It was a somewhat foggy day back then.
November 6th, 2022.
Anyone with at least an access to any information provider won't ever forget that day.
It's not every day you could find a news that made the headline of every newspaper, television, any online community in the world.
You all know how it went since the Sword Art Online server gone online, and people from around the world started logging in to enjoy this hell-of-a-game after a tiring day at school or workplace, without any slightest idea of what's going to happen to them at all.
But enough of that, this is my story, how it all went by from my point of view.
"Natsumi! Natsumi! Where have you been!? Mom's getting mad, you know?!"
Good ol' Sakura Haruna, always worried after her sister. She'd make a greater mother for me than the real one I had to bear with. Not to say that she's bad, but I don't really got along with her back then.
"Yeah, yeah, sure. Tell her I'll be in my room." I said.
Haruna made a slightly disappointed face, but really, she understood the message well. I'm always like this when it comes to my mother.
"Your choice, sis. Don't get carried away with that new game of yours, by the way. I don't really like the idea of a video game that messes with your head."
She had no idea how right she was.
"That's none of your business." I told her.
Haruna just chuckled.
"See you at dinner. I'm gonna go out shopping a bit."
And with that, she gave me a smile and ran away.
It took me two freaking years to finally see my dear sister again...
"Alright. Installation complete!" I mumbled with satisfaction at my computer screen as the Sword Art Online finished installing. Still find it hard to believe that a virtual world of such scale can be fitted into one tiny disc. Granted, it's a EX Blu-ray disc that could hold a dozen terabytes in it, but it still doesn't make it any less amazing at all.
Whoever created this game, as well as the NerveGear, the very marvel of virtual reality development, is a freaking genius.
That's what I thought about him...Kayaba Akihiko...back then.
With an exciting smile on my face, I shut down my computer. The game's data's already stored in my NerveGear's portable storage so the computer's not needed...
["Right, right, sorry to butt in on this, but I want to clear something up." Himeko spoke up suddenly. "You don't have to explain everything to us, okay? These are all common knowledge! Just get straight to your story! Listening to you felt like listening to my history teacher."
"Damn it, Himeko! Why don't you just shut up!? It's just my way of telling stories!" I cried out.
"Maybe this'll work better if I'm the one telling the story. I usually sticks with you most of the time we're in the game, anyway." Hayako grinned.
"Not a chance. If you're the one narrating, we're gonna have my story without any me in it..." I sighed.
"Please continue, Natsumi-neesan! I wanted to hear more when you finally logged into the game!" Marina asked, smiling cheerfully at me.
"Finally! Someone who understands!" I patted her head. "Good girl!"
"Note to self; don't let Natsumi do the narrating ever again." Klein mumbled. I smack him in the head with my fist before I continue the story.]
So, where did I left at? Ah, right, I was about to log into SAO.
Even though I'm a beta tester myself, and have some first-hand experiences with this kind of thing, the very thought of returning to the world of Aincrad again, this time in all its amazing glory, gave me goose bumps all over my body as I put my NerveGear around my head.
I laid myself on my bed, and adjusting myself so I'm in a comfortable position. You won't like it at all if you logged off a virtual world and find yourself arched all over your body just because you don't laid down properly, but really, only an idiot would do that kind of mistake.
I checked the interface panel on the NerveGear. All systems' online. Everything is ready to go.
I lifted my head up a little and looked across my room one last time. I don't know why I did that, it was like, a hitch or something.
Finally, I closed my eyes, grinned as I did so, before saying a couple of words that changed my life forever.
"Link start!"
Within seconds, everything around me went white.
Data waves surged past me, before bringing me to the startup menu, allowing me to choose the languages, accounts and changing basic settings, something you guys already know. I choose my beta tester account, named 'Sakumi', and inputted the password. After that, I let the system do its job.
Finally, the logo 'Sword Art Online' appeared, and I found myself standing at the center of a large open ground with hundreds of people, and more are appearing in this very area.
This is the place that is the beginning of it all...the Town of Beginnings.
I grinned as I explored the world around me. Everything was so perfect, the atmosphere, the environment, the graphic details, they were so breathtaking!
["You didn't mean that literally, did you?" Akiko raised her eyebrow.]
Ah, okay, alright, so maybe 'breathtaking' isn't really an appropriate word, considering what happened half an hour later, but really...
So, there I was, running around the town like a maniac, exploring the area. Even though I already did it back when I was a beta tester, the feeling at the moment was nothing like it. In beta test, there's only a few dozen players around minding their own businesses, and some areas in the town are restricted from enter as they weren't finished yet. At its completion, the Town of Beginnings sprang into life as players from around the world directly chatting, partying, doing activities together, and the NPCs actually interacting like real life humans as well.
After getting all the items I needed, and did a couple of beginner quests in the city for some extra starting money, I left for the town outskirts to get into some real action.
["And this is the part where I showed up!" Hayako said excitingly.
"Damn it, Hayako! That's why I never let you tell the stories!" I yelled while Hayako's just laughing at me.
"Just don't ruin this part, ice queen! Or else..."]
So yeah, well, she just spoiled that part, so I'm gonna skip it.
["Hey!"]
Alright, fine!
As I was strolling just outside the town entrance, I saw a female player with long blonde hair struggling with some boars surrounding her. She managed to barely took down one but stumbled and fell down in the progress. Other boars were circling around her, waiting for a chance to strike.
"Somebody help me!" She screamed.
I rushed to that player's aid, before using my sword skills to slice two boars to oblivion in one strike. The other three boars then turned their attention from the downed player to me and rushed in. I moved my sword in one swift movement, and sent the closest boar into another, deleting them both. The last one was smart enough to run away after seeing me dispatched its friends.
Heh, the development team really thought of everything, weren't they?
"Are you alright?" I walked toward the downed player, who's nursing the back of her head.
"Ouch, that hurts..." She groaned. "These sword skills are so hard to use!"
["You're such a noob, Hayako." Klein teased. Hayako just blushed and hit him with her elbow.
"D-don't call me that, you idiot!"
"It's not like you're any better back then, Klein." Kazuto grinned evilly at his friend.
"Aw! Cut us some slack! We were newbies back then! Up until we got our hands on the SAO copies, we only played normal PC games and the like. You know, those that don't take you inside computer-generated worlds. You don't understand how hard it is to actually use your whole body to execute commands in a video game!" He protested.
"That's what you get for not paying attention to tutorials." Asuna remarked.
"But really, I was getting killed back then! I've only realize it just now. If Natsumi didn't come to me when she did, I wouldn't be here..." Hayako's face saddened.
Everyone went quiet after this statement, knowing full well that the awful truth will be revealed soon.
I decided to continue my story.]
Hayako finally managed to get up from the ground, before smiling awkwardly at me.
"Um, thank you for saving me!" She said.
"It's alright."
"You were so cool! You took down those monsters like they were nothing! I thought I was fighting mini-bosses or something!"
["I don't recall myself saying that!" Hayako pouted.]
I giggled a bit as I looked at her HP bar. It was down to about half. Her screen name showed 'Link' as her name.
"Those boars sure give good EXPs for starting players, but they are also the weakest enemies in this game." I explained. Hayako widen her eyes in surprise.
"I'm so hopeless!" She cried out. "I can't even beat those things!"
"Hey, it's okay." I told her. "Just practice! It isn't that hard. Just took down one of them at a time and you're okay."
"W-will you help me?" She asked. "You must be a beta tester, seeing the way you played earlier. Can you help teach me the basics of the game?"
"W-whoa..." I exclaimed. Really, I wasn't expecting that back then. "I-I'm not really that experienced..."
"But you're good at this! Please! I won't get anywhere if I'm still like this!" Link begged.
I sighed. Maybe I could spare some time. I thought. The girl seemed friendly, it won't hurt to help her out a bit.
"Alright. I'll teach you how to use sword skills." I finally said.
"Yay!"
And then, we went off to find some monsters to kill.
["Alright, let's take a break here." I decided.
"Wha?! But you're barely getting anywhere!" Hayako protested. "And don't get me started about how you completely changed how I really was back then!"
"Can't I just get a toilet break?" I asked.
Hayako sighed. "Stupid ice queen..."
Akiko went back to reading her book, while Himeko chuckled. "Up til now, I just can't believe you really choose 'Sakumi' as your in-game name. I mean, really? Sakura Natsumi, Sakumi? Damn, that's so cliché as hell."
"What's wrong with it? Besides, Kazuto did that, too." Sinon spoke.
"It wasn't my best name, okay? It's just...I'm not really good at making names so I decided to make do with what I have." Kazuto answered.
"Please continue the story soon, Natsumi-neesan!" Marina said. "I wanted to know what happened during the official launch!"
Ah, official launch...that dreaded event...
"Well, that's gonna be later, Marina-chan." I told her. "I'll be back soon!"
And with that, I left for the train lavatory.]
Editor's note: So much for the 2nd chapter and my inability to continue my previously existing stories...
Really, people. I don't know what the hell's going on with me, but I just can't find any idea to continue writing. So much to do, so little time, I can barely focused on something for more than ten minutes. This is just sad... T-T
And Shiranai-san, I looked back at your Sakumi OC profile and found that I made some mistakes about her friends, Hayako and Akiko are supposed to be males (and I have all these plots planned to ship Hayako with Klein...so awkward as heck...), but I made them females in my story, because I thought their names sounded female, but maybe that's just me. If you don't like it, I can change them back to your preferred gender. It's only two chapters in and not much into the story so it's still fine. Your call. :) I can continue the story either way, just give me some time to focus myself...
Please read and review! I'll appreciate it very much! :)