SAO: I don't want to die
Chapter 1: Game time
"Hey! Welcome to this week's episode of 'MMO Stream!' This week, we have tens of thousands of people lining up to get their hands on the new game! Can you guess? Or do you know? That's right, it's Sword Art Online! Sword Art Online, or SAO for short, has hit the market in an outstanding..."
I sighed, smiling to myself. These poor guys were stuck in line 3 days in advance to get it, and here I was, nowhere near the line, not even on my computer to purchase a digital copy of the game, said to revolutionise what we knew as online video games. This was something that most people would have found odd in me. I could practically imagine my friends and their confused faces.
Why aren't you going to go get it? You're not even going to try? Come on! You've been hyping about this thing for months!
Oh, for those of you who don't know me, I'm Tensei Kano. I'm 14, turning 15, pretty short for my age, black hair, blue eyes, and a huge passion for gaming.
Oh, and I was also a Beta Tester for Sword Art Online.
And that's what sets me apart from the rest. 1000 people were picked at random to beta test the legend that was SAO. It was certainly interesting. It was a classically beautiful MMORPG, but with the twist of managing without the use of magic. Everything was done by weapon and skill, no magic involved. A bold move for an RPG.
What also set it apart from all others was the complete comprehensive us of the NerveGear gaming console technology, which transferred your brain signals into a helmet, controlling in-game movement.
Brilliant!
I plugged the cable into the NerveGear helmet an tentatively slipped it on, lying down on my bed as I did so. I felt excitement build up as I opened my eyes and started the application, Sword Art Online. White words appeared before my eyes; "Link start." A flash of white light alerted me that the game had begun.
,
Character design, sure! I didn't have to be short, or have messy black hair. I scrolled to the bottom, picking out my language; Japanese. Ah, there!
I picked a male character, of course. I never understood people who role-played females, but maybe that was just me. Now that I could read the words, I quickly manipulated my character to my liking, raising height, turning my eyes green, and dyeing my hair brown. Come on, lets admit it. We play MMOs to escape from who we are, be who we want to be. So I could make myself different. It wouldn't do any harm. I picked a pair of duelling knives that I knew from previous experience were sturdier that they looked. With everything in place, I submitted my final character and started the game.
My eyes opened to a clear sky and a huge, cathedral-like building. I breathed deeply, my senses already filled by the technology of NerveGear. More excitement built up, as I ran straight through the crowded streets, filled with men and women all looking for shops and quests, else taking in the world. I ignored them, knowing exactly where to go. The wind whistled in my ears as I ran as fast as I could, almost slamming into a few innocent bystanders. These guys could level as slow as they wanted, but I was going to level up as quick as possible. It took me 2 months during the beta test period to reach the 7th floor, and I wasn't planning on taking that long this time.
"Um...! Excuse me!"
I stopped when I realised the female voice was directed at me. Who could want something now, and why me? I hoped they wouldn't take long. I always had a problem saying no, after all.
There was a girl who looked about 16, closer to my real age, even though my character looked about 18 or so. It was obvious that he tried to dress as normally as possible, with the limitations of the world being rpg based, a red dress, covered by a brown leather vest for protection.
"You look really familiar with these streets! You must be one of the beta testers!" She beamed. I nodded, unsure what to say. She pressed on regardless. "I'm new to MMOs... Could you please help me?"
Ack! Here we go, I can never say no to anyone... Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, she didn't exactly look strong, but it would be good to experience the game properly, with others... But would she hold me back?
"Alright, I'm Tensei. Welcome to Sword Art Online. What's you're name?"
She gave me a cute, winking smile that radiated thanks and answered happily. "My name is Silica!"
,
Silica fell backwards on her bum, onto the grassy ground, wincing a bit. In front of her, a wild boar with red eyes grunted angrily.
"Oww..." She rubbed the spot where she had fallen, before blinking. "Huh? It doesn't hurt..." She looked at me for help.
I took her to a simple training field in hopes to teach her the basics. It was a pleasant hillside, with lush green grass, but not overly crowded by shrubbery. The tall grass waves softly in the wind, tickling my heels.
"Yeah, I don't think game developers would last long without being sued if they allowed you to feel too much pain." I replied, answering her unasked question. She nodded, then took out her long dagger. It was a simple dagger, a beginner's weapon, just like my own knives. She stood back and waited for the boar to lunge.
With a snort, it did lunge. She countered it with one of her own, but the boar gave a snort of disgust and butted her legs, causing her to fall backwards again.
I sighed. "It's not too hard, miss. Just stand back, and input the motion correctly. You're dagger requires the correct input motion to use its skill. You don't last long without skills in SAO." I pretended to hold an invisible dagger and stood in the correct stance. "Just hold the weapon tight, but not too tight, and step forward, leap, and stab."
The boar grew threatened by my motions and grunted at me. I took out my knives and blocked it's oncoming charge, holding it off. Silica processed the information and tried it herself. Her dagger glowed blue, then white, and she lunges at the boar. Instinctively, I threw the boar away from me, so that it came face-to-face with Silica's dagger.
She rammed the dagger in between it's eyes, then slashed upwards. It dagger came out clean, an the boar flopped to the ground, lifeless, before disintegrating into a thousand pieces.
Silica looked at me, beaming with joy. "I did it, I did it, I did it! Did you see that? That was awesome!"
I smiled. "Well I'm glad you enjoyed that. Actually, let's form a quick party right now, we'll level up quicker that way." I opened a menu, while she looked at me confused. "This is you're first time playing an MMO, isn't it?" I asked her. She nodded, then looked even more surprised when a holographic screen came up in front of her, asking her to accept the party invitation. She agreed, and soon, we were a team.
"Hey, there's no need to call me 'miss' you know." She said suddenly. I looked at her, a little taken aback by how open this girl was. Her lack of online experience was painfully obvious. "Maybe it's a liiiiitle soon," she considered, "but how about you just call me Silica? And I can call you Tensei!"
I smiled, ruffling her twin ponytailed hair. "Sure, whatever you want... Silica." She slapped my hand away and pouted, trying to adjust her hair back to normal.
This is alright. I guess leveling a little slower to keep people company isn't too bad.
In the top right, her name appeared below my health bar, alone with a health bar of her own.
"Alright, let's go hunt some more, you wanna get strong in a small amount of time, right?" I looked further east, where the wind was blowing from. "We should go that way. Monsters are about the same there, but they give a little extra experience." I looked at Silica, who was suddenly looking at me curiously, a little closer than I would have liked.
"You sure know a lot about this game." He said, a small smile on her face. "But... Why are you helping me so much?" I looked at her, surprised.
"You were the one to ask me for help!"
"But you could have refused! You accepted me so easily!"
I stopped and thought about it. Why didn't I turn her away? It wasn't just my usual refusal to say no, there was something compelling me. "...why? I wonder too." I simply gestured for her to follow, and walked east, Silica falling in step beside me. She let the matter drop, simply deciding to trust me.
I watched as the sunset ahead of us sunk lower and lower, and it began to grow dark. Excellent! I was almost level 2 already, even with Silica slowing me down a little. Maybe this whole party thing wasn't a bad id- huh?
Silica gave a shocked yelp as she was suddenly consumed by a glowing white light, which I recognised as a teleport. I reached out to her instinctively, only to be enveloped in the same light, which blinded me temporarily. I closed my eyes as they started watering.
A forced teleport?
,
"H-huh? Isn't this the town of beginnings?"
"Why'd we get teleported?"
"Phew, almost died, thank god for admin teleportation!"
I opened my eyes to the town of beginnings, where I had been a couple of hours ago. Silica beside me looked awfully confused. I whispered to her, "Don't worry Silica. It's probably a welcome event, no big deal." But even as she nodded, I felt a strange sense of unease. Nothing was wrong, the scarlet sky was as peaceful as ever, no bugs had been seen yet... Why did I feel so restless?
"Look, up in the sky!"
I looked up obediently at the sky and gasped. The previously beautiful sunset sky was being covered by the materializing red panels. Soon, the entire stadium was covered in a dome of red panels. Even more disturbing, thick, red liquid began dripping from the cracks, looking shockingly like... blood.
I froze. I was never good with blood, even in real life. But the red liquid didn't drop straight down, it twisted and grew, combining at a single spot, forming a giant red blob. As soon as that happened, the red blob took shape as a large, faceless, cloaked entity. Wait... that's a game master!
Silica shivered a little bit, shuffling behind me. I couldn't do anything to comfort her, my every sense seemed to have deserted my body, leaving a numb coldness. The game master, whatever it was, spoke in a deep, ominous voice.
"Welcome players, to my world, Sword Art Online."
His world? Wait... no... it couldn't be...
"I am Kayaba Akihiko, creator of the NerveGear technology. I am currently the only person who has full control of this world, which I have created myself." He paused, as the crowd broke into scattered mutters. he raised an enormous hand, bringing up the holographic main menu. "I trust most of you have noticed that the logout button is missing from the main menu. However, this is no bug, nor a game malfunction."
I gasped, opening the main menu for myself. It was true! In place of the logout button that was available during beta, an empty space with no words appeared. When I selected that option, the main menu simple closed. Many around me were doing the same, gaping at the empty gap. the cloaked dementor continued, "Let me clarify, this is not a malfunction, simply a feature of Sword Art Online." The creature had no face, yet I had the impression it was grinning. "You cannot log out of this game. No one outside will be able to remove or shut down your Nervegear. Should this be attempted, NerveGear will emit powerful microwave radiation, frying your brain, and therefore ending your life."
No, that's not possible! Something this dangerous would have been checked by authorities, surely! I looked around desperately, people silently agreeing. But then, in front of me, a conversation between two men, one with red hair, the other black, made my blood run cold.
"He's right. The transceiver's microwave signals are similar to a microwave oven. If the limiter was disabled, it could fry our brains." The black-haired man replied tersely.
…wait... no...
I almost yelled, right there and then. The cloaked figure continued, disregarding our reactions. "Many people have ignored this warning. As a result, 213 people have... retired, per se, in the world of Aincrad and in real life."
A cloud of white, holographic news reports appeared, circling the game master. "As you can see, many news sites have reported these deaths. Thus, please calm down, and work hard." I stared in horror, looking for a way out. "But there is only one way to escape Sword Art Online. You must clear the 100 floors of Aincrad. Search the dungeons. Find the boss of each level, ascend, and finally, clear the 100th floor's boss. Only then, can you escape."
"But do take note. There will be no more respawns. When your character dies, your avatar will be erased. And then, as you might expect, the NerveGear will fry your brains." I couldn't move. What sick game was this bastard giving us? This was no game, this was life and death! How could he...
The deep voice interrupted my harsh reprimands. "Oh, and if you search your inventory, you will find a little gift from me." Everyone immediately opened their inventory, me included, only to find...
"A mirror?" I looked into the mirror, and immediately, a white light engulfed me, different from the teleportation light.
What-
As abruptly as it began, the white light faded. I looked around me, seeing people looking... oddly different. A man at the edge of the borders was dressed in women's clothes, yelling with shock at a large, adult man who was yelling back at him for lying about being a girl.
Wait, but that means...
"Tensei?"
I turned around to see a little girl, dressed in a red dress and brown leather vest, no older than 13, maybe a little younger. Despite this, she was only an inch shorter than me. "Who are you? Wait no... it can't be... Silica?"
She nodded, speechless, then pointed at me. I looked in the mirror given by the game master, to see my face, nothing wrong with it... except that it was MY face. Not the 18 year old, constructed male avatar I created, but my messy black hair, blue eyes and excessively short height, only an inch above Silica's own height. I realised that almost everyone around me was now taller than me, except for a couple of shorter girls my age.
"The NerveGear's high density sensor! It traced our faces during the scan!" The man with black hair in front of us yelled, except that he was no more than a tall, but slender boy, about 16 or so years old.
So! Work hard, players, and I wish you, every one of you, the best of luck."
On that cryptic note, the cloak dissolved, and the panels cracked, and faded. Soon, the entire square was silent, shocked. A beat of silence. Two. Three. Then...
"SCREW YOU!"
"LET US OUT OF HERE!"
"Are you KIDDING ME?"
Silica stood staring... shocked... scared... "No... NO!" She screamed, bursting into tears and bumping into my side.
"Calm down Silica!" I yelled, grabbing her arm. "Quickly, lets get out of here!"
Confused by fear, she followed me, sobbing. The game... no, the challenge of the world that was Sword Art Online...
...had begun.
T/N: Hey guys! Reaching into new topics here, I used to only write Harvest Moon fanfiction, then I got tired of the lack of action.
I fell in love with SAO afterwards. Badass as hell :D So I made my own version. This fanfiction runs alongside the original plot, and I try not to interfere with the characters too negatively. I'm aiming to make a fanfiction that can run with the original plot and not change it too much, but adding my character in at the same time.
Well, that was fun. Let me know what you think, and I'll keep writing! Review please? xD
Tensei Kano