SAO in the anime releases November 6th. I am changing this to August 21st, which is a Sunday.

Chapter 1:

The Brand New World

"So do you think we should enter the beta test for SAO? Otherwise, we'll have to wait a month for the actual game to release," Sinon asked me.

"I think we should at least try for the application," I replied. "According to the stats online, nearly one hundred thousand people have already applied for it. That means only 1% of people are actually going to be able to play the beta."

"It's not as random as you think. I heard they're specifically choosing players that are more fit for testing the game," Sinon thought.

"Then I guess we should probably write something compelling. This is kind of like a job interview, isn't it?"

Sinon agreed and we talked for a few minutes about what we'd say on our forms. The cutoff date was July 15th, so we had some time to think it over, but whatever we came up with, it had to excel.

The form itself only had a few questions that weren't related to your shipping address and contact information.

1) What would your ideal world be?

2) If you had the power to do anything, what would you choose to do?

3) Why are you interested in Sword Art Online?

The basic interview questions, it seemed. Trying to find your ideal system of beliefs, general personality, and purpose for choosing the company; not too difficult to parse from the questions, but the answers themselves would be highly debated.

Perhaps following Akihiko's personality as I craft my answers will increase my odds of acceptance. Manufacturing your work to resemble the one grading the test is always a good strategy for affinity points.

After a great amount of debate over the next few days, Sinon and I landed on our final answers, and the forms were sent off to Argus.

It felt like years before the date of general submissions were to be assessed and the results posted. Sinon and I both seemed to bob from the anticipation. Although its signature first-party game had yet to arrive, the NerveGear still had some third-party games that were ported from previous generation consoles such as the Oculus. However, it was rather obvious that they didn't make full utilization of the unique and powerful hardware the NerveGear offered.

My favorite of such, Beat Saber, was rather enjoyable and practical as a purpose. It helped my hand-eye coordination in the game world, as well as my prowess with swords, the typical class of weapons. Speaking of weapon classes, what all are in the game?

If I remember correctly, there were several different types of swords in the game, but very few other weapon types. Mostly just blade-based weapons such as daggers and knives that differed from the status quo. However, there was also a martial arts skill that was hidden in the game. As much as I'd be interested in that, I'm not exactly known for my abilities with my hands. Besides, that's a bit of a jump since the player can only unlock it on the second floor. I don't want to be defenseless for a month.

I need to choose my main weapon early on so that I don't waste any training. There are a finite amount of hours in my life, and even fewer in others'.

That being said, I couldn't really afford to relax during the beta. I needed to be training every living hour of the day for this death game. Peoples' lives were at stake, so becoming insanely strong for the express purpose of clearing floors and instilling crime deterrent in PKers like Laughing Coffin was my goal.

I decided, by the way. I decided I didn't want to just stand around and let Kirito do all of the work. I may not be the best video game player or have the fastest reaction time, but I have foresight, and with that, I may be able to save thousands.

Sinon was slightly worried for me. I guessed the 3 AM motivation hit hard, because I was up almost every day and every night training in games like Beat Saber and various other dexterity-focused games. I still sucked, but it was worth the effort. He could definitely tell I was awake by my online status.

When I wasn't playing games with Sinon, sleeping, or training, I was planning. My dad would occasionally enter my room and ask me what I was writing, but I wouldn't elaborate much more than "it's a secret". I wrote the more secretive portions of the text in English because my dad was less likely to understand it. He didn't have the same schooling as I did, unfortunately. Made me feel bad for hiding these things from him. Almost. It was a necessary evil, I supposed.

The anime was so brief over most major portions of the game. It felt like it just skipped over nearly thirty floors at a time. The sections I'd read from the manga about this would come in handy, but they were rather few and far between.

Most importantly were the skills in the game. If I wielded a longsword, there'd be an entirely different set of abilities than if I were to wield an axe or a dagger. The anime greatly just brushed over all of those facts, but the novels were a bit more specific. Although that put me at a disadvantage, I didn't mind. The time I had to prepare was more than enough to make a solid game plan.

With a confident smirk, I set down my chart and sat back in my chair. It was all coming together…

An alert on my desktop drew my attention to the computer screen. A message from Sinon? I clicked on it.

"So, are you ready to find out if you got in?" he asked. I was confused for a moment.

"What do you mean? Got into what?"

"Did you seriously forget? You're getting way too sucked into that rhythm game. I just wish it was multiplayer, that way we could… Anyways, it's July 15th. Check your email."

OH. How could I have lost track of time like that? I couldn't believe myself. That level of unawareness to my surroundings will get me killed. This won't be a game for much longer.

"You're right – have you already checked?" I asked.

"I have," was all he responded with.

A singular new email was sitting in my inbox unread. With an almost dreadful suspense, I double clicked the entry to read it…

"So it starts at 1 PM, right? Should we play right then, or should we eat lunch first?" I asked with a grin heavily present on my face.

"YOU GOT IN, TOO!?"

"Yup :) Looks like all of that thinking was well worth it."

"Then let's start. By the way, you should really check the time," he said cryptically.

My eyes darted to the bottom right of the screen and – it was 1:45 PM already. Holy… wow. I really got sucked in, I guess.

And so, for what was probably like the hundredth time but still felt like the first, I slid the NerveGear onto my head and laid down on my bed.

"Link, start!"

1) What would your ideal world be?

I wish I lived in a world that was fair and just. All could act out their abilities at their own accord to the extent of their potential without external hampering.

2) If you had the power to do anything, what would you choose to do?

I'd choose to create a world of my own where I would be everything I am not in this life. The world would be everything it is not in this world.

3) Why are you interested in Sword Art Online?

Sword Art Online partially fulfills my dream. A world where things are different; where all players begin from the same starting point and progress through a world of virtual consequence. It is all I can think of recently, and it is my dream to one day explore Aincrad.