Resume:
1. Kayaba's announcement shatters the joyous launch of Sword Art Online (The world's first VRMMO): It became a death game where hitting 0 HP means real death.
2. Trying to remove the NerveGear from a player will trigger lethal microwave radiation directly to the brain.
3. Only killing the 100th Floor Boss will lead to the liberation of all players.
-V-
[Neo's POV]
"Almost there..." The words escaped my lips as I pushed through the undergrowth, equipment catching on some bushes.
I sped up through the forest until the flat terrain welcomed me along the entrance of Horunka, a small settlement, northwest of the Town of Beginnings. Even if it seemed like an insignificant post – ten buildings pretending to be a village – it was strategically placed to serve as a hunting base. Surrounded by opportunities, the NPCs offered lucrative quests, and then you can come back to replenish and rest.
An ideal place to power level to oblivion on the 1st Floor.
My vision adjusted—funny how they even programmed a momentary blur—and that's when I saw them. Mito and Lisbeth, alive but with odd behaviors. The mace user hugged herself like she was trying to hold her avatar together. The pony-tailed girl on the ground, staring at nothing with that thousand-yard look.
"Yo!" I called out, forcing casualness into my voice. Sometimes the best way to pull someone back from the edge is to pretend there isn't one.
"You are alive!" Lisbeth crashed into me, arms wrapping around my borrowed body. "I'm so glad that at least you made it!"
"...you mean..." I scanned the area, already knowing. "Asuna?"
Lisbeth pulled back, her avatar's programmed tears falling perfectly. She shook her head, and something cold settled in my chest.
Not again. Not after I'd drawn the aggro, played the hero card.
Kayaba had made it crystal clear: death here meant true death in real life. And that doesn't have second chances.
Well, except for me, apparently. The cosmic joke of it all.
I moved to our scythe user, crouching beside her. Her eyes were blank.
"Mito... did Asuna...?"
Her face hardened, a grimace drawing lines across her forehead. "...I don't know."
"What do you mean?"
"The way it happened... it was too weird."
Weird. In my experience, weird meant glitches. Glitches meant the system wasn't as clean as it pretended to be.
However, Mito was a Beta tester. She was not only quite knowledgeable but even talented in Virtual Games. If it weren't for her, I couldn't make my plan work.
Which means that if there was a bug, she should be able to recognize it.
"Can you explain more?" I inquired.
"We were attacked by leftovers," she said, voice hollow. "I was sure her health didn't touch zero. Even so, when I reached her, it was too late."
"Did she shatter into a thousand pieces?"
"Yes..."
"...and the sound?"
Her eyes met mine for the first time, confusion breaking through grief. "I... there wasn't any...?"
There it was. The anomaly. I would love to say that Asuna –somehow– glitched the "perfect death game" and liberated herself, but I knew better.
I turned toward where Mito had been staring, pieces clicking together in my mind, "I might know what actually happened."
"You do?" Lisbeth interjected, hope creeping into her voice.
"If my theory is correct, it shouldn't be too long before—"
Light exploded in front of us. Not the harsh light of deletion, but something softer. When it faded, a wild Asuna stood there, looking like she'd seen the face of God.
"Asuna!" Mito broke her dumbfounded state to reach for her friend. Lisbeth trailed right at her side. They hugged as a group, sharing sobs and their utter relief that the situation was somehow over.
As the girls comforted each other, I joined them – no hugs included.
"Are you sure you feel good?" Mito asked, and inspected our rapier user in search of anything amiss.
Asuna hummed affirmatively. "I don't know what happened. I got teleported to an eerie area, with coding and stuff...and nothing more," she shuddered. "I...I thought I was done. That I wouldn't see you all again..."
She saw behind the curtain, too.
"What you thought was a bizarre death," I explained, keeping my voice level despite the excitement coursing through me, "was just a game disconnection. External interference pulled you out."
"Are...are you positive?" Mito questioned.
I nodded. "When I was trying to lose those pesky dogs, I got DC too," I shrugged. "Made my escape way easier."
"I remember -" Lisbeth intervened, "-that crazy GM saying that we will be allowed to be transported to hospitals. It makes sense..." She grimaced at the end, clearly conflicted.
And we joined in that feeling. We understood: Kayaba was giving us a 'chance' to complete the game without risking death by inanition. He took so much trouble to set this trap for us. It didn't make sense if it ends by the next month, with most of the players' IRL bodies in coffins.
Also, I'm just learning this fact. Back then, I was too busy trying to screw with the madman. No regrets. I must maintain my finger shiny and nice, ready to be displayed in that nutcase's face if I find another chance.
I clapped to get their attention back.
"Well, we sure deserved a rest. Remember, you two should be disconnected soon, too. Better to be caught in a comfortable inn than outside the village, isn't it?" I referred to our mace and scythe users while pointing with my thumb to my back, into Horunka.
"...I guess so," Mito acknowledged.
Thus, we went into the little hub point. Unfortunately, the sun had settled for some time already, which made it look more like a spooky countryside spot than anything else. With no lights and no players on the streets, the sense of dread in my group didn't subside too much. Hell, Lisbeth was shrieking at the sound inside the buildings.
Probably just NPCs' activities.
Mercifully, we arrived at the inn with no more issues.
"We should reduce expenditure by sharing a room if we could," declared Mito.
Wow, wow. Talking about being bold, little lady. Sharing a room with three young girls –though they have their charm– was a no-no. I'm a mature, adult man, even if not in body.
But now I think about my case; Resurrecting in a parallel world, almost identical to the previous one, counts as being 'Isekai-ed'? From the little I read of Japanese light novels, those generic protagonists only get fifteen-year-old brides with almost no effort.
Should I take this as a divine sign–?
"What are you looking at, you pervert?" Mito snapped at me. "I'm talking about the female demography here!"
Yeah, that's a no. This is the last time I compared reality with fables.
Though it is said that fiction can only be born from reality first...
"I knew it," Lisbeth united with my accuser. "I wanna punch your face right now," her eyes clouded with hostility.
"Wait, I didn't do or say anything!" I defended myself, hands up. I look in Asuna's direction, as if I were looking for a lawyer.
"The way you glanced at us was more than enough information, good sir," she threw back at me with a scowl.
Well played, me. Well played.
"Can I at least defend myself against these charges?" I tried to salvage some of my dignity.
The three just looked at me with so much disdain that any lesser man would have contracted depression, at least.
"Good night, Mr. Neo..." Mito took the hands of both teammates and pulled them out of my 'filthy claws' to their newly rented room.
…
*Sigh* That could have gone better.
Alone now, I let Thomas Anderson's mask slip: the blank expression I'd worn for years in a cubicle, going through motions without meaning. Except now it served a purpose —making the final calculations for the survival of the server.
If we do one boss per day, it would take us 100 days to get out. But that's impossible. It will take time for the players to adapt to their new lives, which means we will be trapped on the first floor for at least 15 days. And if we are luckier, it would take us 3 to 7 days to take down each boss after that.
15(1st floor) + 7(worst scenario)*99 (Number of floors) =
708 days.
Around 2 years of fighting if everything went perfectly, which it shouldn't. Kayaba will throw curveballs, demand sacrifices, and test us in ways we couldn't imagine yet. Unless we are extremely lucky –like finding a glitch with which we can get out or Kayaba's sanity going back to him– my initial measure can only stretch.
And I'm not counting on the rest of the world to liberate us. Not because I have 'no faith in humanity', but by a mere practical stance: I only focus on what I can control.
I'm getting out with everyone else, one way or another.
Standing by the window, I pressed my palm against the glass, trying to shift perception, to see the code flowing beneath this fantasy veneer.
Nothing yet. However, Asuna had seen it. I had, too. Meaning it is there.
In the Neb, I'd learned that some people aren't ready to be unplugged. That to achieve victory means you shall pay great costs. I wonder what I'm gonna learn in this world; Spread hope to the trapped? Become a banner of strength for inspiration? Push forward and aim for the fastest exit?
Choice. It always came down to choice.
And for now, I was choosing to walk alone, into the wildness to test my theories. For my and everyone else's freedom.
Even if it might break me in the process.
*End of the first Arc: First day in SAO*
_______________________________________________________________________
Player Logs:
1
Neo
Lvl 3
Skill Slots: {2/2}
Hand-to-Hand Combat [88/1000]
Detect [11/1000]
2
Lisbeth
Lvl 2
Skill Slots: {2/2}
One-Handed Mace [32/1000]
Parry [10/1000]
3
Asuna
Lvl 2
Skill Slots: {2/2}
One-Handed Rapier [25/1000]
? [0/1000]
4
Mito
Lvl 2
Skill Slots: {2/2}
Two-Handed Scythe [39/1000]
? [6/1000]