I thank whitworth5274 for helping me.
Today was Sunday, November 6th, 2022, and the most anticipated game of the year was just moments away from going live.
"Hi there, time for this week's MMO Stream. You just saw a PV of today's featured game. And this is what last week's launch day looked like. Can you guess what everyone's waiting in line for? Sword Art Online! The first person in line said they camped out for three days. Hey, but if you're a hardcore gamer, that's what you do!
"On today's episode of the MMO Stream, we'll be covering the internationally famous Sword Art Online, AKA, SAO. Up till now, none of the NerveGear software seems to have taken advantage of the possibilities of the hardware.
"Thankfully, SAO was created by the inventor of the NerveGear, Akihiko Kayaba. Heck, this is the VRMMORPG that me and everyone else had been waiting for! The beta testers say it's incredible. I wish I could've gotten one! The first testing was limited to only 10,000 copies. Those fans in line snatched them up and oh my, the game sold out in seconds."
It was almost time. Haruko turned off her computer and hopped into her bed. Once she was sure her NerveGear was plugged in and charged, she took an excited deep breath and placed the headset on her head. Laying down, she waited a moment before activating the full-dive sequence. "All right, Haruko… Link Start!"
The whole scene in front of her changed, with colors flashing and calibration popups for the senses of touch, sight, hearing, smell and taste appearing. Momentarily she came to the setup and login screen, in which she input her preferred language to Japanese and her username and password. Next was character creation, which she did quickly and entered the game.
The next prompt she saw was "Welcome to Sword Art Online!"
Haruza took a quick scan of herself, this time from the first person point of view. Her hair was medium cut with a ponytail hanging off the back of her head. Her proportions were that of a male avatar, but to not get too hung up on appearances, she kept her height. She has a blue tunic over a black shirt and pants, with brown leather boots covering her feet. One sword was strapped to her back, held by a leather strap.
As she glanced around, she was mesmerized by the multitude of other players entering the game. 10,000 copies were completely sold today, and this would be today's limit on players to not stress out the servers. The beta was only a thousand players, including Haruza.
They entered the Town of Beginnings, which as the name suggests, was the beginning town for the 100-floor castle. Haruza stood just a few meters from the teleportation gate in the middle of the central plaza, and began to glance around. There haven't been many changes to the place, if any at all. Black Iron Palace, where dead players will respawn if killed and revived in the field or be placed for a determinate amount of time as a sort of prison system, standing tall in the background. Haruza bet she'd be seeing that place a lot once players advanced past Floor 10, a total unknown territory to even the beta testers.
Most players split into two camps: some decided to explore the first town, others began to head south, which led out to the fields. Haruza joined the latter group, excitedly running through town to begin her adventure of a lifetime while she can escape from her reality.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
It wasn't too long before Haruza found herself hunting boars. Her knowledge from the beta starts to kick in gear, so her ability to fight them off was done with ease compared to most players she saw out and about. Of course, the system of fighting was new for many players, herself included back during the beta. There weren't controllers or keyboards to use, just the mind and the correct judgment to fight.
She got so involved in her hunt that she almost didn't hear her name called. "Haruza?" Looking up, she saw a black-haired male in a blue shirt, leather vest, and khaki pants approach her. He was taller than her, and in her mind, quite attractive...well, the avatar was. Who knew the looks of the real person?
But she recognized him from the beta, and sheathed her sword to greet him. "Yo, what's up, Kirito?"
"Nothing much. Having a good time with the boars, I see."
"Yeah, getting my kills on, bro!" Was that how guys sound? Ugh. As she cringed at herself, she eyed another male nearby as he got sent flying to his back by a boar. He landed on the ground, panting in pain.
Kirito sighed and walked back over to the man. "Oh come on, seriously? You can't feel any pain."
"Oh yeah, you're right. Sorry, habit."
Haruza walked with Kirito and watched the other player get back on his feet. "Kirito, do you know this guy?"
"Not really, but his name is Klein. Met him in town. He's just starting."
"Newcomer, eh? Look at the boy who made it higher than anyone else in the beta, reduced to training camp leader."
Kirito sighed and turned his attention to Klein. "Remember what I said? The first move is the most important."
"Yeah, that's easy for you to say. But he won't stand still."
Kirito picked up a small rock and held it as if he was about to throw it. The rock glowed red in his hand. "If you do your initial motion and activate a sword skill at the right time…" He threw the rock, hitting the boar on its butt and regaining its attention. "…the system pretty much guarantees you'll always hit your target."
"Initial motion?"
"Here's an easier way to look at it." Kirito avoided the charging boar and blocked its second charge with his sword, effortlessly holding it back. "Right after you start your move, wait for a little bit. When you feel the skill start to activate, drive it home."
The redhead male thinks over "Drive it home?" He then realizes what Kirito is instructing and adjusts his footwork and stance, placing his short, curved blade over his right shoulder and glows orange. Haruza watched as Kirito directed the boar Klein's way and the trainee sliced through the boar. He looked back in shock and excitement as he realized he had succeeded. "Yeah!"
Kirito high-fived him. "Congratulations. That was nice. But that boar is about as weak as slimes in other games are."
"Holy crap you've got to be kidding! I thought that thing was a mid-level boss!"
Kirito chuckled as he saw more boars respawn nearby. "Yeah, as if." He turned his head as Klein stroked the air with the sword skill again. "Addictive, isn't it?"
"I'll say… So these skills, there's a ton of them, like blacksmithing and stuff, right?"
"Uh huh. I've heard the game has an unlimited number of them. All except for magic, though."
Haruza, watching silently from afar, chuckled. "It's almost criminal to say that, but it's true. No magic exists in this fantasy world."
"An RPG without magic. That's a bold decision, man!" Klein performed the sword skill again and got giddy about it. Seemed he had a feel for the combat system, but that was just one skill and outside of combat. Haruza believed he'll get better in time since he picked up on combat on the first day.
"So, what do you think? It's kind of fun to move your body as you fight, isn't it?"
"All hells yeah!"
"You ready to move on?"
"Yeah man, let's keep going! And you, new dude, are you joining us?"
Haruza looked at Kirito and shrugged. "I don't see why not? I was planning on hunting boars anyway."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
After a few hours of hunting with Kirito and Klein, Haruza found "himself" with the other boys sitting on the plains and staring up to the sunset. It has been a carefree day, raising her mood since she left practice and spoke with her mother. Honestly, if she had to choose...she could be content spending eternity here rather than going back to a failed gymnast.
Klein sighed and broke the silence. "When I look around, I can't believe it. We're inside a game, bro."
Haruza nodded. "I got to admit, it looks and feels so real that if it wasn't for the HUD, you'd forget it was a virtual world."
"Whoever made it's a genius. This thing's amazing. Makes me glad I was born when I was, you know?"
Kirito shrugs. "It's not that big a deal."
"Cut me some slack. It's my first full dive."
"You've never used a NerveGear until today, huh? This is your first time ever?"
"Uh-huh. As soon as I got the money together, I rushed out and bought all the hardware to play SAO. Stood in line and scored one of the 10,000 hard copies. Guess you could say I was pretty lucky. Although, you sir were 10 times as lucky getting to beta test it."
"Hey, I beta tested it too," Haruza points out.
"Dude, only a thousand people got the chance!"
Kirito rubbed the back of his head in understanding: "Yeah, I guess we were lucky."
"Hey, mind if I ask how far you got in the beta?"
"Uh, two months and I couldn't get further than Floor 8. But now I think I can get there within a month easy."
"I think as far as I gotten was Floor 6." said Haruza.
"Sounds to me like you're really into this." Klein smirked.
Kirito drew his sword and held it in front of him. "Yeah, you could say that. During the beta test, SAO was the only thing on my mind. Day and night. In this world, a single blade can take you anywhere you wanna go. And even though it's a virtual world, I feel more alive here than I ever did in the real one."
Haruza looked down to "his" ankles and gives the right a slight twist. "I came here to escape reality. No one telling you who you should be, what you got to do. And if someone is telling you what to do, it's just NPCs with quests. You can ignore them if you so choose. In other words...though this world is false, the freedom it gives from reality is pretty real."
Kirito put his sword up and faced the boys. "Anyway, you wanna go do some more hunting?"
"Oh, you know it! But the thing is…" He clutched his stomach as a low growl echoes from his torso. "I'm really hungry! I have to log out."
Kirito chuckled. "Too bad the food you eat here only satisfies your hunger virtually."
"Yeah, for reals! That's why I ordered a pizza for five-thirty!"
"Wow, you're so prepared."
"You know it! Besides, the game can wait until I get my pizza on."
"I guess."
Klein hopped to his feet. "Hey, I was gonna go meet up with some people I know from another game. I don't know what you're up to after this so, if uh, you know if you want, you can friend them and hang with us."
Kirito made a short gasp and turned away. Noticing this Haruza stood up and playfully glared at Kirito. "You don't want to be friends with anyone? Even me? That's just sad, man."
Klein waved it off. "No, it's cool if you don't want to. No pressure. I can always introduce you to them another time or something."
"Yeah, sorry. Thanks anyway."
"No way! I should be doing all the thanking. Hey, one of these days, I promise I'll pay you back for all your help. Virtually that is."
"Yeah, right."
"Thanks for everything, man. Really." Klein reached his hand out to Haruza and Kirito. "Guess I'll see you around then."
Kirito took the handshake first. "If there's anything else you wanna know, message me."
"Ah, sweet! I'll do that."
Haruza is next, and she forced a sly grin on her male avatar. "Try not to get rammed by a boar again."
Klein chuckled. "I'll try not to do that." Klein stepped back and opens his menu to log out. At that moment, Haruza prepared to ask Kirito a question, but that was when Klein gasped. "Huh? Where'd the logout button go?"
"It should be there."
"Hmm. Nope, it's not there."
"It should be at the bottom of the main menu." Kirito and Haruza replicated the motions and searched for the logout button, but both were shocked in the same way Klein was.
"See? Not there."
"There really is nothing."
"You're right, it's not."
"Oh well. Today's what? The first day out of beta? There's bound to be some bugs. I bet the server people are freaking out right now."
"You will too."
"Huh?"
Kirito pointed to where his clock display would be located, where it read 17:25: "Look, it's 5:25."
"...Ah! Oh my god! My teriyaki mayo pizza and ginger ale!"
"Why don't you just contact the game master?"
"Huh? Yeah, I did that but nothing's happening. He's not picking up. Do you know if there's another way to logout of this thing?"
"Hmm, no. Whenever a player wants to logout of SAO, the only way they can do it is by going through the menu."
"That can't be right. There's gotta be some other way out! Return! Logout! Escape!"
After a few seconds, in which Klein was still present before them, Haruza rolled "his" eyes. "See? Nothing."
"Told you so. And there was no emergency logout in the manual either."
"No way. You're kidding."
Haruza sighed. She was keeping her cool, but the longer they talked, the more nerve wracking this situation had become. "He's not kidding, I have seen the manual too. And now, I'm starting to get very nervous."
"I know! I'll just rip the NerveGear off my head!" Klein grabbed his head and "tried" removing the NerveGear from his physical body with the virtual one.
Kirito dissuaded him. "Don't bother. Once you've hooked in, you can't move your body in the real world anymore. The NerveGear intercepts all the commands you give inside the game using an interface built into the rig."
"Seriously? So now we've gotta wait until someone gets around to fix the bug?!"
"That or until someone in the real world comes along and takes the NerveGear off us. That's it."
"Well I live alone. You?"
"I live with my mom, but I don't know if and when she'll be home. But I'm sure she'd be happy to remove my headset forcibly." Despite saying it as a joke, Haruza knew that the possibility of that is quite high, knowing her mother and her dislike of "distractions".
"I've got a mom and a sister. And I'm pretty sure they'll notice by dinnertime and come-"
Klein suddenly grabbed Kirito. "You've got a sister?! How old is she? What's she like?!"
"Uh, she's into sports and hates games and she's totally not your type, man! She wouldn't date a gamer if he's the last-"
"Who cares?! I wanna-" Klein fell back as Kirito kicked him in the balls and groaned. Not knowing how that'll feel, Haruza just watched in amusement. "Ugh! Oh, right. Getting kicked in the balls doesn't hurt."
"Get serious. Don't you think this is weird?"
Haruza nodded. "Beyond weird. It's one thing to have a bug, but a critical function such as logging out missing? Impossible."
"Yeah, totally. But it's just a bug."
"This isn't 'just a bug'. If we can't log out, it's gonna cause serious problems for the game."
Klein sighed in understanding. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
Kirito turns his head and looks off into the distance. "I wonder if the developers even know what's happening, because they could just shut down the server and log everyone out. But why haven't they made an announcement?" Before that statement can settle on their minds, a distant bell rang.
"Well, Klein, Kirito, that might be our announcement."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The three boys were forcibly teleported to the central plaza of the Town of Beginnings, but they weren't the only ones. Every player logged into SAO, possibly every single of the 10,000 buyers, was present, and just like Kirito, Klein, and Haruza, they were confused.
"Look, up there!" Someone gestured to the sky, where a red hexagon labeled "Warning" blinks in the sky. That hexagon sprouted more either labeled "Warning" or "System Announcement" until the sky above the plaza was colored blood-red.
Oh, and there was "blood" flowing from the red sky. It didn't drip to the ground, instead coagulating until it forms a giant robed figure who overlooks the 10,000. Haruza nervously looked up, unable to look elsewhere or say anything. If this is an event or opening ceremony, this has gone quite the distance for presentation.
"That's a Game Master's robe. But there's no face." Haruza pointed out.
"Attention, players. I welcome you to my world. My name is Akihiko Kayaba. And as of this moment, I am in control of this world." Akihiko Kayaba...the creator of the NerveGear and SAO? Here? Now? Haruza's fear turned to bewilderment as the face of the game made his presence known. This really is quite the ceremony.
"I'm sure most of you already noticed an item missing from your main menu: the logout button. Let me assure you, this is not a defect in the game. I repeat: This is not a defect. It is how Sword Art Online was designed to be." To prove his point, Kayaba showed the world his main menu, also void of the logout button.
Wait a minute...There's not supposed to be a logout button? Sword Art Online was designed this way? What?
"You cannot log yourselves out of SAO, 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."
"Huh, are you listening to this crap? He's gotta be nuts, right? Right, Kirito?"
"He's not. The transmitter signal in the headgear works just like microwaves. If the safety's disabled, they could fry your brain."
"Couldn't someone...cut the power?"
"That won't work. The NerveGear's got an internal battery."
Haruza quietly gasped. She was thinking along the lines of Klein, but she'd forgotten the internal battery too. "So if removing the power to the NerveGear won't protect us…"
"Ugh! This is crazy! This is totally crazy!"
"Despite my warning, the family and friends and families of some of the players have attempted removing the NerveGear. An unfortunate decision, to say the least. As a result, the game now has 213 less players than when it began. They've been deleted from both Aincrad and the real world."
"What?"
"213?"
"No way… I don't believe it!"
Several pop ups appeared around Kayaba, and they all seemed to be news reports. "As you can see, international outlets have round the clock coverage of everything, including the deaths. At this point, it's safe to assume the likelihood that 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 to remember the following: There is no longer any way to revive someone in the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be deleted from the system, forever. And the NerveGear will simultaneously destroy your brain."
That meant...if she wasn't careful, if she made one critical misjudgment, Haruza wouldn't respawn at Black Iron Palace, nor would anyone help her with a revive crystal. No, Haruza would permanently be deleted, and Haruko would die.
"There is only one way for a player to escape now. You must clear the game. Right now, you're gathered on Floor 1, the lowest level of Aincrad. 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."
"All...hundred floors?"
"We can't clear all hundred floors… That's freaking impossible. Even the beta testers never made it that high!"
Aincrad's cry was ignored by Kayaba. "Last, but not least, I placed a little present in the item storage of every player. Please, have a look." Haruza wasted no time in accessing her storage. Expecting something to potentially aid them, she's shocked to find a mirror item. She projected her, seeing the male avatar she created before her...and in a flash of blue light, that all changed.
What was once the face of Haruza now reflects that of Haruko Nozawa.
And she wasn't alone. Klein looked...slightly older, with shorter red hair, and though she couldn't see Kirito's face, his height had diminished quite a bit. The players around her looked different from her vague memory of them. Many of the girls were guys. Freaks. That mirror… Right. The NerveGear, being over the face, could detect that. And during calibrations upon putting on the NerveGear the first time, as Klein explained, was how it developed the body physique. And Haruko's body here was just like it was in the real world, minus her injury (she checked).
"Right now, you're probably wondering why? Why would Akihiko Kayaba, developer of Sword Art Online and the NerveGear, do this? Ultimately, my goal was a simple one. The reason I created Sword Art Online was to control the fate of a world that I designed. 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…"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The words of Akihiko Kayaba to the 10,000 players-or less, now-weighed heavily on the mind of Haruza. After Kayaba vanished, the central plaza was thrown into chaos. Forgetting everything and everyone, Haruza made her way out and sought a quiet spot to sort out her thoughts. After a few minutes, sitting down made her more nervous and restless than being in the plaza, so she did something deadly yet ironically comforting.
"Gah! Ha! Eeyah!" Keeping her mind focused on fighting, Haruza laid down strike after strike on the wolf monsters in the fields of the first floor. She activated alternating Vertical and Horizontal skills, defeating the field monsters with ease. Knowing how they fight from the beta, it was basic muscle memory, but even then she was cautious.
Even if Kayaba was wrong and lying to the masses, she didn't want to personally find out if he was right.
Before she returned, she ran into Klein, and heard what happened between him and Kirito after the "ceremony". He was shocked that she was a girl and even tried to hit on her, though she rejected with a punch in the face.
She hadn't seen Klein's group take the field yet, but as for Kirito, somehow she found him just a short distance away. He didn't notice Haruza, his focus on the monsters around him. Other brave players were scattered across the field, hoping to level up despite the fearful message. She slowly made her way to Kirito whilst fighting off the mobs, then caught him taking a break. More annoyed now that he parted from her and Klein the way he did, she stomped over to him and frightened him with her cold blade against his neck. "GAAAH!"
"Found you!"
"What is-"
She grabbed his blue shirt. "Remember me, Haruza? Your friend? What is wrong with you, leaving the town alone like this? Are you trying to die out here alone?"
"I-"
"I bet you were thinking 'I made it to 8 floors of the beta, so I can make it up there again on my own', weren't you? Well, let me tell you something! There are 10,000 scared individuals in this game, and none of them are stupid enough to run out here alone because they want to be alone! They're looking for friends or family, they're crying on street benches, they're shaking in fear because they don't know what to do...and for those of us that do, like us beta testers, we have our experience, our knowhow. We know things the general player doesn't. We know we must get there."
Haruza pointed to the distant tower touching the sky, the labyrinth and pathway to the next floor. Kirito faced that location, then dropped his head in shame. "But...you're out here alone too." Harzua realized that, but Kirito didn't notice the shame coming on her face. "And even then… Klein has his own party. I can't...promise to keep more than one other person than myself alive."
Haruza released Kirito and crossed her arms. "Hmph, so you must have forgotten that I can hold my own. Geez, you remind me of…" Haruza frowned and got a good look at Kirito's face. That floppy black hair, clueless dark eyes, and that even more clueless face... After two seconds, her jaw dropped and she stepped back. "Wait a minute. No way."
"Huh?"
"K-K-Kazuto? Kazuto Kirigaya, is that you?"
Kirito seized up in surprises, but before he asked an obvious question, the answer was already set in his eyes. "Haruko?"