November 18th 2022, 09:42, 1st Floor. Twelve days into the official service of Sword Art Online.

My name is Yoshiro Kazuki though the only way you'd know that is if you were like my companion here, Sojiro Kori, and knew me in real-life. In-game my name is «Shirozuki» though everyone, myself included, calls me «Shiro». My friend, whose been my partner-in-crime since before I can honestly remember, goes by the name «Jiro».

On the outside I'm a 29-year-old carpenter who specializes in garden furniture, specifically custom-made patios. I've been keeping my eyes open for a chance to translate my skills in the real world to this virtual one now that I've been trapped here, but sadly the opportunity hasn't presented itself yet. I know a «Carpentry» Skill exists courtesy of an information broker who went by the name «Argo» who quoted me a price of 50 cor for the information, which I didn't mind paying.

Sadly surviving here at the moment involves swords, shields and armour, so that has been my priority. Still, I miss the feel of a measuring tape in my hand, and the tools of my trade dangling from my work belt.

Maybe when I hit level 30 or so and I have a Skill slot to burn I'll be able to take on the «Carpentry» Skill? Open a little shop somewhere selling furniture?

Yeah, that'd be pretty sweet. One can always dream. Sadly, though, it would be completely useless too. We've only been trapped in this game under a fortnight and already non-combat players are being discriminated against. Just last week I saw some poor white-haired kid - he wasn't any more than 12 or 13 - being flamed by a group of older players because he told them he had the «Lumber» Skill slotted. Now, when I said older, what I meant was that these guys were like myself; in their mid-to-late twenties, and there were three of them all picking on one kid.

Can you blame me for clenching my fists?

"What kind of' worthless skill is that!?" One of the three bullies said.

"The kid's scared of monsters, so he'll only fight trees!" Another added.

The third laughed like it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard or seen in his entire life.

It wasn't hard to gauge their respective intelligence levels based on their pitiful jibes. I honestly think my two daughters could craft better insults, and they were only 10 and 8 respectively. The white haired kid tried to look like their words hadn't bothered him but before I could step across to intervene - 'cause I really wanted to give them a piece of my mind - he'd taken off at a run and disappeared around the corner.

"Hardly very neighbourly behaviour." I said, with my usual degree of diplomacy. "And here I thought we were all stuck here together."

They didn't even deign to provide me with an answer. They took one long look at me, looking like they'd just come up against an immovable object with angry eyes, and decided it was probably best not to mess with me, and quickly went about their business. I should probably explain that my physical job is backed up by a healthy life-style. I work out regularly and eat the right kind of food, stand at 6ft 2in (ca. 188 cm), and have a solid physique. So their leaving didn't really surprise me. It was a common reaction anytime I weighed in on an argument.

"Assholes," I swore.

Not to speak ill of the dead or anything but sadly I learned later that they were no longer with us - their HP had dropped to zero and their names were now etched onto the Monument of Life. Apparently they had died trying to cross a fast-flowing river when they were attacked by a group of wolves. They each suffered the tumble status when they were attacked whilst waist-deep in water, and drowned. Swimming in SAO was different from most of the other activities in the game that one could do in the real world. Lung capacity, as far as holding your breath was concerned, was something dictated by your actual physical body back in the real world; the «Swimming» Skill did nothing for lung capacity. It wasn't like running speed, which could be enhanced by Agility boosts or the «Sprint» Skill, and having a large lung capacity could rightly be classified as an «Outside System Skill».

It was ironic in a really twisted way. If they had taken the kid with them he could have used his «Lumber» Skill to create a decent footing for them by cutting down a few trees and tying them together, and they might not have died. There was a lot to be said about stable footing. I had my problems with Sword Art Online - there wasn't a player trapped here who didn't. But it was fundamentally fair, I had to admit. Such elementary thinking could save your life and if there was any lesson to take out of all this, it was that being pig-headed could likewise cost you your life.

Superfluous skills aren't useless. In the event I ever see that kid again I'll be sure to tell him that.

Though, when I say that now, I had no way of knowing how things would be later. Not only were non-combative players helpful, they were essential to our success. It turned out there was indeed room for living and surviving in Sword Art Online.

But this was early days yet. There was much of SAO yet to play out and I should be getting back to it.

I've been partying together with Jiro since the day we got trapped in this game. We had been friends since our school-days though we noticed that the time we got to spend together was gradually getting shorter the busier we both got with our respective careers. We both worked from early morning well into the late evening; myself as a carpenter, and Jiro as a programmer for a large tech company. There was also the fact I had a wife and young children to consider. So, yeah. Not much free time. It was Jiro who managed to secure two copies of Sword Art Online, and we agreed to meet in-game on launch day, seeing it as an easy way to meet and talk, even if it was only for an hour or two.

That may have been the worst mistake of my life.

What was supposed to be an hour or two of leisure time with my best friend odd evenings before bed had turned into a prison cell. The scenery was breathtaking, sure, and at times the varied company you inevitably met was welcome, but a gilded cage is still a cage regardless of how comfortable it is. You know what? If I was going to say anything to Kayaba Akihiko, it would be that.

But, I could think like that for forever and a day and it still wouldn't change my situation. It was best to get on with things and with that in mind, I had quests to complete and monsters to kill.

"Good morning," Jiro greeted with a lazy wave of his left-hand.

"G'morning," I answered.

Jiro had already ordered breakfast and poured a cup of tea for me, which he handed to me as I approached. He was dressed in a full set of light armour that 'clanked' slightly at the movement of his limbs. The cuirass, arms, and legs from the knees down were all covered in slate grey armour with a metallic sheen, whilst his boots had a pointed metallic tip. Overall it was similar to my own, only my gear was classified as «Medium Metal Armour» by the system, whilst Jiro's was classified as «Light Metal Armour». The difference ultimately came down to weight and protectiveness.

Attached to his back was a long «Two-handed Assault Spear», roughly 12 foot in length, with a slim handle and conical tipped upper-portion. The spear section was approximately 4 foot, the guard that overhung the top section of the handle to guard the hands, was roughly two foot, with the remaining length consisting of the handle. All things considered, he looked like a lancer who had lost his horse.

I wasn't surprised in the least when I saw he had styled his blonde hair into a single long bit of fringe that dangled over his left eye.

"Sleep well?"

"Not really."

The truth was that I hadn't really slept well since we got trapped in this game.

I missed my wife and daughters. I used to complain when my girls would sneak into our bedroom in the early hours of a Saturday morning and wake me up with a slap to the face from a pillow! We'd sit up in the morning and watch cartoons; I always made a big show that it was a chore and that I hated doing it, but I knew the names of the characters and history of the shows just as well as my daughters did. I missed the late evenings when the girls were in their bed sleeping and it was just me and my wife. We'd either sit and talk for hours or watch the stars in silence on a clear night.

The thought cheered me, and I managed a smile, but it soon slipped right off my face.

This was due to my understandable worry. I sat up at night and thought what they'd be doing without me around. How would my wife pay the bills? Our mortgage wasn't going away, and I was pretty sure our insurance didn't cover me getting stuck in a video game. Were the kids behaving themselves? Were they doing their homework? And what about Christmas? There was so much going on behind the scenes that the kids never seen, which my wife and I had always tackled as a team.

I could only hope they were coping somehow.

If I did survive this game through to the end I could very well find everything I had worked for in my life gone.

"... I'm sorry."

Jiro looked away and cast his eyes to the floor. He knew me well enough by now that he was pretty much able to read me like an open book. Jiro didn't have a family like I did; a few cousins scattered around the country, sure, though he only really kept in contact with one of them, a guy called Kusaka. You see, his parents had died a few years ago, and he had no wife or kids back home. Or siblings even. I knew why he was apologizing. He saw my being trapped in Sword Art Online as being his fault. He saw it as his fault that I wasn't with my girls. In a way it was: the entire idea had been Jiro's, but I couldn't say that aloud. Above everything, he was my best friend and I wasn't going to let this game tear that apart.

"I'm not going to let you apologize for something that isn't your fault." I answered, and I put as sincere a smile on my face as I could muster under the circumstances. "Kayaba did this, not you."

I hadn't seen Jiro cry since his parents passed away, but he was doing so now. I did what any friend would do and squeezed his shoulder.

"I think we can skip out on our questing for today." I said.

"But-"

"We're hitting the pub." I interrupted, firmly. "I don't care whether it can get us drunk or not, but we're going to give it a helluva good try."

This was probably the only unfair thing about Sword Art Online. The booze available - whether it was beer, wine, or spirit - was quite incapable of getting you drunk. It might look like the real thing and taste like the real thing, but you could drink an entire keg and you wouldn't even get a slight buzz. Usually when something looked like a duck and quacks like a duck, that means you've got yourself a duck. The beer might look like beer and taste like beer, but it might as well have been flavoured water coloured to mimic beer. Maybe, in the not too far-flung future, an enterprising player with the «Mixing» Skill could brew some proper alcohol?

"... Sounds like a plan. And thanks, for everything."

"Anytime,"

And we talked of old times. The conversation eventually turned to the subject of alcohol and various other players who were drinking in the bar with us chimed in on the subject. We all had a good laugh and I noticed my spirits rising. What I didn't notice was the attractive blonde sitting by herself on the far end of the bar listening to our rarefied conversation about brewing our own beer.

"... Now there's a profitable venture."

I wouldn't find out who exactly this woman was, or how much of an impact she would have on my life here in Sword Art Online, for at least another month. In seconds however the spot she had been seated in was vacated. She had probably disappeared whilst muttering about finding someone with the «Mixing» Skill and a sense for brewing alcohol.