Sword Art Online: Isolation

Chapter 3: The New World

As the figure approached me, I watched the way he walked to determine whether he was a friend or a foe, but I couldn't come to a clear decision in time, so I decided to remain where I was but ready myself for a possible fight. The figure stopped in front of me and I looked up to get a clear view of what they looked like, but I could not get a clear view because of the position I was in. As I was looked down upon my mind started to race to different ideas of what might happen next, ranging from the figure walking away to me lying dead with a sword through my heart and being left on that hill where I had spawned in, but the most logical conclusion that I came to is that I would be seen as something pathetic in the eyes of this stranger and laughed at. In worlds like these where strength and power is determined by the skill of the player, the strongest players tend to mock others for their lack of strength and go about as though they are kings amongst the people. Although nobody liked these people, they all secretly wanted to have the same power, and with it, the ability to do what they felt like. That was the situation that I was in now, an ominous being standing above me who had the power to do what they wanted to me as I was completely defenceless. As I lowered my head and awaited the laughter I was surprised when I instead received something that was quite the opposite, as I wondered why nothing had happened, I looked up and I saw what the figure was doing, they were extending their hand down to me. I cautiously looked at the figure and I waited for what was going to happen next, a few seconds had passed until I found out that I had to make the next move. I raised my own hand and it was instantly gripped with great strength and I was pulled to my feet as though I was a child's doll. It was then I was able to get a good look at the stranger who stood before me, he was a similar height to me, but he had a stronger looking physique which you would normally see on an athlete, his hair was also a similar length too but it was dark brown in colour and messier than mine. His face had a mixture of different features, he had a thick brow that sat above two light blue eyes that were currently staring into mine, his nose was straight and his lips were soft pink and small. Overall he looked like what most would expect a high school jock to look like, a strong physical build that was complimented by a handsome face that could melt the heart of any women, truly someone who would not play games like this. But then I remembered, the face that was in front of me was merely a mask and that anyone could be hidden behind it, which made me careful about what I said to the stranger.

As I was thinking about how I should proceed with this encounter I was again caught off guard by the mysterious man when he started to speak to me. "It's good to finally meet another player at last", said the man, "I was starting to think that I was all alone". As I looked at the smiling face of the man I decided to engage with him in conversation. I replied to him saying: "I've only just arrived so I haven't had a chance to meet anybody else, are you on your way to that town over there?" The man nodded in confirmation and his smile beamed at me like headlights, "you're welcome to join me if you want, I could use the company". I decided to take a small leap of faith, he seemed like a nice person, but if he turned out to be a fraud I decided that I would deal with that problem when I got to it. I agreed to his invitation and as he set off he turned around and he spoke again. "My name's Saikhan, pleased to meet you". As we walked together we started to learn more and more about each other, I had told him my name and he seemed quite intrigued by it, it was though I had given him a toy to play with as I heard him use it several times to master the single word. The walk to the nearby town turned out to be longer than I thought it would be, as we walked we discussed each other's experience with different games and together we explored the ins and outs of the world that we were now standing in. Saikhan's personality was starting to become clearer to me and I was starting to think that he was more friendly than sinister; the evidence of this became clear when he showed me how to use the in game menu, access my inventory and use the general mechanics of the game. He was being very helpful and I thought to myself that if he wanted to kill me he would have done it when he found me sat on that hill, so I decided that I could trust this person not to kill me for the time being.