Author's Note

7/13/2018 update: Yo, so I may or may not have just gone through this chapter with a beta reader just now. Thought I'd post the updated version up where the old version used to be. Many thanks to my beta reader, One More Guy!

This is what I promised in that final news update to GGO: SW! I hope it doesn't disappoint!

I didn't think I'd actually pull this off for several more days. But then, in less than twenty-four hours, I created this four-thousand word first chapter.

For those of you who aren't aware, this is the rewrite of my train wreck story that somehow got popular, Gun Gale Online: The Swordswoman. However, as far as rewrites go, this one is far from typical. In fact, it's so odd that it could even be seen as a sequel to the original, depending on how you want to perceive it. You'll see what I mean once you get to the actual story.

Before we go any further, I need to make an unfortunate announcement to the fans of the original. And that is: THIS STORY WILL HAVE VERY LITTLE SINON FOR A LONG TIME. You see, Sinon only appears towards the middle-end of the story, if you look at the whole thing chronologically while including the parts I skipped over in the original. In this rewrite, I resolved to go through all of the Gun Gale arc without any major time-skips (that is, those that span more than two checkpoints).

If I make it that far, Sinon will probably not appear for more than twenty chapters. This is, of course, taking into account the fact that I've never even made it to twenty chapters in any of my stories to date.

And that's why Sinon is not listed in the character settings. That's also why, though I have pairing mode enabled for once, the romance genre is not selected, either. The pairings in this story are meant to represent strong, close bonds with hints of romance in them, but not much for a long time.

As usual, these warnings apply:

Kirito is female. Her in-game name is "Kiriko", a mix-up of her real-life name, "Kimiko Kirigaya".

This story is yuri. In other words, lesbian, femslash, that stuff. Don't like, don't read.

GGO is the death game here. SAO was a 2D MMO.

Lastly, I still haven't read the light novels for the Phantom Bullet arc. Sue me if you like.

Something I'd like to add on that I forgot about: this sequel relies pretty heavily on knowledge from the second chapter's rendition of Kayaba's launch tutorial. I didn't think about that, sorry. I'll try to fill in the details of the mechanics of this game (other than the obvious stuff) as we move on, but for a more in-depth understanding, a read of chapter two of the original, no matter how shitty it may be, is advised.

Well, I think that's about it. Well, other than the fact that the premise for how this rewrite is set up isn't exactly mine. But, as a published author that I don't know the name of once said, the best stories steal ideas from other works.

See you at the bottom!

Gun Gale Online: The Swordswoman

Transcendent Bonds

Prologue: Back to Basics

A black void.

That's all I could see, no matter how much I strained my eyes. Nothing more, nothing less. Yet somehow, I could tell that this was more than just a dark room.

I lifted my right arm to my face. It looked as if I was in natural lighting, showing off its slight tan as if there were sun shining on me.

I've been here before…

I couldn't comprehend why, but it felt like I had been here countless times before. The memories seemed to be on the edge of my conscious, just out of my reach. If I could just grasp it, maybe I could understand the place around me.

"Confused, are we?"

The voice, resonating throughout the entirety of the void, startled me into action. I reached for my belt with my right hand, grasping…

Nothing. I looked down, finding no belt to be seen. Why did I expect there to be a belt, anyway? I didn't put one on that morning before I logged onto…

Oh.

Everything rushed into my mind at once. From the moment I logged into GGO, to the final fight against that man— no, that demon. I almost lost, but then…

"So that's why I'm here…" I whispered, forgetting about the elephant in the room for a moment. "But I still don't know how I got here, or even where 'here' is…"

"So you remember now," the voice reminded me of its presence with another startling assessment. "Then you must also remember the pain of losing everything."

"Yeah," came my bitter response. "What of it?"

I looked around for the source of the voice. It sounded as if it came from everywhere at once, yet I couldn't make out a single detail. It sounded as if it were in a synthesizer, preventing me from distinguishing even whether it was male or female.

"And anyway," I continued when I only received silence in response to my earlier question. "Don't you think it's about time you showed yourself? I really don't feel like talking to nothing— it makes me feel a bit crazy."

"You have lost your reasons for living so many times, yet your persistence in moving forward surprises even me," the voice continued to talk as if it didn't hear a word I said. "Why do you continue to live when you have lost everything?"

This question reminded me of everything— no, everyone I lost in the accursed death game known as Gun Gale Online. It reminded me of the unbearable pain I felt when I realized there was no way to save them. How I almost killed myself so many times because I couldn't deal with the pain. And yet, it also reminded me of…

"Because if I just gave up, I would be letting them down," I replied at last, looking up with a determined expression. "I don't want their deaths to be in vain."

"Good answer," the voice responded to my earnest proclamation. "I'd expect nothing less from Gun Gale's strongest."

I opened my mouth to reply, but my words were cut off before they were spoken. The voice told me something I had thought all along, yet refused to truly acknowledge.

"But your strength alone is insufficient," it told me. There was no emotion behind its words. "You live by relying only on yourself, but that style will never allow you to clear the game."

"What are you trying to tell me?" I bit back, stifling an angry growl. "That I'm not good enough?"

"Yes and no," was its immediate reply. For a few moments, silence reigned the void all around me. But then, just before I shouted out, it spoke again. "On your own, you cannot clear the game. You need to trust in others and share in their strength."

I grit my teeth. Trust in others? Share in their strength? That's ridiculous. I clenched my hands into fists at my sides.

"You may not understand it now," the voice continued. As it spoke, I felt as if something was coming. Something bad. "But in due time, you will come to understand the value of your bonds that transcend the test of times."

"What do you mean?!" I shouted out. I could feel it— my time in this void was coming to an end. But I'd be damned if I didn't get an answer before I left. "You're not making any sense!"

"I've even made a certain investment in your discovery of the power of your transcendent bonds." The voice was getting quieter by the second, and the blackness of the void all around me was slowly turning white.

"Wait! Come back!" I shouted into the quickly-whitening void. I could feel its presence leaving, and I was beginning to see the outlines of a familiar scene.

No, don't tell me…! Not again!

"In you, I plant a seed. And with it, the hope and fate of the players of Gun Gale Online rests on you once more."

Even though my eyes were wide open, staring up at the last of the coal-black smoke as it retreated into the cracks of the red, hexagonal sky, I felt as though I had just awoken from a dream – no, nightmare.

I desperately tried to remember what it had been about in the solitary second I was allotted— somehow, I knew it was incredibly important. And yet, for the life of me, I couldn't remember anything in the dream. Even the thought that I had been dreaming was fading fast.

My attention was drawn back to the matter at hand as a deep, ominous voice reverberated throughout the Plaza of the beginning city, «SBC Glocken». It spoke just as the last of the smoke disappeared between the borders of the neon-red hexagons.

"Players— I wish you the best of luck."

And then, all at once, the irregular shaped hexagons ceased their obstruction of the rainbow sunset, vanishing in an instant.

In the next few moments, a pin could've dropped, and everyone in the Plaza would've heard it – that is, if their thoughts hadn't all been buzzing so loud in their ears, much like mine.

Unlike the rest, it took a mere blink of my eyes to snap me back to the present, away from any tumultuous thoughts. For a second, I'd remembered cutting myself with a knife; but there was neither a stream of blood nor any kind of cut on my hand. Rather, only smooth polygons of sizes too small to see them, even if you squinted your eyes. Those polygons made up my avatar's – no, my own skin in this world, and piercing them would never draw blood as in reality. But even so…

This is reality, I countered my musings with the truth of the situation. I clenched my fist, watching the virtual muscles in my wrist tense. Feeling the soft texture of my skin, despite its current structure.

The craziest of fantasies turned into the scariest of realities, continued to assert itself into my mind, bit by bit, detail by detail. Kayaba Akihiko, the genius who created the «Nerve Gear» and used it to create a complete virtual environment.

Images of the rare occurrence of his appearance in a recent newspaper detailing just a few of his accomplishments in the field of quantum physics flashed into my mind. I looked up to him; his achievements gave me something to look forward to each day. I even met him once when he scouted me to be a part of GGO's beta due to my extensive review of the Nerve Gear on my blog.

I know so much about his achievements and his convictions, I continued, my gaze hardening as I flexed the tired muscles in my hand. So for me, one of the few people who ever met him, there's no denying it.

I closed my eyes for only a moment, but when they opened again, my gaze was resolute. Everything he said is true.

I looked up to the sky with my determined glare, though I knew that the demon lord of this world wouldn't be able to see it amongst the hundred-thousand other faces of all kinds.

If I die in the game, my racing mind began its conclusion of the effects of his proclamation. My hands balled into fists once more as the defining principle of my new reality brought itself to the forefront of my mind.

I die in real life!

The next several seconds of silence, in comparison to those before them, passed by in a flash. One moment, a pin drop could be heard throughout the whole Plaza, if not the entire city, and the next…

Pure chaos.

Screams of rage and terror, hysteric attempts at rationalizing with the creator who wasn't even there anymore, and all other kinds of sounds could be heard. They all mingled together to create a chorus of chaotic symphony that attempted to rob me of my sense of hearing.

I even heard a few gunshots around me. They must have been so hysteric that they were losing their sense of reason— shooting yourself or others in a system-protected area such as the «SBC Glocken» would have no effect on the receiver's HP bar.

I felt a pang of sympathy for these people. Their minds were in a state of chaos that I had somehow avoided, and no amount of reasoning would get through for quite some time.

But the sympathy I felt for the masses shattered in an instant when I thought of the companion next to me, whose skills I had just began to train. What state was his mind in? I almost feared the answer, but I looked over to him anyway.

His face was blank, his eyes wide and bearded jaw slack. I recognized this as my one chance – if I could get the both of us out of here before he went into panic mode, then we could move forward together and survive together.

Before I could second guess myself, I grabbed hold of his slack wrist and jerked on it. It took a few stumbles, but he eventually went into somewhat of an autopilot mode, matching my pace as we made a hasty exit of the increasingly chaotic scene.

By the time I could no longer hear the shouting coming from the «Plaza», my stamina was running low. The «SBC Glocken» was a massive city, and traversing so close to the edges in a full-on sprint as we did was no easy feat, no matter how fit you are.

Luckily, Klein didn't slow me down at all. His strides were longer than mine, as he was at least a head taller than me, so he easily matched my pace. And yet, he too was exhausted by the time we came to a halt to catch our breath at the entrance of a dark, narrow alley.

Once I could speak without panting between words, I turned around to see Klein's face, still devoid of any emotion to hint that his mind was all there. This worried me for a few seconds, before I remembered that I didn't have the time to wait for him to regain his senses.

No… it'd be better if I forced him to regain reason, anyway. If I wait, he might just start panicking.

My expression resolute, I let go of his wrist, bringing my hand up to rest on his shoulder instead. This seemed to snap him out of his trance a bit, at least enough that he would be able to hear me and comprehend what I said.

"Listen for a sec," I requested, though it sounded more like an order. Once more life returned to his eyes, I continued. "I'm heading to the next territory. I want you to come with."

"What?" Though I knew he understood my request, this reply was not at all unexpected. He was still recovering from the shock, so even if he understood my actions, he might not comprehend the reasoning behind them.

Knowing all this, I began to elaborate. I removed my hand from his shoulder, dragging my thumb and index fingers, pinched together, down to pull up a group of loosely-connected holographic windows.

As I manipulated the windows, known as the menu, I began speaking once again. "If what he said is true, and I believe it is, then we've got to train ourselves up as much as we can in order to survive."

A few more flicks of my finger, and a map visible to the both of us appeared in front of me, showing the basic geography of the first checkpoint. There were over twenty blue dots among the large, red-colored map, each one representing a settlement of some kind. "As things are now, the resources in this game are limited. The money, items, and EXP we can earn—there's not enough to go around when everyone's hunting at the same time."

As he stared at the map, I pointed to our current location: a blue dot towards the southwest of the map. "That's where we are. The fields surrounding this area will be hunted clean in a matter of hours by the first few players to get their wits back."

I dragged my index finger across the holographic map, creating a line in its wake as I traced along one of the valleys shown. I stopped at the closest blue dot— the closest settlement, and the location of some essential starting items for my build.

"For efficiency's sake, we'd best move along this path and make it to the next village before nightfall. I know all the safe paths and areas to avoid, so we'll get there without any problems."

With one more flick of the wrist, the map disappeared, and the space between us became vacant again. I looked up to see Klein's scruffy face, contorted into a look of sorrow and remorse.

In that instant, I knew. The reason didn't matter all that much to me— it was the inevitable, unfavorable outcome that he would soon share with me.

He couldn't come with me.

Remembrance hit me in a wave. Earlier, before the revelation of the game's true intentions, he told me that he bought the game with his friends. Klein was a good person, despite his somewhat questionable appearance. I knew he would never abandon his friends for the world, especially to go off with someone he just met a few short hours before.

He put a hand behind his neck, preparing to tell me. But I wouldn't let him. Not because I didn't care. No, I just couldn't take him saying these things directly. Though I appeared calm, my mind was in a state of utter disorder. But even so, there was no way in hell I would let myself lose it and start crying in front of him.

I brought up my left hand and flicked his forehead just as he opened his mouth. "Don't worry, I get it. You need to help your friends."

I could only hope the smile on my lips didn't look as forced as it felt. He looked at me, and I could already see the question in his eyes. It tore me apart.

"Will you help us?"

I closed my eyes, making an effort not to squeeze them shut. I had been told that my eyes always reflected my thoughts, no matter how hard I tried to stop it. I didn't want this man I only just met to notice my inner turmoil.

Every train of thought I tried only led me back to the same conclusion. The same decision always made itself out to be the best, no matter how much I hated myself for it.

I can't do it… all of that pressure, I can't handle it.

"Sorry."

Out of all the things I expected him to tell me, an apology seemed the most unlikely. My eyes snapped open in an instant as I looked into his kind, chocolate-brown gaze.

What..?

Once he knew he had my attention, he spoke again. Each and every word made me feel worse instead of better, but I kept silent. "I really shouldn't be asking for any more favors from you." He gave me a thumbs-up, a goofy smile that fit his personality perfectly adorning his face. "So don't you worry about us, and go to the next territory. I used to run a guild in my last 2D MMO. With that experience and what you've taught me, we'll get by, no problem!"

How? How could he stay so happy? How could he be so selfless? These questions and countless other variants rammed throughout my mind, leaving it in shambles. It was all I could do to turn around to hide the tears I knew would soon start flowing. I was way weaker than I let on, and I had no intention of showing this side to anyone.

After composing myself enough to keep my voice from cracking, I began my response. It felt like each word hammered a nail into my coffin of solitude. "… Okay, then. We'll part here. Send me a message if anything comes up."

"Will do!" came his upbeat reply. I didn't know whether to be relieved that he could function or concerned that he was acting so happy in the face of this situation.

And so, I began to walk. Each slow, measured step I took felt like a ton of bricks were tying me down, making it almost impossible to move. But, whether out of strength or cowardice, I continued, regardless of the pressure.

It hurts…

"Kiriko!"

Just before the pain became too much, he called my name with a certain degree of desperation. I stopped in my tracks and turned my head back just a little, enough to I could see him out of the corner of my watery eye.

He called my name again, this time in a softer tone. "Kiriko…" He scratched his cheek as he struggled for words. I didn't know what to make of this; I was tempted to just bolt right then and there, but I knew if I did, I would only regret the lack of closure more than hearing whatever he had to say.

At last, he smiled brightly, though something to note was the light dusting of pink gracing his scruffy cheeks. "You're really cute as a girl! Make sure to get famous based on more than just looks!"

His comment appeared rude on the surface. But, at least to me, it was very endearing. He was trying to comfort me, compliment me and look out for me, all in the same awkward line.

I turned back to face him fully, a smile of radiance flashing across my face as I pointed a finger at him. "And you make sure to become famous, too! Trust me, it'll be a lot easier without the stupid Mohawk!"

I spun on a dime, beginning to jog forth. And yet, a few seconds later, I couldn't help but to look back at the street from my spot in the middle of this dark, dank, narrow alley.

Of course, it was empty. Klein, my first friend in GGO, was gone. He left to take care of people who needed him more.

And that's exactly why I felt so disgusted with myself for wishing he would have come with me anyway.

Tears escaped me with no resistance as I turned and fled. My last chance to stop being a reckless loner was gone, and now there was nothing left for me. Nothing except one animalistic need.

Survive.

And so, I ran. I ran with all my might, breezing past the boundaries of the «SBC Glocken» and into the desert fields below. It felt like only moments passed between the shifts in scenery to my numbed mind, though it really took several minutes.

Suddenly, five beings appeared in my line of sight. Black, wolf-like monsters with sleek black fur covering a heavy metal frame. The metal jutted out at certain points, giving indication that they truly weren't beings of flesh. This pack of five low-level mobs known as «Predator Destroyers» stood between me and my goal.

I showed them no mercy.

I've got this!

I unhooked my starter «Photon Sword» and drew my handgun in one fluid motion, beginning my assault from afar before giving them a chance to even spot me. A single shot to the first victim's weak spot, the mechanical left eye, was all it took to deplete its HP and obliterate its body in an extravagant display of scattering red, orange and golden polygon fragments.

My anger got the best of me in my second shot, which just barely missed its mark— the eye of another Destroyer. Another shot quickly corrected this error, and it exploded in a manner not at all unlike the one before it.

I can do this!

Just before I was within range to strike with my photon sword, the third fell to a point blank shot to the eye. The final two came charging at me in a futile attempt to avenge their fallen brethren, but their every move had been memorized by me in the beta in my initial struggle to level up.

This world can't beat me!

I effortlessly sidestepped the first strike and spun around, slicing straight through the midsection of my attacker and depleting its entire health bar in a single hit. In the second before both halves joined the first three to fall into oblivion, I saw the cut edges of the beast's mechanical interior begin to curl up from the heat of the light concentrated in my «Photon Sword», and I smelled the fumes of smoldering metal.

An upper spin attack glided through the neck of the final mob in a perfectly smooth cleave. Though its health had not fully depleted, inflicting the «Dismembered Limb» status on a mechanical monster's power source spelled out instant death. And so, it was with a great flash of light and polygon shards that the last of my obstacles vanished.

I will survive!

I didn't stop. The whole fight passed in only a few seconds, and I continued running as if I never wasted my time on them in the first place.

I found myself coming to the end of a rocky ledge. My fight had changed my course slightly without my knowing. But I didn't care. As I jumped over the edge, before landing gracefully several meters below and continuing my sprint at full speed, I released a scream of pent up emotion.

I put all my sadness, despair, anger, fear, and determination into this one shout.

"HAAAAA!"

Author's Note

Inspiration this, inspiration that. I'm beginning to wonder if the real cause of my slowness is that I'm just plain stubborn. When I feel like I can't write on something, I don't even try, but when I actually buckle down and do start writing, I get results like this. That's some messed of stuff there.

Apologies if the rest of this note is sloppy. I just woke up at around four in the morning, with the foggiest of minds, but I think I'm mostly awake. It shouldn't be too bad…

Anyway, what did you think? I know some of you will undoubtedly be pissed about this, especially how my start included stealing someone else's idea for the premise. The thing is, I had been stuck for more than a month with no idea how to even start this fic, even though I so badly wanted to.

Anyone notice how I turned the last 1200-ish words of the shit known as the original chapter two into three-thousand words of… this? I'd say that's pretty damn good. But even so, I won't be doing any more of that shiz for quite some time. I plan to continue onward from the beginning, with no time-skips that pass over two checkpoints or more.

Well, I've gotta go. I can't wait to get some feedback!

See you all next chapter!