SAO – A game developed by advanced forms of technology, was put on sale this morning at 00:01am. All 10,000 copies were sold out in less than 6 minutes. The main server was announced to go live at 3pm. As such... every player logged in as soon as possible and began enjoying the features which the game had to offer. Nobody had ever played it before, so it was a strange feeling for every player.
The Town of Beginnings was a huge place, as is the starting location for all new players. Here there are a massive number of shops, restaurants, and socializing spots for players, however... these things cost money, and seeing as everyone had only just logged in, they wouldn’t have enough the pay for anything. Everyone is equipped with a basic version of the weapon style they have chosen, and the same goes for armour and equipment. Some players had selected to own pets, sacrificing an ability to do so, but everyone seemed generally happy and excited about the immediate features of the game.
Okami sat in his chair, holding the game box in pride and happiness. Finally, it was complete. A world where he could be whatever he wanted. That was his dream. He wheeled himself over to his bed and hoisted himself onto it. He had already scanned himself using the nerve gear whilst waiting for the server to go live. He smiled and put the nerve gear over his head, switching it on.
“LINK START”
He zapped into the character appearance menu, and he made any changes which he didn’t like from the scan. He clicked ok in the menu, and was zapped into a portal, and flung into the world which he had craved for so long. He dusted himself off and placed his hands on the floor. He pushed himself upwards and stood up. He... he could walk. He grinned and moved about for a while before deciding to take a look around the place which he had longed to see ever since the game’s animators started development.
Suddenly, every player in the game was hit in the stomach by an invisible force. Also, they all would start to glow a bright blue colour, before being teleported to a dark building. Whilst players discussed what had just happened, whether it was an ‘event’ or not, a bright red light flash rapidly above them. A resonating laugh echoed around the room, everyone was blinded with a bright light. When they could see again, they would see a shady cloud, it was black. When it spoke, it brightened and dimmed with each word. “Welcome, to SAO. I would like to say how thrilled I am to see your characters.” It paused. “Pain... threshold... level 0...” a loud beep sounded, and an automated voice confirmed the change. “Many of you will have noticed by now that the log out button is missing from your menu, this is no error. There never was one.” It paused again to see the look on players’ faces. Once again, an invisible force punched every player, but this time in the chest. “That is the pain you shall experience in this ‘very real’ game. Therefore, if you die... it shall be... excruciating.” It laughed satanically. “Oh, and I forgot to say, the nerve gear on your head right now is designed to pulse a very powerful microwave through your brain, should you die here. I think this should be a great way to test your abilities.” It smirked. “Players... good luck... make to the 100th floor, and defeat the castle. Only then, shall you be able to log out.” The cloud disappeared and then reappeared. “And btw, I left you all a gift in your inventory. I think it would be unfair to try and win a game without any knowledge, wouldn’t you agree?” It laughed and vanished, before the lights brightened again. They were in the town square. If a player checked their inventory, they would see an item titled, ‘book of truth’. The description said, ‘a guidebook for everything important needed to learn the basics for SAO.
Okami held his chest and stomach. Those punches really hurt, he didn’t expect them either, same as many of the other players. He managed to settle himself and listen to what the shade had to say. He stood far away from the other players, and had a blank expression on his face.
A huge notification filled the vision of all players. If they opened it, the message would read. “The book of truth has been updated.” The book now contained the location of the 1st floor boss door and information about the boss. It image appeared, along with its HP details.
The winged terror,
Four HP bars, uses massive claws and tail to hit players. Uses its wings to fly when it’s health becomes low.
Okami had already taken his group to the door; he knew where it was even before the book update. He... knew a lot about the game already. However, 5 players were not enough to take on a boss. So he opened up his menu and sent out a mass message to all players. “For those of you who wish to battle for freedom from this world, come to this location, we must work together to escape the first floor. We need to discuss things in advance.” He punched in the coordinates and sent the message, waiting with his party in front of the door.
Okami stood up and stretched. “Okay! Everyone! We are about to go into the first boos room. I will not lie to you... it will be dangerous... and some of us may die... but just think... this is our first step to freedom. So grab your weapons, look over the plan once more and prepare yourselves!” He turned towards the door.
Okami pressed his fist on the door, and heaved it open. He stepped inside drawing his weapon. “does everyone remember their job? Good! Positions!” Everyone ran into their job position and waited for something to happen. The door slammed behind them, and wouldn’t open again. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the boss flew in and landed with a deafening roar. It swished its tail, and bore its teeth. It swiped it tail all the way around the room, so everyone would either have to jump or duck. If they did neither, they would get hit. A lot of players which had joined them did neither in time, and were killed. Okami, and lots of other players (you guys and the NPCs) managed to dodge the tail.
However, several (5) other creatures spawned around them. They were guardians.
Okami shouted. “Everyone! Use your teleportation crystals!” he raised his, but it didn’t work. “what the...” He shook his head. “New plan! Solo players, take out the guardians! Tankers, take the force of the damage from the boss! And everyone remaining, attack the boss from the sides!!!”
Several of the solo players ran to help fight the guardians, and some of them instantly died, whilst others battled on.
Okami raised his blade in the air. “Commence the attack!” he screamed before blocking a swipe from the boss aimed at him.
As okami drove his blade deeper into the bosses belly, his expression changed to desperation. Suddenly, his eyes widened and he yelled out. The bosses Hp miraculously, speed down and glitched into the red zone, from just the one attack. Okami drove deeper into the monster with his sword. The winged terror, roared and started using its wings. "Quickly!!! its in the red!!! We mustn’t let it fly!"
Just as okami yelled this, a swarm of players (you guys and NPCs) flew into the scene, and latched their weapons onto it. Some slashed, some pierced, and some smashed. The Hp of the boss slowly lowered astonishingly close to zero. Its feet had just left the ground, and players were holding on.
The boss gave out a deafening roar, before screaming out and bursting into millions of shards of data, floating away to the ceiling, before dissipating. The light from the data shards was blinding, before the room went completely dark. Players sat there, exhausted, while a few of them pumped their fists in celebration. Okami pulled up his menu and checked the player status. They had started with 65, and there were now only 52. 13 deaths. He threw his sword down in frustration, even though his health was still barely untouched, and he was comfortably in the green zone.
The congratulations message appeared, exp and col was divided between players. A huge stone door opened on the other side of the room, to the 2nd floor, and the doors back to the 1st floor opened too. However, as players left the boss room, Okami stood there with a blank expression. He opened up his menu and did some stuff, before leaving with the others that were moving on.
Suddenly, a notification popped up on Riho's (only riho) menu, if she opened it, she would find a message "for you, well done player. This is for you to do as you please with." She would find an attachment with an item in it.
"MESSENGER OF A LIFETIME"
Extremely rare, can be used to send 1 message and 1 message only to the outside world. Admin(s) will see to it that it is delivered by any means necessary.
Durability runs out after one use, use wisely player.
Okami pushed himself up from the bench. He stretched, and opened his menu. He selected his teleport crystal and held it directly up in the air. "TELE! town of beginnings!" He vanished.
He materialised in the town square of the town of beginnings, and a swarm of level 1 players came upon him, asking questions about the first boss first, and their chances of beating the game. Okami said nothing, he walked through all of them before stopping at a block and standing on top of it. "everyone! the rumours are true! we have defeated the first floor boss... you may proceed to the next floor safely." he paused before bring up his menu. "however, we... lost a lot of people. 13 players." he proceeded to read out the names of the players who had died, and bowed his head. After a minute or two, he looked up. From the thousand or so player who had surrounded him after the original arrival, there were now 100 or so players, all with their weapons drawn, determined looks on their faces.
One called out, "Its not fair that others should die whilst we just sit here." Okami smiled and admired their bravery. He drew his sword. "well then! it seems like we have some new additions to the front liners! when this game is done, you shall be known as the players who COULD NOT sit back and watch!" He grinned and raised his sword. "Join us in clearing floors, and beating this game! We shall be known as the proudest guild of all time, 'Braveheart.'
All of the 100 or so players raised their weapons in the air after the speech and cheered in admiration and determination.
Okami grinned. A 100+ strong guild. This would be better than he thought. He got out his teleport crystal. "well then! you better see the new floor!" He raised the crystal, "TELE, floor two!" He disappeared, and all of the 100 or so players followed. They all materialised in the first town of floor two. IT was basically an army, which Okami was in command of. The 'Bravehearts'. And all were able to see them.
3 MONTHS LATER – FLOOR 10
(ALL BRAVEHEART GUILD MEMBERS MUST BE HERE, AND THE DRAGONS BLOOD GUILD, BUT SOLO PLAYERS IT UP TO YOU WHETHER YOU REACT TO THIS OR TIMESKIP IN YOUR OWN WAY.)
“Okay, let’s move... the item will be right up head.” Okami was leading his guild fighters towards a rumoured item, which could help them to kill bosses a whole lot easier. It was a ‘sleeping potion’. Okami halted everyone and checked the numbers. Everyone was there, even the dragon’s blood guild and soloers which had helped in the first floor boss. In the time since they had all beaten the first boss, the braveheart guild had gotten much stronger. This included more players joining, as they shared similar ideals to the guild (shadow, Shiro and riho have joined), and wealth increasing. The main point of interest though was the appointment of the second in command, Shujin.
Okami looked ahead, and saw a bright glow. He ordered everyone to draw their weapons, whilst he and shujin checked it out. Okami and Shujin walked forward, up to the glow. It was the item, in a bottle. Okami and Shujin exchanged a few words very quietly, looking back at the group of players waiting for them. Okami smirked and patted Shujin on the shoulder, before turning to the item. He picked it up with both hands and smiled.
SLASH - This was not a safe zone. Everyone gasped and some players screamed. A blade was sticking through Okami’s stomach, and out the other side. He smirked, and peacefully waited for the inevitable. His Hp lowered slowly, and nobody did anything. They just watched. Once it hit zero, he opened his eyes and smiled at all of the players who had accompanied them to find the item. A tear rolled down his cheek. Then, without warning, he burst into data, and floated into the sky. The tear which rolled down his cheek splashed onto the floor. Okami was gone.
Everyone turned their attention the blade which had killed him. They traced their eyes back down the handle and to the wielder. Shujin. He had killed Okami, but why? He dropped the blade and sat down, breathing deeply.
A notification appeared on every guild members menu. If they opened it, the message would be audio, and it would be Okami’s voice. “Bravehearts, warriors... my friends... if you are hearing this, I am dead. It has been a pleasure fighting with you this far, and I always knew we would clear a few more floors. Laughs*. I can’t help you now, so now you must look to the second in command to lead you, Shujin.”
Shujin was still sitting down with a widened expression, panting. His weapon dropped on the ground.
The message continued. “No matter how I died, you WILL follow Shujin, he will lead you out of this game. Goodbye... for now... maybe... friends.” The message ended.
Okami was a well known guild leader, so his death was upsetting and simply shocking to those who had just witnessed it.
Shujin used his detection skill once again to hear a twig snap behind them “lets move! Now!” He hastily started moving faster, pulling the guild with him. Once they reached the town again, he pulled them all into the guild house. It was a massive stone building, and it looked like a fort. He allowed the other players who had followed the guild inside and then closed the door shut, so nobody who was outside could hear them.
He cleared his throat before addressing the members. He opened his menu and clicked ‘unlock guild’, to release the players, but still stood in front of the door. “It seems like you have some questions for me. I will answer all of them right now.” There was a massive silence before Shujin spoke again. “The item was a fake.” He opened his menu and took it out. “It is NOT a sleeping powder; it is in fact a weapon cleaner. Okami made it up for his own reasons.” He paused again to make sure he had everyone’s attention. He sighed. “Most of you are fearful of what happened to Okami. Well... the truth is... although it was my blade... I am fearful too.” He cleared his throat. “Okami feared that our guild was being followed by what we call a GM player, now that could either be, the game creator himself, or one of his assistants. Okami was concerned that these GM players feared we were becoming too powerful, and might actually clear the game. Therefore, he wanted to fake his own death - in front of them- and I HAD TO be the one to do it. So these GM players would leave us alone.” His voice welled up. “W-we planned.... for him to.... teleport out... before his Hp reached zero, just at the same time as his armour broke, b-but...” he forced his eyes closed and clasped his hands over his face. “He said something to me just before it happened. He said, ‘I’m sorry, but it has to be real.’ And he was serious despite his joking nature.” Shujin cried. “Okami made me kill him, so the GM players would leave us alone. They WERE there alright. They saw him die. Okami... sacrificed himself, so that we stood a chance of clearing the game.”
Silence fell upon the room, players in shock and despair. Nobody knew what to say. Tears streamed down some of the players faces, some players clenched their fists in frustration, and some didn’t even believe the story.
Shujin drew his sword with both hands. “So, are we going to sit here and let his death mean nothing? Or are we going to clear this damn fucking game!?” He raised his sword in the air.
Suddenly, there was a booming knock at the door. There was silence as players looked towards it. There was more knocking, but this time louder. Some players drew their weapons, and Shujin raised a hand to tell them to put weapons away. Shujin made way over to the double doors slowly. The tension built immensely, and some players thought that something terrible was on the other side, despite being in a safe zone.He looked at void who was standing on the other part of the door with a concerned expression, before he swung the door open and saw nothing, before feeling a tug at his leg armour.
A little boy stood there, no older than 8, and they had a player icon. It wasnt an NPC. Shujin's face tensed up. "w-what? b-but there is an age cap on this game!" He stuttered, before ushering the boy inside. He knelt down and placed his hands on the boy's shoulders. "h-how are you here? you shouldnt have been able to access the game." He embraced the child. They had been inside the game for over 3 months, and the boy must have been all alone. He spoke again, smiling "what is your name?"
The boy looked shy and made himself look smaller, "R-Ryumi." He stuttered.
Shujin looked at the child before getting down to his level. "So... Ryumi, are you.... real? can you open a menu?"
The child scroll his right hand and his menu opened up. It was definitely a player.
Shujin was taken a back, this was confusing. "Ryumi... forgive me for asking.... but... how are you still alive? this is a high level floor." he question Ryumi, determined to get an answer.
Ryumi grinned and smiled before speaking. "The funny man with the blue hair!" He smiled looking around.
Shujin looked down, "i-im sorry little one, okami is.... no longer with us." The boy's expression fade to sadness and Shujin placed a hand on his shoulder. He stood back up before turning to everyone. "you are all dismissed for 1 week. once that week is up, we WILL find the boss room." He waved his sword, as if to tell everyone they could go.
3 WEEKS LATER – FLOOR 10
‘Bleep!’ Everyone got a notification whilst standing outside of the boss room door.
“The book of truth has been updated.” If they opened the notification to the update, they would see the information on the boss they were about to face. This information had become written, because a group of 5 players had scouted the room, with the aim to peek in and get out quickly, however, the doors closed on them and they were killed.
“THE SHADOW WAVE” – 4 Hp bars
Walks on land, but uses water based attacks such as tidal waves and splashes in addition to tentacles and claws. It is NOT affected by stabs, only slashes. When, at low health, boss attempts to flood the room in order to drown players.
Shujin had recalled everyone the day before in order to prepare for the boss fight. But it had taken them longer to find the boss door than expected, 3 weeks instead of 1. As the notification came up, he studied it very closely. “W-water? How can we fight that?” He had a sudden idea, before turning to face all of the players who had joined them. Soloers, Dragon blood, and Braveheart. In total around 125 players. Shujin noticed several new faces, including a man named Arek, and a few other soloers (out new friends). He raised his voice to get everyone’s attention. “This boss is a water type, so ordinary stabs will not work. Our plan shall be to use slash attacks, at a quick pace, as to finish it off quickly, there are no other creatures in here, so everyone must attack the boss together!”
He waited for everyone to be ready, before pressing against the door and stepping inside, everyone followed, with their weapons drawn. Ryumi had followed them here from the guild house, he sprinted inside and grabbed a hold of Shujin. Shujin gasped and turned around looking at the door. It had closed and vanished. “WE DEFEND THE CHILD AT ALL COSTS!” he shouted out.
Just as he shouted this, the boss broke out from under the ground, instantly wetting the floor, making it slippery. Shujin drew his blade with two hands and raised it in the air. “For Okami! And freedom!” He charged forward with a bunch of other players, who were instantly wiped out with a huge wave. Shujin was soaked, but managed to turn around to the others. (you guys.) “well come on! What are you waiting for!?” He slashed at the boss with great force.
An expression of determination filled Shujin’s face. “Quickly, it is almost dead! Everyone strike now!” He charged forward, raising his sword for a massive strike. SPLICE – when his sword reached behind his head, Shujin cringed, and dropped to the floor. Every other player in the room did exactly the same. “P-p-paralyzed?” He tried to reach for his antidote crystal, but the paralyzing effect was too advanced, he could only move his head, the same as the other players in the room.
The boss did not do anything though; it just stood there, looking towards the back of the room. And then Shujin realised. He had heard some small footsteps with his listening skill. They pattered forward until they were right in front of the boss. “R-Ryumi RUN!!!” The young child did not listen however; he just stood there, looking at the boss. The boss made a grunting noise, before raising a claw. The boy closed his eyes and lowered his head. The boss fired a massive wave at the child, covering him completely, and the splashes soaked everyone else in the room. However, as the water disintegrated, everyone looked up in astonishment. The boy stood there, perfectly fine. Shujin was amazed, how was the boy able to absorb the damage so well? But then he saw it.
There was a purple box above Ryumi’s head, ‘immortal object’. Ryumi then smirked and spoke with a different voice. “System, generate weapon: ‘Blade of souls’” The blade appeared in front of him and he grabbed it. He simply took one look at the boss and swiped at it, lowering its Hp all the way to zero, causing it to burst into data. The congratulations message appeared, and EXP + Col was distributed.
Everyone was still paralyzed. Shujin spoke confused. “GM A-assistant?” He glared. “So we WERE being followed.” Ryumi turned around and laughed. “Oh shujin, what a cleaver boy you... are!!!!!!!!” He planted a foot into his jaw. He laughed again before looking at his finger nails. “But, you did figure out who I was, that should be rewarded...” he thought for a moment, before snapping his fingers. “I know!!!” he exclaimed. “One player revive, and one only. Choose wisely.”
The whole room gasped in astonishment. Was that even possible? There was only one way to find out. Shujin didn’t even have to think about it. He spoke stutteringly, as he was still under the effects of paralyze. “P-p-player I-ID: O-okami.”
Ryumi smirked and opened his menu “as you wish. System, revive player ID: Okami”. All of a sudden, pieces of data fell from the ceiling, and began to form together. It was beautiful. They formed the shape of a human, and in a matter of moments, Okami stood there, gasping for air. Shujin wept a little bit. “Okami...”
Okami looked around the room before laughing satanically. “the plan... it worked Shujin.” He walked over and stood over Shujin. “but... it still hurt. PAIN LEVEL: MINUS 10!” He drove his blade into Shujin’s back.
Shujin cried out in agony, as the pain level had temporarily been made twice as painful. “OKAMI STOP! I BEG OF YOU! PLEASE!” He yelled in pain still. However, his health somehow remained completely intact. Okami pulled his sword out of Shujin. “What are you screaming about? I programmed you not to die.”
At those words, everyone was taken a back in shock, including Shujin. “w-what are you talking about? I have... a life... in the real world.” Okami.... was the creator. Okami spoke again, “I never meant for you to gain ‘human’ emotions, and for you to believe you were actually one of them!” He laughed. “Never mind, if you are one of THEM now, it will be much more fun for you to watch as they die!” He walked over to the group of players, (you guys) who were still paralyzed, and looking onward in fear. He walked over to Kira and touched her cheek, “I’m sorry Kira, you were always my favourite. You shall live.” He stood up and left her be. He knelt down next the Riho and whispered into her ear. “How was the item I gave you?” he laughed and stood up, before raising his blade, getting ready to kill her. He struck his blade downwards, only to hit a long, two handed sword. Shujin had managed to get to his feet, despite being paralyzed. “This... is my guild now... These are my friends... and you won’t lay a finger on them.” He struggled to keep Okami’s blade from slicing into Riho due to the effects of the paralyze, but he managed to push Okami backwards.
Okami looked at Shujin in disappointment. “Oh dear, it seems you are no longer under my control... very well Shujin, have it your way. SYSTEM, DISCONNECT PLAYER ID: SHUJIN, FROM THE SYSTEM PROTECTION.” He sighed and sheathed his sword. “I will wait for you all on the 100th floor. I’ve decided that I shall be the final boss.” He pulled Shujin in close and whispered to him. “You ARE a program. I CREATED you. If you ever manage complete this game, you WILL fade with it.” He took a step backwards before grasping his assistant Ryumi by the arm. He then teleported into thin air, assumingly to the 100th floor.
The room fell dark, and Shujin trembled whilst standing up because he, and everyone else was still under the effects of the paralyze. After a few minutes, the effects wore off, and everyone could stand up. What had just happened? It was too much to comprehend. This was clearly the case for Shujin, as he just stood there; his sword slipped from his hands, and hit the floor with a clatter. He then just stared into space.
The stone set of doors leading to the next floor opened as usual.
1 week later – floor 11
In the week after a random celebration, Shujin dispatched a team of scouts to find the next boss door. They came back with a location. Shujin was raring to go, from anger built up after the ‘celebration’.
The frontliner group waited patiently outside the boss door, readying themselves. Unfortunately, Shujin had not been able to gain any information about the boss, so they were all in the dark this time. He gave a battle speech, before pressing a fist against the door and opening it.
(Insert epic boss fights montage here*)
1 year later – floor 50
They had all been trapped in the game for over a year now, and everybody was fatigued. The guilds, the soloers, and even the backliners. However, there was still a large number of players dedicated to clearing the game and getting out. These were, a multitude of solo payers, a few small guilds, and the two major ones; Braveheart, and Dragons blood.
Everyone waited around outside of the 50th boss door in anticipation and awning. They were halfway there. Halfway until they won, and until Shujin would cease to exist. They could actually do this. Shujin waited on giving his infamous battle speech, until everyone was ready, as some looked tired. They would camp next to the door until everyone was ready for battle.
The year of game time Shujin had spent in the knowledge of being a program was tough. He had gone through many stages. Depression, denial, pride, and anger. Right now, he was in a pride stage, and wanted to clear the game as fast as possible so that others could go home. The only thing keeping him going were the ‘memories’ he had of his family. Even though they were only lines of coding constructed by Okami, they meant a lot to Shujin, as they were the only thing he had to hold on to. Shujin sighed and stood by his fellow guild members, Riho, Miyabi, Fireboy, Shadow, Kira, vera and all of the others. They were all in their sky blue and red armour. He looked saddened, despite feeling a strong will to win this battle.
There was lots of noise in the camp, until everyone would here a loud clatter. Shujin had driven his sword into the ground to get everybody’s attention. He cleared his throat and started to speak. “Everyone! This is it. We have made it halfway there. Halfway to making it back to our homes, our wives, brothers, sister, husbands, children, and friends.” He paused, before continuing. “We now all know how unpredictable boss fights can be. We have all lost... so many to them.” He suddenly raised his voice. “That is why, we will be changing our strategy from this moment on!” He pulled his sword from the ground and raised it in the air. “If you are not wielding a single handed straight sword, please unequip your weapon now.” He waited for players to do so, as he did himself.
A notification would appear on everyone’s menu, with a gift drop. Inside, would be a reasonably strong single handed straight sword, and a good sturdy shield. Shujin equipped his own and continued. “We are losing too many friends and allies due to LACK OF DISCIPLINE.” He narrowed his eyes. “From now on, when we enter a boss room, we WILL equip single handed swords and shields. When we enter, Braveheart guild members will form a human tortoise, and Dragon’s blood members will form a shield wall around the tortoise. Solo players, WILL be in the safety of inside the shield wall, and support players will be take shelter inside the tortoise.” Everyone looked at Shujin in shock. Would that work? He seemed serious though.
Shujin continued talking. “The bravheart guild members who have maxed out their parry skill, will keep the tortoise formed for the ENTIRE battle, so should anyone need refuge or rest, you must go there.” (tortoise holders are NPC’s not you guys.)
“Once we find out what we are fighting, the outer shield wall will break, and we will commence with our usual battle plan. At this point, you may switch back to your original weapons. Agreed?” Player reluctantly nodded, and those who didn’t said nothing. Shujin raised his sword again. “FORM UP!” He pressed his fist against the door, opening it, and moving the tortoise forward. The shield wall around them formed once they got inside and waited for the boss to appear. The solo players were in between the wall and the tortoise, and waited too with shield ready.
Suddenly, everyone heard a massive grumble, before a series of cracks. Shujin saw through a gap in shields inside the tortoise, there were massive rocks falling from the ceiling. “SHIELDS UP!” The tortoise braced itself, and the players outside raised their shields. They were very effective, and only one or two players were crushed. This still made Shujin angry, the shields were supposed to save everyone from the initial blows.
Suddenly there was a massive crack and smash. The dust settled, and everyone looked up in horror. Shujin unequipped his own sword and shield, going back to his favoured two handed straight sword. He instructed for the parry players to keep the tortoise formed (NPCs again.) He called out to everyone. “Switch weapons, battle plan A! Commence the attack!” He raised his sword and charged through with some of the braveheart members.
“Gollum of foul beings” – 4Hp bars
The Gollum is very strong, and isn’t effected by slashes that much, it is best to thrust and stab, as to wear away its hard rocky outer shell. It hurls rocks and uses its massive hand to attack. When it hits red in its last bar, it causes a mini earthquake, trying to kill as many players at once in the room.
------------------------------ Shujin ----------------------------------------------------------------
The beast groaned loudly, and crumbled into pieces. It landed in a heap on the floor. The dust settled, players covering their eyes, and the pieces of rock burst into data shards. The congratulations notification came up and Exp/Col was distributed accordingly. Shujin coughed slightly before raising his sword in the air and shouting out in victory. “Half way! We can do this, and we WILL do this!” Everyone cheered, whilst others remembered the few who they lost. Shujin bowed his head after the talk and gave shadow a few moment of bereavement.
He sheathed his sword and walked towards Miyabi. He was about to take out a potion and use it, but there was no need, to boss was gone, and he wouldn’t take any damage. He finally reached Miyabi and gave her a dotting gaze, before opening his mouth. “You know... I always...” SPLICE – Shujin stood there with wide eyes, and breathless.
------------------------------------------------Kura ------------------------------------------------------
When Shujin had saved Kura . The way he jumped on him . Yes he saved his life , but Kura would rather die then be touched by that "trash" as he started to call him since that one meeting a year ago. There was something about him... Inhuman.. Yes he ridiculed Kura in front of Miyabi and other people but aside that ... Something didn't felt quite right about him. That feeling made Kura feel uneasy and unable to trust or be around him. But then it happened.. As Riho kissed Kura and said some good words , Shujin yelled at her and made her go back to the formation. That made Kura nearly explode of rage. "Not not.. Not now..." He could barely contain himself from stabbing him to oblivion. As the gollum roared and started to rampage around , Kura stood back watching the players fight back. As they all attacked it , he saw Shujin watching the creature roar and fall down .
A notification appeared on kuras screen, “Do it. Do it now. Finish him.” Kura shook it off somewhat, before he heard a static filled, echo inside his head. “What are you waiting for? He HUMALIATED you! He took EVERYTHING you wanted! KILL HIM!” The voice sounded familiar, but not enough to put a name to it. “DO IT!!!!!!!” Kura closed his eyes, and gave in to the mindless nature of the words spoken.
He slowly walked toward him , with his katana unsheathed. He suddenly pierced him with the katana , the sword appearing on the other side of Shujin. " I told you I would get my revenge.."
---------------------------------------------- Shujin -------------------------------------------------------
Shujin looked down at his chest, and back to Miyabi, with widened eyes. He grasped the hair of whoever was behind him. He pulled them close enough to whisper, the sword still straight through him. “thank you.” Shujin did not want the game to finish. This way, he could die a human and be remembered so, rather than fade as a program. Shujin let go of the person and looked at Miyabi. Struggling for words, he put his hand on her shoulder and croaked them out. “F-finish, the game.” He looked towards his health. Zero. He closed his eyes, as he started to glow blue. After some time, he burst into data. But it wasn’t blue. It was green, different from everyone else. In a matter of moments, he was gone. His hand on her shoulder was the last thing to disappear.
Seconds went by, people watching in astonishment. There was a red warning light on every braveheart member’s menu. ‘Guild master deceased, guild invalid, guild disbanded.’ There was complete silence.
Floor 99. They were so close... yet so far. More midliners and even some backliners had come to the fronts to help clear the final floor. Okami was finally within their grasp. They would make him pay for all he had done to them. Today was the 3 year anniversary of the day they had been trapped in the game. Nobody was working, just... relaxing, preparing themselves for whatever they may face over the next events.
Elodie sat by herself, as usual. She hadn’t made any real friends, allies, or loves in her time in the game. The only person she had ever had an extended conversation with was anotnio. He seemed nice enough. 3 years though.... isolated, did something to a person. She left her hair fall over her eyes, and didn’t brush it out of the way. She wanted to not be seen, or to see.
Everyone would be inside a main building drinking and eating, whilst see sat alone in the snow outside. She was somewhat cold, but it didn’t bother her that much.
Bleep. A message flashed across Riho’s device. But it wasn’t her brother. It was from Okami. It wpuld read: “so you finally used it. Well done. But... I want to play a little game. It has come into my knowledge that you have found a new love. Hmmm... this will be fun. So your objective of the game. Kill Kura. Your reward will be, the ability for yourself to log out and for everyone else to do so. I give you my word. Should you ignore this message (you have unlimited messages to myself), the game will continue as normal. So tell me, is love really worth the risk of so many lives of players? Wrote back soon, Okami.
Despite everyone celebrating, shopping, and generally forgetting their woes for the day. Okami sat in the throne on the 100th floor and laughed. He brushed a hand through his blue hair, and opened up his menu. He went into the system administrators section and did a few things. Suddenly he cleared his throat and spoke in his recognisable voice. Everyone in the whole game world would hear it loud and clear. He found it funny that he would be interrupting everyone’s conversations and general happiness
“Players, well done. You have almost made it, just one more floor to go.” *Immature giggle* “However, I just thought I would be the first to tell you something. You all COULD, have been at home with your families right now.” He laughed. “But, the player by the ID ‘RIHO’ couldn’t carry out a simple task for me, thus... You all have to complete the game fully.” He sighed. “I’m a fair villain. And it would be unfair of me not to let you walk into the final boss room not knowing what you were up against. Yes, there shall be myself, but thanks to your friend Riho, there shall be a war. Last man standing wins the battle for their side.” He paused for a while to let it all sink in. “Tell you what, if you win the battle, I will revive every player who dies during the final fight. But if you lose, you will all die.” He chuckled, “If you all check your book of truth, you will find a briefing for what I have just told you.” There was a really long pause again, “Good luck players, you have 3 days.” Okami stopped talking and closed the voice link.
The army of the damned.
Using single handed curved blades, and all with the ability to throw/retrieve their weapon, these creatures are easily the fiercest, most dangerous in the entire game. They are twice the size of the ordinary man.
This message had been heard all around the game world, even on the lower floors. Lower levelled players who had not fought for the entire game were guilt stricken at the thought of others fighting for them. Lots of people got out their teleport crystals and zapped up to the 99th floor, to the final town with the other front liners. Players swarmed into the town, easily enough for an army.
Later that day, Okami had started a timer countdown. It appeared next to everyone’s health bar in the top left hand corner of their view. It started with 63:45:23. It was counting down to zero. It was appropriate, seeing as when it hit zero, they would either be victorious and leave this nightmare... or perish in vein. It was a countdown to life or death.
63 hours, 45 minutes later. Mike and the other captains assigned, had lead the army of players amassed through the final boss door. It was beautiful. Green grass, the sun, and dandelions swaying in the cool breeze. Everyone was in formation, in armour, and in states of thought. People would check their countdown. 23 seconds. 23 seconds until this nightmare would end. One way or another. In death, or in freedom. Some players said prayers, whilst others nudged their neighbour in formation, wishing them luck, and saying farewell.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion, 10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... Mike and other would give orders. “Draw weapons!!!” The sound of metal sliding against sheaths rang out. 2... 1... 0. Everyone was silent. And for a moment, but only a moment, all was peaceful. The clouds opened to let a ray of sunshine fall upon the army of players. However, there was a rumble of thunder, and flash of lightning. The sky turned grey, and black clouds loomed over the setting. Rain came from nowhere and started to fall down, drenching the area. It was heavy rain too.
Marching could be heard from the distance. And then they saw it. The army of the damned. The players were at least outnumbered 3 to 1, not to mention the size differences. They were even more terrifying than the images in the book of truths. Even some of the criminal guild gasped and shivered in fear. Some of the lower players screamed, whilst party leaders and captains kept order. The marching stopped and the vicious army of the damned halted. They all bore teeth, and swirled huge single handed curved blades, which were in fact bigger than the player’s two handed weapons. The opposing army was all howling, growling, screaming frightening noises, and just generally creating fear amongst the player army.
On the hilltop behind the army of the damned, shrouded by the mist and rain, you could see at least 10 figures and one main silhouette with an unmistakable hair cut. It was Okami, and it looked like the rest of his GMs were with him.
The sky turned red, and an automated voice was heard. “battle sequence actions disabled.” No, it couldn’t be. Okami was disabling the game’s damage system. It was... like real life. One thrust to the chest, could end your life. One slice, could lose you an arm and bleed out. One... explosion could leave you in pieces. And... the blood. There was never blood in SAO, but Okami had decided to change that.
The rain was still pouring down, and now the once beautiful place they were standing in, had been turned to a wet, foul looking, boggy, wasteland. All of the player army was silent, however the army of the damned was making an incredible amount of tear brewing, frightening noise. A few of the dog like giants started to swipe their hind legs against the ground, and give a huge roar, they commenced to charge forwards. The rest of the army of the damned followed suit. A few of the player army parties did the same, and started to run out to meet them in battle, whereas many held back, frozen with fear. However, there was a fair distance to run, and the rain made both sides a lot slower.
Elodie clenched her rapier tightly. She peered through the slits in her helmet to see the events unravelling in front of her. She was 19 years of age. 16 when she started playing. And she was in a war. A war in which she had been condemned to death. It was over, they would never win this fight. She turned to the person next to her, which happened to be Antonio, who was also frozen somewhat. “I’m glad to have met you, it has been an honour.” She smiled at him, a tear streaming down the side of her face. She turned on the spot and charged out with the other players to meet the army of the damned in glorious battle.
4 hell hounds would approach mike, knocking his blade from his hand. They restrained him, after a severe beating. Okami stepped from out of the battle scene, and came face to face with him. “hello.” He punched him in the stomach, before grasping a dagger from his boot and stabbing mike in the heart. “good bye.” He allowed the hellhounds to release mike, before slicing across his chest with his katana. “moral of the story, play as a team... and you will prevail.” He repeated his famous saying from when everyone thought he was good. “we WILL protect eachother.” He put his boot into mike, sending him to the floor. Okami turned his attention to Sachia. Mike saw this and scrambled to his feet, blood pouring from his chest. “NO!” He intercepted a lunge from okami to his sister, taking the full blow to his stomach. Okami smirked. “lesson learned. Bravo.” He pulled the blade out and mike dropped to the floor.
Okami turned to Antonio, “that wont be necessary. As long as we continue we will be fine.” He laughed, before turning to slice the head off of a player.
Shujin plunged his blade into another okami. This time he felt pain. “argh!” He stumbled back a bit, as pieces of data started to break away from him. He looked at his hands, they were glowing blue. “No, not now!” He grabbed his sword and sliced through another okami. There were very few left of the copies now, and barely any players had died. After several minutes, all but one of them were gone. Okami steadied himself. “Eurgh! NO! This isn’t supposed to happen! I am god!” He opened his menu. “I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED!” He clicked on an item. An automated spoke out. “Game destruction imminent. 1 minute. 59, 58, 57...” Shujins eyes widened with fear for a moment. “what? You... liar. You were never going to let everyone leave!” He raised his blade to his throat as Antonio restrained him. He hesitated. Okami laughed evilly and spoke. “thats right, kill me. And kill yourself.” Shujin’s arm quivered. He thought to himself intensively. “30, 29, 28, 27...” He figured it out. Okami was a tether. If he wasn’t in the game, neither would the players. Whether he be dead, or just logged out, everyone would retain the same status. Okami kept harassing shujins mind. “do it. Go on. End it all.”
“20, 19, 18...” Shujin yelled out and opened his menu. Antonio would recognise what he was doing. Shujin pressed a button kicked okami in the chest as Antonio moved aside. A purple portal opened up and started to suck everything in, the trees, the grass, the rocks, the sky, and okami. However, as shujin kicked okami, the evil villain had grabbed his foot. They both were sliding along the ground towards the portal, being sucked in. Shujin yelled somewhat and grasped his hand onto a rock on the way past. He was clinging on... just. Okami was still hanging onto his foot.
The portal’s suction power had doubled. The players remaining grabbed onto together and tried to anchor themselves to the ground. Antonio would try and reach out for shujin whilst keeping himself anchored. Antonio would think for a moment. He had debt to repay. He unanchored himself and slid down the grass towards shujin and okami. Plunging his spear into the ground just above them, he could reach for shujin. “reaaaach!” He said. They were at finger tips, but it wasn’t enough. Antonio thought to himself. ‘a life for a life.’ “when he’s gone. Log everyone out.” He let go of his spear and slid down grabbing onto okamis shoulders, yanking him away from shujins foot. They both slid downwards, punching and clawing with their hands at each other. They were sucked into the purple nightmare. Shujin watched as his friend got sucked into the unknown. He was breathless, and weak. He looked up at the players watching in dismay, all anchored down safely. He shouted through the noise of the suction. “I should probably say this!!! Congratulations on completing the game!!! It was an honour to fight beside all of you!!!” He gave miyabi a sad glance. “10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4...” He opened his menu and scrolled to the ‘all players log out’ button. “3, 2, 1...” He pressed it and let go of the rock, dropping. “0...” There was a huge explosion, destroying the game world.
There was a bright white, and then black and then a bright light. “pupils responsive, breathing normal, sats levelling.” Another light was shined in her eyes. “she’s back.” There was a paused. “Elodina? Don’t panic, you are in the hospital, i am doctor moore, and you’ve been in my care for the last 3 years. Can you hear me? Squeeze my hand if you can.” Elodina only heard ringing, and muffled voices. She heard squeeze hand. She squeezed the person’s hand. “she’s responsive people!”
touche my good man... touche.
