A/N: Hello, Puddlewing here, this is my first story, so I hope you like it!
November 6, 2022
It was a sunny day, a perfect day to be outside at the pool or the park. Not for me, though. I was in my monotonous room, on my computer, per the norm. But today was special, today I wasn't playing any old MMORPG. I was waiting for one to come out. Today, in exactly 1 minute and 27 seconds the Sword Art Online servers would open, and I could dive back into the VRMMORPG I had tested a month ago. I was lucky. Getting to be one of the 1,000 people allowed to Beta Test the first Virtual Reality game was no easy feat. While I can't be sure, I think I got in because of my high ranks in the MMORPG's I've devoted my life to. "Five, four, three, two…one." I whispered. I then jumped up from my seat at the monitor, hurriedly turned off my computers and laid down on my bed, securing the Nerve Gear around my cranium. Here I come Aincrad, I thought. "Link Start!"
I was standing in a bright blue room with nothing but a screen in front of me. "Hello, and welcome to the SAO Entry Room please enter your screen name, before continuing to character customization," said a robotic female voice. I hurriedly typed in the famous name I used in all of my accounts before clicking next, Savage. "Now, select your gender and complete the specifics of your customization or choose the randomized character creation choice," the voice said calmly. I began to create myself. I selected the male gender before continuing to create a tall muscled man with blonde hair and an arrow shaped mark under his right eye. Most people if they knew who I really was would ask me why, why would a girl choose to play as a guy? The only person who will get that answer though, is me. I clicked the confirm button. "Thank you for joining Sword Art Online, good luck and have fun." with those parting words, the room deteriorated into polygons and I was teleported to the main town on Floor 1. I looked around in wonder, yet again amazed by the how real this virtual world looked, before stretching. "I'm back," I said, my voice a good couple of notes deeper than usual. I looked around, not surprised to see people staring at me. I was extremely famous in the online gaming world, and in all of the games I've played, I've always had the same avatar. What did surprise me though, was the guy with shaggy red hair and an ugly bandana walking up to me and saying, "Hey you're that Savage guy, aren't you! Weren't you a Beta Tester? Mind showing me around?" Momentarily bewildered, I answered, "Yeah, but I've got stuff to do so go find someone else to help you." He nodded, losing his grin and turned away to find some other person to help. I eyed the crowd, ignoring the stares, searching for someone I could recognize from the Beta Tests. I spied someone and then ran up to her, lifting her up, and causing her to scream. "Hey Argo, long time no see," I laughed. "Savage, put me down!" she yelled. I lowered her until her feet touched the ground and waved my hands, apologizing. "How are you?" I asked. "I'm fine," she said, "glad to be back, that's for sure. Mind adding me to your friend list?" She quickly pulled up the request to be friends. I nodded, clicking the accept button, "I'll catch up with you later, I've got some hunting to do." I turned away and walked towards the nearest hunting grounds.
"Slash!" With that attack, I knocked out the wild boar I had been fighting. To me the hardest part of a game was always the start. As soon as I got around level 10 I was fine, but it was getting to level ten that was hard. I checked my stats. I was already at level 3 and I had around 6,500 col, not bad for two hours of gameplay. "Well, better head home, I still need to eat." I said to myself. I clicked the link to the logout button and… nothing, it wasn't there. I checked every window the game had. Nope still not there. What the heck is happening, is it a glitch, I thought. Right as I thought about what to do, I began to glow and was teleported to the town center.
I looked around and saw that red headed guy from earlier standing next to, and looking at me. I began to ask him what was going on when the sky was covered with a red barrier repeating the words System Announcement. Then, blood began to seep from the barrier until it formed a spectral figure wearing a red cloak. It raised it's arms, "Attention players, welcome to my world. My name is Akihiko Kayaba and as of this moment, I am in control of this world. I'm sure most of you have already noticed an item missing from your main menus, the logout button. Let me assure you this is not a defect in the game. I repeat, this is not a defect, this is how Sword Art Online was designed to be. It's important you 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," Everyone gasped, surprised by the cold words. "and the NerveGear will simultaneously destroy your brain." My eyes widened in terror. I couldn't move, I was immobilized by fear, the fear of death, the fear of being stuck in this game, and the fear of losing the first and only job I've ever had. I managed to turn and look at the other players, they all looked as terrified as me, especially that guy with the black hair standing near me. Kayaba continued," There's only one way for a player to escape now, you must clear the game. Right now you're gathered on Floor 1, 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." Impossible, I thought. I knew I looked calm on the outside, but on the inside I was screaming. In the Beta Tests, we barely got to level 8, no way we could defeat all 100 bosses, especially if this was really a death game. "Now all players look in your inventory, I have left a gift for you all there." I quickly pulled up the inventory of my character to find, a mirror!?
As I stared at the reflection of my chiseled face, my avatar began to shimmer, as did all of the other avatars. When the glimmering polygons cleared, I found myself looking at my real face. The lavender hair, brown eyes, alabaster skin, and ugly scar under my eye all coming to haunt my one escape from reality. I couldn't take it and immediately collapsed, as my vision tunneled and darkened lulling me into the welcoming realm of unconsciousness.
"Hey, hey! Wake up, are you okay?" My vision blurred as I became conscious again. Holding me was some scruffy guy with red hair surrounded by a bunch of nerdy looking gamers. I jumped up and kneed the man in the face before brushing myself off. "Who do you think you are, feeling me up?" I shouted, color flooding my cheeks. "You know, you really should learn what it means to be kind," he retorted, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'll have you know, I was just waking you up! Plenty of guys would have taken advantage of a chick in your situation. "Who're you calling a GIRL!" I roared. He seemed confused, as did the rest of his group. I looked down at the baggy clothing I was wearing and remembered what had happened. "I guess that explains the guy crap that you're wearing," he chuckled.
I can feel my entire face turning the color of a cherry and turn away as fast as I can. What do I do, I can't let this man go unrewarded, I thought. With a flick of my hand, the friend request popped up in front of his face. I saw his eyes widen with recognition of my name. "No way, you're—" I cut him off with my hand at his neck. "Say a word to anyone and you're dead, got that?" I ran off to the next town without looking back.