Chapter 1
She felt like glass.
She always did, with no sharp edges, all smooth and oval. Plain and see through. There was nothing special about her, she was normal. As normal as you could get. She wasn't anything, she was nothing in her option. She was weak here, very weak here with next to no immune system. She'd get sick easily, everyday she'd come down with a cold or something similar, but that was to be expected. Considering how often she was in the hospital one time she even joked the hospital was her summer house.
Weak body and even weaker mind.
It was an understatement to say she was pleasantly surprised when she was accepted to be a beta tester. In fact, she gave in her application on a whim, because her best friend had sent in an application. At the time, she never thought she'd be accepted, she only did it to appease him. Her childhood friend, the one who had been with her during all the hospital appointments and check-ups, so when he came to her with the proposal, she couldn't say no. She had too, he had done so much for her that she just had to. She had loved seeing his baby blue eyes brighten up when she had finally given in and filled out an application with him.
It was barely a month later when he was accepted, she had been happy for him. Glad, and felt proud when he looked at her with that grin. He was her best friend, the closest person to her. He was like her older brother and she loved him. Three months passed until she herself was accepted, now though, unlike him, she was terrified. Fear filled every nook and cranny of her body.
She was weak outside, and even weaker inside. It was a miracle she didn't die immediately after entering that world. It was only because he was there that stopped her from getting a game over automatically. He was by her side, helping her along. It had to be the scariest thing ever to happen to her and yet the greatest. She remembered that summer brightly, remembering how everything had played out, all the creatures and demons. It was like everything was imprinted into her brain, and nothing she could do would let her forget. It was almost like the words, the information, was written on the inside of her head, pulsing through her veins. That summer was a dream, a loveable dream that she couldn't let go.
A soft sigh escaped her lips, her eyes sliding shut briefly as the familiar buffing erupted around the white room she sat within. A smile spread across her face and she let out a shuddering gasp. She slid her phone out off her jean pocket and held it to her ear.
"Sachi," a familiar, deep, and grotty voice spilled from the speakers. She shifted on her bed, her legs hanging over the edge, "Sachi? Can you hear me?" That same voice chuckled, eagerly speaking to her.
"H-Hai," she breathed out, her voice stuttering as she spoke. She swallowed a lump in her throat as her legs lightly swung underneath the neatly made bed, "I'm h-here. I can hear y-you loud and c-clear," she meekly replied, shoulders trembling. She took a sharp breath as she sighed to herself.
"Did you get it?" The same voice asked, sounding very excited, and she knew all too well why. Sachi tilted her head, listening to the same voice ramble on and on. In complete honestly, all she could understand was a few words here and there, which made her hum to herself. It was so like the older teenager, "Well? Did you? Sachi? Sachi?" The man on the other end teased, his voice coming out smooth and Sachi's eyebrows pulled together.
"Diavel-kun," Sachi grunted out, her voice sweet and gentle as always. Immediately, the teen on the other side quietened to listen to his sweet and shy friend. Sachi inhaled a deep breath, her lips twitching, "I-I've got it. I'll b-be logging in s-soon," she explained gently, closing her eyes as she listened to Diavel snort through the speaker. She giggled quietly under her breath, "Y-Yes. I'll be m-meeting you at the s-same stall… y-yeah the one with t-the fruits," Sachi sighed to herself, threading her fingers through her thick dark blue locks. She mumbled a few more words before nodding and finally closing the phone. Her cheeks flushed from the soft click that rang out from the phone.
As soon as the other end went dead, Sachi let out a gentle sigh.
After they had finished the testing the game, Diavel had pressured her into pre-ordering the game. Her lips pressed together and her eyes flickered down. Even though it had somehow been fun, Sachi couldn't pushe those thoughts away. Every tiny movement she made, she felt a little pressure from inside of her, pushing against her stomach and chest. Wincing, Sachi let out a low whine. The darkness crawled along the edges of her mind. The fears came reeling forward. She was a burden on Diavel. She had to be, she kept needing him to help her. To save her, to protect her. She was even weaker then she was in real life, she wouldn't even been able to grow to level 10 without his help. She was that weak, it upset her so much. She even had kept Diavel in the boar filed for at least a week, in hopes of making herself stronger. Sadly, she never did reach more than level 15 before the summer was up, while Diavel had long surpassed that level. She was a burden, a heavy pressure sitting on his shoulders.
With that thought in mind, her gentle lavender eyes flickered to the side. She looked at the white clear bag sitting on the end of the bed. The blocky outline of the rather large rectangular object within the plastic was clearly visible. Sachi swallowed past a sickly lump in her throat, she still had to install it once more. As soon as she got home, she did promise Diavel after all, and ever since she was a child she had never been able to break promises. Especially to Diavel, who had practically raised her.
"And we now begin!" A loud female voice bellowed out from the television. Sachi slowly turned her warm lavender eyes onto the screen, pushing a lose lock behind her ear while she watched the flickering pictures. "It's this week's MMO Stream. For starters, we had you watch the PV. Looks like this is from last weeks launch. What were all these people in line for? Sword Art Online!"
Sachi shook her head, carefully pushing herself from the bed. She weakly whimpered and stretched her arms out, carefully straightening out her over-sized sweater. The gentle blue and purple worked in comparison with her skin and eyes. She ran her fingers through her soft locks and walked back towards the bag, but once she stood above it she simply stared at the object within the bag for minutes, mutely debating if it was even worth it. To play it once more.
The first time was fun, the first time was exciting, but she couldn't do anything. She was too weak, again, the only way she had made it through the third floor was because of Diavel, and even then that was too much for her. She had heard that this time it would be a bit different, slightly stronger, and she doubted she would last long. Chewing her bottom lip, Sachi eventually lifted the bag, feeling the weight of the object laying within the bag.
"Sachi?" A female voice called to her, gently breezing along her. Sachi turned to the owner and smiled meekly at the woman in white. Her nurse. The young woman with blue, gentle locks spreading over her shoulders, moved up to the young 16 year old and smiled warmly, "Sachi, you're leaving already?" She questioned, before peaking at the television and chuckling, "Everyone so excited about that game, huh? I heard it was a start of an era," she hummed thoughtfully, turning her warm green eyes onto Sachi once more, chuckling again, "Oh, don't forget these. Remember two puffs day," she said, handing the girl a familiar lavender object.
Sachi bit back a sigh as she took the lavender inhaler, turning it over in her hands. Her finger-tips pressing against the plastic surface.
"Just remember your health during all that fun."
She nodded her head slowly, twisting the inhaler once more. Sick. She was sick, as always. Ill, and pills were the only thing helping her at the moment. She was pretty lucky it hadn't grown worse quite yet. Nodding her head once more, she bowed in respect, "I... h-hai. I will," she timidly spoke, pocketing the inhaler and quickly exiting the room. As she walked along the long hallways, she glanced within the bag, her eyes glowing as she caught the flashing colors of the case. The familiar sky and grassy hills. Her heart began beating faster in her chest. She licked her bottom lip, oddly finding herself eager to get home and set up the game.
The fingers of her free arm slid into the bag, her finger-tips sliding through the bag and pressing against the helmet. It felt cool against her skin, it oddly pulsed with something she hadn't ever felt before. Sachi shook her head, pushing the thought away and breathed in relief upon seeing her house at the end of street. For a split second, she turned her head and blinked her indigo eyes as she noticed how long the line was at the game store. Sachi paused her steps briefly, just watching the many people line up excitedly.
'Everyone sure wants to get their hands on the game, don't they?' But could she blame them? Really? The game was something like no other, it sent chills down her spine as she remembered back to that summer, the summer where was given the chance to try it out. Oddly, she had this feeling that she was only accepted because of her condition. Give the dying girl a chance at something great!
With a troubled sigh, she shook her head and twirled her head back around. Her eyes lowering with sadness, she bit her bottom lip as she remembered only a certain amount had been chosen.
'Was it fair? For somebody like me to take up a spot?' She wondered to herself, slowly walking up the pathway to the small but gorgeous house with little flowers and a single marble tree in the yard. It was like her all her happiness and joy was sucked out from her. Melting into the ground from the balls of her feet and spilling along the rocks. A weak girl like her getting a specular chance of a lifetime. She groaned and shook her head, her arms lowering and she jolted as she noticed she almost dropped the bag. The metal of helmet smacking almost painfully against the side of her leg. Whimpering under her breath, Sachi stalked up to her door.
Poking her head through, her eyes fluttered as she scanned the somewhat dark hallways, "M-Mum? D-Dad?" She called, her voice hitching it places and sighed when she received no reply. She licked her bottom lip, her fingers stroking the frame of the door, "S-Seems they're out…"
Honestly, it didn't take her long to set up in her bedroom. Connecting the helmet to the computer and then installing the game. It felt so easy to do, straight forward. She remembered the first time she had to do it, it had taken her hours. She hadn't quite understood the words and numbers, she had almost called the boys from her school, in the computer club, but held back when she remembered she was supposed to keep it hush. With a troubled smile, she chewed the inside of her mouth and wondered if any of those boys had bought the game.
The sound of her phone receiving a message brought her out from her thoughts, and she quickly checked the words. She sighed to herself, a low whine spitting through her lips, "See you on the other side..." she read out loud, her low and sweet voice spilling out. She giggled and shook her head. Diavel was such a straight forward guy, very bright and just gracefully gained everyone's attention, "So… h-he's already logged i-in…"
Sachi glanced up at the computer screen, reaching for the wide helmet. She gasped as she felt a spark hit her finger-tips, she ripped her hands away as if she had been burnt.
"W-What? An electric s-shock?" She wondered out loud, her eyes becoming glassily as she recalled the very first time she had ever touched the warm helmet. She didn't recall being shocked, 'Is this some kind of sign? Not to log in?' She found herself wondering, her eyes narrowing. Without her consent, Her mind began conjuring up all bad stereotypes.
'What if something bad is going to happen? What if there's a bug in the game?' All these thoughts passed through her brain, making her somewhat giddy as she nervously shook on the spot. Eventually, she pushed the thoughts away and reminded herself nothing bad could happen. Diavel would be there and during their beta-testing summer nothing had gone wrong.
From what the bluentte had explained to her, beta-testing was to find out the bugs so that the creators could fix them. Nothing bad had really happened during the summer, except herself getting so many do-overs after dying in the most asinine ways. Hiccuping under her breath, Sachi smiled and got onto her purple bed, ,aking herself comfortable among the thick blankets, having them pool around her waist.
She tilted her head and looked at the helmet waiting for her on her lap. Lightly, she tapped her fingers against the metal and pushed her dark hair out of her face, before her eyes hardened. She was sure Diavel was already at the stall, waiting for her. She could almost see the avatar he possessed, it was a pretty odd avatar in her opinion, but it made sense, considering who he was as a person. A natural leader with a glowing personality. A fond smile appeared on her face, and she finally slid the helmet over her head. Her heart picked up, beating heavily as she signed in with the familiar name and password.
She shuddered as she was presented with the familiar spiraling white mist with clouds. It surrounded her easily, and Sachi barely even noticed herself falling backward on her bed, her arms crossing over her stomach.
"L-Link S-Start!"
Gulping, Sachi quickly and almost shyly focused her eyes and selected 'Okay' for everything that popped up in front of her. The glaring pink words working beautifully with the whiteness around them. White. The color that was assigned to her, apparently. She wanted purple, but white was good enough, she supposed. And finally, the familiar pink words appeared, 'You have a character data from the beta test. Would you like to load it?'
Shakily, she selected 'Yes' and felt herself become warm, as if something hot was being melted across her. She pressed her lips tightly together and ducked her head nervously, white and pink flashing before her. It began surrounding her, burning her eyes as she felt like she was being pulled through the open air. Finally, her legs buckled. Her feet shifted as she stumbled across the payment, her knees shaking and pressing together. She hiccuped and tilted her head back, a cool summer breeze blowing across her face, making her avatar's shoulder-length hair billow in the wind.
She eventually pushed herself up properly, her eyes blinking as she took in the area around her. It looked very familiar, and yet not. They must have updated it, she concluded. Tilting her head back, she sniffed and sighed, the air even smelled sweet the before.
'S-Sword Art O-Online...' she thought to herself, shifting on the spot and gasping quietly under her breath as glowing orbs began to sprite around her. All different colors, not one the same shade as another. Every single one different, 'Must be their d-deigned colour…' she mentally noted, remembering that every player had their own special color assigned to them. Hers was so plain, so boring. White. Sadly, it seemed to suit her. Nothing special about white, just like her.
Closing her eyes, she slowly began to walk forward, lightly scratching the side of her head. It felt odd to walk around in her avatar body again, she never really liked it.
'It's too flashy…' she thought to herself, coming to a stop in front of a store with a large window. She stared at her avatar's reflection. She was tall, much taller than her original-self. Embarrassingly, she was also much more filled out then her advantage self. With tan skin and shoulder-length curls of dark blue, at least she had the same hair color. She supposed that was a plus. The only other thing she disliked was the pair of bright orange eyes her avatar possessed. Her avatar gained way to much unwanted attention. Not just that, but her avatar's starting uniform.
The white skirt was way too short, and almost to confirm her point, a breeze blew up it, making her face turn crimson. She quickly tugged on the back of the white softness, pulling it down with a nervous shudder. Especially when a tall, blonde player noticed and winked at her. She could only shake her head and run forward. She needed a cloak, like the last time. Hopefully, she could buy another purple one.
Twirling a deep colored lock around her finger, she ducked her head and walked along. Her eyes peering through her purple hair, searching for the familiar black haired avatar of Diavel. She had once wondered how come she was given the same hair color as herself but Diavel didn't.
The older male had sky-blue hair in the actual world, and yet in this world, he was given dark hair. She wondered if maybe it was Diavel's desire to have natural hair like everyone else. She remembered when the two were young, in middle school, she had caught him bleaching his hair. It didn't work, he eventually, after a lot of teasing, returned to his natural aqua hair.
Breathing out a soft sigh, Sachi tugged on the sleeveless, pale pink vest her avatar wore, while at the same time fingering the white sleeve of the blouse she wore underneath it. Slowly, she arched her head back to peer up at the glowing sky above her. She couldn't believe this was a game, it felt so much like real life. It was overwhelming. Just like the last time.
"Sachi?" A familiar voice called to her, echoing over the thousands of heads, all of which moved around in different directions. Sachi's ears rang and she turned towards the direction of the voice, her eyes widening as she watched the familiar avatar of her childhood friend come rushing up to her, smiling brightly like normally. "Sachi? You look exactly the same," he snickered, rubbing the back of his head and moving the black hairs about.
She tilted her down again head, a sweet smile making its way across her face. Despite seeing him once again, her dear friend, her stomach twisted painfully like something wasn't right in the air.
"Isn't it great Sachi? We're back," he whispered the last part, so that only Sachi could hear him.
"Y-Yes…Diavel-kun," Sachi mumbled meekly, turning to follow him. She cocked her head, listening as he began rambling on about the things he had already gathered. Speaking from experience, she smiled, licking her bottom lip as she trailed along behind him. She didn't have the willpower to walk step to step with him, she wasn't brave enough, but maybe she would in a few years. She nodded, and opened her storage as Diavel began to stack her up with things. Things she needed to survive, just like last time.
"Y-You got me s-some apple buns?" She gasped, eying the buns in his hands. She remembered those from the last time, they were the best snack she had ever tasted. Oh, how she had missed them. Eagerly, she reached out for the bun, only to have Diavel pull his hand out of the way.
Her eyes widened just a little before narrowing as she noticed a rather tall raven haired male run past them, with another red-haired male following after. Oddly enough, she felt like she knew the raven, or at least seen him before, which was strange considering she had only been here once before and no avatars were actual real. Which meant he must have been a beta tester too.
Returning her attention to her friend, she pouted, "D-Don't tease me!"
Diavel laughed, his lips spreading into a wide grin, "But you're so cute," he teased, winking as she flushed red before finally handing the buns to the girl. Sachi smiled and tilted her head further, sniffling the baked goodies before placing them into her storage. Stacking them away for a special time.
The two suns the game possessed moved through the sky pretty fast in Sachi's opinion. She swore it had only been ten minutes since she logged on. She had brought quite a few things from the markets, preparing for the tough journey this game will have, she had learned from the last time and wouldn't make the same mistake twice. She had almost squealed when she found a light purple cloak, though it looked more like a zip up hoodie with sleeves and a large bow that sat on her chest. At least it hid her legs.
By the time the sun touched the lands, orange and yellow painting the skies, Sachi found herself sitting at a small bench on the edge of the town. She rubbed her eyes tiredly while watching Diavel.
"O-Oh… I t-think I'll use my s-staff… I still have it," she bravely spoke, holding her arm up and looking at the staff with two sharp edges at the tip. She had gained it on a side quest with Diavel and few other people during the beta testing, she found it in a treasure chest and she had used it ever since. Once or twice she had used bow and arrows, maybe weapon vans a couple of times, but preferred her staff, "I mean… t-that wouldn't course any trouble, w-would it?" She wondered out loud, shaking on the spot. It was just staff, sure it had stronger stats then the other starting weapons around, but it honestly wasn't as strong as any other weapon drop. Especially compared to Diavel's sword.
"I suppose," Diavel muttered thoughtfully, smiling widely as he watched Sachi, "You're getting tired. You always have this kitten expression on your face when you become tired," he teased, laughing full-heartedly when Sachi flushed and shook her head, whining under her breath and covering her face with a wide pout, "I'm just kidding," he smoothly said, wiggling his hand up and down before sighing deeply and rolling his shoulders, "Maybe we should logout and continue tomorrow? It's most likely late now," he noted, holding his arm out and a green like clock popping up out of an object imbedded in his arm, "Mum will probably throw a fit if I don't come down for dinner."
Sachi nodded in understanding, she knew how scary Diavel's mother could be. Another yawn bubbled through her cheery lips and she presses the menu on her arm, automatically the white and pink menu popped up. Her eyes flickered about before she frowned.
"Ano… t-the logout button…" she mumbled slowly, scanning all the tabs. Double checking, no, she definitely couldn't see it. Had it been moved the last time? Did they put it into another tab, or something? The more she checked, the more her stomach tightened and she let out gasp of shock. She couldn't find it anywhere. "W-What? T-There's no logout b-button…"
"It's at the bottom of the main menu, isn't it?" Diavel frowned, leaning back and calling up his own menu. Unlike hers, his was two shades of green. Dark and pale green, both went hand in hand with one and another. Sachi trembled, lifting her head to look at him. Her orange eyes widening a little as she looked at the tabs in his own menu. Just like hers, there was no logout tab. "It's gone… I guess since it is the first day of service, it's only natural for there to be a bug or two… but this isn't right. How odd," he frowned, scratching his chin and tilting his head, "There wasn't anything about an emergency logout in the manual… won't they have to… reset the game? To manually disconnect everyone?" He wondered out loud, turning his dark eyes to the sky, searching for any signs before lowering his head to look at Sachi.
The young girl blinked once before rising slightly, her hair slowly lifting as white sparkles began to illuminate her. Surrounding from in every direction, covering her skin and nipping at her edges before she disappeared,
"Sachi!" He gasped out, moving to stand up before he too disappeared in a puff of green sparkles.
Sachi hiccuped, blinking her eyes furiously as she found herself back in the great hall of the town. Her heart rampaged in her chest. Slowly, she turned her head side to side, peering at everyone around her. Noticing everyone began to appear in flashes of colors.
"W-What is this? Forced teleport?" She wondered out loud, her ears ringing from the ticking clock above her. She could feel the vibrations running up her legs, making her weak, her legs becoming jelly and almost sending her to the ground in a puddle of nerves. Her throat felt as if it was burning, like it was beginning to close in. Almost as if there was a hand on her throat and all it was doing was squeezing tightly. Pressing its fingers into the soft flesh, "Diavel-kun?!" She called out, snapping her head around in time to see him teleport in next to her. He arched himself forward before easing himself back and looked to her, with just as fear as she has, "W-What's going on?!"
"I... have no idea…" he admitted blankly, his eyes rolling around himself, noticing that everyone was as confused they were. His ears burned as he tilted his head up and frowned, a glowing, blood red box flickering to life above them. "What is that?" He said out loud.
Sachi turned her attention up to the sun-setting sky in time to see a row of sickly red boxes appear. Filling the sky and blocking out the sun, casting a somewhat evil shadow of red over them. Sachi gasped, her hands rolling up and pressing against her chest, feeling her heart beating against her rib-cage.
'This isn't right, what's happening?' She wondered in fear, her knees beginning to buckle and shake. Slowly, liquid began to trickle out from the edges of the boxes, falling from the skies much like a water fall would. Sachi sank backwards, eyes wide, so wide that her eyes began to burn and sting as she gazed up at the odd liquid, it scarily reminded her of blood. She bit into her bottom lip, watching as the thick liquid curled out and began to join up, merging together to make some kind of figure.
A floating man, what it seemed like. Burning blue lightening flickered around him, before he threw himself backward. Thick red robes covered his lanky body. A hood covered his face and Sachi stared. He looked like a grim-reaper to her, how ironic. Like he was there to take everyone's lives, if only she knew how accurate that thought was. He floated above everyone, staring down at them through the shadows of his hood.
"Attention, players," a voice called out, apparently coming from the figure. Slowly he raised his arms, his fingers spreading out wide, "Welcome to my world."
'M-My world?' Sachi thought confusedly, her bottom lip trembling as she took in the being. Her eyebrows pulling together in confusion. 'His world? It's just a game, isn't it? How could it possibly be his world?'
"My name is Kayaba Akihiko," he bellowed out and Sachi gasped.
'Kayaba Akihiko... as in the creator of Sword Art Online? How is that possible?' She shook, hunching her shoulders and drew herself further into her cloak.
"I am currently the one and only person who can control this world. I'm sure that you've all noticed, the logout button on the main menu has been removed," he spoke, waving his hand up and calling upon a row of glowing tabs, all of which pulsed with burning light, "However, this is by no means mistake. I repeat, it is not a mistake, but a feature of the true Sword Art Online."
Sachi stared blankly up at the being. Her mind reeled with thought. Her eyebrows pulled together and she puffed her cheeks out. She remembered back during the summer, her very first time logging on, somebody had talked her and named themselves Kayaba Akihiko. She wondered to herself if the floating man was actually him. Her eyes shifting to look down at her booted-feet, watching as they twisted around one and another.
'A f-feature?' She thought to herself, surely she would remember reading something like that in the manual, but yet she came up with nothing. She didn't remember seeing anything like that on any of the pages.
"You are all unable to log out of SAO, and nobody in the real world can remove the NerveGear or interrupt its operation. Should it be attempted, a powerful burst of radiation emitted from a transmitter in the NerveGear will destroy your brain, thus ending your life," the powerful being above them said. Sachi felt her stomach drop and her knees shake, she gulped and shifted on the ground. Her eyes rolling around the area, glancing at everyone and noticed all their worried faces. She even noticed two players, a boy and girl walking to leave, only to knock into some kind of barrier. Her eyes narrowed when she noticed it was the guy that had whistled at her earlier that day.
Diavel cocked his head to the side, glancing over at the male with a frown, obviously not pleased with the blabbering he was making. He caught Sachi's worried eyes and smiled weakly, in hopes to comfort her.
"D-Diavel-kun," she whispered, her whole body beginning to tremble. Her friend quickly stepped closer to her, putting a comforting hand onto her shoulder and forcing a strained smile, "The s-signals emitted by the N-NeverGear's transmitter are really similar to t-the ones m-microwaves e-emit… it's v-very possible to h-have our brains fried… this is no j-joke," she whimpered out, sucking her bottom lip in fear. It was supposed to be just a game, not this. Not this death trap!
"Unfortunately, it's certainly possible that a player's family or friends would ignore this warning, and attempt to forcibly remove the NerveGear," Kayaba spoke once more, his deep voice cutting through everyone's murmuring. Sachi lifted her head to look up at him with wide eyes, her lips pressed into a very tight line, "As proof of this, 213 players have retired from both this world and the real world."
"213? People?" Diavel grunted out, his eyes narrowing and his fingers curling in tightly, his nails digging into the soft flesh of his hand, "Damn… 213 people dead… already," he hissed through gritted teeth. Sachi gulped, her hands curling around one and another, folding up to her chest tightly.
Kayaba moved above them, his large hand reaching out. Pointing a single finger down to them. Automatically screens began to flicker up around him, moving images and writing imprinted in each and every one.
"As you can see, news of my warning and the numerous victims are being spread worldwide. Thus, it should be safe to say that the danger of removal attempts are becomingminimal. I hope you will all be at ease and focus on completing the game."
'At e-ease?!' Sachi thought, feeling absolutely terrified, her eyes widening as she spotted her house on one of the screens. Her chest tightened and her hands shifted, it felt like there was something inside her chest, squeezing and squeezing. She felt her eyes begin to tear up and her nose twitched.
"Mum...? Dad...?" She shakily got out, seeing the two people she loved the most standing behind a yellow police strip that read 'Stay out' clearly on it. Her stomach dropped as she saw her mother's tear stained face, being held by her father.
"But I'd like you all to keep this in mind; from this point on, all methods of revival in the game will no longer function," Kayaba's voice echoed out, gaining Sachi's weary attention. Said girl hiccuped, her lips trembling. She gasped as the words filled her ears. That meant no more do overs, nothing. No respawning again. "If your HP hits zero, your avatar will perish for eternity, and at that moment… the NerveGear will destroy your brain."
It was at that moment Sachi felt her heart stop and all her energy being sucked out her through her feet. Her legs became jelly and she felt as if she was going to crash to the ground any moment, a few tears even leaked from her eyelashes. A horrible image of her tripping and falling down a staircase somewhere in town filled her mind. Her HP dropping to zero and her body bursting into white flakes, it could happen. She knew it could happen, embarrassingly she hated to say it, but it had happen before. Back during the beta.
"There is only one condition you must meet to be free: The completion of this game. You are all currently on the first floor, the lowest point in Aincrad. If you conquer a floor's dungeon and defeat the Floor Boss, you may continue up to the next one. Assuming you manage to defeat the final boss on the 100th floor, the game will be considered cleared."
Sachi inhaled deeply, her breath burning the inside of her throat, 'C-Clear all 100 floors? H-How?! That's impossible…' she meekly thought to herself, her eyes clenching shut briefly and hiccuping lightly once more, 'How… h-how is s-somebody… w-weak like me do that?'
"The Beta Testers couldn't even make it that fair!" Somebody yelled out. Sachi jumped and tilted her head to the side. Peering with wide eyes out at the crowd, suddenly feeling very small with everyone standing around her. She slowly wrapped her arms tightly around her body, fingers digging into the clothing she wore.
Kayaba hardly looked worried about that, well, Sachi wasn't quite sure but she assumed it. Slowly, he lowered his mighty hand and let out a sigh.
"And lastly, I've prepared a present for all of you in your item storage. Take a look."
"A p-present?" Sachi wondered out loud, slowly lowering her head and reaching her hand out. Slowly a gentle white menu popped up, it glowed out in front of her, and finally she selected her storage. Along with all the items Diavel and her had already collected, she saw something she hadn't seen before.
'A m-mirror?' she wondered, gently tapping her fingertip against it. She shuddering slightly as the icon glowed brightly, almost burning her eyes before an object appeared in her hand. It was wide, and plain looking. She carefully held it up to her face, and blinked slowly as she found her avatar's face staring back at her with red and swollen eyes. Swiftly, bright sizzling blue lights began to erupt around her, encasing people within them. Sachi gasped and snapped her head around to see a girl near her disappear into the light.
"D-Diavel-kun!" She cried out, seeing him too be surround by the light and before she could even another sound, light cased her to. She felt her fingers burn and her eyes began to swell up with tears, she shut her eyes tightly, a tear dripping from her long eyelashes.
When the light faded after what seemed to her like hours, Sachi gasped for breath. Her mouth slightly open, trying to breathe in as much as possible. Her mouth felt dry and she felt the familiar prickle in the back of her throat. Her head tilted upward and she carefully breathed in and out, her eyes tightly shut. Her heart slowly began relaxing and the burning in her throat faded away. Wetting her lips, her hand shakily went to her pocket, feeling around for her inhaler just encase, before gasping when she found nothing.
'M-My inhaler…' she briefly thought, her eyes shifting side to side before she cried out. Of course she wouldn't have it! It was back in the real world! Arching her back, straightening herself up, Sachi placed a hand onto her chest and pressed, tilting her head backward and breathing in deeply, in and out, in and out. She smiled sternly and sighed to herself. A small trick she was shown, she'd have to find an inhaler, as it wouldn't help her if she went into an asthma attack. There had to be one somewhere in this world. Hopefully. Sachi whimpered to herself, lowering her head. How weak was she, how pathetic.
"Sachi? You okay?" Diavel called out in worry, stepping up to her side and placing his hands onto her shoulders. Sachi breathed in again, sighing through her nose before lifting her head and peaking up at Diavel with a small smile to lay his worries to rest. Only to freeze and gasp, her eyes widening. "Sachi, what's wrong?" He questioned tilting his head, making his now sky blue hair flicker around his face.
"Y-Your face… y-you look… l-like-like…" Sachi couldn't get the words out, she ran her hand up and pushes her hair out of her face. She turned to face towards him, making Diavel gasp, his own eyes widening. She winced as she suddenly pooked her cheek, "Y-You too," she bravely nodded to him.
Her familiar short dark blue hair rolling around her face, Sachi stepped back and looked down at herself. She couldn't help but smile. She was herself again. Not as tall as her avatar, rather short with smaller shoulders, and a cherry face. Carefully, she tilted her head and looked around at everyone, watching as lights erupted from everyone, revealing their true selves. Nobody looked as flashy and godly as they had been moments before. Even a few female avatars had turned out to male, and male avatars to be female. It was strange and made her head spin. How odd, she thought, her lips opening and shutting. With a stutter, she held her mirror up to see her own face. Her lavender eyes widened and she cocked her head to the side, using a single hand to tug on a long lock of raven hair. Her face looked exactly like her original face, all the way to the beauty mark she had inherited from her mother under her right eye. It was a known fact that her children would have it too.
"It's r-really… m-me…"
"The scan," Diavel spoke, making Sachi look at him. He was staring down at his own mirror with his hand on his chin, "Ah. The NerveGear. It covers our entire head, right? With a high-density transmitter. So it can calculate what your face looks like. I'm assuming that's how we all look like ourselves. Or at least close to ourselves," he said seriously, leaning over Sachi and flickering a little loose hair that stuck up in the middle of her head.
Sachi eyed it and nodded, now she looked at herself, she noticed she had a few tiny features that were different to her real self, but they were easily overlooked.
"… but our height and body… Ah! When we first put on the NerveGear, it made us touch all over body for calibration, remember?" He questioned and noticed the awkward expression on Sachi's face, her cheek glowing pink, "Okay, that came out wrong, but you get what I mean, right?"
"H-Hai…" Sachi squealed out, nodding her head and placing the mirror back into her storage. It could come in handy one day, for whatever, she had no idea, "A-Ano… so it was collecting… d-data?" She questioned out loud, peering up at the taller bluenette who nodded his head.
"Right now, you're probably all wondering 'Why?', right?" Kayaba spoke once more, gaining everyone's attention.
Sachi slowly turned back around, her feet shifting on the ground and she swallowed a thick lump in her throat.
"Why would I, Kayaba Akihiko, the creator of sword art online and the NerveGear, do such a thing? I have already achieved my goal. I created the world of Sword Art Online solely for my personal environment. And now, the preparations are complete.
This concludes the tutorial for the official launch of Sword Art Online!" Kayaba breathed out, his form fully shadowing everyone, "Players! I wish you the best of luck!" He bellowed and Sachi's eyes grew wide.
She stumbled backward, watching as the being's hands burst with smoke. His body flickered with numbers, familiar digital aspects before he began to sag within the air. Her jaw dropped and she clenched her hands, watching the being began to sip back up to the red blocks before they faded away fully. Leaving behind a bright glowing orange sky, the sun shining beautifully. Bathing everyone in a warm orange sunlight.
It was at that moment Sachi realized something, and her eyes widened, widened so much that they began to burn. Almost to the point where she would begin to tear up. Her lips twitched as they opened and shut. She lets out a shuddered gasp. Asthma, it was no joke. A serious illness that she had developed when she was young, being so weak and fragile, it was bound to happen. A respiratory condition marked by attacks of spasm in the bronchi of the lungs, causing difficulty in breathing. It was usually connected to allergic reaction or other forms of hypersensitivity. It felt like her throat was being ripped apart with and what felt like dry ice was being forced down her throat. The best apart about being the game was that she did not have it! Her avatar was as healthy as possible, she had never got sick. She had been fine, sure, she was still weak and couldn't fight probably but she wasn't ill. However, just moments ago, she had a close run in with an Asthma attack, which shouldn't have been possible,
'T-this… this is r-reality…' she thought to herself. Her being shook as she lifted her hands. Her fingers lightly pressing against the delicate skin of her throat, the lower part of her palms pressing against her chest as if she was expecting another attack straight away. 'Reality has n-never been s-so scary before…'
Sachi wheezed deeply, her ears burning and she shuddered as everyone began to scream. The shrieks and cries filled the air, people beginning to shove one another. She squealed as a body rammed into her, almost throwing her backward.
"Sachi!" Diavel called out, rushing to her and crouching down to her level to help her up, his eyes widening and narrowing almost darkly, "You okay?"
"Hmm," Sachi bit her bottom lip, she nodded her head slowly and climbed to her feet. Her knees shook and she looked around herself, "Diavel-kun? W-What are w-we going to do?" She whimpered out, her voice breaking and creaking in places. She sniffled and turns to face him, her eyes lowering.
Diavel was silent, his mouth opening and shutting. He breathed in sharply through his nose, his eyebrows pulled together and he looked to the side. His dark eyes watched as everyone ran back and forward, moving around like headless chickens.
"Clear the game…" he mumbled thoughtfully. Suddenly, his eyes widened and he smiled, grabbing a hold of her wrist and forcing her to her feet, "Come on Sachi! Follow me!" he gasped out, dragging her after him, ignoring her as she called his name, her feet almost tripping over each other as she was forced to move her feet, "Run faster Sachi. We have to hurry! If we want to survive this world then we have to gather as many supplies as possible!"
