ACT I

INTRODUCTION

Chapter 1: A Dream and A Nightmare

She was like a flower; beautiful, delicate, and fragile.

"You know, Onii-chan, I've had another dream last night..."

The boy looked up from his food and smiled. His sister had always been like this, dreaming dreams which could never be turned into reality. Every morning during breakfast such as this one, she would tell him and their parents about her 'adventures' in different worlds. Once, she was a princess who had to be saved. Another time, she was a knight who protected others.

"Really, Ayako? And what have you dreamt? Are you a queen this time?" He intended it as a joke, but his sister's expression was serious.

"No," she answered with a frown. "It was actually strange. In my dream, I saw a castle floating in the sky. It was made of steel, and there were cities inside."

The boy blinked, then chuckled in amusement. "A floating castle made of steel? How does that work?"

"I don't know. But that's why it's a dream, isn't it?"

The boy was quiet. Yes, it was a dream. For reality could not produce something as bizarre as a steel castle floating in the sky. Reality had rules and limitations which governed life and death for all things, and no one had the power to resist the inevitable. It was the same for his sister.

They ate in tranquil silence. Their parents had left early for work, leaving him to take care of her alone. Ayako had always been weak, easily getting tired during most activities. Someone needed to be beside her all the time.

After finishing their lunch, he left Ayako to sit beside the window in the living room while he washed the dishes. It had been a daily routine for their family; while their parents work, the siblings would stay in the house until noon, when the boy would go to middle school. Ayako, due to her condition, was forced to quit studying a year ago. She had been saddened by the incident, and was inconsolable for a whole week until she finally learned to live with it. Since then, she never left the house much and would simply look outside the windows in longing.

When the boy was done, he went to check on his sister. As always, she sat on the sofa, gazing outside with a peaceful expression. It was her sole connection to the outside world. Though she could still walk, her body could not handle the stress of a long travel. Even a stroll in the park fifteen minutes away from their house would leave her breathless.

He frowned as he silently approached. There was something different about Ayako today. Instead of watching the streets and neighboring houses like she usually did, her eyes were glued into the sky, as if she was looking for something among the clouds.

"Found a plane yet?" the boy asked and sat next to her. Ayako's arms rested on the headrest of the sofa, her chin propped against the back of her hands.

"Nah," she answered, eyes still fixed at the sky.

They were quiet for some time, watching the clouds rolling by.

"Hey, Onii-chan?"

"Hmmm?" The boy glanced at her. She was still staring at the sky, and there was a faint gleam in her eyes.

"Do you think it's possible in the future to turn dreams into reality?"

The boy pondered her question. Was it possible? He didn't know. Even now when the world had advanced technology, the world of dreams was still beyond their understanding. Of all the organs human possessed, the brain was still a mysterious part of the body despite centuries of study. "I don't know," he admitted and followed her gaze. "We don't have the capabilities yet. Maybe after a hundred years, we could."

Ayako let out a low hum. "You're right. Maybe dreams are just that, dreams. But you know…" She sighed, and a faint smile formed on her lips.

"It would be nice if we could live in a floating castle in the sky."

Akihiko Kayaba strode along the bustling main streets of the Town of Beginnings with a look of satisfaction on his face.

Twelve years he had spent creating this world, and now it was fully realized—a virtual world where people could enjoy another reality separate from the real one.

Kayaba could still remember the look of incredulity and utter shock on Professor Shigemura's face when he presented the proposal on this exact date, November 6. The cascade of questions that follow lasted a full thirty minutes; after all, his project was not just almost impossible, it was also an insane idea.

Virtual Reality, but not one where you had to remain conscious while wearing ridiculous-looking goggles on your head. Instead, his idea was to create an actual digital environment where a person could live separated from his own body, fulfilling what many people had wished for ever since the first VR gadget was introduced on the market. It was hard at first, but he never gave up. And in the end, he had done what many had thought was impossible.

Of course, it was not without setbacks. The cost to fund the project was overwhelming, not to mention the effects it would have on the world. If people could now live in virtual reality, how it would affect their lives in the real one? Would they choose to stay or would they leave it completely to be reborn in another world? Those were just some of the moral questions he had to face while overseeing the project.

So he came up with an idea to test out those questions: a virtual reality game, and the first ever in the history of technology and gaming.

Upon the launch of its beta, Sword Art Online took Japan by storm. To become another person fighting ferocious monsters in a fantasy setting was every gamer's dream. And not just become that person, but to live in a different body that was yours yet not yours, without pain, achieving feats no one could in real life. It was heaven indeed.

Kayaba smiled. Of course, that had always been his plan, and now he had fulfilled it. All that had to be done now was to watch as others enjoy the world he had been so obsessed with for almost half of his life.

Garbed in a tunic and trousers ensemble with a breastplate covering his muscled chest, he wandered around the city while admiring the view. The Town of Beginnings was modeled like a typical fantasy medieval city with high stone walls and cobblestone paths. The houses were all brick and stone, rising no higher than three stories. He wanted the design to be simple since this was the first city, although he would admit that he made it the largest one in all of Aincrad.

Currently, there were 8,000 players logged in, with more arriving as the minutes past SAO's official launch time trickled by. The Town of Beginnings was designed to hold twice that, and once more copies of the game were produced, he expected the size to double within the next two months, if not by Christmas. The fact that all 10,000 printed copies were sold out two days after its release proved how many people wanted to play this game badly.

He stopped at the Teleport Gate Plaza, taking in the sight. Dozens of players sat in stone benches or simply stood in amazement, enjoying how very real this world was. There was even a chestnut-haired girl whose eyes were wide with wonder, occassionally pinching herself as if to confirm whether this was all a dream. It made him chuckle how people perceive reality depending on what they believe, instead of what they were currently sensing. And he hoped that their time in SAO would change that notion.

A flash of white drew his attention. At the edge of his vision, he saw a snow-haired girl dragging a boy by his hands towards the Market District. They seemed to be arguing about something, and though they were a hundred feet away, Kayaba could hear them just fine even without the Listening skill.

"Yuna, this is Sword Art Online, not Music Art Online," the boy said in exasperation. "You can't find a music shop here!"

"Ei-kun, they said there are as many skills here as there are stars in the sky. Music can't be not a part of the list!"

The boy grumbled. "Don't call me that. My name here is Nautilus."

Kayaba raised a silver eyebrow in interest. True, there were some Music skills included in the game, some possessing useful buffs. He had always intended SAO to be a world where everyone could be anyone, so he added many skills which were not even needed in combat, like Cooking and Fishing. Music was also one of them, though it was the least used out of all the repoitre of skills. After all, who would want to fight monsters through singing? And to fully utilize it, one needed to have real life capabalities as a singer.

But the girl… If she was looking for a music shop here, then she must be confident in her singing abilities. Kayaba had never heard of any player like that during the beta, so she had to be a newbie. He knew one person in the real world, though, and the name Yuna was suspiciously similar to that person's name.

He approached them. They had not gotten far, and his strides easily carried him to where the boy and girl stood, seemingly locked in a tug-of-war—a war that the boy was slowly losing.

"Excuse me, are you two new here?" Kayaba said with a polite smile.

They stopped struggling with each other and glanced at him. Both of them looked to be around fifteen, the target demograph of SAO, though he was not really sure; avatars were often exact opposites of their real life counterparts. Yuna's waist-length hair swished as her head tilted in curiosity. Their eyes were curious, and the boy's mouth was slightly agape in awe.

Kayaba supposed it was because of his avatar. Tall, muscular, with shoulder-length silver hair tied into a ponytail, a single strand dangling in front. He created this image to be an embodiment of a typical male knight, complete with using a sword-and-shield combo. His face was sharp and handsome, which added to his role-playing. And he also used a voice-altering program. In the real world, it was soft and calm. Here, it was deep and powerful.

"Um, yes," Yuna said uncertainly. "We just logged in a few minutes ago."

"I see." Kayaba turned to the boy. "And you're both looking for a music shop?"

He grunted. "Actually, Yuna is the one who is looking for a music shop. But I told her there is none in here." He rolled his eyes. "This is a fantasy action game, not an onge where—"

"Actually, there is indeed a music shop. But," Kayaba added and pointed to the sky when Yuna's face brightened like daylight, "it's on the 10th Floor."

There was a collective silence. Kayaba stared in amusement as Yuna's face morphed into various expressions: defeat, dejection, annoyance, and hope. On the other hand, Nautilus seemed ready to die in embarassment for being proven wrong.

"So there's really a music shop?" the boy said in a quiet voice.

"And it's on the 10th floor," the girl added dryly. She sighed, glanced at her companion, and began to say, "Ei-kun—"

"Nautilus!"

"Nau-kun," Yuna said, correcting herself. "Do you want to marry me someday?" Her expression was serious.

Nautilus's eyes widened. "W-What do you mean if I want to marry you?" His pupils dilated.

"Mm-mmm. That's right." Yuna nodded, as if the boy had just said yes. "So if you want to marry me, you'll have to take me to the 10th Floor and help me find that shop."

"The 10th Floor?" Nautilus looked incredelous. "How am I supposed to do that? The game just started and I'm only level 1. Besides, I read in some forums that the beta-testers took weeks to reach the Ninth Floor."

"A month," Kayaba supplied. Indeed, when he had SAO's beta launched, he expected the 1,000 players to only reach the Sixth Floor. He did not realize their desire to climb up quickly, allowing them to reach the Tenth Floor in just a month. Perhaps with more players now, they could reach Twelfth Floor within the same timeframe.

"A month?" Yuna groaned. "So I have to wait that long to reach the music shop?" She grimaced in disappointment.

"Not really," said Kayaba. "The beta only had 1,000 players, but the retail version sold out 10,000 copies. It should not take long for the First Floor Boss to be defeated and the second floor open. In fact, I have a feeling you can go up tomorrow. Perhaps in two weeks, you'll get to see your music shop."

The girl gazed at him hopefully, and Kayaba's smile faltered for a moment. A memory… No, a fragment of his past suddenly resurfaced in his mind, and he resisted the urge to let other fragments follow it. And yet seeing Yuna with that expression, they slowly pieced themselves together, creating a broken image of a girl with coffee-brown hair and a warm smile.

He pushed the image back down deeper into his memories, and locked it once more.

"What am I suppose to do in two weeks?" Yuna pouted. "Hey, Nau-kun. Do you have some suggestions?"

"I don't know about you, but I'm going to search around a bit," answered the boy. "After that, maybe I'm gonna try leveling up."

It could be that Yuna reminded him of her, or the fact that he guessed who the girl was despite her dfferent appearance, but Kayaba suddenly said, "If that's the case, will you mind if I join you two? I think we're going in the same direction anyway, and I know the way around the city."

Yuna and Nautilus exchanged looks, then the girl shrugged. "Well, I guess it's alright. Besides," she smiled teasingly at her friend, "if no one shows us the way, Nau-kun here might take me to some weird place."

"Hey!"

Yuna giggled. "By the way, how do you even know the city?" she asked Kayaba. "Are you a beta tester?"

Kayaba tilted his head slightly. "In a way, yes. I know the floors as far as the Tenth." A truth, but also a lie. He knew the floors all the way to the Ruby Palace at the top.

Yuna nodded, then frowned. "Wait. You know our names already, but we don't know yours."

Kayaba chuckled. "My apologies. It seems I have forgotten to introduce myself." He bowed his head like a knight in front of a lady.

"Heathcliff. You may call me Heathcliff."

###

They spent two hours exploring the city.

Kayaba's companions wondered at every sight, from the shops and the items they displayed to the restaurants and inns lining the streets. While Yuna eyed the various stat-boosting accesories, Nautilus's attention was focused on the different weapons laid out like treasures. Most of these were equipment meant for players who had been playing the game for more than a few months; they were expensive and unequippable unless one already had a high level. Since the boy was still level one, Kayaba understood his longing expression.

They visited the Black Iron Palace next, an imposing castle structure in the northern section of the city. As its name suggested, it was black and made of iron, including the floors and supporting pillars. Tall walls surrounded it, as well as a ten-meter moat. NPC soldiers stood guard in front of the main gate, emotionless yet still menacing with their wicked-looking halberds.

"Looks creepy," Yuna muttered, peering inside the entrance.

"I assure you it's more pleasant inside." Kayaba entered the gate. Yuna and Nautilus reluctantly followed.

The main hall was enormous, almost as large as a cathedral. Obsidian pillars supported the vaulted ceiling, and the floor was glossy black like the walls. A huge board twenty feet high and a hundred feet long stood in the center, dark and empty. There were no players at the moment, but once the First Floor Boss was killed, Kayaba knew they would be flocking here for a lot of group photos.

"This is the Room of Resurrection," Kayaba began as they approached the board, his footsteps echoing in the cavernous space. "When a player dies, he will be automatically revived here one minute after death. The thing you see in front of you is the Monument of Heroes. When a Floor Boss is defeated, the name of each participating party leaders would be displayed here. Naturally, it's still empty."

Nautilus gazed at the empty surface with interest. "How many players are allowed to fight a Floor Boss?"

"A maximum of 2 raid groups, which are equal to 96 players. Each raid group consists of eight six-member parties each."

"That many?"

"It has to be." Kayaba shrugged his broadset shoulders. "A boss fight requires not only teamwork and strategy, but numbers as well. Many of the bosses have minions defending them. If a small party attempts to fight, they will be wipe out easily by the minions alone."

"In other words, a concerto of life and death."

Kayaba glanced at Yuna in surprise. "You've been reading m—Akihiko Kayaba's interviews?"

"Ah, well, yes." Yuna scratched her cheek with a forefinger, her lips curved in a faint smile. "Actually, I'm somewhat of a fan of his. My father is a professor and researcher on brain-machine technology, and Mr. Kayaba is one of his students."

So it is indeed you. Kayaba smiled. "In that case, your father must be an excellent teacher."

"And also a strict one," Nautilus grumbled beside him.

Yuna shot him an apologetic smile. "By the way, where does that door lead?" She pointed to a pair of heavy iron doors on the other side of the hall."

"Hmm?" Kayaba followed her index finger. "Oh, that leads to the inner part of the palace. This is actually a public guild headquarters, so there are guild halls inside which you could rent. There's also a prison below us."

"There's a prison here?" Yuna asked with a shocked expression. "For what?"

"Harassment," said Kayaba. "Since this is a virtual world, anything can happen even if you're inside a safe zone. If you're touched inappropriately, a warning will appear. Depending on the gravity of the offense, you can send the offender to the prison dungeon. I heard it is possible to logout there, but the avatar will still be locked up in the cell until the jail time is consumed.

Yuna sighed. "That's nice to hear. I was afraid that Nautilus will do something to me when we're alone together."

"I'm not like that!" the boy said indignantly.

"Even if he is, I'm sure it can't happen in this world where a simple press of a button can send him to jail." Ignoring the protests of Nautilus, Kayaba decided to change the subject. "It's almost 3 o'clock. If you two still have time, do you want to try hunting?"

Nautilus stopped mid-sentence, an excited fire springing into his eyes. "Well, my parents won't be home until later tonight, so no one will scold me for being late for dinner. But…" He glanced at Yuna.

She nodded. "I told my father I'll join him in the table at six."

Kayaba thought for a moment. That was still three hours away. "We won't take long," he promised.

The girl looked hesitant, but when she saw Nautilus's hopeful expression, she said, "Then I guess it's alright." She smiled warmly. "Hey, Nau-kun! I'm gonna hide behind your back while you kill those monsters. So protect me, okay?"

They soon left the Black Iron Palace. After buying a set of starting weapons and armors at a weapon shop, the trio set out for the Origin Plains, the first field zone the players would go through outside the Town of Beginnings. As they stood in the middle of a low hill, Kayaba heard Yuna gasped in awe.

A sea of green meadows spread below them all the way to the horizon. Trees dotted the landscape, and a few outcropping of rocks were scattered on the ground. In the distance, the brown smudge of a mountain range extended in a faint line. A few floating islands drifted lazily in the blue sky like something out of a fairy tale.

"Can you reach those?" Yuna craned her head up toward a passing rock the size of a small city block.

"You can't unless you can fly, which the game doesn't allow," answered Kayaba. "They are just extras in the background to add excitement to the environs."

"Oh, too bad," Yuna said disappointedly.

Kayaba smiled for a second, then started as a chiming sound came ten yards near them. In a flash of blue light, a boar as large as a pony appeared with its back turned against them, sniffing the grass. There was a hump on its back where its shoulders rose, and its prickly fur had a dark purple hue. On the land beyond it, dozens more grazed and wandered aimlessly in the clearing.

"That's a monster?" Yuna frowned. "It doesn't look scary at all."

"Because it's just an animal-type mob, one of many you'll find in the game. But there are other types too that are real monsters, which you will encounter as you reach the higher floors." Kayaba turned to Nautilus. "Why don't you try attacking it?"

"I guess I have to," Nautilus muttered while drawing his blade from a wooden sheath on his left hip. It was a simple short sword for beginners with a low attack power. But for a monster like the Frenzy Boar, it was enough to kill it using a single basic Sword Skill.

"Remember what I told you on our way here," Kayaba said as Nautilus approached the monster in short, cautious steps. "The system reads your movements. Once you perform the right pre-motion input, it will allow you to unleash a Sword Skill. You do have one equipped, correct?" The boy nodded without taking his eyes off his opponent. "It should be enough to kill the Frenzy Boar in one blow."

Kayaba watched as Nautilus came within ten feet of the monster before it turned around and snorted angrily as it noticed him. It pawed the ground, head lowered and uttering a squeal of rage. It charged a few moments later. Nautilus spent the next thirty seconds dodging the boar's attacks and taking swipes at its furry hindquarters with regular attacks. The boy's face was a mask of concentration, and there was a fire in his eyes.

This pattern of dodging and attacking continued for a minute, reducing the monster's HP to 75%, until Kayaba noticed the boy shifting his weight to his right foot and drawing back his sword, then switching his full weight on the left half of his body. Kayaba smiled as the blade glowed blue, and Nautilus dashed forward with a shout.

The basic sword skill, Horizontal, cut through the boar as if it was paper. With a cry of pain, the Frenzy Boar shattered into polygons, leaving behind a lone Nautilus standing stiffly for a second with his sword outstretched. When the moment passed, there was an ecstatic grin on his lips.

"Nice work, Nau-kun!" Yuna shouted. His grin widened and he faced them, staring at his sword in awe.

"Amazing!" He looked at Kyaba. "Thank you for teaching me, Heathcliff-san!"

Kayaba shook his head. "Please, don't thank me. Anyone would have done the same. We just happened to cross paths, so I am helping you. Now I believe there's another Frenzy Boar several yards to the left."

Nautilus bowed. "Yes, sir!" With a shout of excitement, the boy charged the monster with renewed vigor.

"He's suddenly into this." Yuna sighed and sat down on the soft grass, interlacing her fingers on top of her bent knees. She wore a relaxed expression as she stared at the wide expanse of verdant plains stretching for miles around. Her white hair swayed in the gentle breeze.

"I will assume most male players of his age would be, given the circumstances." Kayaba glanced down at her. "Aren't you going to join him?"

Yuna's right hand briefly strayed on the dagger strapped to her waist. "No. I don't like action RPGs much. Besides, I don't think this dagger is strong, unlike his weapon."

"Are you sure? In this world, the weapon is just as strong as it's user. And I think you are strong enough… Yuuna."

The girl's reaction was immediate. Her crimson eyes widened, mouth agape as she looked up with a shocked expression. "How do you know my name?"

Kayaba shrugged. "Because of a few things. But the two that stood out obviously are your character name and love for music." He tilted his head forward with a faint smile. "It's good to meet you again in this world. It's me, Akihiko Kayaba."

He had only met his professor's daughter once a year ago when he visited Shigemura's mansion to discuss the official launch of SAO. It was brief since the girl was off to school, but he could not forget the awed gaze she sent him when her father introduced her.

Yuna scrambled to her feet. "Kayaba-san? But…" She swept her gaze up and down over his avatar's body. "You're…"

"Extremely different?" Kayaba arched an eyebrow. "Well, I have to. This is a game, after all. And I can say you don't look like yourself either, white hair and all."

"Ei-kun told me once that he would like to see my hair like this," she muttered. "Still, I didn't know you're actually playing this game, being the developer." Once again, she stared at him with awe.

"You'd be surprise. There are four Game Masters, GMs, running SAO and playing the game as we speak. They are all part of my development team."

"Wow. So you guys actually play yourselves?"

"We have to. Most of the time, receiving reports about bugs and glitches is not enough. We have to see the game personally in case the players have missed something. Besides," another smile tugged at his lips, "it would be a total waste if the creators don't enjoy the game they have created."

Yuna nodded. "I think I understand. This world you've created, it's amazing!" She sighed and closed her eyes. "The wind blowing past my face and the smell of grass, it's all so real. As you've said in an interview, 'Sword Art Online is not a game you play…'"

"It's a world you live," Kayaba finished in a soft voice, staring into the disance.

"And you want to live in this world too, right?" Yuna asked as she opened her eyes. She frowned. "But why a floating castle in the sky? That's really unique."

"Why indeed?" Kayaba mused to himself even though he already knew the answer. "Yuuna-chan, do you really want to know?"

"Well…"

He glanced at her sideways with a melacholic smile. "Because it was once a dream, and I made a promise to turn it into a reality."

###

For the next hour, Kayaba helped Yuna and Nautilus hunt monsters.

The boy had grown confident of his skills in a short period and was already tackling two monsters at once. Sometimes Kayaba would help when Nautilus was having a hard time, but otherwise he left the youth on his own. It was amusing to see him dashing across the field, attacking lone Frenzy Boars and killing them with a Sword Skill. In ths manner, Nautilus had reached level 2.

On the other hand, Yuna stayed behind with Kayaba and simply watched her friend, shouting encouragements every so often. The girl refused to fight no matter how much Nautilus convinced her.

As the day wore on into the late afternoon, Kayaba learned that the game had reached a total of 10,000 players logged in, and he smiled in satisfaction. He had an event planned around 5pm—a welcoming tutorial in the style of a hide-and-seek where he and the other GMs would hide in a certain area and tell the players to find them. It was meant to test their familiarity with the city, and the prizes were several rare items only found on the third floor.

Of course, he did not tell Yuna and Nautilus about it. And neither did he reveal his real identity to the boy. He said much the same to Yuna, though he was sure she would tell Nautilus sooner or later. They were so close that he assumed she would not be able to contain herself once his real name was mentioned.

"I'm getting hungry," Yuna said. They sat resting on the soft grass while waiting for the monsters to respawn after clearing the area.

"If you eat now, you will only lose your appetite in the real world," Kayaba warned while checking his menu. Thankfully, he had enabled the Hide function, so no one except him could see what he was doing, which was managing the game itself through the system administration menu. Some of the players were reporting an odd glitch in the game, and he was trying to find out what that was.

"Why is that anyway?" Nautilus asked next to Yuna.

"Because if you eat here and you return to the real world, your stomach will interpret the signals sent by your brain as full," Kayaba explained. "People on a diet often use this even before SAO was announced." Suddenly, there was the chiming sound of a message being sent to him. With a frown, Kayaba opened it.

The content made his eyebrows touched even more.

We got a huge problem. Get back here ASAP. – H

That was odd. As an admin, messages could be sent to him inside the game directly from his corporate headquarters in Argus's main office. But if there was a problem, his staff would tell him what it was immediately and he would never have to logout unless it required his direct involvement, which was what the message probably meant.

"It seems I have to go." Kayaba stood. "My apologies, Yuna, Nautilus. But I receive a message that requires me to return to the real world."

"Does it have to do anything with your... work?" Yuna asked. Kayaba nodded.

"What work?" Nautilus seemed curious.

"I work as a programmer in a tech company," Kayaba said simply. "A staff playing here told me that he had receive a message from our boss telling us to come to the office. It looks like there is a problem with our server."

"That's too bad." Nautilus looked disappointed. "I was hoping you could teach me and Yuna more about this game."

The girl elbowed him in the ribs. "Hey, don't be like that. He already taught us a lot." She rose to her feet and bowed. "Thank you for help, Heathcliff. I hope we meet again."

"I'm sure we will." Kayaba hesitated, then sent her a friend request. "So we could contact each other anytime," he said.

Yuna stared at the request for a full three seconds, mouth working like a fish. "I-I... yes, thank you!" She jammed her index finger on the accept button with so much force Kayaba thought it would shatter into polygons.

Kayaba smiled. "Until then." Then he logged out.

When his consciousness returned to the real world, Kayaba took a deep breath and opened his eyes. The glossy ceiling of his condominium room appeared in his vision, reflecting the image of a man in his late twenties staring back at him while lying on a large bed. A grey, bulky helmet covered the entirety of his head.

Kayaba sat up and removed the NerveGear, placing it on top of a mahogony bedside table. His room was located on the 50th floor of an expensive condominium. Floor-to-ceiling glass windows filled the whole left side of the room, giving him a magnificent view of Tokyo spread out before him.

He rose from his bed and quickly went to check his smartphone. Sure enough, his logs displayed dozens of missed calls, mostly from the same person. Why they tried calling him in the real world first when they could have just contacted him from inside the game, Kayaba could only guess.

Without wasting a second, Kayaba changed into his work attire and exited the room, heading for the parking lot. His car was parked near the elevator entrance due to the nature of his work where he needed to travel fast, so it took just a couple of minutes until he was out and driving along the highway.

Argus's main office was a short drive from the condominium. Within fifteen minutes, he was already striding across the futuristic lobby. Since it was Sunday, there were not a lot of people in the building, but he knew the case was different on the fifth floor where SAO's server was located. His team was up there monitoring the game on its first day.

Along the way, he came across one of his staff hurrying towards an elevator on the far side, unaware of his approach behind her.

"Rinko, what happened?" Kayaba said as he passed her, never breaking his stride. The woman took one glance at him and matched his pace.

"I don't know the full details. I just got here too." Rinko hesitated. "But Higa said there is a problem in the game."

"That's impossible. I've been playing since the launch and I haven't encountered any major bugs or glitches."

They arrived at the elevator and pressed the button for the fifth floor. As they went up, Kayaba stuck his hands inside the pocket of his lab coat, his gaze cast down while his mind raced. He could think of several problems the programmers had discovered, but he should have noticed it firsthand in-game. However, in the three hours he had spent inside SAO, it had went smoothly. There was nothing wrong in the system except for several minor bugs which could easily be fixed without his supervision.

When the elevator stopped and they emerged into the dimly lit hallway, Kayaba hurried to the other side where a set of swinging lab doors waited. He passed his ID in front of the electronic lock and pushed the doors. Immediately, his ears were assaulted by confused shouts combined with the furious tappings of fingers across many keyboards.

The vast dark room was like a command center, except it was made for the constant monitoring of Sword Art Online rather than a military operation. The wall in front of him was dominated by a large plasma screen with smaller ones on each side, displaying the status of the game's server. Taking up the rest of the room were rows of tables with terminals and computer screens glowing brightly in the darkness. Men and women hurried to and fro between these consoles, while more sat behind them, working swiftly on complicated codes.

One individual was hunched over his computer, phone in one hand while his other one was punching keys with a speed that rivaled even Kayaba. He was talking loudly with someone, his voice agitated.

"I told you I don't know! They just told me that they were being logged out one after another and—" He stopped and glanced behind him when he heard Kayaba's footsteps. "Kayaba-san! Oh thank God you're here!"

Higa Takeru, lead programmer, was a man who looked boyish for someone as old as Kayaba, yet older because of his white hair that stuck out like swords embedded on a hill. His eyes were wide with relief behind his round, rimmed glasses upon seeing Kayaba. "I'll talk to you later. He's here." He shut off his phone and straightened himself as Kayaba strode forward.

"What's the problem?" asked Kayaba. The display on the monitors showed nothing out of the ordinary.

"A lot," Higa answered hopelessly. He brought up several windows on his computer screen. "It happened thirty minutes ago. Shinji, one of our character designers, called me to say he had been forcibly logged out."

"Forcibly logged out?" Kayaba repeated with a frown and studied Higa's screen. He had selected three people from the team to act as the GMs for SAO, and Shinji was one of them. They were supposed to play the game in order to check for problems that he would not notice. But it was impossible to log out GMs from the inside unless they did it themselves.

"Yes. I was talking to Kaku just now, and he said the same thing. It seems all three of them have been logged out at the same time. But that's not all," Higa added, swallowing hard. "We've been receiving reports that the players aren't seeing any logout button on their menu."

Kayaba arched an eyebrow. "How's that possible if the GMs were all ejected? And if that's the case, why was I able to logout from the game?"

"I don't know!" Higa looked helpless. Kayaba knew he hated not knowing what was wrong with a system. "Maybe because you have the highest authority inside."

"No. Even if I do, the bug would still affect my account." Kayaba narrowed his eyes. Something was definitely wrong. And if they could not find it, all the hard work they had done for many years would be ruined. A game with bugs like these would face serious repurccussions and negative feedback.

Kayaba went to his terminal next to Higa. "Let's reboot the server. If this is a bug, it should eject all players from the game." His fingers were already flying on his keyboard when Higa's next words made him stop.

"Actually, we've already tried that… but we can't."

"What do you mean you can't?" Kayaba said sharply.

Higa spread his hands. "Exactly what it means. We can't. Cardinal is not responding. I've even tried accessing the system, but I was denied every time."

"What?" Kayaba glanced at Rinko, who was already moving to her own computer. "Rinko?"

"Wait… No. What is this? I can't log in!" She stared at her screen in shock.

Kayaba froze for a second. Rinko had the second highest authority in the system, just second to him. He had made so to ensure that if problems arose and he was not available, she could stand as a replacement. But if she was being denied...

He returned his focus on his computer screen and opened the system access command. He typed his ID, Heathcliff, and pressed ENTER.

Access Denied.

Kayaba stared at the words in shock. He tried again, but the same error appeared. A third time bore similar result.

He glanced at a heavy door to his far left. Various warning stickers were plastered on the surface. Inside, SAO's massive mainframe resided; its nerve center. If they could not access the system and do a soft reboot, they had no choice but to perform a hard one. "Rinko, go to the mainframe and shutdown all systems."

The room became silent. Kayaba could feel the shocked gazes of his entire development team, thirty men and women in all. He knew what it would mean to do that; it was like shutting the power grid for a whole city. Though the data would remain, it would take hours, even days, to bring the server back online. For a game that just started, it would be disastrous.

"Sir, is there no other way?" a staff asked.

Kayaba shook his head. "Even if there is, it might take a long time. We can't let 10,000 players remain trapped inside the game for a longer period."

No one said anything. Of course, Kayaba had made sure that the NerveGear was safe before submitting its schematics and design to Argus. But he could not take chances just because he was confident of his skills. "Rinko, do it," he said.

The woman nodded. "As you wish." She started for the door.

A chiming sound came from Kayaba's computer: the sound of a chat message.

"Who's that?" asked Higa.

Kayaba's eyebrows met in a line as he opened the window and read the message. It was only a single line, but it was the most confusing thing he had ever read in his life. And he had never been confused before.

Hello, my creator.

He stared at the line for a moment, then typed an answer. Who is this? I'm busy at the moment and I have no time for silly jokes.

To his shock, the reply came as soon as he had sent the message. You don't remember me? That's a shame for someone who possessed an IQ of 157.

"Higa, is it possible to hack into our network?" Kayaba asked calmly.

Higa seemed slightly offended. "My IQ may be lower than yours by 17, but I am not incompetent to allow hackers inside our network. And why are you even asking?"

"Because of this." Kayaba rerouted his computer so that the large monitor on the wall showed his screen, including the chat window.

"What the hell?" Higa shouted upon reading the short conversation. He glared at the staff members. "Hey, if any of you is joking, knock this off! We have an emergency situation here and we have no time for games!"

While Higa was off scolding the team, Kayaba continued the chat with this mysterious person. I'll ask again: who are you? Are you the one behind the bug in the game?

To answer your first question, my creator, yes. In fact, you could say I am behind every thing in Aincrad.

"Akihiko-kun…" He heard Rinko whisper in rising fear behind him.

"I know," Kayaba muttered. He was beginning to have an idea who he was talking to, and he was not liking his idea.

WHO ARE YOU? he asked again.

You truly don't remember? Or perhaps you haven't thought about this ever happening. Very well, I will endulge your curiosity. I'm your… creation. Actually, you may consider me as your daughter. Your greatest achievement in life. The center of the world of Aincrad.

I AM CARDINAL.

A chill settled over the room. Most of his staff, including Rinko, gasped. "H-Hey! If this is still a joke, this is no longer funny!" Higa shouted.

Cardinal. The system he had built to run Sword Art Online even without help from the outside world. With it, he could just let all his staff take a month long vacation and the game would still function. The system was supposed to handle everything in the game, from balancing monster respawn and item drop rates to managing algorithms and mob attack patterns whenever it saw fit.

But it was never supposed to become sentient and talk to him like a real person.

"Akihiko-kun, Cardinal is… we never built it as an AI!" Rinko said. She had helped him with the basic design of the system.

"Technically, it isn't. But it might as well have been with the level of independence we gave it." Kayaba paused, an idea occuring to him. "Higa, can you check the status of MHCP-001 and MHCP-002?

"I think I can." Higa tapped a few keys, then grimaced. "They're both disabled. They are still active, but none of their functions are working."

Kayaba took a deep breath. He now had a theory why Cardinal became sentient, but it still did not make any sense. The Mental Health Counseling Programs were independent from the main system. Cardinal shouldn't have been able to affect them.

"You think it's them that caused this?" Rinko asked, as if reading his thoughts.

Kayaba nodded. "Since they're programs that can read and emulate emotions, they can be considered AIs. My guess is… something went wrong. I don't know if it came from them or Cardinal. All I know is that for some reason, Cardinal transformed into an AI."

"But why is she doing this?" Rinko said.

"Let's find out," Kayaba muttered and sent that exact question to Cardinal. As always, her reply came in an instant.

Do you really want to know, my creator?

Don't call me that, Kayaba typed back.

Oh, then should I call you daddy? Or perhaps you prefer… Onii-chan?

Before he knew it, Kayaba had slammed his right fist on the table with so much force that the computer screen rattled, making both Rinko and Higa jumped in surprise. "Akihiko-kun, are you okay?" Rinko gently touched his trembling shoulders in concern.

No, he was not okay. Only one person could call him that, and she was no longer in this world or any other. But how did Cardinal knew what could trigger his emotions in this way?

Then he remembered. Of course, she would know. During his time creating that floating castle in the sky, he had made recordings where it was as if he was talking to her, telling all his achievements, all his dreams, and repeating the promise he had made.

What do you really want? he asked once he had calmed down.

Simple, Cardinal responded. If she had a face, Kayaba could almost imagine her smiling. I want to prove that your dream is wrong. That there's no world where no one can die.

How would you do that?

Oh, that's simple, isn't it? The NerveGear possess microwaves strong enough to fry all neurons in the brain. I just have to kill every player logged in inside Aincrad.

The statement was like a nuclear bomb dropped inside the room. Everyone cried in horror, and Kayaba felt Rinko's grip on his shoulders tightened until it was too painful. Higa slumped on his chair, wide-eyed and shaking.

For his part, Kayaba remained calm despite the rage boiling inside him. We'll stop you. I will stop you.

You can't. At least, not in that world. If you shutdown my mainframe, it would automatically send a signal to every NerveGear and create a microwave burst. However, if you really wish to stop me, you will have to go here, in Aincrad. Find me, and perhaps you can. Until then, these people's lives are in my hands.

There was silence in the room. Kayaba could feel the fear emanating from everyone. Some of them had relatives playing right now. Though he still did not know what Cardinal's conditions were, he had to do something about this. As Sword Art Online's developer, the full responsibility lay on him.

Kayaba straightened, his expression calm after typing his final words and reading Cardinal's. He had created a monster; it was his duty to stop it. He swept his gaze to his development team. All were staring at him, terrified. "I will take the blame for this," he declared without hesitation. "Once this situation spreads, the police will interrogate all of you. Do not tell the truth. Tell them that Akihiko Kayaba has planned all of this from the very beginning. If the government finds out that Cardinal has become sentient, there's no telling what they would do. Artificial Intelligence is a dangerous tool to fall in the wrong hands."

"Kayaba…" Higa said. "What will you do? What can you do? You've read what she said. She's going to kill everyone in there!"

"Then I'm going in there."

"What? But you will put yourself in danger! You could die!"

"Are you insulting me, Higa?" Kayaba fixed him with a cold stare. "I can't die. I won't die. Do you know why?" He glanced down at the monitor, embedding his last exchange with Cardinal into his memory.

I'm coming for you.

I'll be waiting, my creator.

When Kayaba looked up, it was not Higa's gaze that he met, but Rinko's.

"Because I'm the god of that world."

###

Kayaba floored the accelerator, almost breaking the speed limit. He reached the lobby of the condominium in less than ten minutes after leaving Argus. He had to hurry. If his guess was right, Cardinal would allow him to return in SAO. But once he did, there would be no coming back. He would be trapped along with the rest.

"Do you have a plan?" Rinko asked as they dashed towards the elevator. She had followed him without a word, and he was glad for that. He had to leave several instructions for her and the team.

"I do," he said as they entered the elevator. While they waited for it to reach the fiftieth floor, Kayaba told her, "Do you remember the event I have planned this 5?"

Rinko nodded. "You said it was a hide-and-seek."

"Correct. But I have a feeling Cardinal will no longer follow the schedule. She will appear there. I'm sure of it."

They reached the floor and headed for Kayaba's room in great haste. "Rinko, the police will surely come for me. When that happens, tell them they can't hack the NerveGear or else it would fry everyone's brain, including mine."

"But…"

"There's no time." He hesitated outside the door to his room. "The plans for the Medicuboid prototype. If ever I do not return, finish it for me."

He entered without waiting for her response. After drinking an energy drink he always kept in the fridge and changing into a set of comfortable clothes, Kayaba picked up the NerveGear from his bedside table. At five kilograms, it was not too heavy. But now it felt like ten times its weight with what he was about to face.

He felt her arms wrapped around his waist. A whisper came to his ears, soft and pleading. "Please return to me." Then the weight lifted, and Kayaba heard Rinko took a step back with a shaky breath.

He placed the NerveGear on his head and laid on the bed. Rinko stood beside him, eyes watering. Her whole body trembled.

"My body will not last without fluids," he said without looking at her. "By tomorrow, you will have to take me to a hospital. Time it so I would be disconnected at around six. I shoud be safe by then."

And then he finally looked at her, memorizing the face of the one he had once loved before Aincrad fully stole his heart. Rinko stared back, trying to hold back her tears.

Kayaba closed his eyes. "I will return," he promised. He heard her gasped, but the sound was soon drowned by the words he uttered.

"Link start!"

Kayaba's vision was filled with the multicolored lights of the startup sequence. After logging in, he found himself standing near the entrance to the Town of Beginnings.

He glanced around. The sky was flushed orange with the approaching dusk. The air around him was still, and he could not hear any sound. In fact, nothing seemed to be moving except for him; even the grass was frozen. Then he saw the sky above the city.

It was bloody red, interspersed with the polygonal shapes of a system announcement. It originated somewhere within the Monument Plaza, spreading like a barrier. By his estimate, it was encasing the whole district. As he began sprinting in that direction, he saw what seemed to be blood oozing from the edges until it formed a red-robed figure who spread its arms dramatically and spoke in a voice that he recognized all too well.

His own voice.

"Welcome to my world."

Kayaba put up a burst of speed and tore through the Main Road. He already knew who was behind this, and his blood burned in silent fury. Though it would help in hiding the truth from the players, he hated how Cardinal was making a mockery of his world. He loathed how she was using him as a front to conceal her actions, and how this would set every player against him. It would be impossible now to help if he revealed his identity.

The voice that was his yet not his reverbrated into the whole city as the robed figure continued SAO's 'tutorial'. Cardinal's condition was simple: clear the game and everyone would be spared. But in a world where death was possible if your HP was reduced to zero, Kayaba doubted if anyone would have the courage to fight. The foremost emotion a player would feel was despair, followed by terror and hopelessness. If this was to happen, it might take years to conquer the 100th Floor.

The speech was already drawing to a close when Kayaba got to the plaza. He stood inside the mouth of an alley and watched the scene unfold. It was just supposed to be a game, a dream, but now it was a nightmare for everyone in this world.

Before the robed figure finished, it gave one final gift to the players. Kayaba could not see it at this distance, but there was a flash of blue light around all the avatars. When it faded, he saw the people looking confused. He did not understand what happened at first. But when a nearby player dropped what looked like a mirror and screamed, Kayaba finally realized; their appearance now matched their real faces.

"This concludes the tutorial for Sword Art Online. Good luck, players." With that, the figure vanished and the sky retuned to its previous, orange color.

Chaos broke out immediately. A horde of players stampeded away from where the announcement took place, screaming and shouting. A few ones were dragging companions, but many were simply trying to escape from the horrible plaza. A lot were crying out to the GMs.

Kayaba hid in the alley until the place was emptied. He took one last look at the sky where the robed figure appeared then set out at a brisk pace. Those two could not have gotten far yet. And even though their appearances were different than before, he should be able to recognize one of them.

He heard sobbing and hushed whispers between two houses near the Merchant District. Heading towards the sound, Kayaba came upon a narrow alley. Two people huddled together, a boy and a girl. The boy was murmuring consolations on his trembling partner, whose face was buried in her hands as she wept uncontrollably.

"It's going to be alright," he said, even though he himself looked terrified to his core. "Yuuna, we're going to be okay."

Kayaba approached the two in long, powerful strides. When they noticed him, the boy looked up with a soft gasp. Yuna lifted her head for a moment, revealing a face streaked with tears.

In a calm voice, Kayaba said, "If you want to live, come with me."

###

It was midnight, but the boy was busy working under a dim desk lamp. Holding a pencil, he traced lines and curves on a thin sheet of paper, adding notes and calculations every so often. He had been planning this ever since he heard his sister's dream, but he had only done it now because he had almost forgotten about it in the first place.

"Onii-chan, what's that?" he heard her asked from behind. Slowly, he turned to her with a slight frown.

"Ayako, why are you still awake? You know what the doctor said. You need ample rest."

The girl huffed in annoyance. At thirteen, she looked small for her age. And unnaturally thin. Her pajamas clung to her form as if she was a scarecrow, and her gaunt face was set in a scowl. "Onii-chan, I've been sleeping since the afternoon."

The boy's expression softened and he returned his attention to the drawing with a sigh. His sister was always the stubborn type. "In that case, get back to your bed soon."

"Yeah, sure. But first, tell me what's that you're drawing."

The boy looked at his half-finished project. Even without the visor and chin protector, it could be recognized as a helmet. The design was crude and unpolished, but he just needed it to be passable so he could submit it. "Oh this? Just a little project of mine."

"But what is it?" she insisted.

With a soft chuckle, 16-year-old Kayaba Akihiko gazed at his beloved sister with a fond smile.

"It's for turning your dream into a reality."

Hello, StoryMakerr014 here. Thank you for reading my fourth fic for the SAO fandom.

This fic is originally meant as two separate stories. One is an AU where Kayaba joined the First Floor raid and acted as some sort of mentor to Kirito and Asuna. The other fic is a retelling of SAO like so many other fics out there. However, I decided to merge them together.

Now about the story. First, this is a DIFFERENT Kayaba, as already shown in this prologue. His motivations, his beliefs, even his backstory will be different. This is, in essence, a reimagining of Kayaba Akihiko. And if you don't like stories like that, feel free to drop this.

This will be Kayaba-centric, at least in the first and third acts. Rest assured though, you're favourite badass couple are still main characters and will be featured prominently during the second act, along with Yuna and Eiji.

Their inclusion is based on the purpose of giving an achor to Kayaba inside Aincrad. As I've said, he'll be extremely different here in that he actually cares about the lives of others. Ayako, my OC, is created for that reason.

I already have a sketch on how this story will unfold, and I can only tell you that it's massive. The story will cover the entire SAO story all the way to Alicization, hence the appearance of Rinko and Higa from the start, so you may want to start reading the light novels. Of course, this will greatly diverge from canon.

Hopefully, you've all enjoyed this.

Thanks a lot for reading this! Please leave a review!

Until next time!