Ding, ding—
A sharp chime rang out, clear and insistent—almost like a warning bell. The sudden noise made both Klein and me jump in surprise.
"Ah—!"
"What the—!?"
We shouted at the same time, eyes wide as we exchanged confused looks.
A pillar of blue light engulfed us both, the glowing veil shimmering around our bodies. Beyond the blue haze, the plains blurred, as if reality itself was being pulled away.
I had experienced this before in the beta test. This was a [Teleport]—but I hadn't used an item, nor spoken the proper command.
Did the developers force a teleportation? But why? And why didn't they warn us?
Before I could process it further, the blue light pulsed—growing brighter, stronger—and then, everything went dark.
When the light faded, my vision cleared again.
And the endless golden plains were gone.
This was somewhere else entirely.
A large medieval-style plaza with tall, ornate pillars and archways in the background. A large road paved with stone, streets surrounded by street-lamps and the huge palace radiating a dark light a fair distance away up ahead, the area is filled with people.
The clock tower has a golden dome on top and a visible clock face showing a time close to 7:00. The crowd consists of numerous individuals, dressed in dark-colored outfits. The sheer scale of the gathering.
This was the starting point, the central plaza of the Starting City, Renteia.
A massive gathering of people filled the circular plaza, all centered around an imposing clock tower that loomed above.
I glanced at Klein, who stood beside me, his mouth hanging open in awe. Then, I turned my attention to the bustling crowd surrounding us.
Looking at the bunch of stunningly beautiful people, bright blue flashes flickered endlessly, marking the constant new arrivals, they appeared one after another wearing backpacks, armor, and casual fantasy-style clothing, with a variety of equipment and different hair colors, they were no doubt other players like me.
There were about a few hundred thousand and thousands, still more kept pouring in, their forms materializing in the plaza as the teleportation effects shimmered around them.
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 speaking.
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?"
"What's going on?"
"Can't they take care of it quickly!"
Scattered murmurs and complaints echoed through the plaza.
The bell chimes stopped.
As frustration grew, the murmurs turned to shouts—
"Is this some kind of joke?!"
"Get the hell out here, Devs!"
The crowd stirred restlessly, agitation rising.
Then suddenly—
A voice cut through the noise, sharper and louder than the rest.
"Ah… look up!"
Almost instinctively, Klein and I tilted our heads skyward. There's a strange sight greeted us.
The bottom of the second floor, kilometers above us, there was a red hexagonal screen.
When I looked closely, I could see that the pattern was made up of two phrases crisscrossing each other: the words [Warning] and [System Announcement] written in red.
I was surprised for a moment but then thought, "Oh, the developer is going to begin informing us now," and the tension in my shoulders eased a bit, and you could feel everyone waiting to hear what was going to be said.
However, what happened next wasn't what I had expected.
The hexagonal warning Scattered around, spreading all over the first floor covering the plaza, the sky becomes red.
The chatter died down.
From the in-betweens of the pattern warning, a liquid that looked like blood started oozing down slowly.
Its movement was unnaturally sluggish, as if emphasizing its viscous, heavy nature. Yet, it never touched the ground. Instead, it forms together in mid-air, the dark substance twisted and congealed, shifting into a distinct shape.
Klein was stunned and confused and muttered "what is that?"
What emerged was a towering figure, nearly twenty meters tall, floating ominously in the air—an entity draped in a massive hooded robe that shrouded its form in darkness, the flowing crimson robe, adorned with intricate gold trimmings, cascaded around its frame, the fabric appeared weightless yet imposing, its edges lined with ornate patterns resembling royal embroidery.
The hood is deep and shadowed, completely obscuring the figure's face, making it impossible to see any facial features.
Behind the figure, the sky is bathed in an eerie red glow, with hexagonal patterns faintly visible, countless players stand in stunned silence, their gazes locked onto the floating entity.
No, that wasn't exactly right. From where we were looking, we could easily see into the hood, there was no face. It was absolutely empty. We could clearly see the inner cloth and the gold embroidery inside of the hood. It was the same inside the robe, all we could see inside the edges were shadows.
I'd seen that robe before. It was the same clothing that the Argus employees who worked as developers during the beta test had always worn. But back then, the male Dev's had a face like an old sorcerer with a long beard and the females had an avatar of a bespectacled lady. They might have used the robe because they lacked time to prepare a proper avatar, but the empty space inside the hood gave me an unexplainable feeling of anxiety.
The countless players around me must have felt the same.
"Is that the Dev?"
"Why doesn't it have a 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 gloves almost skeletal hands barely visible beneath the fabric. But this sleeve, like the rest of the robe, didn't cover any sort of body.
Then the left sleeve slowly lifted upwards, then with its two empty gloves spread out in front of hundred thousand players, the faceless person opened his mouth, no. It felt like it did, then a low, calm, male voice resonated from high in the air.
"Players, I welcome you all to my world…"
I couldn't understand it right away.
My world? If that red robe was a Dev, it certainly had godlike powers in this world enabling him to change the world at will, but why was he pointing that out now?
Klein and I looked at each other, dumbfounded. The anonymous red robe lowered its arms and continued talking.
"I am Kayaba Akihiko. Right now, I am the only person who can control this world."
"What...!?"
My avatar became rigid with shock, and a lump formed in its throat (and perhaps my throat back in the real world as well) for a second.
Kayaba - Akihiko!!
I knew that name. There was no way I didn't.
This person, both a game designer and genius in the field of quantum physics, was the one responsible for raising Argus (which was just one of many small companies a few years ago) into one of the leading companies in its field today.
As a hardcore gamer, I respected Kayaba deeply. I bought all the mags that featured him and read his few interviews until I almost knew them all by heart.
almost see him in the white overalls he always wore by just hearing his voice.
But he had always stayed behind the scenes, refusing media exposure. He had never even been in the game, so why was he doing something like this?
I forced my mind to start moving again, trying to make sense of the situation. But the words that came out of the empty hood almost seemed to mock my efforts to understand.
"I'm sure you've already noticed that the logout button is missing from the main menu, but this is not a defect in the game."
"I repeat, this is not a bug, it's a part of Sword Art Online system features…"
"Part of... the system?" Klein muttered brokenly.
The announcement continued in its low voice as if to cover the sound.
"You cannot logout of SAO of your own will, until you get to the top of this castle"
This castle? I couldn't understand this phrase at first.
Then the next thing that Kayaba said blew my confusion away.
"And also no one on the outside can shut down or remove the NerveGear, the attempt of removing it or pulling the plug of the NerveGear...."
A moment of silence.
The silence of hundred thousand of 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, thus ending your life."
Klein and I stared at each other for seconds in shock.
I too, It was as if my mind refused to believe what I had just heard. But Kayaba's short statement pierced through my body with a ferocity that was both hard and dense.
Destroy our brains.
In other words, kill us.
Any user that turned the Nerve Gear off or unlocked the clasp and took it off would be killed. That is what Kayaba had just stated.
People in the crowd started muttering, but there was no one shouting or panicking. It was either that everyone, like me, couldn't understand it yet, or refused to.
Klein raised his right hand slowly and tried to grasp the headgear that would be situated there in the real world. As he did, he let out a dry laugh and started talking.
"Haha... what's he saying? That man, has he gone nuts? He's not making any sense. The Nerve Gear... It's just a game. Destroy our brain... How is he going to do that? Right, Kirito?"
His voice broke at the last shout. Klein stared at me intensely, but I couldn't nod in agreement.
The countless signal transceivers in the NerveGear's helmet emitted small electromagnetic pulses to send virtual signals to the brain.
They might call this the newest ultra-technology, but the basic theory was the same as a certain household appliance that's been used for over 80 years in Japan—the microwave.
If there was sufficient output, it was possible that the NerveGear would vibrate the water particles in our brains and cook it with the heat from the friction. But...
"...theoretically it's possible, but... he must be bluffing. Because if we pull the plug on the NerveGear, there's no way it can emit a strong pulse of that type. Unless there's some form of battery with a huge storage capability... inside...."
Klein already guessed the reason why I had stopped talking.
"There... is," he said, his words almost a scream with a hollow expression on his face. "Thirty percent of the gear's weight is in the battery. But... that's totally crazy! What if there was a sudden power outage or something!?"
Kayaba started explaining, as if he had heard what Klein had shouted.
"To be a little more specific, disconnection from an outside source of electricity for 10 minutes, being cut off from the system for more than 60 minutes, 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…"
Suddenly a several floating pop-up screens appeared surrounding him, showing and displaying various pieces of information, appears to be news reports of several media, warnings, including a livestreams of outside event currently happening right now, and identification cards of person who died.
The metallic voice took a short breath here.
"...regretfully 103,235 players all over the world 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.
"This has to be a joke, right? RIGHT?"
"He's bluffing! He has to be!"
"No way... no way... I have a family waiting for me!"
My head tried to reject what Kayaba had just said. But my body betrayed it and my knees started shaking violently.
I stumbled back a few paces on my weak knees and managed to keep myself from falling.
Klein fell on his backside, his expression lifeless.
103,235 players have already...
That phrase repeated over and over again in my head.
If what Kayaba said was true, over hundred thousand people globally have already died?
Among them, there would have been beta testers like me. I might have even known some of their character names and avatars. These people had their brains burnt and... died, is that what Kayaba was saying?
"...don't believe it.... I don't believe it," Klein, still sitting on the ground, started saying in a strained voice.
"He's just trying to scare us. How would he do such a thing? Stop kidding around and let us out. We don't have time to play along to your sick opening ceremony. Yeah... this is all just an event. An opening show, right?" Inside my head, I was screaming the same thing.
But as if to dispel our hopes, Kayaba's monotonous voice resumed its explanation.
"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 and streaming 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."
"What...?"
Then, at last, violent shouts left my mouth.
"What are you saying!? Beat the game!? You want us to play around in a situation like this!?" I kept shouting, glaring at the red robe that had oozed out of the bottom of the upper floor.
"This isn't a game anymore!!"
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..."
I could guess what he was going to say all too clearly.
"...your brain will be destroyed by the NerveGear."
Suddenly, an urge to laugh out loud bubbled up from the pit of my stomach. I forced it down.
A long, green, horizontal line shone at the top-left corner of my vision. As I focused on it, the numbers 531/531 overlaid it.
Hit points. My Health Bar.
The moment it reaches zero, I will die—the electromagnetic waves will fry my brain, killing me instantaneously. This is what Kayaba had said.
This is without a doubt a game, a game with your life at stake. In other words, a death game.
I must have died at least 100 times during the two months of beta testing. I had re-spawned with a slightly embarrassed smile on my face in the palace north of the main plaza, the Black Iron Palace, and ran off into the hunting grounds again.
That was what an RPG was: a sort of game where you keep dying and learning and leveling up. But now you can't? Once you die, you'll lose your life? And in addition... you can't even stop playing?
"... no freaking way," I muttered softly.
Who in their right mind would go out onto the field with those conditions? Of course, everyone would just stay inside the city where it was safe.
Then, as if reading my mind and maybe every other player's, came the next message.
"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."
hundred thousand players stood in silence.
It was then that I realized what Kayaba meant when he said, get to the top of this castle.
"This castle" meant the huge monstrosity that imprisoned all of the players on the first floor, with ninety-nine more floors stacked on top of it, towering into the sky in which it floated. He was talking about Aincrad itself.
"C-clear... all 100 floors, without dying!? That's impossible!" Klein suddenly shouted. He got up quickly and raised a fist up to the sky.
"And how do you want us to do that? I heard that getting up was crazy hard even during the beta testing! How the hell do you expect us to clear all 100! not even dying a single time!?"
This was true. During the two months of beta testing, the hundreds of thousands of players that had taken part only managed to get to the sixth floor. Even if thousands of people had dived right now, how long would it take to get through all 100 floors?
Most players who had been forced here would be asking themselves this rhetorical question.
The strained silence eventually gave way to low murmuring. But there was no sign of fear or despair.
Most people here would still be confused about whether this was a real danger or a seriously warped opening event. Everything Kayaba had said was so horrifying that it felt unreal.
I craned my head back to look at the empty robe and tried to force my mind to accept this situation.
I can no longer log out, ever. I can't go back to my room, my life. The only way that I would get them back was when somebody defeated the boss on the highest floor of this floating castle. If my HP reached zero even once during that time—I would die. I would die a real death and I would be gone forever.
But...
However much I tried to accept these as facts, it was impossible. Just eleven or twelve hours ago, my sister had woken me up, and I had eaten the breakfast my mom made before heading to school. No matter how grey my day was, life had never been that bad. I had shared a short conversation with my sister, then walked up the stairs of my house—just like any other.
Now, I can't go back to all that? And this is… now the real reality?
Before I could process it further.
Then, the red robe that had always been one step ahead of us swept its right glove and started speaking with a voice void of all emotion.
"Then I will show you evidence that this is the only reality. In your inbox message, there will be a gift from me. Please confirm this"
As soon as I heard this, I tap and my fingers swipe to right to open the menu, as and scroll upwards in search for the inbox. All the players did likewise and the plaza was filled with the ringing sound of bells.
I pressed the message on the menu that appeared and the item was there, at the top of my inbox list.
The name of the item — Hand Mirror
Why did he give this to us? Even as I wondered, I tapped on the name and pressed it.
Immediately, there was a tinkling sound effect and it materialize the object in my hand, a small, rectangular mirror appeared.
I grabbed it hesitantly but nothing happened. All that it showed was the face of the avatar that I had gone through a lot of trouble to create.
I cocked my head and looked at Klein. The samurai was also looking at the mirror in his hand with a blank expression.
...Then.
Suddenly Klein and the avatars around us were engulfed in white light. As soon as I took this in, I was surrounded too and all I could see was white.
Almost two seconds later, the surroundings reappeared just as they had been...
No.
The face in front of me wasn't the one I'd gotten used to.
The armor, made of interlocking metal plates, remained the same. The red hair was still there, but now styled into a spiky mohawk with a faded undercut, a thunder-shaped shaved line cutting through the side. and, his face had changed entirely. His once sharp but relaxed features had hardened—his long, sharp eyes now sunken. His delicate, high nose had become hooked, but this looks like a young college student.
If the avatar had been a mature and carefree samurai, this one was a fallen warrior—or maybe a bandit.
I forgot about the situation for a moment and muttered.
"Who... are you?"