(Aincrad-Floor 1: City of Beginnings)
Harry looked around after making his avatar (AN: It looks virtually the same as he does anyway, just what he will look like in about 3-4 years, all of them will) and looked around at the beginning area until he heard a shout "Hey" he turned to see Tekuya under the title of Salazar Slytherin he nodded "Hey Sal" Tek grinned "Let's find the others Myrddin" the two looked around and eventually met up with Draco, Neville, Fred, George, Yusei, Jaden and Yuya before they set off out of the town and into the Fields, after some playing around with the inventory and tutorials of course.
(Aincrad-Floor 1: Fields)
The group of 9 was training in the Fields for a few hours and gains about 4 levels each before they were teleported back to the plaza in the town of beginnings.
(Aincrad-Floor 1: Town of Beginnings)
The group looked around and saw a guy with pink hair and a guy with black hair stood nearby, they quickly scooted over to them "Hey, you two know what's going on?" the two turned and looked them over before shaking their heads but the guy with black hair pointed at the warning symbol "I think we are about to find out". The warning Symbol multiplied until the filled the sky before blood began to leak from it and form into a body, after a couple of seconds a complete from of a robed entity was floating above them.
"Hello Players, my name is Akihiko Kayaba and welcome to my world" everyone murmured at that "As many of you might have noticed, there is a certain key element of the game missing, the Log Out button, I will say now this is not a bug or flaw, this is how Sword Art Online was designed" the murmurs of the crowd got louder at that "You cannot log yourselves out of Sword Art Online and no one from the outside will be able to shut down 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".
A player shouted that this was such BS before attempting to leave the plaza only to find an invisible wall "Hey I can't get out" the others around him turned to him. The pink-haired man scoffed and turned to the black-haired guy "Are you listening to this crap? He's gotta be nuts right Kirito?" the Black-Haired guy shook his head "He's not, the transmitter signals in the Nervegear work just like microwaves, if the safeties are disabled it could fry your brain". The Pink-Haired man looked a bit more alarmed now "Couldn't someone cut the power or" "That wouldn't work, the Nervegear's got an internal Battery" Tek nodded remembering the power symbol.
The Pink-haired man started to shake "this is crazy, its totally crazy" the GM then decided to speak again "Despite my warnings, families and friends of some of the players have attempted removing the Nervegear, an unfortunate decision to say the least and as a result, the game now has 213 less players than when it began, the have been deleted from both Aincrad and the real world". The group of 9, the Pink-Haired man and Kirito looked at him in horror "213!" "No way, I don't believe it" Tek scoffed "Kayaba is many things but one of them is not a lair, he is brutally honest, and did you notice that he said deleted not killed" Harry nodded "No empathy, no emotionally response to it, it means nothing to him".
Several newspaper articles and T.V reports appeared in front of Kayaba's avatar "As you can see, international media outlets have round the clock coverage of everything, including the deaths, at this point, it's safe to assume the likelihood of the Nervegear being removed is minimal at best, I hope this brings comfort to you as you try to clear the game" Tek gritted his teeth "He wants us to clear a MMORPG, I knew he was ambitious, but this is borderline insanity". Kayaba began speaking again "It is important that you remember the following, there is no longer any way to revive someone within the game, if your HP drops to 0, your avatar will be deleted from the system forever, and the Nervegear will simultaneously destroy your brain, ending your life".
Kirito seems to have a flash back before returning back to where he was looking a little bit paler, Neville patted him on the shoulder. Kayaba continued after a few moments "There is only one way for a player to escape now, you must clear the game" Kayaba brought up a hologram of Aincrad "Right now you are on floor 1 of Sword Art Online, the lowest level, if you can get through the dungeon and defeat the boss, you may advance to the next floor, defeat the boss on floor 100 and you will clear the game". The crowd became restless and agitated as one player shouted, "WHY SHOULD WE BELIEVE ANYTHING YOU SAY?".
The pink-haired man spoke in a low tone "We can't clear all 100 floors, that's freaking impossible, even the Beta testers didn't make it that high" Kayaba continued regardless "Last but not least, I have placed a little present in the item storage of every players menu, please, have a look" Tek looked at his friends "Don't, if I know Kayaba, it will not turn out well give our age" the group nodded as the watched everyone else pull out an object "A mirror?" and with that all of the other players were coated in a flash of blue light.
After the lights dissipated everyone except Harry and his group had changed how they looked, Kirito blinked to adjust his eyes as the pink-haired man walked over to him "You okay Kirito?" Kirito turned around "Yea, I'm okay…wait who are you?" "Who am I? who are you?" Kirito looked into the mirror and saw his actually face on his avatar, he looked around and saw everyone but the small group of 9 next to him and his friend had changed, he looked back at the man in front of him "Wait a second" the both of them pointed at each other "Is that you Klein? Kirito?" Klein looked down "But how?" Kirito frowned "the scan, there's a high density scanning device inside the Nervegear rig, it can see what our faces look like, but how did it know our height and body type?" "When you first put the Nervegear on, it had to do this calibration thing, it asked you to touch your body all over, remember?" "Oh yea, you're right, that's were it got your measurements, what I want to know is why didn't you lot change?" he turned to Harry and the others, they grinned sheepishly "We didn't change the avatars, only the username" Kirito just shook his head in exasperation as Klein spoke up "but, this is, what's the point? Why would anyone do this to us?" Kirito turned to Kayaba "I think he is about to tell us".
Kayaba spoke as all players turned to him "Right now, you are probably thinking, why? Why has Akihiko Kayaba, developer of Sword Art Online, done this. Ultimately, my goal was a simple one, the reason I created Sword Art Online was to control the fate of a world of my design" Tek, Harry and Kirito all gritted their teeth and hissed out "Kayaba" Kayaba then continued "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 bid you good luck" and with that Kayaba's avatar disappeared, Kirito quickly grabbed Klein and rushed off, Harry and his group followed.
(Aincrad-Floor 1: Street nearest to the gate)
Kirito stopped and looked at Klein as the others came round the corner "Okay listen, I'm heading out right now for the next town, I want you to come" Klein looked shocked "If what he said is true and I think it is, the only way we are gonna survive in this world is by making ourselves as strong as possible, in an MMORPG the money you can earn, the EXP and the loot, once the game starts up there is only so much of that stuff to go around, look the fields around here are gonna be hunted clean soon, if we head to the next town now, we'll have an easier time collecting cash, coins, loot and EXP, don't worry I know all of the paths and places we should avoid even if I'm level 1, I can get there easy" Kirito look up from his menu as Klein spoke "Umm, thanks but you know those friends of mine I was telling you about, we stood in line the whole night to buy this game, they're back at the plaza, somewhere, I can't just abandon them" Kirito looked down as the others stepped forwards.
Harry clapped Klein on the back "Go, help your friends, how about we all add each other on the Friends list so that we can keep an eye out and message if we need help, back-up or advice?" Klein and Kirito nodded as everyone added each-other, Kirito turned to the others "Will you lot be fine?" Tek smirked "We've all been EXP farming since an hour after we joined, we are all around level 4, we'll be fine Kirito, I can tell that you are a Solo player, just keep yourself alive yea?" Kirito nodded and smiled as he turned around and began to walk off "Kirito" Kirito stopped and turned to look at Klein "You look better like that" Kirito grinned "and you don't look so bad yourself, see ya Klein" and with that Kirito took off, Klein turned and ran back to the plaza.
Harry and Tek turned back to their groups "Okay, we need to get camping gear and some supplies, then we'll leave" they all nodded as they quickly went to acquire some.
(Aincrad-Floor 1: The Fields-10 minutes later)
Harry, Tek, Draco, Fred, George, Neville, Yusei, Jaden and Yuya were all stood outside of the town in the fields "You ready for our first all-nighter?" they nodded "Then, let's go, we won't allow this world to defeat us" and with that they group ran down the paths slaying monsters as they went levelling along the way.
AN: Player Tags:
Harry-Myrddin Emerys
Tekuya-Salazar Slytherin
Neville-Godric Gryffindor
Draco-Draconis Blaze
Fred-Mordred Pendragon
George-Arthur Pendragon
Yusei-Cosmic Rider
Jaden-Yubel Judai
Yuya-Odd-Eyes Zarc
Players:
Myrddin Emerys:
Level: 4
HP: 650
Strength: 10
Defense: 10
Agility: 10
Endurance: 10
Spare points: 43
Equipment:
Basic Armour
+10 Defense
+10 Durability
Weapons:
Basic Sword-Level 1
0/4 Enhancements
+1 Accuracy
+1 Heaviness
+1 Durability
Accessory:
none
Salazar Slytherin:
Level: 4
HP: 650
Strength: 10
Defense: 10
Agility: 10
Endurance: 10
Spare points: 43
Equipment:
Basic Armour
+10 Defense
+10 Durability
Weapons:
Basic Sword-Level 1
0/4 Enhancements
+1 Accuracy
+1 Heaviness
+1 Durability
Accessory:
none
Godric Gryffindor:
Level: 4
HP: 650
Strength: 10
Defense: 10
Agility: 10
Endurance: 10
Spare points: 43
Equipment:
Basic Armour
+10 Defense
+10 Durability
Weapons:
Basic Sword-Level 1
0/4 Enhancements
+1 Accuracy
+1 Heaviness
+1 Durability
Accessory:
none
Draconis Blaze:
Level: 4
HP: 650
Strength: 10
Defense: 10
Agility: 10
Endurance: 10
Spare points: 43
Equipment:
Basic Armour
+10 Defense
+10 Durability
Weapons:
Basic Sword-Level 1
0/4 Enhancements
+1 Accuracy
+1 Heaviness
+1 Durability
Accessory:
none
Mordred Pendragon:
Level: 4
HP: 650
Strength: 10
Defense: 10
Agility: 10
Endurance: 10
Spare points: 43
Equipment:
Basic Armour
+10 Defense
+10 Durability
Weapons:
Basic Sword-Level 1
0/4 Enhancements
+1 Accuracy
+1 Heaviness
+1 Durability
Accessory:
none
Arthur Pendragon:
Level: 4
HP: 650
Strength: 10
Defense: 10
Agility: 10
Endurance: 10
Spare points: 43
Equipment:
Basic Armour
+10 Defense
+10 Durability
Weapons:
Basic Sword-Level 1
0/4 Enhancements
+1 Accuracy
+1 Heaviness
+1 Durability
Accessory:
none
Cosmic Rider:
Level: 4
HP: 650
Strength: 10
Defense: 10
Agility: 10
Endurance: 10
Spare points: 43
Equipment:
Basic Armour
+10 Defense
+10 Durability
Weapons:
Basic Sword-Level 1
0/4 Enhancements
+1 Accuracy
+1 Heaviness
+1 Durability
Accessory:
none
Yubel Judai:
Level: 4
HP: 650
Strength: 10
Defense: 10
Agility: 10
Endurance: 10
Spare points: 43
Equipment:
Basic Armour
+10 Defense
+10 Durability
Weapons:
Basic Sword-Level 1
0/4 Enhancements
+1 Accuracy
+1 Heaviness
+1 Durability
Accessory:
none
Odd-Eyes Zarc:
Level: 4
HP: 650
Strength: 10
Defense: 10
Agility: 10
Endurance: 10
Spare points: 43
Equipment:
Basic Armour
+10 Defense
+10 Durability
Weapons:
Basic Sword-Level 1
0/4 Enhancements
+1 Accuracy
+1 Heaviness
+1 Durability
Accessory:
none