"Hoshi! Are you going to play SAO?" Mutsa asked the young girl with short, blonde hair. Hoshi pressed the phone to her ear to better hear her sister,

"Yes, are you, Mutsa?" She asked, hearing her sister laugh in response.

"Of course, I'll see you on there." She said, hanging up on her sister. Looking down at her NerveGear, the fourteen-year-old grinned, it had been almost six months since the beta-test and she couldn't wait to play Sword Art Online again. The game had been online for only ten minutes, but already there were six hundred people online. She pulled the NerveGear onto her head and watched the time slowly click from twelve twenty nine to twelve thirty. Closing her eyes, she felt herself leave her body as she smiled to herself.

"Link start!" She said, and everything went white.

Then there was colour, so many colours. It whirled around her, making her dizzy until her senses caught up and she was prepared. She chose her language - Japanese - before she logged in with her old sign up account. The screen came up with:

Character Creation

Beta test still available. Would you like to use it?

Hisoka(M)

She clicked yes. An odd feeling swept over her, her body shifted, her breasts disappearing, her lady-parts changing. 'She' became 'he'. Sometimes, he hated himself, that around his family and friends, he couldn't be himself, but that was their fault - his grandfather's fault. He couldn't tell his grandfather the truth because he was stuck in his ancient-Japan ways, when it was still called Nippon.

At least he could be himself here, and still have his life out there. Even if Mutsa would never find him, he was OK.

The screen read: Welcome to Sword Art Online.

He was home. There was a burst of colour and he found himself blinking in the sudden sunlight that he now saw. In front of him was a large building, all around him, players. Hisoka felt power surge through him as he saw his own reflection in the fountain beside him;

Blonde hair, just like his own, strong, dark eyes, thin stature and tight, pale grey shirt, complete with coin satchel and equipment slots. His pants were a smooth and comfortable, grey material.

Bringing his right hand down beside him, he opened the menu, searching through his items, finding he only had basic items, but thankfully enough to buy a decent sword. He looked around himself, at the town of new beginnings.

He went out hunting after buying a decent weapon, large one - a meat cleaver - a sheath, along with some health potions, after all, he was level one again, getting killed by a boar this early would be a waste.

He went to the west field in search of game, seeing many boars meant a chance to gain some skills.

By early evening, he had gained sufficient levels for day one, now at level two, and was ready to make himself a dinner of ramen. As he swiped his hand down, the menu came up, but no log out button was there. He looked for almost twenty minutes, waiting for contact from the GM, but to no avail.

The bell from the tower began to ring, making him look up in alarm and he was forced to teleport back to the centre of town.

Up in the sky, there was a single flashing warning, which soon enough spread until the golden sky was red with tessellated warnings, both saying warning and System Announcement. It didn't look good. Something began to melt from the cracks between the hexagonal shapes, ballooning out and working to form a single cloaked being, his face shadowed by a hood of blood red.

"Attention players." The hooded figure announced, silencing the hubbub that had risen as he had, extending his arms as he spoke, "Welcome to my world."

The man Hisoka had teleported beside muttered the words to himself, "'My world'?" He murmured, not that Hisoka paid any attention to him, his eyes fixated on the being in front of him.

"My name is Kayaba Akihiko. As of this moment, I am the sole person who can control this world." Kayaba was the creator of SAO, and a legend, "I'm sure you've already noticed that the logout button is missing in the menu." He rose his own menu as he talked, flicking through it with one gloved hand, demonstrating this to all. "But this is not a defect in the game. I repeat… This is not a defect in the game. It is a feature of Sword Art Online." The resulting gasps from the crowd made Hisoka uneasy, sure, he had never really fitted in with society, but he could tell that this was bad. "You cannot log out of SAO on your own. And no-one on the outside can shut down or remove the NerveGear." Hisoka was trembling with anticipation, rather than fear. Finally, a place where he could be himself,
forever. His stomach dropped, however, at Kayaba's next piece of information. "Should this be attempted, the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit a powerful microwave destroying your brain and ending your life."

Hisoka felt outrage build deep in his gut, this was imprisonment. He'd spent enough time trying to fit in with society to know that was wrong.

A commotion was heard a young couple tried to leave the dome. "Hey, I can't get out!" The man cried, hitting his fist against an invisible force field.

Hisoka was brought out of his enthralment of this commotion by the man standing near him.

"He's gotta be nuts, right, Kirito?" The red-haired man was addressing the dark-haired man beside Hisoka.

Kirito… I've heard the name before. He was one of the betas. Hisoka thought to himself. As Hisoka thought about what he knew about Kirito, Hisoka, he missed Kirito's reply, but was brought back when Kayaba began to speak once again.

"Unfortunately, several players' friends and families have ignored this warning and have attempted to remove the NerveGear. As result, two hundred and thirteen players are gone forever, from both Aincrad and the real world." The only sound Hisoka hear was the beating of his own heart, and the muttering of Kirito and the red-haired man beside him.

"As you can see, news organisations across the world are reporting all of this, including the deaths." Hisoka watched with horror as Kayaba pulled up news articles, including one from her home town, which all showed reports of the incidents. "Thus you can assume the danger of a NerveGear being removed is now minimal." Hisoka could almost hear the smugness in his voice. "I hope you will relax and attempt to clear the game. 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 hooded murderer added a dramatic pause, loving the feel of power over these people. "The NerveGear will destroy your brain." The crowd seemed shocked by this proclamation, waiting to see if he would continue.

Kayaba brought up a map for everyone to see, illustrating what he was about to say; "There is only one means of escape. To complete the game. You are presently on the lowest floor of Aincrad, Floor One. If you make your way to the floor dungeon and defeat the floor boss, you may advance to the next level. Defeat the boss on Floor 100, and you will clear the game."

The people around seemed to latch onto this morsel of hope, clinging to it as their death was foretold, and just as quickly, violently expel it, like a virus, their words mimicking that of stomach contents of hope.

"Finally, I've added a present from me to your item storage." At this, Hisoka quickly opened his menu, "Please see for yourselves." The hooded figure urged.

"Mirror." Hisoka muttered out loud. He stared at it for a minute, before deciding to use it. He saw his own reflection - his game reflection - mirrored back at him, but then there was a flash of blue light, and he changed.

His chest hurt like hell, like it had been punched repeatedly. He turned to face Kirito, to see what happened, but saw a completely different person. Who was this? Once again looking in his mirror, Hisoka cried out in horror.

His breasts were back, which explains the hurt in his chest, his hair had stayed the same, but his eyes were softer somehow. He hated it. He was thankful, however, that the shirt had been so tight as to not physically allow Hisoka's breasts to be there, sure it hurt, but that was life. He - because he would prefer to be recognised as a male, no matter what sex - would get some bandages, and bandage those pesky breasts down so no-one would be able to tell.

Kirito, at this time, was also coming to terms with himself, and the red-haired man, Klein, though Hisoka wasn't listening. Finally, Kayaba began to speak once more.

"Right now, you're probably wondering, "Why?" Why would Kayaba Akihiko developer of Sword Art Online and the NerveGear do all this? My goal has already been achieved. I created Sword Art Online for one reason; to create a world and intervene in it. And now it is complete." The hood raised its head, looking around in majesty, "This ends the tutorial for the official Sword Art Online launch. Good luck, players."

Kayaba melted away, leaving everyone there in suspended shock. Someone cried out in distress, but Hisoka didn't hear them, he only saw the exit. He knew what he had to do. He had to get out. He ran before anyone else had really moved

This was real. This was only the beginning.