"...Very scary…"
In the crowd, a brown-haired girl clung to the handsome boy beside her, trembling. The boy gently patted her hand.
"It's fine. This is probably just part of the launch celebration," he said with confidence.
Then, the "faceless" figure in the sky began to speak.
"Players, welcome to my world. My name is Kayaba Akihiko—the only person who can control this world right now."
Ryuto's eyes flickered toward Kirito. Seeing this scene in person was nothing like watching it through a screen. The shift in atmosphere was immediate—the once-excited crowd now stood frozen under a suffocating weight, their breaths caught in their throats. The air felt heavy, almost crushing.
Kayaba continued, his deep voice cutting through the silence.
"By now, you've probably noticed that the 'Log Out' button has disappeared from your main menu. This is not a bug. This is part of the original design of Sword Art Online."
"You cannot log out voluntarily. And no one from the outside can shut down or remove your NerveGear."
"If anyone tries… the high-power microwaves from the NerveGear's signal unit will fry your brain, ending your life."
The crowd erupted into noise.
"What is this?!"
"Is he trying to make the event more realistic?"
"This'll end soon, right?"
The brown-haired boy from earlier grabbed the girl's hand and turned to leave, muttering, "Liar. Let's go."
But just a few steps later—thud!—he slammed into something invisible. He turned back toward the sky, shouting angrily.
"Hey! We can't get out!"
Klein, standing nearby, frowned. "What's with that guy? Is he serious? …Right, Kirito?"
He looked at Kirito expectantly, hoping for a denial. But Kirito only stared ahead, voice flat.
"The NerveGear's signal unit really does work like a microwave oven. If the safety limiter is disabled… it'll cook your brain."
Klein swallowed hard. "Then… can't we just cut the power?"
Kirito shook his head.
"No. The NerveGear has a built-in battery."
Klein's expression darkened. "What the hell is this…"
Before anyone could say more, Kayaba's voice echoed again.
"Unfortunately, several players' families and friends have ignored the warnings and attempted to remove the NerveGear. As a result, two hundred and thirteen players have been permanently logged out of both Aincrad… and the real world."
Images popped up around Kayaba—news broadcasts, headlines, and breaking reports.
"As you can see, this situation has been widely reported. Any attempt to forcibly remove the NerveGear will be fatal. And in battle… when your HP reaches zero, your avatar will vanish, and at the same time, the NerveGear will destroy your brain."
"There is only one condition for liberation: clear the game. Conquer each floor's labyrinth, defeat the boss guarding the floor, and advance upward. Reach the 100th floor and defeat the final boss… and you will be free."
The crowd stirred again—panic, disbelief, and anger all colliding in a storm of noise. Ryuto stood silently among them, taking in the chaos.
"As a parting gift," Kayaba said, "I've placed something in your item storage. Please, check it now."
A flash of light burst across the plaza. The carefully crafted avatars dissolved away, revealing players' real-world appearances. A beautiful woman became a scrawny man; a confident young man became short, round, and flustered. Shock turned to anger, and accusations flew.
Ryuto crossed his arms—his own appearance unchanged.
Kayaba raised his hands.
"You may be wondering… why? Why would Sword Art Online's creator do such a thing? The answer is simple. This world is something I dreamed of and brought into existence. And now… my goal is complete. I have created this world, and I will watch it unfold."
"That concludes the official Sword Art Online tutorial. I wish you all… good luck."
His massive form began to collapse in on itself, the robe deflating as red smoke coiled around him. Slowly, he sank into the hexagonal panels of the sky. Then, as if a curtain had fallen, daylight shifted instantly into dusk.
The square fell into silence for a heartbeat—then chaos erupted. Some refused to believe it, while others sprinted toward the fields to begin leveling.
Ryuto opened his map. The sun had set. Traveling in the wild at night, with reduced visibility, was suicide for the unprepared. He'd need a secondary weapon. His Col count—just over 3,000—would be enough for a decent purchase.
Closing his status window, Ryuto turned and began walking toward the blacksmith's shop.
Standing before the blacksmith's shop in the Town of Beginnings, a wave of heat washed over Ryuto's face.
Inside, a burly middle-aged man hammered away at a glowing piece of metal. Each heavy strike sent sparks flying, beads of sweat dripping from the man's brow and hissing into steam as they struck the heated iron.
Seeing Ryuto enter, the man set his hammer aside. He took a slow drag from the cigarette clamped between his teeth, then calmly crushed the still-burning butt between two calloused fingers. With his free hand, he used a pair of tongs to plunge the red-hot ingot into a trough of water.
The hiss of quenching filled the air. The blacksmith exhaled a puff of smoke and grinned, revealing teeth stained yellow.
"Brother, looking for a weapon?"
Ryuto's lips twitched slightly. During the closed beta, this particular blacksmith had been tied to a hidden quest—one he had stumbled upon entirely by accident.
With a faint smile, Ryuto replied,
"Uncle, your weapons aren't exactly impressive. The level and quality are… a bit lacking."
The blacksmith's brows furrowed. He set the cooled iron aside, flicked the cigarette butt away, and strode over to a rack. Taking down an iron sword, he held it out proudly.
"Take a look. This is forged from refined iron—sharp enough to cut hair mid-air. Rare stuff on the first floor. I'll give it to you for 1,000 Cor. I'm practically losing money."
"No."
The man frowned but quickly swapped the sword for a spear.
"Then how about this? Forged from ten-year-old Muxin wood and refined Bailian iron. Flexible, sharp, perfectly balanced. I'll give you a 10% discount—just 2,000 Cor."
"No."
Ryuto's answers were curt, his tone flat. Each refusal seemed to chip away at the blacksmith's patience.
"Little brother, that's enough. You've got high standards—fine. But tell me, what shop on the first floor could meet them?"
"It's not that no one can. The problem is your technique."
The blacksmith's eyes narrowed.
"I've been working iron for thirty years. No one in all of Aincrad would dare say my skill ranks second! If you're still not satisfied, it's because these are only basic materials."
Ryuto tilted his head.
"So if you had better materials, you could forge a better weapon?"
"Exactly. In fact, I know of a place—Ore Valley, east of here. There's a rare mineral there called Muxin Ore. Flexible, durable, incredibly hard. Perfect for forging."
The moment he finished speaking, a glowing exclamation mark appeared above the blacksmith's head.
Ryuto smirked to himself. The hidden quest had just been triggered.