November 6th, 2022, 12:50 PM

Koharu's POV

I look at the time on my phone, only 10 more minutes until the release of SAO. I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared, there's going to be at least 10,000 players joining today. I wonder if HE will be in the game, I shake my head slightly as I look around my room, the walls are crystal white, light brown floors, my bed being at the far left of my room if you entered through the door, near it is a small piano and on the top of it is a silver brooch my mom gave to me during piano recitals when I was younger, a closet on the right side of the room and near that is a small desk and my laptop which I use to do homework on, I'm currently sitting on the seat of my piano, I finished practicing a song I was making, I called it Unlasting. "One more minute." I muttered to myself as I began to put on the NerveGear, it began calibrations, I lay down on my bed, I let out a small chuckle as I yelled out "LINK START!"

Around the same time of this occurring

Jose's POV

I'm currently watching the news coverage of the game's release on my pc, many people are waiting at the stores simply to get this game, and to be honest I don't blame them, it's a revolutionary game that is full dive VR. I suddenly get a call from my mother, I chuckle a bit as I answer in Spanish "Si Mama?" all my mother could say is a simple "eh?" I hold back my laughter, I remembered that my father told me to talk to my mom in Spanish as she is still trying to understand it, despite the two of them being together for 25 years and going to my father's home country, Colombia multiple times, the same goes for my father with Japanese, but despite those differences in culture and language, they loved each other unconditionally.

"Well, that game is being released soon."

"Yeah"

Then her tone becomes a little protective "how long will you be in the game?" I chuckled a bit, as I knew she was asking this because both mom and dad were extremely protective of me, understandable, I was fairly short for a 15-year-old, my height being 5ft 4 and I wasn't all that strong, but I reassure her "don't worry, I'll get off at around 7:00, deal?"

I heard my mother sigh as she says reluctantly "f-fine, but you know how your father will be if you're on for a little too long." I snicker at this, but my mother heard that "Perdi." I instantly shut up as I awkwardly laugh

"Siento mama"

"It's fine, mi amor."

I raise an eyebrow as I say "you should say that to dad, mi amor means my love." she sighs in annoyance and ends the call as I smile and shake my head, I then look at the NerveGear intently, I take a deep breath and take off my glasses, I pick up the headset from my nightstand and put on my head. I begin calibrations and lie down on my bed, the sound of NerveGear activating grows louder as a subtle smirk emerges on my face as I yell the phrase "LINK START!" a white screen appears and different colored lines dart towards me. Blue circles appear with the five senses, sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell, all turn green, and I'm taken to the avatar customization, I make my avatar as closely to how my real-life look, with a few minor differences, that being my height being changed to where I'm a bit taller and my hair is slightly longer.

I slowly open my eyes and look down at my hands, I slowly clench them as I say out loud "I'm back, in Aincrad!" I look around the center, which is just a huge circular plaza with a clock in the middle, to the north of the plaza is a palace in black, inside it would be where players would respawn from, I didn't waste a single second as I ran around the town, everything about it felt nostalgic, the NPC'S, the shop stands that sold from weapons to clothes, the stone-paved walls and streets were all so familiar, it's as if I never left this world. Whilst walking around the town, I bought myself a Sword, it wasn't for any particular reason just the fact I preferred close-quarters weapons in general, after buying the weapon my plan now is to head out to the Origin Plains to test it out, however, I bump into a rather familiar female player with green eyes.

Koharu's POV

I stared at the boy who bumped into me and I instantly recognized him "Jose!" I exclaimed, he seemed to recognize me.

"Koharu."

"I didn't expect to see you again, Jose."

Jose nods in response to that, I then scratch the back of my head "so, um….can you teach me how to play again?…. I kinda forgot" Jose pinches the bridge of his nose as he takes a deep breath, but he agrees with a simple nod as I buy my first weapon, that being a dagger, I was always used to these don't know why, but they just seemed clicked for me, before leaving, however, I made eye contact with a black brooch. I stepped forward and bought it right then and there.

In the Origin Plains

Once in the fields, he tells me "okay unsheathe your weapon." I take out my dagger and he continues "okay, now watch me how I do this move okay." he then unsheathes his sword and he closes his eyes for a moment and in an instant, his sword glows in a bright blue, and in an instant, his body moves at such a high speed I didn't realize he was gone, I only heard the shattering of a monster dying.

Jose then scratches his head as he says "okay you just need to think about the sword skill you have equipped on you and it will activate." I nod as I think about the skill I'm about to use, my dagger glows a bright orange, I confidently smirk as my body moves on its own, only for me to fall down, Jose runs up to me to see if I was alright and helps me back up. I attempt to try the skill again and again, but nothing worked, I kept falling down, I was actually ready to give up and Jose looks like he was ready to give up too, but then I heard a voice

"Yo, you guys need help?" I turned my head to face the individual, it was a male player, he had semi-long dark red hair, a brownish-orange bandana, and a white shirt. Jose nods as the boy with the bandana says "wait here." we both wait for a minute or so as he returned with another male player, he looked familiar, he had messy black hair, narrow grey eyes, and was taller than me.

The boy with the bandana then says to the black-haired boy "so Kirito, how about we help this cutie out so she doesn't fall on her butt." I pout at this as Jose looks as if he's gonna laugh but holds it in.

Kirito then crosses his arms and says to me "you know how to use a sword skill?" I nod as he responds deadpan "okay then, get into a stance that doesn't look like you're gonna fall on your butt."

"H-hey." I complain, but I put my right foot in front and my left behind me, I think of the skill I'm gonna use and the dagger glows orange and in an instant, I successfully executed a sword skill, I leap out of joy and smile at Jose, he smiles back. I feel a small amount of heat on my face, but I shake it off, however, as Kirito and Jose continue to teach me throughout the day

6:00 pm

All four of us are sitting near the edge of a cliff. I came to learn the player with the bandana's name, Klein, I take in the fresh air of the first floor, it had been a long time since I actually smelled this. Then Klein yells out "shit it 6:00? Already?"

Jose chuckles at this as he responds in a sarcastic way "is that bad?" Klein lets out a swift "psh"

"I got a pizza waiting for me." I softly chuckle at this as he waves his goodbyes to us, but he's still here as he says confusingly "hey is the logout button gone?" Jose opens his player window, and nothing, he then stares at Kirito, nothing, he then looks at me, I open my player window and, no logout button.

"This has to be a glitch right?" Jose says, urgency clear throughout his voice.

"Maybe." Klein responds in a carefree tone.

"I fucking hope it is."

Then silence descends on all of us, the air feels so heavy, as if the world is gonna fall apart beneath our very feet, then a bright flash engulfed us all. We are back at the plaza of the Town Of Beginnings. I hear people say "is this an event?" Or "what's going on." Then the sky turns red as liquid drips down and forms a hooded figure. Once fully formed it lifts its head and says

"My name is Akihiko Kayaba, the creator of the very game you're all playing, Sword Art Online, most of you may be wondering why is the log-out button missing? It is not a bug, I repeat this isn't a bug, it's a part of the game and the only way to get out is to clear all 100 floors of Aincrad, but here's the catch if you die in this game, your avatar will be permanently deleted and the NerveGear you're wearing will fry your brain."

Jose's POV

I feel my skin crawl as he continues "if anyone tries to disconnect the NerveGear, it will automatically kill you." He pauses "don't believe me?" He pulls up several news articles telling us that people have already died. "SAO now has 210 less players when it first launched." I take a step back, trying to process this new information.

"I do have one final parting gift for all remaining players, check your inventory and there's an item." I check my inventory and there's a single new item, Mirror of truth, I look at it, and then a bright flash comes out of nowhere when I look back at the mirror and see that my avatar now is my IRL look.

I find Koharu and she looks the same, I then hear Kirito's voice "you guys alright?"

I turn around and see that Kirito is slightly smaller and has much shorter black hair. I widened my eyes "what the hell happened?"

Kirito looks at Kayaba "I can assume through the calibration he got out physical data and now we look like our real-life selves."

Klein looks different as well, he has a slimmer build but the same height, and his reddish-brown hair is pointed a little upwards we hear Kayaba's voice again "I wish you all good luck in clearing this game." He slowly disappears as silence befalls everyone. Then panic ensues, everyone is pushing and shoving each other.

"Koharu!" I grab her hand and head deeper into the town.

Once away from the chaos she falls to her knees sobbing uncontrollably "t-there's no way...we're all trapped here right?" I give her a comforting hug as she continues to sob.

I then say in a sigh "we have to survive this death game, but no matter what happens I will be by your side okay." she then looks up with tears covering her face as she nods.

"Well isn't that romantic?"

I turn my head to where the voice came from, I snort a bit as I say "Argo The Rat, nice to see that you're still alive." Argo jumps down and I see her actual looks, she has light blonde hair, yellow eyes, and is wearing a brown poncho.

Koharu yelps in surprise as Argo smirks "don't worry I'm not gonna bite Alri." she then crosses her arms "in order to survive this hell, you gotta level up and get stronger weapons." she then points at me and says "I have a favor to ask you." she looks at Koharu's tear stricken face "who knows you might be strong enough to protect your little girlfriend there." I look at Koharu and I already knew my answer

"I accept."

Argo gives a smirk as she gives you and Koharu the task "alright, I'm making a guide and I need monster data alright?" she hands me a map with blue markings "once you're done with that, I'll give locations of hunting grounds and quests that give you somewhat of a head start, deal?"

"Deal."

"Great! I'll see you two when you are done!" and with that, we both head towards the Origin Plains once more to get the monster data, on the walk to the first marking of the map, however, we see a brown-haired player with a spear having trouble, almost instantly lunge towards the boar giving the player trouble, he thanks us and tell us his name "Kaizen."

Kaizen then asks rather awkwardly "so can I party up with you guys?" I shrug a this

"Yeah, the more people there are, the more the chances of us surviving." Kaizen smiles brightly so much so that I smile as well.

After getting the data the three of us return to Argo and give the information "heh not only did you get the data, you also got yourselves a new friend, welp you held up your end of the deal, now I will hold my end." She hands us quests and hunting locations.

We all go rest at a nearby inn, the next day soon arrived and all of us are on the way to the second town of Horunka, currently, we are walking on the dirt path to the town, trees filled our per viable vision with the only being clear is the path in front of us, we all take cautious steps as we don't want to alert any Nepents, Boars or god forbid the Dire Wolves. My eyes keep darting at the tree line, I know something is coming, where I don't know.

Koharu's POV

If I were honest, despite this forest being lit up by the sun, the forest gave off a very creepy vibe, as if we are being watched. I try and keep my cool, then Kaizen makes a small remark of the forest "you know if this game wasn't deadly I wouldn't mind having a picnic here, you know." he laughs nervously as chuckle a bit in response

"Yeah, I agree." he wasn't wrong though, but either way it did not change the weird feeling I'm getting. My breathing had slowed down significantly, I wanted to hear every sound in this forest, because one slip up and it's game over (literally). I then heard footsteps and branches snapping, I was swift to notify Jose and Kaizen "somethings coming." then suddenly 4 Dire Wolves emerge from the trees and bushes, we all equip our weapons, I go for the wolf in front of me and stab it on the neck, Jose is taking care of two and Kaizen was handling, he's about to use a sword skill but is stopped when another one comes out of nowhere and scratches his back, he loses half of his health and is knocked down on to the ground, he looks at the wolf in front of him and is mauled by the neck, his HP dropping rapidly and with a final jerk of its head, it rips Kaizen's head clean off, his character bursts into polygons and one of the wolves notice me, I'm too scared to move all I could is close my eyes as it lunges towards me, I was expecting the worse, but then I hear a sword slashing threw something and open my eyes and it was Jose. He grabs my hand and we begin to run, after a minute of running we stop and I collapse to the ground, tears start to form in my eyes.

"D-did he actually die?" I put my hand in front of my mouth "there was no blood, there was no blood." I say as I continue to cry.

Jose's POV

I didn't know what to say, as I kneel beside her and rub her back, "we don't know" I say, though I don't want to imagine what happened to him, I don't want to know if he died or not. "We just have to keep fighting, to ensure that we escape this hell."

I stand up as Koharu says "I'm only getting in your way with me crying."

I shake my head as I respond with "no you're not, I know you will get stronger." I take a small moment to choose my words wisely "you….are probably the only person I fully trust." I then extend my hand towards Koharu, she smiles weakly but takes my hand.

"We'll get stronger….together….I promise."

She held my hand tightly for the rest of the walk to Horunka, I don't blame her, she's shocked to see someone "die" so she likely just wanted to stay close to me no matter what, and a part of me wanted to do the same. Once in Horunka, we immediately rented an inn for the night. I was in the tavern below as Koharu decided to sleep early. I look down at the glass of water I had, I was only knocked out of that trance after hearing the door open and seeing a familiar face

"Hey, Kir-" I stop to see how…..well empty he looked as if he went through something that deeply affected him "Kirito?" I say quietly as he looks at me

"Jose?"

"What happened to you?"

Kirito shakes his head "I'm good, it's been a long day that all." I know he's lying, but I didn't bring up the concern as I buy him a drink, he swiftly drinks it and heads upstairs, only to stop and say "so...wanna do a quest tomorrow?"

I raise an eyebrow, but shrug it off as I say "yeah, how about we bring Koharu to." Kirito looks down, as if he wants to say no, but he shrugs and heads back to his room. I wonder why he looked like that. I head back to my room and see Koharu sleeping on her bed. "I promise, we will get stronger together." I thought to myself as I lie down on my own bed.

Alright, the first chapter of this is now done, HOWEVER! This does not mean I have an upload schedule, like I said on my profile my upload schedule will be extremely inconsistent, (I feel like the most I will get to an upload schedule is breaks from school) that's why this chapter is released literally a few days after the prologue, but other than that, this chapter was definitely interesting to write, I honestly thought this would be much longer but, I hope what I wrote made sense (likely not, but that's my opinion). The next chapter will cover the Forest Remedies event from Integral Factor, a meet-up with familiar characters, and everything leading up to the Illfang boss.

No reviews, not really surprising.

Elsewhere in the inn

Kirito's POV

"Yeah, how about we bring Koharu." with Jose's voice echoing in my head, I sit down on my bed and hold my hands to the sides of my head.

"I should've said no!" I thought to myself, there was a reason why I left Klien, it was because he had friends with him and in a world where death is almost certain if you make one mistake, I couldn't guarantee their safety, if it was one person I could save it would be fine, but even at that I failed, "I couldn't protect Copper, how can I protect Jose and Koharu?" I lie down on my bed crying myself to sleep because I believed that I won't be able to protect those two.