9Prologue: The First Day
November 6, 2022, Real World
The young man woke with excitement, as today was the day the new VMMORPG Sword Art Online, or SAO for short, was being released in stores world wide. He quickly dressed in street clothes and all but dropped down the stairs. Barely giving any thought to the food his mother had made or the little sister that desired his attention as all he grabbed was a slice of toast off his sister's plate, much to her chargin, before he was out the door.
As he jogged towards the store, he spotted a thinly built boy with black hair, a beautiful girl with light brown hair, a muscular bald man, an older looking dude with red hair, and a much younger girl with pig tails. He also saw a few people he knew; a mean bully, a flirty childhood friend, an upbeat school friend, a teacher determined to re-live their youth, and another class-mate that rarely spoke. After he had picked up his copy of the game, he made his way back past the lines of people, excited to experience this new world.
November 6, 2022, Aincrad
All the players had just been teleported into the fountain plaza of the starting town, and an air of confusion permeated the entire group. When the red System Announcment pattern and the faceless Game Master, introducing himself as Kayaba Akihiko, informed them that there was no longer a revival system, nor would there be any way to log off. The turning point was the announcement that to die here, was to die in the real world. He also informed them that he had given each player a gift. At this point hand mirrors appeared in the hands of every player in the plaza. Chaos ensued.
A majority of the crowd was petrified with fear from the announcement that this world, the world of Sword Art Online, had just become a death game. Standing at the edge of the crowd, one player quickly backed away without bothering to look in the hand mirror that was given to them. The player fled the starting city, the other players never noticing the disappearance until this person was long gone.
Outside the city gates, he stopped to look back at the city behind him one last time, before heading to the next village. He hadn't bothered to change his features, other than to lengthen his hair somewhat, but in this situation, he decided that his short hair would serve him better. It was time for this world...
He stopped. This world, Aincrad, had just become his world, hadn't it? Why did it suddenly feel as if he knew every inch of this land as if he had been here all his life? What was with this feeling of nostalgia that flowed through him? It wasn't disturbing, instead it was... Warm?
He shook his head to clear it, and continued running along the road to the next town. As he ran, a slight smile formed on his face, and his blue eyes shone brighter. He guessed he would have to find for himself the answer to his heart's question.
'Aincrad, is this my true world?'
A/N: And Cut! What do you guys think of the prologue? Anyone currious to find out what is going to happen? Please review, and I will answer any questions you may have that do not spoil a major part of the plot. Please, don't ask what the name of the character is, as I absolutely WILL NOT reveal it until the next chapter. With that said, all your reviews will go to accelerating my writing, and any flames will be used to barbecue my lunch. See you all next time!