Sword Art Online Alternative: Spell Blade Online I - Aincrad Hallowing

It was supposed to be just a normal day.

Log in.

Play for several hours.

Log back out to get ready for the next concert.

I didn’t expect this.

Sunday, November 6th, 2022.

1140.

Studio One, Onkio Haus Inc.

Ginza District, Chūō City, Tokyo.

The studio was bustling as it always on normal business days. The room in which she was in was one of four studios that were part of that recording company. It was the largest studio in the building, Studio One. It’s the room she always uses ever since her popularity skyrocketed over the past six months. In front of her was the microphone she was using to convey the mellow sound of her voice and contributing to the many sounds made within the enclosure that was used to create the final piece: an electronic dance number that was outside of her usual expertise of pop.

Next to her was her fellow idol, a quaint young girl with locks the shade of beige and irides that are not quite the same shade as her own (a piercing gold hue but darker) but close enough that from afar, they would be mistaken as the same shade. That girl was named Nijika Karatachi. She was an aspiring idol two years her senior and it was on the judgment of her manager, a man named Itsuki Taniguchi, that Nijika would debut through a piece of collaborative work with the great Ayanami Shiratsuyu, a well-known child idol who debuted two years prior to this date and who Itsuki is the manager of. She sighed as she turned to Ayanami and bowed to her, “Th-Thank you for taking the time to help me! It means a lot to me!”

Ayanami was unsure what to feel about a girl who was older than her bowing to her with the utmost respect. Instead, she responded by also stammering. “Li-Lift up your head, please, Karatachi-senpai! Don’t bow to me, I’m your junior in age!”

“Even so, I must respectfully decline and lower my head,” she replied. “With this, I will be able to help my family in our dire time of need. Also, please, drop the ‘Senpai’! I know I am older than you but I am far behind in experience in this field and so, I am are ill-deserved to be called as such.”

Ayanami gave up.

It was always like this.

An example of this is when she holds events where she meets face to face with fans. When she shakes their hands, people cannot help but bow to her when she shakes it. It was not like she disliked it.

No, it was a sign of respect for her.

However, she believed that there exists a limit and that limit was constantly being stretched to the breaking point.

It was not like she disliked being respected.

Not at all.

It was more like she thinks that she is being shown too much respect to the point of obsession just because of her job. She had always insisted that people who are older than her not bow to her and instead, simply look her in the eyes. However, this simple message would just not go through.

She shook her head as she cleared those thoughts out of her mind. She turned towards the manager who was in the room adjacent to the recording room, compiling the music they had made. “How does it look, Taniguchi-san?”

The man, aged twenty-five, excitedly played with the bridge of his glasses. “Miss Shiratsuyu, Miss Karatachi, this is just the perfect song! I didn’t expect a change from your usual music forte would make such a promising jam! I promise you, this will steal the number one spot once it is fully released! Miss Karatachi, I am now sure that you will be sent into stardom!”

Itsuki went and opened the partition door that separated their recording room from the room where the girls were while Nijika reddened at the compliment. “I-I’m just glad that I now have a way to make money to help my parents…”

Ayanami looked sideways at Nijika, questioning why she was so unnecessarily shy at times. It just didn't fit with her outward appearance and her age. Laughing silently to herself, she went through the partition door. “Is there anything else that I am scheduled to do today?”

Itsuki fixed his glasses again and scanned the screen of the tablet he held in hand. “Hmm… ” he deliberated. “No, ma’am, your schedule is free until tomorrow at 1040. You have the rest of the day off. Oh, right. You told me to remind you that the official service of that game you wanted to play is ready today.”

The girl’s amber gold eyes lit up. “Yes!” she exclaimed. “You have no idea how many people gathered in Akihabara for the hard copies four days ago just for the sale of those same copies which were released just yesterday! Taniguchi-san, you must accompany me!”

The man winced as if his next sentence would be painful to say, “Yeah… About that, I’m afraid I’ll have to respectfully decline. You know how busy I am as the manager of the Ayanami Shiratsuyu.”

The girl that was named rolled her eyes. “People these days… Give them pictures of a cute girl and they go wild.”

“I mean, you can’t deny that you’re exceedingly beautiful for your age,” he shrugged. He then added, all the while, smiling wryly, “Let’s just hope they actually pay attention to your age. It would hurt my conscience if they, uh… let’s say, committed an oopsie while worshipping you.”

“U-Um…” Nijika stammered, interrupting the conversation. “Shiratsuyu-sama, are you interested in Sword Art Online as well?”

Ayanami was angered by the additional unnecessary honorific and was about to lash out, until she mentioned Sword Art Online. Dropping her conversation with her manager, she wheeled on the beige-haired girl. “You have a copy of SAO too?”

“Ye-Yes…”

“Oh my gods, yes!” Ayanami exclaimed, completely forgetting about her anger concerning the honorific attached to her name. She turned towards Itsuki and said, “Well, since this is my last job, I’m off to the hotel! Karatachi-senpai, you simply must come to the hotel with me!”

“Shiratsuyu-sama, please don’t call me ‘senpai’…” she groaned.

Ayanami shrugged, wriggling her eyebrows and smiling wryly, “Don’t call me ‘sama’ and we’ll be even.”

“A-Alright…” she stammered. “Also, mine is an online copy that I got when it released on the thirty-first…”

Ayanami nodded as her eyes lit up before she took the girl’s arm and waved goodbye to her manager. “That’s amazing! I’m so jealous! Oh, I’ll see you tomorrow morning, Taniguchi-san!”

“Have fun, ladies!” the manager replied. He then turned back to his tablet, muttering excitedly about the newest single of Ayanami Shiratsuyu featuring a new singer named Nijika Karatachi that would surely top the music download charts. It was probably irrelevant but in his excitement, the man silently wrote down the name of the song on a Post-It note, “WhiRLPooL”, before slapping it on his computer.

1255

Keio Plaza Hotel, Nishi-Shinjuku District, Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo.

“Lunch directly before playing a game for several hours is the best idea in the world,” Ayanami sighed.

“Indeed…” Nijika replied. “Should we go up to the hotel room now?”

“Yeah, the servers are supposed to be up in around five minutes,” Ayanami nodded. They both got up from their seats in the dining room of the hotel and marched towards the elevator lobby. Nijika punched the ‘UP’ key with her finger and the button lit up, imploring for an elevator car to come and transport them up to the thirty-fifth floor. “Have you decided the custom options on your changes to the avatar?”

“Hmm… I’ve always wanted red hair,” Nijika said thoughtfully.

“Red hair?” Ayanami asked. “That’s beautiful. I prefer blue hair though.”

“Blue hair is also nice…” Nijika nodded. She then put her hand to her face thoughtfully. “You’ll disguise yourself, right?”

“Of course!” she huffed indignantly. “Unlike popular opinion, I personally don’t like too much attention. It just irks me to be at the center of so many indiscriminate stares.”

“I-I see…” Nijika’s next thought was interrupted by the sound of the pleasant ‘ding’ that indicated that a car had arrived. The elevator doors swung open and the girls walked inside. Ayanami was beaten to the punch the last time (she was strangely competitive about little matters like this) so the instant she stepped into the car, she jammed the button with the number “35” on it and leaned back against the walls of the car. The elevator ride up was relaxing, like a gentle wave lapping against the sands of the beach and the music playing was also a soft piano soliloquy. Perhaps it was a piece by Beethoven or an elegy of Mozart. Once the doors opened, the girls walked out of the elevator into an empty hallway where they raced (again due to her strange sense of competition) towards Ayanami’s room where they had met previously, before heading to that song recording session.

Ayanami swiped her key and yanked the door open. She remarked, “I’ve been living in this hotel for two days already and I still can’t believe how luxurious it is.”

“I agree…” Nijika muttered. She went over to one of the two queen beds which were separated by a table that carried the weight of two computers. One was for Ayanami to use, the other was Nijika’s. “You want to trade beds?” Nijika was referring to the fact that she was using the bed closest to the window where the sun would be.

“Hmm. We could just close the curtains…”

“Oh, yeah… Good point.” Nijika hits her with another question. “Lights on or off?”

“I prefer the lights off.”

“Agreed.” Nijika walked into the hallway past the front door before turning to the right to flip the switches while Ayanami occupied the bed to the left side of where she was standing, the one furthest away from the windows. She fell onto the bed, appreciating its softness before turning over to her right to grab the helmet perched on the mahogany dresser that was to send her into the virtual world.

“Hurry up, Nijika!” she called. “I’m going to login before you!”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry, just going to wash my hands.” Ayanami sighed as she thought it would be more efficient to play the game for a few hours then clean up all at once. People do think differently. The girl donned the helmet over her white crown and laid back against the bed, keeping an eye out on the clock on the internal display. It was ticking at 12:59. Nijika finished rinsing her hands and hurried back to the bed (grumbling a bit by how enthusiastic Ayanami was about this) before slapping the helmet on just in time. In one voice, the girls stated, “Link Start!”

The next instant after she uttered those two words, a completely white light blinded Ayanami. The following instant, an array of different-colored columns arranged in a circle shot in her direction, creating the illusion of a tunnel pathway that would lead into the virtual realm. Next, a group of circles with the names of the five senses appeared in her vision, the first two being checked and cleared being touch and sight, and the last three being cleared are the rest of the senses. Now green, the circles assemble at the right side of her vision and they all exist her vision. The first, third, and fifth ones exit her vision by going to the left while the others went right. Finally, a window that displayed the language of which the game is played in, Japanese, appeared.

The screen then changed into a login screen. Using her mind, she entered her username and ID she had used when she used that same NerveGear to participate in the Sword Art Online Closed Beta back in August. After entering the information, yet another window titled “Character Creation” appeared. This time, the infobox below it, stated: “You have character data from the beta test. Would you like to load it?” Internally smiling, Ayanami directed the answer to “yes” before the screen grayed just a tiny bit. Then suddenly, the words, written in black, Welcome to Sword Art Online! flashed in her vision before a bright light engulfed everything.

The next time she opened her eyes, she found herself looking at the ground, at paved cobblestone. She blinked a few times then tried lifting her arms. They obeyed. Her appendages entered her line of vision as she smiled. “Yes… I’m in this world now.” She stretched and declared, “It’s good to be back!” She looked around as she watched other players appearing out of blue light. She kept a lookout on the players, watching and waiting for a girl with crimson hair to appear. She then broke away from the crowds and decided to seek out two people: a fellow beta tester that she had taken an interest in and Nijika, the maiden with the crimson hair.

She wandered the ‘Town of Beginnings’ as it was called and searched for a certain boy with a messy haircut and piercing onyx eyes and a girl with red hair. Fortunately as well as unfortunately, she found the latter person first. Nijika was already in the main bazaar, browsing the streets for items (which of course, can’t be paid for yet due to them having no money whatsoever). “Nijika!” she called.

The girl turned to face her. “Are you Shira-, I mean, Shi-chan?” Earlier, at lunch, they had agreed on using the nickname, “Shi-chan”, in-game when they first met there so as to not have the problem of fans identifying her to be Ayanami Shiratsuyu in real life.

“Yeah,” Ayanami replied. “We should probably go and hit the field area. There’s a beta tester that I’m particularly interested in and want to meet. I’m sure he would go visit the fields first like a true gamer.”

“Let me guess…” Nijika said. “Is it that boy named Kirito?”

Ayanami blinked in confusion several times. “How did you know?”

“Because I’m also relatively interested in him,” Nijika replied. “He’s apparently the vanguard of the Closed Beta, having led the players up to the tenth floor before it ended. Unfortunately, I didn't participate in the beta myself so I only know the information given to me by my gaming friends.”

“I see we have similar tastes…” Ayanami nodded. She then looked past Nijika’s red hair and spotted the boy in which she was interested in going into an alley. His hair… size… Yes, everything matches. That is Kirito, Kazuto Kirigaya. “Come, Nijika, I’ve spotted him.” Ayanami grasped her hand and bolted towards the boy. She called out, “Hey! You’re Kazuto Kirigaya, aren’t you?”

The boy froze as he turned around, looking at the girl who had just addressed him, using his real-life name to boot! Of course, this was enough for him to immediately put himself on guard. He replied slowly, wary of revealing the truth or not. “Yes… I am Kazuto Kirigaya. How did you come to know my name?”

Ayanami replied, “I’ve done my research, Kirigaya-kun. The man that has led the forefront of the Closed Beta. Of course, I would remember you, as a fellow player who fought on the frontlines!”

Kazuto slowly blinked several times as he thought, She does look vaguely familiar… Her blue shoulder-length hair... Her gold eyes... Her relatively average stature... He then turned his sight to the green cursor above her and made out her name: Kirin. “Oh, Kirin-san, correct?” he said. “I somewhat remember you…”

“Well, the somewhat-remember-me part slightly irks me…” Ayanami playfully responded, resisting the urge to sour her perfect smile. “But no matter. Yes, I am Kirin, a fellow beta tester. However, I believe that we should begin with formalities since I believe it to be unfair that I know your real name but you don't know mine. My real name is Ayanami Shiratsuyu. This here is my friend, Nijika Karatachi. I’m sure you’ve heard of me.”

The boy, two years her elder, yet again blinked several times as he tried to process what she was saying. He moistened his lips as he repeated slowly, “You claim to be that great child idol, Ayanami Shiratsuyu?”

Ayanami nodded. “Yes, but that is beside the point. Since you seem to be an excellent teacher, I’d like you to educate us in the mechanics of this game. I’ve done my research on you, Kazuto, and oh boy, I’m liking what you can offer.”

He then raised his eyebrows. “What can I teach you? Weren’t you a frontline fighter during the Closed Beta?”

“Ah, let me rephrase that. I myself do not need teaching but I would like you to help me with teaching my friend as this is her first time.”

“Why couldn’t you just teach her yourself?”

“As I said, I believe I can do that, however, it is best to have more than one teacher. It never hurts to be prepared, no?”

The boy sighed as he turned sideways, crossing his arms. He closed his eyes and replied, opening just one and looking out of his peripheral vision, “I guess there’s no talking my way out of this, huh?”

“Indeed,” Ayanami replied.

The boy quietly rolled his eyes and said, “Fine. Follow me.”

They were about to run down the alley towards the West Field when someone yelled, “Hey, wait!” Ayanami turned around to find an adult (she estimates him to be around twenty years of age) with spiky red hair like Nijika’s but a more unruly shade, closer to that of a brown color. He stopped and rested his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. “You… You guys seem to know your way around… Are you guys beta testers?”

Nijika shook her head and pointed towards Kazuto. “Yes. I’m the only non-beta tester here among this group of players. We were just discussing partying with him to learn more about the tricks of this game.”

“Co-Cool!” he said, still short of breath. “Can I be included? I’m also new.”

Both girls looked at Kazuto who was starting to make a face as if he was a very annoyed, cornered lion. He sighed hugely. “Fine.”

“I’m Klein, by the way.” The man introduced himself. “What about you guys?”

“I’m Kirin,” Ayanami replied.

“Rain,” Nijika added.

“I’m Kirito,” Kazuto finalized. “Now, come on, we have just about the whole day to burn!”

Ayanami, Kirin and Klein nodded as Kazuto turned around and ran in the direction of the main gate, followed by his party.

1338

Floor 1: Town of Beginnings, West Field.

“Alright, you newbies!” Kazuto declared. “First thing you need to know is how to use a sword skill. Using normal attacks is fine but sword skills deal more damage with the drawback of catching you in a post-motion delay.”

Ayanami wasn’t listening. She was already in the motion of activating a sword skill. She had charged the boar monster and had unleashed Slant, the simplest one-handed sword skill, killing it instantly. She then turned around as her body was locked in a short post-motion delay and asked, “I’m sorry, what’d you say?”

Kazuto opened and closed his mouth with nothing escaping from his lips. “We-Well… That was quite the perfect execution of Slant…”

Ayanami shrugged. “Well, I’ve been here before. My body just remembers how to do it.”

“Ye-Yeah, true…”

Nijika had also executed Slant, a bit further away on another boar, albeit a tad more clumsily compared to Ayanami’s perfect form. Meanwhile, the man who identified himself as Klein was also as dumbfounded as Kazuto. “I still don’t get it… You girls are amazing…”

“I mean, I’ve played video games before. I’m actually quite good,” Ayanami said as she shrugged again, this time a bit more exaggerated and apparently forgetting the fact that she was holding a sword. The blade in hand rose up and nearly impaled Klein.

He hissed, “Excuse me, lady! Watch where you point that blade!”

“Oh, sorry.”

“Then why did you ask me to tutor you if you already knew the basics?” Kazuto interrupted.

“I just wanted you to help me get used to the virtual world again since me being me, I wouldn’t have much time to do VR after the end of the Closed Beta,” she answered. She turned to Nijika and added, “Right, Rain?”

“Yeah, what she said,” she echoed.

Kazuto calmly palmed his forehead. “Well then, what time is it…?” He opened his menu and looked at the time. “Hmm… 1340. Do any of you guys have any plans that need attention?”

“Not at all,” Nijika and Ayanami replied at the same time.

“Me neither,” Klein added.

“Cool,” Kazuto nodded. “I can spend the rest of the day tutoring you. We can also spend the rest of the day grinding for levels. I imagine we can reach level five by the end of the day…”

“Four hours of grinding?” Ayanami asked. “Count us in.”