The Beginning of It All (OC POV) November 6, 2022 12:30 PM JST

The last few minutes. The servers are warming up they say. I don't know how well this day is going to go. The official stream for the launch is going crazy. In about four days, nearly 10,000 copies have been purchased. Although, I was one of the very lucky few who won the game by competing in a contest. I know thats cheap, but hey, free is free. Anyways, back on topic. I've managed to get in contact with a beta tester, she seems nice and all, but she's kind of "shifty," if you know what I mean. She told me whats easiest on the first floor, and what quests to take. She even told me where some hidden stuff is. I look back at the time and the download percentage.

12:45 PM 87% download

I decide to close the stream to speed up the download process. I stand up from my chair and stretch and my eyes are drawn to the mirror. Yeah, not much to go for. Mind you, I'm not one of those fat, pale nerds who sit inside all day. It's just, when people look at me, they think,

"Meh, just another average joe."

But yeah, thats what I am. 23 and single. The most interesting thing people see is my height. 6'5 ain't nothing to sneeze at. I walk out of my room to the kitchen to get a glass of water before the dive. The water here is a little iron-y for my taste, but I've gotten used to it. I've only been here for about three months. I chose two semesters abroad in Japan, but no one else wanted to follow me. So Im on my own for a while.

As I walk back upstairs a theme comes into my head for some reason. I kind of remember what its from to. A movie I saw as a teenager. "The Best Performer" or something like that. I look at my computer screen.

12:50 PM 100% download Ready for Play

I smirk. I start up the game and put on the helmet. The severs should be running 10 minutes before launch. I've already gone through the calibration process so I can get right in. Smiling, I say the words I'll soon regret.

"Link, Start!" 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

12:55 PM Town of Beginnings

The bright light started to leave. I look around I already see a couple tens of players looking around. Most of them seem to enchanted by everything to notice a new player spawn in.

The player who's dressed in all purple. And no, I did not choose a female avatar, purple is my favorite color. Heck, I even gave my avatar purple hair to match my IRL dyed hair. I ignored the gawking players and started to walk out of the town. On the way out of town, I saw a number of people. Two guys were heading out of town, one with long reddish/pinkish hair and a katana at his hip, the other had short black hair and a mature face with a medium length blade. Another guys was walking around the shops looking at things to buy. He had longer black hair, almost covering his eyes, which themselves were almost black too. He was adorned in crimson and maroon clothing. He had a longer sword strapped to his back. Continuing further, another boy came running behind me. He also had black hair, though it only went down to his neck line. His more prominent features though, were his snow white jacket over his black shirt and his sky blue eyes. He had a much shorter sword on him, though not short enough to be a dagger. I continued until I was out of town to where my beta tester friend said the best hunting grounds were. Once I reached there, I realized I had not even looked at my own sword, let alone equip it. I opened up my menu to see my regular clothing skill bubbles. Then I went to my inventory to look at my sword. It wasn't much to look at but was alright. As soon as I tapped it to see its strength, my eyes almost blew out of my sockets.

Royale Sword Rank: S Str: 12 Skl:5 EXP: 0/20,000

To say I was shocked would be an understatement. After I had gotten over the fact that I had gotten the best rank sword in the game, I had to stop and think over the sword. Why was this S-class item so weak? The info broker had said that the standard strength of a sword right of the gate was anywhere from 10 to 20. So my sword was actually on the weaker side of the spectrum. What gives? Then I saw the thing at the bottom. An experience bar for the sword. That didn't make sense. Even the developers said that the sword you got was the sword you got. No improving it by leveling up. No special abilities on them. The only way to upgrade without having it be a chest or mob drop, was to either make one yourself or try to combine two together. Both needing a Blacksmith to assist you. After trying to think of any loophole to those rules, I only thought of one logical explanation. This sword must have been added either without the devs knowledge or as an amazing one in a trillion chance spawn item. A ding in my ears soon brought me out of my deep thoughts. I looked at my menu and saw three messages in my inbox. One was from the game saying that it had officially launched. The other two were a bit stranger.

To: Morado From: SAO Devs Subject: Royale

Congratulations!
You were chosen at random to receive one of the most powerful items in the game. The Royale Sword!
We are sure you have figured out by now how this special item works, but there is something we forgot to add to the items description.
The sword will take half of the EXP that you receive.

Because of this, you will level up slower than most, but you should be able to fight just as well as (if not better than) most players.
Have fun!

-SAO Dev Team

The second letter read like this:

To: Morado
From: Kayaba Akihiko Subject: Congrats and Uniqueness

Hello, Morado
My name is Akihiko Kayaba and I would personally like to congratulate you on winning the contest. I hope you find my game...
entertaining.
Best of luck to you.

After reading both messages, you could say I was both shocked and thrilled. If I could play my cards right, I could easily be one of the most powerful players in the game. I drew my sword to look at it. It was quite heavy and a golden color. It looked like a sword fit for a king. When I saw it, I felt kind of inadequate to wield it. But I quickly forgot about this when I suddenly started to glow.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

5:45 PM
Town of Beginnings

I looked around and saw that I wasn't the only one who looked confused. Every player on the server was here in the town square. Everyone was looking around with a worried look. I heard a beeping sound and look around and in my menu. Nothing. Then I realized everyone could hear it. I looked up and saw it. A flashing red hexagon saying WARNING. The hexagon then multiplied and multiplied until the entire sky was blood red with warning signs. Then things got really strange. The sky started to bleed. The liquid soon started to catch before it could hit anyone. It slowly started to gather into a shape. The mass soon stood to become a massive hooded man wearing white gloves. Then it spoke.

"Hello everyone. My name is Akihiko Kayaba. Welcome to the unparalleled experience that is, Sword Art Online.

As many of you might have seen, there is something missing from your menu. The logout button. This is not a defect. Repeat, this is not a defect. This is the way SAO was programed. Also, if your avatar's HP reaches 0, the NervGear will send a electromagnetic signal

straight to your brain, stopping your heart and ending your life. There are now 213 less players than when the game launched. There is now only one way to escape, you must complete Sword Art Online. As an added bonus I have added something in the inventory of every player. Please, have a look."

I opened up my inventory to find something I didn't expect. A mirror. As I looked into it, a bright light shown around me. But it wasn't like the teleport light. This was a white light. It soon died down, and I didn't feel any different. I heard the people around me gasp and shout. I wondered why and looked down at the mirror again. I was shocked to find that it wasn't my avatar's face looking back at my, but my own, real life face. Purple hair and everything. I looked back at the giant figure that was Kayaba, expecting him to say more.

"Now you might be wondering. Why would Akihiko Kayaba, creator of SAO and NervGear, do this? The answer is simple. To control the fate of a world of my own design. That is all. This marks the end of the tutorial, and the official start of Sword Art Online."

And with that, the giant figure started to melt and eventually shatter. I look around at all of the scared faces with mouths and eyes wide open. A young woman with long chestnut hair, a little girl with her brown hair up in twin ponytails, another with short pink hair. We all stood there, processing whats happening.

Then the chaos started. People reacting in rage, dispare, and some in emotionless denial. I stood there with a blank look on my face. I suddenly remembered the song I was humming before I logged in. "From Now On" from "The Greatest Showman." I also the repeated line from the song. I swore to follow the song and fight my way out this sick game.

And we will come back home And we will come back home Home again.