SAO: Chapter One

It was supposed to be the greatest game ever made. The game that everyone couldn't get enough of. How many people had sat in line just to get this game? How many people had pre-ordered their copy? How many people had laid everything on the line just to play this game? A few hundred? A thousand? Several thousand? Maybe even as many as a million? It wouldn't come as a surprise, this was supposed to be the game of all games. That's why Aki had done it. Aki had finally allowed the inner gamer to win and had purchased the viral game. It all came down to the ticking of the clock now. Just a few more pain staking minutes before the game was officially launched for all the world to enter. It wasn't exactly the most patient of waits, it consisted mostly of glancing at the clock every thirty to sixty seconds and wondering why the hell the damn thing wasn't moving fast enough. At one point Aki had even wondered if the clock was purposely moving slowly just to delay the start of the game.
The inner gamer was not pleased.
Then suddenly it came down to the excruciating last-minute. This was the time when every true gamer out there was settling down and getting into gear. Everything else was going off, and the viral gear was going on. The clock was ticking, counting down the seconds.
Thirty…
Then twenty…
Down to the last ten…
Nine…
Eight…
Seven…
Six…
Five…
Four…
Three…
Two…
One…
Online!
Sword Art Online was officially online, bringing with it the promise of adventure.
"Alright," Aki muttered. "Let's go."

There was a problem with being a major gamer. More times than not a person had a trademark name they stuck to, and depending on how good a gamer you were, that trademark name got noticed fast. For Aki, that trademark name would had been noticed instantly if, as soon as logging in, he hadn't taken it upon himself to get out of beginner city. Chances were there were a lot of players that would see the name and remember it from other games. After all, Aki's trademark name was hard to miss since he was the only one to ever use it. Akigawa. A name that had been found and created by Aki when he had started his mark on the gaming world so long ago. It was a name that had stuck, and anyone that knew Aki knew that name was his. His look had been the only thing that had really changed through the games. For Aki, he had a predictable tendency of going for silver, or white or gray if there was no silver, hair with green eyes. Each game had different customization abilities though, so Aki had never looked the same twice. Which was a shame really, he had really liked that look he had on the last game. He had tried to get as close as he could on this game, but beggars couldn't be choosers.
"Yoo-hoo!"
The tone had Aki freezing in his tracks. He had gone to a hunting ground that he had devised most people wouldn't risk going to this early in the game. It had stronger spawns, and most beginners didn't do stronger this early on. Sighing, Aki turned to see a group of four moving through the fields. The leader was a bouncing big-chested red-head that obviously had no clue how to be a good fighter. This early in the game and they were already worried about how they looked.
"Wait a minute," Aki muttered inspecting the party closer.
Yep, he knew it. He should have recognized that call anywhere. Sheathing his sword he considered walking away but realized that it would do no good, he'd just hear about it once he logged off. Crossing his arms he faced the redhead.
"Aki!" the redhead beamed.
She was way too cheery in this game. Looking at her party Aki wondered how many of the three boys were younger than they let on. On second thought, Aki didn't want to know.
"Torina," he grunted a greeting. "What are you doing here?"
He hadn't been aware that she had purchased a copy of the game.
"The same thing you are silly," Tor giggled. "And my don't we look good in this game?"
Aki swallowed the snide remark that surfaced in his throat. "What are you doing here Tor?"
"All business, no pleasure," Tor sighed. "Well, I figured since you love me and all, you wouldn't mind showing me and my friends some tricks. Seeing how you are the Akigawa and all."
"So it's true?" one of the boys, a carrot top, spoke up. "You're really him? Akigawa."
"Well of course he is! I wouldn't lie!" Tor huffed.
If only that was true, Aki mused to himself.
"You're the guy that defeated Falgor alone?"
"What? No way!" it was the sandy-colored mop top this time. "Falgor was a S-Class demon boss! You needed at least a party of five to even get to him."
This just proves Aki's earlier point about having a trademark name. Maybe he should start considering using one of his alternate names more. Like Recipe. The only problem with that is the fact that there are a number of people who know Recipe is an alternate to Akigawa. He was suddenly brought back to attention by the three men crowding him.
"Did you really become a Knight in the Dark Cross?"
"How do you defeat Jolly Rodger?"
"Can I add you to my friends' list?"
Meanwhile, Tor was giggling away in the background. Frowning, Aki tried to keep that peaceful façade he had worked so hard to associate with his gaming character.
"Guys. Guys," he interrupted. "As much as I'd love to stay and help out… I promised to be somewhere else in about ten minutes."
A chorus of disappointment went through the air. Aki never missed the scowl of disappointment that crossed Tor's face. Excusing himself, Aki started back towards town. Tor's next words almost made him turn around.
Almost.
"Going to meet your boys?" she asked smartly.
He wasn't going to give her any justice with an answer. That didn't deserve an answer anymore. Denial only added to the rumors after all, and frankly, Aki was tired of the rumors.

The good thing about a virtual reality game this big was the fact that there were a lot of places a person could go without being discovered, and that's exactly what Aki had done. He had gone into hiding for a bit. The truth was, he wasn't sure if his two friends had actually logged into the game. One had school, and the other had work so they would have missed the official launch time. They had discussed meeting up on the game, but only once they were sure everyone had actually logged into the game. Aki was supposed to text of them tonight to see if they had managed to get on.
Which reminded him, he should probably log off soon for dinner and to take care of a few things. Tor would probably continue playing until someone broke her connection. Shaking his head, Aki opened the menu but frowned when he noticed the log off button was missing. Was it a bug? Newer games tended to have a few bugs when they started out, it was inevitable. Strange though, wouldn't the game managers have noticed it by now? The game had launched six hours ago, someone in the industry should have noticed the bug by now. So why wasn't there a service announcement? Why wasn't there a notification that they were aware of the problem? Were they even aware of it yet?
It took a matter of moments for Aki to think things over. Even if they weren't aware of the problem, they soon would be. Players all over the world would be calling the game managers to report the problem. After so many complaints the would be forced to shut the game down for emergency maintenance. Which would force log everyone out at the same time, and the issue would be resolved. It'd just be another hour or two at most. Aki could wait that long. It's not like he had anything super important to do in the real world. It could all wait a while. Still though, something about the missing log out option left a feeling of danger in the pit of Aki's stomach. He had never heard of a game having that kind of bug, and the fact there was no way to force log bothered him even more. Had the coding been messed up somehow? Had the programmers over looked the fact they were missing important coding? Or had it not been added on purpose? Aki couldn't imagine them leaving it out on purpose. He had a fair share of experience with coding, and he had always triple checked his coding. So what was going on, and why didn't he like it?
He jumped when he suddenly heard the bell from the beginning town booming out over the land. Had they finally realized there was a problem? Was this an announcement of sorts? Getting to his feet Aki brushed the grass off his pants. He froze when he felt himself being transported. A forced teleport? That took some coding effort. Looking up he was surprised to find himself in the same town square he had started in earlier today. What was going on? You didn't have to start players in their original positions to shut a game down, and announcements could be heard anywhere in the game. So why? Why had him and everyone else been forcibly teleported to this site? It couldn't be another bug. If it had been, wouldn't it have teleported them before now?
"Look!"
The player that had called her companion's attention was pointing up into the sky. Which was quickly turning red with system alert icons spreading across the blue and white expanse. From the center of the sky a red liquid started to ooze down through the cracks of the small banners. Was it a virus? Had someone managed to hack into the game and implant a virus? Could that have somehow affected the ability to log out?
"What is that?"
The confused cries sounded through the square. Looking around Aki realized this could get ugly fast. Carefully moving through the crowd he managed to find a spot that was protected on two sides. The added benefit was the fact it was in the shadows, away from the notice of the crowd. Not that they were paying attention anyways. Turning his attention to the sky he was surprised to see the red fluid had become a cloaked figure. Someone in the crowd asked the one question Aki was sure many wanted to know the answer to.
"What's going on?"

Aki had heard him loud and clear, but some part of him was sure he hadn't heard the game creator right. Did the creator really just say that they were trapped in this game? Was there really no true escape from this world aside from the two choices given? Was the creator truly that mad?
Aki felt a cold chill crawl up his spine. It's numbing fingers prickled its way up, until it clawed into his stomach and churned into a solid pit of dread. Him and so many others were trapped inside a virtual reality with only two means of escaping this recently turned prison. Beat the game, or die. When said so lightly it seemed almost unrealistic, but the weight of the words had a harsh reality to them that chilled Aki to the bone. He had never considered himself a coward, but somehow he felt scared. Of what though? Of perishing from this world and never returning to the real world? Of dying? Or was there something a deeper fear that ran beneath the surface? It made no sense to him. He had never showed fear towards anyone or anything. Why did he feel scared now? Was it truly a fear for himself or was it a fear for- No! He couldn't let himself admit to it. Everything was going to be okay, thousands, no millions, of games had beaten before, this one would be no different. Everyone else could succumb to their fear, but not him. He was going to stand there and fight anything that this bastard threw at them. Just watch him, and once he got out of this world, he was going to find Kayaba Akihiko and punch him in the face.