Chapter One: A Virtual World

Author's notes: I have edited chapters 1-3 and 22 so that they are more accurate and have better quality. Read them and enjoy my significantly better writing skills. And if you have not read them before, just enjoy what i think the lives of other players in SAO could have been like.

Disclaimer – I do not own Sword Art Online nor do I own the plot, scenes, or any of the characters that came with it. I only own my original characters. Also, the text in this chapter said by anyone other than my original characters was borrowed from the subtitles from the anime of Sword Art Online.

"In 2022, mankind finally built a full virtual environment."

2022/11/06 Sunday

"All right, we're under way! It's time for this week's MMO Stream. First we just had you watch a promotional video . . . Are we looking at the day of last week's launch? What could all these people in line be after? Sword Art Online! The one at the front of the line waited three days prior to launch. Amazing! Or is this just what any real gamer would do? On today's MMO Stream, we'll be covering the internationally famous Sword Art Online, AKA SAO! To be honest, none of the NerveGear software released so far has really taken advantage of the hardware. Yeah, they were crappy games, huh? But SAO was made by the NerveGear inventor, Akihiko Kayaba, and it's a long-awaited VR MMORPG. I can't wait! The beta testers all said it was incredible. I wish I could've gotten a copy too . . . Only 10,000 copies were sold in its first printing. It sold out online in seconds. And as you saw, hard-core fans bought all the store copies . . ."

The street was deserted and very quiet, especially for a Sunday afternoon. The trees all around were bare and the sky was cloudy, it looked as if it might snow. It was a cold, winter day; understandably, no one would want to be out anyway, at least, no one normal. Suddenly, a loud yell cut through the air and two girls came sprinting down the sidewalk. The girl in the lead was about a head taller than the other, with glossy, brown, waist-length hair and almond colored eyes. The girl falling behind looked like she didn't exercise regularly, but was as thin as a stick. Her eyes and hair were the same color as the other girl's, but her hair was chin-length and not as glossy.

The girl falling behind was running out of breath, but was trying her best to keep up with the other girl. The taller girl noticed this and slowed down so her companion could catch up to her and smiled as they drew even. They continued to run for several minutes until they reached the gate of a house. They rushed through the gate and into the house, breathing hard as they came to stand in the entryway. The taller girl had her hands on her hips while the smaller one was slightly bent over with her eyes closed, clutching a stitch in her side. After a moment she stood up straight, a smile on her face, then leaped into the air, one fist up.

"Yes! I can't believe we got to stay at the videogame store all night and buy Sword Art Online!" she yelled excitedly.

"Quiet down, Suzu-chan," the taller girl said with a laugh, "the neighbors might hear you."

"Sorry, Honoka-nee!" Suzuka said.

Honoka turned to her little sister. "So, are you ready to give this game a shot?"

"Yeah!" Suzuka said, and then hesitated. "Wait, don't you have something to do first?"

"Like what?"

Suzuka smirked. "Don't play dumb. You know. You need to call that boy back. What was his name again?"

"No. I don't need to do anything like that." Honoka said with a slightly annoyed look on her face.

"Why not?" Her sister asked slyly.

"You know perfectly well why."

Suzuka sighed. "Yeah, yeah." She bent down and began to take her shoes off. "So, let's go play with our new game!"

Honoka followed her lead. "I'm glad to see that you're into something other than manga and anime for once."

Suzuka blushed. "Shut up!" She said quickly. "A lot of my friends were really excited about this game and I think it's really cool, too."

"You and your otaku friends?"

Suzuka blushed deeper. "Come on. Just admit that you're interested in the full-dive system too."

Honoka chuckled. "True, I am." The idea of feeling like you live in a completely different world intrigued Honoka and she wanted to investigate.

The younger sister stepped up and toward the staircase. "Well, let's go."

"You get a head start. I'll leave a note for Kyou so she knows that we will log out in time for dinner."

"That's a good idea. That way she won't yank the NerveGear off of us while we're playing." Suzuka began to head up the steps. "See you there!" She yelled, running past several picture frames and doors to her room. The door closed behind her with a click as she hurried to her computer. She inserted the SAO software and powered the computer on. It made several beeping noises and a few lights lit up. Suzuka then plugged in the NerveGear and put the helmet on her head, plopping down on her bed and laying back onto her pillow afterwards. Inside the NerveGear, Suzuka could see the battery icon saying it was charging and the clock saying it was 1:02.

With a smirk, she opened her mouth and said the activation words. "Link start!"

Her vision turned white, then many colors rushed into her vision and icons began to appear as the NerveGear ran a routine self-check. Then, after logging into her account and creating her new avatar, Suzuka's vision turned completely white again and stayed that way for a few seconds. Soon, music played and the words "Welcome to Sword Art Online!" appeared. The color blue rushed into her vision and before she knew it, she was blinking at the sight of a town square.

Suzuka looked down at herself. It was incredible, like she was staring down at a real body. Looking around, she noticed that the people looked real as well. It was hard to believe that this was a virtual world. Excitement bubbled up inside her and, unable to contain herself, the girl jumped into the air and yelled, "This is amazing!"

Suzuka didn't know where to start so she began to run, speeding through crowds of people. She couldn't stop herself from occasionally stopping to look at the various stands that were set up though. The different weapons, clothes, and trinkets catching her eye. After a while, her endurance ran out and she had to stop to regain it. She stood, breathing deeply, her hands on her hips as she stared at everything arond her with a smile. This place looks promising. I should make sure that Honoka-nee logged in before i get carried away.

The petite girl pulled up her menu, briefly looking at her map before selecting 'friends' and entering the username that Honoka told her that she would be using. She hadn't waited long before a pop-up appeared saying 'your friend request has been accepted.' Suzuka then sent a message to her sister saying 'meet at the western entrance of the town.' She then began to make her way to said entrance, referring to her map when she didn't know where to go.

Eventually, after weaving her way through many streets and alleys, Suzuka made it. A few people were there, talking, running, and testing their weapons, but the person that stood out to her, was a girl leaning against the wall, inspecting her sword. She looked similar to Honoka, the only real difference was that her skin was paler and her hair was blonde. As Suzuka made her way over to the girl, she noticed Suzuka and put her sword away.

"Is that you, Suzu-chan?" she asked.

Irritated, Suzuka said, "Yes, but you do know that it's rude to bring matters of the real world into online games with you right? That includes real names. My name here is Felicita."

"Right," Her sister said. "I'm sorry. Can I call you Fel-chan then?"

"I suppose, you're forgiven, Kinade-san," Felicita said, using the name she suggested for her sister to use. "And I guess you can call me that."

Kinade came up and put an arm around her sister. "So, what now?" she asked. Felicita thought, then pulled out her sword with a grin.

"Let's see what this system can do, shall we?"

After that, they ran around the fields surrounding The Town of Beginnings and tested their skills on the wild boar monsters that roamed there. It was hard to describe how to work it but, after reading what was under 'help' in the menu, they figured out how to use their sword skills. They had to charge it, in a way, by holding their weapon like they were ready to strike, then, when it felt like it would burst, they lashed out. After a while, both of them became better at using their skills, but Felicita could see that Kinade was more of a natural at it than she was.

As the sun got lower in the sky, turning it a red orange, the girls laid in the grass on a hill and looked up at the sky, talking about the game.

"It's amazing," Felicita was saying, holding her sword up above her head. "Everything about this world feels real and you have the potential to go so far too."

Kinade nodded. "Yeah, but don't forget that the real world is just the same, you just don't use a sword."

Felicita let her sword drop to her side. "Uh-huh," was her reply.

Kinade sat up. "It is really cool here, though, I have to admit. It's hard for me to believe that we're in a game."

Felicita continued to stare at the sky. It was so pretty and the air was cool, she felt as though she could take a nice, peaceful nap. A small ringing sound came from her left and she glanced in its direction. Kinade had pulled up her menu.

"It's 5:25, we better wrap this up soon so we can log-out in time for dinner." The older sister said as she looked at her menu. Then, she gestured to something out of her sister's vision. "You want to take care of that one and then head home?"

The younger girl sat up. A wild boar had come to the bottom of the hill as they had been talking. It was grazing, not paying much attention to them. "Sure," she said as she pulled out her sword. She stood up and held her weapon at the ready. She took a moment, then she sprinted toward the monster. It noticed and turned toward her, pawing the ground as it prepared to charge. Felicita got closer and the boar squealed before charging at full-speed.

Sh was so focused on the task at hand, that she was startled by the sudden bells tolling in the distance. She looked around in confusion.

"Fel-chan!"

Crap, I lost my focus! Felicita looked back at her opponent but it was too late to defend herself. She flinched even though she knew it wouldn't hurt. Then, there was a shattering sound, and Felicita felt herself being caught by someone. Opening her eyes, she found herself being steadied by the hands of her sister.

"You okay?" Kinade asked.

"Yeah," Felicita said, a little startled at how her sister had saved her so quickly. "But what is that?" she asked, referring to the tolling.

"I'm not sure." Her sister said as they turned there heads in the direction of the cacophony. Then

Suddenly, a blue-ish fire enveloped them. They both gasped in surprise. Then, much to their confusion, they appeared in a large square.

"What?" Felicita said looking around. Why were they back in the town of beginnings?

"Suzu-chan, what's happening?" Kinade asked.

Felicita was too startled to get angry about Kinade calling her by her real name. "Someone must have forced a teleport." She answered. Then she looked up and saw a blinking red warning sign in the sky. "Look!" She said to her older sister, pointing at it.

The signs multiplied, some saying "Warning," others saying "System Announcement." Then something seemed to ooze between them. It looked disturbingly like blood. It dripped down and gathered in mid-air, bulging up and taking a shape, a hooded human figure. It looked like a game master. Felicita relaxed a little. This was probably just some weird official opening ceremony. It was unsettling that he didn't have a face though.

Then he began to speak. "Attention, players." His voice rang throughout the square. "Welcome to my world. My name is Akihiko Kayaba. As of this moment, I am the only person able to control this world."

Felicita and Kinade looked at each other for a moment. Akihiko Kayaba? Control the world? This was obviously some kind of joke.

Kayaba continued to speak. "I'm sure you've already noticed that the 'log-out' button is missing from the main menu."

"What?" Felicita checked her menu, gaped when the button in question was missing, then frantically searched through her menu. Where is it?

"But this is not a defect in the game." The hooded figure was saying. "I repeat, this is not a defect in the game, but a key feature of Sword Art Online. You cannot log-out of SAO of your own will, and no one on the outside can shut down or remove the NerveGear. Should this be attempted, the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit powerful microwaves, destroying your brain and thus ending your life."

"That can't be true." Felicita heard her sister say.

Kayaba spoke again. "Unfortunately, there have been several instances where players' friends and families have ignored this warning, and attempted to forcibly remove the NerveGear. As a result, 213 players have exited permanently, from both Aincrad and the real world. As you can see, news organizations across the world are reporting on this situation, including the multiple deaths." Many screens appeared next to the figure, circling him. On them was news coverage of the deaths involved with SAO and pictures of several victims. "Thus, you can assume that the danger of a NerveGear being removed has been reduced. So, I would like you all to focus on clearing the game. But be sure to keep this in mind, there is no longer any function to revive someone within the game. The instant your HP drops to zero, your avatars will vanish forever, and simultaneously, your brains will be destroyed by the NerveGear." Felicita imagined herself shattering just like the boars they had fought in the fields and found herself unable to breathe. All of this-it must be some sick joke or a weird nightmare.

"The one condition for your escape is to complete this game." He pulled up a map. "You are presently on the lowest floor of Aincrad, floor one. If you make your way through the dungeon and defeat the Floor Boss, you may advance to the next level." An entire map of Aincrad could be seen now and red lights began to appear in spots between each floor. "Defeat the final boss on floor 100 and you will clear the game."

Felicita gasped. "All 100?" It seemed like a very daunting task. No way could they do it.

"Now then, finally, I've provided you all with a present in your item storage. Please see for yourselves."

Felicita did it without really thinking about it. She opened her menu and went to her item storage. She tapped on the only item that popped up. A mirror? She looked into it, her avatar's face staring back at her. What the hell is this for? Then a blue-ish light appeared in the corner of her eye. She looked over and her sister screamed as she was engulfed in the flames. "Onee-chan!" Felicita screamed just as the flames enveloped her as well.

The flames disappeared as quickly as they appeared and Felicita was standing there as if nothing happened. She looked down at herself. Nothing seemed terribly wrong. Except . . .

"Suzu-chan?" Felicita looked up. Her sister looked at her with a surprised expression. Felicita was surprised as well. Her sister looked like her sister again, her skin tone and hair color looked like they did in the real world. Then that could mean . . .

Felicita looked at the mirror in her hands. She didn't look like Felicita anymore. She looked like how she did in the real world; like Suzuka Tachibana once again.

"How?" Felicita asked.

Kinade understood what she meant. "The NerveGear covers your whole head so it knows what you look like, and it asked you to do a calibration thing when we first installed it, remember? So it knows our body type."

"Why would Kayaba make us look like our normal selves? Why would he do this?"

Akihiko Kayaba began to talk again, as if he had heard her question. "Right now, you must all be wondering, 'Why? Why would Akihiko Kayaba, developer of Sword Art Online and the NerveGear, do such a thing?' My goal has been achieved. I created Sword Art Online for one reason . . . to create this world and meddle in it. And now, all is complete. This ends the tutorial for the official Sword Art Online launch. I wish you luck, players." The hooded figure began to dissolve and the blood went back through the red signs in the virtual sky. Then they disappeared and the sky went back to normal, as if everyone hadn't been given (in essence) a death sentence.

Everyone in the square was silent for what seemed like an eternity, to shocled and in too much denial to do anything . Then someone screamed 'No!', the word acting as a spark, and the crowd began to stir. Eventually everyone was screaming, yelling their disbelief, fear, and anger. The fire was ablaze.

The Tachibana sisters stared at each other, both scared and full of shock. They could not find the strength to move pr say anything in the midst of the rioting crowd.

They were definitely going to be late for dinner.

Author's Notes: REVISED! As the first chapter, it is a bit boring. Please understand that, those of you who are reading this for the first time. I hate it when people only glance at the first chapter before deciding not to read a book. For those who are not new, I hope that you appreciated this revision. Please leave a review!