Chapter 3: The Calm Before the Storm
The wait for Sword Art Online to be released was a long and painful wait indeed. According to the surveys done by the 1,000 beta testers that participated, the vast majority are anxious to dive back into the game and Josh was no exception. All he ever talked with Liz and Ken since the end of the beta test period were all about SAO and the fun that he had playing with his new friend, Kirito. As fun as those conversations were with his siblings, Josh could not help but think about one lingering question he had throughout his time as a beta tester.
I wonder why Mr. Kayaba wanted me to participate in the beta test so badly? Josh wondered. It's not like him to hide things from me. It's also very suspicious that he would go as far as bribing me with 3x experience boosts for something so small, but perhaps very important to him and him only…
Josh stared off into space as he pondered on those thoughts throughout the waiting period. No matter how hard he tried to put the pieces together, he was still not able to figure out why. That's when he realized that he still had his own project to finish now that Mr. Kayaba had basically finished SAO. That project was a separate game similar to SAO that Josh and Liz created where magic and fairy tales existed unlike the medieval-heavy SAO. Throughout the time Josh worked on SAO, Josh had been working on the programming portion of his game and borrowed Mr. Kayaba's Cardinal System knowing that there would be no need for human maintenance. It was time for the land of the fairies to take shape and be made available to the public as soon as possible. Now that the beta test is finished, Josh can now shift his focus on finishing the computer programming portion and insert all the creative ideas and mechanics he and his sister had put on paper. This game would really make a run for Mr. Kayaba's money.
One day at work, Josh and the other members of the SAO team were summoned into the conference room for a very important meeting. There was lots of food and drinks laid out across the conference table so something special must be going on. It was then when Mr. 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 cheers and rounds of applause. It was practically a party as every team member was digging into the feast. Everyone except Mr, Kayaba. who as soon as the meeting was over, he slipped back into his office with his door locked. The team saw that moment as their boss letting them enjoy the party as a thank you for their long years of hard work, but Josh was able to see through that facade after spending more time with his boss 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 Mr. Kayaba's announcement, Josh worked tirelessly to solve the dilemma but to no avail. Now that Mr. Kayaba spent most of his time locked up inside his office for several days straight, the other team members started to grow worried about him. Some of them were even suspicious. Still trusting the man that he had known throughout his life, Josh decided to let the matter go and continued to focus more on his own project. Mr. Kayaba's team, seeing the dedication and determination in Josh while he was working hard, chose to step up and help him finish since their boss was apparently too busy with his own tinkering. Even as the days grew closer to the SAO server launch, Mr. Kayaba's routine and attitude still remained the same.
It was October 30th and Josh came in to continue on his game with the team while Mr. Kayaba was still cooped up inside his office. By that time, Josh's game was nearly ready for the final stages. The game foundations were finalized and the art design, concepts, gameplay, and the Final Grand Quest were all developed on schedule. The team members also thought of several names for the game, but left the ultimate decision up to Josh. He already knew what the name was going to be since it was his sister, Liz's, idea: ALfheim Online. Liz had done her research on old myths and legends and came across Old Norse mythology. Josh liked that idea and went with that name after she thought of it. The workday had finally come to a close and everyone had already left. Josh stayed behind and saved everything on a high-tech USB he borrowed from Mr. Kayaba for the game and got ready to leave when all the sudden, Mr. Kayaba came out of his office to stop him.
"Mr. Kayaba," Josh said surprised. "What a surprise. Is everything ok?"
"You've done well keeping our little secret," Mr. Kayaba stated in a low voice. "I'm sorry I've been ignoring you and the team these past few weeks. I was too busy fixing those annoying kinks in the system for SAO."
"You know, you could've told us about it," Josh countered with a pout. "We could've been able to fix those bugs a lot faster."
Mr. 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."
"Well, I suppose so…" Josh answered as his voice trailed off. "Looks like tomorrow's the big day. SAO sales will surely skyrocket."
"I am keeping the server capped at 10,000 players," Mr. Kayaba said as he turned away. "I don't want to overcrowd the server 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," Mr. Kayaba started. "Those should be delivered by now. 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," Josh said with a big smile. He extended his hand out for Mr. Kayaba in which he accepted with a smile.
"Don't forget that you won't be able to access the game until November 6th at 1PM," Mr. Kayaba warned. "Until then, be sure to have your siblings get used to the virtual world and also have them create their avatars while they're at it."
"Will do," Josh acknowledged. "Goodnight Mr. Kayaba."
Everything that Kayaba said was true. By the time Josh came back home, Liz and Ken crowded him before he could walk inside and close the door. They were ecstatic with their brand new nerve gears as 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. From that day until the day before the game launch, Josh pushed to finish his game a lot more than usual and the team was in full support. By November 5th, just one day before the launch of the SAO server, practically all of the game was completed. The only thing that was left was the end scene design following a Grand Quest which Josh had planned to add a grand castle at the top of a giant tree. Josh had just finished the entire walkthrough with quests and the Grand Quest when the work day ended. Since he did not want anyone else to tamper with his hard work, Josh placed a security lock on his game to prevent anyone from getting in. 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 team the motivation to finish it."
"We finished SAO with Mr. 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."
"I have locked 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."
"Great idea," he said as he finished packing his work items up. Before he left, 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 continued. "I still can't help but feel weird about what Mr. Kayaba has done concerning SAO, so should anything happen to us while we're inside the game, I want you and the team 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 hoping that things will be ok tomorrow. When he reached the front door, his siblings didn't come to crowd him. Finding that very strange, Josh started to scout the house for them and saw that Liz and Ken made dinner to celebrate the start of SAO. Josh, with tears in his eyes, enjoyed the feast that his siblings had made him. He spent the rest of the night with the two and even fell asleep with them. The next morning, Josh was off from work. It was the day of the launch and there was not a moment to lose. The three of them made sure that everything was set in order in case something went wrong with the game. It was now noon and only an hour until the server opens. The three met up in Josh's room for the big moment.
"Alright, are you ready for this Liz?" Josh asked as he made himself comfortable on the bed.
She 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 as they began their adventure of a lifetime.
