AN: As this this just the prologue it won't be long. I expect each of my chapters to have at least a minimal of 5,000 words. There will be a reworked system within SAO, giving guilds a reason to actually come together other than just to beat the game. I will be adding more content for guilds, and PVP system will be changed. In the aspect of open pvp, it will still be there outside of towns. That however will be a surprise! Tune in for more, with your new favorite upcoming Author, Evyls!

AN2: It's been a few years since this story died, so I've taken down the original prologue. I've proof read it and changed a couple things. However most is the same, I will be doing the same with the rest of the chapters. From there I'll be continuing the story. Thank you, over the years for reviewing or pming me, asking me to continue. I'm delighted that everyone still enjoyed a dead story for what little it was.

Prologue: The 'hero'

It was a day like most, humid and horrible outside. The sun was out yet it gave no real comfort. The streets were packed and the sidelines equally crowded. Today fate was cruel on our hero, having been stuck in traffic for the last hour. This is where we find our unlucky hero, head slung back against the leather seat itself. His eyes closed and an arm on the steering wheel. One would describe this man to be average looking, short black hair with brown eyes. The type of brown eyes that could either look dark or light depending on what angle the light was hitting. He had tanned skin and stood at just about 5'11".

Seconds ticked by, minutes and then an hour. His mind had slipped into a rested state, which allowed him to sleep even with the loud noises around him. It was not the honking or the screaming that woke this man, oh no. It was the sound of his ring tone and the vibrating in his pants which caused him to jump. His eyes snapped wide open as he reached quickly to his pocket. He pulled out a Samsung galaxy sII before he stared at the caller ID for what seemed to be an eternity before he groaned. he pressed the answer button before he began to utter words that you shouldn't to a mother.

"Mother, what do you want?" It was quite obvious in the tone of his voice, this was the last person he wanted to talk to or even about. He cringed some as he heard her raspy screeching voice yell through the phone as if it were common place to yell. "Mom, what have I told you? Yelling will only make me deaf. I will be swinging by her copy of the game as soon as I can. Rig-" His voice cut off by his mother's loud screeching once more. He let out a sigh before he simply took the phone from his ear,and pressed his thumb against the red button on the touch screen. The call got disconnected but he didn't know she was attempting to warn him. He always paid little mind to her ramblings half the time any way.

It wouldn't take long for him to pull into his drive way thus ending his torment with traffic today. "I'll drop off her copy after rush hour ends, but first. Time for me to see how it is!" he thought rather excitedly to himself, a grin curved upon his visage. He made his way up the drive way, and into his one bedroom house. It wasn't much, but for the sake of saving money he chose a small house. He kicked his feet against the porch steps out of habit, before he entered the house. It took only a matter of seconds before he was already in his front room. The man opened the new game he had just bought and laid down on his couch. He propped his feet up on to the arm of the couch before he placed the nerve gear upon his head.

The sudden flash of pure white hit him, the process to log in happened quick. It wouldn't take much time at all for him to appear at the starter zone. He looked down at his hands and turned them. Excitement obvious upon his face as he experimented by doing a couple weird dances to himself. Though as it finally caught up to him, he realized he was now dancing with dozens of people staring at him. A faint hue of pink appeared upon his cheeks as he awkwardly stopped dancing. He gave a quick shake of his head and made his way through the streets of the town. He had never been here before and thus he was taking the exploring side of things first. It was amazing to him, how someone could have forged such a game. Though he had wished for a game like this since he had been a kid. But, enough of that! He would make his way out of the town and into the fields.

He had chosen oddly, to start out with a glaive and no shield. He stretched both arms out into the air before he pulled the glaive off of his back. He spotted the first hog, and got into a low stance. He pictured himself rushing forward and striking the hog with a powered strike. However as he rushed forward, the glaive refused to glow. Still piercing through the side of the hog in a grazing strike however. It seemed to only irritate the hog as it now turned its attention to our hero, who we are thusly naming Kazuma. To his surprise he watched as the hog bolted towards him, faster than what the reviews had said. He barely managed to bring up his glaive, so that the central part of the pole blocked the tusks. Causing his entire body to be pushed backward. Getting over the initial shock he jumped forward this time he pictured his glaive in a different way this time. The glaive began to glow a teal color before he sliced downward cutting the virtual boar in half, seconds after the first strike the boar broke into billions of little shards of color.

Kazuma frowned some and glanced at his Glaive. It didn't feel right to him the weight was understandable. He didn't understand why he didn't like the weapon. Kazuma placed the weapon upon his back before he began to make his way into the town. Kazuma froze in his spot as everyone around him began to disappear him a bright light, including himself. Appearing in what seemed to be a gathering area there were thousands of players now here. The voices of the crowd began to carry through the wind, most wondering what was going on. Kazuma himself however was looking around as he laid his hand on the nearest shoulder. "Excuse me but do you know why we were summoned here?" It was a rather legit question.

The woman in front of him would have answered if a giant being didn't seem to appear in the sky. Hushed whispers ensued even as the giant began to speak.

"Players welcome to my world. I am Kayaba Akihiko as of this moment, I am the sole person who can control this world. I'm sure you've already noticed that the logout button is missing from the main menu. 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. You cannot log out of SAO yourselves. And no one on the outside can shut down or remove the NerveGear. Should this be attempted the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit a powerful microwave, destroying your brain and thus ending your life.

Unfortunately, several players' friends and families have ignored this warning and attempted to remove the NerveGear. As a result, two hundred and thirteen players are gone forever, from both Aincrad and the real world."

Kayaba pauses long enough to pull up differen't news channels covering the stories.

"As you can see, news organizations across the world are reporting all of this, including the deaths. Thus you can assume the danger of a NerveGear being removed is now minimal. 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 NerveGear will destroy your brain. "

Kayaba pauses momentarily allowing this news to sink into the players. Kazuma grit his teeth only being able to think of one thing, his sister. Luckily he had chosen to deliver her copy later tonight. His thoughts being interrupted by Kayaba once more.

"There is only one means of escape to complete the game. Your are presently on the lowest floor of Aincrad, Floor 1. If you make your way through the dungeon and defeat the floor Boss, you may advance to the next level. Defeat the final boss on Floor 100 and you will clear the game."

At this point in time the players were in an uproar. Screaming up at the man in sky that he was lieing. However that was not the case unfortunately, and for Kazuma who just finished processing the situation. He glanced around before began to make his way to the back of the crowd running into a wall. Kazuma turned to look at the man hoping this speech would end shortly.

"Finally, I've added a present from me to your item storage. Please see for yourselves."

With that many of the players began to look in their inventory and Kazuma was no exception. Kazuma blinked a couple of times before he tapped on the mirror. He watched it appear in his hands only for it to further confuse him. 'What's the point in the mir-' His own thoughts cut off as flashes of light began to burst forth from the mirror. Once his flash episode was finished he looked back into the mirror only to start freaking out a little. It was him the real him he wasn't much different from his original avatar. Aside from the eyes, his eyes were a shade of light blue. Like him many others began to freak out after all some women were now men and vice versa.

"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 this world and intervene in it. And now, it is complete. This ends the tutorial for the official Sword Art Online launch.

Good luck, Players.

Every single player in the area was currently speechless. Mostly in disbelief that something like this could happen to them. In the very back was Kazuma, his teeth clenched and his fist balled determination. 'I'm not going to die here.' He thought to himself before he spun around on his feet, he darted out of the area. He like most others knew that there were limited amount of things to hunt in the area. Soon enough they would be picked clean leaving most to struggle by themselves. Kazuma spared no thought about anyone else currently, this was survival. A death game that he would survive for his sister. He made it to the gate, only for a woman to brush past him. Her long cascading hair that flowed down to her very waist stunned him.

Kazuma shook his head before he began running again, it seemed she and another had the same idea as him. The man not to far ahead of him had a large two-handed sword strapped to his back. While the woman had some type of polearm, beta testers maybe? Kazuma unstrapped his glaive the weight of the thing was just too much. So he did something that would surprise anyone watching. He discarded it, tossing it away and rid himself of the weight.

Next time on, SAO.

Chapter 1: New friends, Abilities put to the test.