So it begins. This story was an idea I had for quite a long time, but never had the time to get around writing. Seeing as I'm free from school at the moment, I decided to give it a go. As mentioned in the description, I will be changing some things about SAO, such as some game mechanics and what the floor bosses are, since I'm not hardcore enough a fan to play the games. Just putting it out there, I wrote chapters 1 and 2 together, originally as one long chapter because I thought there wasn't enough content for two, but it seems I was wrong. Title is subject to change, and I'd appreciate suggestions more representative of what the story is about. Then again, it's not as if these introductory chapters will clue you in on the entire plot, so for now at least the title shall be as it is.

Enjoy!


The Nervegear.

The latest, most widely-anticipated gaming device ever released, and Yuuki held one in her hands.

Is...is this really alright...?

It was a silver, helmet-shaped object with various wires Yuuki couldn't possibly hope to understand the purpose of sticking out from the back. It was shiny, so much so that Yuuki couldn't help but wonder if Aiko had asked for it to be polished just for the first experience to be all the more amazing. It wasn't all too far fetched, given how her sister had already requested for their names to be etched into the sides of their respective headsets.

Well, given what virtual reality means to us, I suppose her enthusiasm is somewhat justified.

Her heart swelled at the thought, and Yuuki suddenly found herself somewhat giddy with elation.

"This...this is real, isn't it?" She giggled. "I'm...really heading for another world."

A world of swords, monsters, and adventure, if what the blurb on the box of her game said was true. But most importantly, she thought, freedom.

The sharp and sudden hum of her phone vibrating snapped Yuuki out of her musings, and she set the Nervegear down on her lap to reach for the device. She didn't have to look at the caller ID to know who it was.

"Hello, onee-chan?"

As expected, Aiko's voice came over the receiver. "Ah, Yuuki! Good thing you picked up... listen, something came up in school, and I'll be back rather late. I'm not entirely sure when we'll be done, but you can go ahead and try the NerveGear first."

Yuuki frowned. "Weren't we supposed to log in for the first time together?"

"Oh, I know you've been looking forward to it, but I might be held back till the evening. Besides, you can go ahead and learn the basics of the game first, and then you can teach me when I come back."

"You mean if you come back," Yuuki pouted.

Aiko giggled in response. "There's always tomorrow, Yuuki. At any rate, I'll try my best to get everything done so I can get home in time for dinner, at least. That should still give us an hour or so to play, so all the more you should go ahead and familiarise yourself with the basics, lest we end up fumbling around for our precious hours before bedtime. In any ca- oh, it looks like I'll have to go now. Enjoy yourself Yuuki-chan! Bye!"

And just like that, she hung up, Yuuki unable to get a word in edgewise. She sighed, putting her phone aside before turning her attention once again to the silver headset sat upon her lap. Well...while it wasn't ideal, she did suppose Aiko was right in saying it'd be best if she got the basic controls down first, so that they could maximise their playtime later. The option of waiting for tomorrow so that they could log in at the same time was always there, but to receive both a console and a game to go with it and not get to try it out on the day itself was...rather disappointing. I suppose logging in on my own first would be the better option...Mou, why did something have to come up at the last minute?

She tried for a disappointed, or at least resigned sigh, but found herself unable on account of the wide smile on her face. Not getting to log in with Aiko was a bit of a letdown, but this meant she didn't have to wait any longer- she could log into this brand new world right now, and the sudden development she had just been made aware of did nothing to dampen her mood nor anticipation. Gingerly, she unplugged her phone's charger, and replaced it with the plug connected to the NerveGear.

Thisisitthisisitthisisitthisisit! She nearly squealed as she put the headset on. Lying down on her bed, she made sure to get into a comfortable position before taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. A green battery bar appeared at the corner of her vision as the HUD flickered to life, and Yuuki's deep breaths were for naught. Voice trembling with excitement, two words left Konno Yuuki's lips.

"Link start!"


She really didn't know what she expected when she opened her eyes- maybe it'd be like those movies where everyone's avatar was CGI, and it'd take some time to get used to. Or maybe the whole place would look like it came straight out of an anime, with bright colours and backgrounds in every direction.

She hadn't expected...this.

As soon as she opened her eyes, she almost thought she had been transported into a tourist spot in another country; because what greeted her were medieval houses and shops lining the sides of the street, a large fountain spewing crystal-clear water into a basin, where a few birds sat, drinking.

And it all looked so real.

Yuuki looked around in awe as people milled about in the streets, each and every one indistinguishable from those she saw back in the real world, save for the attire.

"No way..." Yuuki whispered, before she felt a tap on her shoulder.

With an 'eep', Yuuki turned around to face a young man dressed in a tunic, with what seemed to be a light leather breastplate over it.

"Hello, Yuuki, and welcome to SAO," the man said with a smile. "Is your avatar as inputted in the customisation screen?"

It took her a moment to realise this very real sounding man was actually an NPC, and that her body was, indeed, different from what she was used to. Firstly, she was a great deal taller, and her hair now reached past her shoulders, as opposed to the much shorter haircut she was used to. She looked down, and smiled despite the red creeping up her cheeks- it looks like she was now 'bigger' too.

"You can check your full body avatar, by bringing up the status screen. This can be brought up with conscious thought, or, alternatively, swiping downwards with your index finger and thumb in the air, for those who desire a more tangible interface," the NPC supplemented with a polite smile.

Nodding in acknowledgement, Yuuki visualised what she pictured as a status screen- and out of nowhere, a large, seemingly holographic page popped up in front of her, much like the image on a television, just without the TV actually behind it. On the left was a picture of a slender, rather voluptuous woman with her arms slightly out at her sides, and it took Yuuki a second to register that it was her. Wait till onee-chan gets a load of this!

To the right of the portrait was a bunch of buttons that she assumed was to help navigate through the menus. There was inventory, friends, party- which was grayed out at the moment- and a number of other things, with settings at the very bottom. Willing the menu close, she found herself once again marvelling at how amazing all this was. New world aside, she could now bring up menus and such with nothing but a thought?

I can't wait till onee-chan gets here!


Kirito chuckled a bit as his new acquaintance- Klein- was headbutted back onto his ass by a level one boar. Granted, Klein lacked the experience he had, and fighting a wild boar was something not many city dwellers likely had the chance to experience, but damn if the sight wasn't funny.

"Argh...this thing's just a pig isn't it? Why is it so goddamn tough?!" The red-clad swordsman complained.

It really isn't, Kirito thought, but suppressed his smirk in favour of a smile. "That's because you aren't used to dodging, and attacking when openings present themselves. You can't just stand in front of a boar and hack away at it like that."

"Hey, I wasn't just standing in front of it! I tried to get behind it, or maybe a little to the side, but the thing turns faster than I can circle around it," Klein retorted, sounding mildly frustrated at how enemies didn't just stand there and take hits.

"Then wait for it to charge, and smack it from behind," Kirito suggested.

"Are you crazy? I'm not just gonna stand in front of it and let it charge at me!"

Kirito decided not to reply, and let it sink in for a moment. To Klein's credit, he caught on fast.

"Alright, so I've been doing it wrong," Klein laughed, accepting that he was still rather new at this. Kirito mentally acknowledged Klein's good nature. "How about you show me how to do it, then? I'm sure I could pick up at least a thing or two from watching."

"There's not much of a need," Kirito replied, unable to hide the smirk tugging at his lips as he raised a hand, and pointed some distance away.

There, a lone figure stood stop a small hill, surrounded by a pack of wild boars.

And amongst them she danced.

A beautiful, deadly dance, the sharp, agile, but ever so graceful movements highlighted by flashes of silver as her blade drew arcs in the air, and through the boars that charged her. The player was a tall, strikingly beautiful woman who exuded an air of elegance and strength, made evident as she backflipped over a charging boar, slashing it once across the back as she sailed over it, before landing a second blow upon its behind, swirling around with the momentum of her swing to engage a second boar before the first was able to burst into polygons. The second one charged, but the woman merely shifted her body to the side before hoping slightly backwards, twirling on her heel as soon as her feet hit the ground as yet another boar charged her from behind; as she twirled she cut its side one, two, three times, before thrusting to the right, stabbing the boar she sidestepped earlier right in the snout, causing it to shatter on her blade.

Kirito's hand twitched, and he found himself fighting this strange urge to challenge this superbly skilled player to a duel. Somewhere deep inside his mind, a part of him felt as if he should have been feeling something else seeing such a beautiful woman dance about under the sunset, and that the fact he didn't feel such feelings was quite a loss for him as a man.

Klein, on the other hand, didn't seem to lack these feelings, if the look in his eyes was anything to go by. He sat there speechless, mouth hanging agape in what Kirito hoped was admiration for this other player's skill. As it was, Kirito sort of knew there was no way the mysterious player dancing atop the hill could possibly look like that in real life; people rarely ever did minor touch-ups to their avatars in VR games like these, and the fact that this game happened to be an MMORPG made it even more unlikely. Most would tend to make their avatars abundant in areas that they lacked in real life. For example, Kirito's own avatar was fairly tall and muscular to make up for his lack of such in his real body; his rather wild and spiky hair, although not on the level of the characters he saw in certain anime, pushed the image of a brave, or at least fairly outgoing character, a vast contrast to his usual hairstyle, which was as simple and subdued as his own personality in real life. If he had to guess, the woman they were watching was likely quite petite in real life, if her absolutely monstrous height was anything to go by; the hair may or may not have been lengthened, but the dark purple shade of it indicated at least some desire to look like an anime character.

"Mmm... If I had to guess, she's probably just about hit puberty..."

"Hey, don't scare me like that! You know I've been ogling her, right?! If she turns out to be a middle school student... I'd probably never be able to forgive myself!" Klein yelled, suddenly on his feet and desperately trying to get Kirito to take his words back. The boar, having detected sudden motion from a player that had been attacking it earlier, perceived his movement as a threat, and promptly headbutted Klein back onto his ass. He landed with an undignified "oof".

Kirito couldn't help but laugh, before drawing his sword as the boar prepared to charge Klein, who had just begun to get up again. Having been focused on its red headed target, the boar took two slashes right to it's flank, squealing as it turned to face Kirito. A swipe across the snout and a dash-cut across its body later, the boar exploded into polygons. Klein stared, speechless.

"You did wear it down beforehand," Kirito explained.

"You've got to be kidding! I did all that work and you take it down in less than 5 seconds? Hell, even if I did manage to wear it down, it means you just stole my kill! My kill that I've been going at for over...however long it's been!" Far from the praise Kirito had been expecting, Klein moved to throttle him, shaking him by his collar in frustration and- to a much greater extent- humiliation. Kirito merely laughed it off, not entirely sure if he had messed up the situation or not.

The commotion had caught some attention, however, and this time it wasn't of the boars'. The woman- or girl, Kirito wagered- from earlier had came towards them, and was observing their little scuffle with wide-eyed amusement. Klein soon noticed too, and hastily let go of Kirito, before bowing so low Kirito was almost sure his torso was 90 degrees to his legs.

"That was a splendid performance over there, ojou-sama! We had been watching you fighting the boars, and are in admiration of your ability! Please, teach me your secrets, master!" Klein said, barely catching a breath in between, even getting on his knees and kowtowing at the last part. The woman before them was suddenly flustered, and moved to help him up.

"No, please, leave him like that. He probably sees it as an honour to be at the feet of someone as beautiful and skilled as you are," Kirito quipped, secretly glad to have such a dramatic and comedic buddy to bounce off of. Kirito wasn't the best of conversationalists, but Klein made missing his cue harder than not noticing the affections of 3-4 different girls.

"O-oh, is that so? Beautiful and skilled, huh...hehe, I suppose I should thank you for your compliment, ah... Klein-san, was it?" The woman said with a smile, and Kirito found himself rather impressed at how quickly she adapted to the situation, given how a random stranger had just prostrated themselves before her. Not everyone is quite as antisocial as you are, Kazuto, Kirito reminded himself.

"Yes, m'lady! I am Klein, a humble level 1 newbie to this game! As such, it would be my greatest honour to be under your tutelage-"

"Alright, that's enough of that," Kirito said, chopping his friend on the head as he once again began his tirade. The woman before them giggled, and Kirito turned to address her.

"My friend's admiration for you aside, miss, I don't believe we've gotten your name. You are...?" Kirito said, gesturing for the woman to answer and desperately hoping he hadn't changed the topic too suddenly.

"My name is Kon- er, Yuuki. I'm actually new to this game as well, so please take good care of me!" answered Yuuki with a bright smile, which Kirito returned till something clicked.

"You're...new to this game? You weren't a beta tester?" Kirito asked, mouth agape.

"Ehehe...well, yeah. This is my first time playing SAO," Yuuki replied, tilting her head and scratching her cheek in a way that made a certain red-haired swordsman who was about to stand up drop right back down onto the ground.

"WAIT, SO YOU'RE COMPLETELY NEW TO THIS TOO?!" said redhead exclaimed, looking up at Yuuki from his position on the ground. Ah, it seems Kirito had gotten him wrong. He was simply wowed by the fact Yuuki was as good as she was despite not having prior experienc-

Wait, no, his nose was bleeding.

It seems I was right in my initial analysis...

"So...you seriously have no combat experience whatsoever?" Kirito asked, once more, just to make absolutely sure the woman before them wasn't a professional bullfighter or something.

"No, I don't," Yuuki said, before red crept up her cheeks as the two men stared at her with wide eyes. "Really, I don't think I'm quite as good as you two seem to think I am! The system seems to assist you in harder movements like flips or dashes, so all I really have going for me is the will to actually give it a try. I'm sure if either of you tried it too, the system would help you perform the same tricks I pulled off!"

To Kirito's infinite pride, he managed to compose himself fairly quickly.

"Newbie or not, Yuuki-san, it is undeniable that you have considerable skill compared to most players at the moment," he said, bowing slightly in a rather gentlemanly fashion.

Yuuki turned away slightly, embarrassed but rather proud at the compliment. "Ah, thanks I gues-"

"As such, Yuuki-san, I have a small request to make," Kirito said, and stepping backwards, he pointed his blade at a rather surprised Yuuki.

"I, being a beta tester, have had a fair bit more experience in this game than others, and haven't really gotten much of a chance to test myself to see if I have gotten rusty since the beta test. If I may be so bold...may I request a duel?" Kirito proclaimed with a smile.

At this, Yuuki and Klein, who had given up on standing and was now sat on the floor, both burst into nearly simultaneous laughter.

Kirito sweatdropped.

"Haha, what the hell, Kirito? You sound just like one of those blood knight type characters in anime! That was great!"

"I'm sorry, Kirito-san, but it's true! Your speech was cool, I'll admit, but it sounded like it came straight from an anime! But that aside-" here Yuuki composed herself, although a ghost of a smile could still be seen tugging at her lips. "I accept your challenge! Now, let us duel till the sun sets!" Yuuki exclaimed, putting a hand on her her blade's hilt as she assumed a combat stance.

She's patronising me with the over-the-top speech, isn't she?

"W-well, the sun has almost set already, hasn't it?" Kirito said with a cough, in what he strongly suspected would be a vain attempt to steer the focus away from his earlier speech.

Contrary to his expectations, though, Yuuki abruptly stood up, abandoning her stance to look around, before her face twisted into an expression of terror at the golden glow of the setting sun. Or, more accurately, the subset of terror known as 'oh crap'.

"Crap, I completely forgot! This world's environment changes in accordance to the real-world clock, doesn't it? Oh god, onee-chan is gonna kill me!" Any pretense of grace and elegance were thrown out the window and off of Aincrad as Yuuki proceeded to panic.

"Sorry, Kirito-san, Klein-san! I really must be going, I was supposed to log off an hour ago! Let's meet again tomorrow!" Yuuki said hurriedly, opening her menu as she did.

Then she stopped.

"Uh... Kirito-san? You were a beta tester, right?"

"Yes, I was. Why?"

"Well...uh...total noob question...but how do I log out?" Yuuki asked with an embarrassed smile. Kirito laughed.

"So you really are a newbie after all...I suppose it can't be helped, so here, I'll open my menu for you to see. The button is right-" and here Kirito stopped too. "That's strange...it should be right under the settings button..."

"Ah, mine isn't there either! Could it be some kind of glitch? It is launch day after all..."

Kirito barely had any time to formulate an answer before the chiming of bells could be heard, and the three of them were surrounded by a particle effect.

"Woah, what's happening, Kirito?!"

"Calm down, it's just a teleportation effect. Maybe the GMs spotted the glitch and are planning to address it."

"W-well, that's great! Now I have an excuse for forgetting to log out! Onee-chan need never kn-"

"-ow."

One moment she had been on the field with Kirito and Klein, and the next, Yuuki found herself in the middle of the town square, in the town of beginnings. Kirito and Klein were with her too, as were what seemed to be thousands upon thousands of other players, most of whom seemed just as confused as she was.

"Huh? Is this some kind of event?"

"Oh, so they're planning to address the logout glitch."

"No, you idiot, they wouldn't teleport everyone just to address a glitch! This has to be some kind of launch day opening ceremony."

"Maybe this is an in-game introduction to Aincrad? I do very much enjoy lore."

"Hey, do you think we'll be getting free stuff?

While the words of the players around her seemed logical enough, Yuuki couldn't help but have a bad feeling about the recent turn of events.

It didn't get much better when the sky turned red.