This is a solo project written by Mike. This account is co-authored so we mention on each project who wrote what :).
Prologue
A dark chamber without any bright lights, just the multitude of green and red leds beeping in silence. On the desk, near the still opened monitor, is a small device, seemingly similar to a fancy head-piece. A faint blue light is pulsating a the edge of it, less than a centimeter away from the power chord, signaling that it is working, installing a piece of software into the hard drive. On the still lit screen multiple tabs could be seen opened at the very top of the browser, every one of them containing information regarding an online game that launched just a couple of hours ago. Flashy images, presentation after presentation, information regarding the safety of the console on which the game was released, and even facts stated by the beta testers that played a portion of the game already. Near the closed window I lye on the unkept bed, the sheets feeling slightly uncomfortable underneath me. I look up at the ceiling, unable to move a single muscle in my body. I stood in row for hours in an attempt at securing myself one of the 10.000 copies of the game, which I gladly succeeded. I move my fingers in front of my face, making a fist, then spreading my fingers in front of me. I repeat this action two more times and I get a up from my bed. The game should be ready to play by now, but the servers open at exactly 1PM, 2 minutes from now. Another 115 seconds and I will be able to play it, the backbone of modern gaming, the game which is bound to be the leader of a new army of games, the army of Virtual Reality Games. «Sword Art Online».
Chapter 1 – First Movements.
With a slight numbness I open my eyes revealing the deep colors of the city that I was in right now, The Starting City, as many call it, although I do not know it's real name. I can see players connect one after another, some of them looking around, others eagerly running around, the majority doing so aimlessly. Just a few of them knew what they were doing, buying potions and crystals from the beginning to cut some of the time required in traveling back to town. I, myself was a total beginner so, like everyone here, I first tried to look around, but after some time I realized that it was useless unless I actually knew what I needed, leading to the single possible choice. Going outside for the first time, outside of the city, into the wilderness of this MMO. I moved as I did in real life so that must mean that my stamina is the same as in reality, or at least my body percepts it as that. Even so, I ran trough the crowded streets, the fatigue being minimal. Highly decorated shops and merchants were everywhere moving around, selling and advertising items, much like normal humans, but those were NPC's, nothing more than an artificial intelligence given specific scrips regarding what to do. From time to time I would see my reflection as I ran, every time feeling as if I saw another person, but this was me, the me from this simulated reality. Yes, this feels more real than some of the sluggish moments of daily life. As I thought so I suddenly arrived at my destination, the gate leading outside of town.
It's arcade was impressive, highly decorated with shining gold branches that stretched troughout the whole construction. The base of it was pure gold, lightly deviating the rays of sun passing it. A great wall rises on either side of the gate protecting the still empty homes in the city. I read about it, but this game allows one to buy a house, furnish it as they please, they even included marriage. But those things were not on my mind at that moment. I wanted to fight something, to gain experience trough actual battle with the beasts of the wild. Thinking as such I ran even faster than before outside of town in search for my first opponent, which I did not find for quite a while.
At least an kilometer from the Starting Town I found the first victim, a wild boar which seemed to eat the virtual grass in front of him, not minding me even one bit. With a small noise I unsheathed my weapon, a large two handed greatsword, the training weapon Isalgon, and proceeded in swinging it downwards, piercing the back of my target which manages to let out a sharp squeel and quickly moves away from me, preparing for an attack. I do not want to loose HP form my very first battle so I move my sword in front of me, balancing it in place with the help of my both hands. The attack comes as a straight charge with his sharp fangs slightly tilted to the left, letting me know he will swing them right with full force once he gets close enough. I parry the move as predicted and use the force from the attack to swing my sword in full circle cutting trough my enemy as he tried to recuperate after his move was parried. With a short delay the boar shatters into pieces spreading everywhere, disappearing as they touched the ground. The small message box in front of me displayed the following: "Wild Boar lv. 1" and below the sum of 35 Col and 27 experience points could be seen, no item drop. Not bad for the first kill of this game, considering that my HP was still at 100%. This is actual combat in a virtual game. The feeling that you get when you manage to kill something is exhilarating, an adrenaline rush, which is uncommon in real life. I sit down on the green grass surrounding me and watched other players as they were running around, killing monsters left and right. I should continue to move since I don't want to loose any of the fun, but at the same time I want to enjoy this scenery. I glanced at the open sky at the edge of my sight. It was just the illusion of one since above me is another level of the castle. Even so, I still believe it is a small piece of sky, and with that thought I lied on the grass behind me with my hands holding my head from the back.
"Why do I find this so exciting…?" I asked as I closed my eyes. Of course no answer would come, but I was still waiting for one. The answer that I will never get…
The sound of moving grass accompanied by a small grunt surprised me since it was so close by, but it must be that the boar that I just killed respawned. I unsheathed my greatsword at a moment's notice and used it as support for getting up. This was the perfect chance to try out the sword skills. I placed with my both hands the sword in front of me, concentrating at the move I was about to make, energy surging trough my hands into the swords itself, or so it felt. A light blue pulse from the handle of the sword, the sign that it was ready to be executed, I made a single step forward slicing from the side at an abnormal, inhuman speed hitting my target, sightly piercing the ground underneath it, causing massive damage to the wild boar that was throwed from the force of the swing at least one meter away. I could see the rage in his eyes as he prepared for a frontal attack, probably another charge type move. I knew it could be repelled from the last battle and with that… I place my sword in front of me as I did in the beginning, starting to concentrate on the move. I could hear the grass moving at the breeze of the wind and at the same time the boar started running towards me at the same speed as before, only that this time he was facing me directly, his sharp fangs reflecting slightly the light of the sun. As he was about half a meter in front of me I moved my sword with the same abnormal speed, the sword facing the ground in an instant and with a twist I swung it cutting the boar into two unequal pieces shattering the moment it was split. The message box appeared again in front of me. "Wild Boar lv. 1 / 40 Col / 32 EXP" could be read, only this time a new section could be seen even lower. "Item Drop: «Small Healing Potion»". A needed item if I would want to continue fighting, but right now I don't think that it is necessary, I thought as I placed it inside of my inventory, but shortly after I materialized it in the palm of my hand. A small bottle the size of my finger with a square shaped cap appeared. I touched it slightly with my fingers, every part of it feeling as if I was touching real glass. The true power of the FullDive system at work. A simulated sensation transmitted directly into my brain. A funny thought, but right now I am experiencing it. Putting the potion back into the inventory I head towards the town in order to get some quests, or maybe even make a couple of friends, start a guild and hunt with them. For now at least…
"I will kill every single pig that I find in my way back to town…" I said with a malefic smirk as I unsheathed my greatsword once more. "Heheh… You… YOU CAN'T RUN AWAY!" I shout as I use one of my sword skills «Slice» on the first boar I encounter. "Toryaaaaaaaaaa!" I shout as I made way trough the multitude of monsters in front of me, killing them with two or tree strikes each, one after another. Parry, kick, slash, slash, kick, parry, parry, slash, slash, kick, slash, punch, sword skill, parry, slash, and so on I advanced as I got weird but amazed looks from the players that were near me at the moment. I could hear things as "He is mad, don't you think…?" and "Look at him spin around… Amazing…", oh but things are just about to get heated since the monsters that were near the city did not spawn immediately, and now they are hundreds of them. "I will make cut straight trough!" I shout as the weird looks only accumulated as the city grew nearer and nearer.