Chapter 3: The Calm Before the Storm
The wait for Sword Art Online to be released was definitely a difficult wait indeed. According to several surveys done by the 1,000 beta testers that participated, the vast majority are anxious to dive back into the virtual world and Josh was no exception. All he ever talked about with Emily and Ken were SAO and the fun that he had. The more Josh talked, the more his siblings were drawn and inspired about the game. However, one small thing was tickling the back of his mind.
I wonder why Mr. Kayaba wanted me to participate in the beta test so badly? Josh wondered. It's very suspicious when he would hide something from me especially when he bribes me with 3x experience boosts.
Josh stared off into space as he pondered those thoughts throughout the waiting period. No matter how hard he tried to put the pieces together, he wasn't able to figure out why. That's when he realized that he still had his own work to keep up with now that Kayaba had basically finished developing SAO. It was time for the land of the fairies to take shape and available for the public as soon as possible. After all, Josh did put in all the hard work into the creation of his game on the side. Now that the beta test is finished, Josh can now focus on the computer programming, art design, concepts, as well as the full system mechanics of his version of what would be a run for Kayaba's money full time.
One day at work, Josh and the other members of the game development crew were summoned into the conference room for an important meeting. There were lots of food and drink laid out all across the conference table so something special must be going on. It was then when Kayaba announced that the SAO games will sell online starting on the 31st of October and in the stores the day before the server opens on November 5th. The conference table burst into rounds of applause, but as soon as the meeting was over, Kayaba slipped back into his office with his door locked. Most of the development crew saw that moment as their boss letting them enjoy themselves while for their long years of hard work, but Josh was able to see through that after spending more time with Kayaba personally. Something is definitely up with Mr. Kayaba and I'm going to get to the bottom of this real soon.
As the days passed following the announcement, Josh worked tirelessly to solve that dilemma but to no avail. Now that Kayaba confines himself inside his office for several days at this point, the other members of the development crew started to grow worried and suspicious of him. Still trusting the man that he had known throughout his life, Josh decided to let the matter go and focus more on his own project. Seeing Josh so focused with his own work even after the development of SAO was nearly complete made Kayaba's already anxious and discouraged crew members motivated enough to keep working and to support him in every way and to go as far as they with the project. However despite all the progress, Kayaba's behavior still remained the same. It was that one night that made all the difference.
It was on October 30th. Josh came in and continued on his game with Kayaba's crew as usual with Kayaba still cooped up inside his office. Josh's game came a long way from the time that he started on the side all these years ago. Not only were the foundations finalized, the art design, concepts, gameplay, and the Final Grand Quest were all getting developed on schedule. The crew members also thought of several names for the game, but left the ultimate decision up to Josh, the creator and later gamemaster. Josh already knew what he was going to name the game: ALfheim Online. It was a name created by himself and his sister Elizabeth based off of Norse mythology. The work day had finally come to a close and everyone had already left. Josh saved everything onto a high tech USB specifically for the game and got ready to leave when Kayaba came out of his office to stop him.
"Mr. Kayaba," Josh said surprised. "What a surprise. Is everything ok?"
"You've done well to keep our little secret," Kayaba stated. "I'm sorry I've been ignoring you and the crew these past few weeks. I was too busy fixing the few annoying kinks in the system for SAO."
"You could've told us sir," Josh countered. "You would've been able to fix those bugs a lot faster with us on your side."
Kayaba chuckled. "I'm sure you're right Josh, but this was something personal and I wanted to take care of it myself. You understand right? After all, you're also creating a game too."
"I suppose so…" Josh answered as his voice trailed off. "I guess tomorrow's the day. SAO sales will surely skyrocket."
"I am keeping the the server capped at 10,000 players," Kayaba stated. "I don't want to overcrowd the game and ruin the gameplay for everyone with constant lagging."
Josh nodded and smiled. "Fair enough. Also, I haven't received the Nerve Gears for my siblings yet."
"Ah yes," Kayaba started. "Those should be in the mail by today actually. I would imagine your siblings have already opened them. Your games will also arrive in the mail tomorrow as well."
"I really appreciate you for doing this for us sir," Josh said with a big smile. He extended his hand out for Kayaba in which he took hold and shook.
"Don't forget that you won't be able to access the game until November 6th at 1PM," Kayaba warned. "Until then, be sure to have your siblings get used to the virtual world and create their avatars while they're at it."
"Understood sir," Josh acknowledged. "Goodnight."
Everything that Kayaba said was true. By the time Josh came back home, he was crowded by both of his siblings who were ecstatic by their brand new nerve gears. They had already logged in to create their default avatars and were ready to go. Now the real countdown begins. The following day, as promised, the SAO games were delivered to their house. The week before the server opens is crunch time. Josh pushed a lot more than usual and the development crew was in full support. By November 5th, just one day before the launch of the SAO server, a significant portion of the game was completed. Josh had just finished the entire walkthrough with quests and the Grand Quest when the work day ended. Before everyone started to leave, Josh turned to his right hand man throughout his short full-time period of development.
"I want to thank you for sticking with me throughout this project," Josh said as he shook his hand.
"I only wish I could do more for you young Josh," his partner said. "Your determination in creating this game has given me and the rest of the crew the motivation to finish this game and also the respect that you deserve as a game developer."
"We finished SAO with Kayaba together," Josh stated. "I would love to finish this game together as well."
His partner placed his hand on Josh's shoulder. "We will my friend."
"We need to lock the game entirely for the time being," Josh said. "I don't want anyone messing with all the work that we've done up to this point without my permission."
"Understood," he said. Josh and his right hand man carefully went through every file and locked all of it completely. Josh then set all the locked data with a password that only the two knew.
After locking everything down, Josh's partner had one more question. "Is there anything else you would like me to do?"
"I'm sure you know that my siblings and I are going to dive into the game tomorrow right?" Josh asked to which his partner nodded. He then continued. "I still find what Mr. Kayaba doing is suspicious, so should anything happen to us while we're inside the game, I want you and the crew to take us to the hospital and have us plugged up and supported do you understand?"
Josh's partner nodded. "Will do Josh. Nobody will harm you as long as we live."
After the two said their goodbyes, Josh headed back home as usual. Only this time, his siblings didn't come to crowd him. Finding that strange, Josh started to scout the house for them and saw that his siblings made dinner for him to celebrate the start of SAO. Josh, with tears in his eyes, enjoyed the feast that his siblings had made him. He then spent the rest of the night and fell asleep with them. The next morning, Josh was off from work. It was the day of the launch and there wasn't a moment to lose. Josh and his siblings made sure everything was set in order in case something went wrong with the game. It was now noon, an hour until the server opens. Josh and his siblings met up in Josh's room for the big moment.
"Alright, you ready for this Liz?" Josh asked as he made himself comfortable on the bed.
Elizabeth nodded and smiled. "I'm always ready big brother. I can't wait to see the world you created."
Josh smiled and turned over to Ken. "How about you Ken?"
Ken smiled and winked at him with a big thumbs up. It was a minute till 1PM and by then, the three of them were anxious to begin.
"Ready? One, two, three…" Josh counted down.
The clock ticked as the three called out in unison. "Link Start!" Multiple colors of light flashed in front of their eyes.
