Skylah P.O.V

"Ight, so let me get this straight," I said as I placed my hands on the large white round table in front of me."Someone had enough balls-"

"Skylah! Save that language for later! These are government officials!" My dad stage whispered/hissed at me. "I get in enough trouble with them"

"Someone had the guts to attack a player's body in real life" I continued, giving my dad a look that said: There, you happy?

"That is correct." A man with black hair that seemed to obey gravity to an extreme degree, and plain glasses. That was Seijirou Kikuoka, the man in charge of all the victims of SAO, which are the players and their close ones.

"And now you're moving them here, at least the players fighting to clear the game," I said as my gaze landed on a device on the table.

"Yes, it's best to keep these important players alive, we currently were able to poke into the data enough to know their levels and stats, the higher the overall power of the player, the more secure they are. Not to mention the amount of effort they put into the clearing effort" He explained as he pushed up his glasses.

"And you're telling me, that even though this stupid VR game took away people we cared about, you expect us to trust that thing you want us to put on?" I asked as I glared at the small visor-like device on the table. The Aroma sphere/Amusphere, supposedly, was just like the Nerve gear but it can't emit microwaves capable of killing you, it's more secure, and it will log you out automatically if something seems wrong with your health.

"I assure you, this is perfectly safe-" Kikuoka started but stopped when I slammed my hands on the table.

"How the hell do you expect us to just take your word for it?! Around 10000 people had been told it was just a fucking video game and look where they are now!" I exclaimed before jabbing a finger at the device on the table. "Give me one good reason we should put that thing on!"

"We might have found a way to let you see your loved ones up close" Kikuoka replied, which made my face fall. "Full dive is not the problem, simply the game itself. We have managed to learn how to send someone in, but not all the way to risk them getting trapped. You will be able to see your loved ones, but that is as far as we could go, no interacting, no speaking, and no sound either"

I slummed down in my seat. "I-I see"

So these bastards have been trying. They haven't gotten far, but they still have made decent progress.

"The system protecting SAO's servers is too advanced, we can't touch it and not even the best America has to offer can't scratch it." Kikuoka sadly. "As a form of compensation in a way, we are providing all people with a loved one as a front liner in SAO a free Amusphere, along with a free copy of the game set to come out with it, ALfheim Online. The game draws from Norse mythology, much like how SAO draws from Medieval Europe. Now, if you do play, mind you this is a beta version until the official game is launched, the most you can do is learn a thing or two, much like any beta for a game."

I froze when he said that. Norse mythology? Jaden loved mythology. He gets borderline obsessed if he gets his hands on a good book based on myths.

Maybe it will be worth checking out.

"Now, we are close to getting actual video feeds on the players themselves, when they aren't in boss battles, so you can watch your loved one when they likely aren't fighting for their lives. These are only being let out to all of you because the person that links you to this is fighting on the front. These things will eventually become public, around the same time as ALfheim Online which will be in a few months." Kikuoka explained. "This is thanks to the kindness of Mr. Yuuki who also has his daughter trapped as well"

There was some light chatter among some families before Kikuoka smiled, trying to lighten the mood. "Enough of the heavy topics, another reason for us bringing you here is to connect with some people that relate with you, your loved ones are fighting for the lives of everyone in that death trap and I bet someone of you hasn't told everyone how you connect with some of these players on the screen. We do wish you keep some of these things private so all of this is the reason you were asked to sign papers confirming your confidentiality. Everyone here has a choice of letting everyone know who they are connected to, if you don't wish to reveal it please follow my men to the room to the left where you can visit them"

Around half of the people left while everyone started looking around as if they were comparing the faces of the people here with those in the videos.

"We do have stations, for the bigger guilds, solo players, and basic descriptions of some of the groups working together," Kikuoka said as parts of the table lit up.

I recalled my brother acted as a solo player, but he commonly worked with Kirito, Asuna, or that group without a name. I motioned for my dad to follow me and we moved to the glowing letters.

Solo

Suguha and her parents walked over with a light wave.

That's when Kikuoka walked over to us. "You are, as they go by in the game, Kirito and Flame's family?"

"Yeah," I said with a nod, while everyone else gave more 'proper' answers such as correct or yes.

"Well, I have something to tell you that you might not like," Kikuoka told us, looking grim.

I scoffed. "It can't be much worse than being trapped in a death game, what is it?"

"Your boys here are classified in their own social class, not a good one. Beaters" He explained.

"What did Jaden rock someone shi- Ouch! Watch your elbow Pops! Did Flame have someone get acquainted with his fist or something?"

"Not quite, as you saw, the players weren't happy with Kirito after the first boss fight, and they classified him as a beater, and he took the title without fuss. It combines what they think he is, Beta tester and cheater"

"I still don't get why he would step up for that. He is normally really withdrawn" Suguha said with a huff of frustration.

"You see, we still don't fully understand what the social norms are, but we do know that many players dislike the beta testers, be it they were withholding important information that could save some people, or they hogged all the powerful items to ensure their survival" Kikuoka explained with a bit of distaste. "Kirito took all of the heat, so to speak, so other beta testers wouldn't be singled out or be in any more danger than the game itself."

"So how did my brother get wrapped up in this?" I asked, he may be a chivalrous idiot, but he wouldn't simply take the heat with Kirito like an idiot.

"A player had offhandedly heard Flame say he was nearly as good as Kirito, and that player took it his way, and it exploded with Flame was confirmed to be a beta tester, a powerful player, and one of the few players on Kirito's level of skill"

I groaned. "He didn't know that until the second boss fight huh?"

"Yes, so he is more of a person of interest as it stands but it's only a matter of time before he is accused more solidly if he builds a streak. But as I was saying, the beaters are different than a small handful of beta testers that actually did these things."

I noted that he had said did but not do or does. Which is past tense...I don't want to dwell on those thoughts for too long.

"To be blunt, all greedy beta testers died. Flame is quite famous for constantly saving players from mobs and dangerous places, and Kirito advises new players if they ask"

Of course, that idiot spends his time like that. You can't convince me this isn't his thought process: What's this? My person in distress signal is going off! Into the deadly place I go!

I heard a noise behind me. I turned and saw a boy slightly older than me and a small girl, likely around the age of 8 or so.

"Umm hello..." The girl whispered as she hid behind the pants leg of the older guy. The guy was handsome, had dark blue eyes that you could easily get lost in, a nice face, and had that nice slightly messy, slightly neat black hair.

Yeah, not my type, but I know how to appreciate art.

The girl was the same, her hair was slightly longer, resting around her shoulders, and had those same mesmerizing eyes. Oh yeah, she's going to be a heartbreaker one day.

I snapped my fingers. "You guys must be related to that chick named Yua"

"You got us," The guys said with a laugh, a nice one that makes you want to laugh too. "I'm Yua's older brother. I'm Kenji and this is Shiki"

The now named Shiki poked her head out a little. "Hi..."

A family of beautiful children, that Yua chick was pretty cute and her siblings reflect that.

"Our parents were busy so they couldn't make it," Kenji said sheepishly. "But they made sure that we thank you, or more so your loved one, who I assume is your brother, for having Yua's back during that boss fight"

"Don't you worry about it, he's always been the type to do that, isn't that right Dad?" I said, now looking at my father.

He seemed to become a little embarrassed. Serves you right.

"Yeah, he gets it from his mother," My Dad said. "He sets his mind on random things and pushes through them. I'd say he has drive but he is normally very lazy."

"D-do you think I'll be able to thank him for saving my big sister?" Shiki asked in almost a whisper.

I leaned down to meet her eyes and patted her on the head. "Of course, my brother has always been stubborn, he won't let this game beat him"

To my surprise, I saw my teacher here.

"Mrs. Maiko?" I asked and she turned to me.

"Oh Skylah, Suguha. It's nice to see you again," She said with a smile.

"So, is your husband important?" I asked, genuinely curious.

She seemed a bit embarrassed. "Well you see...my husband goes by the name...Lind in SAO"

Lind? The mildly weird Roleplaying dude?

"He...switched up his attitude in SAO, before he was much more softs spoken" She explained. "An introvert of sorts"

Since he normally sounds like a roleplayer, I could almost see an image of him staring down at a woman trying to push herself onto him and he just goes, "Begone THOT!" and she is just blown back by the sheer force of his voice saying it. "A true man would never think about being disloyal to his wife!"

I shook my head to clear them of weird things like that. Before I know it, I'll see my brother stumbling around hurt and then start using the drunken fist completely sober like some Chad.

And don't get me started on Kirito, I just see him starting to lose in a fight and suddenly a pair of shades fall onto his face, and a glowing keyboard flashes into existence in front of him and he hits a few buttons and whatever is beating him gets deleted, then the words "Master Hackmer" slide over his body with him smirking like he just beat a god. Not to mention him just owing a shirt that said 'virginity rocks!'.

I mentally slapped myself. Bad Skylah! Bad!

"Well, it makes sense. It'd be pretty hard keeping your same attitude when you move over to a death game" Suguha said.

"Indeed, well I'll be off for now girls," Mrs. Maiko said with a small smile. "I have a few tests to grade, and I do hope you connect with a few people here"

She walked away and spoke to one of the big-looking guards before leaving.

"Hello, I believe you mentioned being related to Flame and Kirito as they are called?"

I turned, and Kikuoka was gone, and in his place was a...well off looking couple. The woman looked worried, but almost still had an air around her that said she didn't care all that much about being here. The man, however, had a warm smile on his face, and he seemed like he was soaking up every single detail he could.

"Hello, I'm Shouzou Yuuki and this is my wife Kyouko," He said extending his hand. I paused a bit. So on paper, he's the one keeping our family members alive.

My dad stepped up and took his hand. "Sommay Sayboune"

Shouzou raised an eyebrow. "I thought Flame's last name was Gushiken"

My dad let out an awkward chuckle. "Jaden has always been a gifted child. He didn't like me all that much and legally changed his and his sister's last names online"

And I thank him for it.

"I'm just glad he didn't change my name to anything less decent sounding"

A few chuckles were drawn but I for one voted my dad's name should have been changed to deadbeat bitch.

"Well, anyway, I'm Midori Kirigaya and this is my daughter Suguha" Mrs. Kirigaya explained as she also shook the man's hand.

"My daughter is Asuna, and she seems to work with your boys a lot, and quite well I see," Mr. Yuuki said.

"Yeah, Asuna is quite the capable lady," I said, trying not to look weird in front of these rich people. It'd be very strange for them to want to meet the people fighting alongside their daughter, only to get a rant about their daughter's greatness from a child watching her from the other side of a screen.

"Yes, we had high expectations for her, but never something like this would have been expected" Mr. Yuuki joked, drawing some light chuckles. "But Flame and Kirito are nothing to scoff at"

Pfft, those mid-level virgins can get out of Asuna's way for the best player of SAO to ever exist.

"Yeah, my boy has always loved video games and it seems to show," Mrs. Kirigaya said.

"One of Jaden's obsessions was video games, he was always trying to beat this one player when I came to see him," My dad said with a sigh.

"Kazuto became a bit of a shut-in around the age of ten," Suguha said softly. "We haven't interacted much since then"

"When Jaden gets obsessed with something, he gets obsessed, in a way I'd doubt its healthy. He had been trying to beat someone that normally goes by the gamer tag Kirito, which made me think they had a little bit of contact, and SAO was brought up, leading them to play the game together"

"Man, it must be cool being related to the 3 players regarded as the strongest," Kenji said with a sigh.

A sour look crossed over Kyouko Yuuki's face. Oh, sore subject huh? Well, she got a pretty strong resting bitch face so I don't mind her being a bit upset.

I looked at the device. "Well, we should get going. I want to test out and see what my brother loved about this 'Full dive' world so much. You want in Sugu?"

She hesitated before giving a firm nod. "Y-yeah. We should do some research too, so we know what to go for."

After around 3 hours, Suguha and I finished our homework and did some research.

So we couldn't learn what the different races were early, we kinda had to test our luck on that, but we had agreed to try and get set up. And then once we both logged out to plan a meeting or something.

I placed my phone next to me. "Ready Suguha?"

"I-I'm ready," She said hesitantly.

I lay in my bed, as my brother had done around a month ago. For comfort reasons, I was wearing some old hand-me-downs from my brother. Were they ugly, boyish, and used to make my skin crawl a little at the thought of him even looking at them? Yes.

But are they comfortable as fuck? Hell yes.

I hung up the phone and sat up to place the small headgear on.

According to the instructions, to start it up, I have to say link start.

Once I was comfortable once again, I spoke as clearly as my brother did. "Link Start!"

A large white area covered my eyes and flashes of various colors shot past my eyes while strange robotic sounds rang in my ears.

A box floated up to me, and several others materialized before me.

Sight

Touch

Hearing

Taste

Smell

A small green circle filled itself in with each of the words and the boxes vanished.

Language- Japanese

[Welcome to ALfheim Online]

"Welcome to ALfheim Online," a female, but distinctively robot voice greeted me cheerfully.

Now, the colors, and I think my movement had stopped. I was in the center of a swirl of orange, teal, and black.

A transparent teal keyboard formed in front of me. It had two buttons, one blue one with an M and a pink one with an F.

"Please select your preferred gender and the name you wish to be identified as"

I stupidly thought.'What about gender-neutral people? Or gender fluid? Trans?'

I shook my head and pushed the pink F, and the keyboard changed to a normal one. I thought about it for a minute. Fantasy. I like the idea of magic.

[Enchantra - F]

I noticed a confirm button and hit it.

"There are nine races of fairies to choose from, "That robot voice said from nowhere."Please select the race you wish to play as."

A scrolling menu replaced the keyboard and the silhouettes of some winged people. The first one was large, and the color placed around the outline was brown. Nope. I swiped left. Something with the tail of a cat and ears. Color, yellow. Nope, this ain't some anime, no catgirl/fairy fanservice this early. Now a fairy that had a hood and black light. Nah, I ain't emo enough to pull that off. Let Kirito or Flame take that one any day. Now a bigger fairy, but not as big as the first. It had a red light.

I take back what I said, this one is for 'Flame'. Not my style either, likely related to fire.

Next was a fairy with mechanical-looking wings. This time with a silver light. Interesting, but once again, not my style. Next was a fairy bathed in a golden light, and I could see a harp on their hip. Music? I like it as much as the next gal but I don't want to play a video game with it being my power. Next was a fairly standard-looking one, but this time with a green light. Nah, it might be fast or something. Likely it leans into forests or something and that sounds lame. Next was a small one, but it had a purple light. Something about this one doesn't seem all that...goody two shoe-ish. I skipped that and came to the last one. For this one, I could see that it had something to do with water. The blue light was a dead giveaway of its...aquatic nature.

Why the fuck not?

I clicked on it and the voice started speaking again.

"You have selected Undine," the voice said, almost sounding judgy. "Your character's appearance will be generated at random. Do you wish to continue?" It asked me that, but there was no confirmation button.

Wait a damn minute...Something about this is a tad sus. The room started to shine, so I shut my eyes. "Good luck player"

Uh, thanks, I guess?

I felt what I guessed to be the feeling of wind rushing against my face.

My eyes shot open. It felt peaceful enough until you realize wind rushing against your face normally isn't a good thing.

Yeah, this was no expectation. I was falling from the sky.

"HOLY FUUUUUUUUCK" I screamed as I fell, limbs flailing wildly as I wondered how much the fall will hurt.

Then I noticed where I was falling. A large and busy-looking city by the sea. Well, I say by the sea, but it was on an island in the middle of a lake(that was amazingly shaped like a crescent) that reached the ocean. It was connected to the rest of the land through a large cobblestone bridge. The city almost resembled a castle, the way the buildings were built so closely and largely, but in the center stood a single tower above them all.

Even though this fall is going to hurt like hell, I can't help but think that it looks beautiful. Full dive huh? This is so realistic.

I fell for like, what felt to be 30 years but more realistic and more patient standards that translated for like 10 minutes.

Right before I hit the ground, something sprouted from my freaking back and slowed my fall, and vanished when I reached the ground safely.

Damn! Were those my wings?! Awesome!

The players around milled around, doing their own thing, and a few made a few comments about me, mostly talking about me being a new player.

I looked at myself, almost expecting my hand-my-downs, but was greeted with something blue.

Interesting.

I looked around and saw what I thought to be a restaurant and noticed some around 6-feet tall mirrors by it. Makes sense, this place is a spawn point that randomizes your avatar, good to have some mirrors on hand to know what you're working with. I walked over to one, ignoring the other players checking themselves out. I let out a low whistle at my new look.

My face was the same, which was a tad disappointing and my beautiful(at least other people call it that) long black hair was replaced with a dark blue, minus a small bit closest to my face on either side which was a light blue. It complimented my slightly brown, almost tan skin. My face was altered slightly. My eyes, which were a perfect shade of amber, were now pale...periwinkle?

In terms of my outfit, I now had a dress on. The skirt of the dress itself was a pale blue and ended at my knees, unlike some of the more frilly dresses of some of the others, mine was flat and had a small splash of a much darker blue here and there. On my hands, I had dark blue gloves, the same color as the splashes on my skirt, and they were surprisingly fingerless. The top portion of the dress was where a swirl of 3 different blues was, but the main colors were once again that dark blue and pale blue. The most notable thing was the slightly poofed-up sleeves.

Now, I also had a chest plate on, very lightweight, and it was a pale blue to match with my outfit, and I had some dark blue boots that were a bit past my ankles but that was it. And the main change that I likely couldn't copy in real life without surgery was the pointed ears, something everyone had now. Well and the wings that sprout out of my back sometimes.

I froze. Pointed?

I once again had been reminded of that nightmare about my brother. In it, he lunged at me and tried to kill me. Sometimes he succeeded and ran a waved sword right through me and sometimes the dream ended before he managed to slice me into pieces.

It's just a nightmare, I might have been spending too much time on the internet, everyone was always talking about how he was going to be coated in red, not from his clothes, and how easily his sword could slash someone to pieces. But the ears and wings were harder to pinpoint their origin.

Yo, is this how the main characters feel when something they thought wasn't important might become something big because of the plot? I shook my head. Nah if I was the MC, I'd be stuck in the death game.

I looked around. Now, I have a month to learn how to play this game. Currently, levels don't exist in this. But they might change that one day. Everything is fairer that way but it's harder too. These avatars are limited by what our IRL (I feel like such a gamer for slipping that in there so casually) bodies can do, and skills needed practice to level them up. Unlike other games where you might be able to put points into the skill to level it up rather than grinding them.

I sighed. "I got my work cut out for me huh?"

I looked out to the distance, this place is amazing. Really, I could feel addiction coiling its tendrils around me. Being here, simply standing here, but not exactly being you from the real world is exhilarating. I can only wonder what combat, swimming, and flying must feel like.

Kayaba

.

I stared at the screen. "Cardinal, what exactly are you doing?"

'Due to the unlocking of the third floor, Players Flame, Asuna, and Kirito have started the Elf War Campaign'

"That doesn't explain the lines of red code surrounding Flame" I sighed. "Something like this could be unfair to the rest of the players"

'Activation of code will be prohibited until you are within the game to bring Player Flame within your guild.'

I paused. Something like this activating would be a problem, it's dangerous. But that element of danger could be the tipping point of getting Flame at the very least to join me. "Leave the code to me, I'll tweak it."

My, my. I might have to pull out the big guns when I give out the skills. If Flame remains the player contending for one of the unique skills, he might manage to take me out the second he realizes it. Flame had uncovered the beginning of a red guild, which is an insult to my game. Going off about 'playing the game as its creator intended', I almost want to delete them myself. If it was how I intended you to play the game, why do you get punished to any extent?

I was tempted to eliminate them, but they haven't done too much. Not enough for me to step in with drastic measures. I still care about these players. Mainly the front liners because they pour their heart and soul into beating my game. It may be because anything less would get them killed, but they still work hard. I'm a man of science, not a sadist.

"Cardinal, recall those small video feeds I told you to allow the government to get?"

'Yes sir.'

"Give them sound and the ability to touch things, but not for the players to feel them"

'Right away sir'

They should get the best mental care, for most people, mental health is important. Flame has been showing signs of dropping mental sanity, even though it may help me later in the game, risking a valuable piece like that after the game is beaten would be a waste of perfectly good talent.

The program Yui was currently running on several errors, which wasn't surprising considering I commanded it to not do its job(It would be counterproductive to have a game of this type and still have something to help with their mental health). I'd say it's only a matter of time before it destroys itself due to the errors.

Shame really, it was difficult to give it the ability to understand emotions to that level.

If Flame catches on to my identity, which I doubt he will but you never know, I might require countermeasures to be in place for that. I looked over the several players I now had been monitoring.

The late arrival, simply put, was bad news. He's a slippery one, Flame will need help finding him and killing him.

Asuna is still moving her sword with that blinding speed, and the system has to patch up whenever she levels up or her stats fluctuate in any manner.

Kirito was steadily growing stronger and stronger by the day, and I couldn't help but feel a bit of excitement fill my body when I thought about how powerful he should be by the time I fight him.

Flame as always, breaking normal limits. Oddly, for his next skill slot, he chose cooking, rather than the skill that would allow him to move even faster. I guess I should be grateful, considering the game constantly has issues registering his speed.

The skills were almost ready, and I was tempted to put more into them but there is no need to be hasty.

"Slowly the production rate of the skills by 25%, I want to prepare my avatar beforehand" I called out to my system.

'Consider it done sir'

I pulled up a new screen, and on there was a man with long white hair and a stern face. "Let's see, name, gender, and looks are set. Sign in player ID: Heathcliff!"

A blue light enveloped my body, and I grinned.

I was going to grind a little on my own because it wouldn't be fair if I modded my stats. I have some precautions set up so no one will see me until I'm ready, so I'm all set. Now, all I have to do is hope that the government was filled with bigger fools than I think for them to be.