A/N: Hello SAO fans. This is my first fanfic. I hope you all like it. Reviews and comments are fully welcome.

"Link start!"

I said those words and my entire world was changed forever. I dived into the virtual world for the first time. I typed in my username and password and was teleported to a world that words could never describe.

Sword Art Online was released today. I had gotten one of the last of the 10,000 copies sold. It was a revolution in gaming: the first of the VRMMO saga.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a large town. According to the game site, it was the first town. It's name was the Town of Beginnings. I was dressed in a red shirt with some light armor on. My avatar's name was Ren.

It took about an hour to do a quick exploration of the town. Being the first town, there wasn't any gear worth buying. Suddenly, I saw a black haired player running around, as if he knew the layout. He must have been one of the 1,000 beta testers. Since I had finished exploring the town, I decided to follow him. He might show me some cool stuff about the game.

I followed him outside of the town. He had a red haired guy wearing a bandana with him. The black haired player seemed to be showing him the basics of the game by fighting a boar. I hid in a bush nearby. It seemed to be a dead even match between the boar and the bandana guy, until his sword suddenly lit up and slashed the boar, taking out the rest of its hp.

"Wow" I gasped in amazement. Suddenly, I lost my balance and fell out in front of the bush. The two players looked my way.

"Hey, who are you?" the bandana guy said, shocked. "Have you been spying on us?!"

"Well... sort of." I replied shyly. "I wanted to see some tricks to fighting in the game, so I followed you two out here."

I was worried they might get pissed and kill me, but the black haired player reached out his hand.

"You know, you could have just asked for some tips." he said smiling.

I took his hand and he helped me up. "Thanks" I replied. "So anyway, what was that move just now?"

"It was a sword skill." replied the black haired player.

"Sword skill. Even the name sounds cool."

"I know! Wasn't it so awesome?!" the bandana guy added.

"Mind showing me how to do it?" I asked.

We spent the next few hours learning to do sword skills and battling boars. We also registered each other as friends. The bandana guy was named Klein. The black haired player was called Kirito.

It was about 5:15 when we took a rest. The sunset sky could already be seen.

"Man this is so cool." I said.

"I know right. Whoever designed this game is a genius." Klein agreed.

"You don't need to be so over dramatic." Kirito laughed.

"Hey cut us some slack. It's our first dive." Klein argued.

"Yeah, Kirito. You're not as impressed because you're a beta tester. You've dived plenty of times." I agreed.

"I guess you're right." Kirito admitted. "So, you wanna move on?"

"Well I would, but I'm starving" Klein sighed. "I gotta log out and get some food."

"Ok. Well I guess we'll see you later." I said, waving goodbye. Kirito and I were about to head out when something Klein said caught our attention.

"Huh? Where's the log out button?" Klein asked.

"Are you serious man?" I laughed.

"Seriously! The button's not there!"

I took a look at my menu to confirm what he said. Klein was right. The log out button was missing.

"What the hell is going on?" I wondered.

The sound of a bell rang throughout the plain suddenly. As we looked at each other, wondering what was happening, we became veiled in a bright light.

When the light disappeared, I found myself in the center of the Town of Beginnings, along with Kirito and Klein. Hundreds of other players were appearing here as well. It seemed that every player went through a forced teleportation. The sky was coated with the color of blood with a sign saying 'System Announcement'.

"What's going on?" I wondered.

Part of the sky seemed to melt into red goo. It formed into one figure. The goo turned into a large cloaked ghost-like figure.

"Players, let me welcome you to my world. My name is Akihiko Kayaba, the head programmer of Sword Art Online."

"What?!" several players gasped. Little did we know, the next piece of news coming would shock us a thousand times more than the last part.

"I'm sure you've all realized something missing from the menu. The log out button. You should all know that this is not a defect. This is how SAO was originally designed. There is only one way to escape. You must beat the game. Right now, you are all on Floor 1. Climb all the way up to Floor 100 and defeat the last boss. Only then, will you be able to escape. There is also one more rule I would like to explain. If anyone on the outside world tries to remove the Nerve Gear attached to your head, the internal battery will fry your brain, and end your life. In addition, if your hp falls to zero, the Nerve Gear will also fry your brain."

After those words were uttered, the entire square became dead silent.

"He can't be serious right? You can't die in a video game. Can you?" Klein asked. We both turned to Kirito.

"It's true. The Nerve Gear has a powerful internal battery. It's built just like a microwave." Kirito explained.

"But why? Why would anyone do this?" Klein asked.

"I think he's about to explain that." Kirito said.

"Right now, you're probably wondering why I, Akihiko Kayaba, would do this. The reason is quite simple. All I want is to be in control of my own world. That goal is now complete. Also, I have a little gift for all of you. Please look in your storage."

I opened my inventory and found an item waiting in there. A mirror. I tapped it and the object materialized. Suddenly my body became enveloped in light again. I thought it was another teleportation, but I was proven wrong. When the glow ended, I was still in the town. When I looked at my avatar, I became speechless. My avatar was gone and replaced by me. My avatar's red hair was replaced by my natural brown hair. The face I worked hard on creating was replaced by my own.

"What is going on?" I wondered. I looked towards Kirito and Klein to see that their looks had changed too. It seemed that everyone's looks had changed to that of their real ones.

"Players, I wish you the best of luck." And with that, Kayaba disappeared."

Everyone was dead silent. We all couldn't believe what we had just heard. Kirito tapped my shoulder and motioned for Klein and me to follow him. We ran to the alleyways of the town.

"Listen. I'm heading to the next town. I want you guys to come with me. I know the safest paths to take. You guys coming?"

Klein and I paused for a moment. It was a good idea. We would be far safer as a group. There was just one problem.

"Sorry." I said. "But I can't do that. I've got a couple of friends that are trapped in this game too. I just can't leave them."

"Yeah. I'm in the same boat." Klein added.

I waited to see if Kirito would offer to take both us and our friends, but he stayed silent. I understood how he felt. He couldn't take the responsibility of that many lives. I removed the burden of saying it to our faces.

"Hurry up and get going Kirito." I said in a reassuring tone. "We'll go along the route you showed us. Don't worry."

Kirito stood there with a feeling of guilt on his face. He eventually nodded and ran off.

"Well I'll be seeing you Klein." I said.

"Yeah. Just be careful." Klein responded.

I messaged the friends I knew entered SAO, and told them to meet me at the main gate. There were two friends I knew that logged into SAO. The first was my cousin. He was a blonde teen who was a year older than me. In the game, he named himself Riku. The second was a friend of mine from school. He was the same age as me and had black hair. His in-game name was Helios.

"Alright, let's get going." I told them.

"You sure?" Riku asked. "It's pretty risky going out when death in the game leads to death in real life."

"We don't have much choice." I said. "If we're going to survive, we need to get stronger. Getting to the next town before the main crowd will help us do that."

"He's right" Helios nodded. "We need to get stronger to beat this game."

We all prepared ourselves, and we ran towards the next town, and into an adventure that would change not only our lives, but the lives of 10,000 people.

Well that's Chapter 1 folks. I know most of it was from episode 1. Next chapter will be all original stuff. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and what's to come. Once again, reviews and comments are welcome.