-Journey Into The Forest-

The day started off like any other day till the online servers went down for a surprised maintenance session. No one knew why this was happening, there was no news update saying that this was going to happen but it didn't take long for it to be over. As people logged on it turned out the maintenance was to install a new update that added 2 new locations and a new feature. Kirito was one of the first to get on to see this new update and was greeted by appearing in one of the new areas and seeing someone ride pass by him on a horse, the new feature added to ALO. "Why did they add horse riding when people could just fly…" Kirito asked himself as he looked around the area he spawned in. It was a large open field with obstacles like fences and small walls, most likely this was an area created to allow people to test out how the horse riding was. Kirito saw that this field was connected to one of the major cities but also to a large forest. As Kirito stared at the forest he suddenly got a notification for a quest. It was strange Kirito thought this was gonna be a quest to get a horse but it was a solo quest said to be given to only one person. It was getting weirder as the quest description was very vague itself.

"In the vast, deep forest of [MissingName]...

Long have I served as the guardian spirit… I am known as [MissingName]...

The children of the forest, the [MissingName], live here with me.

Each [MissingName] has his or her own guardian fairy.

However, there is one boy who does not have a fairy…

[MissingName]... [MissingName], where art thou? Come hither…"

Quest Objective: Enter The Lost Forest

"Well that's one weird way to start a quest…" Kirito said as he finished reading over the quest given to him "I shouldn't do this quest since it looks incomplete.". Although his instincts told him to ignore this quest something in his mind was calling for him to do this. He began to debate with himself if he really should do this but after a few minutes of thinking he gave in and started walking to this lost forest that was recently added with this update. "Could this be some sort of beta quest to test out some new features from this new update? I wouldn't be surprised if they wanted me to beta test something since I've done it before..." Kirito said as he entered the forest. Everything seemed to be fine as he walked but as he walked through a large hollow tree his vision suddenly became staticky as though he suddenly lost connection with the server but he was still in the game. After a minute of walking he found himself in a village within the forest. "I guess this is where this quest wanted me to get to…" Kirito said as suddenly his quest updated.

Quest Update:

"Listen to my words, the words of [MissingName]... Dost thou sense it? The climate of evil descending upon this realm...
Malevolent forces even now are mustering to attack our land of [MissingName]...
For so long, the [MissingName], the source of life, has stood as
a barrier, deterring outsiders and maintaining the order of the
world... But...before this tremendous evil power, even my power is as nothing.
It seems the time has come for the boy without a fairy to begin his journey...
The youth whose destiny it is to lead [MissingName] to the path of justice and truth…
[MissingName]...go now! Find our young friend and guide him to me... I do not have much time left. Fly, [MissingName], fly!
The fate of the forest, nay, the world, depends upon thee!"

Quest Objective: Enter Link's House

"This quest is just bringing up so many questions…" Kirito said as he began to explore this fairly large village in this forest. As he went around he began to notice that most of the things were at a weird height like signs were about as tall as he was but he thought nothing of it since, like this quest, he thought this was sort of beta map. After a while of walking around and noticing a few looks coming from some npcs, which only added to the weirdness here, Kirito encountered a sign in front of house on a high platform that read "Link's house". "Lets see where this quest goes from here…" Kirito said as he started to climb the ladder to enter the house. As he entered the home he saw someone sleeping in bed even though it seemed to be the middle of the afternoon. As Kirito walked further into the house his quest updated.

Quest Update:

"Hey! C'mon! Can Hyrule's destiny really depend on such a lazy boy?"

Quest Objective: Wake up Link (Difficulty: Hard)

"Hyrule? Finally giving me a name after not giving me any earlier…" Kirito said as he read the quest description then saw the objective "wait, why is there an actual difficulty level now and why is it hard?". Not wanting to ask so many questions that would get no answer he walked over to the person sleeping which he assumed was named Link. At first he tried to wake him up by shaking him but that didn't work. He then tried waking him up by shouting in his ear, didn't work. Next he grabbed a cup of water that was nearby and splashed it onto Link, no response. The last thing Kirito thought to do was to pick up Link and take him outside. Once outside Kirito held Link upside down and held him of the edge and shook him to wake him up. After a few seconds Link began to open his eyes and as soon as he noticed what was happening he began to panic. "Whoa, what's going on!? Mido, is that you!? I know you make fun of me because I'm a Kokiri but I don't have a fairy but doing this is going too far!" Link was saying as Kirito was slowly pulling him back up. Once on the ground and finally getting his composure Link saw that it wasn't Mido who was doing it but a complete stranger to him "Hey! Why did you do that for? Also why is a kid like you doing in the Kokiri Forest?". "Well I got a quest saying that I need to wa-" Kirito started saying unfazed by this almost human like AI but was taken aback by the fact he was called a kid. "Um excuse you I am not a kid, I'll have you know that I'm actually..." Kirito was explaining as he looked down and noticed that his close looked slightly different and hadn't noticed it till now somehow. Kirito quickly ran into Link's house as he remembered seeing a mirror in there to get a better look at himself and it turned out Link was right, somehow Kirito seemed to be 9 years old. "How is this even possible?..." Kirito said he looking at himself closely to make sure he was actually 9 years old. As he thought about it the more everything made sense, this place wasn't actually that big rather he was shorter then he usually was. The more he thought about it the more he began to worry. The last time something in game changed his appearance was when he was trapped in SAO. He almost didn't want to check but something almost forced his hand. When he dragged down his menu he noticed that it had suddenly changed to a different format. He slowly went over to the setting menu and opened it to reveal his fear, there was no log out button."No… not again…" Kirito said as he sat down on Link's bed to contemplate what was happening. Link had no idea what was happening and could only stand by Kirito and wait for answers like why this guy woke him up. After a few minutes Kirito started to explain to Link what was going on.

Quest Update:

"The Great Deku Tree has summoned you! So let's get going, right now!"

Quest Objective: Go To The Great Deku Tree For Answers

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A/N: After so long I've finally decided to remake this story since the original feels a bit lacking on my skill level now a days for this story I plan to release new chapters every Sunday and if I haven't finish the chapter I'll post an update saying how far along the chapter is. Thanks to those who came from my old account to see my new work.