Kaede and Risa left the game store, both giddy as they left with a NerveGear in Kaede's hands. "Finally! It took almost a month, but we finally got you a NerveGear! Now we can play Sword World Online together!" Risa exclaimed, stars twinkling in her eyes.

Kaede laughed at Risa's enthusiasm, but then looked a little more serious. "Risa… are you sure you want me to join you on this journey? I mean, I've never messed around with VR before… and I've never played an MMO before… I'm just nervous I'll hold you back…" she explained, only to be silenced by Kaede gently grabbing her face and squishing her cheeks a little.

"Kaede… if I wasn't sure that I wanted my best friend to join me in such an awesome game, I wouldn't have invited you, much less helped you buy that NerveGear using the last of my allowance from the last three months… Trust me, you WILL be joining me in the game Sword World Online, and we are going to have so much fun doing it!" She said- no, she told Kaede. Afterwards she gave a warm smile to her black haired friend… "Okay? So stop doubting yourself already! Besides, I got the awesome opportunity to play the beta, so I know how to get us to floor two faster than anybody else!" Risa added.

Kaede couldn't help but share her happiness and kind demeanor. She walked with Risa until eventually they got to Maple's house, where they worked together to set up Maple's NerveGear. After about 30 minutes of work, calibration, and fiddling with wires, it was ready!

Shortly after their successful preparations, Risa had to leave to get home and take care of some homework and studying. The two said their goodbyes and, like that, Kaede was able to traverse little landscapes as a sort of teaser for how the NerveGear feels and functions…

She got to walk through a meadow and feel the cool breeze, pet cows, and smell the flowers! She went to a virtual café where she got to experience tasty pastries and coffee served by real people in a virtual landscape. She even went rock climbing with an AI Professional. It was all so real, and it made her even more excited to experience the world of swords!

One Week Later… In just three minutes, Sword World Online would be open to the public. Kaede called up Risa to share her excitement with her. However, when the call opened, Risa's smile was much less enthusiastic than Kaede hoped. "Hey Kaede… sorry, I have some bad news…" she started. "…I didn't do so well on my test this week, so I'm not allowed to play any video games until next week, if I manage to get a better grade that is…" she explained before groaning.

Kaede frowned a little. "You want me to wait until you can join me, then?" She offered, but Risa quickly put her hands up.

"Oh no, I could never ask that of you! Just join in, get a feel for the game, get a head start, and next week I promise I'll join you!" Risa replied, when she heard her mother's voice call with annoyance. "Oop- gotta go! I'll talk to you later!" Risa said, before promptly getting off the call.

And so, hesitantly, Kaede got herself comfy in her bed, her NerveGear plugged in so she wouldn't lose any battery life, and she put on the headset. She then closed her eyes, and smiled.

"Link Start!"

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Kaede opened her eyes, and instead of her bedroom, she was now within a blue, endless void of moving lights. A box appeared in front of her. "Choose your name:" it read. Kaede thought about it for a moment. "Well, Kaede means Maple in English, so I'll choose that! M-A-P-L-E… Maple!" she said, typing her new name into the box.

She then got to choose her class. She didn't like the idea of getting hurt in this game, so she opted to choose the "Great Shielder" Class. This would provide her with a Tower Shield and a small dagger. Perfect for somebody looking for defensive prowess! She pushed the button on the floating screen for this class, and another asked her if she was sure of her decision. She of course hit the button again, and she was whisked away in blue, green, and purple particles…

Like that, she appeared in a large fantasy town, other people appearing in blue beams of light. A box appeared in front of her, which read "Welcome, to Sword World Online!"

Her jaw nearly hit the floor, taking in all the sights, sounds, and textures. She looked down and saw her more appropriate attire for a world such as this, and could feel the older fabric of the shirt. She crouched down and touched the ground, feeling every little bump and crevice in the stone roads. It all felt and seemed so real…

Quickly panic entered the girl's mind as she wondered where her giant shield was. In her frantic state she was flailing her arms, and accidentally opened the menu. She curiously looked at the floating circles, squares and rectangles, opening one that was labeled "Equipment". She found the shield, pressed on it, pressed "Equip", and she found the shield appeared in her hand in a beautiful blue light!

"Wooooaaaaahhhh! That's so cool!" She said as she held her shield happily. She let go of it, and just like that it vanished again. She repeated this process two more times before she then saw a window labeled "stats". She saw she could increase her stats with the extra points she started the game with and when she focused on one, she could see what it did.

That's when she noticed "Vitality" which decreased the amount of damage she would take… perfect! Like that, she pressed the plus button until eventually it and all the other ones disappeared. Just like that, she had put all of her points into vitality, and began to explore.

She then saw two people beginning to head out into the wilds. She ran up to them quickly. "H-Hey, excuse me! Got room for one more?" She asked quickly, and the two turned around to see Maple looking up at them hopefully. The one with black hair spoke up first. "Alright, fine by me. I was just headed off to show this guy the ropes. You seem pretty new too, so may as well help you too!" He replied, then the red haired male piped up. "Hell yeah! The more the merrier!"

Just like that, the three of them formed a party and headed out where boar spawn in, and Kirito taught them the art of combat. When Maple didn't end up dodging or blocking a boar in time, however, it rammed right into her and… her HP Bar didn't go down at all! Kirito and the red haired guy who was later dubbed Klein were both surprised by this.

"H-Huh? Your Health should have definitely gone lower after that! I mean mine certainly did! Not by a lot, but still!" Klein spoke up.

Maple then showed the two her stats, and the other players shared a mix of surprise, hilarity, and remorse for laughing when they saw the numbers. Zero in everything except for Vitality. Her vitality was certainly nothing to scoff at, not in the least bit, but the fact that she only put points into that was what made it even more hilarious.

"Sorry for laughing- Maple was it?- but you've gotta understand, you can't just put all of your points into one stat in a game like this!" Klein explained. He then continued "You want to spread your stats out more so you can do more things! It's fine to put more into one stat than the others but if you don't have a mix of everything then you're just a defensive wall with an overwhelming number of weaknesses…"

Maple thought about this, then smiled smugly. "Then I guess I'll have to be the first to successfully play a game like this with only one stat then, huh?" She replied with a twinkle in her eye. As she said this, she actively continued to push the plus button to add 5 levels worth of stats into Vitality. When her party members looked at her stats again, her Vitality already read 32! The two guys were absolutely floored, both by her stubbornness and her clear disregard for the way the game is meant to function. Kirito then sighed.

"Oh well, I guess it can't be helped. Anyways, I know a good place where we can farm more levels. I was in the Beta after all." Kirito explained, but Klein reluctantly told them he was having a pizza tonight and was going to help his friends after dinner. That's when Klein noticed something was off…. The Log Out button. It was still there, but the words were gone. He tried pressing it but it did nothing…

Kirito and Maple tried the same and it failed for them as well. They each were greatly confused by this revelation. Maple started to freak out, but Kirito reassured her, assuming it was just a bug and that Admins would fix the issue. However as he said this, the three of them were forcefully teleported back to the town of beginnings.

They soon saw the sky turn red, the town now surrounded by a dome made of hexagons. The sky began to bleed, and from the blood came forth a large, imposing figure floating above them all.

"Hello. My name is Akihiko Kayaba, and welcome to Sword World Online…" He began. "Some of you have probably noticed this, but the log out feature no longer is functional. You can no longer log out. If somebody on the outside attempts to log you out by force, the NerveGear will send a shock to your brain, which will instantly kill you. The same will happen if your HP ever hits Zero, meaning if you die in the game, you'll die in real life… The only way to escape is to clear all 100 floors of Aincrad." Then, he opened up his menu. "Lastly, I put a little present in each of your inventories. I hope you all enjoy it." he said. That's when everybody in spawn selected the item. Everybody's appearances suddenly changed to those of their real world counterparts! Kirito, Klein, and Maple, as well as everybody else around them, all of their avatars were transformed to reveal their true appearance.

Maple was hyperventilating. She not only was told she was trapped in this game, but she was going to die unless she and everybody else beat this game without dying even once?! Worst of all, she wouldn't even be able to see her Mom or Dad? She fell to her knees, crying as everybody else around her panicked. Suddenly she felt someone grab her shoulder. It was Klein!

"There you are! Maple, we've gotta find Kirito!" He exclaimed, grabbed her hand, and swiftly helped her up as they ran to find the black haired beta tester. Eventually the two found him, and Klein offered him a spot in his guild with his friends.

Kirito declined the offer however, deciding to go off on his own. This confused both players in front of him, but Kirito ran off. "Aww man… I was so stoked to have a beta tester in my guild… Well, Maple? How about you?" He asked.

Unlike Kirito, Maple was much more inclined to join Klein's guild which would later be called "Fuurinkazan". As they met up, began leveling up, and learned more about each other as a team, Maple realized that maybe, just maybe, things were starting to look up for them!

Risa was currently pinned to the wall. She reached to move past the man holding her there only to have her hand slammed wrist first into the wall hard enough it left a hole. "NO! YOU'RE NOT GOING IN THERE!" He screamed in her face, spit flying from his wide open mouth as he berated her.

For you see, Kayaba broadcasted his announcement live from within the game. Everybody in the virtual and real worlds knew what happened. Risa couldn't see herself living for god knows how long without her best friend. So, she tried to log into Sword World Online to find and help Kaede. Her parents, who came to comfort their distressed daughter, saw her attempting this and immediately pulled her away from the NerveGear…

Risa sobbed, desperately trying to break from his grasp to no avail. This was something that never happened before for her. Her father was not a violent man, so for him to use such physical force was something incomprehensible for her. She finally stopped trying, and she fell to her knees. Her father came down with her and attempted to comfort her… Maple was basically gone.

And there was nothing they could do about it…