Skylah P.O.V

It was cloudy outside. Justifiably so.

Who would have thought that the next step in VR would be a trap to force people into a death game? How did something like this even get past so many checkpoints?

My brother was currently in the hospital, hooked up to a machine, several in fact. He looked so..peaceful. I had heard the stories from families who had lost people from that...thing. The cold bastard made it so they had around fifteen seconds to look around them, one last glance at the real world before the Nerve Gear kills them.

So fifteen seconds to say goodbye.

I stared down at my immobile brother. "Don't die on me you cold-hearted bitch," I whispered.

School was...dimmer to say the least. And home wasn't much better.

Our deadbeat father was now at our house. Even if he was the one paying, he doesn't deserve to be called the owner. He had understood quickly I wanted as little contact as possible with him and left food on the counter and stayed in his room (our small guest room, not my brother's out of respect) or the living room when he was in here.

I took off my shoes and walked inside the house. Without saying anything I walked to my room and locked myself in. I plopped myself on the bed and tried to make due by scrolling around on my phone.

Even after around a month, all anyone could talk about was Sword Art Online or SAO for short. It took me a day or two to realize that everyone pronounced it as "S-A-O" and not as one word like I did. What I call it doesn't matter though. Nothing can change the fact that it has stolen people from others' lives.

The next day as I was getting ready, I had heard a knock on the door.

"Hey...Princess, do you mind if we talk?" My father asked through the door.

"Fine," I grumbled and yanked open the door.

Now my father is where my brother and I got our looks. His genes are strong. A tall dark-skinned man with almost as dark brown eyes. Although he shaved his hair, unlike my brother who likes to let his hair grow out a bit.

"Listen, I get you...don't like me all that much. It's understandable but I am your father. Your brother will make it back. He always pulls through right?"

"Right," I said hesitantly because I knew he was right. He always pulled through. To him, anyone's word is as sacred as the law until proven otherwise.

"We need to find a peaceful medium or until your brother is back, we will both suffer."

"Fine," I said finally. "We'll discuss boundaries later and I'll let you know if certain ones can be removed."

With that, I just left for school.

Princess. The last he called me that was years ago.

Jaden, you better come back. I'll kill you if you don't.

My school was once again, nothing note-worthy. I ignored some of the things they said about me, how even my possibly dead brother would still be smarter than me, more athletic than me, among other things.

It's not my fault Jaden was gifted, well with a mind, he was decent with most sports but I just can't do anything. Jaden himself said the education system was flawed.

He never memorized anything, he just did it. And apparently, it worked.

When we went to the same school, he'd hit them with some random charismatic energy that came from nowhere. If that didn't work, he'd just leave them be and get violent if things escalated.

When he gets back I'm going to beat his ass. One month and we had no clue what was going on. Although one person who had died managed to tell what floor they were on.

"Floor 1, boss raid will happen on the 1st-" and then he died.

It was safe to assume he meant December. Jaden wouldn't be missing out on that right? Unless he had a solid reason. He did go out of his way to write down so much info in these notebooks of his, I can also swear he spent more time writing about the beta than playing it.

Ten floors worth of beta information. I can't help but think that the beta would be different than the actual game. There are bound to be more changes than just graphics and such. It wouldn't make sense to have the beta just be a worse version of the game, some things must have been changed. But it can't have been changed too much.

I mean, it's common sense. If the death game was exactly the same as the normal game besides basic clean-up, then some people would have such an adherent advantage. It would be far from fair. It makes sense to have slight hints so even the beta would be on their toes because they wouldn't know what was the same and what wasn't. If they were exactly the same, the more brave betas would have already been close to floor ten. By then they would have had found ways to prevent the deaths that they had to deal with up to there, possibly being higher levels and making sure they have better gear.

But no, they are just getting their shit together, meaning someone had just found the boss room and the betas are either too scared to help or want to do this by themselves, which is most likely the first option. But even then, someone would have leaked info. So no little to no help from the betas and differences in the game.

That could just be me being crazy but-

A hand snapping in my face cut off my thoughts. And my eyes bring me face to face with my teacher. "Skylah, are you listening?"

"Sorry ma'am, I've just been worried about a few things"

"Your brother?" she asked with a sympathetic look on her face.

"Yes ma'am"

"You're excused. I'll make something up so you aren't bothered."

I perked up. "Really?!"

"Of course, my husband is also trapped in...that, so I understand."

As I packed up I gave so many thank yous and farewells, planning to rush over to the hospital. "Ah Sugu, isn't your brother stuck too? Maybe they ended up in the same hospital, you two should go together."

Standing up in her seat quickly was a... well-endowed girl my age. She had shoulder-length dark blue hair and a very small yet athletic frame, which was understandable because she is top-ranking kendo on the kendo leader boards. Suguha Kirigaya. The main difference in our bodies was...in the chest department, but I try not to let it bother me too much.

"Thank you, ma'am." She said as she stood up and started packing up her things.

Maybe I should try and befriend her...as long as Jaden doesn't perv-

My line of thought was cut off by the reality that Jaden might not come back.

Judging by the fact she attends here, maybe she lives nearby. So our brothers would have been placed in the same place...

Yokohama General Hospital

.

When she finished grabbing her things, she walked over to me and I simply said the name of my destination. "Yokohama General Hospital?" She didn't speak, she just gave me a small nod. We walked in silence. The only time we spoke was when we were asked who we were visiting.

"Kazuto Kirigaya."

"Jaden Gushiken."

"Ah, so your brothers are currently trapped in SAO," The lady said. "My apologies, it is a miracle that they aren't part of the several that died."

"Yeah..." we both said, walking down the path that we both had most likely walked several times.

"Do- do you mind if I visit your brother with you quickly?" I asked, unsure as Suguha stared at me with wide eyes. "I don't want to intrude or anything but, I just want to see if my brother is the only one that reacts from time to time."

Lies, of course. He had always been special, I wouldn't be surprised if this was one of those cases. I'm just curious about who Kazuto was. Kazuto Kirigaya. Sounds oddly familiar when I think of the one player my brother claimed he could never beat. He was obsessed strangely, you'd think he was in love with the guy and was just stalking him. Nope, pure challenges to fights every step he took. Which was bound to get annoying fast.

Kirito, I think his name was. What tipped me off is that many players don't use their real names, some just mix a few things for theirs such as their last and first name.

Kazuto.

Kirigaya.

Ka-zu-to

Kiri-ga-ya

Ka-ga-ya

Kagaya

kiri-to

Kirito.

...

Did I just figure out my brother's archnemesis? To be fair my brother just wanted to beat him in a game or two. Not beat him in real life.

Black was an ongoing theme for him according to my brother. If he looks like his favorite color is black, then I found him.

We walked in, there he was. A small boy laying on hospital sheets. The beeping Nerve Gear, cords, IV tubes, and other medical things. "This is Kazuto, My cou- my brother," Suguha said, wincing at her mishap. I ignored it, more focused on analyzing the boy in front of me. Definitely, black is his favorite color. I doubt he'd wear anything that wasn't black.

"I see. Did he have high activity in other games before-?" I made a motion for putting on a helmet with my hands then nudged my head in the boy's direction.

"Yeah, he's been a gamer for a while. He was even lucky enough to be one of the beta testers for SAO"

"What a coincidence, my brother too," I said with dry humor lacing my voice. I stood awkwardly. "I guess you should meet my brother now. Then you can come back and do your thing here."

I started walking to the door. "Oh, I'm sorry, I meant to return the favor, but if you don't want to, I understand, I probably seem like some weirdo now huh?" I added hastily.

"It's fine, I don't mind. Let's go see how your brother is holding up. I heard a few rumors but that's about it." she said, though its clear her heart wasn't in it.

We walked down a few doors and found my brother's room. He was in the same position as the last room's occupant, the main difference is my brother's face wasn't blank like Kazuto's, he looked frustrated, the doctors theorized that he must be very expressive and the Nerve Gear couldn't block out all of the emotions he expresses with his face.

Which was half right. My brother is a very...basic individual. He might be talented and whatnot, but he is very withdrawn unless he feels he needs to be otherwise. To be put simply, he is a people pleaser but also isn't. Sometimes he couldn't care if you were about to die right in front of you and he could easily save you, or he would fret over something that couldn't even cause injury and have his emotions plain on his face for your convenience.

"He can make facial expressions?"

"Not to anything we do, just things that we think he sees, but it is a step further than most patients."

"Amazing...I thought the Nerve Gear was cutting off all signals."

"Meet my brother, Jaden, doer of the impossible, a prodigy, and lastly a bitch."

"I-i see." She seemed very off-put. Must not have realized I was joking.

"I was joking, he is a...relatively decent person."

"I see." She turned her gaze back onto my brother, intense like she was trying to figure out the difference between her brother and mine.

"You know, my brother was in the beta. I never understood why he took so many notes and got obsessed with the game." I said, causing her eyes to flick back to me. "As much as I hate that this thing took people away, do you ever wonder what they see? What our brothers both seem to hold dear until it yanked them away from life?"

After a few moments of silence, she responded, "... It's all I can think about at times."

If I had been paying more attention to my brother, I would have noticed his fingers twitch and his face relax.

Akihiko Kayaba...Where are you hiding? Akihiko Kayaba, are you in the game as well? If this was a sick experiment or something, then wouldn't he join in? Just how far is he willing to go to blur the lines between real and digital?

Kayaba P.O.V

I leaned back in my chair. Well, my avatar leaned back in its chair while my body was laying down in a bed in the mountains.

I threw another glance around me. A very plain room besides the glowing floating screens in the wall by the desk I was sitting. It was very lackluster compared to the rest of my masterpiece, but it's more than functional enough. No player will ever see this anyway.

Speaking of the players, the number of deaths in the last month is astounding to me as much as anyone else. I knew there would be a toll on their lives but 2000 players? With one-fifth of them dead, they might not even make it to the 100th floor.

I took a closer look at some of the screens I had pulled up. Currently, I'm viewing some players with a large amount of potential.

For example, the lone 'beater'. Clearly, the boy was bluffing, if any of what he claimed was true, he would be more than just a bit famous. Kirito, his reaction time is exceptional, amazing for someone who looks like such a shut-in. He could be the best suited for one of the new skills I'm currently developing.

Next to him, the Fencer Asuna. Someone who, despite looking a little inexperienced in games, can use sword skills faster than the system will recognize. Currently, it is trying to patch that, but it has proven quite difficult. When I establish my guild, I plan to recruit her as my vice commander. Hopefully, she will oblige.

Now, the player I currently have the highest need for is Dark Flame, or simply Flame. In terms of level, he is the strongest standing player in the game. Asuna in terms of speed is nothing to scoff at but this single player is faster than the boss of the 5th floor.

Lastly, a player that still logged into SAO several days after launch.

Suddenly a line of code surfaced on the screen with Flame.

"Cardinal?" I called behind me.

A robotic female voice responded. "Yes, sir?"

"What is with this code?" I asked, pointing towards the screen.

"As you requested I have started preparing the extra skills, the Player: Flame had over-leveled and a defective Nerve Gear. So he requires extra patching"

"Hmm." I rubbed my chin. I might have to form my guild earlier than expected. Maybe giving it the ability and freedom to make balancing changes to the game, as well as create and publish new content, wasn't the best move. But nevertheless it worked. It was unexpected, but not unwelcome. "I see, if you see it reasonably, create more content. Next time inform me of anything before you publish it. Is there any other patches I should know about?"

"I have added the ability to tame familiars. There is a 0.07% chance for tamable creatures to spawn in any area, but to be tamed, they must be befriended by a player. I applied this feature after hearing several complaints about more rare content and more in-depth player to NPC interaction, inspired by the Dark Elf Creature named Kizmel."

"I like it." I pulled one of the floating screens closer to my face as I leaned forward and started typing. "How is Project Birthright coming along?"

"We are currently at 34% synchronization. Would you like me to lower the production rate for its progress?"

"Yes. The Unique Skills have the highest priority, I need them before I enter the fray. What is the progress on the skills?"

"We are standing at 28%"

"Increase the development speed by 50%, slow down Birthright and throw in a scan on Kizmel's data."

I felt a grin grow on my face. Contrary to what several others may assume, I don't plan to torture or mindlessly kill my players. I want to advance the digital world, this was simply a test, by me taking this one step, everyone knows what's possible. I'm creating the foundation for all virtual reality to come.

But because this is a test, that doesn't mean I would enjoy what I see. The line between hero and villain is already blurred beyond recognition. Soon, I will be another face among these players, the one they hate the most.

But I must wait, I need my unique skills before I jump in, there is no telling what my Cardinal may create.

"Cardinal, one last thing."

"Yes sir?"

"I want you to add in a sword skill into the third unique skill, make it special. I'll handle the adjustments."

"What should it be called?"

"Call it...Heart Seeker."

"Affirmative."

Soon, I will be ready. I should come in around floor 5, which is perfect. The handicap Cardinal put on Flame ends around then. Soon I can proudly say:

Heathcliff

Heathcliff

Heathcliff

It's showtime!