Nextgen Kids: Legend of the Nine Newborn

Operation: AINCRAD, Level 3: Online Friends

Time to set up some new friendships I've been looking forward to!

Level 3: Online Friends

Town of Beginnings

"Adventure Log: Entry 202. Month: Star. Day: X. Year: Heart. It has been two years since we were trapped in Aincrad. We could only wonder what had befallen the outside world because of our-"

"What are you mumbling about, Miko?" Jenny asked. "We've literally been here for less than a day!"

"Hey, I just wanna be dramatic!"

"Don't even joke about being here that long." Quill replied. "This is almost as bad as the Voyage..."

When they checked in at the inn, they made the selection for their avatars to sleep until 8:00 a.m.. It was instantaneous; they didn't have to wait to get tired, their vision simply faded to black and reloaded into a brand new day, a seamless transition with the smallest load time. The inn was a safe zone where their avatars were untouchable, so they could sleep safely. The sky was still cloudy on this new day, but sunlight tried to poke through the clouds.

"Hahaha! I still have my body!" Carmine ran outside and happily skipped along the pavement. "It doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt, it doesn't—ow! Pebbles still hurt..." She lifted her foot to brush it off.

"Haha!" Miko giggled. Seeing her friend so happy made this situation a little less stressful. But Miko frowned, knowing not everyone here felt such happiness. She didn't know if Infinite was a rogue Hinobi Program or some other entity, but if it weren't for him, she wondered if this game could've been as wonderful as the creators wanted it to be? If everyone could've had fun and been happy.

"Alert! Glitch approaching!" Boly shouted. "Please derez the unrecognized Program posthaste!"

"A glitch?!" Miko looked around, the others doing the same.

"I don't see anything too weird..." Jenny said.

"User Me_K.O., please look to your left."

They turned that way, but all they saw was a tall, strong-looking swordsman in a blue, sleeveless robe and tights. He had brown hair and charming eyes. "Are you a glitch in disguise?" Miko glared, getting battle-ready.

"Forsake such thoughts, my comrades!" the swordsman declared, clasping the hilt of his blade. "I hath cometh to lendeth my aid!"

"Oh, dear Arceus." Quill groaned. "Is that YOU, Eddy?!"

"Eddy?" Miko perked up.

"Art thou surprisen to see me?" He smirked boldly.

"Dude!" Miko ran up and around the six-foot hero. "You're, like, TALL! And awesome!"

"Ew, I don't like it." Jenny cringed. "And the Shakespeare talk makes it even worse."

"Does that mean you're in the game now?" Carmine approached.

"Well, I... Carmine?"

"Uh, yep!" She smiled and crossed her feet. "We can be whatever we want, huh?"

"Indeed we can! But actually..."

...

In the real world, Eddy was cross-legged on a cushioned floor, his laptop attached to the NerveGear. He used a microphone to transmit his voice and tapped the keyboard to control his character's motions. "Carol found a way to hack our own Programs into the NerveGear. She passed the info to other computer users, so I'm playing in third-person!"