It had been three weeks since Sword Art Online had launched. It was the first VRMMORPG ever to be released. There was considerable hype around this game, as it was the first game to really push the Nerve Gear to its limits. The Nerve Gear is a helmet which allows the user to truly experience a virtual reality. Signals in the brain are rerouted to your character in the game - you cannot move your real body once you are in-game. Everybody in the gaming community had been looking forward to Sword Art Online. Matsumoto Hetsurigo, or simply "Matsu", as his character was called, had been one of the most avid enthusiasts of this new development in gaming technology. The two months of beta had been the greatest time of his life. Inside Aincrad, which was what Sword Art Online's virtual world was called, he felt truly free. Yet now, ironically, he was trapped in it. 

The game's creator, Kayabe Akihiko, had appeared before all the players at launch day. At that time, nearly everybody who had bought the game were online, which amounted to almost ten thousand people. However, none of them were able to log out. The log-out button had inexplicably disappeared from everyone's menu screens. Akihiko, though, delivered an explanation. Matsu still remembered the moment vividly, as if it had happened a minute ago. The log-out button had disappeared, because he had made it disappear. It was, as he said, a feature of Sword Art Online. Nobody would be able to log out until the players had beaten the last boss, which resides at the 100th floor. 

Additionally, if as that wasn't enough, the game's resurrection system had been disabled. And if one died inside the game, or if anyone on the outside tried removing the Nerve Gear, it would fry the user's brain to dust. The Nerve Gear uses microwaves, which literally makes it into a high-powered Microwave. And this effectively meant that if a player's character died in-game, he would also die in the real world. The outside world had been notified through mass media, Akihiko had shown them, and the players were all being moved to facilities where their lifeless bodies would be fed through tubes etc. It wasn't a game anymore. It was a battle for survival, where only the strongest could achieve victory.

Many had already died. Some had comitted suicide, not believing what Akihiko had said, and others had simply been defeated by the dangers of Aincrad. They never returned. Matsu feared for his life, like all the players naturally did. Most of them stuck to large groups. There was safety in numbers, but although it made traversing the world easier, it greatly limited each individual's earned experience, money and loot. 

Experience points determined the level of your character. Earn enough experience points, and your character would level up. The higher level you were, the stronger your base stats became, and thus it increased your chance for survival. Money, or Coll, as was the in-game currency, was needed for food, lodging and equipment. The need for food and sleep struck Matsu as an oddity. Their bodies inside Aincrad didn't really need nourishment or energy, as they only existed virtually. However, the game designer had made it so that it would feel as much as possible akin to real life. One did become hungry, and if he didn't eat, he would eventually begin to starve, which could result in his character's death. If he didn't sleep, he would become exhausted, and that would impact his ability to do combat. Equipment, earned through purchase or loot, was just as important as leveling up. Equipment, or gear, as it was usually refered to as, improved a player's statistics, which improved his ability to fight, which improved his ability to survive. 

The last resource are skills. One could level up a multitude of skills by practicing them. The number of available skill slots were determined by one's level. Currently, Matsu had four skill slots. The one he had stressed the most was his chosen weapon skill; the Claymore Sword skill, or long-sword skill. It was a slow weapon, and an offensive one, but used correctly, he could finsh off mobs his level with a single combo. Most players chose to stack defensive skills, like sword-and-shield, but then it took a longer time to kill mobs. "Mobs", short for "mobile", is a generic term for all unfriendly, non-player entities within the game. The faster he killed them, Matsu reasoned, the faster he would be able to earn resources; experience points, Col and loot (in the form of equipment and sellables). 

On this day, Matsu had stood up early, like usual, and headed into the wilds. He had stayed at a cheap inn in a small village on the 5th floor. It wasn't comfortable, but he would rather save his Col for the things he actually needed. Unlike most players, so far he had ventured into the wilds by himself. At the pace he killed mobs, it was most efficient to go at it alone. Sharing resources struck him as foolish. Later that day, though, in the midst of grinding (continuously killing) mobs, he had encountered a Rare creature. It was an Undead skeleton-creature named "Jailer Evan". It died fairly easily, to Matsu's surprise. Rare creatures were usually a challenge, when they weren't lethal. Its loot, however, surprised him further. It was a rusted old key of Rare quality named "The Key of Sands". What was even more curious, it could readily be activated. Keys usually required the door they belonged to before they could be activated. 

He hesitated, afraid he might perhaps trigger some trap, before he lightly touched the key floating in his palm, effectively activating it. At first, nothing happened, but then a message came up at the corner of his screen. It was a familiar message, which said he had just accepted a new quest. Quests were tasks given by friendly NPCs, or non-player-characters, which one could complete for rewards. Matsu had never received one from an item before. Puzzled, he quickly checked his quest log in the menu screen. The quest was rated as Dungeon difficulty. Dungeons were difficult areas which had to be completed together with a group. However, it didn't say which dungeon he had to go to. He checked the coordinates, and scratched his head. The quest pointed to the middle of the Empty Land; a desert-area on this very floor. Nobody ever went there, as there was no content there. It was only empty desert. Someone had mapped it out completely, he had heard of, and hadn't even found a single mob. The quest didn't give any other information. Matsu pondered for a while. It was a unique opportunity, certainly, but a Dungeon difficulty quest meant he probably couldn't do it by himself. So far, he hadn't made any friends inside Aincrad either. Since launch, he had only concerned himself with acquiring as many resources for himself as possible. 

Matsu tried forgetting about it, stowing the key away, and continued his relentless grinding. He didn't get far, though, before he checked the odd quest again, to see if he had missed anything. Nothing. Matsu rubbed his chin, annoyed. The sun was still high in sky, and there were many hours still he could use for grinding, but he didn't manage to take his mind off the damned thing. He needed to get this over with, to get it out of his head. And in order to that, he needed companions. Resigned, he headed back to the small village where he'd spent the night. Two Rivers, the village was called. He entered the inn, intent on making friends. It was empty in the common room this time of day. Most of them were outside, like he should've been. Instead, he was chasing this silly quest. Still, he spoke out to the whole room; the few who were there. Speaking in front of audiences usually made him nervous, especially if they were strangers, but strange situations called for strange actions. "Listen up, people", he said, standing right inside the door, "I have a unique opportunity to anyone willing to join me on a quest. I think it's a so far undiscovered Dungeon-area, and anyone who joins me will get an equal share of the profits." He looking around, hoping someone would answer his call.