4 Floor-1 Town of beginnings

Glancing left and right, Toyo briefly considered making a dash up the steps before spotting a quiet and relatively empty alleyway nestled in between a line of houses. It was a secluded spot, and right now, he needed a place to hide before his churning panic overcame him again. Jae seemed to have located it as well, for they both darted off at once in the same direction. Neither of them dared slow down or look back until they were safely around the corner and finally out of the open.

The alley was narrow, worn, and filthy. Grime and rust coated the walls to either side, trash and debris littered the uneven pavement, and the air reeked of manure. Gasping for breath, Toyo dropped back against the wall without hesitation, too tired and fearful to care about the filth and stench. His heart hammered against his ribs. Terror induced nausea churned within his gut. His head throbbed painfully, and in the back of his mind, all he could think about were Akihiko Kayaba's horrifying words:

"You cannot log yourselves out of Sword Art Online, and no one from the outside will be able to shut off or remove the NerveGear from your head. If anyone in the real world attempts to do so, a hidden transmitter inside the NerveGear will automatically discharge a microwave signal into your skull, destroying your brain, and ending your life."

Beads of cold sweat began to trickle down his face as Toyo fought back the urge to vomit. The knot in his stomach seemed to be growing larger with every breath he took.

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He didn't want to believe any of it, but Kayaba had already shown them that it was all true. Utilizing his status as both Dev and GameMaster, he had showed the whole crowd lives for to thanked s reports going on all around the world. Over two hundred people had already died as a result of family removing the NerveGear from players in spite of Kayaba's public warnings to the outside media. Now the chances of anyone in the real world interfering were slim, but the proof that such a horrific tragedy had brought forth was impossible to deny or ignore.

They were going to die.

Kayaba, the genius developer of Sword Art Online- and the man both he and Jae had praised ever since the first trailer for the game- had just doomed them all.

They took a few moments to calm their minds.

Then Toyo thanked Jae(the person) for saving his life. They introduced themselves to one another.

They both turned their gazes out of the alleyway as a half dozen people ran frantically down the paved street ahead. The moment they were out of earshot, Jae kicked off the grime-covered wall and began pacing. He cleared his throat again and made sure to sound as calm as possible before speaking.

"We need...we need to start figuring out what to do until we're saved."

Toyo blinked. "Saved? By who?"

"The government will stop this," Jae said quickly. "Kayaba showed us proof that the world already knows. They'll stop the game-"

"Jae, they can't. If the NerveGears on our heads get removed-"

"They'll shut down the servers then or, or arrest Kayaba and force him to-"

"You know as well as I do that he's probably already in hiding."

Jae rounded on him. "They're not just going to sit there and do nothing!"

"I know that," Toyo conceded softly. He nodded to show that he truly did. "I know. I'm not saying the outside won't help. I'm just saying it won't be as quick as you're thinking. It'll take time. A few days at least, maybe even a few weeks, before they get us all out of here."

Jae paused to consider it. While it terrified him to think that it could truly take that long for them to be saved, he knew Toyo was making too much sense. They had to be ready for an extended stay.

"You're right," he acknowledged reluctantly. "You're right. It could be a while before they figure out a way to shut this whole thing down without hurting anyone. Which means…"

He trailed off as the realization of what they needed to do washed suddenly over him. This was an MMO, and in an MMO, there were always steps that had to be taken in order to have any success with a new character. His experiences in past RPGs flooded back into him, further solidifying that fact. If they were going to survive long enough for the outside world to bring them all back from VR, they would need to copy those steps.

It would be dangerous, but in the end, it was the only thing they could do in order to have the best chance at survival. The very thought terrified him, but he did his best to force the fear back down. He couldn't allow himself to fall into a panic and freeze up again.

"We have to do everything we can to stay alive until then," he quickly finished. He glanced to Jae. "The way I see it, we have to treat this as no different than any other RPG."

Jae responded with a dumbfounded look.

"What? This is nothing like other RPG's, Toyo. This-" he waved an arm around the alley they were hiding in- "this completely changes the game."

I know what you're getting at," Jae continued in a serious voice, "and I'm telling you right now I think it's the wrong move. We can't play this like it's some other MMO. In those games, dying and respawning is inevitable, and just something that we have to go through before we get strong. We take it for granted. We can't do that here. If we die, even once, that's it. It's over. Even if it turns out Kayaba was lying to us, we still need to assume for now that he wasn't."

"Which is exactly why we need to level up," Toyo argued. "We need to gain Experience, as much and as quickly as possible. You really think we'll survive at Level One with no gear and a rusty fucking sword?"