Ahh, very excited for this, it's exactly what I've been looking for. Count me in :D
Name: Kappei Yamaguchi
In-Game Username: Rapp
Age: 19
Country: Japan
Gender: Male
Appearance: Kappei has a childish face usually spouting a large grin with a single sharp tooth protruding from his top lip, accompanied by his hazelnut hair which is commonly spiked up and held in place by a deep red head band stretching across his forehead. He has a scarlet red 'x'-shaped scar on his forehead as a result of his rough childhood having fended for himself since a young age, perched in the center between his larger-than-average relatively perky ears. His eyes are dark brown and wide, making him appear young and vulnerable to those that don't know him. His eyebrows are thin yet defined making his facial expressions very easy to read, even for a complete novice. He has a thin build but his sizeable muscles spanning across his arms and chest still make him appear as a forced to be reckoned with, especially coupled with his above-average height and long toned legs. He commonly wears green wrist bands on both arms and a pale sack-like vest accompanied by dark brown trousers and pointed pale green shoes; this is all he's been able to afford so he treasures even the most beaten up of his rags. His right arm is branded with a deep red helical tattoo from a gang that he was part of in his earlier years on the streets which serves as a constant reminder of his early life, alongside a metal chime necklace once worn by his father that he keeps with him at all times.
Similar to this, minus the incredibly pointy ears, green coif and face paint:
Personality: Kappei is a tough boy that is very accustomed to not trusting people. Due to his life on the streets in gangs and foraging for himself all his life, he's never had the chance to trust others and therefore assumes the worst about them. He has no gauge on technology or modern happenings but instead dreams of living in olden times alongside blacksmiths and knights, all working together to protect the town as opposed to everyone fending for themselves using blackmail and betrayal to get what they want in modern life. He loves to have fun when he gets the chance but having only had a very limited supply of friends in his life, Kappei isn't adept in talking to others and has little idea on how to hold himself in a proper conversation; however, this isn't a problem for him as he has no inclination of talking to others anyway unless he requires something from them. He's always wanted to be able to provide a service to the world and help it shape up into something better than what he's always known, but without a yen to his name and no one to turn to for support he's never had the option to make something of himself. He knows he has untapped potential and he's yearning to unleash it upon the world, but with his current living situation the best chance he has to do good is to craft clothes and tools out of nearby trash for the other street walkers to use, and this makes him angry. Kappei does also possess an innocent and vulnerable side which he'll only show to those closest to him, but once he trusts someone enough to show them this second personality he will be loyal to them for life; however the chance of seeing this vulnerable side is practically zero as the streets don't allow for children, and that's what he's determined not to be, despite his self-betraying appearance to others.
Life before SAO: Kappei was an only child, born and raised in the poorest areas of Japan. His mother died during childbirth and his father was murdered in a gang affair when he was still a young boy at age six, leading Kappei to live a life of anger and confusion as he prowled the streets alone looking to survive. At first he was furious and sought to take revenge on those that had taken his father away from him, but after countless fights and scars he finally decided that revenge wasn't the right path to take. Instead, he took to helping the less-fortunate street walkers around him in hopes that they would rise up and help him turn the streets of Japan into a safer place for everyone to live. He began life as a craftsman, making as many tools and instruments as he could from the random junk he found lying around on the streets, before sharing his newly made supplies with the community that he had been slowly gathering. However, as more and more people came to him, events took a turn for the worst. People began to take advantage of Kappei's deeds and hoarded his goods so that others couldn't access them and even began stealing them from right under his nose as they knew a weedy boy like him wouldn't be able to protect himself. This made him furious, but remembering his previous experiences with revenge he decided instead to begin building himself up in hopes of fending off future thieves and looked into methods of insuring his goods were being given to those that needed them. He became strong from his training with the local kids nearby and began to craft his goods and tools once again, but this time requesting goods in return. He still supplied free goods to the neediest and weakest of the street walkers, but requested that the others gave him materials which he'd be able to use in future to create even more merchandise to distribute; it was this idea that helped him to discover his real passion for the art he'd undertaken. He defended himself from thieves using a small blade that he'd crafted from broken shards of metal which he had become skilled at using and his service took off, eventually reaching the point where he could begin charging the regular public for his goods and began saving up enough money to get off the streets for good. However his dream still remained and as he heard about the famous new 'Nerve Gear' that was able to take you to far away places like Aincrad where you could be free to live however you want, he made it his goal to save up enough money to purchase his own copy and join in with that magical world. He achieved his goal just two days before the release of Sword Art: Online and ensured he was at the shop in time to buy his own copy, which he hastily calibrated in an abandoned workshop where he had be staying and began the full dive.
Current Level: 6
Weapon: Dagger, no shield. (Ideally with the option to use daggers as thrown weapons too, perhaps as a Knife Throwing skill or something? If not I'll stick with just using daggers without shields.)
Non-Combat Skills: Forgery and Alchemy
Summary of first month in Aincrad:
- Quickly fled from the Town of Beginnings to escape the mass of people and began collecting resources he found scattered around the terrain as habit for use in future endeavours.
- Took to slaughtering any enemies that came near him through impulse, mimicking his defensive nature in the real world.
- Instantly began trying combinations of materials in order to make tools or weapons that he could use to defend himself against the wild enemies.
- Learnt how to cook at a basic level through experimenting on his own with various drops from the first floor monsters.
- Stayed clear of any player-player contact for the first few weeks to avoid getting attacked or robbed before noticing the majority of players helping each other out rather than fighting and began to let people approach him.
- Became friends with a couple of passing-by players from time to time but remained a solo player for the most part.
- As dungeons began getting cleared he took to collecting the rarer resources within and crafting them into useful items for the more pronounced fighters to use, for a small fee of course.
- Became a decent blacksmith being able to craft many different tools, weapons and pieces of armour from even basic materials, but developed a large desire to find and use some rarer and more special materials in his work.
- Trained for a while on the first floor monsters whilst other warriors were clearing the important parts of the game so that eventually he'd be able to join in and help them once he'd reached their level. Didn't get far though as most of his time was focussed on gaining and supplying new materials and equipment for the more important fighters.
- Made a home in a hollow on the first floor whilst saving up to rent better accommodation on later floors.
- Began practising low-level alchemy using ingredients from the field to make a basic array of potions.
- Relatively unphased by the inability to log out (I assume the first month covers that event?) - Aincrad symbolises everything he has always wanted from life. A fresh start where he can do whatever he wants with no limitations.
"
Wh... What..." As Rapp's avatar materialised in the Town of Beginnings, he peered around groggily for a few seconds before flailing his arms around wildly having realised that his brain now controls this virtual character instead of his own physical body. "
Woah, I can... This is... Am I dreaming...?" Looking around, he noticed the huge number of people surrounding him, everyone so close to him that he could be attacked at any time given the right opportunity. He ran out of the central spawn point out into the outskirts of town to avoid being followed and glanced around wildly to see if anyone had been chasing him. As far as he could tell, he was safe. For now.
Woah, so this is Aincrad... It feels so... real... What am I supposed to do here? I guess I could- "
-Oh look, some scrap metal on the floor!" He rushed over to pick up the hunk of metal that had been left lying around and instantly began thinking of what it could be used for. He had no idea if the game would let him use it or even if this virtual world was capable of crafting tools, but he decided to give it a try and attempted to mould the soft metal in his hands. Suddenly it vanished in a shattering of blue shards before a small metal dagger materialised in his hands. "
Woah, that was so cool... Again, again, again!"
Whilst looking around for more materials to use for his new-found hobby, Rapp suddenly stopped and jerked up at the sound of voices. He wasn't accustomed to strangers being friendly and so instantly wielded his new dagger and attempted to hide in the shadows behind the town's gate. The duo consisting of two large men passed by, but they seemed happy - almost as if they had somehow became friends after having known each other for only a matter of hours. How could this be? Surely one of them was just being lead out of town to his death, that must be it, there's no way people could trust each other that quickly.
Just wait till the scream, I warned ya...
Wanting to avoid any more potential threats in passing by people exiting the town and coming his way, Rapp decided to head out into the first floor's fields to scout for a good hideout and some basic materials to test out crafting with. He came across a sizeable burrow in a tree near the entrance to what appeared to be a small dungeon and decided to make camp here. He stored a collection of twigs and scraps that he'd found in the field in a small chest he'd crafted out of twigs and covered it with a pile of nearby leaves before heading out to scout his surroundings. He certainly didn't trust any other players with his treasures so he'd definitely need something more formidable to keep them in until they were crafted and could be added to his inventory.
He began thinking to himself as a boar began charging at him head first whilst he nimbly dodged the oncoming attack. "
What the- Ahhh!" He quickly bared his dagger which shone a bright green hue as he sliced straight through the boar's side, leaving it nursing it's wound and running back to his hideout. "
Am I supposed to be able to kill something like that!? Maybe I'm in over my head... Or perhaps I just need some better equipment. Let's see..." He rummaged around through what he had collected thus far and tried combining various resources to create something that would be passable as combat-worthy, and eventually after many attempts succeeded. As he equipped his newly made wooden chest plate, he returned to where he had found the boar and began his attack again. Swerving to the left to avoid it's attack and then ripping into it's throat with his now-red metal dagger, the boar fell to the ground with a loud sequel and a menu appeared in front of Rapp awarding him experience and some items including boar meat and leather. "
Well I'm sure I can make something out of these!"
Many days had passed since Rapp's first encounter with a wild enemy and since then many more had been slain and a sizeable amount of resources had been collected, as well as his hideout having become something of a home with all the personal touches he had added and items he had forged. He had seen countless players walking past at various points, some of which stopped to say hello, others of which simply ignored his presence, but none of them seemed to be wanting to hurt him. At first he prepared to strike down any passer-by with his handmade weapons just in case they attacked him first, but they all just laughed assuming it was a joke. That's not something an enemy would do, is it? He'd grown rapidly more comfortable around these people now to the point where he'd even leave his weapon fully sheathed with no worry of having to fight anyone; perhaps it was time to venture back to the town and see what's around?
Rapp quickly came across a group of craftsmen who all decided to pool their materials and share their knowledge, but after seeing Rapp's work so far they were astounded and readily named him an honorary member of the group after he'd made it clear he had no intention of staying. He helped them to make their forging more efficient and give tips on how to get better quality items, and in return gained use of their anvils and hammers which he was then able to take away with him back to his own den. He was beginning to grow tired of the life lived by a solo player and contemplated branching out by joining up with a guild, but he wasn't quite ready for such interaction just yet. Joining a guild requires a large amount of trust; something which Rapp does not possess. Instead he continued to forge the materials that he could gather and kill the occasional boar to test out what he'd made, but fighting wasn't really his thing, he was much more of a support kind of guy given the choice. His favourite was a sleek dagger made from iron ingot and sharpened boar bones that he named "Wishbone" due to the boar's final attack leaving him with only 1% health remaining; coming that close to death was not a feeling he wanted to relive any time soon and thus he vowed to keep making stronger and stronger equipment to keep him and everyone around him alive.