{DISCONTINUED} Aliczation Rebooting: Sword Art Online

Prologue

"Stay cool, Kirito."

Looking at those lifeless green eyes that were filled with despair, he felt oddly nostalgic. He didn't see the friend of a lifetime that accompanied him during these long, agonizing years.

Instead, Kirito saw himself in his best friend. The despair reflected in Eugeo's eyes was identical to Kirito's back when Asuna had perished on that fateful day, when Aincrad was cleared. Allowing himself and Asuna to die that day was his greatest mistake, and it was only by chance that the both of them were able to make it out alive. Although he never showed it, Kirito always thought of ways to atone for this sin, the sin of being unable to act when it mattered the most. Yet here he was, standing aside, watching helplessly as his best friend's life slowly decrease and witness his inevitable death.

He learned nothing, he decided. Even though he tried to avoid making the same mistake again, after failing so miserably all those times, he learned nothing. He somehow allowed himself to make a worse mistake, which was to allow Eugeo to fail in the exact same way he had so many times. As he gazed helplessly at his best friend, he remembered how he had allowed his former Guild in Aincrad to die. Keita, Ducker, Tetsuo, Sasamaru and Sachi. Kirito replayed their final moments in SAO, and again, saw how god damn useless he was.

At that moment, Kirito felt an insurmountable rage overcome him, most likely due to berating himself for being so helpless.

'No, I won't allow him to die. Not if I can do anything about it.'

These thoughts were racing around Kirito's head. It was already clear that healing with the Luminous element wouldn't work. The situation was already dire. Eugeo's marine coat was dyed crimson with blood, and his torso was cut off by the Administrator in their previous battle. Kirito opened a Stacia Window that showed Eugeo's status, and saw that his life was already less than 5%, and with the number still gradually decreasing, the moment when his life would drop to 0 was approaching quickly.

Without a moment's hesitation, Kirito began chanting, hoping to stall for long enough to find a method to save him.

"System call. Transfer Human Unit Durability, self to left."

"Kirito, what are you-", Eugeo, who was staring back at him, began.

"Shut up, I won't let you die here. Not if I could do anything about it." Kirito cut him off, desperate to save his life. After all, to Kirito, Eugeo was the true hero of this battle. He was the one who destroyed that horrendous Sword Golem and the one who sacrificed himself in order to save half the population of Underworld.

Kirito glanced around the room, hoping to find something, anything that would save Eugeo. The only object in the empty room was the crystal tablet Administrator used to attempt to leave the Underworld. His eyes brightened, and a plan started formulating in his head. If that tablet was what he think it was-

After Eugeo's life increased to 33%, Kirito easted no time and made a mad dash towards the tablet, no, the system console. He skidded to a stop when he was at a closing distance and rushed towards the keyboard, preparing to access the system in a way Quinella never could.

As his fingers reached the keyboard, he finally realized the one, tiny flaw in his plan.

'Well, this is just great. Quinella just had to do it, huh?'

Curses towards Administrator raced around Kirito's head as he grit his teeth in anger.

During the duel against Quinella, the loss of his arm seemed like a good deal in exchange for her death, yet arriving at his console, it was apparent that luck was certainly not on his side. Never mind the fact that he was in agonizing pain or the fact that he hadn't even used a computer in three years. With the keyboard as his newest opponent, the loss of a hand seemed like a curse instead.