The beta begins July 15th and only lasts a month, whereas in canon, its starting date was unclarified and the duration was between one and two months.

"So are you going to get it or not?" he asked me.

I wasn't sure yet. I didn't have a plan for this. What would I even do in Sword Art Online? Prevent the disaster from occurring? I think that's quite a bit too far out of my hands, even at this point with perfect foresight.

Then again, I had dreams of being in the world of SAO myself back when I watched the anime, so it may be worth it to at least try the beta. That way I can play it without getting trapped.

I groaned again. I still didn't understand how this was happening to me. By no means should I have been able to precog the secretive release of a video game console or even its launch title's name, so I was starting to truly believe that Sword Art Online, the anime, wasn't just something I made up.

Maybe I had a dream of the future, and I mistook it for an anime I was watching. That really doesn't make any more sense than the alternative, though. The supernatural doesn't just happen.

"Probably, but I'll have to save up a bit. What about you?" I asked him.

"I wasn't planning on it, but if you decide to get it, I will too so that we can play together," he wrote back. "Then again, its game catalog is pretty dry. What kind of console releases with no new games except a closed beta for the first month?" he replied.

Kayaba Akihiko's game console, that's what, I thought but didn't type.

"If the details about it are all true, then this level of new technology is something we haven't seen before. I really want to try it out," I said, speaking the truth. I did want to try it out.

"I'll see how much money I can scrape together for it. ¥150k is a lot to spend on video games," he said reasonably.

That was true. I wasn't even sure if I had that much money in my savings account, and I didn't really want to beg my dad for it. That would be going too far, probably.

We spent the first day of our summer break chatting and playing video games.

At the dinner table, my dad and I were talking about various things from our day. He mentioned something about coworkers not understanding simple concepts and laughing over it; I would've laughed too if I understood those 'simple' concepts.

Eventually, I brought up the NerveGear to him.

"Oh, the new virtual reality headset coming out? Everyone at work has been talking about it; its technological feats used to be considered impossible until that genius Akihito compiled together every known study of neurology and electromagnetic radiation to create FullDive. When those patents went in, people were stunned," he said, laughing. I chuckled, too.

A moment of silence passed before Dad spoke again.

"Y'know, some people at the office are a little bit worried about what this could mean," he said cautiously. "If the technology works like how Akihito says it does, then it will completely overwrite your brain's input and output streams."

I widened my eyes. Was this some real-life foreshadowing I was witnessing?

"It's not a very popular opinion, but the folks are vocal. They think it's the path to brainjacking, and the technology should be considered unethical." My father spoke with a low voice, his face in an unsettling grimace. The tones of his voice shook me to my core.

"...but on a happier note, I doubt that it could be used like that considering all of the product checks required to distribute tech in Japan."

The tension dissipated, but I still had a poor feeling in my gut, and I think my father noticed this, so he quickly changed topics.

"Your birthday's coming up soon. Have you got anything in mind for gifts, the party, anything?" he asked.

I slowly pulled up the corners of my mouth to form a smile, and we continued talking about what we would do for my party. Did I mention that my dad is the best dad ever?

Despite it having been a while, there had been something on my mind ever since the end of the school year, and I hadn't been able to get it out of my head yet. Begrudgingly, I couldn't get the face of that Asada girl out of mind. She was there every time I closed my eyes; it was kind of creepy.

Talking about girls with your parents is weird, though, so I went to open up my chat with Sinon in hope of advice. I typed out a quick paragraph explaining my dilemma.

"Hey, Sinon, I was wondering if you could help me with something…

"There's this girl in one of my classes. She must've been the most beautiful girl I have ever seen, but I only caught a glimpse of her once. Somehow, I didn't notice her at all during the rest of the year. The first time I really saw her was on the last day of school, and now I just can't stop thinking about her. I know she's out of my league, but… well, the heart feels what the heart feels, I guess?

"If you have any experience or advice on this, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks."

I pressed enter.

"Oh wow, uh… well, I haven't really had a crush on any girls before - girls at my school, I mean - so I'm not the expert on this one, but… If you really think you like her like that, then I guess you should tell her? I don't know, that's just what those dumb teenage romance movie would say," he replied after a few seconds of typing.

This was one hell of a predicament. I didn't know why I was focusing on this girl when I should have really been focusing on becoming friends with Kirito online and then telling him to stop his friends from entering a suspicious room while adventuring or something. Being friends with Kirito would give me a lot of influence over the plot, now that I think about it…

This was, of course, assuming that Kirito exists and the plot of SAO is canon in real life now.

I doubted it, but it was starting to feel more and more like a real possibility instead of just some fever dream.

"Ah, well, thanks anyway. By the way, when's your birthday? Mine is coming up in a few days," I asked. We hadn't shared birthdates before besides just our ages. I wanted to know just so that I could wish him a happy birthday when his came around (and I kind of wanted to tell him mine was coming up).

"Oh cool, which day is yours? Mine is August 21st," he responded. It was late June, so his birthday was just around the corner, too.

"July 1st. I'm so excited, I can't wait lol. What are you planning on doing for your party?" I asked. Last year this time, we played day and night on Minecraft, of all games, so I'd love to continue the tradition of summer gaming with him.

Sinon took a moment to respond, but when he did, I frowned a little bit.

"I don't normally have a party since my only family lives pretty far away. We could play video games together instead, if you're available…" he wrote.

"I'd like that. It's a promise, then," I replied. "Maybe we could play that SAO game when the beta starts… I heard the beta application is available to all NerveGear owners, and the cutoff date is July 15th."

"I already have mine pre-ordered," he told me. "I bought it the day after it was announced back when we talked about it."

"Oh dang. Doesn't the console actually release on my birthday as well? I'm going to have to go to the bank soon, then," I said.

That's a thought. I wasn't sure how I was going to pay for the game console, nor was I even sure if I wanted to willingly enter the game. I had already decided that I wanted to change how events occurred in the anime to try and reduce the amount of lives lost. Obviously, no one would listen to some kid on the internet and stop Sword Art Online's release. The most I could do would be to meet Kirito and share with him some of my intelligence. That way, someone with plot armor could change how things happened, and I didn't have to subject myself to a death game.

But why would he believe me?

I ignored the fact that I had already declared the insanity of an anime becoming reality as the undeniable truth. I also didn't want to take notice that I had already determined I wanted to be a part of the plot and was willing to walk into a trap just for the sake of plot relevance.

I sighed as I tried to keep track of all of the unknown variables floating around in my head. I had sketched down the basic storyline from seasons one and two into my sketchbook, despite just how secretive this information was. If I ever would decide to join the game for real, then I'd have to burn this paper before connecting. There's no way I would let something like that incriminate me. Chances are, government agents will visit my house, and this is not something I would like in the wrong hands.

"Oh, er, I didn't mean to push you into getting it or anything. I just thought that you were already planning on getting it, so…" he sent. Whoops, I didn't mean to cause a misconception.

"No no, you're right; I just meant that I need to actually do that. Anyways, want to continue our Stardew Valley playthrough?"

We played video games for the rest of the day until I fell asleep at the computer.

Shino Asada sat at her computer, controlling her farmer to harvest more crops and sell them at the town's shop. Her friend, Deruta, was on the same server, helping with the barn animals.

They had been friends for the past year and a half, and ever since she met him, her days noticeably brightened. A once dark time of her life spent recollecting the past slowly began to fade away. When she first moved away from her mother and old school, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to handle the constant loneliness, but somehow, he always made it better.

When she felt like crying or throwing up, he was there for her, whether he really recognized that or not. Neither had even heard the other's voice, and yet they felt so real to each other.

She remembered back to the first time they had met. It was hard to believe that she was only eleven when it happened. It was right after her move to the outskirts, and she was playing an MMORPG game by her lonesome. To further sever her ties from her old life, she deleted all of her online accounts and created an entirely new persona. This time, she'd be pretending to be a boy.

Another player walked by her avatar with a gun equipped and her nerves steeled for a moment before relaxing. It was just a virtual gun; nothing to worry about. But that sudden turn of events sent her back in a traumatic loop. She remembered everything that happened that day vividly. Too vividly. It haunted her to this day, and now she had more troubles than just that. Her crippling loneliness.

Shino felt the need for isolation after the incident because the other kids at her school knew everything about what she did. What she regretted. What she wished to forget. They would never let her forget, so she left them. But she did not anticipate the problems that may arise with absolute seclusion.

The player with the guns didn't pass by her, but her attention wasn't on the monitor. She didn't notice him stopping and turning towards her character, nor did she see the floating chat bubble appear above his head.

She shook in her chair for a second or two. When she had calmed down, her eyes slowly moved to the screen in front of her.

And she saw three magic words that would change her life forever.

"Hey. Wanna party?"

Shino couldn't even remember what else they did that day, but that moment was permanently recorded into her memory as a turning point in her life. From that day on, she and this "Deruta" would play video games together during every living moment of her free time. If both of them were available, then they'd most certainly be playing together.

On her twelfth birthday, no one noticed or told her anything. A card came in the mail for her apartment from her grandparents and mother, but she didn't even bother opening it. She knew it was just the check for living and commodities.

And yet, despite not even telling Deruta about this, he made her birthday one of the best birthdays she's ever had. Just by playing games together.

But she didn't realize just how special he was to her until she checked online one day and saw a message from Deruta, asking for advice for a girl he liked…

A tiny piece of her heart felt like it shattered at that moment, but she couldn't let it show. She had to just play it off like nothing happened and she wasn't dying inside.

Why am I feeling like this? It's not like I have a crush on the guy or anything. Besides, he wouldn't like me back; he already likes someone else, and he thinks I'm a dude.

…

A girl can dream, I guess.