Alpha Phase

Before I begin this story there are a couple things I need to clarify.

I do not own Sword Art Online (ソードアートオンライン), the characters, or the storyline. All rights belong to A-1 Pictures, Aniplex USA, and Reki Kawahara.

The events depicted in this story are not part of the official SAO canon.

I am not profiting from writing this story.

Some of the events or mentioned events are based on some of my real life experiences. If one or more of these events are similar to one of your own it is unintentional and coincidental.

Please support Sword Art Online and its affiliates.

Author's Note: Hi guys! My name is Thomas and this is my first fanfiction. I hope you like it. Now before you yell at me because my character's names suck or my title makes no sense or the story is boring, I will say that I don't have a lot of experience when it comes to writing. I have written a short story or two in my time but it still isn't enough for me to really qualify as an "author". So remember, this is an amateur work of literature, I am more than aware that there are flaws, and I am open to suggestions. So please, feel free to tell me what you think. Now, without further ado, let's begin our story in Matsuyama, Japan.

Chapter I

POV: Hikaru

November 6, 2022

My name is Hikaru Hatsumode. I am 22 years old and I live in Matsuyama, Japan. I am basically everything an ideal person isn't. I guess you could say I'm an introvert, but I like to avoid calling myself that, because I do have friends, they're just nothing like me. Even the one friend I have I can relate to is intolerable sometimes. So I spend most of my time alone. But when I'm not lamenting over the life I could've had, I'm doing what I do best: playing games. But that's probably to be expected from the background I gave earlier. But yeah, I'm a gamer. There's not much else to say about me.

Anyway, this year, 2022, is the year I've been waiting for my whole life. Today is the public release day of the Nerve Gear, a virtual reality video game console that fully immerses the player in the game so they are able to control their in-game avatar with their mind. Plus the one and only launch title: Sword Art Online. I know it'll be amazing. How? I was one of the Beta testers. I was lucky enough to get my hands on one of the one thousand Beta copies of Sword Art Online (SAO). Akihiko Kayaba, president of Argus Corporation and the creator of the Nerve Gear and SAO, has been my role model ever since I started gaming. He is a genius. And someday, I'll be where he is. But that's beside the point. SAO, right, what was it like? Oh, I'll tell you what it was like… Take a seat. We're going to be here for a while.

The day I got my finished copy of SAO I was walking back to my house with my friend Rei (he's the one I was talking about earlier) and we were going to meet online when we got home. I had also heard that a couple of my other friends were getting a Nerve Gear and a copy of SAO too, which was strange to me, but it was a good thing so I wasn't complaining. When I got home (I live alone) I switched on the Nerve Gear, put the helmet on, and closed my eyes. "Link start!" I commanded. And then, everything went white and a stream of colors in a tunnel shape came flying at me. I woke up in the middle of what appeared to be a plaza of some sort. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Everything around me looked totally real. I no longer existed in the real world. I was in a game. My dream had come true.

"Hey Hikaru!" I heard a familiar voice call out behind me. I turned to see Rei walking toward me. He looked real too, though I knew he was really unconscious in the real world, just like me.

"Hey Rei. How's everything looking to you?" I asked him.

"Hmm… Real." He replied.

"I can't believe we're actually in a game."

"Neither can I." We stopped talking for a while, taking in the scenery (if you could call it that) and admiring Kayaba's work. It was perfect.

"Do you know who else got this?" I asked him after about 5 minutes of looking around.

"I'm pretty sure Akuma, Shika, and Kimi are playing too. It's weird; I didn't know Akuma was into RPG's." Rei inquired.

"Well, neither were you."

"Kinda…"

"Wow, you're just like your real life self."

"Well yeah, I mean it's not like-"

"Hikaru!" I looked around to see who was calling my name. I saw a short, slightly dark skinned girl running toward me, arms open. It was Shika. She was one of my most recent friends. We only met this past summer. But, even then, she was still great.

"Hi, Shika!" I yelled back at her as she tackled me with a hug. I always hug my friends I consider most dear to me. However, more often than not, those friends are girls because the guys I hang out with, I love them like brothers, but honestly, I can't stand them sometimes.

"I'm glad you're here," Shika whispered to me.

"I'm glad you're here, too," I said back to her. "I don't think you've met Rei yet, have you?" I gestured to my friend standing next to me.

"No, I haven't. It's nice to meet you." Shika presented her hand, expecting Rei to shake it. Rei was a little shy around people he didn't know, so he was hesitant.

"Don't worry, I won't bite," she told him reassuringly. Finally, Rei shook Shika's hand.

"What do we do now?" I asked my newly formed party.

"Let's head to the fields and do some grinding. Maybe we'll see Akuma there." Rei suggested.

"No way, Akuma is playing, too?" Shika asked, surprised. She had already met Akuma in the real world some time ago.

"Yeah, apparently. That's not such a bad idea. Come on; let's see just how marvelous Kayaba's work really is." With that, we all went to the fields together.

"This is going to be amazing," I said to myself.

END OF CHAPTER I