[ Kazuto Kirigaya
Lvl: 5 ]
It just floated there, above his head, taunting him.
Kazuto rubbed the sleep out his eyes and sat up from his bed, he yawned as he stood up.
There was a small knock at his door, followed by. "Onii-Chan, the bath is free."
"Thanks, Suguha." Kazuto said back and grabbed some clothes to wear after he washed himself.
He exited his room and entered the hallway, just in time to see a floating screen above the girl he called Suguha.
[ Suguha Kirigaya
Lvl: 6 ]
But once she went down the stairs in went with her.
The floating screens just appeared on Kazuto's birthday, three days ago, now it was the 10th of October and he still didn't know what to do about them.
He wasn't a complete idiot, he knew it was a Status or something, his experience beta testing SAO taught him how it would look in first person, but what was it? And how did he interact with it?
Kazuto went in the bathroom and started undressing, once he was completely undressed he took a bath, after his bath he did the rest of his daily routine and walked to the dining room for breakfast.
Questions about the screens had plagued his mind since they appeared, he ate his breakfast on autopilot.
"Well, I'm off Onii-Chan." Suguha said as she stopped by the table.
"Bye." Kazuto said with giving Suguha a second thought.
Suguha walked away leaving Kirito alone.
"They could just be hallucinations." Kirito was close to giving on answering the mystery of the screens. "Whatever it is, I don't have time for it right now."
Kazuto washed his dish, grabbed his bag at went to school.
School was boring as usual for Kazuto, on a side note, Lvl: 5 seems to be the average amongst teenagers his close to his age, some were Lvl: 3 and 4 and rare ones were Lvl: 6 or 7, but most seemed to be Lvl: 5. Young adults seemed to average Lvl: 15, while the older ones averaged Lvl: 20.
Kazuto almost fell asleep during class, but kept himself awake long enough to get home.
Once home, he shoved off all his fatigue, changed out of his school uniform, and went straight to his computer, for the next five hours Kazuto played games and read game forums.
Around the five hour mark, his eyes got caught on his NerveGear, he missed beta testing SAO, right now he could only play some puzzle or education games on it.
"It was great." Kazuto reminisced, as he thought back to the friends and enemies he made, he would give the game all his attention, everyday he re-thought his approach, trying a bunch of things before settling. Kazuto stared at the helmet. "If only, if only I could still play, how much longer till the official release? I can't wait to put you back on and be transported back when I say 'Link Start.'"
[ Start Link?
{O} {X} ]
Without thinking, Kazuto instinctively pressed accept, his finger not going past the box, but also not meeting any resistance when feeling the box.
[ Welcome, Kazuto Kirigaya, to The Game! To get started just call out 'Main Menu' with your voice or mentally. ]
Kazuto ignored the questions his mind came up with.
Main Menu. He mentally commanded.
The screen welcoming him was erased, and a new screen took its place in front of Kazuto.
[ Status.
Inventory.
Skills. ]
Before Kazuto could send another Mental Command, a small screen popped up, overlapping with the 'Main Menu.'
[ Do you require the Tutorial?
{O} {X} ]
Right as Kazuto raised a finger to click decline, a thought came to him. He mentally clicked decline, and watched the screen disappear.
[ Updated: All interactions with The Game Screen's will be done mentally. Is that okay? ]
Kazuto didn't see a problem with that, after clearing that up, he pulled up 'Status.'
[ Kazuto Kirigaya
Lvl: 5
HP: 706/706
-
Str: 17
Vit: 18
Dex: 27
Agi: 19
Int: 45
Wis: 9
Cha: 22
Luk: 23 ]
The numbers didn't really hold a lot of significance since Kazuto didn't know the standard amount. He moved on to 'Inventory.'
[ Search.
Equipped.
Items.
Deposit. ]
'Search' brought up an empty search bar with a question mark at the end, it was probably so you didn't have to look for an 'Item' manually.
'Equipped' brought up more options to choose from, he could check every limb and appendage, luckily there was also an 'All Equipped' option.
[ Dark Grey Long Sleeved Shirt (Basic): Plus 2 in Basic Torso Protection, Plus 1 in both Basic Arm Protections
Light Grey Zipper Hoodie (Basic): Plus 3 Basic Torso Protection, Plus 2 in both Basic Arm Protections, Plus 1 in Basic Head Protection, Grants Basic Cold Resistance.
Black Boxer Briefs (Basic): Plus 1 in both Basic Hip Protections, Plus 1 in Basic Groin Protection.
Dark Grey Sweatpants (Basic): Plus 3 in both Basic Leg Protections, Grants Basic Cold Resistance.
White Socks (Basic): Plus 1 in both Basic Foot Protections, Could Grant Sliding or Slipping. ]
The was also an 'Equipment Effects' and 'Set Effects' options that Kazuto checked out.
[ Basic Body Protection Plus 15.
Basic Cold Resistance (Lvl: 2). ]
And for 'Set Effects.'
[ Dark Blend: Stealth is twice as effective. ]
Now that he was done with 'Equipped', Kazuto went to 'Items.'
It brought up a blank screen, he didn't have anything, he switched to 'Deposit' but the blank screen remained.
Kazuto took a pen off his desk and called up 'Deposit' again, the pen disappeared from his hand and reappeared on the screen.
He figured 'Deposit' was more like a Skill, but it was probably only for his inventory and couldn't be Leveled Up.
When he mentally clicked on the pen, in reappeared in his hand, he put the pen back in his 'Inventory' and moved on to 'Skills'.
[ Passive Skills.
Active Skills.
Mixed Skills. ]
Kazuto checked his 'Passive Skills' first.
[ Gamer's Mind (Lvl: 4): Grants you the ability to calmly analyze a situation and act or react accordingly.
Gamer's Body (Lvl: 1): Reduces Human needs by 2%.
Gamer's Soul (Lvl: Null): Grants you the ability to play The Game.
Basic Mind Protection (Lvl: 1): Reduces Mental Damage taken, by the Level of this Skill(1) multiplied by your Level(5). Currently at 5 points.
Basic Body Protection* (Lvl: 1): Reduces Physical Damage taken, by the Level of this Skill(1) multiplied by your Level(5). Currently at 5 points. (Plus 15) points.
Basic Cold Resistance (Lvl: 2): 20% more resistance to cold temperatures.
Basic Stealth (Lvl: 4): 40% effect increase when sneaking or hiding.
Basic Kendo Proficiency (Lvl: 3): 30% effect increase in Active Kendo Skills.
Basic Shinai Proficiency (Lvl: 3): 30% effect increase when using a Shinai to perform a compatible Sword Skill, 30% increase to damage made with a shinai without out a Sword Skill.
Mislead (Lvl: 5): 50% effect increase to all Deception related Skills. ]
Kazuto was getting tired of reading, even if it was interesting, he just found out he had powers and he wanted to play, but he continued. 'Active Skills' were empty, and luckily there was only one Skill in 'Mixed Skills.'
[ Observe (Lvl: 7): Passive: Tells you what or who you're looking at. Active: {Cost: ???}: ??? ]
As Kazuto pondered on what the Active version could be, he tried to mentally use it, he didn't care about the cost.
And Kazuto slipped out his chair as all the air left his lungs and his body went limp.
[ Observe (Lvl: 8): Passive: Tells you what or who you're looking at. Active: {Cost: 700HP}: Gives an in-depth look into an object, tangible and intangible, or a better explanation. ]
700HP!?
Kirito freaked out and called up his Status Screen.
[ Kazuto Kirigaya
Lvl: 5
HP: 6/706
Status Effects: Exhausted, Critical Condition. ]
He was so close to death, he could feel his heart beating, but this was a good opportunity, he tried to convince himself. Kazuto watched his health, when it went up to 7 he started counting. It took 20 seconds for 1 point of health to be regenerated, Kazuto was on the floor for half an hour before his health went up to one hundred, and after that 'Exhausted' went away, allowing Kazuto to move again.
As Kazuto sat up and stretch. "I'm never doing that again." He swore to himself.
Then a bunch of small screens appeared in front of him.
[ Due to your decision to do something foolish, minus 1 Wis. ]
[ Due to Activating Observe, Analyze has been Unlocked and Added to the Inventory Screen. ]
[ Titles Unlocked and Added to the Main Menu Screen. ]
[ Due to losing more than 99% of your Health to a mistake but accomplishing what you wanted, you have gained the Title 'Suicidal Success.' ]
[ Achievements Unlocked and Added to the Main Menu Screen. ]
[ Achievement 'A Massive Mistake' gained, Plus 1 Level. ]
[ Due to Unlocking Titles and Achievements, The Handbook has been Unlocked and Added to the Main Menu Screen. Titles and Achievements have been moved to The Handbook. ]
[ Due to Unlocking The Handbook and Activating Observe, The Encyclopedia has been Unlocked and Added to The Handbook. ]
[ Due to having Analyze and The Handbook Unlocked, Notebooks has been Unlocked and Added to The Handbook. ]
[ Due to Unlocking Titles, Achievements, The Encyclopedia and Notebooks, The Quest Log has been Unlocked and Added to The Handbook. ]
[ Due to Unlocking The Quest Log before you were given a Quest, Cheats have been Unlocked and Added to the Handbook. ]
[ You've Earned a Cheat: Quest Skip(1). ]
[ Due to Unlocking Cheats, you've gained the Title 'Cheater.' ]
[ Achievement 'The Complete Handbook' gained, Plus 1 Level. ]
Main Menu.
[ Status.
Inventory.
Skills.
The Handbook. ]
Status.
[ Kazuto Kirigaya
Lvl: 7
HP: 114/906
-
Str: 17
Vit: 18
Dex: 27
Agi: 19
Int: 45
Wis: 8
Cha: 22
Luk: 23
-
SP: 10 ]
Inventory.
[ Search.
Equipped.
Items.
Analyze.
Deposit. ]
The Handbook.
[ Titles.
Achievements.
The Encyclopedia.
Notebooks.
The Quest Log.
Cheats. ]
Before Kazuto could open some more screens, a light knock came from his door, followed by. "Onii-Chan, Dinner is ready."
Kazuto was about to call out and tell Suguha he would eat later, when a screen popped up.
[ Optional Quest: Family Dinner.
Objective: Eat dinner with your family.
Success: Plus 30 Exp, Suguha Kirigaya will be happy, Suguha Kirigaya's Entry will be added to The Encyclopedia.
Failure: Suguha Kirigaya will be disappointed in herself.
Do you accept this Quest? ]
"I'll be there in a minute, Suguha."