" What are you talking about ?" Kirito questioned inquisitively, " of course there's a log out button. " I wish I was wrong, but there really is no log out button" I try to explain while also attempting to stay under control. Kirito quickly pulled out his in-game menu and scrolled through the settings only to find out that I was telling the truth. " What the ? that's odd " he stated examining the menu like it was a prized ancient artifact of some sort. " Well what do we do now I need to get it out of here ! " My anxiety increasing with every word. " Calm down, it's probably just a glitch or bug in the games system. They should be announcing a patch sooner or later. He was being awfully calm about the situation, way too calm. Just as my thoughts began to wander, a loud computerized voice echoed throughout the entire area. " Players of Sword Art Online, as you have probably realized there is currently no log out option in the game menu's settings bar. I urge you all to remain calm and not to panic, this will be taken care of as soon as possible. There will be a meeting on the 1st floor of Tolbana further discussing this matter. That is all. "

The message concluded and I had begun to breath a sigh of relief. " See I told you it was nothing to worry about" he said confidently, "Come on let's go to the meeting". " How do we get there though ? " I asked with a puzzled look across my face. He simply smiled and pulled out his item menu revealing a light sky blue crystal with a white spike design around it. " Tolbana " was the only word that came out of his mouth. He immediately disappeared into thin air as blue pixels took his place where he once was. My jaw dropped in amazement seeing the sight before my eyes. " Where the hell did he go ? He just vanished " My mouth still agape in pure awe. " Man, kirito you are just full of surprises " I mumble to myself as I pull out the same crystal from my item menu just as I had seen him do. " Tolbana ? " I said still unsure if it would really work despite seeing its previous success. My body suddenly was transported from a grassy terrain to an immense, populated town in an instant.

" What took you so long ? " I turned my head to see kirito leaning against a wall with a smug look on his face. " Excuse me for being a noob " I said sarcastically but in a joking manner. Kirito laughed, " The meetings over there " he said pointing to a very large cluster of people all gathered in a circle in the middle of the town. I could hear others discussing about the patch that the creators had to offer, and I have to admit I was curious as well. However, I couldn't shake a feeling of worryness. Kirito seemed to notice because he put his hand on my shoulder in order to comfort me. " Hey don't worry it's going to be okay " he said smiling optimistically at me. I wanted to speak, but all I could do was muster a slight nod at him before turning away. " Hey look over there " a voice said out of nowhere. I turned my head to the front where I saw a sight that was unlike anything I have seen before. A huge humanoid figure with an equally enormous red robe was floating over us.

I tried to see his face, but it was impossible due to the shadow casted that made his hood seem completely empty. " Is that the game creator ? " That was the question on everyone's minds, at least I would think so. Suddenly, the red hooded figure spoke in a loud, booming voice that echoed across the entire town. " Greetings players of Sword Art Online, I am Akihiko Kayaba, The creator of the game". This confirmed our suspicions and made me even more eager to listen. " I have called you all here to discuss with the glitch that prevents players from leaving the game, known as the log out button." " As you know I had promised a patch to repair this flaw in the system. " I could sense the tension in the air as everyone waited to hear what brilliant solution Kayaba had come up with. " I am here to tell you that there will be no patch." " What ?!" A chorus of anger arose from the crowd including me. " Well then what will there be ?" A person from the crowd asked hopefully. " That's right, he might have something different in mind " I forced myself to calm down and hear him out.

What he said next though brought me into pure rage and confusion. " There will be no remedy to this problem, in fact this was not meant to be a problem at all. " " What kind of crap is that ?! " I screamed not even trying to keep under control any more. " Of course it's a problem, we can't stay here forever ! " Kirito glanced over to me in surprise at my bold statement. Kayaba remained unfazed however and continued to talk as if nothing happened. " Of course you will not stay here forever, one way or another you will leave the game eventually." " What do you mean by that ? " A player asked in concern. " Well let's just say this" Kayaba seemed to grin in delight as he continued talking " this game is under new rules". " What's one of the rules? " The same player from before asked not really sure what to expect. " There is only one simple rule to this game : If you die in the game, you will also die in real life as well. Suddenly there was silence in the air, no one dared to say a word. Then a roar of wrath overtook the silence, " What ?! That's impossible, who the hell do you think you are anyway ?! ". I was seething with rage " What gives him the right to do this, to trap us in his own experiment like some kind of lab rat !". With all the courage I could manage, I roared at kayaba making sure he would hear me. " I'll kill you before this game ends, that I swear on ! ". The red hooded figure gave me an evil smile before saying " I'm counting on it ! I would love to see you try. " " You little- " Kirito cut me off with a firm pat on my shoulder. I could see that my anger was overtaking me and I wouldn't allow it. " Good luck players, you're going to need it ". Those were the last words of kayaba before he vanished into millions of light blue pixels. This was no longer a game, it was the game. The game of life or death.