It was supposed to be just a normal day.
Log in.
Play for several hours.
Log back out and get ready for my next concert in the new stadium they recently built.
I did not expect this.
Sunday, November 3, 2030.
1140.
Studio One, Phoenix Entertainment Inc.
Ginza District, Chūō City, Tokyo.
Despite it being a Sunday, the studio was bustling with life.
She was currently occupying one of four studios that were part of Phoenix Entertainment Inc, the recording company that presently has an exclusive contract with the girl to release her music; as Japan’s #1 junior idol, this exclusive contract has many other companies lamenting their inability to catch the idol for themselves. Simply denoted as “Studio One”, it was within this building where the recording booth Ayanami Shiratsuyu always used to sing was located. She had been singing for three years after her incredibly successful breakthrough and it had merely been a few days since she celebrated her twelfth birthday.
In front of her was the microphone she had always used to convey the mellow sound of her voice. Thanks to the hard work of the technicians on the other side of the glass window of the recording booth, Ayanami was allowed the pleasure of hearing the final piece of today’s recording session: a song in the electronic dance music genre of slap house which frankly, was out of her usual genre of expertise. Next to her was her fellow idol, a quaint young girl with locks the shade of beige and irides that were not quite the same shade as her own (it was, however, close enough in color that from afar [for example, the technicians in the room adjacent to the recording room], they would be mistaken as the same hue) named Nijika Karatachi. She was an aspiring idol two years her senior and it was on the judgment of her manager, a man named Itsuki Taniguchi, that Nijika would debut through a collaborative piece with the great Ayanami Shiratsuyu, a well-known child idol who debuted two years prior to this date. She sighed as she turned to Ayanami and bowed to her, “Th-Thank you for taking the time to help me! It means a lot to me!”
Ayanami was unsure what to feel about a girl older than her bowing her head with the utmost respect. Instead, she responded by also stammering. “Li-Lift up your head, please, Karatachi-senpai! Don’t bow to me, I’m your junior in age!”
“Even so, I must respectfully decline and lower my head,” she replied. “With this, I will be able to help my family in our dire time of need. Also, please, drop the ‘Senpai!’ I know I am older than you but I am far behind in terms of the required experience in this field! That is why I will call you by that title and that is non-negotiable!”
“Urk…”
Ayanami gave up.
It was always like this.
During public handshake events, people simply cannot stop the urge to bow to her when she takes their offered hand.
It was not like she disliked being treated like this, far from it; it was simply a matter of she hated being shown a level of respect that she believes she has not yet earned. The extreme obsession and endearment she feels from some of the fans she meets honestly spooks her. She had always insisted that people who are older than her not bow to her and instead, look her straight in the eyes, however, many people would refuse this very simple request as they believed that she was far too dazzling to look at directly, something that greatly irks her.
She shook her head as she cleared those thoughts out of her mind. She turned towards a man standing in the room adjacent to the recording room, compiling the music they had made. “How does it look, Producer?”
The man, twenty-three-year-old Itsuki Taniguchi, excitedly played with the bridge of his glasses. “Miss Shiratsuyu, Miss Karatachi, this is just the perfect song! I didn’t expect a change from your usual music forte would make such a promising jam! I promise you, this will steal the number one spot once it is fully released! Miss Karatachi, I am now sure that you will be sent into stardom!”
Itsuki went and opened the partition door that separated their recording room from the room where the girls were while Nijika reddened at the compliment. “I-I’m just glad that I now have a way to make money to help my parents…”
Ayanami looked sideways at Nijika, internally questioning why she was so shy at times before going through the partition door. “Is there anything else that I am scheduled to do today?”
Itsuki fixed his glasses again and scanned the screen of the tablet he held in hand. “Hmm… ” he insisted. “No, ma’am, your schedule is free until tomorrow at 1040. You have the rest of the day off. Oh, right. You told me to remind you that the official service of that game you wanted to play will begin today.”
Ayanami’s two-toned eyes lit up gleefully. “Yes!” she exclaimed. “You have no idea how many people gathered in Akihabara for the hard copies four days ago for the sale of those same copies which were only released just yesterday! Producer, please, you must accompany me!”
The man winced as if his next sentence would be painful to say. “Yeah… About that, I’m afraid I’ll have to respectfully decline. You know how busy I am as the manager of the Ayanami Shiratsuyu.”
Ayanami rolled her eyes as she mentally reviewed the numbers concerning recent sales of her debut in a gravure magazine. “People these days… Give them pictures of a cute girl and they go wild.”
“I mean, you can’t deny that you’re exceedingly beautiful for your age,” he shrugged. He then added, all the while, smiling wryly, “Let’s just hope they actually pay attention to your age. It would hurt my conscience if they, uh… let’s say, committed a felony while worshipping you.”
“U-Um…” Nijika stammered, interrupting the conversation. “Shiratsuyu-sama, are you interested in Sword Art Online as well?”
Ayanami was angered by the additional unnecessary honorific and was about to lash out until Nijika mentioned Sword Art Online. Dropping her conversation with her manager, she wheeled on the redhead. “You have a copy of SAO too?”
“Ye-Yes…”
“Oh my gods, yes!” Ayanami exclaimed, momentarily forgetting about her anger concerning the honorific attached to her. She turned towards Itsuki and said, “Well, since this is my last job, I’m off to the hotel! Karatachi-senpai, you simply must come to the hotel with me!”
“Shiratsuyu-sama, please don’t call me ‘-senpai’…” she groaned.
Ayanami shrugged, wagging her finger, “Don’t call me ‘-sama’ and we’ll be even.”
“A-Alright…” she stammered. “Also, mine is a digital copy that I got when it was released on the thirty-first…”
Ayanami nodded as her eyes lit up before she took the girl’s arm and waved goodbye to her manager. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Producer!” As they skipped out the door, Ayanami added, “Really!? Hah, I got the better version then! I have a physical copy!”
“Have fun, ladies!” the manager yelled at their backs as their voices receded down the hallway. He then turned back to his tablet, muttering excitedly about the newest hit single of Ayanami Shiratsuyu, a collaborative work done with a singer named Nijika Karatachi that debuted through this single. It was probably irrelevant but in his excitement, the man whispered the name of the song: ‘Whirlpool.’
»»————- ♡♡♡♡♡♡ ————-««
1255
Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills, Toranomon, Minato Ward, Tokyo.
“Lunch directly before playing a game for several hours sounds like a good idea,” Ayanami sighed as she wiped her mouth with her napkin and patted her stomach, happily enjoying the first full meal she’s had in a while (due to the nature of her job, she is rarely allowed to eat full meals to prevent skewing her body proportions).
After leaving the studio, the two idols were escorted by security guards to their personal chauffeur in an elaborately decorated limousine. Ayanami had always complained that the vehicles she is driven in are too embellished, however, exactly none of her requests of downgrading the vehicles were heeded. This was partly because of her job as a junior idol as well as being the daughter of parents who are exceedingly high-profile: her father is a military officer who carries the rank of Colonel in the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (or JGDSF) and her mother is the founder and owner of Suzutsuki Dresses Inc., a world-renowned fashion company, as well as a retired actress. On top of having these two incredibly influential parents, her grandfather, Koutarou Shiratsuyu, is the incumbent Chief of Staff, Joint Staff of the entire Japanese Self-Defense Force. To say that Ayanami came from a military family would be an understatement considering the many decorations her father and grandfather have earned over the years of their service.
Ayanami, as their sole daughter, more or less has one or two bodyguards attached to her at all times in order to keep her safe; while she is attending a concert or other big event relating to her job, the number of bodyguards is increased. Currently, her three bodyguards were seated and dining at different tables spread throughout the high-class restaurant known as the Tavern within the Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills, the five-star hotel in which Itsuki had booked for Ayanami and her friend to stay in so they have a resting place for whenever they finish their tour. The two girls had entered the restaurant with the intention of just grabbing a quick meal but they were handily seduced by the head chef to engorge themselves on a full-course meal.
“Indeed…” Nijika replied after she too wiped her mouth and placed down her silverware. “Should we go up to our suite now?”
“Yeah, SAO’s servers are supposed to be up in around thirty minutes,” Ayanami nodded. They both got up from their seats in the dining room of the hotel and marched out. Before leaving, she yelled, “Thank you for taking care of me all the time, Yamaguchi-sensei! The food was fantastic.”
From the kitchen came a reply, “Anytime, Aya-tan! … And hey, wait a minute! Didn’t I tell you to drop the ‘-sensei’!?”
Ayanami giggled as she glanced at the hostess who snickered back. She then took Nijika by her hand and skipped towards the elevator lobby. Nijika punched the ‘UP’ key with her finger and the button lit up, imploring for an elevator car to come and transport them up to the forty-ninth floor. Upon climbing into the elevator, Ayanami asked, “Have you decided on what changes to make to your avatar?”
“Hmm… I’ve always wanted red hair,” Nijika said thoughtfully.
“Red hair?” Ayanami asked. “That’s beautiful! I prefer blue hair though.”
“Blue hair is also nice…” Nijika nodded. She then put her hand to her face thoughtfully. “You’ll disguise yourself, right?”
“Of course!” she huffed indignantly. “Unlike what the popular opinion seems to imply, I personally hate receiving too much attention when I’m off the job. It just irks me to be at the center of so many indiscriminate stares who aren’t doing it to enjoy my music.”
“I-I see…” Nijika’s next thought was interrupted by the sound of the pleasant ‘ding’ that indicated that a car had arrived. The elevator doors swung open and the girls walked inside as they were strangely competitive about rather inconsequential things. Ayanami slammed the button for their floor before silently pumping her fist in triumph. Nijika giggled as she too climbed into the elevator. So Shiratsuyu-sama can act like her age… I honestly think she’s forcing herself to mature far too fast.
The elevator ride up was quite relaxing, especially with the truly soothing pieces of classical music. Ayanami listened to the soft piano soliloquy and deduced that it was either one of Beethoven’s pieces or an elegy by Mozart. Once the doors opened, the girls walked out of the elevator into an empty hallway where they raced by fast-walking (as running would be rather rude and the sounds of their feet would disturb any guests on the lower floors) to the front door of their suite.
Ayanami took out the key card from her pocket, tapped it against the door sensor, and yanked it open. Upon entering the suite, she remarked, “I’ve been living in this hotel for two days already and I still can’t believe how luxurious it is.”
“I agree…” Nijika muttered. She went over to one of the two curved couches which were next to two small tables that were each burdened by the weight of two large computers. Of course, since there were two players, two machines were required. “You want to trade couches?” Nijika was referring to the fact that Ayanami was going to use the couch closest to the window where the sun would shine in.
“Hmm. We could just close the blinds…”
“Oh, yeah… Good point.” She reached up to all of the windows and gently closed the blinds before hitting the light switch as the blinds completely blocked out the sun. She then asks, “Do you want the lights on or off?”
“I prefer the lights off.”
“Okay, I just wanted to make sure.” She flipped the switch off again before, following Ayanami’s example, grabbing the blanket from their king-sized bed and throwing it onto the couch, however, she didn’t immediately go under the blankets.
“Hurry up, Nijika!” Ayanami said, “I’m going to log in before you!”
“Yeah, yeah, sorry, just going to wash my hands.”
Ayanami sighed as she watched Nijika run to the bathroom; she thought that it would be more efficient to play the game for a few hours then clean up all at once. People certainly did have different thought processes. Either way, Ayanami shrugged to herself, slapped on the «NerveLinker» device over her white crown, and laid back against the couch, snuggling under her blanket and staring at the clock on the internal display.
The time displayed 1259.
Nijika finished washing her hands and rushed to the sofa, grumbling under her breath at how incorrigibly enthusiastic Ayanami was about this, before donning her own device just in time. In one voice, the girls stated, “«Link Start»!”
The next instant after she uttered those two words, a flash of white light blinded Ayanami and in the following instant, an array of different-colored columns shot in her direction, generating the illusion that she was traveling through a bright corridor that leads her into the virtual realm; as she had already dove multiple times before, this was a very nostalgic experience for her.
Following this, a group of circles with the names of the five senses appeared in her vision. The first two being checked and cleared was touch and sight followed by the rest being checked and cleared, corresponding to the other three senses of hearing, smell, and taste. The circles then moved to her right before turning all green and assembling into a column. The first, third, and fifth circles left her vision through her left while the remaining two went right before finally, a window displaying the language the game is played in appeared.
The language display screen changed into a login screen and using her mind, she entered her credentials she had previously used when she used this very device to participate in the Sword Art Online Closed Beta back in July. The information was subsequently processed and a new window titled «Character Creation» appeared. This time, the infobox beneath that stated: «You have character data from the beta test. Would you like to load it?» Internally smiling, Ayanami directed the answer to «yes» before the screen grayed just a tiny bit. Then suddenly, the black-inked phrase, «Welcome to Sword Art Online!» flashed in her vision before another bright light engulfed everything.
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The next time she opened her eyes, she found herself looking at the ground, specifically, at paved cobblestone. She blinked a few times before attempting to move her arms and they did. Her appendages entered her line of vision as she smiled. “Yes… I’m in this world now.” She stretched and declared, “It’s good to be back!” Her voice was loud enough to garner some curious looks from other players who had also just logged in, manifesting out of a blue pillar of light. While she wanted to immediately run out to the fields to refresh her senses, she chose to remain behind and kept looking at the appearing players, waiting for a girl with crimson hair to appear. However, after several minutes, she still has yet to appear. Raising an eyebrow, Ayanami assumed that she had appeared before her and went exploring on her own. Sighing, she wheeled around and began walking through the «Town of Beginnings», what one would call the “starter town”. She was, of course, looking for the girl with crimson hair, however, she was also searching for a fellow beta tester… and the boy she loved.
Fortunatelyーor well, just slightly unfortunately, she found the former first. Nijikaーthe little rascalーwas already in the main bazaar, browsing the streets for items (which of course, can’t be paid for yet due to no playing having any money yet). “Rain!” she called.
The now red-haired girl turned to face her. “Are you Shira-, I mean, Shi-chan?” As she asked to properly identify the person she was speaking with, she corrected her slip of the tongue as they had previously agreed on using the nickname ‘Shi-chan’ in-game; this was to serve the purpose of hiding Ayanami’s identity as she worried that there would be some beta testers who would recognize her if her name was called out (ignoring the fact that she was wandering around town using the same avatar she had for the beta test).
“Yeah,” Ayanami replied. “We should probably go and hit the field area. There’s a beta tester that I’m particularly interested in and want to meet. I’m sure he would go visit the fields first like a true gamer.” … Besides, Kirito would recognize me right away if I went to the fields.
“Let me guess…” Nijika said as she scrutinized Ayanami’s expression which was just ever so slightly reddening. “Is it that boy named Kirito?”
Ayanami blinked several times. “How did you know?”
“Because I’m also relatively interested in him,” Nijika replied. “Well, part of the reason for that is because you seemed to be so interested in him…”
“Eh?”
“You really shouldn’t make the PIN for your personal devices your birth year,” Nijika smirked as she wagged her finger.
“Wa-Wait, you opened my computer!?”
Nijika immediately took off running as she recounted from memory, “Your search history was full of looking up Twitter for several-month-old tweets concerning the SAO Closed Beta and after digging deeper… You were his partner-in-crime as you both spearheaded the vanguard during the Closed Beta, leading the players up to the tenth floor before it ended.”
“Argh…” Ayanami groaned as she chased after Nijika the second she took off. She sighed and mentally scolded herself to change the PIN when she logs out for the day. She then looked past Nijika’s red hair and spotted the boy she was searching for. His hair… size… Yes, everything matches. That is Kirito. “Come, Nijika, I’ve spotted him.” Ayanami grasped her hand and bolted towards the boy. She called out, “Hey! Kirito!”
The boy froze as he turned around, looking at the girl who had just addressed him. His eyes then lit up. “Oh! Shiranami-san? How long has it been?”
“It hasn’t been that long… We last saw each other on the last day of the Closed Beta on August 31.”
“Pfft. Yeah, three months isn’t really that much of a time gap… after all, the second semester had already begun.”
“Aha… I can’t say that I don’t sympathize with you. In any case, this is my friend, Rain.” Ayanami waved her hand at Nijika before continuing, “It wouldn’t be fun for me to teach her myself so how about you and I team up again for old times and show the newbie some tricks?”
Kirito raised his eyebrows. “Why should I join you? I mean, you were indeed my partner in the Closed Beta; I’m sure you can do a great job yourself.”
“Oh, come on, Kirito, pleeeease?” Ayanami put her hands together and begged him.
Kirito couldn’t help but feel ever so slightly guilty but he still responded with, “Again, can’t you just do it yourself?”
“Okay, fine, look at it this way: it would be more efficient and safer if she had two professional opinions to refer to whenever she strikes out on her own.”
The boy sighed as he turned sideways, crossing his arms. He closed his eyes and replied, opening just one and looking out of his peripheral vision, “I guess there’s no talking my way out of this, huh?”
“Indeed,” Ayanami replied.
The boy quietly rolled his eyes in resignation and said, “Alright, fine. Follow me.”
The group of three was about to run down the alley towards the «West Field» when someone yelled, “Hey, wait!” Ayanami turned around to find an adult (he looked to be around twenty years of age) with spiky red hair like Nijika’s but a more unruly shade, specific to that of males. He stopped, resting his hands on his knees as he tried catching his breath. “You… You guys seem to know your way around… Are you guys beta testers?”
Nijika shook her head and pointed towards Kirito. “Yes, minus myself. I’m the only person in this group who isn’t a beta tester. We were just in the middle of a discussion concerning the formation of a party.”
“Co-Cool!” he said, still short of breath. “Can I be included? I’m also new.”
Both girls looked at Kirito who was starting to make a face as if he was a cornered lion. He sighed hugely before shrugging. “Fine.”
“Thanks a lot!” the man replied happily. “I’m Klein, by the way. What about you guys?”
“I go by Shiranami,” Ayanami replied.
“Rain,” Nijika added.
“I’m Kirito,” Kirito finalized. “Now, come on, we have just about the whole day to burn!”
Ayanami, Nijika, and Klein nodded as Kirito turned around and ran in the direction of the main gate, followed by his party.
»»————- ♡♡♡♡♡♡ ————-««
1338
Floor 1.
«West Field».
“Alright, you newbies!” Kirito declared. “First thing you need to know is how to use what’s called a «Sword Skill». Using normal attacks is fine but Sword Skills deal more damage with the drawback of catching you in a so-called «post-motion delay».”
Ayanami wasn’t listening as she was already well-experienced. Hefting her sword, she charged the boar-type monster in front of her and unleashed «Slant», one of the starting Sword Skills, killing it instantly. She then turned her head around as her body was locked in a short post-motion delay and quipped, her voice simply drooling with smugness, “I’m sorry, what’d you say?”
This cheeky brat… Kirito thought to himself as he strained to keep a smile on his face. “We-Well… That was quite the perfect execution of «Slant»…”
Ayanami shrugged. “Well, I’ve been here before. My body just remembers how to do it.”
“Ye-Yeah, true…”
Nijika had also executed «Slant», a bit further away on another boar-type monster albeit she struggled a few times, having failed to take the proper pre-motion stance until her third try. On the other hand, the man who identified himself as Klein was still dumbfounded about the task given to him. “I still don’t get it… You girls are amazing…”
“I mean, I’ve played video games before. I’m actually quite good,” Ayanami said as she shrugged again, this time a bit more exaggerated and (pointedly) forgetting the fact that she was holding a sword. The blade in hand rose up and nearly impaled Klein.
He hissed, “Excuse me, lady! Watch where you point that blade!”
“Oh, sorry.”
“Then why did you ask me to tutor you if you already knew the basics?” Kirito interrupted, still slightly annoyed at Ayanami’s execution of «Slant».
“I just wanted you to help me get used to the virtual world again since my job as an idol would place great restrictions on my freetime that I would normally be using for VR following the Closed Beta,” she answered. She turned to Nijika and added, “Right, Rain?”
It should be mentioned that the previous statement was completely and entirely ad-libbed; it was a lie through and through. Rain, however, played along. “Yeah, what she said.”
Kirito rubbed his forehead with his palm as he sighed hugely. “Well whatever… Anyway, what time is it…?” He opened his menu and looked at the time. “Hmm… 1340. Do any of you guys have any plans that need attention?”
““Not at all,”” Nijika and Ayanami replied at the same time.
“Me neither,” Klein added.
“Cool,” Kazuto nodded. “We can spend the rest of the day grinding then. I imagine we can reach level five by the end of the day…”
“Four hours of grinding?” Ayanami grinned. “Count us in.”
»»————- ♡♡♡♡♡♡ ————-««
1725.
All four of them collapsed against the ground.
It had been almost four hours ever since the group of two boys and girls had begun their sojourn in the fields outside of the Town of Beginnings. They had been running around the grass, searching for monsters to defeat for experience and loot. The first to collapse flat on his back was Klein, however, it was Kirito who was still on his feet and who broke the silence by groaning, “Phew… I forget how tiring VR is at times…”
“Hoh?” Ayanami wondered, although she wasn’t in much better shape herself, continuing to jab at him. “I thought you were a beta tester? Shouldn’t you be used to this already?”
“Well, I mean, it’s basically simulating real life,” he shrugged. “I’m pretty sure fatigue would also be replicated… Hey, wait a minute, you’re a beta tester too!”
The girl’s only reply was, “Tee-hee~!”
“VR is just so taxing…” Klein moaned, proving himself to be unable to read the room. “Like seriously, I’m glad this is VR. If I did this much exercise in real life, I would be drenched in sweat to the point where I legitimately stink like rotten seaweed.”
Nijika wrinkled her nose and tried to keep her words as soft as possible. “Now, I believe that comparison was unnecessary to the conversation, Klein-san…”
“So-Sorry…”
Kirito laughed. “Man, you seriously suck at making conversation!”
Klein’s face reddened. “No-Not like you could do any better!”
Shrugging in reply, Kirito quipped, “Well… Not exactly. I have this annoying cousin at home so I have experience.”
Ayanami raised an eyebrow. “Oh-ho?”
“Though, I’m unsure if having my cousin as a conversation partner to practice counts as ‘experience’.”
Ayanami nodded thoughtfully. “I’m sure it counts… although, the difficulty in having a conversation with a family member and a stranger would be quite disparate.”
“An-Anyways…” Klein announced. “I’m starting to get hungry. I had ordered a pizza and some ginger ale that’s supposed to arrive around this time. I think I’m going to call it a day here.”
“Dude, are you serious?” Kirito asked incredulously. “Like, come on! Might as well play until night!”
“I’m not like you ‘pro gamers’ who can ignore their bodily functions so easily!” Klein retorted. He stood up and dusted off his jeans. “Anyways, I’m calling it a night. Later, guys.”
Left with no choice, Kirito waved. “Yeah, later, Klein.”
Ayanami added, “I’ll probably stay on for a while longer. What about you, Rain?”
“I’m also going to stay for a bit longer.”
Kirito waved good-bye. “Alright then, you girls have fun. I also have a previous engagement with my cousin I have to attend to or I’d face the anger of my aunt.”
Before Ayanami could question Kirito, Klein asked, “Hey, Kirito… Where’s the logout button?”
“What?” he asked. “Seriously, you’re asking that?” Rolling his eyes, Kirito waved his right hand in the air, invoking the white menu to open. He scrolled through the main options of «Inventory/Equipment», «Friends/Guild», «Communications», and «Maps/Quests» before clicking on «Settings». “It should be right here…” His voice trailed off as the button that should’ve been the logout button was completely blank.
The Settings menu was supposed to have three options: «Options», which was used to make changes to anything about the player, «Help», which was used to contact a GM (a «game master»), and «Log Out». However, nothing was written there. “That’s weird.”
“A glitch?” Ayanami suggested.
“Probably,” Kirito agreed. “I’ll try calling a moderator.”
He then proceeded to fiddle with the menu while Ayanami and Nijika whispered between themselves. “If we can’t log out…” Nijika started.
“We won’t be able to make it to our concerts,” Ayanami concluded. “I’m honestly not sure what to feel about this.”
They were interrupted by Kirito’s announcement. “Nope, the contact system isn’t working either. What’s going oー”
He was cut off by the sudden manifestation of light coming from his body. The same light enveloped everyone else. “Forced teleportation?!” He managed before he disappeared from Ayanami’s vision; not long after, Ayanami herself was also blinded before vanishing as well.
»»————- ♡♡♡♡♡♡ ————-««
When she opened her eyes, she found herself back in the «Teleport Gate Plaza» of the «Town of Beginnings». Nijika appeared to her left while Kirito and Klein appeared to her right. “What theー” Kirito started.
“It looks like every other player was also forcefully transported here,” Ayanami concluded.
“What’s going on?” Klein asked.
“Maybe it has something to do with that?” Kirito said, pointing at something in the sky.
It was small and hard to spot but anyone with good vision would’ve been able to see it: a flattened red hexagon with the word “Warning” written inside. Suddenly, it multiplied like cancer cells, uncontrollably and infecting the sky with a deep crimson lattice.
Upon covering the sky, the lines which connected the polygons to each other begin to leak out a sanguine fluid. “What the…” Klein stuttered. “The sky is bleeding…” The red fluid settled into the vague figure of a humanoid before solidifying and taking the appearance of a shinigami.
It held its scythe up and spoke in a deep voice, “Hello and welcome to my creation. I am Akihiko Kayaba, the creator of «Sword Art Online». I have called you here to discuss the issue with the logout function.” Some of the players began to relax but that came far too early before the hooded figure continued, “I would like to inform you that the missing logout button is not a glitch. It is a function of this game, «Sword Art Online». You may not be able to log out.”
At that, people began to complain but they were silenced again by the reaper. “I would also like to inform you that I have already given information to the outside world about how I will conduct this game. Logging out is impossible and if someone attempts to log you out forcefully by removing your «NerveLinker», you will be killed as the device you are wearing unleashes a powerful burst of useless data with the intention of overloading your Fluctlight. However, people have ignored this announcement of mine in the real world and have already caused the death of 213 players.” The reaper was able to back up its claim by summoning numerous air windows, all of them reporting on the same thing: the deaths of said 213 players in an event universally dubbed as the «SAO Incident». “The only possible way to escape this game is to clear all one hundred floors of this floating castle, «Aincrad». In accordance with this, I shall also mention that I have not included the respawn function in this game either. This means that if you lose all your HP, your avatar will be deleted and at the same time, the «NerveLinker» will overload your Fluctlight.”
There was only stunned silence now; the players were just too surprised to form wordsーto even form any proper semblance of thought. A few others were able to recover but they too could also do nothing but stare at the reaper in shock. The reaper took the silence as the cue to finalize its speech: “That is all I have to say. However, I have left a certain present in your inventories. Please do enjoy.”
Suddenly, every single players’ menus opened and ejected a single handheld mirror. Most players failed to catch the mirror in time but they discovered that hitting the floor wasn’t enough to break it. Others, including Ayanami, were agile enough to take a hold of the mirror and were about to question what it was for when they were blinded for the third time that day with blue light. When the light cleared, the maroon prison that had swallowed the sky had disappeared along with the specter. Ayanami turned to her left and looked at Rain…
No.
She was real.
She looked like Nijika Karatachi.
“This… This isn’t good…” Ayanami muttered.
A female player turned around, utterly confused and her facial expression contorted in a way that indicated that she was about to cry out in fear. However, her turning of her body meant that she ended up spotting Ayanami. Her rising scream of alarm morphed into a squeal of adoration as she yelled, “Guys! Guys! It’s Ayanami Shiratsuyu! It’s the Ayanami Shiratsuyu!”
Everyone turned their heads and just like clockwork, waves propagated through the panicked crowd as more and more players sighted Ayanami. What should’ve been wails of fear turned into shouts of admiration, something that, in excessive amounts, greatly irritated Ayanami.
“Oh my gods, it is her!”
“No way… That Shiratsuyu is playing SAO?”
“She’s so young…”
“Well, she is a child idol…”
“I love her music!”
“Me too!”
Shiratsuyu?
Among the players who didn’t react as strongly as the others, stood a single male player, silently brooding to himself. Indeed, the name was familiar as the boy began scanning through his memories; while he prided himself in being more grounded than other boys his age, he still couldn’t help but find himself shocked speechless at that poltergeist’s declaration. Having recovered enough to fully process what the other players were screaming, he allowed himself to let his ears be filled with the name ‘Ayanami Shiratsuyu’. He himself enjoyed saying the name as he was what others would call a “crazed fan” of Ayanami Shiratsuyu. Akin to a wolf, he sharpened his senses and scanned the crowd in the direction he had heard the excited screams.
Unfortunately, he was unable to properly locate her so he forced himself into the crowd, shoving aside other players before finally catching a glimpse: a glimpse of the snow-white hair that he had so deeply fallen in love with. The near-transparent strands caught the rays of the setting sun just right to caress his vision with the soft hue of silver light and her two-colored eyes, one glittering purplish gold and the other glowing sky blue, pierced through the crowd gathered around her with a minor hint of exasperation in her gaze.
To this boy, Ayanami Shiratsuyu was and is his goddess.
His beloved was now within his reach; of course, this obsessive affection was entirely one-sided. The silver-haired saint would never return his affections for she ‘belonged to everyone’.
It doesn’t matter, he thought to himself. So long as I can watch and admire her from afar, that is enough for me. However, as he was just about to turn to leave, he noticed her slightly irritated glare soften as she laid her eyes on a single boy with black hair. Immediately, as someone who is very well acquainted with the mysteries of love, he could tell that the look she was giving that boy was a gaze of love. Just as quickly as he had acclimated himself to watching from afar, he discovered a visceral urge to unsheathe his sword and behead the boy receiving the saint’s love-filled stare bubbling in his heart. It was as if magma had made a home inside of him and was attempting to incinerate its way through his body.
… No, I mustn’t. If this had just remained a game, I would be able to act upon my rage but… that damned specter tricked us all. He calmed himself as he narrowed his eyes and observed the target of his affections…
Meanwhile, oblivious to it all, Ayanami put on her best work face (this annoyed her greatly because this was her off time and she never expected having to revert to a mindset used at her job) as she attempted to calm down the players. She looked at Kirito, pleading for assistance, however, the boy was too busy trying to process what was going on. His expression, a look of incredulousness as shown by his raised eyebrows, were as if he was inquiring, You’re Ayanami Shiratsuyu?
In response, Ayanami rolled her eyes as if she was saying, Who else did you think I was? A random schoolgirl?
On the other hand, Klein was slack-jawed. “O-Oh… Wow… This was a plot twist I did not see coming…” As he was, aside from Kirito, the closest person to her from the start, Klein was able to claim the first handshake from her. “I’ve been wanting to meet you! I didn’t expect us to meet here in this prison though…”
At that statement, the mood of the players once again swung the other way, the reality of their situation finally sinking in. As the players began to panic for the second time in three minutes, Kirito yelled, “Guys, it is now or never! All of the stuff here will be taken by the new people soon enough. We need to head to the next town, «Horunka». I’ll guide you. Are you in or out?”
Klein winced before shaking his head. “Yeah, I’m going to have to say no to that, man… I mean, considering that we are now trapped in a death game, I’m going to have to help my friends calm down and adapt. As much as I want to go with you, Kirito, my dude, I just can’t. I have an obligation to my friends who accompanied me.” He then turned around and waved at them, leaving them with the parting words, “Anyways, it was a fun first day. I hope we meet again though! Try not to die!”
Kirito returned the wave, nodding in sympathy and respect at Klein’s determination to help his friends before helping himself, before turning towards Ayanami and Nijika. “Well? What about you?”
“Please,” she begged. “Take us away. Anywhere away from the attention.” Nijika promptly nodded, giving her full approval to Ayanami’s decision.
“Fine,” the swordsman replied, a tiny grin emerging on his face. “Come on! We’re off to «Horunka»!” He turned around and bolted away into the sunset, not waiting for the girls to catch up. Ayanami and Nijika looked at each other and nodded and they both ran after the swordsman, chasing his footsteps.
The other male player who had been paying close attention to the exchange panicked, noting that this moment was the only opportune moment that he would have to be with Ayanami.
And so, he made the decision to chase after the girls who were themselves pursuing the swordsman in black.
He wanted to make sure that he could protect her from the shadows while at the same time, keeping an eye on the swordsman in black for the purpose of ensuring that he does not touch his goddess.