Chapter One : A New Beginning

*BEEPBEEP BEEPBEEP*

The sound of the alarm clock was soon followed by a groan of a young teenage boy who have a messy black hair poking out underneath his blanket.

After trying to grab the alarm clock with his eyes still closed for a few moments without success he finally relented by trying his best to suffocate the poor alarm clock beneath his pillow. Smirking a bit for that small victory, the boy soon entered the Morpheus realm once again.

*KRINGKRING KRINGKRING*

"For goodness sake! What do I have to do to get some sleep around here!"

Throwing off the blanket of his body, he proceeded to grab his mobile phone from his study desk, unplugging it from the charger he took a look at the caller ID. Rubbing his eyes to clear his eyesight he finally got a good look at the name.

-Kazuto-

'He better have a good reason for calling so early in the morning'

Swiping across the screen he proceeded to put the phone next to his ear while making his way out of his bedroom.

"What do you want you bastard?" he asked/croaked while he opened up his fridge to scour for any edibles.

"Sheesh, what crawled up your ass and died?" the voice from the other side of the phone asked.

"Well you just woke me up from a good dream, so you better have a good reason for calling me so early in the morning"

So far he had found some eggs and a few slices of bacon, and luckily the milk seemed to be fine. Taking a few sniff he set it aside while preparing to cook his breakfast.

"What do you mean by morning its almost 1 o'clock already, and aren't you the one who asked me to call you to make sure you don't miss the opening of the server" the voice berated him.

Looking at the clock on the wall he realized that Kazuto was indeed right, it was already 12:45 pm. It really was not a good idea to sleep that late again. Shrugging his shoulder a bit, he continued to crack the eggs in the bowl and turned on the stove to make an omelet.

"Well would you look at that, you are right for once" he said while beating the egg.

"I am always right and you know it, just do what you need to do and log into the game around 1:30 pm, I'll be waiting at the hunting ground as usual" Kazuto reminded him, and with a click the call was ended.

Putting the phone away he pour down the beaten egg down the pan on one side and after a bit he laid a few pieces of bacon as well on the other side.

While waiting for them to finish he turned on the television and look around for a bit and finally settling for a news channel. There was a small news regarding the new online game Sword Art Online, the same game he and Kazuto are going to play today. The game managed to garner some attention as it was one of the newest game that are able to fully utilize the function of the Nervegear.

Putting a few loaf of bread on the plate he set up on the table, the boy checks on the pan, satisfied he pours down the omelet and the bacon on said loaf. A few finishing touches here and there and it is done.

"Ichiro's simple breakfast for one finished" he announced to no one in particular and sit down to have his meal. Taking a few bites he then noticed a single piece of paper on the table which was weigh down by a small soy sauce bottle.

-I'll be going out early today so I didn't have the chance to make you a breakfast. Feel free to order some takeout for dinner as well as might be coming home a bit later than usual-

-Love, your awesome mom-

Crumpling the piece of paper away he then throws in into the bin with a perfect aim.

'And the crowd goes wildddd'

…..

Meh, he was bored, sue him.

Finishing the breakfast with great gusto, he put the plate in the sink and help himself to a cup of instant coffee. Turning off the television he make his way to the bathroom for a shower.


After drying his hair down, ruffling his hair around for a bit with no avail as it still seem messy as always. Looking at his reflection he saw what was reflected was a boy still in his teen with an average look, raven black hair, black eyes and a face that you can find almost everywhere with no distinct features.

Content with his average look he slapped his cheeks a few time to prep himself for his adventure with the Nervegear.

Plugging the charger of the Nervegear in, he put the helmet looking thing on his head and make himself comfortable on his bed.

"Naxes Ichiro, 16 years old going on a journey. LINK START!" he said with a small smile tugging on his lips.

That was his quirk if one might say. Some people say that talking to oneself is an early sign of depression or maybe even insanity, he say that it is what make himself unique, what make himself Naxes.

Unfortunately, what he doesn't know at that time was he really was going on a journey, a long long journey.

[WELCOME, PLEASE INSERT YOUR USERNAME AND PASSWORD]

USERNAME : Naxes

PASSWORD : ***********

[USERNAME ACCEPTED, PREVIOUS DATA FROM THE BETA TEST CAN BE IMPORTED]

[DATA IMPORTED]

[PHYSICAL APPEARANCE LOADED] [NO BONUS]

[PLAYER WILL BE PLACED IN -TOWN OF BEGINNING- ]

[eNJoY ThE game]

With a flash of white light Naxes appearance can be seen. A blond haired male with average height with piercing blue eyes, having his hair styled into a ponytail, he was donning the beginner set of clothes a black long sleeved shirt with a contrasting white pants along with a leather armor strapped around his chest.

"Yosh it seems that all is well, my senses are working just fine" he threw around some punches and kicks around to test his artificial body.

Finally looking around he see the other people are looking at him with a weird look. Smiling sheepishly he broke into a run for a shopping spree.

For a starting player of course the system have given him a few basic items, like potions and herbs, but what most player does not know is that for a limited time after logging into the game, a player can get a great discount at any store as a starting bonus.

After bulking up on potions and maintenance items for his swords and armor he take a look at the time and saw that it was already past the promised meeting time with Kazuto. So once again Naxes broke into a run this time towards the beginner hunting field.

Arriving with a screeching halt, he saw two figures going against what it seems to be a boar type of monster.

"Yo" he said to the figure with a black hair framing his face. This is Kazuto avatar in the game which he named Kirito, he said that the name was the combination of KIRIgaya kazuTO thus resulting in KIRITO, he must felt really smart while making that username.

"'Yo' my ass, even with my call you are still late as usual, and you better save me tha black cat explanation or even the old lady excuses" Kirito grumbled while throwing a small projectile towards him.

Ducking under the thrown object with a quite feminine shriek he took notice of the other player with the red hair and give a nod of acknowledgement.

"Oi,Oi be careful with that, well you know me well enough, did you really think that I'll ever arrive on time. Look here a some potions I can give to you for my tardiness, and look because of me being late, you have already make a new friend here" Naxes said while opening a trade window and sending Kirito his peace offering.

Accepting the gift after a simple click in front of him, Kirito decided that it was just Naxes being Naxes and give him a pass this time and proceeded to introduce Klein to Naxes. Kirito and Klein met after Kirito logged in and in need of some guidance Klein followed Kirito and received some training on how to activate sword skills.

"So you guys have been practicing around for around how long again?" Naxes asked while looking at Klein who have just succeeded in activating his sword skill for the first time.

"Around 30 minutes or so, why?" Kirito asked sending Naxes a look, as Naxes began to equip his short sword and twirling it around to test its balance.

Equipping the small steel sword to his right hand and setting a few pebble on his left for throwing movement, Naxes checked his map once again.

"Nothing in particular, just it should be appearing quite soon with the rate you guys are defeating the mobs around here" he replied.

"Oh yeah, the frenzied should be appearing if we defeated a specific amount of mobs in a short amount of time" Kirito realized and so he prepares himself by drinking a flask of potion for good measure.

As if on cue a loud thumping noise can be heard and in the distance a small cloud of dirt can be seen rushing towards their location with a good speed.

"Guys, what is that? Is that suppose to happen? Is it even a good thing?" Klein asked as he unconsciously took a few step back.

"That my friend is what we call the Frenzied, and yes it is suppose to happen, imagine it as a small event of some sort, and another yes because like all frenzied they give out a larger amount of EXP and some good drops sometimes" Naxes answered as he prepares his stance.

"So are we doing it like always or do you want to solo this one on your own?" Kirito asked.

"Like always, beside this would be a great chance for Klein to learn how to work in a Party or at least how to cooperate with other player for a bigger kill" Naxes explained as he look at Klein, as he seems to be a complete beginner it wouldn't hurt to show him some tricks and tips.

Receiving a nod from Klein, Naxes stood beside Kirito and finally the Frenzied arrives in front of them with a cloud of dust. After the dust cleared the they got a good look at the red furred boar, unlike the other boar this one have two health bar.

-Frenzied Wild Boar-

""LETS GO"" both Naxes and Kirito shouted at the same time.

Rushing in first Kirito give a long slash towards the left side of the frenzied, now that it has its focus on Kirito, Naxes prepare his Horizontal sword skill, with a soft glow the steel sword find its way to the frenzied behind, and chained it with a few normal strikes while it give Kirito a chance to gain some distance back.

For the Boar-typed monster the only thing to watch out for is its Charge skill, with a carefully timed strike any skill can be interrupted and broken. So after seeing the boar glowing as if to prepare its Charge, Naxes jumped backwards and start his own Throwing skill, just as it was about to move Naxes pebble was thrown right between the eye of the frenzied, thus the skill was broken and from the frenzied blind spot Kirito appeared with his sword glowing and find its way to the frenzied torso giving it a high damage.

Naxes looked at the Frenzied health bar and it was already in yellow zone, with a loud roar the frenzied charged again.

"Watch out!" Klein shouted from somewhere behind him.

Naxes held his ground until the last moment,he broke into his own charge and slides down the frenzied with his sword pointing up.

A huge gash appeared under the frenzied body,and after both of them comes to a complete halt, the frenzied body glowed a little unstably and finally broke into tiny little fragments signaling its defeat.

Releasing a breath he didn't even realize that he was holding Naxes stood up and look at the EXP and COL he received from the battle. After dismissing the window he look up and saw Kirito holding out a fist towards him.

"Great work as always"

"As always" Naxes held out his fist and tapped it against Kirito while grinning.

"Whoa that was amazing, it seems that both of you know what each other are going to do without even communicating" Klein praised while looking at the two of them.

Looking at each other Naxes and Kirito chuckled as they can't quite refute the statement, since they met in the Beta test they both agreed that they have the best cooperation and became partners from there on out.

So after the defeat of the Frenzied both of them shows Klein a few more tricks and give him tips on how to quick farm and how to make quick cols. After a while Klein separated from the two of them saying that he need to meet up with some of his friends from real life and thanked both of them for their guidance.

"So do you have a lot of time to play today or do you have a set curfew?" Kirito asked as they make their way to the next hunting ground.

While looking for some mob to fight Naxes spotted a wild wolf not far from their position.

"Not really, my mom is going to come back late, so I can spend some good time here" he answered while throwing a pebble towards the wolf and proceeded to engaged it in a battle.

The official opening ceremony will be starting at 3:00 pm, so both of them have some time to kill before the event that will took place at the Town Plaza. So with that in mind they agreed to farm a little bit further while keeping their distance from the town in the back of their mind.

*DINGDING DINGDING*

A chime of bell can be heard from a distance.

"I guess that's the notification for the event, since we are quite far from the town I suggest we start to make a run toward the town now, since I don't want to waste my teleport crystal and I don't want to miss the opening" Kirito suggested as he looked at Naxes who was in a battle with what looked like a Sunflower type of monster.

"Just let me beat this guy up for a bit and we are good to go" and as Naxes just about to activate a Sword Skill to finish the monster up, suddenly both of them are surrounded by a blue light.

"Hey what gives!" Naxes shouted, and as the light dies down, both of them realizes that they have arrived at the Town Plaza.

"A forced transfer? I guess that the opening ceremony is compulsory event" Kirito thought and to as to prove that thought the other players also starts to appear around them. Soon after the plaza was filled with players all who have a confused look on their faces.

After a while, the transfer stopped as both Naxes and Kirito make themselves comfortable by sitting at the edge of the water fountain in the middle of the plaza. Suddenly the sky turned red and a robed figure appeared in the sky floating upon the plaza.

They have seen the actual robe before. It was the clothes that the Game Master during the beta test had always worn. But then the male GMs had had a face like an old sorcerer with a long beard and the females had had an avatar of a bespectacled girl, but this time the space where the face was supposed to be was empty and it gave both of them an unexplainable feeling of anxiety.

The countless players around me must have felt the same.

"Is that a GM?"

"Why doesn't it have a face?"

Numerous whispers like these could be heard.

Then the right hand of the huge robe moved as if to silence them. A pure white glove appeared from the folds of the long sleeve. But this sleeve, like the rest of the robe, wasn't connected to any sort of body.

Then the left arm slowly lifted upwards, too. Then with its two empty gloves spread out in front of ten thousand players, the faceless person opened his mouth—no, it felt like it did. Then a low and calm voice of a male resonated from high up in the air.

[ Players, I welcome you all to my world. ]

"My world? That seems to be quite egoistical don't you think" Naxes state as Kirito give him a nod agreeing.

[ My name is Kayaba Akihiko. Right now, I am the only person who can control this world. ]

'Kayaba Akihiko?! That's the name of the game developer if I remember it right'

Kayaba was also a person who Kirito looks up to a lot. Looking at Kirito he seems to be smiling a bit hearing his role model in the technologies department talking eventhough its only in the game.

"Didn't peg him for the type to actually get involved in the game as a Game Master though" Kirito said as he look up to the robed figure.

[ I think that most of you have discovered the fact that the log out button has disappeared from the main menu. This is not a bug, it is all part of Sword Art Online's system. ]

Kirito and I looked at each other and both immediately check if his claim was true.

"Would you look at that, the log out button is gone and I didn't even notice" Naxes says while checking his menu. Kirito seems to have the same problem so we turn our attention back to our lovely/ actually quite scary Game Master Kayaba.

[ Until you get to the top of this castle, you cannot log out of your own free will. ]

'What? How is that even possible' Naxes thought

[ Also, the discontinuation or dismantling of the Nerve Gear from the outside is strictly forbidden. If these things are attempted the signal sensors in your Nerve Gear will emit a strong electromagnetic pulse, destroying your brain and stopping all of your basic functions. ]

Naxes and Kirito stared at each other for seconds in shock. Destroy their brains. In other words, kill them. People in the crowd started muttering, but there was no one shouting

or panicking.

[Regretfully 213 players have already exited this game, and the real world forever.]

"213 players already dead? Because of this game? Even as a joke this is not funny anymore" Naxes shouted as his face turn into a scowl.

[ Players, there is no need to worry about the bodies that you have left on the other side. As of this moment, all TV, radio, and internet media are all repeatedly reporting this situation, including the fact that there have been numerous deaths. The danger of having your Nerve Gear taken off has already all but disappeared. In a moment, using the two hours I have given, all of you will be transported to hospitals or similar institutes and be given the best treatment. So you can relax and concentrate on beating the game. ]

"Beat the game you say, this isn't a game anymore!" Kirito shouted toward Kayaba figure. Even if somehow Kayaba can hear Kirito voice he took no notice of it and continue his speech

[ Alas, as a final parting gift, I have left something behind for all of you to realize that no this is your reality ]

Naxes opened up his message menu and there it was a message from the Game Master with a clip icon next to it signifying that an item is attaché along with the message.

'A mirror?'

Both of them seems to have the same thought as they held the rectangular handheld mirror in front of them. With a shattering sound Naxes was surrounded with a bright light.

When the light dies down Naxes looked around and wonder if he was forced teleported again.

"Who are you?" Naxes heard someone asked him, but tilted his head for a second as that voice sounds quite familiar. As if finally a gear clicked,

"Kirito is that you?" he asked the figure in front of him.

"Yeah it's me. Wait, that voice are you Naxes?" Kirito asked him back.

Being quite confused with the situation Naxes take a look in the handheld mirror, and what he saw confuses him even more.

"It's me, of course it is me, I mean my face is here!" Naxes shouted out to himself.

Coming to a conclusion that somehow Kayaba managed to bring our real face into the game, the mirror finally shattered, and they both turn their attention back to Kayaba.

[ With that, I have finished the official tutorial for Sword Art Online. ]

[ Players, I wish you luck. ]

With that I end Chapter One, half of it is just the same as canon as there was not much to change, maybe insert a few joke here and there, but really wasn't up for it. So that is that, hopefully I can come up with some interesting originals for the upcoming chapters.

See ya.