"AS OF THIS MOMENT, SWORD ARE ONLINE IS NO LONGER A GAME TO YOU. IT IS ANOTHER REALITY."
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!" Grover yells to the man.
"THE STANDARD MEANS OF PLAYER RESURRECTION WILL NOT FUNCTION AS THEY PREVIOUSLY DID. WHEN YOUR HIT POINTS DWINDLE TO ZERO, YOUR AVATAR AND THE NERVGEAR WILL DESTROY YOUR BRAIN."
"DEATH?!" The whole crowd reacts at once. All of them start panicking, crying, and talking over each other.
"WHO'S GOING TO GO OUT IN THE MONSTER FILLED WILDERNESS KNOWING THEY CAN DIE?!" Grover yells.
"This is ridiculous..." I say to my self-holding my hand to my head, trying to not freak out.
"THERE IS ONE CONDITION ON WHICH YOU CAN BE FREED FROM THIS GAME... SIMPLY REACH THE 100TH FLOOR, THE VERY TOP OF AINCRAD AND DEFEAT THE FINAL BOSS THAT AWAITS YOU THERE. IN THAT INSTANT, ALL SURVIVING PLAYERS WILL BE ABLE TO SAFELY LOG OUT ONCE AGAIN."
"CLEAR THE 100TH FLOOR? WE CANT POSSIBLY DO THAT!" Grover yells now crying. "I HEARD THE ENTIRE GROUP OF BETA TESTERS BARLEY GOT THROUGH THE VERY START OF THE GAME!"
"I WONT BELIEVE IT!" Someone yells in the crowd.
"SHOW US PROOF YOU ARE THE REAL DEVELOPER." The crowd roars.
"I HAVE ALREADY SHOWN YOU THIS WORLD OS NOW YOUR ONE AND ONLY REALITY."
"The gear has transmitters all over it, including the part that goes over your face... so not only can it read your brain, it can also recreate your facial features... that's why we are us and not our avatars we made at the start." I say. "I think he's the real Zeus."
"Wait a sec... when I first put the Nervgear on, it made me touch all the parts of my body." Grover says. "Is that how it knew my height and stuff?"
"Why me?" someone says.
"YOU ARE LIKELY ASKING YOURSELVES. WHY WOULD ZEUS, DEVELOPER OF SAO AND THE NERVGEAR DO SUCH A THING? IS IT AN ACT OF TERRORISM? AN ELABORATE KIDNAPPING TO EXTRACT RANSOM MONEY? WHAT I SEEK IS NEITHER OF THESE THINGS. I HAVE NO GOALS OR JUSTIFICATIONS AT THIS MOMENT. IN FACT, THIS VERY SITUATION WAS MY ULTIMATE GOAL. I CREATED THE NERVGEAR AND SAO PRECISELY IN ORDER TO BUILD THIS WORLD AND OBSERVE IT. I HAVE NOW ACHIEVED THAT AIM.... THIS CONCLUDES THE TUTORIAL PHASE OF SWORD ART ONLINE. I WISH YOU THE BEST OF LUCK PLAYERS."
His floating body evaporates and the red error signs filling the skies disappear. Blue skies and birds return, and the crowd erupts into panic. Thousands of people crying "LET ME LEAVE." THIS ISN'T FAIR!" and "HELP!"
I hear screams and look over to see dozens of players climbing the fences to the edge and leaping to their deaths. The whole world of SAO is a floating castle called Aincrad, the Town of New Beginnings is the lowest floor
"Grover come with me." I grab his arm and drag him through the crowd back to the alley from the start.
Away from the crowd and in the alley Grover looks in shock.
"Snap out of it Grover." I say. "Listen up! I'm leaving this city right now and going to the next village, come with me."
He stands there in silence looking at the floor.
"If what he said is true then we need to level up and get stronger in order to survive. Their core, MMORPG'S are a battle over system resources. There is only so much EXP and gold to go around, and soon everyone will have the same idea and the sounding area will bleed dry in no time. We need to take this chance to set up in the next town. I know the way and I know which spots are dangerous. I can get us there safely at level 1." I say.
"I can't..." Grover says. "I stayed in line all night with friends from another game just to buy this. They must still be back at the square. I cant just leave them behind." He says. "My friends need me, I cant leave any of them behind. If you'll help us, we could really use you. Fight with us... I already think of you as one of the group." He says placing his hand on my shoulder.
He'd do that for me...?
"Ill... I'll be waiting for you in the next town." I turn away.
"Oh, good idea! Like I said I'll catch up with you in no time! Send me a message if anything pops up." He says.
I turn to leave.
"Hey Percy!" I turn to see Grover waves. "turns out your pretty cute after all." He grins.
How can he just see me off? A guy like me...
This scene would come to torment me over the next two years. I turned my back on the first friend I ever made in this world...
