Sword Art Online is owned by A-1 Pictures, Aniplex USA and Reki Kawahara. I only own my own character and story. All property is owned by their rightful owners. This is a non-profit fanfiction.

Prologue

"I'm not happy with my life. While I'm not suicidal, I'd take a chance to never be born any day of the week." These were my thoughts two years ago, and over the past three years, the amount of shit life has piled on me hasn't gotten any smaller. Sure, I lived in a moderately wealthy family in a country that had some of the best social support in the world, but most of that wealth went towards my older brother and his stupid aspirations, with me only getting gifts on notable occasions. Everything I wanted, that didn't get approved by my parents, I had to get myself. Add to this the fact that I was bullied for ten years and you've got the perfect recipe for suicide.

This however changed. A year ago I turned 18, graduated high-school and moved out. For a while stuff was good. Freedom over all of my time outside studies, no excessive yelling, and no complaints about technology caused by a lack of knowledge in the subject. Fast-forward half a year and shit got worse. A lot worse. The past six months have been some of the worst in my life.

Prior to my university studies, I blew most of my study savings on a nice apartment and furniture. I was relying on getting both a good summer job and a reliable source of income through a part-time job during studies. Neither of those happened. This was a huge bummer for me since I had a significant points in computer science and programming in my CV. So at the end of Summer 2021 I back the Kickstarter of the NerveGear and pre-ordered Sword Art Online. Half a year of school and wasting money later the NerveGear decides to arrive at my door months earlier than it supposed to. Attached to the box was a note thanking me for being one of the most generous backers. "Well thanks for reminding me of something I've regretted for half a year!" I had shouted. I got some yells back. Not from Akihiko, but my neighbors telling me to "Shut the fuck up."

Over the past six months I've been developing gun mechanics and a safety-killswitch on the proprietary engine distributed with the NerveGear DK1. I figured that by eating rationally and spending all of my free time unconscious in VR, I could easily survive until summer break. I had always been underweight, so not gaining weight isn't a problem. Besides I've never really been keen on my appearance. Sure, I got picked on because of it, but that isn't different from the past 10 years of school either.

Then, in July 2022, my saving grace arrived. The Sword Art Online closed beta.