Sword Art Online Episode 01

World of Swords (剣の世界) is the first episode of the Sword Art Online anime adaptation. It aired on July 7, 2012.

Plot
By the year 2022, humanity had fully developed a Virtual Reality Mass Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (VRMMORPG). On Sunday, November 6th, Sword Art Online (SAO), the highly anticipated and renowned online game of the year, had already sold 10,000 copies in its first batch.

The episode began with the protagonist, a young 14 year old male player, accessing the game at 13:00 (01:00 p.m.). Using the commonly known helmet game console identified as the NerveGear, he entered the online virtual world of «Aincrad» using his game avatar «Kirito» from his beta-version gameplay after the «NerveGear» had finished calibrating his virtual body.

Once inside, he found himself in the main town of the 1st Floor: the «Starting City». Kirito maneuvered himself through the city's central market while heading towards the city gate, until a new player, called Klein, asked for Kirito’s help in learning the game's mechanics after deducing that Kirito was a beta tester.

While engaging in battle against a level 1 monster, called a «Frenzy Boar», Kirito taught Klein about the necessary motion for the use of «Sword Skills»; the essential feature of the SAO. Another feature of the game that Klein learned was that the player could not feel any actual pain; instead there would just be an unpleasant feeling in its place, alongside the depletion of the player’s health gauge when hit.

Even though eating the virtual food in the game world could get rid of the unpleasant hungry feeling when playing, it did not help the player’s body in the real world. Therefore, Klein decided to log out when the time was nearly 17:30 (5:30pm) as he had ordered for a pizza and ginger ale to arrive at about that time. After saying their goodbyes, Klein opened the menu to use the «LOG OUT» option, however, to their surprise, it was missing from the menu. Klein stated that this was a glitch, and both wait for the game administrators to address the problem. At that moment, the town bells from the 1st Floor's central town started ringing. All of the players were transported back to the «Starting City» via forced teleport.



On the virtual screens at the sky, there was a system announcement that alerted everyone’s attention. Suddenly, a giant, robed, faceless figure appeared, identifying himself as Kayaba Akihiko; the creator of the game and the only person with control over the game. Addressing to the missing «Log Out» option, he announced to the players that he had purposefully removed it from the game as another one of its features and thus trapping them in the game.

While all the players were alarmed by his announcement, he continued on to point out that trying to forcibly escape by removing the «NerveGear» would result in the player's death by having the player's brain fried by the NerveGear's microwaves, using the internal battery of the helmet as a power source. Having informed the outside world of the situation beforehand, he reported that friends and family members of some of the players had already ignored his warning; therefore 213 players had already died.



Kayaba also told them that he had also removed the revival system in the game. Therefore, when a player died in-game, their game avatar woud be forever lost, and the NerveGear would simultaneously destroy that player's brain. He then told them that the only way to escape the game was to complete it, which meant clearing all 100 floors of «Aincrad» and their bosses.

As he finished his announcement, he left a "gift", a «Mirror», in everyone’s inventory, which they took out. At that moment, a huge blinding light changed the players to their true appearances; sharply dropping the amount of female players by revealing that many male players were masquerading as female characters (though some female players were also masquerading as males). Afterwards, Kayaba revealed that his only goal was to create the game and intervene in it. Finally Kayaba vanished after his «Tutorial» is finished.

As everyone started panicking after Kayaba’s departure, Kirito quickly took action and tried to bring Klein with him to the next nearby village, stating that the surrounding resources would be limited. However, Klein told him that he could not come with him, as he has some friends in real life somewhere in the plaza, and he did not want to leave them behind. Kirito realized that he could only protect one player at a time with his current skills, meaning that if Klein or one of his friends died, he would be blamed for their death since he was the one who had suggested to leave.



Klein noticed Kirito’s worries and politely told him that he should go ahead by himself, as he planned to go back to lead and protect his friends with the lessons that Kirito had taught him. He then tried to cheer Kirito up with a joke about his slightly feminine appearance, to which Kirito retaliates by stating that Klein’s unkempt face suited him better. They then parted ways. Alone by himself with no one else to depend on, Kirito ran through the town and outside the gate, vowing that he would survive in this game world and be free from the virtual imprisonment while swiftly taking out a wolf standing in his way.

By December 2, 2022, approximately a month later, 2,000 players had already died, their departed name being crossed out on the Monument of Life simultaneously, while the 1st Floor had yet to be cleared.

New Characters

 * Kirito
 * Kirigaya Suguha (Cameo)
 * Klein
 * Kayaba Akihiko (in his game master avatar)
 * Asuna (Cameo)
 * Silica (Cameo)
 * Lisbeth (Cameo)

Named Monsters

 * Frenzy Boar
 * Wolf

Inventory

 * All Players
 * Hand Mirror - Received from Kayaba

Known Sword Skills

 * Reaver - Klein

Locations

 * Kirigaya residence
 * Akihabara
 * Aincrad Floor 1: Town of Beginnings - Teleport Gate plaza, central market, alleyways; West Field, Path to Town of Horunka

Adaptation Notes

 * Adapted from Volume 1, Chapters 2 and 3


 * The anime does not mention that the release of the SAO game was still limited to Japan, and not yet allowed global.
 * In the novel, Kayaba announces to the players that their bodies will be moved into hospital care during the 2 hours that he allows the players to be disconnected from the SAO server without having their brains fried, when he broadcasted his crime to the public of the outside world, as well as the location of each player.
 * Kirito in the novel had reached the tenth floor during beta testing period rather than the eighth floor as mentioned in the anime.

Quotes

 * "In this world, a single blade can take you anywhere you want to go. It's a virtual world, but I still feel more alive here than I do in the real one." - Kirito
 * "Make your way through each dungeon and defeat the Floor Boss, and you will advance to the next level. Defeat the final boss of the 100th floor, and you will clear the game." - Kayaba Akihiko
 * "Why would Kayaba Akihiko, the creator of Sword Art Online and the NerveGear, do all this? My goal has already been achieved. I wanted to create this world and intervene in it. That is why I created Sword Art Online." - Kayaba Akihiko
 * "This is a game, but it's not just something you play." - Kayaba Akihiko
 * "If I die in this world... I'll die for real." - Kirito
 * "I'll definitely survive... ...in this world!" - Kirito

Episodio 1 Sword Art Online odcinek 01 Sword Art Online (Серия 1)