Sword Art Online
World Wide
Chapter 2 – A Tough Choice
I felt a strange sickening sensation along my tonsils. This news was too much to comprehend. It was unbelievable. It was nonsense. I had to believe in that bullshit because some giant dude just tell me to?
But what if it really was true? What if we really was trapped in here!?
"You bastard!" I felt the rage grow in my body and I screamed towards Kayaba hanging above the crowd "What makes you think you have the right to do this to us!?"
He seemed to have heard me and turned his head in my direction, but he simply ignored my command of answer and continued.
"As I said, there is no way out of this game as a player" He said as he looked over the crowd again "But this also is the case for non players"
"W-What the hell does he mean by that?" I whispered silently, as I stared up at the looming figure.
"If someone from the outside world tries to pull off your Nervegear," He mumbled silently "an internal electric rod in your helmet, will send an electric jolt run through your brain, frying it in the process"
As he spoke, several screens revealing news reports, police and hospital reports, and scenes where several groups of people stood around, aimlessly protesting or crying over the players was shown. A particular screen, showed a woman, trying to comfortingly embrace what I thought was her daughter, who desperately cried into her hands.
"As you can see," Kayaba continued "Several people have ignored the warnings I sent via email, phone, and TV. As a result, two hundred and forty-three people has died of today"
I widened my eyes as I stared up at the torn families on the screen. That girl being comforted by her mother, looked a lot like my sister. It stung at my chest to think about what pain they must be going through by now.
The crowd began getting riddled up again and several people began to panic, shouting angry words at the man.
"What the hell is the meaning with this!?"
"Who do you think you are!"
"I just want to go home! Why are you doing this to us!?
Kayaba rose his hands to make the crowd calm down, and the effect was immediate. Even I fell quiet, even though my rage and fear continued to grow inside me.
"I know you have a lot of questions," Kayaba said, calm to a scary degree "but let me reassure you, that if you make it to the final floor, and beat the final boss, all those questions will be answered. I swear on my reputation as game developer"
I growled silently up at him. 'I swear' my ass. I couldn´t care any less about his reputation. I knew he was a well known developer, not only in Japan, but all over the world. But, his reputation didn´t make him any more believable. I just couldn´t simply trust him and leave it at that! I just couldn´t!
"I have a gift for you all, for being patient with me" Kayaba then said hollowly "It is currently in your items menu"
Everyone, including me, opened their menu and checked for the item. It seemed to be a mirror, not much bigger than a pocket mirror. As I stared into the glass, everyone around me and myself, began glowing, almost like when you get teleported somewhere. When the light disappeared, I looked down at my body, and realized, that it was my real body. My body from the real world!
I looked over at Celine. She was no longer as tall as before, her hair was no longer blonde but a dark shade of black. Her eyes was no longer an inviting blue, but a deep and mysterious shade of dark purplish red.
She stared at me in disbelief and silently pointed at my body as to point out what I had already discovered, and we both stood in silence, taking in what had just happened.
"along with being killed by forcefully removing the Nervegear," Kayaba continued "if your health points reach zero, all data on your avatars will be deleted. Your body, in this world, and the other, will perish. And your soul will leave your body, forever"
This last piece of news became too much for me. I didn´t even hear the last of his speech. I collapsed onto my knees, which in all this time had felt like jelly from anger and fear. My mind flashed back to the boars I had been fighting in the field. If I had made even one wrong move I would have…. I would have…
My mind went blank. I blocked everything out. My mind began focusing on my own despair and hopelessness. Even when Kayaba disappeared, and the crowd around me began dispersing in a wild panic, I kept staring up into nothingness. My fear and anger, my sorrow and regret… It all culminated into a force that made my whole body lock up, and feel numb. I couldn´t move my legs. I was frozen in place.
I finally registered what was happening when I was almost trampled on by a group of men and women, who was desperately trying to get out of the plaza, away from this horrible and scary place. I jumped out of the way and ran along with the crowd. I ran and ran, until I was finally left alone in an alleyway nearby the plaza.
I sobbed silently as I put a hand on a nearby brick wall to support my collapsing body weight. It seemed my fear only had had been so strong that it could only carry me outside the plaza. Now, once again, my body began locking up, and I collapsed onto my knee again, my tears suddenly beginning to flow and hitting the brick floor under my body.
I cried silently as darkness began falling over the city streets, the screams and shouts of fear and agony beginning to fade in the distance. It seemed the fearful people had either hidden themselves in town, or headed out to begin clearing the game.
I turned around and sat down as I leaned against the wall, pondering my options.
On one side, I could go out into the world, the same world that I had seen as beautiful and peaceful less than 2 hours before this. Now, I saw it with a whole different perspective. This had become a place that would bring out the worst fears in me.
The outside world beyond the protective walls of the city was dangerous and unknown, even to a beta tester like me. If I went out there, I would risk to be killed. I could die, and maybe never see my outside family ever again. But then again, I would die in a noble cause, which happened to bring a slight smile to my lips.
On the other hand, I could stay here, in this town. I could forget everything about venturing out into the unknown, create my life like I wanted it. A lifestyle I wanted for myself. I could finally get to live my life like I had always wanted.
But, the other said of the coin, reminded me that if I chose to do that, I would, without a doubt, never see my family again. My parents. Mom, dad, my brothers and my sister. I would never get to gain new memories with them. Staying here in Aincrad would mean leaving my old life behind. And even though I had wished for this in a long time, all of a sudden, I no longer had the courage to embrace that wish.
Somehow, I no longer wished for it.
I hammered my hand onto the brick wall behind me, the "Immortal object" message being displayed the minute I hit the wall with big dark purple letters.
"God dammit…" I growled silently as I let the tears run down my face "I can´t choose between these two! It´s too tough of a choice!"
I cried silently as I pulled my legs up under me, and wrapped my arms around my legs, leaving me in a fetal position. I was left on a crossroad. I knew I had to make a decision, and the more I would wait for my answer, the tougher it would be to choose.
My thoughts fell back on Celine. She had seemed so scared back there. The feelings of responsibility I had towards her was slight, but they were present. I felt like I had to find her again. I just wanted to make sure she was safe. Somehow, by saving her, I had felt like she had somehow become my responsibility. I felt like I had to keep her safe, to make sure she would see her family again.
But, one problem arose as I sat there, and gloated my own misery. I didn´t know where Celine were. I hadn´t befriended her yet either, so I wouldn´t be able to trace her down with my minimap on the friends list tap. It would become extremely hard to find her, even if she had stayed in town, due to the enormous size of the city alone.
I could always contact a game master NPC and make him make a public announcement for Celine to hear, but that costed a fortune. Another problem that stood in my way.
I sighed silently as my tears at long last stopped trailing from my eyes, and I rubbed my thumb over the trail of water, drying them away from my cheeks. I sighed a little and looked up from my fetal position, deciding to head to the main gate in town, deciding to make a choice there.
It seemed like I hadn't been the only one getting that idea. Several other girls, boys, men and women, was standing by the main entrance to the city, pondering whether they should head out to fight for freedom, or stay, making their life their own in a new world.
I sighed silently as I stepped up to the city border, looking out at the silent and dark plains that spread out in front of the small crowd that had gathered at the city gate. I sighed and took a deep breath, when I suddenly felt a slight tug at my left shoulder.
"I-Is that you, Rintar?"
A petite and shy voice soon followed the tug, and I gasped slightly from surprise as I turned my head, seeing Celine looking at me with a worried and shy expression. I saw a glimmer of light in her eyes and a smile widening on her lips as she realized it really was me.
"oh thank god" She whispered silently as she sighed in relief "it´s good to see you again Rintar"
"Yeah, good to see you too Celine" I said with a smile "So, what are you going to do?"
"I don´t know" She mumbled silently as she cast a worried glance at the gate "I really have no idea…"
"Yeah, me neither" I mumbled silently as I looked up at the gate as well "I must admit, it´s one hell of a choice"
Now that I no longer had the body of Rintar, the strong, handsome, and confident warrior, I was once again scared of talking to people. It felt like I would once again become asocial, someone not worth talking to. Though, luckily enough for me, Celine seemed to be an exception, since we already had come to know each other before we were summoned to the plaza-
Luckily enough, I managed to get at least one friend before I would return to this weak, and unsure version of myself. But, unlike my earlier experiences with online and VR games, I now knew that the possibility of meeting anyone in here, with my personality and all, would be slim. I sighed silently as I looked up at the gate. That pretty much confirmed it.
If I wouldn´t be able to make friends, there was no reason to stay in the city. If I had to stay a loner, I might as well fight to save the players of Sword Art Online.
"All right, I have made my choice" I mumbled silently as I took a step further into the wilderness.
My progress made some ruckus in the backrows, as several people began shouting at me.
"Are you crazy!? You´ll get killed!"
"He must be suicidal or something!"
I sighed silently and turned around to look at the crowd, seeing Celine looking at me with a worried expression. I clenched my fists and looked out at the crowd.
"Yeah, I might be crazy" I yelled loudly, to make them hear what I had to say "But if I don´t do something about this… If no one leaves the city, then we will never see our precious families again"
The crowd seemed slightly taken aback, falling silent. Celine watched me with a stunned expression.
"If we don´t fight for our freedom," I yelled "We will let Kayaba Akihiko get away with his crimes! He will get away with trapping one hundred thousand players here! Do you want to let him get away with such a serious crime!?"
"no.. Hell no we don´t.." One man in the back began shouting, in agreement. He spoke up as well "Come on guys! Let´s bring the fight to that bastard! Let´s reach the hundredth floor, and kick Kayaba´s ass!"
A roaring yell of applause rippled through the crowd as most of the players drew their weapoms and sped off into the unknown. I smiled slightly from a mix of satisfaction and surprise. I didn´t know I would ever work up the courage to talk to a crowd like that, but… A sense of justice had apparently given me that exact courage.
Celine smiled silently as she stepped up to me, giving my shoulder a slight squeeze.
"C-Can we team up for a while?" She asked shyly as she looked away from embarrassment "I-I believe I can build up my courage if I have a partner…"
"Y-Yeah, sure we can Celine" I said with a smile as I opened my menu "I´m inviting you to my party, and befriending you right now"
"Thank you Rintar" She mumbled silently as she accepted both without hesitation.
"Now, do you have the courage to depart today?" I asked silently as I offered my hand.
She looked at my hand with a wondering expression, but shook her head after a moment of thought.
"No, not today" She mumbled with a sigh "I don´t yet have the courage. Besides, I need to properly prepare myself"
"I can see the sense in that as well" I said with a smile, though feeling a sting of disappointment "Let´s get back to town and prepare. We can leave whenever you feel ready"
"Sounds good Rintar" She mumbled with a smile as we began walking back into the city "And, if we´re supposed to have a good partnership, maybe we should tell each other our names? Our real names?"
"Huh?"
I looked at her with a slightly surprised expression, but I could see the sense behind her reasons. I quickly gained my composure and nodded at her.
"O-Oh uhm sure" I mumbled silently "M-My name is Sebastian Deltaro. I´m 16"
I added my age for a proper introduction, and Celine smiled silently
"Good to meet you Sebastian" She said with a happy smile "I´m Celine Hyrota. I turned 15 about two weeks ago"
"Good to meet you" I said with a smile, as we ventured back into the city.
~On the hundredth floor, 3rd person POV~
In the golden throne statue in the diamond castle of the hundredth floor, Kayaba Akihiko by one of the giant windows overlooking his world. He smirked a bit as he took a glance at a monitor showing a small group of people, standing by the Town of beginnings main exit gate, cheering to themselves and trying to muster up their courage to challenge his masterpiece.
"hmm… It seems they´re more riled up than expected" He mumbled silently as he turned a glass of wine in his right hand "Let´s hope they can bring a proper challenge"
He sighed silently as he closed the monitor and turned on his heel, heading for the giant golden throne in the far end of the room. He smiled silently and looked into the red liquid of wine in his thin glass, seemingly wondering to himself.
"I wonder how far they´ll get…" I he mumbled silently as he focused intensely on his glass´ contents "Around floor 90 the game is practically impossible. And then there´s the bosses on floor 25, 50 and 75…"
He chuckled silently as he turned to watch another monitor, apparently showing a young raven haired boy, headed out in the wilderness, and about to face off with a timber wolf. He killed the wolf with a perfect lined slash, and screamed out to his world, in a mix of adrenaline, anger, fear, but Kayaba also seemed to be able be able to see a hint of desperation, but excitement in the young boys eyes.
"Hmm… He seems interesting, to say the least" Kayaba said with what seemed like a proud smile "He takes my game seriously at least. I wonder why he´s alone…"
Kayaba smiled silently and soomed in slightly on the boy that apparently piqued on his interest. He opened his menu and used his game master privileges to look into the boys profile.
"Kirito huh?" He mumbled in an interested tone "One handed sword user, no shield, heavy and powerful equipment… Interesting… Interesting indeed…"
He smiled silently as he closed his eyes, picturing the wonderful battle to come in his head. He imagined to himself how the sparks would fly from the weapons, and how painful it would be to lose.
"I look forward to a wonderful battle…" Me murmured to himself silently "Good luck to you all…"
A/N
And that´s chapter 2! Hope you liked it, cause I think I did really good this time!
Thank you guys for reading! Every little review, favorite and follow means the world to me!
See you guys next week, and keep reading!