[novalysis]

There are Four scenarios I've come up for a "want of a Nail" SAO Fanfic ideas, where Kirito makes different choices throughout the Aincrad arc.

Spoiler for Aincrad Arc Spoilers::

What if Kirito decided to take up Klein's offer, waited for Klein to rally his guild, and left the town with them? Perhaps the entire Beater affair could have been greatly reduced, if quite a few Beta players attached themselves to pre-existing guilds. A few Beta Players publicly joining pre-established Guilds may have gone a long way to defuse the Beater affair - sure, there were many self-interested Beta Players (and many got themselves killed consequently for soloing), but quite a few too agreed to join Guilds carried over from other MMOs. Kirito had considered this in "First Day". On the other hand, he wouldn't have come to the realization that he missed Sughara, and may not have developed that Imouto complex that lasted until April 2024.

What if Kirito and Asuna continued travelling after Monochrome? The whole Black Cats Affair might have either been avoided, or at the very least, with the additional firepower of Asuna on board, the whole Wipe may have been completely averted. Then again, this means that Asuna may well not be joining the KoB, or the Black Cats in the end would been done in by becoming a Front-line Guild, which would place all their members in grave danger.

What if Kirito had taken up Sachi's suggestion, and withdrew from the Black Cats (Politely of course)? Would Sachi have died eventually (and if she had confessed by that time, it's even worse), Asuna's relation with Kirito either delayed, rendered more awkward (think Love Triangle nightmare), or completely butterflied away?

What if Kirito somehow ran into Silica earlier? Even better, what if this happens in one of the above three scenarios? Something tells me than in Scenario 1, Furrinkazan would get a rather impressive number of females.