Sword Art Online - Volume 1 - Aincrad (3 page)

“
You
’
re exaggerating.
”
 

But as I laughed, I totally agreed with him.

«NERvGear».

That
’
s the name of the hardware that moved this VRMMORPG
—
«Sword Art Online».

The basic structure of this machine is totally different from the older ones.

Unlike the old-style man-machine interface hardware like
“
flat screen monitors
”
or
“
controllers that you used with your hands,
”
NERvGear only had a single interface, a streamlined interface that covered the whole of your head and face.

Inside there were numerous signal components, and by using the numerous electronic signals these sent, the gear accessed the user’s brain itself. The user didn
’
t use their eyes or ears to see and listen, but took in the signals that were sent directly to their brain. In addition, the machine could access not only sight and sound, but touch, taste, and smell as well
—
that is to say, all five senses.

After slipping the NERvGear on and locking the strap on your chin in place and saying the initiation command «Link Start», all noise fades away and you
’
re swathed in darkness. As soon as you pass the rainbow colored circle in the middle, you
’
re in another world made entirely out of data.

So,

Half a year ago, this machine, which started selling in April, 2022, successfully created a «Virtual Reality». The electronics company which created the NERvGear called the actual act of linking to the virtual reality
—
 

«FullDive».

It was a total seclusion from reality, fitting of the word
“
full.
”
 

The reason for this is that the NERvGear not only sent fake signals to the five senses
—
but blocked and rerouted the orders that the brain sent to the body.

This can be called the most basic requirement for moving freely in a virtual reality. If the body received the brain’s signals when the user was in Full Dive, the moment the user decided they wanted to «run» their actual body would run into a wall.

Because the NERvGear could reroute the commands the brain sent through the spinal cord, Cline and I could both move our avatars around freely and swing our swords around.

We’ve completely leapt into the game.

The effect of this experience captivated me and many gamers such as myself to the point where we were sure that we could never go back to the old touch-pens or motion sensors.

Cline was staring at the wind passing through the plains and the castle walls off in the distance with actual tears in his eyes.

“
So SAO is the first game for the NERvGear that you
’
ve played?
”
I asked.

Cline, looking like a calmly handsome warrior from the Sengoku period, turned his head my way and nodded.

“
Yeah.
”
 

If he put a serious expression on his face he had an impressive bearing about him worthy of an actor from a historical play. Of course this was different from his actual body in the real world. It was an avatar made out of nothing from adjusting a bunch of options.

Of course, I looked like some ridiculously handsome protagonist from some fantasy animation as well.

Cline continued in his low vigorous voice, of course this was different from his real voice as well.

“
Well to be exact I sorta bought the hardware in a rush after I managed to get my hands on SAO. There was only ten thousand in the first batch. So I suppose I was really lucky.
…
well, if I think about it you were ten times luckier when you got picked for beta testing. They only picked a thousand!
”
 

“
An, yeah, I suppose.
”
 

Cline kept staring at me. I unconsciously scratched my head.

I remembered the excitement and enthusiasm that «Sword Art Online» created when it was announced through the media like it was yesterday.

NERvGear had realized the future setting for gaming with FullDive. However, due to the innovation of the actual machine, only unremarkable titles came forth for the all-important software. They were all puzzles, education related or environmental type games, calling forth discontent from game addicts such as myself.

NERvGear can truthfully render a virtual reality.

But you could only walk 100 meters before you hit a wall in that world; it was really a huge letdown. That hardcore gamers such as myself, who had been deeply absorbed with the experience of being within the game, had started waiting for a certain game genre was almost unavoidable.

We had started waiting for a network response game
—
a sort that let millions of players log in and raise, fight with and live as a character of their own, that is to say
—
a MMORPG.

When the anticipation and craving reached its limit, the first VRMMORPG was announced just in time, «Sword Art Online». The stage for the game is a floating castle consisting of 100 floors.

The players lived in a world with forests and lakes, relying on only their sword and drive to discover the route to the upper floors and defeat countless monsters and make their way endlessly to the top.

«Magic» which was considered to be an indispensable part of fantasy MMORPGs had been boldly cut out and an almost endless number of skills called «Sword Skills» were made. It was part of a plan to let players actually feel the experience of fighting with their own bodies through full dive as much as possible.

Skills were varied including productive skills such as smithery, leather working and sewing, and everyday skills such as fishing, cooking and playing music, allowing the player to not only adventure the huge game but they can actually «live» in it. If they so wanted, and if their skill levels were high enough they could buy a house and live as shepherds.

As the information steadily kept being revealed, the gamers
’
enthusiasm only got higher.

The beta test only recruited a thousand testers, it’s said that one hundred thousand people, the number of half the NERvGear sold at that time, volunteered to be a tester. Luck was the only reason that I got through the narrow gap and was picked. Also, beta testers received the additional benefit of being given the priority when the game officially came out.

The two months of beta testing was like a dream. At school I thought endlessly of my skill set, equipment and items, and ran all the way to my house as soon as school ended and dived till dawn. The beta test ended in the blink of an eye, and the day my character was reset I felt a sense of loss as if half of my actual self had been cut away.

And now
—
November 11, 2022, Sunday.

«Sword Art Online» after all the preparations had been finished and at 1PM officially started its server service.

Of course, I had been waiting for 30 minutes and then logged on without even a second delay, but when I checked the state of the server over ninety-five hundred people had already logged on. It seemed as if all of the people who had been lucky enough to get their hands on the game had felt the same as I did. All the online shopping sites announced that the game was sold out seconds after it had gone on sale and the offline sales, which had started yesterday, had created lines of people who had queued up for four days, creating enough of a racket to go on the news. That meant that all the people who had been able to buy a copy of the game were almost all serious game addicts.

The actions of Cline showed this clearly as well.

After I had logged onto SAO, I started running through the nostalgic stone paved roads of the «Starting City» to go to the weapons shop. Realizing that I was a beta tester after seeing me start and dashing without any hesitation, Cline ran over.

“
Hey, teach me a few things!
”
he
’
d begged.

I wondered how he could be so shameless and demanding to a person he hadn’t met before. Being so lost for words that it was almost amazement.

“
Ah, er, then
…
why don
’
t we go to the weapon shop?
”
I answered like some NPC; we then ended up making a party, and I began teaching him some basics of fighting
—
and that
’
s how we ended up in this current situation.

To tell the truth, I didn
’
t get along with people in real life or in games, perhaps even less so than in real life. During beta testing I came to know a couple of people, but I didn
’
t get close enough to anyone to actually call them a friend.

But Cline had a side to him that grows on you, and I didn
’
t find this uncomfortable either. Thinking that I might be able to get along with him, I opened my mouth.

“
So
…
what do you want to do? Do you want to keep hunting till you get used to it?
”
 

“
Sure!
…
is what I want to say, but
…”
 

Cline
’
s delicate eyes looked at the bottom right of his vision. He must have been checking the time.

“…
well, I should log off and eat. I ordered some pizza for 5:30.
”
 

“
Pretty thorough.
”
 

I said at a loss for words, Cline spread his chest.

“
Of course!
”
he said proudly.
“
I promised to meet some mates at the «Starting City» in a bit. I could introduce you to some of them and you could register them as friends. That way you would always send messages. How about it?
”
 

“
Errr
…
Hmmm
…
,
”
I mumbled subconsciously.

I got along with Cline pretty well but there was no guarantee that it
’
d be the same for his friends. I felt like that there would be a higher chance of not getting along with them and as a result, fall out with Cline as well.

“
Should I
…
?
”
 

Seemingly understanding the reason for my not-so-confident answer, Cline shook his head.

“
Ah, I don
’
t mean to force you. There
’
ll be a chance to introduce them sometime anyway.
”
 

“…
yeah. Sorry, and thanks.
”
 

As soon as I thanked him, Cline shook his head vigorously.

“
Hey, hey! I should be the one thanking you. I received a lot of help from you. I
’
ll pay you back sometime soon. Mentally.
”
 

Cline smiled and took another look at the clock.

“…
well, I
’
ll log off for a bit. Thanks a lot, Kirito. Be seeing ya.
”
 

With that, he put his hand forward. At that moment, I thought this person would have been a great leader in «another game» and shook his hand.

“
Yeah, see you around.
”
 

We let go of each other
’
s hand.

That was the point where Aincrad, or Sword Art Online, stopped being just some fun game for me.

Cline stepped back a bit and put his right index finger and thumb together and pulled downwards. This was the action that was done to call the «main menu window». Straight afterwards there was a ringing sound and a shining purple rectangle appeared.

I moved a bit and sat on a rock and opened my menu too. I started to move my fingers to organize the items that I
’
d gotten after fighting with the boar.

Then.

“
Eh?
”
Cline said in a strange tone.

“
What
’
s this?
…
there
’
s no log out button.
”
 

At that I stopped moving my fingers and raised my head.

“
No button
…
? No way, look a bit closer.
”
 

I said a bit confused. The swordsman opened his eyes wide beneath the bandanna and pushed his head closer to the menu. The rectangle, which was longer sideways than high, had a bunch of buttons on the left and a silhouette showing what equipment you had on on the right. At the bottom of the menu there was a «LOG OUT» button that allowed you to escape from this world.

As I was turning my head to the item list that listed the items that I had gained over hours of fighting, Cline started speaking in an unusually high voice.

“
It
’
s really not there. You take a look Kirito.
”
 

“
I told you that there
’
s no way that it
’
s not there
…”
I muttered with a sigh as I clicked on the button on the top left to go back to the menu screen.

The inventory window on the right closed and it went back to the main screen. At the left of the silhouette, which still had quite a lot of empty spaces, there was a long row of buttons.

I moved my hand down in a movement that had almost become a habit and
—
 

My body froze.

It wasn
’
t here.

As Cline had said, the button that had been there during the beta test
—
no, even right after I
’
d logged on
—
had disappeared.

I stared at the empty space for a couple of seconds, then looked through the menu, making sure that it hadn
’
t just changed its position. Cline looked up with
“
Right?
”
written on his face.