Floor 1
"My name is Akihiko Kayaba. And as of this moment, I am in control of this world." An ominous voice spoke from above the players.
Kayaba was the creator of Sword Art Online. There was no indication that he was inserting himself as a character, so this introduction was sudden, to say the least. His choice of character was eerie—he looked more like a monster than a player. Kayaba was about sixty feet tall, and had his face hidden under a cloak that resembled the Grim Reaper's. It wasn't the warmest welcome to the first VRMMORPG.
"I'm sure most of you have already noticed an item missing from your main menus—the logout button," he continued. "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."
Not a defect? What could he possibly mean by that? Perhaps a player had to be logged in for a minimum amount of time before they could log out.
"You cannot log yourselves out of SAO, and no one from the outside will be able to shut down 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."
Surely, he's not serious. There's no way I can die in a video game.
"Last but not least, I've placed a little present in the item storage of every player. Please have a look."
A mirror was in my inventory. What the hell is this for? I took it out of my inventory and peered into it, unsure of what to expect. My stomach turned when I saw my reflection. The beautiful Katsuki no longer existed. I was regular Kat again, with my tangles of plain brown hair and overly pale skin. I gasped and dropped the mirror, and it shattered into digital pieces.
"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." With those parting words, Kayaba vanished.
Is this real? This can't be real. Players around me seemed to be wondering the same thing. There were hushed whispers about how this was a hoax and someone must have hacked the server. No one would actually create a death game.
Suddenly, a boy next to me burst into digital fragments—the animation for when a player died in game. The action snapped me out of the trance I was in. My stomach churned with the realization that Kayaba was in fact, being serious.
After people began to realize that this wasn't a joke, panic quickly set in. The horde of players gathered in the town square quickly became a mob. They began shoving each other in an attempt to escape—even though there was nowhere to go. Particularly clever players took the moment to steal weapons and various items from others.
Luck was with me—I had been placed on the outskirts of the crowd. I somehow managed to get my legs working, although I wasn't sure where they were taking me. I passed countless NPC shops until I found my way back to the vendors I was at earlier. Perhaps my subconscious went to the only place it knew.
There was a back alley with nothing but crates, and I darted into it as fast as possible, praying no one would see me. I had no idea what I should do, but I did know I shouldn't be around other players. This was mass chaos, and players wouldn't hesitate to hurt —or worse— others if it meant saving their own skin.
I fell to my knees behind the crates and began to dry heave. Vomit spewed out of my mouth, and chunks caught in my hair and dress. Although it came out digital, it had the same smell as in the real world. It was foul, but a nice touch on Kayaba's part.
All I wanted was to have fun and maybe make some online friends. I didn't ask to be sent to a death game. What if my parents take my NerveGear off? Kayaba said he sent out a warning to the public, but 213 players had died because people close to them didn't heed the warning.
Assuming my parents didn't rip it off, I would probably still die. My only way out of here was conquering the 100th floor. And I have no idea what I'm doing. It would be impossible to reach that far if I could barely take out a boar. I let out a sob, and digital tears began to fall.
"You stupid things." I wiped them off my face. "You aren't even real!"
"Now now, Dearie, what's real and what's not can sometimes be a'bit blurred." I looked up to see the old woman from earlier in the day.
"Well this," I said. "Is pretty fucking blurry. I'm a computerized version of myself, trying to keep my real self alive. Not only that, but I'm talking to script. Or are you code? I don't even know!" Computer science had been my hardest subject in high school, and I quickly purged the information from my mind.
"Eh, who knows." The hexagonal warning signs had cleared and she looked at the sun. "What are ya plans, Dearie?"
What are ya plans, Dearie? I internally mocked her, because hell if I knew. Short term was to stay curled up behind this crate and pray everything was a hoax. I chose a politer option. "I don't know."
"Stayin 'ere doesn't seem very wise, eh? All that commotion goin' on could land'ya in a bad place."
I was angry at her for stating the obvious. Angry because I hadn't thought about it. "Probably."
"So whaddaya think ya should do, Dearie?"
Get the hell out of here, obviously. I could head into the forest towards Horunka. There would be plenty of creatures to kill to gain XP and—I put my face in my knees. "It doesn't matter what I think I should do. I'm too weak to do it."
"It seems as though most of'ya weakness is in ya head," she said.
I glared at her. "Easy for you to say. You won't die when your HP bar hits zero."
"Seems'ta be that way." I could see every crooked tooth as she gave me a warm smile. "I have faith in ya, Dearie. This—" she gestured to a gate in the castle's wall— "is an entrance to tha' sewers. The exit puts ya' out around tha' forest. Foul, but ya' don't want to go back in tha' city ri'now."
"I won't survive." I tried to emphasize the anger in my voice.
"Sure ya' will, Dearie!" Without asking, she grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet.
"I told you I—" I listed why I couldn't, shouldn't, and wouldn't leave these castle's walls. The old woman simply ignored me as she turned to the sewer gate. The small opening was against the exterior wall of the castle, and three long bars blocked players from entering. I added it to my list of protests.
She grabbed the metal bar and swung it out with ease, and I was taken aback by the old woman's strength. But she was a simulated character, so I couldn't really judge by her looks.
"Go on, now! Ya've gotta long journey ahead a'ya!" She ushered me into the sewers despite my protests, then quickly brought the bar down.
"You can't just leave me!" I cried.
"Dearie, if I stand 'ere all day ya'll never go! Good luck for wha' lies ahead." She passed a few bottles through the posts. "And take these 'ealing potions. Ya might accidentally get ya'self in a sticky situation!"
And with that, she turned and left. I called for her to come back, but she didn't acknowledge me. My tears started again, because she was the only kindness I'd known in this game, and she was leaving me. I was now officially alone. My tears got heavier as I realized my ungratefulness.
I needed to overcome my panic and be rational. I attempted to calm myself by inhaling and exhaling slowly. It came out as short bursts, but it seemed to work a bit.
I examined the inside of the sewer. The pipe appeared to be a straight shot, with no interconnecting lines I could turn into and get lost. But the sewer pipes were just that—a sewer. I was knee high in waste that smelled surprisingly real for a game. The smell was incentive enough to start moving.
As I trudged forward into the darkness of the pipes, the circumference became smaller—crouching would be my only option. I unclipped my sword from my back and started crawling on my knees, praying I would reach the end soon. My prayers were answered when I saw a small beam of light shining into the tunnel. I shimmied through the exit, grateful for my small size. If it had been anyone bigger, they wouldn't have been able to fit.
After crawling for so long, extending my legs felt absolutely amazing. I stretched as I observed my surroundings. A mile ahead of me there was the forest, with a few boars leading to it. But I assumed there were much worse things lurking inside the forest. My stomach twisted in knots thinking about the possibilities. If I mess up, even once, I'll be the dead one. I tried to shake the thoughts out of my head as I used my dress to wipe the sewage off my sword. It was time to go.
I panted as I raced through the forest on the first floor. I had wasted no time traveling, always sprinting unless I needed to kill a foe that stood in my path. Thankfully, everything I had encountered was low-level—I didn't know what I'd had done if I encountered a higher-level beast.
It would be possible to reach Horunka around dawn if I kept the same pace, but I was concerned about my energy level. My energy bar was approaching the yellow zone, and the only way to raise it would be if I rested. And I was not about to sleep in this forest, especially by myself. I decided to lean against a tree for a bit—it wasn't like a short break would kill me.
"Famous last words…" I muttered to myself.
After all the running I had done, my hair was a tangled mess. Well, more so than usual. It matted to the back of my neck and face and obstructed my ability to see. I instinctively reached for a hair tie, but then remembered where I was.
"Ugh!" I yelled to no one in particular.
What the hell am I going to do with this mess? My hair even gave me issues in a virtual world.I lightly banged my head against the tree as I contemplated what to do. Before I could overthink it, I grabbed a small section in the front and french braided from my left part down my hairline. I didn't have a hair tie to hold the braid in place, but my hair was so coarse it shouldn't be a problem. If I hadn't dropped the mirror, I could have fixed this. I'm so—
A girls scream echoed through the forest, tearing me from my vain thoughts. Someone else left The Town of Beginnings? Well, that was a stupid thought. There were ten thousand players, it was very likely someone else had left.
She had made the same decision as I had, but it sounded like she was having a very different outcome. I bit my lip, wondering what I should do. Who knew what was happening to the girl? It could be a high-level monster that even ten players combined couldn't defeat. Better one than both of us dead.
Still. The male to female ratio had spiked after Kayaba had revealed our identities. My conscience would be so heavy if I left one of the few females players to die. My head was swamped with conflicting thoughts. Another scream rang out, forcing me to decide. My legs impulsively began to move towards the noise. What the hell am I doing? I had no idea what I was running towards, let alone a plan for when I got there.
I reached my destination and stood behind the shrubbery. The plan was to come in and slay whatever creature was there, thus saving the girl. But I was no hero. I couldn't see the battle from my location, so I didn't know what was attacking her.
I looked to the sky and stomped my foot. What do I do? If there was a higher power, now would be a great time for a miracle. While looking up for an absolute being, I also noticed trees. Trees! I grabbed on to the closest one and scaled the trunk, mentally kicking myself for not thinking of it earlier. I would just view the situation from above, and assess what to do from there. I gracefully leaped between branches, trying to get closer to the scene. Fighting was difficult in this game, but climbing was extremely easy.
The first thing I noticed was that there was not one, but two girls. The first was cowering in the back of the fight and not contributing. When she shrieked, I knew where the screaming had been coming from. The other girl was an axe wielder, and she was attacking with everything she had. Things for her were looking grim—her HP bar was in the orange, and I could tell she was exhausted from fighting.
I froze when I realized how strong the creature was. There had been many dire wolves in this forest. But this particular one was mutated, and was about two times the size of a normal dire wolf. It also walked on its hind legs rather than all four paws. The monster's HP bar was five times larger than normal—it was beyond my skill level. I wouldn't be able to help the girls. Even if I contributed, we would still lose.
Although it broke my heart, I had to leave. I adjusted my position on the branch, trying to turn around. The branch let out a loud crack and fell to the ground, taking me with it. I had landed in the middle of a battle I could not win.
