"Hey Kyon, come with me!" Haruhi said as she yanked me out of my desk by the collar is my uniform. I just sighed as she drug me out of the classroom. I have learned it is just easier to let her do what she wants rather than argue or ask questions, I would find out soon enough what crazy plan she had concocted anyway.
"What the hell do you want?" The computer club president nearly spat when Haruhi burst through the computer club's door.
"We need your NerveGear equipment." Haruhi demanded crossing her arms over her chest.
"What do you need it for? It's not like you can play just any game on it." He answered glaring at Haruhi. I had to admit i was curious myself, but didn't voice it.
"To play this obviously." Haruhi said holding up a game case she had in her bag.
The computer club president snatched the game out of her hands " did you get this? I waited in line for the days just to be told it was sold out."
"My parents were able to get me a copy." Haruhi shrugged "Now, what about that equipment?"
Defeated, the president collapsed to his knees and sighed "It's in the cabinet. J-just take it."
I retrieved the game from the teen who was now quietly sobbing on the floor and looked at it for the first time.
Welcome to Sword Art Online, the world's first VRMMORPG. Immerse yourself in the most realistic game yet produced. Battle monsters, challenge friends, form powerful guilds and explore the flying castle of Aincrad. Do you have what takes to defeat the Red King at the top of the Ruby Palace?
"Hmm. Might be interesting." I missed quietly to myself while Haruhi went to check out the NerveGear that was still packed in boxes in the supply cabinet.
"Hey Kyon, come carry these to the brigade headquarters." Haruhi ordered as she checked out one of the helmets.
I sighed as i grabbed a couple of boxes knowing it would be useless arguing with Haruhi. Nagato was sitting in her usual spot reading her book when i entered the clubroom.
"Hey Nagato." I greeted setting the first boxes down. "Have you heard anything about this game?"
"Sword Art Online. A virtual reality multiplayer role playing game. Gameplay relies on weapon based skills. Setting is similar to medieval Europe. Game consists of one hundred levels. Developed by Akihiko Kayaba, the developer of the nerve gear system required to access the program. Only ten thousand copies available on initial release." Nagato recited from available information.
"What's in the boxes?" Koizumi asked entering with Asahina Mikuru.
"Haruhi bullied the computer club into giving us some equipment to play a new game she just got." I told Koizumi.
"Well they were not using it." Haruhi stated entering the room still wasting the nerve gear helmet. "Besides, needed it so that we could make the SOS Brigade the strongest guild in SAO."
"Sword Art Online?" Miss Asahina asked paling noticeably. "I don't know if we should play that."
"Nonsense, this will make the perfect opportunity to get the SOS Brigade noticed by the masses. It's just a game, what could go wrong?" Haruhi insisted.
"Hey Koizumi, give me a hand with this." I asked as i climbed under the table to start hooking up ask the equipment to the computer that Haruhi had gotten from the computer club.
After hooking everything up and checking the connection status, I discovered that Haruhi had been busy herself. All the tables and chairs had been moved to the sides of the room and five futons had been carefully laid out in their places. I set a headset down at each futon while Haruhi passed out game cartridges.
I explained the basic controls as listed in the instruction manual for the nerve gears followed by everyone donning their helmet and following the customization prompts given by the computer. I was the last to finish because I became distracted when the girls inputted their body measurements by paying down their bodies. 'Miss Asahina' I sighed watching her blush she touched her breasts.
The time had finally come to log on. Everyone got comfortable on a futon and Haruhi gave us a countdown.
"Five...four...three...two...Link Start!"
My vision went dark for a moment before everything went white. I watched as a multitude of colored pillars flew past my vision and then I was looking at a series of circles with settings options. I selected my preferences and was taken to an avatar customization menu.
I honestly didn't think that we would be playing too long before Haruhi got bored and decided to drag us along on her next pursuit of fun.
My vision faded you darkness again. I opened my eyes and found myself standing in a large courtyard or pavilion of a large city.
"Wow, this is amazing." I took in the very realistic settings. I could hear the vendors in the nearby market calling out to potential customers. The smell of food cooking wafted over from from a small open air cafe. I wandered around and found a large fountain in the center of a park. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feelof the water spray from the fountain and the light breeze rustling though my hair. Looking at my reflection in three water, I noticed that My avatar was very basic; average height, brown hair, brown eyes dressed in a dark green tunic style shirt and loose fitting brown pants.
As relaxing as this was, I knew it was only the calm before the storm known as Suzumiya Haruhi. Speaking of, I wonder where she is.
A disturbance at the monument in the center of the pavilion caught the attention of every player within hearing range.
"Hey Kyon! Where are you?!" Shouted a female voice over the noise of the city.
Well, you know the saying 'speak the name of the devil and she shall appear'. With a heavy sigh, i figured out would be easier to just find where she was before she made more of a scene.
There she was standing on the steps of the clock tower, hands cupped to her mouth preparing to yell again. She stopped short when she saw me making my way towards her with my hands in my pockets and my shoulders slouched.
"Kyon, where have you been? The rest of the brigade had already formed up. As brigade leader, it will fall to me to punish you if it happens again." Haruhi stated with her arms crossed over her chest.
Like me, Nagato just used a basic avatar wearing a dress in brown and grey. Miss Asahina had pink hair to the middle of her back and light blue eyes wearing a pale pink dress. Koizumi was taller than average with blonde hair and blue eyes that were much darker than Miss Asahina's. His avatar was dressed in a cream colored tunic with beige pants.
And then there was Haruhi. No one could accuse her of subtlety. Her avatar was almost tall as Koizumi's with spiked fire red hair, emerald eyes and sporting a blue skirt and blue and white top showing off her bare midriff.
"Alright! Now that we are all here" Haruhi made a point to look at me with that announcement "let's check out what this game had to offer." Haruhi paused with her finger tapping her chin. "First off, we need get some equipment." She grabbed my hand and led us to the market.
We browsed the weapons and armor to see what we could afford when Haruhi called us to regroup. "We have to decide what each person's duty will be. Obviously I am the leader. Kyon, you are going to be our striker. Find a weapon to fit that role."
Luckily, I had already purchased a sword and light armor anticipating this.
"Miss Suzumiya, if I may?" Koizumi spoke up. "I have always had an interest in polearms, so I request a role that allows me to use something along those lines."
"Alright, Koizumi will be our long range attacker. What about you, Yuki?" Haruhi turned to Nagato. Without saying a word Nagato equipped a wooden club and a small buckler.
"That just leaves our cute Mikuru." Haruhi considered her options.
"Miss Suzumiya, if I may interject on more time, I think it would be best to place Miss Asahina in the back to lessen her chances of being harmed." Koizumi chimed in much to everyone's relief.
"Good thinking Koizumi, you help her learn what she needs to know. Watch out Kyon, your place as second in command is getting shaky." Haruhi laughed.
"You think too highly of me." Koizumi said with a small bow. I just rolled my eyes at the over dramatics.
With everyone properly equipped, we left town to look for mobs to attack. Nagato explained how to activate the sword skills after she accessed the main server.
After fighting wild boars for most of the afternoon, even Miss Asahina was starting to flinch less when they would charge. I could see that there was something she was concerned about, but I had not found the opportunity to ask her about it setting as Haruhi was never more than a few steps away from her the entire time.
I finally got my chance when Haruhi went off to lay down on the grass in the shade of a tree. "Is something the matter Miss Asahina?" I asked quietly.
Asahina looked like a frightened rabbit. "Umm.. . would give you that ?"she glanced around nervously.
"Does something happen to this game?" I pressed, feeling the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
"I..I can't tell you. It's"
"I know, I know, it's classified." I sighed pinching the bridge of my nose waiting for the inevitable.
"*Sigh*" Haruhi jumped to her feet and stretched. Putting her hands on the back of her head, Haruhi looked out into the clear blue sky.
The look that Koizumi and I shared said it all, Haruhi was getting bored.
"This game needs something, I mean, where's the adventure, the danger?" Haruhi started pacing around. "There needs to be another layer to it to give it that edge it really needs to take it to the next level."
In the distance a rolling boom like thunder was heard following in the wake of a blue grey distortion rippling through the sky. As it passed overhead, i looked at Koizumi and silently mouthed "closed space?" He shrugged and shook his head indicating he wasn't sure.
"Hey Haruhi." I placed my hand on her shoulder to get her attention. "It's getting late. How about we call it a day and tomorrow you lead us on some quests." I suggested.
The mention of an adventure perked her right up. "Alright everyone! Good work today. Tomorrow we start our quest to let the world know what the SOS Brigade is capable of! You better not be late. Dismissed!" Haruhi announced laughing.
"Huh, that's odd." Koizumi said scratching his head. "It's not there."
"What's not there?" I asked, dread creeping up my back.
"The logout button." Koizumi announced prompting everyone to check their menus. Sure enough, where the logout option once resided was just a blank space.
"Stupid game." Haruhi said "You would think that the programmers would have bugs like this taken care of before they release the game.
I leaned close to Nagato "Is this just a glitch?" I asked in a whisper.
"No, the system says that there are no problems." Nagato responded.
"Can you log us out?" I asked, although I already suspected we were trapped.
Nagato nodded once and closed her eyes. A second later her eyes popped back open and she fell to the ground.
"Nagato!" I rushed to help her up. Koizumi and Miss Asahina both looked at Nagato expectantly.
"The system denied my access, until I can reestablish a connection, we cannot logout." Nagato said with a frown.
"Come on, even the GM is not responding." Haruhi huffed. Anything else she was going to say was interrupted by a bell ringing in the city.
"What.." I started when a bright blue light enveloped everyone. When the light dissipated, we found ourselves back in the large pavilion at the city center. I heard someone comment on a forced teleport, but I wasn't quite sure what that was. That creeping dread I had felt earlier what in full force now.
"Look at that." Haruhi said pointing at the sky. There was a red tile saying warning flashing in the blue sky.
"What now?" I questioned as from that one tile, more spread out covering the sky. From in between the tiles over the town square, a red substance seeped out, taking the form of a large figure in a cloak. Its face and legs were not visible.
"Attention players, I would like to welcome you to my world. I am Akihiko Kayaba, and as of this moment I am in control of this world. I am sure that most of you have already noticed an item missing from your main menus, the Logout button. Let me assure you that 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."
The crowds murmurs grew louder at this revelation. 'What have you gotten us into this time Haruhi?' I wondered.
"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. Despite my warnings, some of the families and friends have attempted removing the NerveGear, an unfortunate decision to say the least. As a result, the game now has 213 less players than when it began."
"Two hundred thirteen?" I heard Haruhi gasp next to me.
"They have been deleted from Aincrad and the real world. As you can see, international media outlets have around the clock coverage of everything, including the deaths. At this point, it is safe to assume that the chances of a NerveGear being removed is minimal at best. I hope this brings you a little comfort as you try and clear the game. It is important to remember the following, there is no longer anyway to revive someone in 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."
Miss Asahina burst into tears and buried her face into Koizumi's shoulder while he tried to calm her down by patting her back. I felt a slight tug on my sleeve and turned to look into the nervous face of Haruhi. I could tell that she was shaken up by the announcement, but she was doing what she could to hold herself together.
"There is only one way for a player to escape now, you must clear the game. Right now, you are gathered on floor one, the lowest floor on Aincrad. If you can clear the dungeon and defeat the boss, you may advance to the next floor. Defeat the boss on floor one hundred and you will clear the game. Last, but not least, I have placed a little present in the item storage of every player. Please, have a look."
I opened my menu and found the item "A mirror?" I turned it over to see if there was anything on the back, but it looked like an ordinary mirror. The same blue while light that brought us here blinded me once again. Looking around, I could tell we were in real trouble. I could recognize the faces of Haruhi and the rest of the SOS Brigade. Quickly looking into my mirror again, my real face stared back at me.
"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 be able to control the fate of a world of my design. 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."
The cloaked figure flickered a few times and started to emit smoke that escaped between the red warning tiles in the sky. The cloak itself faded from view as it fell. After a few moments of shock, the entire plaza erupted into turmoil. Crying and screams of fear could be heard over the roar of anger that many players voiced.
Haruhi grabbed my arm "We need to get out of here." She stated firmly. I just nodded and went to retrieve Nagato while Haruhi helped Koizumi direct a distraught Asahina to one of the side streets leading out of the city.
"Okay, we need to get to the next town. It is the responsibility of the SOS Brigade to show everyone that it is possible to defeat this game, so we have to get as strong as possible as quickly as we can." Haruhi announced.
I stopped at the edge of town and looked over the wilderness of the game 'Haruhi, what have you gotten us into this time?' I couldn't help but wonder.