Ch 1: Induction

"Ahhhh! Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh can you believe it!? The release date is only five hours away!"

"Yes. To my chagrin, you've been counting it down every hour for the past week, you dunce," Weiss hedges as the young crimsonette continues squeeing into her cloak.

"She certainly seems to be excited about it," Blake observes quietly, being cautious to avoid the direct line of excitement from her first-year leader.

Yang chuckles as the team makes their way down one of many bustling boulevards in downtown Vale, the constant hum of the city noise surrounding the quartet and the late afternoon sun casting golden rays that reflect off every building and turn the city into a sparkling resemblance of El Dorado. Her favorite time of day.

"Trust me, Blakey, 'excited' doesn't even begin to describe it. She's been waiting on the release of this game since we were kids!"

"We still are kids, you dolt!" Weiss exasperatedly shouts as the team stops at a street corner in front of the transport station.

"Eesh, Ice Queen, I know it's a bit ironic but you gotta take a chill pill!" Yang defends flatly, earning a scowl from her teammate.

Ruby, of course, isn't far behind, "And if you don't have a chill pill, take one of those chill strips! You put it on your tongue, it dissolves, chill."

Eliciting a facepalm from the heiress, Ruby takes a cautionary step back to endure the following rant before Yang suddenly steps in and glances at her partner.

"A little help this time, Blake?"

The Faunus-girl smirks despite reluctantly taking the fore.

"Look. We've not much time left until the transport arrives. Then we'll be safely back in Beacon," she begins coolly, her naturally calm nature seeming to soothe the snowy-haired girl before turning to face Ruby in an attempt to change the center of attention, "So Ruby. Tell me about this game... I still know quite little about it."

Another excited squeal escapes the red-hooded girl's lips as she hugs a large bag of recently purchased electronics and equipment - the reason why they had spent hours in line that day - to herself, "Okay! Well uh-"

"Green light."

Yang smirks at her little interruption as she watches Ruby literally deflate from her building excitement, her younger sister visibly pouting as the four girls cross the street. Of course, Blake puts a hand on her shoulder as soon as they reach the other corner with a small smile, "Please, continue."

"Mmm okay okay! So, this game is a VRMMORPG, or a Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game, set in this really super awesome world that's filled with characters, guilds, swords and monsters, and-"

"Here we go..." Weiss huffs quietly and rubs her temples as the young girl begins her fast-paced and detailed explanation, her team reaching the transport and finally - thank Monty! - on its way to Beacon.

What good did this game do? It couldn't help train you, couldn't help feed you, and couldn't possibly hope to make anyone a better Huntsman through wasting their time in a world that doesn't exist. Why would anyone get such a thrill from something that was just as the name described - virtual?

But as if Ruby were unknowingly answering her question, a pleased sigh from the girl prompts the grumpy heiress to tune back in to the conversation.

"You see... I used to think one could only read about fairy tales of princes and monsters. But as luck would have it, there are whole worlds out there where these stories come to life! And what's more, the feeling you get when you're in them, it's like going into a real-life fantasy where you could do things you never thought you could with all kinds of skills, quests, and even weapons!"

Weiss sighs as she listens to the explanation. Could there really be such a thing? A way to transcend yourself and become stronger in a foreign world? A world... where even her family name meant as little as the virtual dust under their feet, a world where all her pride she gained and accomplishments she achieved, she could attribute to her own merit? That really would be a fantasy. If not a dream come true.

"Weapons?" Yang echoes curiously as the Beacon spire comes into view.

"Oh yeah! Any kind of weapon you can think of, and all you have to do is equip them and they're yours to master!"

"Hmm..." The blonde brawler hums contemplatively, "Now we're talkin'..."

Blake seems to be about to voice her opinion when she's suddenly interrupted by an electronic announcement within the transport.

'Next stop, Beacon Academy. May all you wish to exit upon arrival please approach bulkhead doors, we are preparing for landing. Thank you.'

"Well, thank you for your explanation," Blake states quickly to her leader as the ship begins its descent, trying to get in as much as she can before the transport lands, "But there's one more thing: I never quite heard the name of this game."

"Oh! Duh, me!" Ruby berates herself adorably as she somehow manages to keep her balance and pull out a cartridge from her bag despite the airship's increasing turbulence, the floating steel castle on the cover for all around her to see.

"The game is called Sword Art Online."

"Hmm... NVG..." Ruby mumbles to herself as she holds the recently-bought equipment in her hands.

She has to tilt the logo to the moonlight cascading through the open window in the empty dorm to make out the rest of it, "Oh, NerveGear..."

Smiling to herself in determination, she looks down at the empty bunks around her, her teammates having told her that they'd be going to the library to return some of Blake's books and coming right back, and puts on the helmet before lying back on her pillow.

"Welp, I guess they won't mind me going full-dive without them here!" The crimsonette tells herself cheerfully, "Besides, it's not like I have to say goodbye!"

The moment had finally come. A chance to live out those incredible stories she had heard as a child and to become a heroine in the fullest sense of the word - to vanquish the beasts of SAO and complete whatever quest was asked of her, and maybe... just maybe... to become the first person to beat the game in the process, something that not even the beta-testers had been able to do during their time there! Yes, there was nothing Ruby wanted more than to live out her most precious dreams in a fantastic realm of existence, hopes and dreams that had spurred her on towards her career to become a Huntress in the first place.

Closing her eyes as the small device whirs to life, she readies her first NerveGear command.

"Link Start!"

SHHHOOOOOM!

Black turns to white as a myriad of colors explode into her plane of consciousness, five sensory checksums taking place and passing before inputting the default language and zooming her forward into a small dark room. And suddenly, the entire area lights up with the opening title screen.

WELCOME TO SWORD ART ONLINE

"Whoaaa..." Ruby slowly begins at the brilliant display when in the blink of an eye, she's suddenly in a town square.

"Wait... Huh?"

Ruby's vision clears as the square and its many inhabitants come into focus, a real testament to the fact that there really are 10,000 people who have already registered their avatars with the game! A small window appears over her head, the semi-transparent letters easily legible.

FLOOR 1: TOWN OF BEGINNINGS

Her subsequent grin is to the widest proportions as she clenches her fists to her face in her excitement.

"Oh this is gonna be so much-"

"Fun?"

"Eek!" Ruby cries out at the strangely familiar voice behind her, turning slowly to see two girls behind her that she doesn't quite recognize... Until... "Y-Yang?!"

The first of the two girls is in a medieval gold and yellow dress, though very low cut at the top. She's wearing a pair of leather boots which almost look like combat boots, and though her golden hair is as wild as always, her eyes are now blue.

"Meh, can you believe they didn't have a lilac-eyed avatar? That sucks," she begins before smirking at her little sister, "Apparently they didn't have silver-eyed or red-highlighted options either, heh~"

"Oh no, they didn't? I didn't even notice!" Ruby replies as she reaches for her brunette shoulder-length hair before the second of the three girls comments.

"You needn't worry. You look fine," the second girl comments quietly with a small smile. Her outfit is practically the polar opposite of Yang's - a simple black long dress with grey and violet highlights covering her beautiful form, her straight flat jet-black hair falling effortlessly to her waist around her pale complexion and hazel eyes.

"Or amber eyes either, for that matter," Yang adds while glancing pointedly at the second girl, revealing her identity.

"B-Blake?" Ruby ekes out with a slight blush at the quiet girl's beauty.

"That's right," she replies with a smirk, "I couldn't help giving the game a try after you explained it in so much detail. I guess my curiosity got to me..."

"Curious like a cat~" Yang adds while tussling her partner's hair, the girl in question wincing and shrinking back adorably from the unexpected contact.

"But your cat ears are gone, Blake!" Ruby exclaims before clamping her mouth with her hands at the mention of her teammate's secret. But far from being upset, Blake merely reaches up and pats herself on the head.

"I suppose not," she remarks with a growing smile, "No need to hide who I am out of fear of ridicule or discrimination? This is a world I can get used to..."

"D'awww, warming up to this weirdo place already~" Yang declares as she pulls in both girls for a group hug, the two unfortunate victims grunting uncomfortably under the close proximity, "I love you guys~"

"And I hate you all! You're all idiots!"

The three girls turn to stare at their assailant. It doesn't take more than a second to see that the fourth girl, dressed in a slightly lacier light-grey dress with white stockings and a red sash and trimmings is clearly Weiss.

"I can't believe you two left me back at Beacon to start up my equipment on my own! I had half a mind to leave you be and do something more constructive with my time! ...Are you dunces even listening!?"

Indeed they weren't. Of all of them, Weiss was the one who looked most like herself, her white hair tied back into its regal side-ponytail and her icy blue eyes flashing as they always did in their anger. But what stunned the girls was just how beautiful this young woman was in her new attire, her avatar nearly identical to the real thing, except...

"Hey, your scar is gone..." Yang comments slowly, reaching forward almost as if to touch Weiss' face.

But reeling back to avoid contact, the miffed girl merely places both hands on her hips and retorts, "Well of course there's no scar, this is just a game... so anyway, since we're all stuck here, what's the point of this game anyway?"

"Uh, right," Ruby begins once she's sure the heiress' anger has subsided and all three girls now glare at her expectantly, "Well, this castle has lots of floors, and we gotta get to the top to beat the game. Now I didn't totally exactly read the whole manual before getting here, so-"

"Upupupupup!" Weiss sternly interrupts with a raised hand, "You're telling us that you just dove into this game without reading the manual first?"

Ruby nervously nods as she offers quietly, "Well yeah... I just, thought I'd play it by ear-"

"Then that's it, I'm logging out and am going to read the manual before even thinking of rejoining you three!" Weiss declares resolutely before staring at the space in front of her with some confusion, "Well... except... how does one log out?"

"Guess you should've read the manual before going full-dive!" Ruby retorts with playful mockery as she sticks her tongue out at her reddening partner.

"Grr..."

"Ladies, behave," Blake exhorts as she stands in between the two of them before big things get broken in the very public plaza.

Yang can't help a small chuckle at the sight. Only a few minutes into the game and somehow, Blake has already found it in herself to take initiative in stopping team fights... Whereas before, she would've contented herself with staying back on the sidelines and reading a book.

"Heh, keep that up and I'll be out of a job as Peacekeeper, Blakey~" Yang comments off-handedly to her partner as the heiress takes a deep breath to relax herself.

Ruby simply scratches her head sheepishly with a goofy smile, "Sorry guys, I guess I got carried away. As starting players, we have a limited amount of currency... So I'd say it's a good idea to get supplies first."

"Okay Rubes," Yang replies with a grin, "Where do we start?"

The four girls merely look at each other for a moment before responding in unison.

"Weapons."

"How much lien for this?" Weiss asks a shopkeeper in the town's populated strip markets as she points to a simple rapier on display.

"Cor," Blake corrects good-naturedly, "Short for 'Coin of Radius', which likely means 'Currency of Aincrad'."

This earns an awed grin from Ruby nearby who overheard the exchange, "That's awesome Blake! You figure things out quickly."

"What's an Aincrad?" Weiss asks, earning a scoff from the shopkeep, "Hey, new player here."

"Aincrad is the name of this place, I think," Yang provides as she slowly scans a few weapons on her side of the display.

"Very well then," Weiss begins once more as she turns to the shopkeep, "How much cor for the rapier?"

"Hmm," the burly man stops to think before replying gruffly, "You're new here, so I'll cut you and your friends some slack since its opening day. Six hundred Cor."

Weiss' face goes white(r) as the confirmation window appears right in front of her, "B-But, I only have a thousand Cor..."

"Kinda sucks not being rich anymore, don't it?~" Yang teases as she's close enough to the heiress so no one else can hear.

"Well," the man defends, "That's what all newbs have when they arrive, and they usually have different priorities after doing so. Like food and lodging. Not many think of a weapon until having fulfilled a few beginners quests in town!"

But having none of it, Weiss glowers at the man, "Then how did you manage to get all this-"

"NPC," Ruby quickly rushes over, whispering into Weiss' ear, "He's a Non-Player Character that just owns the shop. Not an actual person!"

Weiss promptly facepalms before slamming her free hand on the confirmation window and purchasing the sword, "Well sir, you must spend money to make money."

Fastening the sword to her side, the heiress watches as the rest of her team purchases weapons. Blake is the next one, having found a grey katana with a black and violet hilt that seemed to fit her style well enough for 480 Cor. Ruby was the next one, who even though wasn't able to find anything near a scythe or rifle, settled with a curved falx blade for a thrifty 300 Cor. Of all of them, Yang was the one having the greatest issue picking out a weapon.

"How about that one-handed sword?" Ruby asks in hopes of finding a good fit for her sister who had never really handled a blade before.

"No way! I'll leave goofy sword-work to Jaune, thank you very much."

"How about that hammer?"

"Mm, nah. Besides, that's Nora's thing, not mine."

"Oh! What about that axe then?"

The sisters share a glance that each scream the name Peter Port.

"Ew! No!"

"Uuugh, why don't these people have any gauntlets?" Yang asks in frustration, the girls surprised to see no flames erupting from the usually fiery blonde.

"Well miss, this world focuses on sword skill," the shopkeep offers curtly, "So bladed weapons will be in highest demand, though there are rumors of higher-level monster and boss drops that might be more of what you're looking for. But in the Town of Beginnings, this is the best we have."

Deadpanning at the shopkeep's blunt remark, Yang is surprised to see that he's referring to something behind the display, her head cocking to the side as he pulls out what looks to be two brass knuckles but with three sharp dagger-like claws emerging from the ends.

"Hmm... They do look more my style..." Yang contemplates as she tries them on, "Though I'd have to change my technique a bit because of the claws..."

"Keke, a newb player like yourself here on the first day already talking about a technique? That's cute."

"That's right," Yang adds, her blue eyes darkening a bit as she narrows them at the man, "Maybe you'd like me to show-"

"Yang!" Ruby cuts in, glaring at her sister intently, "We're looking to buy things from this very nice man, so let's play nice, okay?"

"Fin- oh no I'm not!" She replies as she looks at the price of the weapons she's holding, "Seven hundred seventy-five Cor!?"

"The durability for these things need to be much higher since they're suited for close combat. That kind of weapon easily goes for at least a thousand Cor!" The man retorts.

"Ugh, fine."

775 Cor exit Yang's reserves as she's equipped with her new weapons.

"A pleasure doing business with you ladies!" The shopkeep calls out with a wave as the miffed ladies continue making their way down the market street.

"Now what?" Weiss asks as the girls marvel at the colors, sights and sounds of the people moving about and enjoying the day around them. It seems so strange how little of a difference there looks to be between the real world and this virtual one.

"Wellll," Ruby begins with a pensive expression, drawing out her first word, "This is an RPG, which means we'll have to grind to get our stats and levels up, and- HEY!"

She yelps in surprise as a young man with medium black hair sprints between her and another civilian, his only weapon seeming to be a sheathed longsword as he gets further away.

"S-Sorry!" He turns back and apologizes just as he screeches to a stop and makes his way down an alley.

"Huh, that person sure seems to know where he's going," Blake comments thoughtfully, "Should we follow him? He may be able to help us."

"Looks like someone already beat you to the idea," Yang replies as she points out a scruffy-faced man with pink long hair in the crowd begin to chase after the boy.

"Ah well, I bought a floor map nearby to find a good training area," Blake begins before looking at Weiss' narrowed eyes.

"Blake Belladonna, you still have Five hundred twenty Cor in your reserves," she announces in an accusatory tone.

"I... borrowed, a floor map to find a good training area. I-I was curious to see if one could do that sort of thing in this world without getting caught!" the worried girl reasons with a pleading expression.

"Hmph, it seems that Wukong's affinity for petty theft has rubbed off on you, Blake. In any case, it is for a worthy cause, I suppose. You and Ruby may lead the way."

"Ow!" Weiss exclaims as she's bucked back yet again by a Blue Boar, "That actually hurt!"

"Oh stop whining, it's discomfort but it's not actually pain," Ruby remarks as the three giggling girls watch Weiss take on the beast yet again in the fast fields outside the town.

"If anything, this should bring back some memories from the time you fought the Boarbatusk in Port's class, eh?" Yang teases with another chuckle.

"Ehehe, 'weren't expecting that, were you young lady'?" Ruby adds in her deepest voice in a Peter Port imitation, puffing out her cheeks and holding out her arms to give her the largest appearance she can have which sends both Yang and Blake reeling back in tears of laughter.

"YOW!" Weiss yells again as she's blindsided by another charge, the three girls looking up to check if she's alright.

"Be careful, Weiss! It'll kill you at this rate!" Ruby calls out in worry as the boar readies another attack.

"Fine! This beast is impossible to defeat anyway - none of my attacks are causing it significant damage! But that won't keep me from trying!"

"You're just not doing it right!" Ruby yells once more, the heiress now paying attention to her as she continues.

"From what I did read in the manual, the game uses some kind of charge attack motion! It's a timing thing - just hold your attack at the ready, focus on the area of intended impact, and release! It's called a Sword Skill."

"Like when I summon my glyphs!?"

"Exactly!"

"Oh for the love of-" Weiss begins before flipping out of the way of yet another charge to put some distance between her and the boar.

The three girls now watch as the heiress now gets into combat position once more, her body in perfect form as she and her opponent stare each other down. As it begins its charge, the girl closes her eyes and breathes deeply as she holds her rapier at the ready. And to her team's surprise, the blade begins glowing light blue as an audible charging sound is heard before she lunges forward at impressive speeds and slashes right through the Blue Boar.

It doesn't even have time to take another step before dimming and exploding into a million digitized pieces.

"YEAHHH!" The three girls exclaim in unison at the panting heiress' victory before Ruby turns to address her team.

"Alright girls, you saw the lady! Let's grind!"

A few hours later, the girls sit comfortably along a meandering meadow hill, viewing the setting sun after a long grind. Blake and Yang are enjoying the view of the many platforms around this fantasy world, a large column in the distance seemingly supporting the sky above them and a whirl of orange and purple clouds that drift along in the afternoon breeze. Weiss, however, looks completely exhausted, arm over her eyes as she lays back while Ruby excitedly checks her stats.

"Wow guys, I think we all leveled up at least five times with today's grind, which is so cool!"

"Heh, I don't even know what that means," Blake replies with a chuckle.

"It means we're making pretty good headway to beating the first floor boss! Usually, a good rule of thumb to comfortably defeating those guys is to be ten levels above the floor number!"

"So... our goal is to hit level eleven?" Yang asks curiously.

"Yep! And looking at this menu," Ruby continues with even more excitement, "I think we can even use Party Mode!"

"Whoop-dee-doo..." Weiss cheers weakly from her spot, the only movement made being a slow fist pump in the air. Ruby's about to chuckle at the amusing sight before she turns to her team.

"W-Wait... I almost forgot to ask. How'd you guys even get here? There were only ten thousand copies sold, and I never saw you guys bring anything into the room."

Blake and Yang trade a grin before the blonde speaks up, "Well, we knew how excited you were about this game coming out and we wanted to surprise you! Turns out, Oobleck won some kind of speed race or something a few months back and received several pre-orders of SAO as a reward. So technically, there may even be other Beacon peeps in the game right now, but he never agreed to say who to avoid jelly drama and all that stuff..."

"Jelly Drama?" Blake echoes with an amused cocked brow.

"That's right, Blakey! So we waited for you to dive into the game before bringing in the extra equipment Oobleck gave us and dove in with ya, Rubes!"

"D'awwww, you guys are the best!" Ruby exclaims with teary eyes as she ambushes her two teammates with an attack hug before looking over at the still-tired Weiss.

"But Weiss seemed so against it..."

"Nah, that's just Weiss being Weiss, she was just makin a fuss earlier cuz she's just not used to shopping when it's not her who things are being bought for!"

"Hey! You're the same way, Xiao Long!" Weiss retorts from her spot, still not bothering to move.

"Except I wasn't complaining about it," Yang quips politely, "I just decided to enjoy the cute boys gawking at us at the gaming depot~"

Blake scoffs at the last remark, "Perv, I saw how you were teasing them. It should be considered sexual harassment for someone as... endowed... as yourself to dress the way you do."

"Well it's not my fault they stare!" Yang points out before resigning herself to a light shrug, "Besides, I like me a cute gamer guy."

"Enough. Of the arguing," Weiss now begins, suddenly crouched beside the group and Pinching the bridge of her nose, "Or by Monty's name, I'm going to have a conniption!"

"Okayyy!" Ruby states quickly as she hops up, hands held out placatingly at her partner as she recalls the heiress' last meltdown that practically turned an entire sector of Beacon into a scene from Frozen, "I think we can all call it a day! How about we log out and calm down over some hot dinner!"

Blake reaches both arms over her head and gives a nice long yawn and stretch before standing up, "Sounds good to me. I have some leftover tuna in the fridge."

Now standing, the girls turn to look at Ruby once more before Weiss impatiently raises her arms to her sides.

"Well? Are you going to tell us how to log out?"

"Oh right!" the crimsonette begins quickly, raising her hand until a small window appears, "You lift up your hand in front of you like this until the command window comes up right here, and form there it's a lot like using a scroll - you go to the Main Menu and select... wait..."

Ruby furrows her brows as she tries it again, her teammates following her lead and slowly reaching the same conclusion in turn.

"Uh, Rubes... Where's the Log Out option?" Blake asks with growing concern.

"U-Um, I'm not really sure, guys... it should be right here. I'm trying to call the GM for help."

Yang raises a brow, "General Manager?"

"Game Master," Blake corrects while slowly shaking her head at her partner.

"It's no use," Weiss begins, the three girls glancing at her with confusion, "I've been staring at an empty dial tone for nearly a minute already and no one is answering!"

Letting her command window drop, Ruby looks down, trying to piece together the situation, "Well it could be a glitch. Either way, I bet all the developers are scrambling around or something right now to get it-"

DONGGG! DONGGG!

The repeated rings of the town bell in the distance catch the teams attention, not much time for anything else to be said before all four girls are suddenly dematerialized only to find themselves crammed in the town square once more.

"Wha-! What just happened!" Weiss cries out at the sudden change of scenery.

Looking at her own rematerialized body, Ruby shrugs, "We were just forcibly teleported to the main plaza, I think we're about to find out why."

"Look."

The girls follow Blake's lead as she points up to a growing number of blood red cells in the sky around the arena, each one with the same message:

[WARNING: System Announcement]

"What's goin on?" Yang asks quietly before everyone in the arena draws back at the sight of a dark red goop that leaks down between the red cells and slowly materializes into a gigantic hooded figure, a black haze leaking out of every opening in its cloak.

Many gasp at the imposing sight, but the four girls immediately unsheath their weapons, ready for anything.

"Ruby, is this some sort of event?" Blake asks as she hold her katana by her side.

"I dunno, but it looks like he has something to say." And sure enough, a moment later the figure speaks.

Attention, players, it begins by holding its arms out in a gesture of greeting, I welcome you to my world. My name is Alihiko Kayaba, and as of this moment... I am in control of this world.

"Wait, I know that name!" Ruby exclaims in a hushed whisper to her team, "That's the man who made SAO and developed the game!"

"Then what does he want!" Weiss replies in an equally repressed tone, "I doubt this is his idea of simply making an entrance - I'm getting a very bad feeling about this!"

I'm sure most of you have already noticed an item missing from your main menus, the figure continues as it pulls up a command window with the letters GM above it, the Log Out button. Let me assure you, this is not a defect in the game. I repeat, this is not a defect. This, is how Seord Art Online was designed to be.

"He's... kidding, right?" Yang asks her sister with a less-than-convincing chuckle.

You cannot log yourselves out of SAO, And no one from the outside will be able to shut down or remove the NerveGear from your head. If anyone attempts to do so, a transmitter inside the NerveGear will discharge a microwave signal into your skull, destroying your brain... And ending your life.

And with that, the girls could only listen with increasing dismay as the Game Master displayed news images of over two hundred attempts made by family and friends of other SAO players to free them despite his warnings to the physical world, each one ending in the death of the respective players.

It is important that you remember the following: There is no longer any way to revive someone within the game. If your HP reaches zero, your avatar will be deleted from the system forever - and the NerveGear will simultaneously destroy your brain. There is only one way for a player to escape now: You must clear the game.

Yang's arms drop to her side as she absently shakes her head in half-hearted denial, "It can't... It can't be."

Last but not least, I've left a little present in the item storage of every player. Please, take a look.

Without any other resort, all the players go through their menus and find the item in question, Ruby being one of the first to select it and summon it to her hand.

"A... Mirror?"

And not a second later, each player is surrounded by a bright light, the people beginning to panic until the lights finally die down.

"Guys? Guys! Ohmygosh thank goodness you're all here!" Ruby cries out as she pulls in her team as soon as her vision recovers.

"Yes. Thankfully, those lights didn't seem to- wait a minute," Blake stops as they pull back from the hug and get a good look at each other, "You're all back to your normal selves!"

And looking into their mirrors, each girl finds it to be the case - their eyes, hair, and even unique attributes to their faces are now visible in the virtual world. They look around at the growing number of exclamations in the plaza and with good reason; many people now look very different from the avatars they'd chosen, and there was a significantly lower amount of girls than had been originally seen.

"Blake," Yang begins as she notices her partner, "Your bow!"

"You seriously went into the game wearing that thing!?" Weiss asks in disbelief.

The Faunus in question merely shrugs, "Well, one can't be too careful... And besides," she pauses as she picks up her bow to reveal a still completely normal head of hair, "My second pair of ears were never registered."

"Of course!" Ruby now begins with a snap of her fingers, "The NerveGear has high-density scanning capabilities which surely would've been enough to capture what we really look like! Which also explains why it got only Blake's bow, too!"

"But what about our bodies?" Yang asks, motioning at her much fuller figure before breaking out a wide grin, "Though I'm not complaining, it's nice to have my puppies back at full size!"

The blonde's laughter is cut short by a quiet whimper from the heiress' direction, the girls turning to look at their somewhat deflated teammate looking down and crossing her arms over her now more true-to-life chest.

"Ohhh, I liked the new ones while they lasted..."

"Aw don't worry, Weiss!~" Yang begins with a knowing smirk that her teams already knows can mean only one thing, "No need to go bust-ing out a frown over little things like that!~"

Blake widens her eyes, "Um... Was that one of your two-for-one puns?"

The blonde brawler thinks about it for a bit before coming to realize her accidental genius, "Well but of course!~ Haha, I didn't even realize the 'little' part until you mentioned it!"

The three girls then glare at the brawler, Weiss' face clearly the reddest, "WELL THAT'S RUDE!"

"Oh c'mon," Yang begins coolly as she shrugs off their ill intentions toward her, "You two are just taking Weiss' side only because you both as well have only- YOW! Jeez, Ruby! You punched me in the boob!"

And as Yang rubs one of her injured twins to soothe the pain, Ruby merely retorts, "I guess bigger clearly isn't always better, is it!"

"But how?" Blake now asks, surveying her own dress which is slightly more filled out as well, "Our faces I understand, but how did the game know about out body types?"

"Well, remember how the first time you put on the NerveGear it did a calibration and asked you to touch your body all over like this?" Ruby replies while patting herself all over and receiving a nod from her teammates.

"Yes, it's actually what delayed us from meeting you earlier."

"Then there you go!"

"Uuugh..." Weiss now chips in once more, "Clearly, this is a man who created an entire world only to play God and intervene as he wishes."

"Actually, I think he just said that," a now recovered Yang adds while pointing at the Game Master, "Paraphrased, of course."

"I'm pretty sure that's not how you use the word 'Paraphrase'," Blake huffs under her breath at the linguistic misstep, but is unable to provide further correction as the GM now continues one more time.

This marks the end of the Tutorial, and the official launch of Sword Art Online. Players, I wish you the best of luck.

And with that, the giant hooded figure disintegrates and exits the way it appeared, the reddened hue surrounding the entire plaza now gone. This, of course, permits the crowd to enter into increasing states on unrest.

"Guys. We gotta go, right now!" Ruby begins as desperate people start to wail and scream helplessly around them at their somber fate. She tries to pull her sister after her, but turns back when Yang tanks her wrist out of Ruby's grasp.

"Wait. Shouldn't we stay here and help protect the people? ...You know, establish order and stuff?"

"No."

Surprisingly, or not surprisingly, it's Weiss who states this and quickly continues in her defense, "I'm with Ruby on this one. If we want to protect the people, it'll be by doing whatever it takes to defeat this hell-ridden game! Even if it means leaving the civilians to their own devices."

"But why leave? Doesn't this place have everything we need?" Blake asks, taking her place next to Yang and crossing her arms in Blake's subtle show of defiance.

"Not for long," Ruby responds, causing the expressions to soften on the two girls' faces, "Most people will stay here where it's easiest, but there's not enough currency and goods to go around. Leveling up to defeat the boss on this level, let alone any future bosses, will become way too hard if we stay here!"

Yang still huffs at the proposition, "But how can you know that for sure, Rubes?"

"Look. I may not have Jaune's natural talent for coming up with a solid plan in real life, but in a game, it's different. I know how these games work, and with Blake's stolen map along with our Huntress training, we can be ready to take out the first floor boss in no time! ...And with any luck, together the four of us can make it to the hundredth floor and end this game!"

The girls take a moment to consider before nodding in assent. Blake then voices her thoughts to the leader.

"Fine. But I still take offense to that map statement."

And as the girls filed out of the plaza, following Blake's map to a nearby village, each girl weighed their situation.

They were in an unfamiliar and unforgiving world with unknown danger.

Their resources were limited, along with in-game experience.

And finally, along with their general disadvantage, they knew they were at as much in a life-or-death situation as they would be with a real-life mission as Huntresses.

"Guys, this is it," Ruby begins as they stand at the outer gate of the town, a meandering path through the golden meadows ahead of them leading to the next village which seems to harbor more opportunities to gain experience and cash, "We have to get back to Remnant... There's just too much to lose otherwise."

"That's right," Yang concurs with a resolved expression.

"Hey, look over there," Blake suddenly interjects, pointing at a lone figure speeding through the paths ahead of them, "That looks like the young man who bumped into Ruby earlier. Except he's alone."

"Very true..." Weiss adds as she stares at him before blinking in surprise, "Oh! Did any of you see that? He just went through that Beowolf-like creature with a single slash from his sword! He must be strong... I say we follow him and observe his tactics!"

"Alrighty then!" Ruby declares, the air of leadership surrounding her determined features as her team's attention is fixed wholly onto her, "All in favor of going to the next village, learning more about this young man, and becoming the first team to beat SAO and free everyone from this world say aye!"

"YEAH!" The girls now exclaim in unison, four fists pumping into the air with resolution.

"..."

"What?"

"What's wrong?"

"It's just... None of you said aye..."

A/N: Hi there, TPS here! This is definitely a first for me with the possibility of a crossover fic. You see, I noticed recently that there are only six SAO themed RWBY fics on this site. Six. I had to change that... To seven :)

Now, after having binge-watched all two seasons of SAO in less than two days, I realized that this idea was causing me serious writer's block in my other fics, and now that it's been removed, I can continue working on Chronicle, Jaune Arc: The Force Unleashed, and John Carter of Remnant in peace! :D That being said, however, I still do feel this can be an ongoing fic!

So by all means, feel free to Fave, Follow and Review as it'll help show your support for this fic and give me an idea on if I should continue. And I'm definitely open to plot lines, arcs, and even pairings suggested by you awesome readers, so don't hesitate to let me know! :D

However, I just have a main question: if I introduce Kirito, would that make this story a crossover story that I'd need to move to its respective crossover section? If I go to chapter 2, I think many of you can see where the story is heading character-wise. So, it's a fair question :) In any case, until next time!

And Happy Reading!