Chapter 3

"No logout button?" Shun said in mild disbelieve, "What MMO doesn't have a logout button?" Kirito followed. "This one apparently, but it is still strange." Shun said. "Look closer" Kirito said. "No, It's not here" Klein muttered. "Maybe in options?" shun asked, "Why would it be there?" Kirito responded, "Where else do we look!?" shun shot back, opening the menu. Sure enough there was no logout button. "Bottom of the main menu…" Kirito stopped mid-sentence looking at his own menu. "What?!" Kirito exclaimed. "See what I mean?" Klein said. Shun looking through the entire menu options, system settings, game settings, audio, "Why would it be there?" Shun thought to himself. "Well, it's the first day out of Beta, there's bound to be some bugs." Klein stated. "But, it was there in the beta, I saw people logout!" Shun stated, "Why would it be gone in the full version?" "Regardless, I'm sure the server people are freaking out." Klein said. "In a moment you'll be too." Kirito told Klein, "It's 5:25…" "MY TERIYAKI MAYO PIZZA AND GINGER ALE!" Klein yelled. Shun was confused, "Teriyaki mayo pizza?" shun asked bewildered. "THE PIZZA I ORDERED, I'M NOT GONNA GET IT!" Klein shouted again sadness clearly in his voice. "Okay, who puts mayo on pizza?" shun asked. Klein stood up, his mouth gaping. "You haven't done that before?" Klein asked, sadness suddenly gone. "No, I stick with the classics dude, Pepperoni, Bacon, Ham, Supreme, You know." Shun listed. "Anyway," he continued, "we should call the GM." he finished. "I tried but nothing's happening." Klein said. "Is there any other way to logout?" Shun asked, looking at Kirito. Kirito looked around, thinking up an answer. "No, if a player wants to log themselves out, they have to go through the menu." He finally said. "That's nuts." Klein shouted exasperatedly. "What about just taking it off?" Shun asked. Both Kirito and Klein looked at him. Klein responded with grunt while crossing his arms. "How would you go about doing that?" He asked. "Well I could open a link to my computer with my web cam, then, I could ask someone to remove it from there." Shun responded. It was Kirito's turn to respond, "You can't." he stated simply, it could damage your brain or kill you." Kirito finished solemnly. "Dammit." Was all shun could say. Shun stood gazing off into the distance, thinking about ways to logout without killing himself. Shun couldn't tell what Kirito was thinking but Klein was busy shouting words.

Twilight soon fell as the three friends were still stumped on how to get out. Shun was still focused on his thoughts just barely listening to the conversation Kirito was having with Klein.

"I told you, there's no emergency logout in the manual either." Kirito told Klein. "You're kidding?" Klein followed, Kirito shook his head. Meanwhile, Shun was still coming to dead ends, everything ended with him mentally disabled, paralyzed from the waist down or dead. Shun shook his head at the thought of being spoon fed mushy baby food for the rest of his life. "So we wait for them to fix the bug?" Klein asked Kirito. "Or for someone to take The NerveGear off of us." Kirito said. Shun turned back towards them, "But you said that could damage us, or even kill us!" Shun shouted. "But our families don't know that." Kirito stated. Shun grunted before turning back towards the horizon. "But I live alone." Klein stated. The clouds moved in front of the sun. "What about you guys?" Klein asked, curiosity striking him.

Shun was the first to answer. "I live with my parents; I have a four year old sister, a twenty year old sister and a possible brother on the way." He said grimly. Kirito was next, "I have a mom and a sister, so I think they'll notice that I'm not there at dinnertime." He said sadly. Klein ran at Kirito, grasping him on the shoulders firmly. "How old is your little sister?!" Klein said quickly. Kirito looked shocked, "She's on s sports team, and she hates games." He stated being pushed back by Klein, "She has nothing to do with people like us." Kirito stated trying to detour the conversation. "That doesn't mat-" Was all Klein could say before receiving a swift kick to the groin from behind, coming from Shun, then another from Kirito sending him flying back. Klein Instinctively grabbed his crotch while groaning, before standing up "Right, it doesn't hurt." He muttered. "Careful there Romeo, just because it doesn't hurt in game doesn't mean it won't hurt in real life." Shun stated cracking his knuckles. "More importantly, don't you find this weird?" Shun continued. "Sure, I do," Klein said, but it's just a bug." "It isn't just a bug" Kirito said lowly. "If we can't logout of the game, that'll pose a serious problem for the game's future." He again stated lowly. "Come to think of it, you're right." Shun said. "If they wanted to, they could shut down the servers and log everyone out, but they haven't." Shun said pacing back and forth his face serious. Suddenly a bell started to toll. "Bells?!" Shun asked bewildered as Kirito and Klein gasped in unison. The bells continued to toll as the three friends stood in silence. Suddenly a bright blue light appeared below Klein and Kirito slowly enveloping them in its blinding light, "Guys?!" was all shun could say as they disappeared. Shun looked around frantically hunting for sign of where they went. Seeing more players disappear within the same light, his heart started to pound faster, "What the hell is happening?" he stated. Hearing a shimmering sound, Shun looked down only to see the same blue light appear beneath him. "Oh, FU-"

He then disappeared.

Hearing the same bell again but only louder than the last time, Shun looked around. As if on cue with the bell, more players arrived at wherever he was. "Syren!" Shun turned his head to where he believed he heard his name. Noticing Klein waving his arm high, Shun ran towards him seeing Kirito standing beside him.

Reaching them Shun immediately asked, "Where are we?" The town of beginnings" Kirito said. "How did we get here?" Shun asked. "A forced teleport." Kirito answered again. "Shun looked bewildered, who has that kind of power to teleport every single player in SAO?

Shun was about to ask, when someone suddenly shouted, "Look, in the sky!" turning his head towards the source of the voice then up to the sky, shun noticed a small red thing flashing. "Warning?" he thought, "What the hell?" The warning sign suddenly shot out more signs all with what sounded like a piano was crescendoing. Soon, the whole Sky was filled with blood red flashing signs illuminating the courtyard with a red hue. Shun stood silently, heart racing with amazement and terror. Suddenly the sky started to ooze… blood? "What is that?" Klein asked to no one as the blood started to take a shape. Seconds later the blood formed a figure, a heavily cloaked man whose face was covered by his hood leaving a threatening black void where his face should be. "A game master." Someone in the crowd said. "If so, that's one hell of an entrance!" Shun shouted, earning a grin from some of the players in the crowd. "Attention players," the figure began speaking, Shun was shocked at how deep the voice was, "Welcome to my world." It continued. "My world?" Kirito stated. "My name is Kayaba Akihiko," it boomed, as of this moment, I am the only one who can control this world." It boomed again. Murmurs quickly ran through the crowd, "That's him?" It can't be." I'm sure you've already noticed that the logout button is missing from the main menu." Kayaba stated. "But this is not a defect, or as you would say a bug, in this game." He stated. "Not a bug?!" Shun thought, "What whack job doesn't put a logout button in a game, ON PURPOSE?!" Shun shouted towards Kayaba. The figure turned slightly and seemed to look directly at Shunkei. Instantly, Shun felt a strong pressure force him to his knees, shivering he felt his HP slightly drain. "It is a feature of Sword Art Online." Kayaba stated, slight annoyance in his voice, "A- A feature?" Klein asked. "you cannot logout of SAO yourselves." Kayaba said, "And no one on the outside can shut down or remove the NerveGear." Shun started to feel sick he felt like throwing up, the might of Kayaba's avatar was scary, it felt like a thousand weights had been dropped on him but nevertheless, he kept listening. "Should this be attempted," Kayaba stated, "The transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit a powerful microwave, destroying your brain, thus ending your life." Kayaba finished while black smoke emitted from inside his hood. "What?!" Shun gasped while murmurs started up from the crowd again. Looking to his left, Shun noticed a couple start towards the nearest exit, muttering something about leaving, see the boy bang against an invisible wall, shun decided he had seen enough and slowly stood up. "What's he talking about, he's got to be nuts, Right, Kirito?" Klein said to Kirito. "He is right that the transmitters' signals work just like microwaves." Kirito said, "If the safety were disabled it could fry a brain," Kirito finished. "Then if we cut the power…" Klein started, but Shun interrupted him, "If we cut the power it wouldn't matter, the NerveGear has its own backup battery." Shun said grimly. Klein looked at Kirito then Shun before shaking his head, "But this is crazy, What's going on?!" Klein shouted. Shun shook his head grunting loudly. "Unfortunately, several players' families and friends have ignored this warning, and have attempted to remove the NerveGear." Kayaba stated, "And as a result Two hundred and thirteen players are gone forever, from both Aincrad and the real world." Shun stood in utter disbelieve. "Two hundred and thirteen?" Kirito gasped, taking the words right out of Shuns' mouth. "I don't believe it!" Klein said shaking his head. "As you can see," Kayaba said pulling up many screen each showing different local even national news organizations. Shun looked between each of them, FOX, CNN, BBC.

This was happening all over the world…

"Thus you can assume the danger of a NerveGear being removed is now minimal." Kayaba Stated. Shun however was transfixed on one screen, it showed a brown haired, clearly middle aged woman hugging a younger girl who was crying.

"Mom, Kimiko?" Shun gasped, grabbing the attention of several players around him. "that's your mom, Syren?" Kirito silently said. Shun, Taking shaky breaths nodded his head. "I hope you will relax and attempt to clear the game." Kayaba boomed. Shun clenched his fist, Kirito did the same causing both of their knuckles to turn white. "But I want you to remember this clearly, There is no longer any method to revive someone within the game." Kayaba said. A sudden chill ran down shuns spine, "No way to revive someone?" he thought. "If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be lost forever." Kayaba stated. This revelation caused Shun to release his fist. "And simultaneously, The NerveGear will fry your brain." Kayaba said lowly. Shun gasped, images of getting killed flooded his mind his sisters being alone with no brother dying a meaningless death all because of some bastard in a game. "No…" Shun said to himself, "I refuse," he said, "I will not die here, I will make it out, I will…I will see my family again." He vowed to himself. Kirito looked at Shun unsure of what he was saying. "There is only one means of escape." Kayaba started, "To finish the game." Shun finished silently. Kayaba opened a map, which showed the entirety of Aincrad. "You are presently on the lowest floor," He said. "If you make your way through the dungeon, and defeat the Floor Boss, you may advance to the next level." He stated, "Defeat the final boss on floor One Hundred, and you will clear the game." He stated Murmurs ran through the crowd again, but Shunkei didn't care, his thoughts were with something, "One Hundred floors?" he thought, shaking his head slightly. "Clear all one hundred floors?" Klein said, That's impossible." Shun looked at him, "Not impossible, just not likely." He told him, After all, all video games get harder as you move up, if a game had only sixteen levels it would be fine, but one hundred? "The Beta testers never even made it that high!" Klein shouted towards Kayaba, who seemed to ignore him. "Finally, I have added a present from me to your item storage." Kayaba said. "Please see for yourselves." Shun immediately opened his storage. "Mirror?" Shun and Kirito said in unison. Clicking it, a small mirror appeared floating in midair; Kirito grabbed it as it started to fall. Not noticing Klein did the same. Klein was instantly engulfed in light again. "Klein?!" Shun and Kirito said. He then disappeared. Next Kirito was engulfed by the light, followed by everyone else in the crowd. One by one they all disappeared until only Shun was left having not taken out his mirror.

Shun stood alone in the now empty courtyard, When Kayaba spoke to him directly. "So you're The Wielder of The Three Swords?" he stated. Shun stood completely still, afraid of what might happen. "I hope you realize how much of a problem it is that you found those swords." He boomed as black smoke billowed out of his hood. Shun tensed up, if his hair wasn't already silver, it would be now. Utter terror flowed through Shun, he felt a very cold chill go down his spine, it felt like someone was freezing his back. "I should kill you, but I won't." Kayaba said. Shun still didn't dare to move. "Because of you, this little game suddenly became more interesting, so I shall let you live and I will allow your weapons to be used." Kayaba boomed, opening the main menu, and then the game's master directory "May I see your swords?" he asked in a voice that would come from a nightmare. Shunkei, frozen stiff nodded slightly and opened his menu. Pulling up item storage Shun quickly equipped his Sword of Seals, as soon as he did it floated off of his lower back and into Kayaba's giant hand. Shun did the same with Ragnell and The Falchion and The Shield of Seals, each floating off of Shunkei and into Kayaba's hand. Kayaba instantly crushed the three swords and inserted the pixels that were left of the swords into the game's Directory. Shun stood in silence, his best chance of survival were gone, but suddenly his item menu opened and there were the three swords, as if nothing had happened to them. "I have taken the liberty of adding the swords to the game's main coding but have limited them to only one copy of them, no one else can receive these swords, not from a monster drop, a quest or, from a treasure chest, you have the only copies of these swords." Kayaba boomed. Shun was ecstatic, he alone would wield these and no one else would. "But, know this Shunkei," Kayaba continued, "Some will persecute you for having a sword that is not obtainable, they will call you a hacker and a cheater." He finished. Shuns' heart sank, images of Kirito and Klein turning their backs on him flooded his mind, he couldn't bear the thought of being alone in a death game. "You should use these swords only in extreme danger; here I shall supplement you with a basic one." Kayaba boomed. Suddenly a fourth sword appeared in his inventory, "A basic Silver Long Sword should do, its durability is below average but it speed, attack, and defensive capabilities are above average." Kayaba stated. Shun equipped it and swung it noticing its slight heaviness, it felt nice and even in his hands. "Ragnell is a two handed sword, but if your strength is high you can wield it, and if your strength is high and your skill is high enough, you can wield it with one hand." Kayaba stated, "But, you'll have to find a two handed sword on your own, I've already given you too much as it is." He said quietly looking down.

"Why me?" Shun said. "Kayaba looked at Shun again. "I sense a strong will inside of you, something that would be fun to experiment with." Kayaba stated matter-of-factly. "Now, use your mirror, and join the others." He boomed. Shunkei did as he was told and pulled the mirror out of his inventory, looking into it he noticed the blue light coming out of it shun stared into it, fully prepared for what was coming. "Good luck…" was the last thing he heard from Kayaba before losing consciousness.

Standing in the middle of the same courtyard with the same red hue to it next to a girl with brown hair, Shun scanned the courtyard knowing what he was looking for. Shun found it quickly, and tall red headed man with a bandanna. Running over, shun noticed something different, "Am I shorter?" he thought pushing through the crowd, looking down at his body he noticed that the muscle mass,. As he reached Klein he knew immediately that something was off. Klein's nice, even beard was replaced with an unshaven one, and Kirito… "My god, what just happened?" was all shun could say as he reached the duo. "Syren?" they both said in unison. "What?" he responded. "Look at yourself." Kirito said, pointing at the mirror in his hand. Shun did so and was shocked!

Gone were his silver straight locks of hair but in their stead were his dirty blonde straight hair the barely touched his shoulders with small bangs sweeping over his eyes. His eyes were now a deep forest green while his face didn't change much at all. "WHAT. THE. FUCK?!" He shouted, grabbing the attention of a small portion of the crowd. Shunkei looked at Klein then Kirito, "So this happened to you to?" He asked. When both answered with a nod shun sighed heavily. "Great, just FUCKING GREAT!" shun shouted putting great emphasis on the swear. "How does the game even know what we look like?" Shun asked angrily. "Well," Kirito began, "The NerveGear covers your head in with a high density signaling device." Kirito said. "So it can see what your face looks like, right." Shun added, finishing the explanation. "But our height and body shape, that shouldn't be covered by the sensor, right?" Shun said. When we first put on The NerveGear it had us calibrate it, right?" Klein said. "You had to touch your body all over." Klein said giving an example. "Mine was already calibrated; I got mine from a friend who let me use his when he didn't get into the beta." Shun said. Kirito looked at Shun, "You were in the beta?" He asked. "Kind of, yeah…" Shun said, trailing off at the end. "But anyway," he yelped, trying to change the subject, "The game got our height and body shape from the calibration sequence…" He finished. "Seems that way…" Kirito said lowly. "But…But…"Klein started, "Why do all this?"

Kirito pointed towards Kayaba who was now closer than he was before. "I'm sure he'll tell us." Kirito said. Seeing him again, Shun tensed slightly, noticing several other players shiver, but instead, Shun felt a sudden warmth come over him, as if Kayaba was telling him "Do not be afraid, you have the power to save everyone."

"Right now, you're probably wondering, Why?" Kayaba said, Why would I, Kayaba Akihiko, Developer of The NerveGear and Sword Art Online, do all this?"

"Damn right I'm wondering!" Shun shouted earning shouts of agreement and whoops from the crowd. Suddenly a cool wind blew hard that instantly shut everyone up. "My goal has already been achieved." Kayaba boomed. "I created Sword Art Online for ONE reason…" he claimed.

"To create this world and intervene in it." "Damn you, Kayaba!" Kirito said silently, clenching his fists tightly. "And now, it is complete." Kayaba stated. Shun stood next to Kirito, watching him shake with rage, Shun thought "Why am I not doing the same, I understand what he's feeling, but I'm not doing what he's doing."

"This ends the tutorial for the official launch of Sword Art Online. Kayaba stated, "Good Luck, Players." He finally said he faded away. The red sky clicked away into a regular twilight lit sky as the red hue disappeared. The courtyard was silent as everyone besides shun stood or collapsed in utter disbelief.

Shun stood, his eyes closed his head towards the ground.

"This is real," Shun heard Kirito say silently, "The genius who created The NerveGear and created a completely virtual world, I admired him, so I can tell," Kirito said while Shun listened intensely. "Everything he just said," Kirito continued Shun joined in, "Is completely and utterly true." Kirito looked at shun without moving and continued, "If I die in this game, I will die in real life!" Shun repeated the monologue word for word in unison beside Kirito, "IF I die in this game," He started, "I'L GO DOWN KICKING AND SCREAMING!" Shun said with a low growl.

Suddenly a small scream broke the silence. "No!" a small girl screamed. Suddenly the crowd roared to life screaming "LET ME OUT, LET ME OUT!" noticing a small girl with brown hair sitting on the ground in shock. Shun started to move towards her. He instinctively grabbed her arm and pulled her up. She didn't even respond as if she was in a comatose state. "Hey!" Shun yelled at the girl who still only looked at the mirror as if wanting to be sucked into it. Shun, breathing heavily, heaved the girl into a bridal carrying style, not even noticing that he dropped his own mirror in the process. Shun ran back towards Kirito and Klein as the crowd continued to be in an uproar. Kirito, walking behind Klein whispered in his ear which caused Klein to nod. Kirito then walked over to Shun, "Follow me." He said, not caring to take notice of the girl in his arms. Before Shun could respond, Kirito broke out into a sprint, running for the closest exit.

Minutes later, they had reached a dimly lit street with Shun still carrying the girl who had fallen asleep, nuzzling into his chest, snoring lightly. Kirito started to speak, "Listen to me," he started, "I'm heading to the next village right now, Come with me." He said. Shun and Klein stood in silence. "If what he said is true," Kirito added, pulling up the main menu then his map, "Then the only way to survive in this world is by making yourselves as strong as possible." He said. Shun nodded, Klein did the same. Kirito, Acknowledging their understanding continued. "The resources within a virtual MMORPG, The money and EXP we can earn, are limited." He added grimly. "So, the fields surrounding the town of beginnings will be hunted clean." Shun said. "Right, to do this efficiently, we should head to the next village now." Kirito said, "I know all the paths and dangerous areas, even at level one, I can get there safely." He finished. Klein was next to talk, "But…you know…" he started, "I spent a whole night in line to buy this with my friends from the other game, They're out there, in the plaza, I can't leave them." He said sadly. Shun knew what he wanted to do, he completely understood. Kirito looked down at the ground sadly.

"If it were just Klein and Syren…but one more?" Kirito thought. "Sorry, I can hardly ask you for anything else, can I?" Klein said, sighing lightly. "So don't worry about me, go to the next village." He added with his hands on his hips. "I used to run a guild in the last game," Klein continued giving thumbs up, "I can use what you taught me to get by!" he said happily. Shun piped in breaking his silence, "I can't go either, I have to be sure that she is all right." He said motioning with his head towards the girl in his arms, "But once I make sure she can handle herself…I'll come join you!" Shun said happily. Kirito looked down, sadness slowly filling him. "All right, then let's say goodbye here." Kirito said walking away from the two. "If something happens, send me a message." "Will do." Klein said while Shun nodded. "Okay, goodbye, Klein, Syren…" Kirito said dejectedly. Shun looked at his feet, unsure if he made the right choice. "Kirito!" Klein suddenly shouted. Kirito stopped, Klein grunted and Kirito kept walking.

"You were actually pretty cute." Klein said, earning a surprised look from Kirito and Shun. "What?!" Shun said. "That's my type." Klein finished. Kirito turned around smiling, "And that unkempt face of yours suits you ten times better!" he said back, teasing Klein. "And Syren, I always thought you were a blonde!" Kirito shot at Shun, causing Shun to sigh heavily. "Well, what are you waiting for, get out of here, Baby face!" he said jokingly. Kirito nodded walked away.

Shun looked at Klein who started back the way they came. Shun turned to follow him. As he caught up to him he lightly kicked him to get his attention. "So, where you headed now Klein?" Shun asked. "Back to the main plaza, going to find my friends," He said, "What about you?" he asked Shun, taking notice of the girl in Shuns arms. "Probably to an inn or my house, gonna let her sleep there for a while until she can handle herself then go after Kirito maybe." He answered, shifting the girl in his arms. Klein nodded as they reached a crossroad. Looking to his left, and noticing a small sign that read "Housing district" Shun looked at Klein. "This is my stop, See you later dude!" Shun said to Klein as he started down the road. Klein smiled and started back towards the main plaza.

One hour later, Shun found his house, "Open!" he said quietly and the door, recognizing his voice slowly opened the door. Stepping inside, he noticed an alarm going off. "Unidentified intruder, Is the Player: Lisbeth allowed entrance?" a loud female voice boomed.

"Yeah, yeah, calm down Serenity, she's allowed." Shun said quietly. The alarm turned off as the voice said more quietly, "Disabling countermeasures." "Sheesh, this house was expensive for a good reason, Full A.I. and Anti thiefing capabilities?" Shun said as he heaved the girl up the stairs. "I'm glad I have money." He said gloating to himself. He soon reached the master bedroom which had a huge king size bed, with a red blanket covering it, a brown headboard and pure white cloud shaped pillows. He set the girl down on the left side, covering her with the blanket as he undressed into his sleeping wear and climbed in too, trying to be as far away from her as possible without fall out of the bed. As he lay looking up at his ceiling which had a small skylight situated in it, he noticed how real everything looked, the stars, the way the moon shimmered with light, he felt amazed. But, all too soon the feelings of dread came back as flashbacks of hours before flowed into his mind again. Seeing Kayaba's dark figure, Giving him the blessings of the three swords. "Why?" he silently said to himself, "Why me?" he said as he drifted off to sleep…

Why indeed…

Well chapter three trumps chapter 2's lengths i think... i decided to show some character development and stuff, Why Shun still has his swords even after Kayaba's speech so yeah and obviously Lisbeth is here. No real action here but there won't be for a while but next chapter will feature a lot more comedy and the chapter after that will feature some action, i already have it planned out!

Read, Eat, Sleep, Review!

-EternalEsper995