So it begins

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You left the Town of Beginnings and met with the sprawling fields of the first floor. It was quite beautiful and reminded you of the countryside back in England, you quickly got lost in the memories of your homeland before being interrupted by the sound of something hitting the ground. You looked over to see Koharu on the floor after being knocked over by the boar.

You walked towards her with a massive smirk on your face as she began complaining

Koharu: "Whaaat? I'm not landing any hits... I'm pretty sure this is just how I'm supposed to do it though. Weird."

She was interrupted by Klein coming towards you

Klein: "Woah there. You're doing worse than me!"
Joshua: "Oh hello there, Klein"
Klein: "Yo! Looks like ya found your friend."
Klein: "Good thing I bumped into ya. You lot should join in for Kirito's battle lesson too!"
Joshua: 'Kirito... why does that name sound familiar'

Another player with jet black hair joined in on your conversation

Kirito: "Who said you could invite anyone... ?"
Klein: "Oh c'mon now! The more the merrier right?"
Kirito: "Do you really need me to teach you? You all played the beta already, right?"
Joshua: 'That's right! The beta, that's how you knew him'
Klein: "Huh?"
Kirito: "I can tell by the way you use your weapon. Not that you use it well or anything."
Joshua: "Hey! No need for that"
Koharu: "R-Right. I swear I was able to use it during the beta, but I can't seem to land any hits now."
Kirito: "You're probably just not using the right attack type. Try not to put too much strength into it, and just try to match the system assist."
Koharu: "Oh, okay. So when you change your equipment that changes your moves, huh. Okay, uhm, let's try this!"

She changed up the way she attacked the monsters to be more like a rapier, and put considerably less force into her attacks. Just like Kirito had said, it was working perfectly. She could even use sword skills effectively, but still almost toppled over after they finished.

When you laughed at her mistake, she would always turn to you and give you the cutest pout ever whilst telling you to 'not be mean'

Koharu: "Got it!"
Klein: " Whoo! Nice! Hey, oh great teacher Kirito, if you've got any other hints lemme have 'em"
Kirito: "There are no hints, it's all just practice and repetition"
Koharu: "It's more of a hands-on sort of thing, is it? I'll do my best!"
Klein: "That's the spirit! Alrighty then, let's practice a bit more, shall we?"
Kirito: "Don't overdo it."

The four of you continued to slay boars gaining a fair amount of col and exp. You looked over to Koharu and could she was doing much before, effectively slaying another boar.

Koharu: "So that was good, right?!"
Joshua: "Yeah. At least you didn't fall over this time."

You smirked as she got worked up over your teasing

Koharu: "oh, come on, I'm better now!"
Klein: "All right! I don't wanna fall behind here! Time to train like I've never trained before! Or at least, I wish I could, but..."
Klein: "A man's gotta eat, right? I already ordered myself a pizza"
Klein: "Alrighty, I'm gonna take off here. You're the best, Kirito! You guys too! Catch ya later!"

He wandered a little ways off from the group before accessing his menu

Koharu: "Yeah, thank you! I think I won't trip over my feet now!"
Joshua: "I owe you one too"

Klein suddenly spoke up from off in the distance

Klein: "Huh? Where's the log out button?"
Kirito: "It should be at the bottom of the menu..."
Kirito: "Huh?"

All of a sudden, the four of you were enveloped in the signature light of being teleported away. You looked around and saw the familiar sight of the Teleport Gate plaza.

Joshua: 'Huh? Why am I here all of a sudden?'
Klein: "This looks like everyone in SAO..."

The sky suddenly filled with hundreds text boxes with 'Warning' inside completely blocking out the sky. A red liquid that looked like blood began to seep through the cracks before forming into a large entity, that you recognised as a game master.

Joshua: 'A game master? Is there some kind of announcement?'
???: "Attention players. I welcome you to my world"
Kayaba: "My name is Akihiko Kayaba."
Kayaba: "And of this moment, I am in control of this world."
Joshua: 'Kayaba? The guy who made SAO?"
Kayaba: "I have designed it so you cannot log out or escape Aincrad until you beat the game."
Kayaba: "If the NerveGear is removed from your head, or your HP reaches zero..."
Kayaba: "A microwave transmitter in the NerveGear will destroy your brain, ending your life."
Kayaba: "Despite my warming some have tried removing the NerveGear."
Kayaba: "As a result, 213 players have been deleted from Aincrad and the real world."

A bunch of Screens began appearing showing several news stations confirming what he said was true.

???: "No way... What the..!"
Kayaba: "As you can see, Medias have round the coverage of everything, including the deaths."
Kayaba: "There's only one way to escape now: You must clear all 100 floors of the game."
Kayaba: "I wish you luck."

Sword Art Online : Integral Factor rewriteWhere stories live. Discover now