Chapter One: 'A Different Kind of Truth.'
November 6th, 2022.
My eyes flashed towards the digital clock that hung in my room yet again. That had been about, what, the thirtieth time that hour? Today, I had only one goal in mind: to survive until one o'clock and then delve into the world of an incredible game that was about to launch.
That game was Sword Art Online, or SAO, and it was by all rights a scientific marvel. It was created by the genius Kayaba Akihiko, a young programmer who had 'a dream of a metal castle in the sky.' As if the world of SAO wasn't impressive enough, Kayaba had also designed a piece of hardware known as the NerveGear, which could emulate all five of the human senses.
The appearance of the NerveGear was little more than a helmet constructed of black metal, with a visor covering the wearer's eyes. Whether through some cosmic alignment, or by sheer luck alone, I had managed to not only get an invite to the beta test –which had ended a few months ago– but also acquire one of the extremely limited 10,000 copies of Sword Art Online. People had waited outside of the stores for days in order to get a copy of the game, and I was one of the last that had managed to acquire one of these moon-rocks of a game.
Regardless, with my rabbit's foot thoroughly wrung of its luck, I had gone ahead and endured the arduous calibrations and other various procedures that the NerveGear required. After all, it made sense –a machine that would be intercepting my nerve patterns and neural signals had instructions for a reason, and I would hate to have a screwy NerveGear.
I cast another glance at the clock: four minutes until the launch of SAO. I felt my lips curl into the faintest representation of a smile as the fruits of my patience were about to ensue. My dad should arrive at around eight, so that gave me a solid seven hours to return to that incredible castle known as Aincrad.
With my Ramones music now silenced, I connected the NerveGear and laid upon my bed. After finally finding a comfortable position, I tried not to watch the time that was shown in the NerveGear's display. Instead, with a glance, I ensured that the system's internal battery was charged. It was just a precaution, just in case anything happened. With a few minutes left to spare, I allowed my mind to wander.
I had used Full Drive technology before, but, even so, diving into the game was something that you never got used to. It felt like a real-life version of Tron, just minus the Grid, the Lightcycles and murderous sociopathic representations of the human conscience, aka CLU. I chuckled to myself, wondering if Kevin Flynn had ever thought about Full Drive technology.
Tron aside, the experience of leaving yourself and becoming a different person was actually fascinating. Easy to see why the technology was so appealing; it was like a fresh start of sorts. Perhaps, if you really practiced with the Sword Skills in this game, you could actually retain a degree of skill with a blade in reality.
For me, the idea was illustrious. While I was fairly tall, I was thin, and never really played many sports. In short, I was your average teenager who enjoyed playing video games, although I did consider myself quite good at them. Of course, that may have been what others call a 'major superiority complex' tainting my perception, but, lions don't concern themselves with the opinions of sheep.
However, such 'sheep' were indeed right about their observations of my energy conservation. While they used the slightly unattractive term of 'lazy', I happened to think myself a world-class energy conservationist. If I don't have to do something, I won't. If I have to, I'll talk my way out of it – hopefully.
]Mental wanderings aside, I finally opened my eyes and checked the time: one minute separated me from the world of Sword Art Online. Those few remaining seconds passed painstakingly slowly, each one an eternity, and finally, the digital display turned to one o'clock.
Excitement rose in my chest, and a faint grin crossed my face as the words rose in my throat,
"Link start!" I declared.
Immediately, the NerveGear responded, and my vision went entirely white. Columns of various colors rushed at me, and I felt as though I was falling. Eventually, the sensation stopped, and five readouts, each representing the various senses of the human body appeared before me. Each one, encapsulated in a blue circle, was cleared with a green 'OK' after a few seconds before dissipating.
A display for language confirmation appeared, and I selected Japanese. After that, I quickly entered the password for my account, and breathed a sigh of relief to see that my avatar from the beta test had been saved. My character's name and gender were displayed next to each other: Raiden (M).
Initially, there had been an almost overwhelming number of character customizations available. I could have even played as a female, though I had quickly dismissed that, and had elected to keep the avatar's appearance somewhat similar to my own. Raiden was taller than myself, though I worked diligently to preserve my appearance.
I had dark green eyes, which were usually locked in some bored expression and fastened outside a window and gazing at the clouds. I also had taupe-brown hair –try finding that in a MMORPG's color palettes– with bangs that just reached below my eyes.
Thankfully, all that tenacity had been rewarded as the game had saved my account from the beta, and I was able to quickly save myself a great deal of time. Finally, the screen turned grey and displayed a greeting. 'Welcome to Sword Art Online!'
Suddenly, blue bolts of electricity rushed around me, and I once again felt as though I was falling. When I opened my eyes, I was greeted by a brilliant blue sky as faint white particles floated upwards. I found that I was standing in a cobbled, open area that was quickly filling with other players as they dove into Sword Art Online.
I looked downwards to confirm my gear – I was wearing basic black boots along with dark pants. A wry smile crossed my face as I clenched my fist, which was encased in a black fingerless glove. In spite of my motion, I knew that my body had not moved at all in the real world. However, the area around me was rapidly becoming crowded, and I swiftly headed away from the crowds, praying that no one recognized me as a beta-tester.
As I left, I found myself walking down a narrow alley lined with various NPC stores that were stocked decent wares. As I had just entered the game, I decided to bypass the stores until I had the funds to actually purchase something, rather than just stand around and gawk at their items.
So far, the game had seemed almost identical to the beta test that I had taken part in a few months earlier. While, at the end of the beta, my equipment had been at a much higher level that what it was at now, I figured that I would be able to reach that level in half the time if I worked diligently.
Back then, I had gotten fairly far into the game, although I continued to get sidetracked by an almost overwhelming amount of side-quests. If nothing else, those quests helped me to get to a decent level, in spite of the limited amount of time that the beta-testers had. But if I was to reach that level again, I would have to start by grinding out some mobs.
I quickly navigated out of the Town of Beginnings, the scenery smoothly transitioning from large stone structures to the rolling verde and foothills that lay just outside the Town's walls. In a word, even though I had seen them before, they were simply spectacular.
Dirt pathways traced their way through the grass, bordered by patches of flowers of various colors here and there. Infrequent hedgerows of coniferous trees stood in rows like soldiers at attention at the tops of some hills. In the distance, fantastical structures arcing upwards stood in the distance, each topped with an immense garden.
In spite of these surreal surroundings, I could experience it as though I was actually here. I could feel the blades of grass shift underneath my feet, watch the branches of the trees sway in the wind, and smell the fresh scent of summer's air, in spite of the fact that it was November in the real world. That was why these virtual reality games were so overwhelming, even for seasoned Full-Drive players; it was more than just imagining yourself in someone else's world; you were actually inside a world entirely of someone else's imagining.
The dirt crunched as I headed a fair distance away from the Town of Beginnings, now in the area known as the West Field. There usually weren't too many players this far away from the Town of Beginnings, so, in theory, that meant more mobs for me. My theory seemed correct, as I saw a low-level boar standing a few meters away.
As I sighted my target, I sunk into a readied stance and drew my sword. It wasn't anything spectacular, just a slightly-curved narrow saber with a gleaming silver blade and a basic black hilt, but it would suffice.
I had selected to start with the saber due to the fluidity of its movements. If you practiced, the saber could almost rival a rapier in speed, although it allowed for the user to also make extremely deadly slashing strikes. Basically, the saber allowed me a greater degree of mobility without compromising my variety of strikes.
In the distance, I heard a few other players beginning to engage the mobs as well. I needed to pick up the pace or a great deal of the mobs would be taken out by those other players. Quickly, I knelt and grabbed a stone from the ground and took careful aim at the boar.
The pebble began to hum and glowed a faint red, and one I had charged the skill, I released. The stone rocketed towards the boar and impacted its flank with a dull slap. The mob squealed and whirled to face me, its eyes burning red as it saw me. I smirked at the creature, and the boar stamped its hooves and began to charge at me.
Initial motion. That's one of the most crucial parts to combat in SAO. Get the initial motion right, and activate a Sword Skill at the right time and the system almost always guarantees a hit, I thought as I readied myself. I slowed my breathing and aimed the saber at the target. The sword began to glow a dim red and whistle. Now, it was a matter of aim and patience. After a few moments, the boar was in range.
Now! I released my strike, and, the saber arced towards its target, only to narrowly graze the top of the boar. I hardly had the time to gasp before the boar slammed into a very sensitive region and sent me to the ground.
Thankfully, SAO didn't simulate pain, else I would have been in a great deal of it. Even so, I writhed on the ground for a few moments, running through every curse word that I knew, before I quickly stood up and dusted myself off. I looked around and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that no one had witnessed that whole fiasco. Pride somewhat intact, I stood to reengage my target.
A few feet away, the boar grunted, displeased by its close shave.
"Right, enough screwing around," I muttered.
I readied myself once more and ran towards the boar. The saber gleamed in the sunlight as I sprinted towards the mob, who turned with a surprised snort. He wasted no time in immediately whirling around and racing towards me. The two of us charged towards each other, intent on finishing each other off.
Careful aim, I thought as I ran. That was the component that I was missing. My strike had been poorly aimed, and I had tried to fight the system in an effort to control my aim, rather than allowing the system to correct it and ensure a hit. It was a mistake that I would not allow to happen again.
With a shout, I unleashed my Sword Skill and the saber arced through my target, leaving a thin red line running from snout to tail on my opponent. The pig uttered a small squeal as its single health bar depleted to nothing and it shattered into brilliant shards.
"Good riddance," I said with a smirk as I replaced my saber. A display appeared in front of me that showed how much Cor, Aincrad's currency, and EXP I had obtained from the kill. It wasn't much, but every journey begins with a single step. This was step one: obtain the keys, or something.
Although odd at first, SAO's fluid combat system was very easy to get the hang of. It was an interesting experience, fighting with your actual body in a video game. Having the system ensure that your strikes hit their target felt somewhat unusual, though. Nonetheless, the combat dynamic was addictive to say the least.
The only slightly unusual thing was that there was absolutely no magic in SAO. Players were only armed with edged weapons such as swords, spears, and various types of knives. There weren't any ranged weapons in SAO like bows, either.
It was a risky maneuver, making an MMORPG that didn't have magic in it, and relied solely upon its combat system. Magic was usually a given in these sort of games, but, perhaps there was some reason that Kayaba hadn't added magic features into his game. Even without magic, SAO was groundbreaking in every right.
Suddenly, more boars spawned with blue bursts of light before me. Now that I had gotten back into the swing of things, this would be a breeze. Thankfully, I managed to remember how to actually use Sword Skills as I slashed through my enemies.
With a growing amount of Cor and EXP, I looked over a field and saw two players also grinding mobs. There shouldn't have been too many players this far away from the Town of Beginnings, and that meant that there was a fairly high chance that either one or both of the players were beta testers. After all, around one in ten players in this game was a beta-tester. One was wearing primarily black gear and was talking to another player who seemed to have some fetish for the color red. Seriously, his hair was red, his gear was red, heck, he even wore a red headband with his red hair! I watched the two from a hedgerow.
Red had a short curved blade, and he was apparently attempting to master the use of Sword Skills. He attempted to strike a boar, although he failed to activate the Sword Skill and the boar slammed into a very sensitive region.
Sent reeling, Red writhed on the ground for a few moments in false agony. I chuckled at the scene, until I realized that I had been that very same person a few minutes earlier. Still yet, it was hilarious to watch someone else struggle similarly. I was just close enough that I could hear the two players' conversations.
"You're making it look worse than it is," the player in black said, unamused. "You can't actually feel pain."
"Oh, right." Red said as he quickly stood to his feet. "Guess I just did that out of reflex."
I scoffed, Reflex, sure it is.
Black began to run him through a brief tutorial on how to use Sword Skills. It was easy to discern that he was one of the 1,000 beta-testers. He explained the importance of the initial motion and how to use a Sword Skill by charging a pebble –the thief– and hitting the boar with it.
The boar rushed at Black, and he quickly juked the pig. The boar turned and continued its attack, although Black caught it by running his sword in between the creature's tusks.
"Pause for a second, and when the skill charges, just let it rip." he said as he broke his lock on the boar and threw the mob off balance. The beta-tester dealt a swift kick to the boar and the creature instead turned to attack Red, who had been standing behind and watching.
"Just let it rip..." Red said, looking at the sword in his hands. Quickly, he sunk into a readied stance, and his sword began to glow a dim yellow. Once it was fully charged, he unleashed the skill and his sword arced through the boar, tracing a similar thin red line across the upper half of the creature. The mob floated for a few seconds before shattering, and a display appeared in front of Red.
A ridiculous smile crossed his face as he screamed in glee and high-fived Black. I was worried that his face was actually going to split in half. Seriously, I have never seen another person so happy in my life. Ever. At any time. Though, once Black explained that the boar was about as strong as a slime in other RPGs, that seemed to let a little wind out of Red's sails.
"You're kidding!" Red exclaimed.
"No, of course I'm not." Black said as more boars began to spawn.
I chuckled to myself, surprised that there was anyone so daft. That is, until I heard a snort and a squeal from behind me. Before I could draw my saber, the boar ran directly into my back and sent me flying from my cover and rolling down a hill to the other players. Great. So much for cover, and of all the places for a boar to spawn, it had to be right behind me!
Both players jumped at my appearance, as they didn't have access to the Searching skill yet. Immediately, Black narrowed his eyes and aim his sword at me.
"Well, nice to meet you, too." I said. Bad move; Black began to charge a Sword Skill. Curse you, fractious tone! "Wait, wait, wait!" I said as I waved my hands frantically. Apparently, if I wanted to keep my head, sarcasm was not the way to go. Hopefully, by keeping my hands a fair deal away from my sword, they wouldn't recognize me as a threat.
"Are you a PKer?" the player in black asked, his sword still very close to my person.
"No, no, nothing of the sort." I said. It was true, after all, I really didn't have any intentions of killing these two. "I just heard you two while I was fighting mobs. I was curious because I didn't think there would be too many players in the West Field."
The black-haired swordsman laughed, and thankfully it didn't sound threatening. He dropped his sword slightly,
"So, you were the guy we heard swearing over the hill."
Crap! Someone actually did hear me!
"Sounds like that boar got you good." the player in red said with a snicker as he put his sword in its sheath.
"Like you've got any room to talk." I muttered, "Anyways, the name's Raiden." I said, careful not to say my actual name as I rubbed the back of my head. I figured that an introduction would help to defuse the situation.
"Klein." the red-haired swordsman said as he pointed towards Black, "And he's Kirito. Nice to meet you, Raiden." the player known as Klein said as he extended a hand, which I quickly shook. Judging from his handshake and tone, it was fairly evident that Klein was a people's person.
"Kirito's a beta-tester, and he's been helping me figure out the basics of the game."
"Another one?"
Klein snorted at that,
"Wait, wait," he said, before pointing at me, "You're a beta-tester?"
I nodded slowly, regretting that I had let that slip. Now I would never hear the end of it.
"You mean one boar gave you all that trouble, and you're a beta-tester?" he asked, tears threatening to pour from his eyes as he struggled to keep himself from bursting with laughter.
"Look, that boar just got lucky. If you'll remember, I got my revenge."
"Yeah," Kirito said, "Whatever you say, Raiden." Kirito said, waving his hand, "So, what weapon did you choose to start with?"
While it seemed like a simple question, knowing what weapon someone else used put you at a very great advantage. Just by knowing a player's weapon, you could tell what type of Sword Skills that they might use, what the range of their weapon is, and, most importantly, how to counter it. Regardless, he seemed like a trustworthy enough person.
"A saber." I said, as I revealed my blade. "I'm planning on a faster, more agile build."
"I see." Kirito said. "You thinking of going with a rapier later on?"
"Nah." I said as I shook my head, "I like the versatility of the saber. It keeps my options open."
In all honesty, versatility was something that I was aiming for from the beginning. Even in games that I had played before SAO, I had always preferred a versatile-aggressive type of class. A certain amount of fluidity in combat could provide you with good advantages in combat. It was all a matter of deception. Of course, I may have been reading too much in the Art of War when I was developing that strategy, as that was one of Sun Tzu's key principles.
"Well, since you're here, why don't you join up with us?" Kirito suggested with a small grin.
Though surprised, I figured that, if nothing else, it would at least be more efficient to work in a group.
"You sure?" I asked.
"Yeah man, besides, if we work together, we can watch each other's backs, make sure that no boars sneak up on us." Klein said with a friendly smile on his face.
"Well, when you put it that way, how could I refuse?" I said.
With my two new unlikely allies, we began to clear the surrounding mobs. Kirito offered a helpful piece of advice to Klein every now and again, and he seemed to be getting the hang of the Full Drive system fairly quickly. That was a benefit of SAO, once you started to learn the combat system, it almost came naturally after that.
We tackled various mobs, and time seemed to flow faster as we cleared the West Field of its occupants. As we fought, we collected valuable EXP and Cor, and my inventory was slowly filling with upgrading materials gathered from the various types of mobs that I felled. As we fought and moved from location to location, I studied my newfound allies.
My initial assumption about Klein was spot-on. Loud, brash, and boisterous, he was easily the type of person who would light up a room simply with his presence. He was very sociable, and easy to talk to, and he maintained a conversation almost continuously throughout combat; however, I had noted that he was slightly reserved in speech and action after I had been kicked from the bushes by the boar. Presumably, he was letting the more experienced player settle matters and determine if I was actually a threat or not.
Kirito, though, was a different story. He was a little more difficult to read. From what I could gleam, he seemed to be a decent enough person, offering his experience as a beta-tester to a beginner. He even took valuable time to actually demonstrate how to properly use a Sword Skill to said beginner. But, in any case, he seemed far more reserved than Klein. However, there was something off about him.
Every now and again, he would smile, though it really appeared to be more of a genuine attempt at a smile, rather than an actual smile. Simply put, there was something off about it. I would know, there were many times that I would have to put on a convincing enough smile back in the real world, and it was something that I had nigh-perfected by looking in the mirror.
After a while, the sun began to dip, painting the sky and landscape a radiant golden color. The three of us found ourselves standing atop one of the hills in the West Field, looking out over the landscape that seemed to belong in a surrealist's painting, rather than in a such a realistic video game.
In the distance, there were waterfalls falling from curving structures that caught the falling sunset brilliantly. The scene was spectacular, and I had to give credit to Kayaba, the man had a real sense of aesthetic design. Even the wind that gently brushed against my face felt real.
As the sun fell, I knew that different types of mobs would begin to spawn, and perhaps these would be worth more EXP, and hopefully drop rarer items that I could turn for a profit at the NPC shops. Maybe, if the items were useful enough, I could actually use them to upgrade my saber –upgrading weaponry was an extremely important part of SAO, after all.
A flock of dragon-like creatures flew in the distance as Klein's voice broke the comfortable silence between the three of us.
"This place is amazing." he said. For a person who seemed to have no end of words, it sounded like he was almost unable to speak for his amazement. "I mean, look around us, all of this," Never mind. He still had plenty of words. Klein indicated with his hands at the surreal scene before us, "This is a game, but it feel so real. Puts me at a loss for words."
"Well, that would be a miracle." I muttered, as I sat a few feet away from the melodramatic pair.
"You're a melodramatic guy." Kirito said as he watched the incredible sunset from a standing position.
"This is my first Full-Drive experience, after all." Klein said.
"Then it's your first NerveGear game?" I asked.
"Yeah. In truth, I only rushed to get the hardware because of SAO. I guess I'm pretty lucky that I got my hands on one of the 10,000 copies; but I guess you two are ten times luckier, you two got to participate in the beta."
Well, his maths were sound, I couldn't argue with that. It was basic proportions, after all.
"So, how far did you guys get in the beta?" Klein asked.
"It took two months to get to the eighth floor," Kirito said.
I began to tune their conversation out at this point. They were about to delve into some philosophical stuff, that much was obvious. I mean, I'm all for philosophy, but sometimes, it's better to actually take the time to appreciate what's in front of you, rather than using it as an opportunity to go on about concepts like strength and other ideologies.
So I passed the time in silence, drinking in the scene that was before me. I watched the fantastical waterfalls, listened to the faint calls of those winged creatures from before, and felt the wind's ginger caress. The sunlight felt warm and calming, and that was something that really surprised me. This scene before me not only looked real, but felt real.
Suddenly, Kirito, now done with his brief philosophy, broke me from my half-trance.
"How about we get back to hunting?" he asked, as he stood to his feet.
"'Count me in!'" Klein started, "Is what I'd like to say." A loud growl punctuated his sentence, "But I'm starving, so I'm gonna log out for a bit."
"Eating food in this world only tricks you into thinking you're full." Kirito noted.
"Which is why I ordered piping hot pizza for 5:30 ahead of time!" Klein exclaimed.
"Very pragmatic." I said.
"Yup! Anyway, I'll log back in once I'm done eating." Klein paused for a moment, and a thoughtful expression crossed his face for a moment, "Hey, later on, I'll be meeting up with some friends from another game. So, how about it? I'm sure you two would fit right in. Want to be friends with them, too?"
Kirito, somewhat shocked, turned slightly away from Klein. His face had changed and taken on a more solemn expression. I considered the offer, although I felt it best not to intrude into someone else's circle of friends. I couldn't help but feel that there would be some level of awkwardness.
Klein was not oblivious to our responses, and began to wave his hand dismissively.
"No, don't worry about it. It's entirely up to you guys, after all. Besides, there'll be plenty of chances for socializing. I'm sure there'll be another time."
"Yeah, sorry." Kirito said, "But thanks anyways."
"Hey man, that's my line." Klein said as he put a hand on Kirito's shoulder, "I'll be sure to return the favor sometime. Virtually, at least."
It seemed as though Kirito thought that he hadn't really done anything worth gratitude, and he almost shrank away from Klein's compliment.
"Hey, thanks for letting me join you guys," I said. I never was one for thanks, they almost felt like goodbyes, and if there was one thing that I couldn't stand, it was goodbyes.
"No problem, Raiden." Klein said, "It was a pleasure fighting with you. Hopefully we can meet up in the future."
"Yeah," I said, looking away, "That'd be nice."
The genuineness of Klein could really get to you. I hadn't expected that he was such a grateful person, and now I knew how Kirito felt. In another display of camaraderie, Klein extended a hand to Kirito,
"I'll be looking forward to fighting with you in the future." Klein said. The action seemed to surprise Kirito further, who could only gasp slightly in response before shaking his hand.
"If you have any more questions, feel free to message me." Kirito said as he shook Klein's hand.
It seemed as though Kirito was a generous person, something that I hadn't taken him for initially. Maybe that was because I could see how similar the two of us were, but I guess there were some fundamental differences between us. Maybe that was what made him a better person that myself.
"I'll be counting on it!" Klein said, before turning to me. "You didn't think I'd leave you out, did you?"
"It couldn't have hurt." I muttered, before smiling and shaking his hand.
"Ah, don't be like that, Raiden." Klein said, "I look forward to fighting with you in the future. See you guys around," Klein said as he turned and, with a final wave, began to walk away.
"Hey, Kirito," I said, "I'll be on for a few more hours, so, if you want to work together for a bit, I think that would be a good idea."
Kirito paused, seeming almost hesitant for a moment, before he nodded and responded,
"Sounds good. If we can make it to Horunka village, we might be able to get some good gear fairly early."
"Alright. But, if you don't mind, it might be a good idea if we, I don't know...were friends in-game." I suggested, stumbling my way through the sentence.
Shocked by the less-than suave friend request, Kirito could only manage what sounded like a small noncommittal sound as a response.
"Hey, it's fine, you don't need to feel-" I started.
"No, I don't mind." Kirito said, interrupting me before I could finish. He quickly navigated through the game's menus and arrived at the friends list. Relieved that he had accepted my request, I watched a notification appeared in front of me; a friend request, my first of SAO. I accepted with the tap of a circular blue button, and noticed that this was the first time I had seen Kirito was actually smiling.
"Huh?" Klein's voice came from behind us. "Total noob question, but where's the logout button?" he asked, standing with his menu open. The two of us turned to face him, confused.
"It should be at the bottom of the options menu," Kirito said.
"No man, it's not. I checked, and it's not." Klein said.
Both Kirito and I made noises of surprise as we both opened our menus, only to find that the logout button was indeed missing. The place where it should have been was there, but it wasn't filled, and I couldn't select it.
"See, it's not there."
"Yeah, you're right, it's not." I said.
"Well, it is the first official day of service, after all. It's only natural for there to be a bug or two."
But wasn't that what the beta was for? To find bugs and help improve the game at launch? I thought. Call it a gut feeling, but something didn't sit well with me about the missing feature.
"I'm sure management's freaking out." Klein added.
"So should you," Kirito said, indicating towards the time, "It's 5:25."
Klein paused for a moment as the words sunk in, and then, a terrified expression crossed his face,
"My teriyaki pizza and ginger ale!" he screamed as he all but sunk to his knees, a broken man.
"Hurry up and call a game master," I suggested.
"I tried that already, but no one's picking up. Isn't there another way to log out?" Klein asked, taking a moment to pause from his breakdown.
Kirito paused for a moment before a sgrimm expression crossed his face as he responded,
"No, the only way for a player to log out on their own is through the logout button in the main menu."
"Well, great." I muttered.
"What?!" Klein exclaimed. "That's impossible! There must be another way to log out!"
Desperate, he then began to make ridiculous gestures combined with phrases like "Log out!", or "Return!"
"You can't just Alt F4 this," I explained, "This is SAO. Which is why the oversight of a logout button is really strange."
"And there wasn't anything written in the manual about emergency logouts either," Kirito added as a dark cloud passed in front of the setting sun.
"Y-you're kidding, right?" Klein said.
Both Kirito and I shook our heads in response.
"I know! I'll pull the NerveGear off of my head!" Klein said as he placed his hands at his temples and attempted to pull upwards. He did little more than almost remove his red headband.
"You do realize that the NerveGear intercepts your brain signals specifically to keep you from moving around in the real world, right?" I asked.
The realization finally seemed to reach Klein, and his face dropped. That had been one of the few times I had seen him legitimately concerned.
"Seriously?" he asked.
"There's a component designed to specifically keep you from moving around while playing the game." Kirito added.
"Then the only option is to wait for a bug fix?"
"Either that, or until someone takes the NerveGear off of your head in the real world."
That wasn't good. My dad usually arrived around 8:30, so I was stuck for at least three more hours until someone could even remove the NerveGear from my head. Even then, it was fairly unlikely that he would actually do that. Unfortunately, it seemed that my only option was to wait for a patch.
"But I live alone." Klein said, "How 'bout you guys?"
"My dad should be home in a few hours, but he usually doesn't bother me." I said.
"I live with my mom and sister, and they'll probably notice by dinnertime–"
Klein suddenly interrupted Kirito by grasping his shoulders with a comical expression on his face. If the current situation wasn't so dire, I might have actually laughed at the ridiculous scene.
"H-how old is your sister?" Klein asked, unable to get the words out quickly enough.
Dumbstruck, Kirito fumbled for his words. Eventually, he managed to find his voice again.
"S-she's athletic and hates games, and she's totally not your type!" Kirito said as he attempted to back away.
Persistent, Klein continued to move forward,
"That doesn't matt–"
A swift kick from Kirito to his groin was enough to send Klein reeling with tears streaming from his eyes. He writhed on the ground for a few moments before remembering that he couldn't feel pain...again.
"Anyway," I coughed, getting their attention, "Don't you think this 'bug' is strange?"
"Of course I do." Klein said. "It's a bug, after all."
"No, it can't be that simple." Kirito said, looking off towards the sunset. "Inability to let players log out of the game is something that would deeply affect the game."
"I see what you're saying," Klein said.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but could't you resolve this situation by disconnecting the game's server and forcing all players to log out?" I asked.
"Yeah." Kirito said with a nod.
If that was the case, then why hadn't there been a system announcement? And why weren't the Game Masters answering the calls? If we had found out, I was certain that plenty of other players had noticed the absence of a logout button as well. All in all, things didn't add up, and something didn't feel right. We were left in silence for a few moments longer as we each pondered our various theories as to what was going on.
Suddenly, the deep and loud toll of a bell wrenched us from our devices. The three of us stood to our feet, our gazes fixed in the direction of the knell. Nothing good could come from a sound like that. None of us knew what to do, and we stood like soldiers at some form of perpetual attention. Not a word passed between any of us, save for one phrase,
"Never ask for whom the bell tolls," I murmured. Either Kirito and Klein didn't hear me, or they simply didn't respond, as they continued to stand in silence, gazing towards the source of the sound in a half-trance. The cloud that had blocked the setting sun passed, and I suddenly found myself engulfed in a white light.
As my vision cleared, I found that I was once again standing in the starting area. I quickly cast a glance around me, and was relieved to see that Kirito and Klein were standing beside me. In a situation like this, I would rather have been with people that I knew, rather than strangers.
We had been brought to the starting area by a forced teleport. The bell continued to ring as more players teleported in all around us.
"Someone forced a teleport," Kirito murmured. His voice was nearly lost in an increasing dialogue of the confused players that whispered to each other.
Suddenly, someone from the crowd pointed towards the sky,
"Up there, what's that?"
I gazed upwards and saw a red hexagon was floating in midair, a good distance above the starting arena.
Beside me, Kirito muttered something about a 'System announcement,' but, before I could ask him what he said, the sky became filled with such hexagons, displaying the words 'WARNING' and 'System Announcement' interchangeably.
I wanted to relax, and hope that the admins had realized that there was a problem with the game, that they were simply forcing a teleport to collect all the players in one area and tell us that there had been a problem with the game and that we would be logged out. But, as blood-red viscous fluid began to seep from the spaces between the hexagons, I started to lose faith in that idea.
The liquid began to pool in midair and collect as a massive hooded figure emerged from the fluid.
"Wh-what is that?" Klein asked.
Even I found my breath hitching in my throat at the sight of the massive figure before us. It was a great deal taller than any other player in the game, and dwarfed the spires that it hovered next to. Dark smoke poured from underneath his veil, and I dug my heels into the ground, not knowing what to expect. Was this some kind of joke? Some type of boss that we would have to fight? I could hear murmurs all around me; none of the other players knew what was going on either.
The figure then spread his arms wide,
"Attention, players." A thunderous voice, befitting of the immense figure, spoke, "Welcome to my world."
"My world?" Kirito repeated beside me.
From those two words, a sinking feeling of realization grew within my stomach that the figure before us wasn't just a Game Master, it was Akihiko Kayaba himself. His next words confirmed my suspicions,
"I am Akihiko Kayaba, and I am currently the one and only person who can control this world." he said, his voice calm, although there was no questioning the authority therewith.
A collective gasp of shock swept over the players. Beside me, Kirito's face paled, and I presumed that, as a fellow beta-tester, he had read about Akihiko Kayaba as well. The whispers were silenced as Kayaba continued,
"I am certain that, by now, you are all aware of the fact that you are missing the logout feature of this game."
I hoped against hope that he would say that there had been an error in the game, but he trampled those hopes with his next words,
"Make no mistake, this is by no means an error, but instead a feature of the true Sword Art Online. I'll say this one more time: this was not a mistake, but an intended feature of Sword Art Online."
"A feature?" I breathed, completely shocked. I felt my limbs locked in place, and I swallowed at the realization.
"There's no way," Klein said, other players continuing his statement.
"You are all unable to log out of SAO," Kayaba continued, blatantly disregarding our shock. "Also, no one in the real world can remove the NerveGear from your head or interrupt its operation; however, should it be attempted, the NerveGear will emit a powerful microwave burst and it will destroy your brain, and thus, you will die."
No, this couldn't be real. This had to be a rouse. There wasn't any way my actual life was in danger. Possibly through shock alone, I managed to hold my silence. But, in spite of that, somewhere, I knew that this was real.
"He's out of his mind, right?" Klein asked. I couldn't even force myself to nod in agreement.
"The waves emitted by the NerveGear are really the same as microwaves," Kirito said, "if the safety was disabled, frying a brain wouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities."
At the fringes of the crowd, a few angry players attempted to leave the arena, only to find that an invisible barrier had been raised around the perimeter of the space.
"But, what if they cut the power?" Klein asked.
I managed to shake my head in response,
"No, the NerveGear has an internal battery."
"But that's ridiculous. What's going on?" Klein asked, confusion turning to anger. Before either of us could respond, Kayaba spoke once more.
"Unfortunately, it's certainly possible that people would disregard this warning and attempt to remove the NerveGear. As a result, 213 players have retired from both this world and the real one."
"213 people?" a pale Kirito repeated. I felt an icy chill race down my spine.
How could Kayaba just casually speak about the deaths of so many people? Like the were test subjects, numbers on a spreadsheet. Like they died for nothing, as if they were animals! The man wasn't just a psychopath, he was a mass-murderer.
"No way," Klein muttered, "You're lying!"
As if he had heard the challenge, several screens appeared around Kayaba and began circling him. They showed screens of various media websites, all of them warning about the dangers of the NerveGear.
"As you can see," Kayaba said, indicating towards the various screens, "news of my warning and the numerous victims is being spread worldwide. This means that the risk of your NerveGear being removed is minimal at best. I hope that this serves some form of consolation and that you will focus on completing the game."
Kirito clenched his fists, an angry scoff escaping his lips.
"But," Kayaba said, "I'd like you all to keep this one thing in mind: from this point on, all methods of revival in the game will no longer function. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be deleted, and you yourself will perish as the NerveGear simultaneously destroys your brain." Kayaba concluded.
Kirito gasped, but, deadlocked by ice, I could not utter so much as a sound. In that instant, I was sure that every player, now faced with their own mortality, imagined the consequences of death in this game. What would it feel like, to have the NerveGear destroy your brain while your avatar shattered into iridescent shards in this world? You would gone, dead, without any memorial. I would be gone, leaving nothing behind. If I made just one mistake too many, I would be killed by the NerveGear.
By now, I could almost anticipate Kayaba's next words,
"There is but one condition that you must meet to be free: the completion of this game." The massive figure pressed a button and a holographic map appeared in front of him, "You are all gathered here, on the first floor –the lowest point in Aincrad. If you make your way through a floor's dungeon and conquer that floor's boss, then you may continue on to the next floor." The map began to turn red as it progressed upwards, towards the top of Aincrad, "Assuming that you make your way to the 100th floor and defeat the final boss that awaits you, the game will be considered clear."
Cries of disbelief wracked the crowd of captive players. The task set before us was monumental, this seemed more like a suicide mission rather than something that was even remotely achievable.
"You've got to be kidding me," Klein said, "Clear all 100 floors, even the beta-testers never got anywhere near that high!"
Once again disregarding the disbelief and astonishment of the players before him, Kayaba spoke once more,
"And, lastly, I've prepared a present for each of you, you'll find it in item storage. Take a look."
I followed through with the instruction and opened the item storage menu. There, I found a single item: a Mirror. I equipped the item, and a small square mirror materialized in front of me and fell into my hand. It reflected the appearance of my avatar, with slightly longer hair and more rugged features, as well as piercing green eyes.
Suddenly, Klein cried out from beside me, and I saw that he was engulfed in a brilliant white light. Before I utter so much as a sound, I was engulfed by the same light. I could hear players cry out from all around us, and I presumed that the same thing was happening to them as well. Once the light cleared, I realized that I felt shorter.
"Hey, you two alright?" I asked as I turned towards Kirito and Klein. What I saw, though, was entirely different. Klein's hair wasn't anywhere nearly as long as his avatar's, and it was a deeper shade of red. I turned to Kirito, and saw that he had a far more youthful appearance than his avatar.
"W-who are you?" I heard Kirito ask.
"That's what I want to know," Klein said.
I quickly glanced down at the mirror, and found that my actual reflection was looking back at me. All of the minute errors that I could never get worked out in the game's menus, the slight difference in eye color and facial structure, all of it was gone. Instead, I was looking at myself, my real-life self in a video game. Somehow, Kayaba had not only restored each of our respective faces, but also our bodies. That was the reason that I felt shorter, I had been set to my real-life height.
All around us, players were going through similar revelations, the most awkward of which culminated in players who were actually males in real life that had elected for female avatars. Were the situation not so grim, I would have found the scenario somewhat funny.
"Wha...How?" Klein asked.
"The scan," Kirito explained, "The NerveGear covers your entire head with a high-density transmitter."
"So that's how it calculates what your face looks like," I said as I approached the two.
"Raiden,"
"But," Kirito said, "our heights and builds, how is it able to determine that?"
Before either of us could answer, I had realized the truth. The so-called 'calibration' that the NerveGear ran us through, that must have been a means to get physical data about each player. Even before we had become trapped inside SAO, each of us were already setting ourselves in the snare.
"But, why?" Klein asked, "Why's all this happening?"
"I'm sure he'll tell us." I said, indicating towards Kayaba.
Right on cue, Kayaba spoke,
"I'm sure that some of you are wondering why Akihiko Kayaba, the creator of Sword Art Online and the NerveGear, would do such a thing. I have already achieved my goal. In essence, I created Sword Art Online for my own personal enjoyment. To be the god of my own world."
A psychopath, that's what Kayaba was. He was willing to trap 10,000 people inside a game of his own design, where death in game meant death in reality, for a petty reason like his 'own personal enjoyment.' And he had already killed 213 people. It was infuriating, to say the least, although, rather than anger, I felt an unusual calm, like the ice in which I was deadlocked had grown, and it was refraining me from my anger. Perhaps that was good thing, if I was angry, there was a very good chance that I would become careless. In a game like SAO, carelessness ultimately led to death.
"Kayaba..." Kirito growled through clenched teeth. He was becoming increasingly irate the more that Kayaba spoke.
"The preparations are now complete," Kayaba said, "This concludes the tutorial for the official launch of Sword Art Online. Players, I wish you the very best of luck."
With his final words still fresh in our minds, Kayaba's figure began to distort and disintegrate. The massive hooded figure before us dissolved and turned to smoke as any trace of the viscous liquid rescinded back into the system announcement hexagons above. Then, just as quickly as it had appeared, the sky returned to its usual appearance.
A stunned silence hung over the masses. We had been utterly shocked by Kayaba's words. This wasn't just a game any longer, this was a different kind of truth. Every word that Kayaba had spoken was the truth, and nothing less.
There was a simplicity to life. Before now, this was just a game, something meant to pass the time. Now, with the consequence of death and unable to escape from this world, Kayaba had altered reality. In the end, all that separated the real world from the false one was consequence. Now, that thin defining line was gone. This was what the different kind of truth was: add enough consequences, and anything becomes real.
Death in this game meant death in reality; the NerveGear would see to that. This was a harsh truth, one that threatened the lives of each and every player of this game. We weren't just fighting to clear the game, we were fighting to survive. If Raiden died, then my actual body would die, my life would be ended swiftly. But I wouldn't let that happen, no man like Kayaba would kill me. He couldn't kill me.
Somewhere in the crowd, a girl dropped her mirror and screamed. Hysteria overtook the masses in an instant. Some screamed to be released, while others stood in shocked silence. Several sunk to their knees, unable to face the consequence of death. Near the exits, the invisible field that kept us present for Kayaba's warning was lifted. I saw Kirito's eyes flicker towards it for the faintest second –he had noticed it as well.
"We need to move," I whispered.
Kirito nodded,
"Let's move, Klein!" he said as he pulled the man towards the exit.
Once we had reached a secluded alley, a fair distance away from other players, we stopped.
"Listen," Kirito said, "I'm heading to the next town as soon as possible. It'd be a good idea if you two headed there as well."
Klein could only manage a surprised noise in response, and Kirito took this as his cue to continue as he opened his map,
"If everything he said was true, if we want to survive in this world, it's vital that we get stronger." he said, looking at the locations of the various towns on the first floor. "The virtual resources in this game, in other words, EXP and money, are limited. The fields around the starting town will soon be cleared. In any case, the best move is to head to the next town. Even if I'm level 1, I know the best way to get there."
Judging from what he'd said earlier, I assumed that Kirito was planning to head to Horunka village. If so, that was a problem; most players would head there for the Secret Medicine of the Forest quest, which yielded a powerful sword. The problem: that wasn't the type of sword that I used; however, if I headed for Tolbana, which was much further away than Horunka, I could at least start a quest that would allow me to get a strong saber fairly early on.
But, before I could speak, Klein beat me to the punch.
"You know...I was in line all night to buy SAO with some friends that I met in another game," he cast a glance back at the starting arena, "and I'm sure that they're somewhere over there in that plaza. I can't just leave them."
Kirito cast his glance downwards, weighing the possibility of taking more than two players along with him. His conclusion was written on his face: even one additional player would be a heavy burden.
"Sorry," Klein said, wrenching Kirito from his thoughts, "Besides, I can't keep making you look out for me like this. Don't worry about me and head to the next town."
"Focus on getting to the next village in one piece, Kirito," I said, "I'm heading to Tolbana."
"Raiden, you sure? Tolbana's far way, and the route's dangerous."
"You think I can't handle a few mobs? Besides, if I head there now, I should be able to get started on some good quests before most of the other players get there."
"And don't worry about me," Klein said, pointing a thumb at himself, "In the last game I played, I was the leader of my guild. I'm more than capable of holding my own."
"Unless there are any boars around," I muttered.
"Same goes for you, Raiden." Klein said, a slightly wounded expression on his face.
"If that's alright with you, then I'll get going," Kirito said as he turned and began to head away. His voice sounded pained, although he made a valiant effort to conceal it. Still yet, I was shocked by the offer. Here was this player, facing a life-or-death challenge, and he had offered to help two total strangers that he had just met that day. It was impressive to say the least, and the differences between Kirito and myself were becoming evident. In a sense, I almost admired that action. In the end, I hoped that it would not be his compassion that got him killed.
"If either of you ever get in a jam, send me a message." Kirito said before he turned to head to Horunka.
"Kirito!" Klein called, "I..." His voice failed him, and he said no more. Kirito took a few more steps forward, until Klein called again, "Hey! Kirito, you...have a pretty cute face. You're just my type,"
I paled, "Oh...the bromace is real." I muttered. "Besides, if you're comparing appearances, I'm afraid you both fall short to yours truly,"
"As if." Kirito muttered, "Klein, that unkempt look suits you ten times better!" he called, before turning his gaze to me, "Raiden...well, I'd take another look in the mirror, if I were you. I think you've got a bad NerveGear."
I smirked in response, "Just try not to get yourself killed, Kirito, Klein." I said as I started to head towards a different alley, one that would open closer to Tolbana.
"Same goes for you, Raiden!" Klein called.
"Me? Relax, I'm too stubborn to die."
With that final statement, I began to run towards Tolbana. I knew that I wouldn't make it there in one day, but the more distance I covered today, the less I had to cover tomorrow. I charged through the city, before stopping in the middle of a fairly empty street. Something felt off, and it didn't take me long to realize what.
These two players, who were total strangers and that I had just met today, were some of the closest friends that I had ever had. And now, there was a very good chance that I might not see them again, but that was now a fact of life in this game, and I would never clear it if I couldn't accept that fact. I shook my head and continued to charge through the empty streets.
The stone structures once again began to give way to golden fields that were curtained by the falling light. I wouldn't let this world be the end of me. I wouldn't die in this game, not not, and not yet.
Suddenly, along the path before me, a large wolf spawned, red eyes gleaming. Without stopping, I continued to sprint towards the creature, charging a Sword Skill all the while. With silent precision, I tore through the creature with my saber and sprinted past the iridescent shards left behind. I was going to fight this game until the very end, and I was going to win! I would defeat this different kind of truth!
Author's Notes:
Thanks for reading the first chapter of Arpeggio of Steel! Reviews, comments, or feedback would really be appreciated. Now, there are a few things that I want to clear up about this story:
I) This is technically a 'Self-Insert' story, although I've exaggerated Raiden's personality a great deal. This includes both good qualities and bad ones. However, I have no intentions of Gary Stu-ing my way through the story. I personally feel that is a trap that a lot of good writers fall into when they are writing self-insert stories.
II) I have altered the canon a great deal by bringing not only Raiden into SAO, but also Sinon. She's going to be in the story later on. However, I will try to keep the characters, and as much of the SAO Aincrad Arc, as canon as possible. So don't expect Raiden to be the Master Chief who simply walks through enemies and challenges like they're nothing and has Superman-like abilities. I'll try to keep that from happening.
III) Sinon's in the story?! Yeah. She is. She'll make her appearance in due time.
IV) I plan to write this story until I reach the end of the Aincrad arc. I might continue into the ALO arc. Emphasis on *might*.
V) This story is written from the first-person perspective. This means that there will be a lot of introspection, as Raiden chooses his words carefully before speaking. Also, SAO is one of those times where it pays to be the 'Strong, Silent Type.'
For now, I believe that's all that I have to clarify. So, thanks for reading! I had a great deal of fun writing this, and I hope that you enjoyed reading it! Look forward to additional chapters of Arpeggio of Steel! Thanks, one and all,
-CossackSabre