A/N: Hello everyone! This is my first fanfic so I hope you all enjoy it. Feel free to leave a review or comment if you think it's warranted. And if you really like it, follow this story. I'll try to upload frequently (don't quote me though).
I slammed the door to my house and threw off my jacket, leaving it in a ball in front of the door. Clutching my treasure to my chest, I pelted up the stairs to my room. I quickly glanced into my sister's and brother's rooms before leaping into my own room. I was winded from running all the way home from the game store, but I was too ecstatic to care; I had done it. My fingers trembled slightly as I pulled the package out of the plastic shopping bag.
"One week," I whispered to myself. "I waited in that line for a week for this. And I'd do it again in a heartbeat." In my hands I held one copy of the latest VRMMORPG, Sword Art Online; one of the only 10,000 hard copies in the entire world. I smiled so hard it hurt. This was the pinnacle of my gaming life, the culmination of three years of waiting, researching, imagining, and yes even dreaming about.
Reverently, I peeled off the plastic covering and opened the case. There was a small pop and the aroma of a newly opened case drifted up to my face. I inhaled, enjoying the smell of fresh plastic. I gingerly removed the disc, careful not to bend or scratch it. Carrying it around the rim to keep any fingerprints off it, I carried the disc over to my brand new nerve gear rig. It took me months of saving to get it, but it was worth every single yen it costed. I opened the disc drive and placed Sword Art Online into the tray. There was a small whirring sound as the console read the data from the disc.
Kicking off my shoes, I dove onto my bed. I took the nerve gear helmet and placed it on my head, taking a deep breath as I did so. Exhaling loudly, I closed my eyes and lay back onto the sheets.
"Link start!"
My vision turned white and a stream of multi-colored lights flew by me. After a few moments, a prompt appeared, asking for my username and password. Reaching forward with invisible hands, I typed the two in. There was a small ding as my login was accepted, then the prompt vanished. I found myself looking at the avatar creation page, arguably the hardest part of any RPG. Not this time though, I had planned for this. In no time at all I had the avatar I had designed over the course of three years all ready to go. The name had taken months to decide upon, but I confidently entered Leo as my name.
I felt my body rematerialize, then everything went dark. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself in a large open area. I guessed that I was in the starting city. There were already a few players within view checking out the various shops and stands, although a few were just gazing in awe at the beauty of the virtual world around us. More new players were materializing around me, all of them as handsome and heroic as the rest. It seemed that every player had designed their avatars to be slightly stronger, taller, and better looking than the average. I was no exception to this.
I was tall and muscular, with short brown hair and piercing blue eyes. I looked like I was in my late teens. I had on a green shirt underneath a set of basic leather armor, with brown pants to go with it. My face was that of a young movie star or musician with flawless features and symmetry.
'This is incredible' I thought to myself. Pinching my right fore-finger and thumb together and pulling down, I opened the menu. I immediately checked out my stats, sighing when I saw how low they were. I then perused the skill list, whistling softly when I saw how long the list was. This would give grinding a whole new meaning; it would take months to level up. The leather armor I had did little to improve my defense, but it was better than nothing. I grinned when I saw that I had been allotted 5,000 col, the ingame currency.
'Time to do some shopping'
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Buckling my newly bought shortsword to my waist and fastening my round shield to my left arm, I strolled out of the Town of Beginnings into the plains surrounding the city. I figured that if I leveled up quick enough I could make it to the next town sooner than everyone else, putting myself in the perfect position to snag all of the good quests for myself.
I scanned the plains, trying to find a good spot to farm some mobs, preferably one away from other players. To the East I could see a large party fighting a pack of wolves. Westwards I could see two players fighting a boar, one with black hair and one with long red hair and a bandana. The North seemed clear, so I took off running in that direction.
Almost immediately a wolf jumped in front of me and blocked my path. Its red eyes gleamed with a murderous light, and it bared its teeth and growled at me. I drew my sword and got into what I thought was a good stance. The wolf sensed my aggression and growled louder, its black fur bristling.
The creature leapt at me and within the blink of an eye was nearly on top of me. I swung my sword at it with a downwards velocity, hoping to lop off its head. My slash landed, and I grunted in surprise as the wolf took little damage from the blow. The monster snarled at me, then lunged at me, trying to get my forearm in its mouth. Panicking, I swung my shield at it. Luckily I made contact, sending the wolf flying into some bushes.
"What am I supposed to do?" I asked myself. "Is this thing some kind of boss or something? Or am I just that weak? Maybe my sword-" I didn't get the chance to finish my thought, as the wolf came running out of the bushes towards me. I kept my sword tip low to deliver an upwards slash. Suddenly, my weapon began to glow with a blue light and began to tug in the direction of the wolf.
"What the heEEEEEE-!" My question turned into a strangled cry as I felt control of my body slip away. I charged the wolf, moving far faster than my body was normally capable of. I planted my left foot and swung upwards, cutting the wolf in half with an upwards strike from my glowing blade. The wolf howled in pain as its health bar dropped to zero. The monster glowed blue then shattered into polygonal fragments.
I stared at my sword, speechless. I had no idea what had just happened. I tried swinging my sword upwards again, but nothing happened. Bewildered, I tried again with the same result.
"You need to be in the proper stance," a male voice said. I whirled around.
A few feet away another player stood watching me. The player looked to be around my age and was even more handsome than I was. It was obvious that the player had taken a massive amount of time designing his avatar. Every little detail was chiseled and flawless, right down to the curve of his face and his hairstyle. There wasn't a single silver hair out of place, and his eyes were the color of melted gold. The player had on a white shirt and black pants. There was a rapier at his waist.
"Who are you?" I asked him, raising my sword. He sighed and held his hands up.
"It's alright," he said. "I'm not looking for a fight. That move you just did against the wolf, it's called a sword skill." I just stared at him blankly. "It's Sao's combat system," he continued. "By getting in the proper stance you can allow the system to take over in order to deliver an attack that's far more powerful than a normal hit."
"Sword skills huh," I said. "And all I need to do is get in the right stance?" I tried getting in the same stance I had when I killed the wolf. Immediately I felt the system take control, and I delivered a hard upwards slash. Even though I didn't hit anything I could still feel the force of the blow.
"There ya go!" The other player said encouragingly. He walked over to me and held out his hand. "My name's Dain, nice to meet you," he said. I hesitated for a second, then took his hand in my own.
"I'm Leo," I said. He grinned when I said this.
"Nice name," Dain said. "Leo...it suits you."
"Hey thanks man," I replied warmly. I was starting to take a liking to this guy. I gestured to the plains behind me. "You wanna train with me?" I offered.
"Yeah sure," Dain answered. He opened the menu and tapped a few buttons. There was a small bell-chime and a prompt appeared. It asked if I wanted to form a party with Dain. I chose yes and the prompt vanished. As it did, a second health bar appeared underneath my own.
"Let's get started," Dain said with a smile.
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Before we knew it, a couple of hours had passed. I had gotten to know Dain while we fought the mobs, and his personality was just as spotless as his appearance. He was witty, smart, and funny. His fighting skills were formidable as well; his speed and accuracy with his rapier was awe-inspiring. We took a break as the sun set, watching the perfect digital sun descend below the horizon.
"This is the best thing I have ever experienced in my entire life," I said breathlessly.
"You said it brother," Dain replied. "I don't even want to logout." I nodded in agreement. Nothing could ever be better than this. I closed my eyes in bliss and smiled.
Suddenly, a blue light enveloped Dain and I.
"Leo?!" I heard Dain call out. When the blue light faded away Dain and I found ourselves standing in the center of the Town of Beginnings, surrounded by thousands of players. They all looked as bewildered as we were. I could hear hundreds of players murmuring to each other.
"Did we get teleported?"
"Is this an event?"
"Who brought us here?"
"Does this have anything to do with the logout button not being there?"
'What?' I thought. 'The logout button isn't there?" I looked over to Dain. It looked like he had heard the player mention the logout button too and he started to lift his hand to open the menu. Before he could, the sky turned red and hundreds of little messages reading "System Announcement" appeared. From the cracks between the messages a blood-red slime began to ooze, coagulating together to take the shape of a giant, hooded figure.
"Is that a GM?" Dain whispered. All I could do was shrug. This whole series of events was giving me a bad feeling, the kind you get deep in your gut. It's not so much a feeling as it is a primal instinct; the urge to run and hide someplace where harm can't befall you.
"Attention players," the hooded figure began. The circle fell deathly quiet as all conversation stopped, everyone waiting in nervous anticipation for the message that was about to be delivered.
"I welcome you to my world. My name is Akihiko Kayaba, and as of this moment I am in control of this world. I'm sure most of you have already noticed an item missing from your main menu's: the logout button. Let me assure you, this is not a defect with the game. I repeat, this is not a defect. This is how Sword Art Online was designed to be."
"What the hell...is he nuts?" I asked no one in particular.
"You cannot log yourselves out of Sao, and no one from the outside will be able to shut down or remove the nerve gear from your head," Kayaba continued in a deadly monotone. "If anyone attempts to do so, a transmitter inside the nerve gear will discharge a microwave signal into your skull, destroying your brain and ending your life." All around Dain and I players began to loudly voice their objections.
"You can't be serious!"
"This is crazy!"
"Is this for real?" Suddenly, one panicked voice rose above the rest.
"Hey, I can't get out!" A male voice said. A shudder went through the crowd and many players began to surge towards the exits, only to be blocked by an invisible barrier. To my left a bandana wearing player shook his head violently.
"This is crazy!" He exclaimed. "This is totally crazy!" I recognized him from the fields, he was one of two guys I saw fighting a boar.
"Despite my warning, the families and friends of some of the players have attempted removing the nerve gear, an unfortunate decision to say the least," Kayaba said. "As a result, the game now has 213 less players than when it began. They've been deleted from both Aincrad and the real world." Kayaba lifted his hands and several screens began to float around him. They appeared to be news clippings. "As you can see, international media outlets have round-the-clock coverage of everything… including the deaths. At this point it's safe to assume the likelihood of a nerve gear being removed is minimal at best. I hope this brings you a little comfort as you try to clear the game."
"Like Hell it does!" A rage filled voice yelled out.
Deaf to the words of the angry and confused players beneath him, Kayaba continued his speech.
"It's important you remember the following: there is no longer any way to revive someone within the game. If your HP drops to 0, your avatar will be deleted from the system… forever. And the nerve gear will simultaneously destroy your brain."
The entirety of the present players stood in stunned silence. Masks of disbelief were worn by everyone, myself included. Dain's confident and handsome face now wore an expression of silent terror.
"There's only one way for a player to escape now: you must clear the game," Kayaba said. "Right now you're gathered on floor 1, the lowest level of Aincrad. If you can get through the dungeon and beat the boss, you may advance to the next floor. Defeat the boss at floor 100, and you will clear the game."
"We can't clear all 100 floors," the red haired player said hopelessly. "That's freaking impossible. Even the beta testers never made it that high!" If I was capable of coherent thought I would have agreed with him.
"Last but not least, I've placed a little present in the item storage of every player. Please, have a look." My hand moved on it's own, devoid of any commands I gave it. Kayaba wasn't lying, there was something in my items. I hesitated a moment, glancing around to get a clue as to what it was.
"What?" Dain suddenly exclaimed. "A mirror?" I glanced over at Dain and saw that he was in fact holding a small hand mirror. I selected my own mirror and it materialized in my hands. I didn't even bother looking at my reflection.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!" Someone screamed as everyone spontaneously became covered in a blue light. When I regained my vision, I was surrounded by thousands of unfamiliar faces.
'Did I get teleported again?' I wondered to myself.
"Leo!" Dain called out. "Where are you?" I quickly located the source of the yell, as it was coming from right next to me where Dain used to be standing. In his place stood a slightly less perfect version of him. My jaw dropped.
"Is...is that you Dain?" I asked the teen before me.
"Leo…?" He responded. We stood staring at each other. It didn't take me long to come to a conclusion.
"Kayaba used the high density scanners and calibrations to create digital recreations of our actual bodies," I told Dain. He nodded mutely, at a loss for words.
" Right now you're probably wondering why. Why would Akihiko Kayaba, developer of Sword Art Online and nerve gear, do this? Ultimately, my goal was a simple one: the reason I created Sword Art Online was to control the fate of a world of my own design. As you can see, I have achieved my goal. This marks the end of the tutorial, and the official launch of Sword Art Online. Players, I wish you the best of luck."
The assembled players stood in shocked silence as Kayaba began to evaporate into a red mist. After a few moments Kayaba had completely faded away and the warning announcements disappeared to once again be replaced by the flawless sky. Nobody moved, even the silence seemed to be holding its breath, waiting for anxiously for something to happen.
Suddenly, a piercing shriek shattered the silence. The sound was all that was necessary to snap everyone out of their stupors. Screams began to ring out all over the circle and the crowd surged as players frantically tried to run away from their own terror. Dain and I stood in the center of the melee, both of us too stunned to move.
'This...this isn't a game.' I thought emotionlessly. 'This is Hell.' I felt myself pushed to the side as the bandana-wearing player ran by, being dragged by the raven-haired player. Glancing left, I saw that Dain had been knocked over and was being trampled by a horde of terrified players. I clenched my fists and bared my teeth in a silent snarl of rage.
Shoving players aside, I grabbed Dain and hauled him to his feet.
"Come on!" I yelled to him over the din. "We have to get out of here!" He nodded mutely. Clutching his arm in my hand, we ran through the crowd towards the exit. After what felt like a lifetime, we broke through and ran out of that godforsaken circle together.
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Dain and I didn't stop running until we got to the edge of the city. There Dain stopped short, his face white as a sheet.
"W-we can't go out there," He said, terrified. "There's m-monsters. We could d-di-" He couldn't bring himself to say the last word, but I got the message. I grabbed Dain by the shoulders and looked into his eyes.
"Dain," I began sternly. "You heard Kayaba. The only way to get out now is to beat the game. The only way we can beat the game is to get stronger and fight our way to the end." Dain shook his head furiously.
"We don't have to," he said frantically. "Why not let the others go out and beat the game for us? We can just stay here where it's safe and wait it out."
"Dain, I would bet my life that the rest of the players are thinking that exact same thing right now. If we just stay here and hide with everyone else, then there won't be anyone out there fighting and we'll never get out of here."
"Then why don't we just wait for a little; y'know, let other people gather info so that the rest of us can get a read on how dangerous it actually is?"
"Dain if we don't go now, then we never will. Besides, who else is capable of getting that info and surviving long enough to tell everyone else? Think about it, we're both good fighters and we know how to use the sword skills. We could be everyone's only chance!"
"But what if-" Dain started.
I slapped Dain hard across the face. The fleshy sound echoed across the empty area. He was shocked into silence and he stood staring at me, his eyes full of anger, shock, and fear. I roughly grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.
"Listen," I said to him forcefully. "Stop being such a damn coward." At the mention of the word coward, a change came over him. The fear vanished from his face, replaced by rage. He smacked my hands off of him.
"I am not a coward," Dain spat.
"Prove it," I replied. "Fight." He hesitated, then drew his rapier.
"Let's get the Hell out of this death-game," Dain said. Relieved by his sudden conviction, I relaxed a little.
"Ready when you are," I said. Side by side, we walked out of the Town of Beginnings into the jaws of death.
'I won't die here," I thought. 'And I won't allow anyone else to die either, not as long as I have breath in my lungs and a sword in my hand. I'm getting out of here. And no one, not even Kayaba himself and all of the monsters in Sao will be able to stop me."
