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!”