A/N: This is kind of a crossover fanfic with KNB, but not that much of KNB. I'll try to differ the storyline from the original one.
CHAPTER 1
**Sinon’s POV**
I pulled the trigger. At that precise moment, a loud gunshot vibrated my eardrums.
The 5mm-diameter bullet shot out from my sniper, causing a recoil that made me move back a little, but it wasn’t that bad as compared to in real life.
The bullet darted with lightning speed towards the raging monster, draining its remaining Health Points(HP). As it turned into flying white pixels and disappeared, I received a loot —
Hecate II Ultima Ratio.
Using my fingers to maneuver the hologram screen, I opened the information window about the new sniper weapon that I had looted.
I gasped with infinite delight. It was a treasure! Without hesitation, I equipped it hastily, and the sleek and black Hecate II appeared, falling onto my hands.
Huge. One metre long, and powerful, too.
With my eagle-like eyes, I spotted another monster trudging into the room. I lied down on the floor, poising for a battle with my sniper. My right eye was looking through the magnifying lenses, shifting the barrel every now and then in order for a hundred-percent accuracy. It’d take some time for me to adjust to a new weapon, and for a hundred-percent accuracy, the possibility will go down.
But I can’t delay the time. Sooner or later, the monster will detect and start attacking me. Then, my fingers were soon fixated onto the trigger.
Taking a deep breath, I combed my light blue fringe behind which tickled my cheek.
I peered through the magnifying lenses for the last confirmation, and finally —
I pulled the trigger.
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**Rin’s POV**
Gasp! I sprang up from my seat with my mouth agape. Instinctively, I searched my memories for the nightmare I had earlier, but it was futile. I loosened my muscles, and my head fell down onto the school table, trying to recharge my “battery”.
About the nightmare earlier — it seemed to involve guns. Or should I say, ‘games with guns’? Then the only possible Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game(VRMMORPG) that comes to my mind is 《Gun Gale Online》. Still, I’ve never played the game before; I’m only good at swords.
“Ricchan, your expression looks scary, what’s wrong?”
Ah, that nickname. Only one person would call me that. And that’s my best, best, best friend — Aihara “Asuna” Sunako.
I felt a hand rest on my shoulder. Averting my vision to Asuna, my eyes saw a head with long, silky ocean blue hair. She smiled from ear to ear, holding her lunchbox in her hands. Her smile had made me more comforted, and I decided to dismiss my nightmare as merely a nightmare.
“It’s nothing..”
But wait. Lunchbox? I propped my head up and checked the time -- 1PM! Oh no! I must’ve been sleeping through the whole class for an hour...
“You were sleeping in the class, but I didn’t let the teacher see it, so don’t worry,” Asuna assured, giving a peace sign.
“Thanks,” I replied, high-fiving her. Shoving an empty chair near my table, she sat down and opened it. Delectable and delicious rice balls, white and fragrant rice, succulent-looking takoyakis... Mine’s better! I fished out mine and opened it, too.
It was my specially-prepared omelette rice topped with flavourful tomato sauce! The egg looked golden, and the rice inside it was soft and savoury.
“As expected of Ricchan! Your cooking skills are godly,” Asuna complimented, almost drooling at the sight of my mouth-watering creations. I smirked, gesturing awkwardly at the words of compliment. But, strictly speaking, I did max out the cooking levels in “that game”.
“That game”? Yeah, I’m referring to 《Sword Art Online》. The so-called “Death Game”, as everyone presumes. In short, it’s ‘SAO’. To cut the long story short, it was the first ever VRMMORPG game to be released. However, we couldn’t log out — there was no “Log Out” button! Also, in order to escape this game, we had to defeat the floor boss in each floor, and reach the highest — Floor 100 — and defeat the final floor boss. In addition, if the player dies in-game, he’ll die in real life too.
Anyway, Asuna and I were players of this game, and thus we’re the “SAO Survivors”. Ever since we were released from the game, all SAO Survivors which are still students have been studying in the same school. We were no exception.
Oh yes. I bet I haven’t introduced myself, right? My name’s Risaki “Rin” Naru. All my weapons, armours, accessories are black, in contrast to Asuna’s white robe and sword. I just like the colour black — it’s cool and awesome. Just one exception... My hair. It just had to be blonde.
Just then, my phone vibrated, signaling a new text message. Who could it be? Putting my utensils down, I fished out my cellphone and opened the mail.
I read the contents, and time seemed to stop short due to my astonishment — Kikuoka “Chrysheight” Seijirou! He was the sender, and also a member of the Ministry Internal Affairs. Moreover, he played in 《ALfheim Online》(ALO), which is the current VRMMORPG Asuna and I were playing now. We had some connections with him, but never did I know he’d automatically contact me right now.
In the text, Kikuoka had asked me to meet up with him at 12 PM sharp at a certain cafe this Saturday. I smelled a rat. Why would he, a member of the Ministry Internal Affairs, want to see me? Still, it aroused my curiosity, and I had decided it wouldn’t hurt if I went to see him. I sent a quick reply to accept the invitation, then resumed eating my lunch.
“Who is that?” Asuna inquired with her interest-filled eyes staring at me. Pondering for a few seconds, she guessed, “One of your family members?”
I shook my head fervently. “It’s Kikuoka Seijirou. He had asked me to meet up this Saturday.”
Seeing her puzzled look, I wasn’t surprised. If I told anyone — and I mean anyone — about me visiting Kikuoka Seijirou, they’d be really astonished. Why? His status that I had mentioned earlier, of course.
I assured Asuna that everything will be okay, though deep in my heart, I could sense something was really wrong. Not in ALO, of course, but in other games. Maybe it’s the one in the nightmare earlier? Nah, that’s too much of a coincidence.
Speaking of family, I was adopted — no, I’m actually part of the whole family tree. Kise Ryouta-kun is my cousin, but since my real parents passed away at my tender age, I was adopted into his family. Since then, he has been treating me like his little sister, and vice versa for me.
Soon, as time passed, I had finished my lunch and prepared for the afternoon lessons. I sighed. School can be mundane, and its lacklustre lessons feel like eternity. Still, it’s thanks to my friends like Asuna that help make me enthusiastic about going to school everyday.
But of course, going home, taking a hot bath and simply relaxing are luxurious to me after a “laborious” day for my brain at school. After the afternoon lessons, I strolled home with Asuna and some other friends — Keiko “Silica” Ayano, Shinoki “Lisbeth” Rika and not to mention Kirigaya “Leafa” Suguha.
We chattered like monkeys about the latest gossips in school, the latest trends in fashion, and of course the latest scoops about ALO and other games.
“Hey, hey, let’s all do a party quest again!” Silica suggested with her pink-coloured short twintails jumping slightly. She was the most energetic and bubbly girl of the clique.
“Good idea, Silica! After the big whale quest... I wonder if there are anymore party quests?” Lisbeth asked with great curiosity. Her white hair clip, which was clipped at her purple side fringes, dropped slightly as she lifted her head up towards the sky.
I grinned. Party quest, huh? It’s been months since we’ve done that.
“Speaking of it, I’ve heard one of my friends mention a new one!” Leafa pointed out with her sharp black bob hair swaying gently in the wind. But her avatar had long, green hair tied with a white ribbon in ALO, if I remember correctly. “Let’s invite Yui too!”
Yui. Yes, our in-game petite little pixie companion. She’s an incredible information searcher — she does it within seconds, and provides reliable and accurate information. Sometimes, Asuna and I ask her for help in homework. Others love talking to her. Yui’s just sooo cute!
But still, I couldn’t be helped but be pulled back to the mail contents. Why, just why, would Kikuoka want to see me? The SAO crisis was over, and all VRMMORPG games are safe now. Or is it another emergency concerning another game? A huge bug or glitch? If that’s the case, he can just contact the game developers! I’m not an expert on computer science!
“Yes! I look forward to the party quest,” Asuna gave a peace sign, winking at all of us. “Ricchan, you’ve been quiet for a while. Are you thinking of something?”
Asuna’s words quickly interrupted my thoughts. With a bad poker face, I gave a fake smile, “Nope, nothing. I’ll invite Klein and Agil over for the party quest, too.”
Klein and Agil — the only two males that would hang out with us girls. Klein was kind of perverted, but we didn’t mind it. He’s also a cheerful sort of person, and would share any kind of jokes with us. Also, he would wear a red bandana tied around his forehead, surrounding his rather spiky reddish-brown hair.
For Agil, he’s really huge. And I mean, huge. Okay, maybe not that huge in real life, but in game, he’s gigangic build that towered over us helps us advance against the adversaries. Despite his size, he’s a really friendly guy. He runs a cafe called ‘Dicey Cafe’, and sometimes we go there to chat with him about ALO. Not to mention, his chin was covered with quite a thick mustache and a bald head. No offence, Agil-san!
Soon, time passed really fast and I had reached home. With the sun slowly setting in the horizon, the sky was yellowish-red in colour. While bidding goodbye to my friends, I took off my school shoes and placed them neatly on the shoe rack before slipping into a pair of house slippers.
“I’m home...”
With heavy eyelids, I lumbered towards the sofa and instantly jumped onto it. I tossed my schoolbag onto the coffee table.
“Narucchi? Welcome home,” My half cousin-half brother greeted me while I closed my eyes, trying to relax for a while. I lied face-down on the sofa.
“Is dinner cooked, Nii-chan?” I called out with my voice slightly muffled by the sofa. In contrast to my cooking skills, Kise was incredibly bad at it, but we still took turns to cook dinner anyway. But when I mean ‘bad’, it isn’t that bad at all. The only things he could cook was fried eggs and instant noodles.
“Aw, come on, Narucchi! You know I don’t cook. There’s only instant noodles here,” Kise answered, his voice getting louder and louder every second in my ears. He must be walking out of the kitchen to get me.
I sat upright, trying to assemble my messy strands of hair. My left fringe was shorter than my right fringe, and I had a side long ponytail tied at my right. Of course, I was quite popular at school due to my appearance, but none of the guys has ever gave me chocolate or confessed to me yet. Maybe it’s because they think I’m into that — I always hang out with girls.
And, for Kise, he always has mountain of chocolates given to him by his fans during Valentines’ Day. Well, not surprising. He’s a model. But I’d rather be a gamer — and I mean, a ‘Not in Education, Employment or Training’ (NEET) gamer. Or maybe I should take up computer science and be a game creator instead. I think the latter is quite good.
I turned my head to face him. Wait— he’s wearing a pink apron? Seriously?! It stimulated me to guffaw with laughter, though I tried to hold it inside. Why would you need an apron for cooking instant noodles anyway?
I could almost imagine Kise pouting at me, and he really did.
“Geez, Nii-chan, you don’t need it for instant noodles!”
“But, isn’t this what you girls always do? Wearing apron while cooking?”
“Yeah, but that’s only if we need to use the electric stove!”
Anyway, I proceeded to have my dinner. After that, I took a comfy bath, then started doing my homework. Oh yeah, one more thing. Kise’s bad at academics, so I guess asking him for help is futile. But the uncanny thing is, he asks me for help instead.
Then, after doing the pile of homework, I packed my bag and proceeded to bed. But my mind just won’t rest — it kept thinking about the text contents. Seeing that it was just getting nowhere, I decided to confide in my online friend - Shinome-san.
Reaching for my cellphone, I logged onto the social networking site. Opening a chatbox between Shinome and I, I checked her status. Online. I started the conversation.
Shinome is a great online friend to confide in, at least to me. We’d talk about school issues, and games, too. She plays VRMMORPGs too, but for some reason she had kept it confidential. I really want to play games with her, though. But I’m not saying Asuna and others aren’t good!
I haven’t met Shinome in real life yet, so to my infinite delight, she took the initiative to ask whether if we could meet up! Recalling that Saturday was already “booked” by that Kikuoka, I decided on Sunday, and she agreed without hesitation.
That’s it. I can’t wait to see how Shinome will look like in real life!
But Saturday came before Sunday, and I had to meet Kikuoka first. I sighed, placing my phone back where it was. Soon, my eyelids felt heavy and I fell fitfully into a deep sleep.
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~END OF CHAPTER 1~
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