Fatal Bullet Aftermath

Back to School

August 20, 2027

The whole Unital Ring thing has been the talk for most of the summer. I mean, you must have been living under a rock if you haven't heard of it.

Once I got back to school, everything seemed different. I noticed that kids were rushing to get their work done. One could only assume it was because of Unital Ring. All characters cannot log out. Your avatar would just slump down to the floor and remain defenseless. That's why Asuna and Kirito employed Yui and another person along with a stone wall and pets to defend the cabin.

"Kaito," Kureha questioned while peering over my shoulder, "Why do you rush through most of your work? I mean most of it is due like next week but you do it like if it was due tomorrow."

"I have important events to get through," I coughed.

"What's so important in GGO that you sacrifice quality in your work?"

I thought about what I was going to say next.

"All right you got me, you know about Unital Ring right?" I confessed.

"Yeah..." she responded.

"I haven't been playing in GGO for the past year, I was always playing Unital Ring because my GGO avatar was transported there."

Kureha sat down on my bed.

"But, then what happens if you die there?" she asked, "You're not going to die in real life are you?"

"This isn't going to be like the SAO Incident nor Death Gun. The Amusphere shouldn't be able to kill a person. However, you'll lose your avatar entirely," I explained to her.

"All of it?"

"All of it."

She thought of the fact of losing the second image of me. She stared down at the floor for a second before glancing back at me.

"You better not die, you got that?" she appealed to me before going back to her side of the room.

The conversation gave me something else to fight for in this world. The fact that Kureha doesn't want me to die was something reminiscent of an event Kirito dealt with during his time in SAO. I never thought of the possible impact it could have on someone until now.

"I'll come back to you guys after all of this is over," I promised.

The school VRMMO club decided to make a guild and posted it on the school bulletin. The school originally took it down but were forced to repost it as the club argued that it was under club advertisements. I occasionally joined them in dungeon clearing but I would remain true to Kirito's group.

"Do you want to hang out this weekend?" Kureha offered.

I swivelled around in my office chair and I saw Kureha eyeing me.

"I might be able to go," I said.

"That's great!" she cheered.

To see her smile was really great after her brief period of hating me during my time in GGO. Ever since that time, I've been trying to repair bonds with her ever since. It was definitely a careful balancing game.

"So, where do you want to go?" I asked.

"Inokashira Park," she voiced quickly.

I paused for a second as her answer caught me by surprise. I thought about my transportation options but I remembered that I brought my motorbike to Tokyo this summer before school started. I had a helmet for myself but not Kureha.

"I have my motorbike but I still need to get you a helmet," I mentioned.

"I'll get it soon enough," she answered.

She bought a helmet the next day and we visited Inokashira Park on Sunday. I could infer from her reactions that this day was one of the best days in her life. With her constantly being in the shadow of her sister, it felt good for her to finally get some attention.

After that, we've been going on more dates together to different places in Japan. I couldn't lie that those days were probably the best times of my life.

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G'day chaps!

It's been a while since I got to talk with you. I've been wrapped up in school work and extra curricular classes that take some time away from the book. I'm currently working on the SAO Fandom wiki so that might pull more free time from my schedule. I will work on this during the weekend so expect so more chapters soon!