So, just warning you now, this is the first story I ever wrote. I wrote it about 2 years ago back in 9th grade so I can't promise it'll be very good, at least in the beginning. I promise the quality does get better later on though, and I'll try to make it better as I type it out, since I have it written on a notebook. I also never got to the end of the SAO arc so I still have plenty to write out. Please remember that it might get a little cringey at some points. For example, the way the main character looks. I was fourteen and going through a phase, so I apologize in advance. The start itself isn't all that good, but I've always kinda sucked at opening stories, even now. I want to keep most of it intact though so I won't change things like appearances, just doing some polishing of the plot and such. Also, Kirito isn't in this story and parts of it are gonna be pretty AU, so I'm sorry bout that. Please enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own SAO, if you didn't know.

Story start

So, there I was, standing in the town square, surrounded by 10,000 silent players of the newly released VRMMO called Sword Art Online. We stared at the giant, red-robed figure, mouths wide open as what he told us slowly sunk in. Truly, there was only one thing that could be said and, seeing as everyone else was gonna continue being completely silent, I decided to be the one to say it. "Well, that's one hell of a surprise." … Ok, maybe that's not exactly the right thing to say in this situation, but it really summed up our thoughts. At least, I felt so.

Earlier

As soon as the final bell rang, I was out the classroom, into the hallway, and gone from the prison that is school within minutes. My name is Kyuujen Torsen, and right now, I'm happier than I have ever been. Why, one may ask? Well, today, in the year of 2022, Sword Art Online is finally being released after the beta test ended a few months ago.

Sword Art Online is the world's first ever virtual reality massive multiplayer online game, or VRMMO for short. It was created all thanks to the absolute genius that is Kayaba Akihiko. I was one of the lucky 1,000 that was chosen for the beta test, and I fell in love from the second I logged in. It pretty much took over everything in my life as I spent every free moment I had in game, and every second out it was all that was on my mind.

Due to this, I was easily one of the most experienced players and I had gotten the farthest in terms of levels, skills, and floors. The game is set in a giant castle in the sky called Aincrad. It was about the size of an actual work and was cut up into 100 floors, each with its own setting. As you got higher up, the floors got ever so slightly smaller and clearing it got harder.

Another aspect of the game was that you could only get to the next floor if the floor boss was beaten and you manually enter the next floor through their lair. After that, you can easily just teleport through floors you'd already visited using crystals and teleporting pads.

Besides crystals and potions, there was no actual magic like spells and such in the game. It made up for that with its near infinite amount of skills and special weapon strikes.

By the time the beta was over, I had reached floor six with two other players who had easily became my best friends. Well, maybe not easily. I'll easily admit I can be a bit of a dick at times. Like me, they had no lives so we were able to search the floors a lot. The rest of the testers were still on floor number four, searching for the boss they knew was already beaten. They had found out long ago that someone was way ahead of them in the game, but they had no idea who it was. While a two floor difference might not seem like much, it was when you took into consideration that it usually took them a few weeks to find the boss.

Of course, they didn't know who it was and I'm gonna make sure it stays that way. I'd like at least a month or two before being vilified and hated by the other players. While I don't really care what others think, it'd a pain in the ass to walk around town feeling glares sent at my back all the time.

But enough of all that, let's go back to the present. I unlocked my front door, kicked off my shoes, and announced that I was home to the empty house. I mostly lived by myself, since my aunt was almost always overseas on business trips and such. I was kind of used to it by now and she was pretty loaded so I got a rather large allowance.

Once I'd finished putting away my shoes and school bag, I quickly ran upstairs. Usually I'm not so hyper but today is pretty special so I can't really help it. Once I was in my room, I connected my Nerve Gear to the internet and plugged it in to the power outlet next to my bed.

The Nerve Gear is basically what connects you to the world of SAO. The whole process and how it works hasn't been released to the public yet, but I do know that it has something to do with your brain. It stops pulses from your brain from being sent to the rest of your body, keeping it from moving. It's really advanced technology and one of the reasons I want to go into programming.

I looked at my clock and saw that it was 2:50. The servers wouldn't open until 3:00 so I still had a good ten minutes before I could jump in. Maybe all the running was unnecessary, huh? I turned on my TV and turned it to the news. Surprise surprise, they're doing a story on SAO. Nothing I didn't know of course, but I guess it'd be nice to know other people's thoughts on it.

Currently, a young, pretty woman was talking into a microphone and going over the facts. She had a light blush on her face and stumbled over her words a bit. Hmm, must be a new reporter.

"A-and as you can see here, game stores are still crowded with people who are um, hoping to get a copy before they're all sold out. Uh, right behind me you can see that the lines are pretty long, so if you haven't gotten a copy yet, you're probably not gon- er, I mean you're not going to get a copy." By the time she'd finished her report, her face was as bright as a tomato and she bowed her head. "Back to you, Usumi," she mumbled out.

Huh, I feel kinda bad for her. I know from experience how hard it can be to speak in front of people. Of course, I never really had that problem when I was playing a game, but any other time I was just as bad, if not worse.

I looked back at my clock again and saw I had 2 more minutes till the game opened. I got up and laid down on my bed and put my Nerve Gear on. You don't have to lay down for it to work, but I'd found out early on that sitting up while you play is fucking killer on your back.

I watched as the clock on the screen of my Gear slowly ticked up to 3:00. Almost there. Three… two… one… "Link start!"

God it felt so good to say those words again, I thought as the colors that signified that I was connecting to the game rushed past me. Soon, I found myself in a dull gray room with a pup-up telling me to create an account. I felt a bit sad to see that my old beta account was deleted, but I suppose it's only fair for the newer players.

First things first, I gotta name my new account. I've been unsure whether or not to name my character something different from the beta, but I decided to just stick with it. So, I named my character Archalack. Don't going looking for some meaning in the name, because there isn't any. It was just some random thing I typed in a few years ago and I liked so I've used it for all of my accounts since.

Next comes my character. Like my name, I think I'll just do the same thing I did in beta. Call me unoriginal, but I like what I did with it. First, I copied my real body. 6'1 skinny, and pale with black hair and blue eyes. Next, I changed my hair color to silver and my eyes to red. I know, I know, it's pretty chuuni like, but I think I might be going through some kind of phase right now. After that, I make my face older looking. No one has respect for teens these days. Finally, I give myself some muscle. Not much, but just enough to make it look like I work out. Pfft, as if. Doesn't really give an advantage or anything, but I like the way it looks.

Now, with character creation finally done, I'm finally ready to jump into the castle world Aincrad.

AN: Kinda a short chapter, but they get longer. This is just introduction.