Now Akio was standing in an empty grassland with nobody around him, or so he thought.
"Hello, Akio."
He swung his head around to see his boss in his admin attire. It was just a dark figure in a red robe, everything apart from the two developers suddenly turned black and white as the world surrounding them was frozen in time. Kayaba was in front of him, standing only a few inches taller than he was. "Boss? Thank god you're here... I was about to call you when I realised the logout button was gone."
"I know," he simply said. "Akio"
But Akio interrupted his boss, "I think we need to force a logoff, get everyone out of this game and sort out the problem. I'll contact Nishida…"
"Akio" Kayaba interrupts. "It's not a bug."
"...What?" Akio squinted his eyes in confusion as his boss brought up his menu.
"I think it best for my other self to explain..." he pressed the confirmation button on his screen which teleported Akio away.
"Ah! What the hell?"
Nomad was brought to the Colosseum in the centre of town. The skies turned into a red hexagon that had a message in the centre that said, «Warning». More appeared with the phrase «SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT» inside of them.
"Maybe it's gotta do with the logout problem," Nomad heard one player say and many other conversations like it.
Taking his time to observe his surroundings, Nomad saw more players with various equipment and avatars. It didn't take a genius to figure out that every player in SAO was teleported here.
Still trying to process the situation, Akio could only wait and see what anyone had to say.
Suddenly, a thick red liquid, equivalent to blood, leaked from between the spaces of the hexagons. It pooled and formed a large robed figure with no visible face under his hood.
"Is that the Game Master?" asked a random voice in the crowd.
"Kayaba..." Nomad whispered.
The giant spirit in a red robe raised his hands as if he were giving a greeting to his guests. "Attention, players," the GM announced, "I welcome you to my world. My name is Akihiko Kayaba."
"The game creator?" A person muttered as he was amazed that the man behind the creation of Sword Art Online appeared before everyone in such a form. Almost like a god-like entity in his world.
"And, as of this moment, I am in control of it."
"Damn right you are," Nomad said to himself. "What are you up to boss?"
"I believe most of you have already noticed an item missing from your menus- the Logout button. Let me assure you: this is not a defect in the game."
Nomad was rigid with shock, "What?!"
The GM swiped open his menu, pressing a few buttons to disable the Logout feature. "I repeat: this is not a defect. This is how Sword Art Online was designed to be, It is all part of the system."
"P...Part of the S-System?" a player muttered out brokenly.
'No... No! It never has! What are you talking about?', Nomad's blood felt colder at this announcement, the game that both of them had been working hard for had just turned into one of Japan's biggest crises.
"No one can log themselves 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."
The crowd was less than pleased to hear this announcement and voiced their displeasure. "What the hell does that mean!?"
"Are you serious!?"
"This can't be real!"
"Let's get out of here!" A boy and girl attempted to leave the arena but were blocked off by an invisible wall. "Hey! I can't get out!"
"That's not possible. The system can't do that?"
Akio listened in on one player's conversation. "...the transmitter signal in NerveGear works just like a microwave. If the safety's disabled, it can fry your brain." Akio was feeling more and more uneasy right now, he just felt extremely guilty that design could have been averted if the game wasn't as big as it should have been.
"Couldn't someone cut the power?" one of the players asked him.
"No, they couldn't," Nomad explained, knowing some of the design of the NerveGear, "But the NerveGear has an internal battery that could last for years." The player looked down in dismay simply learning up to Nomad words.
"It can be true..." he mutters.
"To be more specific about the condition of the dead. Disconnecting from an outside electrical source for ten minutes, Being cut off from the system for more than two hours or any attempts to dismantle, remove or destroy the NerveGear will result in the immediate termination of the brain. This of course has been made known to the public."
Nomad could see a female player right next to him. She couldn't stop her hand from shaking. There's no way, she thought. This can't be happening, not right now. What's gonna happen to the real me? Her looks could only enhance Akio's guilt.
"Despite my warning," the GM continued, "the families and friends of some of the players have attempted removing the NerveGear...an unfortunate decision to say the least. As a result, the game now has two hundred and thirteen fewer players than when it began. They've been deleted from both Aincrad and the real world. As you see, international media outlets have round-the-clock coverage of everything, including the deaths." With that sentence came several screens of popular media websites, displaying the headlines about the two hundred and thirteen fallen players.
Nomad's mind refuses to believe what he's just heard. But Kayaba's words and the media pierced his thoughts with a dense ferocity. Akio looked down at his hands and noticed that his hands were filled with blood. Panic, the admin blinked and there the blood was gone. '213 people. By my hands' he thought deeply as he stared at the floating screens. It's were multiple news channels from all over the world broadcasting about the death of the player wearing the NerveGear.
And the thought of death in-game was becoming more prominent as time passed. 'The NerveGear will destroy our brains.' That was what everyone thought.
"At this point, it's safe to assume the likelihood of a NerveGear being removed is minimal at best. I hope this brings you a little comfort trying to clear the game."
"What! Is this true!"
He drew in a shaky breath and looked back to the GM. "Unfortunately."
"It's important to remember the following: there is no longer any way to revive someone within the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be deleted from the system forever and the NerveGear will simultaneously destroy your brain." The crowd grew deathly silent; not a word was said. "There is only one way to escape now: you must clear the game."
"What?!"
"No way!"
"That's impossible," Shouted someone. "Some of the beta testers couldn't make it past Floor 3."
"Right now, you are gathered on Floor 1, the lowest level of Aincrad. If you can get through the dungeon and defeat the boss, you may advance to the next floor. Defeat the boss on Floor 100 and you will clear the game." The crowd grew uneasy at the thought of having to advance to the most difficult boss in the game without dying just to get back to the real world alive. "Last, but not least, I've placed a little present in the Item Storage in the menu of every player. Please have a look."
Everyone swiped open their menus and found the item. "A mirror?" Nomad took the item out. It was a small mirror the size of a tablet, showing nothing but the reflection of their avatars. Then, a bright blue light surrounded each player.
When the light faded, Akio looked again in the mirror to see his deep brown-blue eyes looking back at him. His hair was back to its usual shortcut form and he grew back to his normal height and colour. There was a good amount of confusion as everyone had reverted to their actual selves, some wondering who the other was, others complaining about them being the wrong gender.
Akio looked into the hand mirror, 'Looks like the sensors worked alright.' He thought.
"Why would anyone do this!?" Someone shouted caring for Nomad's attention, why would his boss do such a thing?
"Right now, you're probably wondering why. Why would Akihiko Kayaba, developer of Sword Art Online and NerveGear do this? Ultimately, my goal was a simple one. The reason I created Sword Art Online was to control the fate of a world of my design."
'So you wanted to play the part of a god, you sick monster', Nomad thought, clenching his hand in rage. "As you can see, I have achieved my goal. This marks the end of the tutorial and the official launch of Sword Art Online. Players, I wish you the best of luck." The avatar slowly dissipated into a cloud of red smoke, leaving the players' sight.
Except for Nomad, he was back in the previous field where he last met his boss. Tensions between the two developers were tense. Around them was a massive spotlight that shone down on the two and the world seemed to temporarily slow down.
"Wasn't this our dream, Akio?" Nomad's eye suddenly turned sharply towards the hooded man and he violently stomped and tried to grab the admin but the admin disappeared and reappeared behind Nomad.
"My dream?" Akio laughs almost psychotically, "MY DREAM?!" He snapped. "When mass killing thousands becomes part of MY dream, Kayaba!"
Akio's eyes were almost in tears when looking into the empty void of the crimson hood. "I believed in you, boss. So many did, and you just made us into murderers."
"Akio. They do not matter to me as much as you. You're the genius who helped me to create this world."
"And look where we are now, Kayaba! 213 people's heads were blown to bits by the NerveGear."
"I did try to warn them."
"Did you think that anyone would believe that this would turn into a death game?!" Akio angrily cried, "What in the right mind you thought that I'd be alright with this? Who thinks this is ok? Who deserves this?" He paused and took a deep sigh, "What would Rinko think of this?!"
"Professor Koujiro Rinko?" He said with dispassion. "She was a star like you, Akio. It was a pity to let her go."
"Y-you fired her?!" Akio cried. "Why?"
"That doesn't matter now, Akio." Kayaba changes the subject. "Sword art online was designed to be beaten by the players who found themselves in this world. This is a game, not a prison.
"It is a madman's creation," Akio spat with venom.
Kayaba sighed in disappointment, "It's a real shame you don't share my vision, Akio. I always thought more of you, but you're like the rest of them. Just remember I gave you this chance, you should be loyal to what I gave you."
"I know and I was." Akio sighed, "But you just proved something. You're a monster Kayaba, a heartless monster. And if loyal is what you want then I guess I'm going rogue..."
"Have it your way, just remember who also made this possible as well. From today your rank of admin is now voided and your equipment will be nerfed to a beginner's level. Godspeed, Akio Fujimura, I wish you the best of luck." Kayaba vanished with a single blink and the time went back to normal.
Seeing a blue light up ahead, a dire wolf spawns directly in front of Nomad. Without hesitation, He charged ahead and brought out his Sabre and immediately the ridden handle formed a short single-sided curved blade that is identical to a Kukri knife.
Ignoring the odd feeling that was considered in his chest, Nomad charged forward giving out an intimidating battle cry.
This was his game and he's not going to lose to it. It's his responsibility to defeat it.
***
The crowd had become silent once again, a mirror dropped and shattered. A girl screamed. Panic had set in and everyone was rushing out. He spotted his friend and went up to them, Skoll grabbed Yui and Jin and ran for the nearest exit. From there, Skoll led the two into a safer part of town, well away from the crowd. They all slumped over, panting, trying to process the situation.
"So...now what?" Jin said in between breaths. "It's practically every man for himself! This isn't how it was supposed to be! Shit!"
"This is not real!" Yui shouted brokenly as rivers of tears formed in her eyes. "This is not real! Mom, Dad...
"It has to be a joke. This can't be happening! I don't want to die!" Jin frantically cried.
The scream, roar, cry, and begging could be heard throughout the plaza as ten thousand players were now prisoners of Sword art online.
Despite the unbearable noise and screaming of the people, Skoll's mind was oddly cool.
'This is not a game anymore...' Skoll told himself. What Kayaba had declared and told him was all true then this world is the closest thing to reality. Because if someone died in-game...
They die in real life.
The NerveGear was designed to be the next generation of gaming where people could meet, greet and have fun, not a prison or a tool of death.
Skoll felt worried about the threat surrounding all of them. It seemed like Yui needed to be snapped out of her daze. She slumped to the ground, hands shaking. Jin knelt in front of her and laid a hand on her shoulder. Tears leaked from her eyes as she threw her arms around him, crying into his shoulder. "I-It can't be! I can't lose you two. You're my best friends! Y-You can't die... I don't want to die..."
Skoll too got to his knees and comforted the two tightly. He felt heartbroken by their reactions but managed to keep his cool. "No one is going to die, Yui. I don't intend on dying here. We'll die if we do nothing about our levels." Skoll said as the two gazed at him. "When me and Nomad were in the beta test it took me a few weeks to get to the right level to defeat the first boss. But that was me and Nomad by ourselves, with all of us we could do this in a few days!"
"But then it means fighting the monsters in the lands... If our health reaches zero, then..." Yui's words start to stutter with the mention of death but quickly Skoll moves to change the subject.
"Have faith in me, Yui. Have faith in Jin. Have faith in Nomad, I know he's out there somewhere right now doing the same. I'll guide all of you out of this hell and I'll promise no one will die. I need you to be strong for me Yui, I need you to have faith in yourself" Skoll softly said.
Yui looked at Skoll with a mix of fear and relief. She wiped her tears from her face and finally snapped out of her daze. "You're right, we need to get strong if we want any chance of living."
"What now?" Jin asked Skoll.
"Our first destination is Horunka village. There are no monsters that spawn around Horunka that cause paralysis or equipment destruction. So it is easy for most of us to grind." Skoll calmly said.