Sword Art Online: The Red Baron

Book 1: The Untold Hero

Chapter 1: Happy Birthday!

May 6, 2022

The time has come at last! SAO is finally on its way to perfection! Those are the thoughts of a young Joshua Altman who is earnestly following in his late father's footsteps. Initially, his youth and inexperience in the workforce has made countless members of Kayaba's development crew skeptical about his ability to keep up with the creation of such an enormous project. However, Josh's brilliance in advanced computer programming as well as his sense in organization allowed him to gain that respect as a game developer from the crew members that had cared for him deeply thanks to his young age and his father's reputation. As much as he was grateful for the support that his co-workers had given him, Josh was more concerned about pleasing his boss and family friend, Mr. Kayaba Akihiko.

Josh had never forgotten his 14th birthday. It was perhaps his most important birthday for it was the turning point of his life. People would question why a 14 year-old kid would work at a top notch gaming company instead of going to school. However extreme circumstances in his unfortunate childhood, caused an exception to be made. Overall, the day was pretty normal and nothing special happened. There were a lot of "Happy Birthdays" from his co-workers and Kayaba ordered a cake in time for lunch, but other than that, it was just an ordinary day. Still, Josh had an amazing time at work feeling proud of the big accomplishments he and the development crew have made up to this point. It was the end of a hard day's work and Josh had finished up an important section of programming for the Cardinal System. Most of his co-workers were already heading out the door when Kayaba motioned Josh to report in his office. Josh then acknowledged him and said his good-byes as he made his way over to the office to see what Kayaba needed.

"I'm sorry for the wait Sir," Josh said politely. "Is there something that you need?" His light brown eyes fixed on Kayaba as he stood in front of his desk.

"Ah good, you're here. Please take a seat while I go grab something important," Kayaba replied as he stepped out and into the closet outside of his office. He then came back a moment later carrying a well-wrapped box with a bow on top. "Happy birthday my good sir."

Kayaba handed the gift over to Josh who gave him a not-so-worthy look. "Oh Mr. Kayaba, you didn't have to-"

"You deserve it Josh," Kayaba interrupted him with a big smile on his face. "It's your birthday and besides, your hard work is really making this game better every day."

Josh gratefully accepted the gift and opened it carefully revealing a brand new Nerve Gear that looked as if it hadn't hit the stores yet. "No way! Is this one of the rumored 1st Edition Premium Nerve Gears?"

Kayaba chuckled out loud. "Not only is this a 1st Edition Premium, it's also one of the first ones ever made aside from the prototypes!" He answered as he grabbed a tote bag. Josh's face beamed with happiness.

"That's incredible!" Josh praised out loud. "But what about your Nerve Gear, Sir? Don't you have one?"

Kayaba maintained his proud smile. "I made my own special Nerve Gear apart from the ones I will be selling," He explained. "I will also be sending 2 more Nerve Gears with the final product to both of your siblings as a gift from me as well."

Josh's eyes widened. "Mr Kayaba, are you sure about this? I mean, my Nerve Gear was expensive enough. Are you seriously planning to send me 2 more with the games included?"

"Of course, Josh," Kayaba replied as he turned around to face Josh again. "Like I said earlier, you have worked so hard in your father's place. Believe it or not, your father would've given your little sister and brother a full set as well." Kayaba paused as he opened the door to the development room. Josh and Kayaba walked out and made their way towards the main lobby. "Your siblings are looking forward to the game, am I right?"

"Yes of course," Josh answered back. "Elizabeth and Ken always enjoyed hearing the updates I had. They'll be ecstatic when they see the Nerve Gears in the mail."

"I'm pleased to hear that," Kayaba concluded. He then sat on one of the seats in the waiting room of the lobby and motioned Josh to sit next to him. "I also have another present for you."

Josh gave him a confused look. "Another present Sir? What more could you give me?"

"I would like to personally invite you to the closed beta for SAO," Kayaba started again. "I will even pay you for all the hours you logged for the test."

Josh beamed at that invitation. "You really mean that? I really appreciate it." Suddenly, it hit him. "Wait a moment, what will you be doing while I'm logging hours? How will I know that you're hiding something from me?"

Kayaba retained his smile but also hid a tiny smirk on his face. "It's true that the closed beta test is practically the final product, but I would like to add a small special feature just for the game and I also want it to be a surprise for you."

Josh was able to notice his smirk and was quite suspicious. "And you're sure that I will like that surprise?" He probed.

"Of course you will," Kayaba reassured. "Besides, not only will you get paid for this, if you promise to get off my case until the day when the server opens for the finished product, I will also give your account a permanent 3x experience boost which includes both level and skills."

Josh dropped his suspicious face. "You really mean it don't you?" He asked genuinely. Throughout his time in Argus, Josh knew that Kayaba is a man of his word. Whenever he promises something, he never goes back on what he says no matter what it is.

Kayaba started to laugh. "Now now, have I ever broken a promise to you?" Josh already knew the answer. He smiled and laughed with him as they both left the building.

The walk back home was very comforting. He was finally able to play the game that his father started. With his Nerve Gear in hand and the night breeze gently blowing, There waited his siblings, Elizabeth and Ken, who was eager to see what their older brother has in his hand. Once they saw that it was a top-of-the-line Nerve Gear, there was no stopping them from pouncing on top of Josh wanting to use it first. After being able to dodge their endless pleas, Josh went into his room to put his nerve gear away so he could start preparing dinner for the night. After stashing his Nerve Gear in a special place where his siblings can't find it, Josh made his way over to the living room to round up his siblings over to the kitchen for dinner preparations. After dinner, Josh let them on their own for a while as he made his way back to his room to test out his new Nerve Gear. The bed felt like a patch of fluffy white clouds. It almost made him forget to say the magic words.

"Link Start!" Josh exclaimed as his mind was sent into a flash of colors. The 5 senses calibration labels appeared next and following that, he made his own username and password, Altinator. Josh then looked around and saw that he was in an empty room. The next thing he knew, a menu system appeared with a mirror in front of him showing his face. He had fair skin, sparkling brown eyes, and dark brown hair. He then saw his body: tall, athletic, and muscular. Not interested in changing his looks, Josh left it alone and moved on to the controls.

Let's see now, system assist… check, main menu… check, good. He then moved around for a while. Looking at the menu, he noticed that there was an additional setup, but before he could activate it, he noticed the time and how late it really was. Wow, it's almost 11. Guess it's time to go back home. Josh logged out of the empty VR world and stared out the window, hoping that the final product and the last minute surprise Kayaba decided to add will make the game so much better than the closed beta.

As the months passed, the SAO project was entering its final stage. The closed beta server was finally complete and ready to open the following day starting at 10AM. Josh was more than ready to see the world that his father envisioned. Thankfully, starting from the day of the beta launch until the closing day, Josh was excused from reporting to the HQ building for work. He placed his Nerve Gear on and lay comfortably on the bed. His two siblings were watching him as Josh made his first dive into his hard work.

"Link Start!" Josh shouted as he saw flashes of colors like he did before.