Sword Art Online/ソードアート・オンライン A life in the death game

Being told that my girlfriend dumped me for someone else hurt me a lot. I hated it, It crept into my mind every second of the day and the hatred would slowly boil within me. Maybe it was the fact that she cheated on me or maybe it was because she cheated on me with my best friend. I hated them both but I couldn't help but to hate myself for being weak. I hated the fact that the people I believed I could rely on turned their backs on me when I needed them the most. I don't want to have friends only to know they would one day stab you in the back when your back was exposed.

I hated it.

I realized that I couldn't trust anyone anymore and began to slowly isolate myself from my friends and family but my human instincts sought for companionship. Thats when I saw the advertistment for Sword Art Online. 'A virtual world of fantasy' was written on the advert and it was enough to catch my eye. A world where I could start over, be stronger and make friends. I decided this was a good start to satisfy my companionship needs. On the release day, I had lined up at the game store six hours before it opened and even though I came early there was already a long line of eager people waiting to purchase the game. It cost a lot but after months of being alone, I had saved up quite a sum of money from my allowance. After hours of counting the cars in the steets and watching people interact, the shop opened. The hype among the crowd increased as everyone lined up. I thought chaos would ensue as the amount of copies for Sword Art Online were limited to ten thousand but everyone kept a level head and remained calm as they lined up. It was nerve wrecking as one-by-one people entered and left the store carrying plastic bags filled with their purchases. I prayed that the stock of games would last until after I got my copy and as though my prayers had been answered, I managed to get my hands on the last copy the store had. I was so happy that I jumped with joy as I left the store, the remaining people who didn't get their hands on a copy, lowered their heads in dissapointment.

I ran home at full speed as I eagerly imagined the kind of life I could have. I had read in a forum that the server for the game would be in service at 1pm and it was only 5 hours away from the time I had purchased the game. I had already set up the Nerve gear which apparently was a device that would send my mind into the virtual world. I read the instruction manual on how to began the game and how the device worked. After reading it I still had three hours before the servers were ready. I went on the internet for the next two hours and fifty nine minutes and watched the clock for the last minute. As soon as the clock struck one past midnight, I placed the Nerve Gear on my head and locked the strap.

I remember how nervous I was before the game began. My body was sweaty and my heart was beating fast. I remember exactly what I was thinking.

'A new life.'

"Link start." I said aloud as the device turned on and a bunch of colourful squares began to show.

'Welcome to Sword Art Online.'

A large greeting was now infront of me. I was no longer in my bed, I was in a white room with nothing but a huge title in front of me. I tapped the title and another message popped out.

'What would you like to name your character ?' It said as a keyboard materialised in front of me. I began to ponder in my mind as to what I wanted to be called in my 'new life'. I ruled out using my name because it would be nothing more then a reminder of this miserable life. I decided to use my favourite online alias. 'Cruiser'. After that anoter messaged popped up asking if I read and accepted the terms and conditions.

I tapped on yes without even giving it a second glance as the character creation screen popped up. I decided that I really wanted to look cool and began to model my character to what I pictured as cool. He had short wavy hair which I dyed blue and he had hazel eyes. I structured his face to look like the person whom I had pictured in my head and decided after many attempts that I had done an alright job. After confirming my characters appearance, I was then whisked away by a unknown force.

I shut my eyes as I let the force take me and when I opened them, I was in what looked like a town square. Stalls with different assortments of weapons and gear were lined up along the buildings and there were many other players in the same place. Many were chatting and some were busy looking at the various weapons laid out across the stalls. 'I'm finally here.' I thought to myself. Everything felt so real, I looked at a nearby window which reflected my appearance and I was glad to see that my actual face wasn't mirrored but my characters face was.

I smiled as I walked pass the crowds of people and stalls and made my way towards a large gate which marked the entrance of the town. 'Wait….. what the hell do I do now.' I thought as I realized I hadn't planned my next steps. I looked ahead and spotted a pair of players walking out with their swords in hand. One guy had black hair and the other had red hair with a bandana around his forehead. I contemplated on whether I should follow them but decided against it since my social skills were a little rusty.

'I'll learn the steps myself.' I confidently thought to myself as I walked out.

I had died about three times to a wild boar before I realized how hard it was to master the basics. Whenever the boar charged me, I would either run or jump away and the fear of getting hurt always clouded my mind. I came back to the same spot for the fourth time and finally decided to face the boar that had a killstreak of three.

" I'll beat you this time you stupid pig. " I confidently shouted as the boar charged at me. My instinct must have taken over because on impulse, I dropped my sword and ran away. My dignity was shattered but thats when I was saved. Another player intercepted the boar before it could hit me and halted it with her sword. I stared at her for awhile as she held the boar back. "Are you going to help me or not !?" She urged me to help. I quickly materialised my sword and charged at the boar. I swung four times before the boars health bar emptied.

We both sighed in unison as a message popped out to show what we gained from killing the boar. "Thank you for uhm….. saving me." I smiled at her as I got a good look at her. Her hair was long and braided, it was also the same colour as mine. She had green eyes and her height was slightly shorter then mine.

She nodded to me. "Well, I died a few times too but I got the hang of things." She stated as she turned to observe the grass filled land. "I'm going to kill a few more, If you'd like to join me." She said as she watched another wild boar spawn from thin air.

"I need the practice, so I guess I will join." I happily stated.

"Good, my name is Valentine." She said as she lifted her right hand and gestured me to shake it. I lifted my right hand and shook hers. " You can call me Cruiser.. I guess." I said nervously, since I wasn't really used to my new name.

The two of us continued to slaughter boars until the area was clear of them. It was exciting to fight alongside someone but I was also happy that she might be my new friend. After clearing the area, we decided to chat for a bit. "You're playing alone ?" She asked me as I lay in the grass.

"Yeah, my friends don't really like games." I lied since I couldn't really consider anyone in my life as a friend.

" I'm alone too.'' She said with a hint of sadness in her voice. She didn't say it but I could already feel that she was somewhat lonely.

" Why don't we become friends then. That way, we both won't be alone. " I nervously suggested. She gave me a suprised look at first and then she smiled.

" Sure, why not." She said as she opened her menu and began tapping on the options. Suddenly a window popped out infront of me.

'Valentine would like to be you friend. Accept/Refuse.'

I tapped accept and smiled back at her. "Well Cruiser-kun, I think we should back to the town."She stated as I pushed myself up from the ground. Suddenly a bright light enveloped me and after it consumed me, I found myself back in the town square where I started but this time it was different. Several other players were also teleported here and Valentine was no longer beside me. I thought it might be a glitch and decided to look around for Valentine in the crowd but suddenly the blue skies above began to turn red and a large cloaked figure emerged.

"Welcome to Sword Art Online." He announced to everyone with open arms.

"You may notice that the log out feature is no longer functioning." He gestured towards his own menu and to our suprise, there was no log out button. I slid open my menu and couldn't find the button either. "Rest assured, this is not a bug but a feature in Sword Art Online." He continued. His statement made me confused. 'Why the hell would a game not have a log out feature.' I thought.

" To leave the game you must beat all one hundred levels. " He continued in his dull tone.

" The revival area will cease to function starting now and any death within the game will result in the death of your physical body. " He announced with a hint of excitement. I was puzzled. 'What, thats impossible.' I thought as I continued to listen.

"Removal of the device will also result in you dying. The Nerve gear will release micro waves which will then harm the brain if either requirments are met and this will lead to your death." He explained as the atmosphere around the players turned from excitement to confusion. A few players began to yell while many stood quietly, some with obvious signs of fear.

"Rest assured, the media has already reported this and notified everyone to not remove the nerve gear. You will be granted the time to complete the game without having to worry. "He said probably thinking that it would lighten the mood.

"Look into your inventory, I have given you a present." He stated as I opened the inventroy menu. I found an item called a hand mirror and quickly materialised it. A rectangular shaped mirror formed in my hand and it didn't seem special in any way. Suddenly a blue light began to envelop me and several others who had materialised it as screams began to echo in the town square. After the light dissapeared, I looked back into the mirror and found my face looked different. My hair was still short but it was black this time and my face was no longer the same. It was me, my real self.

"Why…." I muttered to myself as I felt my heart swell up. "Why can't I escape from my life…" I felt like the game had betrayed me, like it was just mocking me, telling me I'll be alone.

" Good luck players. " He stated as he slowly dissapeared. The skies turned blue as the town square grew silent. Suddenly, one man shouted and it caused a chain reaction as people began to shout and scream in terror. I just stood there, staring at the mirror. I didn't care anymore. I should just die, maybe than I will be able to leave my life.

I walked towards the gate again and ahead of me were a few players who were sprinting out towards the field. I just walked and walked until I reached the place where I met my first wild boar. It wasn't a suprise to see an exact looking wild boar roaming around in place of the previous boar. I just stared at the boar as it prepared to charge at me. 'Thats right I should die here.' I thought as the boar charged towards me.


End file.

Sword Art Online/ソードアート・オンライン, Fantasy, Romance