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 Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 9:29 pm
 The Town of Beginnings is the largest city of Floor 1. It is the starting city where all Players spawn when they begin their journey in the world of Aincrad. Notable locations include the Black Iron Castle and Room of Resurrection. The Black Iron Castle is a huge castle which houses a hidden dungeon beneath. The Room of Resurrection is the area where Players respawn when they die.
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Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2012 3:18 pm
Nareik Word: 355 Nareik watched the time and saw it was only 15 minutes until the beta test launched. He smiled gently as he set up the Nervegear and the game, then he moved to get in a comfortable position and watch a countdown. Five minutes left. Nareik had requested the day off work so he could play this game. He didn't fully understand his eagerness, but he really wanted to play. Three minutes. Nareik had already waited a week and didn't want to wait much longer. Two. The smile on Nareik's face grew wider as he watched the time move closer. One. Nareik's mind was already racing with what he'd do in the game. The time hit, and Nareik called, "Link Start!"He game sprang to life in Nareik's head and in front of his eyes. He lost a feeling of all the other senses, yet they slowly came. When he fully felt himself again, he found himself staring into a mirror. He heard a little voice saying "Welcome to Sword Art Online, Please customize your avatar." It took a minute, but Nareik figured out how to control the appearance. After setting it up to how he liked, he was given the selection hos his weapon, armor, and skills. He moved through it learning a bit more each step. He weight the cuved blade and the long sword in his hands before deciding on the curved. He chose light armor, and a skill set he figured would be a good set. After passing through the Character builder, he found himself in a large town, He saw people, but wasn't sure if they were players or NPCs. He began to wonder around a bit, looking at stalls and talking to a few of the people. He figured they were all NPCs since hardly any of them carried a sword. Nareik found a foutain in the middle of a plaza and took a seat as he ran a hand through his spiked hair. It felt so real, It was amazing. He sat there and just took it all in for some time, trying to figure out what to do.
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Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 11:16 am
Chris
Words: 585
Chris was too tired. He had been up all last night standing in line to get his NerveGear and his Beta copy of Sword Art Online. He had heard a lot of good praise about this game and he was super excited to jump in. Once he got home he ran into his room. He grabbed a couple energy drinks and downed them quickly. Those drinks were like a slap in the face...with water. He was wide awake now and ready to beat this game. He correctly hooked up his NerveGear up and grabbed Sword Art Online. His mind was already filled with all the possibilities of what he could do in the game. He locked his room's door and layed on his bed. He put the NerveGear on his head. It was kinda cold. It hadn't ever been turned on before so this would be interesting. He correctly turned on the NerveGear and opened his mouth to speak. "There goes my social life, LINK START"
Once the word 'start' excited his mouth the game made all of his senses go black, but only for a second. Colors of all sorts came to Chris' head. It all seemed real. All of his senses were placed in the game. He looked at the welcome screen and heard a female voice speak. "Welcome to Sword Art Online, Please customized your avatar." Chris went immediately into the character customization screen. He wanted to make a strong character that was alot like him. He put all physical features of himself into the character, except his scar on his eyebrow. Once he finished customizing he got to choose his character's armor, weapons and skills. He chose a longsword, he always liked that weapon. All his armor was light armor, he may get something heavier later in the game. After that was done he had to choose one more thing...a name. So many names he could choose. He just chose one that came naturally. Devon. Didn't seem like a bad name. He accepted it and exited the character builder.
At first it was a big flash of blinding white light. Then, slowly but surely everything became visible. The whole world. It was beautiful, blue skies, birds and dragons and other things flying around the sky. He slowly moved his head around. He was new to this and had to get settled in. He looked at his hands. He opened and closed his fists. Everything felt...right. He felt alive. He took a step forward, it was easier than he thought it would be. He looked around at all the players joining the game. The appeared in a blue-ish light. This game was cool. The game maker did an amazing job. He started walking. He heard all of the chatter from the people and NPCs. All the merchants trying to sell their stuff, all the people talking to each other. This was gonna be fun. He walked around the town, what was this called? He read earlier that this was the 'Town of Beginnings' a place where everyone starts.He planned on beating this game, he really wanted to, he was going to be the best.He started running through town, through the alley ways. He felt good. He ran out to the edge of town and decided he needed a little practice. He unsheathed his longsword. He swung it around a bit. He hadn't seen any enemies yet. He decided to sit down and just look at the world.
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Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 3:34 pm
"So how does that make you feel?" a soft and calm voice questioned quietly, the watered down accent that came from an Australian decent touched the masculine voice's words. The male was sitting in a lone chair, blond hair pulled back into a small pony tail and clips holding the loose blond fronds from getting in the way of the grown man's blue eyes. His jaw was rather taught from irritation, his large glasses hiding his annoyance, the slight crease in eyebrows hidden by the thick black rims that held the convex lenses to increase his sight. The male's right cheek was slightly red as if it had been held to long, from the current looks of it that might have been the case as the male's elbow rested on the male's crossed legs. His left cheek was cradled in his palm as the agitated gaze was trained on the large and husky male before him, "Well Dr.Adams, I don't know why I can't stop eating, I think it's cause I am depressed or something...." the male uttered quietly acting like he was sensitive and fragile when he looked like he could snap Carter's neck like a twig with just one hand, "Have you been stressed out lately?" he had questioned, "Well, I work out when I'm stressed." the man uttered, 'So obviously you aren't stressed." he thought in a sarcastic tone before leaning back in his chair, "Any big changes in your life lately?" Carter asked lightly, "My girlfriend just broke up with me, said I didn't pay enough attention to her and was to manly for her." the male huffed in a gruff voice now, his eyes darting to the left away from his fumbling hands. That was obviously a lie, but which part was the lie? Carter leaned forward in his chair looking intent to what the male was going to say, "Manly you say? Interesting, maybe you are eating because your, I dunno, lonely?" Carter stated lightly, "No! I have loads of friends! How could I ever be lonely?" the man asked haughtily, "Any of them have a feminine touch?" the blond asked his voice a bit tense with annoyance, "...no..." he mumbled quietly. Carter nodded lightly and checked his watch, it was his last appointment for the morning, and he had another appointment later at nine o'clock tonight, giving him enough time to play Renatus.
The blond male glanced up to his current client and the male seemed a bit antsy just like he did, "Our time is up. Your next appointment is a week from now, same time." Carter mumbled standing up and taking the clips out of his hair, the blond strands fell messily into his tanned face. The muscled man nodded and held his hand out for a shake, Carter stared at the hand questioning whether it would get crushed again and sighed grasping the male's hand, his fingers were immediately crushed together and he winced. When the male released and left out of the rather plush and overly relaxed room he shook his hand out, trying to get the numbness out of his fingers, "Annoying brutes." he mumbled lightly with a sighed heading to the desk in the back and pulled out a file, the picture of the male was paper clipped to the general records the city provided, he quickly wrote down the male's issues for this week and then set the file back into the drawer with a small pile of other clients. He stood up taking his glasses off to reveal dark blue eyes, not really pretty or amazing, just normal old blue eyes, he turned to look around seeing if he needed anything, he didn't feel like he was forgetting anything so he packed his glasses into their case and pulled out his backpack from a separate drawer, he shoved his glasses into the accessory and then pulled the straps over his arms and onto his back. For today he was wearing rather casual clothing, tan plaid shorts with a white button up and a light blue sweater, it was a bit chilly out today but nothing that wasn't to manageable, he'd probably get home around 9 o'clock, it was a twenty minute walk from here to home, not including what he would pick up to eat and how long that would take, it was only eight for now so that meant that they were still serving breakfast at McDonald's, sounded pretty much okay for the day. He fumbled with the keys in his pocket and moved out of his office closing and locking the door behind him before shoving the keys back into his pocket. The purified white hall that led to his office seemed eerie as usual, the smell of medicine floated in the air, everything seemed sterile. Hopefully it would be because this place was also a treatment center for those with cancer, chemotherapy was often conducted here and well general issues like that, it seemed more like a research facility at times but today it just seemed empty and creepy.
Carter's soft footsteps echoed down the halls as he headed out, not a soul in sight for the morning, most of them were probably having appointments or had yet to arrive here yet, he headed out into the main area, where guests were made to wait until they were called in. A woman sat at the front desk with a smile, her red lips were bright with color and it majorly contrasted her white skin and dark hair, she looked like a modern Snow White. The woman smiled and waved softly to him, her diamond ring winking softly in the light, from the over abundance of waving and more or less trying to make him glance at it she obviously wanted him to ask who she got married to. He decided it would be easier to ignore it, he gave her a light wave and then turned heading out of the bright white place and exited through the double doors, letting the glass door fall back into place. Making his way down the two small sets of stairs and over the grassy lawn of the doctor's research area, he was rather careless to the others about how hard they worked on the lawn to keep it trimmed and neat. Carter crossed two intersections and headed into the McDonalds on the corner and found it to be quite empty, he stood in line behind a teenager who looked like she was going to high school, probably picking something up before her classes started, the nearest high school to this place was only a few blocks south. He watched her quietly while he sat up on the rail, he was observing her emotions dictating whether or not she was eating to eat or if she was actually hungry. She looked tired and ready for anything, she ordered a coffee and a parfait, but by the long glances at menu items like the number one and seven she rather eat those instead. His prediction was that she would change her mind after he ordered and get more, when she paid the man and turned to go stand by the pick up counter she spotted him, she was probably attractive to others but she just looked like another walking target to Carter. She winked at him lightly and he just stared at her with a bored look on his face, he slipped off the rail and walked up to the counter ordering four hash browns and a McGriddle for the hell of it. He paid easily keeping his money hidden so that people didn't think he was a rich fool walking around town like he had something to prove, he had been mugged before and had to get his licenses and such replaced, it was to troublesome to go through again.
Carter waited by the pick up counter and watched the girl from before start to order at the counter again, he smirked lightly knowing he was right, she noticed him smiling and she smiled back offering him another wink. He promptly ignored her turning his attention back to waiting for his food, when the bag was set in front of him he happily accepted it, deciding he would get an arizona ice tea at the seven eleven right next to his apartment. He walked along crossing three intersections and then a cross walk, passing by the street that led down to the local high school, he headed to the largest apartment building sneaking into the lobby rather quickly and making his way over to the elevator, he had forgotten to stop by seven eleven to pick up that arizona ice tea, oh well water would work just as well. Pulling out his keys with his free hand he elbowed the eighth floor button and waited for the elevator to close, a woman came running up waving frantically at him to hold the doors, he didn't. He waved to her lightly as she hit the doors with her hand, he leaned back on the elevator and waited patiently for the metal contraption to slow to a stop on the eighth floor. It was a minute and a half later he was walking down the hall heading right to the end of the hall where the 'luxury' suite was, he had rented the biggest one that had been furnished, liking the empty space. The door clicked open easily and he headed into the large apartment. Windows lined the north side of the building giving him a clear view of the city, it was a higher class apartment despite its location, most of the apartments had some wall lined with windows it was the design of the building after all. His T.V. was rather large in size, he had bought it at a garage sale while visiting his parents, it was five hundred dollars and was capable of HD. It was hooked up to an xbox gaming system given to him by his mother when he graduated high school, a playstation 3 sat next to it, also bought for him by his mother but for when he got his bachelors degree.
A large red sofa was rounded out in a half circle and had two steps on either side leading down to it, the polished wooden floors were clean and had sloped down into the living room, a white carpet was under the sofa and T.V. and lined most of the half circle. The T.V. sat up against the wood behind it, that was on the uprising near the windows and the T.V. was set there to prevent it from falling. A table sat in front of the T.V. about four feet away and three feet away from the couch, on it was set a laptop and a helmet, that was the Nervegear, the helmet he had to put on to play at the moment, he sighed and looked to hit food, he didn't bother going to the kitchen or his room he would play out here for once. Moving his back pack off him and taking off his sweater he moved over to the couch, hopping over it and landing on it with an audible 'oof', he immediately sank into it as his legs ached from the walk. He opened up his fast food and immediately devoured the McGriddle, then started on the hash browns, he had been dying for food since last night, he didn't have the time this morning to go and grab food before his appointment. His stomach happily accepted the food and grieved for more even though he had already polished off his food, he was still hungry but he knew eating anymore would make him sick. The blond male crumpled up the fast food bag and left it sitting on the table, he wiped his hands off on the provided napkins and let out a sigh of relief. Looking through some of the items littered on his table he would look back to the Nervegear, picking it up he would put it on his head feeling awkward almost immediately. He would start to move through the set up process rather rapidly, height, weight, age all of that crap.
When it seemed everything was done he would calmly whisper "Link Start" not thinking much of it, immediately everything blanked out and he felt like he left his body. He would glance around as if he could still see, colors filled his mind and vision, it all felt surreal it was rather awkward. A feminine voice spoke up after a moment as he observed his surroundings, a mirror came up and he sat staring at it, full length he could see himself, in a way he didn't really want to. Options showed up on the screen and he filtered through them, making his hair longer and changing it to the same color as his eyes but let it fade to a faint silver at the ends of the hair. Turning his skin a darker color and then changing his eyes to a bright green, he looked quite different now, he would change some of the muscle tone on his arms and fix it so that his character had some strange marks on him, black lines an inch under the eyes and faded off to join his hair. Red stripes on each arm and he even managed to give the avatar a scar similar to his own, he looked over the avatar approvingly, then the options switched to clothing. Without a second thought Carter made his character look almost homeless, messy white shorts, a brown tank top with a black chain around the male's neck, and a strange handkerchief like hat. Bands were on his arms and he wore some sandals, a dagger was held firmly in the character's hand, "Hm, looks like a thief type character." he muttered to himself. When he felt like he was alright with everything the image disappeared and a small white box appeared before him, it had the words, Enter Name above it. There was no keyboard or anything so he thought for a moment, "Seraphi." he'd say pronouncing it clearly. The name appeared, but at first the spelling wasn't to his liking, he spelled it out and the computer fixed it easily.
Nodding lightly he would suddenly be blinded by light and find himself in a large town, he looked around looking mildly cautious and aware of those around him, he grimaced after a moment as he realized he had a belt around his waist, it had a dagger sheath on it. Looking to his hand he would see his dagger clutched firmly in his fingers, it felt so real, he grimaced and then pushed the dagger into the sheath, "Man. If I miss that appointment because of this game, I might get screwed." he mumbled with a light yawn. He would begin to walk through the large town square as many other people popped up here and there, it seemed he may get to screw around anyways. Carter honestly enjoyed this idea quite a bit. Quote: Word Count: 2539
Total Word Count: 2539
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Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 4:13 pm
 
☓ LEVEL: 1 | ☓ HP: 250/250 | ☓ PARTY: NONE | ☓ WORDS: 5,357 [0]
"Someday when I finally go home I'll be waiting for you..."
Still groggy from waiting in line all morning at his local video game store to buy the nerve gear Inari wasn't letting a little tug of sleep bother him due to the prize he had just siezed for himself. He became one of the lucky people to grab one of the one thousand beta keys released for the new virtual reality game created via nerve gear the new and high tech video game console of sorts. Sword Art Online was going to be the biggest game ever released, and he had actually managed to snag a copy of the beta key in his nerve gear purchase, he was no beta tester as he had never participated in any beta tests before but he was still ready to try out his virtual world for the first time. First he had to calibrate the machine so it would work properly and function with his body, without that he would never be able to start the link between him and the new world he was going to experience. He began by turning on the system letting the large helmet cling to his skull, the metal was cold but he barely noted it while he was dished out instructions by the contraption on his head. He had to pat himself all over his body, arms, legs, you name it in order for the machine to collect the data needed it all seemed unnecessary to him but it didn't matter. The games server was going to be up any minute and he had to be among the first to log in or he'd never forgive himself, he needed the head start on all of his friends who weren't lucky enough to get the beta and were stuck having to play on the first day like others were. He'd be knowledgable on the second or third floor by the time they even started the game that much he promised himself, at least he thought they were called floors, he had re-read the game manual a hundreds times while waiting for the servers to open so he could flood in with the rest of the community. Once he was finished frisking himself he lay down on the bed staring up at the ceiling the television in the background doing a count down before the servers would be online, it wouldn't be long now. He closed his eyes and opened them again the ceiling replaced by a login screen, he could still faintly hear the count down as he entered his username and password into the system, his hand hovering over the login button as the count down reached its final moments. "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three.. two... one!" he chimed as the count down ended and he pushed the login button his username available and the virtual reality ready to venture his mind into this glorious new world. This being his first time with such technology he was overly excited to begin his journey within the VRMMORPG and to reach the hundredth floor of the game with his friends in the guild they planned to create together. Inari and his friends were all major gamers, he had met them in a different MMORPG on the computer a few years ago, they were the only people he could talk to and feel okay with because it was behind a screen, but still he never smiled, and when they heard about the release of the nerve gear and its first game they were estatic, it was like the greatest day of their short lives. Now everything was in place and he closed his eyes tight all the sound around him, his television, the rotating ceiling fan. The character creation screen opened and he found himself slowly customizing the avatar to perfection making something that looked akin to himself in a way, save for the snowy hair, he had changed the way it looked by having it stick up in a messy fashion. He made his eyes a little darker as well before picking his starter kit and going into the game for sure, but not before naming his character which was possibly the most important thing a player could do. Menma. The name reminded him so much of her that he could barely take punching the words in, it was a befitting name for him in this new world nonetheless, she would be happy to know he was using it to carry on her spirit. Everything faded out slowly as he spoke the magic words colors flashed across the screen when he spoke them, he could feel himself changing from one universe to another and couldn't wait to see what kind of magic awaited him on the other side, a majestic place where he no longer had to be Inari Kodachi, a place where he could choose his own persona and act according to the way he wanted, if he could..
"LINK START!"
The great expanse he found himself in was like a true wonder to behold, it felt so real, it was amazing and hard to catalogue, someone who was having their first experience with VRMMORPG would surely feel some sort of floating feeling, but it was even more than just that. Everything around him felt so clean and alive, the grass beneath his feet, his body truly felt like his very own body, he raised his hands to his face examining them front from back. These weren't his hands, but they felt like his hands, he took a step and his feet weren't his but they planted on the ground regardless, he felt a little taller than normal he realized. Despite the amazement he felt for this new world he couldn't crack a smile, his black eyes still looked void as if they were missing something, perhaps someone to share this great experience with. He ran his fingers through his snow white hair before letting out a deep sigh of satisfaction, he was finally in a world where he could be someone else, someone who wasn't him at least. "Ha..." he felt a surge of relief flow over him as he thought about not having to worry about the events that unfolded on the other side of this brand new reality, it was so refreshing to be able to think that way. He brought his hand down from his head and swished the air with his index finger, he had read the game manual and knew all the commands off by heart thanks to countless hours of memorizing. A menu popped up and he sifted through it until he came to the equipment tab, he took a mental not of a few other things that came up with the menu as well, he was currently level one with two hundred and fifty health for one. His username appeared beside the level, Menma a nickname he had given his mother, he felt a sore pang in his chest as he dwelled on the memories but quickly moved on. He entered his inventory tab and saw his equippable items sitting there waiting, the beta starter light armor set, as well as the beta battle axe, he loved the idea of chopping down these gangly monsters with a giant axe. He equipped the armor first watching as he got a very plain and lowly set of armor slapped to his body seemingly appearing from out of nowhere, it was strange and he doubted he'd ever get used to it. He had been putting clothes on piece by piece his entire life and this was such a change, a very small one to most but big in the eyes of this awkward boy. Next he poked the battle axe menu icon with his index finger and the next thing he knew an axe was on his back, he could feel the weight of everything but it didn't bother him surprisingly enough. Once he was done equipping everything he went through a sort of check of everything he owned, a beginners guide, a few starter kits and some strange charm it seemed. All items for being a beta-tester, maybe the charm was more special than he realize but he couldn't be bothered to decipher its secrets now, he wanted to get familiar with the mechanics of virtual reality and this game first.
To kick off his own little tutorial of the virtual reality he decided that running would do him good, the beginner city that he remembered reading about Town of Beginnings was where he must be and apparently it was the largest area in the game so he had tons of space. It was a crowded town with many old looking buildings and NPC people walking about that looked as real as he did, it was so strange to think they shared the same platform, the same new world together, computer and man. Getting in a running position he had his left leg pulled closer into his chest while his right leg was stretched out further, both hands placed firmly on the ground in front of him his long white locks getting into his eyes as he stared down. He closed those dark hues imagining himself at the school race track, the coach in his chair whistle to his mouth, and as he pushed the air from his lungs the whistle sounded. His eyes broke open in a fury of speedy kicks, his legs worked even better than they had in real life he realized almost instantly as he took off from his starter position. He was running full speed and barely felt hindered by the properties of the real world, he wasn't even very tired yet, his stamina in this place must have been vastly increased which made great sense and even greater fun. He had ran maybe two or three blocks before finally slowing down and slumping on the stairs into one of the many houses in the area. He was breathing heavily but he felt great, that signature half smile playing at his lips as he stared up into the detailed sky, the clouds puffy white and promising new happiness. "Mom, you'd really like it here— anata ga natsukashii desu..." his attempt at a smile faded quickly after a moment and he folded his head into his arms and sobbed quietly for a moment. He sounded as if he were choking with how heavily these tears weighed on his heart, but he did stop evenutally although only because he was fascinated by the fact his hands were wet, and felt wet. They even perfected tears and the display of many emotions into this game, you really could be whoever you wanted to this way, this entire place truly was an amazing feat for scientists. Wiping his wet cheeks with the sleave of his armor he got to his feet now feeling one hundred percent again, as far as physical feeling went, he was still and always would be emotionally wounded by the death of his mother, his greatest friend.
After walking for a few minutes he turned a corner and found himself in the central market of the Town of Beginnings, it was a sight of total awe seeing all these people around him buying and selling things, laughing, smiling, enjoying themselves so completely. It made him wish he could be the same way, to feel as if life was something wonderful and he could truly have joy within it, although such dreams died with his mother and he hadn't been able to think of a world like that for himself since. It really was something, seeing all these people— it was hard to tell exactly who was a human being and who was some sort of AI within the game they all acted so, well.. human-like together as if nothing was different. Some people were buying weapons, others potions, they even had a few people looking at useless junk items that wouldn't do much to help you in the game itself. It brought Inari, or he supposed it was now Menma back to a big question, how would he begin his journey in this new place? Would he start with quests or explore the vastness of this beginner area. He decided what he had now would do, he didn't need any new weapons or armors, potions could come after he checked the difficulty of these monsters he was up against. He remembered there was a boar field somewhere within the first area, obviously away from the town, it would also give him a good look at the beautiful world of Sword Art Online, the vegetation and sparkling water in all its radiance. Beating up some pigs seemed as good a place as any to start he supposed, there were probably quests that could be found inside the town first and he didn't want to miss a single one. He would take a quick look around before heading out, just to make sure he didn't miss out on a really good quest that could benefit him later in the beta. Although all the work he was going to do only made him hope that the beta players would be able to keep there characters statistics and carry it with them into the full release of the game.
The longer he stayed within this world and explored it the more fond he became of it, online in a place where nobody knows who you are, or what you look like, or what you've been through, and really dont care about any of it was so freeing to most. For Menma it was as if it was a haven built just for him to escape to, the way he played fantasy games before this on the computer always felt so 'no strings attached' and nobody ever cared about what he was like in real life, they just wanted to make sure he did the damage he was supposed to as a DPS and followed orders. He particularly liked the guild he was with in that game and wondered if they would let him join it when they all joined Sword Art Online, assuming they joined and created a guild when the full release came into stores. For now the young fighter was on his own, and he was actually quite lonely whether or not he liked to admit it, having even one more party member would mean all the difference to him and probably make questing that much easier if they shared the burden. Grinding and mass leveling was always so much easier with a friend— that is if you could call the people you randomly meet online through Looking For Group chats friends. They were more akin to temporary companions or some other title, sometimes they added you to their friends list and you partied up again later down the road, but even then it was sort of a business partnership, both ends looking out for their best interests. You best believe if they find someone stronger or better geared than you they'll stop communicating and wanting to help you with quests, it was always a pain and always happened to poor Menma no matter how hard he tried. He had extracarriculars and he always fell behind thanks to that fact, track wasn't something he could just give up on, it was one of two things that completed his life and gave it meaning and worth. "Someone to level with would be nice, not exactly a friend but somebody who would be willing to quest with me, hah" he whispered to himself as he continued to scour the Town of Beginnings in search of any hidden quests within the small town area. Maybe he'd go into the town square after locating a few quests to do and ask around, surely somebody else here wanted to party up and make things like leveling and questing easier such as he did. Menma was tired of being alone all the time even if he wasn't the most fun person to be around, emotions and being jolly weren't exactly his strong suits but that was okay, as long as he did well in this game somebody would take to him and want to keep him around.
As he continued to navigate his way through this town within the first floor of Aincrad the young adventurer came across a few notable locations he had seen in the manual and remembered well, he was surprised by the menacing appearance of one of them. The famed Black Iron Castle was a large place in the center of the Town of Beginnings and was said to be a castle which housed a large dungeon inside the basement level, the main jail of the world. He didn't quite understand why a jail was needed for an online game, perhaps quests were inside but he dare not enter such a cursed looking place on his own, besides he had also heard rumor of the jail being for those who break the code of conduct. He reminded himself once more to never do such a thing, this prison was the last place he wanted to be in the new world, he was far too young and innocent to be thrown into that cold damp place for a few minor rule obstructions. Still the entire thing felt over the top to him, a jail so large just for the few members that may break the law, of course there was only a few members for right now he remembered, by the time this game was fully released surely millions of people would be buying it, it'd be sold out for months to come. These were the times where he was glad he had pre-ordered it so early on, the pre-orders sold out not long after it was first announced to come, the pull a VRMMORPG had on people was immense and he couldn't blame them for feeling that way, what he was experiencing right now had him totally elated. By this time he had been mindlessly walking from the reaches of the cold iron building and was sort of glad he had done so self-consciously because he couldn't bare to look at it and think of himself inside of it any longer. He wasn't one to be a wimp but he'd probably snivel and cry like a baby if he were to be incarcerated in that scary looking place for too long, he made a thousand mental notes to never do anything bad enough to get thrown inside of there as he walked off. ".. A game with its own jail just for the players seems kind of crazy, but I wont judge the man who was able to create such an amazing spectacle as Aincrad" he told himself as he was now as out of sight as one could be from the Black Iron Castle, he could still see bits and pieces of it extending over houses but that couldn't be helped for a building of its mass, he just didn't turn back as he walked toward the next notable area he wanted to explore. The thought that he wasn't even half way done looking through the entire starter area really set in stone how big this place actually was, of course it would have to be for the flood of people soon to come so he didn't think much of its size. One doesn't really take note of area sizes in video games but since he was now actually inside the game itself everything did feel so real and large, it was incredible how everything felt so fluid, as if this was the real world and the other was a fake.
On his way to the second attraction of this lovely town, the Room of Ressurection a place where all players would respawn after death in game, something he vowed never to experience due to the fact he didn't want to let anyone he was playing with down, Menma found himself really noticing the extreme glory of this world and how gorgeous it truly was. He was walking across a large bridge of sorts with crystalline water on both sides of him, he managed to squeeze his way through the railing of the bridge and scoop up a handful of the water, most of it fell from his hand just like it would in the real world, and the unmistakable feeling of cool liquid covered his pixelated arm when he dipped it inside. He even saw small fish inside the water, his mouth gaping and eyes shining brightly at the first sign of animal life he had seen within the game, they were so majestic and real as they splashed through the water in schools playing happily with one another. When he had finally had his fill of the atmosphere he began his journey to the Room of Ressurection once more feeling glad, actually glad, a true emotion in this world, one he hadn't experienced outside of it unless he was running track and bringing home first place. He loved it here, he knew already he would live inside this utopia if he could, it was a place of perfectiont hat completely outdid the real world, he wished this was reality and the other a sort of sick game nobody would ever want to play. However his mind faultered from such strange thoughts as he reached his objective, the building was rather big but nothing close to the Black Iron Castle, and not as intimidating either so he freely entered it. He stalked around the building, no players were inside yet which was a good sign, nobody had died in the game yet and had to respawn in this place, which was almost saddening seeing how nice the room was. It was very olden-times if that makes any sense, it was the only word that came to his mind, this whole world screamed fantasy and medieval to him which was his favorite kind of video game to play. It only hardened his resolve to make it further into the game and experience more of its profound beauty with his own eyes, he could stop and take in the scenery when he was at the front lines with the rest of the players who were dedicated to getting as high as they can before the beta ends and the real game begins. They would have the head start on everyone else and know all the bosses fighting stances and weapons, as well as what they were weak too, okay well maybe not all of the bosses but at least a few floors worth would be in their head. He left the quaint room to be still and headed out toward the heart of the city, it was time to find a party member and move forward in this game, he couldn't afford to waste anymore time knowing others were already leveling. He had to catch up and stand beside them in the battles of the front line against all the horrific and powerful bosses they would face off against, his axe in hand ready to cut through them all and push even further forward.
As he pushed his way through the crowded streets of the Town of Beginnings the young snow white was still in complete shock by this new world, as determined as he was to get to the square and find a party member he took two steps forward and one step back, literally. Menma wanted to make sure that he saw all the sights and he was glad to have done so, flowers were blooming in pots on windowsills, the sun was blazing gloriously overhead, people were talking of monsters and bosses and guilds. One thing that really caught the young ones eye was a few children pushing their way through the crowd playing and laughing, they were NPC boys and girls and were displaying real emotion. He bit his lip unbelieving that such technology could really 'make' people in a sense, this was so ahead of its time that Kayaba Akihiko really was the prodigy they said he had been. To think one mans idea could blossom into a full world of its own separate from the reality of earth and its universe, the floating castle Aincrad was a feat unimaginable to the young hollow eyed boy. As a mother chased one of the children down claiming it was time for their bath the trio ran from the woman screaming and sticking out tongues at the poor NPC, it would have brought a smile to his face if it wasn't a mother chasing after her boys. Instead he felt sorrow and jealousy at the sight of it all, he clutched a part of his shirt at his heart and gripped it tightly, dark eyes looking hurt to the core as he remembered his own past experiences with his mother. All the messes they made in the kitchen while cooking or baking, something he hadn't done since she passed away due to preparing food being something they shared together. As the kids ran forward getting closer to them he stepped in front of their path the three of them colliding with him roughly causing two of them to fall while he wobbled slightly. "Ouff" he chimed as he attempted to regain his balance from the collision, the three kids stared up at him as the mother closed in looking unpleased with her children and apologizing to Menma from afar for their clumsiness not understanding he had been the one to initiate the contact. The children looked confused as they watched the figure above them understanding he was one of the warriors who would be fighting through the floors, seemingly programmed to understand such things. "You children run off to your bath now, making your mother worry is not a very good thing" he spoke, his voice was level and calm however there was something off about it that the children as computers could not register, it was a subtle anger at them. To run around so carelessly and take their mother for granted had made him want to spit and yell, he hated those who did not understand such things as a mothers love. He was like that once as well when he was younger, always causing trouble for his poor mother however he never would have done so if he realized their time together would be so brief. The thought of it made his hands grip so tightly that he swore his pixelated nails were going to dig into his skin and cause blood and health loss to happen.
After the scene with the children of the town Menma continued to make his way toward the town square, it was also the spawn area of the game so he had without a doubt missed some sort of story line or starter quest in the vicinity. Luckily he wasn't far from it now and it didn't take very long to be back in the middle of the large city, the large open grounds housing a few beta testers here and there, no doubt others were still busy trying to figure out how to use the nerve gear. Were these few that had appeared the ones that were going to be the front line, were they the powerhouse gamers who would do anything to reach the top of the floating castle in the sky: Aincrad? he hoped so, for one of them would be his party member. He analysed all of the players carefully taking in what they had chosen to begin with and how that would work out with his current equipment of light mail and a battle axe. Most had swords and such, generic and kind of lame but still interesting all the same, however one of the men holstered a dagger at the very moment he laid eyes on him. A dagger in this game seemed very unorthodox compared to the many starter kit choices available and he sort of liked the idea of this brave soul who planned to battle large monsters at such a close distance. He knew right away what the person behind the screen was going for, chocolate skin fixed with long dark hair and brilliant emerald eyes, he was tattooed and looked almost savage however anyone who knew a MMORPG player would also know this man was trying for a rogue of sorts. In a game with no official classes Menma supposed it made sense to try to make your character into something like a generic class such as paladin, thief, warrior, etc. He wasn't sure if he had done the same when picking things out, he did sort of remind himself of a berserker, a light battle attire with a large axe and massive damage ready to be dished out to people. That was when the young snowy tiger decided that this man would indeed by the person he leveled with as long as the other would have him, he would make sure to do his best and not fall behind. He would need to be the tank in this situation by the looks of things and that worried him slightly due to lacking experience as a tank in any sort of online game he'd played he never went tank before. Nonetheless he decided to approach the other person and ask if they were interested in joining up with him, surely they wanted to maximize their leveling in the beta, just in case they did the classic "beta testers can keep their levels" something he had seen in other games and had always been jealous of.
He was face to face with those snake-eyes the other possessed, maybe three feet away from the other player as he nodded towards him black hole pupils gazing forward attempting to look certain. The young male could easily be told as a younger player due to the height of his RPC mirroring his own, however his face was determined, not so much hard and fierce but it promised results as well, he was no slacker and planned to play hard. "Excuse me, would you like to party up with me and do some beginner quests? This town is pretty big and I feel like it'd be easier to do things in a group" he explained, not sure how much this new player had explored so far. He doubted he had even gone very far yet seeing as he was still in the starter area, had he just created his character now? perhaps but either way this person looked like they could use a party members help with a weapon as weak as a dagger. Even if he used it flawlessly which Menma guessed he would the player would still have a hard time defending against strikes without someone to pull aggro for him. That was something that he could do quite easily with his Howl ability, anything that threatened to attack this rogue-like man would be instantly halted and brought to the attention of Menma instead. He ran his fingers through his hair anxious for a positive response from the new arrival, if that didn't work he'd have to find somebody else to party up with and it just seemed like a pain, if it wasn't this Seraphi person then he would simply wait for another interesting face to pop up or go on his own for the first few levels, either one was fine with him. However he liked the scenario where he and Seraphi teamed up and blew through the first floor the most, he could tell right away that they had something good going on, the two weapons seemed like they'd be quite deadly in combination with one another. He could see it now, the two of them pulling all sorts of amazing 'switches' (as he believed they were called from reading the manual a few dozen times) between one another and take out enemies in a breeze, they wouldn't even break a sweat surely.
☓ EXP: 0/100 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
☓ STR: 10 [0] | ☓ DEF: 4 [20] | ☓ STA: 5 [0] | ☓ AGI: 6 [0] |
"... So then our cherished moments can be frozen in time"
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Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 6:00 pm
| DAWN | HP 250/250 | LEVEL 1 | 345 Words |
As Dawn slowly closed the front door of is house he could feel his heart ripping through his chest. Going the every last vein in his body, wasn't blood. But the excitement of playing one of the most highly anticipated games. He had camped out for a week and Dawn was ready to break this bad boy in. As the front door silently closed shut Dawn bolted up his stairs to his room. He had heard his mom and sister arguing over something but that didn't matter. The only thing on Dawn's mind was his desire to play Sword Art Online. As he got into his room he had kicked off his shoes. Dawn quickly and messily hooked up all the wires of his NerveGear to his PC. Every wire felt like a obstacle to him. When he was finally finished with the wires he noticed he had left his door open. Dawn quickly slammed it; his mom yelling something from downstairs. Dawn ignored her and put on his NerveGear. He looked at the time and slowly count down."5, 4, 3, 2,......."This last second felt like an eternity."1!!!! Link Start!!!!"
Dawn immediately felt like he was in a shower. But at the same time he wasn't in a shower. He saw streaks of different colors. As the colors started to wear out and Dawn didn't feel like he was in the shower anymore. He heard a soft female voice. She said,"Welcome to Sword Art Online. Please Customize your avatar." In a rush Dawn quickly designed his Character to his liking's. He decided to go with his real name and go with the One Handed Long Sword. As he finished the character customization and was brought to the world of SAO the only thing that ran through his mind was "Wow!!" Dawn began to see many people log on and the NPC's wandering around. As he looked at people he seen a green cursor above their heads."Okay so now I know how to tell who's a NPC or not."
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Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 6:12 pm
Chris
Words:742 | Level: 1 | HP:200/200 | No Party | Col:49 | Exp: 22
Devon decided he had done enough sitting. He got up and brushed himself off. He looked around at a mob to fight. He figured he should get some practice. About a couple yards ahead he saw a group of boars. He figured they would be easy enough. He pulled out his sword and walked towards them slowly, they weren't attacking any NPCs for no reason so he figured they wouldn't do much. He set his sights on one boar and ran at it with his sword. He slashed at the boar, slashing some of it but not taking it down. The boar went straight into attack mode and charged Devon. He saw this as an opportunity to use something he read about. He focused all his energy and ran at the boar, his sword started to glow a faint blue color and he sliced through the boar. The animal mostly squealed until it was defeated. Devon looked back at what he had done. The results screen showed that he had received about 5 Exp and 12 Col. The boar had also dropped some meat. Devon looked down at it and shrugged, maybe it could be useful. He put it in his inventory. A couple seconds later the boar had respawned. Devon decided to attack about 2 more, to get a feel for the fighting mechanics. He ran at the first one and killed it with ease. The results screen showed that he got 7 Exp and 17 Col, he was making progress. He looked at the last one. He ran at it and slashed it, this one seemed stronger. It wasn't taken down by the first strike. He charged at Devon and headbutted him in the stomach. Devon fell back but quickly got back up, he ran again and uppercutted the boar, it flew in the air. As it was in the air, about to die, Devon looked at where he had cut it. He noticed, no blood had come out of the boar, the gash just was filled with a digital looking..whatever. That was interesting. The boar died and the results were shown, 10 Exp and 20 Col! He must have done a better job at battling. Right when Devon was done a screen appeared. It read 'Congratulations! You Leveled Up! Devon Level 1 ---> Level 2' Devon slightly smiled, he did a good job. He looked in his inventory, just the boar meat was in there. He had received a lot of Col, he figured he should spend it. He decided to walk back to town. Maybe some merchants had something good. When he made it back to town he noticed more people had come, all this meant to him was...more competition, with would make the game much more fun. He sligthly smiled and walked around a bit more, in search for a merchant. In the alleys a large group of merchants had been there selling their items. He found a merchant with things he liked. He had a long sword as black as night. He pointed at it and spoke to the merchant. "What is this one called?" The merchant's eyes glimmered lively. He spoke in a happy tone. "This one is called Obsidian" I got it from a friend, a blacksmith, a damn good one at that. He made it using...something he found on the higher floors. Forgot what it is called, it wasn't Obsidian strange enough, but he named the sword that, I guess because of the black color. Who knows. Anyway, you willing to buy? I'll sell it for 1,000 Col." Devon's eyes go wide when the man said higher floors, but then he sighed when he spoke of the price. Devon hoped that he could barter. "Any chance i can catch a lower price?" He spoke in a worried tone. The sword was nice. Black with a small white trim along the blade. The merchant spoke again. "How about this, I'll give you the sword but you have to promise me something. You'll come back with three times the gold by the end of this year. 3,000 col, okay?" Devon slowly nodded and the merchant opened up his menu and sold him the sword for 0 Col. Devon smiled and looked at the merchant, he said his thanks and promised to be back with the money. He ran off to go train some more
| Str: 10 | Def: 5 | Sta: 4 | Agi: 1 |
Weapon: | Obsidian (Left) |
Armor: |Top: Beta Light Mail| |Bottom: Beta Light Leggings|
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Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 8:26 pm
"Give a dog a bone, then leave a dog alone. If a dog runs away, it will return if that is its true home."
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
PLAYER: Janemba ‖ STATUS: ▼ ‖ HP: 250 / 250 ‖ LEVEL: One ‖ WORD COUNT: [1,081]
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ XXXXXX'Let's do it, big boy... let's do it, big boy... let's do it, big boy.' The half-naked brunette figurine placed upon Jerome's shelf continued to chant out in a seductive voice, attempting to awaken the young man on a Saturday morning. The chubby fellow would begin to open up his eyes, squinting as the weekend's morning sun shined upon him. He sluggishly lifted up his hand and dropped it on the figurine trying to seduce him so early in the morning; instantly the seductive chanting would stop. Having still been tired, Jerome decided that it may be best for him to go back to sleep, sadly, when he rolled over it would lead to him falling off of his single bed. Just then Jerome's aunt would walk into the room, "Jerome, don't forget to take out the gar-" She paused for a second, looking at the naked young man on the ground, "Raaaaaaagh! Jerome gets some clothes on! Oh my goodness, Lord please help this child!" The aunt yelled out at the top of her lunges aggravated about what had just happened; she would quickly storm out of the room. Having been awoken by the loud screaming, Jerome would stare up surprised and cup his private part. "My bad aunty! I love you too!" Jerome spoke in an embarrassed tone as he rubbed his eyes, picked his glasses up from the shelf and put them on his face. Finally, he could see clear again!
The first thing Jerome did when he stood up was turn on the computer. He looked over at the calendar that hung on his caramel wall, surrounding the calendar were posters of his favourite artists, games, shows and animes. To him, his room was just like he wanted it, but to his aunt it was a complete mess. Everyone had their own opinion though. Jerome would put his index finger on the calendar and follow along to the current date, on that specific date on the calendar it said, 'Sword Art Online! Don't forget!' Once that was read, Jerome would scream with joy, running around the room and hopping around like a child on Christmas day. Nothing could ruin his mood today!
The excited man would put on his pajamas, brush his teeth in a hurry and get his spit all over the counter top. Knowing that his aunt would flip out if the spit wasn't cleaned; Jerome would grab his younger cousin’s towel and use it to clean up the toothpaste-spit. After, he would run over to the computer, sit down on his bean bag chair and watch what was currently happening with SAO. He watched the computer (like an addict waiting for their drugs) for about a half-a-hour waiting for the update saying that SAO Serves were now open. "JEERROOMMEEE! DID YOU NOT HEAR ME SAY THROW AWAY THE GARBAGE!?" The aunt roared like a furious lion that was being toyed with by an outsider of her pride. Even if she yelled from downstairs, Jerome was able to hear his aunt from all the way upstairs in his room. "Sorry, aunty! I totally forgot haha!" Jerome replied in a slightly frightened voice. Seeing as Jerome didn't want to miss the update, he knew he had to do this job quickly. Hopping out of his chair as if there was a burglar, Jerome would head around the house, putting all the garbage into a much larger black garbage bag. When he was done, he would open the front door to see a couple of gangsters hanging out across the street from him. Instead of having to walk out of his aunt's house and cross pass these goons, he decided that it would be better to throw the garbage right beside the garbage bin, so with one big swing of his arms, the garbage bag would fly straight onto his aunt's lawn, just beside the garbage bin. 'Perfect! Not even those fools could mess up my day! No worries, they will be working for me soon anyways, haha!' Jerome thought to himself as he shut the door and ran back upstairs to his room.
When he entered his room, he could hear cheering coming from his computer. The SAO Servers had been opened while Jerome was throwing away the garbage! "Holy s**t! I got to hurry up!" The loud panicking Jerome could be heard though out the house. He would reach over, grab the helmet, lie down on his bed, put the helmet over his head and turn it on. Nothing happened. 'What the f**k!?' That was the exact thought running through Jerome's head at the moment, what was going on? All he saw was darkness. Where was everything he expected? "Jerome! What did I tell you about swearing!? If your cousins learn that language, I'm going to cripple ya'!" By now you may be thinking that Jerome's aunt was a crazy non-loving woman, but she truly did love Jerome with all her heart and Jerome was very thankful for her. "Sorry aunty! Do you mind keeping the kids out of my room? I'm going to be busy doing some work for awhile!" Jerome blatantly lied, yelling out so his aunt could hear from downstairs.
Without any warning, Jerome would end up starting to see something beginning to be formed. There it was, the Avatar Menu! Jerome would fly through a bunch of templates and he would stumble across a milk chocolate colored man. He would pick that template first, and then begin to adjust everything else; including the eyes, hair, clothes and everything that he believed made him look cool while in SAO. The last thing that he had to do was pick a name for his Avatar, 'Hmm, I think I'm going to go with Janemba. Yeah, the character from Dragon Ball Z. He was a total bada**!' Jerome said to himself as he pressed the confirm button. Next thing he knew, he would spawn in a small town. He would look at his "new body," in amazement, touching the muscular arms that he always wished for. He would smile brightly, now the only thing to do next was meet new people, but he wasn't too sure which ones were NPCs. Jerome wasn't too sure if he should wait for someone to approach him or if he should approach someone. Well, he didn't want to look like a noob, so he just stood there, trying to look cool for everyone who stood around him.
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Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 9:09 pm
-Kiryu-
Burst Through Reality! ▅▅▅▅▅▅ ▅▅▅▅▅▅▅ ▅▅▅▅▅▅▅ ▅▅▅▅▅▅ ▅▅▅▅▅▅▅ ▅▅▅▅▅▅▅ ▅▅▅▅▅▅▅ Kiryu had finally received his own copy of the world renown game, Sword Art Online. Apparently it was the first game to fully utilize the virtual reality system. Kiryu had finally been given a chance to get rid of his sadistic side. Kiryu was filled with enthusiasm as he tightly attached his Nerve Gear to his head. His mind went blank as he exclaimed, " Link Start" After going through the log in he was taken to the customization screen. The choices didn't give much of an impact on him as he felt they were all too flashy. He finally stumbled upon a simple base and hair similar to his own. Despite finding a good character he felt he wanted to stand out just a little. So he changed his normally pale eyes to sharp gray eyes. Finally, after making his character he was transported to the first area, also known as the Town of Beginnings. Kiryu had finally gotten out of the boring part of the game and was exploring the town. He had not gotten used to the system yet and felt like his avatar may have collapsed onto the ground at any second. Yet at the same time he felt like he had been playing the game for years. He looked around himself to find him surrounded by other players. Sadly he knew no one in the town which made him feel a little lonely. Luckily his other persona, the sadistic persona, kicked in overriding his emotions of loneliness with feeling of wanting to kill. He decided until he could battle on his own he would form allies. He looked around, but sadly his thoughts returned to loneliness and his will to kill was soothed. He decided he would ease his mind by grabbing a bite at a local inn. Before he stepped in however, he remembered inns cost money and money was not something he had. So he decided to wait on a nearby bench until he could find someone willing to party with him. ▅▅▅▅▅▅ ▅▅▅▅▅▅▅ ▅▅▅▅▅▅▅ ▅▅▅▅▅▅ ▅▅▅▅▅▅▅ ▅▅▅▅▅▅▅ ▅▅▅▅▅▅▅ Stats:Strength-6 | Defense-4 | Stamina-4 | Agility-6
Level-1 | HP-250 | Col-1,000 | EXP-0 | Words-338 | Party Members-NoneItems Equipped: Armor-[Beta Light Mail]
[Beta Light Leggings] | Weapon-[Beta Long Sword]Absolute Freeze!
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Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 9:14 pm
Asmea
______________________________________________________________
❝ I am isolated. My heart wilts. My soul cries. But I'm still alive. ❞
_______________________________ Level 1 | HP 250/250 | EXP 0/100 | Word Count 2317
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x x x x x x x x x x x For Kage, standing in line all night wasn’t a challenge; His only problem was money. Buying the beta version of SAO would mean spending the little money he had left, plus much greens that the introvert did not possess. So what did he had to do to gain more pocket money? The green-eyed boy recounted the various chores he did around the house, working towards his goal. One dollar here, three dollars here. Just thinking about how much he had to talk to his parents, and how they reacted when Kage told them he needed more money made him cringe in frustration. A frown appeared across his face, a frown that had no place in the crowd of excited happy people. In any case, it took him a couple days in addition to a lot of sweat to gain what he needed. Sword Art Online, the new game, would need to exceed the boy’s expectations by a tenfold to be worth the torture Kage had to go through.
Because the teen was fairly isolated from society, including his family, his disappearance from the house wouldn’t be noticed. At least, he hoped not. After all, he groomed, ate, entertained, and slept alone in the corner of the house, his room and school the only places he in which spent hours. Form years of experience, walking on the creeky old floorboard of his house wasn’t a problem anymore; He knew the steps to take to avoid making any sound as he left the house. Besides, being so light, his steps wouldn’t make any noises. “Where are you going?” A voice chimed behind him as he put on his shoes to make the journey all the way to downtown, where the nearest video game store was located. The voice came from his elder sister, the piano prodigy. Ever since she was little, she practiced the piano, her talent cascading forth like the powerful Niagara Falls. Each day his sibling played the piano, the rest of the family would aggregate towards the old wooden instrument like it was some sort of magical relic, enough to be reveled like the Egyptians did with their pharaohs. Kage merely listened to the muffle melodies her sister produced from his room, but even though he and his family were separated by large, thick walls, he could hear their joy. His parents’ smiles, their faces beaming with light and pride. Kage was sure that he were there, his presence alone was enough to destroy their delight, since he was that useless of a child. The dark-haired boy turned his head slightly, making eye contact with his sister. No words spilled through his mouth, for a second anybody would think he was mute, or at least, unable to talk. But simply, Kage didn’t like to talk. So instead, he simply stared into the eyes of his sister, whether it was a glare or a soft look. The woman sighed, running her callused hand through her shining hair, then rubbed her temples. “Just don’t get home too late,” she whispered to the boy. A sad tone echoed through her voice, from disappointment, Kage thought. “You won’t notice me gone,” Kage said before placing his hand on the doorknob, turning it sideways, and finally walked out the door without another look at her. He left her, standing there, alone in her own thoughts. Those five words he uttered, those cruel words, were the first words his sister heard in perhaps years. That was how isolated Kage was.
Back in the present, the line in which Kage stood was long, but he knew that a lot of these fanatic girls and boys didn’t reserve a copy. He, however, did, when Sword Art Online first came out. His frown turned into a grin of satisfaction, knowing that tonight or tomorrow, depending on how much longer he needed to spend in line, he would be in the virtual world, savoring what the critics described as an unimaginable world of wonders. Before Kage knew it, it was dark, the city lights shimmering in the distance. Cars zoomed past as the city shifted into a roaring night life of bars, karaoke, and partying. Kage didn’t care, since the video store finally let the line move forward to buy the video game. Of course, it took little time for the unreserved copies to be sold out. As people realized this and their smiles turned into frowns, Kage grinned, knowing that his waiting time was cut by perhaps hours. He did, after all, arrive at the line pretty late. As the line moved forward with increasing speed, he couldn't help but be affected by the excitement around him. Maybe he would be able to experience the VRMMORPG tonight.
The copy of the game firmly in his hand, he quietly traveled back to his house. The 14 year old was in no particular rush, since he had already obtained the game. Besides, there was a chance his family wasn’t asleep yet, since he wasn’t sure whether or not his sister told his parents about his leave. However, when he arrived at his house, everything was calm and dark, like the house was abandoned years ago. The only reason why he wouldn’t think so was the fact that the house contained no dust, a sign of life. On the table was his dinner, cold and lonesome. Kage was not hungry, so he directly proceeded to his room, his footsteps echoed through the empty halls. From the rooms adjacent and next to his, he could hear the muffled breaths of his family members as they slept through the night. It was, after all, almost midnight. He took out the NerveGear he had bought and the game, reading over the game manual to get the gist of the game. It didn’t seem too hard, just a little bit of adjustments here and there. After slowly placing the solid, cold piece of equipment on his head, he laid down on his bed. It felt odd for him to do so, but he didn’t want to wake up to massive bruises received from having fallen down. He gave himself a little countdown as words flashed across his screen. Five... Four... Three... Two... One...
“Link start,” Kage whispered.
An array of colors flashed through his mind, as he felt his body fall limp and his mind transferred into a whole other world. He felt like an entire separate being from back in real world. It felt surreal, almost like he was experience a shinigami reaping his soul, then placing it into another person’s body. Kage felt scared, perhaps even worried, but he was, for the lack of better vocabulary, excited. The words “Character Creation” flashed across the screen... Or his mind. This would be his avatar, his image in the virtual world. Kage wanted to be himself, yet not really. Video games and virtual realities were his turf, so he wished that he could represent an accurate image of himself, while escaping his identity through games. The teen chose to keep his height and weight relatively the same, but with two significant features changed; His dark, shadowy hair comparable to the nightsky was replaced with a cheery blond color that could be equated to the Sun’s rays of warmth. His green eyes filled with sorrow was replaced with blue eyes tinged with mystery and determination, a certain dreaminess appeared in them. Finally being satisfied with how his avatar looked, he moved onto naming himself in SAO. He was at a loss here. Kage could usually come up with a name on the spot, but keeping the image of his avatar in mind, he didn’t know what to do. The boy stared at the flashing bar when suddenly the name “Asmea” resonated through his mind. Yeah, this could work for him. As-mea. As-may. As May. As the month of May approaches, the Sun brightly shining upon the Earth warms up the cool breezes of spring, shifting the mood of those who enjoy the summer months of the year. A great transition from spring to summer, the name that shifted the icy image of Kage into the slightly brighter Asmea.
Then, in the new identity, closed his eyes and felt the ground beneath him appear and form a familiar texture. A zephyr blew across his cheeks, one that felt so much like in the real world. For a second, he thought he could hear chatter and feel the warm rays of sunshine burning his skin. Opening his eyes, Asmea could see, the Town of Beginnings. His first steps into the world of Aincrad... This was it! Walking around, he couldn’t believe how he could freely move about, without any constraints. He thought displacing oneself was different than that in the real world, but apparently not. Unknowingly, Asmea pondered over the question of physically disabled players. If the player couldn’t control their real legs, could they freely walk in the games? If they didn’t have the neurons necessary for physical activity, how would it transfer into the game? Of course, this was a question best thought over by creators and developers of Sword Art Online. But who knows? If humans were capable of a creation of this complexity, one couldn’t help but think that it could help physically disabled people in the future, to experience the things they normally couldn’t.
Shoppers, NPCs, and players swarmed the town, filling it with laughter and chatter Asmea didn’t care about. But he couldn’t help but feel the same was as the users did, with such an inexplicable world right in their hands. Words of excitement piled up in his little brain, words that were useless to him until now. A little smile appeared across his face as he trekked onward, exploring the town. Floor by floor he would fight to work his way up until the last, Floor 100, to beat the final boss and clear the entire game. This would require working with other people, social interactions and party members Asmea never considered once before. Considering how complicated the graphics, coding, all the processes it took to make this virtual reality possible, the monsters were, surely, very hard to beat. Besides, the creators of the game wouldn’t want players to clear the entire thing in a measly two months. Yes, they’d want to drag the game out for as long as possible, earning lots of revenues as players come pouring in. This game, Asmea felt, would be here to last quite awhile.
However, this meant that Asmea couldn’t keep his strategies of being the solo player he had always been. This was a definite disadvantage, but considering how the game is in beta mode, he could easily gain the necessary knowledge to form strong bonds between players. Or at least, he hoped so. The boy knew that changing his perspective would take awhile, having been isolated in a bubble for so long. Asmea suddenly stopped walking, catching a glimpse of his bright, blond hair. It was so easy to change his outer appearance within the game, so why would it be so hard to change his personality within the game? After all, humans were malleable, and usually, as he had experienced, the species is quite adaptable. How hard would it be?
The boy spun around, directly facing a gigantic castle. Even though he was so far away, the castle towered over the town like the looming guilt he held in his heart that he was a good-for-nothing son. A sigh escaped through his lips. “Even if I’m here, I still think about the real world,” he whispered to himself. The Black Iron Castle, the steady building... built for criminals of SAO. For a moment, Asmea thought it was pointless to have a prison in a game. Didn’t games exist to relieve people of the real world, without restraining rules and such? Perhaps on second thought, if a game didn’t have a set rules for players to abide by, chaos would rule. And sure enough, actions unpunished in the game would carry into the real world, when the person who committed the crime shocked to find that consequences exist. This would discourage criminal activity, though to what degree? Even if curiosity filled Asmea’s mind, he wouldn’t want to experience being thrown into prison. Although Asmea didn’t possess any talent that was useful to his community, he wouldn’t want to create disturbances within the already-turbulent society. To cleanly clear the game without any major incidences of player killing was the point of the castle, maybe. Turning his attention to the multitude of people walking around the streets and the fact that he might want to join a party right now, Asmea couldn’t help but think that his efforts would be futile, considering how little these people stopped to look at the seemingly overwhelmed boy in the middle of the road.
He sighed again and resumed walking, but this time, backwards. He occasionally glanced backwards, making sure that no one was in his path. As he walked on, Asmea could see the castle, unchanging in size, but the people in the distance became smaller in comparison, and soon became nothing but a little dot in the horizon. That was how magnificent the castle was. Amidst the amazement, Asmea forgot to look behind as he tripped on someone and fell onto his behind, gasping in shock. He was never so careless before, and how could he start now? The boy looked up at the person he tripped over to find a big, muscular African male looking like he could rip Asmea apart in a few mere seconds. Those golden rings the player had didn't look very soft, that's for sure. Metal against squishy skin, metal always wins. Why couldn't he trip over a bench or something? "Uh..." For a moment Asmea didn't know what he should say. "S-Sorry," he finally blurted out.
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Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 10:44 pm
"Give a dog a bone, then leave a dog alone. If a dog runs away, it will return if that is its true home."
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
PLAYER: Janemba ‖ STATUS: ▼ ‖ HP: 250 / 250 ‖ LEVEL: One ‖ WORD COUNT: [201]
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ XXXXXXJerome, I mean Janemba would be minding his business, still trying to look as if he knew what he was doing. Then, he would feel something fall on his back, it wasn't anything too big though... atleast not for Janemba. First, Janemba would look back to see who or what it was. Luckily, it was someone pretty small, so it was time for Janemba to practice his intimidation skills. The muscular man would stare down at Asmea, glaring into his eyes, trying to look into his soul... well virtual soul. Janemba would reach out to grab the smaller boy by his collar; if he was successful he would lift Asmea off of the ground about two feet. "What's yo' name?" Janemba would say in an intimidating voice, hoping to scare the s**t out of Asmea. If this was real life, Jerome would've been apologizing to the boy too, but seeing as no one will ever know who he actually is, he felt like he had to act as if he was the big shot. Odd how a videogame can help someone so much, right? This may even help Jerome grow some balls on the outside world too, though he doubted it.
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Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 11:51 pm
  In Case You Are Wondering Who I Am  Nicholas slowly walked through the streets of the town that he lived in. In his hands was a copy of the Beta of a game he had heard about. It was a game called Sword Art Online or SAO for short. This game utilized the NerveGear in order to create a realistic gaming environment for players. As he walked he bumped into someone. He fell back and he shook his head. When he looked at the direction of the person he had bumped he noticed that it was a girl in his class who he had a crush on a while back that is before he got into gaming. The both of us were good friends since we both had an interest in racquet sports especially badminton. He stood up and quickly helped pick up the stuff that she had dropped. From the looks of it she was bringing home some equipment for badminton. With a straight face on he then said with a quiet tone, ".......Sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going.". The girl blushed and said, "No it's my fault really. So ummm Nicholas would you like to practice badminton with me sometime like before?" Nicholas would look at her still with a straight face and said, ".......Maybe some other time. See ya.". He then continued to walk on towards his house, leaving the girl behind. As soon as he entered his home he noticed that his mother was out probably to meet up with some old acquaintances of hers. He sighed and began to walk upstairs when he heard some voices coming from the kitchen calling me. He sighed and shook his head before quickly running over to his room and setting down the Beta for Sword Art Online.
Nicholas walked downstairs to see his elder sister cooking food while his twin sister was busy singing. He sighed and walked over to his elder sister and asked, "Why did you call me down?". His elder sibling looked at him and said, "Mom is out and I'm nearly done cooking. Can you help by setting up the table please?". Nicholas sighed before he walked away and began preparing the table. He could still hear his twin sister singing. She was pretty much just like him before he found the joys of gaming, active and very social. Nicholas though changed into someone who was quite lazy and very unsocial. His elder sister finished cooking soon after and they all sat down to eat. Nicholas quietly ate while his two sisters were talking to each other about things that really did not interest him in the slightest. His eldest sibling, his brother, had already finished the IB and was now in a good college somewhere in America. He hadn't seen his brother since the day he graduated but he did get e-mails from him every once and a while. His brother was the only person in his family he could really talk about video games with. Unlike him though his brother didn't get addicted to it. He sighed and quickly finished his food. Once finished eating he picked up his plate and brought it over to the dishwasher and left it there. He then said, "I'll be in my room if you need me.". He then quickly ran into his room.
Sitting down on his computer chair he began to install Sword Art Online. Once it was finished he placed the NerveGear on his head and attached it to the power supply from his computer so that it wouldn't run out of power in game. He then lied down on the sofa which was nearby his computer. He watched the clock at it came to the beginning of the Beta phase of Sword Art Online. Once the clock reached the opening time Nicholas would close his eyes and then murmur, "Link Start.". After he said those words his vision from turning black because of closing his eyes turned white all of a sudden. Then a large amount of colorful cylinder shaped things began to pass around his field of vision. Once that was done a strange circular option which said the 5 senses of a human being appeared and then each time changed to the words 'ok' and went to the rightmost side of his field of vision. They then dispersed and a language option appeared in front of him. He picked english and soon after a log in screen appeared and his account name and password were entered in. He then entered the character creation screen and created a character who seemed to look much like himself other than the red hair and eyes. After that the words Welcome To Sword Art Online! appeared in front of him. Then a strange light appeared and the next thing he saw was that he was in a town.
He looked around and saw quite a lot of people around the area. He suspected that they were also all Beta testers much like him. Hopefully the game had an automatic translator so that even if you spoke in a different language than they know of they would hear it in the language which they had chosen for Sword Art Online to be on. He then moved his right hand and poked at space bringing up the menu. He looked at his equipment and soon after he placed his hand on his chin. He then said to himself, "A lightly equipped character. Perfect for me. Now I don't have to worry about being too heavy to move around freely.". He then began to walk around the area hoping to find someplace where he could go off and train his character so he could practice the fighting mechanisms of this game. He slowly walked through the city with a cloak covering his body. He peered around taking careful notes on the surrounding area so that he would be able to get himself through the area with no problems at all. After a while he stopped and looked up to see a giant castle. He blinked and then wondered how they managed to make a game which has such a realistic looking castle. Even the ground and the places around him looked pretty real. He then continued walking along slowly memorizing different routes. Keeping his body hidden inside of his cloak he looked like a very shady person. He walked past a person who was sitting on a bench and then stopped. He then looked up to the sky and said to himself, "I guess this would be a great way to start getting out of my unsocial self.". He then held his hands up into the air towards the sun as if he was reaching out for it. I'm Just A Player, Passing-Through! Remember That! Level: 1 | Experience: 0 / 100 | HP: 250/250 | Armor: 5/5 | Col: 1,000Word Count: 1,125
Total Word Count: 1,125
Stats:
Strength: 6 | Defense: 5 | Stamina: 2 | Agility: 10
Equipment: Equip Limit: 7 / 30
Weapon:「Beta Long Sword」| Armor:「Beta Leather Cloak」
Tools: «Sword Art Online» Beginner Manual | Beta Starter Cooking Kit | Beta Starter Forging Kit | Beta Starter Fishing Kit | Beta Good Luck Charm
Miscellaneous Items: None
Healing Items: None{{OOC: }}
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Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2012 6:30 am
| DAWN | HP 250/250 | LEVEL 1 | Exp 0/100 | Col: 0 | Words: 204+345=549 |  ___________________________________________________________________________________________
As Dawn was walking around, new people started to log in and join the excitement. Dawn didn't know what to do first." So many things to do." He then looked at the huge floating castle."That must be Aincrad or something along those lines."Dawn didn't know that he could feel so alive in a game."It's just a game but it feels like life."Dawn began to walk. He seen people of different shapes, sizes and colors. Dawn didn't noticed how many people had joined."This is going to be very, very fun."
As Dawn was walking around he bumped into another red head. This guy had his arms up to the sky as if trying to grasp something. "A..a... I'm sorry. Didn't mean to bump into you." Dawn felt a bead of sweat on his head. He didn't want to make a enemy so quickly. He then thought that this was probably his chance to make his first friend in the game. Dawn recomposed himself and outstretched his hand for a handshake."My name is Dawn." He hoped that this guy wasn't one of those solo players. Dawn new that to make it through the first few levels he would need a accomplice.
________________________________________________________________________________________ ...Lies Only Case Despair, and Pain. That's how i feel.
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Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2012 7:06 am
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Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2012 7:41 am
| DAWN | HP 250/250 | LEVEL 1 | Exp 0/100 | Col: 1000 | Words:549+262=811 | ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Dawn slowly lowered his hand. "What am i looking for?" The question buzzed around in Dawn's head. He forgot how hard it was to make friends. He never really had any on the outside world. But he decided that he was going to change that. Dawn wasn't going to be so concealed. He was going to be a leader. "I am looking for a person to join me in a party. But more importantly i am looking for a friend." Dawn then turned and looked at the Castle once more. He studied the castle and ran through thoughts in his head while he awaited Shirogane's answer. It had only been about ten minutes but Dawn was already wondering about what his sister and mother where doing right about now. He shrugged it off and started to think about how long it must have taken for the producers of this game to make it feel so alive. Dawn started to rub his for arm. He knew it was just a game but he could feel his armor. It wasn't just digital...what ever. But real strong armor. Dawn could feel the warmth of the sun on his skin. The wind blew. It was like the entire game was a real life organism. The wind blew a few loose strands of hair into Dawn's eyes. He quickly brushed them aside then turned back to Shirogane. "So have you made up your mind?"Dawn felt as comfortable as ever in this game. On the outside he would have been extremely nervous. Then he patiently awaited Shirogane's answer. ____________________________________________________________________________________ ...Lies Only Case Despair, and Pain. That's how i feel.
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