Honoka *POV*

"Ane-chan!~ I'm home!" I called out to my sister as I entered our apartment together. My sister is a year older than I so, naturally, she was home before I was. I had just returned from gymnastics, the only athletic thing I do with my life. I heard footsteps running down the stairs as she came to greet me.

"Welcome home Honoka-chan! I've waited for you so we could go gaming!" Asuna, my fifteen year old sister, seemed genuinely excited to play our favorite game together.

"Okay Asuna, let me get a drink first!" I nodded, as did she, and quickly gulped down a drink of water. I always thought of it as important to drink before getting into that world. Soon, I ran up to my room, surrounded by my darkly colored walls. I smiled; glad to be back in a familiar place. Changing into more comfortable clothing, I grabbed the NerveGear , laying it on my bed. Goodbye Japan, hello dream world. I thought as I placed the NerveGear on my head, "Link start!" I commanded, allowing it to virtually beam me to the online world that I loved. Sword Art Online.

The NerveGear was a new gaming console that people wear, allowing them to feel as if they are really in the game. But for me, it was like a second home. Away from stress, away from all the people that annoy me daily. Away from myself. It is just a place to escape. It asked me if I wanted to do the 'beta version' and I accepted, because I beta tested this game. Soon enough, I found myself in the word of Sword Art Online, my character standing amongst others.

"Honoka-chan!" My sister called to me, waving me over to the valleys outside the Town of Beginnings. We ran through the stone pathways of The Town of Beginnings, and I heard some people whisper "She runs like this place is her own, she must be a beta tester!" I scoffed, glaring in the whisper's general direction. Leaving that place, I showed my sister the greens where there are low-level 'monsters' like hogs or boars.

"Oi, Asuna, you'll have to do better than that! You have to use your initial motion input!" I scolded, trying to help my sister. She is fairly new, but still forgets basics.

"I'm trying Honoka!" Asuna laughed as we both sat down to rest. "The sky here is so beautiful… It makes me feel like this place is real."

"It is. Virtually real. It's like a second home but better." I sighed, looking off into the virtual sunset. Here there are an unlimited number of skills I could master, except no magic. This RPG game makes bold decisions, and I intend to beat them. I stand up, targeting the boar, and in one quick strike it shatters to pieces, dying. I gathered the items it dropped; putting them in my inventory.

"Hey, Honoka-chan… I'm getting hungry, want to logout and eat dinner?" Asuna asked, getting up herself. "I'll make some of my infamous sandwiches for us!" I giggled, agreeing with her.

"You are the best cook I know, Asuna-chan! Let's logout." I scrolled through the game menu which appeared before me, looking for the logout button. It wasn't there. "W-What…? Where's the logout button?"

"I can't find it either!"

I stood there, stunned. There shouldn't be any bugs, and there was a logout button in the beta. I tried calling the Game Master, but nothing happened.

"Is there an emergency logout method?"

No, nothing in the manual said anything about it. This isn't just a bug in the game's system, either."

"Wouldn't there be an announcement—" Asuna was cut off by the ring of a loud bell coming from the Town of Beginnings. We both scanned the sky, looking for some sort of sign. Suddenly, we were beamed to the main circle in the heart of the Town of Beginnings.

"Asuna!" I grabbed onto my older sister in worry, this abnormal game mode frightening me. I felt her stroke my hair, hugging me back.

"I'm sure everything will be okay, Honoka."

Suddenly a singular hexagonal warning sign was flashing in the sky. Then it consumed he sky as a whole, leaving everything in a red tint. The system was corrupted. A blood-like substance oozed from the red sky lined in warning signs, and it morphed into a gigantic person, hooded in a red cloak. Murmurs all around, "What is that?" and "A Game Master?". Nothing made sense. "Welcome, players. Welcome to my world." A loud voice boomed from the red-cloaked Game Master. "My name is Kayaba Akihiko. I am the sole human being that controls this world, my world." Kayaba was the creator of Sword Art Online. He spent a lot of time creating this world, 'his world'. "I'm sure you have noticed the lack of a logout button, but don't worry, it's not a bug or mistake."

Murmurs and gasps of shock rung throughout the crowd of players. "I repeat, this is not a bug or mistake! It is a feature of Sword Art Online! You cannot log out yourselves, and no one on the outside can remove the NerveGear. But should that be attempted, the NerveGear will emit a powerful shock that destroys the brain of the person that uses it. Thus, killing said person. But some families have ignored this warning, and accidently killed 213 players, ending like in Aincrad and the real world. The only means of escape, is to complete the game"

I clenched my fist in anger, I didn't want to die. By this time, people were really starting to freak out, thinking that they would die as well. I watched as panic rose, and some players went insane. "Clear all 100 floors and bosses? That's insane! The beta testers never made it that high!" One guy with long red hair protested. But the Game Master quieted them.

"As a small gift, I have put something in each of your inventories." I check my own inventory. It was an item named 'Mirror'. I enabled it so that I could hold it, and I saw my character looking back at me. She looked completely different than my real self. Everyone around us started to glow, as their appearance changed. We were turning into our real appearances, how we look in the real world. I turned to my sister to see her looking like herself in the real world. I could see her long orange-brownish chestnut hair and hazel eyes.

"A-Asuna! You look like yourself!"

"You too!" I looked in my own mirror, seeing my normal light blonde hair and blue eyes. The strangest thing was, some girl payers were really guys and vice versa. That was creepy.

"Right now, you're probably wondering 'Why?'. Why would the Game Creator do all of this? Well you see, my goal has already been achieved. I have done all this to create Sword Art Online, and then intervene in it. It is complete now. Good luck, players." Kayaba disappeared along with all the red warning signs, and everybody was silent in shock for a few moments.

I looked at my sister in astonishment, wondering what to do now. That was a stupid question. All I can do is live, as well as Asuna.

We're going to beat this.