Floor 1
I glanced at the packed line of those who weren't able to preorder Sword Art Online. They didn't know it yet, but they were the luckiest ones here. The walk up line had been queued for hours, each person praying there would be a game left for them. Their body language was creating an anxious atmosphere at what should have been an exciting event. In the end, there would be no copies leftover.
I didn't know it yet, but soon I would be fighting for my life. I'm not sure what my father was thinking when he gave me the preorder ticket for a copy of SAO. In my sixteen years of life, I had never played a video game. Maybe he felt sympathetic because I had no friends. Or perhaps it was a job well done for ranking first in my class, again. Whatever his thought process, he had my best interest in mind, I'm sure of it.
I brought my hands to my mouth and blew against them in a feeble attempt to keep them warm. A shiver ran down my spine and I wiggled my shoulders in response. God, it's abnormally cold for November.
A store employee began to holler directions at the preorder line—walk to the cashier in an orderly fashion, don't push others. I was reminded of preschool, and I had to stifle a giggle.
Our line cheered as the rope governing us was pulled back. We received dirty looks from those who weren't able to preorder one of the ten thousand copies that had been produced. The line started to move and the others didn't mind the employee's instructions to not shove. It bothered me, but I wasn't the type for confrontation.
I reached the cashier and pulled the pre-order receipt out of my purse. The upset look on her face made it clear she was not interested in conversation, which was good, because I wasn't one for talking. She apathetically thanked me for choosing their store and passed my bag over the counter.
Walking out, a man offered me one million yen for my copy of SAO. I politely declined. It wasn't as if my family had financial trouble. My father is Chief Financial Officer of RECT, a company partnered with Argus, who produces SAO. I slipped the game inside my purse, just in case others weren't as kind.
Another shiver ran through my body as the wind chill cut through my coat. The cold weather is making fun of me for not wearing another layer. At 115 pounds, I didn't handle cold very well. Fortunately for me, the train station was less than a block away from the store.
My long hair almost caught in the train doors as it shut. I grabbed at the messy strands with one hand, trying to put them back into place. My other hand fumbled for a hanging strap, and I let out a sigh. Being around that many people drained all of my energy. I focused my eyes on a spot on the floor and zoned out, exhausted from the night's activities.
Fits of giggles rang out from two seats over. In my peripheral vision I saw a group of girls my age.
"But how do you think she dates if she's taller than all the boys in Japan?" One remarked.
My cheeks burned red at the realization they were talking about me. It wasn't my fault I was 5'10." I wasn't of Japanese descent, and, unfortunately for me, my entire family was tall. Although my family had moved to Japan when I was two, I was still considered Gaijin—a foreigner.
"Stop it, Mayumi! She can hear us," Her friend hissed.
"It's not like she understands us. She's probably just an exchange student."
Not only could I understand them, but I would also bet my grade in Japanese class was higher. I wanted to badly to open my mouth and say something. The words didn't come—they never did.
For a moment, I wondered what it would be like to have friends in high school. At school I listened to other girls talk about going to karaoke, shopping, and eating at restaurants together. I quickly pushed the thought out of my head. It wasn't going to happen for me.
Friends are not a priority. The most important thing in my life was ballet. Because of my hard work, I had finally accomplished my goal. The Tokyo Ballet had hired me to be a Principal Dancer—the head honcho of all the ballerinas. I had to wait until my eighteenth birthday, which was a year and change away, but I had still done it.
If I had friends, I wouldn't keep my number one position in ballet and school. I glanced out the train window. Was all of the work worth it if I have no one to share it with?
Poor little rich girl.
My ballet lesson had passed painfully slow that day. The SAO servers opened at one, and I had nearly ran down the street in my pointe shoes to get home on time.
It was 12:55 and I sat on my bed, listening to each painful tick of my wall clock's second hand.
Somehow, these last five minutes were a harder wait than the entire day. I rolled on my stomach and tapped my forehead against the pillow, wishing the last few minutes would speed up. When I looked up and only thirty seconds had passed, I decided it was best to occupy my time.
I grabbed the user's manual off my nightstand and began to flick through the pages. It would be best to not go into the game with no knowledge. I read through a myriad of different commands, doing my best to keep track.
I had became so engrossed with the user's manual that I didn't notice one o'clock had passed. It was by chance that I glanced up and noticed it was 1:06. I cursed and threw the manual back on the nightstand.
I shoved the helmet on my head and took a deep breath. "Link, Start!"
And with those two words, I secured my fate. I began flying through a kaleidoscope of different cylinder lengths, until I reached the menu screen. An NPC dressed as a knight greeted me.
"Welcome to Sword Art Online," he said. "Please prepare your avatar or select 'Random' to have one generated for you!"
"Uhm...okay," I squeaked.
He laughed. "Don't be nervous now, soon you'll be the best swordswoman in all of Aincrad!"
I began to design a female avatar. The only requirement I had when making her was that I wanted her to look nothing like me—she would be stunningly beautiful.
Pleased with my work, I looked at the NPC. "Um, I'm finished now."
"Not quite, Miss! You don't have a character name!"
"Oh!"
I stabbed at the 'Please Enter a Character Name:' box, and quickly typed in 'Katsuki.'
"Alright, Katsuki, are you ready to start your adventure?" The NPC asked.
I nodded in response.
"You are now being teleported to Floor 1: Town of Beginnings," The knight said. "Enjoy your time!"
"Thank—" I tried to show my appreciation, but I had been sent to the middle of a bustling market.
My mouth dropped at the realism of the scene around me. NPC's called out to players, offering their goods and services. Two armor vendors placed unfortunately close to one another each declared they had the best prices. Players egged their verbal undercutting on, wanting to get their items at the lowest possible price.
"Step right up, Missy!" A sleazy NPC grabbed my arm.
"Ah!"
"Don't worry, we're just playing a game! You solve this problem and you win some Cor. Easy, right?!"
My lack of response irritated him.
"Well you look like a smart one to me! Only a fee of 50 Cor, lets play!"
"I'd rather n—" I started, but he dragged me on to the stage.
I shifted uncomfortably on the wooden platform. The cheap planks creaked under my skinny body. If it's creaking under me, what will it do for someone of normal weight?
"Alright Missy, you just have to solve this puzzle and you'll win a fabulous prize of 5000 Cor!" The NPC had put on his best announcer voice, "Let's give it up for Missy!"
The small group of players in the area cheered and my face began to burn. The puzzle was probably rigged, and I was designed to lose 50 Cor.
"Here you go, Missy!"
With a flick of his hand he rotated a board, and a word problem was etched into its back.
In The Town of Beginnings, 46% of players buy a sword and 22% buy a shield. 18% buy both. What are the chances a player buys neither a sword nor a shield?
"Seriously?" I looked at the NPC.
"Oh no Missy, don't tell me you're bad at math!"
He began to chuckle, and the crowd followed. The crimson began to return to my cheeks. But, the NPC had mistook the tone of my voice.
"Fifty percent. It's fifty percent of players," I stated.
The NPC had asked a basic statistics problem. He should have asked a linear algebra question if he wanted to confuse me.
He glared at me. "Well, well now, Missy, it appears as though you're right."
The roar of the crowd gave me a small feeling of redemption as 5,000 Cor was deposited to my account.
The NPC's glare burned into my back as I scurried off stage. But, the few moments of public humiliation had been worth the extra Cor.
I turned into a more secluded area of the market and exhaled. Even though they were digital, being around this many people was still overwhelming. I took the quiet moment to examine the user interface of SAO.
A knight and his friend walked down the alley, completely oblivious to my presence.
"We're going to beat these bosses so easy, man!" The knight exclaimed.
"Right? We'll be clearing the third level by tomorrow."
"Maybe not, I have to log out and do some homework. Stupid as hell."
"Just forget about it for tonight, man!"
I had forgotten that I needed a weapon. It had been less than thirty minutes, but I already felt like a failure. Who's going to want to be my friend if can't even remember to buy a weapon?
I took my time strolling through the weapons vendors. I wasn't able to put my finger on what I was looking for, so I would move on from every stall. There was no doubt I had passed plenty of good swords. Was I being too picky, or was there nothing meant for me?
The more respectable looking vendors had ended, and I reached a row of shabby NPC's selling their wares. A bronze flicker caught my eye as I turned to leave.
Although the store was run down, I decided to keep my mind open. I scanned the merchandise until I found it—a bronze sword with jade on the handle.
"Looking at that sword, Dearie?"
"Eep!" I shrieked, jumping sideways.
An old woman in tattered clothes stood behind me. "Didn't mean to give ya a fright, now," She said with a lopsided smile.
In fact, everything about her appeared to be asymmetrical. The shape of her nose was as if it had been broken many times. Each tooth was crooked in a different direction.
I stared at her, failing to respond.
"Cat got ya tongue, Dearie?"
"Eh? Um, no...I just wanted to see how much this sword was, please." I gestured towards the bronze sword.
"Oh yes, beautiful piece of work, 'innit? For ya, Dearie, 4,500 Cor."
I sharply inhaled. If I bought it, it would almost zero out what I just won.
"...Can I try it?" I asked.
The old woman nodded, her thin white hair swaying back and forth.
I picked the sword up, unsure of what to do. Although it was large in size, it was extremely light. In a feeble attempt to "test" it, I extended the weapon outward and almost knocked down her merchandise.
"Left handed now, aren't ya Dearie?"
Bless her for not commenting on my cluelessness.
"Oh...yes I am." I said with a small smile. "I'll take this sword, please."
"Gladly, Dearie. I'll alsa' give ya this leatha' holda' for free! It was made to be with the sword, it'd be a shame if they'wa separated! Ya'just put it on like this!"
With no hesitation to invade my personal space, she wrapped the X-shaped strap around my chest and fastened it in the back.
"Thank...thank you," I coughed, the leather straps bound just a bit too tight.
"Right-O, Dearie. Do learn to use it. There are danjas' in this world that no'one could foresee."
I nodded, thanked her again, and left. As I strolled down the streets of the Town of Beginnings, I wondered what she meant by that. It must be some NPC thing to create suspense.
A man talking to his friend ran into me, and I fell to the ground.
"Dude, the fucking logout button is busted!" Although his avatar looked mid-twenties, his pattern of speech was clearly that of a preteen.
"It's okay, it's probably just a glitch. They'll patch it in a few hours," The friend responded, trying to pacify him.
"A few hours?! I promised my mom I'd be back in fifteen minutes!"
They were far too engrossed in their conversation to apologize, and I wasn't going to say anything. I let out a sigh as I picked myself up, and smoothed my linen dress to remove the wrinkles.
Was the logout button really not functioning? An empty slot greeted me when I opened my menu. Oh well. I had no plans to leave in the immediate future. They should have it fixed by the time I'm ready to go.
I looked out the main gates of the Town of Beginnings, and down at my sword. I should probably learn how to use it.
The grassy plains outside the Town of Beginnings rustled as I practiced my sword skills. I attempted to recollect as much of the manual's information as possible. First, put myself in Pre-Motion for the strike. Next, set my sword skill. I chose Slant and plunged into the air. Messy would be a polite way to describe the motion.
I swung my weapon around a few more times, trying to get comfortable with the new feeling. Although it would likely hit something, my strikes were extremely sloppy.
In need of verification, I set my sights on a boar roaming in the grass. To put it nicely, my first battle was a bit of a learning curve. I had —what I thought at the time— an irrational fear of the boar, even though I knew it was digital. When I approached it, it squealed and charged. I was too afraid to swing, and the boar knocked me over. I watched fifteen HP drop as I trembled on the ground.
Why am I so afraid? This is simulated.
I stood up, embarrassed, but determined to succeed. The boar snorted and looked me in the eye, silently asking if I wanted more. I nodded in affirmation as I walked towards him. He squealed and charged, and the two of us collided. My blade plunged into his abdomen, and the boar transformed into digital pieces. I was awestruck as I watched the blue particles fall around me.
A message appeared on my menu, letting me know I had received Boar Meat and Leather. I stabbed at the air with my finger, trying to make it disappear. I missed, and accidentally selected the item—as it turned out, if you tap on an item it showed the quality. It was poor, of course.
After the first boar, I was unstoppable. I still wasn't any good, but I wanted to be good. When Level Up! appeared, I decided it was time for a break. I sat on the grassy plains and took a moment to enjoy the view. Northwest from The Town of Beginnings there was a large forest region. When I looked northeast, there was a lake that spanned as far as the horizon.
Movement out of the corner of my eye distracted me. I focused my vision back on the grassy plains, and saw two men spearing a boar. Upon closer inspection, it appeared one was teaching the other. I giggled to myself as the student got knocked on his ass. But I had been in his position just a an hour prior.
I stood up and stretched. I should head back into town and grab health potions and—
Suddenly, I was in the center of The Town of Beginnings. An involuntary teleport? As I examined my surroundings, I estimated that all ten thousand SAO players must be in the area. If this is an introductory event, they could have at least told us about it.
My stomach dropped as I watched the sky start to bleed red.