There was a company of experienced gamers that would help create and run safety checks on new games, councils, helmets for full dive virtual reality, and other similar equipment. The company was rumored to be run by a child. Many people disagreed. There was no way that a child could own a multi billion company that owned smaller businesses that ranged from multi million corporations such as hotels, factories, and other varieties of big things to three schools and small game shops, newsstands, and the like. The company was a mystery many people wanted to solve but the security was ridiculous. Those who knew the identity of the owner would know a child of eleven was the owner. He was an orphan who retained the ownership of his parents' assets. His gaming name was Kirito. His business was aptly named as everyone that was employed would have to have training in a sword or other weapons that were popular before the gun was invented. He was an expert with his sword that so happened to be black.
If a game did not pass the approval of the Black Swordsman Inc. then it usually was fixed. The newest game they ended up helping to create and fix the bugs from was called Sword Art Online. It was an open world RPGMMO game. The helmets were tested, fixed, tested, and barely approved. The game itself had many problems. All of the artwork and almost half of the coding for the game was completed by Kirito and his company. He was hesitant about the game though. He created a small secret code that would activate if something horrible happened but it would take time before it would be able notify the players that could fix the problems. He helped beta test for the game but was unsatisfied by the limitations put on it by the creator. The limitations made Kirito feel more uneasy. He had beta tested up to Level 99 but the limitations prevented him from fighting the boss on Level 100.
Finally, on the day it was released, Kirito was so excited to finally play the game despite his uncertainties. He set everything up. He put the Nerve Gear on and counted down. When the countdown was finished, he called out, "Link Start!"
He was sucked into the character screen. He used the same avatar from the beta testing and entered Kirito as his name. After that was finished, he appeared in the center of the town on Level one. He looked around this world, taking in the beautiful scenery of the Town of New Beginnings before running off to the fields to level up, not noticing the noob that had followed him from the town. Kirito was basking in the freedom of the game, using the sword techniques to take out a few of the boars.
"Hey, you must be a beta tester. Can you show a noob like me some stuff?" The voice of the stranger started Kirito as he turned around. He debated with himself for a few seconds before agreeing.
"Sure, but on one condition: don't tell anyone that I was a beta tester." The stranger nodded.
"My names Klein. What's yours?" Klein asked and Kirito told him as they started to work together to level grind. After a few hours, Kirito was having a blast. He had discovered the joy of chilling with a friend, if you could call barely knowing each other being friends. Then came the time when Klein was tired.
"Hey, I'm going to log out to get some pizza. Let's add each other as friends, okay?" Klein had pulled up the friend tab and sent it to Kirito who accepted it. Klein tried to log out but it didn't work. Kirito than attempted the same with same results. He was unable to log out.
There was a strange glow and the two appeared in the town square. An item was added to every innovatory, a mirror of truth. Kirito was holding it as he saw the GM appear. He had a sinking feeling that he knew who was behind this. He just couldn't figure out why. So he started to think, not listening to anything after finding out that they were stuck and they were dead if it was unplugged. He finally figured out what had killed the players. The microwave emitters that he and his company could figure out no purpose for. He almost slapped himself. Than the Mirrors activated and everyone appeared as they were in real life. Kirito started to run off, feeling claustrophobic and knowing he had to level up to survive. He knew he had to solo or only have one party member to make it to the next level. Klein followed, concerned about the kid.
"Hey, wait up just a second. Let me round up my friends and we can work in a-" Klein was interrupted.
"No. I don't have time. I need to go now." Kirito ran off, leaving Klein in the alleyway. Klein nodded to himself.
"I'll keep my eye out for you and tell my friends to also keep an eye out." He spoke to the emptiness as he started back to town to find his friends.