Warning and Credits:
Parts of this post are from the translated Light Novel: Sword Art Online – Volume 1 – Aincrad
Janet Miller had been waiting for this moment for a damned long time. Today, the first VRMMORPG «Sword Art Online» would be going live. Somehow, Janet had managed to get a hold of the game and «Nerve Gear» which is the hardware that makes the game run. She had retreated into her room as soon as she had gotten the Nerve Gear and set it up. After testing it as much as possible and creating an avatar, she left it alone until thirty minutes before the game went live. She checked everything to make sure it was working right, then got a quick snack, cleaned up a bit, and then she returned to her room. After a few minutes, the game would go live. When the clock reached a minute until the game started, she slipped on her Nerve Gear, locked the strap on her chin in place, and counted to sixty before saying the initiation command—
«Link Start»
The humming of machinery and electricity quickly faded out until all was silence. There was no light, no sound, nothing but darkness, except for a rainbow circle in the center of this darkness. She stepped forward, and suddenly—the darkness wisped away into brilliant light, tumultuous sound, riotous color, and intense scents and an oddly solid sense of touch—like it was fog being blown away by a strong wind.
Her foot, that had stepped into the darkness landed on solid cobblestone ground. She strode forward, and found herself in the world of «Sword Art Online». Other games had not fully prepared her for the world of «Aincrad» a floating castle. Through the bottom of her shoes she could feel the ground and the heat it had absorbed from the sun radiated from the ground as gentle warmth. She looked around, then jumped back as a guy ran by and left the «Starting City».
Janet, no, she was Akane now, looked around and began examining the location. The roads in the «Starting City» were paved and the buildings looked well taken care of. There were no potholes in the road, or bars over the window, but then again, this was a game. Potholes and bars over windows just weren’t aesthetically pleasing. Akane’s brow creased as she concentrated to recall what was written on the playing guide on the back of the game and the instruction manual.
Akane stepped back a bit and put her right index finger and thumb together and pulled downwards. This was the action that was done to call the «main menu window». Straight afterwards, there was a ringing sound and a shining purple rectangle appeared. She quickly scanned the buttons and found a map button. She pressed it and the first floor of «Aincrad» was revealed. The «Starting City» was situated at the north end of the first floor and to the west were plains to the right, there were forests. On the map she could see the villages and locations around. She hit the button for the next level, and found that it was blank.
I see, they started us off with a beginner’s map of the first floor. I should check my inventory next. Akane then exited the map and opened her inventory. There wasn’t much in it, just beginner gear and supplies, and some money. Quickly, Akane familiarized herself with the rest of the menu and her stats before wandering around the «Starting City» looking through the stores. The amount of beginner’s money wouldn’t be enough to judge the prices of the city, or the worth of the coin.
In the end, she decided that the money she had received was not bad; it was good enough to get a slightly better weapon, or a piece of better gear, or more food. She considered upgrading her weapon but then changed her mind. The beginner’s gear would be good enough for a first timer, why else had it been given to them? Along the way she had picked up a «Starter’s Guide» to the game. It had reminders for the important commands, and some of the basic skills necessary to survive. This included the very basic «Sword Skills» for the basic weapon types that were available in the «Starting City».
In «Sword Art Online», «Magic» which was considered to be an indispensable part of fantasy MMORPGs had been boldly cut out and an almost endless number of skills called «Sword Skills» were made. It was part of a plan to let players actually feel the experience of fighting with their own bodies through «FullDive» as much as possible.
Skills were varied including productive skills such as smithery, leather working and sewing, and everyday skills such as fishing, cooking and playing music, allowing the player to not only adventure the huge game but also actually «live» in it. If they so wanted, and if their skill levels were high enough, they could buy a house and live as shepherds.
The electronics company which created the Nerve Gear called the actual act of linking to the virtual reality—«FullDive».
The reason for this was that the Nerve Gear not only sent fake signals to the five senses—but also blocked and rerouted the orders that the brain sent to the body. This could be called the most basic requirement for moving freely in a virtual reality. If the body received the brain's signals when the user was in «FullDive», the moment the user decided they wanted to «run» their actual body would run into a wall. Because the Nerve Gear could reroute the commands the brain sent through the spinal cord, Akane could move her avatar around freely and swing her sword around.
Akane checked her map, experimentally swung her beginner’s weapon, and then set off for the plains that stretched to the west of the «Starting City». In the plains she found some blue boars. According to what information she had collected from following what the beta testers had released, these creatures were the equivalent to beginner slimes in other games. Judging by that, the fight shouldn’t be so hard.
Before she was very close to the area where boars were supposed to spawn, she tested her sword skills. She would have to be able to use them on a moving target, and she wasn’t even sure if she could make them work just yet. «Sword Skills» activated based on the motions the players made. If a player started the right motion, the system would take over, put the «Sword Skill» into motion, and hit the target.
She raised her sword in the first motion for «Horizontal» a one-handed «Sword Skill». Her weapon turned green, and suddenly it seemed to move by itself in a horizontal slash across the air. There were no targets nearby for the system to make her hit. Akane creased her brow again and tried the motion a few more times. Only when she could do it three times in a row did she stop, and then try the next. «Vertical» was, like its name, a vertical slash. Again, she tried it over and over again until she could do it three times in a row. After that, she tried «Slant» which was a diagonal slash. After that she ran through the other motions again to make sure she had at least temporarily memorized her skills. For now, being able to use these three skills should be enough.
She searched around herself for a sign of a blue boar, officially named «Frenzy Boar». Not too far away, she spotted a couple. After a bit of thought, she picked up a pebble, and raised it above her shoulder in preparation to throw. She froze as a soft green light appeared in the corner of her eye. She turned her head as her arm moved on its own and threw the pebble right at a boar. It squealed angrily, and then looked around for her. After a bit, it seemed to find her, as it charged towards her. Akane no longer had time to wonder what sort of «Sword Skill» she had used. If she didn’t act soon, she’d find herself back in the «Starting City» after respawning.
She quickly drew her sword and as it got nearer, began the motion for «Vertical». In one strike, its life fell to half health. It shrieked and dodged back, quicker than she could believe. It shook its head and glared at her through vicious beady little eyes before lowering its tusks and preparing to charge. Akane was still a little off balance after using a «Sword Skill» in combat for the first time, so it hit her, and her life fell to half as well. Quickly she got up and prepared another «Sword Skill». She quickly positioned herself to use «Slant» and struck the boar down before it could hurt her again.
She sucked in a deep breath after the fight ended. Her first fight was exhilarating, and also frightening. She could kill boars, and that was good, but they could kill her as well. At most, she could only take one hit from a boar, otherwise she’d die. Dying wouldn’t be so bad if she could be back in a minute or two, but this hunting ground was quite distant from the «Starting City». It would be a pain in the ass to walk all the way back here after that fight, and she didn’t want to die on the first day, not fighting the equivalent of a Beginner Slime. Somehow, that was just… sad.
She quickly collected her loot and then rested for a bit. She checked her stats and saw that her experience bar had filled some, but that it would take a lot more fighting to level up. Her experience bar was currently at 2%. At this rate, she’d have to kill fifty beginner creatures to level up. Then again, these were beginner creatures. At the very least, it would be good practice, and she would have decent drops.
Akane quickly started in on the next creature and killed it without taking damage. She picked up the dropped loot and opened her inventory to check her menu. Out of habit, she skimmed all the words present and then realized that a word she had seen before was gone. Did the log out button move?
“Ding, ding” a chiming noise like a bell, or perhaps a warning bell, sounded loudly. Akane was suddenly enveloped in a clear blue pillar of light. Past the blue veil, the plains were quickly blurring out. The light pulsed brighter, and then everything was dark. Akane stumbled a bit as she found herself back in the central plaza of the «Starting City».
All around her was a sea of players. Unbidden in her mind, a phrase: “People mountain, people sea” popped up in her head. Looking at the bunch of stunningly beautiful people with a variety of equipment and different hair colors, she was certain they were players. There were about a few thousand—ten thousand people here. It was likely that everyone who was logged on right now had been forcefully transported to the central plaza.
For a few seconds, everyone just looked around without a word.
Then a few mumbles and mutters could be heard here and there; it started to get louder.
"What's happening?"
"Can we log out now?"
"Can't they take care of it quickly?"
Comments like these could be heard from time to time.
As the players started to get more annoyed, shouts like "Is this a joke?" and "Get the hell out here, GMs!" could be heard.
Then suddenly.
Somebody raised his voice above all these comments and shouted.
"Ah...look above!"
As one, thousands of faces lifted their eyes to the sky. A hundred meters up in the air, the sky was checkered in red. Akane had to squint her eyes to make out the details, and then she realized that the red stuff were the words [Warning] and [System Announcement] crossing each other. Is a GM going to tell us what’s going on?
Suddenly, a red liquid started to ooze down from the center of the words. It looked very viscous because of how slowly it dripped down. It began to morph into another shape, the shape of a twenty meter tall man with a hooded robe draped around him. Akane stared into the hood, and saw no face, and no body beneath the clothes. She could see the details within the clothes, but there was nothing within it, just shadows.
"Is that a GM?"
"Why doesn't it have a face?"
Numerous whispers like these could be heard.
Then the right hand of the huge robe moved as if to silence them.
A pure white glove appeared from the folds of the long sleeve. But this sleeve, like the rest of the robe, wasn't connected to any sort of body.
Then the left arm slowly lifted upwards, too. Then with its two empty gloves spread out in front of ten thousand players, the faceless person opened his mouth—no, it felt like it did. Then a low and calm voice of a male resonated from high up in the air.
'Players, I welcome you all to my world.
My name is Kayaba Akihiko. Right now, I am the only person who can control this world.
I think that most of you have discovered the fact that the log out button has disappeared from the main menu. This is not a bug; it is all part of «Sword Art Online»'s system.
Until you get to the top of this castle, you cannot log out of your own free will.
...also, the discontinuation or dismantling of the Nerve Gear from the outside is strictly forbidden. If these things are attempted...
The signal sensors in your Nerve Gear will emit a strong electromagnetic pulse, destroying your brain and stopping all of your basic functions.
To be a little more specific, dislocation from an outside source of electricity for ten minutes, being cut off from the system for more than two hours, or any attempt to unlock, dismantle, or destroy the Nerve Gear. If any of these conditions are met, the brain destruction sequence will start. These conditions have been made known to the government and the public through mass-media in the outside world. On that note, there have been several cases where the relatives or friends have ignored the warnings and tried to forcefully get rid of the Nerve Gear. The result—'
The metallic voice took a short breath here.
'—regretfully 213 players have already exited this game, and the real world forever.
Players, there is no need to worry about the bodies that you have left on the other side. As of this moment, all TV, radio, and internet media are all repeatedly reporting this situation, including the fact that there have been numerous deaths. The danger of having your Nerve Gear taken off has already all but disappeared. In a moment, using the two hours I have given, all of you will be transported to hospitals or similar institutes and be given the best treatment. So you can relax...and concentrate on beating the game.
But I ask of you all to understand that «Sword Art Online» is no longer a simple game. It is a second reality....from now on, any form of revival in the game will no longer work. The moment that your HP reaches 0, your avatar will be gone forever, and at the same time— Your brain will be destroyed by the Nerve Gear.
Players, there is only one way to be freed from this game. As I have said before, you must get to the top of Aincrad, the one hundredth floor, and defeat the final boss that resides there. All players still alive at that time will be immediately logged out of the game. I give you all my word.'
'Then I will show you evidence that this is the only reality. In your inventories, there will be a gift from me. Please confirm this.'
Akane quickly pressed her finger and thumb together and pulled downwards. All the players did likewise and the plaza was filled with the ringing sound of bells. Quickly, she pressed the item button on the menu that had just appeared and saw the item that had been given to everyone. It was a «hand mirror». She tapped on the name and pressed the "make into object" button. Immediately afterward, there was a twinkling sound effect and a small rectangular mirror appeared.
Akane peered into it, and stared into the face of her avatar. She glanced away and looked at everyone else, and was suddenly engulfed in brilliant white light. A few seconds later, her surroundings had changed, and yet were still the same. All around her, it was no longer a sea of beautiful people and avatars, but a confusing mix of normal people wearing fantasy gear. And she found that many girls she had been standing next to were now… guys. MMORPG – Multiple Men Online Roleplaying Girls. Akane’s eyes nearly bulged out of her head she was so shocked, she didn’t really think it was true.
Akane glanced into the mirror again, and the elegant fine-boned warrior with red eyes, voluptuous curves, pale skin, trim body, and waist-length blood-red hair was gone. In her place, was Janet Miller with scarlet dyed hair halfway down her back, lightly tanned skin, B-cup breasts, a size 8 body, and green eyes. She froze as she took in the changes. Kayaba Akihiko’s words brought her out of her trance.
'You will all most probably be wondering 'why.' Why am I—the creator of both the Nerve Gear and SAO, Kayaba Akihiko—doing something like this? Is this a sort of terrorist attack? Is he doing this to ransom us?'
It was then that Kayaba's voice, which had been emotionless up to now, seemed to show some signs of emotion.
'None of these is the reason I am doing this. Not only that, but now for me, there is no longer a reason or a purpose in doing this. The reason is because...this situation itself was my purpose in doing this. To create and watch this world is the only reason I have created the Nerve Gear and SAO. And now, everything has been realized.'
Then after a short break, Kayaba's voice, now emotionless again, sounded.
'...now I have finished the official tutorial for «Sword Art Online». Players—I wish you luck.'
This last sentence trailed off with a faint echo.
The huge robe rose soundlessly, and started sinking, hood first, into the system message that covered the sky, as if melting. Its shoulders, then its chest, then its two arms and legs merged into in the red surface, and then a final red stain spread briefly. Right afterward, the system message that had covered the sky disappeared as suddenly as it appeared.
Suddenly, the usual city sounds were back. Akane stared at where Kayaba had disappeared to, and suddenly the silence was broken. There were people shouting denial, other screaming and crying that they were going to die, others mourned lost friends, searched for their friends, or rushed away from the city.
No… this, this can’t be true. For a moment, Akane contemplated jumping off the side of the first floor, or cutting herself down. But what if it is? It was possible that this was all just a really bad prank, but it was also possible that it wasn’t. Was she willing to risk it? Logically, the best method for handling this situation would be pretending as if it was real, even if it was just a lie. If she jumped off and killed herself, she might wake up in the real world, or be dead. If she stayed and survived, worst case scenario assuming it was a lie, was that she was tricked into staying in a game, and would that be so bad? She’d at least have an excuse. Assuming it was true, if she jumped off, she’d be dead, and if she survived she’d live. Regardless of whether it was truth or a lie, her best chance was to pretend it was real and survive.
There would be no way to know unless the game was beaten or the log out button returned. She looked around her, heard the screams of those who hadn’t thought this through as well and had thrown themselves off the castle, and turned her feet towards a street. She didn’t need an inn; the restrictions in a city would protect her. She found a quiet alleyway, and waited there, she would rest and then she would sneak out to fight. If necessary, one could disappear in those plains, but the safest place to rest for the night was still a city.
So, she would sneak out, she would train, and then she would return. Only when she ran no risk of being killed by boars would she even consider moving on. She would move slowly, and methodically, and if all went well, she would live. If not, she would die, and while she couldn’t really bring herself to let herself die, she also couldn’t bring herself to truly fear for her life or desire to preserve it till the end. Besides, with her methods, if she fought outside the city, if she tried to help clear the floors of the castle, she would die. Her chances of surviving this game were not high. Most likely she would never make it to the end. Then she would see if it was all a lie or not.
Either way, she had a plan. Anything after that didn’t really matter.
