Running, feet pounding on the pavement, heavy breathing. The streets were empty as I ran past the soulless vendors that lined the roads. Behind me I heard screaming. I couldn't think of anything over my breathing. I could feel the chill of the night seep into me, almost fooling me into thinking I wasn't inside a video game.

I wasn't even sure for how long I'd been running. If I was asked where I was going the next day I wouldn't be able to answer. All I cared about was finding the least populated area in the town and sitting there until the panic died down, both mine and the crowd's. I wasn't sure how long it'd take but I was willing to wait it out anywhere.

But no matter where I looked, there were some kinds of humans occupying every single corner of the city. Somehow some actual players made it further than me in the short span of time after the announcement, though I did stall for a few seconds before running. Some were curled up into balls in the oddest of places, others despondently looked at the ground, as if it were going to provide an answer. The most memorable one of them all was a man whose age showed in his wrinkles and slightly hunched posture who was laughing his head off in the middle of the street. As I ran by he stopped and glared at me, as if I ran in and ruined the big joke.

The streets and people blurred together, until I reached the area that I least wanted to see: an exit from the city. Panicking I may have been, I still had enough of my wits to realize that riding out the fear I felt outside a safe area wasn't the smartest of plans. However, at this point I could hear the city tearing itself apart behind me. Cries of despair, others running for whatever reason, and smashing painted a city in turmoil, one that I definitely wanted no part in.

With these thoughts in mind, I came to a dead stop in front of the gate and weighed my options. I definitely wasn't a beta tester but I sure as hell wasn't a noob. I took to the mechanics of the game well enough to kill a few boars solo, one of the best moments of my life by the way. If trouble really came, I was confident in my ability to defend myself. On the other hand, there's a very real possibility that I could fall asleep out there and be one of the first deaths in the game. Briefly I wondered how Kayaba would feel if he saw that a player died because he slept outside of the city walls.

Though I deliberated for less than a few seconds, a scream tore through the air that made me jump in place. Feeling a wave of dread come across me, I realized that the scream came outside of the walls. Thoughts of another person who had the same idiotic idea as I did flitted across my mind. That person might've had the nerves get to them and is getting overwhelmed by boars. 'Death game' kept ringing out in my mind. If they died here they wouldn't see the real world again. I could've stopped their death and I didn't move my hand. Death game, death game, death game.

Before I could tell myself it was a stupid idea, my feet were moving. I ran outside of the gate and into the rolling hills of floor one. Without regards to my surroundings, I bolted in the general direction of where the scream was. Praying that I took the correct direction, a desperate 'Help!' to my right made me change my course and continue running. In the back of my mind, I was impressed that I was feeling the same exertion that I usually did when running in real life. The possibilities of technology never cease to amaze me, even when I was trapped in a death game and saving somebody's life.

After running over a hill, I was treated to a sight that made me stop dead in my tracks. On the floor was a boy about my age, scruffy hair, and had a slightly athletic build. His face showed pure terror and I noted that his sword was laying on the ground behind him. I could only notice two things about the man standing above him: his green ange cursor and raised sword. I briefly wondered of how a muscular guy lost to a fairly scrawny fellow before I remembered this was in a game.

My body moved faster than my brain. I sprinted down the hill and towards the two figures. The boy noticed me as I ran down, but his expression of terror remained. As the figure's sword glowed, my own followed suit.

Before the figure could follow through, my sword struck through his midsection. I slightly cleaved into him and he was knocked down, sputtering the entire way. My breathing eased up as his sword lost its glow, falling out of his hand and landing on the grass below. In a moment that could only be described as a brain fart, I put my sword in its sheath and turned my gaze to the boy on the ground.

A quick glance over made me realize how awful the brain is at processing things at moments of high stress. The boy wasn't muscular, rather he was slightly pudgy. His hair was brown and was indeed scruffy. His chin had a few hairs poking out, looking as a boy who hasn't grown a beard yet rather than one that shaves. His larger brown eyes and general facial features showed that he wasn't a native to the country, his face looking more fitting for an American than anything.

As I was studying his face, the look of terror never left. It intensified if anything, though that could be attributed to the fact that I could get a good look at it now. A shattering sound made us both jump as our heads snapped to the last particles disappearing in the air, just like from the boars that I killed earlier.

I barely registered the boy's words from right next to me. "You killed him."

I killed him. I killed him. It wouldn't leave my mind. Everything was so bizarre now. It was so strange. He died just like any NPC or enemy in the game would. Particles in the air. Did I get XP for killing him? What drops did I get? That was a person who had hopes and dreams and perhaps friends and family in the real world and I had to keep reminding myself of that because he died just like a program. If the entire thing is real. Maybe he just got a scare when he woke up on the bed. Is he laughing with his family right now? No, no he isn't because I killed him. His mom is crying over his bed. That was me, I did it.

By the time I came back to the real world, I was alone. Kicking myself into gear, I was about to run back into the city before the boy's terrified look struck through me again. I realized something. My cursor was orange now, wasn't it? The color of killers, criminals.

Panic coursing through me again, I let my body go as my brain sorted itself out. I ran into the rolling hills of floor one,

AN: The plan originally was to prewrite the entire story and then release it piece by piece. As I got past the halfway point though, I was confronted with multiple problems that make that less than ideal. The biggest problem is that I don't have consistent beta readers, and the one that I do have hasn't read too much outside of this. Because of this, I'm unsure whether the story is heading in the right direction, isn't riddled with grammar and spelling errors, and if it's even that enjoyable. The biggest problem that stems from this is that I don't know if the story is 'flowing' correctly. I don't know if the foreshadowing (little that there is) and time skips that are present make enough sense that the reader's head isn't spinning.

The new game plan is this: the first few chapters will be published at once. From then on it'll be periodic. This way if there's any early mistakes in the story, I can fix them and change the writing later or keep it in mind for later chapters as I'm writing the rest.

Bottom Line: I'll be keeping on top (as best as to my ability anyways) of the reviews for any sort of criticism to the story. Is it riddled with errors? Does it make no sense (some of that may be on purpose admittedly)? Are there errors with the lore (I want to keep compliant in that everything mentioned in the anime/manga is the same, but everything outside of that is fair game to my own ideas)? If so, flame me in the reviews or PM me. Again, I'll keep on top of them to the best of my ability.

And so ends chapter 1.