Currently, Ryuji sat on a couch in his apartment watching the clock that displayed, '12:55PM'. It was now August 1st, the day of the beta-test, and he'd prepared to enter by getting himself a good computer as well as a life-support machine equipped with an auto-feeding and hydration system.

 

He'd already paid the apartment owner a whole two years worth of living expenses, so he was set on that, but these last four minutes seemed to take forever.

 

Seeing the clock tick another minute, he put on the nerve-gear and stood up, before laying on the bed and setting everything up. A battery symbol as well as the time showed on the inside of the helmet's visor, and he patiently waited for the remaining three minutes.

 

As time ticked by, he once again thought of his plan to be the 'Specter of SAO'. He'd spectate the world and the characters of Sword Art Online as he slowly but surely built up his strength and connections.

 

He'll definitely meet and befriend Kazuto and the others, but his main goal was to gain power and wealth through the System, only then can he enjoy the luxury of life.

 

Gazing at the time once again, he saw that only a minute or less remained, so he reined in his thoughts and prepared himself.

 

When the clock hit '1PM', he spoke aloud to initiate the dive sequence. "Link Start!"

 

His vision was immediately enveloped in a white light, and streaks of colors flashed by him for a moment, before blue circles appeared in his vision.

 

After completing an almost immediate check of his senses, and he selected Japanese for his language, before his account was auto-logged in. His account name, was Specter, a name he quite liked in fact.

 

But with that done, words that read 'Welcome to Sword Art Online!' appeared briefly, before he was shot through a tunnel of blue plasma.

 

Next, he found himself standing in the center of the town of beginnings, where Akihiko Kayaba would announce the death game when SAO comes online.

 

He brought his hands up into his vision, just like Kirito did, then clenched them into a fist with a smirking smile. The sensation was so real, and he loved it, because with this, he could accumulate experience, gain proficiencies, and level them up with the help of the system.

 

Nonetheless, Ryuji looked around and saw many other players appearing in flashed of blue light.

 

Crystalline shards that were sky blue in color drifted in the virtual breeze, inciting him to look up. There was a sky and a sun, but there was also a massive ceiling held up by a large imposing pillar.

 

These were the stairs that lead to the next floor of Aincrad, and he planned to climb them later today or early tomorrow.

 

Now, sure, he's still in the beta-test and he can log out, but he wasn't planning on doing that for at least three days. After all, he had the life-support machine with auto feeding and hydration. He could stay inside for at least a week before his body would start to deteriorate visibly, but he wasn't going to go that far, because this is only the beta-test after all, he didn't know whether or not his System would had the ability to save his character template.

 

That would be nice though, especially since he'd planned on grinding this game, but all he could do for now was hope.

 

Looking around, he saw a few familiar people, including Kirito, Mito, Argo, and Morte. Kazuto looked like his usual SAO character before he looked into the mirror, with his black hair and eyes staying basically the same, but his face and stature changing quite a bit.

 

Speaking of appearances, Ryuji's looks and appearance was basically Satoru Gojo from Jujutsu Kaisen, with short ice-white hair, bright blue eyes, and a devilishly handsome face.

 

He actually had the blindfold and Jujutsu Sorcerer outfit that completed his look, but even with them, his looks were still amazing. Actually, his major appearance and clothing change was due to the effect of his new (Disguise) skill. He hadn't tried it in real life yet, but if it did something like this, then that would be great since it had basically no cooldown or casting time.

 

Surprisingly though, even with the blindfold on, he could still see perfectly, which was a plus, even if he didn't really know why.

 

Anyway, he dashed forwards and out of the central area, before heading towards the marketplace to grab some quick quests.

 

...

 

Soon enough, Ryuji was standing on an open plain staring at a boar-like monster.

 

A one-handed long- sword was held in a reverse grip in front of him as he stood in a stance. The boar rushed at him with moderately fast speed, but he didn't care, because in a second, his sword glowed with a purple hue, and he flashed past the boar.

 

Flipping his sword back into a normal hold, he held it at his side and watched with interest as the boar exploded into light blue crystalline shards.

 

His hunt didn't end there though, so with that, he moved onwards toward a pack of boars with a predator's smile.

 

Funnily enough, he found out that the SAO quests actually registered onto his System's Quest Tab. Completing them would give him a small amount of Gold and of course Col, but occasionally he would actually level up.

 

"Man, my life's truly just a game..." He spoke lightly to himself as a few boars exploded into crystal shards behind him, prompting his reward screen to show up.

 

He eventually made his own sword style that was lethally versatile in many ways, allowing him to adjust and adapt his technique whenever needed. Truth be told, once he gave his technique the name 'Nebulous Sword Style', his System recognized it and it appeared in his Proficiency list.

 

Actually, the main reasons why he wanted it to be considered a proficiency was because one, it gave attributes buffs when using the style, and two, because it permanently increases his overall 'Technique Comprehension Rate'.

 

Currently, his SAO level was 12, and his System level was 4. Not to bad for the first day, but he wanted more, so much more. He wanted to create a whole bunch of proficiencies, as well as complete a lot of quests, so that's what be did.

 

...

 

After hunting for the rest of day in the plains, he managed to reach level 23. He also went to the dungeon and mapped it out, finding the boss room after a couple hours of searching.

 

He planned to sell most of the mapping data to other players in exchange for Col, but he left out a good chunk of the map where the boss was. Ryuji didn't wanna ruin the storyline to much, so he held back a bit in order to let the story flow.

 

Now of course there were going to be changes, some major, some minor, but he wasn't going to steal Asuna away from Kirito or become the leader of Black Coffin, nope, he was just your friendly omniscient specter.

 

Right now though, he sat on a bench in the housing district eating a grilled boar leg. He managed to get the cooking skill, and although it definitely wasn't going to be a prioritized skill, he was not going to eat some tasteless rock-hard bread.

 

Now he could log out if he wanted, but he didn't need to, nor did he want to, because after all, it'd only been about a day since he came in. He was gonna to get the most out of his Sword Art Online sessions, no matter what.

 

Finishing up his grilled boar leg, he stood up, and disappeared from his spot in a purple blur. This was a technique called 'Dark Stride' that he'd been working on for a bit. Once it became a proficiency, a special effect called 'Shadow Haze' was added onto it. It didn't do much other than cloak his appearance in a dark fluid-like shroud, but the proficiency's speed and agility boost was no joke.

 

Ryuji dashed out towards the plains once again to start his hunt, however on his way there, he spotted a familiar black-haired boy heading the same way.

 

Slowing his pace to match the black-haired boys, Ryuji spoke to him in a glitched voice as his Shadow Haze continued covering him.

 

"Hello, Kirito." Ryuji's sudden greeting spooked him so much that he tripped and fell with a short shout. Pushing himself off the ground the next second, he spoke with frustration and annoyance.

 

"Come on, man! What was that for?!" Ryuji's black figure shrouded in a purple liquid-like energy gazed at him with eyes that looked like bright violet slits. Kirito seemed to tremble a little from my unexpected appearance, however he tensed up even more the next second.

 

"Greetings, Young Kazuto. I am Specter, The Spectator, I would like to give you a quest." Ryuji's monotonous and glitchy voice sounded out, and he said some things that Kazuto couldn't quite understand. Well, that's to be expected since what Ryuji's about to do was never supposed to be. Once he'd reached level 25 in SAO, he got a prompt from his System that read.

 

[Level 25 Confirmed... Conditions Met, Granting A Sword Art Online Authority.] — [You Have Gained The Sword Art Online Authority: Quest Giver.]

[Quest Giver: An authority given to non-player-characters in order to give out quests to players.]

 

Once Ryuji got this 'Authority', a plan popped into his head, and that plan was being enacted at this very moment.

 

Using his Quest Giver Authority, Ryuji made a mental image, and projected in front of Kazuto. It was an immaculate blackish-silver panel with purple words that glowed and read.

 

===<•>===

{Quest}

Quest Name: Black Swordsman

Rank: C~S
Difficulty: Intermediate ~ Master
Location: None

Objective: Become a renowned swordsman clad in black.
Hidden Objective: ???
Reward: +250 Million Col, +10 Specter's Likability
Hidden Reward: ???

Accept|—or—|Decline

===<•>===

 

Kazuto stood there blankly looking at the panel with a face full of shock and surprise.

 

The panel looked otherworldly compared to the ones usually seen, but that wasn't what he was focused on. His focus was on the rewards.

 

"Specter... Sir? I was wondering if this is really any good, I mean sure, I'll be going into Sword Art Online, but I'll lose all of this stuff anyway, so what's the point." With curiosity, Kazuto asked this of shadowy figure, and the 'Specter' obliged.

 

From then on, Ryuji started to sound like an omniscient wise-man as he spoke. "With time and effort, comes experience. Gain experience with a sword, and fight. This experience will carry with you everywhere you go, and if you have enough of if, you can achieve fantastic feats. If you complete the objectives, and gain fame as the Black Swordsman, it will become an exclusive title that you will take you you no matter where you are at."

 

With Specter's words said, Kazuto nodded and tapped the accept button, inciting Ryuji to speak one last time.

 

"If fate will allows it, we will meet again. Keep your karma clean, and until next time Young Kazuto..." 

 

-To Be Continued-