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I was wondering if in the novel we knew about some deaths occurring before
Kayaba announcement. I remember that in the anime, Kirito plays a bit with
Cline before realizing that the log off option has disappeared. Then all the
people are summoned to the city and learn about the fact that if they die in
the game, they also die in real life.

I don't remember any players dying before the announcement in the anime,
except for those who are not waking up and their relative pulling off their
NerveGear thus causing death, but maybe in the light novel, some guys died
without even knowing it just while being defeated by a mob (which seems awful
for me).

Do we know about some players dying before that while thinking they are still
in a normal game?


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sword-art-online
Death in SAO before Kayaba announcement


So, I read the beginning of the novel, and like [Ayase Eri
said](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/38712/death-in-sao-before-
kayaba-announcement?rq=1#comment52596_38712), Kayaba is fair so he hadn't
killed the players before doing an announcement.

This is written on page 71 :

> The first person to get the honor of having his name crossed out appeared
> three hours into the game. The reason for death was not losing to a monster.
> It was suicide.
>
> He believed in the theory that "according to the structure of the NerveGear,
> if a person is cut off from the system they'll automatically regain
> consciousness." He climbed over the iron fence at the north end of the city,
> or the edge of Aincrad, and flung himself off.

So, it clearly means that it was after Kayaba did his announcement because he
tried to escape the game.

The anime followed that as well and if I remember it right, we see that first
death (but I do not remember if it was during the first episode or a flashback
that we see it).

The author really kept the characteristics of every character to this point.


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2017-02-01T13:11:48.117
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Kayaba never mentioned whether any players had died via in-game death yet, but
he did specifically state that 213 people had died before his announcement due
to their NerveGears being removed by family members/someone on the outside.
(He showed a number of news report feeds to the players to prove this.)
(Source: SAO Wiki)


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I know this was 6 years ago, and I haven't read the manga or the novel (
_though that aspect has been mentioned by the others_ ) I would like to say
that in the first episode, during Kayaba's announcement, he states;

**" \- But I want you to remember this clearly. There is no longer any method
to revive someone within the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will
be forever lost, and simultaneously... the NerveGear will destroy your
brain."**

The **" no longer"** part of this implies that, up until this announcement, it
was entirely possible for people to be revived after death, or to respawn. I
imagine this was a sort of grace period to allow the players to get to know
the game, how to move, how to fight, how to use the menu, etc. Especially
since he ends the announcement with **" this ends the tutorial for the
official Sword Art Online launch."**


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