Sword Art Online - Astrophel Altair -

Chapter 2

Hello readers. I want to apologize for the beginning of this chapter being a bit boring! I feel like it's important to map out the true moments when the story of SAO starts, and that includes Kayaba's beginning speech. If you don't want to read it, there will be bolded text after the recap where it shifts back to focusing on Asta. But if you need or want to read his speech, it's there. Thank you!
P.S. Some of it is summarized as to make it as small as possible without leaving out main information.

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"It's almost 5. I need to log off so I can greet Mom when she gets home.." Asta thought to herself as she lay on the bed of the inn. "I'll figure out all this gear and stuff tomorrow." When she stood up, she stretched and then pulled down her drop-down menu. She stared at her stats for a second before opening the settings where she noticed the log out button was empty. The icon.. it was there, but the words were empty, and when she clicked on it, nothing happened.

"??" She rapidly smashed the log out button, or what was supposed to be the log out button. "What the hell.."

Suddenly, she felt a tingle throughout her body, and in an instant, she was teleported to a huge plaza in the Town of Beginnings. She looked around to orient herself and noticed everyone else was being teleported as well. As everyone was put in the same spot, it started to get louder and louder. People were confused and mostly scared to be forced here, and some even tried to leave. The ones who tried to leave were quickly shut down by an invisible forcefield that was holding them in this plaza. After a few minutes, the sky went dark with error messages, and the sky started to bleed, which in hindsight probably wasn't the best idea, or maybe it was. The blood falling from the sky eventually formed a very large entity in a red coat. This entity greeted everyone in the plaza and claimed to be the creator of Sword Art Online, Akihiko Kayaba himself. Some people believed it, some didn't.. some thought this was just a quick launch party, but the topic quickly turned sour.

"I'm sure you've already noticed that the logout button is missing from the main menu."

Asta definitely did, but some others didn't. They immediately opened their menus to find that he was telling the truth, and the log out button was nowhere to be found. She had a horrible feeling about this but hoped she was desperately overreacting. Maybe this was just an important announcement and that the log out would be fixed soon?

"This is not a defect in the game...I repeat..this is not a defect in the game. It is a feature of Sword Art Online."

"You can not log out of SAO yourselves. And no one on the outside can shutdownor remove the NerveGear. Should this be attempted, the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit a powerful microwave, destroying your brain and thus ending your life."

These words that were spoken rightfully sent everyone into a sudden panic. Was this guy for real? This couldn't be true. Only a psychopath would lock 10,000 people in a fantasy game. Even if it was, what was the point?! What would he gain from hurting so many innocent people??

"Unfortunately, several players' friends and families have ignored this warning and have attempted to remove the NerveGear. As a result, 213 players are gone forever, from both Aincrad and the real world."

This was a warning in itself essentially, but many people in a panic didn't believe it. Half these players were demanding confirmation, and the other half were trying to escape the plaza. But the invisible barrier didn't lift. The games creator tried to continue to talk over the screams and cries of the stuck players.

"As you can see, news organizations across the world are reporting all of this, including the deaths. Thus, you can assume that the danger of a NerveGear being removed is no minimal. I hope you will relax and attempt to clear the game."