Donovan Johnson admired the hardcase copy of the game. Sword Art Online... he thought. He had been lucky enough to be in the first 1000 beta testers worldwide, not to mention one of the only five beta testers in Nagasaki. He had actually won the raffle and gotten access to the game early, then wisely used the game financially: About fifty different people in his area had wanted to play the game, so Donovan had allowed them to do so on his account... for a hefty fee, of course. Using this money, he had pre-ordered the game when they presented the option to him. His brother Micheal had been one of the few who had waited three days in line to get one of the three hard copies the local game store was selling, the only one in the county to do so.
"Sodo Ato Onrain!" Donovan childishly exclaimed, imitating the Japanese way of saying the game's title wilst waving around the game as if it was his sword, at the same time causing his loose dreadlocks to bounce around wildly. He stood at 5'10" and had a medium-build. His father was an exercise-addict, much to Donovan's dislike. Donovan had always liked technology in any form over exercise. This still wasn't in the way of his father, however, and he had trained Donovan to the point where the teen benched 140 and ran the 400 in 49 seconds. Donovan's genetics still made him pretty slim, however, so he was more lean and mean than bulky.
The phone suddenly rang, however, and Donovan went to pick it up, idly tossing the game case on the bed.
"'Ello?" Donovan asked into the receiver, noting it was his brother. If it had been a number from anywhere else, he would have answered in Japanese.
"Yo, Don, this is Micheal." Donovan's brother said into the receiver.
"'Sup, Mike?" Donovan asked.
"Me and Tabor both just got the game, looks like Emma might get the last copy. We were the first in line... Three days, I just can't believe we got it. Either way, I have bad news: Momoe needs me to help finish the science project for Monday."
"All right, You still have a copy, right?" Donovan asked.
"Oui, that means my place is reserved. Don't worry, I'll get online tomorrow and see your character. Are you going to be playing as a fifteen-year old girl again?" Micheal asked, referring to Donovan's stunt in the previous MMORPG they'd played together.
"Nah, I'm pumping her up to thirteen this time. Don't snicker, bro, you know it works." Donovan was referring to the usual twenty-to-one ration between guys and girls on MMOs in modern times. Because of this, girls received a lot of attention. Donovan and several other players had picked up on a useful trick: You made your avatar a girl, and Bam! All of the male players gave you items and were more likely to protect you. This was not to be confused with male players who did it for the sake of a more realistic cross-dresser or because they liked being girls and coudln't afford a sex-change.
"'Pumping up'? How's an age decrease going to 'pump her up'?"
"You know the Japanese, there's that whole innocent little girl culture over there. All the players are Japanese, you know."
"You're going to regret this."
"Whatever, man, I'm getting in touch with my more feminine side."
"All right, try not to die within the first few minutes, that would be just humiliating."
"Don't worry, I won't go straight to the highest accesible area immediately. Besides, this one is actually supposed to involve some player skill."
"All right, Emma got her copy by the way." Micheal announced. Emma, full name Emi Akamine, was the only person that came close to being Donovan's friend besides Micheal, and Micheal often joked that the two should start dating, much to Emma's chagrin and Donovan's surprising tacit approval. Donovan was still far too shy to even approach someone of the same gender, much less someone of the opposite one. Tabor was another American that was the son of one of their father's coworkers. They were the only three Americans in their neighborhood and school.
"Nice, tell her I'll meet her and Tabor at the sword shop in the first alley to the left of the beggining town's main gate."
"All right, 'bye, Bro."
"Goodbye, Mike."
Although SAO had been restricted to Japan, they had still been able to purchase the game as they lived in Japan, and Donovan even made it into the Beta test. Donovan looked at the watch on the side table on his bed. He waited until it hit 1:00 PM, then put on the NerveGear helmet. He breathed in three times deeply, then put the game into the slot. Oh my gosh, this can't be real! Donovan thought as he trembled with excitement. Micheal, Emma, Tabor, and he had already decided they would meet up and make a guild in the game, though the guild was for the sake of convenience and bossing, all four of them preferring the solo-player play style. Tabor and Emma would probably already be at their homes by now, so Donovan excitedly exclaimed:
"Link Start!" and the whole world faded away.
November 6th, 2022, 1:02 PM.
Aincrad, Floor 1: Town of Beginnings.
Donovan looked around excitedly, having turned over a new leaf. The mighty tank Mitigaya was no more, gentle little Shadu having replaced him. The girl that stood in his place was 5'6", only reducing the time delay between his 5'10" body and the 5'6" body by .8 seconds. Shadu, Shadusneku being her full name and meaning Shadow-Snake in Japanese, was a bit tall for her age, but that didn't matter. Donovan was wearing the standard issue skirt/dress thingy with the leather armor and sword issued to every player. He had picked his dress to be a dark, pleasant mahogany. She was very pretty for her age, already maturing into a woman, but Donovan couldn't care less. It suddenly occurred to him that some male players might pick female characters because... well, yeah... Donovan could keep himself focused and ignore himself/herself completely, self-groping being below him.
"Hi, I'm Kiromi." A boy about fifteen years old approached Donovan. And they said it was a stupid option... Donovan thought as he flirted away with the stranger. It only took ten minutes, but at the end of the conversation, Donovan had 200 col more and a nicer sword, the starter sword being just a plain iron sword of the selected type (curved or straight basically) but the sword he now held was a "Steel Sword +1," meaning the young boy was a prospective blacksmith, at least with slash weapons. I better go meet up with Emma and Tabor... Donovan suddenly thought.
After walking to the main gate, he followed his own instructions word by word as if he didn't know the place, just in case they hadn't been clear and gotten lost. Donovan found the place precisely were he had indicated his friends to go, however, and entered in.
"Hello, may I help you?" The NPC shopkeeper asked.
"No, thank you, nonetheless, for your kindness." Donovan answered, looking at the only other customers in the store: A massive Samoan looking man whose muscles' muscles had muscles and a tough-looking guy who was like Donovan in real life: Lean and mean, sinewy, and muscular but not large. "Hear the valkyries' war cry yet?" Donovan asked the two casually while he admired the swords in front of him. One of them was advertised as "Steel Sword +7," piquing Donovan's interest temporarily, wondering why such a weapon would be present this early in the game.
"Not yet, they await their leader." The Samoan man answered, revealing him to be Tabor. Tabor had the standard issue black pants and a green shirt of his choice along with the standard issue equipment. Emma had the same clothes on but a dark mustard color.
"Another girl, Don?" Emma asked.
"You're a guy." Donovan answered back.
"It's different..." Emma said defensively. "You like the bonuses of being a girl, I don't like the attention."
"I'm just joking, all right?" Donovan said reassuringly. "It's nice to see you two. You heard about Micheal's delay?"
"I did." Tabor said. His avatar looked remarkably like him, just a couple of years piled on. They both had lantern jaws, tan skin, practically black eyes, and the same matted dark brown hair, Donovan noted that Tabor had pumped up his physique even more than gymnastics already did. Emma had made a surprisingly accurate male version of herself, keeping the same pixie-like, almond-shaped eyes. She had long hair like her real self, but her eyes were blue instead of brown.
"I was the one that Momoe called." Emma volunteered.
"Well, I was thinking of showing you around before we started getting through the whole mechanics of the game and actually making a guild."
"I'd like to see Aincrad a little bit." Emma said.
"Sure, why not?" Tabor agreed.
November 6th, 2022 5:29 PM
Aincrad, Floor 1: Town of Beginnings, plains outside Starting City
"Level three!" Emma exclaimed excitedly as her overall level increase yet another point and she watched her character parameters go up. The level up system was simple enough: You advanced one of your skills by one level, and a 'level up' point was assigned to your overall level. It took a set amount of XP to go from level to level, and a set amount of level up points to increase your overall level. From level 1 to level 2 of a skill, for example, it took 500 XP to level up. To go from overall level 1 to overall level 2, you needed five level up points.
Sword Art Online had made two incredibly bold moves when it was made: 1) No magic or long-range attacks in general, and 2) no player-assigned parameter stats (STR, DEX, AGI, etc.), rather focusing on player skill to a greater extent than other games. The player stats increased on their own, everyone who was, for example, level 20 would have the exact same parameters. Certain skills, however, increased parameters (albeit only one and only certain skills). The Sprint and Acrobatics skills raised AGI for example, while Two-Handed weapons in general raised STR.
"What was the level up prize?" Donovan asked.
"Iron Chestplate" Emma announced. She quickly equipped the armor on, boosting her Armor Points by twenty. Twenty AP was a large quantity at level three, but at level twenty or so it didn't matter if the change was below the hundreds.
"All right, that means we are all level three... Yes!" Donovan exclaimed. "I think we can probably move on to the next town by now." He gazed off into the distance in Horunka's general direction. "I say we form our guild now."
"What should we call it?"
"Well, the Valkyries, of course!" Emma exclaimed.
"Except for the fact that all Valkyries were female, sounds good to me." Donovan thought out loud.
"Says the cross-dresser." Tabor joked, receiving a friendly punch from Donovan.
"Hello! I was wondering if you might answer a question I have!" A voice suddenly called out in Japanese.
"Of course, what is it?" Tabor turned around and asked. A tall, muscular man with a slightly childish face stood there. He towered over Tabor's 6'2" frame, so Donovan was willing to bet that the man was easily 6'8" or even 6'10" tall, maybe a tad bit more.
"Where's the "log out" button? I was planning on playing for a couple of hours then getting off to eat and sleep, but I can't find the "log out" button."
"It should be the third option right below the menu..." Donovan said, causing the man to look up at the little girl.
"No, see, it isn't there." The man pinched his thumb and pointer together on his right hand, then brought them down after briefly raising them. The little menu popped up and he allowed Donovan to come over and look.
"Huh... must be a first day glitch... Don't worry, just contact a Game Master."
"Already tried, there aren't any online. I think tha-" Donovan's world suddenly exploded into a myriad of blue lights while church bells suddenly rang, suddenly finding himself in the starting square. Players from all over began to appear, filling up the square shortly. The square was soon filled with roughly 10,000 players, all of them wondering exactly what was going on.
"Hey, it's you again. What's happening?" The same man as before asked Donovan.
"I don't know, it was a forced teleport, probably something to do with the lack of a "log out" button." Donovan said, turning around to look at the man better. He had long, flowing brown hair and serious red eyes. The sky suddenly began to fill with red "warning" hexagons, creating a sort of humming noise and drawing both player's attention skyward. Red fluid began to ooze out of the cracks between the hexagons, and Donovan began to wonder if this was an event. The ooze coalesced into a game master soon enough, however, and Donovan was reassured in his suspicions that this was a fix for the bug about the "log out" buttons. The game master did not have a face, however, making Donovan curious about the whole event.
"Players, welcome to my world!" The game master suddenly announced. My world?! Donovan suddenly thought. "I am Kayaba Akihiko. I am currently the only person who can control this world." Donovan was starting to get an uneasy feeling in his stomach, the people murmuring around him didn't help. "I trust you have already noticed the 'log out' button is missing from the main menu." Donovan relaxed. I'm still getting off ASAP, just to make sure... "However, this is not a game malfunction." WAIT, WHAT?! Donovan's mind suddenly wanted to scream. "I repeat. This is not a game malfunction, but an original feature of Sword Art Online. You cannot log out of SAO on your own. No one on the outside will be able to shut down or remove the NerveGear. Should this be attempted, the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit a powerful burst of microwave radiation, destroying your brain and thus ending your life." Donovan was dumbstruck, near catatonic. His mind had stopped functioning at the announcement of it being a feature. Now, he was only processing what Kayaba Akihiko said. People were reacting around him. In front of him, he heard a black haired and unrealistically handsome young man explain how such a thing could be to a pink-haired scruffier-looking guy with a red bandana in his hair. Microwave radiation... Donovan thought as the player, apparently named "Kirito" explained to his friend what would happen.
"Unfortunately, the friends and families of several players have ignored this warning and attempted to remove the NerveGear. As a result, 213 players have retired from the real world and from Aincrad." 213?! That was higher than the amount of people that had died in the most recent plane crash...
"213 people have died already?" The man next to Donovan said.
"As you can see, news organizations across the world are reporting on this incident and the many deaths." Kayaba Akihiko's calling it an "incident" galled Donovan to the core. "Thus, you can now assume the danger of having your NerveGear removed to be greatly reduced. Please relax and work hard to clear the game." When Akihiko said "clear the game," it sort of calmed Donovan's racing mind. He had once watched a movie called Death Race, where all the convicts had to race to the death and whoever won would be set free. Is this similar? Whoever beats the game is set free? Donovan thought. "However, do take note of this: You can no longer respawn in this game." No respawns!? Donovan thought, his mind traitorously recalling how many times he had died attempting to clear the last MMORPG he had played. "Once your HP reaches zero, your avatar will permanently be erased. At the same time... the NerveGear will destroy your brain." Donovan remembered the Beta test, how much of a pain the enemies on just the second floor could be. The hopelessness of the situation weighed heavily upon him.
"You need only fulfill one condition to set yourselves free–." Donovan dreaded what was to follow: "Clear the game." We only made it to the eighth floor in a whole month... they expect us to pass the whole game now? Donovan thought. I have school, I'm sure many others here have jobs, families, people who depend on them... "You are currently on the 1st floor, the lowest level of Aincrad. Make your way through each dungeon and defeat the floor boss, and you will advance to the next level. Defeat the final boss on the 100th floor and you will clear the game." Outrage flowed throughout the crowd gathered. Everyone knew how little the Beta testers had progressed, in a whole month... How long would it take to clear all hundred floors? Worse still, how many lives?
"And finally," Kayaba Akihiko began, his words dripping slightly with anticipation, "You can find a gift from me in your item storage. Please check for yourselves." Donovan opened his menu rapidly. A weapon? Some legendary armor? Anything to give us an advantage? His mind roared. A mirror? Donovan saw the item ID and laughed bitterly. He gives us a mirror. Donovan opened up the item, causing it to fall into his hands, and looked at it. It was a flat mirror with absolutely nothing exceptional about it. Then the people started disappearing. Donovan instinctively let go of the mirror, maybe saving himself from an early-game elimination, but the mirrors effects proved otherwise.
Pandemonium ensued as around the town square people were suddenly reverted to their IRL appearances. Donovan suddenly found himself dressed in the dress he had picked, but with his masculine body! He wanted to burst out laughing, especially after remembering what Micheal had said that morning about him regretting the choice.
"You're a guy!" The man next to him exclaimed. His luscious brown hair had been replaced by short, black spikes mainly pointed upwards but other than that sticking out in every direction. His face was even more child-like, the chin rounding and the cheekbones becoming less pronounced. Donovan must have presented a funny sight. His broad shoulders and back with the dress on and his thick sandy-colored dreadlocks falling down to halfway down his back in the pseudo-ponytail he kept it in when he didn't want it getting in his eyes. His face was probably just like it was in real life, narrow and long like most Americans'. He wondered if the stubble he had left this morning was showing.
"And you're not Alan Carter!" Donovan answered back jockingly, suddenly remembering which movie star the man had reminded him of. The man sort of grinned sheepishly as his face turned tomato red. "Besides, rule on of the internet: Man until proven woman!"
"All of you must be wondering why. Why would Kayaba Akihiko, the creator of Sword Art Online and the NerveGear do all this? My goal has already been achieved. I wanted to create my own world that I could observe and admire. That is why I made Sword Art Online. And now, it has all been fulfilled. This ends the tutorial for the official Sword Art Online launch." Kayaba looked through the crowd, creating the illusion he made eye-contact with everyone. "I wish every player the best of luck..." And with that, Kayaba melted back into the skyline, the "warning" hexagons disappearing along with him. And may the odds be ever in your favor... Donovan thought quoting a film with a similar premise to what was going on. All ten thousand players stood awestruck in the square, looking where the dread judge had once stood.
"NO! NO!" A young girl cried out, recoiling back and crying. The sudden noise caused players to come back to reality, and panic ensued. Donovan watched the pair he had seen before, the handsome hero and scruffy guy, now the guy-girl and the pizza delivery-type guys run out of the plaza, giving Donovan an idea of what to do.
"Follow me!" Donovan told the man, quickly scanning the crowd for Tabor and Emma. He found both rapidly thanks to the tall man with him. "We have got to put some order into this. Let me onto your shoulders!" Donovan told the man, who quickly complied, Emma followed his example with Tabor.
"EVERYBODY CALM DOWN!" Emma screamed, allowing everyone to hear. Everyone momentarily looked at her, then at Donovan, both on their respective friend's shoulders.
"All right, listen! Regardless of whether or not what we heard is true, we have to stick together, organize ourselves, and ensure everyone has the best chance to survive. Does everyone understand!?" Donovan yelled, making sure everyone could hear. Most people looked relatively calm, and they were, thankfully, paying attention to Donovan.
"I want everyone to get into groups. Group A is composed of people who were in the Beta test, Group B is everyone who has leveled up at least once, and Group C is the people that have no id-"
"Their leaving to take advantage of the best hunting grounds!" A voice suddenly called out, pointing to about three hundred or so people exiting through the side exits. In mere moments, everyone was out of the square, all of them in a mad rush to get to anywhere where there was monsters, regardless of their level or even if they knew how the combat mechanic worked.
"Hey, you tried..." Emma said, trying to comfort Donovan with her gaze. Donovan got off the stranger.
"I'm Shadusuneku, but you can call me Shadu or Donovan." He said, extending his hand. "I say our best chance of survival is to stick together, level up to a point in which we can survive reasonably well, and then go our own or joined ways. Deal?"
"Deal. I'm DragonBlade. I would prefer for myself to be known that way." DragonBlade said, shaking Donovan's hand.
"I'm NickFrost, but you can call me Frosty or Nick." Tabor said, extending his hand. Tabor's clothes only hung slightly looser than before, but this only revealed his massive chest muscles even more because of the loose shirt. DragonBlade and Tabor shook hands
"I'm Naina." Emma said, offering hers. DragonBlade gingerly took her hand, blushing slightly.
"Is it too late to join this guild?" A deep voice suddenly said. A tall, muscular African looking man walked out of the shadows. "What you are doing is smart. I propose we try to add in as many newbies as we can, dedicate ourselves to teach as many people as possible the basics of the game."
"I agree." Tabor and Donovan said in unison.
"My name is Agil, by the way." The man said. Everyone introduced themselves again.
"Just to help, let's call ourselves 'The Noob Conglomerate!'" Tabor said.
"How about 'Aincrad Survival Force' instead?" Donovan proposed, and everyone but Tabor agreed."We can start by breaking up the fights in the square. Actually, never mind. It looks like some players are just downright losing it..." Donovan observed. Most of them were children, way too young to be playing SAO, standing in the square, bawling. A few adults, especially young adults, were on the floor, crying as well. The odd one or two were just staring off into space.
As Donovan helped one young woman up, she suddenly clung to him tightly.
"No... no..." She said, then fainted. Donovan had never dealt with a person going through mental breakdown, so he had no idea what to do.
"Here, I was a psychologist back in real life." A woman in her 20s said. She picked the woman up and helped her over to one of the square corners, softly talking to her. Donovan followed along idly, stopping to pick up a boy who was crying.
"Shh... Don't worry, buddy. I'll get you out of here."
"Mommy... Daddy..." The boy said among tears. Donovan found himself surprisingly weak as he struggled with the boy's weight. He would have been able to heft and toss the boy around easily in real life, but he was struggling with just carrying him in the game. My STR parameters are low right now... Donovan though bitterly. He looked at his bicep as it sort of bulged through his clothing. Just a useless mass of pixels until god knows what level... He thought in frustration.
"We need more people to help..." The woman said.
"I'll do my best." Donovan said. The rest of the AST were bringing in people as well. Donovan and the woman, her username was Sasha, discussed the possibilities of moving them into a building NPCs didn't use often and try to get them to interact with the NPCs first, then players. The move took the rest of the day and most of the night, but it was well worth it. They found a church on the outskirts of the city and began to keep them there. Donovan stood in the starting square and observed the area. No one was left, but Donovan wanted to make sure. Right here, right now, his life had taken a sudden turn. His brother and he had always played knights and dragons in the embassy's garden, but now it was his reality. If only Michael was here with me... Donovan thought, But no... He's safe, I can't ask that of him. Donovan suddenly saw a black-haired girl with a white dress looking at him.
"Hey! Wait!" Donovan yelled after her as she ran away. She turned a corner, but when Donovan did the same, she was gone. "Where are you?!" Donovan yelled out in Japanese, then English in case the player didn't understand Japanese.
"I shouldn't be here." The little girl suddenly said behind him, causing Donovan to spin around just in time to see her vanish. What? Donovan thought, looking around. This game keeps getting weirder and weirder.