"Nii-saaaaan... How much longer do we have to walk? My feet hurt!"

"Not much further Suto, and we haven't been walking for that long, please try to tough it out," Doku replied patiently, an amused smile on his lips. Since leaving the town earlier they spent all of an hour out in the fields, getting some training in before noon. While most other players saw fit to panic or remain in town he'd felt it necessary to embrace their situation; like many things in life you couldn't expect it, and the difference between those who succeeded and those who failed was initiative. Sure, comparing a death game to the education system of Japan wasn't really a fair comparison but the same ideas still worked.

Suto let out another sigh and folded his hands behind his head, his eyes drifting around the field to get a feel for what was going on. Not many players had done what they did and went out into the fields, most were too scared. Truth be told he'd probably have been among them had Doku not agreed to join him, though babysitting might be a better way of putting it.

"We didn't even do that much today! If we're going to go level up then we need to kill more boars," Suto complained again, his eyes drifting skyward with a huff, "We need to be the top levels to clear this thing! I still think being trapped is some freaky joke though. I mean they can't really do that right?"

"I don't know, if it's a hoax then its an elaborate one. We'll wait and see what tomorrow brings." When was tomorrow? For that matter how long had they actually been in the game? Time was not parallel between this world and their own, he couldn't recall how the cycle worked but he was certain it wasn't a 1:1 ratio. Unsettling in more way than one, they would have no real knowledge of what was transpiring outside of this game for some time. The way they had it explained to them it meant the game would have to be cleared, what an absurd notion. Single-player games were cleared, but an MMO? If this were truly some warped scheme to keep them prisoner here, a plot in of itself that seemed half-baked, Doku couldn't fathom how long it might take to free themselves.

Starting City loomed just before them now and players were beginning to come out in droves now. After the initial shock of the announcement it seemed many appreciated what this meant for them, that progression and leveling up was their only way to free themselves of this virtual prison. Parties were forming as well as groups of four or even more were heading into the Grasslands, taking up what few monster spawns there might be available. Sure, leveling may become everyone's priority, but with this sudden influx of players and so few beasts it was going to be a painfully slow process. That was unless you went a bit further out as they had done, take a chance further from the town to find more sparse hunting grounds; in time those too would become overrun, but if he and Suto could keep ahead of the frenzy then they'd be leveling far easier.

"H-Help! Somebody help me!"

Two hours into the game's launch and already panic had reached an all time high, the threat of actual death causing most of the player base to seriously consider staying put. Those who did sum up the courage to leave the safety of the town found themselves confronted with death, funnily enough in the form of creatures once though fodder. The notion of dying to a boar or wolf when just a game was humiliating, but you'd live another day. Now if you fell to one of these creatures, a very real possibility, you'd not only look like an idiot in the process but lose your life for it. Not exactly an illustrious carving on a tombstone, now was it?

Upon hearing someone's cries Suto looked in the direction of the sound, spotting a lone player being attacked by a pair of wolves. Gasping he drew his dagger from its sheath and took off from the road towards the player, ignoring his brother's calls to remain put. He couldn't just watch someone die, not if that was how the game worked now. Within striking distance of the wolves he activated his most basic skill, <<Vorpal Strike>>, dashing straightforward and leaving a purple particle trail behind him. Catching one of the wolves from behind he inflicted extra damage thanks to an inherent skill of his, enough to nearly kill it in one blow. On cooldown now however Suto was faced with both wolves turning on him, the other player far too panicked to help out. With both beasts growling at him Suto tried to force his body to move for another skill, finding it unwilling to do so. As both wolves let out a howl each lunged at him, shutting his eyes as he waited for them to strike and instead hearing the whimpers of both beasts.

Doku had to really push himself to reach his brother in time, managing to activate his <<Cleave>> skill before Suto was struck. An upward swing, his greatsword caught each wolf in the abdomen and launched it high in the air, killing the first and leaving the second critical. From playing earlier he'd managed to level up, and as the wolf came down he activated his second skill, <<Shoulder Charge>>. Leaning his body forward he took one step and drove his weight into the beast's side, sending it flying to the ground before shattering into a dozen shards. Breathing a sigh of relief Doku let his cooldowns refresh before standing upright, promptly admonishing the random player with an angry glare.

"Watch what you're doing, otherwise people are going to die because of you," he warned, walking over and pulling the other boy to his feet.

"S-Sorry! I didn't mean to, it was a mistake!" the boy stammered, bowing to Doku and Suto, "Thank you for saving me! T-Thank you!" Fighting back tears he then quickly turned and ran back towards the Starting City, clearly not prepared for this.

Doku watched the boy run off, pushing past others as he made a frantic dash for the safety of the town. "Tch... Trying to run solo is an idiotic move," he remarked, shaking his head as he eased his greatsword onto his back again.

"We saved him though! And I guess you saved me, so... Everything worked out, right?" Suto asked, chuckling as he rubbed the back of his head. His expression changed then to an amused one as he stepped closer to Doku, winking and nudging his side with an elbow. "I thought you didn't believe this was real, what's all this about getting killed, huh? Does that mean you were wrong?"

Doku narrowed his eyes at Suto before sighing, pinching his brow as he hung his head. "I'm just being safe. Until we know for sure we shouldn't take things lightly. Now come on, let's get back to town."

"I'm going to my friend's now," The young girl called, slipping into her shoes as she headed for the door of her family's small apartment.

"Wait a second, young lady," Her aunt called back, coming into the front room, arms crossed. "Did you finish your homework?"

"Yesterday, Auntie. Of course," She said with a proud smile, "And I already made sure the boys are working on theirs, can I please go? She wants to show me this really cool new game," The girl replied, inching closer and closer to the door.

Her aunt sighed, giving in, "Fine, fine. Be back before it's time for bed, alright? Show me I can trust you, Kimiko," She warned, "I have to go make sure your mother gets home from the train stop... Hope she doesn't get lost again..." She muttered, shaking her head.

Kimiko excitedly bounded out the door and a few blocks away from central Tokyo. Natsume didn't really live all too far away, but she actually had a house. Sure, it was smaller than one would imagine, but... a house. Nobody else lived there but her family - there was nobody upstairs banging on the floors or in the next apartment making noises all night. Natsume was the coolest. Her family, too, was always happy to greet Kimiko at the door and make her feel right at home. Today, however, it was just her friend and they shot straight to her room - the servers would be online any minute.

"No, no, Natsume-chan, I can't go first! It's your game, you go..."

"My parents said I can't touch it till I finish my homework," the other girl replied sullenly, clearly just as put off by having to wait to play her own game. "You go ahead, and when I'm done, I'll let you know. It's real easy. Plus, I can watch an episode of one of my shows while I do homework - I don't want anybody to spoil it at school tomorrow," She decided with a nod. "Go ahead, I played a little bit of the beta too, it's so cool."

Kimi was a bit uneasy about taking her friend's first turn on the full server, but finally ceded her argument and accepted. "Let me know if you need help on any of it - tonight's is a little tricky," She warned, putting on the helmet and laying back on the bed. Some of the information questions seemed... personal, but she answered them for her character anyway. Oh shoot... she hadn't thought of a name for the character - she spent all day excited and now she couldn't even think of a name! With a sigh, she decided to just fuse her given and family names. It's not like it would be a permanent character anyway, right?

She smiled as it prompted her to say those magic words and start the game - "Link... Start!"

The girl's entire body fell limp in the real world as her vision flashed white with a small loading symbol in the corner. She looked at her hands, at the city around her... It was all so real. Her starting equipment was nothing too flashy - some basic leather armour and a no-nonsense rapier with no decoration. Bland, sure, but she was actually wearing it.

-----

'Nero' loosed his tie and haphazardly kicked off his shoes. "Ugh, thank God that's over..." He muttered, untucking his shirt and walking into his apartment. "I'm home!" He called out. The dark-haired university student came from the kitchen, a smile on her face.

"We'll have dinner in a bit, but I've got homework, so I won't be able to play tonight..." She said with a mockingly sad tone in her voice. She couldn't be too upset, considering her marks in school were high and she still got to enjoy games with her husband on the weekend. Today, however, was special. SAO was going online and both of them were incredibly excited to try it out - particularly him.

"Thank you, honey," He said, greeting her happily. It was as though the whole stress of his dead-end, stupid job melted away the moment he saw her at the end of it. "I'm really happy to see you, but... Uh... Can I..."

The girl sighed and rolled her eyes, "Go, start it off, let me know how it is. Be at the table by six-thirty and not a minute later. You're not skipping a meal for a video game - I don't care how good it is. You can sacrifice some time if I have to sacrifice my whole night," She warned. He beamed and nodded, like a child who was just told he could skip school and play all day long. He kicked off his game without hesitation back in the bedroom.

-----

Yari shut her books and leaned back in her desk chair. This was exhausting. Every day, all night she studied... Do well on your entrance exams, do well on your unit test... Why couldn't she be like some of the other kids and just be satisfied with good, or passing? Why did it have to be excellent and outstanding on everything all the time? Nobody was perfect, why did she expect herself to be? Or her parents for that matter? Sitting on her end table, in a box, still unopened was the new NerveGear. She wanted to just play it for a little bit... Just take a quick break from her studies. I wouldn't hurt, right? She'd stay up afterward to play anyway, why not break now, and after some relaxation get back to work? The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Just a taste, then she'd know what to look forward to after she was done preparing.

She opened the box, placed the helmet on her head, and laid back on her bed, preparing the game to start. She ran around a bit, getting used to how she controlled a spear - a weapon choice she'd never really made in a game before - and how the Sword Skills worked. After an hour, which was what she initially allotted herself, she opened the menu and scrolled to the logout button right... about... there.

Oops, no, it must be under this... option... Strange. She furrowed her brow, sifting through the different menus - every single one of them. There was only one option in the whole list which had no words labeling it but none of them said log out. And that button didn't do anything. Just as she was beginning to think that maybe logging out required a safe point or an inn or something of the nature, she and everybody else in the field was teleported into the center of Starting City for that fateful moment of disbelief and chaos...



Kimi sat at the gate leading out of the city, hugging her knees. What would Natsume think when she didn't get up? That person had said that the news was out, so... she knew, but now she was a burden to their family, wasn't she? What about her brothers and aunt and mother? What would they do? They had to make exceptions, she had to leave - she couldn't stay here. You can't beat an MMO! It's not supposed to be possible.

"Hey, are you okay?" A voice asked from behind her. She looked back and furrowed her brow.

"Of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be? Oh, I know, because I'm trapped here and I have to get home right now," She said angrily.

The other girl sat next to her, placing a spear on the ground, "Yeah, but sitting here's not gonna get you there. It's probably some joke or something... I have a test tomorrow, but you don't see me getting all worried. They wouldn't really keep us here..."

Kimi shook her head, "But what if they do..?" Her voice was small and she dared not turn her head as she stared at the field.

Yari shrugged, "Then how does this help at all? Wouldn't it be better if you were out there getting stronger? Don't let anything push you around, let alone that jerk in the red robes. Just because he calls himself "Administrator" doesn't mean he can control you. You can always fight," She said confidently, rising to her feet, "C'mon, let's not waste any more time. I haven't gone out there since they told us either, maybe we can help each other out for a bit."

"Yyyyyah!" Nero shouted as he skidded to a halt, several feet beyond the wolf he was fighting. It shattered behind him and he slashed the air with his blade, a proud grin on his face. Holy hell this was awesome. He felt every bit of it. He shook himself off and opened his menu, scrolling down... Dammit, it still wasn't there. This wasn't funny - they ruined his Avatar, which he spent at least twenty minutes designing, and now they were playing this 'trapped' game. What a stupid joke. Yuna was going to kill him - hopefully the news thing was real enough that she'd forgive him when he logged out. It was already seven o'clock... And it had smelled so good when he logged in, he didn't want to reheat it. It always tasted better fresh from the pot she made it in.

Whatever, he'd check again in thirty minutes and keep grinding it out until then. He'd picked up a few lucky, rare drops already. But he was also grinding his way through the areas around the second city - every beta tester knew that those first fields were going to be full, so only a few people were actually out here now. Thank God he'd had that advantage... He dared not let his health drop below the yellow, so he spent a great deal of time waiting for the right moment to flank a monster or waiting to heal after a particularly difficult fight. He had a knack for it, but he wasn't going to take his chances on this death thing. If it was true, which it definitely wasn't, he was going to want all the power he could get. The best way to get that? Have the highest number next to the 'Col' symbol in his inventory.

Ikuji

“Sword Art Online! The number one talked about massive multiplayer online role-playing game is coming out today! For those who aren’t able to obtain one of the copies, you can watch the launch here!” echoed out into the store. A television set attached to the wall continued to play advertisements, discussions, and interviews about one of the biggest games coming out to the world. With Nerve Gear technology, this game would be one like no other.

Kenji had reserved his copy of the game and his set of nerve gear months prior to the release of the game and he couldn’t be any more excited to start playing it later in the afternoon. It was just a matter of finishing his managing shift at one of his family’s convenience stores. Two more hours of listening to the large glass door that would soon be the start of his escape into the virtual world, swinging open and brushing against the wall, and then slowly coming to a close with an audible ‘thud’. Shuffles of footsteps each time, blank faces upon their face as if they were only there to hinder his opportunity to play and his employees obligatory, almost recording like “Welcome to our Store!” with each set of guest entering into his domain.

He was beyond ready to begin on his epic adventure, one that would allow him to start to explore and create an empire of his own in this virtual sandbox. He could imagine the swarms of people that would want to buy from his store and the never ending cascade of gold that would fill his craziest fantasies. A life where he could actually use actual people to start understanding the everyday desires of dealings and desires of average people and how he could use it to increase sales in his families’ real life business.

He continued to daydream and as the clock continued to rear towards the end of his shift, two hours prior to the game release, the glass gates were abruptly pushed inward and a large hulk of man thundered into the small store.

“Welcome to our store!” sounded off in quick succession, completely out of instinct, by one of the cashiers, but before it was too late the beast began to approach the female, his face shadowed by a large brown hood.

Towering above her, his voice bellowing out into the store for all to hear, he said “I am looking for the manager,” he paused, his eyes shifting across the back of the counter, locking onto the entrance of the back room, Kenji’s office. “Akimoto.. Kenji. I wish to speak with him immediately.” He finished, grabbing a few pieces of candy from the shelf underneath the front of the counter.

The cashier with a pale, ghostlike face beckoned out for the protection from her manager, hoping that Kenji could stop the beast before it became an issue. Kenji slowly rolled back in his chair, his back towards the door, slowly creeping out the edge of the door to understand the commotion that plagued his beloved playtime.

Kenji walked out, with a serious demeanor, to the counter to further understand the situation. His hands slowly gripped onto the edge of the table, his eyes gazing into the abyss that was shrouded by the monster’s hood,

“Hachiro..” he says in a stoic manner, his eyes narrowing. Shifting his hands to the small of his back, folding them onto one another, he stood straight in a heroic fashion in attempts to scare the colossus back to from which it came.

However, even with Kenji’s attempt at fortitude, it could only seem like the beast had just caught his prey. The demon began to reposition himself, giving a more menacing look as he cracked his knuckles and neck. It chuckled, the sound echoing throughout the store alarming all the customers of the impending confrontation between the two men.

Curious eyes peered from the corners of the aisles, children cowering under their parent’s shadows, and the hushed overtone of whispers, unsure if this confrontation would be the manager’s last.

“What’s going on?” people asked.

“Is he going to be okay?” children worried.

It was as if this was going to be the final confrontation of decades of angst and hate, a vendetta between two men powerful enough to fuel a war.

“Kenji..” it began with a deep, dreadful voice, “I have been waiting for this day and, now that it has finally come, we can finish what we had started so long ago.”

Kenji was unmoved, his vigilance never daunting, “You think that I could have forgotten, Hachiro? You think that, after all this time of waiting, I would have tossed it to the side, a piece of trash? I’ve been prepared for this day longer than you could have ever imagined.” He replied.

A quick smirk could be seen under the shadow that enveloped Hachiro’s face, a dark laugh following shortly after. Placing the candy on the counter, Hachiro reached up to his hood to reveal what had been taunting all those around the store. The brown hood fell slowly to his back and his dark complexion seemingly in sync with the aura that he gave,

“Sword.” He started.

“Art.” Kenji continued.

“ONLINE!” they exclaimed together, both of their hands flying in the air in collision that resounded throughout the store.
The mood completely shifted in the store and, from what seemed like, absolute terror and despair completely evaporated as they realized they were just two kids excited about playing a video game. Several customers exasperated a sign of relief as they continued on their way to shopping.

“Are you ready to go, Kenji?” Hachiro asked, placing the money on the counter to buy the sweet. He smiled brightly as he walked to the door. His mannerism completely seemed to change as his ‘dark’ persona was given more light, slouching slightly forward and a near never-ending smile painted on his face.

“Yes, yes.” Kenji replied, as he placed his service jacket on his chair back in the office. “Good work, everyone.” He said before leaving with Hachiro in tow, eyes set on getting on the game.

---

“I can’t believe it..” Kenji started, his eyes looking around the rest of the Starting City. “There is no way that they could do this to us? We paid all this money and they’re just going to let us die?!” he panicked.

“Ken-..” he paused, realizing that they were still in the gaming universe, “Ikuji, we’re not even sure that this isn’t just a sick prank made by the developers to freak us out.” Hachiro ensured him, not knowing himself if what he said was true.

“We’re going to stick with our plan, alright? When they finally let us out of here, I want to at least have some type of foundation to come back to so we can start the business. Okay?” Ikuji offered his expression and emotions acting as if he was attempting to deny the fact that was brought to him and that this death game was purely just a trick.

Hachiro replied calmly, still trying to console his best friend. “Of course, Ikuji, you know that I’ll be right behind you.”

The majority of players seemed too timid to even attempt the first floor boss. Given the game had 100 floors it was doubtful the first boss would pose any challenge, correct? On top of that they had the "Beaters", beta players with knowledge of the boss mechanics and the battle as a whole. Yes, Sword Art Online becoming a game with real death certainly made it more intimidating but it wasn't as though they were heading into this blind. Despite those meager reassurances it was almost impossible to rouse popular support for a clearing party, and ultimately only about 50 people agreed to go. A sizable enough group to do what was needed, it just went to show the caliber of person that most players had, which wasn't much.

So where did that leave them now? After having progressed through the rest of the dungeon the group now stood on the precipice of the boss room, staring at an ornate set of iron doors, engraved with what appeared to be Kobolds, and giant golden door knockers hanging overhead. It hadn't been easy reaching this point as combat was quite different now, yet they had managed to get here without so much as a single casualty. Not much optimism could be gleamed from that though, they had only killed trash monsters up until this point and the real battle lay beyond these doors. Knowing what was to come in mere moments the room was tense, barely anyone speaking as players tried to mentally prepare themselves for the oncoming fight. Victory meant getting one step closer to freedom, while defeat meant everyone would be made to suffer remaining on floor one, and only another clearing party could potentially get everyone out of this virtual prison. Simply put, failure was not an option.

"Let's go already... I'm sick of waiting around!" Suto moaned, laying on his back and sprawling out as he stared at the high arched ceiling above, "We got this far didn't we? We can kick the boss' butt no problem! I want to see what the next floor is like!" He didn't get what the big deal was, they had such good momentum coming up here so shouldn't they continue that? Everyone present save a few was acting like they were at a funeral or something, not a single person had died though on their way here. Seriously, they were going to be fine, no reason to get all bummed out and nervous.

Doku rolled his eyes at his brother's complaints, looking down at him as he lay on the floor. "Then run in there and fight the boss one-on-one, I'm sure you'll do fine," he retorted, smirking when Suto puffed up indignantly, "No? Then be patient. We need a strategy for fighting the boss anyways, can't be too hasty." The Beaters had shared their information earlier, best to just go over again though to make certain it was clear. There was reason for concern too even with their prior knowledge of the boss; games in the past tended to change from beta to release, and there was no guarantee this boss was exactly the same. Bravado had gotten them here, but if they wanted to actually make it out alive they would have to keep on their toes.

"Well... How much longer is it going to be? I mean we're right here, we can finish this now and get to the next floor," Suto began again as he sat up and crossed his legs, "Everyone seemed so excited for us to beat this thing, you know? I mean at first people doubted we could do it, no one was showing up to see them off or anything; leaving today for the boss battle it seemed like most of Aincrad had turned out for it, as though everyone believed they were capable of doing this. Suto couldn't wait to return after the battle then with a big grin on his face, able to tell everyone that this game could be beaten and they made progress. "Don't you want to do that? I mean look how bummed out people were when we started this, now people are smiling again!"

Yes, people did seem to be a little more cheerful since this venture of theirs began, but it was still far from over. The hardest part of the whole effort was just beyond the doors here and as the floors progressed so too would the difficulty. It was easy for someone like Suto, always optimistic and fanciful in his view of things to look at this and say it was nothing but up for them, yet they had to be realistic here; floors would become harder, fights would be unpredictable, and people would die. "Well we'll have to give it our all here then, no mistakes. I'm sure everyone will be happy to see our return though," Doku agreed, smiling slightly as he looked to the doors, "Provided we return," he added to himself.

Well over a month had passed since that red-robed Administrator had told a 10,000-strong crowd that they were not leaving this place until they cleared it. Today was the day they were going to see what kind of a task that was really going to be. Nero scrolled through a menu in the midst of a 49-player group standing before the all-too-familiar massive doors of the boss room. Good, he had everything... Crystals at the ready, potions... Was he missing anything? No, he never was. He missed his gear from the beta, though... By now, he'd had better drops on his blade and gauntlets. The others were quest rewards he'd found before, but he could always be stronger. Before they left to fight today, they were split into teams and pairs, but nobody stuck with them. They were all just doing whatever they wanted and it showed. No sense of leadership. Nero shook his head - people were going to die today and nobody was taking it seriously yet. He was confident that they would before they saw that big 'Congratulations' banner.

He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head, wondering where exactly the people assigned under him were. He shrugged, hardly recognizing any of their faces - he could only see their health bars in the top corner of his view, under the 'party' tab. They were all doing fine on health and they had competitive levels, but he still topped their best, who also seemed to be a loner named "Kimigami", by a mere level. Unfortunately, he still wasn't quite the highest level in the crowd. He was fast, but he wasn't power-leveling. No, he was watching his coffers fill up little by little. Aincrad was no different from any other world - cash was power. The steel gray colour of his coat stood out amongst the blues and reds of everybody else's ragtag attire. No doubt they, too, would discover the inexpensive and entirely aesthetic art of dying clothes.

--- Earlier that Day ---

Kimi rolled backward over her shoulder, dug her boots into the ground, and pounced forward. There was a small twitch in her health bar as a spear just barely nicked her shoulder. However, it was insignificant compared to the chunk which disappeared from her opponent as rapier met dead center of the chest and threw the other girl back. Almost there... just a smidgen left to take and she'd win... Pivot, pivot... Close the gap, she urged herself, narrowly avoiding each jab from the other attacker. The opportunity would present itself if she just waited patiently. There it was, she smirked, turning a complete ninety degrees as a glowing green skill flashed a mere inch from her abdomen. She grabbed her opponent's wrist and yanked, throwing the other girl off balance before she dashed past and activated a skill in the same moment she halted, giving her the reverse moment she needed to strike thrice into the other girl's back, bringing the figure's health into the yellow. The duel halted as Kimi was named the victor. She beamed brightly, punching the air as their respective health bars were refilled post-fight.

Yari smiled back, giving a small bow, "You're always so excited when you win, like it's any surprise. You stay out at least a half-hour longer than me whenever we're grinding together," She pointed out unfairly, crossing her arms after placing her spear on her back. "Besides, you're actually kind of a natural fighter to begin with - this spear is kind of difficult to get a handle on."

Kimi shrugged, "I dunno, I guess it just reminds me I'm good at something." She gave a small laugh, "Besides, you've got plenty of friends - you're out training just as much as me when I'm not with you, it's just that you have to split it more than two or three ways sometimes, and that makes it a little less efficient."

"But it's fun and safe," Yari retorted, waving a hand, "You're reckless, I guess that's just the trade-off, eh?"

Kimi nodded, "Exactly." Her eyes wandered to the clock on display in her HUD and tensed, "Oh god! They're leaving soon, I gotta go, Yari... We're taking on the boss today, I'll see you later."

Yari returned her farewell with a small smile, "I'll see you on floor two, don't do anything stupid and find one really trustworthy battle buddy before you step through that door."

"We'll be in groups, no biggie," The smaller girl replied dismissively. They would be fine, she saw some of the levels going into that room, there was no way they weren't ready. She sheathed her rapier, turned on her toe, and took off toward the team aiming to take out the boss. After today, the rest of the players would see how realistic getting out of here was and then more people would get stronger and they could take safety in numbers... It was a simple matter of boosting confidence. The floors would get smaller and the players would realize how easy it was to take on the rest of the game.

--- Boss Doors ---

A blue-haired young man stood before the large doors to take the first step into clearing this god forsaken castle. These people were excited and nervous, as they should be, but he'd already noticed that they couldn't take orders very well or follow a plan. That was okay, as long as everything worked the way that book described it, they would know how to survive and push through. He struck his shield with the hilt of his sword, causing the clang to reverberate throughout the entire corridor where their 49-person team waited until everybody was ready to go in. He looked over the crowd as they quieted down and looked to him. He'd said all he could before they left, he just wanted them to know it was time. He made sure to look through them all, notice any faces he hadn't before - even if he didn't remember them, he would be damn sure to have seen them. These 49 people would be the ones to pave the way for the entirety of Aincrad - live or die, they were a beacon of hope that this place wasn't impossible. Up until now, players had been killed by wolves, slimes, boars, and even falls... But today that would stop. Today they were see what this place was - this was their new life.

People were watching him... waiting for his move. Finally, he took a deep breath and turned to the doors. He smirked - let's kick things off dramatically, he decided, leaning back, raising a foot, and kicking the double doors dead-center at his height. They gave in to the strength of the strike and parted enough for their crowd to start moving in.

Kimi looked at her black-gloved hand. It shook slightly with anxiety as she looked around. Her group had all but abandoned her up until now, but she hadn't suffered many hits, either. She'd watch her health and everything would be fine. The head of their team, "Nero" - what kind of name was that? She couldn't even tell if she as pronouncing right, but he was hardly conspicuous in his leadership. She'd lost track of him more than once, the others in their group didn't listen to him right away, so he stopped ordering them around. Luckily, he was easy to spot if you were looking for him - he was in a steel grey outfit, and one of the few who had a matching set of armour. She didn't even have similar pieces of equipment... It was kind of disappointing, it would look a lot worse if she didn't wear leather. The people in heavier armours looked kind of silly, if she was being honest.

She tightened her grip on her rapier, heart pounding as the sound of a shield clanging caught her attention. She waited a moment, meeting his gaze for a mere moment. She stood straighter, furrowed her brow, and re-stanced herself as she felt his scrutinizing gaze. The doors opened and they began to pour into the hall and spread out.



With the blue-haired leader at the head, everybody squared off with the center of the room. Silence fell over the room as a blanket of anxiety and nerves. It was empty... Finally, just before somebody asked the question that was on everybody's mind, there was a roar from the top of the dome in the room. The floor shook violently as it hit the ground, falling from the ceiling and smashing its blade into the ground. Dust filled the air as it let out another roar, realistic spittle and drool hitting the first ranks of players in the face. Their blue-haired organizer didn't even flinch. Instead, mid-cinematic, he took a step forward, raised his shield, and did exactly what everybody was waiting for - he performed the first sword skill against the first boss of the first floor in the game. As he dashed forward and slashed thrice at the beast's abdomen, everybody in the room remembered why they were there, for whom they were fighting, and what was at stake. As he jumped back and out of the way, the fight began, several players remembering their job and breaking away to fight the Kobold minions while the majority focused on blocking and striking at the boss.

Kimi jabbed a powerful attack into the chest of a minion and it shattered around her blade before she stepped back and readied herself for the next. There was one party, she noticed... a tall, lanky black-haired boy of pale complexion with a two-handed curved sword, a moderately-sized blond boy with a sword and shield, and a girl with long silver hair, swinging a one-handed axe and blocking with a massive shield and heavy armour. They worked with such admirable synergy, from over here, they seemed almost untouchable as the sword-and-shield boy kept two or three Kobold at bay and the silver haired girl protected the curved sword user as he attacked Illfang with fervor. She found herself envious as she easily dispatched the minions one at a time.

She spotted "Nero" from her fighting position, darting between people, narrowly, constantly flitting under Illfang's legs, taking several swings, and then running through. He was switching sides in their circular-attack pattern. He wasn't the only one that was being quite mobile and not staying with any group, but as Illfang's health got closer to its final health bar, he was attacking less frequently, like he was waiting for something to happen.

Finally, as it hit its last health bar, it was time for the DPS players to become more involved with the monster as it threw aside its first weapon and pulled a Tulwar from its back. Their Blue-Haired leader was the first to move in as the cinematic came to an end and the beast took its first swing. Players scattered - that was way faster than the book said it would be. The warrior tried to hide his surprise as he narrowly avoided the attack with a leap to the side. It came crashing down into the floor. He rolled over his shoulder and put up his shield as another attack came in from the side. He alone held the full force of the attack, resting on one knee as an awestruck 48 other players, who had all actually survived to this point, watched in awe, none of the fellow shield users able to react and move in. Where was everybody..? He wondered as he grunted under the force pressing on his shield from the side. Finally, it gave way and he was swatted like a fly, tumbling through the air and directly into a pillar. The strike did significant damage... Then his momentum as he hit the post caused another chunk to fall from his health bar, and then he fell all the way to the ground and it blinked a dangerous red. The boss wasn't done with his little Aggro Toy. He let out a roar and ran, with more than a little bloodlust, through the crowd of players directly to their leader, who had yet to even rise to his feet. Without time to react, the Tulwar came down from an overhead swing and struck the ground. In the next moment, it lifted its blade and the dust cleared... He was nowhere to be seen.

Kimi watched in horror - she hadn't actually seen somebody die yet. Most of the deaths had been families removing Nerve Gears against the advisory or people training alone or in traps. But this... This happened in front of everybody. Their leader, who had been maintaining a very healthy green health bar was just... gone. He had believed in them, trusted them, their organization had actually been working and then as soon as the difficulty changed... what? Nobody knew how to react or protect him. She could have run in and stolen aggression... Or thrown him out of the way... or... or... something!

Nero felt the darkness fall over the room. His eyes scanned the crowd as he sunk deeper away from the boss. Would they rally or would they fall into chaos and let more of their friends die? Everybody seemed to have the same thought - if they couldn't trust anybody to run to that boy's rescue, who would come to theirs? The ranks thinned as people began to separate distrustingly, their nerves clouding judgment. Nero watched his party tab as two of his own, who he couldn't have even picked from a line-up, were killed in the next attack as chaos reigned supreme... Just like that.

Ikuji and Hosho

About one month had passed in both the game and the real world before the whole of the world had begun to fully realize the issues that were at hand and that, if what the administrator was saying was true, the only real way was to get out of this world by advancing through each individual floor. The first floor boss, by the usual standards of game developers, should have been an easy kill to allow advancement into the next floor, but this game was like no other that anyone else has ever played before. Becoming a part of new generation of full-dive gameplay and, as well, being among those were subjected to this cruel death game, the rules of the regular gaming universe had become completely reversed.

A meeting among some of the more dedicated players was to be had early in the day, and regardless of Ikuji’s predisposition to not get into positions that could possibly end him and his career in the real world, he knew that the only way to further himself into this new virtual reality was to embrace the fact that this was going to be his new home for a while. In order to assimilate, Hosho and Ikuji began to work on both combative and crafting skills for the first month in the first floor, while by no means being the strongest players in the game; they were able to start making a small profit by selling small arms and light armor to multitudes of players.

This meeting, while not inherently profitable, would allow him to get his name out to the populace and convince them that his weapons, armor, and his words were not overly inflated and could even defeat the first-floor boss, assuming that he would be able to do it.

“Some of you need to apologize to the two thousand who have died so far!” declared a spiky haired man, who had just jumped into the center of the amphitheater that was hosting their makeshift meeting.

“Kibaou-san, are you referring to the beta testers?” the self-proclaimed Knight had responded in quick response, in almost what seemed like an attempt to keep the others at bay. The crowd continued to become a little more panicky as the idea of the beta testers were among those gathered today, but as they continued to ramble off to one another, Ikuji and Hosho remained nearly silent, only trying to observe rather than truly be among the problem that was occurring.

“Beta testers, huh?” Ikuji whispered to Hosho, who nearly dwarfed everyone but a select few people in the crowd. Ikuji continued to seem rather stone-faced about the matter but the prospect of beta testers being among them never seemed like an issue to either him or Hosho.

“They’re just other players here trying to get out of this hellhole.” Hosho replied, his voice not nearly as quiet as Ikuji’s. Hosho, as he did in the real world, was taking place as Ikuji’s bodyguard and confidant, being the major muscle to those who dared, even though it was very rarely, swindle or steal from them.

“It’ll be important that we don’t pick a side, Hosho. Even if the majority of the population dislike the beta-testers, we’ll be more likely to lose money if we just sell to the commoner since half of them already quit before it began.” He scoffed.

“You got this guide book too?” a darker, larger man asked after a quick exchange of words. His abrupt interruption of Kibaou seemed to settle down the crowd and as he explained the situation of the beta testers to the rest of the attendees, the scare seemed to simmer down. As the man continued to explain that the beta testers were actually attempting to help the majority of the players by small acts such as this and were not responsible for the mass amount of deaths, many people began to agree that the beta tester was not as sinister as Kibaou-san was portraying them to be.

“This concludes the meeting!” the would-be Knight announced since the majority of players seemed to be simmering down from the hostile topic. He continued to explain the looting and experience rules for the boss fight, reminding everyone that they were still playing a game that happened to have higher stakes than usual but a game none-the-less.

“We leave tomorrow at ten in the morning!” he declared before the groups began to disperse amongst one another, people trying to form up parties prior to them leaving to enjoy the rest of the day before the big fight.

The sun seemed to be even more intense that day but it wasn’t unbearable. A few beads of artificial sweat fell down Ikuji’s face, quickly being wiped away by his form arm. Twisting his neck to the left and right, both in quick and elongated succession, he nodded at his companion for them to depart, the day was still young and there was more money for them to make.

“Interesting group of people.” Hosho remarked, a smirk forming upon his face and his left brow furrowing as the two walked into the heart of town. The colossal man continued to walk heavy, each step seeming as if they were about to sunder the ground beneath him, almost as if his intention was to inform people of his presence and the danger and potential animosity to those who dared cross him or his friend.

“Agreed, but potential customers, Hosho, just like the rest of this town. We can’t let them be too weary of us that they won’t buy our goods, yeah?” Ikuji said with a bright smile on his face. The two continued out into the town, back into their small store where they would spend most of the day selling weapons and armor that they were able to craft or trade for. A decent day of trading, some would say, but Ikuji’s ambition was growing. He wanted an empire.

---- The Fight ---

“SWITCH!” Hosho yelled out to Ikuji, his odachi making a clean arch in a right, diagonal and downward direction. Hosho could feel the wind being pushed onto his unarmored face while his odachi had finally made contact with the kobold minion. They were only a few minutes into the fight after entering the boss doors and everything had been going exceptionally well. All parties seemed to be working exceedingly well with the direction of the self-proclaimed Knight, a pleasant surprise to both Hosho and Ikuji.

“Alright, here I go!” Ikuji responded, dashing around the right side of Hosho with his niu wei dao gripped tightly in his right hand and extended outwards preparing to make a quick horizontal slash to help defeat one of the minions.

“Crshhhh!” echoed out into the room, a familiar and happy sound to all those fighting against the beasts. The guide was able to completely, and accurately, aid them to the path of defeating the boss, and even though they were all relatively well geared and experienced, it seemed as if this was going to be exactly as one could predict, an easy first boss fight to prepare themselves for what was ahead.

As more and more kobold minions spawned to fight the group, both Ikuji and Hosho looked out towards the boss himself in complete awe of its power. They were several meters away from it, to begin with, and were one of the furthest members of the group from the boss. They were there, primarily, to deal as support units to defend the switching parties and tanks.
Ikuji dashed towards another kobold, raising his blade to deflect the weak strike of the kobold. The clashing of steel seemed so unnatural to him, even though he’s played plenty video games prior to SAO. Each strike of his sword and parry he had to perform were for something much more now.

“Switch!” Ikuji called out, Hosho arching his blade horizontally as Ikuji slipped into the background behind his partner. The fighting continued for several minutes, exhaustion obvious in everyone’s eyes and movements but the hope to return to the real world seemed to be more than enough will power for the group to continue and press on regardless of what was occurring.

In what only seemed like seconds, everything would change. The monster reached for a massive talwar held from his back, his health already at the brink of death. Everyone was frozen, for a few seconds, trying to understand what was going on completely but it was just enough time for the Knight to call out to the rest of the group informing them that he would slay the beast.

The talwar moved at almost lightning speed striking the Knight with a critical blow. Time slowed even more. A thud of the man’s armor slamming onto the stone floor was the last thing that Ikuji heard of him, the roar of the beast drowning out all other sounds. People began to take panic, losing all the coordination that they had to get to this point.

“No.. It can’t be.” Ikuji stammered to get out. He had never seen anyone be completely decimated like that before, that fast. “This book lied! There was no mention of that!” he cried out to Hosho, “Back up! Back up!” he called out but his voice was lost as the scream of his fellow compatriot’s final breath filled the room. Chaos had sparked, and now, it had seemed all would be lost.

As groups had been decided long before this point there was no use in trying to change them now. Shame, that, as Doku wasn't terribly thrilled with who he'd gotten. Suto he would have in his group without question, it was the other three he was not thrilled off. A heavier set man wielding a hammer, complaining constantly of wanting food in spite of hunger being almost nonexistent. Beside him was a tall, thin man wielding a bowstaff, seeming to be just as impatient with his companion as Doku was, and about as imposing as a garden gnome. The final member, a woman with a pair of chakrams, looked far more inclined to inspect some of the more impressive males in this team than focusing on the fight. He hardly wished for death upon any of the people present, but if any were to fall he'd not be terribly surprised to find those three among them. Every player present was presumably competent, but he'd hold that reservation to himself until the battle actually began.

Tension and excitement both unbridled, the air thick with each as the groups formed and prepared for the final battle. With knowledge of the boss courtesy of the Beaters they were confident victory was at hand, and this becoming a death game did little to cause players to waver. Yes there was real threat and a single misstep could spell the end, but with many of the best gathered here and several veterans of the MMO genre there was ample reason to be assured things would work out. Rallying around their designated leader, a blue-haired man named Diavel, everyone prepared to pass the threshold into the boss room. With a resounding kick that signaled the beginning of the battle the doors were thrust wide open and players filed in, spreading out and keeping to their groups. This was most certainly the room, but where was the boss?

"Does it have a trigger for its spawn or something?" Suto wondered aloud, frowning as he stood upright and glanced around. He knew in some games bosses might need specific events to happen, maybe that was the case here? Though it would be weird for the first boss to be like that, he'd think there was nothing special about it. A bit disappointed to find nothing awaiting them he let out a sigh and slumped, looking at his brother who remained on alert. "This is a total rip off, where's the boss, Arashi? I wanted to fight it!"

Yes, where was it exactly? One would expect the boss to be waiting for them in the room, standing in the center surrounded by innumerable minions. As soon as the door was thrown open it should have initiated the instance, so where was the enemy? Keeping a hand on the hilt of his greatsword he scanned the room patiently, his emerald eyes poring over ever pixel for some sign of life. Save for the flickering of the torches along the out edge of the arena nothing moved, this seemed wrong. No sooner had he considered the possibility of this being a trap a roar alerted everyone present, and soon thereafter a heavy weight slammed into the floor of the arena, causing a small quake as players fought to keep on their feet. At last at the head of the room was their target, Illfang, and with another thunderous roar the battle truly commenced.

In keeping to their groups some players moved to strike at the boss while others remained behind, fending off the numerous smaller beasts that spawned. Grabbing Suto's collar to keep him from running off, Doku rolled his eyes once and threw his sibling behind him. "Don't leave my side, we agreed on that. Help me with the adds." Moving slowly through the room he found their first target in a triad of kobolds, each brandishing some form of bladed weaponry. Pulling his greatsword from his back Doku stepped forward to meet a charging beast, and with a wide arching swing he cut it clean in two, promptly spinning his body once the cooldown passed and repeating the motion, decimating the second. The third kobold by this time was nearly upon him, letting out a shrill howl as it struck at him with its rusted dagger. The blade missed his skin however as Suto lunged forward and landed on its back, driving his tantō through its neck.

As the battle progressed it appeared as though the confidence from before was not misplaced. The boss followed the patterns dictated in the books, the minions were hardly difficult and not a single loss had been taken. The two brothers were a flurry of steel as they cut down one kobold after another, with Doku's wide swings cleaving at times two or three at once, and Suto darting about so swiftly some of the enemies had trouble keeping their eye on him. All told it was expected without conversation that they would triumph before long, and moving forward they would only be even more emboldened. Tentative as Doku tried to be during the battle even he found himself relaxing as they made progress, impressed that their group, like a well oiled machine, worked flawlessly and performed its job without error. Exchanging a glance with the portly hammer-wielding man from before they shared something almost akin to an amicable smile, pleased with how events were unfolding.

As things are wont to however the battle changed at the drop of a hat, and what was a flawless victory quickly turned sour. The first sign something was amiss was seeing Diavel thrown across the room by Illfang, slamming into one of the pillars and cracking it. When the hefty beast lunged across the open space and closed the gap, talwar raised high above its head, everyone must have known what was coming next. After the shards of their leader dispersed an eerie silence fell over the once hectic battle, even the minions seeming to stop to take stock of what had occurred. Replacing the sounds of jubilation and triumph then were screams of panic and terror, rank broke and players began to spread out. Illfang was hardly through however as his aggro reset, charging down a nearby spear user and skewering them with ease. The fight which they should have breezed through suddenly became infinitely more difficult.

"W-Wait... How'd it do that? That wasn't in the book!" Suto voiced among others, staring wide-eyed as Illfang claimed a second and third victim within seconds. Had they changed the boss since the beta? Mind running a mile a minute he tried to find an explanation for what was happening, poring over everything he knew of video games for an answer. He seemed to be berserk, Illfang, and he was simply attacking whoever was closest. So what should they do? Someone with more health should try and take his aggro, but what if they fell too? Despite being eager for the encounter moments before he now found his body unwilling to comply with him, his hands shaking as he watched yet another player fall to the boss' onslaught. They were actually going to die here.

Hearing the howl of a nearby kobold Suto managed to finally tear his gaze from the boss, eyes widening seeing its blade speeding towards his neck. Fearing the worst he raised his arms instinctively to try and defend himself, whimpering as he prepared to take the hit. The sound of a kobold screaming and then pixels dispersing however prompted him to glance up, seeing Doku swinging his sword again to take out yet another enemy.

"Don't stop! We can still win this!" Doku shouted loudly, for both Suto's sake as well as everyone else's. Losses were expected, they had come into this with that fact in mind. Just because they had this slight bump didn't mean everything was lost, they would only fail if they couldn't rally and keep pushing. Grunting as he took a blade to the chest during a cooldown he retaliated with a shoulder charge, knocking the kobold into the man with the hammer and watching as it was pummeled flat into the floor. They had to keep going, failing now meant dooming everyone else. Failing meant Suto would be killed here, and he absolutely refused to let that happen.

Nero's eyes swept the chaotic room and he shook his head - figures. He cleared his throat, about to say something until he heard one of the other fighters nearby, shouting about how they would be fine if they just regrouped their efforts. Good, he didn't want to have to be the one to announce it. A few of the other players noticed this "Doku" character's rally and remembered why they were here - they had to do this, they almost beat it already, just a little more and then they could grieve or stop or do whatever it was they needed to do. The swordsman nodded his head and caught sight of one of his party members wielding a rapier. She was small, but he'd noticed her moving on the battlefield earlier too. She really knew how to position herself, that was good, she'd need it. There were about three or four flashes of blue light that Nero didn't miss - teleport crystals. A few players had actually decided to spend their money on them rather than gear upgrades. Of course, he had one too, but they were mighty expensive, especially on such an early floor, so he was being conservative. He wasn't going to abandon this progress - they couldn't wait another month.

Kimi shook her head as people pushed past and tried to get away, a couple had managed to actually bring teleport crystals and they abandoned the floor. "Where are you going?!" She screamed, "YOU CAN'T JUST LEAVE YOUR TEAMMATES BEHIND!" She stomped her foot, fighting tears as she realized that everybody here was only fighting this boss so that they could reach the next floor, not for everybody in the game. She turned and faced the boss - if nobody else was going to do it, she'd make her move. The girl kicked forward, closing in on the roaring Illfang as it looked for the player with the next highest indicator for aggression. A lot went into that calculation, but it was quickly trumped as, from behind, a rapier sliced through the beast's side and a small girl pivoted several feet away to stare it down. Her heart jumped to her throat - this seemed like a much better idea before she actually got this close...

She couldn't move - her attack's cool down would take a second and Illfang was much faster now than before. She needed a switch, anybody... It readied its blade and she urged every pixelated muscle in her frame to move, but they refused for three... two... The blade was closing, she knew she couldn't get out, so she braced for her health bar's most definite strike. Maybe she'd only lose half or three-quarters from such a direct hit, if she could get away after the first strike, she'd be fine.

CLANG!

The sound filled the room as a sandy-blond haired boy stood in front of the girl with his shield raised and just behind him was a tall, lanky black-haired one, wielding naught but a curved sword. Both were losing little by little of their Hit Points, but not nearly as quickly as a direct hit would.

"GO!" One of them shouted as she regained mobility and rolled out from under. In simultaneous action, they pushed back against the beast's weapon and it stumbled back a step, they each shouted, "SWITCH!" And Kimi watched a white figure dash past her and strike Illfang's leg thrice. They were starting to regroup and she only now recognized the new person as her team leader - that white haired guy that had barely said a word to her since they started: Nero. She couldn't really tell how his name was pronounced, but for now, it was recognizable.

She had no idea who her two rescuers were, but she was glad that they came. The battle raged slowly, but with the crew getting back in line and regrouping, the fight started to turn back over. The two from before ran off again to continue picking off ads and intervene with the boss when needed, but everybody was back on the same page and nobody even needed to be barking orders. There were shield users running in to take each attack and DPS using the stunned moment to deal damage. The kobolds were turning to nothing but fodder as they were efficiently cut down.

Nero waited... and waited, attacking now and then, but keeping a close eye on his cool down. He wasn't the only one, he noticed a few others who had to have been beta testers; they knew what was coming as Illfang's health edged closer and closer to empty. A few ran in during a switch and were left feeling stupid for wasting their chance. Perfect! He bolted forward, running past the shield-bearers, his blade glowing brilliantly and leaving a trail behind him as it cut through the air. He leapt from the floor with every point of AGI he'd put into the levels he'd gained thus far and tore a perfect horizontal line into the side of Illfang, draining his remaining smidgen of health. He hit the ground and rolled over his shoulder, not trusting the direct landing and his health points yet - he was still slightly stronger than he was agile and a landing like that could still affect his health. He turned on his heel after rising and, sure enough, no more Illfang. The crowd roared in delight when the banner popped up and Nero instantly dismissed his reward. He would see it later, everybody probably got something good, even if it was a hefty Experience bump. In fact, he saw a few level ups.

He looked into the group as they moved closer together, congratulating each other and high-fiving. Nero stepped closer and looked them over once more, "Hey!" The froze and looked at him skeptically, expecting some kind of 'good job' speech or 'we did it! We can win this!' They didn't hear it from him. He scowled, "If any of you lost people today, I'm sorry. But, if any you know or recognize the people who cowardly teleported out of the room at the first sign of trouble and left the rest of us for dead..? Make sure they know that what they've done is despicable... And if I ever meet one of them... If I ever know who any of them are, so help me god, I'll make sure they pay." He sheathed his blade and spit on the floor. Unbelievable. With that, he turned back toward the stairs and headed away - he wasn't a solo player, but he certainly wasn't looking to make friends until he knew people were showing their true colours. They were still fake.

Kimi blinked and looked at the floor as the party, now only holding two members, was disbanded. She sighed... Still, at least they showed that this could be done. She wondered how many they lost and how many just... left. She shook her head - can't think about that. Not right now. She took a deep breath and straightened out her back. What now..? Would they just move up a floor and continue the grind to the next one, day-in, day-out?