[Seriously, hadn't it for the train's about to leave, I should've taken a toilet break at the train station.
Using the train lavatory's freakin' uncomfortable at best.
Well, I have no choice about that, right?
Anyway, because of that, Hayako was really mad when I got back to my seat.
"What the HELL have you been doing in the lavatory!?" She asked. "It took ages for you to get back!"
"Thirty-two minutes and fifteen seconds, to be exact." Akiko added.
"Yeah, thanks for the - wait, did you counted!?" I asked in disbelief.
"Seriously, Natsumi." Akiko frowned. "What idiot in their right mind would do something like that. I just made it up!"
"Well, nobody ever said that she's in her right mind." Klein whispered into Kazuto's ear, but earned another smack in the head from Hayako, who heard what he said.
"Alright, alright! Enough of the boring stuffs! It's time for you to continue your story, Natsumi!" Himeko demanded. "We've been waiting forever for you!"
"Yeah, you're always the one to make us wait! Let's get on with this already!" Hayako agreed.]
Okay, I'll admit, I have the tendency to make others wait.
Seriously, it's like it's one of my bad habits right now.
So, er, where did I left at? Oh, right. The exciting part.
["You made it sounds like some simple, everyday stuff, Natsu-san..." Kazuto sighed.
"Well, it's not like getting struck inside a virtual reality is anything new these days." Asuna said.]
Ah, yeah, that's about it.
So, after training Hayako, um, I mean Link, until she can finally beats some monsters on her own, as well as gaining a couple of levels for her, the sun starts to set, and we realize that it's time for us to part ways.
"Well, that's about it! You can handle yourself in battle now!" I told her after seeing her dispatched five boars in a role without me assisting.
"It's all thanks to you!" She smiled. "Without you helping, I wouldn't have done a single sword skill. Those stuffs are so hard to understand!"
["Aaannd you made me sounds like an idiot again. Way to begin a story, ice queen."
"Shut up."]
"It's okay. It just takes some practice and it'll all turn out fine. You're doing really well yourself!" I said.
We stared at the brown sky.
"It's been this late already, huh? Looks like it's time for my dinner now." Link said.
"Same goes for me, Link. My sister's gonna kill me if I stayed here any longer." I replied.
And we both opened our menus.
"The heck!? Where's the log out button?" Link spoke.
"Huh?"
"There's no log out button on the menu."
I stared at the menu screen in front of me. To my surprise, there isn't a log out button on my menu, too.
"What the hell?" Link started panicked. "Why isn't there a log out button on the menus!?"
"Stay calm, Link. It's probably just a minor malfunction. It's just the first day out of beta, after all. There's bound to be some glitches." I said to calm her down, but really, I was a little bit panicked, too.
Glitches are fine, but this is too serious to be just a glitch. An online game without a log out button? Especially the finished product just first day out of beta? An overlook on the programmers' side or not, they shouldn't have made this serious mistake.
And even if they did do it, they should've announced it to the players so they don't panic, but there's nothing. They just made one mistake after another!
But...
What if this isn't a mistake? I asked myself. Something told me that this isn't just a mistake.
["You're clever, Natsumi." Kazuto complimented. "You figured out something was wrong way faster than me."
"Thanks!" I grinned.
"You just made that up!" Hayako protested. "I never remembered you ever saying that!"
"Then I must have a better memory than you, Hayako." I teased her. She just pouted and crossed her arms.]
"So what do we do now?" Link asked. "I already sent a message to the GM, but no replies are sent back. Aren't there an emergency log out or something!?"
"No. The only way we can log out is through the menu." I told her. "Otherwise, someone else in the real world must remove the NerveGear from our heads to forcibly log us out, and that is not recommended at all."
"Damn it! How do we get out of this game now!?"
["Heh, looks like somebody's a little afraid, huh?" Klein teased. Hayako just blushed without saying anything.
"Don't tease the girl, Klein. It's not like you were any better than her." Kazuto said.
"Wha!? At least I'm not panicking like hell or something!"
"Yeah, you talked about how you're late for your pizza, and asking me about my sister, something like that, if I remember correctly."
This time, it is Klein who blushed.
"I THOUGHT YOU ALREADY FORGOT ABOUT THAT!" He yelled.
"How could I forget about our first meeting, you idiot?" Kazuto laughed.]
So yeah, while I was figuring out what was going on, I heard something in the distance.
A bell ringing.
That low, haunting sound echoed throughout the first floor.
"Wha?! What's happening!?" I heard Link yelled out.
I turned to her, but instead saw a white light glowed out from the place she just stood earlier.
"Link! What's-"
Before I know it, the same white light appeared under me as well, and as it consumed me, I only have enough time to yell out the only thing that was on my mind at that moment
"WHAT THE HELL!?"
The next thing I know, I'm back in the Town of Beginnings at the center plaza.
I looked around, and saw hundreds of players all around me.
"Sakumi! Sakumi! Where are you!?" I heard someone called me.
It was Link.
"I'm here!"
I followed the voice through the crowd, which just keep getting bigger as more people teleported in one after another, until I reached her.
"What's going on! This isn't normal at all!" She panicked again, and this time, even my body's start shivering, too.
We've just been forced to teleport. There are only two cases this would mean.
A bug in the system, which is out of question because it never happens in a large scale like this. This leaves only the second case, and that is an emergency.
"Hey, look!" Link spoke, her finger pointing at the sky above. "There's something up there!"
I stared at the brown sky above, and saw a red-blinking hexagon...thing on it.
On it has a comment that reads WARNING.
Seconds later, it suddenly expanded. Numerous red hexagon things appeared out of nowhere, covered the sky in a crimson-red color.
And that was not the worst part.
After that, something liquid leaked through them. It was red in color, almost similar to blood. It quickly gathered into a single shape, sparkling blue electrics as it's doing so.
Finally, we found ourselves standing face to face with a red-hooded being floating in the air above us. It has no face.
"Is that...the game master!?" I heard someone spoke.
"Is this a special event or something? Maybe it's the opening launch event!"
"But...but this is so scary! What's gonna happen!?"
"It's going to be fine! It's just an event!"
Boy, if only they realized it...
Seconds later, an orchestral music began playing, as the red-hooded being raised its arms.
"Attention, players." It spoke. "Welcome to my world."
"Wow! This is so exciting!" A young girl said.
"My name is Kayaba Akihiko. As of this moment, I am the only sole person who can control this world. I'm sure you've already noticed that the log out button is missing from the main menu."
He then opened the game menu to show us. The logout button has still not reappeared.
"But this is not a defuct in the game. I repeat, this is not a defuct in the game."
Wha...what the hell is he thinking!? I thought. My body started sweating.
"This is a feature of Sword Art Online."
And that confirmed my fears.
"You cannot log out of SAO yourselves, and no one on the outside can shut down or remove the NerveGear. Should this be attempted, the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit a powerful microwave, destroying your brain and thus, ending your life."
"WHAT!?" A lot of people shouted simultaneously.
"Come on, drop the act already! I want to play the game!" A man spoke, before walking to the exit. To everyone's surprise, an invisible barrier blocked him from getting out.
"The hell is this!? Let me out!"
"This...this is not normal at all, Sakumi..." Link grabbed my arm. "He's gotta be joking. Right, right?"
"He's not joking." I told her. "The NerveGear transmitter's signal works just like microwaves. If the safety block is disabled, it could trigger a signal overload that could fry a brain. We can't also cut the power because the NerveGear has an internal battery."
"But this is crazy! Why would he be doing something like this to us!?"
"Unfortunately," Kayaba continued. "Several players' friends and families have ignored this warning, and have attempted to remove the NerveGear."
Oh, no. This is going to be bad.
"As a result, two hundred and thirteen players are gone forever, from both Aincrad...and the real world."
"I don't believe it, I DON'T BELIEVE IT!" Some guy shouted up. I turned to look, and saw a red-haired boy with a scarf on his head.
["Hey! That was me!" Klein said excitingly. "Never thought we were standing that close to each other back then!"
"Aw, to hell with you, Klein! You just ruined a serious moment!" Hayako shouted, then punched Klein in the face.
"Damn it, Hayako! It's Natsumi's fault for bringing that up!" He argued.
"And that's because nobody expected some idiot to interrupt the story." I told him, before deciding to continue.]
"As you can see," Kayaba continued while bringing up numerous TV screens surrounding him. "News organizations across the world are reporting all of this, including the deaths. Thus, you can assume that the danger of a NerveGear being removed is now minimal. I hope you will relax and attempt to clear the game. "
"Damn it, how could he says all of this so casually! His game just killed someone!" Link spoke. "That's it! I'm fed up with this game!"
As for me, I stared at the moving TV screens above me. Kayaba wasn't kidding. They were real television news reporting about victims in an online game incident. One screen even depicted a young girl crying and falling to her knees while her mother tried to comfort her.
"But I want you to remember this clearly; there is no longer any method to revive someone within the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be forever lost, and in the mean time,"
The TV screens then disappeared.
"The NerveGear will destroy your brain."
His haunting voice echoed throughout the plaza.
"Damn it..." I clenched my fists. What rights did he have to do this to us!?
"There is only one means to escape this game, and that is to complete the game." Kayaba explained. "You are currently on the lowest floor of Aincrad, the first floor. If you make your way through the dungeons and defeat the floor boss, you may advance to the next level. Defeat the final boss on the hundredth floor, and you will clear the game."
"Y-you're kidding! We need to beat our way through all hundred floors!? That's impossible!" Link shouted, as well as some other players who did something similar.
"Finally, I've added a present from me to your item storage. Please see for yourselves."
I did as he said, and opened my item menu. Previously, I already sold all my items to the city merchant NPC, so there should be no item in there.
But now, there is one.
Mirror? I thought as I pressed the Use command on the item. What's a mirror doing here?
My question got answered soon enough.
"AHHHHH!" Link screamed. A white-blue light glowed under her again, as well as several other players around us.
Eventually, the same thing happened to me to, and shortly after, the whole plaza got covered in the light.
The next thing I know, I stared at the mirror again, only to find my face, my avatar face, turned into my real one. My long silver hair and gold eyes in the reflection confirmed it.
"Huh? Who are you?" Someone spoke.
I turned to look, and saw...someone else, in Link's costume.
She has a twintail blonde hair, and brown eyes.
"Y-you're Link/Sakumi!?" We said simultaneously, staring at each other in confusion. Mumblings all around us told me that other players had similar reactions.
Must be pretty awkward for those male players who choose female avatars, and those old guys who played as young players.
Suddenly, it all kicked in to me.
That scan.
The scan that the NerveGear requested that we did before we logged in.
It made perfect sense.
You guys already understand how it works, so I'm skipping it, okay?
So, back to that bastard Kayaba.
"Right now, you're probably wondering 'Why? Why would Kayaba Akihiko, developer of Sword Art Online and the NerveGear, do all of this?' My goal has already been achieved. I created Sword Art Online for one reason; to create this world and intervene in it, and now, it is complete."
He said it in such a satisfied, joyous voice, as if he just successfully completed a science experiment.
"This ends the tutorial for the Sword Art Online launch. Good luck, my dearest players..."
Finally, he finished.
His body started melting away and disappeared, along with the red sky above it, turning it back into the evening sky.
A stunning silence then followed,
And just right after that, after the realization of the harsh truth finally kicked in,
It can only led into one thing:
Chaos.
Editor's note: First of all, I'm sorry for the very, VERY long update Atsune-san! I've been a very busy man this past month and I barely had any time continuing my stories, please forgive me for this! :(
And yeah, this chapter led into nothing interesting, almost not worth the wait, I know it. I just rewatched the first episode and copied Kayaba's lines into the chapter and tweaks it just a little bit, that's all. I really, really want to come up with something original, but due to the OC backstories, I tried to keep it as close as the anime canon as possible. Any suggestions are welcomed!
Thank you for your patience! And hopefully I will continue this soon! Don't give up! :)