Finally, today is the day. As I look at my computer screen, I see many people screaming and hollering on the MMO news stream. The blond newscaster next to the rowdy crowd, wearing a red silk dress, slowly lifted her microphone and said
"Today is the day folks! It is November 6, 2022, and it is not any ordinary day-" A man entered the camera screen and interrupts the lady
"Of course it's not! It is the official launch day of Sword Art Online!". A cheer suddenly broke out again, and I can see the excitement in the crowd. The lady shook off her embarrassment and continued
"That is right! Next to me are the-"
I exited the screen and looked at the digital clock hanging above my desk.
"12:58 pm" I murmured. " it is almost time"
I turned around in my computer chair and looked at my bed. There I can see my neatly tucked blanket and clean pillow. On top of the pillow lie my key to another world. A world where I can be free of this reality, and not be reminded of the tragedy that happened to me years ago. The nervegear will take me away. I lay on my bed and slipped the helmet on. It is exactly 12:59. My heart is pounding as I was about to enter the world of Sword Art Online. Richard knew what I was going to do today, so he promised not to disturb me until 3 when I finish playing. I saw the clock hit 1 exactly in the screen of my nervegear, and smirked. The interface was
already on standby and only needed my consent to enter.
"Link Start!" I said enthusiastically, as the vision of my ceiling and fan turned into a white background with rainbow rays flying past me. Blue circles that confirmed my status and identity soon lined up on the right. The interface then told me to enter my login and password, which I did with ease. Finally, a white screen clouded my vision, but when I blinked again, a blue light surrounded me. As the light slowly fade, a game interface was in front of me. It was not connected to any machinery, but it was rather an augmented reality interface. It was the character create screen. I quickly flipped through the options and picked what I thought was decent. After all, appearance in games doesn't really matter much. I then pressed on the option "done" and confirmed my appearance. I had brown hair that curved to one side. My eyes were black but my physical shape was about the same as in real life. Once I pressed "done" another blue light enveloped me and when it faded I was teleported to a magnificent scene. I looked around and I was standing in the middle of a circular plaza filled with players donning all types of weapons, npc's welcoming the players, and shops occupied with your typical equipment needs. Behind
me was a huge pedestal that stood at the center of the area. Along the walls of the plaza were exits and pathways that lead out of the plaza. The buildings had a sand color and were not too tall. I then examined the players around and I must say, the diversity in weapons are phenomenal. I saw one guy with a curved blade like mine, and another holding a spear and shield. Aside from the amazing realism of this game, the amount of skills and weaponry is second on my "wow"
list.
Currently, I am wearing an armor pad that is given to each beginner and a weapon of my choice, which is a curved blade. It resembles somewhat of a katana. The sleekness, the sharp edge, and
maneuverability of it appealed to me. After all, my mother's side of the family were a well known clan that bred some of the most skilled samurais in the feudal era. Anyway, I always try to be the agility type in games so I picked leather gauntlets, gloves, and boots for my other equipments so that it won't hinder my movements. As I walk along the streets of the Town of Beginnings, I notice that everybody is in town and no one is out in the field to hunt. That is when it hits me. There are 10,000 players in this game, and the fields are bound to be occupied soon. I must get a head start
before hunting parties claim all of the good training spawns. Snapping out of my daydreams, I kicked from the ground and started sprinting toward the boar fields. I bumped into a few players but I apologized sarcastically as always.
"Sorry." I murmured
Finally when I was there, I was relieved that the field is filled with wild boars. I took a moment to collect my thoughts and looked at the beautiful scenery. The sky was bright orange as the day hits dawn, and the river reflecting the light seemed to glitter brilliantly. I looked around and spotted a boar near me. I gave a slight smirk and approached it silently.
*I wonder if there is a sneak system here?* I asked myself. Of course as many gamers know, the sneak system works when a player or monster sneaks on a target from behind without being notice. Then when you strikes, you have a chance of doing bonus damage when the target is hit. This play style is a good fit for me rather than than charging in head first. I crouched and slowly approached the boar who was munching on some grass. I walked stealthily as my left side is facing the boar. Master Hayato, my training master in real life, taught me that the correct form of sneaking is to turn your body slightly and crouch. Walk with only the sides of your feet and make no sound. Coming from a privileged family, I was interested in many types of
studies and martial arts. After the incident, I aimlessly traveled the world for 5 years and learned many things. I happened to cross by Master Hayato in the mountains as a result of
wanting to learn survival techniques. He taught me how to survive in harsh conditions, and most importantly, the art of ninjutsu. Of course I am not a master, but decent enough to get my way around a boar. I slowly draw my sword from the sheath when I was 4 yards away
from the boar. I assumed the battoujutsu position. My right side facing the boar, my knees bent, and my hands on the handle.
"you must be patient and find an opening" I can remember my Uncle saying. My uncle was one of the few relatives in my mother's side that kept the ways of the samurai, so when I went on hiatus for 5 years, I came to him and asked him to train me. The boar right now was looking up at the sky, but I can't strike yet due to the fact that it can turn its head at anytime. I need to wait until he feeds again. My hands gripped the sword handle tightly as I became impatient. Sweat started dripping from my head and trickled down my black clothes. When the boar lowered its head to feed, I bent lower and kicked off the ground. Grass were ripped from the ground by the massive force. The boar was now readying to bite off the blades of grass. When he did so
I was still mid air, pulling out my sword. As my blade was pulled out of the scabbard, a red light emanated from it. It let out a slight *woo*. I immediately struck the boar in a horizontal slash,
stretching from it hind legs to its cheek. I am now 1 yard in front of the boar, with my sword in front of me and my knees close to the ground. The boar let out a squeal and fell to the ground. It seemed sneaking bonuses really are available in this game. A window popped up and showed the amount of experience I get in my overall skills and the amount of kol I get. I sheathed back my sword and walked north to where there are more boars and even wolves.
The Announcement
As the swordsman donning black armor and a curve blade finish killing his 20th boar, an entity came out of a bush just 10 meters away. It slowly approached him and jumped from the ground. As it was ready to strike Kishi, he immediately turned around and slashed at it.
As the sword slowly cut from the entity's shoulder to left ear, it is revealed that the entity was a player.
"Argh!" screamed the attacker.
He fell to the ground, held his face and looked back up at Kishi as he sheathed back his curved blade.
"Tell me, why did you attack me?" Kishi asked as he looked down upon
the player in a menacing glare.
The attacker widened his pupils, and noticed that the swordsman donning black is one that should not be trifled around with. Trying to save face he snickered
"Hehehe...a noob like you caught me...not bad"
"Well I could hear you from a mile away" The swordsman replied.
As if his gut was screaming at him to notice that the attacker is not a new
comer, Kishi murmured "beta tester"
*clap clap clap*
Kishi turned around to see 3 armed players behind him. One with a plump build, red long hair, and holding a two handed axe. One with a body of a stick, blue spiky hair, and wielding what looked like a rapier. Finally, the one that was clapping was tall and lean, donning a two handed longsword. His dark brown hair covered one of his eyes, while the other eye looked like it came from a rabid animal. It looked like he was the leader. He stopped clapping and smirked.
"This noobie is not as bad as he seems" said the leader in an arrogant
voice " no one has ever caught our friend Meister here in the act"
His heart pounded. Kishi once again grabbed the handle of his blade and got in a stance. He gritted his teeth and stared at the leader with an intent to kill.
" Woah watch out now, this puppy has got teeth" said the player with a plump build. They seem to notice my actions and drew their weapons as a response.
"Now, before we completely obliterate you and take your items, you are
now in our debt" the leader explained "From now on, you have to pay us
10,000 Kol per week or else we will harass you until you quit this game. Either pay us, or pay us and get robbed of your hard earned experience points" They all snickered. The bullied swordsman gave off the most demonic smile at the leader. This experience has taken him back to when he was 8, in a dark alley with his parents.
It was after Kishi's birthday dinner, and they were walking together to their car. Richard had the day off so Kishi's father, Kurono Ryoichi, had to take up the wheel. As they approach the end of the alley, a dark entity appeared, wielding a sharp knife. His eyes was full of desperation and envy. Demanding for all of their belongings, Kishi's father heroically refused. The figure dashed toward his father and stabbed him through the abdomen. Soon his mother stood in front of
Kishi and said
"Don't take my son"
The mugger smiled, showing his hideous teeth and evil red eyes. He rushed toward Kishi's mother, Yuuki, and slashed her neck. The killer went into a frenzy and repeatedly stabbed both
of the now dead philanthropists. Kishi was crying, and the attacker slowly turned his neck and targeted Kishi. He slowly lifted up his knife dripping in blood. Kishi saw it and stopped crying; something snapped. As the killer approached him, he stealthily knocked his leg
over. As the killer fell and dropped his knife, Kishi picked it up and shoved it in his neck. As if using a knife was his second nature, he dragged it across the attacker's throat; instantly killing him.
Memories rushed through Kishi as his conscience is now back at the situation at hand.
Him surrounded in a circle by 4 rogue SAO players. The 4 muggers then pushed from the ground and pulled their weapons above their heads. As all of their massive weapons fell down on the
swordsman, like lightning, he dashed in between the fat and skinny mugger. He pulled out his sword, which now glows an even brighter red. As soon as the attackers struck the empty ground, their weapons were stuck in the dirt. Giving them a big opening. Kishi then gave off another murderous look and entered the circle again. Slashing all of their necks carefully, he exited the circle and sheathed his blade. They all fell and their bodies broke off into tiny glass like
materials and disappeared.
"phew". Kishi sighed.
He looked at the interface window to see what he received as a result and exited it. Suddenly, Kishi felt a heavy force come down on his shoulder and fell to the ground. His health bar slowly drop into the red zone and when he looked up, it was the rogue leader of the group.
"shit" he whispered
"It is always smart to bring a healing crystal on you" The leader said. Laughing maniacally, he pulled his sword back up and brought it upon the downed swordsman.
"Something doesn't feel right" Kishi thought "Why is my cursor red?
The rogue leader is red also"
The blade of the rogue leader's sword shined in the afternoon light and approached Kishi's head. When it finally got to the tip of his hair, a blue light appeared. It covered both of the players, and both of them vanished from thin air. They were both transported to the town of beginnings. The rogue leader stumbled as his sword finally fell, striking air. Kishi was 10 meters away from him looking around to see what was going on
"What is this?" said a female player.
"Is this a forced teleport?" yelled out some other player.
Suddenly, warning panels appeared in the sky and blood dripped down, forming a figure in red robe. The explanation of this death game has begun.
A/N: Please leave any critiques, compliments, and etc. I would appreciate it! I want to improve my writing so I can bring you more awesome adventures. Suggestions on the plot is welcomed too :)
