SAO Alternate Reality: Season 1 Episode 1

Sword Art Online1. The World of Swords

Hi there! Time for this week's MMO Stream. You just saw a promo of today's featured game. And this is what last week's launch day looked like. Can you guess what everyone's waiting in line for? Sword Art Online!

The blonde haired fair skinned young man, aged 14 stood up from his weight set as he placed the weights down on the ground next to his bench. He slowly stood up and walked over to the brand new PC that had a weird device attached to it. NerveGear, the first ever full dive capable device that can place a human directly into the game.

The young man laid down on his bed, which is right next to his PC. Summer break has just begun and he was happy to get the release day copy. But he has a small secret that he plans to hold onto until the end if he has too. With the NerveGear on and his body placed in the center of his bed he took one last look at the thing he'd known as reality. He raised his hand to the front of his face and clenched his fist for the final time as he prepared to finally dive.

The time was 12noon

Link start!
Sign in: Kyousuke

Screen Name: Kyo

Eye: Check

Sound: Check

Touch: Check

Taste: Check

All systems checked and approved.

Heh, I'm back in SAO. Finally.

In the distance a black haired skinny person smiled and clenched his fist "I'm back" he said calmly.

"I could have sworn I heard someone else say they are back." Kyo said to himself as he stretched and walked around the Town of Beginnings.
"Well, I told him, so what's his deal?" said a guy to Kyo's left as he was looking at a short sword. "Weak and cheap weapon. You won't get any kind of range nor develop if you don't buy a regular sword." Kyo thought to himself as he walked past the guy's chatting.
"Why don't we form a party?" some guy asked a girl to his left. "Well, I don't know, maybe." the girl had said as shyly as she could. "Oh, come on! It'll be great!" the guy said, he was obviously becoming more and more pushier about getting this girl to join his party. "Such a weak guy." Kyo thought as he walked past them.

Kyo broke out into a flat run as he passed by a few other shops, "Walking is better because it attracts less attention." he thought as he passed by the myriad of players and was spotting how they were looking at him. "I need to begin leveling before the evening time. The monsters get stronger as time goes on.

The time is 12:45pm

On the other end of the Town of Beginnings, the black haired player ran past a red haired player who was looking at various daggers.
"Huh? Hey, Bro! Wait up!" the red haired player called after him. "What's up?" answered the black haired player. After finally catching up to the black haired player, the red haired player was out of breath. "Whew... You act like you know your way around here. You were in the beta test, weren't you?" The black-haired player looked a little uneasy at answering this question that the red haired player brought up. "Ah, yeah." he answered calmly but was looking at him with the eyes of a killer. "Cool! Today is my first day, so could you give me some tips on the lower floors?" the red-haired player asked. "Yeah, I don't know if..." "Oh, please I'm begging you! Look, my name's Klein. Good to meet you." the black-haired player had no choice but to concede to the player known as Klein due in part to the fact that more players were beginning to mill around and attention was beginning to become a concern "All right. I'm Kirito." he said as he began to walk off, grabbing Klein's hand as he went.

Kyo stood in the fields about 5 miles from the Town of Beginnings in an area where the other players don't know about, maybe except the beta testers know of, Kyo stood there fighting all kinds of different monsters that spawned in the area. He faced a boar that had spawned and grinned. "I've already reached lvl. 5 and I'm looking forward to reaching level 10 before 5pm tonight. Come here little piggy. Be my next victim." a soft glow emanates from his sword as he activated his sword skill for the 50th time in 2 hours. He began running at the boar and sliced through the boar's side. The boar cried out and then disappeared leaving boar's meat and experience points for just him to gain. "Hmph, level 6. It's about time".

It's now 2:45pm.

Kirito and Klein
On the other end of the Town of Beginnings, Klein and Kirito are working on leveling and learning how the system works. However Klein struggles and ultimately finds himself getting hurt. "Oooh...hurts in the nuts... kill me now..." Klein says between laughs, "Oh, come on, seriously? You can't feel any pain." Klein takes his hands off his crotch region and looks up and then blushes slightly at his foolishness, "Huh? Oh yeah, you're right. Sorry, habit." Klein says as he gets up and brushes himself off.

A boar spawns nearby and Kirito chooses that as Klein's target.
"Remember what I said? The first move is the most important." Kirito said as he pushed Klein into battle with the boar. "Yeah, that's easy for you to say. But he won't stand still!" Klein was chasing the boar around the area, trying to catch it. "If you do your initial motion right, and activate a sword skill at the right time... the system pretty much guarantees you'll always hit your target." Kirito said as he engaged the boar briefly and then kicked the boar back towards Klein.
"Initial motion?"

"Here's an easier way to look at it. Right after you start your move, wait for a little bit. When you feel the skill start to activate, drive it home!"
"Drive it home?"
Klein stood in a ready position and began to wait for the skill to activate. To his surprise he activated and he immediately rushed the boar and successfully defeated it. "Hoho! Yeah!"
"Congratulations. That was nice. But that boar's about as weak as slimes in other games are."

Klein's joy was short lived because of Kirito. "Oops." Kirito thought to himself as he sighed.
"Holy crap! You got to be kidding. I thought that thing was a mid-level boss."
"Yeah, as if." Kirito said as he looked out at the horizon.

Klein: I'll say. So, these skills... There's a ton of them like blacksmithing and stuff, right?
Kirito: Uh-huh. I heard the game has an unlimited number of them. All except for magic, though.
Klein: An RPG without magic? That's a bold decision, man!
Kirito: So, what do you think? It's kind of fun to move your body as you fight, isn't it?
Klein: Oh, hells yeah!
Kirito: You ready to move on?
Klein: Yeah, man. Let's keep going. When I look around, I can't believe it. We're inside a game, bro. Whoever made it is a genius. This thing's amazing. Makes me glad I was born when I was, you know.
Kirito: It's not that big a deal.
Klein: Cut me some slack, it's my first full dive!
Kirito: You've never used the NerveGear before today, huh? This is your first time ever?
Klein: Uh-huh. As soon as I got the money together, I rushed out and bought all the hardware to play SAO. Stood in line and scored one of the ten thousand hard copies. Guess you could say I was pretty lucky. Although, you sir, were ten times as lucky getting to beta-test it.
Kirito: Huh?
Klein: Dude, only a thousand people got the chance!
Kirito: Yeah, I guess I was lucky.
Klein: Hey, mind if I ask how far you got in the beta?
Kirito: Two months and I couldn't get further than floor eight. But now, I think I can get there within a month, easy.
Klein: Sounds to me like you're really into this!
Kirito: Yeah, you could say that. During the beta test, SAO was the only thing on my mind, day and night. In this world, a single blade can take you anywhere you want to go. And even though it's a virtual world, I feel more alive in here than I ever did in the real one. Anyway, you want to go do some more hunting?
Klein: You know it! But the thing is... I'm really hungry. I have to log out.
Kirito: Too bad the food you eat here only satisfies your hunger virtually.
Klein: Yeah, for reals! That's why I ordered a pizza for 5:30!
Kirito: Wow, you're so prepared.
Klein: You know it! Besides, the game can wait until I get my pizza on.
Kirito: I guess...
Klein: "Hey, I was going to go meet up with some people I know from another game. I don't know what you're up to after this, so, if, uh, you know, if you want, you can friend them and hang with us." Kirito looked uncomfortable at the suggestion, prompting Klein to change his statement. "No, it's cool if you don't want to, no pressure. I can always introduce you to them another time or something."

Kirito: Yeah, sorry. Thanks, anyway.
Klein: No way! I should be doing all the thanking! Hey, one of these days, I promise I'll pay you back for all your help! Virtually, that is!
Kirito: Yeah, right.
Klein: Thanks for everything, man, really. Guess I'll see you around, then.

Klein waves his hand to open the menu for logging out.
Kirito: If there's anything else you want to know, message me.
Klein: Oh, sweet! I'll do that. Huh? Where'd the log out button go?

Kirito opens the menu and then begins to navigate it
Kirito: It should be there.
Klein: Nope, it's not there.
Kirito: It should be at the bottom of the main menu.
The logout button. Isn't there.

"Huh? Are you kidding?"
Klein: See, not there.
Kirito: You're right, it's not.
Klein: Oh well. Today's, what, the first day out of beta? Bound to be some bugs! I bet the server people are freaking out right now!
Kirito: You will, too.
Klein: Huh?
Kirito: Look, its 5:25.
Klein: Oh my god! My teriyaki mayo pizza and ginger ale!
Kirito: Why don't you just contact the game master?

Klein: Yeah, I did that, but nothing's happening! He's not picking up! Do you know if there's another way to log out of this thing?
Kirito: No. Whenever a player wants to log out of SAO, the only way they can do it is by going through the menu.
Klein: That can't be right! There's got to be some other way out. Return! Log out! Escape!
Klein tried multiple different positions that were reminiscent to retro disco gaming and almost made Kirito laugh in the same kind.
Kirito: Told you so. And there was no emergency log out in the manual, either.
Klein looked very shocked, but calmed down

Klein: No way, you're kidding... I know, I'll just rip the NerveGear off my head!
Klein began to reach for his head and attempt to take the NerveGear off, however, here was no NerveGear in the game.
Kirito: Don't bother. Once you're hooked in , you can't move your body in the real world anymore. The NerveGear intercepts all the commands you give from inside the game, using an interface built into the rig.
Klein: Seriously? So now we got to wait until someone gets around to fixing the bug?!
Kirito: That, or until someone in the real world comes along and takes the NerveGear off us. That's it.
Klein: I live alone. You?
Kirito: I got a mom and a sister. And I'm pretty sure they'll notice by dinner time and come...
Klein: Y-You got a sister? How old is she? What's she like?
Kirito: Huh? She's into sports, and hates games. And she's totally not your type, man. She wouldn't date a gamer if he was the last type-
Klein interrupted and grabbed Kirito by his arms and looked him in his eyes.
Klein: Who cares?! I want to—

Kirito reacts and kicks him in the balls to shut him up. Klein writhes in pain on the ground.
"Oh, right. Getting kicks in the balls doesn't hurt."
Kirito: Get serious. Don't you think this is weird?
Klein: Yeah, totally. But it's just a bug.
Kirito: This isn't just a bug. If we can't log out, it's going to cause some serious problems for the game.
Klein: Yeah, I guess you're right.
Kirito: I wonder if the developers even know what's happening, 'cause they could just shut down the server and log everyone out. But why haven't they made an announcement?
Klein: Hmm...

Suddenly, across the entire game landscape, everyone got teleported to the Town of Beginnings central plaza. Kyo was looking around and spotted all the other players he'd passed as he ran through town, he spotted a black haired and red haired player before he heard a girl's voice next to him.

"Looks like the time has come to start this game." he thought.

The time is now 6:00pm

Girl: Do you know what's going on?
Guy: Uh-uh.
Kirito: Someone forced a teleport. But why here?

Guy: What's going on here?
Guy: Look, up there!
Kirito: Now what?
The sky darkened into a blood red color. A weird looking goopy and loose looking figure emerged from the goopy substance and gained full form. Darkening the entire sky and casting a shadow to each and every person standing on the ground.
Klein: What the hell is that thing?
Kyo: Hm.. Very flashy for an entrance. Even flashier than what I'm used to as a gamer.
Guy: Is that a game master?
Guy: Why doesn't he have a face? Is this an event?
Girl: I'm scared.
Guy: Don't worry. It's just part of the opening ceremony.
The guy was correct. In a way.

Kyo: Something isn't right here.
Faceless Player: Attention, players. I welcome you to my world.
Kirito: What's he mean by that?
Kayaba: My name is Akihiko Kayaba. And as of this moment, I am in control of this world.
Girl: Seriously?
Guy: Wow, that's some entrance.
Kayaba: I'm sure most of you have already noticed an item missing from your main menus - the log out button. Let me assure you, this is not a defect in the game. I repeat, this is not a defect.
This is how "Sword Art Online" was designed to be.
Kayaba illustrated the menu for all players to see.
Klein: He's kidding, right?
Kayaba: You cannot log yourselves out of SAO, and no one from the outside will be able to shut down or remove the "NerveGear" from your head. If anyone attempts to do so, a transmitter inside the NerveGear will discharge a microwave signal into your skull, destroying your brain and ending your life.
Girl: What are you talking about?
Guy: Oh, come on! That's such BS! (Bull Shit) This game sucks!
The guy nearest to Kyo began to move toward the town outskirts.

Guy: Let's get out of here.

An invisible power prevented him from leaving. Must be a event barrier that prevents people from leaving the area.
"Hey, I can't get out!"
Klein: Are you listening to this crap? He's got to be nuts, right? Right, Kirito?
Kirito: He's not. The transmitter's signals in the headgear work just like microwaves. If the safety's disabled, it could fry your brain.
Klein: Couldn't someone cut the power or...?
Kirito: That won't work. The NerveGear's got an internal battery.
Klein: This is crazy! It's totally crazy!
Kayaba: Despite my warning, the families and friends of some of the players have attempted removing the NerveGear, an unfortunate decision, to say the least. As a result, the game now has two hundred thirteen less players than when it began. They've been deleted from both Aincrad and the real world.
Kirito: Two hundred thirteen?

Klein: No way... I don't believe it!
Kayaba: As you can see, international media outlets have round-the-clock coverage of everything, including the deaths. At this point, it's safe to assume the likelihood of a NerveGear being removed is minimal at best. I hope this brings you a little comfort as you try to clear the game. It's important to remember the following: There is no longer any way to revive someone within the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be deleted from the system... forever. And the NerveGear will simultaneously destroy your brain. There is only one way for a player to escape now - you must clear the game. Right now, you're gathered on Floor One, the lowest level of Aincrad. If you can get through the dungeon and defeat the boss, you may advance to the next floor. Defeat the boss on Floor 100, and you will clear the game.
Guy: Clear?
Girl: What's he talking about?
Guy: Why should we believe any of the crap you're saying?
Klein: We can't clear all 100 floors... That's freaking impossible... even the beta testers never made it that high!
Kyo looked in the direction of Klein after he said that…. Thinking to himself he sighed, "It's true."
Kayaba: Last but not least, I've placed a little present in the item storage of every player. Please have a look.
Every player began looking into their item storages and even Kyo was looking into the item storage for this "surprise"
Kirito: A mirror?

Every player began reverting to their real life bodies.

Kyo, never believed in using a false identity for gaming, however he wound up changing his hair type. His real hair wound up falling around his shoulders. He looked and touched his hair and then looked at it closely, coming to a sudden realization.

"Klein!"
Klein: You okay, Kirito?
Kirito: Yeah. Wait... Who are you?
The sudden realization set in. Everyone in the game. Was reverted to their 95% likeness of their real life bodies. Everything has set in to everyone's minds.

Klein: I'm me. Who are you?

Next to Kyo however, something has changed. For the worst in a different way.
Guy: Son of a... You're a guy?!
Guy(used to be a girl): You're not seventeen?

Kirito: Wait a second.
Klein: Is that you, Kirito?
Kirito: Is that you, Klein?
Klein: But, how?
Kirito: The scan. There's a high-density signal device inside the NerveGear rig. It can see what my face looks like, but how's it know my height and body type?
Klein: When you first put the NerveGear on, it had to do this... calibration thing. It asked you to touch your body all over like this, remember?
Kirito: Oh, yeah, you're right. That's where it got our physical data!
Klein: But, this is... What's the point?! Why would anyone do this to us?!
Kirito: I think he's about to tell us.
Kayaba: Right now, you are probably wondering why. Why would Akihiko Kayaba, developer of Sword Art Online and NerveGear, do this? Ultimately, my goal was a simple one. The reason I created Sword Art Online was to control the fate of a world of my design.
Kirito: Kayaba...
Kayaba: As you can see, I have achieved my goal. This marks the end of the tutorial and the official launch of Sword Art Online. Players, I wish you the best of luck.

Kayaba Disappears and leaves the players, the sky reverts to the evening setting that everyone had grown to admire, however the atmosphere of the game has changed. No one was feeling the atmosphere.
Kirito: It's not a game. It's real. Akihiko Kayaba created a virtual world. He designed the NerveGear rig. The man's a genius! I've been a fan of his for a long time... so I know... everything he just said... is the truth! If I die in the game, I'll die in real life!

Far off across the plaza, a girl screams. And then a loud raucous begins.
Girl with Green Hair: My god... No!
Guys: No way! Not cool, dude! Let me out... Let me out of here! I can't stay here. I have a meeting after this! Stop pushing!
Guy: You have to let us go!
Guy(used to be a girl): Wait! Seriously?
Kirito: Come on, Klein.

Kirito: Okay, listen. I'm heading out right now for the next village. I want you to come.
Klein: Huh?
Kirito: If what he said is true, and I think it is, the only way we're gonna survive in here is by making ourselves as strong as possible. In an MMORPG, the money you can earn... the EXP... Once the game starts up, there's only so much of that stuff to go around. Look, the fields around the Town of Beginnings are gonna be hunted clean soon. If we head to the next village now, we'll have an easier time collecting cash and points. Don't worry, I know all the paths and places we should avoid. Even if I'm level one, I can get there easy.
Klein: Thanks, but... you know those friends of mine I was telling you about... we stood in line for a whole night to buy this, and... They're back at the Plaza, somewhere... and I can't leave 'em.
Kirito began to think to himself: If it were just Klein... but two more... or even one more...
Klein: Sorry. Can't ask a guy I just met to risk his life for a bunch of strangers, can I? So, don't worry about me. Get your ass to the next village. I'll be fine! Last game I played, I ran a guild, so I'm more than prepared. And with all the stuff you taught me, I'll get by, no sweat!
Kirito: Okay. If that's what you want, I'll get going. But if you're in a jam, message me, okay?
Klein: Sure.
Kirito: I'll be seeing you, Klein. Take care.
Klein: Kirito! I... Hey... Kirito. Um, you look better like this. Way cooler than your avatar.
Kirito: Yeah, and I think that scruffy face fits you ten times better, too.

Kirito fights back the tears as he runs off, leaving Klein behind.

Further down the road, Kyo was running as well toward the next town on the first floor.

Kyo thinks to himself as he runs. "I have to survive, and I have to save everyone. This isn't how I envisioned my day. This is my story. And everyone's lives are at stake. I can't die here."

Kirito: I've got this! I can do this! This world can't beat me! I will survive!

Sword Art Online2. Beater

Kirito: Since the game began, a whole month has gone by, and two thousand people have died so far. After all this time, none of the players have been able to clear Floor One. I used to be a beta tester, and even I haven't found out where the boss's lair is. And today, finally, we're having a meeting to figure out how to find and defeat the Floor One boss.

Kyo sit's casually on the far end of Kirito. "It's been an entire month since I got trapped in this world, death rates are up as suicides and unfortunately player inflicted deaths increase. No one has managed to reach the next floor. It makes me want to fight more, fight harder. It's harder for me though." Kyo thinks to himself as he checks his weapon inventory.

A blue haired man stood at the base of the coliseum and confidently commanded the attention of the 40-50 people in attendance, even Kyo looked up and was astonished at how overly dressed this man was. Full iron armor and a steel sword adorned him as he began speaking. "Okay, people! Now that everyone's here, let's get this meeting started. So anyway, I want to thank everyone for coming. It's good to see you all have survived and are in great health. My name is Diabel, and in this game, the job I rolled is knight!"
A guy near Kyo yelled out suddenly, "Dude, there's no job system in this game!"

He's right though, SAO is a job system less game with no way to have a specific role. I always assumed it was a way to break the game coding or potentially overpower yourself as the last month has been nothing but grinding and searching for many of the players who wanted to look for a way out of the game.
Diabel heard the guy and suddenly flipped on the charm that he had perfected but really caught everyone's attention when he had said this, "Right, anyway here's the deal. Our party found the boss room at the top of the tower today. First, we need to defeat the boss and make it to Floor Two. The next step is we have to tell everyone waiting in the Town of Beginnings that it is possible to beat this game! Fact is, it's our duty as the most capable players here! Do you agree or not?!"

Cheers and hoots erupted from the entire meeting area. Kyo shrunk back a bit in his seat, just focusing on getting the information and possibly try to clear the floor by himself. "Yeah right." Kyo thought to himself as he waited for the cheers to die down.
"Okay, glad to hear you're all with me on this, now let's figure out how we're going to beat the boss. First off, we'll team up into parties of six. A typical party doesn't stand a chance against a floor boss. We need a raid group made up of multiple parties." Diabel continued on speaking for another 10 minutes. Sadly, no one else was really paying attention to him and everyone had begun making their parties and exchanging information. The only people left were, Kirito, a hooded figure and Kyo. "I've never been the party kind of guy, I'll do this as a solo player." Kyo stands up and vanishes into the darkness of a pillar where no one could see him any further.
Kirito began searching for a partner and settled on the last available person he could find. However, he did wonder about the mysterious player who was left out as well and managed to vanish really quickly. "You got left out too, huh?" Kirito asked of the Hooded player to his left.
"Not even. I wasn't left out. It's just everyone seems like they're already friends." The Hooded player responded with, giving the air of cold and stubborn personality. Kirito felt the cold personality emanating from this person however, he couldn't back down from them and miss out on the floor clearing battle. "So you're solo too? You want to form a party with me?" Kirito asked quickly, hoping to catch the Hooded figure in a better mindset than they let on, unfortunately, the Hooded figure hesitated. "You heard what the guy just said. We can't beat the boss on our own, and it would only be for this fight." Kirito urged. Eventually the Hooded figure sent a party invitation. Kirito accepted it and then looked up at the name tag for the person he was going to work with throughout this fight. Asuna. Diabel smiled and held up his hands signaling for attention once again, "All right. Looks like everyone's teamed up. Now then..."
"Hold up a sec! My name's Kibaou, got that? Before we take on the boss, I want to get something off my chest! We all know about the two thousand people who died so far, yeah? Well, some of you need to apologize to them right now!" said a spunky red haired man who came up from nowhere.
Diabel chimed in suddenly, his demeanor changed to a slightly colder one. "Kibaou, I think I know who you're referring to. You mean the ones who were ex-beta testers, right?"
Kibaou speaks up, an obvious bit of annoyance in his voice, "'Course I mean them! The day this stupid ass game started, the beta guys just got up and vanished, right? They ditched all us beginners! They snagged all the good hunting spots, and they grabbed all the easy quests too! They were the only ones getting stronger in here. This whole time, they've ignored us like we were nothing. Hell, I bet there are some of them here! Come on out, beta testers! We should make them apologize to us, and we should make them all give up their money and the items they got! They can't expect the party to trust them when they don't trust us! Why should we?!"
Kyo froze in his spot hidden in the shade, his heart began to pound faster and his eyes slanted slightly as he looked at Kibaou. The look of a killer crossed his face and his eyes. In Kyo's mind he envisioned himself cutting Kibaou's head off with his sword, then picking his rolling head up and slamming it against the wall until his body finally evaporated into thin air. The blood covered face of Kyo then went on a full out bloody attack sequence killing everyone in the area who had witnessed his murder. However, a tall black man spoke up, interrupting his train of thought suddenly.
"Can I say something? Hey, my name's Agil. Kibaou right? I want to make sure I'm on the same page. You say the ex-beta testers should be blamed for the rookies' deaths because they didn't help them, and you want them to apologize and give up their winnings. I leave anything out?" the man said as he placed a large Axe down next to him on the ground. Kibaou had visibly shrunk in size compared to Agil as he answered, "No, you didn't."

"The item store hands these out for free. It's a guidebook. You got one, didn't you?" Agil asked as he held up the small book. "Sure I got one. So, what about it?" Kibaou asked in a retaliating stance. "You know who was handing these out? The ex-beta testers. Listen up! Everyone had equal access to this information. Even so, lots of players still died. I didn't come here to point fingers at anyone. I'm here 'cause I want to learn from those players' deaths. I'm here because I want to find out how we're gonna beat the boss." Agil said as the players around him nodded and agreed with him. Kyo found a small sense of admiration for the man known as Agil; Kibaou looked as though he had been ashamed and sulked off to a corner to let his feelings out on a brick wall.
Diabel finally spoke up again after Agil had finished talking; "Okay, can we get back to the meeting now? For info on the boss, it's all in here - the latest issue of the guidebook you just heard about. According to the book, the boss's name is Illfang the Kobold Lord. Also, he'll be surrounded by his minions - the Ruin Kobold Sentinels. Illfang carries an axe and a buckler. He has four health bars, and when the last one turns red, he switches to a curved sword type weapon called a Talwar. He can change his patterns of attack, too. That's it for the briefing. As for the distribution of loot, money will be divided equally among everyone. The party that defeats the boss gets the EXP; and whoever gets an item, gets to keep it. Any objections?"

None of the players in attendance disagreed to the very reasonable terms that Diabel had set out for them. Even Kyo couldn't help but nod in agreement as the terms had left a lot of room for error.
"Good! We leave tomorrow at ten in the morning! Meeting adjourned, people."
The time was now 4:30pm.

Kyo left from the meeting area and headed back to the main town area, his main focus was to gather as much sleep as he ever had in his life. Since the time that he and a ton of other players had gotten trapped in this world, Kyo spent 5 days in a week 23 hours a day, just toiling away in the fields in the first floor, he wanted to get stronger. He knew that time wasn't on his side, nor the side of the others. The first floor fields had been hunted clean by the 3rd week. Kyo didn't quit getting stronger however. SAO has a skill system that is unique. The more you use a skill, the better and stronger that said skill becomes. Kyo was now a stronger swordsman than he wanted to let on, even at level 11, he was most likely the strongest who came to the meeting earlier.

Kyo lays in the hotel room bed after taking his armor and weapons off. His thoughts were floating to how he wished he could have sex to how in the hell he was going to beat a boss tomorrow. "Diabel was right. It won't be easy." He muttered to himself as he rolled over and went to sleep.

Kirito met up with his newfound partner and sat next to her in the Town of Beginnings plaza. Tension wasn't in the air as much as it was before during the meeting. Kirito felt as though he could get to know his new partner better. Asuna was sitting on the bench and relaxed feeling. However Kirito couldn't see her face. He wondered why she was hiding herself, he never really decided to ask about something else he found in her hand. It was a basic piece of bread.
Kirito: Those are pretty good, aren't they? Mind if I sit down?
Asuna: You really think these taste good?
Kirito: Uh-huh. Since I came to this town, I end up eating at least one a day. Of course, I got a trick to make it taste better.
Asuna: What trick?
Kirito: Try it with some of this.

Kirito produces a cream-like substance from a jar. It vanishes once he places some on his and Asuna's bread pieces.
Asuna: Cream?
Kirito: I got it from "The Heifer Strikes Back." That's the quest in the village before you get to this one. You want to know how I did it?
Asuna: Uh-uh. I appreciate the offer, but I didn't come to this town to eat good food.
Kirito: Okay. Why are you here?
Kirito finally asked the question that had been on his mind since he joined a party with her earlier in the day.
Asuna: So I don't lose sight of who I am. I don't want to lock myself in a room in the Town of Beginnings and slowly rot away. I'd rather stay the way I am till the last moment. Even if a monster beats me and I die, I won't lose to this game or this world, no matter what.
Kirito was impressed by her words and offered her his own words.
Kirito: I wouldn't want a party member dying on me, so try not to die tomorrow.
Asuna felt a little closer to Kirito with his sweet words. "He won't let me die. I hope he is really as good as he seems." she thought to herself.

Kyo awoke on the day of the raid earlier than normal. Something has changed in the game's mechanics, blood is more of a prevalent feature. Kyo sliced a boar and saw more blood than he had in over a month's worth of killing. This has become a big problem, the rate of suicide has increased, and to make matters even worse; players are now subjected to the deceased player's lifeless body with how they died. Kyo had seen a player stab himself outside of the town's safe zone, the stab wound produced blood and the player began bleeding from the mouth. It wasn't pretty. Kyo feels as though Kayaba turned this game even further into a death game.

Tension begins to run higher amongst the raid team as they walked forward. Kirito and Asuna was in a deep conversation about their plans as they continued to walk toward what they knew was their fates, and the fates of everyone else in the Town of Beginnings.
Kirito: Let's go over it again. We're the backup. So, our target's gonna be the boss's minions - the Ruin Kobold Sentinels.
Asuna: I know.
Kirito: I'll use a sword skill to knock their weapons up and out of the way. When I do, switch and jump in.
Asuna: Wait, how do you switch?
Kirito: Okay, level with me. Is this the first time you've ever been in a party?
Asuna: Uh-huh.
Kirito looked a bit worried about her as he began to fill her in on how to execute a proper switch. Kyo was eavesdropping and learned some new tricks for his future. He files away how to switch in case he ever finds someone he trusts to party with.

At the door to Illfang the Kobold Lord, everyone had stopped and Diabel addressed them all.
Diabel: Listen up, everyone. I've only got one thing to say to you. Let's win!
Cheers erupted as he finished his sentence.

"Come on!"
"Commence attack!"

The battle had gone pretty seamlessly from the beginning. The guidebook that Kyo had studied had actually provided perfect details as to what was going on.
"Squads A and C, switch in!" Diabel shouted.

Kyo was getting covered in blood more frequently as he was killing the Kobold Sentinels
"Here it comes! Squad B, block!" Diabel shouted out towards the incoming attack from Illfang
"Squad C, keep guarding and prepare to switch!"
"Everyone else, when you fall back, regroup and flank them!"
"Squads D, E and F, keep those minions off us!"
Kirito and Asuna are in Squad D
Kirito: "Yeah, you got it Diabel!"
Kirito executes the gameplan from earlier and then calls for Asuna. "Switch!"
Asuna: I'm on it!

Asuna takes out 5 monsters in rapid succession, blood spilling into the air and onto her clothes.
Kirito: I thought she was a beginner, but she's got good skills. I can't even see the tip of her sword! Right on!

Asuna avoided one of Illfang's attacks and her cloak flew off showing her entire body. Her luxurious hair flowing in the wind as she continued her entire attack.

Kyo felt that his abilities weren't being reached while he was fighting the Kobold Sentinels. He immediately began laying waste to 2-5 Sentinels at a time, no one was watching him and he felt more alive unleashing his full abilities.

In the distance of the door area stood a young woman with midnight dark blue hair watched Kyo as she deliberately attacked monsters that were focusing on her but wasn't focusing on taking down the main core of the monsters. She had overheard people taking about this boss raid and was interested in helping. She happened to have seen Kyo traveling by himself and was immediately thinking of him, the interest in him has grown a bit larger due to what she has witnessed from him. The young woman smiled as she stabbed through a Sentinel.

"I will always smile in the face of death, even in danger. And that man, he is the best person who shares my abilities."

Kibaou: Looks like the guidebook was right.
Illfang the Kobold Lord had finally been beaten down to the red zone of his health. The guidebook says that Illfang the Kobold Lord will switch to a Talwar.

Kyo smiled as he took down his last Kobold Sentinel, and turned his attention toward the Kobold Lord.
Diabel rushed forward and broke formation, "Stay back! I've got it!"

Kyo and Kirito both showed shocked looks on their faces.
Kirito began thinking to himself as he watched Diabel rush forward. "I thought the plan was for everyone in the group to surround it!"

Illfang the Kobold Lord unfortunately changed weapons. And Kyo and Kirito both knew it. Something else was going on and the end result was a dead end for someone.
"That's not a Talwar! It's a No-Dachi! This isn't like the beta!" Kirito thought as he began to rush toward Diabel "Wait, stop!"
Kibaou: Huh?
Everyone had begun looking at Diabel as he rushed toward the boss. Kyo began to realize what the magnitude of this would be. The No-Dachi will mutilate Diabel if it hits him. This is the furthest thing from an easy fight for them. "Someone will die." Kyo thought as he rushed into the fight to hopefully save Diabel.
Kirito: It's no good! Get out of there!
Kibaou: Diabel! No!
Kyo failed to reach Diabel in time, the only person who made it futilely was Kirito. Diabel was fatally wounded and his HP had dropped really low. And was actively dropping as his blood was spilling out. Kirito tried to give Diabel a healing potion. Diabel rejected the healing potion to Kyo and Kirito's disbelief.
"Diabel! What the hell were you thinking?"
Diabel: You know - you were a beta-tester too, weren't you?
Kirito realized what Diabel was after; but at what cost was this? At what cost did Diabel sacrifice himself for. "You were after the Last Attack Bonus - the rare item. You're just like me, a beta-tester." Kirito said to Diabel as his life was beginning to fade.
Diabel: Please... you have to... defeat the boss... for everyone here!
Kirito: When this death game started, the only thing I thought about was how I was gonna survive. Nothing else mattered.
Kirito became a man possessed as he ran past Klein, "Take care. I'll be seeing you, Klein."
"But you weren't like that, Diabel. You never abandoned the other players. You brought them together. You led everyone, and you fought brilliantly. You tried to accomplish something I couldn't." Kirito thought as he rushed toward Illfang the Kobold Lord. Diabel had died and was laying on the ground. His body was vanishing slowly but the vision stayed in Kyo's mind.
Asuna: I'll go too.
Kyo: Count me in as well
Kirito: Okay. We'll hit him just like we did the minions. Whoever you are, help us on defense!
Asuna and Kyo: You got it.
Kirito: Switch! Asuna!
Illfang the Kobold Lord had switched up his attack patterns and began to charge back up his attack. Leaving Kirito in danger. "He's coming back!" Kyo shouts out to Kirito as he goes for a quick deflection of the blade that ultimately spells death for all those who get struck by it.
"Oh, no!" Asuna shouts.
Agil: We can hold this bastard off until your health's back up!
Kirito: You got it!
"Thanks Agil. I owe you one in the future." Kyo said as he took more damage than he needed to during the deflection. Kirito ran out there and began to protect Asuna.
"Watch out!"
Kirito was ready to fight again. "You're going down! Come on, Asuna! Help me beat this sucker! One last attack!"
Asuna: You got it!
The final move wasn't enough initially, until Kyo got involved and helped weaken Illfang the Kobold Lord. Kirito drove his sword through Illfang swiftly and ultimately ending this tragic fight.
Everyone began to cheer, the loss of Diabel was forgotten.
Asuna: Nice job.
Agil: That was some fine swordsmanship. Congratulations - today's victory is all thanks to you.
Kirito: No.
Guy: Yeah! You rock, man!
Someone didn't feel the same as everyone else did. Kibaou spoke up suddenly,"Stop cheering! Why'd you do it, huh? Why'd you let Diabel die?!"
Kirito: Let him die?
Kibaou: That's what I said. Admit it! You knew the technique the boss was gonna use. You could've told us! Then Diabel would've stood a chance... He wouldn't have died!"

Guy: I know why he knew! He used to be a beta-tester! Think about it! He knew the boss's attack patterns! He knew, but he kept it from us! And I bet he's not the only beta-tester here! Come on, show yourselves!
Kyo had shrunk into the shadows of the crowd, hiding his identity from everyone else again.
Kirito: This is bad... at this rate...
Diabel's last words floated back into Kirito's head suddenly: For everyone here...
Agil: Hey! Calm down!
Kirito: So, you guys think I used to be a beta-tester. It's not cool to put me in the same class with those noobs.
Kibaou: What'd you say?
Kirito: You heard me. Most of the thousand people who scored a slot in SAO's beta were rookies. They were so green, they didn't even know how to level up. Hell, even you guys are better than they were. But me, I'm nothing like those guys, man. During the beta, I made it to floors that were higher than any of the other testers. That's a fact. I knew about the boss, 'cause I fought tons of monsters with way more sword skills on higher floors! I know a bunch of other things, too. More than you can imagine. More than any info broker.
Kyo had listened to Kirito and slowly walked toward where Kirito stood, no one was paying attention to him. Everyone was astounded by Kirito's words, everyone except Kyo.
Kibaou: W-What the hell? If that's true, then you're worse than a beta-tester! You're a goddamn cheater, that's what you are!
Guy: He's a beta-tester and a cheater! He's a Beater!
Kirito: A beater... Yeah, that's good. I like it. Okay, you can call me a beater. Just make sure you don't confuse me with those beta-testers anymore.

Kyo lunged forward with his sword drawn towards Kirito's neck. Everything in the area got silent, everyone looked at Kyo and Kirito.

"Don't you dare talk bad about any of the OTHER beta-testers that we played SAO with. They have the same passion as you and I do. We all wanted to escape to this world to break out from the mundane lifestyles that we had grown so accustomed to. Don't ever talk down on others." Kyo said as he pushed Kirito backwards.

Kirito was silent at Kyo's words.
Asuna: Wait! When we were fighting the boss, you called me by my name.
She was talking to Kirito, Kyo had sheathed his sword and decided to message Kirito instead.
Kirito: I wasn't trying to be rude. Did I mess up the pronunciation?
Asuna: How'd you even know it?
Kirito: If you look right about here, you'll see another HP gauge under yours. There's a name written right next to it, yeah?
Asuna: Ki-ri-to... Kirito? Your name's Kirito.
Kirito: Yeah.
Asuna: I'm so dumb. It was there the whole time and I never knew.
Kyo finished the message and sent it to Kirito.

Kirito: You can become powerful here on your own. But if the day comes when someone you trust invites you to join a guild, don't turn it down, 'cause there're limits to what a solo player can do.

Asuna: But, you're solo.

Kyo's Message: "I know who you are, we are former beta-testers. I am going to be around. Don't lose sight of who you are. I will kill you if I have to. If given the opportunity, I will not hesitate. From here on out, expect me to be around you."