they needed to start getting supplies, considering the amount of people here already, and the amount beginning to leave, they would start farming and leveling. "If she doesn't slow us down, i dont give a damn what she does, but lets move" the girl moved with Jaegar, cowering behind him, almost scared of Aren. They started off after Aren and caught up as she was moving towards a less busy exit way "shouldn't we help others, we were beta testers so we have enough knowledge to help a lot of people, like this on-" Aren turned and Jaegar shut up. "You are much too calm about this Tanner, did you hear him? If we die in here, we die out there. We need to get a move on before things start getting really hectic and nothings left. You are well aware of what bullies can do when they know they're stronger than others, I know I do, so I'm going to make sure i'm strong enough to protect you and myself" "And the people that can't protect themselves?" he looked at her and Aren turned. "Do what you want, just stay alive and we'll meet up again when you've done what you deem as helping, but if you die, I might not be so nice to all your friends you help." She started walking and arms wrapped around her shoulders "good luck Bell, we'll see each other again don't worry, and don't die either or I wont have anyone to nag at me" Aren nodded and smiled slightly before Tanner motioned for the girl from earlier to follow him and he walked back into the plaza beginning to help others who seemed to need it. Aren turned to see him gone and nodded, before continuing down the path.

A cloud of blue crystals erupted from the defeated boar, trailing off into the wind. McBern, a slim, spritely man, was weaving in and out of the tall grass', catching the gnarling beasts off-guard. He had been playing for a few hours now, killing no less than 40 creatures in the overgrown field. Reaching level 5 he decided to take a break and venture back into town, he had acquired a good amount of coin and had already out-grown some armor-it was definitely time to find a merchant. Wandeering down the dusty track, he surveyed the landscape and was totally in awe; to the far north stood a scarcely visible mountain range that towered above the clouds; to the west was lake, still and glistening from the sun's rays; the south housed the town of beginnings, it banners dancing with the breeze; and what appeared to be the edge of the world lay in the east. In all honesty, McBern let out a sigh of relief. As he reached the town he acknowledged that this world was far nicer than his own, he wished he could stay forever in this place of strange creatures and mild weather. To go back to his desk-job, his small apartment, his solitude, it just didnt seem right. Trading goods with a merry merchant, McBern walked away with 200 extra coin. He was just about to sample the delights of the bakery when he was encased in a white light, in nano-seconds he found himself in the square, surrounded by what looked like every single player in the game. There must have been tens of thousands of people, it made him feel quite nervous and so he attempted to back away. Swiftly he moved through the crowd, just as he had done in the grassland, reaching the edge and finding solace against a gigantic supporting column. The hurrendous buzzing of noise was cut off as each and every mouth lost their functions. McBern stepped from behind the marble structure and followed the wide-eyed gazes toward the newly ruby sky. He had hung on every word, believing every single syllable. There was something about Mister Kayaba, maybe his tone, that made everything seem so real, so imperative. The worst part of the whole scenario however was not found in the words, or the fate that clung to them, but rather in the mirror that had been gifted to him. Opening his inventory and withdrawing the mirror he held it to his face and froze; before him was not the slim and spritely figure he had so painstakingly designed, but rather the hulking, ginger-bearded and rather obese physical reality that was Bernard McArthur. Retreating behind the column once more, he trembled and cried. If anyone were to witness his emotional state, they would at first remark how strange it seemed for such a giant to be so weak. They may then presume his tears were a result of the recent news, but then they would be wrong. McBern was not afraid of death, he welcomed the chance to live here even if it were indefinitely. No, McBern was not crying in fear of the world around him, he was crying in fear that the real world had started to seep in. Pulling himself together he began to run for the fields, he was fat, he was an outcast, but by god he would not be weak. There would soon be a sea of players trying to level up, time was of the essence and McBern had creatures to kill.

Sometimes it feels like there's nothing to do. Carmilla sat on the bed, wearing black leather pants and a red flannel. Laura, her roommate, wouldn't be back for at least an hour. There's nothing on Netflix, and even if there was she wouldn't be able to finish the movie before Laura got back. So she just laid back, scrolling endlessly thru tumblr until she couldn't take it anymore. There has to be something she could do, read a book maybe? Nah, she has to do enough reading for her classes. What about that weird game Laura keeps trying to get her to play? Might as well. After Carmilla found the helmet thing, it took her a moment to figure out how to put it on. Good thing the game automatically logins. Carmilla suddenly found herself in the middle of a green field with a small pond. She could see her reflection in the water, except it wasn't her. In the reflection she saw a cute girl with big blue eyes and golden blond hair. Above her head was a health bar and a name: "Melody". _Melody huh? So this is the kinda stuff Laura's into._ Suddenly a large black panther looking thing came up behind her and brushed up against her leg. Carmilla scrambled to find her weapon but it didn't look like she had anything equipped. Taking a step back she made a fist before noticing the health bar above its head: Carmi Owner: Melody _Oh, so this is Laura's pet thingy. Wait, "Carmi" as in "Carmilla"? Laura you weirdo!_ She grinned a little when she realized the pet was named after her. For the next few minutes Carmilla fiddled with the menus until she found where Laura stashed her weapons. Then she spent some time wandering around and killing mobs. Well, Carmi did the killing. Carmilla just watched and got the XP. Eventually she noticed everyone heading towards the town square, so she followed expecting a virtual concert or something. Instead what she found was a big bad guy and whole lot of bad news. While everyone was going nuts and losing their minds, all Carmilla could think was _Well... fuck._ Like everyone else she tried to logout but couldn't find the button. But she did find the mirror thing, which turned her cutesy princess-like appearance to her actual appearance, with dark brown hair and all. _Relax Carmilla, just think. Surely the cops are gonna find this guy and somebody will figure out how to unplug the helmet thing, right? Laura will be back any moment now and everything will be okay. Wait... Laura will be back soon, and I left that tumblr page open on my computer! No Laura its not like that, don't look at my search history!_

Romulus and Remus stood awestruck at the announcement. The opened their inventories and looked at the mirrors. Nothing much really changed, except Romulus lost some of his bulk, and Remus's eyes changed color. They were always comfortable with their looks, and didn't want to change that. They've looked the same since they got into games seriously in 2013 with Skyrim. Romulus breathed a sigh of relief. He had told the other doctors that he was playing SAO, He even decided to start it in the Hospital in case he was called, and even the Doctors had a crowd of gamers who knew he was planning a three day marathon. He looked at his brother Remus, They would be together. If Remus was killed, Romulus would commit suicide, if Romulus were killed, Remus would commit suicide. From the day their parents died in a plane Crash, They were always doing things together. Romulus put up his sword, Remus his spear, they clinked them together, and They started making their way through the chaos. They would be together always. 15 minutes earlier. Romulus and Remus stood on a hill. "isn't this beautiful?" Romulus asked." Realistic isn't it?" Remus laughed. "Yeah, It be better if they had the actual copy." Romulus looked at his brother. "i wanted to be with my brother." He then polished his new sword that he had bought as soon as they logged in. "so, wanna kill something?" Remus asked "Haven't we done enough killing for one day? We killed like 100 boars!" Romulus sat down. "Let's go back to town." And like that, they were in town. With everybody else, and a GM floating above them.

A young woman who appeared to be very tall with bright red hair and red eyes drew out her sword eyeing down a boar just outside of the Town of Beginnings on Floor One, she had spent the last few hours farming iron and along the way killing any boars she was aiming to becoming a blacksmith like she had in the beta test. Ray got into a fighting stance and waited for a moment before charging forward her long sword quickly hit the boar in the back doing critical damage to it. She smiled proudly as it's health quickly dropped down to zero, and in a bright blue flash of light the boar had vanished dropping down some loot. Ray could feel her stomach starting to growl knowing that she hadn't eaten anything in the real world, Ray was to excited to get SAO and managed to pull some strings with a friend of hers to get a pirated copy of SAO. Deciding to logout Ray pulled open the menu by swiping her hand, she looked down to see there was no logout button. "What the heck?" Ray muttered to herself and close out the menu before waiting five seconds before trying it again, and saw there was no button still. "Maybe it's because of the pirated copy?" Ray said to herself, before seeing a bright flash of blue light as she was transported back to the town square of the Town of Beginnings. Ray looked around seeing probably over a thousand other players maybe even more. Then the sky started to turn red, seeing the words. 'Warning, System Announcement.' Ray could feel her body starting to tremble as she watched red ooze seeping out of the cracks in the sky and then the red ooze quickly shifted into a giant hooded figure. In a loud booming voice Ray heard the voice of Kayaba Akihiko, what he was saying made Ray even more scared hearing things like 'The logout button is not a bug', 'Dying in game will result in death in the real world' and 'If someone takes off the NervGear in the real world your brain will be fried'. The young woman dropped down to her knees tears running down her face as she started to think about her family, and her half sister back in the real world. Ray looked up to see the news feeds in the real world. Then Kayaba Akihiko said he had a gift for everyone, Ray doing just about what everyone else was doing Ray opened up her inventor by swiping her hand in the air, seeing that there was a mirror in there and clicked it. Ray felt it drop down onto her hand seeing her avatar in the mirror, which she took awhile to remake her beta avatar. Then in a bright flash of blue light Ray closed her eyes from the intensity, and then it faded. Ray looked back at herself. Her hair instead of a bright red was now white as snow, and her eyes instead of red as well they were now a bright blue and her body was much smaller instead of a woman in her thirties Ray was now back to her real world appearance which made her tremble even more. Ray looked around seeing and hearing the panic in people's voices as Kayaba Akihiko finished his announcement and disappeared. "I have to get out of here or find someone." Ray said to herself as she stood up wiping the tears off of her face and started to make her way out of the town square.

**Mira/Asuto** **_<<Surprise>>_** _During the first few minutes of her game-play, she explored the city with her newly found skill, 'great' she thought as she climbed walls of the buildings like a lvl 1 climber. Three or two hours into the game, discovering most of the city as she decides to go grind on mobs, accepting her first quest as a beginner she goes outside of the city and begins. For the most of that time she was practicing instead of killing the boars that she was intended to kill. She practiced her "Ninja's Will" skills, climbing up trees and attempting to get used to the climb detector. She used her blades to penetrate the trees, slashing jabs, sides, and swordsie stuff. She was having fun, isolated in a beautiful land, and as well isolated in her own room, currently she was at total peace, though that peace was soon over. Forced teleported to the city spawn as the skies began turning red with 'SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT' or 'WARNING', for a few minutes many stood scared, chattering of what was going on, though she was the shadow of every single player, standing behind the pillars of the spawn, waiting, as many tried to figure what was going on. After a few minutes drops of blood began falling from the sky as a figure formed from it, morphing into a floating cloaked figure as many stood in awe as the figure looked down upon the players. The figure spoke, its loud booming voice expanding across the spawn as we listened. The speech itself was 'normal', even though many began crying, falling to pieces, breaking down as the figure progressed I simply didn't care. Though, at one points I was interested, swiping my finger through the air, clicking the inventory and scrolling down the menu as I only had a few boar-pieces..and thus, finally a mirror, clicking it as I saw my blond-haired female-character. A blue light exploded around her, fading away as I saw my blue haired pigtails. My blue eyes simply disgusted, looking away..thus finishing the figures speech, disappearing from our eyes the skies turning blue once more as everyone stood quietly. Thus screams arose from the silent crowd. I sighed, walking away from the spawn..and continuing my adventure..I was not surprised. _

It was 2022, virtual reality technology had been set up, commercialised and then packaged to gaming through the services of the Nervegear, yet they couldn't come up with anything better than kill twenty boars!? Outrageous, simply outrageous. They had the most technology gaming had ever seen at their finger-tips (or on their heads) and they had to use it to kill twenty mindless sprites! Disgraceful. Quests were quests though, and they usually rewarded a lot more xp than typical grinding could ever reward. Plus, Alex was way too low-level to do some of the more interesting ways of earning xp such as the crafting system or raids. After slaughtering what must have been about the fiftieth boar, she decided that the boars had been exterminated enough and it was probably best to go back and sell all the pointless drops from them! By the time she was done trading in the market, her inventory was less cluttered and she had a considerably higher amount of money to spend as she saw fit. That probably would have marked the point were she logged out to go get something to eat and maybe shower but just before discovering the lack of a log-out button, she was teleported to the square (circle). A frown morphed and set between her eyes as she regarded the array of system warnings that covered the sky, blocking out the virtual sun and silencing the rowdy noises from the players below. Alex recognised Kayaba Akihiko almost immediately and took a step back, still frowning despite how obvious the programmer was making it - they were stuck inside the game until such times that they could actually finish it and if they died in-game, they died in the real world. Her eyes lost focus, her mind overcrowded with loose thoughts of family and future. Within a second however, she pulled herself back into virtuality; she could no longer afford to think about the real world. It was her goal, and the goal of everyone around her to get back home but if she drowned herself in sad memories and desires then she would lose this fight. This was *not* a fight she was going to lose. Her mind whirred, changing, adapting to the situation at hand and slowly bringing her logic to heel - she would need to go out and get all the best quests done and maybe some grinding would aid her as well. "You seem to be taking this pretty well. Nice hair, by the way." A voice behind her began, causing her to whirl quickly. Up against a nearby pillar, a man in his twenties was regarding her with a soft smile - it was clear he was the one who spoke and she was the one he was speaking to but why. "There's no point getting emotional over something I can't change. And what about my hair?" Her character had bright blond hair but she had been so preoccupied with thoughts at the mention of a gift that she barely even noticed the fact that she was no longer the tall blond. Frowning, she took out the mirror in her inventory and examined it. All that was left to do after that was hyperventilate upon the realisation that she was no longer just a character in a game. She was Alex, in a game where she could potentially die - this was scarily similar to real life except here, she could do something about it! The stranger was over in an instant, helping her out of the crowds and slowly bringing her breathing back to normal. "Inhale. Exhale." She lazily followed the soft patterns of his words and within no time, Alex regained control of herself. "Thanks." She paid him back quickly, taking her time to look at him properly. He was good-looking but in a dark sort of way. His smile, however, radiated friendliness so she didn't regard him as a danger. "I guess I kind of went against my own words..." Alex finally murmured, causing him to grin a little. "The name's Shade. I think I remember you from beta. You were the girl with the katana blade, right? My guild and I did a boss-fight with you." Everything came flooding back and she nodded, a smile dancing along her lips, even if she faked a little. "Look, I don't know about you but I'm going to meet some of them out in some fields a little bit away from here; if what that guy said is true then we need to level quickly so grinding out there is our best shot. Someone with your skills would be greatly appreciated, especially if we fight this floor's boss soon." Lone-wolf was how she played in beta and it suited her well-enough but it was different now. Now, if she died to a boss, that was the end of her life - she needed allies who could back her up in a fight and due to the fact that he was the only offer standing, he appeared to be the best. "Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to go out and help..." She needed to level and get better gear - this was the best chance. "Ok. But if you ever make a comment about my hair again, you'll be nursing a painful bruise for a few weeks." She informed him, her resolve unbroken which elicited a bright chuckle from him. It was settled then.

“Well… that was awkward. I thought you said you were friends?” Aang asked as he combed his fingers through his blonde hair. His armour, which left much of his torso exposed, looked even sillier now that he had his skinny frame. “We are- were- I don’t know! I didn’t expect him to be like that. I should have… but I didn’t.” Hawke was sat on a bench with his elbows resting on his knees and his face buried in his hands. He could feel the tingle of his short bristly facial hair rubbing against his palms and, just like in the real world, it made him feel a little bit relaxed. He sat there for a few seconds in silent contemplation as the breeze trickled through his spiky black hair. Aang patted his friend on the shoulder, knowing that it couldn’t have been a nice situation. “How about his other friends? The ones that held back when he came to meet us. Could you recognise any of them?” “Not from that distance, no. He knows I’m not quick to trust, that’s probably why didn’t introduce us.” Hawke snarled and sat up. It was clear he was angry rather than upset. “We need to forget about him and focus on getting us, and the rest of the players, out of here.” Maric’s voice was stern and commanding. Maric himself stood at a few inches over six foot, had a black warhawk and had black tattooing all around his eyes (courtesy of his friends whilst he was passed out a few months ago). To look at he appeared an intimidating thug, but in reality this was far from the case. Maric was one of the kindest men you could meet, and would always be the voice of mercy and understanding. Maric was the kind of guy who would walk into an argument, understand everyone’s point of view, and somehow come up with a solution that benefited everyone. Hawke was a good leader, but he was certainly no Maric. “You think we should beat the game then?” Hawke queried with a raised eyebrow. “Isn’t that what we’re here for?” smiled Maric. “We need to lead the way and give the other players to absolute best chance at surviving!” Maric decreed as he found his gaze drifting off towards the town and the lights flickering on its walls, “We need to be the Braziers in the dark.”

Amongst a horde of chaos, screams of terror, and whispers of desires. People praying to whatever deity they believed in for this to be a dream, but all would be proven false. It is funny, because this man was no different. The instant that the declaration would be proven, a man, surprisingly well equipped for being a lowly level 4 player, would fall on his knees. Facial features covered by a simple white mask given to him by a weird quest he took just in order to hide his face. But now, the man who'd believed that this was another chance at life, would fall flat on his knees in desperation. He was unable to utter a single cry of fear, for his speech did not come out. His scream was not audible, his mouth simply gaped open, and his dominant, fearful red eyes were as open as they could possibly be. People around him were pathetic, cowering to whatever little bit of dust they could, trying to proven themselves wrong, to prove that this was indeed false, but they could find nothing. No button, no forced escape configuration, or combination. This person, the one who'd dare to call himself the Guardian cowered in fear, but soon, he attempted to regain a suitable composure. The mask hid his face very well, no facial feature would be seen, only the very border between his hairline and face. But soon, the mention of gift aroused his suspicion, and as foolish as ever, the averagely tall man took out a mirror, and in the flash of seconds he observed as his hair was no longer his own, and this simply observation was enough, he'd realized that the moment he looked away from the mirror, that everyone were their own selves. He could see the most humourous of things, fat men clad in armours which shouldn't even be of protection to anyone, and small people covered in the heaviest set of armour you'd be able to acquire within the time the game has been out. The cacophony of screams, the gazes of disgust, fear, and uncertainty, something within that chorus of emotions triggered this young mans transformation, the final of his tears would be spilled and with a defiant gaze he looked upon his former legend, no, still legend, Kayaba Akihiko. With a thick glare towards the sun, the sun which slowly returned into vision because of the evaporation of Kayaba's avatar and the messanges, the man turned around. The tall build of this average man becoming increasingly more present as he turned around to face the exit of the Town of Beginnings. And as he took his first step he was greeted by another man, followed by a small group of friends, two females and three other males. ''Oy there mate, how you doing?'' His weird way of addressing strangers caught the man off guard, the white mask faced the man, was surprisingly alike himself, the first words which came out of the white masks mouth would be the catious ''Who are you?''. The man smiled, waved his hand towards an alleyway whilst having his friends look as friendly as possible. With a cautious mindset the white mask was quite reluctant to follow their suggestion, however he had nothing to lose, after all, he was inside the Town of Beginnings, and even if he wasn't, it's not as if he had anything to return to. He took a silent step towards the alley, following behind the cloak of the similar man. As they walked the cloaked stranger started to speak. ''Quite the thing that happened just now, right? Well, not like I think it matters, you know what, when I looked at you and saw that mask I knew that you were one of us-! I'm Malik, by the way.'' He spoke in a very energetic fashion, before the white mask could utter any sound one of the females cut in. ''Don't worry about him, he's just enjoying every moment of SAO to it's fullest, he was fired today and spent the last piece of money buying a pirated copy, so, you know...'' The man, Malik, looked back into the beastly eyes of the white mask, initially with the face of a deadly serious attitude, but then, slowly, changing over into that of a happier, more enjoying face with many features. ''Y'know, I was pretty close to becoming assistant manager, a man needs something to cease his depression in peace, haha!'' The first though wandered into white masks' mind *he's much alike myself*, he though. ''Anyway, concerning the impression you give off we assumed that you're one much alike ourselves, I mean, otherwise we wouldn't have spotted you wearing that mask.'' Another man added. ''I'm Josefine, these nuts are Alice, Kaiser, and Ragnar. At the front is our leader, the one who's sounding like an absolute idiot, Malik.'' The introduction was extraordinary by white masks' standards, he'd never quite experienced something like this before. ''Ohoho, that'd be me! Much like my genius friend Kaiser said, we knew you were another Secret Keeper, you're almost born for the guild!'' If white masks' memory served him right, the secret keeper could only translate to a member of the famed guild Keepers of Secrets during the BETA test, a group of powerful players who seek out and display exploits and secrets of the game to the rest of the world. White mask smiled, a small chuckle making itself audible from the confines of the white mask he bore. ''It seems that someone else realized that this is the Mask of Beginnings, only acquirable trough certain actions.'' Malik made an ingenius laugh. ''Ohoho, of course, it was I that spread it's existence across the internet, hohoho!'' The fearless red eyes of White Mask blew open, *could this man be ZealotOfZecrets?* ''Anyhow, kiddo, well, you seem sorta my age, but still, I feel powerful, anyhow, KIDDO! Come with us, we're planning to advance to the good stuff, if you do well, then you might even become a member of Keepers of Secrets.'' The alley was surprisingly calm, of course, it must've been a more unknown part of the town. With a thrilled smile white mask spoke. ''Of course.'' And with that he slowly took off his mask, revealing to his newfound friends whom he was.

### Chapter 1 – New Leaves  >_It has been seven months since SAO went online_ >_and players from both the official server and _ >_Second Server are still trapped inside the game. _ >_Of the roughly 14.5k players that entered this server, _ >_around 9k remain. Meaning around a third have died. _ >_It has been five days since the 35th and 36th floor were_ >_cleared and there are many questions still left unanswered. _ >_It would appear that things are changing, that the game_ >_is throwing new challenges at players and worse still…_ >_that the players are beginning to challenge each other._ The Memorial Chamber was a gloomy place, a large hall reminiscent of an old stone church. There was no flock though, and no hymns that lifted ones spirits. The dark hall’s only light came from two candles at its back wall where the silhouette of a man could be seen sitting on a bench. This was the largest room in the Burning Hold, the guildhall of The Braziers. Situated on the 24th floor, the very small castle was covered in embers and was made purchasable after being cleared. “Hey Hawke, are you in here?” echoed a voice as the door to the hall slowly creaked open. As light poured through the doorway the man on the bench could be better seen. “There you are! You know it’s customary for the host to greet his guests… not hide in a creepy room and wait.” Bulbasaur grabbed one of the torches from the hallway and walked over to his friend. Bulbasaur was a short lad, no older than 17, with chubby rose cheeks that defied his otherwise slim build. Messy brown hair could be seen poking out from his cape’s grey hood and it seemed to match the colour of his leather armour. “Sorry Bulby. I gave you permission to enter but then I became distracted…” Hawke trailed off without turning to face his friend. He was hunched over, resting part of his weight on his spear and had his gaze firmly set on the decorated wall ahead. Bulby let out a very quiet sigh as he himself looked upon the wall. Seventeen plaques occupied ten columns, with the first three columns only housing one plaque each. On every plaque was a name beautifully engraved to remember all those who had served the Braziers. “It’s OK Hawke, I understand. I can’t imagine what you’re going through.” Bubly carefully placed the torch down on the stone floor before sitting beside his friend. He winced as he thought about the rumours that had begun to spread. He knew Hawke and the others well enough to know that his friend was innocent. “I know you didn’t kill them Hawke. I don’t think many of the front-liners seriously do. People are just jumpy at the minute.” Bubly let out another sigh before continuing, “Perhaps they would understand if you just told them what happened…” Hawkes eyes drifted to meet Bublys and there was a pang of anger in them. “I told you what happened. The details aren’t important, and I don’t want to talk about it.” Hawke stood and gestured for his friend to follow as he strolled away. “I need to move on. It’s what they would have wanted. I hear there is a raid meeting in a couple of days. Bring me up to speed.” Bulby stuttured as he tried to think of where to begin, “Er- Erm- Yeah- There’s a meeting on Tuesday morning, two days from now. The front-liners are convening in the main city of the 37th Floor, Mourningwood Fort. It’s the smallest main city we’ve come across. It’s a dank miserable fortress with the most depressing NPCs you could hope to find. All the stone buildings are in crap condition and I don’t think a single player has purchased-” “Tell me about the rest of the 37th floor.” Interrupted Hawke, uninterested in the city. “It’s swamp themed. We’ve only been able to venture south of Mourningwood so far though. To the North of it is a large open piece of Marshland and any that try to cross are attacked by the field boss, ‘Níðhöggr’ aka ‘The Mother in-law’. It’s a giant Lindworm; imagine a mix between a wingless dragon and a giant worm. Common mobs on the floor actually include Lindworm Hatchlings, which are a piece of cake compared to the big one.” “Nothing else of interest been found yet?” “No, not really. We can’t really do much until the Field Boss is taken out.” Bubly stopped in his tracks as he realised what this conversation meant, “Wait! Do you plan to attend the meeting?” Hawke too stopped but made a snorting sound as he did so. “And why not? As of five days ago I’m the only player to have been present for the clearing of every floor. You need the Braziers there, as you always have!” Hawke matched up to his friend, but he didn’t mean any aggression; rather he was just caught up in the moment. “But… there are no Braziers.” Bulbys mumbled. He knew Hawke was valuable, he might even be in the top-10 now, but he would be a fool to show up alone given the rumours circulating. “I know.” Hawke replied with a sullen tone, “That’s why this morning I put out a message to say we’re recruiting. With any luck I should have some decent applicants treacle in over the next day or two.”

In big bright black letters, the words **Join The Braziers!** peered out from the paper held in the man's grip. Beneath it was conglomeration of info detailing what they did, who was who, and what benefits you might gain by joining such a group. Not that everyone didn't already know who The Braziers were. In terms of guilds, they had been one of the top scouting legions. The man, Wes Shanks, leaned back in the chair that was just a little too small for him. In his other hand held a tankard of ale that he occasionally sipped whilst reading. Leaning against the wall however was what appeared to be a huge mass of iron, shaped vaguely like a sword. Its large sized served as a deterrent against people if you got past the grizzly sneer that adopted Wes' face half the time. That and his sheer stature. He set the paper back down on the table, letting things mull around in his brain for a few moments. He'd heard the rumors, that the entire guild had been wiped out by an 'inescapable' boss, leaving only poor Hawke as the survivor. His opinion? It sounded a lot like bullshit. Either the man killed his group, or he didn't. Though, the thought of having one top tier person kill another seven of similar status was the only confusing part. Even Wes doubted he could kill seven other Wes. So it was likely the Boss killed them all. Likely. There was still a chance dear old Hawke was just another killer. Not that Wes minded. He didn't care who he worked for, as long as they had cash. And a man who had just taken down seven others was bound to have plenty. He wasn't actually going to join the guild, mind you, just offer his services like he always did. It was a rather interesting system, these contracts. Around Floor Ten, Wes had found out he had the ability to offer his services as a mercenary without a lot of hassle. They were semi-magical pieces of paper that both he and the customer both signed. He had his guidelines there, flat as rain. One, he would only kill another person if they were red. He wasn't about to spoil his outside life by killin' a bunch of people. Second was that he wouldn't offer his life in the line of duty. If there were any sign of true danger, Wes would simply warp out of there, no harm no foul. Well, at least not for him. Last, but not least, he always got his pay. If you refused to pay, he would hunt you down. So these were the simple rules he lived by. They served him well, and as a result, he never had money problems. He had enough saved in the bank to buy whatever he needed. Not that he wanted to live anywhere. Playing house wasn't gonna get him out. Still, the tavern he was in was nice enough. It was named 'The Lusty Sow'. A warm hearth was adjacent to the front door, inviting in wet travelers from the dreary outside that was the castle. Busty maidens traversed throughout the slightly full hall, bringing mead and mutton to whoever required it. It really was the only place that wasn't depressing. Not that he didn't like the castle. Something about the disrepair, the grey skies, the melancholy that surrounded it just put a bit of spring to his step. All of the damn places he went to these days were full of happy NPCs, bright blue skies, and amazing landscapes. It was about time they got something new and different. Still, the drag through the swamp to get to the place wasn't the best. The local wildlife wasn't nice either. A strange, giant frog that was seven feet long and four tall had attacked him earlier that morning. It had a mottled brown hide that was tough as iron iron and its tongue was twenty feet long. Even cutting that off revealed that it regrew within' a minute. Suffice to say, The Dragonslayer had done a fairly well job killing it. The final blow had been a thrusting stab straight through its eye, killing it. And for his troubles, Wes had received a rather strange forked spear called 'The Toadsticker.'

***INTRO*** Well, one way or another he was experiencing SAO, legally or not. And Yuji could not be happier. He was out in the west field, a fairy distance away from the starting city. A mob of boars surrounded him, and he hurriedly slashed as fast as he could to defeat each one. This was his play style, quite dangerous. Though he had battle healing already quite high at his low level because of how often his HP went into the red, he had to pay attention and use an potion every now and then to bring his health up. Suddenly, his grinding had come to a stop as he found himself teleported into the beginning city. He listened to Kayaba speak, becoming a bit distraught about this new detail he had added into the game. Sure, he spent a lot of time with MMOs but he didn't want to LIVE in them. Yuji quickly calmed down, mostly unfazed now by Kayaba's talk. "Man, this guy must not get out much. Or he just doesn't get people..honestly, to say things like this without bating an eye, read the atmosphere dude." Yuji said, trying to laugh off the whole thing as just a minor inconvenience. He had a family that cared about him, and a different life outside MMOs with responsibilities he had to attend to. Yuji sighed, and used the mirror in his inventory. He blinked, as it had changed him into his real self. "Well, I guess at least some part of the real world's with me. Though, I have to wonder about food, using the bathroom, muscle cramps.." Yuji thought about everything that would pose a problem in the long term that would get in the way of extended play in SAO. It was good to get up and exercise, but having this nerve gear forcefully kept on him wouldn't grant him that. "If we spent all our time in MMOs, even in the year 2020 our bodies would problem devolve into something less then human. That's the unrealistic part people who want to spend all their time in an MMO world need to get. Besides, what a crappy world it'd be, where everyone just laid around with a headset constantly connected to them, getting as skinny as the dead.." Yuji said to no in particular. When Kayaba left, Yuji pushed out of the scared crowd. "I feel sorry for everyone. It'd be sadistic to say it's their fault, or they should have expected this..but, I need to be strong now. We all do." Yuji clenched his fist as he made his way through town back towards the west field. "This is a game. So for now on, I have to treat it like one." Yuji kept walking. A couple of minutes later he was already in the field, grinding. "I accept your challenge Kayaba! so, make it interesting!" Yuji exclaimed, cutting through a boar. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **SEVEN MONTHS LATER** Yuji sighed. "Man, what an utterly depressing place. Floors like this remind you YOU'RE STUCK IN AN ONLINE GAME AGAINST YOUR WILL AND CAN'T LOG OUT AT YOUR OWN LEISURE!!" Yuji yelled, drawing the ire of some nearby players. Mourningwood Fort was truly a miserable place, just as they said. Yuji had tried to tackle the Field Boss alone, but even Mr. Black Hell known for his suicidal fighting style and disregard for common sense when it came to tactics, couldn't take it alone. He'd taken on tons of mobs alone before. But the Boss was a pain in the ass, and had almost killed him. He had healed, and farmed the nearby mobs, but even then he couldn't take it on. That was what irritated him. A dank depressing place with a really strong Boss. Why had he come so early, anyway? he didn't remember the reason. It was two days until the raid meeting anyway. Being a mega-completionist, he had explored every area in the fortress, talked to all the NPCs who were an utter buzzkill to interact with, and explored every other area he could. The very few players who were here would probably either avoid him, or be out farming for levels. "Probably should've joined a guild.." Yuji muttered, and noticed a piece of paper on the ground. Picking it up and reading it, it was a recruitment flyer of some sort for the Braziers, that scouting guild that was almost completely wiped out. "I guess I could join them.." Yuji pondered. The thought that Hawke was a killer never occurred to him, as he fancied he good enough to take care of himself. He pocketed the paper, continuing to ponder the idea as he departed the fortress.

##Hazard Floor 37, Hazard whistled at the thought of it. He was leaning against a wall around the center of the town of floor 24. It was his job to spread rumors and all, but what had been told about the Braziers as of late.... Well, he just didn't believe it. He has heard from the sole survivor Hawke, he has talked to him a couple of times even, and he was definitely not a murderer, at least that's the vibe he thought he gave. This time, Hazard spread other kinds of rumors different from the mainstream. A boy approached him, Hazard was sure he at least had 14 years, he seemed bratty. **"Hazard! Do you have more info about floor 37? I bet you have some juicy things."** Hazard looked at him, his eyes seemingly closed, but he was seeing him all right. **"I don't know anything more than the next guy. It's a swamp, there's a big friggin' worm in the middle of it, and there's lots of other little worms all across the floor. That's about it, nothing worth selling."** He said, the boy was seemingly depressed and, at the sight of this, Hazard thought about it some more. After a while, it seemed as if something came to him when he lifted his index finger. **"And it also has a name that's hard to pronounce."** He said, all of this with a smile. The boy was let down by this. **"All right, I get it... Then, anything on the Braziers? They got wiped out not so long ago, and they say Hawke is the culprit! Any juicy rumors on that?"** He was really excited and his eyes sparkled. Hazard clicked his tongue. **"What do you take me for, kid!?"** He said, taking the boy by his shirt and throwing him against the wall. He then prevented him from escaping by kicking the wall just beside him and leaving there his leg. He opened slightly one of his eyes, revealing the yellow glow they had. **"I am an information broker, not some brat spreading rumors around town. I only give info I'm certain of, not crappy rumors like that. If you really believe that, then you should go hit a library, you idiot."** He slapped the kid and a smirk appeared on his face. **"Now, scram, before you really make me angry."** **"Y-Yes!"** The kid dashed away, even pushing someone away. Hazard spitted on the ground. **"Goddammit, he is making fun of me."** He was now in a bad mood. What would be able to relieve this? Through the corner of his eye, he spotted a piece of paper that read **'Join the Braziers!'** He smirked again. He wasn't planning to join, but it sure as hell would be interesting. --- Hazard arrived to the place where Hawke and Bulbasaur were, the castle home of the Braziers. He approached the entrance of the Memorial Chamber they were in and knocked on the door. With a smile on his face, he started. His cloak was obscuring his face, but it was so flashy anyone would be able to know who he was. **"Yo, Hawke. Do you remember me? I hope you do."** He says, approaching the pair. **"I came to see you. You must be crushed with what happened to your little guild. It is a pity losing so many good fighters at once."** His tone was mocking and he was even laughing a bit. **"Oh, but don't get me wrong. I don't think you did it, but it is still up in the air. That's why I wanna stick around a bit and figure it out, might be good to get some info on you for later. Call me a 'Reserve Brazier'."** He said, while laughing a bit. --- ##Ann-Biru Ann sighed while she supported herself in the counter. It was a really slow day. There were a couple of guys at the back of the inn, one of them the boy she first helped out, but he was free-loading, so he didn't count, the store was fairly slow too, since the other floors hadn't been cleared that much time ago, so no one was in a real need for potions, and custom made weapons weren't as big of a deal right now as she initially thought. She still had Col to get by, but it sure was boring not having anything to work with. **"I'm starting to think like a grandma."** She sighed again. Maybe she could take the boy and head out to the wilds to take some monsters out. No, no, that would be dangerous. She didn't let the guy level up for a reason, and if she started encouraging him now, it would be impossible to control him later. **"Gah! What am I thinking like a mother for!!"** She was really confused at her own actions. Someone soon approached the counter and her face changed from gloomy to lively in just a pair of seconds. **"Welcome! What do you need?"** **"Hello, how much does a night at the inn cost?"** The guy, who seemed to be exhausted, asked. **"A single room is 200 col, and a double room is 500 col."** She says, putting on the best smile she had in her arsenal. The guy turned around and shouted something. **"Guys, this one is good! C'mon!"** A group went in and Ann's eyes sparkled a bit. **"We'll take two double rooms and a single one, please."** He said. **"All right."** Ann moved things through her menu and a window prompted up for the guy. Though, before he was able to touch the yes option, he asked something. **"Um, is the eyepatch a piece of equipmenent?"** He asked, really curious. **"Incidentally, that question may double up the total of your purchase, do you want to continue with it?"** She said in response and, even though she was smiling, her words were definitely aggressive. **"N-No that's quite all right, thanks."** He quickly pushed the yes button and scrambled away along with the rest of his group. **"Your rooms are 104, 105 and 110! Have a good night!"** She said, waving the group goodbye. They just waved back at her without much energy. After that, she went back to her grumpy face. **"How rude."** She sighed.

Romulus: Romulus stood above the three hostages that he had been hired to save. Two girls, one boy. They were bound and gagged. Romulus looked around him. There was none of the Darkwaters around. He stood behind the first hostage. A girl of about 20. He untied her hand bindings, and took out the cloth from her mouth. He then begn untying the second one, a boy of about 17. That's when he heard the voices. He put down his faceshield and drew his Gladius. It was a Darkwater captain known only as "The Silent One." That's when a recruit walked in. He had an orange cursor, so he must have been a trained Darkwater assassin. The boy couldn't have been more than 19. Romulus stood up and startled the boy. The boy dropped his sword. "Quiet!" Romulus hissed "I don't want to hurt you!" The boy shook and nodded his head. "They make me do horrible things! Please help me!" Romulus nodded. "Help me get the hostages out." The boy nodded and said "Hey boss, I have a new target!" Romulus heard "The Silent One" Laugh. "Good job Brutus! You're such a low level, I'm surprised people even talk to you!" He said. Romulus heard them talking. He untied the third hostage. "Meet me on floor 15." Romulus whispered to all three. Romulus then walked out and that was when he felt the throwing knife go through the chink in his armor. Romulus ran until he couldn't see the building no more. 15 minutes later. Romulus walked into the Inn. He heard two people talking at a table. "I heard that a frontliner Guild got almost completely wiped out, and that the leader is holding a meeting in two days!" "I heard that too!" The second voice said. Romulus walked over to the innkeeper. "one room please." He then winced and collapsed. 3 hours later Remus had just sat down to eat and read a paper when he saw two messages? The first one had a picture of Romulus and read "If anyone knows this man, come to the Whitewood Inn on floor 32. He has been hurt, and has no known friends. " The second ad read. "Join the Braziers Guild!" Remus ripped both ads out of the paper, and started walking out of the restaurant. He was a member of the Order of The Divine, but who cared, he would help out a guild that was recently wiped out. He messaged his leader if he could take a break from the Guild and he went on his way to floor 32 where his brother lay.

"You lied to me, Shade!" Alex's choked voice broke the deep silence of the room as she approached her former guild-leader. "You lied and you cheated and you thought that I would be so dumb to go along with it all? You think you can just hide in secrecy for the rest of your time here? I'll tell them what you've done! You'll face justice when you get out of here!" It broke her heart to even have to do something like this but what the Nightshades had done... What she had done, was wrong. They needed to be punished or something needed to change. "It was never meant to be like this." Shade's voice seemed full of emotion but after an age of lying, it was like second-nature to him. "We all started with the intent to punish the guilty but that won't get us anywhere! We have to stay alive!" His argument tempted her to side with him, to let it drop like everything else that he had done but she was just so sick of it all! "I cared for you, Shade! I-I loved you and this is how you pay me back? You could have told me what we were doing and who we were killing!" They were only separated by a few centimetres of air but he didn't try to even make any form of gesture or movement that would make him look remotely sorry - he changed in those last few moments to a side that Alex never saw before. "Well, isn't that just a pity. You seemed to have completely bought the whole act yet it was a complete waste of time!" His words paralysed her, locking her in position as she struggled to try process what he was saying. "Shame." Was all he said before he filled the space between them with a sharpened piece of steel that was quickly stabbed forward. Her mouth fell open, her previous breath stuck in her throat as she staggered backwards, dragging the blade from his hands as it followed her, too far into her stomach to fall free. Her next breath failed on her as well and the third only served to carry a sharp intake of oxygen. "You were such a good fighter as well, Alex. And your body! It's a shame that I have to waste such a good specimen but rats must be exterminated." The alien feeling of the cold metal buried in her stomach and the pain that was exploding from there added to the emotional trauma she was going through caused her to cry out, a deep, regretful moan of disbelief. Her journey lasted only for a short while as she fell back, fortunately away from him. Alex was a fighter though and she wasn't going to just roll over and die. Gathering her remaining strength, she ignored the feeling to lay down and let her miserable life pass and instead, dragged herself to her feet, weakly limping out out of the door and towards the exit. Her former comrades lined the way, not taking part as they watched on, a few smirking. "No no, Alex, couldn't have you going to find a gutter to end your miserable life!" Shade chuckled and she cried out in agony as another knife imbedded itself in her right leg, causing her to buckle and collapse. It was over - she was going to die in this horrible game and then she would never wake up. She would never live a life outside of Sword Art Online. This would be her tomb. "We were thinking about sending you out to the front lines as well! I have a friend there who could have really used your... services. Pity you had to go and stick your nose in others' business!" He snarled at the last part, cracking her peaceful posture with a kick to the stomach. Alex reeled back, allowing a sob of anguish to escape. It was almost like the warp-crystal she had equipped earlier became heavier in her inventory because there was no other way to describe it - maybe it was the desperate part of her mind that didn't want to feel the nothingness of death that reminded her of it. "I suppose you're not going to die like this... are you?" Her health bar was on a low yellow but she was still alive. "Now, the choice remains. Quick or slow?" Shade seemed to take his sweet time deciding whether to make her death agonisingly slow or fortunately quick. Her limbs were weak and her mind was hazy but that didn't stop her from silently drawing a warp-crystal from her inventory. Shade took note of this a little late as she quickly pressed down on it, beginning to teleport. With the speed of no other warrior, his blade descended in a sharp arc and caught her in the stomach just before she was warped completely. For a game, the pain she felt was pretty realistic - granted, she had never felt what it was to die before. It would definitely be something she was going to partake in - she had warped onto a dusty path that shown no evidence of life. The poison that had tipped his blade was what was killing her now - removing the other daggers was pointless. Quite a peaceful place to die, Floor 24.