"Link start!"

The words that sealed the fate of ten thousand people over the course of a few minutes. The words that would result in the largest single mass murder in the history of modern Japan caused by a single man who wanted to create the perfect world and chase the fleeting dream that was Aincrad. And I did nothing to even try to stop it. Believing to the very end that nobody would believe me.

Well, that was all in the past now. The colors flew by my field of view and the nervegear booted up. It automatically launched Sword Art Online.

The start menu was much like the promo. In the distance you could see the castle Aincrad. I raised my hand and pressed the start text. Except in here you could feel wind on your face and the sound of it blowing as it rustled the field of grass and blew my hair aside.

Then I was brought to the main menu where my only option was a greyed out character select button and « New Game » just above it.

I pressed my fingers against the text and they made a menu sound. I enjoyed character creation, and despite the fact that it was all for nothing it took about an hour to create an avatar that was kind of me. Except the hair was short, and while the color was the same, the eyes were red. She looked older and more regal, like a majestic lady knight. In this menu, I viewed the character from an outside perspective.

"Hmm." I removed the clothes for a second. Ah yes, the skin textures were beautiful. I put the clothes back on. I would burn the image of those thighs into my retina so that I would never forget them. For I knew they were going to be nothing but a fleeting memory when the announcement came.

With that I pressed the Finalize text and entered the name I always used when playing an MMO with my brother: KixRiyu

«Character Created: KixRiyu Lv. 1»

The character environment faded into nonexistence around me. I was absorbed by light and very suddenly was dropped into a bustling castle town environment. Stone roads, buildings, and people! So many people!

I wasn't one to mingle with others but I didn't really have an option. There were definitely several thousand people on this single server in a shared environment. I was able to perceive them. This was so cool! But crowded. Definitely crowded.

Enough messing around though. I checked my inventory:

«Novice Adventurer Top»

«Novice Adventurer Trousers»

«Novice Adventurer Boots»

«Novice Adventurer Belt»

«Novice Adventurer Shortsword»

Not much, but it was enough to get me started as intended for starter gear. I had no idea how sword skills worked beyond the starting poses and that was about it. I didn't bother trying to find my brother. The early game in MMOs was all about progress. So despite being sidetracked for an hour by the character creator. I wouldn't allow myself to be sidetracked by the breathtaking beauty of this virtual world, the use of all five senses in a virtual world! It was so fucking cool! I could squee! But I won't. I refuse to make cute sounds.

"Riyu! Oi Riyuuuu!" There was a girl shouting my name within ear shot. It was my game name, so it wasn't that embarrassing and there were a bunch of people doing the same so she probably just did what they were doing.

Wait… what?!

My heart sank as I saw the name of who it was: Sinon.

What the hell was she doing here?! This was no place for her to be in! Oh my god what if she dies… no no no no no… not her! I can't let her die! Even if it kills me she has to survive! This place is the last thing I want her to have to go through, would she blame me for dragging her in here? I fought back the urge to cry.

I swallowed my despair and answered her calls. I couldn't turn my back on that cute desperation on her face, like she might cry if she didn't find me. She hated being in front of people, she hated being in the center of attention. The fact that she called out to me was a simple truth. She loved me! My heart fluttered and I wanted to slap myself for that line of thought.

"Yo…" I patted her shoulder and smiled at her, burying my emotions behind others. In a way, I was glad I would be stuck with her in here. Call it selfish. But she was my best friend and I liked her.

She jumped with fright, but I grabbed her by the hand and dragged her into an alleyway. She followed. "You didn't tell me you were going to get SAO."

"I wasn't sure I was going to get it either." She murmured, pressing the tips of her fingers together. "But I'd feel left out if you did and I didn't… so I decided I'd wait and see and surprise you if I did!" She looked pleased with herself. And probably she was quieter than most people, that exclamation was still adorable.

"Well consider me surprised." I smiled and let out a light sigh. "How did you get my username anyway?"

"Well you see, your brother Kirito was kind enough to tell me what your username would be. And I guess he was right."

I faked a betrayed expression. "Traitor. You were conspiring with my little brother behind my back?!"

She looked nervous, and waved her hands and shook her head frantically. "It's not like that… I just… well…" Her expression looked kind of sad.

"I'm sorry. I was just kidding." I said to her, gently sliding my hands under her palms. Wow they felt real.

"O-oh." Her expression brightened again. Then she sighed. "Sorry. That you have to… be…"

"Gentle and tender with you?" I asked her.

She nodded.

"Don't be. I love spending time with you. And I'm glad you're here." I said with a smile, I wasn't glad. I wanted her to be okay. I didn't want her to be here in this death game.

She smiled, it was an awkward smile. She didn't know how to respond. "A-anyways. Can you teach me how to play this game?"

She'd need the skills to survive and the best time to learn was now. When the weight of death wasn't obviously apparent behind every «Mob». I happily nodded.

"Right this way, m'lady." I bowed and guided her along.

The «West Field» outside the «Town of Beginnings» were also bustling with activity. So we went a bit farther out, following a path until we could barely see the start town even looking back at it. There were level one spawns out here as well. There were a few players out this way as well, and as luck would have it. I saw a couple of players nearby. One was in blue and the other had a red bandana with a curved sword. I recognized him as Klein and the other as Kirito instantly. I casually entered name-reading range while leading Sinon to a good spot to hunt the boars. Kirito was a pain in the ass to deal with as my little brother and immature as a kid, he used to run around playing kancho and I was one of his targets. Bastard.

I waved. "Hey yo, Kirito!" I gangster walked up to him and he visibly cringed.

"Riyu… how did you find me so fast?" He asked, "I'm kind of busy teaching Klein how to play… and you have your hands full too right?" He suggested, offering a slight uncomfortable smile and wave at Sinon.

"Well, an older sister's love for her little brother is so strong that no matter where he is in the world, she will find him." I answered cryptically and he shuddered at the thought. "Anyway, just thought I'd say hi. I'll bug you later, add me." I pinched the air, dragged my fingers down, and the «User Interface» popped up in front of me. I added him as a friend. So I didn't have to do it later.

Sinon did the same, a bitter feeling made me chew my lip, but I noticed and stopped. Jealousy? Me? Ha. We're both girls. It didn't matter.

It mattered… damn it.

Anyway, we found an open spot not too far away and I pointed at one of the many «Frenzy Boar» in these grassy open meadow. "That is a mob, they're highly aggressive and once you get too close to it, you'll draw «Aggro». Which means: attention and it will target you and try to kill you."

Sinon was frank, "Ehhh…? What did I do to the boar and what did it do to me, why can't we just be friends with it?"

"Nothing… it's just BOAR'd of life and wants to die… are you going to let him continue to suffer?"

She facepalmed. I told her these jokes all the time and she got mad at herself for laughing at them, this one was a twitchy smile and she managed to contain her laughter. "That's kind of morbid." She murmured.

"Well in reality it's just a program created to resemble a boar and let the players progress throughout the game, because when you kill it, it just gives you experience, Col and sometimes loot. Col is this world's currency by the way."

"Understood. So I just kill it." Her sword suddenly started glowing blue and she shot forward with insane speed. I was standing a ways back, so my eyes followed the blue streak, and heard the dying squeal of a boar. I saw it dissipate and she looked at me with an expectant smirk that basically said: "How was that?"

It was a perfect «Vertical»

I gave her a single thumbs up and she formed a fist and cheered quietly. "Well. You've killed one before I did. Well… let's form a party and just hunt the field dry while we're at it."

"Ok!" She looked excited to get started, so I sent her a friend request, and a «Party» invite. Guess I forgot to add her earlier, oops.

I lowered my posture, raised my sword over my shoulder, as if the back of the blade were resting on it. I felt the energy throughout my body. Then I let it disperse, I shot forward and the downswing came when I was standing in front of the boar. A perfect «Vertical». Well it was probably only perfect that way because the «System» handled the «Sword Skill» itself, all I had to do was get into the proper posture and let it take control.

After the initial use of «Vertical». Everything else came somewhat naturally. It was an interesting feeling. Satisfying. I charged it and could hold it to increase its power or instantly release it. The first time I did it, I held it longer than was necessary and easily oneshot a Boar, well the instant release version could also one shot a boar. Honestly I felt like a badass, killing boars with Sinon. She was immediately adept at this and didn't exactly need teaching. Maybe her being here was an asset, and not so bad… no… it was bad, I didn't know what would happen at the later levels.

The hunt went on for hours and we eventually reached Level 6 together. The first levels went fast at first but the «Experience» needed to level up increased exponentially and the amount of boars we'd need to kill at level 6 would take us more time than was necessary to actually level up. It was starting to feel like the beautiful grind I'd come to know and love in MMORPG titles. Unlike other MMOs we didn't stop gaining Experience but it was 15xp and anywhere from 10 to 25 col per «Frenzy Boar» killed.

Right now we need 1,975 Experience to level up. Which means we'd have to kill 132 «Frenzy Boar» to hit level 7. With a cooldown and estimated respawn time of 2 minutes and 30 seconds on each «Frenzy Boar»

Then it happened… the «Service Announcement». We were, all of us at once. Transported back to the Coliseum in the «Town of Beginnings». The sky was red, and from the sky leaked a thick red ichor, from between cracks of the hexagonal web of windows that displayed the message: Service Announcement, a sensation of fear overcame me.

The ichor that leaked eventually formed the faceless cloak in the sky, the name tag above him said nothing but «Game Master».

I thought I was prepared mentally… but oh god.