- Chapter Six -

A small warning message hovered above the cathedral, then was surrounded by more warning signs quickly engulfing the entire area around it. Blood seemed to ooze from between the warning signs directly above us and gather itself in a giant ball above the crowd. Some people were screaming, some were cheering. I, was freaking the fuck out.

The giant blood clot started to form into a human figure. Almost instantly, it turned into what I think was a hooded priest's robe with skeletal arms and legs. The darkness under its hood kept us from seeing it's face, but I could only imagine a skull was all that was there.

It opened its giant arms and started to speak, "Attention players! Welcome…to MY world!"

"What in the actual FUCK is happening!?" I asked no one in particular. Ronin replied, "I think we're about to find out..."

The skeleton priest continued, "My name is Akihiko Kayaba, and as of this moment I am in control of this world."

The crowd grew instantly silent. Kayaba started talking again, mentioning something missing from the main menu. All 25,000 people opened their menu in unison.

"What the fuck!? Where's the log out button!?" Someone screamed, which prompted an immediate uproar from the surrounding players.

"I assure you this is not a defect. This is how Sword Art Online was designed to be."

I looked over to Ronin with probably the most scared look I've ever worn. "He's fucking lying right?" I asked, but he never took his eyes off of Kayaba.

He then explained that if anyone in the outside world tried removing or shutting down the Nervegear, a transmitter inside of it will send a microwave signal into your skull, destroying your brain, thus ending your life.

"You're lying!"

"You can't do this!"

"I have a family! Please!"

The crowd was starting to get violent.

Kayaba continued, "Despite my warning, the family and friends of some of the players attempted removing the NerveGear." Multiple screens surrounded him showing news feeds from around the country with titles like, "Death game" and "Thousands trapped in new VR game".

"This resulted in the death of 1,240 players. They've been deleted from both Aincrad and the real world." Kayaba said, pointing towards a news feed saying, "Death toll rises to over 1,200."

He continued, "If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be deleted from the system, forever. And the NerveGear will simultaneously destroy your brain. There's only one way for a player to escape now. You must clear the game."

I saw Ronin tense in the corner of my eye. He finally looked over to me, "It took me two months to get to floor 8." He said, trembling.

Kayaba started to explain how were on floor 1, and to complete the game we'd have to beat the boss on floor 100. Ronin almost fell to his knees. I actually did. I have a wife and three kids IRL. Images of them started flashing through my head as my virtual tear ducts started forming artificial tears.

"Last but not least, I placed a little present in the item storage of every player. Please, have a look."

I don't think I've ever moved so fast. I opened my inventory and saw...a mirror? I clicked it, and it materialized into my hand. Ronin started shining in a bright white light, along with everyone else in the cathedral. Then, it engulfed me.

I turned to check on Ronin, but it was Eddie! I looked in the mirror and saw my actual face staring back at me. At this point, I was done listening to that asshole and wanted to get the fuck out of here. Kayaba was rambling on about how he wanted to create his own world or some bullshit.

"So this mother fucker wants to play God?" I asked, now clearly livid at the realization.

"This marks the end of the tutorial and the official start of Sword Art Online. Players, I wish you the best of luck." Kayaba then started disappearing back into the warning signs, and a moment later they were all gone leaving us with the spectacular view of the mountains surrounding the city again.

Everyone in the crowd was frozen. Shock embedded on their faces. Ronin nudged my arm and we took off into the city before the cathedral turned into the impending cluster fuck it was liable to turn into with over 20,000 pissed off players crowded into one place.