-Chapter 1: "The Unsung Beta-tester."-

"So, if you are interested, you can sigh here and we'll get you set up, Mr. Saitou." A man said sitting before a table in a closed in office. Before him sat a teenage boy who was reading a contract on the table in between them. He gave it one quick look over while skipping all the minor details. He looked at the bottom of the form where it said "signature." The boy than grabbed the pen with his good hand. His bad hand trembled for some reason as he tried to steady the paper. He ended up just laying his hand on the paper in a limp manor. Soon, he finally left his signature on the contract and then slid it back to the man sitting across from him. The man took the paper, looked it over and gave a nod of approval. "Congratulations!" The man said to the teen. "You are now a beta tester for "Sword Art Online". We will mail you the Nervegear in a few days. We ask that you log in at this date and time so that our admins can meet you in the server to help you get settled in." With that the man stood up and gave a faint bow to the teen and left the room. The teen would be left there alone for a few minutes deep in thought before he too made his way out of the room.

A few days later, the teen laid in a bed. He held the Nervegear up above him and gave it a good look over. Then he placed it over his head and got comfortable In the bed. He then took a deep breath and uttered the words "Link Start." On his command, his vision blurred and he felt his mind fall into what felt like an abyss of white. Then he was bombarded with text flashing the status of his senses linking up with the Nervegear. They all flashed "OK". Finally, a menu appeared to float in front of him. Log in information. "Account and Password". He imports the info. "Character apearence." He decided to go with a tall and slim look with hair that was sleeked back. And finally, the option "Name" came up. This is the moment that gave him pause. He though what name he would want to be remembered by. What name would have the most meaning to him. He thought hard about this and his thoughts took him to a vision from the past.

He thought back to a moment in his childhood. He was practicing in a dojo at the age of 7. He is being trained by a much older man, his grandfather. They trained that whole day covering everything from weapon using, to hand-to-hand, from striking to grappling, and even advance forms were practiced on. Soon, the sun began to set. He sat next to his grandfather utterly exhausted and watch the sun set for a few minutes. Then his grandfather turned to him.

"Ah, my prized grandson." He said as they sipped from a water bottle. "You continue to strive to surpass your limit everyday with every training session. You walk your path to greatness while giving your blood, sweat and tears." The grandfather gave the young boy a nod. "Remember, the gods gave you all you will ever need at birth. Your fists will lead you to greatness."

The young man comes back to reality and the present with the Name option still floating in front of him, but his grandfather's words still echoed in his head. "My fists will lead me to greatness." He repeated his grandfather. "My fists. My … … fists." "Ken" was the name he put in the box. He clicked enter and felt the sensation of falling again.

The next thing the young man felt was the sensation as if he was waking up. First, he felt is sight coming to as a bright light bombarded his eyes. Then a ringing sound hit his ears in rhythm. But soon enough, his senses began to bring the world into focus. The ringing in his ears gave way to voices people around him.

"Hey, I think we're getting some activity from his avatar." He heard one voice say.

"Looks like he chose the name Ken. Alright, simple enough." He heard a different voice speak.

"Well let's see if he is fully responsive through his avatar." He heard a third and final voice. "Ken?" The young man heard the voice, but didn't respond. He took a second to scan the room as his vision became sharper. He was in a small room that was lit by sunlight coming in from the window. The furniture and foundation of the room resembled that of medieval origins. He was circled by three individuals as he was lying in an old-fashioned bed. "Ken?!" The man, who was dressed in a white wool road looking down at him finally got his attention. "Ken, can you hear me?"

Ken finally nodded aknowlaging the older man standing over him. "…Yeah…" Ken quietly said still shocked by the sudden transformation.

"Perfect!" The older man clapped his hands together enthusiastically. "My name is Dr. Yuramasa. I'll be overseeing a handful of beta testers as they transition into Aincrad. You will be one of the testers I'll be studying and guiding personally. Now, let's start with making sure that your senses and perception is up to speed in this game." Yuramasa held up a finger in front of Ken's face as he laid on the bed. "Follow my finger with your eyes for me." The doctor moved his finger to the left. Ken's eyes followed. He then moved his finger to the right. Hen's eyes followed again. "Very good. Now, turn your head in the direction I snap my fingers." As he said, Ken looked in the direction he heard the doctor snap his fingers. "Exellent! Now, give me your hand." Ken complied and held out his hand to the doctor. The doctor then pinched the tip of each finger, to which Ken reacted. "Perfect! There seems to be no lag in the perception of your senses and your reaction."

"Sir," one of the assistants interrupted. "We still have 100 more beta testers that we have to check in before the day is done. We should finish up with this tester."

"That's fine." Yuramasa replied. "Let me see the readings."

With the wave of his hand, Yuramasa opened his menu and overlooked the data. He started to talk with his assistance, but Ken slowly tuned out their conversation. He raised his right hand and turned his attention to it. He twisted his wrist and flexed his hand. Then he lifted his left hand and did the same thing. It reacted as an arm normally would, but Ken's had a much more impressed expression on his face than with his right hand. His eyes finally turned down to his feet which were still bare from the lack of footwear. First, he stared at his feet as if focusing hard on them, then suddenly, his right foot twitched a little. Ken's eyes lit up in surprise to what seemed like a simple action. After another pause while focusing, his other foot twitch. His face grew in amazement as his feet responded more and more by shaking and curling to his command.

Soon, Ken slowly started to sit up right while watching his legs respond to him more and more. After he fully sat upright, he turned his body so his legs hung over the side and touched the floor. Dr. Yuramasa saw Ken as he was sitting up.

"Woah WOAH!" Yuramasa rushed over to Ken before he tried to stand. "You need to pace yourself. This sensation is still new to you and you may not be used to it yet."

"Doctor, we need to select what set of beta tester we are going to introduce." Yuramasa looked away at the behest of one of his assistance. As his back was turned, Ken pushed up with his arms and could stand on his own feet. He stood there on wobbly legs for a few seconds, then he lost his balance and toppled onto a desk next to him. This got the attention of Yuramasa and his assistance again.

"Whoa! Come on, Ken." Yuramasa urged Ken with his hand to stay put. "You really need to take it slow."

An assistant tried to speak. "You need a few hours at least to get used to-"

Ken then held up a hand to them. "I'm fine." He stood up again, took a couple of steps to the far side of the room, then put his back up against the wall next to a window. He gave a quick glance to the doctor and his assistants, then look down over his body. "This … this is-…"

He then turned around to the window. He pushed out the glass windowpanes and was hit by the intense sunlight. After his eyes adjusted, he could look out at a vast open world before him. He saw that he was in a tower connected to a castle in the middle of a medieval looking town. Beyond the borders of the city lied open plains and large pillars sitting in all directions of the horizon. Ken was left in utter awe.

"Welcome to Aincrad, Ken." Yuramasa said from over Ken's shoulder. "Here is where Sword Art Online will be-." Ken tuned out the doctor's words as he was still entranced by the sight before him. After a few seconds, he lifted his leg and placed it on the window sill. "Whoa, Ken! It's not a good idea to-." His words didn't reach Ken for his eyes were looking over the roof tops down below. He turned his focus to one of the roof tops that was relatively elevated above the rest. He grabbed hold of the window sill and with one strong spring of his leg, he launched himself completely out of the window. "Ken!" Yuramasa cried in vain as Ken jumped out of the window.

Ken landed a good 25 feet below on the roof and rolled on impact. He rode the momentum and got back to his feet into a jog. His steps were sloppy as he seemed to have difficulty maintaining his balance with each step. Eventually, he reached the end of the roof, but he saw another roof top across a wide gap. Without hesitation, he took the jump and made the gap. He continued to run, this time his balance was steadier and he ran as a normal person would. He reached the end of the second roof top and leaped off it to the next roof top. When he landed on the next roof, he unleashed himself into a full on sprint towards the end of the roof top. This time, the gap from the roof he was on to the next one in front was clear across a wide road. Despite the distance of the gap, he increased his pace further and leapt of the roof towards the next.

Time slowed around Ken as he took in the sensation of jumping through the air. He took in the sensation of being weightless. The sensation of the wind flowing over his entire body. He closed his eyes as he gave into the feeling of absolute freedom. He finally opened his eyes to find that he miscalculated the distance of the gap between the rooftops. Ken tried to throw his hands out, but it was too late. His lower half slammed into the wall while his upper body whiplashed on the roof. He bounced off the wall and fell to the street below, not even able to brace himself for the impact. He laid on the sidewalk face down and unmoving.

After a few seconds, Dr. Yuramasa and two of his assistants came running down the streets. "Ken! KEN!" He yelled out to the body of Ken, but he didn't respond. Yuramasa reach ken and kneeled down next to him. He saw Ken breathing while he was face down. "Ken?" He rolled Ken over and saw that he was catching his breath, but there was somewhat of a content look on his face as he laid there exhausted.