"Is this your first time playing a VR game?" I asked as we sauntered through the pasture. Wing hung just slightly behind the two of us, though she stuck much closer to her brother than she did to me.

"For me, yeah. Not for Wing." He shrugged. "She's always liked doing her own thing, even online. I didn't really mind that too much, but I got a bit worried about her not having any friends, as any good brother would. So, I asked her if she wanted to try something a little more social, rather than the single-players she typically spends her time on. In hindsight, I should've just let her be. I can't forgive myself for dragging her into this mess."

Wing reached out and tugged her brother's sleeve, shaking her head as she did so. "It's… not your fault."

"Thanks ever so much." He patted Wing on her head, to which Wing responded with a look of quiet contentment. "What about you, Lis… Can I just call you Liz? Lisbeth's a bit of a mouthful."

"I… don't mind, I guess." I snuck a peek at Wing, who returned my gaze with what would best be described as silent vigilance. "I'm in the same boat as you – this is my first VR game."

"What got you into it?"

"One of my friends is a bit of a VRMMORPG geek, and she suggested we all try Sword Art Online out. But everyone else had clubs or other stuff to do yesterday, so I was the only one who ended up attending the launch."

"That's… fortunate," Fin noted. "Or unfortunate, depending on how you look at it. It must be pretty hard on you."

"Yeah." I sighed. "My head is a big jumble right now. I don't want my family and friends to see my mind trapped in a place like this while my body is just lying in bed. Makes me feel really weird just thinking about it. Also makes me feel really vulnerable, since I don't know what'll happen to me outside of this game."

"I understand exactly how you feel." For the first time since we had met, Fin's face was cast in a look of doubt. "My parents aren't around anymore, so right now it's just the two of us at home alone."

My eyes widened. "B-but… how are you gonna survive? How will you get help if no one else is home?"

"I don't know." His brow broke into a cluster of creases as he bit his thumb. "I… told my friends the day before that I'd be trying this game out with my sister. With any luck, they'll remember what I told them and call for assistance. But I can't know for certain."

"I'm sure your friends will remember," I assured him, though my words seemed to ring hollow as I said them. "It'll be alright."

The cheer gradually returned to his features, and he nodded slowly as he spoke. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I trust my friends. I'm not too worried – they'll figure something out."

"They will," I said, this time more firmly.

Fin smiled. "Thanks ever so much, Liz. I appreciate it." He suddenly stopped and pointed at the neighboring woodlands, where a loose gathering of giant wasps were idling about in the shade. "Should we have a crack at those?"

"Why not?" I unsheathed my weapon, curling my hand around its increasingly familiar handle. "Might as well give them a try."

"Sure thing. Wing, you feeling okay to go?"

Wing's head jerked up as though she were never expecting Fin to talk to her again. Nodding vigorously, she said, "Yeah… I think so."

I didn't want to be too cynical about someone I had barely just met, but judging from what I'd seen of her capabilities, it wouldn't end well for her. I only hoped that we'd all make it out in one piece.

We approached the wasp with bated breath. I took care not to make too much noise as my boots crumpled the grass underneath me, though I wasn't sure if the more active mobs in this game could hear what was going on around them. My internal queries were soon more or less answered – the beating of the wasp's wings abruptly grew frantic, and it turned its beady black eyes on us. Unlike real wasps, it had an additional pair of nasty-looking claws dangling just under its mandibles, serrated and glinting in the sunlight. Clicking and gnashing furiously, it zipped around a nearby tree and bore down upon our location.

"Watch out!" I called.

Fin and I dove away from the wasp's aerial bombardment, but Wing remained unmoved, staring up at the incoming missile.

"Wing!" I scrambled to try and pull her away, but by then I had already flung myself across the dirt, and I was in no position to save her. Though we had only just met, and she did not necessarily bear me any good will, she was still another player. Another human. Any injury suffered here was one step closer to death.

Yet as it turned out, I needn't have worried.

Wing's eyes were wide, unflinching, tunneling in on her foe. Unlike last time, however, her hands were still, and her legs no longer trembled. Just as the wasp reared its claws, preparing to spear them into its prey, Wing ducked beneath its outstretched limbs and, with a flourish, swiveled her arm around and plunged her dagger deep into the insect's belly.

The wasp screeched and buzzed angrily as it desperately attempted to free itself from its impalement. Before it could dislodge itself, however, Fin had already brought his own sword down onto the wasp's bulbous head, cleanly severing the tiny joint attaching it to the thorax. The wasp's entire body splintered into pieces and vanished into thin air before its head could hit the ground.

Wing slid her dagger back into its sheath, turning to meet my astonished gaze. A smile seemed to tug at the corner of her lip, but she otherwise remained as reticent as she had done throughout.

"Nice job, Wing." He ruffled his sister's hair, then reached out a hand to pull me back up to my feet. "As you can see, when she's in the mood, she can handle herself. Looks like all that time spent playing VR games wasn't exactly wasted, huh?"

"I… guess not." An awkward grin broke out on my face, a by-product of the feeling that was bubbling up from within the depths of my chest. It was a strange mix of relief and surprise, but there was also a barely tangible hint of frustration. Not that there was anything to be frustrated about, really – I had played a few VR games here and there, but nowhere near enough for me to manage what Wing had just done, even if I was fully aware that what my real-life body could do and what my virtual body could do were two different things entirely.

If the three of us could keep our acts together and help each other out, then that could only be logically seen as a good thing in these most trying of times. Yet such was the nature of emotion that it rarely, if ever, listened to reason.

"Let's keep going," Fin said. "We can head back to town for lunch at twelve or so."

Following the path of shrubbery around the outskirts of the forest, we hacked and slashed our way through the native wildlife with wanton abandon. The more monsters we chewed through, the more I began to understand not just how my party members fought, but how they thought as well. Fin was the paragon of consistency, both in his style and his approach towards fighting – nothing could faze him, yet nothing could compel him to put any more effort into his swings than was absolutely necessary. Wing was the polar opposite, a whirlwind that blew hot and cold, easily scared by any unexpected attacks, yet confident to the point of arrogance when the way forward was clear. I hovered somewhere in the middle, trying my best to catch up with these two siblings, whose myriad differences only seemed to endear themselves even more to each other.

I wondered how much better I would be faring if my friends had joined me here. Was it selfish for me to desire their company in this prison? How much easier it would it have been to accept my current predicament if I had not been thrust into this arena alone?

"Are you okay?"

Fin's voice broke me out of my momentary reverie. He and Wing had concerned looks on their faces, though I could not tell if Wing's expression was one of worry or of annoyance.

"Yeah." I rubbed my eyes and slapped my cheek, willing myself to concentrate on the here and now. Upon seeing my focus return, Fin smiled and gave me a thumbs-up before moving on to our next quarry. Wing cast one last nonchalant glance at me as she followed her brother into the fray.

I knew subliminally, of course, that my inner voice was wrong. I was not alone. Not right now.

As we dispatched the last wasp within running distance, the noon bell chimed faintly, twelve successive tolls reverberating crisply in the midday air.

"Shall we head back?" Fin pointed a thumb back towards the Town of Beginnings. "I'm kinda hungry. I don't really know what food does for you in this game, but I'd like something to eat anyway."

I readily agreed. "Let's go. I need a break."

"Same here," Fin chuckled as he tapped Wing's shoulder. "C'mon."

Wing, who had been staring at something deep inside the forest, nodded and tailed close behind her brother as we returned to the main path and started on our way home.

My limbs were weary after a good few hours of trudging about and swinging my war-hammer at anything that got within reach, and I desired nothing more than to sit down and have my fill of lunch, especially considering that I had skipped breakfast. I wondered if we would feel any less tired the more we trained our virtual bodies, or if this was simply how it would always be after a battle. The way in-game stats translated into actual "physical" attributes remained a mystery to me, and I suspected I would not have the answers until much later down the road.

The sight and sounds of a now fully-awake town greeted us as we arrived back at the settlement, intensifying relentlessly until all we could see and hear was ten thousand of our compatriots shouting, laughing and chattering as they walked up and down the streets. There was little trace of the undercurrent of panic that had occupied the thoughts of every player present the night before – those who were out and about had most likely made peace with the constant specter of lurking danger that would haunt their every waking moment from here on out. It wasn't as if we had much of a choice in the matter, to be fair, but it was nonetheless a heartening sight.

As we traversed the great plaza at the center of the town, the place where our fates had been decided the day before, a commotion at the far end of the expanse caught our attention.

"What's going on?" I peered quizzically at the crowd from which the noise was originating.

Fin shrugged. "Let's find out."

The throng of people were gathered around the foot of a colossal dome, its hemispherical roof painted gleaming silver, its imposing walls flanked by a set of spires reaching into the sky. The entrance to the dome was guarded by a similarly-shaped antechamber from which players could be seen emerging. As we passed those players by, I noticed that some of them bore pallid, gaunt complexions, staring wide-eyed towards an unseen point in the horizon as though they had just seen a ghost. One or two of them had their heads in their hands, shoulders heaving as they were comforted by their companions.

"What is this place?" It occurred to me that, in all the shock and drama of yesterday's events, I had not noticed the presence of this massive structure behind me, let alone spared a thought as to what might be inside.

"If memory serves, this was meant to be the respawn point for dead players," Fin replied grimly. "Obviously, that's no longer its purpose now."

We entered the main chamber, where two columns of ornate stone pillars on either side of the room led towards a black marble tablet, in front of which most of the congregated players were standing. Drawing closer to the obsidian oblong, I realized that what had looked like a series of thin carvings on the tablet's surface was actually a massive list of names, packed tightly together with barely any space left between each of them.

"These are… the names of players," I breathed.

"Must be." Fin's eyes narrowed as he perused the list. "There," he said, jabbing a finger towards the middle of the tablet. "There's our names, Wing. And yours is close by as well, Liz."

I followed the direction in which he was pointing, and sure enough, several spaces away from the names of Fin and Wing was my own – Lisbeth – printed in a sleek, elegant font.

Seeing my in-game name sitting there, a droplet in a veritable ocean of words, was unsettling to say the least. Above all, it once again hammered home the undeniable fact of our incarceration, and of our helplessness. That so many people could be so easily trapped in this so-called experiment was simultaneously unbelievable and incomprehensible in an age where we believed ourselves to be safe from such large-scale acts of malevolence.

And yet, somehow, here we were.

My eyes inadvertently flitted towards an aberration in one of the nearby names. A thick horizontal line had been drawn across the letters, though enough of the word was left uncovered that we could still read what had been written.

"See that horizontal line across one of the names?" I said. "What's that?"

"It means someone has died," a voice answered solemnly. I turned to find a tall, bespectacled man who looked to be in his late 20s peering at the board. "Around thirty people have been killed so far. By the way, have you seen the name 'Lotus'? I'm trying to find it, but ten thousand is a lot of names."

"It is, isn't it," I replied. "I'll help you look."

The man smiled as he pushed his glasses up. He appeared calm, though his slightly slanted eyebrows betrayed his worry. "Thank you. I really appreciate your help."

"No problem." We continued to scan the names, searching up and down the tablet with little thought for methodology, merely hoping that our random glances would turn up the name we wanted to find… as well as hoping that we wouldn't find something that we didn't want to discover.

Which, as I soon learned, was an all-too-likely possibility.

The word "Lotus" flashed into view. "Ah, there we go-"

The name next to it had been crossed out. Making out the letters, my hand flew to my mouth as I realized what it read.

Rimi.