When Charlie opened his eyes again, he found himself standing in a vast plaza, surrounded by ten thousand people.
"Huh? This place... Town of Beginnings on Floor 1 of Aincrad?! So I was directly transferred into the ga?"
This was completely beyond his expectations. Charlie had thought that he and Miguel would first need to obtain Nerve Gears in the real world in order to log into the SAO ga.
That could have been a bit troubleso considering that only ten thousand units of the Nerve Gear were produced in the initial stage and all of them had been sold out within a few hours.
Of course, obtaining a Nerve Gear wasn't a big deal for people like Charlie and Miguel who possessed power in the extraordinary realm. They could definitely find a way to get one if needed. However, the fact that they were directly transferred into the ga world itself clearly saved them the effort of snatching a Nerve Gear from soone else.
"So the story has already begun, huh..."
Realizing the situation, Charlie followed the direction of the players' gazes in the plaza and looked up.
Floating in the air, there was a gigantic, faceless humanoid figure wrapped in a deep red robe. Surrounding it were projections of live news broadcasts, panicked reporters, governnt statents, and the most horrifying... images of victims in the real world.
213 players had died because their Nerve Gears were forcibly removed by their family mbers.
Clearly, with the terrifying facts revealed by the humanoid figure who claid to be the creator of Sword Art Online, Kayaba Akihiko, the players who previously might have only considered the announcent that SAO had beco a death ga as Kayaba's dark joke to liven up the ga's launch, now began to react accordingly.
Waves of fear spread rapidly, followed by paralyzing disbelief, burning anger, uncontrolled hysteria, and various other negative emotions that mixed together into an ocean of despair.
In the midst of the crowd that was beginning to panic, so desperate players denied the truth.
"No way! This has to be a lie! This is just part of a crazy launch event, right?"
A male player with brown hair shouted in a trembling voice, tightly gripping his friend's shoulders.
"No... it's impossible for anyone to die in the real world just because their Nerve Gear was forcibly removed! That... that doesn't make any sense!"
A young girl with teary eyes shook her head repeatedly.
"Kayaba Akihiko... you must be joking! Return us to the real world right now! This isn't funny anymore!"
A large player with a flushed face yelled at the gigantic figure in the sky, his fists clenched tightly.
"Experiencing it firsthand is so different from just watching it on screen."
Charlie felt the waves of despair emanating from the ten thousand players around him. Even he, who was usually calm, was slightly affected by such a strong ocean of negative emotions.
"Kayaba Akihiko, you are a selfish psychopath who dragged the lives of many people into your childish delusions."
"If I rember correctly, out of the 10,000 players trapped in Aincrad, about 3,853 players died before the ga ended. The remaining 6,147 players managed to survive and get out of the ga after Kirito defeated Heathcliff, who turned out to be Kayaba."
Charlie's voice was drowned out by the clamor of ten thousand players constantly demanding that Kayaba return them to the real world.
"I've decided. If I encounter Heathcliff, I will kill him. That way, the number of victims won't be as severe as in the original tiline."
Killing is a sin.
No matter how beautiful the justification, taking a life is the greatest sin in the world.
Kayaba was a great sinner. He didn't care about the lives and deaths of ten thousand players in order to achieve his unrealistic ambitions.
"The current appearance of the players is the avatar they customized according to their wishes when they first logged in."
"With such diverse appearances that don't reflect their real forms, it's impossible for
to find Kirito and Asuna in this crowd of ten thousand people. They could be anywhere."
Observing the people in the plaza carefully using his Six Eyes, Charlie tried to find the heroine and protagonist, but with such varied appearances, his efforts proved futile.
"There's no other choice. I can only wait until Kayaba gives the Hand Mirror to the players. Once they use that item, their avatar's appearance will change into an accurate representation of their physical appearance in the real world."
"That's when I will scan the entire plaza again with my Six Eyes. That way, my chances of finding Kirito and Asuna will be much greater."
Charlie could only be patient and wait for the right mont to act.
Of course, amidst the sea of panicked and confused players, Charlie had already managed to locate Miguel.
Their appearances were indeed very conspicuous among the other players who were still wearing their initial clothes and simple starter equipnt.
It was a pity that not a single other player noticed the appearance of these two anomalies.
Their attention was completely absorbed by Kayaba's shocking and terrifying announcent.
Fear and despair had blinded them to everything else around them. In this emotional chaos, the arrival of two clearly different figures did not arouse any curiosity or suspicion at all.
Ignoring the mass chaos caused by his announcent, Kayaba calmly continued his speech through the gigantic humanoid avatar in the sky.
"To remind you that this world is now your new reality, I have given you a small gift in your inventory. Please take a look."
Filled with curiosity amidst their fear, the players who heard the instructions opened their virtual inventory nus.
Instantly, a small mirror with a simple fra appeared in the palm of each avatar.
"A mirror?" So players muttered confusedly, looking at the new item.
*SHUA!*
The next mont, a bright white light enveloped every player in the plaza, except for Charlie and Miguel.
Not a single other player noticed this anomaly because the entire plaza was indeed bathed in the sa white light. Even Kayaba, who was observing the crowd from above, did not notice the two anomalies that did not undergo transformation.
When the white light dimd, hysterical reactions and cries of confusion imdiately broke the montary silence.
"AAAAHHH?!"
"You... you're not a girl?! You... a guy?!"
"Huh? This... this is my face?! How is it possible...?"
"My hair... where did my long hair go?!"
"Good heavens! I've beco so short?! My avatar was tall and handso!"
Kayaba allowed the panic and confusion that had gripped the players to subside for a mont. After a tense silence enveloped the plaza, the gigantic humanoid figure spoke for the last ti.
"You may be wondering why I did all of this? I have no particular purpose and no complicated motives behind it."
"This world is my masterpiece."
"And now... my work is done."
With those last words, Kayaba's gigantic form completely disappeared, leaving the virtual sky looking normal again.
The orange color of the setting sun began to paint the sky, casting long shadows over the thousands of players who were still dazed and in disbelief that all this horror was real.
The death ga had just begun!
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