I was ten when I discovered video games. I would watch as figures would fight with long pointed weapons. Then one would fall. The one still standing would be rewarded money or items. This greatly amused me as it was fun to watch figures die when they were unscathed. I would stare at game covers for hours wondering how these things worked and how the makers programmed everything in it.

One afternoon I was dragged shopping with my mother. The minute we stepped foot into the shop, I dashed over to the game section as usual. I ran my finger along the shelf of new games, nothing looked particularly different from ordinary games. Then my finger was a caught on a box with an abnormally high spine. Curious, I pulled it out.

SAO was printed in big lettering. Under it said: Sword Art Online: A virtual reality MMO with a short summary: SAO captures the feel of real life and gives the players the feeling that they are in actual reality. Played with nervegear, it takes place in a tower in the clouds called Aincrad. The player's main goal is to beat the boss on every floor for a total of 100 floors. The player wins the game when this is done. However, if a player should die in the game, the nervegear is programmed to fry the person's brain within three minutes of their death, resulting in actual death. After all, a game isn't fun if your life isn't at stake.

I'd never heard of virtual reality MMO's before and was dazzled. The game came with a helmet with a cord that was attached to the game modem. That had to be nerve gear. With some pocket money I'd saved up from weeks of washing the toilet bowl, I purchased the game.

I waited for the moment my mother and sister both left, my mother to work and my sister to kendo practice. The minutes the lock clicked, I laid down on my bed, put the nerve gear on, and closed my eyes. I felt myself getting pulled away from the world.

I landed with a soft thud in the middle of what looked like a great plaza. Four other people were beside me. We were all given custom appearances: dark cloak, black kimono, white or light blue obi, white socks, light brown straw sandals, and a sword of some shape and size sheathed at the side of our hip. Suddenly, the sky darkened and a figure levitating on a flying umbrella appeared.

"Hello Players. I am the maker, Aizen Sousuke. As you all know, you are currently in my greatest creation, Aincrad. You five are the lucky five beta players that have been picked to try out the game. You know what to do, and if you don't, you'll figure it out in due time. Happy Playing and farewell until next time, if you are still alive….." with a small sneer, he sailed away with his umbrella and the sky turned back to its normal sunny state.

I looked around, the surroundings reminded me of town square at home. I was given a forceful reminder that my sister would be home soon. After fiddling around with the controls for some time, I found out that it was about 4:00, I had no items except for my katana or sword, and that I had no clue how to logout.

"Do you know how to logout?" I tried asking the woman next to me.

She remained silent for a while and I assumed she wasn't going to answer and began going to another person for help. Then she suddenly yelled after me

"THE LOGOUT BUTTON SHOULD BE RIGHT UNDER THE MENU TAB WHERE THE TIME IS LISTED!"

Not sure rather or not to reply, I nodded in thanks.

I shifted to the menu tab and found the time, but the logout button wasn't there…..

"IT'S NOT THERE!" I hollered back. She shifted to menu, saw the same thing, then gasped and ran off. I didn't try to follow because somehow I knew she wanted to be alone.