Prologue

My name is Kairos-what my name is at the moment anyways.

A few months ago, I, along with thousands of other players of a new popular Virtual Reality Game were told that we were all trapped inside a mind-blowing, extreme life threatening situation.

This was Sword Art Online.

The creator of the game, Akihiko Kayaba, appeared before us as a huge cloaked figure and told us that it was possible to die within the game, that when we died in the game we died for real in the real world, and that the only way out was to beat all 100 floors of the flying city of Aincrad, the main base of Sword Art Online.

And now here we are, no closer to getting to the top in these few months than we are to getting home and back to our real lives.

I skipped the meeting that a bunch of players went to in order to discuss the boss of Floor 1. I heard about the guy players were whispering about however, the so called "Beater", the beta-tester who cheated death.

Personally, I never was one to care much for rumors, and the kind of things this one player, an unpleasant man named Kibaou said about this "Beater" was pretty messed up, to say the least. But this mysterious beta-tester they were all in reluctant awe of? That was interesting.

I came with my best friend into this game. Naturally, we were both stuck here, so we decided to stay by each other's side.

Her real name is Akatsuki Tani, but in Sword Art, her avatar's name is Goldrush.

My real name is Chinami Hisakawa.

I'm 14 turning 15 years old, and I live in Japan, along with Akatsuki.

And now all we're trying to do is to stay alive.

Stay alive so we can return to the real world.

Day 43

"This is stupid," I sighed. "Armor is getting so expensive way too fast."

"Well, it's not like people aren't trying to make a living," Akatsuki smiled. No, sorry, Goldrush. I had to get used to calling her that, what with our trying to keep our real names and identities a secret from all these in-game strangers.

"I know that, but does being a cheapskate to save your own skin still justify you?" I flicked a hand out dramatically. "All I wanted was a nice armored coat."

"Don't you mean 'coat of armor'?"

"Sure, whatever."

"Why do you want a new one so bad? Isn't the one you're wearing now fine?"

I flushed at this.

"Uh...the truth is, I've been noticing that a lot of the girls around here have been getting these new armored outfits, and they look...well, really cool in a way." The last part came out as a bit of a mumble.

Akatsuki laughed.

"D-don't laugh!" I scolded. "This isn't supposed to be funny!"

"Oh, Kairos." she said softly, after she was finished. "You know...I think you're really cool just the way you are!"

This caused me to flush even more. "Yeah, well-let's go to another stall and see if they have any!"

I marched off, convinced that she was still laughing quietly at me behind my back.

Not that she had anything to be worried about. She was absolutely gorgeous-wait, what was I saying?-pretty, with red-golden hair tumbling down her back, long-lashed gray eyes, a tall, willowy figure and a long heart-shaped face.

Me, well-I was small for my age, with unruly dark hair usually pulled back in a ponytail, and fair skin. One of the only features about myself that I actually liked were my eyes; a light brown, transitioning to gold when certain light hit them.

And it wasn't just looks either. Akatsuki was just about one of the sweetest, friendly people around, with a strong sense of justice and morals. Being around her made you feel like you had just as much energy.

Me? People often remarked that I was overconfident, had a short temper, and insulted others easily.

Akatsuki was likely one of the only ones who had ever told me that I had a surprisingly sweet side.

Whatever. It's not like I cared what other people thought anyway.

As far as I was concerned, there were only two rules in this game: Don't die, and never, never fall in love.

Back then, those rules were what I thought I would never have any trouble disobeying.