Chapter 1: Link Start
POV: Agent
Real world
"See you all on the other side!" was the last message I received from my friends and future guild mates. After having completed my homework late last night, I was finally set to play the newest VRMMORPG, Sword Art Online.
So I lay down on my futon, slipped the NerveGear onto my head and got into a comfortable position before saying the magic phrase, "Link Start."
I felt strange sensation of being pulled upwards before seeing 5 circles representing the 5 senses being synced. Following that, I set the language to Japanese, logged in and confirmed my online ID, Agent. A welcome screen flashed before my eyes before my avatar was materialized into the game's starting city.
Town of Beginnings, Plaza
"The heck sort of name is Agent?" a voice called out behind me. I turned around to see a player about the same height as my avatar with spiky black hair, a cool looking face and a sword on his back.
"The same kind as Wolfen, I guess," I replied. He grinned at my reply. We had earlier all agreed to refer each other only by our online names in the game, something of a full role-playing thing.
"Honestly you two, can't you choose a normal sounding name?" a female voice sighed. We turned to see the rest of our friends' avatars.
"I'd prefer a cool name than a boring one like Amy," Wolfen teased the girl. Amy retaliated by thrusting her rapier and stopping it just before it touches Wolfen's neck.
"Alright you two, cut it out," Wallace sighed. He was tallest guy in our little group, both here and in the real world. Next to him was Jess, the second oldest and, funnily enough, shortest in our group, giggling at the sight.
"Even here you guys still fight huh?" she teased.
"I guess something's never change huh?" I sighed, smiling. I then did the one thing that always solved problems like this; slink off somewhere.
"H-hey Agent, wait up!" Wolfen called out, rushing over with the others in tow. Heh, always works I thought as I leisurely walked down the street.
"Why must you always skulk off?" Amy irritably asked. I simply gave a nonchalant shrug in reply before opening the menu.
"Uh… What." Classic Wolfen, never checking my hard 'research' I got from 'infiltrating' a Beta Tester forum. Ignoring Wolfen's questioning and the second blow out Amy had, I watched a group of players, most likely to be Beta Testers, and noted the path they took.
"We're following them. They might be headed for a mob field to grind some XP," I explained while gesturing to the others to act natural.
"What a great start huh guys? Amy threatening me, Agent being a real asshole and sneaky guy and here we are quietly tailing a bunch of guys who might chase us away or fight us if we're spotted," Wolfen joked. Amy shushed him while elbowing his sides.
Western Field
After 'quietly' following the group, we reached a wide, open field. There were some 'oohs' and 'aahs' and I have to admit, for a large server supporting so many players, the graphics were top notch. While the others were busy looking around I noticed a pair of players near some sort of pig mob. The mob was pretty docile and ignored them until one of them threw a rock at it. That player easily parried the charge and kicked it towards the other player.
"Woah, didn't see that coming," I muttered as said player was knocked off his feet by the boar. After watching him panic and then dispatch the boar, I noticed one of the boars slowly approaching my location. Not wanting to take any chances, I picked up a rock and readied my Plain Scimitar. Taking a deep breath, I aimed at the boar and felt the system assist kick in before I hurled the rock at the boar.
Oh shit its mad. I quickly dodged the boar's charge and stood in a combat stance. I felt some sort of energy slowly charge up.
And… NOW! I lunged forward towards the boar and felt the attack connect. The boar slumped over before bursting into a shower of crystals. A small window popped up. Huh, 24xp and 30 col only. This is a starter mob alright.
"Holy crap Agent, that was awesome!" Wolfen gushed. Ew, he gushed.
"Its only a starter mob. Here, have a go," I said before hurling a rock at a nearby boar. Wolfen panicked, drew his sword, charged towards the boar and slashed down hard. Only to miss and was rewarded with a headbutt.
"Crap, this is harder then it looks…" Use the system, Wolfen. Didn't you read the info I sent, I thought.
"Let me have a go," Amy said readying her rapier. She stood at a set stance and her rapier glowed. So she did look at the info I sent, clever girl.
"Hyah!" the attack connected, pierced the boar right in the head and it exploded in a shower of crystals.
"How are you guys doing that sword glowy thing?" Wolfen asked.
"Yeah Agent, mind explaining? The summery you sent wasn't that clear," Wallace said while Jess nodded in agreement.
"Ok, ok. Amy, I'll need your help here. Weapons out first," I said pulling my scimitar out. The others did the same.
"So, with a firm hold on your weapon, you get into a stance." I shifted my feet and raised my scimitar to above my shoulder. The weapon glowed as energy started to build up.
"Let the energy build up and release!" I lunged, letting the attack slice through the air.
"Awesome," Wolfen praised, clapping.
"Now you try Wolfen."
"Uh, right." He stood at a stance and raised his sword. His sword glowed, much to his amazement.
"Hwah!" He sliced through the air in a perfect arc. Cool, should have gone with the One-handed straight sword skill tree, I thought enviously as Wolfen had a swift battle with a boar. I chose the One-handed curved sword skill tree since it focuses on speed but I wouldn't mind some extra power in my strikes.
"Huh, this is weird…" I heard Wallace say. I turned and say him try various stances and swinging his mace. It took me awhile to realize that his weapon did not glow.
"Strange… I guess swinging around a hammer should feel natural unlike using a sword or a spear I guess?" I suggested. Wallace simply shrugged and tried out his weapon on one of the boar mobs. The first hit just angered the mob but the second hit surprised me. The mace glowed and the hit produced a minor knockback effect on the boar, launching it a meter or so away before it burst into the now familiar shower of crystals.
"Huh, now it works," Wallace commented in surprise. Well, he's not the only one surprised. Must have been a glitch.
"Oh my gosh. Jess, that was amazing," Amy gasped. We turned to where the girls were practicing. Jess had a surprised expression and was in a post attack pose. I wonder what has Amy all worked up.
"What's going on?" Wolfen asked.
"Show them Jess," Amy said. Jess fumbled with the spear and got into a stance. The tip of the spear glowed and the resulting attack sent her lunging 2 meters and jabbed the spear in the air in front. I got to say, it did look impressive with the spear's length and all taken into consideration.
"Yeah I guess that was amazing but honestly; are we just going to gawk at ourselves and not grind a little?" The others just looked at me funny. What did I do?
"Look Agent, how about we just enjoy ourselves for a bit here before we head back to our boring lives?" Jess was always the little voice of reason in our group. I sighed.
"Alright, let's just enjoy ourselves here. I have to log out in a couple hours anyway." I shuddered at the thought of my mother killing me if I went over the agreed timing.
"Well, you guys heard it from the horse's mouth, LET'S GET CRAZY!" Wolfen declared before charging at a mob with a loud 'battlecry'. Amy and Wallace rushed after him before he could get himself into trouble leaving Jess and I in the dust.
"… I never said that…" I weakly muttered.
"Its fine Agent, come on. We're going to get left behind," Jess said with a giggle before running to where the others are. I sighed and quickly followed suit.
The next few hours went by in a blur of activity. Ranging from grinding to exploring the town. We decided to take a break sitting on a wall and watching the virtual sun slowly setting.
Town of Beginnings, Outskirts
"Man that was fun," Wolfen sighed.
"Yeah, I even got used to using my rapier now," Amy said while mimicking some swordplay.
"Well, its fun and all but I really gotta go," I said.
"Aww, so soon Agent?" Wolfen said with a smirk. I simply rolled my eyes and opened the menu. I tapped the settings tab and wait… Where's the logout option?
"Something wro-" Wallace began.
"Guys… Check your menus…" I interrupted. My hands were starting to tremble and judging by the others' looks, I must have looked like I was on the verge of panicking.
"Why, what's- No… No way…" I glanced up at Wolfen who seemed shocked. His menu's logout option. Blank.
"I-I'm not the only one right?" Amy nervously asked. I quickly looked at her menu. No logout too.
"It's the same for us too!" Wallace exclaimed while Jess looked like she was about to scream. Before anyone of us could do or say anything, a loud bell started echoing through the whole area and we were suddenly teleported away.
Town of Beginnings, Plaza
All around us, everyone sounded worried, confused and some every even angrily demanding to know what's going on.
"Stay close guys," I quickly said.
"Hey, Agent… What's that?" Wolfen quietly asked, pointing at the sky. There was a flashing red hexagon that read, 'WARNING SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT' Soon, it suddenly multiplied until the whole sky shone red. A reddish liquid started leaking from the cracks between the hexagons and merged into a large hooded figure. We all looked on, horrified.
"Is that the GameMaster?" I heard someone ask before the figure gestured and began to speak.
"Attention players. I welcome you to my world. I am Kayaba Akihiko and as of this moment, I am in control of this world. I am sure 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."
What?! I clenched my fists and shushed some random guy next to me so I could hear this Kayaba Akihiko's mad speech.
"This is how Sword Art Online was designed to be. You cannot log yourselves out of SAO and no one from the outside will be able to shutdown 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."
"That's crazy. The Nervegear can't do that right? Right?" I wished I could answer that Wolfen, the damned thing's is like a microwave oven if the limiter is turned off. I simply bit my lower lip and listened.
"Despite my warnings, the family 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 213 less players than when it began. They have been deleted from both Aincrad and the real world."
I heard a slump as Amy sunk onto her knees; her face showed fear and looked like she was about to cry. Dammit, not you Amy. She was usually a lot tougher in the real world but I guess this is her breaking point.
"As you can see, international media outlets have round the clock coverage of everything, including the deaths. At this point, its safe to assume that 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 is important to remember the following: there is no longer anyway 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 are 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."
"A hundred floors!? How the hell does he think we can clear them?!" was Wolfen's angry outburst. Wallace tried to calm him down while I continued to listen. This is pure madness.
"Last but not least, I placed a little present in the item storage of every player. Please, have a look."
We quickly opened each of our item storages. What the… A mirror? I materialized it a looked at the reflection, my avatar with its pale grey eyes and smooth brown hair similar to my real world hair. Before I knew it, we were all engulfed in a bright white light. I instinctively cringed but the light was gone as suddenly as it appeared.
"Woah, what happened?" I heard Wolfen ask. I turned to see, his real world self?!
"Gah, Wolfen! You!" I had no idea what to say. His face went back to its boyish looking real world one. The other faced a similar change. My avatar on the other hand… Shrunk and went to my slightly chubby real world self. I quickly checked the mirror. My avatar's face went to resemble mine down to the last detail, including my rather narrow, cold eyes. Great… back to being the second tallest again… At least I can look intimidating now but enough about that, HE must have a reason for this…
"Right now, you are probably wondering, 'Why? Why would Kayaba Akihiko, developer of Sword Art Online and Nervegear do this?'"
Just get on with it you god-complex asshole.
"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. 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 large avatar slowly started to vanish and the sky returned to the previous pre-dusk setting. Silence. A scream. Panic, almost everyone around us started yelling and shoving. I started moving by instinct, I grabbed Amy, who was still slumped on the floor.
"Get up, we have to move. You guys stay close," I commanded. I managed to push us out of the panic and stopped in a nearby alleyway.
"What now Agent?" Wallace asked.
"Yeah, what now?" Wolfen added. I simply looked down, thought about what just transpired and… Laughed, really loudly.
"If we die in here, heheheh, we die in real life. Nyahahaha! Isn't there something wrong with that part guys?!" I must have looked like a maniac the way most of them looked at me. My laughter slowly died down as I my mind started planning.
"Ok, I'm calm now. I can think." Deep breaths pull yourself together man. "Alright, first order of business. We should get some rooms at that inn there before the mob calms down." The others nodded in agreement and we headed to the inn, hoping for a miracle.
Player levels
Agent: lvl 1
Wolfen: lvl 1
Amy: lvl 1
Wallace: lvl 1
Jess: lvl 1
Next chapter: Friend or Foe?
