The day was finally here. Today was the day that the famed game, Sword Art Online, was released. This was an exciting day for lots of gamers, especially since the creator of the Nerve Gear, Kayaba Akihiko made it. This made it seem even better. But this tale isn't about the creator of the game, but of a certain player of the game, and this where his story begins.

As 17 year old Raiko Shinimine lay on his bed in anticipation of the actual start of the new game, Sword Art Online. He knew he'd have a few friends to play with, some he knew in real life, and some he knew from other games on his computer.

This was the day. It was only minutes away for the servers to go online, and that would be when Raiko would start up his Nerve Gear. He was a beta tester, but he focused mostly on mechanics, and aesthetics when he played in order to make sure it would be perfect when it was officially released. He began to prepare by first drinking water and finishing the sandwich he had made beforehand. Finally, he put on his Nerve Gear. He could see the time in the top right corner; 4:59pm. It seemed like forever for the minute to go by, but when it did, the lives of thousands changed.

"Link Start!"Raiko said excitedly as the Nerve Gear became active. Everything began to fall into place. Raiko chose to use a male avatar, seeing as how it would be weird of he would be suddenly be changed into a female if he had chosen that. To use your actual height and weight would be the best course of action, he decided. He chose to make his avatar have slightly long hair, like he did in real life. After that was done, and his avatar was created, there was only one thing to do. He had to choose a name. He thought long and hard on this, but eventually decided on Setnis.

The next thing he knew, there were a bunch of people in front of him, NPCs and players. The first thing he decided to do was to find a suitable weapon. It wasn't more than three minutes before a weapon stand was seen. On it were swords, shields, and axes. Setnis grabbed a sword without a shield, assuming he'd be faster without one.

"So, Setnis, eh?"a voice said from behind. Setnis looked behind him, to find his old friend who used the name Seaph(pronounced like safe).

"Hey, it's been a while. I haven't seen you around since we played Cosmic Break"

"Yea, it has been a while. Life got complicated"

"Yea, I heard. You had a daughter, right?"

"I did, and she's gonna be a year old tomorrow"

"Congrats, man"

"Thanks. Anyways, we should meet up with the others, I've already talked to Marco, Eliza, and Aki."

"Awesome! We've practically got a guild already set, then"

"Yea, and we decided and we want you as the leader, since you were a beta tester, and you're more likely to know the most."

"We can't decide that until you've met the friends I know in real life. Maybe once we have everyone, then we can decide."

"Alright, alright. Well, we'll meet over at the cathedral, then. Bring your friends by when you're all ready."

"Will do. Tell the others I'll be there in a bit, with three more"

"Alright, don't take too long, or we might go on without you"Seaph said as he put his fist out

Setnis fist bumped him"ok, I've got it"

Seaph left towards the cathedral while Setnis headed back towards the spawn area. Two more entered the game. Only one of them was familiar.

"Amelia!"Setnis said as he ran up to the girl that entered the game

"Hey! If it isn't Raik- er, Setnis?"she said rather happily

"Yea, it will take some getting used to. Unlike you, I didn't want to use my real name"

"Shut up!"she punched him in the shoulder"I wonder where Rika is. We started at the same time."just then, another new player entered the game. She looked around, seeing the names Setnis and Amelia

"Hey, sorry for taking so long. I got indecisive choosing between brown, and pink hair."the girl said, pointing to her hair, which was a pink color

"Lisbeth, huh?"Setnis asked her

"Yea, I thought it sounded nice." She spoke before she began to blush a little"what do you think about it?"

"I-it suits you"Setnis said as a light blush seemed to creep over his cheeks. He and Rika had started dating two weeks earlier, and were still
"Okay, can you two stop, before I decide to not play this with you guys" came a male voice.
"Hey! Looks like you finally made it!"Setnis told the guy as he went up to him"so, Eyrik? It's okay I guess"he said jokingly
"So, when are we gonna actually play? We don't have all day. I still have to study for some tests tomorrow."Amelia spoke up
"Alright, alright. Here, I'll send a party invite to all of you"Setnis pulled up his menu, before adding all of them to his friend's list, before sending the party invites."oh, and by the way, add all of eachother to each of your friend's lists. That way, we know who's online when."
"Good idea"Eyrik pulled up his menu, adding his three friends to his friend's list as did he two girls. Just then, the bell began to ring, and everyone was transported to the central square of the Town of Beginnings.

Setnis looked around, to see his three friends were still there with him. He then noticed his other friends. One of them, Seaph, noticed Setnis, and guided the other three of their friends over to him.

"Hey, do you know what's going on?"Seaph asked
"No, I don't. Sorry. This never happened in the Beta."Setnis replied

Then the sky seemed to bleed, before forming into a ghostly figure. The figure then began talking about how it was Kayaba Akihiko, the creator of the Nerve Gear and of Sword Art Online. He then mentioned how they were unable to log out, and how it wasn't a bug in the system, and that it was on purpose. Then he mentioned how if you die in the game, you're dead in real life, and that even if the Nerve Gear is removed from you, you will also die. The only way mentioned to allow them to leave was to beat the game. That's when the players started panicking. Even Amelia and Lisbeth began to panic. Then an item was sent to everyone. It was a mirror. Once it was looked into, every player began to change into their actual form. Setnis changed back to his real look, his turning a dark black, but for the most part staying partially spiky.

"Seaph, grab the others, we'll meet up with you at the cathedral."Setnis told his old friend who nodded before running off towards where he had left their other three friends. "Lis, Eyrik, Amy, let's head to a weapon vendor before we meet up with some of my friends."the three agreed, however shaken up they were from that display from Kayaba.

It took about fifteen minutes to find each of them a suitable weapon, and make it to the cathedral. Inside the cathedral, there were only four players. Seaph, Eliza, Aki, and Marco were by the altar, talking. Each of them already had their weapons.

"Hey, it's Setnis, and these must be your friends"Seaph waved at Setnis and gestured for him to come closer with his friends. Once they were all closer to the altar, Seaph went to their new friends"Hey, I'm Seaph, it's a pleasure to meet you. This guy here is Aki. He's rather violent..."Seaph gestured toward a white haired male, in his late teens or early twenties. His hair was long in the back, but only reached his shoulders, whereas on the sides only came down to his ear.

"You won't be saying that when I kill you!"Aki retorted

"As I said. Anyways, Marco here is quite the strategist. He's lead our parties through some crazy stuff"Seaph gestured toward a man in his mid-twenties with glasses and hair that went down to his shoulders

"Yes, an analytical approach would be best to take at this point and we can plot out a safe route to the next town"Marco spoke as he straightened his glasses

"And this beauty here is Eliza. Despite her looks, she's quite skilled at games and is great at finding the best ways to level up"Seaph gestured toward a girl in her mid-teens. She had long blond hair.

"If you need any help, just ask me"she said kindly

"Since you introduced them, I'll introduce these stepped in front of his three friends"This here is Eyrik. I've know him since we were kids. He's a pretty reliable guy"he gestured toward a guy in his late teens. He had short brown hair that curled on the ends.

"I'm always here for whatever's needed"he gave a thumbs up

"This here is Lisbeth. She's a great support to have around. And she's actually my girlfriend"Setnis nervously gestured toward a girl in her mid-teens. She had brown hair that came down to her shoulders.

"H-hi! I'm not too familiar with mmos, but I'll try my best"she said nervously

"And lastly is Lis' sister, Amelia. She's definitely a demon in disguise"Setnis gestured toward the taller girl he brought along. She seemed to be in her late teenage years. She had long brown hair.

She punched him in the shoulder"Don't go misleading people! I'll help anyone, unless they mess with me or my friends."

"So, that's them. I've known these three for quite a while."Setnis said as he gestured toward his three friends

"Setnis, how do you know them? I've never seen them before"Lis asked

"Oh, we've known eachother for a while through mmos. Set here has guided us and lead us through many games. He was almost always the guild master in games that had that system. Anyways, shall we head for the next town?"Seaph answered, before moving things along

Setnis looked to his three friends, who nodded, then at his other four friends who nodded with smiles or smirks, seeing him as their almighty leader.

"Well, let's head to the next town, and we'll make our guild there"Setnis said, I sheathing his sword."we'll move out in parties of four. I'll take Lisbeth, Aki, and Eliza with me. Seaph, make a party with Eyrik, Amelia, and Marco." They all nodded, Setnis set up his party, while Seaph did the same. They all then left The Town of Beginnings, heading for the next town.

So there's the first chapter. I guess I'll try and post new chapters at least once a month, so I'll have some new chapters for each story this month some time. Here's this for now, though because I had the idea for it, and couldn't resist, because then I'd lose it. So, without further ado, enjoy.