The world around him was completely pixelated and yet it felt so real upon touching it. The sun felt real but it was artificial even the body he occupied was nothing but an avatar. The bright sun beat down on the town, making it seem brighter than it was. By the year 2022, humanity had accomplished many technological wonders including the Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game (VRMMORPG). This was what the world around him was, a virtual simulation, and a very realistic one at that. The game was called Sword Art Online and this is what the young man was standing in and absorbing. His name was Higuchi, this was only his avatar but this was what he was going to have to go by. His real name was Kyousuke Akihiko and his father was the genius behind the game. Kayaba Akihiko was distant and seemed to have all the time in the world for work but never his son. This left Kyousuke wondering if he even loved him at all and he eventually came to the conclusion that it's unlikely that his father really did care about him.
He shook his head to relieve himself of these memories. He was no longer Kyousuke Akihiko, high school student and all around tech nerd. Today for this period of time, he was Higuchi, speed type assassin and katana master. He ran his gloved hand through his white hair as if he could wipe away the memories with that action alone. Unsurprisingly it failed to give the results he wanted. He walked forward to what was called the Town of Beginnings, where dozens of other players were already talking about how amazing this game was and how realistic everything seemed. The world was called Aincrad. It was basically one floating castle that managed to fit never-ending environments ranging from towns to deserts, to grasslands, to mountains. "This is incredible," was a term that was echoed among the Town of Beginnings. It was similar to a medieval marketplace place you would expect to find in fantasy games similar to this, even the music playing in the background gave off that ambience. Higuchi's white eyes darted back and forth as he walked through the town, taking in every detail he could within his line of sight.
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he felt something ram right into his back forcing him and whatever it was to tumble to the ground. "Sorry 'bout that." a voice said as the person it belonged to lifted themselves off of Higuchi. "Take it easy." he said forcing himself to one knee with one gloved hand over the part of his face that scraped across the stone pavement. Higuchi turned to see someone that had an uncanny resemblance to a clichéd fantasy protagonist. This guy had an exaggerated look about him that screamed artificial, but this was to be expected as Higuchi did the same thing with his hair and eyes. His face, however, he decided to keep the same. Higuchi looked to the right side of the person's head where the name was supposed to be floating. It read Kirito he had black hair that fell into his eyes and slightly down to his shoulders. Higuchi noted that he was wearing a sort of armor that covered only the vital parts of his abdomen. Everyone got the same kind of armor when first logging into the game. Kirito wore a long sleeve dark blue shirt while Higuchi wore a black one.
"Are you okay?" Kirito asked. "Yeah, I'll live." Higuchi said removing his hand from his face. Fortunately there was no noticeable wound from when he fell onto the ground. "Just watch where you're going." Higuchi said as he began walking away. "You sure you're okay?" Kirito asked as Higuchi looked at his own health bar. The bright green line below his name had decreased by 0.5, it wasn't any damage that wouldn't heal itself over time. "Forget it, these things happen. Besides I can't feel pain in here." Higuchi said. Nobody could feel pain when they were hurt in the simulation but some people still reacted out of habit. If one could feel pain while in Aincrad then they had better get used to it because they would be fighting monsters and wielding deadly weapons, sometimes against each other.
"Well, if you're sure you're okay, I'm gonna move on." Kirito said and Higuchi refuted with an awkward, "See you around." After Kirito ran off, Higuchi continued his walk to gather his bearings in Aincrad. Higuchi decided to look around town to see if there is anything else of interest for him. What immediately came to his attention was a girl standing in front of a building looking at her menu with confusion written all over her face. Higuchi noticed that she had brown hair and she wore a hairpin to keep her bangs out of her eyes. She wore a long sleeve red shirt under her starting armor. Her shiny eyes had a captivating feel even with the rest of her face being a mix of confusion and frustration.
Higuchi made his way over to her but didn't know what to say except, "What's up?" The girl turned to him, giving him a small smile and saying, "Hi there." She went right back to looking through her menu, clearly not knowing what she was doing. "So, you seem confused. What's the problem? Maybe I can help." Higuchi said. This was completely uncharacteristic of Higuchi. He only gave help whenever people asked it of him but he never offered. "Well, I'm looking for a job to gain cash in this game but I'm not sure which one to go with. A notice told me once I choose one I can't change it." The girl said, allowing Higuchi to look over her shoulder to see a list of occupation choices. Smith, healer, merchant, assassin and paladin were only a few jobs on the long list of occupations. Higuchi could see how the girl had a difficult time making a decision.
"Well, what I would do is see if the job fits you personally," Higuchi said as he scrolled through the menu as he said this. "For example, do you want a job that has little to no fighting?"
"I'd like to avoid getting killed, so yes."
"Okay, do you work well with animals?"
"Not really."
"Do you like working with your hands?"
"Yes, actually."
"Okay there's blacksmith and construction."
"Hmmm… Blacksmith. That sounds good."
"Good choice. You'll want to build up your skill though and if you haven't picked a weapon to specialize in, I'd recommend a mace in the event that something does attack you." After Higuchi said that the girl selected blacksmith. "Thank you so much for your help. I don't know what I would've done without you," the girl said with a bright smile. "No problem. If that's all, I'll be going. If you need anything just message me." Higuchi started walking away to continue his original objective, absorbing his surroundings. He planned to keep on walking until the girl yelling "Wait…" delayed his plans. "Ummm… My name is Lisbeth. What's yours?" Higuchi turned to look at the girl and said, "My name is Higuchi."
Suddenly a bell ringing in the Town of Beginnings seemed to echo throughout the world, following that there was a bright light illuminating the area and by some sort of virtual sorcery anyone left was back in the Town of Beginnings. "What the hell?" Higuchi thought as everyone around him looked as confused as he was. What was going on? Someone forced a teleport but why? "Look up there!" Someone yelled, pointing at a red thing in the sky that multiplied until the entire sky was a crimson red. Upon closer inspection one would notice that the red shapes multiplying in the sky were two triangles connected at their bottoms. Inside the shape was the words, "Error Occurred". The shapes consumed everything above the Town of Beginnings. "What is that?" Higuchi said. As soon as he said this, what looked like blood poured through the shapes and gathered just above the gamers, slowly taking sentient form. The once crimson liquid turned into a dark red hooded cloak but there was no face in the hood. It seemed as if it was a strange specter haunting Sword Art Online. This was the game master in all of his glory, he finally decided to reveal himself to the players. The being spoke with a voice familiar only to Higuchi.
"Attention players, welcome to my world. My name is Akihiko Kayaba, and as of this moment, I am in control of this world. I'm sure most of you have already noticed an item missing from your main menus - the log out button. Let me assure you, this is not a defect in the game. I repeat, this is not a defect. This is how 'Sword Art Online' was designed to be."
After Kayaba said this Higuchi pulled open his menu to find the log out button was in fact missing. He had planned on staying all day so he didn't bother checking his menu. Now he wished he had so he could've found out about this sooner.
"You cannot log out of SAO, and no one from the outside will be able to shut down or remove the nerve gear from your head. If anyone attempts to do so, a transmitter inside the nerve gear will discharge a microwave signal into your skull, destroying your brain and ending your life. Despite my warnings, the families and friends of some of the players have attempted removing the nerve gear… an unfortunate decision, to say the least. As a result, the game now has two hundred thirteen less players than when it began. They've been deleted from both SAO and the real world."
As Kayaba spoke, he pulled up various articles from the internet about the outrage surrounding the game and those trapped in it. "As you can see, international media outlets have round-the-clock coverage of everything, including the deaths. At this point, it's safe to assume the likelihood of a nerve gear being removed is minimal at best. I hope this brings you a little comfort as you try to clear the game. It's important to remember the following: There is no longer any way to revive someone within the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be deleted from the system permanently. And the nerve gear will simultaneously destroy your brain. There is only one way for a player to escape now; you must clear the game. Right now, you're gathered on Floor One, the lowest level of Aincrad. If you can get through the dungeon and defeat the boss, you may advance to the next floor. Defeat the boss on Floor 100, and you will clear the game."
Higuchi felt somewhat sick as the speech continued. This was not just some megalomaniac holding them all hostage. No, this was his own father. His family was against him now and the confusion and fright swam around in Higuchi's head. He wasn't sure how to feel or what to say or do. His father was hardly ever there for him, but he was still his parent. Was this why he spent a majority of his time away from him? Was he neglecting his son to create a world to trap people in? For what purpose?
"Last but not least I have left a small present in the inventory. Please take a look." Higuchi pulled up his menu and selected his inventory. All that was in there was a mirror. Higuchi held the mirror in his hand and stared at his reflection. Everyone looked at their small hand mirrors and suddenly bright flashes of light consumed them. When the lights dissipated everyone looked around confused and dazed. They all looked different from how they looked previously. "You okay, Higuchi?" Lisbeth asked and Higuchi turned to see a complete stranger with Lisbeth's voice. "Yeah, I am. Who are you?" Higuchi asked and Lisbeth looked into the hand mirror she was holding and saw herself. She was shocked by her own reflection, Lisbeth didn't have a whole lot of change. The exception was the small but distinct freckles on her face that weren't there before. Higuchi looked at his own reflection in his mirror and noticed no change. His face was still the same because he chose to use no modifications to alter his appearance besides his hair and eye color.
It took a while for Higuchi to recognize Lisbeth, but by the time he did Higuchi finally realized this was how she looked in real life. "The scan. There's some kind of scanner in the nerve gear that can see your face. But how did it know your height and body type and all that?" Higuchi asked and Lisbeth was too scared by this to answer him. She didn't know anyway.
"Right now you're probably asking why? Why would Akihiko Kayaba, developer of Sword Art Online and nerve gear do this? Ultimately my goal is a simple one. The reason I created Sword Art Online was to control the fate of a world of my design. As you can see, I have achieved my goal. This marks the end of the tutorial and the official launch of Sword Art Online. Players I wish you the best of luck." As Kayaba said this he faded back into a crimson liquid and seeped through the red shapes in the sky which then melted away showing the sky once again. This wasn't a game; if anyone died they would die in real life. It was difficult for everyone to take in, especially Higuchi. This was his father for Christ's sake, he wasn't sure what to feel except hurt. He was hurt that his father would do this to him and everyone around him, and for what? To play god?
Higuchi couldn't find Lisbeth after that so she must have run off somewhere. He had bigger things to worry about, though. He decided it would be best to head to the next village for it would only be a matter of time before the hunting areas in the Town of Beginnings were cleaned out. If he moved out now, then chances are he would have a head start in hunting and gaining EXP. He needed to get as strong as he could or at the very least gain experience in order to find his way to the 100th floor and escape. He didn't have time to work alongside others so he needed to survive in any way he could. His plan was to identify a beta tester, one of the few thousand people who got to play the game before it was officially released, as they knew where the boss was located. They had a better chance of finding and killing it. It wouldn't be easy but that was what his father wanted to put them through. He marched onto the next village to start planning for battle and for freedom.