Sword Art Online: Forgotten Edition

Fragment 2 - Missing 'logout' button

1st Floor — Field outside of Town of Beginnings

"Amazing!" The view of the field seemed like something from right out of a fairy tale.

Lush green grass, towering trees, high hills, it went on forever. My eyes felt like they were being deceived but it was a game that went over my expectations. I couldn't help myself but enjoy the terrain.

"It hasn't changed a bit but I'm impressed every time I see it," a smile surfaced on Kirito's face.

"You've already been here before? But you just started playing?" I asked as I titled my head.

"Ah, I was a beta tester. I got to play the game before it was released and I managed to get pretty far."

"That's so cool! I can't believe you got to do that! That means you know things that other people don't right?!" I stared at him in awe of his achievement, though I was also envious.

"Well yeah. I know a lot of the farming and grinding areas—" before he could finish his sentence we heard a loud yell coming from our left.

"H-HEEEELLP! PLEASE! SOMEONE KILL THIS BOAR!" The guy yelling had red hair like a cherry tomato and was wearing similar armor as us. As he got closer his facial hair was more noticeable. A goatee was present on his face, but appearances in the game are deceiving since they don't replicate what we look like in the real world.

Taking the call to action, Kirito pulled out his sword that was hitched on his left hip and dashed toward the scared man.

The guy was being chased by a boar and had his health point (HP) bar at red, meaning he was going to die if he got hit one more time.

Once the boar was in Kirito's sights his sword began to glow an azure light. His eyes were focused on the target and it all ended in an instant.

"HAAAAAAAAPH!" He yelled as he slashed once on the boar's body. A virtual cut visible on the boar and soon exploding into a million digital pieces.

Kirito sheathed his sword and returned back to where he was.

"YOU HAVE TO TEACH ME THAT!" I yelled extremely impressed by his skill.

"Calm down, it was only a basic sword skill."

"Thanks a lot man! You really saved me back there," the guy that was running away earlier suddenly appeared to my side.

"No problem. I'm guessing you're new to this whole thing?" Kirito asked.

"Yep. And listen, everything was going well until that happened. I could've handled it myself but I guess I just got carried away," said the scaredy cat.

I wasn't convinced by that man's tone that he could've defeated that boar. But he still seemed very prideful in whatever he did before that sad mess.

"Say, I was going to teach him the basics of the game. If you want do you wanna join us? The name's Kirito by the way," he offered politely.

"The more the merrier right? I'm Haru! Nice to meet you!" I stuck out my hand to greet the newbie.

"Klein. Nice to meet both of you. I have a feeling that this is the start of a great friendship," Klein said happily grasping both of our hands.

"Now that introductions are done let's get this business started," Kirito clapped his hands together and the three of us took off as a trio.

Later

"Ahhh man that was pretty exhausting," slumped Klein, "I didn't think using sword skills would require so many things to remember."

"I'm with you Klein. I don't think I can recall all of the things you taught us Kirito," I sat on the grass with my sword still in my hand.

"It'll take some time, but you'll get it for sure. Just more practice and you'd be set."

"Man you talk about practice like it's normal. Just thinkin' about it makes me hungry. Oh! That reminds me, I ordered a box of pizza earlier. I think I'm headin' off for today guys," Klein said bringing up his system menu to logout for the day.

"I'm in the same boat. I have a curfew and I have to listen to my parents, so I'll be on tomorrow—"

But before we say our good-byes, Klein makes a suspicious point.

"Okay is it just me or am I trippin'," Kirito and I stare at him, "Where's the logout button?"

Kirito raised an eyebrow, "It should be in the menu..." he swiped his right hand to open an identical menu but had the same outcome.

No 'logout' button.

"Maybe it's a bug?" I mention. It was the only logical outcome that could happen since it was a new game and all.

"If that were the case then I'm sure other people pointed it out way earlier than us. The GameMasters (GMs) would've fixed it by then," Kirito speculated.

"Ah man. Bugs at this point in the game, I'm just tryna eat the pizza that's waiting for me," Klein didn't seem to like this idea of a 'bug' in the system but we couldn't help it. There was just no way to logout.

Ding Dong

My ears twitched at the sudden sound of a bell. Our conversations stopped as we listened carefully.

"Why is there a bell ringing?" I looked around for an answer.

"No clue...What the—" A blue aura enveloped Klein's body making him disappear right in front of us.

"Klein?!" The same thing happened to Kirito. And then myself.