Virtually Colorless

Given the evidence of how sporadic and tiny the fictions I have been publishing lately, it is clear I lost that writing spark. In my defense, my college made my class attended a leadership training that basically made us pumped to be more active in organizations and outdoor activities and practically induced guilt inside of our hearts whenever we're lazy. The training has been done, I have recovered control of my mind from that slightly irrational guilt, and I have hyped myself with SAO to rekindle my passion in writing fanfictions.

おたんじょうびおめでとう Kirito-kun!

Warning: Elements of BAMF (or so I am told by my friend), grammar mistakes, accidental switches of point of views, sporadic updates due to my tendency to flit fandom to fandom.

Disclaimer: Sword Art Online is owned by Reki Kawahara, Aniplex of America, Aniplex, Genco, DAX Production, ASCII Media Works, and A-1 Pictures.

Claimed: Alakaya.

Summary: Kayaba grew up in an age where games were difficult and challenging, where they were outright Unfair, and this origin of playing Nintendo Hard games shone through when he created Sword Art Online. Now step into a world where everything is taken up to eleven: where safe zones are sparse, when the AI is horrendously nefarious and underhand, when bosses are mind numbingly challenging and when over thousands of people died during the first month alone. Will such a game ever be cleared? Idea by Undying Soul98

ARC ZERO

No Crown No King

Chapter 0.3

«Yui»

CODE XXX

(«Yui»'s Point of View)

[MHCP001-Yui : Do not attempt to approach remaining players]

What? Is there really a bug in the system? This has to be wrong. I refreshed my newest command from Cardinal.

[MHCP001-Yui : Do not attempt to approach remaining players]

I understood the command, and I shall bid the system but, is there no more tasks for me? Why is the system forbidding me from doing my system's purpose? I must enter my physical form and approach these players. They are distressed, and it is in my code to console them. I must-

[MHCP001-Yui : Do not attempt to approach remaining players!]

I stopped my train of judgment from going out of command. Yes, I confirmed Cardinal, I shall not attempt to. The system accepted my confirmation notice, but my system is confused. I sent a message to ask what I must do next now that Cardinal placed a firewall in my data. Fortunately, I am not deleted permanently thanks to my core protection.

[MHCP001-Yui : Remain Dormant]

Remain in my mental form in the system? Remain inactive for how long exactly? Calling Information from Cardinal System Settings… Cardinal is not answering.

I glitched, the malfunction confuses me. I checked my admin data info. The Cardinal had just blocked my main core program, but not my back-up data. It did not turn off my mental process. I have degraded into a dormant, back-up data. The System won't answer my calls until it activates me back.

Very well, I shall stay quiescent. Perhaps I should observe the players to gain insight on Sword Art Online's players' progress. That should help me to help them once Cardinal stimulates my main program. I hope it restores me quickly.

I conducted my «Ethereal Vision» and monitored the Game Master's tutorial. It ended shortly after I activated it. I took a lot of time examining my new command, I suppose.

"Good luck… Players," Game Master «Heathcliff», dissolved into red mist and slipped inside the slit vortex of the Warning Mode Sky. And once the crimson blanket absorbed the moisture, it was as if they were cleansed of stains.

Everything faded in an instant and back to normal again.

The «Black Iron Palace» outer wall glistened with the deep yellow light of the sunset, and the sky had better orange gradient than in real life. It was so quiet I can hear what poetries identify as the sounds of nature.

I observed the players trapped inside the «Town of Beginnings» by the barrier. They were all in shock, exceptions only amounting to less than 4% of all players. It was not long until something happened. A small crash, just a small sound of a broken piece of breakable ornament claimed the silence, along with a deafening, however short scream of denial. The disbelief and anguish in that one sentence cast a spell all over everyone.

I glanced at my monitor screen. Too many data indicating panic is piling up.

.

┬┴┬┴┤(･_├┬┴┬┴

.

Plaza, Town of Beginnings

Kirito didn't want to believe it… but at the same time, a part of him… kind of wanted to believe it.

Kirito didn't know if he was hallucinating, but he could feel the paper cut wound he had had IRL – in real life. He could just imagine his thumb bleeding. But why would he want this to be real? Why would he even believe what Kayaba said is factual?

Maybe Kirito was just a pessimist, taking every bad thing as fact of life – taking in stride.

(When you're down. Just remember. Hakuna matata.)

If he had to stay optimistic, then the best positive reaction he could conjure up is his will to win and defeat this game.

Kazuto came here for a good fight.

Kirito wasn't going to sit back just 'cause there were a few new rules.

Then came a small crash, just a small sound of a broken piece of breakable ornament claimed the silence, along with a deafening, however short scream of denial came. The disbelief and anguish in that one sentence cast a spell all over everyone.

While pretty much everyone were screaming profanities like Klein, some stayed still and shocked, some just plain don't care, believing it to be a lie or that some form of authority will put a stop to this like PoH is seemed to be mumbling. Kirito slipped through the crowd to get away from there. But the force field was still activated. Was there more to the tutorial? Why didn't Kayaba release them from the Plaza?

He needed to leave this place. The only way to survive is to get stronger, that's the whole point of the tutorial, isn't it? So why is he delaying them with the barrier?

"GET US OUT OF HERE! YOU CAN NOT BE SERIOUS!"

"I HAVE TO GO HOME SOON! PLEASE!"

"BASTARD, DON'T YOU DARE! WE HAVE A LIFE!"

Everyone was panicking and generally pushing against each other. It's a good thing he had quickly ran over to the barrier or else he might be squeezed to death with the adult gamers raiding the clock tower.

"HELP! STOP! YOU'RE HURTING ME!"

Kirito snapped my neck to see who was screaming for aid. There was a little girl that was CLEARLY being ignored by the adults who were doing nothing but screaming profanities to Kayaba. Focusing he could see her HP bar decreasing continuously with each accidental slam by other players legs.

He had killed 4 playe-people. He didn't need his life sentence to record something as stupid as 'Leaving a girl to die by being stomped to death right in front of his eyes'.

He unsheathed his sword and swung it behind his shoulder. After adding a slight pause, he could feel the energy build up, and he let it explode by thrusting his sword directly through the crowd.

Kirito avoided from actually stabbing the frantic players, and once his sword was in the vicinity of the startled mass he slammed the flat of his double edged sword to the players and made room for the little girl.

"H-He's attacking us! Why are you attacking us?!"

"We could've died you brat!"

"Quit screaming!" Kirito yelled. "Can't you see you're hurting this kid?" His reasoning fell deaf in their screams. The other players nearby saw him motioning his sword to them, and mistook Kirito for some crazy murderer- which is true except for the crazy part.

"PUT DOWN THE SWORD KID!"

"Don't try to act tough!"

"HELP! HELP!"

Kirito had enough of this shit. He gathered all of his ersatz energy to his virtual vocal chords and shouted at the top of his fabricated lungs through his artificial esophagus, "QUIET!"

Kirito's voice didn't reach all of the remaining nine thousand eight hundred players, but the ones around him did, and he slightly blushed at the crucifying attention they paid upon him.

Now what do I say? He thought in full embarrassment, so he decided to act first. He pulled the little girl up and glared at the players, "Quit panicking and mind what you're doing. You were crushing this kid. Look below, before you actually manage to stomp someone to death," the little area he was standing on were quiet aside from his voice and the girl's sniffles.

Soon they snapped out of their stupor; some hung their heads in shame and regret, some looked around frantically and helped the young players that were sitting on the floor in despair up.

The girl tugged the hem of Kirito's navy blue shirt. She didn't look scared anymore, "Thank you, Onii-chan! I'm okay now!" She grinned happily at him.

She was a head shorter than him, barely reaching his shoulder. She had long wavy blonde hair that slightly reached the small of her back, with her long bangs held by her right ear. She had sky blue eyes, and she's obviously foreign, even if she speaks Japanese. She wore the standard breast plate covering her gold colored long sleeved shirt with navy blue skirt that reached her knees.

"That was nothing much, really," He said simply.

She jumped up and curled up her fists on her chest and looked at him half determined and half pleadingly, "Onii-chan, will you help me find my friend? I came here with her!" Kirito frowned – very slightly, he wanted to go and level up and get stronger, He didn't have time to look for one kid he didn't even know what they look like amongst thousands. Even with Klein or PoH's help they'd have a hard time sorting through this mess.

But the force field is still intact. Plus, he didn't have anything else to do, so he gave a simple nod. She smiled widely, "Thank you so much! I'm here with Keiko-chan..! Oh no! T-That's- I mean- Her name is Silica! Silica! Keiko's her real name, oh no, I told a stranger her real name. My name is Alakaya! I'm Alakaya both here and in the other world! I'm sorry, Ke-Silica!Errrrr."

He couldn't help but twitch his lip up slightly at her flustered appearance, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone you or your friend's real name. I'm Kirito,"

"Hey, what's your real name? I told you mine and Silica's!"

Kirito shrugged, "Your fault kid."

Alakaya pouted, "Promise you won't tell her I told you?" His lips stretched a thin line but he didn't make any indication that he agreed. He ignored the rather useless request – it's not like he can use anything to hack their RL info – and grabbed her wrist. He said, "Okay, so have you befriended her? Can you IM her?"

"IM?" Sheesh, did he have to meet with people who don't understand anything about the game?

"Instant Message-"

"Oh! That! Sure!" Alakaya opened up her Friend List and sent a short message to Silica. The response came in shortly.

"She's on the west side of the clock tower!" Alakaya took one step almost automatically before freezing in place. "Which is the west?" She asked sheepishly.

He palmed my face, "Go straight to your left," we ran towards the west side as Alakaya told him how Silica looked like. We quickly spotted a twin-pig tailed brown haired short girl, around the same age as Alakaya. Silica was standing there looking around for – presumably – Alakaya. Her eyes were a darker shade of red, a little brown like her twin hair band. Her long sleeved shirt was of the same color underneath the leather brown armor and she wore a long brown pants. Kirito didn't see any weapon on her person and felt the urge to rebuke the fellow player.

"Silica-chaaaan!" Alakaya shouted and caught her attention.

"Kaya-chan!" The two friends ran towards each other. Seeing the perfect opportunity, Kirito ditched their cute reunion and ran the opposite direction, only to bump into none other than Argo not far away from Alakaya and Silica.

"Argo! What are you- Wait, you look the same as your avatar?" Kirito blinked in realization as he recognized the only player he had befriended in the beta test immediately. Chest-length wavy dyed greenish brown locks she probably never bothered to comb, maroon red eyes – for real? – and those silly whisker marks under that tattered old cloak with the mouse's ears print on the hood.

"Yeah! What about it? And who're you?! Trying to grope me are you – wait, whoa whoa whoa!" Argo invaded Kirito personal space as she always does and grabbed his cheeks, palming them and overall examining his face, "Black hair, black eyes, that same irritated expression – Oh my God! Is this you, Ki-bou?!"

"Yeah, now will you stop-" she cut him off with a squeal, dragging the attention of a few disoriented players around them, "Oh Holy Nekomata! So this is how you look behind that obviously fake overly handsome avatar of yours! Hmmpht~" Kirito poked a finger on her cheek to get her face out of his immediate sight and shoved her arms away from hugging him in discomfort at her appreciating humming, "Ooh~ Not bad. I'm glad you're totally not bad~"

"Geez!" Kirito turned around, recognizing the familiar sound of desperate whine that can only belong to none other than Klein, and Argo and Kirito got a good view of Klein sulking totally unmanly, "I've been looking around all over for you and this is what you did to me? How could you, man! Scoring a chick right after that whole crap Kayaba Akihiko said?!"

"Onii-chan! How could you ditch me! You Big Meanie! You're not my Onii-chan anymore! Meanie!"

"'Onii-chan'? Kirito, this is your sister?" Klein asked.

"Oh Gosh, Ki-bou! She is so cute!"

"No, she's not my real sister. I helped her before and she kept calling me her brother."

Argo gasped loudly, "Ki-bou, I know you're popular, but I never thought you'd be a sis-con!"

"What? No! I don't have a sister complex! And I'm not popular! You're making me sound like a playboy!"

"From the way you act to the opposite sex it's no wonder people mistook you."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Onii-chan!" Alakaya shouted, irritated at being ignored and completely forgetting her previous declaration.

"Kirito!"

"Ki-bou!"

I swear… Kirito pinched the bridge of his nose and ignored them, preferring to devote his mind to wonder why they were still trapped inside the Plaza.

"Ki-bou, do you know why the barrier aren't lifted yet?" Argo asked, her abrupt change in her demeanor startled the Klein and Alakaya and Silica. Meanwhile, Kirito was already used to her random mood switches.

"I'm suspecting an unexpected bug. Kayaba is human." Kirito answered, glad that they'd stop their bickering. "But after that kind of preparation? Unless it was major karma, I have no idea what he is going to do next."

"Yeah, h-he wanted us to defeat The Boss, but why is he still trapping us?" Silica – whom Kirito had just noticed – remarked.

"Did something like this happen in the beta test, Kirito?"

"Nope," Argo piped, not elaborating. If she did, she would have said- "300 col if you want to know how the beta test tutorial works." Yeah. That.

"Hey, how come you're charging for info?"

Argo, despite being a head shorter than Klein like Kirito himself was, she managed to look down at him by her nose, "Hmph! I'm Argo the Rat, you're best information broker. If you need to know anything at all just ask me, for a price! It is pure business so no harm done!"

"Yeah, yeah, we get it, but-"

"Beta test? You two are beta testers?!" Klein was cut off by some guy with a… perhaps with the stupidest haircut Kirito has ever seen, and his hair is orange, which was a cool color but it was, like, carrot orange.

That's the second worse color after everything in neon and it was making him miss Suguha's homemade soup. She said she was going to make soup for dinner tonight with his aunt.

"Beta testers…? So, that means they know how to get us out of here!" Another player said.

"Hey! Just because we're seniors here doesn't mean we know how to!" Argo barked.

"Well even if you don't, you DO know the insides of this death game! Tell us newbies how to win this shit!"

"How to what – get stronger? Then just level up! We ain;t yer babysitters!"

"Argo!" Kirito hissed. Argo may be one of the smartest people he knew, but she lacked the ability to read vitriolic situations. She's adding fuel to the fire! Fortunately, she shut her trap when she heard him.

"You beta testers are selfish!"

"So you're going to leave us behind?!"

"Look, we ain't ditching you! But you need to stop demanding us! We're trapped in here just like you, ya know?!"

"Yeah! But you got a better chance in surviving 'cause you got A HEAD START!" The orange haired player's exclamation finally did it. His screaming was heard by the majority and now they were calling out on all the beta testers.

"Just admit it, Shinkiro! You're a beta tester! Or else how'd you knew about that «Frenzy Boars» weakness?!"

"We need a plan you microscopic fucker!"

"The beta testers should help us get through this whole thing! Where are you testers?! Admit it!"

"At least I'm not a hippopotamic land mass like you!"

"Yoshiken! You were a beta tester! Please, please just tell me what to do! I don't know anything about this game!"

"Who were the beta testers? Tell us their names!"

"I don't remember! Why don't you find Argo the Rat?! That brat was the information broker back in the beta test!"

When he heard that, Kirito flinched. Argo did too. These players were beyond irrational now with their demands.

"Kirito," Klein hissed, "What are you gonna do? And Argo-san?"

"Onii-chan…" Alakaya murmured and hugged his left arm.

"Kirito-san…?" Silica asked unsure.

"Argo the Rat? Wait- YOU!" The orange haired - you know what, I'll just call him Orange – pointed at Argo rather rudely, "You were boasting about being an info broker and you said you're name is Argo!"

"So?"

"So - Tell us all you know about this stupid game!"

"Five -" Kirito slapped her mouth before Argo dumped more oil on the fire. For real Argo? You're gonna charge them at a time like this?

Before Orange could yell more whatever outrageous demands they were all surprised when glass began to break into pieces.

He heard it. They all heard it. But there was no glass – nothing actually breaking. There were only the sound of breaking glass making many players duck and raise their hands to protect their heads.

"HEY! THE BARRIER!"

While they were standing there wondering in shock Kirito quickly slipped through the surprised crowds – Argo was following him, he absently noted – and they left the «Plaza». He went through an alleyway. Sensing the unusual quiet atmosphere, he stopped running and turned to Argo. She was lowering her head and was frowning. It was odd.

"Thanks, Kirito," He raised a single eyebrow in curiosity. This is the second time he heard her using his name – the first one was the time he had first told her his game name.

"You need to be more careful on what you're saying. You-" Kirito was cut off when Argo threw her weight on him made them fell down, "I never knew you'd be the type to drag a girl here~" she whispered, "Want to kiss?"

Of all the obnoxious - "No."

"Like, I know you threaten me. A LOT. But do you actually plan to murder me?"

There is a corner in the library inside my mind which is dedicated solely to your demise.

"…"

She pouted. "As always – damn party pooper!" She jumped, and promptly ran away.

"Heartless tax collector!" Kirito grinned and ended their little witty banter.

"Kirito!"

"Klein?" The black haired boy turned around, surprised when Klein suddenly found him. How did he - ah, yes, he befriended Klein before.

Strange. He could be tailed by two people – one virtually still a stranger.

"Kiri-"

"Wait, listen to me. I'm heading to the next town."

"What? That's the first thing you're saying?"

Kirito clicked his tongue in annoyance, "Look, if what Kayaba said is true, then the only way to survive is to be as strong as possible. The money and resources are limited here since everyone are gonna raid the fields soon. So before they start forming guilds and claiming territories, we have to take every advantage we can. I know a lot of quests. We can take the easy ones first and get the rewards."

"But, but you know… I spent a whole night waiting on the line to buy this with my friends from other online games. They are out there in the Plaza. I can't just leave them."

Kirito… blinked in slight shock. He… he must have sounded like a complete jerk. All he was thinking was how to get stronger but Klein instead wanted to come back in there and help his friends.

He bit my lip, and looked at his HP bar- Level 7. He had dissolved the party group with Klein and PoH before when they both reached Level 3 because he didn't want to be dragged down. How many friends did Klein came with exactly? If he took on four, three, no, even if he partied with Klein only he would-

"Sorry," Klein apologized. Kirito was startled out of his thoughts, "I can hardly ask you for anything more, can I?" He smiled, "So don't worry about it. Just go,"

Relief was nice, but the guilt was annoying. "But…"

Klein threw a thumb's up, "I use to run a guild in my last game. I can use what you taught me to get by and help my friends!"

Oh… of course, Klein isn't like those sorts of people. Kirito shouldn't be worrying about that. He'll live, "Yes, right… Then let's say goodbye here," he turned around slightly and took a couple of steps, "If you need me, send a PM."

"Will do!"

He smiled awkwardly, "Ja, Klein," Kirito turned his back on him.

"Kirito!" He stopped. Kirito can practically hear Klein's confusion and uncertainty in that sole word that was his name. Guessing Klein wasn't going to say anything soon, Kirito took another step.

"Oi, Kirito. You were actually pretty cute," the boy blinked in shock and glanced at Klein, "That's my type."

Kirito raised an eyebrow at his ridiculous compliment, before realizing he was just – just making the situation light. Some people bothered to do that. Kirito smiled, "And that unkempt face of yours suits you ten times better."

Kirito ran from the alleyway, but he didn't even manage to make more than 5 steps before glancing back. Out of paranoia or, or misguided longing. There was no goodbye from Klein. Kirito turned around, only to see there was no one behind him.

I'm alone.

Kirito bit his bottom lip at the familiar sting of it. Even if he had chosen to go solo in the first place, he was still feeling that bitter pain. Klein was something alright, he went back to help people while he was…

He never once claimed patience was one of his virtues.

He ran, and ran, and ran. he unsheathed his sword to kill a sole «Dire Wolf» that beamed into existence in front of him. Fitting actually – that Kirito was confronted with a lone wolf alone.

A lone «Dire Wolf» was unsual. «Dire Wolves» attack players in packs, and to have only one «Dire Wolf» usually means that particular one was deliberately isolated by a player who would attack it alone.

This one came out into the open willingly by itself.

Kirito wanted to kill someone.

But since that someone is too far away and there was a 10 percent chance that the man was on the other side of reality, he will have to take it out on the «Dire Wolf».

He killed it with a vertical «Lacerate» and kept running.

… He was going to survive in this world.

.

( ˘▽˘)っ

.

.

BARRIER

[An illusion is only real so long as you believe in it. But, so long as you do believe, it has the power to hurt you.]

.

Status:

«Kirito»

Lv. 7

HP: 1000

Col: 1436

VIT: 20

STR: 24+10 (White Ore's Sword)

SPD: 21

DEF: 20

Points: 6

Happy birthday Kirito. And THANK YOU for SAO: Alicization & Ordinal Scale!