Crossing Fields

World Of Swords

In 2022, mankind finally brought a true virtual world into existence...

"It's time for this week's MMO Stream! We begin with a promotional video. Was this of last week's launch? What were all these people waiting in line for? Sword Art Online! The ones at the front of the line started waiting three days prior to launch. Amazing! Or is it just what any real gamer would do?"

I sat at my desk, browsing through a magazine with news about the latest MMORPG, Sword Art Online, and its inventor, Alvi Simmers, who also invented the NerveGear, the gear used to dive into a virtual reality world. On my computer played a live stream, also about Sword Art Online.

The launch of this game was really big news, since we all waited so long for it. And finally, the game will be accessible for all who want to play it.

"On today's MMO Stream, we'll be covering the international famous Sword Art Online, SAO for short. Frankly speaking, none of the NerveGear software so far has been able to tap into the machine's full potential. They all sucked! I mean, seriously. Thankfully, SAO was created by the NerveGear inventor, Alvi Simmers, and it's a long-awaited VR MMORPG," the female newsreader said in a high-pitched, quite irritating voice. While I flipped another page, I felt a little stingy pain in my thumb, and when I looked at it, I saw a drop of blood welling up in a small cut. Before it started bleeding heavier, I placed my thumb in my mouth and sucked at the wound.

"Brother, I'm off to practice!" I heard my sister call from downstairs. Then I heard our front door closing, so I stood up and looked out of my window, just to see a glimpse of my sister holding her katana over her shoulder, running towards the dojo. Then I turned my eyes upwards and gazed the cloudy sky. I thought about the virtual world I was about to enter. It's been a long time since I've last been there. I wonder if it has any physical changes. As a beta tester, I had the privilege, along with 999 others, to do a second run of the game Sword Art Online. And because of that, I didn't have to buy a NerveGear in all the rush for the launch, because I got one from the creators of Sword Art Online.

I turned around and looked what time it was. 12:56. At exactly 13:00 o'clock, the game would be officially open for players. I turned off the video and plugged in my NerveGear. Then I put the gamedisk in the reader and put the helmet-like NerveGear on. Three more minutes had passed, and I lay down on my bed, since your body gets in some kind of comatose state when you dive into a virtual reality game.

I counted down the last seconds, and when it was exactly 13:00, I closed my eyes and grinned. Here I come again, Sword Art Online!

"Link start!"

In front of my eyes, a white field appeared and the NerveGear checked all of the settings within a split second. When I logged in, a pop-up appeared with on it the text: Beta test data still available. Would you like to use it? I pressed the no-button, I would start over again. The menu disappeared and the welcoming letters appeared before me.
When I opened my eyes again, I was standing on a square in the middle of Starting Town. I looked down, and saw a pair of brown pants and the combat boots everyone gets in the beginning of the game. I raised my hand, wich was wearing a typical fingerless black glove, and clenched it to a fist. Everything in this world seemed so real. If I inhaled, I could smell the scent of the plants that were set all over the place. I could feel the wind blowing softly in my face and I was fully aware of every movement my body made. It felt amazing to be back in this world.

"I've returned to this world!" I thought out loud, and started looking for the nearest smithshop, and entered it. There I looked around for a long sword that I could append on my back. When I found a nice, heavy one for a decent price, I took it, but kept it in my storage untill I really needed it.
Even though the sword wasn't that expensive, my amount of money wasn't much. Maybe I should go hunt down some monsters to earn money, I thought to myself. That decided, I left the shop and started running down the streets that lead towards the edge of the town.