It was finally the day.

Wesley had waited in line just like every other gamer, eager and roaring to go, and now it was here. The NERV gear was top of the line. This was what gaming was heading towards now, full on virtual reality. He had been reading about it for what seemed like years but now it was finally in his hands. 

Wesley rushed home and tore into the box, setting everything up and hooking up the equipment in his room. It seemed like Dad wasn't home yet, and neither was Suzuka. That meant that nobody could disturb him while he got to experience it first hand. He could already hear his dad lecturing him about it later.

[i]"Virutal reality? As if it's bad enough that these things turn your brains to mush, now the stuff is going into your brain! Why don't you do something more important with your life like enlist?"[/i] 

It wouldn't be much different than any other conversation. Suzuka was probably picking up her NERV gear after work today. Wesley thought about waiting on her so they could play together but he was too anxious. They could always just meet up and exchange friend codes later and maybe play after dinner. In the meantime, Wesley put on the helmet and lay down in a comfortable spot on his bed.

[color=00aeef]"LINK START!"[/color]

In a rush, Wesley was suddenly in the world of Aincrad. It looked like something out of a fantasy novel or rpg, which was just up Wesley's alley. He removed his starter sword and took a look at himself in its reflection. He had tried to make his appearance as close to his real self as possible, but had thrown in some cool scars just for the heck of it. He had also changed his eye color. Picking a name had been something he had thought long and hard on though. He had been living in Japan for a few years now, but he was still an American. A lot of japanese players didn't get along with American players online. Some didn't care, but the online communities of the East and West played a lot differently in various circles. He had contemplated making some sort of stereotypical Japanese name for himself, but instead just went with "Dar". Short, sweet and easy to form in a group invite message.

With that, it was off to the races. Wesley spent the next few hours fighting boars and trying to learn the ropes of the game. The one handed sword was just too weak for him, he wanted something with more punch and a larger kill range. When he leveled up, he upgraded his strength and went with a two hander. This was far more up Wesley's alley. Enemies would drop in fewer swings and at a slightly farther distance. His defense left a lot to be desired though. Wesley was going to need to invest in some better armor next.

After his fun was done, Wesley decided it was time to log off. It was getting late and he wanted to talk to Suzuka about what he had done so far anyway. Yet like so many others, Wesley discovered a terrible truth; he couldn't log off. Kayaba summoned him and everyone else to the town square and gave them their disasterous news. This was a death game now. The rules had changed, and they were all meat in the grinder.


-----

Honestly, it was hard to believe that this had all happened in just a few hours.

The reactions from everyone varied from subtle to almost insane. Some people ran to the next town to go get more experience. They were the brave ones, or maybe the foolhardy. Others thought they could get out of the game just by letting their characters die and threw themselves off a cliff. They were in denial. But Wesley, he and several others just stood there.

[i]'There's thousands of people...thousands....we're all...we're all going to die??'[/i] Wesley thought dismally. He sank to his knees. 

[i]'Dad...Suzuka....am I ever going to see them again?'[/i] Wesley thought. They had to clear 100 floors to get out of this world. Not even the beta testers made it that far, how could they? It seemed hopeless. 

Still, there was a small light of hope in all this. Wesley received a party invite out of the blue. He looked around to see if someone was flagging him down until he read the note at the bottom. 

"People are going for the boss already? That's crazy, what level are they? They'll get killed....." Wesley muttered. He read over the note and glanced around again before giving a sigh.

"Still..I gotta hand it to these guys. They're not giving up. Look at me, I'm just a mess." Wesley chuckled darkly before giving a nod and rising to his feet. There was no use sitting here. Those people needed his help. They needed Dar. 

Dar hit accept on the party invite and made out for field.