Authors Note: Just wanted to say some of these characters aren't my own. Most of them belong to Emma Hiiragi, so please go check out her fanfics.

P.S. If you're having trouble figuring out how my characters look, just look at the picture for the story, their appearance is pretty similar, if not the same.

Thank you. And enjoy the story

Suddenly seeing red dominate the sky, I could only stare in horror as the words that came out of that man's mouth. "If you die in-game, you die in real life." I couldn't really hear anything else after that. One reason being everyone shouting. Others yelling at each other. But most of all the words that he left us with. As those words continue to echo in my ears, I could only stand there in horror. Hoping that this was just some bad nightmare that I could wake up from. Then the person next to me spoke up.

"Oh, that's right. We're trapped now." She said, as she collapsed to the ground from fear.

Looking towards her, I grabbed her and tried to remember how this all came to be. How it all started.

The Last Day of Sword Art Online Beta Test…

Rushing, swinging, only hearing the shattering sounds of steel hitting steel, a boy ran around quick enough to confuse the monster in front of him. Twirling around, his blade followed soon after, as his blade blocked the oncoming attack before yelling.

"Go, switch out!" The boy yelled. This boy's avatar is the default avatar that is created when starting the game.

"Right!" Yelled his partner as she rushed in with her dagger. "Hiyaa!"

The boy's partner, a young 5 ft 4 in teenage girl with light tan skin, brown hair and brown eyes, and looked to be in pretty good shape, all things considered. Attacking without wasting a second, the girl's dagger slashed through her enemy's armor, causing it to cry out in pain before shattering into little particles of light.

"Yes, I did it!" The girl cheered as she jumped up and down with joy.

"Congratulations, you finally learned how to fight." The boy responded. "So…um, Aria, right?"

"Yup and it all thanks to you, Kai." Aria responded before looking at the time. "Isn't it about time you logged out?"

"Hmm?" Kai answered before looking at the time for himself. "Oh, shoot! You're right. I'll log out once we leave the labyrinth. Sound good?"

"Sounds good to me." Aria responded, only to see herself surrounded with monsters. "Oh, come on!"

As they both readied themselves for the fight of their lives, the monsters just stood still until they all began shattering one after another.

"What?" Kai finally spoke up. "Well, that takes care of that problem, but now, the next."

Both Kai and Aria looked in front of them to see another player placing his sword back into its holster. Without wasting a second, the player spoke up.

"So, are you guys alright?"

"Oh, yes, thank you so much. You saved us a lot of time." Aria said in a rush.

"Well, then…" The player said as he began to leave.

"Oh, wait! Can I ask for your name?" Aria yelled as she grabbed their mysterious savior's arm.

"What?" This question caught the player off guard. "My name?"

Seeing what was happening, Kai smacked Aria in the back of her head, causing her to let go of the player's arm.

"Sorry, about that. She tried her best to get familiar with everyone. A habit she needs to break." Kai finally spoke up. "So, sorry if that bothered you. But we would really appreciate it if you told us your name. I'm Kai, this is Aria."

As Aria heard her name, she bowed. The player chuckled a little and said his name was Kirito before leaving. After exiting the labyrinth and heading to town, Kai logged out leaving Aria to do whatever she wanted for the remaining 2 hours.

"Well, better not let that training session go in vain." Pumping her self-confidence, Aria began to run only to trip on someone and drag them along with her. "Sorry about that."

"No, don't worry about it. I wasn't looking where I was going either." The player responded. On closer inspection, this player's character looked like a bishounen character with glasses, which caused Aria to give a confused look before standing up.

"Well, I'm sorry about that. I hope to see you in the official release." Aria said as she ran towards a merchant before leaving town shortly after.

"I've got to tell sis about her." The player said.

November 5th, 2022, SAO official release…

Finishing up her food quickly, a girl, looking no more than 16 with mahogany red hair tied back by a red ribbon got up quickly.

"Done!" She yelled.

"Jeez, relax, sis." A boy who looks similar in appearance with the mentioned girl said with a chuckle. "Why are you in such a rush?"

"Well, have you forgotten what today is?" The girl answered with a question.

"Uhh, November 5th, the official release of Sword Art Online?" The girl's brother answered.

"Yes! How can you not be excited?" The girl yelled.

"Alright, alright. Hinata. There's no point in yelling so early in the morning, just go and get your Nerve Gear, so I can set it up for you." Makoto said as he waved Hinata goodbye.

After seeing his twin sister leave, Makoto breathed a sigh of relief before remembering the girl he ran into during the beta.

"I wonder if I will see her again?" He said to himself.

A few hours later…

A room filled with magazines of fashion trends and clothes everywhere, a girl with brown hair that reached to the bottom of her ears, walked into the room, and shuffled her way to the bed. Even though the room was dimly lit, her figure was not noticeable because of the sweater and long skirt she was wearing. As the girl practically threw herself on bed, she pulled out her phone and looked up the news. Seeing the official release of SAO, she looked to the Nerve Gear that sat on a shelf just collecting dust. As a smile spread across her face, she ran up to it and brought it down. Plugging in the Nerve Gear to the game, she laid down on her bed before stating:

"Link Start!" Before she realized it, she had entered the world of Sword Art Online. Smiling like there was no tomorrow, she ventured forth. "Well, time to start a new adventure."

1 hour later…

Typing away on a virtual keyboard with inhuman speed, a boy with white hair and gray eyes focused on that while a man in a white robe walked up from behind.

"So, are finishing the updated files, Kai?" the man asked.

"Oh, Sensei. Yes, I am. Just need to add in those memories from A.L.I.C.E and I'll be done." Kai responded.

"Is that so? Well, SAO just got released, so why don't you stop and just enjoy yourself?" the man responded.

"Can't. I'm overriding a bug." Kai answered without looking away.

"A bug?" the man asked.

"Yeah, apparently it's been running since this morning. If I don't take care of it now, people could get stuck in the game. It's better if I deal with it now, knowing that there will only be about 1000 people on since most of them were beta testers." Kai said only to feel his entire body stiffen. "Sensei?"

"Sorry, but I can't have you undo that bug. Afterall, you said you'd help me create my world when I found you. And now you're going to destroy it. I won't allow it."

In a matter of seconds, Kai felt a shock to his brain, and saw himself leaving the black-colored room he was in. Forcing his hand upward, Kai managed to snap his fingers before completely disappearing. Seeing what he had done, the doctor clicked his tongue.

"That boy. He's too smart for his own good. But now, there's nothing I can do. I won't be able to find him with that Code in the way." As the doctor said that, a giant keyboard appeared in front of him. "Now, lets see if I can undo the damage he caused."