Aincrad was truly beautiful. Sure, its inception had been done with ugly intentions - and continued to be hell for many people. But.... One had to admit.. It was beautifully crafted. The textures looked real, the foliage was so lush and detailed, the graphical power of this game was beyond anything in the AAA gaming industry right now. Akihiko Kayaba had designed a stunning world. From the minutest details like insects having set routines everyday and genuinely working just like real life, to weapons having a set durability and showing cracks and blemishes before your very eyes. The buildings all showed a medievel era authenticity to them, with constant maintenance done by NPC's but not just that - it was sometimes difficult to differentiate an NPC from a player. Atleast until stringent inspection. The AI was pretty good.

Speaking of AI - the enemies were dangerous. Sure, the towns were made of authentic medievel fantasy characteristics, but make no mistake. This was a dangerous and unforgiving world. For the players still stuck inside. The AI was ruthless, and one needed to work smart and hard. Ofcourse, natural skill and talent for the gameplay was valued and precious. No matter how much you study and prepare. If you don't have the will to pull off your tactics and the power and confidence to move in this world, then it would eat you up. Just like the real one. However, with the disadvantages of the real world came a few advantages. In the real world companionship is valued, and its impossible to move up without help and people to support you. SAO was similar. Players often partied up, made clans or guilds, or very rarely... Got married. Ofcourse, there were less women compared to men in the game, so marriage was downright unheard of. But very rare cases were seen sometimes. Besides, every so often you'd have a gay couple too. There wasn't a lot of room for bigotry in the game when everyone was just trying to survive. Perhaps one of the few good things about the game? Apart from a few gay jokes, everybody knew they had to work together.

Ofcourse, there were forces of evil even among the players. The laughing coffin guild. Laughing Coffin was a guild started by orange players. Before the foundation, they were simply orange players that surrounded solo players or small player groups they ambushed to steal their items in exchange for their lives, however, such encounters did not result in murder. At some point, they started believing murder was not wrong.

On New Year's Eve in 2023, the guild, who already had thirty members, decided to make themselves publicly known and to do so, they attacked a small guild having a party in the field and killed all of the players, causing the first murders in Sword Art Online's history. The next day, January 1, 2024, information about the guild reached the main information providers in Aincrad. The guild was known for torturing and killing their victims. One method of killing players involved inflicting paralysis on a player and then killing them slowly and painfully. Most if not all of the members were supposed to be skilled in potion mixing too.

But there was always light to match the darkness. Other guilds, like knights of the blood oath, Aincrad liberation army, divine dragon alliance, dragon force and golden apple. While these guilds weren't all good, they had morals and a code they lived by. They wanted to fight the bosses and make it to level 100 whatever the cost. Not just for themselves, but for all the people counting on them.

It was difficult for Sai to remember how long he'd been stuck in here. He didn't much care, if he were being honest. This world, cruel as it may be... Had been far kinder than the other one. Sometimes he did miss the one on the outside though. Sometimes he felt like a ghost.. Doing one job after the other. Sai Kamara had been a bit of a loner from the start, not that he'd wanted to be ofcourse... Just how things turned out. He himself did better in situations with friends and loved ones, not that he'd admit it.. But he hadn't had the chance at all in here. Maybe his personality had taken a hit in here? It could also be that the nature of his occupation in here pushed him toward loneliness. You see, he wasn't part of a guild or a solo player working for the better. He wasn't fighting in the front lines. No, he had a very specific job. Technically, he was given the consignment by a higher up in the Knights of the blood oath, but he never joined them. He was merely led toward a purpose. The goal? Well. He was a hunter. He hunted danger. Bosses at random locations that could be dangerous to travellers, orange players with bounties on their head... And his main prey. The laughing coffin guild members. He'd been on their trail for a long time. Infact, he had an item for his job given to him by the leader of the knights themselves. A very unique item, that could be misused in the wrong hands. But he'd been trusted. The item? A Travesty scrambler. If one by chance committed a murder... This item could be used to turn their status back to green from orange or red. However, it only had 10 charges. Part of his job was to catch the murdered alive... But sometimes it just wasn't possible. In these events, where his life was in danger, he had to commit the horrific crimes he was out to stop. He had 5 charges left.

How Sai looked? Well he looked human. Dark complexion, dark hair, dark eyes. About 6 feet? Heavy, bulky armour. Slowed him down but offered supreme protection. It was high level armour that he'd modified custom. He had a rather unique blacksmithing skill that allowed him to modify armour to unique specifications, and a unique sword skill that he hid from everyone. He had a dark cloak as well, and a hood that he usually kept up. He was also scruffy looking, a bushy beard and long hair did him no favours in terms of cleanliness. His weapon was a bulky greatsword, affectionately nicknames "Mama". Why? Who the fûck knew. His belt had many smaller contraptions and weapons that he made sure to use appropriately. But for now... He was on the hunt. Heading toward a lonely intersection during the night. A cave with laughing coffin members hiding out, apparently. Hopefully the Intel would prove correct.

Everythings_Breezy