A while ago, I watched Sword Art Online for the first time. At first, I was horrified, remembering all of the reviews that all trampled on SAO, describing it as the worst anime ever written. After finishing the series, I would say those reviews are exaggerated. It was pretty bad, indeed, but it was certainly not the worst.
With the power of hindsight, I plan on overhauling the entire series to make SAO the story it could've been.
If you have watched the original series, forget all of that now. The plot of this series will be very different.
Aincrad, Floor 1 — 15 hours until release
A young boy stared off into the abyss that surrounded Aincrad, thinking about what could be down there.
"Has Kayaba even designed anything outside?" he wondered to himself.
"Hey, Kirito!" a familiar voice called from behind me.
"Oh, hey, Akero," he responded. The frosted-brown-haired boy sat next to him.
"SAO's releasing tomorrow, huh?" he said, a bittersweetness in his voice.
"Yeah," Kirito said. "Sometimes, I wonder what it'd be like if SAO didn't become as big as it was. Would it be more or less fun with fewer people?"
Akero stared at the ground. "I don't know?"
A loud sound echoed from the sky. "The beta will be closing soon!" it announced.
"I´ll see, ya, Kirito," Akero said.
"Bye, Akero," he replied. "By the way, I know I'm a beta tester, but what's it like being in the development team?"
"Well..." Akero trailed off. "It's fun, I guess?"
Kirito chuckled. "I wish I had a dad as cool as yours."
"...I'll see you tomorrow, Kirito."
Chapter 1: Day 0
Kawagoe Shiritsu Hatsukari — 30 minutes until release
It was often easy to spot Kirigaya Kazuto in a crowd, ironically because of how well he blended in. Kazuto was, at least at school, a reserved kid. Despite his contradictory uniqueness, however, he doesn't attract much attention—many who had spoken to him found the experience unremarkable. As he walked out of his final class, barely anybody even noticed him.
Barely.
"Kazuto-kun!" a voice called out, causing him to stop and turn around expectantly.
"Hey, Eshi-kun," Kazuto greeted.
"You're still going to be teaching us about the game, right?"
"Yeah," Kazuto said, glancing at the two others who had been following Eshi. "Of course."
Kazuto had four "friends," but he only considered Eshi one. The other two, Takahashi Akuya and Takahashi Ekoya, he would only call acquaintances. The twins were often excruciatingly annoying to him, and they would most likely say the same about him.
"C'mon, guys!" Eshi said, knowing full well of their hatred of each other. "Will you ever get along?"
"It'd take one of us to die for us to get along," Akuya said.
Eshi groaned. He considered the three of them his closest friends, and it was heartbreaking to him whenever he saw them fight.
Kazuto glanced at the sulking Eshi and sighed. "Alright, I'll truce today if you two agree."
The twins were taken aback by Kazuto's suggestion.
"...fine," Akuya replied after brief consideration.
Eshi's eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Just for today!" Ekoya said, but it failed to break Eshi's spirit.
Maybe today will be the day they learn to get along! Eshi hoped. What better way to bond than with video games?
The quartet left the school with slightly less bickering than usual.
4 minutes later (22 minutes until release)
The four friends entered their neighborhood. Fortunately, they not only all lived close to the school, but all of their houses were literally seconds away.
Akuya, who had been slightly more jittery than usual, finally said something.
"I won't be able to join you guys today."
"What?" Eshi said. "Why?"
"I forgot to do the English project."
Ekoya groaned. "I told you you should've done it yesterday."
"I know!" Akuya shot back. "I should be done in...half an hour or so?"
"Half an hour?" Eshi whined. "Have you not even started yet?"
Akuya stared at him awkwardly.
Eshi sighed. "Okay, see you in half an hour, then."
The twins both split off to get to their house. Moments later, Kazuto and Eshi both split off to get to their respective homes.
As Kazuto stepped into his home, he briefly greeted his "mom." Despite knowing, it didn't stop him from loving her as a parent.
"Hey, Kazuto!"
Similarly...
"Hey, Sugu," Kazuto said. Sugu didn't know that he was adopted, and they were actually cousins. Kazuto's revelation a few years prior drove a wedge between the two of them.
Sugu looked at Kazuto, silently appraising him. Unbeknownst to Kazuto, Sugu desperately wanted to regain their relationship.
What should I—oh!
"Hey, Kazuto," Sugu said. "Y'know that game that you said was releasing today?"
"Hm? What about it?"
"Maybe tomorrow... I could play it with you?"
Kazuto was momentarily taken aback by the proposition but relaxed after a few seconds.
"Sure, Sugu."
"Promise?"
"Of course," Kazuto said. "I'll see you then."
Kazuto quickly turned and ran up the stairs towards his room.
As he got there, he glanced at his clock.
3:56:42
The game would be open at 3:30 sharp, meaning Kazuto had less than five minutes to prepare. Fortunately for him, he had set up his Nerve Gear the night before, meaning everything he needed was within reach.
Nearly three-and-a-half minutes later, Kazuto had his Never Gear set up.
With moments before SAO launched, Kazuto leapt onto his bed and placed the Nerve Gear on.
"Link Start!" he announced. The Never Gear processed the order and began releasing microwaves into his brain, filling Kazuto's vision with bright lights before, suddenly, everything was reduced to black.
"Welcome to the full release of Sword Art Online!" a voice announced. "You are returning beta-tester [Kirito], correct?"
"Yes," Kazuto said.
"For balancing purposes, all beta-testers are being reduced to level 1 with no sword skills, in case you didn't know. You may now begin character creation."
"Alright, let's get started," Kazuto said confidently.
[Friend Requests (2)]
[Incoming call (2)]
The messages flashed in the upper right corner of Kazuto's vision.
"Accept all friend requests and calls," he said.
"Kazuto-kun!" Eshi's voice called out. "HeLp."
Kazuto noted the exaggerated derpy-ness of Eshi's voice. "What's up?"
"I've never played Fantasy RPGs before! I don't know how to make a character!"
"...what about you, Ekoya?"
"...can you just... tell me the meta?"
Kazuto sighed, pushing the inputs to make his own character. "Do you guys want to join any guilds later on?"
"Any what?" Eshi responded, clearly confused about the term.
"Probably not," Ekoya responded.
"Then I think it'd be best for all four of us to play Swordsman. It's the most flexible class."
"What are your thoughts on the other classes?"
*"Well, Noble is, arguably, just a worse Swordsman unless you play it in a very particular way. Tanks and Blacksmiths are primarily support, and, from what I remember from the beta, Tamers just suck."
"Wait, how bad are they?" Ekoya asked.
"Unlike every other class, which gains EXP from their perks, *Tamers don't get EXP from... taming."
"Oh..." Ekoya said. "I was about to choose that one."
"Yeah, that's why I suggested we all play Swordsman. You can choose a specific *subclass later."
"Alright," Ekoya said.
"Wait, what are we doing?" Eshi said.
"Choose Swordsman."
"Oh."
"When your character is created, head to this spot on the map," Kazuto said, marking a place on the first floor. "We can start training there."
"Got it," Ekoya said, ending the call.
"Okay!" Eshi said, doing the same.
Kazuto quickly finished creating his character and pressed the [CREATE] button.
With a bright flash, Kazuto—now Kirito—spawned in the City of Beginnings.
Kirito took a few moments to look around. The city looked almost exactly the same as it did in the beta, with only a few minor tweaks.
However, what amazed Kirito more than the city was the people—or more precisely—the number of people there. Kirito was shocked at how many people had logged onto the game in the mere seconds since its release.
Kirito smiled. He had always wanted to see this city full of people. There only being a thousand beta testers always made the place seem barren—even with all the NPCs.
After soaking in the atmosphere for a few seconds, Kirito turned and headed towards the area he marked on the map.
"Hey, you!" a voice called out. Kirito turned to see another player coming towards him. He looked at the gamer-tag above his head.
[Kl31n]
"Kl3in?" Kirito had never heard that name before. "Yeah?"
"Are you, by any chance, a beta tester?"
Kirito blinked. "Um... yeah?"
"Oh, wow. That's convenient for me," Kl31n said. "Would you mind teaching me how to play?"
"There's a tutorial, you know," Kirito deadpanned.
"Yeah... I just prefer a more hands-on approach."
Kirito blinked. "Ah, let me just check something real quick."
[ (Kirito) - Hey, guys, someone just asked if I could give them a tutorial. ]
[ (3ko) - Like, a random person? ]
[ (Kirito) - Yeah. ]
[ (3ko) - no. ]
[ (Eshi) - I wouldn't mind them coming. ]
[ (Eshi) - Wait why ]
[ (Kirito) - Why what ]
[ (Eshi) - No, I mean, why no, Ekoya? ]
[ (3ko) - ... ]
[ (3ko) - Ok fine ]
Kirito looked up from the chat. "Yeah, you can come. There are some other people there, though."
"Oh, cool. It'll probably be funner with more people."
"I guess," Kirito agreed(?).
2 minutes later
"Hm... I don't remember it always being this far," Kirito said. "I guess I'm slower now."
"Hey, 'Kirito,'" Eshi said when he saw him. Fortunately, it seemed that he respected his privacy.
"Hey, Eshi, this is Kl31n," Kirito said, gesturing to him. "Where's... 3ko?"
"Oh, he's trying to kill that boar over there," Eshi said, pointing into the distance. Ekoya was (unsuccessfully) trying to kill a Lv.1 [Wild Boar].
"Wow," Kirito said. "I didn't expect him to be this bad."
"I CAN HEAR YOU!" 3ko shouted.
"How fast can you kill the boar?" Kl31n asked, seeming intrigued.
"Watch," Kirito said, grabbing a small stone from the ground. As he held it, he felt the experience from the beta flooding back in. His hand perfectly traced the path he knew he needed to follow, causing the stone to glow bright green.
*[You have activated the miscellaneous skill "Throwing" (Common)!]
The stone flew across the plains and struck into the boar's side, killing it immediately.
Kl31n and Eshi turned to Kirito, surprised.
"Oh, he weakened it a bunch. It usually takes two hits."
"What did that prompt mean?" Kl31n asked.
"You mean the System Message?" Kirito asked. "It informs you of gaining skills or using skills for the first time."
"What does 'common' mean?" Eshi asked.
"Skills and items are ranked on a scale. From worst to best it is—*common, uncommon, rare, exotic, legendary, heroic, mythical."
"Ah," Eshi said.
"Anything else?" Kirito asked.
"Not really?"
"Okay, you guys should probably start grinding."
"Oh!" The two ran off enthusiastically to go kill boars.
3ko walked up to Kirito. "Bruh."
"What?"
"Is it really that easy to kill one of those?"
"Yeah? It's lv.1—the SAO is equivalent to slimes."
3ko scoffed and turned to kill more boars.
Kirito opened the menu and checked his friends list.
[Akero (Online)]
"Ah. I should message him later."
Closing the menu, Kirito took out his starting sword. He took a deep breath and then began cutting the air in a very particular pattern. The stroke formed a square in the air.
"Kirito?" Eshi asked. "What are you doing?"
"I'm getting *custom sword skills."
"Wait—are those better than leveling up?" Kl31n asked.
"It depends," Kirito said. "For veteran players, good sword skills would definitely beat a level gap. A lv.1 veteran with excellent sword skills could probably beat a lv. 10 noob."
"Shouldn't we all be learning sword skills, then?" Eshi asked.
"No. As I said, a veteran with good sword skills would win." Kirito formed another square slash in the air. "It is very difficult to get good sword skills without experience."
"What skill are you getting right now?" Eshi asked.
"One of my favorites, actually: Vertical Square."
"How good is it?" Kl31n asked.
"Well, most beta testers would tell you that Vertical Square could go all the way to Legendary."
"WHAT?"
"However, one of my beta tester friends showed me this better way to create the skill. Thus..." He swung into the air again. This time, light blue light coated his blade, resulting in a brilliant flash of light.
[You have obtained the Custom Sword Skill "Vertical Square" (Heroic)!]
His trio accompaniment started freaking out.
"Didn't you just say 'Heroic' was second only to Mythical?" Eshi asked.
"Yeah."
3ko stormed up to Kirito. "You know how to make a Heroic Skill, and you didn't tell us how?"
"It's still difficult even if you know what to do. Even I, someone with a background in Kendo, have a hard time creating it."
"Still! You could've tried."
"Should I have, though?" Kirito asked, legitimately doubting 3ko. "You would've still been mad—that time just because it didn't work."
Just as 3ko was about to snap, a Lv.4 [Wild Boar] roared into the area and trampled him. His body burst apart into polygons.
Within microseconds of 3ko dying, Kirito had already activated his new skill. With just the first two of the four slashes, the boar was already dead.
[Your level has increased to two!]
The trio all looked at where 3ko had died and began laughing hysterically.
"Lol," Kirito said. "Instant Karma!"
Eshi laughed bittersweetly. "He shouldn't have broken the truce."
"Well, thanks for the tutorial, Kirito," Kl31n said. "I'll see you around?"
"Yeah," Kirito said. "Bye Kl31n."
"You can just say 'Klein.'"
"Oh. Alright—I'll remember that."
The three of them offered friend requests to each other, and Klein then left, heading back to the City of Beginnings.
Kirito turned to Eshi. "I just realized... Why did you make your username your real name?"
Eshi stared at Kirito. "I totally forgot."
"...fair enough. You want to do a quest?"
Eshi shrugged. "Sure. We should probably wait for Ekoya to come back first, though."
"Oh," Kirito said. "Right—it's only a ten-minute walk back here."
"Is there a reason you want to go on a quest?"
"Yeah, a super good reward is a reward for a nearby quest."
"Oh!" Eshi said. "Alright, we should grind a bit while we wait for Ekoya, and then we'll go on the quest."
1 hour later
[You have obtained the Custom Sword Skill "Vorpal Strike" (Heroic)!]
"Ah, my old friend," Kirito said, looking at the message.
"Hey, Kazuto?" Eshi asked, killing another [Wild Boar]. "Shouldn't Ekoya be back by now?"
Kirito glanced around, realizing he still hadn't returned.
"Hm...check your friends list."
Eshi quickly opened the menu and scrolled around for a few seconds.
"That's weird. Did he log out?"
"Oh? He's offline?"
"I think so?"
"You think? His name should say 'offline' or 'online.' Which does it say?"
Eshi looked at the menu before turning back to Kirito. "His name isn't there."
"...what?"
"I guess he... unfriended me?"
"...because he died by a boar?"
"What else could've happened?"
"Well... his account could've been terminated, but I don't know why that would happen."
Eshi sighed. "I'll go talk to him, I guess. I'll see you in a sec." He went back to the main menu.
"Alright, I'll see you when you get back."
"Wait—where's the logout button?"
"At the bottom?"
"No! It isn't there!"
Kirito's face contorted with confusion. "The logout button... isn't there?"
"The lowest button is settings."
Kirito put his hand on his head in frustration. "Alright, I've never even heard of this bug before. I guess we'll need to contact a GM."
"A...what?"
"GM," Kirito repeated. "A Game Master. They're basically moderators for the game. I think I have a GM's account name—give me a second."
Kirito opened his menu and began searching for an account.
"Why don't we just take the Nerve Gear off?" Eshi asked.
"The Nerve Gear disables your motor functions, so you don't accidentally roll off your bed or slap someone or something. We're stuck in here until a GM can force us out."
"Oh," Eshi said.
[ (Kirito) - Hey, I have a bug to report. My friend and I are missing ]
[ our log-out buttons. ]
[ (N00bMa4st3r69) - I've gotten this report twelve times in the last ]
[ two minutes. For some reason, my GM abilities are bugged, too. ]
[ I'll get back to you later. ]
Kirito sighed. "Okay, so the GM can't help us. I guess we have to—" he glanced around. "Eshi?"
Suddenly, a very familiar sensation reverberated through Kirito's virtual body—teleportation. Kirito found himself in the center of the City of Beginnings, surrounded by seemingly every other player in the game.
"Oh..." Kirito said to himself. "We couldn't log out because there was an opening event."
Kirito looked around at the confused mass of people, taking in the sheer enormity of the crowd. All ten-thousand physical copies of the game were sold within minutes, and tens of thousands of virtual copies were sold as well. Kirito estimated there were over a hundred-thousand people currently in the game.
"Oh, Kirito!" Eshi said. "I was suddenly teleported while you were talking."
"Yeah, it looks like there's some sort of opening event, which explains our inability to log out, I guess."
"Oh, I guess that does make sense."
A few shrieks rang out from the crowd, causing Kirito and Eshi to look around. Their eyes eventually landed on the sky, which appeared to be bleeding.
The mass of blood massed together in front of them, about a hundred meters of the ground. It then transformed into a shape that few among the crowd recognized.
"Oh, hey," Kirito said. "That's Kayaba-sama's avatar."
"Why did it descend so ominously, though?" Eshi asked.
"I don't know—maybe for effect?"
"Welcome, gamers!" Kayaba's avatar announced. "Welcome to the first VRMMORPG... EVER!"
The crowd, previously unnerved, felt relieved after the announcement. Everyone burst out into cheers of excitement.
"Fortunately for all of you," the avatar continued, "all of you will be able to experience it for a long, long time."
The cheering died down after that line.
"Sword Art Online has now become the most intricate death trap ever created," Kayaba's avatar explained. "There is, now, no longer any way to log out of the game. If anyone tries to remove you from the game from the outside... the radiation stimulating your current senses will, instead, force a complete stop to all of your body's cognitive functions."
The crowd was... bewildered. Nobody could tell if this was real or a prank. After all, it wouldn't be that hard for the game's creator to make a joke like this.
"I can see that many of you are skeptical as to whether or not this is true. I assure you, it is," a series of screens displaying news articles began to appear around the town square, each providing stories of hundreds of deaths. "Many did not take the warnings seriously. As of now, several hundred players have already lost their lives."
The crowd seemed to begin noticeably shaking. All of the hundreds of thousands of players seemed to be simultaneously holding their breath.
"Furthermore, any death in the game will result in the same fate," Kayaba's avatar continued explaining. "The only way for you to escape the game is for someone to reach the top floor of Aincrad, defeat the final boss, and win Sword Art Online!"
It was at this moment that the crowd, understandably, broke out into complete panic. Many people started running around screaming. Others fell to the ground in tears. As for Kirito, he merely stood there, motionless.
"A-Any death in the game?" he said quietly to himself. The moment from an hour earlier flashed in his mind. The way he watched a close acquaintance die in front of him...
...while he laughed.
The laughter in Kirito's mind mirrored that of Kayaba's avatar as it began disintegrating. After a few moments, however, all Kirito could hear anymore was the panic of others and the guilt.
The panic still hadn't died down despite Kayaba's avatar leaving. Many people were convinced that it was still a prank and began charging into the fields to "log out." More and more people began breaking down in the town square.
Kirito still remained, staring at where Kayaba's avatar once was.
"Ekoya-san..." he said. "I—"
"Kazuto-kun!" Eshi said, grabbing Kirito's shoulders. "Get a hold of yourself!"
"E-Eshi-kun?" Kirito said, shocked.
"Kazuto-kun..." Eshi seemed to be close to hyperventilating. "You said you knew where a good sword was?"
"Y-Yeah?"
"I... lead the way."
Kirito looked at Eshi in bewilderment. "B-But... we could die!"
"Kazuto-kun," Eshi said. "Every day, you could die when you cross a busy street. Are you scared then?"
"K-Kind of?"
Eshi made a sound that was half-laugh, half-scoff. "Listen. If we're getting out of here, we need to clear the bosses, right?"
"Yeah?"
"Let's go clear the bosses."
Kirito stared at Eshi for a few seconds.
"O...Ok."
The two of them began running out of the Town of Beginnings. As the two of them passed the field they were at earlier, Kirito looked at the area sadly.
"Kazuto-kun!" Eshi said, distracting him. "Are you going to be teaching me sword skills, now?"
Kirito chuckled. "Alright," he said, seeing a boar blocking their path. "Here's your first lesson!"
[Custom Sword Skill, "Vorpal Strike" (Heroic)]
Kirito thrust his sword as a purple aura began to grow around it. The aura shot forward, slicing straight through the [Wild Boar]. Kirito chuckled as the rewards for the "fight" trickled into his inventory.
Eshi stared at him. "You're gonna teach me that?"
"Are you going to be able to learn it?" Kirito teased.
Eshi smiled. He was glad his attempts to calm Kirito down succeeded. Fortunately, that calmed him down, as well.
"Wait—we need to be getting a sword, right?" Eshi asked.
"Oh, right! The [Anneal Blade]!"
"Anneal Blade?"
"Yeah. I think it has something to do with the metal?" Kirito said. "I don't really remember."
"Is it a good sword?"
"It's probably the best sword in the game until the 4th Floor."
Eshi was mildly surprised. "On the 1st Floor?"
"It would suck if you had to get a new sword every time you beat a boss."
"That's fair," Eshi said. "Let's go, then."
Thus, the two of them continued on their journey.
Yeah. It's not the greatest piece of writing in the world, but I hope this chapter adequately sets up the tone and characters I'll be using for this arc.
Notes (*):
1. Akuya was correct, it did take one of them dying for them to get along.
2. Those classes were made up by me, but I will be using that format for the rest of the story.
3. I don't know if subclasses are an actual thing in canon SAO lore, but they are here.
4. The System Messages will actually just show up for your convince.
5. That ranking system was also completely made up by me, and has nothing to do with canon SAO.
6. "Original Sword Skills" is a concept created in New Alfhiem. Personally, I thought that Original Sword Skills were the norm the whole time, so I made it that way, anyway. Custom Sword Skills are created when the player repeats a specific motion with their sword multiple times. The more intricate the pattern, the more times it must be repeated. The more precise the repetitions are, the higher the quality.