II: Link Start!

November 6th, 2022; a Sunday. The day that Sword Art Online would officially launch had finally arrived and Hanako couldn't be more nervous. Sleeping was impossible, her mind seemed to concerned with running in circles about whether or not she should actually test out the VRMMORPG with her brother or opt out like she usually did when it came to his games. Sword Art Online was the first of its kind though and the thought of virtual gaming was something that would revolutionize the world. She was curious as to what it would be like because, unlike her brother, she had never done anything like this before. Daichi on the other had had been part of the lucky 1000 beta testers that had been picked for the trial run that happened in august. He had offered to show her around once they submerged, telling her that he would walk her through every step until she felt comfortable on her own. Hanako just wished it was that simple.

Glaring at the wall of their kitchen, eyebrows furrowed in deep thought, Hanako blocked out the world as she debated just how she wanted to go about this new challenge. She glanced at the clock, 12:06 and the launch was at 1PM that afternoon. That gave her a little under an hour to decide. She somehow felt it wouldn't be enough time, the closing deadline gripping her stomach and causing her to fidget nervously in her chair. Sitting and worrying about it was doing bad things with her mind, she had to move around or she'd go crazy thinking about it.

Looking around the room she studied the rest of her family. Akira, her older brother, was bent over a stack of files that probably had something to do with his work. He was 23 year old fresh out of law school with a job as a low level lawyer at some law firm. Truth was his job was just a cloak for the higher ups using him recklessly as a slave, making him do everything they either didn't had the time for or didn't care to do themselves. Next to him, snoring with his limps spread awkwardly outward over the side of the couch, was Ren. Not much could be said about him other then the fact that he seemed to be doing pretty well in school despite the fact that he tended to sleep through most of his classes. Hanako couldn't really understand the reason he was so tired since he didn't do much during the day, but she supposed he wasn't often at home during the night hours. He had a busy nightlife.

Tucked into the corner was Hanako's third brother, Taro, the second oldest of the group. He was flipping through the channels in search of a good news show. He was a business man and was rarely ever home except for the odd occasion that they had a family dinner. Usually he was at his own house with his wife and daughter. Finally was Daichi, who was rubbing down his NRV helmet as if it were some sort of trophy. Hanako was sure he wouldn't stop rubbing it down until it gleamed and reflected his face in the surface. Their parents had gone to the store so everyone in the family was accounted for.

"Don't worry about me." she said to the others in the room as she pushed her chair back. "I'm just going to find a dark hole to climb into." No one even looked up at her, Taro seemed to manage a little wave of his hand and Ren snored louder but other than that her exiting the room was a very uneventful thing for them. She headed upstairs, venturing into her room to flop onto the floor and stare at the computer unit that Daichi had set up in her room the day before. He had done a great deal of explaining in the past two weeks, he had wanted to make sure she was ready to go by the time the servers were up at 1 o'clock that day.

He had started with the basics, that the world she would be entering was called Aincrad; otherwise known as Sword Art Online. It was a huge castle made of stone and steel floating in an endless sky, 100 floors of it. The goal was simple enough, Players had to fight their way through a labyrinth of dungeons located in the tower connecting the floors to one another. Once you located the Boss in the dungeon of the current floor that was unlocked it was a simple enough to know that you had to defeat it. Apparently people went about it in different ways, doing it alone was harder so some people got into groups to take them down. If you were hit to many times and you HP reached zero, well then it was game over and you'd have to restart in the main city of that floor. The rest he planned to walk her through in the game once they met up.

"Some things just have to be taught in-game." Daichi had told her with a shrug, "Don't worry, I'll be able to find you so just enjoy yourself until I get there. Look around and stuff, spend some Col. Oh, buy yourself a good sword and some maps of floor 1." Sword and maps, it seemed like a simple enough task for her first full dive. She had nothing to be worried about, if she didn't like it she could simply log out and be done with it. Daichi had said it was alright for her to just look around, besides he would be following her into the game shortly after so it wasn't like she'd have to wait long. A short first dive, one that only lasted an hour or so. She had to be back to help her mom make dinner anyways so she'd just keep an eye on the time. Speaking of time, it was almost 12:45 and with a press of her computer's power button the countdown began. She decided to watch the news, most of them would be covering the launch of SAO anyways so it'd be nice to see who she'd be interacting with.

Dragging her mouse across the screen she clicked the small play button at the bottom of a video. "It's time for this week's MMO stream. We begin with a promotional video. Was this the day of last week's launch? What were all there's people waiting for?" Flashes of a huge line flickered past on her screen, the people looked excited and rather oblivious to the passerby's that openly stared at them. Hanako wondered if they were all preparing for their first full dives as well, though the thought didn't last long as the female voice cut rudely across her mind. "Sword Art Online. The one at the front of the line waited three days prior to the launch. Amazing! Or is that just what any real gamer would do?"

"Eh!? Three days?" Hanako said in disbelief as the screen switched to a scene of a group of men. "Such dedication." The flaunted their games proudly, beaming like they had just won an Olympic gold medal. She imagined the owner's of the game store even happier than them, though it was hard to believe as a particularly foolish looking red-head in the corner caught her eye. So a different variety of people liked this type of thing, it was surprising but Hanako supposed it was normal for people to be curious about the first virtual world.

"Today we will be covering the internationally famous Sword Art Online, a.k.a. SAO!" The female voice continued to drone on but Hanako was no longer interested, her eyes had caught hold of the clock. It seemed like it was time so with a soft sigh she closed down the internet and connected the NerveGear with the correct wires. Daichi had insisted that she know how to do it by herself, that way if she became obsessed with it he wouldn't have to set it up for her every time. It was simple enough, connecting a wire here and securing a few things over there. By the times she was all set the clock read two minutes until one and Daichi burst into the room.

"Ah... oh, you've already got it set up." He said in an impressed tone, "It thought I would have to talk you into it again, but it looks like I was worried for nothing. Alright! Ready to try it out?" Hanako swallowed the lump I her throat as she was handed the helmet. It took a bit of time to get it on and comfortable but by the time she laid back on her bed Daichi was already beaming with excitement. "Remember, I won't be able to come on until later, I have to finish all that work that I left alone all summer if I want to be able to play seriously. It should take me a few hours so I'll just log on after dinner and show you the basics then. Remember to set an alarm, alright?"

She nodded and fidgeted around on her bed in an effort to get comfortable. When she was in a position she liked she glanced nervously at Daichi through the shades glass of the NRV helmet. Sensing her fear he gave her a thumbs up, grinning stupidly like he always did.

"You'll find me, right?" She asked nervously. "If you don't I'll kick your butt!" He nodded enthusiastically, tapping on the part of her helmet above the clock to point out that it was already a few minutes past one. She had to clear her throat a few times before she finally manages to speak. "Link Start."

At the sound of the word the helmet comes to like around her, the screen flashing a bright white. With blurbs of color the system begins to check itself, approving the different bits of hardware just as Daichi had said it would. Finally a selection pops up allowing her to pick out a language before the login screen appears. Hanako had already created an account online just as her brother had instructed her to do, so without a minutes delay she typed in the information. A soft ring met her ears before a tunnel of blues and grays flashed in front of her, transporting her into the world of Sword Art Online.