Click me~

@Rekaigan@FamishedPants@Huggo@TsundereStorm@ClocktowerEchos@Conscripts@ADamnFiddle@TheDarkTemplar@Enalais@Suku

Sword art online will be your resting place for all eternity. These words burn into the depths of your mind as the chilling words of Kayaba Akihiko, creator of the MMORPG the world has waited for, revealed the himself to every player gathered in the open square of the first town. Here on the very first floor of the floating castle Aincrad you are met with his challenge.

Like a god looking down upon the weak he speaks, every word echoing across the plaza.

"There is no longer a method to revive someone in the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be forever lost and simultaneously, the NerveGear will destroy your brain."

The situation only escalated from then on as reports of players killed during their time online spring to life about the floating game master. Over two hundred souls lost on the first day. Footage of families in shock flicker across the screens briefly with the news clippings about the disaster in progress. Around the grand plaza there is panic spreading across every face.

"I have a present for all of you. With it, I will strip away your false bodies and reveal who you truly are."

The mirror falls into your hand briefly before a shimmering blue white radiance envelops players all at once before fading away, in its wake was the players as they lived and breathed in the real world.

"Defeat the floor bosses. Advance through castle Aincrad. Defeat the final boss on floor 100. Good luck."

Without another word to the collective players crowded in the plaza the floating Gamemaster dissolved into smoke, leaving those gathered to their own devices. The 'adventure' had begun.

While many suffered from a broken spirit as the weight of their prison finally settled, not all were cowed so easily. Those with courage only saw the seriousness of the cause on every forlorn face weeping into the stones of the plaza.
Some would go for their families. Others for the thrill of a new and dangerous experience. Even the fearful took their first hesitant steps outside the gates and into the new world.

Every step was in the pursuit of freedom.

---

The city guardsman stood just within the City gate, flagging down all who dared entered his line of sight and considering that included everyone who entered or exited through the gate, that would probably mean he dragged everyone over like a Pokemon trainer whether they liked it or not. His voice was loud and clear across the path, an indicator above his head showed an available quest.

"Ah a young, up and coming adventurer I see? I have the perfect quest for such a greenhorn as yourself. You see the path leading out of the city? if you follow it long enough you will arrive at the neighboring city 'Bulls run'. Problem is, the damn trail is overrun with wild boars! Put those weapons to use would you and clear the way! offers decent pay and you get some experience in combat! Not a bad deal right? I'd do it myself but I am still dealing with an injured knee problem."

(New quest "Pesky Pigs!" added)

---

Outside of the city gates heading east in a secluded grass clearing was a group of players in a half circle. At their center was an unarmed combatant in cloth armor and simple gloves. Opposite of him was a new player in standard chain armor wielding a two-handed axe, down on his back. From a distance it was clearly the beginning of a PvP guild but as of now they were simply dueling. When a players HP reached 1/3 the match would stop and no further damage could be inflicted until their health had reached max again.

"Ah yes, good work you lot! That's enough, you've convinced this me you're more than ready for proper combat! I wish you all luck and speedy progress!" The cloth-armored man struck his fist into the air with a prideful smile, but his eyes spoke of boredom.

The group rushed over to help pick up their friend from the dirt but were waved off, the big man with the axe spitting on the ground as he picked himself up. Grinning like a wolf the entire time. "You're pretty strong, man. We find each other again later I won't hesitate for a rematch!"

The two shook hands before nodding and parting ways. The group of 4 new adventurers wandered east to the next town and the boar quests, while the half circle and the cloth armored man stuck around.
Whenever a new player wandered out from the town they were met by the crowd loudly calling them over.

"TEST YOUR FIGHTING SKILLS AGAINST THE CHAMP IN A FRIENDLY DUEL! VALUABLE COMBAT EXPERIENCE BEFORE LEAVING TOWN!"

---

The man was impossible to not see, rushing about in the middle of town wearing the flashiest, most expensive armour one could possibly imagine. It had clearly never seen combat, as it barely had a speck of dust on it, let alone the wear and tear of travel, the rust from being out in the rain or dried blood from countless fights crusted onto the outer shell. Not that there would be that kind of visual aspect since it was a virtual reality game but it was still far too stylish for this early into the first floor!
It was so shiny and new looking, that it might actually blind people with the way the sun reflected off it if one was unlucky enough.

"Please fellow adventurers! I need assistance!" He asked, running from person to person till his flag was triggered.
"I have found a way to gear up quickly, hidden away in a secret location! I cannot go in alone! Who here is brave enough to venture down there and retrieve the treasure with me?"

So far there had been no takers.

The day had started like any other for Thomas. Wake up, eat breakfast, and then walk the dog really quick. Because he wanted to get into his new game, the nervegear and the game he had been looking forward to since it was announced was sitting just upstairs ready to play. As soon as he walked through the door, he bumped into his father. "Going to play your new game son?" Thomas nodded. "Yeah, dad. Have a great day at work."
"You too son, and try not to play your game for to long. You'll forget whats real." The both laughed at that, his father walked past him and Thomas watched as his father left. As soon as his father was gone, he wasted no time sprinting upstairs. He set up his nervegear, put in the game, and turned it on. He flew through the calibrations, which at first seemed odd. But for the game he had been waiting for he cared very little, finally he was ready to say those faithful words that would bring him into a new world. "Link start!" and with that things faded. And he was at the menu, ready to start a new adventure.

---

He had time to get adjusted yes, make a cool character, use his real name because he didn't really care, and finally learn a bit of how the game and his class worked. But nothing could prepare him for this, he had been teleported back to the town of New Beginnings. He sat in the square, wondering if this was some kind of event until the sky turned red. A cloaked figured emerged, and then it began to speak. It spoke of how if you die in this game, you die in real life. To help illustrate his point, he showed news reports two hundred people were already dead from people removing the nervegear, if this wasn't chilling enough the sign out button was gone. "This is some sort of prank." Someone said next to him, shock had crept into that persons voice as well, their face probably looking like his at the moment a mixture of shock, and fear.

If all of this wasn't enough, the hooded figure who now identified himself as the creator of the game. Spoke of a new item, when Thomas checked his inventory there was a mirror. Thomas did what everyone would do when gifted a item, he used it and boy did he regret it. Looking back at him in the mirror wasn't his version of himself, it was him the real him. Thomas recoiled in shock, the mirror slipping from his hands and turning into pixels right before his eyes. After this, it all turned into panic. Kayuba disappeared, there was pushing and shoving. People sprinting away, only to go die somewhere. Among this chaos, Thomas was knocked over and stepped on more times he could count. Not only was he glad this was a safe area, but that he couldn't feel pain because he wouldn't want to feel this.

It was minutes before the square had mostly cleared. Save a few still in shock, or people forming groups. When Thomas rose, he felt like he was dead inside. But nonetheless he willed his limbs to move and they did, when he got the gates he was flagged down by a man in the gaudiest armor he's ever seen. He watched him go from player to play who just ignored him, I mean whatever he was doing was probably a trap but Thomas shrugged. "I'll help." He said to the man his voice was soft but he figured the man heard him.

---

All living beings, from their first dawn in their new world to the very end of their breathes, walk on a life path. And as the mortals begin their journey on these paths, there is always a desire or anticipation of the roads ahead of them. The degree of desires can vary. The reality-experienced will see those path less rosy-colored than the ignorance. The ambitious will visualize a certain destination, while those who does not think much of their future will not. But what all beings cannot see or anticipate is the unexpected turning of one’s life path.

A turn in life path can depend on several factors. Sometimes the turns are of one’s own volition, as one’s thoughts and wishes change overtime. But more often, the change are mandated by outside forces, and are not foreseeable.

It was so with me. The memory was vivid:

Link start…

Two words, and a few clicks of buttons. On the surface that I especially designed for myself, and the others.

That was all it took to bend my path away from its original destination. Where it will lead I cannot say…

---

The day was like any other, glimmered with sunlight and happiness, bearing the expectation of a new and exciting adventure. And to Alexander, it was exactly that day for him. Today, the long-awaited revolutionary virtual reality game Sword Art Online has finally come online after many days of waiting. And yet only ten thousands among millions who were lucky enough to get a copy of the game. Alexander was even luckier, being prized with a brand new copy of NerveGear and the game by a developer of the game’s mechanic engineer. And today, he would set aside all schedules of his life, all of his code lines, his colons, semi colons, his zeroes and ones for the purpose of testing this game, the popular game that he proudly had the chance to take part in its development.

As soon as he woke up, had breakfast and cleaned his room, he immediately took out the NerveGear, along with the game’s disk, set it up next to his bed before lying comfortably onto it, placed the helmet on his head, covering his hair and face. After a double check on the equipment, he was finally ready: to dive into the world that he had sometimes imagined when he was a child. A world as a result of human’s imagination, desires and ambitions. And to see it for himself, within the eye of a mortal like him, was a great honor for someone who had taken his part in making it a reality.

Finally, when everything was set, he uttered the protocols to start the dive technology. It turned out to be the words that turned everything, his life path, his world upside-down.

---

The entry was painless, the process was smooth, the connection was ok. Everything was perfect.

And came the designs of the characters, the hair, the costume, the starting weapon. The people around him knew exactly what to do.

After a while trying to cook up a character, he decided to go with standard dark armor, shoulder-lengthed silver hair, with standard sword and shield, with a certain set of skills. The name for him was simply ‘Alexander’, as he wasn’t much of a gamer himself to set a good in-game name. And then he was thrown straight into the world that the world had been longing to see.

Before his eyes, feasted a magnificent scenic. A scene only thought to exist in our imagination, yet appeared in front of his very eyes. The floating islands, the abnormal looking monsters. Beautiful…especially when how the players around him interact with the entire game through his personally designed interface. The buttons, the functions and designs, they were working exactly as he expected…or so…

It was his product, so Alexander could easily figure out what was missing: The log out button. It was supposed to be at the very end of the setting button. But it wasn’t there. Alexander definitely knew that before the game’s final release, it was not modified or altered without his consent. He was also there when the game was sealed for release as well. But for the moment, it was probably a bug, and he was sure that after a while, either the players would complain, and the GM would thaw them out, or the problem would resolve itself, as usual. Alexander hoped it was the latter, or else it would not be a nice experience.

He still had a lot of times, so he spent the entirety of it to get used to the game’s mechanic, the sword and shield skills, how to activate it, the motion input of the skills he had. It was not difficult to get around, since it was just like real life, only with slight differences. And the most important thing, it was actually fun. Really really fun. The experience quickly dissolved the stress and pain he got from the working world around him, to the point that he would consider having a session of SAO into his tightly planned schedule for stress relief. It may actually be a good thing, who knows.

Alexander spent the whole day there, and the amazing thing was that the game’s sceneries change accordingly to the time in reality. Honestly, after logging out of the game that night, he would give the development team a genuine praise. They really deserved it. In fact, he was getting tired, so he would probably do it right away…or not. The log out button was still missing…

”Come on…”

He closed and reopened the main menu screen again and again, and yet it was still missing. This might be a serious bug. If the players were unable to get out of the game…

Just as the thought ran through his mind, Alexander was suddenly teleported back to the Town of Beginning, for no particular reasons. And apparently, he wasn’t the only one. The remaining ten thousand players were also there. And then there was the hooded figure, soaring in height, its face unknown to Alexander or the players.

His speech sent the English noble in complete shock…

---

’How is this even possible?’

There was no way to get out…

But to beat the game.

And if he dies…

The only way to beat the game was to climb to the highest level of the game, which was level 100. But to reach that level, it would take months, years, or even decades to finish it. Not to mention he could die at any possible moments. A slip of a foot and he would get mauled down by monsters, and die.

Would he even make it?

The Englishman chuckled, beset by the ironies of his unexpected turning of fate.

As the hooded figure spoke, thousands of players around him started wailing, broken by the terrible sudden twist of destiny. As the sudden shock passed by, Alexander gathered himself, and looked around. To witness that he was still in better shape than most people here. For everyone, it was definitely a twist nobody was hoping for, but how would crying or breaking down help. The game was already set. And there was only one path to freedom. The reality was as clear as days. And this would be a goal he would have to succeed, or die trying.

As the game master disappeared, Alexander didn’t haste out of the city like most people does. His attention was instead focused on a certain man. He wasn’t equipped with any weapons or so, only with gloves and cloths armor. And he was inviting everyone to duel him, to enhance everybody’s fighting skills. It was a good thing actually. While quests and leveling up should be a priority over simply dueling, there were one thing that Alexander consider extremely valuable when faced with a difficult situation like this: Alliance.

Alliance were built on mutual gain, on a goal that everyone could benefit from. And the goal here was to beat the game. And as long as the ally kept their heads clear of the goal ahead of them, and that Alexander could keep other medium needs in check, the alliance would remain fairly strong, and he would gain a good deal of strength to beat the game, or to even protect himself from bad players. And that value for him was totally better than a level up, a new blazing blade or an expensive armor.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single steps. And from here, Alexander would search for valuable allies alike.

”Greetings, I figure that I would gain great benefits from this experience. I will take you on for a match.” He approached the man, politely, but with a confident countenance.

Takeshi turned to the newest challenger and smiled, arms spread wide.

"Greetings to you as well, new friend. It is good to see not all fear challenge. I will not go easy though!"

Dropping the menu, he scrolled through the options leisurely. The various controls were complicated at first but practice made perfect. Finally he pressed the floating button and a separate window popped up in front of of Alexander requesting an accept or decline of a duel.
Meanwhile, Takeshi took a low stance across from his new opponent. Left hand stretched out infront of his right, curled into a fist. His smile never faded as he prepared for the match.

It would test reflexes, dodging, and how to use the sword skills of the game. Anything could be empowered briefly, giving the attack a variety of benefits. Usually it involved extra damage or debilitating effects on connect. This simple but crucial part of the game would solidify any players chances at surviving the mobs ahead.

"When you are ready!"

Duel rules were very simple. Once accepted, there was a sixty second countdown before locking both players in. Once their health reached 10% the duel would end and damage would be prevented briefly.

10..

9..

8..

7..

6..

5..

4..

3..

2..

1..

.. FIGHT!

Takeshi braced himself, waiting for Alexander to make the first move.

---

@Enalais

"I'll help."

Despite the soft tone, Stryker turned on his heels to face the speaker and beamed a smile that stretched across his face in pure joy as the spear wielding young man all but flew over to Thomas, practically humming with excitement. Stryker grabbing Thomas' hand in both of his and shook it vigorously as he stumbled over his words.

"ThankyouThankyouThankyouuuu! Nobody wants to go and beat the area because they must think I'm luring them into a trap or something stupid like that but its like HELLO cant you see I'm trying to help you!"

Stryker turned his head to look at the people milling about around him with something akin to disgust. Everyone had to die someday, why was the how and when such a god damn issue? Video games were meant to be beaten! Broken! Its every nook and cranny explored and cataloged with fanaticism as you conquered the challenges ahead!
That was how he had approached the game in its infancy when he had helped design some of the towns! Stryker had even made a secret little dungeon in the game that let him quickly gear up a new character, since grinding levels and mobs sucked immensely. The whereabouts where known only to him and hidden under a fake floor, so nobody could stumble on it without a lot of needless extra work.

Turning back to Thomas he hugged the man, again smiling widely, before pushing the lad back out to arms length.

"We just need one or two more players and this thing is a guaranteed success! Do you have any friends?!"

He volunteered to switch to night shift just so he can be the first in line to buy NerveGear right after his shift ended. But by the time he reached the shop, there was already like a dozen people waiting to get their hands on the newest toy in the world. “Well, can’t blame them. It is quite a fancy little helmet that can do wonder.” After 2 hours of standing (which was shorter than his normal routine anyway), he got the gear, went back to his room, locked his door, and put on that little helmet thing that can let him live his fantasy. His parents are not home for the week and he got the day off. He was prepared to spend the entire day playing the game.

---

Face, shirt, body features, so many choices! Fashion isn’t really his strong suit though so he simply chose the one that makes him looks like a young warrior. The next and final step would be the name. “HA! I already thought this one out since the day SAO was announced.” It’s true, he spent nights lying on the bed trying to come up with a heroic and recognizable name. Finally, he decided to combine the first and last name of his favourite Super Sentai member: BanBan Akaza and becomes “Zaban”. He was grinning as he types the name because it just sounds too perfect in his head. Then he prepared to log in. He closed his eyes because the rainbow lights kind of hurt. [colour=green]“Huh, did no one comment about this thing during beta test? Gonna send this one to the developers, or else someone might get eyesight problem in the future.” As always, he finds problems and try to be part of the solution.

---

When he first glanced at the fantasy world of Aincrad, the only word he managed to murmur was “Wow”. He checked his head, jumped up and down, and even pinched himself on the arm. He just can’t believe this was possible. Without wanting to waste time, he equipped himself with the bronze spear for new player. He didn’t have much gaming experience but he played enough to know that there should be some tutorial quest giver nearby the starting zone. But he couldn’t found any NPC, just bunch of new players like himself wandered around and killing the monsters. He couldn’t figure out exactly how the combat system works. The spear glowed when he posed in a certain way and his body automatically move. As amazed as he was, he still did not know how to trigger it whenever he wants. He saw the trailer explaining the mechanic but it was too technical for him to understand. As he was waving and swirling the spear in every position possible, he triggered one of the skill, lunged forward and almost hit another player. Luckily the system recognized that character as human player and stopped before hitting her. As it turns out, that player was actually a beta-tester, those who are lucky enough to play the game before it was released. She was generous enough to tell him how to look at the menu for simple and detailed instruction. As Zaban trying to thank her and ask for her name, he was suddenly transported back to town center.

---

When the giant robe man that's supposed to be the game creator himself finished his speech, he still holds on to the thought that it was all just a way to increase the authenticity of the game’s experience. But as he couldn’t find the log out button anywhere, he realized this is most likely real and he started to be furious.“How could that sick person just decided to leave so many people here to die in a game!” He thought to himself. As a policeman, this crime is enough to put the maniac behind bars for eternity. Without long, the first girl started to scream, and the rest followed with crying and swearing. This is the first time he is in such dire situation. But his police training taught him how to handle situation where public is panicking. Right now, he needs to control the crowd and keep them calm, or else stomping fiesta gonna happens and who knows if people would die for real when they get stomped over. However, his words were as good as nothing. No one seems to hear nor care what he was saying. Knowing that his action is futile, he gave up. That’s when he realized that his palms were sweating. He didn’t want to admit it but he was afraid too. He keeps reminding himself that he is a cop and even though this isn’t real life, it’s his sworn duty to protect innocent people. When the crowd started to run away, he followed them out then stay in a corner, trying to regain some sanity. He pinched himself again to make sure this isn’t a dream, or rather hoped that he would wake up on his bed so he can go on with his life as usual. He laughed at the irony: He pinched himself the first time because this was too good to be true, now he did it hoping that it is not true.

After a few moments, he made up his mind. “If beating the game is the only way to get out of here alive, then I am gonna do exactly that.”He knows that to beat a game, any game, leveling up and getting good gear are vital. He was looking around for quest giver in the city when suddenly one of the city guards shout at him. Then suddenly, while he was still trying to understand the whole sentence, “Pesky Pigs” quest was automatically accepted and the system notified him. “Well, 50 wild boars should be pretty good for target practice and free experience points.” He thanked the guard and prepared to leave the city for some boar hunting time. It certainly helps that he is in his original body too. After all, he knows how to use his own body best. He felt aspired, a sense of heroism managed to form in his mind. He tried to look for other new players to team up, it is better to have someone take care of your back, but nonetheless failed. They either outright reject him or just walk away like he did not exist. “Well, looks like it’s just me and my spear then, off we go!”

@Zelosse

The other man began to thank him vigorously, he just smiled at him and nodded "Yeah you are welcome." He said, his voice was still soft, the other player mentioned the fact about traps which was exactly what he was thinking and he turned a bit red. If it was a trap, he was being incredibly urgent about it, he also didn't mind the other mans excitement it was kind of funny. The mention of friends made Thomas turn even redder but he answered him nonetheless. "I don't have any friends." As if to affirm this he shook his head.

Thomas felt pretty awkward now, if it was a trap he told the other man that he was alone that no one would miss him, but besides this he probably looked like a loser to the other player. I mean who doesn't have friends, he thought but it's not like he didn't try to make friends, he was just afraid of letting them go. Hesitant to be lost in his own thoughts for long he spoke quickly to the other player. "I think I will try to help you recruit someone else, but first why don't we party up?" He opened his interface, and it took him a bit of exploring to find the party option. He probably looked like an idiot in those couple of minutes it took for him to find the party up button, but when he did a genuine smile crossed his face something like the other man had showed him when they first started talking.

"You mother-fucker, I can't believe you bootlegged Sword Art Online!"

"There is no way I'm sticking my head in that thing. Have you seen the specs for the hardware? It's practically a shortcircuit away from frying your skull!"

"Alright fine, but when I ask for my pizzas, I get them. And a WEEK sitting IN the chair, not a set time period, you can time my ass's contact with that sweet, sweet chair."

"And you're sure this rig won't bust on me?"

"...Alright, I'm going in. Just... Do me a favour. Can you call my mom? Let her know I want to talk with her this weekend? Thanks. Yeah, yeah, I'm going. I'll let you know what it's like."

---

Salacious_Saviour, as good a moniker as any, and easily abbreviated to Sal. He tried to nod approvingly, but being in the character select screen seemed somewhat restrictive. Oh well. Sal commenced creating the baddest, beefiest, badassest MAN that he could create! I'm gonna tear shit up with a massive fucking axe! This is gonna be sweet!

---

There was no log out button. There was a space where one ought to be, but it was missing. After setting up his character, and checking to see that nothing obvious was broken, Sal had planned on logging out and letting his partner take the reins. But...

"What the fu-"

---

"-ck?" Sal blinked. He was in the centre of the Town of Beginnings. And, it seemed there was to be a speech. Sal fell back in incredulity, mashing his face into his hands. The things that were being spoken, they... It was just his damned luck! He screamed in anger, and then a notification popped up. No, No, No! NonononononoNNOOOOOooooOOOO!

Too late. The mirror item activated automatically, even as he struggled to close his settings, and he felt the blue light wash over him. His big beastly man, all primed and powerful, was dust on the wind. And in its place? Sal shuddered, and tried to shrink back into the crowd, which failed, considering the tight leather number he'd been wearing a minute ago over his bulging muscles now hung semi-loose over his rake-thin and untoned twig of a body, and he had a ridiculously large axe dangling from his shoulders. The full impact of his situation had not yet dawned on him, but even as Akhiko fucking Kayaba disappeared and the sun returned to shining in the virtual sky, Sal turned his back on the square, preparing himself for the sulking session of the century.

---

Sal noticed somebody yelling about offerings of treasure, and then he noticed another person come up and offer their services. He weighed his options; continue to sulk, or actually try to get out of this Faustian nightmare. He decided escape suited him, and he could sulk when he wasn't at risk of having his brain get fried. And so Sal drew himself up, and tried to look unabashed in his ridiculous outfit, and hefted his axe (which was lighter than it looked). He walked over to Thomas and Stryker, and raised his double-bladed weapon in a half-hearted salute.

"I could definitely use a switch in gear. For more protection, obviously."

---

"I'm hooome!" Megumi announced cheerfully as she walked through the entrance of the bakery. "Welcome home!" Her mother responded equally as cheerfully as she finished serving a customer. She took her shoes off before going up the stairs toward their house, humming happily as she entered her room. Today was the day! Today was the day she could play Sword Art Online! She was so excited to play this that her friends had given her weird looks when she mentioned it with such gusto. As hyped as an Otaku.

As creative as she was, she decided to create a character that resembled herself, albeit slightly taller and bustier for the fun of it. 'Hmm.. Let's make a ranged character. Maybe something like a ninja!' She thought to herself as she scrolled through the character creation menus. After messing with proportion sliders and whatnot for a good half an hour, she named her avatar 'Ora' after one of the characters in her favourite ninja game, starting with the infamous throwing knives.

Megumi, or rather Ora, spent the next few minutes figuring out the menus and the controls of the game. They were difficult to understand at first, perhaps a little clunky, but it was manageable. Suddenly a massive figure appeared in the sky. She could only conclude that it was the GM, Kayaba Akihiko. "Hm?" A mirror appeared in her hand as the GM spoke to them. The mirror shattered after she peered into it, her body glowing as her 'digital' features disappeared. Those around her cried in surprise as their digital avatar's fell apart, revealing their 'true' selves. She was both surprised and unsurprised by the amount of males playing as females.. It was pretty normal by now, but it was just a little weird seeing it happen. Muscular avatars turning into scrawny people. A somewhat amusing sight to behold.

Ora scratched her head before giving a slight shrug. "Well.. That was certainly something." She murmured to herself as she navigated the menus. It would seem that the GM was telling the truth. The logout button wasn't there. Her mother was going to be quite upset with her now. It was almost dinner time. The ninja just hoped that her parents wouldn't yank the Nerve Gear off her head. She felt sorry for the hundreds that had already died, but she was determined to live.

There was no use crying over spilt milk. It was time to complete the 100 floors and get out of here. She probably wouldn't touch the Nerve gear again after this.. Stick to good ol' fashioned computer games.

---

For now she explored the town, taking note of the location of all the stores within it before moving on. The "Pesky Pigs" quest sounded like a good start on getting used to the controls and getting some good experience. Perhaps find a few friends along the way? As she left the town, she noticed that a lot of players had already started to party amongst themselves, and she noticed one such person had been left out.

Just before the boy had decided to go it alone, Ora rushed up to him, tagging him on the shoulder as she skipped passed before stopping in front of him. "It's dangerous to go alone! Let's party up~!" She said cheerfully, giving the young man a warm smile as she sent him a party invitation. 'Zaban.. Sounds funny~' She thought to herself.

@Enalais

@Zelosse
he just smiled at him and nodded "Yeah you are welcome."

"I don't have any friends."

Strykers enthusiasm shrank a little bit at the sudden realization that he might have offended the other player. Of course that wasn't intentional it was just that he had been so excited to get a start and clear the first hurdle, make a new friend, kick some boss monster ass, and begin the fiery streak to the end of this lousy situation and hell or high water Stryker intended to find Kayaba in the real world and kick the ever living shit out of the man for putting on such a wild and outright crazy god damn stunt like this. Lumping every paying customer in here was criminal!

How were they supposed to buy the god damn armor packs from the DLC shop?!

That was the real outrage. A business model like this was doomed to fail.

"Well, I don't have any friends either. So I'd wager you and me just found our first of many!"

With a dexterous sweep of his hand the menu dropped down, cycled through 3 options, then sent a friend / party request to Thomas. The deed done, he extended his hand out and beamed another bright oblivious smile.

"I'm Lagstryker. Real names Marcus Orelsdottr, but you can call me whatever you want."

@Kalleth

walking over to Thomas and Stryker, he raised his double-bladed weapon in a half-hearted salute.

"I could definitely use a switch in gear. For more protection, obviously."

Stryker bit back a giggle at the sight of the newcomer. The mirror had clearly caught this one so far off guard it might have killed him.

"Clearly."

Stryker managed to squeak out through gritted teeth as he failed to fully hold back the laughter threatening to escape his mouth. With a strong will he pushed down the urge to mock the thin boys looks and focused on the here and now. Two players, plus himself, made three. More than enough to fight the boss below and escape in one piece!
Another flick of his fingers across the materialized menu sent another invite / friend request to the new guy.

"Second verse same as the first; I'm Lagstryker, but folks call me Marcus. Sorry if I was rude! Can't help myself sometimes."

@Zelosse

Sal grit his teeth, accepted the friend request, and cast around for a shop that could sell him a cloak. Or even a textile place that might be able to cover him up if he completed a quest. No such luck. He adjusted some woefully loose straps, and tugged at some unexpectedly snug places, before finally grumbling under his breath.

"Salacious_Saviour, Sal if you like, lead the way Marcus."

Sal scrolled through the options in his menu, until he found the inventory, and took stock of his weapon, and extra items he'd picked up with his starting money. He hadn't expected the mirror-change, and so he had kept the starting armour, much to his present chagrin. Now though, the many straps and sheaths adorning his leather armour would prove useful, at least to some degree. While he laid down his battleaxe for a spell, he took out his Axeshield and slung it over his back. He also stuck the hatchet in a calve-sheathe, and his two throwing axes on his waist. The pickaxe he left in his inventory, as it would be less than useless in comparison with his other weapons, better as a tool, or a last resort.

The straps and sheathes came with ties, to hold the items still, as well as blade guards, in case the ties came loose. Sal was able to secure the hatchet and throwing axes fine, but he was having trouble with his Axeshield's ties. He grew angry, muttering and cursing. Finally he gave up, and his gaze slowly crawled towards Thomas.

@Enalais

"Help me, would you?"

It felt at least a little better, to have sharp weapons distracting from his pitifully skinny frame. Who knows? They might even block an unlucky blow, assuming Sal had to put up with this ridiculous armour much longer.

Thomas accepted Marcus' hand but didn't have time to introduce himself as the new comer showed up, he looked so small in his armor like it was a few too many sizes to big. But he didn't laugh instead he smiled, and accepted Marcus' friend request before sending one to the other player, as they introduced themselves he walked behind the smaller man and began to help him out while introducing himself. "I am Thomas, It's also my username so nothing fancy there, I suppose you can call me Tom if you want." He let out his friendliest smile, which probably looked odd on his face. After he finished up helping Sal he looked over at Marcus and spoke. "Looks like we got a full team, we can wait for one more or we can head out right now. But i'm afraid other players might of found where we are going by now, so waiting longer might not be the best bet." He said, his voice had a hint of worry in it.

While worried, he hadn't spent any of his starting money so he was afraid he might let his team down if he didn't at least kit up a little bit. But looking at his starting gear he thought he might be able to make it, his starting armor was adequate, his shield was basically what amounted to a miniature wall something that might be useful for a ranged opponent. So as far as he was concerned he was ready to take a hit for his team but he turned to the other two team members just to be sure. "I haven't spent any money yet, should I get anything while I'm here?" He asked, looking to the other two for knowing what to do.

@Rekaigan

Well, that's it. I accepted your party request. I promise you that I would try my best to protect you. I am an police officer. Back in real world, not here of course. So you can rest assured that I know how to fight. These monsters are more or less the same than the bad guys I encountered before. You just gotta strike the weakness. Also, I have some handy skill that can regenerate my health back in battle. In turn, you can safely strike from behind." The long-winded explanation was him trying to prove his capability, followed by an even warmer smile to Ora to show his friendliness. "Hmm...I feel that we are gonna make a great duo with formation like this. Haha.".

"Anyway, do you maybe want to exchange our real name?". He learned that fist step of establishing trust between people is to tell each other something personal. Since this is a virtual world and they only know the in-game name, real name would be a good start. "I'll go first. My real name is Fuga Abe. Nice to meet you." As he finished saying that, he reached his hand out, asking for a handshake from his very first friend.

Yagyu

She was on the verge of panicking this was not meant to turn out like this at all she just wanted to see if the game was actually worth the overzealous praise it received. "Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit SHIT!" she muttered to herself over and over again like a mantra what is she going to do?! This was beyond just ridiculous 100 floors who knows how long it would take them to clear the floors?! With a deep sigh she started to try and calm herself. First she needed to head out it would be dangerous but who knows how long supplies could last? Plus she needed money to live food and shelter was her top priorities plus if worse comes to worse she could make it off as a hunter for awhile farming the boars and pigs that was said to populate the first floor. With a wavering sense of determination she slapped her cheeks to prepare herself as she prepared to step out of the city.

She was was a user of bow and arrows meaning that she had the advantage of being able to strike from a distance which while a boon also meant that she was going to be susceptible to frontal attacks as well. So now came the hard part finding a party which was always easier said than done. "People tend to form cliques with like minded people and or friends from real life. With that in mind the best chance to gain a party is to go up to people and ask for help." she muttered to herself as she walked towards the exit her eyes peeled out for any chance of a party forming that she may be able to join in on. Before long she spotted two people who by the looks of it just teamed up if the getting to know each other line she overheard to go by. "Look sorry to interrupt but I need to ask would you guys mind partying up with me I am willing to aid in whatever quest or that you may be leaving to." She said her voice as normal sounding as she could get it.

@Huggo@Rekaigan

---

"Oh? A police officer? Please don't arrest me~" She chuckled. This man seemed reliable enough. Police officers tended to be that way. When he suggested that they exchange real names, she scratched her chin for a moment in an exaggerated way as if she was giving it some serious thought. Which she obviously wasn't. There was no harm in it anyway. "Well met, Mr.Fuga! My name's Tsukiyama Megumi from the 'world famous' Mt.Moon bakery! I'm sure you've heard of it~" She replied jokingly, taking a deep, theatrical bow. Of course, the bakery would be known to some, but it certainly wasn't world famous. Of course she wasn't be serious at all.

"Feel free to call me 'Megumin'~" She added, hooking her arm around his shoulder in an overly familiar way. (He could probably feel something soft too.)

Her gaze fell upon the other girl who started speaking to them, asking for a party invite. Ora promptly invited her with a few flicks on her hud. She let go of Zaban, skipping over to their new recruit. "The name's Ora, or Megumi! Whichever you prefer! I prefer 'Megumin'~", her voice still as jovial as ever, giving Yagyu a thumbs-up. She noticed that this girl seemed a little stiff. Perhaps the whole 'being trapped in a game' was too much for them.

---

Looking at Yagyu and Megumin, Zaban just can't stop smiling. Things are getting exponentially better than his initial plan 10 minutes ago, which was questing all by himself. He believed that this is a good sign. With a proud stance and hands on his hips, he look at both of his new friends, wanted to give some statement before they can go boar hunting. "Seems like we are off to a great start, another member! Welcome! I'm Zaban, though you can call me Fuga, that's my real name. Speaking of which," He turned to that playful ninja girl, "There is no need for you to use "Mr", Megumin, we are teammates now.

He did have some worries, however. These two girls seemed like they are not prepared for battle at all. This is only the first day of the game after all. All of them need to be familiar with combat because this is literally the matter of life and death."So, before we make a move, I just want to make sure that every one know how the battle system works." He scrolled down the menu and was about to explain the combat based on what he learnt few hours ago. "And Megumin, please try and focus on what I am about to say. You might just thank me later." While he adored how positive this ninja girl is given the current situation, it won't be enough to keep her alive on battlefield. And he would like them to be fighting alongside him on the final 100th floor. He can almost picture it. "That day won't be too far from now." He thought to himself.