Sword Art Online: Isolation

Chapter 4: The Beginning of the End

The day had come, the day when Sword Art Online was to be fully released to the public and the rest of the world would come flooding into my new home. But to avoid their servers exploding due to a capacity breach of players, ARGUS only released 10,000 NerveGear units and copies of the game; this meant that the game wouldn't be as crowded as a normal MMO, which usually catered to millions of players. I was happy that only 10,000 people will be gaining access to this new game, as it made the experience feel more exclusive. However, even with the limit of available units, the population boost was defiantly noticeable, and the beta testers who had gotten used to the amount of free space on the city streets were now having to force their way through the crowds like they did when the beta testing started. I tried not to take much notice of the heaving mass of people as I knew that as the game progressed over time the problem would decrease as players would start to spread themselves out and inhabit the other 99 floors that waited for them up above. However, even when not trying to notice the increase in people it was hard not to remark it as incredible. I had never seen so many people in one place and I knew that it will only increase when ARGUS would release more NerveGears to the public in the future. As I made my way through the streets of the first level I saw a mixture of different players varying in height, width, strength, skin colouration, age, gender and further dissimilarities that made every one of them unique in their own way. I understood however that I wasn't looking at the real faces of the people, who were passing me as I continued my walk. All of these people were doing the same thing as me, hiding themselves behind a mask, an online personality that took over when they entered this virtual domain.

Because of the mass addition of new players and the official release of the NerveGear to the public, all of the beta tester's levels had been reset to the lowest value, putting them on equal stance with everyone else. But even though they had taken away out levels and equipment, we still had our knowledge on how to get them back. As I made my way through the streets I finally broke away from the town center and I entered a less busy district that was made up of petite shops and houses that were painted yellow making them shine like gold when the sun bounced off of them in the evening, creating an atmosphere of absolute stillness and tranquility. Nestled deep within the district was a humble little café that could only be described as a scene from one of Saikhan's paintings, but I guess that I what this world is made of, unbelievable fantasies and improbable dreams. It was at this café where I was going to meet my friends Pathik and Saikhan and as it came into view I saw that they were already sat on the café's veranda, laughing and drinking together. We had chosen to meet here as we had previously done during our time together in the beta testing, it was here that we were able to relax together and take in our surroundings that had been coded to absolute perfection. Even the café's waitresses were the pure image of beauty, with hair that was long yet felt light in your hand if you were lucky enough the touch it, their eyes shone like gemstones in a dark cave when the moonlight hit them and their smiles were enough to make you feel like your heart would explode with an undying love for these creatures of the virtual world. I had already seen other players fall in love with the people of this world but their affection wouldn't get them very far, as they were soon rejected and left alone with their love. That's the curse of this beautiful world, you could look and interact with it to some degree, but anything beyond that just wasn't possible. I joined Pathik and Saikhan as I ordered a drink from the blonde haired waitress who was ready to ask what I would like to refresh myself, as I sat down I looked into the faces of my friends and I smiled while I lost myself in the memories that we had made together and the happiness that they brought with them. For hours on end we sat around a circular table and discussed what we were going to do the progress though this game as quickly as possible, we drew up battle plans and strategies that contained plans for levels that were miles above our heads as we spoke. As the day rolled on I occasionally saw the sun make its way across the sky and when the time came it looked as though it has gently kissed the horizon as it started its disappearance behind the hills in the distance. As evening held still we noticed how we had been talking for hours and that we were all getting hungry, even though your mind was in this world you could not ignore the needs of your physical body that you had left behind, meaning that unfortunately you needed to re-enter reality to refuel yourself.