Sword Art Online (ソードアート・オンライン)

Hi there, time for this week's MMO stream.

You just saw a promo of today's featured game,

and this is what last week's launch day looked like.

Can you guess what everyone's waiting in line for?

Sword Art Online!

The first person in line said they camped out for three days!

Hey, but if you're a hard-core gamer,

that's what you do.

On today's episode of the MMO stream,

we'll be covering the internationally famous

Sword Art Online, AKA SAO.

Up to now, none of the NerveGear software

we've seen has taken advantage

of the possibilities of the hardware.

Hey, I'm off to practice now.

See you later, okay?

...by the inventor of NerveGear, Akihiko Kayaba.

Hey, this is the VRMMORPG

that me and everyone else have been waiting for!

The Beta testers say it's incredible!

I wish I could've gotten one.

The first testing was limited to only 10,000 copies.

Those fans in line snapped them up.

And online, the game sold out in seconds.

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Link Start!

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- -

- -

Hello, world. I'm back.

Well, I told him, so it's his deal.

-Why don't we form a party? -Well, I don't know, maybe.

Oh, come on,

-it'll be great. -

- We can go... -

-Hmm? -

- Hey, bro! -Huh?

Wait up!

- - What's up?

Phew.

You act like you know your way around here.

You were in the beta test, weren't you?

-Uh, yeah. -Cool.

Today's my first day,

so could you give me some tips on the lower floors?

Yeah, I don't know if...

Oh, please, I'm beggin' you.

Look, my name's Klein. Good to meet you.

Uh.

All right, I'm Kirito.

- -

- -

- That's-- Killed me now! -Oh, come on. Seriously?

You can't feel any pain.

-Huh? Oh, yeah, you're right. -

Sorry. Habit.

Remember what I said?

The first move is the most important.

Yeah, that's easy for you to say,

-but he won't stand still. -

If you do your initial motion right...

- -...and activate a sword skill

at the right time...

- -

...the system pretty much guarantees

-you'll always hit your target. -"Initial motion?"

Here's an easier way to look at it.

- -

Right after you start your move, wait for a little bit.

When you feel the skills start to activate, drive it home.

Huh? "Drive it home?" Huh.

- -

- -

-Congratulations. -Hmm?

- -

- That was nice. -

But that boar is about as weak as slimes in other games are.

Holy crap! You gotta be kiddin'.

I thought that thing was a mid-level Boss!

Yeah. As if.

- - Whoa!

-Addictive, isn't it? -I'll say.

So these skills,

there's a ton of them like blacksmithing and stuff,

-right? - Uh-huh.

Hmm.

I heard the game has an unlimited number of them.

All except for magic, though.

An RPG without magic?

That's a bold decision, man!

Oh, yeah!

So, what do you think? It's kind of fun

to move your body as you fight, isn't it?

Oh, hells, yeah.

You ready to move on?

Yeah, man. Let's keep going.

When I look around, I can't believe it.

We're inside a game, bro.

Whoever made it is a genius.

This thing's amazing.

Makes me glad I was born when I was, you know?

It's not that big a deal.

Cut me some slack. It's my first full dive.

You never used a NerveGear before today, huh?

This is your first time ever?

Uh-huh. As soon as I got the money together,

I rushed out and bought all the hardware to play SAO.

Stood in line and scored one of the 10,000 hard copies.

Guess you could say I was pretty lucky.

Although, you, sir, were ten times as lucky

-getting to beta test. -Hmm?

Dude, only a 1,000 people got the chance!

Yeah, I guess I was lucky.

Hey, mind if I ask how far you got in the beta?

Uh, two months, and I couldn't get further than

-Floor 8. -Hmm?

But now I think I can get there within a month, easy.

Sounds to me like you're really into this.

-Yeah, you could say that. -

During the beta test,

SAO was the only thing on my mind day and night.

In this world,

a single blade can take you anywhere you wanna go.

And even though it's a virtual world,

I feel more alive in here than I ever did in the real one.

Anyway, you wanna go do some more hunting?

Oh, you know it. But the thing is...

- -...I'm really hungry.

I have to log out.

Too bad the food you eat here

only satisfies your hunger virtually.

Yeah, for reals.

That's why I ordered a pizza for 5:30.

-Wow, you're so prepared. -You know it.

Besides, the game can wait until I get my pizza on.

I guess.

Hey, I was gonna go meet up with some people I know

from another game.

I don't know what you're up to after this, so if, uh, you know,

if you want, you can friend them and hang with us.

Huh. Hmm.

No. It's cool if you don't want to. No pressure.

I can always introduce you to 'em

-another time or something. -Yeah. Sorry.

Thanks anyway.

No way. I should be doing all the thanking.

Hey, one of these days, I promise

I'll pay you back for all your help.

Virtually, that is.

-Yeah, right. -Thanks for everything, man.

-Really. -Huh.

Guess I'll see you around then.

If there's anything else you want to know, message me.

Ah, sweet. I'll do that.

Hmm.

Huh?

Where'd the logout button go?

-It should be there. -Hmm?

Nope, it's not there.

It should be at the bottom of the main menu.

- -Huh?

-See? Not there. -You're right. It's not.

Oh, well, today is what? The first day out of beta.

It's bound to be some bugs.

I bet the server people are freaking out right now.

-You will too. -Huh?

Look, it's 5:25.

Huh? Oh, my God,

my teriyaki mayo pizza and ginger ale!

Why don't you just contact...

- -...the Game Master?

Huh? Yeah, I did that, but nothing's happening.

He's not picking up.

Do you know if there's another way

-to log out of this thing? -Hmm?

No. Whenever a player wants to log out of SAO,

the only way they can do it is by going through the menu.

That can't be right.

There's gotta be some other way out.