Seichi Namatame

"This...is our reality."

- Seichi, Chapter 1: Disgraced Battle God

Seichi Namatame is the protagonist of the fan story, Sword Art Online: King's Avatar.

A former professional gamer, Seichi works at the Dicey Cafe under Andrew Gilbert Mills. Initially had no intention of returning to the gaming scene, he plays Sword Art Online out of curiosity after he is given a copy by his friend, Kazuto.

Appearance
Seichi is a young man in his late teens, just short of reaching adulthood. He's described as having an androgynous face and considered to be a pretty boy. Of course, even if you were to put him in a dress and apply make up, you would still be able to tell that he is male. He has mismatched eyes: one eye is dark red and the other is aqua. In his usual attire, he wears a white shirt with a heavy gray jacket with fur lining and faded jeans.

His SAO Avatar, Shiro, was initially taller than he was in the real world and wore standard starting equipment like the rest of the players. After the Death Game is announced and he uses the <>, his Avatar reverts to his RL appearance, with only his eyes and chair remaining the same.

Background
Seichi's early life is unknown, other than that he was childhood friends with the Kirigaya siblings. Alongside Kazuto, he had an interest in gaming. Suguha would often watch the two play on her cousin's computer. However, after Kazuto discovered that his birth parents had died and that he had been adopted by his aunt and uncle, he drifted away from Suguha and Seichi. Around this same time, Seichi had chosen to pursue a professional gaming career. Suguha had attempted to remain in contact with him, but as his career took off, even their relationship became strained.

Seichi was an avid fan of the MMORPG, BANG BANG SHOOTING, a FPS game that had become an international hit overseas. During the early 2018-2020, PC gaming was at an all time high. Seichi's career had took off, with him eventually being recognized as the best player in all of BBS, christened with the nickname "The King of Bullets." He was eventually scouted and recruited into End World, and helped them win many awards.

In 2021, however, Seichi's arrogant attitude and refusal to work with his teammates had led to him being removed from his position as Team Captain and was to be made Vice-Captain, with newcomer Naomi Masao to be his replacement. Angered and outraged, Seichi decided to quit the club. However, as he spent the majority of his winnings on charity donations and a personal side venture, he was unable to pay the termination fees. The alternative was announcing his retirement, a decision the team manager doubted he would take.

Seichi, however, did announce his retirement and ultimately left the club. Naomi, who had been a fan of his, had heard his conversation with the team manager and was heartbroken. Seichi, for the first time, started to realize "how much of an ass" he was.

Initially, Seichi was going to return to the professional scene while still playing BANG BANG SHOOTING. However, months after his retirement, an accident occurred in which Kazuto Kirigaya had lost all feeling in his lower body, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down and permanently stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. The details behind the incident are unknown, but Seichi felt responsible for the event ever happening, and has since given up on gaming completely.

In 2022, he had found a job at the Dicey Cafe.

Personality
In 2021, Seichi is shown to be very prideful and confidant of his skills. Something that is not without merit, as he quickly rose through the ranks and became the top player in all of BANG BANG SHOOTING. Unfortunately, this has also led to him being arrogant as well. He had trouble working with his teammates, which had caused problems. Furthermore, when he was told he was being relegated to being Vice Captain and that the new Team Captain was to be Naomi, who had been on the team for five months, he was furious and felt betrayed. He chose to quit the club and announce his retirement solely out of spite.

In 2022, however, Seichi's personality has changed considerably. There is little traces of the King of Bullets or his arrogant attitude. He is on good terms with his employer Andrew, with the latter often asking him if he has a girlfriend yet and Seichi often joking with Andrew about his lack of customers in the morning. He is also shown to be quite comfortable around the Kirigayas after their relationship has renewed, with Seichi visibly worried when he sees Kazuto rather haggard after he pulled an all nighter. Much of his current personality stems from the unknown incident that cost Kazuto his legs, which Seichi feels he is responsible for.

In Sword Art Online, Seichi takes an immediate dislike to the game mechanics. While he doesn't mind the tedious grinding the game imposes, the disparaging difference in damage between regular attacks and Sword Skills irks him, though this is primarily in part due to his difficulty in executing the correct motions in activating a Sword Skill. Before the Death Game was announced, he intended to call it quits after partying with Klein for a short while. That said, he was shown to be highly analytical, as he often used the pitiful damage done by regular attacks to find a pattern in enemy movements.

Aincrad Arc
After a flashback involving the regional BANG BANG SHOOTING tournament in Roppongi, Seichi wakes up in his apartment, griping about the cold before he notices he is running late and rushes out of his apartment, nearly running crashing into his neighbor Asogi. After he arrives at Dicey Cafe, Andrew jokes with him and asks if he has a girlfriend yet. A news report blares on the TV, mentioning End World struggling after Seichi hd left the team while Dream Kingdom was gaining traction. Seichi is then reminded of the events involving his retirement, remembering how hurt Naomi looked when he had called her an idiot, fully aware that he had been her idol for years.

After Andrew tells Seichi they will be closed tomorrow, on account of Andrew playing Sword Art Online when it goes live, the former gets a text message from Kazuto, asking him to come by. When Seichi arrives, he discovers that Kazuto had pulled an all nighter and looks ragged. After a bit of small talk, Kazuto gives him his copy of Sword Art Online, which he got earlier today on account of him preordering it after he finished the Beta Test. Originally, Kazuto wanted to play the game, but he wants to attend the kendo tournament Suguha will be competing in.

The following day, Seichi decides to give SAO a shot and installs it on the NerveGear Kazuto gave to him. As he waits for it to install, he reads articles on forums and blogs to pass the time, including trash posts by his old teammates who were fed up with his attitude, Naomi's improvement as a gamer and an interview with Akihiko Kayaba. After the game is finished installed and the game goes live, Seichi logs into Sword Art Online and creates his Avatar, Shiro.

Seichi initially struggles with the game, primarily in properly executing a Sword Skill in spite of being given a guidebook by a Beta Tester. To compensate, he decides to prolong his fights and study the enemy, allowing him to fight them more effectively, though the process takes much longer. He eventually parties up with another player named Klein, but this partnership soon ends after they defeat a Mid-Boss. As Seichi leaves, Klein notes he could easily be a pro player if he stuck around to play the game.

When he returns to the Town of Beginnings, Seichi immediately notices that the Log Out function and the GM Call are not working. When he arrives at the plaza, all 10,000 players are suddenly forced back into the Town of Beginnings, where Akihiko Kayaba appears and informs of them of the present circumstances and announcing the beginning of the Death Game. Seichi is initially skeptical of his claims until Kayaba provides further evidence. When he leaves, Seichi falls to his knees in despair while everyone else either does the same or panics.

Kazuto Kirigaya
The two have been friends since childhood and shared an avid love for video games. After Kazuto discovers the truth about his "parents," however, the two suddenly drift apart, with Seichi choosing to pursue a professional gaming career. After his retirement and an incident that led to Kazuto being bound to a wheelchair, Seichi and the Kirigayas relationship is rekindled. Seichi also feels responsible for Kazuto being unable to walk.

Suguha Kirigaya
Like Kazuto, Suguha was childhood friends with Seichi and often watched him and her cousin play games on the latter's computer. After Kazuto began to distance himself from her and Seichi pursued a professional gaming career, she had attempted to rekindle their friendship and stayed in contact with Seichi, though it quickly became strained when the latter's career began to take off. After the incident that led to Kazuto being bound to a wheelchair, however, the three rekindle their lost friendship.

Andrew Gilbert Mills
Several months after Seichi retired from the gaming scene, he found a job at the Dicey Cafe and came to work under Andrew, who accepted him because a young worker could attract some attention and his pretty boy features. Seichi usually has only positive things to say about Andrew and rarely ever gripes about him. Andrew is also very tolerant of Seichi's habit of coming to work late.

Goshi Asogi
Seichi's neighbor. The two do not appear to interact much, but they are close enough for Asogi to know that Seichi is often late to work and that he works at the Dicey Cafe and has positive things to say about his boss.

Klein
The two players met up during the tutorial phase of Sword Art Online, with Seichi saving Klein as he struggled to defeat an enemy. Immediately afterwards, Klein requested they party up. This partnership was short lived, though. Klein notes how Seichi could easily become a pro player based on his analytical abilities if he chose to stay in the game.

Skills and Abilities
In BANG BANG SHOOTING, Seichi is one of the best, if not the strongest player overall. Despite his troubles working with his teammates on account of his arrogance, he is one of the five known players that came score a high Critical Hit range when using the Scoundrel class' unique skill, [GUN-FU]. More than that, he is the only player to score a %100 Critical Hit range with the skill, being one of the prime factors behind his fame as the King of Bullets.

In Sword Art Online, Seichi initially struggles to familiarize himself with the game's mechanics. He has trouble executing a Sword Skill, to the point where is only able to activate a single Sword Skill rather than others. However, he makes up for this in analytical abilities. By studying his enemy's attack patterns and movements by using his regular attacks, which do little damage compared to a Sword Skill and dragging out a fight, he can capitalize on their mistakes.

Stats
Seichi is still a beginner player, so his current stats are low. At present, he only knows basic Defensive Skills and Buffs, and can only execute one of the spear weapon's Sword Skills.

Trivia

 * Seichi's backstory as a disgraced pro gamer is in homage to Ye Xiu, the protagonist of the Chinese novel The King's Avatar. The story also served as the primary inspiration for the story and Seichi's character overall.
 * Barring Klein and Agil, Seichi is the oldest SAO player of the main cast.