Solid Shark's Monochrome Duet is an SAO fic wherein the Dark Elf NPC Kizmel, who always did act much more lifelike than the rest, shows up just after the 25th floor boss fight when Asuna joins the Knights of Blood and partners up with Kirito rather than him going off solo. Naturally this leads to quite a few differences going forward, most notably a continuing quest line based on the Elf War, and certain other minor or spin-off supporting characters rising to more prominent roles.
Probably not a truly new spin on it but it kept me going through the 300K+ word length, technically competent, and the ongoing question of how to keep her and any other Turing-test level AI that might have or come to exist before SAO is cleared from simply being deleted as it shuts down is enough to keep me looking forward to it as it continues, even if Yui in canon does offer the skeleton of a plan. Mildly recommended, with some real high points in the latest chapters to close the first big character arc - with Ch19 you could honestly say, "But they found a way. The End," without being horribly unsatisfying.
Probably not a truly new spin on it but it kept me going through the 300K+ word length, technically competent, and the ongoing question of how to keep her and any other Turing-test level AI that might have or come to exist before SAO is cleared from simply being deleted as it shuts down is enough to keep me looking forward to it as it continues, even if Yui in canon does offer the skeleton of a plan. Mildly recommended, with some real high points in the latest chapters to close the first big character arc - with Ch19 you could honestly say, "But they found a way. The End," without being horribly unsatisfying.
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‎noli esse culus
‎noli esse culus