SAO: Roleplay

(I’d like to ask people to put the floor number that they’re on in their posts, thanks)
Floor: 0

I threw open my bedroom door, a backpack in my hand. In the other I had a towel, drying my hair because, as usual, it was raining. I had earphones in, my favourite band playing loudly through them. I’d given the usual “Hey” to my parents as I’d walked in, but they hadn’t asked me anything nor did I have anything I needed to tell them. Plus, I had something I wanted to do, and that was play Sword Art Online. I’d been excited for it since announcement, and playing the beta had only made the final month’s wait more difficult.

I opened my bag and took a white, plastic one out of it. Opening the bag, I took out my copy of Sword Art Online. Dropping that bag onto the floor (Something I’d move later) and picked up my NerveGear from the desk near my bed. Once I was lay on my bed, I tugged my earphones out, took my phone out of my pocket, and tossed it onto the deks. With a very small smile, I put the NerveGear on my head and started SAO.
“Link Start.” I said clearly.

Black.

Then I was thrown into the starting screen, a message telling me that it was importing beta save data. Then I was back in Aincrad, a strand of my avatar’s dark purple hair in my face.
”First things first,” I thought, ”Level Up. There’s no way I’m missing the boss raid again.”   There were already a few players in the Town of Beginnings, though most of them were too busy getting used to the game than getting ready to start out. I walked towards the edge of town, intent on getting as many levels as possible.

Floor: 0

I was excited, so much it almost felt like the kind of sensation you'd get from being on a roller coaster, about to take the plunge. My day had started off with the acquisition of my copy of Sword Art Online, and I could already tell it was money well spent. My parents were still at work, leaving me alone in the house while I sat in bed, the helmet plugged in, the game loaded up. Laying back down in nothing but my shirt and a pair of loose jogging shorts, I spoke the words "Link Start!"

And then things went black, before a kaleidoscope of color assaulted my vision, and I logged in with my user account, choosing the language, and to play as my beta character. Blackness ensued again, and then there was light. I found myself standing in a massive town square, my vision blurry. Then as it cleared up, I saw in the top left corner a green bar, my health with the numbers '254' clear for my HP. My character name, Tavi, was there as well. Black hair crossed my vision, my own, and I raised a gloved hand to touch my face. It felt, real. Or pretty close to real. Looking around, I saw several dozen more players spawning in, auras of light around the points they spawned from. The game started in full, and I was already on my way out to look for the first of the basic quests. I remembered  where they were, or at least where they should have been if the main game stayed the same as the beta.

Floor: 1

I stopped at a quest giver that asked me to kill boars, which was probably the best enemy to grind on at this stage anyway, so the quest rewards and EXP would be a nice addition to what I'd get from killing the boars. There were newbies everywhere, none of them seemed to have any idea what they were doing, and it almost seemed unfair, but that's how you should learn to play new games; your own way. Of course, I'd help them if they were stuck, eventually. My own goals were more important to me than a bunch of newbies. Maybe once I'd reached a high level I'd slow down and help them, but the raid groups weren't going to wait for me to level.

I accepted the quest, and heard a voice. So I looked up from the dialogue box.
"Hey," said the boy in front of me, "Why don't we party up and we can level together?" he asked. I replied with a shake of my head,
"Sorry, I'm playing solo for now."
"Aww, come on!" He said, "We'll level faster together."
"The only way to fight the same enemy is to switch. There's no point in switching on this floor." I answered, walking away. I noticed someone who actually seemed to know what he was doing, and waved at him as I passed, vaguely remembering that I'd played with him (Or someone with a very similar avatar) at one point in the beta, though I couldn't remember his username.

As I was walking, I noticed someone waving at me and focused on them, to get a better idea of who it was. I didn't need to stare long though, remembering that head of purple hair anywhere. "Astra, hey!" I called out to her, moving a bit closer. "Glad to see you back in the game."

Floor: 1
"Of course I'm back in the game. It's a great game," I answered him, smiling, "Just not this floor." I added. This floor was probably my least favourite, mostly because it was such a low-level floor. "Are you going to be taking part in the boss-raid?"

Floor: 0
Aether fell back onto her bed. Kendo practice finally over (and her insistence to end the grueling activity ignored yet again) she settled the Nerve gear over her short black hair. Blinking into the display, she breathed. It had been awhile since the Beta, but the sprawling world of Aincrad lingered in her mind. She closed her eyes and clearly spoke "Link Start."

As she logged into her Beta account, her character's long, flowing black hair, tied into almost Hatsune Miku style twintails, appeared. As her vision cleared, she breathed. She was back.
The one place life wasn't going to direct her every move.

She set off for the gate, aiming for the fields around the Town of Beginnings. Just like the beta, she went solo.

"Not until I level up a bit," I replied, grinning a little. Reaching over my shoulder, I drew my sword, a basic type, and showed it as if to emphasize what I said. "Doubt this dull old blade could help me much."

"You used a one-handed sword, right?" I asked, double checking that I remembered the right combat style, "At least you can actually start with that. I have to unlock it." I sighed, there were too many things I needed to grind for, "We'll have to party up when we hit the dungeon." I added, smiling.

"Always one-handed," I said. "Faster, helps me stay more mobile. And I'd love to party up, would help even the odds, especially for a dungeon."

"I think the dungeon is about level 11, so how about when we're both at that stage, we party up?" I said, tapping the colour crystal over his head, and sending him a friend request. I also managed to learn his username, Tavi, without asking by doing this.

He screen for the friend request appeared before me, the usual white, square plane with my name on it coupled with 'Astra wants to be your friend. Accept/Decline?' I hit accept, and we were officially friends in the game.

"Good. Now I have a day of EXP grinding ahead of me," I said, as the notification that Tavi had accepted my friend request came up. "Well, if you ever need to group up for a dungeon or PvP or something, I'll just be a message away!" I added with a cheerful smile, "But I really should get grinding, you should too if you wanna keep up."

Floor: 1

Aether closed her eyes. Concentrating, she felt the Skill activate. Eyes flashing open and lunging, she downed the little boar without much trouble. The beta had them a bit stronger actually - they were like slimes now, instead of more mid farm. She turned as a few more appeared, and went low. She began slashing, expertly blocking tusks as her skill cooled down. With a practiced parry the first boar went down, and as another charged, she side-stepped.
Nothing like knowing how a boar will react to get you in a good modd.

her farming done with a final Sword Skill, she breathed easy. Awesome. Some EXP, good skill in her sword. All good. Keeping this up, she could get to the next town, get a few quests...start grinding for her favorite, and admittedly trademark, skill.

"Oh I intend to," I told Astra as I resumed walking, heading for the gate. Walking was too slow, so I broke into a run and said "See you later Astra!" as I passed her by, and left the massive Town of Beginnings. Heading out for the nearby fields, I already saw a few people doing what I planned to, killing boars for the EXP. Finding a few boars of my own, I picked up a rock from the ground, a pebble really that felt real in my hand, and pulled back for a throw. The skill for throwing activated as the rock glowed a faint pink aura, then I threw it, nailing a boar on the ass. It spun to face me, eyes flashing red in anger as it snorted, then charged me. Dodging the first attack was easy and gave me a chance to bring my sword out, the short blade casually held in my hand.

Readying it, I moved it the proper way to activate the sword skill, a lunge attack that when triggered sent me flying forward with my sword aimed straight, and cut me way through the pig. It went down easily, and that left me with five more to go.

I arrived at the boar's spawn area and took note of the number of players and the number of boars that had spawned. I had a quest that involved them, but I only needed ten. There were at least four boars that weren't fighting any players, but I'd have to kill all of them two and a half times, after taking out their respawn time, it might not be the best way to get EXP at the moment.
"If I abandon the quest," I thought to myself, "I could move on to the next town and kill enemies a couple of levels higher than me..." No, the quest would get me some Col, and every little bit was important, so I stode forwards, holding my sword behind me, and lunged at the nearest boar.

The first hit didn't kill it outright, but a second, follow up slash finished it. I saw a newbie fail his skill activation and take some damage, but everyone needed to get used to the combat system. As I was finishing off my second boar, a notification box appeared, Zyun has challenged you to a duel. I smiled. Cocky players were the most fun, and PvP would be a nice test to see if I had any skill.

I turned around, facing my challenger. He had bright green eyes and dark blue hair.
"Same gear, probably same level." I thought to myself. I pressed accept, and the duel notification came up above us, and in a clearing, it was very obvious to see.

I killed a few more boars, earning EXP with each kill but very little Col. Still, it helped me get reacquainted with the combat system, and my one handed skill was climbing steadily. Not rapidly, but it was easy to see. So far, I still remained on my own, though across the field, too far for me to try shouting, I saw Astra again. It was hard to miss that purple head of hair and I noticed she was already in a duel. Hoping she won it, I went back to killing.

Floor: 1

I went over my skills in my head; making sure I could remember them. This wasn't like grinding boars. I was about to fight another, living, thinking person, and that meant they didn't have any predictable moves. As soon as the duel started, he lunged at me. I managed to parry it, and followed up with my own attack. The duel went this way for a few minutes; attack, parry. Attack, parry, until my opponent slipped up. It was incredibly slight, but it was there. His sword was angled too far left and my attack went straight through, causing his HP to drop into the lower areas of yellow.

The duel didn't end though, and after a brief second of confusion, I realised that he must have set the duel as for the death. He was still recoiling from my last attack, so I pressed my advantage, following with a lunge. He blocked it, and I took damage, my HP bar draining, but not quite out of the green. His attack left him open, and I went for it, dropping his HP right down into the red zone. He tried a final skill, but never finished it, being intercepted part way by my sword. I smiled as the "Winner" notification came up, along with the EXP I'd earned for killing him.
"Good fight!" I said, waving as his body fragmented and vanished. He'd be in the room of resurrection, respawning.

Exiting the area, Aether hid among the trees to watch a duel going on. Someone had decided to get cocky so early in the game apparently.
Sighing, she didn't stick around. She already lost time getting here, and had to find a quest for some Col. She needed another sword....this one would not do. Not at all.

Floor: 1

At the last boar, I checked my level progression. I was still level one, though I was better than halfway there, and I accumulated a decent amount of Col, at least to start me out. Practicing my skills helped out a lot, and I no longer felt the need to check the manual again every time I wanted to see how to start a skill. I remembered there was a quest nearby, something about clearing out a large number of boars. Finding the quest giver was easy, they were a flustered looking old man with the quest icon over their heads.

"Ah, young traveler, please can you help me?" he asked of me. "I was walking down the road for the village, but it's blocked by a group of boars! I have no weapons to fight them with, but you look armed. Could you please kill them, or drive them off?" Then the quest screen popped up in front of me, showing the details.

--Kill the boars or survive for two minutes--

So kill or survive, sounded easy enough. Accepting the quest, I started off down the path, keeping an eye out for the boars.

I killed the last boar of my quest and paused to distribute the skill points I'd earned from levelling up.
"Two in AGI, One in STR..." I thought as I tapped the '+' symbols next to the stats on the level up page. I sheathed my sword on my back and headed back towards the town to hand in the quest, which would put my some of the way towards level three. Then I was going to head on to the next town, probably level up along the way, and then I'd train and quest over there, but first, I was going to go and check what time I had to eat in the real world, I'd rather not be interrupted half-way through a fight.

Swiping my hand to bring up the menu, I scrolled down to the bottom where I'd find the logout button, only it wasn't there. Frowning, I closed the menu and reopened it, checking if it was just a glitch. When it still wasn't there, I opened up my friends list, and sent a message to the one name on there.
"Hey Tavi," I said, "Can you log out? Cos I can't see the button in my menu."

She had finished a minor quest and was currently browsing swords. Most were too expensive but some would do. Selecting a katan-looking blade,she held it. Perfect. What was in fact a wakizashi, she accepted it and left her other sword in storage. She checked the time.
Martial arts. Bleh.

Opening the menu, she found the - wait. What?
Closing and re-opening, she checked again. N...no logout button?
Sending a request to the GM, she grabbed a passing kid. "Hey. You got a logout button?"
He checked...and his paled face just made it worse.
Aether began running. She asked random people.

No logout.
None at all.

Just as I killed the last boar and leveled up at last (along with getting a notification of the quest completion) I got a message from Astra.

Astra wrote:

"Hey Tavi, can you log out? Cos I can't find the logout button in the menu."

My eyebrows raised at that, so I went to the menu, hoping to see the logout button.......but it want there. Where it should have been, there was a blank space. What the hell? I thought to myself. I sent my own message back.

Tavi wrote:

No, I can't. What's going on? Glitch?

Tavi wrote:

No, I can't. What's going on? Glitch?

Astra wrote:

"It must be. The admins must be working on it now. Until then there's nothing we can do."

I closed my menu again and turned around to hand in my boar quest. It gave quite a lot of EXP for this level, and I was well on my way to level three. I scratched my head, not eager to start walking to the next town, but there were better ways to level up there, and probably less players to kill off the mobs. With a sigh, I set off towards it. I'd pick up EXP and quests on the way, too, so that I could get as much EXP before my parents disconnected me to go and eat, which would probably come before the glitch being fixed.

Something felt "off" as I crossed the field though and I decided to ask around about the lack of logout, and I found myself back in the Town of Beginnings, along with a lot of other people; they were all as confused as I was.

Tavi wrote:

Oh.......well then, that sucks.

There wasn't much left for me to do, so I returned to my quest completion screen. Some Col, some points. I leveled up alright, and used the points I got to put one in strength and two in agility. I wanted to stay fast.

When nobody knew anything about the logout bug, I decided it was time to leave for the next town; I might as well get something done while I was waiting to be disconnected. So I retraced my steps to the field and started to cross it, heading towards a wooded area that led to the nearest town. About half way, the town bells started to ring, and after several seconds, I was teleported back there.

Even though I was nowhere near the main town, I could clearly hear the bells ringing. And the next thing I knew......I was surrounded in an aura of glimmering light, and wound up being teleported back to the Town of Beginnings main square. Along with several hundred other people.....and that number was growing. A lot of them were wondering what was going on, some griping over the fact that they nearly completed a quest before they got teleported. I heard others asking about the logout button.

All of it led up to one, simple question: What was going on with the game?

Floor: 0 (Time to play catch-up!)

"Are you sure about this? There's no telling what'll happen to your body if you stay in for that long." A man in a white coat was speaking to me. He was a good man, a friend at a hospital that I worked out of. The hospital had a research facility at the top that not many people used. I basically lived up there.

"Yeah, as long as you keep pumping nutrients into my veins I'll live. Besides, research." I shrugged with a happy and carefree look on my face. But the doctor knew me, I had that look in my eyes. He knew. I had a fellow researcher sitting by, monitoring and keeping up with news related to the newest game for the Nerve Gear, Sword Art Online. He knew I played in the beta. So I already had a good idea about what I would be doing. We had run scan on the Nerve-gear device and had a few of them taken apart so that we could reverse engineer and possibly create something new from it. It had so much potential. For medicine, for science. For me.

We had plans to make something even better than Nerve Gear. We'd be able to get a ton of data from this. I would also be able to play one of the most realistic MMORPG's ever. So the Gamer in me was having such an orgasm. Great MMORPG's can be a lot like pornography, you know it when you see it.

With the Nerve Gear connected, I laid down in the hospital bed. Everything was set up. I took a deep breath, and said those magical words: "Link start."

I went through the screens and selected the avatar I made way back in the beta. Then, I was thrust into the magic-lacking world of Aincrad. Where I was a blacksmith by trade. Sort of. Traveling blacksmith. I guess. My biggest accomplishment in the beta? Sewing. That's right, Sewing. By hand. All the hand work. Hand-eye-coordination. Why? Because hands can be weapons. Especially finger techniques. It's so gratifying to kill something with your bare hands. Which, in this world, is something to be seen. Not many people realize, or know, that martial arts is a skill you can use. At least, not until they see me using it. I digress.

Floor: 1

I was in the beginning town, with tons of noobs. Tons. Probably literally. Many of them would be young kids, not much life experience. It didn't matter. I needed to find the boss to get off this floor. Get back to one of the higher levels. Get some real training done. Well, as real as FullDive will allow anyway. Before long, I was in the fields. Then the forest, and then I realized that I forgot something. It wasn't particularly important. But it required me to log out for a second. Only... the option to log out was missing. "Strange," I thought. "This must be a bug." I thought nothing of it at the time, so I continued on. I was grinding when I heard the bell ring.

The answer to our questions came soon enough, as there was something in the sky that drew our attention. Centered in the sky, was a single, red flashing panel with the words 'warning' on it. Then it spread across the sky like wildfire, one panel becoming thousands that blotted out the sun and cast the world in shades of red. From between each of the panels oozed out some kind of slime stuff that congealed into a mass above the town square, but then formed into the shape of a hooded, robed figure. I recognized it as a Game Master, seen plenty of times in the beta. When it spoke, a thundering voice rang clear throughout the square. "Attention players," it said, the voice unmistakably male, "welcome to my world. My name is Kayaba Akihiko. As of this moment, I am the sole person who can control this world. 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 defect of the game. It is a feature of Sword Art Online. You cannot log out of SAO yourselves. And no one on the outside can shutdown or remove the NerveGear. Should this be attempted, the transmitter inside the NerveGear will release a powerful microwave, and destroy your brain and thus end your life."

At that, many people cried out in anger or fear, some even in denial. But I knew though that Kayaba was telling the truth, or at the very least it was possible. The NerveGears used a form of microwaves for scanning the user's brain, and it was what allowed the whole FullDive experience. If the safety had been tampered with, it could fry the brain. And to add to it, the NerveGears had internal batteries, so people on the outside wouldn't be able to cut the power. Kayaba spoke again then. "Unfortunately, several players friends and families have ignored this warning, and have attempted to remove the NerveGear. As a result, two-hundred and thirteen players are gone forever, from both Aincrad and the real world." He raised a hand, and dozens of large screens filled the air before him, each showing a different news network. All of them shared the same story: players of SAO died in the real world. "As you can see," Kayaba continued, "news organizations across the world are reporting all of this, including the deaths. Thus you can be assured that the risks of having your NerveGear removed are minimal. I hope you will relax and attempt to clear the game."

"But I want you to remember this clearly: There is no longer any way to revive someone in the game. If your HP falls to zero, then your avatar will be forever lost. And simultaneously..." he said, and I could all but tell exactly what was coming, "..the NerveGear will destroy your brain." A stunned silence from the crowd below, was his only response. "There is only one means of escape: You must clear the game." With a wave of his hand, an image of Aincrad, the hundred floor castle, appeared above us all, and he said "You are presently on Floor 1. If you make your way through the dungeon and defeat the Floor Boss, you may advance to the next level. Defeat the final boss on Floor 100, and you will clear the game." Many people shouted at this, some saying how none of the beta testers could even get past Floor 8. But Kayaba ignored them all, before saying "Finally, I've added a present from me to your item storage. Please, see for yourselves."

There was nothing for it, but to do what he said. I opened my item menu and sure enough, there was a new item. A 'Hand Mirror.' Selecting the item, I was given a small mirror that showed my reflection. Everyone else did the same.....and soon the entire square was lit up in light as everyone, including myself, was swallowed in a sphere of blue-white light. When I could see again, I noticed that many people looked different.....and then I saw myself in the mirror. Not Tavi, my avatar, but myself. Tavi was of height with me at five foot six inches, hair the same shade of dark brown and eyes to match. Skin tone the same lightly tanned white. But while I wasn't ugly or anything, Tavi looked like those models on TV for men's cologne. I on the other hand was thin in a healthy way, from most of my jogging and biking. No real muscle to speak of since I didn't so any weight lifting. At first I wondered how the hell did Kayaba know what I looked like, until I remembered the NerveGear. The scanner on it that read brainwaves, must have also been able to read my facial features. And the pat down I had to give myself for the NerveGear's calibration, must have also scanned my body. I looked back up at Kayaba, since I knew he'd have more to say.

"Right now you're probably wondering, 'Why? Why would Kayaba Akihiko, developer of the NerveGear and Sword Art Online do all this?' My goal has already been achieved. To create this world, and intervene in it. And now, it is complete. This ends the tutorial for the official Sword Art Online launch. Good luck, players." And with that, his avatar began to dissolve into smoke, before it was gone completely and the sky returned to normal......and the square broke into a panic.

Floor:1

Well, awesomesauce. Thanks a bunch Kayaba. I come here to find a way to ruin you, and you do it for me. That's fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. For a moment it felt like he had known what I was trying to do. He knew that I wanted to bring him down a level. It felt like this was for me, my punishment for my hubris and my jealousy. Except not, we've only met once in person. He wouldn't know who I was. He wouldn't know about my plans. I was trapped by my own desire to do harm, basically. This was like karmic revenge. If I die here, now, it will be because of me. Even if another player kills me in this world, I will have killed myself by choosing to come here for the wrong reasons. If I had the worlds smallest violin, I would be playing it right now.

I retreated from my position in near the clocktower, and moved towards the outer edge of the plaza, the moment that forcefield keeping us in here lifted, I would head out. I knew exactly where I would head to. A place on the outer edge of the floor, where I could level myself. Getting to the 100th floor would probably take a month or two. It couldn't be that difficult.

Everyone was responding in their own way; some screamed in outrage, others collapsed to the ground, sobbing. Some just stood there, their faces a mask of fear and despair. Others though, were running away and out of the square, and I had a good feeling I knew why: we all had to level up, and fast. We had to get to the quests, get as much experience and the best equipment possible, if we wanted to have any hope of winning this thing and go home. So while the vast majority of players did nothing, I acted and ran for the nearest exit.....though I stopped in an alley by the square, and quickly brought up my messaging screen. Selecting my only friend in there, Astra, I sent her a message.

Tavi wrote:

Astra, it's me Tavi. I don't know what you're going to do, but I'm leaving town to start leveling up. Probably everyone's best chance to do the same. If you want to join up.....I'd be more than fine with it.

After sending the message, I ran again for the gates. I couldn't afford to wait. There was no doubt dozens, hundreds of other players who had the same thought as me, and I needed to keep either ahead, or at least keep pace with them. It's not like I wanted to be a hero or anything, to be a leader. But something told me that in this world.....the strong survived. And I wanted to survive.

Tavi wrote:

Astra, it's me Tavi. I don't know what you're going to do, but I'm leaving town to start leveling up. Probably everyone's best chance to do the same. If you want to join up.....I'd be more than fine with it.

The message appeared in front of me, though I hadn't registered anything since finding out that I could -and probably would- die in this game. Then something hit me. If I could've thrown up, I would have.

Astra wrote:

Wait at the gates. I need to see something.

I ran. Not towards the gates, but towards where the respawn room had been in the beta. It had to be a hoax. A publicity stunt or even just to make the game more immersive. Anything as long as we weren't really going to die here.

Astra wrote:

Wait at the gates. I need to see something.

I wasn't sure what she wanted to check, but I did what she asked and waited by the gate. Though I didn't want to wait too long, since every minute spent here was another minute that I wasn't leveling up and wow that sounded odd. That shouldn't be important to me. Getting home should be important my parents, my friends in the real world. But then, to get back....I needed to level up and get stronger, right?

I didn't stop until I'd gotten to the room of respawning, knowing where it was from the times I'd died in the beta. I froze. It wasn't there. Instead was a stone tablet with writing all over it.
Names. I thought as I read through them. Some had been crossed out, with a cause of death written next to them. I felt worse, and slightly panicked as I scanned the names. They were alphabetical, so it was easy.

Near the end was Zyun, crossed out with the words "Killed by Player Kill" along with the date. I went cold.
I killed someone. I wanted to cry, run away, hide, anything. So I did. I ran, tears streaming down my face as I headed for the gate.

I was willing to wait another minute, when I saw someone running to the gate. Well, technically a whole bunch of people. All genders, varying heights.....and I had to wonder which was Astra. I mean hell, some of the people who had different colored hair had lost even that, what with that Hand Mirror thing. So I had no idea who Astra looked like.....fuck, for all I knew, Astra was a guy who played as a girl.

I stopped and looked around, my breathing heavy and stuttering as I tried and failed to calm down. There was someone who wasn't running like everyone else was though, and I walked over.
"Tavi?" I asked him, hoping that this was actually my friend and not some stranger.

"Boo-ha!" "Badda-Bing!" "Whitcha!" Every time I hit a monster, I vocalized the hit. It lightened my mood. It was like, a symphony of grunts and heavy breathing. Like sex, but not, because I was fighting for my life. Boars, wolves, other forest enemies, all gave their EXP to me. As I labored, I accumulated much loot. Things like hides that I could turn into leather. The leather that could then be used to create armor or clothes. But leather isn't what I really wanted. Ore is what I wanted. I wanted to get to work on my forging skill.

A solitary black smith, who trains with the swords he crafts. That would be my identity. Niko the Smith. At least for a little while. I wanted to complete quite a few of these skills. 1000 levels. But I probably wouldn't be able to, this grand quest, these 100 floors, shouldn't take more than a month or two. Hopefully.

A girl approached me, and she didn't look like Astra at all. Her eyes were violet, she stood a few inches shorter than the Astra I remembered, and her face was different.....but the voice, sounded the same. "Astra?" I asked her hesitantly, and then I saw clearly her eyes. They were red and puffy, tears running down. It wasn't that surprising really.....I mean, who wouldn't be crying at this whole situation?

"Oh thank God," I said, the relief practically dripping from my voice, "Come on, we need to hurry." I added, trying to sound urgent over the sound of my voice cracking, and began to walk away from the gate.

"Yeah, exactly my thoughts," I said as I walked beside her. "We need to get to the next town fast. Grab some quests along the way, and get as much XP as possible," I began saying. "Stronger.....we need to get stronger."

I nodded, trying to clear the lump in my throat. I wasn't really listening though, I just wanted to get away from this place, on to the next town. The sooner we cleared the game, the better.

Before I knew it. I was fighting to the rhythm of a Jazz song. Which confused the AI I was fighting. Jazz has a lot of improv to it. Improving attacks, not using skills or anything like that was a lot of fun, but didn't always do a lot of damage. Still, beating enemies down with creativity is always a ton of fun. Loot was usually pretty decent. But the true prize was when Ore was dropped. Ore. That substance weapons are made of. If I remember correctly, There was some quantities of low level ore to craft basic weapons here...

"Astra....are you okay?" I asked her. Yeah, she probably wasn't due to the revelation of this game, but she was being quite. Too quite.

I stopped, feeling my arms shaking as more tears started to well up in my eyes. I shook my head, not trusting my voice to be able to speak properly.

Silent for a few moments, I did nothing but walk forward and turn so I could face her. "Do you want to talk about it?" I asked her quietly.

bop bop boppitty bop! Hitting enemies till they drop. Sprinting hard, jumping high, training makes the day go by.~

I was singing to myself. For whatever reason, to try and stay relaxed and focused.

I shook my head for a moment, shaking from holding back my crying, before I burst out with more sobs and the reason I was acting like this.
"I killed someone, Tavi!" I said, "I went to check the room of respawning! I-it's been replaced with a list of names, and on there is 'killed by Player Kill! I murdered someone!" I was shouting, but I couldn't help it, my throat cracked if I tried to talk any quieter. "And I was happy when I killed them!"

Well.....there wasn't much to say for that. Hell, not much I could even do. A hand on the shoulder wouldn't help. "But you didn't know then," I began to say. "You didn't know then, what Kayaba did with us. With this game." Placing a gentle hand on her shoulder, I calmly said "Doesn't mean you should be okay with it. Heck, if I was in your shoes I'd be just as torn up." Silence followed for a bit, as I continued choosing my words. Sadly, there wasn't much left I could say, as I waited for her response.

"Maybe it isn't real?" I suggested, my sobbing subsiding, "It can't be real, right? They'd notice if the NerveGear could kill us."

"You saw the news feeds," I said. "All those news reports of the deaths. I read up on the NerveGear helmets, back in.....in the real world. In theory it can kill us if the safety was deactivated. And Kayaba made them. He'd know how to do it."

"They'd be tested though! For ways that the safety gets broken, right?" I said excitedly, if there was a possibilty I hadn't killed him, then I might not be a murderer.