I rushed home, carrying a package tightly in my arms, and trying to keep it dry from the seemingly endless rain storm the city is engulfed in. As I finally reached the entrance to my apartment, I unlocked the door, rushed inside, and slammed the door shut in excitement. After taking off my coat, I walk over to my bed and start to fiddle with the Nerve Gear sitting on one of the bed posts. I rip open the packaging on the game and open the packaging to reveal a real treasure, 1 of the 10,000 copies of Sword Art Online. As I start to install the game onto the Nerve Gear, I thought of how I started playing these VRMMOs.
1 Month ago, at an undisclosed apartment.
"Hey Kaneki, you look kinda stressed, whats up?" Tsukiyama asked. "Oh, I just can't relax, especially after all that has happened recently," I responded shakily. "You know, I have a way that lets you relax, and it may even improve your combat skills while your at it, especially if you seriously plan to oppose Aogiri Tree,"Yomo said, walking up from behind me.
Present Time
Shortly after that, I was introduced to VRMMOs and the Nerve Gear system, starting with a fantasy RPG which got me hooked on sword fighting games. Ding! The Nerve gear gave off a sound that snapped me out of my memories. I looked over and noticed that the installation was complete. I quickly put on the headset and said,"Link Start!"
I found myself surrounded by colorful lights in a white background. A screen popped up saying," Enter your username, password, and preferred weapon type." I quickly typed in Kaneki as my username, typed in my password and put down a one-handed sword as my main weapon choice. The screen and the surroundings suddenly vanished, and in its place was an aerial view of Aincrad.
I found myself in a bustling city surrounded by thousands of other people. I quickly started running, trying to find my way through the crowd of people to get to the first monster hunting grounds. As I was running around a corner, I was suddenly blinded by the sun and crashed into someone. As I groggily looked at the person I ran into, he stood up, and helped me up. I stumbled out an apology by saying,"Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was running." He quickly responded,"Are you knew to this type of game? I could show you a few tips if you want?" I quickly responded with a yes, and we made our way quickly to the beginning hunting ground.
He then introduced himself as Kirito, and to which I introduced myself as Kaneki. We started to hunt down the boars, deer, and other weak wildlife and monsters the area. By the time the sun started to set we were both at level 3. After having a boar charge at me, I quickly sidestepped, positioned my sword, and as the boar passed by, I slit its throat. After seeing Kirito perform a similar stunt, I checked my clock, which showed the time being 5:30, which caused me to start freaking out. I had a pre-raid meeting with Yomo, Tsukiyami, and Banjo which started at 6. I called to Kirito, telling him I have to log out to go to work. He raised his hand in goodbye after sending me a friend request. I accepted it and then went to the options tab and started to search for a log out button. I called Kirito over who affirmed my greatest fear at this time, the log out button was missing. He then typed for a few seconds as he sent a message to the GM, so that they could fix the problem. As he finished typing, he disappeared in a flash of polygons, in which I soon followed.
We appeared in the main plaza of Beginning Town, surrounded by 10,000 other players in various states of confusion. I heard Kirito whisper next to me,"A forced teleport, I wonder what it is for?"
As he said that, the sky became red polygons that soon started to drip blood. That blood pooled into the form of a robed man, the GM, Kayaba. He then exclaimed,"I'm sure many of you have noticed that there is no log out button. The lack of a log out button is not a bug, I repeat the lack of a log out button is not a bug, but a feature of the game. Also, you should note that all revival items no longer exist. Finally, if your Nerve Gear is removed, or if your health bar drops to zero, you will die in real life. We have already lost over 120 gamers as their family members did not heed my warnings in the real world, unplugged the Nerve Gear, and subsequently killed the family member using it. The only way to return to the real world is to beat the 100th floor. Before I leave you, I will give you one last gift, which has been sent into your inventory. Good luck, and good gaming!
I opened up my inventory and equipped the "gift" Kayaba had given us, a mirror. As soon as I equipped it, I noticed my avatar shrink to fit my normal dimensions. I looked into the mirror, to see my white haired face staring back at me. Getting into my battle mindset, I contained the urge to freak out. I looked over at Kirito, who was looking into the mirror in his hand, that showed a high schooler who looked similar to me, but with black hair.
As I stared at him, a PM notification popped into existence, blocking Kirito from my sight. I opened the message that stated,"Dear Kaneki, as we, the developers, have noticed your 'special' needs due to the full body scan, you will be notified that you can eat regular food in this game without puking, but only human flesh, along with all humanoid monster flesh will sedate your hunger. Also, you have access to your usual 'abilities' and your own skill tree for them. We hope you have a fun time playing SAO, Kayaba"
Kirito walked up to me saying,"We need to get out of here, before all the good hunting spots are taken." We started to run out of the town, Kirito in front, and me following his lead. As the moon began to rise over the thick forest, we reached a clearing, in which we made a campfire and went to sleep, in shifts, amid the sounds of wolves howling, boars grunting, and the sound of players' swords slicing through the former two.
