บท 27: Emote Bitch

The setting sun turned this once vibrant and colorful world into something off putting. The rising shadows and the reddish light were far more threatening than they really should be. I don't know if I was seeing this because I was already weary or because it really was like that. I could only assume that this was a purposeful decision as Kayaba was rather meticulous in his world. That kind of detail fit the melodramatic mastermind that Kayaba wanted to portray himself as. I should know I was also a melodramatic maniac.

The relatively peaceful mood was broken as a loud bassy bell was rung. It rang over and over again adding to the illusory mood that the sun set was.

I did not have very long to appreciate the ominous sunset as a blinding light flashed. When I could see again I was no longer in front of that forest watching the sunset. No Ashley and I found ourselves in the town plaza of the starting town. Around us were the ten thousand players who were also participants in this death game. Or what was left of that original ten thousand number. There had to be individuals who died to the mobs at this point and others who had their helmets forcefully taken off.

The plaza was not something Ashley nor I had seen before. The current view of it certainly reaffirmed my view of that sunset. The tall buildings around us were designed to shower this place in shadow only at exactly this time. The reddish glow of the sky was even more threatening in this box. The rising panic of ten thousand people mixed with that bell was the bgm that this scene truly needed.

Even Ashley was feeling something from the general mood around us as she tightly gripped her spear.

In the center of the plaza was a long tower in which the bell sat. The dull metal reflected the reddish light perfectly. If Kayaba was not a fuckwit who put my friend in danger I could have appreciated the effort he put into this. Creating an entire world that players could travel to was a monstrous task even for a genius. Sure he had the help of a company that wanted to earn billions but all of this world was his baby. It had to be that way to fit into his own twisted world view. So while I hated that predicament he put me into I could respect the work he put into making this trap.

I noticed a lone red panel emerging from the sky because I was looking for it. It took a moment but others soon noticed the panel. Once the majority of the crowd noticed the panel it multiplied over and over again. No longer were we surrounded by the soft ominous light. Now we were covered in a dome of red system panels. It was honestly a downgrade from the subtle mood from before as this was a blatant threat. The red system panels started to ooze blood that fell and collected into a giant pool above the town hall. The blood crackled with electricity once a good amount was collected. The sparking blood morphed from the viscous sticky liquid to the solid form of a towering giant.

The giant was dressed in long blood red robes with gold tint. The face was shrouded in shadows and the man seemed to dye the world just a bit darker. With that grand introduction, Kayaba lost the respect that I built for him. I got making a splash but this entrance ruined the subtle mood he was building and it was rather tacky. I expected a lot more from a fellow melodramatic maniac. Have some style you fucking pleb.

"Attention Players. Welcome to my world." The towering giant spoke out normally. I honestly expected Kayaba to speak out with a deep monstrous voice but apparently, he was not that far gone.

"My name is Kayaba Akihiko. I am currently the one and only person who can control this world." The silence that was building from the crowd's attention was broken as others chatted at that declaration. No one really understood exactly what he was saying but what could you expect?

"I'm sure you have already noticed. The logout button on the main menu has been removed." The silence returned as the man spoke about the issue thousands were worried about.

"However, this by no means is a mistake." He demonstrated that the logout button was missing for those who had not noticed yet.

"I repeat. this is not a mistake but a feature of the true Sword Art Online." Fuck you! Feature my ass. If you want to be a god then be a god don't mask your intentions behind art.

"You are all unable to log out of Sword Art Online, and nobody in the real world can remove the nerve gear or interrupt its operation. Should it be attempted a powerful wave of microwave radiation emitted from a transmitter in the NerveGear will destroy your brain, thus ending your life." The man who effectively sentenced thousands for his dream announced dully. There was now panic in the crowd but the undercurrent had not yet reached its peak. Someone else on the other hand did reach their limits.

Ashley was upset. Not at being put in a death game. No her rage came from the manner in which Kayaba was playing with their lives. The dull emotionless tone was setting off all kinds of mines for her. So she did something I never expected from her. She gripped her spear and threw it at the floating figure. She may not have the throwing skill but her own skill and stats allowed her to throw it at Kayaba.

As the spear flew through the air I could hear the panic in the crowd dissipate as everyone watched. The spear hit Kayaba center mass and a red system panel popped up saying Immortal Object. Of course, Kayaba would pussy out and make himself immortal. To die here would ruin his plans. Not that I thought a single attack would really harm him if he did not make himself immortal. The avatar he was using was supposed to be the final boss after all. It was just the principle of the matter.

"Fuck you!" Ashley snarled out as Kayaba floated ominously over everyone. Every one seemed to be holding their breath at the audacity Ashley was displaying. I was feeling a fair amount of panic myself. I should have stopped her. Who knows what this maniac would do if someone dared to defy him here? I closed my eyes and clenched my fists.

This was not something I expected from her. I knew Ashley was a reckless and impulsive person but this was a bit much. It did not take away the beauty from her actions. To fight when faced with a literal god took something special. The will to fight even if the odds were completely against you. That type of will was hard to find the two thousand people who will jump off this flying castle can attest to that.

So to see that will in this girl that I thought was so fragile was shocking. I thought she was just like me but she was better. If she shattered she would continue on. I just hid behind an empty mask. I hated myself just a little more at that.

I asked Fortuna to take action if Kayaba started to take action against Ashley. The only reason he still breathed was because the Chat Task was to beat floor sventy five. Not kill Kayaba if it was I could have handled this much earlier. I was willing to fail this task if Ashley was going to find herself in danger. I was not sure what would happen to us if we did fail the task but I was not willing to sacrifice Ashley because of the unknown.

Kayaba froze for a moment before he raised his hand. I felt my heart skip a beat as I thought that this was it but he moved it to his own shrouded face. Kayaba gripped his face and laughed out with manic energy. He laughed so loudly and deeply that he seemed to cave into himself. Once he managed to get a handle on himself he released his face and looked back at Ashley. Who was quietly fuming.

"Good, Good. Struggle. Fight. Bleed. Give your all for me. Rebel with all your might or face your end with pride!" He announced with a booming voice. Ashley's actions seemed to have brought some energy to Kayaba. With that energy, Ashley calmed down a fair bit but she was still glaring at Kayaba which only seemed to spurn him on. Kayaba looked at the rest of the crowd who remained silent.

"I see the rest of you do not quite grasp this situation yet. Some of the player's families have not listened to my warning. So two hundred and thirteen players have retired from this world and the real one!" He spoke out coldly to the rest of the crowd as he waved his arms. Screens displaying news reports and crying families appeared in front of the stunned crowd. There was even a recording of someone spasming as the NerveGear microwaved their brain. A gruesome sight like that finally seemed to have brought everyone on the same page. The panic that dissipated from Ashley's actions was brought back with even more force.

"So struggle as much as you want as you try to beat this game. You do not have to worry about someone removing your helmet anymore. I will remind you that any form of revival has been removed from this game. If your HP manages to hit zero well then the NerveGear will microwave your brain. Ending your life both here and in the real world." Kayaba spoke out in finality.

"There is only one escape from this world. You are all on the first floor of Aincard if you kill every single floor boss from floor one to one hundred the game will be considered complete and everyone will be released." With that declaration, the crowd is throwing accusations and their rage at Kayaba. All of it was an empty display from scared cattle. No one had the same kind of courage that Ashley did.

"I have prepared a final gift for all of you. You can now check your inventory." Kayaba only seemed to be amused by their empty threats so he continued with his speech.

I knew what was to come so I did not even bother trying to get the so called gift. Unlike the vast majority of players Ashley and I did not change our appearances. Granted it was not our own decision but the fact remains I looked exactly the same in the real world.

Ashley did not have the same foreknowledge I had so she opened her inventory and found the mirror. Once she took it out she looked over at me but I only shrugged.

I knew what it was about but there was really no need to explain when things would become obvious. Liked I expected the player avatars around us started to glow blue. In a moment the crowd of players reverted to their original faces.

I looked around at the surrounding people in interest. Sword Art Online is a truly revolutionary concept for the denizens of this world. So I expected more than just the regular gaming crowd to be here. I was right and wrong. There are a few gems here and there but the vast majority of the player base is hard core gamers who slept in tents to buy the NervGear. Meaning the vast majority were men who had otaku like leanings.

Sure the named characters had unique and recognizable features but the majority of this crowd was rather bland. Kirito as bland as a person as he is at least had what one would consider a cute face. Which is a lot better than the majority of these people could expect so I understood why they switched their appearances. I don't know why so many men tried to play female avatars when this game had very real tactile sensations but the internet is weird.

The actual female players were stunning on the other hand. This was of course a world of anime so any girl had looked fantastic to get the weebs salivating. I did not try to look for any of the girls I could remember from the anime as Ashley was next to me. I was not exactly looking to fall madly in love again and Ashley was good enough eye candy. I did not need to piss her off because I was curious about the various waifu bait.

The both of us started to gather attention when everyone got a read on the situation. Ashley already gathered a good amount of attention with her blatant disregard for Kayaba's authority. Now the whole plaza saw that she was not one of those people who changed their appearance out of insecurity. Even if she was in fact rather insecure about herself.

I was gathering attention for being by her side and my supernatural looks. I could hear the surrounding weebs murmur about us but their opinion of us was never really that important.

The crowd's attention was quickly latched back onto the floating maniac as he started to speak again.

" I am sure all of you are wondering why I Kayaba Akihito was doing this to all of you." The giant looked around and the scared and frightened crowd and scoffed.

"I have already achieved my goal. I created the NerveGear and Sword Art Online for my own personal enjoyment. All of you are the final pieces in the puzzle to make this world real." He announced darkly as the crowd festered in their impotent rage.

"That concludes the tutorial for Sword Art Online. I wish you the best of luck Players." I could swear he was looking directly at Ashley at that declaration even if his face was shrouded in shadows. He reached towards the small spear that was still sticking out of his chest and grasped it. He then tore it out of his chest causing a spurt of blood to fall onto the crowd. It may not have done damage to him but she did manage to hit him. He then flicked his hand and the spear came barreling at Ashley at blinding speeds.

I had already tackled her out of the way as I moved as soon as he grasped the spear. She let out a startled yelp as I pushed her out of the way and pinned her to the ground. I was panting over her as I was panicking a fair bit. She was underneath me looking back at me in shock. Her eyes matched mine and her pupils seemed to grow larger before she showed me that same cat-like smile.

"You got to buy a girl dinner before you do shit like this Prince." She then lightly pushed me off her with her hand. When her hand touched my chest I shuddered lightly but got off of her.

I looked back at what I expected to be a small crater from the spear but I was wrong. The spear was floating quietly at where Ashley used to stand. It had a wide berth as the crowd also ran from the scene of the spear throw. I looked over at Kayaba who seemed amused.

"A gift for a brave soul." Kayaba chuckled darkly as he started to fade into smoke. Again he lost points from using a distortion effect in conjunction.

I looked between Ashley and the spear that she threw. It was just a little bit different than it was before. The blood that gushed out of Kayaba seemed to dye the blade a vibrant red. Other than that it looked similar enough to the spear she used earlier. I pushed her towards it as I did not want others getting ideas about her rare loot.

Ashley may have gotten the wrong kind of attention from her bravery but she deserved the loot for the balls she had. I had no idea what was going to happen from now on. Kayaba now had another hero candidate and it just happened to be the sociopath that I called my friend.

No big right?