Disclaimer: We don't own SAO. We just don't, sorry...¯\_()_/¯

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Prologue: Welcome To My World.

"-Good luck players."

"Real death? I don't know why but I know he's not lying. SAO. It's not just a game anymore… Nat, we need to go."

"But-"

"NOW!"

[Flashback]

Yujin's POV

I was running through the sidewalks. The wind running through my grey slicked back hair; sweat was rolling down my shirt and chest. I looked behind me to check if my little sister was falling back; to see that she was barely keeping up to pace.

"Nat, hurry up!"

"Easy...for you...to say!" My sister replied between pants; she almost fell over but regained her balance. Her magenta, chest length hair was following behind her head, as she was trying to keep up with me.

We turned the corner, and our apartment building came into sight. I ran even faster, with Nat quite a distance behind. After a while, we reached our building; we ran up the staircase to our door. I unlocked our door and we ran in. I threw my backpack on the couch. I opened my bag with a loud zip. I grabbed a NerveGear and a copy of the new virtual reality game, Sword Art Online. I handed them both to my sis. She quickly took it and I grabbed my NerveGear and the copy of my game. We ran into our room and plugged in our NerveGears and put them on.

"It says: before we start, we have to touch ourselves all over our body."

"Why?" Nat asked with an excited tone.

"I don't know. Maybe it's to say if we're getting cramps or something while in game?" I replied with a shrug.

"Lemme see that."

I handed her the manual, and she took quite a while reading it.

"Hm...Fine, let's go."

We touched and grasped our body parts all over our bodies. Arms, legs, stomach, chest. Nat even had to grasp her breasts. After we finished, we laid down on our beds which was each on the opposite side of the room.

"Ready Nat?"

"Mhm! We've been waiting for this all year!" She replied with an excited tone that kept going higher.

"Okay, three...two...one…"

"Link start!" We said in synchronization.

The NerveGear flashed white and showed a character customization. I decided just to go for a black short fringe with brown eyes. But I didn't choose much for my starting armour. Instead, a black coat, dark grey scarf and hood with a cape, the coat was covered with a layer of light leather platings that covered only my shoulders and parts of my upper body. Black leather pants, and black boots. For my weapon, I chose a xiphos with a black hilt and a leather scabbard on my back to hold my blade. I was ready.

I pixelated into the world, I looked around me to see a large center area surrounded by walls and pillars. There were people everywhere, talking, shopping, etc. My sister pixelated right beside me. She looked at me with a smile. She had blonde shoulder length hair, her eyes matched her hair. She had a single bladed kusarigama strapped around her arm, and was sheathed on her waist. She even had slightly larger breasts than IRL and she had a dark purple leather tunic, with dark purple leather leggings, she had a silver breastplate, with silver shoulder pads and greaves.

"In all MMORPGs, the most crucial thing to do at the beginning is to farm for money and levels, so let's get going."

"Currency in this game is called Cor."

"Okay, whatever, let's just go."

I tried to walk off, but Nat grabbed my arm.

"Yujin, wait! I researched about this game. If I remember correctly, the way out is that way."

She pointed at the opposite direction of where I was walking off to.

"Fine, fine."

The both of us ran towards the outskirts of the floor, and we were confronted by a huge grassy field with boars all over the place.

"What are those things?" I asked.

"Those are called Frenzy Boars. The weakest and first enemy you can find in the game."

"You and your research."

I drew my xiphos from my back and ran my finger along the edge of the blade to see how sharp and smooth it was; I was careful not to cut myself. I lowered my blade and faced my little sister.

"Nat, how 'bout a little challenge?"

When she heard this, I saw her ready her kusarigama.

"Yeah, what's the challenge?"

"First one to level five wins. Loser pays for the delivery for dinner."

"...You're on, Yujin!"

Time Skip

A Frenzy Boar was charging right at me while my xiphos was lowered. I activated a sword skill that made the blade of my xiphos glow crimson red. I readied my blade by putting it next to me head. Once the Frenzy Boar got close, I stabbed it straight through the head. The reward GUI appeared in front of me. I closed it and another GUI appeared; stating that I've reached level five. I looked over to my sister to see that she was in battle with another Frenzy Boar.

"Hey Nat!"

As I called out to her. She managed to kill the monster. She looked over to me with a discouraged look on her face.

"Guess who just got to level five!"

"What?! Already?! Aww! I was one kill away."

I ran toward her to confront her.

"Well, looks like you're paying for delivery."

"Ugh! Fine! I'll log out to make a call."

"I already made the call. You just need to pay. They're probably here by now."

Nat opened up the menu and scrolled down for the logout button.

"Huh? The logout button is gone."

"Really? Lemme try."

I opened my menu to see the same thing. The logout button was gone.

"What the?! It's gone to!"

"What?!"

Nat seemed to start panicking. She tried pressing the empty button again and again.

"Nat, calm down."

I tried to cool her off by giving her pats on the head. But it didn't seem to work. She soon panicked so much, she fell on her behind, still hyperventilating. I took this chance to calm her down. I jumped in and wrapped my hands around her and let her head lean on my shoulder.

"Calm down Nat. It's probably just a bug. It'll get fixed. 'Till then, we can just hang around here."

She was calming down, but not completely. Her breathing was still quite fast, so I rubbed her on the back again.

"Don't worry, Nat. You're not the only one stuck here. I'm stuck in this game to; the other players must be stuck to."

She finally calmed down, and I let go of my hug.

"Okay...I'm calm."

"Don't worry about it. Wanna get to level ten? Whaddya say?"

"Okay." She replied in a relaxed tone.

Suddenly in the distance, we heard a loud bell ring multiple times; Nat and I were transported to the starting area of the floor along with all the other players. But this time the exits were blocked off with red, transparent immortal objects. I didn't know what was going on. So I asked Nat. She probably had her research on this.

"Uh...Nat? What's goin' on?"

"Somebody initiated the teleport anll. Only devs can do that. So it must be important."

After she said this. A huge red, transparent dome appeared over the place. Then a large man blood red cloak with his hood was on materialized from blood looking liquid, coming from the dome. He had already gained everyone's attention. Everyone was muttering words and gasping. I didn't know what was going on. So I turned to my little sister.

"Nat…?"

"Uhm...Yujin...T-that's the game master."

"Wait what?" I replied in a stiff and stupid tone.

Before I knew it, Nat clinged to my arm...tight. So I pulled her closer to me. Then, the game master spoke.

"Attention...Welcome to my world. My name is Kayaba Akihiko...as of this moment"

Everybody gasps and mutters.

"I'm sure you might have noticed that the logout button is missing from the main menu."

He gestures his hand in front of him to open his main menu, opening his menu with the peaceful ring. I can't say the same for the scene though.

"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."

I looked down at Nat who had a look of both shock and fear on her face and her grip on my arm grew tighter. I could feel strands of her hair, seeping through the threads of my outfit and poking my skin.

"A-a feature? What does he mean?"

"You cannot logout 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 that will destroy your brain and thus ending your life."

"What?!" I yelled.

Nat had the living daylights scared out if her. She couldn't move. I could see her eyes closed with tears seeping through, her face was filled with fear. I felt pity for her, so I pulled her closer so her head met my chest; I let her cry onto my chest as I rubbed the back of her head. Everyone was scared, screaming. Then, Kayaba continued.

"Unfortunately, the families and friends if some players have ignored this warning and have attempted to remove the NerveGear. As a result the game now has two hundred thirteen less players than when it began. They've been both deleted from Aincrad and the real world."

"What?! T-two hundred thirteen?!"

Nat became more and more scared by the minute. My chest was already soaking wet. She was speechless, and I hated seeing her like this. Then, around Kayaba appeared multiple newsletters from the internet. They were fresh, and I could tell. Kayaba then continued talking.

"As you can see. International media outlets have round the clock coverage of everything, including the deaths. At this point. It's safe to assume the likelihood of a NerveGear being removed is minimal at best. I hope this brings you a little comfort as you try to clear the game. It's important you remember the following: There is no longer any way to revive someone in the game. So if your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be deleted from the system...forever."

Nat seemed to stop crying and looked up to me, with her chin still glued to my chest. She had a pitiful look on her face that I couldn't stand to look at.

"Yujin…?"

"Mhm?"

"I-I-I'm scared…!" She said in a high pitched and fearful tone.

"I know, I am to. Let's just listen to what he has to say. It could be helpful."

[Flashback Ends]

"And the NerveGear will simultaneously destroy your brain."

My eyes widened at this. I was speechless and frozen by fear.

"There is only one way for a player to escape this now. You must clear the game."

He opened up a cyan blue holographic map of this place and continued talking.

"Right now you are gathered on floor one. The lowest level of Aincrad. If you can get through the dungeon and defeat the boss. You may advance to the next floor; defeat the boss on floor one hundred, and you will clear the game...Last but not least, I've placed a little present in the item storage of every player...Please, have a look."

Nat let go of me and gestured her hand to open her main menu. Everyone else did the same, and so did I. The rings of the menu was scattered through the air. I opened my inventory and saw a hand mirror. I took it out and it materialized in my hand. Nat and everyone else did the same.

"A...mirror? How's this supposed to help?"

I looked at my reflection. At the corner of my eye, I saw Nat glow cyan blue. I also heard her yelp in surprise.

"Yujin! W-what's going on?!"

"I-I don't...know…"

At the same time, I started glowing to. So did everyone else. Yelling and screaming filled the air. I couldn't even hear myself think. Soon the whole spawn area started to glow. The light was blinding. When it stopped, I felt like nothing happened. Then I took a peek at the mirror and saw...me. Not the in game me. ME! The IRL me. With my grey eyes and grey slicked back hair that was fading into black as it went back. I took a peek at Nat and saw her with her IRL self to. With her purple hair and bangs, and her grey eyes that showed that we were siblings.

"N-Nat?"

"Yujin?"

"You look like...you!" We said in sync.

"But how? I get the facial appearance but how about the body shape?"

"Wait, Yujin…"

"What is it?"

"When it told us to touch parts of our bodies. You think it…"

"Wait...you're right!"

After everyone slightly calmed down. Kayaba continued talking.

"Right now, you're probably why. Why would Akihiko Kayaba, Creator of the NerveGear an Sword Art Online, do this…? Ultimately, my goal was a simple one, the reason I created Sword Art Online was to control the fate of a world in my design."

"Control freak." I whispered bluntly beneath by breath.

"As you can see, I have achieved my goal."

Rage was building through my body. I felt like I could just hit someone. Anyone. I don't care who…! Except Nat…

"This marks the end of the tutorial, and the official release of Sword Art Online."

I moved closer to Nat who was aware of my change in position.

"-Good luck players."

He started to turn into blackish-purple smog until he disappeared completely. I had a little time to think about what just happened.

"Real death? I don't know why but I know he's not lying. SAO. It's not just a game anymore… Nat, we need to go."

"But-"

"NOW!"

I grabbed her arm and pulled her to the wilderness. Ready for my next move…

End of Prologue