I want to laugh.

I want to cry.

I want to scream.

I want to dive to the floor and pump pushups until I can't move my arms.

I want to run outside and sprint up and down the street until I feel paralyzed from the waist down.

But most of all, I just want Dark Souls Online to finally launch!

I keep myself from looking at the clock. I'm convinced that every time I glance at that devious little device, time slows down a little bit further. Causing this final wait before release to take that much longer. So I absolutely will not look. My determination to look anywhere other than at that clock is only outstripped by my determination to log in the very moment Dark Souls Online is launched.

But, now that I think about it—I've been not-looking for such a long time now... The game is probably about to release! I have to look at the clock. I couldn't bear to miss a single moment of launch day.

12:50 pm

I fall back into my bed with a thump, letting out an irritated groan. It has only been a single minute since I last checked. My original plan was to sleep until an alarm woke me up at twelve forty-five, so that I would be fully rested for a twenty-four hour marathon as soon as the game launched. But sleep was elusive and kept itself from me. Not that the evasiveness of sleep could be at all considered surprising, after all, who could sleep when there was less than an hour until the launch of Dark Souls Online?

I glance at the clock again...

12:50 pm

"Damn it..."

Sleep was a bust, but fortunately my other preparations had gone smoothly. It had taken a bucketload of convincing, begging, and even several extra chores, but I finally convinced my nagging aunt to leave me completely undisturbed for the first twenty-four hours after launch as long as I was careful to maintain my basic necessities. Sword Art Online; like any other game played on a NerveGear console, presents a huge risk to hardcore gamers.

On a normal computer, an overly-dedicated gamer would sometimes drop dead after ignoring their body's needs for long periods of time in an extended raid or some similar event. On any NerveGear game, this risk is magnified ten-fold. The NerveGear gaming console connects directly to the brain using Fulldrive technology. This technology redirects the brain's signals away from the body and transmitts them to an in-game avatar. Similarly, the device also blocks many of the body's signals to the brain, replacing them with artificial signals which mimic the feelings the in-game avatar experiences. Effectively causing your brain to register the five senses of the in-game avatar rather than those of your body, creating the perfect immersion. However, this means that instead of having to ignore countless pains and warnings that you're freaking dying to kick the bucket while playing a video game, a NerveGear player need only to completely lose track of time to end up under a gravestone.

With this in mind, I've prepared. On the floor next to my bed, there are several bottles of water, a few packs of chips, and a small ice chest. The ice chest contains several sandwiches, a few cans of mountain dew, and some vegetables that I grudgingly let my aunt insert.

Reaching down, I fish out a mountain dew and pull myself to a sitting position. Wedging my finger under the tab, I lightly pull the can open with an audible kasssssssss-clack. Lightly tipping my head backwards, I take a sip of the overly-caffeinated drink.

"Mmmmm, that really hit the spot!" The tag line was followed by a practiced smile.

I couldn't help but give a small smirk at my inside joke. My friends often wonder how Kirigaya Kazuto; an adopted child of a middle class family, managed to get his hands on not only one of the special edition NerveGear gaming systems, but also an ultra-rare copy of Dark Souls Online. Well, they would have wondered if I had any friends in real life.

Anyway, last summer PepsiCo sponsored a competition for the best homemade mountain dew commercial created at the high school level. The reward was a NerveGear and a copy of Dark Souls Online. Through moderate graphical design skills, limitless determination, and far too much spare time, I managed to scrounge up a commercial capable of winning first prize. The commercial that actually won was only one of the many commercials I created and sent in through secondary accounts. When I'm set on something, the lengths I'm is willing to go to achieve my goal are borderline absurd.

Interestingly, the commercial that won was the only one that actually had me personally acting in it, perhaps one of the female judges found me attractive? Hah, what a joke, implying I actually have appeal to the opposite gender.

I shook my head and gave myself a slight slap to distract myself from that dreary thought. In an attempt to redirect my mental train of thought, I decided to let my mind wander and what a surprise, it wandered to the topic of DSO.

I cannot convey how happy it made me when Kayaba Akihiko announced his partnership with Miyazaki Hidetaka for the creation of DSO. Kayaba Akihiko is a brilliant man, he is almost solely responsible for the creation of the Nerve Gear. But while he may be a brilliant technician and inventor, a game developer he is not. When Kayaba first announced his intentions to create Sword Art Online, there were doubts on his ability to create balanced gameplay and an interesting plot. That's probably why Kayaba decided to bring Miyazaki Hidetaka aboard to create Dark Souls Online.

Miyazaki is the brilliant mind behind the incredibly successful Demon Souls, Dark Souls, Bloodborn, Hell's Bells, and all of their many sequels. His games are known for two unique qualities: Difficult, frustrating, incredibly satisfying game play, and beautifully crafted lore hidden within the game. Miyazaki's approach to lore is phenomenal, there are no cut scenes or forced exposition conversations; rather, the lore is hidden within the world. It is found in item descriptions, statues, and individual's stories. These, and many other elements are combined by the player to form their own interpretation of the world before them. I suppose there is one other common characteristic within Miyazaki's worlds, they almost always make you want to cry.

I glance back at the clock...

12:56 pm

As part of my earlier preparations I've already completed the entire setup process. There is only one command to give before I'm ready to dive.

"Begin twitch stream." A slight ding from the NerveGear where it sits on my nightstand signifies that the command has been completed. I don't expect many people will watch me, but I want to make a highlight reel out of the recorded footage.

Bees dance along the lining of my stomach. Lifting my hand before my eyes I notice that it's shaking. I can feel heat and energy flow off the vibrating appendage, and the rest of my body. With these excited hands I softly put the NerveGear on my head. I lay back on a comfortable pillow and try to relax my body. It's finally time. I take a deep breath.

"Link Start!"

A feminine robotic voice replies, "Your selected game has not yet been released. Please try again later."

"Link Start!"

"Your selected game has not yet been released. Please try again later."

"Link Start!"

My world explodes in a barrage of color.