Chapter 1
Welcome to Aincrad
"He can't be serious..!" I could barely manage to speak. The GM had announced that this game had just stopped being a game. No log out, No respawns, only death. The only escape would be defeating all 100 floors of the floating castle, Aincrad. 3 friends and I had taken a trip to Japan after hearing about this game. It was supposed to be a massive leap in technology, allowing the user to feel, taste, have and each of their senses as if as if they were actually there in the world. Only 10,000 copies were sold, we managed to get 4 of them only to be locked in a slow, virtual deathtrap.
I look over, expecting a response from my friends. They were staring where the GM previously stood, frozen. I look to find nothing but the peaceful, blue, contradiction of a sky.
I fall to my knees, staring down at my clenched hands. These aren't my hands. They look the same, but my mind refuses everything as reality. These are only 0's and 1's. Not my hands.
A girl screaming no over and again is heard, breaking the silence as the crowd emanates a hum of gossip, tears, determined yells, and silent mourning of lives to soon be lost.
Airi, my friend closest to my defeated self, picks me up forcibly and fruitlessly attempts to revive my hopes, "C'mon, we're good at games, right? You've played them since you were 8! We're gonna be fine!"
"No," I shake my bowed head, "Those games only cost gold or items to die. If we die here..", I couldn't finish, as I choked on my words. The last piece of the sentence didn't have to be said to be understood. I slowly drop back down onto my knees, legs too weak to hold my weight. I find myself tremblingand shaking. Is this really it for us?
Airi lifts me and sets me down harshly, forcing me to stand again. I look up to the dispersing crowd. How many would never see a real cloud again? Would anyone complete the game?
"C'mon. We'd better get started if we ever want to go home again.", Sam, my other unfortunate friend, sighs, gesturing towards the exit.
"Where's Tyler?", I quickly look around the crowd. A hand slaps my back, "Here."
I sigh, halfly in relief, halfly surprised he didn't seem at all affected by the announcement. He must've heard it, it would be impossible to miss.
"Are we just gonna stand here and cry or are we gonna go kill some monsters?", Tyler draws his sword, signalling his eagerness to fight. "If we don't go soon, we'll be behind in levels."
I stand and follow Tyler out of the massive, circular town center. Sam and Airi follow directly behind us as we navigate the Town of Beginnings. While on the walk, I instinctively attempt to push my glasses up only to poke the bridge of my nose. I remember my glasses wouldn't fit under the visor of the NerveGear.
I look around, my vision not blurred as I expected. Distant object were as clear as Tyler in front of me. Must be because the visor's right in front of me, I think to myself, blankly viewing the sights that an hour ago, would've been breathtaking. I curiously poke myself, knowing I could feel but wanting to test just how real it was. I walk, poking my own arm and studying for any difference in my memory of the real world. It's identical. I could hear everything perfectly, no background noise, no speaker static. I could smell the local cuisines, making me long for a taste. There's no time for that, I shake the thought.
My mind wanders off once again. Games like these have PvP. Will PK-ing exist in this world? I sigh, frowning at the sad truth. Murder exists in the real world, so it's likely to happen here. People may become insane and commit a spree of murders. I cringe at the thought of someone killing another player- no, person, for a pointless video game reason. If you so much as accidentally kill the same NPC that another player had set their eyes on, or kill a boss to attract greedy eyes on your reward. Something so simple in this world could result in death in the real world.
A nudge brings me from my thought and blind walk. I look up to find a girl, clad in the starter leather armor looking up at me. I scratch the back of my head, looking away. "Sorry, I zoned out.."
She tilts her head in confusion. I think for a moment.
Oh. It's a Japanese-only game. take a moment to translate, having little experience in this language, then apologize. "Gomen nasai.."
She smiles, waving me off. I sigh, forgetting completely that my physical self was in a Japanese apartment complex, lying on a couch. I take a mental note not to speak English as not to get funny looks. I don't want any looks. Any one of these people could be looking for an unlucky victim and I don't want to be it. I want as little attention as possible.
I look around for my group, finding them conversing with a merchant NPC. I approach them to find they've already grown accustom to the language. I quickly translate.
"How much for your best sword?"
"1,000 cor."
Tyler swings his hand downward, summoning his main menu. Seeing this, we all mimic to check our cumulative balance. One by one, we announce that we have no money. Tyler sighs and walks off. We all follow, lost and without objective.
"We should party up", I announce, having spent my spare time exploring the menu. I enter everyone's names and send a party request to each.
A flash catches my attention. I notice under my own health bar, 3 more have appeared with our usernames. Xetanai, myself. Mostexis, Tyler. Etheral, Sam. Kasumi, Airi.
"That's neat.", Sam pointed it out before I could. "We can see one another's health and levels."
We all take a moment to explore the menus. I can't help but hopelessly spam the blank button where 'Log Out' should've been.
"What about roles?", Airi stretches lazily.
"I'll be the tank, per usual with these kinds of games.", Tyler demands.
"I call dual weilder", Sam announces only to be shot down by Tyler, "I read the manual, apparently there isn't any form of dual weilding."
Sam scoffs, "All these beautiful graphics, sounds, and such. No magic. Can't even let us hold 2 weapons? I guess I'll be a light swordsman."
"I call support!", Airi yells excitedly.
"We need a leader", Tyler interrupts the chaotic raving, pointing at me, "I elect Isaak."
"What..?", I take a step back defensively.
"You'll be our leader.", he demands, "I want to be a tank. You lead."
"N-no..! I'm the reason we're stuck here in the first place!", I yell.
"No, we came to play this VRMMO, like you did. We're all here on our own terms, let's just be glad we're all here together and not at some foreign hospital mourning a friend trapped in a game.", Tyler stands aggravatedly.
I sigh, dropping to my knees. "I'm so sorry...", I weakly mutter, staring at the pathway made up of stones of various sizes. There was silence. I hold back tears as I repeat helplessly, my throat tightening, "I'm so sorry... I've killed us all..."
"Stand up.", Tyler commands, his words pulling me to my feet. He stares emotionlessly for a solid minute. "Now, lead."
I wipe my eyes. Previous experience with Tyler has assured me I wouldn't win this. He raises a brow, knowing I was ready to give in. Dropping the subject entirely, I sigh, speaking as I exhale. "There're always low level monsters near the spawn in these kinds of games. We should farm them for experience and et cedra... Tyler?", I glance at him, "How much of that manual did you read..?"
"I skimmed through it. What do you need?", He stares blankly, seemingly annoyed to be the only one who read it.
"Everything and anything that will help us get started.", I request, thinking of any specific points. "Good starting armor, weapons."
He sighs, "Mostly everything of use will be player-made. For now, we should focus solely on training. Items later."
I yawn, taking a moment afterwards to overthink it. "So let's leave town and fight. Level ourselves as much as we can.". The group nods and I feel a slight sense of happiness well up in my gut. I'll get you all out of here safely. I promise.