Sword Art Online: Side Stories

[ from the ooc; Cursor - Each player has a cursor above their head which starts out as green. Performing a crime such as stealing, hurting and killing green players would turn it orange, though killers are often called red players by others. However, if a person attacks anyone who already had a orange cursor, its own won't change, since the game interprets it as defending someone or protecting itself. By completing a certain tedious quest, one is able to remove their orange status. Alternately, orange status would eventually revert to green providing the player in question did not commit any more criminal acts.

it never actually turns red. Red Player is just a term. ]

IC;

It seemed foolish to go off on one's own now, but considering the fact there was a wall of people between her and the PK, Meerna just wished to move on. All of these dramatics... It felt like an honest waste of time. And time was money. If he was going to kill them, he should hurry up and do it.

With no love for the group she turned and carried on down the hall, listening to the voice behind her fade into the distance.

After turning a corner she was met with a vicious looking wasp so she regained a battle stance. It began at her, but as the fast player she was she was able to dodge it, rolling to the side. "Ricochet Lance," she uttered, having her spear charge yellow before throwing it at a wall which it bounced off of and went towards the wasp. The oversized bug was soon pierced before shattering.

From here she could still hear their faint voices. This brought a sigh to her. "What did I get myself into..."

 

Masaru watched everything occur and he raised his hand and placed it on Star's to stop her. "Even so, killing someone isn't right, Kayaba said Players die when their life hits zero, whenever that is true or not, I believe in it and just killing a PKer just makes you as bad as them, he'll answer for what's he done back we get back to the Real World." he said and removed his hand on hers. "But if it's to defend yourself, that is understandable, so please Masamune, leave us in peace, if not, I will have to ask you to leave by other means." He said rather politely, hsi hand resting on the hilt of his sword before noting two new arrivals.

"I suggest you leave, we outnumber you greatly, we chose to come to this Dungeon for a reason, to clear the game like everyobne else, we all have people we want to get back to and nothing is going to stop us from achieving that goal so, all of us here will work together to defeat the Boss, I trust each and every one of them to help one another to clear this game, be it Beta Testerrs, Newbie or Exceptional Players, I trust them them to watch my back while I watch theirs in return,." He said rather firmly.

 

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Star looked at Masaru once he grabbed her hand. She whipped her head back putting her sword away. "Fine. I wasn't going to kill him either way. It would be best to just ignore him. Let's go to the boss already." She grabbed Masaru's hand and began to speed off dragging him if she had to. While running, she opened up the party menu and invited him to her party. "It would be better to work in a party of 2 then everyone go by themselves together in the room. We can switch." She stopped running to let him decide and to let the others catch up.

 

Masamune waved bye to the pair, smiling as they walked away leaving the poor little newbies all alone with him. Turning back to them, he drew his sword, "So let's talk about your little speech..." The boy shoved the girl away from him as Masamune slowly approached, still smiling. Once his smile faded away all that was left was the look of a killer. Swiping at the boys hand, the sharp blade sliced into it, knocking the sword from his fingers and lowering his health. "Acts of bravery were never well recieved where I stand..." Slashing sideways, he cut into the boys' chest, earning the typical frightened expression as his health dropped immediately to red. He moved for his sword and the tip of Masamune's blade pierced into his leg. "If I were to say something about it...I'd say you underestimated who your opponent was. The people who could've beaten me have left you all alone..." Watching the boy swallow hard and start to breathe in a panicked way only made it more fun. Yanking his sword up, the boy started to crawl towards the party, tears streaming down his cheeks as his health flashed red. "Please..." "Don't beg...it's disgusting. Don't worry...you will be what puts me closer to level 6." Kicking his leg, Masamune flashed a look up at the party, grinning, "Don't treat me like some low leveled punk." His grin turned into something of feral anger and he stabbed his sword into the boys' back, erasing what remained of his health. He faded, fizzing out and shattered as he died.

 

"H-hey! Why is everyone leaving all of a sudden? Come back!" She stopped her foot in frustration. "Goddamit...now what the hell are we gonna do...Everyone is going off on their own and Star just took away one of our main players to operate this..." She punched the wall next to her. "WHY IS EVERYONE SUCH A JERK?!" She opened up her menu and glared at the blank spot where there should have been a "Logout" button. "Once we get out of here, I swear to god I'm killing the creator..."

 

Masaru was literally dragged by Star by the hand, not having time to say anything as she opened a window for a Party Invite, but he was still in the previous Party and she suggested they take on the boss themselves in a 2 Party like with everyone else, except... they weren't coming, now he was worried about the others, but what should he do? Go with the Beta Tester and clear the game or stay and help everyone else?

"I'm sorry, but I want to go together with everyone I met, but... you're free to join us, I won't allow discrimation on Beta's, we're all in the same boat." he said to her and turned around to head back. "I won't force you but... that guy... I don't trust him and everyone else is just getting to grips with the game." He ran back but Star seemed to follow him and he caught the glimpse of the young boy's death, his eyes widened and he let out a cry, his sword drawn and sliced Masamune's back.

"...How could you!? He was just a child! He had a whole life ahead of him!" He said with a angry tone and charged forward to deliever another blow, Masaru felt...guilty, he let someone die because of being taken away by Star and he probably wouldn't be forgiven for it, he was a newly appointed leader and he failed...

 

OOC: Crap. I just realized I got ninja'd D:

 

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Star groaned about going back. Se=he felt confident that everyone else could get back without a problem at all. It was apparent she was wrong. She thought everyone in the world was just as capable as she was. Everyone was equal. She nodded to Masaru and ran alongside him. She and he stopped. The two of them witnessed the boy get stabbed in the back and shatter into hundreds of small data chips. Star fell to her knees. Her eyes body shook from sadness. It was her fault that this boy was killed. She punched the ground and gripped her fist. Tears came out of her eyes. "It is all my fault. I-I wasn't strong enough to see what would happen. I am sorry everyone." A drip of water hit the floor repeatedly in saddness. What was worse was now, Masaru would have guilt as well. It was her fault, not his. He should not feel bad. She was being too quick. Too impatient. Unwilling to see what was going to happen if they left. She couldn't move a muscle anymore. She wanted to grip her nails to throw at him, but she couldn't budge. "Dammit."

 

Blocking the first strike towards him from Masaru, Masamune growled, "Then children should know their place!" Looking towards Star, he snorted, "Oh good grief..." Sheathing his sword, he pushed past them, "If you're all done accusing me of being a fake...I'll be on my way now." Irritated and scowling at the hall in front ot him, he slung his arms behind his head and meandered into the boss room, leaving the party behind.

Shiina, the young girl crouched in the corner trembling, covered her mouth as her friend died. "This...isn't happening. You're insane! You're all insane!"

 

​

New Year's. Once celebrated it is now dreaded as time in the virtual world drags on. Is there still hope?

Ye who fight against this fate, raise now and march forward. Break the binding shackles and work towards clearing the game. Surely victory will be yours!

Or have you accepted this reality, however cruel it may be? Perhaps this is the easier path, and your life may be spared.

Either way things will not remain the same for long...

Events planned for this month so far: Three. Not all may find and partake in every event, but surely there will be something for everyone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

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It was a feat she never dreamed of accomplishing. But as the fiend before her fell and shattered a window appeared.​

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Congratulations!​

You are now level 64!​

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How long ago did she finally decide to take this game more seriously? How hard have she fought since? These were questions she no longer could answer. Even what day it was was lost on her. Everything merely...blurred together.​

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Panting she closed the window, choosing to sit a while before moving on. Finishing Floor 54 would take some doing, but maybe like this she could join the front lines for the first time... Do they even like seeing someone who took it so easy before? At least...most knew her for her fair prices and seemingly never ending stock. But they have always seen her more as a merchant rather than fighter. A shame, too.​

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Sighing the blue haired girl glanced over to her health bar, no, her remaining life, and watched it slowly increase. Once it was full she stood, brushing herself off even though there had been no dust on her. "Repairs... Note to self: get repairs."​

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She uttered before laughing. Her only real interactions since that day of that PK had been limited to shops and sales only. Haha... If only she hadn't wandered off. Sure she had no loyalties...and she didn't even like that group... But...but if she hadn't... ​

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...​

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Sighing once more she turned and exited the dungeon, making her way to the Floor 54's town. What was it even called? What was her name? Oh to forget even that...this existence. This existence was fading.​

 

As time flew, so did her mind on reality. Mya sheathed her special made sword from the smith, black with glowing blue edges that matched her black and white outfit with her tiara she wore with it. She walked into town, watching the snow fall from the sky. Ever since that event many weeks...months...time ago, she felt strange on the inside. She didn't feel angry nor happy anymore. She went off and broke her ties with her "friends" becoming a solo player. Even after 50 plus floors, she didn't feel herself anymore. The girl she used to be at level 1. The girl who was friendly, quirky, and sociable. She looked around, seeing people enjoy what was left of their lives. After people realized their situation, they decided to make this game their home. Home...what was home again? A place to sleep? Or a haven with people that care?

Mya made her way to the Level 54 town square and into an inn. She sat down and tossed a few coins for a drink. She made a small laugh, remembering the first time she was in a situation like this."Just like that one time back then...

 

Chuuya had just woke up from a previously long night of grinding to make it to level 69. He got out of his bed and changed from his sleeping set to his regular gear and proceeded to leave his to go sell all the unnecessary items he had picked up yesterday after grinding to see what kind of money he could get, and to also hear what news has been made on finding the next floor boss. He decided to head to this girl, Meerna's shop. She had pretty good deals and was nice to everybody. He had met with her a few times in dungeons since they have been stuck in this game.

 

Masaru slain another monster with rather perfect accuracy <<Savage Fulcrum>>, leaving the traces fo a 4 upon his slain monster that disperaed into pixels, as a notification popped up, tellign him the estimation of his Col and Experiernce, he was steadily reaching for Level 71 as he looked at out to the horizon, it had been a year and a a few months since Novemeber 6th, 2022, the day Kayaba imprisoned 10,000 players.

"How time flies..." he said lowly asn thought on recent events, the Front-Lines have just reached Floor 54 and everyome was taking their time to advance to the next floor, what with the Dungeon having more floors, but everyone changed since that day, the day everyone split off on their serperate ways after beating the Dungeon Boss, but they all added one another, perhaps to keep track of everyone and place the blame on someone.

"Guess I'm done for now, I'll head back Home." he said, placed hsi sword on his back, sheathed as he walked alogn the dirt trodden path, masaru inside, felt guilty for the events that occured on that day and decided to throw himself into grinding as much as possible, perhaps to assure nothing like what happened that day occur every again, He never did make much contact with everyone else since he figured they all blamed him for it.

Rumors had it that were some outstanding people such as the Black Swordsman, Kirito otherwise known as another Beater, Asuna of the Knights of Blood or by her other name, Flash Asuna, noted for her rapid strikes with a rapier, Heatcliff, the leader of the Knights of Blood Guild he too, somehow was given a title by the people known as the Golden Knight, perhaps in refernce to his armour he wore.

Masaru entered the town and headed for the Warp Gate, he also never joined a Guild either as he called out "Floor 7!" he state dbefore the rings form and warped him to the chosen floor.

 

Thanks to her never ending quest for Meerna the girl had several shops on various floors, leaving each to a fellow merchant (none she could name from memory) while she went to the latest one. That was currently on Floor 54.

Once she entered it she was greeted with warmth and a strong peppermint smell, one which she inhaled deeply before switching from her armour to casual clothes, which entailed an oversized black shirt and the nearest thing that resembled jeans in the game. Simple yet comfortable.

When that was dealt with she opened the shop's blinds and set the status to 'Open' before moving behind the counter where she rested her shoulders on and then her head on her hands. Now...it was waiting time.

 

Chuuya teleported to the 54th floor for it was the highest floor that anybody has reached yet, so it was generally going to have the better items for selling and buying. He arrived and saw that the town was pretty full right now with all the big named guilds and front line fighters, "The Army", Knights of Blood Oath, Divine Dragons and Fuurinkazan. He stepped down off the teleport stand and began walking around the town till he arrived at Meerna's General store. He opened the door and looked around and saw Meerna at the counter. "Morning Meerna....how goes it?" Chuuya said with a nod towards her as he walked up to the counter.

 

Oh. She knew this person...didn't she? Perhaps a regular. She really ought to remember their names...

In any case, her persona completely shifted now as he entered, standing straight and smiling now. "Good day! What can I get for you?"

 

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Star looked up to the sky. It was a long night. The day back then still haunted her. She didn't stay in much contact with anyone. She had been alone on some of the floors grinding her skills up. She had a job however. This was the main reason people were able to surpass her. She was no push over, Her level might have not been as high, but her skills were top notch. She had been working on her blacksmithing for some time now. Most came to hr for superb armor. She kept most of the weaponry for friends she had made over the year.
Star pulled up her window to see the new items she had just received. "This will do good for that sword he wanted." Star turned to her friends and selected Masaru. She typed out her message. Hey, Masaru, I am going to finish that sword for you. Come by my place when you are ready. Maybe we can have a meal together. She closed the window and used her teleport crystal to go back to the town. She walked to the gate and warped back to her home on the 3rd floor where her shop and home were located.

 

After finishing her drink, she gave the owner another coin for a tip before heading out. She didn't care much for money. She had over 2 billion in continuous grinding and quests. She never bought anything except food, armor, and weapons. She slept wherever she could. She looked around and saw a group of people laughing and eating together. It made her feel...lonely a little. She opened up her menu and stared at her friend's list. Last contact with anyone was over a year and a half ago. She shook her head and swiped the menu away. They probably wouldn't remember her. Heck, she even started to forget about them. It was strange because in her real life, she never really had anyone to speak with and hang out with except...them. "I'm losing my mind...maybe I should buy a room or something..." She knew she had plenty of money to buy whatever she practically wanted, but she had no motivation. Except to...live.

 

Chuuya walked up to the counter and opened up his item inventory and started scrolling through it. Yeah, I have some items that I'm needing to get rid of. They aren't really use to me, so I figured that someone else might need more than I did, plus the money is always nice, and I was also wondering that information you could give me on the current status around the front lines, I have been away for a couple of weeks working on other things. I had heard that there some special events going on as well, do you know anything about them? Chuuya was just selecting pretty much everything he had gotten over the past couple of weeks from grinding to get to 69. Didn't really know what some of the items were, because he didn't have the appraise skill, and he trusted the girl to be fair about what he had and their worth.

 

Masamune, currently co-leader of the PK guild Laughing Coffin, lounged in the corner of an inn on the 54th floor. He didn't feel like moving. The place had practically emptied when he'd sat down but other players figured they were safe inside the town. Scratching his head he remembered the time when he met that scraggly group of kids on the first floor. He was positive most of them had caught up to his level by now. PKing was stressful on him. It never helped when PoH would praise him like a child. The thought of PoH brought a warm wave of anger to his skin and he opened his messages, re-reading the latest one from him. An order... He was getting a swelled head if he thought Masamune was going to obey his every command like the rest of the guild did. He typed out a snide reply and sent it promptly with a small smile. Picking himself up, he headed for the door. Laughing Coffin hadn't committed a crime in a while...meaning he hadn't killed anyone since floor 48. Was he trying to go green again? Checking the status in his menu, he figured he had about two days before it changed. Once it did, not only would PoH question if he actually did kill those players but the guild wouldn't respect him. "I guess that's just how things work in a PK guild...bunch of worthless little..." He trailed off as he bumped into a girl leaving at the same time as he was. Sighing, he stared at her green cursor for a while and his gaze fell lower to her face. Curiosity settled on his features. Didn't he know this girl? Not like he had the time to get their names...but her face was familiar. "I'm losing my mind...maybe I should buy a room or something..." She spoke...but not to him. "Don't I know you from somewhere....?"

Shiina's shoulders drooped as she meandered away from the group of people laughing her off. Her proposal wasn't absurd...she needed to find that PKer. She would avenge her partners' death...even if it meant taking another human life. Floor 7 was low leveled enough for her to have done some training, having only reached level 40 just recently. A whimper came at her side and she glanced down to the grey and white wolf trotting beside her. Patting its head she smiled, "We'll be okay... Its not like I'm going to let him kill me too." Another whimper from her other side and soon she was crouched on the ground, flicking her gaze between large pools of blue and orbs of brown. Her other beast she'd tamed was another wolf, a pure black one. She was a wolf tamer...that's all there was to it. Collars hung around their necks to designate they were tamed. "I...we'll find somebody who'll go with us to find him. I won't give up." Standing she immediately regretted saying that. Even if it was to her wolves, she felt like they knew she would give up eventually. No one here seemed to want to hunt a PKer. Swiping open her menu, she stared at the tip of information she'd gotten. Starting a guild for PKers...being called the Kin-Slayer...if it were true she was in for a world of hurt. Dragging her heels towards the gate, she sighed, "No one wants to hunt down the famous PKer Masamune...."