Hello all! My name is Mega Trainer but you can just call me MT!

I recently finished a Soul Eater fanfic and had this idea mulling around in my head for awhile.

'What if I had been one of the ten thousand to enter Aincrad?'

I'm an avid fan of SAO because I'm such a tech nerd and the science behind everything is my favorite.

Anyways, I will be writing this fic based on my personality and it will be first person. I plan on making this a separate story from Kirito's but I will be interacting with him and bringing him into the story randomly. I also plan to bring in the other characters since we don't really know what happened to them when Kirito wasn't interacting with them

ENJOY!

UPDATED 7/15/15

Chapter 1

Today is November 6, 2022. Today is a giant leap in the world of Virtual Reality. Some time ago, a genius scientist known as Akihiko Kayaba developed a revolutionary device that was capable of bringing people's minds to the Virtual plane. Despite the new level of technology, it couldn't be properly used. The only games that could be used for such a device were things like learning games or mind games, nothing special. That is, until today. Kayaba developed the first VRMMORPG and today it has been released.

Sadly, I wasn't able to be a part of the Beta Test (Curse my luck!) but I kept up with a blog that one of the beta testers kept. The way he described this new world made me ache for the release of the game and now, today, it has been released.

I was one of the first people in line to get one of the only ten thousand copies to be sold. As soon as I had the game in my hands, I clutched it to my chest and ran home to get on it as soon as possible. My parents didn't really understand because they aren't the best with technology and my younger brother has never been one for RPGs. I've always been entranced by them, the interactions, the stories, quests, etc. They always fascinated me.

Excuse me, I just realized I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Shikari Tatakai. I am 25 years old and am currently living with my parents while I find a better job than my boring office job. Anyways, enough about me, I really want to get in this game.

"Link Start!" I shouted before seeing a bright rainbow of colors. I watched as 5 blue circles appeared and turned green, checking off that each of my five senses were connected. The login screen then came up and I entered my username 'Shikai' and my password. I'm pretty lazy when it comes to names and a lot of my friends just make up a name by using parts of our names. It doesn't really matter, though, as the game's beauty will end up out-shadowing my name anyways.

I could see the giant sign that said 'Welcome to Sword Art Online'. I could practically feel my heart race in anticipation. There was another flash of colors, this time blue, almost looking like lightning. In the next moment, everything was black. I tried to open my eyes and found myself in some castle looking area. I looked down and could see my feet before bringing up my hands. I clutched them a few times, trying to get a feel for the familiar sensations.

I smiled to myself as I had finally entered the game.

I went online before playing to make my avatar. Nothing special, though, just some short black hair and fair colored skin. I inputted my real height and made my waist line around the same as my real one. I wore a blue shirt and leather braces, like the other avatars, with some dark brown knuckle gloves and boots. Some black pants to boot.

Within a moment I could hear short buzzes from all around me and I realized that other people were logging in. This must have been the starting city from the blog. I read that the city was enormous and I was only in its center. I began to jump around in excitement before running off in a random direction, away from the crowds. I went straight for the thing I remembered from the blog, the gesture to open the menu. I found myself a quiet alley and began to browse the menu, quickly finding what I assumed to be an equipment menu, which could be hinted by the person with arrows pointing to different parts of their body.

I figured out how to equip the starting sword, whose stats might I add were CRAP! Still, what can I expect from starter equipment? Well, just gonna have to save up for that.

I found that my inventory was almost completely empty, save for an item called a 'teleport crystal' and 'healing potion' along with the sword and outfit I had on. I decided that I could go through this more later. There would probably be a wiki up in a week and that would help me learn all the mechanics fairly quickly. When I looked around, I realized that this city, with its more narrow and crowded spaces, was not a good place to practice fighting. I managed to find my way outside the city and found the rolling fields with thin dirt roads leading out into the great expanses. I was staring in awe, my mouth dropping. The work that must have gone into designing this game must have been immense. When I looked up, there was a box floating in the air and said 'Floor 1: Town of Beginnings, North Field'. I only saw a few people out so I should probably run a good distance before the crowds arrive.

I spent around 10 minutes just running and man did it feel good to run without getting tired. I loved it! Being the running enthusiast that I am, that is.

I found myself a decent sized field near the edge of a forest and pulled out my sword. I had heard that there was something in this game called 'Sword Skills' and that they were to assist you in fighting. Notice I say 'assist' because I don't really plan on using them all that much. I've always been fascinated by swords and, even though I've never practiced, I've always looked up videos on sword technique and read lots of manga and books.

Despite that, those skills are in the game. Might as well try them out.

I stretched out my arm so that the sword was in front of me and I tried to focus on activating a skill. Nope. No luck. I then tried getting into a stance I remembered from a movie I watched about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. I felt something click and the sword began to glow a bright orange. I allowed the skill to take over and performed some quick sword movements. The combo broke and I had control over myself again.

Hmm…I wonder, can I control that? I moved into the same stance and the sword glowed again. I refused to allow it to dictate my movements and I sliced in a different way than before, causing the swords glow to fade. I continued slashing at the air, not using the skill as guidance, and I panted from the exertion when I finished. I grinned at the fact that I could freely practice sword play. I'd always wanted to learn but both lacked the space and a sword to practice with. Now I had both.

Now to look for monsters (or as I like to call them mobs).

As I looked around and approached the forest I found a wild boar with glowing red eyes. He was an odd bluish color, not very appealing. Meh, beggars can't be choosers. I moved into a battle stance, careful not to activate my Sword Skill, and ran at the boar who charged at me as well. Just before we collided, I leap to the side and sliced at its side as it ran by. The boar squealed in pain and I watched its health bar decrease by half. I grinned and the boar circled around before stopping. He glared at me and kicked up dust before charging at me again. This time I positioned my sword in front of his face and, at the last moment, pierced straight into the boar's face. I watched its HP drop to zero and then it blew up in a blast of small squares, blue and turquoise in color.

A moment later a white screen appeared in front of me, startling me a bit. I inspected it and found that I had earned some experience, two items, and Col. I remember reading in the blog that Col was money in this game, so that was cool. I swiped on the screen and it gave me a list of items that I obtained. Just some boar meat and a hide. Nothing special.

Despite the lack of exciting things I gained, I was grinning brightly. My first kill in this new game. It's awesome! I can't wait to fight more powerful mobs, like lizard monsters or golems and such.

I spent a good three hours just exploring my menus and fighting boars, going on and off of using my Sword Skills. It was already around 5:25pm. I went around in my menu, looking for an icon similar to the ones from other games that signified the logout button. It was usually some kind of rectangle with an arrow coming out of it. I ended up finding said button fairly quickly, but my breath hitched when I inspected it further. The icon was there on the button, but there was no text. No words signifying that this was indeed the button I thought it was. I tried pressing it despite the lack of text but it did nothing. I went through my memory, trying to see if I found another button labeled 'Log out', but found none. I must have gone over the menu a thousand times but I never bothered searching for a log out button.

W-Well, it just came out, must be a bug right? I'm never one to panic, though this kind of issue does make me nervous. I'm glad I left a note for my family to see. This technology is new so I told them not to take off the helmet, cut the power, or cut the internet. I studied this technology and found out that it puts you in a state as if you are dreaming. No telling what could happen to me if I was suddenly yanked out of it.

Suddenly, I heard a loud bell ringing in the distance. I looked back and could see the bell ringing in the bell tower in town. I was confused by the ringing until something took my full attention. I was suddenly engulfed in bright light and everything went white for a moment. In the next moment, I found myself in the same place I came when I first entered the game. The plaza in the center of the Town of Beginnings. Was this what they called a forced teleport? I've heard about these in regular MMOs but it never happened to me. It usually happened during an event.

I heard loud whispering and people shouting around me and I followed their fingers which were pointing towards the sky. I looked up and saw a single, hexagonal notification in the bluish sky. It was flashing and something about the blood red sign, the word 'WARNING' written across it, sent a shiver down my spine. What the hell was going on?

The next moment only made it worse when the entire sky was painted blood red and red goop seeped from it to form a giant red hooded figure who floated in mid-air. The inside of his cloak was pitch black, like the way you would imagine the cloak of the Grim Reaper to look like.

The figure spread its arms as it said, "Attention, Players! I welcome you to my world."

His world? Could it be Kayaba?

"My name is Akihiko Kayaba and as of this moment, I am in control of this world," continued Kayaba, holding his pose and looking down on us. A thousand images of the articles I read about the man, pictures of him, articles about the Nerve gear, flashed through my mind.

"I'm sure most of you have already noticed an item missing from your main menu, the log out button. I can assure you that this is not a defect in the game, I repeat it is not a defect. This is how Sword Art Online was supposed to be. You cannot log yourself out from SAO and nobody from the outside can forcibly log you out. If they try, a microwave transmitter in the Nerve gear will emit a signal into your skull, destroying your brain, and ending your life," continued Kayaba. The crowd around me began to become agitated, began to scream and shout. I heard some people behind me shouting louder than the rest and I turned to see what was going on.

I heard them shouting about how they couldn't leave the plaza and I saw them pounding on some invisible wall, causing ripples with each punch. I was frozen in place, my eyes wide saucers. I heard Kayaba continue, and my face flew back in his direction.

"Despite my warning, the families of some of the players have attempted to remove the Nerve gears. Because of this, we now have 213 less players. They have been deleted from both Aincrad and the real world," continued the man who was slowly being changed in my heart from admiration to hatred. I didn't hear what he said afterward. I was too busy praying, forming signs of the cross repeatedly, hoping my parents wouldn't take off my Nerve gear. They didn't understand technology like I do and would probably not believe the news.

The next words that I couldn't believe came out of Kayaba's mouth. If my HP drops to zero, I die in the real world. The world that I came to, to escape the real world, was now becoming my new real world. Granted I was pretty good at dodging when I was fighting the boars before, but I don't know if I could do that forever. A moment later, he answered my internal question. He said that once we make it to the hundredth floor, and cleared the game, we could log out. I was relieved that we had a way out, but I heard that the beta testers barely got up several floors in months. There was just no way.

"Last but not least, I have placed a little present in the item storage of every player. Please, have a look," Kayaba said, attracting my attention. I immediately went into my item storage, hoping it would be something like a get out of jail for free card, and I laughed at myself, knowing I wouldn't be so lucky.

I found an item called a Mirror and when I clicked on it, one manifested in front of me. I caught it and glanced at myself, before being enveloped in light. A moment later the light dissipated and I looked at myself in the mirror again. I was exactly like I was in the real world, physique, face, hair length, etc. Finally, I heard Kayaba mention something about why he created this world, however I showed little interest. He said that the tutorial was over and the cloak disappeared in a puff of smoke.

My expression was hard. I was fully prepared to survive in this game, and if I was going to do so, I had to train until I couldn't move. I turned and ran out of the plaza, the barrier now gone. I only saw small numbers of people following my lead. They must have been beta testers. I know that a game like this wouldn't have many resources, so I had to get to them first. I had to survive. I couldn't die yet; I needed to fulfill my dreams in the real world. I had to get stronger.

So? What did you guys think of the first chapter?!

Please Review and let me know as I want to adjust things early on instead of having to fix them later after I've built up on them.

Anyways, I plan on posting chapter 2 today as well so check it out ASAP!

Until later...byeee :D