Disclaimer: I don't own Sword Art Online
A/N: Thanks to those who reviewed!
The Path of a Beater
Chapter 5
"Will you be coming to Suguha's tournament tomorrow?"
At his mother's voice penetrating his concentration, Kazuto looked up from the magazine he was reading. "Tomorrow?" He repeated with a frown before glancing back at the article he was reading about the launch of SAO tomorrow. "I can't tomorrow."
Midori looked at her son as she gave a weary sigh. "I would like you two to repair your relationship, Kazuto. You not being my real son doesn't change the fact that you are family. Why do you have to push your sister away like this?"
Instead of replying, Kazuto kept his eyes locked on the article about the game releasing for its official debut tomorrow. After two months of waiting, he was finally going to get to dive back into the game. It felt like an eternity had passed.
"I thought when that beta test ended, I could get you to come to some of her matches." Midori replied tiredly.
Kazuto nodded. He figured she was trying to help that way. He did notice that she was asking him to go to her matches and tournaments more often in the past couple of months. Though not once did he ever go. There was always a reason he claimed he couldn't go. He had to study for a test. He had a prior arrangement to meet his godfather for the day. He didn't feel well. All were legitimate reasons as to why he couldn't go, in his opinion at least.
"So, what are you doing tomorrow that you can't come to her match this time, Kazuto?" Midori demanded, ready to argue her son's excuse once more. Though, she knew from the past times this has happened, that arguing his excuse would do nothing. She couldn't force her son to go to his sister's match. That would just make things between the two worse.
"It's SAO's official launch tomorrow." Kazuto replied as if it explained it all, and having grown up as a gamer, Midori found she understood. The official release of a game was not something to miss, especially when only a limited amount of games were sold for the game's debut.
Though, she understood the hype about a game like this being released, Midori was not going to back down. "Kazuto, all you do is play games or read MMO weekly. You don't have any friends and you never go out unless it is for school or to meet Akihiko. You are making yourself into a social recluse. There is more to life than games."
Kazuto looked up from his magazine again, raising a brow. "I'm alright with being a social recluse. Though with technology like Nervegear where I dive into the game, I get enough social interaction with the other players."
"You are going to call seeing someone in an avatar with a username social interaction?" Midori asked.
"Sure, we are talking with each other. Who cares about it not being our real appearances or names?" Kazuto shrugged.
Midori sighed and rubbed her eyes. "But all you discuss is the game. I know how MMOs work, Kazuto. Only the game is discussed. Any information about the real world isn't talked about in games for safety reasons and because the players are there for the game, not your life story."
"Speaking with players and making transactions or plans for raids or just trading information is still social interaction." Kazuto argued. "And it's the type of interaction that I am fine with."
"But there is more to life than that." Midori retorted, frowning at her son. "You used to love kendo, Kazuto. I know learning the truth about you not being my real son affected you, but you didn't have to withdraw yourself from everything and everyone because of that."
The now fourteen year old teen couldn't bring himself to look at his aunt and admit that he was hiding inside because he didn't want to face the truth of the world. Just having Midori tell him the truth of how his parents died hurt. He didn't want to go any deeper into the truth than that because he was scared. He was scared of what he would find out. He was scared that if he learned any more of the truth, it would send him farther away from his family because he would feel that he didn't belong. Because he wasn't their true son, he felt that he was an imperfection in this family.
"I told you how my sister and Hiroki died and nothing changed, Kazuto." Midori said, guessing her son's thought process. She moved to sit by him and leaned on his shoulder to look down at what he was reading. "We are still your family." Leaning down, she kissed her son's head. "We are still a family, but you are distancing yourself from us by feeling you don't belong. It is hurting us and you."
When Kazuto didn't reply, Midori sighed again, dropping her forehead to her son's hair. "Think about it this way, Kazuto. Akihiko isn't blood related to you, but when you were a kid, you called him Aki-nii-san. You loved him like he was real family. Blood doesn't make a family. It is the love and care and worry you have for each other that builds a family."
A frown found its way onto Kazuto's face as he thought about that. Without even thinking about it, he accepted Akihiko back into his life a few months ago despite him having a seven year MIA status. If he could do that, why couldn't he be friends with Suguha and be the older brother he was supposed to be? There was no reason for him to hurt Suguha by pushing her away just because he was actually an orphan that Midori accepted into her family. All he was doing was pushing his sister away because he didn't want to face the truth. It was what Akihiko did with him, but he regretted it enough to want to come back into his life.
"…Alright." Kazuto relented with the word burning his tongue. He could do this. "What time is her match tomorrow?"
Eyes lighting up in joy, Midori quickly explained the location of the tournament and that it started at four. "I'm going straight from work so you'll have to get there yourself, Kazuto."
"Four, huh?" Kazuto mumbled to himself. Well, he could at least get a few hours of SAO in before he had to go to Suguha's tournament. He could do this. He could face her at her tournament. If Akihiko could face him after seven years, he could face his sister and try to repair the damage he created.
*Beater*
Glancing at the clock, Kazuto grinned in anticipation. Only a few more minutes until the official launch of SAO. After two months of not being able to see that world, he couldn't wait until he could finally return.
"Kazuto! I'm heading out now!"
At his sister's voice, Kazuto looked away from the MMO stream he was watching to look ott his bedroom door. He listened to his sister run down the stairs before he stood up and leaned on his bed to look out his window to watch Suguha jogging away from the house. The tournament didn't start for three hours so he wasn't sure why she was leaving now. Perhaps she wanted to mentally prepare and relax?
Deciding not to put much thought into it, Kazuto turned back to his computer and closed the stream he was watching before preparing his game and Nervegear. He pulled his helmet on and stared at the time in the corner which read 12:59 and found himself smirking. As soon as that time changed to 1, he said, "Link Start."
A barrage of colors assaulted Kazuto's eyes before the multiple checks for touch, hearing, taste, sight, and smell were made. They were all found to be okay so a screen popped for Japanese to be his chosen language. After that was his login where he entered his username and password. He chose to use his avatar from the beta test. All the skills would be reset to zero, but he didn't want to waste time remaking his avatar.
A moment later, Kirito was opening his eyes in the Town of Beginnings. He looked around with a smirk. "I'm back." He whispered.
Kirito soon felt very alive and was hit with a sense of joy that he had been missing the past two months when he started to run through the streets of the Town of Beginnings. He only had about two hours before he had to logoff and get to Suguha's tournament. It was at this moment that he was really starting to regret promising his mom he would go. Why did he have to say he would go on the day of SAO's launch? He should have waited until the next tournament or match Suguha had.
The former beta tester turned down an alley when he heard someone shout, "Hey! You!"
Confused, Kirito looked around. Was that directed at him? When he looked over his shoulder and saw another player running after him, he guessed it was for him and turned to face him fully. "What's up?" He asked, watching with a bit of amusement as the player took a few deep breathes.
"You act like you know you way around here. You were in the beta test, weren't you?" The player asked.
Kirito blinked, momentarily shocked. This player was obviously sharp if he was able to tell he was a beta tester just from the way he moved and knew where he was going. No one else seemed to realize that. "Uh, yeah." He replied, still a bit surprised at this turn of events.
"Cool," The player rose up to his full height and took a step towards Kirito. "You see, today is my first day and I'm a bit lost. Do you think you could give me some pointers about the lower floors?" He clapped a hand on Kirito's shoulder, leaving the former beta tester a bit uncomfortable at the close proximity. Oh, god, this player wasn't going to turn out like Ridwig where Kirito wanted to attempt to kill him at least once a week, was he?
"Yeah, I don't know if that's–" Kirito started to say, but was cut off when the other player clapped his hands in front of him in a begging manner.
"Please, I'm begging you. By the way, my name is Klein." Klein said as he pointed at himself with a grin. "It's nice to meet you."
For a moment, Kirito stared before he sighed and nodded. "Alright. The name is Kirito."
And that was how Kirito found himself standing in a field with a smirk as he watched Klein get knocked back by a frenzy boar, the weakest enemy in the game. As Klein curled up on himself, holding his nuts, Kirito was fighting the urge to either laugh or sigh in annoyance.
"Really, Klein?" Kirito said, planting his hands on his hips as he stared down at the other player. "You can't feel any pain here."
Klein blinked and lifted his head in surprise. "Ah, you're right."
Now Kirito did find himself sighing in annoyance. Klein was perspective in realizing he was a beta tester, but that had to have been a fluke. One hell of a fluke.
"Sorry, habit."
Kirito raised a brow. Habit? Just how many times did he get hit there? "Remember what I said. Your first move is the most important."
"That's easy for you to say." Klein replied, glaring at the boar that was beating him. "But he won't stand still."
"Would you stand still if someone was attacking you?" Kirito retorted as he picked up a rock and tossed it in his hand a few times. "Listen now, Klein. Your initial motion has to be right so the system can pick up the skill you are about to use." He pulled his arm back to activate his skill, which caused his rock to glow red. "And as soon as you do, a sword skill is activated." His eyes narrowed in on the boar as he released his rock and it slammed into the boar's butt. "The system guarantees you'll always hit your target."
Klein looked down at his curved sword. "Initial motion, huh."
Hearing the question in his tone, Kirito smiled and drew his sword out as he locked eyes with the boar that was getting ready to charge at him. "An easier way to look at it," He paused as he dodged around the boar. The boar turned back around and charged at him again, but this time Kirito used the flat side of his sword to keep the boar's head down. "Right after you start your move, wait for a moment. You will then feel the skill start to activate and when you do, drive it home!"
Klein looked off to the side with a thoughtful frown. "Drive it home?" He blinked in surprise as it hit him and he fell into a stance, drawing his sword back onto his shoulder for his initial motion.
When Kirito notice his sword start to glow orange, he smiled and released the hold he had on the boar. The boar flung itself onto it hind legs from this and Kirito stole this moment to slam his foot into the boar's back to send it in the direction of Klein.
Klein let the skill go as he charged forward and slashed through the boar, resulting in its HP dropping down to zero and it bursting into polygons shards. A result window popped up in front of Klein, but he barely noticed it as he threw his arms into the air as he cheered loudly.
"Congratulation." Kirito said as he and Klein high fived each other. Having been in the same spot as Klein at one point, Kirito couldn't help but smile a bit. Just remembering his first day in SAO was a grand memory he never wanted to let go of. It was amazing to fight enemies while being able to move and to run through the fields. MMORPGs were great for the quests and raids, but to actual be able to swing a sword in virtual reality to take out an enemy, it was exhilarating. "That was nice." Kirito returned his sword to his sheath before looking back at Klein. "But that boar is about as weak as slimes in other games."
"Holy crap," Klein replied, eyes wide in surprise. "I thought it was a midlevel boss!"
Kirito chuckled. "As if." He said as he looked out at the field as some boars respawned. When he heard the sound of a sword skill, he looked back at Klein to see him getting some practice in with them. "Feels great, doesn't it? To be able to move your body while you fight."
Klein grinned at him. "I'll say. This is amazing." He lunged forward with his sword once more. "So, these skills, there's a ton of them. Like blacksmithing and stuff?" He asked as he made another lunge.
"Yeah," Kirito replied. "There is an unlimited number of them. Well, except for magic."
Klein flipped his blade and rested it on his shoulder again to activate his sword skill. "A RPG without magic? That is a risky move." As he finished speaking, he flew forward as he activated the sword skill.
"It's fun, isn't it?" Kirito asked, which just made Klein grin at him in reply. "Think you're ready to get some more training in?"
Klein nodded. "Hell yeah. Teach me all you can, man!"
Before either of them realized it, they had spent hours training together. Klein was having a great time learning the ropes of the game and getting to move while he fought while Kirito was just breathing in the familiarity of this world and trying to take it all in again. Oh, how he has missed this world.
And thus, he never realized it was way after four. He had completely forgotten his promise to come to his sister's tournament today.
*Beater*
Midori glared at her phone to see it was ten minutes after four. Looking back up, she frowned as her eyes scanned the audience. Kazuto had promised to meet her out front at four, but when he didn't show up, she went inside to see if he had come in here. But she didn't see her son anywhere.
Though she had quite a good guess as to where he was. Despite promising to come here, she was willing to bet anything that he lost track of time and completely forgot so he was still playing SAO. That was just like her son to lose himself completely in his games that he forgot about his obligations IRL. She had actually had a guess this was coming so she was happy she didn't tell Suguha that her brother promised to come here. She didn't need to deal with the disappointment of Kazuto breaking his promise. But when she got home, she was yanking his Nervegear off of him and giving him a nice, long lecture about breaking promises.
For the time being though, she was going to concentrate on watching her daughter in the tournament. If she managed to win the prefectural, she could then compete in the regionals tournament and work her way towards the nationals. Her daughter has been working hard, but she wasn't sure if she was quite at the level to make it to the nationals. But Suguha would surely give her opponents a fighting chance.
But it wasn't long until she was distracted by her phone buzzing and she had to look away from her daughter's spar. She pulled her phone out and out of the corner of her eye, she saw many others pulling their phones out. While it wasn't odd for people to have their phones out, for everyone to pull their phone out at the same time and during the tournament, it was weird. Looking down at her phone, she saw it was an emergency newsfeed from a news network. Whenever an emergency was happening, they would send out an alert to anyone signed up.
She planned to give it only a quick glance and return to it after the tournament, but the words Sword Art Online, Nervegear, and 10,000 players trapped all caught her eye. Quickly, she went to the website and saw a video posted. Not caring if it disturbed someone, she played the video.
Immediately, Akihiko appeared on her screen.
"For those of you who do not know, my name is Akihiko Kayaba, the designer of Nervegear and the lead game developer of Sword Art Online." Kayaba spoke to the viewers. "As of now, 10,000 players have logged onto Sword Art Online. So at this time, I will tell you of a feature of the game that has been kept under tight lock. None of the players will be able to logout of SAO until the game has been cleared."
Midori felt her mind going blank. Unable to logout? Was that possible? There were many times she ripped Kazuto's Nervegear off and he was just fine. Couldn't she just do that? There was no way he was trapped in a game.
"This is not a defect. It is the way the game was designed to be. Attempting to remove the Nervegear from a player will result in a transmitter inside it discharging a microwave signal that will fry the player's brain, killing them instantly. Cutting the power from the Nervegear will not help release the player because of the internal battery it has. The only way for the players to be logged out from Sword Art Online is for the game to be cleared. Though dying just once in the game will cause their avatar to be deleted forever and at the same time, the Nervegear will fry their brain. You have been warned. The players cannot be freed. It is now up to them to fight and live as they battle for their freedom."
The screen went dark as the video ended and Midori found herself falling back against the wall in horror. Her son was trapped in Sword Art Online. Her son was trapped in a game that would kill him. If the game wasn't cleared, her son would be trapped forever or he would be killed by an enemy. The game's creator, Kazuto's own godfather, was the one who trapped him in this death game.
That….that just couldn't be true. Akihiko loved his only godson. He wouldn't trap him in a game that could kill him. This had to be some type of joke, a prank. There was no way this could be real.
But, looking up and seeing the pale faces of all those around her and the few that screamed in horror and dropped their phones, she saw it couldn't be a prank. If it was, it was the cruelest prank imaginable to cause this kind of horror to parents and siblings. Their babies were trapped in a game, but why? If this was the truth, why did Akihiko trap all of these players in a game? It just didn't make any sense.
Why would Akihiko take her baby from her? When Kazuto's parents died, they promised to keep Kazuto safe so they wouldn't lose him as well. Granted, Akihiko wasn't around until a few months ago, but she thought he was now working good on that promise. But that seemed to be a false belief if he really trapped all those players in a game. He knew Kazuto would be diving into the game today. How could he do this to his own godson? How could he put him in this kind of danger?
A part of her just wanted to rush home and ripped Kazuto's Nervegear off and scream that it wasn't true and that her son was fine. But another part of her screamed to not do it. This was Akihiko Kayaba. She knew how smart he was with how her son gushed about him and his Nervegear design and SAO. She knew how smart he was because she met him multiple times through her sister and her husband. He was smart enough to create the Nervegear to fry the user's brain. For that reason alone, she was too scared to even risk pulling the NerveGear off her son in the event that Kayaba wasn't lying and it did end up killing him. She couldn't face herself if she pulled it off and killed him. Eight years ago, her sister and her husband were killed by a drunk driver because she suggested they go out on a date that night. Despite what Kazuto said, she still blamed herself for that, even if Kazuto forgave her. For that reason, she was too scared to pull the Nervegear off of her son. She couldn't bear to see it kill him. She didn't want to lose anyone else.
Why did this have to be happening? Kazuto promised to work on repairing his relationship with his sister. He couldn't do that trapped in a game that might kill him.
How long would it take for the game to be cleared? Would it be cleared?
Would she ever get to see her son again?
She looked up to see her daughter grinning as she won the match. Suguha looked around for her and when her eyes landed on her mother, the grin slipped away at her distressed look.
Any chance Suguha had of winning the tournament and going to regionals was thrown away when she made her way over to her mother and learned that her brother was trapped in SAO. Despite the fact that she couldn't do anything, Suguha threw her other matches by running out of there with her mom to get home.
She wouldn't be able to concentrate and win them anyway.
Her brother, who despite being so cold to her the last few years, was still someone she loved dearly. And now he was gone from her life. Mentally at least. For years, she tried to repair their relationship, despite not knowing why it broke. It never worked, but she was stubborn and she never gave up.
But now he was trapped and there was nothing she could do to fix that and she couldn't talk to him anymore. He was just mentally locked away in a virtual world that could kill him.
Why? Why did he have to dive into those stupid games all the time?
*SAO*
"Thanks for today, Kirito." Klein said, glancing over to where Kirito was lounging on the ground, staring at the evening sky.
Kirito turned his head to look at the other player. "It wasn't a problem, Klein."
Klein gave him an easy grin. "It's been fun, but I have a pre-ordered pizza coming at 5:30 so I should be logging out. But hey, I'll be getting back on later to play with some friends if you want to meet up?"
At those words, Kirito looked away, a bit uneasy. It wasn't that he had a problem with interacting with other players. He did it quite a bit in the beta test, but of course they always approached him first and it was just for jobs or to drive him crazy (Redwing and Ridwig). If they weren't paying him for a job, he found himself uncomfortable around a group of new people. It took time for him to get used to people…
His mom was probably right about him being a horrible social recluse.
"Hey, it's alright. You don't have to if you don't want to." Klein said, drawing Kirito's attention back to him.
Seeing the easygoing smile, Kirito relaxed a bit. "Yeah, maybe another time, Klein."
Klein nodded and opened his menu to scroll down to the logout button which is where he paused and scratched his head. "So, Kirito, stupid question, but how do I logout?"
Blinking, Kirito pushed himself up to a sitting position and stared blankly at Klein. "Seriously, Klein? It is at the bottom of your main menu."
"That's where I am, but I don't see it."
Kirito swiped his own menu open and paused when he saw the logout button was a faded gray color. "You're right. It really isn't there." Why wouldn't it be there? There was no problem with logging on and off in the beta, at least not like this. So what could it be? A bug was a potential problem. "Well, it is possible for it to just be a bug. Try contacting the Game Master."
"Well, I've been trying, but he's not answering." Klein replied, glaring at his menu as if it was at fault for him about to miss his pizza. "What about another way to logout? Like pulling the Nervegear off." As he said that, he attempted to pull the helmet off.
"Impossible." Kirito deadpanned. "The Nervegear blocks the movement commands from the brain to the body so your body will not move around while you play. Your best choice will be to have someone IRL pull your Nervegear off for you."
Klein sighed. "Well, I live alone. What about you?"
Kirito frowned. "I have a mom and a sister–Oh, SHIT!" He screamed, smacking his forehead. "The tournament! My mom is going to kill me!"
It seemed Klein was oblivious to Kirito's sudden despair. "Sister?" He shouted as he lunged at his new friend and shook his shoulders. "What is she like? What does she like to do?"
At Klein's interest in his little sister, Kirito felt an annoyed protective feeling arise in him which ended with him slamming a foot in the older player's crotch. As his friend rolled around on the ground as if he could feel pain, Kirito turned away and frowned to himself. "Don't you think this is weird?"
"Yeah, but it's just a bug." Klein replied once he remembered that he couldn't feel pain in a virtual world.
"No," Kirito shook his head. "It's not just a bug." His eyes narrowed as he thought about all the times he spoke with Akihiko. There is no way he would have let a bug like this through. He was so thorough in his work on this game. "Besides, if we can't log out, it will cause serious problems for the game."
Klein stared at his new friend before sighing as he stood up and dusted himself off. "I guess you're right."
"Do the developers even know yet?" Kirito wondered out loud.
"If they do, it's not from me." Klein said as he looked at his menu again. "I can't get through to anyone."
"Maybe they are overloaded from other players." Kirito mused. "But they should still be able to shut down the server and force a logout for everyone."
Before Klein could reply, a bell started chiming in the distance, surprising both players enough for them to turn to look at it. It was only a few seconds later when both of them were engulfed in a blinding blue light. When the light died away, Kirito and Klein found themselves back in the Town of Beginnings.
Kirito looked around in shock as he watched other players arrive in the center by the same means.
"A forced teleportation? But why?" Kirito mused with a frown.
The bell finally stopped ringing as all players were teleported into the town.
"What is that?"
Hearing the question, Kirito stopped looking around and instead focused his gaze towards the sky to see a red hexagon flashing there with the word 'warning' in the center of it.
"This doesn't look good." Kirito said.
His statement was proven correct when multiple hexagons quickly spread across the sky until the whole sky was filled with them. In-between the cracks of the hexagon, a blood like substance oozed out into a pile in the sky that shifted into the shape of a massive hooded figured.
"What the hell is that?" Klein asked shocked.
"Is that the Game Master?"
"Why doesn't he have a face?"
"Is this an event?"
"I'm scared!"
"Don't worry. It's just part of the opening ceremony."
While the other players were asking a multitude of questions that penetrated his ears, Kirito just stared up at this imposing figure. Kayaba never mentioned a special opening event to him. He could easily explain that away as Kayaba just wanted to surprise him with a special event, but that didn't explain the lack of a logout button though. Not to mention, if there was going to be a special event, the Game Master would have sent out a notice so the players could stay logged in to see it if they wanted to.
"Attention, players," The figure said as it spread its arms out. "I welcome you to my world."
"My world?" Kirito repeated to himself, a frown setting in. By those words alone Kirito could already determine who was speaking. If this game was anyone's world, it was Kayaba's since it was his dream to create it.
"My name is Akihiko Kayaba, and as of this moment, I am in control of this world. I am sure most of you have already noticed an item missing from your main menu. The logout button." Kayaba continued as he swiped his hand down to open his menu so he could see the empty slot. "Let me assure you. This is not a defect in the game. I repeat, this is not a defect. This is how Sword Art Online was designed to be."
"He's kidding, right?" Klein asked.
Kirito didn't bother to reply as he was too busy staring in horror at the towering figure in the sky. Was Kayaba saying he wasn't going to let them logout of the game? The idea was pretty ridiculous though. What would even be the purpose of doing something like that?
"You cannot log yourselves out of SAO, and no one from the outside will be able to shutdown or remove the NerveGear from your head. If anyone attempts to do so, a transmitter inside the NerveGear will discharge a microwave signal into your skull, destroying your brain and ending your life." Kayaba explained, and with each word he said, the players started to shift around as they got anxious. He couldn't be serious, right? This was just some elaborate joke for the first day of the game, right?
"What are you talking about?"
"What bullshit!"
"Let's get out of here."
Kirito turned his head to the side to watch two players attempt to leave, but hit an invisible barrier in the process.
"I can't get out!"
Klein turned his head to look at his new friend. "Are you listening to this? He's–" The red head cut himself off when he saw the look of horror in Kirito's eyes as they stared at Kayaba. "What's wrong? He's just lying!"
Kirito shook his head slowly. "The transmitter and headgear work just like microwaves. If the safety is disabled, it could fry your brain." But why would anyone disable the safety and leave the players in danger like that?
"But the power could just be cut–"
"No, it won't work." Kirito cut his friend out. "The NerveGear's got an internal battery."
"Despite my warning, the families and friends of some of the players have attempted to remove the NerveGear. A very unfortunate decision as it has resulted in two hundred thirteen deaths. They've been deleted from Aincrad and the real world."
Kirito's eyes sharpened onto his godfather. Was he seriously saying that? That was over two hundred lives, people with family and friends left behind! It shouldn't be taken so lightly. Life was a precious, and all those lives were suddenly cut short because of this crazy twist in something that was just supposed to be a game!
"This can't be real!" Klein muttered in disbelief as he shook his head.
Windows began to pop up all around Kayaba that was displaying news from the real world. "As you can see, international media has around the clock coverage of everything, including the deaths. At this point, it's safe to assume the likelihood of a NerveGear being removed is minimal at best. I hope this brings you a little comfort as you try to clear the game. It's important you remember the following: there is no longer any way to revive someone within the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be deleted from the server forever and the NerveGear will simultaneously destroy your brain."
Kirito gasped as he recalled the beta test. How many times did he die? How many times did he player kill? It was just a game. There was never any danger that they had to face and they were just always having fun. But if any of that happened now, was it truly the end for them? If he tried to kill Ridwig again, would he actually kill him in real alive?
His hands clenched into fists as he glared at the game. This couldn't be real. He had to be dreaming right now. There was no plausible reason for why his godfather would trap 10,000 players inside of a game.
"There is only one way for a player to escape now. You must clear the game." Kayaba said as he hit a button on his menu to display a holographic image of Aincrad. "Right now you are gathered on floor one, the lowest level of Aincrad. If you can get through the dungeon and defeat the boss, you may move to the next floor. If you defeat the boss on floor 100, you will clear the game."
"Why should we believe anything you're saying?"
"That's impossible. We can't clear all 100 floors." Klein said. He shot a glance at Kirito before looking back up at Kayaba. "Even the beta testers never made it that high."
"Last, but not least, I've placed a little present in the item storage of every player. Please, have a look."
Kirito immediately swiped open his menu and went to his item storage to see a mirror in his storage. Confused about such a strange item, Kirito selected it and a moment later, the mirror fell into his hand, allowing him to stare at his reflection.
A few second later, Kirito felt himself engulfed in a bluish-white light as he heard a surprise scream come from Klein.
It didn't last long though.
"Are you okay, Kirito?"
Hearing Klein's voice, Kirito turned to face him, only to find himself getting confused at seeing the person before him. He wore the same clothes as Klein, but he looked older with a scruffy beard and short, spiky red hair. "Who are you?"
"I'm me. Who are you?" Klein asked.
Kirito lifted his mirror, and about had a heart attack when he saw his real life face staring back at him. "No, no," Kirito mumbled as he pulled at his cheek and saw his reflection do the same. Why was he seeing himself?! He looked back at Klein with a grimace. "Klein?"
"Is that you, Kirito?" Klein asked at the same time. "How can this…."
"The scan," Kirito replied instantly. "There's a high destiny signal device inside the NerveGear rig. It can see what my face looks like, but how does it know my height and body type?"
"When you first put the NerveGear on, it had you do this calibration thing." Klein said as he tapped his arms. "It asked you to touch your body all over like this."
Kirito blinked as he looked at the ground. That was right. Kirito got his NerveGear a lot sooner when all it had to it were simple puzzle games as the start of diving into games. It wasn't until the announcement of Sword Art Online that the NerveGear started to get a lot of attention, so it was likely Klein just recently got his NerveGear and did his calibration not that long ago.
"You're right. That's how it got our physical data." Kirito replied.
Klein rubbed his head. "This is….but what the hell is the point? Why would anyone do this to us?"
Kirito bit his bottom lip. That was a very important question. He pointed towards his godfather. "I think he's about to tell us."
"Right now, you're probably wondering why. Why would Akihiko Kayaba, developer of Sword Art Online and NerveGear, do this? Ultimately, my goal is quite simple. The reason I created Sword Art Online was to control the fate of a world of my own design."
At those words, Kirito glared at Kayaba. Control this world? Kayaba could have controlled this world without trapping the players in it. No, he would not believe his godfather would do something this dangerous for such an egotistical reason. He wouldn't, couldn't, believe he would be so callous about lives for such a shallow reason. There had to be more to this than that.
"As you can see, I have achieved my goal. This marks the end of the tutorial and the official launch of Sword Art Online. Players, I wish you the best of luck." With those final words, Kayaba's cloaked figure began to glitch out as smoke wafted from the figure as it vanished.
When he was completely gone, the red sky disappeared to be replaced by the sunset.
With Kayaba gone, silence descended over the town square as the players stared at the empty spot where Kayaba just was. But the silence only lasted a few seconds before the reality of what he had told them all truly set in.
With that reality setting in came the chaos that would typically follow. A loud eruption of noise filled the square as players screamed in fear while others demanded loudly to be let out.
In the midst of it all, Kirito found himself staring down at his hands. These were his hands. The hands that he saw every day in the real world. They didn't belong here. This was supposed to be his escape from reality, the place he came to when he didn't want to face the truths about his family. It was never actually supposed to become his new reality. So why did it become that? Why was he seeing his real body's appearance here?
"Are you ready for the official launch?"
Hearing the familiar voice, Kazuto looked up from his drink to see his godfather standing by his table in the café they usually met at. A huge grin split across his face as his eyes lit up in excitement. "Of course I am. I have missed that world so much since the beta ended." He replied as Kayaba sat down across from him. "I can't wait to play the game again and see what the other floors are like."
"I am sure you will love the world, but don't just do quests. Remember to explore and experience the world to the fullest extent." Kayaba said with a smile. "I want the players to know the feeling of being completely submerged in a whole new world. It's not just about being the strongest. This world was created for them to make it a second home."
"A second home?" Kazuto echoed. "Well, I guess I can see that." And he could. He wouldn't tell anyone, but he loved video games but what he really lived about the NerveGear was that he could jump into the game and escape his reality. It gave him a chance to pretend to be someone else for hours at a time so he didn't have to face his family who he didn't know how to behave around anymore. He could be the strongest mercenary of SAO, Kirito, whenever he jumped into the game. His alter ego was like his shield and protective from the hard truths of reality.
"It's my word, something I spent years working on." Kayaba said wistfully, staring out the window at something that Kazuto couldn't see. "I want everyone to find something in this world and not just see it as another game."
At those words, Kazuto smiled. "They will, because it's not just another game. It is the first game that allows us to dive completely into a new world and fight with our bodies. All the beta testers loved the experience. I am sure the newcomers will as well."
Why? Sword Art Online was Kayaba's pride and joy so why would he soil the game he loved and worked so hard on by doing this? By making it into a death game?
Because there was no doubt in Kirito's mind that everything Kayaba just said was true. Kayaba was a genius. He built this game and designed the NerveGear. If he wanted to make it so the players would die in real life by dying in the game, he could do it.
Kirito's hands curled into fists at his side. But why? That was the only question he had in this whole situation. He felt betrayed, hurt, and terrified. He didn't want to die. Why would Kayaba do this? Why would he let his own godson dive into the game when he knew he was going to do this to 10,000 players? Why did Kayaba seek him out months ago to tell him he was his godfather just to betray him here? Why was he destroying his game's name like this?
Why?
Why?
Why?!
Through all the chaos of players screaming, it was a shattering sound that pierced Kirito's ears and brought him back to the reality of the situation. He whipped his head around to see a girl had dropped her mirror as she screamed and hugged herself, but that was all he saw before he turned back around and grabbed Klein's wrist. "Let's go." He whispered quickly before he started pulling his friend out of the town square before he could react.
He continued to pull his friend along until they were in an empty alley where all the noise from the town square wouldn't disturb them.
"Listen," Kirito looked around the alley to make sure it was completely empty before focusing his gaze on Klein. "I'm heading for the next village. I want you to come." He swiped opened his menu and navigated to his map of the first floor of Aincrad. "Everything Kayaba said just now is true. I truly believe we will die if our HP runs out so if we are to survive, we need to make ourselves as strong as possible. In an MMORPG, the money you could earn, the EXP, once the game starts up, there's only so much of that stuff to go around."
Kirito pointed at the flashing red dot that was the town they were currently in. "The fields around this town will be hunted clean soon." A path made of arrows drew onto his map as he got his route ready. "If we head to the next village now, we'll have an easier time collecting cash and points. Don't worry, I know all the paths and places we should avoid. Even if I'm level one, I can get there easy." He closed his map and looked up at his friend to see him looking unsure.
"Thanks," Klein replied slowly. "But the friends I mentioned earlier….we stood in line all night together just to get this game, and right now, they are back in the square. I can't just leave them here. They don't know how to play the game. I need to help them."
Hearing that, Kirito looked down as he bit his lip. At level one, he was risking enough for himself to get to the next village. With just Klein, he should be able to do it, but if they traveled in a group bigger than two, the risk of getting to the next village with everyone alive was much harder. In fact, doing it with them all at level one, he would have to say that they wouldn't all make it. Could he really risk their lives?
"Sorry, I can't ask someone I just met to risk his life for a bunch of strangers." Klein said, drawing Kirito's eyes back up to him in surprise.
Not once did Kirito think Klein would make the choice for him.
"Don't worry about me. Just get your ass to the next village." Klein pounded his fist on his chest right over his heart. "Thanks for teaching me earlier. I will use what you taught me to help my friends. Besides, the last game I played, I ran a guild so I know what I am doing."
"If you're sure," Kirito replied, still a bit hesitant but he did turn away from his friend. "If you're ever in a jam, message me and I'll come running. See you around, Klein."
Klein stared at his friend's despondent look before he had turned completely. The face that was so cheerful and having fun earlier looked so serious now. It was disheartening, but Klein would bet everything he owned that everyone looked like that right now. "Kirito!" He shouted before he realized what he was doing. When Kirito turned halfway around to look back at him, Klein faltered for a moment, unsure of what to say at first.
When Klein didn't say anything, Kirito started to move away again.
"Hey, Kirito," Klein said again, making the younger boy stopped again. He still wasn't sure what he wanted to say, but he just knew he didn't want them parting on these terms. "Uh…You look better like this." His words got the kid to turn around in surprise. "Way cooler than your avatar."
A half-amused smirked graced Kirito's face. "And that scruffy face fits you ten times better too."
When Kirito finished speaking, he turned back around once more while Klein smirked. There. He did his part. That last part of light teasing was a sense of familiarity that they both needed. It was the same type of teasing they did all day.
With that teasing out of the way, Klein turned and ran out of the alley before Kirito could possibly change his mind. He didn't want to accidentally force his friend to make a different choice. Kirito had to look out for himself in this dangerous game. He just knew that if it was Kirito he could and would survive.
Klein disappeared from the alley at the perfect time because after taking a few steps, Kirito stopped and turned back to his friend, but was surprised to see him gone already. Swallowing thickly, Kirito gritted his teeth and ran down the alley before any more doubts about making this choice could stop him.
Escaping the Town of Beginnings was easy as the streets were completely empty. It seemed that none of the other players had even left the town square yet. With no other players around, there was nothing to slow Kirito down as he left the town through the main gates and got on the path that would lead him to the next town.
"Here you go, Kazuto."
Kazuto smiled as he saw the official version of Sword Art Online slid across the table towards him. "Is it really alright if I don't pay for it?"
"Of course. I think, being the creator of it, I can sneak a game for my godson." Kayaba replied, sharing a conspirator's smirk with Kazuto. "Besides, being a beta tester, you were going to be able to get a game early anyway."
"It's too bad we can't keep our equipment and skills though." Kazuto said as he looked at the cover of the game. "On the other hand though, it will be fun to start the game anew."
"Will you play differently this time?"
Blinking in confusion, Kazuto looked up with a frown. "What do you mean?"
"Will you join a guild?"
Kazuto shook his head. "Nope. I am a solo player all the way. I love being a mercenary for hire."
Kayaba chuckled. "Part of MMORPG is to interact with other players, Kazuto."
"I do interact with them." A smirk formed over Kazuto's lips. "Like when they have to pay me for the jobs they ask me to do."
Kayaba just shook his head. "That's not exactly what I meant."
Was that it? Was Kayaba trying to tell him to not play solo anymore? How long has his godfather been planning this death game? If he could disable the safety on the NerveGear, then he must have designed it that way years ago because this had always been his plan. But WHY?!
Focusing on the path in front of him, Kirito saw a dire wolf teleport in front of him, causing him to draw his sword. He pulled his sword to his side as he activated a sword skill as he continued to run straight at the dire wolf. Without slowing down, Kirito sliced his sword through the dire wolf that made it burst into particles.
"I've got this. I'm not going to lose to this world!" Kirito shouted without stopping his run. "I will survive and find you, Kayaba, and get all the answers I want!"
