2. Starting Town

«Nerve Gears»

That was the name of the hardware running the VRMMORPG—«Sword Art Online».

The basic form of this machine is very different compared to the old one.

Unlike older hardware like "flat screen monitors" or "game sticks", the Nerve Gear has a helmet-like shape that covers the entire head and face.

It contains many signal transmitters, and by using those transmitters, the Gear directly accesses into the wearer's brain. The wearer does not use his eyes and ears to see and hear, but rather picks up signals that are sent directly to their brain. In addition, the machine can access not only the senses of hearing and sight, but also the senses of touch, taste and smell. In short, the five senses.

After putting on the Nerve Gear, you lock the strap on your chin and say the initiation command («Link Start»), all sounds disappear and you will be enveloped in darkness. Immediately, after passing the rainbow-colored circle in the middle, you are in a world made entirely of data.

So...

Half a year ago, this machine (which went on sale in May 2022) succeeded in creating «Virtual Reality». The electronics company that makes the Nerve Gear calls the connected state Virtual Reality...

«Full Dive».

A world completely detached from reality, fits the word "full".

The reason is because the Nerve Gear not only sends false signals to the five senses, but also blocks and returns the signals sent by the brain to the body.

This is arguably the most basic requirement to move freely in Virtual Reality. If the body receives a signal from the brain while the user is in Full Dive, the moment the user decides to «Run», their real body will crash into a wall.

Since the Nerve Gear was able to return commands sent by the brain through the spine, player could freely move our avatars and swing our swords at will.

I really dive into the game.

MC's POV

My vision was shrouded in a blue light that slowly faded to reveal a medieval street surrounded by street lamps and a large palace emitting a dark glow visible in the distance.

if I remember correctly then this was the starting point, the central plaza of the «Starting Town».

I looked around at the crowd of people around me.

Looking at the group of extremely beautiful and handsome people with varying equipment and hair colors, they were unmistakably another SAO player.

Then a few whispers and screams entered my ears.

"What happened?"

"Can we Log Out now?"

"Get out, GM!"

"Could they fix it sooner?"

Such comments can be heard from time to time.

"Looks like I was sent when the game started" I thought as I looked around.

Someone shouted in a louder voice.

"Ah…look up!"

I instinctively cast my gaze upward.

One hundred meters above the air, there was a hexagon shape with two different words in red inside. When I saw it more clearly. One's words were [Warning] and the other was [System Announcement].

"Oh, looks like Kayaba is about to appear" I thought as I surveyed the sky.

From the lines of the hexagons a liquid that was like blood began to flow down slowly. The liquid began to change into the form of a 20 meter tall man wearing a hooded robe that covered his body.

Inside the hood no face could be seen there. Likewise with his robe, all I can see is its shadow.

Then his hands started to move. A white glove appeared from the folds of his shirt.

With two bare gloves spread out in front of the 10 thousand players, a calm and quiet male voice resounded from the heights.

'Players, I welcome all of you into my world'

"Yup, that's a pretty friendly welcome"

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