2 Chapter 2: The Beginning in A New World [Part 2]
[Third Person Pov]
[6th November, 16.31]
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, despite being confident that the game creator would at least announce that they were trapped in this virtual reality, didn't know when it'd be.
Would it be in a few hours, a few minutes, or perhaps in a few seconds?
It was an answer he didn't know, but what he knew was that once the announcement would be made, his disadvantage would dissappear as one of the few only players in charge of knowledge about the true nature about this game.
He didn't have, in comparison, many advantages to normal gamers, who knew how MMROPG games were built, nor the advantages of the "BetaTester", who played for two months this game.
However, unlike any other player, he wouldn't experience through continuously slaughtering Monsters' repetitive mental fatigue or the need to take a break.
Right now, he knew that he had to use his current information to his advantage and level up as much as possible. So he went even into further lengths and went to the forest of floor 1, where the <little Nerpents> are residing.
To his disadvantage, he didn't know any information about that Monster, but risks were ought to be taken when you are in a world of survival, where the only thing that matters is the Level and not the Skills.
Although he was aware of the feature of quests, he didn't know where to find any, and considering that the first floor is as big as the city Saitama, in Japan, he didn't want to waste his time for low-level quests with non-existent Experience Points.
As Ayanokoji was on his way to the Forrest, he suddenly had gotten a message.
[Horikita: Ayanokoji-kun, are you also not able to log out?]
[Ayanokoji: Yeah, it must be something like a bug. I bet the game developers are panicking right now and trying to fix this mistake.]
[Horikita: I think the same. But it's already a bad omen when the game starts like this. I guess, even despite the popularity, many criticisms are bound to be coming.]
[Ayanokoji: That is to be expected, Horikita.]
[Horikita: Yeah, well, if you don't mind, shall we meet up later in school? I'm not sure when it will be fixed, but when enough players complain towards the administrator's, the servers might be forcefully shut down.]
[Ayanokoji: Makes sense. I'll message you when we are back at school.]
[Horikita: Sure.]
With that said, the conversation ended. Ayanokoji, who was still on his way to the Forrest and deliberately sprinted and tried to be unnoticeable, has suddenly gotten another notification.
[Arisu has sent you a friend request]
[Do you want to accept it?]
[Yes] [No]
Before he thought about accepting her friend request, he decided to enable the feature that friends would be able to see his location on the map.
He didn't know that until just now, when he went on Horikita's profile and saw the precise location where she was.
But while he could see her location, he couldn't see her level.
He didn't find anything in the menu that was allowing him to enable his level, which caused him to sigh with a slight relief.
'Yes', he thought, accepting her friend request.
[Arisu: Ayanokoji-kun, do you also have a problem with logging out?]
[Ayanokoji: Yes, I do. I guess it's a bug, or however you call that.]
[Arisu: A bug, huh? I see... Perhaps I'm simply just overthinking everything. Thank you, Ayanokoji-kun.]
[Ayanokoji: No problem, Sakayanagi.]
[Arisu: Goodbye, Ayanokoji-kun.]
[Ayanokoji: Goodbye.]
As expected, Arisu Sakayanagi also had formed her doubts. It wasn't just her, but probably also Nagumo, Ryūen, and many other class leaders.
He was confident that the White Roomer wouldn't do any careless things, which would result in the immediate deduction of his identity.
Which is why he knew that they didn't farm.
While he really wanted to test out whether Yagami was the White Roomer or not, now it wasn't possible anymore.
But even so, as long as he was above the level of the White Roomer, it didn't matter.
For the time being, the White Roomer will also entirely focus on leveling up, just like him. So there won't be any fight in the near future.
That was good, so he didn't need to worry about that issue for now. He had plenty of others, just like any other.
[7 Minutes Later]
Ayanokoji finally arrived at the Forrest. His speed was surpassing his imagination, and despite the long way, it had only taken 7 minutes to arrive.
But even so, that wasn't something to celebrate for.
It was in regards to monsters in higher floors still too slow. Ayanokoji didn't immediately find the <little Nerpents>, but after conquering the Forrest for two whole minutes, he was able to see finally one.
[Little Nerpents Appeareance:]
It was a Level 3 Monster, which was higher than the Level 1 <Frenzy Boar> and the <Dire Wolf>.
But he didn't see an issue with this Monster at all.
Before he would fight, however, he began on equipping one sword skill he seemed to have earned either through continuously fighting Monsters or perhaps leveling up.
In fact, he wasn't sure. Ayanokoji definitely needed more information about this game, but right now, swords skills didn't matter to him.
There were different types of weapons, and the skill he seemed to have earned was only available for this weapon he used.
While it was definitely advantageous that he earned a sword skill, the one-hand sword wasn't precisely his type.
Ayanokoji was quite skilled with the Katana. In the White Room, he would usually train with a Katana when his compatibility and affinity with weapons were tested.
It wasn't only the Katana, but he always preferred the Katana over any other weapon.
A one hand sword wasn't bad, but it didn't suit his fighting style that was reliant on fast-aiming attacks that should kill monsters within a few hits.
He could imagine that with a one hand sword, he'd definitely need to fight longer, which would later prove to be a bit inefficient.
But then again, he might try on mastering all weapons, as some weapons should have advantages in comparison with others against some specific monsters.
Right now, speculating about this wasn't helpful at all, so he stopped and focused on equipping the one sword skill he earned.
It was the Skill [Slant], which was a simple one hit combo, with a simple attack.
It didn't seem like a great deal, as he hoped to be, but even so, he couldn't expect as a newbie more than that, probably.
Ayanokoji looked a small second again at the time.
[Time: 16:37]
As to why he did that, he was confident that in the next one to two hours, a message or some sort should be delivered to announce the start of the Death Game.
Before the message happens to come, he'd like to use everything in his power to level up before any other player.
He didn't know like "BetaTester", the quests in Floor 1, that would give him much Experience Points, so the only thing he could currently do is killing Monsters, in hope to gain as the first one again an achievement.
Approaching the Monster within an appropriate distance, he wanted to firstly analyze all the patterns behind the Monsters' attack before fighting full-fledgedly.
The <little Nepent>, in an instant, when seeing Ayanokoji, tried on attacking him with the special corrosive spray that would decrease his HP and his Gear's Durability.
Ayanokoji dodged, however, with great difficulty, as he was only three meters away from the monster.
If it wasn't for his quick reaction and his Agility, that was at 8 currently, he'd definitely had been hit by the Monster.
In an instant, he backed down from the Monster at a suitable distance. He finally took a proper stance and began to analyze the Monster fully.
He wondered what other attacks that ugly plant Monster had prepared for him.
The next attack would be from the dagger like vine leaves from the Monster, which he easily cut through with his skill, [Slant].
The Monster had two of these dagger like arms, which is why he waited, analyzed whether there would be a variation from the previous attack, and then cut the Monster's dagger like arm through.
He wanted to know whether that Monster had any other attacks in preparation, but it was only those three.
After he had cut the arms from the Monster, the special corrosive spray was the only attack the Monster used.
In an instant, he charged his sword and attacked the Monster. The Monster hadn't any time to react to Ayanokoji's abnormal speed and was defeated with a single strike.
[You gained 44 EXP]
[You gained 55 Cor]
[Level 6: 17.944/21.000]
[Cor: 15.605]
This Monster definitely wasn't like the previous two ones.
It was a difficulty higher than that. But at the same time, he gained through killing the Monster far more Experience.
If he could continue like that, it would be great. However, for now, he needed to adapt to their fighting style a bit before thinking about challenging larger groups.
He approached another single <little Nerpent>, but saw from the former one a change of appearance.
The former one had no distinctive features, but this one now had a red fruit attached atop of its head instead of nothing.
Did that mean that there might be for this Monster different attack patterns than the previous one.
That was certainly a valid reason to doubt the Monster.
But unfortunately, it was far worse than that, for Ayanokoji. This monster was the worst type out of the three types he could have encountered.
The former one, with no distinctive features, was the most common out of the <little Nerpents>. Then there was the second type, which had a red flower on its head, and would trop a specific item, <<the little Nerpente's Ovule>> that was needed for clearing a certain quest.
It was the quest, <<Secret Medicine out of the Forest>> which rewards the player with the sword <Anneal Blade>, that could be used without problems until Floor 3.
The third one, however, was completely different. If the red fruit on the third type of the <little Nerpent> would be damaged, the fruit would emit an odor that would attract other <little Nerpents> to their location, causing for the low-level players present a high probability of death.
Ayanokoji happened to meet the third type of that monster. But he didn't know that it'd cause that. Completely clueless and only focused on one objective, the objective to level up as high as possible, Ayanokoji confronted that Monster, unaware of the latter's effects at all.
Within a five meter distance, Ayanokoji watched the Monster and waited again for that Monster to attack him to see whether this different type of the <little Nerpent> had other attacks prepared for him.
Towards his surprise, there wasn't anything different than the previous type, so what was the difference between them, that the Monster he faced now had a distinctive feature, such as the red fruit atop of its head.
He wanted to find out the difference between these two types.
And yet, while all rationality inside his head said not to try it out and back away, his curiosity has gotten the better hand of him.
Would something happen when he kills this type of monster that had simply other distinctive features than the former one?
If he were to go after that principle, it could possibly be the case.
But he knew that for the sake of leveling up, killing unknown Monsters was a risk he would need to take.
In other words, he decided to fight this Monster and wanted to damage the red fruit, to test out whether it was a weakness, that low-level player could use, or whether it was simply a distinctive feature to show the sex of the Monster possibly, as a detail the developers added in.
He sprinted towards the Monster, and without any charged attack, he cut the Monster in two halves, with a [vertical slash], a sword skill of his, he seemed to have learned the instant during his attack on the Monster.
It surprised him that he easily earned another sword skill, but perhaps now he had finally realized how to unlock sword skills
Before this time, he hadn't used any vertical attack on any of the previous monsters he faced. They were all diagonally since it was the most effective way to kill them in an instant.
So could it be, once you realize the concept behind the sword skill and at least try it out once, you unlock it, or would it only work after training that certain movement repeatedly?
While Ayanokoji didn't deny that these skills had their advantages, there were also disadvantages.
You can't cancel the sword skill once you activate it.
If the monster you are facing is both faster and stronger than you, it'd definitely become a disadvantage if the skill has more than one combo, and you can't cancel them at all.
If it was only one or two opponents, he wouldn't mind using these skills, but if there are more than that, it'd definitely be suicide by activating a sword skill, since attacks would be able to come from several directions.
[You gained 44 EXP]
[You gained 55 Cor]
[Level 6: 17.988/21.000]
[Cor: 15.660]
[Sword Skills]
[Slant] – [A one hit diagonal slash] [Lvl. 8]
[Vertical Slash] – [A one hit vertical attack] [Lvl. 1]
[Skills:]
[Sprint] [Lvl. 3]
[Hiding] [Lvl. 1]
[Searching] [Lvl. 2]
Ayanokoji had only these three skills unlocked currently, which is given that it's only the first day. But he needed far more skills for his own benefit.
Currently, he didn't see the use of the hiding skill, which is the reason why it's at level 1 since it's unequipped.
Although, the hiding skill definitely had its own advantages. As the names already indicate, you are able to hide. Both from players and Monsters.
Once you activate the skill, a small indicator that is called <Hide Rate> appears in the bottom of your vision, which describes how well you are hiding within your environment.
The rate increases or decreases depending on multiple factors, such as whether you are able to hide within your environment or whether a player and Monster look at you or not. The advantage of this skill is that the color cursor is hidden from the players.
The searching skill, however, was already since the beginning there.
With that, it was easier to search for monsters for instances. But the radius was only within ten meters, which is rather disappointing, but he couldn't do anything regarding that issue unless leveling that skill up and getting a higher searching radius.
Ayanokoji, however, was limited on equipping these skills. He could only equip three skills out of these five normal skills and swords skills.
He equipped the Sprint, Slant, and the searching skill.
These three skills were, after all, the skills he had leveled up the most and were the most advantageous ones currently.
Ayanokoji, who was in his thoughts, could see suddenly the red fruit atop of the Monster releasing emit an odor and could already speculate what this would do.
If he was truly right with his assumption, he couldn't stay there anymore. But alas, he was too late.
Even before he could sprint away from the forest, all the <little Nerpents> from a radius of 500 meters would appear in the forest.
Ayanokoji tried to run away, but the monsters in front of his direction blocked him.
He turned around, but behind him were also Monsters. He looked quickly at the side, but they were slowly also coming there in large amounts.
If he had to guess how many Monsters had surrounded him, he'd say about a hundred or more.
There was only one thing he thought at the moment. 'That doesn't look good. I might be in serious trouble.'
While many people in his situation would become hopeless, he didn't. He was calm, collected, and rational. He tried on searching for a way out, but it wasn't as easy as it seemed.
There were, in each direction, multiple monsters that were blocking his way.
Only when he, however, tried on searching for an exit, he found something else. It was a third type of this monster, which had another distinctive feature than the other two.
The Monster had atop its head a red flower. He could definitely conclude that it shouldn't have the same effect as the former one, he guessed. There wasn't any indication that the red flower would be able to emit odor when damaged. But unlike any other monster here, there was only a single monster with a red flower.
It might be a special occurrence, he guessed, since the other types of monsters there appeared more frequently.
If this Monster was truly special and might reward something worthwhile, he should test it out, only for reference. After that, he wouldn't have any qualms about fleeing.
Without wasting any time, he sprinted towards that Monsters' direction so fast that none of the Monsters could even react.
He killed one after another, hiding within the middle of these monsters so that the others from the other direction couldn't attack him.
It was quite a nasty battle, but he had killed all 23 Monsters in that direction, leaving only the one with the red flower alive.
He didn't waste any time and killed the Monster.
[You gained 44 EXP]
[You gained 55 Cor]
[You gained the item the little Nerpent's Ovule]
That surprised him. Before that, he never earned an item from these types of monsters before, which means that this must be a special item that could be related towards a quest or something.
Either way, there's no use of speculating. Ayanokoji had only experienced 50 damage from these monsters yet, from his initial 1.000 HP, so he was thinking whether or not to kill these remaining monsters, or flee, since now the perfect opportunity has arisen and one of these direction wasn't blocked anymore.
He decided not to flee but to fight back.
If he were to flee from these weak monsters, how could he even think of facing far stronger ones in the future.
--
TimeSkip
--
[Time: 17:10]
At last, he killed the final Monster present. It was a total of 122 monsters he faced and killed.
But his HP had been quite reduced before leveling up.
[HP: 600/1.000]
He didn't like the fact that these monsters were able to reduce 40% of his Hit Points, but well, he couldn't do anything.
>Former Level:
[Level 6: 17.988/21.000]
>Current Level:
[Level 7: 23.356/28.000]
[Cor: 22.315]
[HP: 600/1.350]
[Stats:]
[Strenght: (7)] -> [Strenght: 9]
[Agility: (8)] -> [Agility: 9]
[Vitality: 3] -> [Vitality: 3]
This time, however, despite killing more than a hundred monsters, he didn't get an achievement. It was only a title again, but nothing else.
There were only two possibilities, either someone before him had killed 100 monsters as the first one, or the administrator removed the achievements from the game.
He didn't know which, but he wanted to believe the latter one.
In any case, Ayanokoji was thinking of buying a few things with his Cor's, so he went to the nearest village currently to look at new equipment.
The durability of his sword was definitely on the verge of breaking since it was a beginner sword. Perhaps he could kill a few ten or twenty additional Monsters, but that was all.
More than that would mean that his sword would break.
Since he was pretty fast, it didn't take long enough to arrive at the Horunka Village. It was now 17:19, 9 minutes he needed with his full speed from the forest to the Horunka Village.
It wasn't really that big of a village. There were only ten buildings, one of them being an inn, the other one being a weapons shop and the tool shop.
The rest of the buildings seemed to be NPC buildings, but you could enter them regardless.
There was one building that stood out the most and was the nearest towards his current location, so he directly entered that building before he decided to check the other ones out, too.
Even though it were NPC's, Ayanokoji still minded his manners and knocked on the door before entering.
"Excuse me, but I'll be entering," he said, unbeknownst what reply would expect him.
"Please come in," a female voice said.
Ayanokoji, after getting allowance to enter, decided to open the doorknob.
Even though these were NPC's, it was the common courtesy to knock and ask before entering.
He slightly looked around this place, noticing that there was something simmering in the pot. He was surprised that NPC's seemed to have the ability to cook for themselves, despite them not being players.
It was truly just of how much of a genius the programmer of the game Sword Art Online and the NerveGear was.
'How was his name again? I think it was Akihiko Kayaba. Yeah, that's his name.' Ayanokoji quickly recalled the name of the person.
Ayanokoji, who was trapped in his thoughts, suddenly has been asked a question.
"Young man, would you like to have a cup of water?" The female NPC asked. "We don't have here any food, so that's the only thing I can offer."
'Suspicious. If they don't have any food, why is there something simmering in the pot. Is this perhaps something related to an NPC quest?' Ayanokoji frowned as he didn't have any experience regarding games, especially MMROPG's, that would definitely prove to be an advantage if he had that information.
But if this was something like a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity, that you couldn't take afterward anymore once rejected, he shouldn't refute the gesture of the NPC since he doesn't know how that would affect the potential quest.
Besides, the Village is a safe Zone, where players can not be harmed, so there shouldn't come any danger from the NPC.
"Sure," Ayanokoji replied, taking the cup of water from the female NPC and decided to sit down on the couch.
The female NPC sat opposite to him, at the other couch, having a slight saddened expression.
"Ahm, what's wron—" Before Ayanokoji could finish with his question regarding the saddened look of the NPC, something unusual happened.
*Cough*
*Cough*
A female voice, that of a child coughed in the room next to the living room.
He certainly had less doubts that this wasn't just a random interaction with an NPC but rather the beginning of a quest.
"I'm sorry, it's just... my daughter Agatha..." The female NPC said.
"Is everything alright with her?" Ayanokoji asked, his tone and expression apathetic.
"Truthfully...no. In fact, she is sick..." The female NPC replied in a deprived tone.
"Uhm... Is there any way I could help?" Ayanokoji asked.
"Yes. If you could bring the <little Nerpent's Ovule> from the forest, it'd definitely help. The Monster that has this this item, is the <little Nerpent>, from the forest, with a red flower atop of its head. If you could bring me that item, I'll make sure to compensate you. We don't have any money, but this sword should do as a payment. It's a sword that has been passed down to our family for ages."
The female NPC said, walking next to another room, taking the sword out and showing it to Ayanokoji.
[Do you want to accept the quest <<Secret Medicine of the Forest>>]
[Yes] [No]
Ayanokoji, without any hesitation, accepted the quest. He didn't really know much about this sword, but he knew the lengths of trouble he went through killing the monsters in the forest.
It definitely should be a good sword for now, on the lower floors, that makes it easier to kill monsters.
'Yes,' Ayanokoji thought, as he basically completed the quest already.
[Quest:]
[<<Secret Medicine of the Forest>>]
[Quest details: A Horunka village missus's daughter was stricken with a severe illness that was completely unfazed even when treated with medicine from the market. The only other way to cure her daughter was to brew a remedy from an ovule of a species of carnivorous plants inhabiting the forest further to the west. However, plants of that particular type were extremely dangerous, and those that actually bloomed were rarely seen, resulting in her complete inability to obtain any. Thus, she offered a long sword handed down in her family to the swordsman who would obtain the ovules for her as a token of her appreciation.]
Ayanokoji confronted the female NPC. "Here," Ayanokoji said, giving her the item.
"You are already back. That was fast. Thank you. Here is your reward."
'Already back, huh? It seems like the administrator in charge didn't have dialogues prepared when you happened to obtain the item before you started the quest. That is quite interesting.' Ayanokoji thought.
[Quest cleared]
[Reward: Anneal Blade]
'It isn't a bad sword. By far better than the beginner sword. It deals more damage and has a better durability. It can also be enhanced up to 8 times. I guess I'll have to visit a blacksmith to enhance the sword.' Ayanokoji thought.
Ayanokoji, who was still eager to know when the possible announcement would be made, looked at the time again.
[Time: 17:23]
'Well, I guess I'll visit the weapons and tools shop and buy me some equipment.'
Without further ado, he spent up to 3.000 Cor to buy him several necessities.
Reserve swords, other swords, daggers, and many other things he would probably need.
When he was finished with buying everything, he stepped outside.
But then this happened...
*Ding, ding* ... a chiming voice like a bell sounded loudly throughout the whole of Aincrad.
'It's seems like the time has come for the announcement.' Ayanokoji thought.
"Ah..." he exclaimed, noticing that a blue pillar of light had been immersing around him. Past the blue veil, Ayanokoji's vision became blurry.
He didn't know what happened precisely, but if he had to speculate, the administrator used something like <Teleport> to let all players appear in the same place.
If it doesn't happen through loudspeakers, then it'd make sense that he would make a personal explanation about the objective of this game and possibly also his motive.
As expected, he appeared at the starting location, the central plaza of the <Starting City>.
It was a large road paved with stones in a medieval designed style.
It was wisely chosen for the horrific explanation that would follow afterward, thought Ayanokoji.
Ayanokoji, even among these circumstances, never felt his heartbeat ever increasing.
Not at the time when he found the true nature of this game out, nor when he was surrounded by 123 Monsters that were at level 3.
Even now, he didn't feel anything. He was, in fact, curious if this wouldn't extend his free life for a few years more.
Definitely, all of them will be repeating when the game is finished their respective year.
If it is still in ANHS, then that man would still not have enough authority to extend his clutches to the school. He could have a longer life.
Through this game, most of the students would definitely evolve themselves. It was quite interesting, in his opinion, and it was definitely worthwhile to observe.
Looking at this place, he could see a handful of beautiful people with various different equipment and hair colors.
He looked in search of any person in his school, but he didn't find anything.
*Tap, tap* someone from behind, tapped Ayanokoji's shoulder.
"Ayanokoji-kun, it seems like you also didn't change your appearance," the voice behind him said.
It was the voice of a female person, a one that he was definitely very familiar with.
"Ichinose..." Ayanokoji exclaimed, in slight surprise, that she also had kept the same appearance like in real life.
It wasn't unusual to say that she attracted much attention.
"Look at that girl..." A male voice said.
"There is no way that she is real..." another voice said.
"She's beautiful...do you think I can talk with her..."
"You don't even know if that's a girl. In the end, it's just a fat, gross dude, definitely..."
"Yeah, there is no way that someone as beautiful as her wouldn't be some sort of model..."
There were many voices that were talking about Ichinose.
From some of their interactions, she couldn't help but blush.
"Is everything alright, Ichinose?" Ayanokoji asked.
"Yes, I'm just not used to having so many people staring at me."
"It's because you are beautiful. That's why they are staring at you."
"Beautiful? Me? Ayanokoji, don't say something like that. You have a girlfriend..."
"I'm just stating obvious facts, Ichinose."
"Really? Hehe, thank you, Ayanokoji-kun," Ichinose said, slightly blushing.
"Fufu, am I interrupting your lovely conversation, Ayanokoji-kun?"
In normal cases, you'd have heard a cane sound when Sakayanagi was walking. But this time, there wasn't any sort of that thing.
She walked easily, without any problems or the support of the cane.
"Ayanokoji-kun, that's not appropriate," Ichinose whispered in his ear.
"Yeah, sorry, I was a bit surprised," he whispered back.
"Don't worry, Ayanokoji-kun, I'm not mad. It is by now a common occurrence that people in our school stared at me. I don't mind that, though."
"Ayanokoji-kun, Sakayanagi-san, look up." Ichinose said.
Automatically, both Sakayanagi and Ayanokoji turned their eyes upwards. There, a strange sight greeted them.
The bottom of the second floor, 100 meters above them, was checkered in red.
When looking closely, Ayanokoji noticed the patterns of two words crisscrossing each other. It was [Warning], and [System Announcement] which were written in red.
"It seems like the operator will be informing us now," Ayanokoji exclaimed, gaining the approval of both Sakayanagi and Ichinose.
That was the conclusion everyone made as such the chatter around the place has quieten down.
What next happened was something nobody expected.
From the middle of the pattern, a liquid that looked like blood started oozing down slowly. It came down at a rate that almost emphasized how viscous it was, but it didn't fall all the way down; instead, it started congealing into a shape.
What appeared was a twenty-meter tall figure with a hooded robe draped around it. No, that wasn't exactly right. From where the players were looking, they could easily see into the hood—there was no face.
It was absolutely empty. We could clearly see the inner cloth and the green embroidery inside of the hood.
It was the same inside the robe, all we could see inside the edges were shadows.
"Is that a GM?"
"Why does it have no face?"
There were a lot of whispers like these.
Then the right sleeve 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, didn't cover any sort of body.
The left sleeve 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. A low, calm, male voice resonated from high in the air.
『Players, I welcome you all to my world.』
'So that's Akihiko Kayaba, huh? It's not like I particularly care.'
Neither Ichinose nor Sakayanagi said anything. Everyone was focused at that point entirely on Kayaba.
『My name is Kayaba Akihiko. Right now, I am the only person who can control this world.』
"So that person is, Kayaba, huh? That so-called genius," Sakayanagi murmured.
『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.』
"Part of the system..." Ichinose frowned, slightly putting piece after piece together.
The announcement continued in its low voice as if to cover the sound.
『Until you get to the top of this castle, you can not log out of your own free will.』
'As expected. We are supposed to beat all 100 floors,' Ayanokoji frowned, heavily sighing.
『...also, the disruption or dismantling of the NerveGear from the outside is strictly forbidden. If these things are attempted...』
A moment of silence.
The silence of fifty thousand people was overwhelming. The next words came slowly.
『the signal sensors in your NerveGear will emit a strong electromagnetic pulse, destroying your brain and stopping all of your basic functions.』
Both Sakayanagi and Ichinose had horrific expressions and were unable to say anything.
Ayanokoji's expression, even despite getting the confirmation, remained still the same; apathetic.
"Ayanokoji-kun, Sakayanagi-san, that is not possible, right? Tell me that's not true!"
Ichinose, who wanted to refute every single word that was spit down from that horrendous man, couldn't do anything.
She didn't know whether he spoke the truth or not. That's why she asked these two.
She wanted to hear the words, 'No, that's not possible, don't worry.'
'Everything will be fine.'
She wanted someone to reassure her. That was her attempt to climb on the last tiny hope.
Ayanokoji and Sakayanagi didn't talk.
Both of them seemed to be in unity just to answer her through a simple yet powerful gesture; being completely silent.
Well, Ayanokoji seemed to know already that he spoke the truth. He did at the moment he figured out the nature of the game.
Normally, he would have answered her. But she already realized it herself, probably, so there wasn't any use on explaining.
Kayaba started explaining as if he had heard the multiple chats of several players.
『To be a little more specific, disconnection 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 NerveGear. 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 remove the NerveGear.』
『The result...』
The metallic voice took a short breath here.
『...regretfully 213 players have already exited this game, and the real world, forever.』
A long, thin scream was heard. But most of the players couldn't or refused to believe what they had been told, and just stood there slack-jawed or with a wry smile on their faces.
Ichinose was on the verge of breaking, while Sakayanagi seemed to accept her fate and stared at Ayanokoji, knowing now why he was gone.
She wouldn't tell anyone that, but it was truly not nice of him to inform her beforehand. But she could have guessed it. Resources in this game are limited.
The more players who happen to farm, the harder it'd be for him to level up and gain strength.
Especially since if she were to tell her classmates and teachers that they would have definitely gotten much attention, which would result in other players getting that information.
『Players, there is no need to worry about the bodies you left on the other side. As of this moment, all TV, radio, and Internet media are repeatedly reporting this situation; including the fact that there have been numerous deaths. The danger of having your NerveGear taken off has already all but disappeared. In a moment, using the two hours I have provided, 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.』
'How kind of him,' Ayanokoji replied sarcastically.
"What...?" Ichinose shouted.
"What are you saying!? Beat the game!? You want us to play around in a situation like this!?"
Ayanokoji heard a familiar voice. That of the BetaTester.
"This isn't a game anymore!!" Ichinose shouted.
Then Kayaba Akihiko started announcing quietly with his monotonous voice.
『But I ask all of you 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 your HP reaches 0, your avatar will be gone forever. And at the same time...』
Players could already guess what he was going to say all too clearly.
『...your brain will be destroyed by the NerveGear.』
"Ichinose, breathe, calmly," Ayanokoji said, noticing that her breathing began to get erratic.
If she were to continue like that, a panic attack would definitely happen, which definitely isn't a good sign if she is on the way to the hospital.
He did something similar he did to Horikita last year at the Sūdo's case to let Ichinose calm her down.
Tens of seconds later, she calmed down.
"Thank you, Ayanokoji-kun."
She did a slight bow, expressing her gratitude.
"No problem."
Ayanokoji kept him rather short. He wanted to listen to Kayaba's explanation until the last moment, after all.
『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.』
"Do you think his word can be trusted, Ayanokoji-kun?" Sakayanagi asked.
"It's not like we have a choice..."
"True enough..."
"Clear... all 100 floors!?" Someone suddenly shouted. He got up quickly and raised a fist up to the sky. It was a familiar voice, and Ayanokoji also happened to remember. It was that red-haired guy, was it not?
"And how do you want us to do that? I heard that getting up was crazy hard even during the beta testing." The person added.
'Well, he didn't know how far the BetaTesters came, but their information was certainly valuable.'
He'd definitely need a broker or an informant or someone like that to get after valuable information.
『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 』
As soon as Ayanokoji heard this, he pressed his finger and thumb together and pulled downwards.
All the players did likewise, and the plaza was filled with the ringing sound of bells.
Ayanokoji pressed the Item button on the menu that appeared, and the item was there at the top of his belongings list.
The name of the item — «Hand Mirror»
Ayanokoji tapped on the name and pressed the "Make Into Object" button.
Immediately, there was a tinkling sound effect, and a small, rectangular mirror appeared.
All that it showed was his avatars appearance, which was precisely like his real-life appearance.
...Then, suddenly, the avatars around the plaza were all engulfed in white light.
All Ayanokoji could see for three seconds was white. But then it stopped.
He looked around and saw how the faces of almost everyone had changed. This mirror showed the person's true face, height, and weight.
"How did they do that?" Ichinose asked.
"At the beginning, you needed to calibrate the NerveGear before you could log yourself in. That's how they know your precise appearance."
Ayanokoji answered.
"I see... That makes sense."
"Sakayanagi, everything alright?" Ayanokoji asked.
"Yeah... I'm just curious: Why would Kayaba do all that?"
Ayanokoji answered. "I'm sure he'll explain it."
"Yeah, you're right."
A few seconds later, a voice sounding almost solemn sounded from the blood-red sky.
『You will all most probably be wondering, "Why." Why am I —the creator of both the NerveGear 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.
『These are not the reasons why I am doing this. Not only that, but 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 NerveGear and SAO. And now, everything has been realized.』
Then, after a short pause, Kayaba's voice, now emotionless again, spoke.
『...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 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.
The sound of the wind blowing above the plaza and the BGM that the NPC orchestra was playing came softly to everyone's ears.
People screamed. People cried. People yelled.
He saw every kind of reaction from all the different people.
But not even for a split of a second did he care about any single of them.
His safety would always remain his priority.
That being said, Ayanokoji still wanted to live a fairly ordinary life.
A girlfriend. A home. Nice food. Those were some of his priorities.
And while it didn't seem like it, he'd also uphold his promise with Kei. He told her that he would protect her, which he would naturally do now, too.
"Sakayanagi, Ichinose, I'll be going. For references, my username is Ayanokoji, so you are free to send me a friend request."
"Fufu, how cruel. But I guess that this is a matter of survival after all. You can't look for everyone out."
Ichinose, wanted to say something. But she knew that she shouldn't burden Ayanokoji.
He was willingly going to level up while she was completely scared of fighting Monsters.
She hadn't any right to stop him, so she didn't do it.
For now, she should meet up with her class and discuss potential strategies for how they could survive in this world.
Ayanokoji, who was in search of Kei, saw her crying figure on the ground.
Besides her, there weren't any other classmates of his in this area present.
"Kei..."
"Kiyotaka..."
****
Chapter End
A/N: Well, that concludes this chapter.
I don't intend to write much here since it's evening here, but how did you find the chapter?
The next chapter will still be about the first day, and well, yeah, I won't do that one month time skip in an instant.
I'll have some romance developments, some conversations with Ryūen, Nagumo, and co perhaps, and well, as for the rest, I still have no idea.
Well, that'll be all. Have a good day.
