[2]System baby!
[System Activated, Welcome to the Flame Chasers System Host]
Ohhh shiiiiiii, I finally got it!
[Please choose one of the 12 Divine Keys as a beginners gift]
Oh shit really?, having one of those in the game will be basically a cheat.
Hmmm, I'll be crossing off the key of revelation, the key of Infinity, the key of Wind, and the suspended Key as none of those are combat-related.
I'm not looking to change the weather or hopping dimensions right at this moment.
Right now my only options are Abyss Flower, Judgement of Shamash, Fenghuang Down, Seven Thunders of Retribution, Oath of Judah, Star of Eden, Jizo Mitama, and the Keys of Domination.
It's kind of hard to choose out of all these good weapons but I choose [Judgement of Shamash] for two reasons, first because it's overpowered as it is the most destructive weapon out of all the Divine Keys, yes it's power may be to direct and may not be really diverse but its raw power is what I'm looking for right now.
My second reason is that Kevin Kaslana isn't Kevin Kaslana without his [Judgement of Shamash.
[Divine Key: Judgement of Shamash has been acquired. Will be available for usage once in game]
Let's goooo!
As soon as the system informed me of it I clicked the enter button, my consciousness soon faded again.
---
I was soon met with the sight of a circular plaza as soon as I opened my eyes. Multiple fantasy-theme buildings surrounded me with a huge obelisk-looking structure in the middle.
As I looked at myself I noticed that I was wearing the beginner's equipment which included a basic iron sword, black cargo pants, and a blue shirt along with a pair of fingerless gloves.
Opening my setting menu by swiping my fingers midair I sent a friend request to Su as I already knew what his nickname would be.
It was Samus by the way.
Not long after I sent the request Su accepted it, he sent a message saying to meet him at the plains near the outskirts of the town. It seems like Little Is already started grinding XP despite being a healer class, healer classes can still use weapons which include maces and swords only but they tend to focus solely on the healing aspect of their class.
I nodded and headed towards Su's location with my hand on my iron sword, I didn't want to get accidentally killed by someone on my way there, I could take out Judgement of Shamash but people would start calling me a hacker or a beta tester for having such a good weapon early on in the game.
---
"Hey Su" Spoke Kevin with a cold tone, an icy and serious aura surrounding him.
"... what's wrong with you?" Asked Su, the sudden cold demeanor of his goofy best friend surprised him.
"Fufufu well since we're in a role-playing game I think I should act differently thus-"
"You decided to act cold and cool" Su finished Kevin's sentence, and he realized why Kevin's personality suddenly changed.
"Yes you are correct" Spoke Kevin once again in his serious tone.
Su shook his head in amusement as he saw how well Kevin was doing in his new persona, in fact, he thought that Kevin should join the acting club back at school with how well he was acting.
"Hmm, should I have one too?" Suddenly asked Su, if his best friend had one then he should have one also.
"Yeah you should!, how about you act as the serene, wise, and mysterious one that always speaks in poems" coming out of his persona quickly, Kevin recommended. After all that was Su's personality in his Honkai impact universe.
Old but young-looking, wise to the point that you kept your eyes closed all of the time.
Su thought about Kevin's recommendation. He's read a few manga here and there with such characters, imagining himself in such a way Su finally decided.
He turned to Kevin as he closed his eyes and transformed his mouth into a gentle smile.
Su raised his hand in the air as a gentle breeze blew through him, blowing his hair dramatically. As the gust of wind died down a singular leaf landed on Su's hand "It seems like I've already chosen my fate in this world, I have you to thank my friend" Said Su in a serene yet kind-sounding voice.
'Holy shit he got into the persona super quick!' thought Kevin in surprise, even he had to go through some lines to be able to get into the person of 'Kevin Kaslana'
"There is no need to thank me, it's but my duty as a friend," Said Kevin in a cold manner.
Su nodded in understanding.
---
Well, that was fun!
Now me and Su are acting exactly like our Honkai counterpart, two best friends alone together in a death game.
One is a broken soldier who never stops moving forward while the other friend is the wise, kind, and sagely one who dislikes violence but will get physical if the need arises.
Today has been so fun to the point that I almost forgot that this was a death game.
Anyways, Me and Su continued to grind XP for the time we had left. But unlike most people who would have walked around and explored for fun, me and Su was already grabbing a head start in stats.
Su disagreed on doing this as he also wanted to look around town but I told him to trust me, and like the best friend he was Su went along with me in an XP grind.
---
[Horizontal]
Kevin's iron sword glowed a gentle green as he swung his sword, killing the boar instantly.
Kevin kneeled on the ground as he panted tiredly. For the past in-game hours, they have been both grinding XP non-stop so of course their 'bodies' became tired.
"Need a hand?" Spoke Su as he lowered his hand down to Kevin.
Raising his head he looked at Su and nodded before taking his hand and standing up.
As Kevin wiped the sweat off his head he looked at the horizon, endless skies and clouds with an orange tint covering it all.
'It's almost time' Kevin thought as he saw the orange sunset. If his memory serves him right, Kayaba would teleport them all to the plaza at sunset to reveal that Sword Art Online is in fact a death game.
"Hmm Kevin, wasn't the logout button supposed to be here?" Suddenly asked Su.
Su himself has also noticed how late it has become so he wanted to check out where the log-out button was but he couldn't find it in the menu no matter what.
"I don't know-" Kevin was about to answer but a sudden bell sound rang out throughout the entirety of Aincrad.
Both Su and Kevin looked at each other until their vision turned black. The next thing Kevin knew, he was teleported to the plaza along with a crowd of people.
The thousands of players that had logged into Sword Art Online to play were now here in a single place.
Multiple murmurs ran through the sea of players as they wondered what the hell was happening.
Kevin who didn't care about the people's panic, began looking around to see if he could find any familiar figures like Su.
His search was quickly interrupted as the sky turned red.
Everyone began to feel fear as the sky turned into blood-red hexagons with the word [Warning] embedded on each and every single one, and a message reading [System Announcement] floating on the sky.
The hexagons in the sky began to twitch and glitch as everyone watched in horror - some red substance that looked like blood dripped from the hexagon's crevices until it formed a giant hooded figure.
"Attention, Players. Welcome to my world" Spoke the hooded figure as he spread his arms dramatically, the people who were previously afraid were now giving their undivided attention to the newcomer.
"My name is Akihiko Kayaba, and as of this moment, I am in control of this world" the hooded man introduced himself.
Multiple gasps could be heard through the crowd as they all realized that the man before them was the creator of SAO himself.
---
Kevin POV-
Holy crap he said it!
You know, seeing the sky turning red and bleeding in person instead of the anime are two different things.
I knew this stuff was going to happen already but it still gave me chills when I saw the dripping blood turning into Kayaba
He really knows how to make an entrance despite being a psychopath.
"I'm sure that most of you have already noticed an item missing from your main menus - the log-out button" Kayaba swiped his finger in the air as he opened up his own menu.
"Let me assure you this is not a defect in the game. I repeat, this is not a defect" his hands gently swiped through his menu, showing that HE alone had a logout button on his menu.
"This was how sword art online was designed to be" (Kayaba)
"He's kidding right?" spoke an unbelieving voice, I could hear a small tremble in his voice.
Looking to my side I saw a long red-haired man with a bandana over his head, and right next to him was a long black-haired boy who never kept his eyes off Kayaba.
'Kazuto and Klein,?' I thought as I recognized the two people.
This should be my chance to make some connections with the two.
"No he isn't kidding, wake up to reality" I spoke as cooly as I could.
Klein shifted his eyes to me along with Kirito "B-but it has to be!, why would he do this!" Said Klein in frustration.
"I don't know Klein but I'm sure that he'll be telling us soon" suddenly spoke Kirito as he pointed at Kayaba.
*A very long explanation later*
I won't bore you with his whole villain speech so I'll sum it up for you, basically the nerve gear that we are wearing will fry our brains. In other words, we are stuck here.
There are also people who didn't believe the warning Kayaba made to the outside world, causing hundreds of deaths already from parents and family members taking off the helmet from the person's body.
Two hundred and thirteen people have died already...its kind of sickening knowing that this could have been stopped if I had said something but no one would have believed me anyway, no use in thinking about it.
"There is only one means of escape. to complete the game" Swiping his hands, a 3d model appeared mid-air of the Aincrad floating castle.
"You are presently on the lowest floor of Aincrad, floor 1. If you make your way through the dungeon and defeat the Floor Boss, you may advance to the next level"
"Defeat the final boss on floor 100, and you will clear the game"
Gasps of horror filled the room once again, people yelled in denial while some just stared into the air lifelessly.
But I'm built different.
"Hey, Kayaba. I have a question" I shouted with all my might. The whole arena full of people quieted down, Klein and Kirito who were next to me were looking at me with disbelief.
hehehe this is going to be fun_
I spoke to Kayaba in my cool tone "Have you ever heard of Everquest?"