Equis Art Online

Earth

2026

Saturday-January 11th

Kazuto woke up to the sun shining in his face, and the birds were chirping in the trees. He smiled and began to stretch his arms. As he got out of bed and changed into jeans and a T-shirt, he smelled the aroma of eggs coming from downstairs. Smiling, he descended and took his place at the table. Sugu turned around and smiled at him, and handed him a plate of eggs and bacon.

"Morning." he said casually, taking a bite out of an egg.

"I got some big news for my big bro!" she said happily, and handed him her tablet. Kazuto read what was on the screen, and by the end, his mouth was shaped into an O.

"A new worldspace and hub area?" he said, shocked. "This is incredible!"

"Confirmed, big bro. We don't know a lot of the details, but only a few players are going to be able to access it. It's still in testing at the moment." Sugu replied.

"So, how are they going to select the players?" Kazuto said, rereading the article. 'You said that only a few will be able to access it."

"A random drawing. Only 10 players will get to test it and do the main questline. We don't know much more than that." Sugu said, sitting down at the table.

"So, counting me, you, Asuna, Klein, Shino, Rika, and Keiko, there's room for three more. That's assuming we get picked." Kazuto said, reading the details of the drawing, while counting on his fingers. "Says here that if you get picked, you'll receive a special rune that allows transport for up to a player and a navigation pixie. So, that means we can take Yui with us, like I said, if we get picked." Kazuto said.

"Yeah. It also says that each rune allows for a two way trip, but only once. Apparently once we complete the main questline for the new worldspace, we can travel back and forth as much as we want. So, we'll have to stock up on potions, bring excess gear, that sort of thing. And we won't leave the worldspace if we disconnect our NervGear. Basically, we can still log out into the real world, but we will still be in the worldspace." Sugu replied Kazuto tried to reply, but at that moment, Kazuto's phone rang.

"Hey, Asuna!" he said, cheerfully. Yeah, I've heard. You wanna join the drawing? Oh, sweet! I'm ready to dive when you are. Okay, see you soon." Kazuto said, and as he hung up, he smiled.

"I take it Asuna's already in the drawing?" Sugu said, as she chewed on a piece of bacon.

"Yep. So's everyone else in the team. So, I guess we're all set!" Kazuto said, leaning back in his chair. "We're diving in an hour, since that's when the drawing's taking place." At that moment, Kazuto leaned too far back, and his chair fell to the ground.

Sugu smiled and laughed, and as Kazuto got up and continued to eat, a small cloud passed by the sun.

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ALfheim Online

Yggdrasil City

Lisbeth's Blacksmith Shop

Kirito sat down next to Leafa in the waiting room of Lisbeth's shop, and as the members of the party filed in, he smiled at each member. As he walked in, Klein immediately started giving Kirito a noogie, with Kirito's protests giving the girls absolute fits of laughter. After Kirito freed himself from Klein's grasp, Klein immediately began to stare out the window and mope about the fact he had no soul mate. At that point, Silica and Leafa were still laughing out loud. Kirito tried to resist, but Klein's expression ended up making him laugh slightly.

"What's so funny, guys?" Klein said defensively, placing his hands on his waist. "So I haven't found my soulmate yet. So what?"

"Well, I guess the fact you fell in love with a guy in disguise?" Sinon said with an evil smile.

Klein's face went from stalwart to absolutely crushed. He started cowering near Kirito, which only made Kirito nervous.

"B...b...but I thought she was a girl...I thought...you know what...That...THAT IS OFF-LIMITS!" Klein stammered, then he began to yell, and Sinon put her hands us in defense.

"Hey, we all fell for it, so I guess we were all fooled!" Asuna said, walking in with two baskets full of potions. Kirito smiled and hugged her, which made Klein even more pouty. Kirito then felt a light tapping on his shoulder. He turned and saw Yui with a pleasant expression on her face.

"What's up, Yui?" he said.

"The Random drawing is starting in about five minutes!" she said. "Daddy, I really hope you win!"

"Yeah. I hope so." Kazuto said, and Asuna smiled at him.

"You know, Kirito, that sometimes luck plays into you into its favor, not luck into yours." she said with a thoughtful expression. "Dad told me that at breakfast."

"Yeah, I can understand that. I mean, the odds of us getting picked are really low." Kirito replied. " I seriously doubt that all seven of us are going to be picked."

At that moment, the doorbell rang, and as Lisbeth answered the door, they could see the door open. The group could hear her talking to a player. After a minute or so, a Spriggan walked in, wearing armor similar to Klein's, only Silver, green, and brown, with armor and a chainmail vest. The draped sleeve was absent as well. The Spriggan had gray and brown hair, with a longsword and a parrying blade strapped to his back and side. He walked up to the counter and handed over his weapons , which Lisbeth took to repair. He looked into the room that the group was in, and he suddenly got an embarrassed expression on his face, and he began to back out.

"Hey, if you want to sit with us, you can. We don't mind!" Silica said, and the Spriggan poked his head back in.

"Thanks. I thought I stumbled into something private. I didn't want to interfere or anything." he said sheepishly.

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it, come on in!" Asuna said, and grabbing his hand, she led the Spriggan in. After Asuna pulled up a chair for him, the Spriggan sat down.

"Thanks, by the way." he said kindly.

"No problem. I'm Asuna."

"Aries."

As introductions went around, the talk eventually settled on the drawing.

"You interested?" Kirito asked Aries.

"I really am. I know that I have like, a less than five percent chance of winning, but, I figured while I was at the market, I would get my gear forged and repaired, and restock on potions." Aries replied.

"Yeah, I can see why you would. So, what type of player are you?" Klein asked.

"I'm a Ranger. Quick and swift." he said, opening up his stats screen.

"Wow. Those skills are impressive." Kirito said, with the group crowding around. Aries's skills were nearly as good as his, only lower in each by around fifty points or so. Kirito noticed he had high skills in Acrobatics, Sprint, and most combat areas. What was more surprising was his affinity with Wind Magic.

"Thanks. I've been playing since the launch of ALO under Ymir. I've already got my sights set on being the best Ranger around. I still have a few Legendary items to go, though."

"That's even more impressive." Lisbeth said, walking in. As she handed Aries his sword and parrying blade, Kirito thought of something.

"Hey, Aries. If we win the drawing, do you want to join our party?" Kirito asked.

"Sounds good to me. I've mostly been grinding Yrd and raiding bosses in New Aincrad, so I guess why not!" Aries said, and as they shook hands, a screen popped up for each player in the room, showing a countdown. Yui cleared her throat from her perch on Kirito's shoulder, and she began to speak.

"Drawing in five...four...three...two...one...zero!" Yui said, and as she said zero, a message came up on each player's screen, emblazoned with "You have been selected to explore the Eqigard realm." Kirito blinked, and as he looked around the room, he could see that all his friends, plus Aries, had the same message.

"We...won!" Kirito said, and everyone began to speak at the same time. Kirito raised his hand for silence, and everyone quieted.

"Well, it seems that we all got picked. So Yui, do you know where this Eqigard is?"

"According to the instructions I was just given, we need to head towards a dungeon called the Eqigard Terminus. After we defeat the boss there, we should find the portal we use to head to Eqigard." Yui replied.

"Sounds easy enough. What's the boss?" Silica said, and Pina crowed.

"I can't tell yet." was Yui's reply, and everyone sighed.

"Well." said Aries, "At least we know where we need to go."

"Agreed. We should probably get going." Sinon replied, and as everyone agreed, Kirito smiled.

"Well then, let's get going!" he said, and everyone cheered. As they began to get their gear and weapons in order, far away, in the Eqigard Terminus, a player in a white lab coat watched as the portal opened. As he stepped through, he smiled. The small-frame glasses he was wearing reflected the rainbow light. A black sword and a Silver-blue rapier were strapped to his back. He sighed, and as he stepped through the portal, he chuckled a bit.

"We'll be meeting each other soon...Kirito and Asuna."