WARNING:
The following three chapters of the story (The First Day, The Preparation and The Kobold Lord) has been updated to fit a different model of conversations between the characters of this fanfiction story. Weither of it sounding better or worse, this will be the final version of these chapters and they will not be changed for the rest of the story due to community preferences.
UPDATE 06/24/2014:
The story now has its own cover art! It is now available on my profile page!
All credits goes to the artist Xephyrr! Thank you!
Chapter I
November 6th 2022, Sakura family house:
Natsumi entered her house with a big smile on her face. Finally! She finally bought the famous game ''Sword Art Online''! As she got in and put her school bag on the floor, she stretched herself.
''Ah, finally back from school!''
Her sister, Haruna, was coming down the stairs that was leading the second floor when she saw her sister. Since she got a week off from college, she was mostly going out with her friends or she was playing with her PlayStation 4, an old console that was almost on the brink of instinct since the day the NerveGear got on the market.
''Hey, Natsu-chan! How boring was school today?''
Right after her little sister heard that, she gave her an irritated look for a second, but soon regained a smile.
''Don't remind me. Anyway, where is mother?''
''Oh, she's still at work again. She will be back soon, I guess.''
Soon after she said that, she noticed the little plastic bag her sister had in her hands along with her school things. There was something that looked like a video game box in it.
''What's that?''
''Oh, I bought it when I was going back from school. It's one of the most popular video games at the moment on the market.''
Natsumi took the box out of the plastic bag and gave it to Haruna. She gave it a curious look as she read the title out loud.
''Sword Art….Online?''
''Yeah! Apparently, it's the first MMORPG to stand on the NerveGear. You don't remember, sis? Father was talking about that game every time he was coming back home to eat dinner because it was made by Argus, the same company where he is working!''
''Actually, I was planning on buying this game with the NerveGear, but it costs a bit too much for another one. You are lucky that father gave one of the free models to you. I almost finished Final Fantasy 17 and my PlayStation is getting dusty.''
''Don't worry. You have a job, don't you? Maybe you'll be able to buy it soon. I'll disconnect myself from the network at around 6:00.''
''But do you have any-
Before she even finished asking her if she had any homework, Natsumi quickly rushed to her room and slammed the door of her room in a lightning speed, making her sister take a little smile.
'' (sigh) She's always like this after buying a game. Oh well.''
When Natsumi entered her room, she opened her computer, opened the box of the game, took the cartridge of the game and inserted it into the machine that was linked with the NerveGear by a little cable that was plugged into the helmet-like device. She put the NerveGear on her head, closed her eyes and said the two words to start the device.
''Link Start!''
Suddenly, everything became white as she was entering the game. Blue verification screens appeared in front of her and the rush finally stopped on a logging screen. She was asked to create an account and a character. When she got to the character creation, a blue screen appeared and was saying the usual options for an MMORPG which was the sex and name choice.
She obviously pressed on the female choice and decided to call herself ''Sakumi'' in the game by taking the first letters of her name and family name. She was then directed to the character modification screen.
She changed her hair style to ''Short Hair'', changed her hair color to purple and changed her virtual age to 16, making her look older…even if she was 14 in real life. She also chose to start with a silvery white shirt, white baggy pants and white shoes for now.
When she confirmed her choice, the words ''Welcome to Sword Art Online!'' appeared and she was launched into the game.
She appeared in the middle of a city called that was populated by some players who was apparently trading for weapons and armor and she gave her surroundings a surprised look.
''Whoa...''
She was really surprised of how the game looked beautiful in terms of graphic to the point that it could be mistaken with real life pretty easily. As she looked around her for the last time, she suddenly thought about something.
''I wonder if Kirito-kun is here somewhere…''
Kirito, who was known in real life as Kirigaya Kazuto, was a player who Natsumi met on an FPS called ''Strike of China'' 3 years ago while she was playing on her computer online. He always was very kind with her and they were always working together….even if the game was not the best game she ever played.
2 months ago, before she was obliged to get out of her native town because of a business deal her parents did, Kirito and Sakumi met in real life with him giving an ice cream cone to her. They slowly began to see each other every weekend, slowly becoming friends within the first month. But, mostly because of school, their meetings were soon stopped because of their studies and homework. Even if she didn't saw him ever since, she was still secretly in love with him.
She noticed that she had no weapon with her and in her inventory, so she got to one of the stands of the market district of the city, which was named ''Starting City'' by her menu map. On the stand, there were many weapons that were mostly blade-like weapons, making her take a disappointed look.
'' (sigh) I didn't know there were only swords in this game...''
Normally, on other MMORPGs, she was mostly playing with Marksman-like classes, going from Archers, Rangers or even Gunners. She already knew that this game had absolutely no magic in it, but it was rather disappointing to see that there were actually no projectile-type weapons in the game.
She decided to take the samurai-like sword that was on the stand and the NPC Vendor smiled after she took it, which was the usual expression a vendor would do after seeing someone taking one of their items in their shop.
''Ah, a perfect choice! Since it is your first purchase, I will give it to you for free! Have a nice day!''
Natsumi took a surprised look once more and she smiled in return in order to thank the NPC, even though he was not supposed to be real.
''Oh. Thanks!''
She directed herself to the city gates to get in the plains where she is supposed to kill 10 Frenzy Boar in order to finish one of her quests. When she got to one of them, she noticed that the mob was a passive enemy since it was ignoring her.
She unsheathed her sword from the silver belt she bought with the weapon and she began to hit the boar. At first, her strikes were dealing some damage to it, but the boar responded with a head bash that was strong enough to make her fall on the ground. She quickly rose up from the ground and kicked the boar, launching it back, but it landed on its feet and was about to charge.
Suddenly, a black line hit the boar, stunning it for a second and making it returned itself to a male player in black clothes. When the boar began to rush to the player, he was preparing his attack, making his daggers shine in green. The player, then, rushed into the boar and slashed it two times, dropping its health bar to 0 and shattering into blue pieces. An EXP reward screen appeared shortly after the boar's death.
Sakumi stood up, got close to the player with the name ''Yukishi'' above his name and smiled nervously, embarrassed about the situation.
''Um…Thank you for helping me on this mob over there. I'm kinda new here as you can see.''
Yukishi returned himself to her and put his daggers under his belt and smiled to the girl that was in front of him. Obviously, by the way he was expressing himself; he really looked like he never actually talked to female players.
''Your welcome. When I saw you on the ground when you tried to attack this mob, I was wondering if you needed help. Oh, by the way, my name is Yukishi, nice to meet you!''
She nodded and presented herself while she turned herself toward the rest of the plains, sightseeing the beauty of the environment of the plains and the Starting City united with the sun still high in the sky.
''My name is Sakumi. I've just began to play this game and, I gotta admit, it looks awesome for a VR game!''
The dagger user gazed at the environment as well, but he shook his head in order to chase it. He doesn't really know if that ''Sakumi'' was really a girl or not, but she clearly looked like a beginner who doesn't really understand how to play SAO. He smiled a little and turned back toward her.
''Yeah. By the way, let me show you something.''
''What is it?''
''Come with me.''
The two got to another wandering Frenzy Boar and it began to see them.
''Pose yourself like you are charging an attack.''
''Why?''
''You'll see.''
Sakumi took her sword from her belt and took it with her two hands. She put her sword behind her body and put her left leg in front of her. Suddenly, her sword began to shine in white.
''Ok. Now, attack the mob with all you've got!''
She then let a war shout and slashed the boar, destroying it in pieces in a single blow. The usual EXP reward screen appeared and the game said she gained a level, making her happy as she finally learned how to perform Sword Skills. She returned herself to Yukishi and gave him a smile.
''Oh, cool! Thanks for the tip, Yukishi. Hey, wanna be my friend?''
She opened her menu, opened her friend list and sent a friend request to Yukishi, making him a little happy in the inside.
''Oh, sure!''
''Akiko-san!''
A player in green clothes that had a sword and a shield arrived shortly after he shouted, making Yukishi return himself to him with a bothered look.
''Link? Dude, I already said it to you, don't call me like that!''
The player he called Link gave him a bothered look as well and took a childish approach.
''Oh, sorry, Yukishi.''
Yukishi sighed and turned himself back to Sakumi, looking a bit nervous.
'' (sigh) It's all right. Sakumi, I present to you one of my friends, Link.''
Link put his hand in the air in a form of respect and smiled.
''Yo!''
The kind of nervous Sakumi let out a neutral high with a little smile. She never actually thought she would meet two players already, but it was a big game after all. 10,000 players at launch is a pretty good record for a VRMMO. As she thought of that, Link turned hismelf back to Yukishi and gave him a serious look.
''Anyway. Yukishi-san, Haruhime is still waiting for us to finish that boar-killing quest, are you coming back?''
''Okay. Can Sakumi come with us? The quest's gonna be done a lot faster with her in her party.''
''Well…ok. You are the party leader, so I'll let you invite her to our party.''
Yukishi opened the menu with his right hand and select the ''Party'' submenu. In the invite section of the menu, he wrote the name ''Sakumi'' and pressed on the ''yes'' sign. Shortly after, a screen appeared in front of Sakumi and she agreed to the invitation, making Yukishi nod.
''Let's get back to Haruhime before the day ends.''
In return of his phrase, Sakumi and Link both said ''Ok.'' at the same time and the three directed themselves toward the marker of Haruhime on their map.
An hour later, 6:00 PM:
''HYA!''
Right after Haruhime slashed the final remaining boar for the quest with his katana, the quest finished. Since they were working in a party, the amount of enemies to be killed got from 10 to 40, making the quest a little longer than what Sakumi had expected. At least, each of them gained at least 2 or 3 levels after killing the beasts, which made the quest a lot more worth the farming than it looks. Haruhime planted his weapon in the ground and sighed.
''Phew, done! Good work, guys! I never expected to finally finish this damn quest.''
Yukishi nodded, spun his daggers in his hand and sheathed them on his waist where leather could be seen in order to maintain the daggers in place.
''Well, at least, we are done now. Let's get back to the NPC to get our EXP.''
''Okay.''
Right after Sakumi said that, Haruhime returned himself to the girl and smiled.
''By the way, nice fighting skills you've got there, Saku-nee-chan. For a beginner, you surely are experimented!''
Sakumi took a thankful look and looked back to the ''6:00 PM'' that was marked on her HUD, making her eyes widen a little in fear. Once, Haruna had disconnected her from the NerveGear by force and the feeling of it was really horrible since it makes you feel like you're falling in darkness.
''Thanks! Oh, no, it's 6:00 PM! Let's get back to the NPC before my sister decides to disconnect me from the network!''
She was glad to finally have made friends in only two hours of the game and to be complimented like that. She got to admit that she killed at least 20 of the boars by herself. Link stretched himself and opened his menu.
''Well, guys, I have to go eat for a minute. I'll come back as soon as I can!''
Haruhime shrugged his shoulders and nodded.
''Ok then.''
Suddenly, when Link was going to press on the ''Log Out'' button, he froze for a second.
''Wh…what?''
Sakumi's eyes frowned a little and she gave him a worried look.
-Link, is there something wrong?''
''I….I can't log out! The button's not there!''
However, Haruhime laughed a little to the confused Link. Come on...how could someone believe such a thing?
'' (laughs) Oh come on, Link, you've got to be joking!''
But...he was indeed right. Right after he said that, Sakumi had quickly opened her menu and checked out on the ''Logout'' button only to find out that it was just a blank space.
''He's right. We can't get out.''
Suddenly, the bell of the ''Starting City'' began to ring and Yukishi turned himself back to the city with a worrying face on him, making Haruhime a little bit worried.
''W-What's going on?''
''It's the event bell, something's important is happening.''
Then, right after Yukishi explained, a blue light appeared under their feet as they were still wondering what in the world was happening in SAO. After he noticed his friends suddenly taking nervous looks, Yukishi tried to calm the mood.
''We are getting teleported, don't panic.''
After being completely surrounded by the blue light, the party got teleported into the center of the ''Starting City'' with all the other 10,000 players playing SAO. When the players were still wondering the cause of the teleportation, a red panel appeared in the sky. Many other panels also appeared to the point that the sky was completely filled with them and made the sky red.
Then, a glue-like substance began to fall from the panels forming lines that forms together...putting Sakumi in a confused state. What the hell was going on?
''What…what is that thing?''
The ball that was formed began to shape to finally become a giant cloaked face-less man. The crowd began to ask questions.
''A game master?''
''Why doesn't he have a face?''
''Is this an event?''
The man, then, put his hands in the air in a welcoming sign.
''Attention, players. Welcome to my world.''
''Huh?
After Yukishi let out this small exclamation, the face-less me continued.
''My name is Kayaba Akihiko. As of this moment, I am the sole person who can control this world.''
Sakumi, then, realised that what she got in front of her eyes was the boss of her father, a game designer from Argus who was mostly the creator of Sword Art Online.
Shortly after he revealed himself to the crowd, people began to ask questions again.
''Is that really him?''
''He must've spent a lot of time on this.''
However, the man continued, ignoring the questions of the crowd.
''I'm sure you've already noticed that the logout button is missing from the main menu. But this is not a defect from the game. I repeat….this is not a defect from the game. It is a feature of Sword Art Online. You cannot log out of SAO yourselves. And no one on the outside can shut down or remove the NerveGear. Should this be attempted, the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit a powerful microwave destroying your brain and thus ending your life.''
Sakumi's eyes widened as she shouted and Link took a worried look.
''What?!''
''Come on, enough already.''
A boy and a girl were directing themselves towards the city gates...
''Let's go.''
...before they were hit by an invisible barrier.
''Hey, I can't get out!''
While the man was still talking, two other male players was talking together, one being in red clothes and the other one being in blue clothes.
''He's gonna be nuts. Right, Kirito?''
''Ki…Kirito?''
After Sakumi whispered the name of the player that the red-clothed male player had talked to, the blue-clothed player responded.
''He's right that the transmitter's signals works just like microwaves. If the safety were disabled, it could fry a brain.''
''Then, if we cut the power….''
''No, the NerveGear has an internal battery.''
He was right, the NerveGear has to be connected to a source of power in order to the internal battery to work. Sakumi began to wonder if what was happening was real. The red-clothed player soon began to take a angered look mixed with a scarred one and talked in a loud voice.
''But this is crazy. What is going on?!''
Kayaba, however, continued again.
''Unfortunately, several players' friends and families have ignored this warning, and have attempted to remove the NerveGear. As a result, two hundred and thirteen players are gone forever, from both Aincrad and the real world.''
''Two hundred and thirteen?
''I don't believe it...I don't believe it!''
After both Kirito and the red-clothed player responded, Kayaba continued once again, making screens presenting Internet news and news channel videos showing that the deaths were indeed true.
''As you can see, news organisations across the world are reporting all of this, including the deaths. Thus, you can assume that the danger of a NerveGear being removed is now minimal. I hope you will relax and attempt to clear the game.''
Sakumi, no, Natsumi was becoming more and more shocked. This can't be true...isn't it...right?
''All of those poor people….dead?''
''But I want you to remember this clearly, there is no longer any method to revive someone within the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be forever lost. And simultaneously, the NerveGear will destroy your brain.''
At the same moment, a determined figure appeared on Yukishi's face.
''Damn…''
''There is only one means of escape. To complete the game. You are presently on the lowest floor of Aincrad, Floor 1. If you make your way through the dungeon and defeat the Final Boss, you may advance to the next level. Defeat the final boss on floor 100, and you will clear the game.''
The crowd began to think that completing the game was considered impossible.
''Clear?''
''What's he talking about?''
''Y-You're just making that up!''
''Clear all hundred floors? That's impossible! The beta testers never made it anywhere near that high!''
''Finally, I've added a present from me to your item storage. Please see for yourselves.''
After Kayaba said that in the same loud voice he talked with, Haruhime took a confused look.
''A present?''
The players, then, opened their inventory and found a mirror in it, surprising them. Sakumi looked at the mirror carefully.
''A mirror...?''
When she kept the mirror for at least 5 seconds, a blue light surrounded her and all the other players who kept the mirror. When the light cleared out and she looked back at her friends, they look different.
''Um, guys?''
When the three boys returned themselves to her, they looked different in appearance.
''Sakumi?''
''You look…different.''
After Haruhime and Link responded with a confused voice respectively, Yukishi explained with a calm voice. By how he looked, Sakumi was really surprised to see how calm he was.
''A scan. The item activated the scan system of the NerveGear, so we now look like our body in the real world with the use of the high-density signaling device of the system.''
The four looked a bit different from their original avatar. For example, Haruhime is now shorter, has short brown hair instead of long white hair and his eyes were green instead of blue. Link kept his blonde short hair and his blue eyes, but he looked a bit taller and his face was rounder. Yukishi had kept his height, but he was skinnier than before, has now purple eyes instead of blue and his red ponytail was changed to a long black hair hairstyle that was reaching his shoulder.
Sakumi also became her real world self, regaining her long slivery-white hair with the two locks on each sides reaching her tights, her golden band given by her mother on her head and her bright golden-yellow eyes. She was also now a bit shorter, since she was put back to ''14'' in the virtual age of her avatar.
Link, who was getting more and more confused, throw the mirror on the ground and talked in a confused voice while the glass-made object shattered in polygons.
''But, why? Why do this to us?''
Kayaba quickly answered that one in order to fulfill his morbid tutorial.
''Right now, you're probably wondering, ''Why? Why would Kayaba Akihiko, developer of Sword Art Online and the NerveGear, do all this?''. My goal has already been achieved. I created Sword Art Online for one reason… To create this world and intervene in it. And now, it is complete.''
While Haruhime let out a small ''Asshole'' with an angered voice, Kayaba finally achieved the end of his speech.
''This ends the tutorial for the official Sword Art Online launch. Good luck, players.''
He then faded away and the sky regained is usual color.
Everyone was paralysed with shock for at least a minute….until a girl screamed ''No!'' and dropped her mirror on the ground, destroying it. Then, the crowd began to riot by screaming things like ''Screw you!'' or ''Let us out of here!''. Sakumi reacted to this with caution.
''Let's get out of here before something bad happens.''
The boys let out a loud a ''Okay!'' while nodding and they ran away from the crowd.
Meanwhile, in the real world:
Haruna shouted toward the stairs while she finally finished cooking.
''Natsu-chan! Dinner is getting cold! ''Natsu-chan!''
But, right after she opened the TV on the News Channel when she saw the title of the news, her eyes were stuck on the TV. The title was named ''Thousands of players trapped in SAO''. Haruna put the volume of the TV higher has she was listening to the journalist talking while videos that were filmed on the Internet were showing people playing SAO with NerveGears.
''By this day of November 6th of 2022, the Virtual Reality MMO game known as ''Sword Art Online'' has suddenly gained infamy has two hundred and thirteen players of the game was found killed after being disconnected from the game manually by their family. As for now on, the government representatives completely refuses to let any more casualties, so they are actually warning the families and the friends of the players to not take off the helmet-like device known as the ''NerveGear''. A medical rescue team will soon be dispatched in the upcoming days…''
''Sword Art Online?''
This name looks awfully familiar...
''No….no no NO! Natsumi!''
She quickly rose up from her chair and run to her sister's room as tears were slowly appearing in her eyes.
''No, no, no, no. Please God, no!''
She opened the door of her sister's room, only to find Natsumi on her bed with the NerveGear on her head.
''Natsumi-chan! Oh no! Wake up! WAKE UP, PLEASE! (sobs) ''
An unexpected event had now changed everything Natsumi will live in from now on. The Sword Art Online Incident…..has begun.