A/n I don't use any Japanese honorifics, or write their names properly. I wrote this as if it was being translated into English. Mostly because I don't like mixing languages, and also because I don't feel confident in using them correctly.
Kazuto Kirigaya worked on his homework diligently, anxiously glancing at the time every so often while a news program played in the background. It was November 6th, a day he'd been waiting for since beta closed at the end of August. Sword Art Online would be officially launched in less than an hour. He kept at his homework, partly because it kept him from getting up and pacing, but also because he knew he'd most likely be playing Sword Art Online late into the night. The homework he was working on wasn't due until Friday, but it was always better to be prepared. All his other homework was completed anyways, and unless he got homework due Tuesday tomorrow, he could probably play straight through to the night after his martial arts club got out, excepting dinner of course.
He grinned in anticipation. The beta test of SAO had been one of the best experiences of his life. Ever since his grandfather started being disappointed, and borderline abusive, he had to live up to high expectations in his grades and martial arts club. His aunt and uncle were oblivious to his grandfather's actions but they were rather hard on him as well. Kazuto had figured it had something to do with his parents (once he learned about their deaths). It used to bother him, how hard they were on him compared to his sister, though it had allowed his sister to more easily work hard for the both of them in kendo, even if that promise had been rendered useless by his grandfather's stipulations of nearly perfect grades and a martial arts club.
Video games had always fascinated him, and more often than not, were his rewards from his aunt and uncle if he did well in school once it became clear he enjoyed them. In the end, it was mostly an escape from being pushed so hard most of his life. He particularly liked some of the old school games, Legend of Zelda and Pokemon being his favorite series, playing the new ones as well as the old ones. That led to him being fascinated by the NerveGear, and then discovering the beta test for SAO. He nearly didn't get parental consent for it... until he pointed to the small print that stated 'due to the low numbers of interest, any beta testers will be paid a sum of money based on their reviews.' They quickly changed their minds and supported his venture.
Thanks to being a video game nerd, and just a plain nerd all around due to his study habits and excellent grades, he didn't exactly have many friends. Actually, he had none. When he dropped kendo and started focusing on studying, he lost the few friends he had. He quickly realized that a few of them only stuck around because of his grandfather and once he dropped kendo, he had lost that appeal and so them. That experience left him leery of making more, which is why he only had acquaintances in beta, well some were close to friends, far closer than anyone in real life besides his sister. His cousin. He sighed at the thought of her and set down his pen. He wasn't going to get any more work done now that his mind had wandered there. Besides, he was over half way done, he just needed to take a little time during the week to finish it. He'd become rather good at managing his time after all.
The boy leaned back in his chair and sighed deeply again. Suguha was a difficult matter. They had been raised as siblings, but she had always been treated differently, like she was better than him. At least his aunt and uncle (though to his discomfort, to hide that he knew, he still called them mom and dad), tried to be subtle about it unlike his grandfather and the few other members of the family there were. Either way, for some reason, Suguha clung to him. Once he'd learned the truth about his parentage, and how they died, he started retreating from her. He hated hurting her like that, but he didn't feel like he was worthy of being anything but a stranger to her. Of course, she reacted by being even more clingy, to the point of worrying and creeping him out in turns. She shouldn't be clinging to him of all people, but with her own friends. Sometimes he felt like she was stalking him because she had a crush on him. He shuddered at the thought. That was highly unlikely, and he put it out of his mind as an alarm he set rang. It was set for the minute before the launch of SAO.
He turned it off and connected his NerveGear to the server before putting the odd helmet like device on his head and laying back on his bed, waiting as patiently as he could for the clock to hit the hour so he could start. He counted down in his head and had to resist cheering when the clock finally flashed 13:00 in the corner of his vision. He closed his eyes.
"Link start!" he stated clearly and firmly. A flood of colors rushed by as he entered the virtual world. Since he was keeping his avatar from beta named Kirito, he did not need to go through any of the preliminary information needed to start playing SAO. He didn't mind his stats and level being reset to the beginning, it was only fair after all. That wouldn't stop him from aiming for the top again. In beta, he'd come short of being one of the top players to people who were more experienced in this sort of game. Since the end, he'd gone back and played some of the older Pokemon games and other level based games as well as did research into weapons and tactics of war in general. He didn't want to get involved in another MMORPG when SAO would take up all of his time. Sure things wouldn't be exactly the same in the game as in reality, but it would certainly give him an edge. This time, he was prepared for everything. He clenched his fists.
"I'm back, I'm finally back," he murmured before he started weaving around NPCs and people who weren't used to a full dive experience. He clenched his fists and promised himself that he'd do well, he'd make himself famous in this game. He just needed to be smart and not rely solely on brashly leveling up and training his skills like he had in beta. There needed to be strategy to it.
He smirked to himself as he started running out of the city. It was time to get a head start on training. He moved with confidence and determination into a side alley, knowing it was a good short cut out of the city.
"Hey you wait!" a guy called desperately after him. Kirito stopped, turned, and looked at the guy in surprise. Said pink-haired dude bent over panting. "The way you move easily and know where to go... You were a beta tester, weren't you?" Kirito stared at him in surprise.
"Uh... yeah..." He rubbed the back of his neck. He wasn't very good with people, even in games.
"Today's my first ever full dive, you've gotta give me some tips!" the guy approached him and put a hand on Kirito's shoulder. He tensed slightly as he stared in shock, not many people chose to approach someone as anti-social as him, even in game, though he had seen that people tended to ignore personal space more easily when it came to virtual worlds.
"Uh..." he stuttered, not sure how to react. The guy pulled back.
"Come on, I'm begging you!" Then he suddenly changed demeanor. "My name's Klein, nice to meet you!" Kirito shook himself mentally.
"I'm Kirito," he replied with confidence. "I suppose I can help you, I'm not in much of a hurry... just eager to get back into the game." He smirked at Klein who lit up and started cheering.
Thirty minutes later, the older of the two was still eager to learn, but having a rough go of it as a boar got the best of him time and time again. Kirito couldn't help shaking his head as the other was hit in the crotch. Klein curled up, groaning.
"Right in the crotch..." he mumbled, rolling and cringing. Kirito just stared at him.
"You're overreacting. You don't feel any pain, do you? It's part of the game mechanics," he added, trying to be patient. With big injuries, there was some pain, but something like a bruise? No pain at all. Klein froze.
"Oh wait you're right... reflex," he responded sheepishly. "Sorry." He stood up and shook himself off.
"Remember what I said? The important part is your initial motion input." Kirito figured he was failing at being a tutor, but it wasn't like he was in any hurry to gain experience and levels at the moment. SAO had one of the hardest leveling systems he'd seen, but things took time and even with a few hours delay, he was confident he'd be one of the top players easily.
"Yeah that's easy for you to say." Klein stared at the boar he'd been trying to destroy. "But he won't stand still!" Kirito picked up a rock and tossed it into the air before catching it once again. Seemed like he'd have to demonstrate. Again.
"If you do your initial out put correctly," Kirito pulled back his arm, "and activate a sword skill at the right time," he threw the rock accurately to hit the boar, "the system pretty much guarantees that you hit your target." This was simplifying things quite a bit, but that was the gist of it, and he wasn't sure how else to explain it. He'd tried before and had failed, though it was entertaining watching Klein try to chase down the boar.
"Initial motion... motion input..." Klein mumbled thoughtfully. Kirito thought of something else that could help and demonstrated on the boar, almost wrestling it without injuring it.
"Think of it this way. When you start your move, wait for a bit, and when you feel the skill start to activate, drive it home." He watched Klein mutter to himself and then the man gasped and shifted stance. Kirito smiled and backed away in time for Klein to kill the boar.
"Alright!" he cheered, raising his arms excitedly.
"Congratulations." They high-fived. "However... that's as weak as slimes in other games." The black haired boy felt bad about bringing him down a little.
"Huh? Seriously? I thought that was a mid-level boss or something."
"Of course not. Why would one of the first enemies you meet be a boss when you're only level one?" Kirito looked around the field.
Other boars spawned. The sound of the blade drew Kirito back to Klein. He chuckled a bit when he saw that the elder had activated a sword skill, looking delighted.
"Addictive isn't it?"
"Yeah!" He swung the sword again. "So these skills, there are lots of them, like forging weapons and stuff, right?"
"I guess so. I've heard that there's an infinite variety of skills. During beta, some players created their own skills, though there seems to be some limit on what can be done. On the other hand, there's no magic."
"An rpg without magic? That's a pretty bold decision." It was starting to get a bit irritating the way Klein was swinging around his sword, but Kirito remembered his joy when he discovered it, so he kept quiet.
"But many games like Pokemon don't have magic, and that's been around for a long time. Games don't need to have magic to be fun, and most of the time... I find that MMO games with magic tend to be a bit overpowered, players will either have too much power or not enough and overall magic is unfair, so this is a better way to implement a leveling system and keep things fair." He had done some research into that as well.
"Huh. I never thought of it that way. But this is going to be awesome!" Klein enthused. Kirito smiled, his enthusiasm was a bit contagious.
"So what do you think? It's fun to move your body as you fight, isn't it?" he queried, gesturing at the way the other was still attacking nothing.
"Of course!" The other kept moving. Kirito shook his head in amusement.
"You ready to move on? You're not going to level up attacking nothing, and I want to level up too."
"Yeah, let's keep going!"
They continued like that for hours. Klein overeager to learn from a beta tester, and Kirito partly awkward, partly helpful, and partly enjoying himself. Klein sat down to watch the sunset. Kirito stood nearby, wondering at how easily they got along. He kept waiting for the other shoe to drop.
"I can't believe it, no matter how many times I see it, that we're inside a game," Klein spoke suddenly, thoughtful and still zealous about the whole game. "Whoever made it is a genius." This time there was a tone of awe in his voice. "It really is amazing. Seriously, I'm glad I was born in this time."
"You make a big deal about everything," Kirito responded after a moment, though he secretly agreed. Nothing beat being able to actually go on adventures instead of seeing it on a screen or using imagination.
"Hey cut me some slack, it's my first full dive!" the elder retorted, but he wasn't really offended. The younger paused, he had forgotten.
"Then this is your first time playing a game using NerveGear?" He nearly hit himself for asking such an obvious question.
"Uh-huh. I rushed out to by the hardware so that I could play SAO. I was really lucky to get one of the 10,000 copies. Although you were 10 times as lucky, getting into the beta test." Kirito looked at him with a deadpan expression. Everyone was saying that about beta testers now. "Dude, only 1000 people got to do it!" Kirito rubbed the back of his head.
"Yeah, I guess I was lucky, but most people didn't want to test a game like this, saying it was doomed to failure, they were begging people to beta with money. Guess you missed that advertisement." He shrugged. Klein gaped at him.
"You're joking! Everyone's been saying it's going to be awesome since I heard about it!"
"Well, people were skeptical about full dive. And a game without magic. It wasn't well advertised unless you were looking at the right sites anyways."
"Now that you mention it I do remember seeing some people saying it was probably going to be horrible... most gamers don't like innovational things anyways, look at how well the Wii and Wii U did 10 years ago..." Klein mused. "Oh well, you beta testers straightened that out and now we all get to play it."
"Not everyone does though," Kirito remarked thoughtfully. "I think they only sold so many copies to ease the server into it, they didn't know how it would handle having 10000 players, let alone as many as there would have been if they made more copies... There's probably lots of bugs going on that didn't happen in beta because of the increase from 1000 to 10000." There was contemplative silence for a bit.
"Hey, if you don't mind my asking," the pink haired one started uncertainly; he'd noticed how the other could be a bit closed off, "how far did you get in beta?" Kirito grimaced a little.
"This is the hardest game I've ever played. In two months, I only made it to floor 8. But this time, I think I can do it in a month, even with all the changes made since beta so it's not too easy for us," he answered with a smirk and confidence. Klein smirked at him.
"You're really into this, aren't you?" he teased lightly. Kirito drew his sword.
"Yeah, you could say that. To be honest, during the beta test, SAO was the only thing on my mind, day and night. In this world, a single blade can take you anywhere you want to go. And even though it's a virtual world, I still feel more alive here than I do in the real one." He sheathed his sword again, smiling slightly, but wondering why he revealed that to someone he barely knew. Then again, he'd become closer to Klein than he'd ever had with any person he met, player or 'real'. The guy kind of made him feel like he was talking to an older brother. He sighed and slated that away for thought later. For now...
"Do you want to go hunt some more?" he questioned. Klein sat up, eager.
"Of course!" He subsided, looking sheepish. "The thing is... I'm really hungry. I have to log out."
"Too bad eating here only makes you think you're not hungry." Kirito sighed. He'd made the mistake of thinking that and then devoured a whole pizza upon logging out. Thankfully no one was home to see him do that. Then again, they hadn't been home to make sure he ate either. Anyways, it meant he probably needed to start thinking about logging out too.
"Yeah that's why I ordered a steaming hot pizza for 5:30!" Klein was smug. Kirito rolled his eyes at his antics.
"Wow, you're totally prepared aren't you?" the boy dead-panned. It made sense; that was one of the complaints about the full dive system but it wasn't like it virtual reality could do anything about biology.
"You know it! Besides, when I'm done eating, I'll log back in."
"I see." Kirito was surprised at the feeling of hurt that popped up, but he squished it ruthlessly like he'd done when he realized he had no friends years ago. Besides, hadn't he been thinking about grabbing a bite to eat soon anyways? Yeah, they'd friended each other, but friends in games didn't have the same requirements as in a real life situation. It was more like acquaintances.
"I was going to meet up with some people I know from another game. I don't now what you're up to after this so what do you say? You can friend them and hang with us," Klein offered. Kirito could tell it was a genuine offer, but he looked down, thinking about it. "Of course I'm not forcing you to come or anything," the other was hasty to add. "I'm sure there'll be other opportunities to meet them."
"Yeah, sorry," Kirito apologized, though he wasn't exactly sure why. His good mood was effectively dead. "Thanks anyways."
"Hey that's my line after all your help today," Klein protested. "I promise I'll pay you back for it someday. Thanks for everything man, really. I'll see you around." He held out his hand. Kirito took it.
"If you have any other questions, feel free to message me." They shook hands.
"Ah sweet. Thanks, I'll do that."
After a moment, Klein backed away, waved and turned to log out. Kirito stood and looked around, wondering if he should go get something to eat or do some solo hunting. He glanced at Klein with a small smile, hoping they would remain friends. It'd be nice to have a real friend for once.
"Huh?" The small sound of confusion made Kirito turn around, startled and worried. "There's no log out button," he commented to himself. However, the other had heard.
"It should be, look closer." Kirito walked over.
"No, it's not there," Klein answered, shaking his head, confused.
"It should be at the bottom of the main menu." The black-haired boy opened his to demonstrate. And then he discovered that his was missing as well.
"See not there." Klein seemed to be taking it rather well.
"No... it isn't," Kirito replied softly, wondering what was going on.
"Well today is the first day out of beta and you were right when you said they'd have to deal with 10000 players instead of 1000. It's bound to be a bug. I'm sure the server people are freaking out right now!" He chuckled.
"You will too." Kirito pointed to the time. "Look it's 5:25." The other stared for a moment before going dramatic.
"My teriyaki-mayo pizza and ginger ale!" he yelled. Kirito tried not to laugh at him.
"Why don't you just contact your game master?" The boy asked. Klein froze and then sighed.
"I already did that but nothing's happening." He stared at the icon that said 'calling GM...' as if it would solve everything but nothing changed. "Isn't there another way to log out?" he queried desperately. Kirito looked away as if to think about it, but he'd read the manual through several times.
"No, if a player wants to log out, they log themselves out via the menu. That's the only way," Kirito stated knowledgeably, and with a sigh, predicting how his current friend would take it.
"That can't be right! There's gotta be some other way!" Then he commenced trying other ways. "Return! Log out!" All verbal commands were punctuated with large, theatric gestures. "Escape!" He jumped. Nothing happened.
Some clouds covered the sun, and Kirito's sense of something 'wrong' was screaming. There was something up. Logging out had only been a problem in beta when too many people were logging out at once, and the button had never disappeared. It was almost... as if this was on purpose. But that was ridiculous. Maybe it was just a bug, Kirito tried to reassure himself. It wasn't working.
"I told you it wouldn't work," he finally spoke into the heavy silence. It felt as if the game itself was building up for something important. "There wasn't even an emergency logout in the manual."
"You're kidding... right?" Klein questioned in disbelief. "Oh wait I know, I'll just rip the NerveGear off of my head..." He started trying to do just that. If the younger boy had ever wanted to facepalm, it'd be now. Instead, he chose to respond calmly and rationally.
"You can't. We can't move our real bodies right now. The NerveGear intercepts any command issued from the our brains, using the interface at the back of our heads." Kirito chose not to go into the details of how it didn't stop commands involving regulating the body, such as breathing. It was enough to make his head spin, and he tried to study it when the NerveGear first came out.
"Seriously?" The other man groaned. "So now we got to wait for them to fix the bug?" Instead of being theatrical, he now seemed resigned as the situation sunk in.
"Or until someone in the real world removes the NerveGear from our heads," Kirito added seriously.
"Well I live alone..." Klein sounded rather upset. "What about you?"
"I have a mom and a sister, and I think they'll notice by dinner time." He left out his father/uncle, since the guy was rarely around anymore. He was still pensive when Klein put his hands on his shoulders with force that nearly knocked the younger over. He jumped and then stared, wide-eyed, wondering what he'd said. Thankfully, the elder of the two was grinning, kind of creepily, and didn't seem to be angry.
"H-how old is your sister, Kirito? What's she like?" he quizzed desperately. Kirito gaped at him before recovering.
"S-she's into sports and hates video games. She's totally not your type man." Kirito wasn't sure why he was being defensive of his cousin when he was hurting her by pushing her away; what right did he have to decide who she dated? It was probably just left over big brother protectiveness. "She has nothing to do with people like us." Even while being protective, he still wouldn't lie, and that was the absolute truth. She had always hated video games and when he started being more obsessed with them, she widened the distance between them even more voluntarily, mostly via arguments that made him want to isolate himself.
"That doesn't matter." Klein truly was desperate, but Kirito would have none of it. He struck. The other flew back and fell, starting to groan and moan. "Oh wait it doesn't hurt." At least it took him less time this time.
"Forget that." Kirito decided to share his uneasiness. "Don't you find this weird?"
"Yeah, I do. But it's just a bug." But he no longer seemed convinced of that. Kirito looked away.
"It isn't a bug. If we can't log out, that is a serious problem for the game's future operation."
"Yeah, I suppose you're right."
"If needed they could shut down the server and log everyone out forcibly, in the early days of beta, they had to do that because too many people tried to log out at once and overloaded the server. Even then though, the log out button wasn't missing. They're probably trying to figure that out before shutting down the server." He sighed and looked down. "But why haven't they made an announcement?"
From the look on Klein's face, he was starting to understand why Kirito was worried. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a bell started to ring. Loudly, as if it was meant to reach every player in the game. Klein stood up and they both looked around, startled and worried. Suddenly, light engulfed them and they appeared in the town square. Around them, there was chaos as other people appeared as well.
"What's going on?" he heard a girl say as she clutched a teen's arm.
"A forced teleport...?" Kirito stared around him in shock, and tried to figure out what was going on. He walked closer to Klein, uneasy, and glad that he didn't have to face whatever this was alone.
"Look up there!" A voice rose above the din of confused talking. They looked up. A blinking red hexagon with the word warning on it greeted them.
"Now what...?" Kirito murmured, more to himself than anything.
A forcefield-like structure was forming, red with a warning label in every hexagon. Then the top of the bubble started leaking what looked like blood to form a figure dressed in a hood.
"What is that?" Klein questioned in shock, barely refraining from cursing.
"Is that the game master?" and "Why doesn't he have a face?" were just some of the questions Kirito was hearing, and he wanted to know the answer too. He had a fair idea of who the figure was though...
"Is this an event?" Someone asked loudly.
"I'm scared..." A girl clung to her friend.
"Don't worry, it's just another part of the opening ceremony," her friend assured her. Kirito wasn't so sure; he didn't think there was actually supposed to be a ceremony at all for the game.
"Attention players. Welcome to my world."
"My world..." Kirito mumbled, feeling something cold settle in his stomach. He wasn't sure it was a good thing that was happening here. Just the introduction so far felt ominous for a game.
"My name is Akihiko Kayaba and as of this moment, I am in control of this world."
Kirito inhaled sharply. He was right. Pictures and articles about Kayaba flashed through his head. As part of his desire to know everything he could about the NerveGear, he'd learned all he could about its creator. One of the more obscure things he read had mentioned that Kayaba could seem rather apathetic at times, especially when it didn't involve his work. That really didn't bode well for the announcement. He ignored the whispering around him, wondering if it was really Kayaba. Kirito was sure that it was.
"I'm sure you've already noticed that the logout button is missing from the main menu. But this is not a defect in the game." Stunned silence. Kirito grit his teeth, knowing things would probably get worse. Why else would it be missing on purpose? "I repeat this is not a defect in the game but a key feature of Sword Art Online."
"A feature... he's kidding, right?" Klein asked flatly, not wanting to believe it.
"You cannot log out of SAO on your own power. No one outside the game can shut down or remove the NerveGear from your head. If anyone attempts to do so, the transmitter inside NerveGear will discharge a microwave signal into your skull, destroying your brain and ending your life."
People around them started panicking, some claiming hysterically that it must be some dramatic thing happening to make the game more exciting. Others just jeered or stood there expecting an April Fools' joke that wasn't coming.
The same girl and her friend from earlier tried to leave, only to hit the wall. The guy started freaking out.
"What's he talking about?" Klein turned to Kirito, not wanting to believe it. "He's gotta be nuts, right?"
"He's not. The transmitters signals do work just like a microwave," Kirito replied seriously. "If the safety were disabled, it could fry your brain."
"Couldn't someone cut the power...?" The older of the two suggested. The younger shook his head, he'd done his research.
"That won't work. The NerveGear has an internal battery," Kirito spoke softly. Klein growled and shook his head.
"But this is crazy! It's totally crazy!" Despite not knowing him for long, Kirito could tell that the other was on the way to freaking out.
"Despite my warning, the family and friends of players have attempted to forcibly remove the NerveGear. As a result we are 213 players less than what we began with. They have been deleted from both Aincrad and the real world."
"213?" Kirito could scarcely believe his ears, now his emotions were more clearly on display. This was worse than he'd even imagined.
"No way... I don't believe it..." Klein denied it.
"As you can see," news articles popped up around the massive figure and started orbiting around, "media outlets around the world have around the clock coverage on everything including the deaths. At this point, you can be assured that the likelihood of your NerveGear being removed is minimal at best. I hope this brings you a measure of comfort as you attempt to clear the game. It is important to remember the following. There is no longer any way to revive someone within the game. If you HP drops to zero, your avatar will be deleted from the system forever, and the NerveGear will simultaneously destroy your brain."
Kirito gasped as an image of a boar like the one he taught Klein out to defeat appeared in his mind's eye and tackled him. He fell back, losing hp, and shattering into virtual pieces. He breathed heavily, trying to calm the panic he felt as he clenched his fists.
"There is only one way for a player to escape now. You must clear the game. Right now you are gathered on Floor 1, 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."
People started whispering to each other again, some demanding to know why they should believe him, others not quite understanding what he meant despite it being straightforward.
"We can't clear all 100 floors... that's freaking impossible," Klein whispered before raising his voice, "even the beta testers never made it that high, right?" Like everyone else around him, his thoughts were ignored.
"Last but not least, I've placed a little present in the item storage of every player. Please have a look."
Kirito checked, wondering what it could be, something to make things easier perhaps? But why would he do that after all this? The object appeared in his hand.
"A mirror?" He stared at his avatar's reflection in confusion. Klein gasped and nearly started screaming as he was surrounded by light. Kirito whipped around to look at him, but the same was happening all around, and soon he was surrounded by light as well.
"You okay Kirito?" Klein asked as he walked over, relieved that nothing really seemed to happen. Kirito turned around slowly.
"Yeah..." he replied shakily, not sure what just happened. "Wait... Who are you?"
"Who are you?" Klein responded, completely confused. Kirito looked into the mirror he still held. His face looked out at him. His real face.
People all around were freaking out, some were rather hilarious despite the situation...
"You're a guy?"
"You were lying about being 17?"
"Wait a minute..." Kirito turned to look back at the guy who asked him if he was alright. "You're Klein?" He pointed at the same time the guy asked if he was Kirito.
"But how..." Klein stared. The age gap was now even more obvious between the two. Before it could've just been one or two years, now... it was looking like five or more.
"The scan... The NerveGear covers your entire head with a high density signaling device... so it can see what your face look like. But... how does it know our height and body type...?"
"When we first put the NerveGear on, there was something called calibration... you had to touch your body all over like this, remember?" Klein demonstrated.
"O-oh right... it must be basing this on that data..." Kirito kept wavering between calm acceptance and total confusion and panic with many emotions between. It was like an emotional roller coaster. "That's where it got our physical data..."
"But this... Why? What's the point?"
"I'm sure he'll tell us." Kirito pointed at the large figure.
"Right now you're probably wondering why. Why would Akihito Kayaba developer of Sword Art Online and the NerveGear do this? Ultimately, my goal was a simple one. The reason I created Sword Art Online was to control the fate of a world of my design."
"Kayaba..." Kirito clenched his fists.
"As you can see, I've achieved my goal. This marks the end of the tutorial and the official launch of Sword Art Online. I wish you the best of luck." The figure half melted before disappearing, taking the forcefield with it. Kirito turned to Klein, who was staring where the figure had been in disbelief.
"This isn't a game, it's real," Kirito stated softly, both to himself and Klein. It somehow made it more real, saying it aloud himself. "The genius who created the NerveGear, and created a virtual space... Akihiko Kayaba. I've been a fan of him for a while so I can tell... that everything he just said is true. If I die in the game... I will die in real life." Kirito clenched his fist, feeling determined not to let that happen. He may not like his life, but living in either world was preferable to dying.
The stunned silence on the rest of the crowd wore off, and one by one people started crying, screaming, yelling for it not to be true. Chaos was reigning, and very few people were actually thinking with their heads. There were some just standing or sitting there in shock, not adding to the chaos but not stopping it either. Kirito noticed the invisible wall keeping everyone in that space melt.
"Come with me Klein," the younger boy declared firmly, dragging the still shocked elder along with him. After a bit, they stopped, in an alleyway, the noise muted. "Listen, I'm heading to the next village right now. I want you to come with me. Since what he said must be true, the only way to survive in here is to make ourselves as strong as possible." Kirito pulled up a map. "The resources within a virtual MMORPG, in other words, the money and the EXP we can earn are limited. The fields surrounding the Town of Beginnings will soon be hunted clean. To be efficient, we should set up base in the next village right now." He highlighted the route. "I know all the paths and dangerous areas. So even at level 1, I can get there safely."
"Thanks... but.. I... stayed in line all night with friends from another game to buy this software. We were going to meet up..." As though it only just registered, his eyes widened worriedly. "They must be out there in the plaza somewhere. I can't leave them behind."
"I see... at level 1, I can't help all of you..." Kirito responded honestly, hurrying on in continuing before Klein could say anything. "Just one person would be fine... but any more and chances of us all surviving would plummet. Strategically, moving on to the next village as soon as possible is the best idea. It will marginally slow down how fast these fields are exhausted, as well as help us gain more exp faster. But I won't ask you to leave your friends, so instead... Message me in a week, and I'll see about meeting you up and passing on some more tips. That way I'm free to level myself up as much as I can, but I can also still help you." Klein stared at him in surprise.
"I can't ask you to help people you haven't even met. So don't worry about it and just go on to the next village." Klein was even more surprised when Kirito shook his head.
"Our best chance of beating the game is if everyone levels up as fast as they can and as much as they can. And with a chance of death... I'd rather help you all out than find out later that you died." Kirito looked away a bit awkwardly at that. After so long of hiding his emotions both in the real world and the virtual world, it felt weird admitting that he didn't want someone to die.
"Hey, we'll be fine, I ran a guild in my last game you know. I can use the techniques you taught me to get by."
"Alright... Why don't you message me in a week and we'll see if you need my help then with anything. I... I want to help out as much as I can..." Kirito shook himself. "But let's say good bye here. I'd best get a head start."
"I'll message you if I ever get in a jam," Klein told him.
"Okay. See you around, Klein." Kirito turned to walk away. Klein called after him, a bit worried, knowing the kid was probably only 16 if not younger, it wasn't like he was much older at 22, but there's a huge gap in maturity between the two ages.
"Wait, Kirito!"
Kirito paused. When Klein didn't say anything immediately, he started walking again.
"Hey... Kirito." Klein changed his mind about what he was going to say and went for something a bit more teasing. "The real you is actually kinda cute, huh?" Kirito half turned to look at him in surprise. "Way cooler than your avatar." Kirito managed a grin.
"And that unkempt face of yours suits you 10 times better," he retorted. Then he ran off briefly, only to stop and turn, but Klein was already gone. He sighed, and shook his head. The stakes were higher than in beta. Now it was a fight for survival, he had no time to worry about friends.
As he ran out of the Town of Beginnings, he lost himself in thought, barely even pausing to fight enemies when they popped up. He kept going over the information, trying to figure out the motives. He started from the beginning. Kayaba had allowed everyone to think the game would be just fine, and then suddenly removed the log out button. Since they were already stuck in the game, it didn't matter if they complained. From what Kayaba went on to explain, it sounded like Kayaba had already issued warnings about the NerveGear removal, but people hadn't believed him and removed it anyways. But when had he? When had he decided he had trapped enough players and warned people? He obviously had planned it for a long time, it was too sequenced and well done to have been a spur of the moment thing or even something that had only been planned for a month.
The most confusing thing though, was after informing everyone on the new rules... he gave them their true appearances. But why? What was the point of that? Then it hit him. By giving everyone their true faces, Kayaba made it more real. It'd be hard to look at his avatar in the mirror and believe that he would die in real life if he died in the game. On top of which, there were quite a few female avatars before... but not nearly as many after, so he was probably making sure people were true to themselves... revealing their true colors. He was probably watching to see how many would turn out to be killers where they wouldn't be in real life...
"That bastard!" Kirito cursed. That was probably exactly why Kayaba wanted to meddle. He was probably sitting and eating popcorn or something while he watched. He wanted to see people do things that they normally wouldn't do. He wanted to see people despair. Maybe Kirito got it wrong, he wasn't Kayaba after all, no matter how much he had dreamed of being on an adventure, but he was fairly certain he had most of the reasoning correctly. But he would show Kayaba, he would show everyone. He would survive. He would beat the game and help as many as he could along the way.
He killed a wolf and yelled a challenge to the heavens as his determination to do well grew.
A/n Well there you have it. My first chapter of an SAO fanfic. Not sure how popular it'll be but... Idea wouldn't leave me alone, and the idea that wouldn't leave me alone won't appear until next chapter... *sigh *