[F1|SP] Beginning in SAO, <<The First Few Lessons are Free>>

[IIJJ22GG 0]

"Link Start!"

The Nervegear powered on, and reality faded as brightly colored cylindrical streaks of light flew past my field of vision. I was excited. I had long-awaited playing this game, ever since it was first announced so long ago. And it was finally time. The Nervegear then ran a series of tests on the various sensory emulation systems it had for the five senses and presented me with a login screen. After I had logged in, I created my character as a mysterious, dark-robed character like I did in all Nervegear games. Then the words "Welcome to Sword Art Online" appeared in front of me, and I stepped into the portal. Well, I didn't literally step into a portal, but it seemed like I was moving at high speed through a tunnel of pulsating fluorescent blue waves as my vision gradually faded to white.

As my vision cleared, audio began to filter through to my ears. I seemed to be in the center of some sort of town or village. Rows of various buildings spread out from the center in an ornamental, orderly fashion. A big sign nearby said, "Welcome to the Town of Beginnings!" "This is it," I thought, "The greatest game of all time." I began to walk around, taking in all the sights and sounds. Hundreds of players were already there of various shapes and sizes. No one seemed to notice me as I walked around, but I was happy, as I hated to draw attention to myself. The game had only been launched a few hours ago, but people were already leveling up and showing off their ascension to level two or three. There was one guy who was already on level four somehow.

 

[IIJJ22GG 0]

The first thing I need to do is set up a sort of game plan for starting. My friends should be joining me within a few hours, so I have plenty of time to figure out what I want to do first. The top priority is to take the first quest, but that will have to wait until my friends join. So what can I do now then? I guess I can do a little more exploring, and maybe I can look at the shops and see what's there since I seem to have some Col on me.

 

So this is odd... I can't seem to do much business in shops. How do I do it? Maybe its a beginner quest or something. This system doesn't seem to be that simple.

 

Looking at all the professions, can I do all of them or something? I really don't want to stick to just one. There should be a skill system where I can level up in everything not team or side related. I hope professions aren't this way so I can be entirely self-supporting. Well, if I generalize in all areas though, it will have to be an insane grind to get everything to a decent level. Hmm... If I gather a bunch of people together and cook for them I could raise my cooking level significantly. Or hold a duel event and craft everyone's armor, weapons, and potions, and they get to choose what they want to use from a set supply. That might be more interesting than just grinding, but it's still a far off dream.

 

There's a building that says under construction or some thing. That's very odd, especially since there are 100 floors in the game...

[IIJJ22GG 0]

I opened my eyes and blinked as the evening sun filtered into my retinas. Staring groggily at the sky, I realized something was off. First, I never sleep outside; second, I hate sleeping on hard surfaces; and third, I'm not wearing the usual earplugs that go in my ears when the neighbors are too loud. Wait, neighbors? Not this crowd of people around me. This was like a theme park on New Years. How in the world did I get in a place like this?

Let me think... Last night... I was really excited about something... And my mind had refused to shut down for the night because of it...
I don't recall going to a bar... I didn't use my computer very much... And... What happened this morning anyway? Did I somehow get transported outside my apartment by my cleaning crew?
Nah, they come on Wednesday, I must be getting the days mixed up again. Must be that strange occult thing I read about a couple days ago, it must be getting to my head...

I crossed my legs.
Wait, am I wearing a... dress??? It seemed like I was stripped down to my underwear, and my legs were surrounded by a blanket of heavy fabric.
I raised my arms over my head.
I'm surrounded in a dark robe, clearly a sign of the occult. I begin to breathe heavily as fear envelopes me. This diverse smell must definitely mean I’m in the middle of a community of the occult. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to take deep breaths to calm down. This can’t be happening.

I felt the grogginess begin to overtake me. I let it, anything to get me away from this feeling. Maybe it’s just a dream. I cannot possibly have been sleeping outside of my apartment. It makes no sense…
I dozed off again.

Edited October 13, 2020 by IIJJ22GG