Chapter 3: The Truth

"My name is Kayaba Akihiko"

"I am currently the one and only person who can control this world"

Everyone in the spawnpoint gasped wondering what is happening.

"I'm sure that many of you have already noticed that the logout button was removed from the main menu" said him. "However, this is by no means a mistake"

I gasped and stepped back a bit. I can feel Kana-chan hugging me tighter as the figure was talking.

"I repeat..."

"It's not a mistake, but a true feature of Sword Art Online"

Kana glanced at the figure. "What do you mean?" said her "A true feature?"

"You are all unable to log out of SAO and nobody in the real world can remove the Nerve Gear or interrupt its operation" said the figure.

"Should it be attempted, a powerful burst of microwave radiation emitted from a transmitter in the Nerve Gear will destroy your brain..."

"..., thus ending your life"

"What does that mean?" shouted a guy.

"What?!" shouted another.

"Are you just trying to make us excited?" shouted a girl.

Kana-chan looked into my eyes. Her blue eyes were glittering, meaning that she's going to cry.

"Is he serious?" asked Kana.

"Of course, not!" said me, with a smile.

Kana hugged me even tighter than ever before.

"It certainly is possible, that a player's family or friend would ignore this warning and attempt to forcibly remove the Nerve Gear"

"As proof of this, 213 players have retired from both this world and the real one"

Kana started to cry just then. Streams of tear drops flowed on her pink cheeks.

"213 people?" shouted a guy.

Windows started showing around the robed figure, showing warnings about the Nerve Gear, and people who died because of force removing their Nerve Gear.

"As you can see, news of my warning and numerous victims are being spread worldwide" continued the robed figure "Thus, it is safe to say that the danger of removal attempts has become minimal"

"I hope you will all be at ease and focus on completing the game"

"But I'd like you all to keep this in mind" said the figure "From this point on, all methods of revival in game will no longer function"

"So, if your HP hits zero, your avatar will perish for eternity, and at that moment..."

The windows around the robed figure started to disappear.

"...the Nerve Gear will destroy your brain"

The spawnpoint went totally silent at that moment. Some of the players fell to the ground at once.

"There is only one condition you must meet to be free..."

"...completing the game"

"You are all currently on the first floor, the lowest point of Aincrad"

"If you conquer a floor's dungeon and defeat the Floor Boss, you may continue up to the next one"

"Assuming you manage to defeat the final boss on the 100th floor, the game will be considered clear"

"100 floors?" said Kana-chan, opening her eyes as she turned to the figure.

No beta-tester was able to reach anywhere that far, so it is nearly impossible to beat it.

"And lastly, I've prepared a present for all of you in your item storages" said the figure "So, please take a look"

I quickly opened the menu and then opened my inventory at that instance. And then I scrolled to the end of my inventory. "Mirror". I tapped on the item and pressed on the "X" button. A mirror spawned onto my palm. I looked into the mirror. The face of my character was in there.

Just a few seconds later, crimson blue light went across Kana's body. Then the same light went across mine too. White light filled the spawnpoint.

"Aki-kun?" asked Kana-chan looking at my face.

"Kana-chan?" asked me looking at her face. I couldn't believe it. Her real face and hair was what I am looking at. I rubbed my eyes, but nothing changed.

I grabbed the mirror, and looked into it. My face was in there. I dropped the mirror at that moment. The mirror broke into pixels, and then vanishes into thin air.

People's voices started to break out through the spawnpoint.

"You're a guy?"

"You lied that you were 17!"

My eyes were opened wide.

"Aki-kun" said Kana with her sweet voice "I'm scared..."

Kana started crying on my chest again, that was the moment when I noticed that my shirt was soaking with her tear drops. I pat her head, and hugged her.

"Why is this happening?" asked Kana "Why? Why? WHY?!"

I hugged Kana a bit tighter.

"Right now, you're probably all wondering, "Why?""

""Why would I, Kayaba Akihiko, the creator of Sword Art Online and the Nerve Gear, do such thing?""

"Well, I've already achieved my goal" said the figure "I created the world of Sword Art Online solely for my personal enjoyment"

"Now that all the preparations are complete"

"This concludes the tutorial for the official launch of Sword Art Online"

"Players, I wish you the best of luck"

The robed figure started to fall down. Pixels on the robe were starting to break and then finally disappear into thin air.

I now get it. Sword Art Online is a death game. If you die here, you'll die in real life.

People started to freak out just then. Screams were heard from every direction. Some were fainting; others fell to the ground speechless.

"What are we going to do now?" asked Kana-chan falling to the ground.