The Apathy of a Gamer

The bells went off as the school day ended and the students and faculty were free to leave. One student in particular had already packed up his things and was already out the door.

Walking up to the school's front gates, he began standing at his usual spot, waiting for Suguha so they could walk home together. Today was a day when kendo club wouldn't be held, so she was sure to leave school to go home. After fifteen minutes of standing and watching faces walk by, not seeing the girl he was waiting for, he knew what had happened.

'So, I guess she went home without me again, huh?' Kazuto thought sadly. She had done this countless of times now, and each time hurt even more. Still, even if she wasn't going to come, he continued to wait for her. It was the least he could do for what he had done to her.

He had made her angry, and for good reason, too.

'I wish I knew how to make it up to her, but nothing I try works. Isn't there anything I can do?' He thought, a large frown making its way to his face. She had been avoiding him for nearly two entire months now. It felt so surreal, how the same girl he lived with could pretend he didn't even existed. She had never acted that way in the past. He never knew she would be the type to hold a grudge. 'But I don't have a right to criticize her.' Kazuto sighed. It was pointless to continue standing around.

The boy adjusted his bag and began treading back home with his mind being clouded with nothing but Suguha. He could barely even think about Sword Art Online, his new most favorite game. His guilt was starting to override his gaming addiction.

The beta test for Sword Art Online had ended almost two months ago and in a couple days, the official launch will be released to everyone who could get their hands on it. For some reason, the company Argus had decided to only create nine-thousand more copies to sell in stores. They said it was because they wanted to see how the game ran with ten-thousand players in it. Not because the server would lag or anything, but because they wanted to do a test with a smaller amount of people. Future copies of the game would be sold later, so if you wanted to play, you would have to get your copy now.

Kazuto was thankful he still had his copy of the game. He felt bad for the people who had to camp out weeks in advance to get their copy. He knew if he tried that, his aunt would stop him.

'Sugu...' Her name appeared in his head again. Kazuto quickly shook his head in frustration. Every time he thought about the game, or anything for that matter, a picture of Suguha would always pop up and remind him of his mistake, filling him with unquenchable guilt.

Flashback

---

"Hey Kazuto!" Suguha waved as she ran up to her older brother who was waiting for her at the front of their school. He was rapidly tapping his foot on the ground. SAO's beta test was still going on and he wanted nothing more than to play it. Every second counted, and she had been a few minutes late. "Are you excited to see me compete in the upcoming kendo tournament!?" Suguha looked up at him in excitement, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Kazuto looked bewildered. "Wait, what?" He said aloud, his impatience temporarily forgotten. He knew that last year, Suguha had made it to the nationals as a quarter-finalist. Nationals were only held every three years, so this tournament shouldn't be all that important. If he were honest, he had almost forgot she even competed in them. He barely interacted with her or his aunt anymore. He didn't even know how they spent their day, or if something important was planned, just like now. 'Time must have gotten ahead of me.' He thought, downhearted.

"You know, the tournament I've been telling you about all week? It's the same tournament you won when you were little!" Suguha responded to his confusion. Her face morphed into one of irritation. "You do remember your suppose to come watch me, don't you?" She asked, doubting him.

"O-Oh, uh, of course I remembered!" He didn't sound all that believable.

The girl gave him a grumpy look and adjusted the shinai case on her back. "Whatever, just don't miss it okay? I really want you to be there." She said, almost pleadingly. She wouldn't be all too worried about him showing up if he was also going with her and mom. She had to prepare for the tournament a few hours in advance before it actually started and her mom was coming along to help her. If Kazuto came with them, he would be bored out of his mind waiting around with nothing to do. She didn't want to put him through that, so he was suppose to come right before the tournament started on his bike.

But that's what had her worried. He played his game so much that he would always lose track of time. Their mom has had to come into his room multiple times and forcefully take the helmet off his head because he had played all the way up to three in the morning on a school night. She wanted to trust her brother, but she couldn't deny the doubt in her heart. Suguha looked at him with puppy eyes, a look that made him feel like putty. Kazuto coughed into his arm. "Yeah, of course. I won't miss it." He could easily tell this tournament was very important to her. Apparently it was the same tournament he had competed and won in all those years ago. She probably wanted to make him proud by also winning it. "What time is it again?"

"Its today at 7:00 p.m."

'Today at seven, huh?' Kazuto thought, before his eyes widened in realization. "Wait, Sugu! The beta's planned to hit the eighth floor boss today at five!" He shouted. There was no way he could miss out on that raid today. No one had expected they would find it before the beta test ended, but they did. They couldn't push it off anymore, or else they wouldn't get a chance to explore the ninth floor. Kazuto absolutely NEEDED to know what lied on the ninth floor. That way, he would be able to prepare and adapt for when the actual game came out.

"But can't you just schedule it for tomorrow?" She asked.

"No Sugu! We really can't wait any longer!" Kazuto began to get anxious.

"Come on Kazuto, please! I really don't want you to miss the tournament!" Suguha's voice started to crack.

"But Sugu-"

"What's more important!? That damn game!? Or me!?" Suguha cried out with tears brimming her eyes. A few students began looking in their direction. Kazuto looked around, beginning to feel embarrassed. He also was feeling surprised. He never had heard Suguha swear before, ever. He paused, thinking over his words. What should he choose? The game? Or her?

"Your right." He told her, making a decision. "I'm sorry. You're way more important than some game." His words were buried in his throat, but he forced them out. "I'll go."

A look of shock appeared on Suguha's face, before she suddenly hugged him. He felt her weight push into him, making him take a step back. Kazuto blushed, not knowing how to react in this situation. He couldn't remember the last time he had hugged someone. She let him go as a happy and relieved smile appeared on her face. She quickly wiped her eyes. "Thank you." Joy poured out of her words as she looked at him, a pink hue on her cheeks. The smile she was giving him made her look truly beautiful.

'Beautiful?' He asked himself. That word never crossed his mind when he thought of her before. Sure, he thought she was cute, in a younger sister sort of way. Now, she looked a lot different. 'I guess she is getting older.' He thought as his eyes threatened to droop down onto her chest. She was a year younger than he was, but she already had the breasts of an adult.

"I'm sorry that I yelled at you..." Suguha apologized. "And I'm sorry about your game. I know how much you care about it." She knew asking this of him was a lot. She was just glad she could convince him to come.

Kazuto shook his head. "No, I'm the one who should be sorry. I shouldn't have made a big deal about it." Even if she wasn't his real sister, she was still important to him. He didn't like seeing her upset, nor did he ever want to make her cry. He smiled at her. "Come on, let's go home. You got a big day, after all." He began walking away from the school.

She smiled back "Okay." She said, quickly following next to him. Suguha remained silent, but she was secretly overjoyed. 'He cares! He really does care about me more than his video games!' The big clutter in her stomach had finally disappeared. She finally knew how he really felt, even if he did play games all the time. 'Maybe this means we can spend more time together afterwards?' A tiny smile graced her face. Their relationship had taken a big step today. She was very hopeful for what would come in the future.

Meanwhile, Kazuto had something else in mind. '7.00 p.m... Boss raid is at 5:00 p.m... 3:25 now, takes about twenty minutes to walk home, and Sugu is suppose to leave a few hours before the tournament starts. Which means...' His eyes widened slightly. 'I still have time to fight the boss!' All he would have to do is budget his time correctly and he could fight the boss and make it to Sugu's tournament!

He glanced at the girl skipping beside him. 'I shouldn't tell her that though. If I do, she'll only worry.' He didn't want to make her upset again. It almost killed him to see her tear up a moment ago. If she knew of his plan, she would definitely get upset again. 'I'll just have to do both without telling her. No worries, it will all turn out fine.' He thought, confidently.

He wasn't gonna let her down.

---

"Okay Kazuto! Mom and I are headed out to the tournament now!" Suguha yelled out from the front door, looking up at him on the staircase. Mom was already out in the car and she was just now putting her shoes on.

"Yeah, see you soon." Kazuto calmly waved back. He had a genuine smile on his face as he watched her leave. The truth was, he was excited for her, and more than a little nervous. He knew that she was extremely good at kendo, probably better than he ever could have been, but there could still be that one random competitor who showed up out of nowhere and beats her.

'I know you can do it. I believe in you.' Kazuto thought, reassuring himself. She had already won a few other tournaments before, and he'd experienced what it felt like to spar against her. He knew her victory would come easily.

He watched as they got in the car and drove away. He walked back inside the house and looked at the clock.

"Good, its only 4:28. I still got a bunch of time to make it to the raid." He locked the front door behind him in case any stranger decided to intrude inside the house while he was diving, and walked upstairs to play Sword Art Online. Kazuto closed his bedroom door and laid on his bed, placing the Nerve Gear on his head.

"Link start!"

Hours Later

"Alright he's distracted! Everyone in the back, charge!" A player screamed loudly as everyone behind the boss attacked it with a battle cry, using their strongest sword skills. Several weapons slashed into it's back, and the boss gave out one final screech as the sound of it shattering filled the room.

Congratulations!

Players began to cheer as the message displayed above the room for everyone to see.

"Phew." Kirito sighed finally letting his shoulders slack. That was definitely the toughest boss they've fought so far. Unlike on floor seven though, he didn't get the last attack bonus. The player who did get it was showing the item off. It was some kind of shiny greataxe. It didn't really matter to Kirito anyway, as his weapon of choice was a one-handed longsword. That and the player wouldn't get to keep it for long.

"Man Kirito, that took forever." Another player said as he walked up to him, stretching his arms over his head.

"Yeah your right, that took over an hour, even after we prepared." Another player said walking up.

"Yeah I know." Kirito responded, hiding his mild annoyance. Did these guys have to address him like friends. He knew it was because of his fame in RAIZE that these guys were treating him this way, but it was still hard to get use to and be around. Under the name 'Kirito', he probably would never be able to escape the mass of players who walked up to him like they knew him.

"Yeah Kirito, if it wasn't for you we'd of probably never got that opening." Another guy chimed in. At first he liked the compliments, but now he knew they were just sucking up to him. Of course, they had also invited him to join their guilds, groups, and all that nonsense. He had refused as politely as he could, although he knew it wasn't all that polite. He just wanted to play alone. Teaming up for the boss was fine, but other than that, fuck off.

'Oh well.' He thought. He had a plan to get rid of these guys once the real game began. He would let them stick around for now. 'Besides, I gotta get to exploring that new ninth floor!' A large smile made itself known on his face. They did it! This next part of the game would be the last they would get to explore. They only had a couple of days. "Well, lets go!" He shouted out to everyone, making them all give out their own loud cry. Kirito went up to the ninth floor doors and opened them up.

Completely forgetting about his promise.

Flashback End

---

Kazuto cringed just thinking about that day. Definitely one of the worst moments of his entire life. Remembering the completely broken face she had when she arrived home crushed his heart into millions of pieces. He heard her cry in her bedroom next to his for the entire night. Every cry of distress was like a blow to the face, and he felt haunted by the sounds she made.

His aunt had given him hell that night, too. He remembered the words she had spoken to him. "If you love that damn game so much more than your own sister, then maybe you should stay in there forever!" He recalled her yelling at him. It was easily the worst scolding he had gotten from her. It made it worse when she let him continue to play the game. It was punishment in a way. Instead of grounding him and taking it away, she would let him drown in guilt as he continued to play.

It worked. Not only did his guilt suffocate him every second of every day, it had been going on for two month now. His aunt had long since forgiven him for it now, but Sugu still refused to even look at him. His stomach churned every time he thought about her. He almost felt like dying. 'But this is nothing compared to what I made her feel.' Kazuto thought. He deserved every bit of pain he felt. He had no right to do that to his cousin. No, his little sister. It was just pure evil.

He didn't even realize it when he had opened the door to his house. "I'm home." Kazuto said, his voice aching with sorrow.

"Oh, welcome home Kazuto!" He heard his aunt's voice inside the living room. "How was your day?"

"Okay, I guess." He replied, just loud enough for her to hear as he kicked his shoes off. That was the extent of their conversation. She didn't bother saying anything else, as she knew he would just walk upstairs into his room for the rest of the day. She was right as she heard the treading of feet climbing up the staircase. She sighed, wishing her son would be a little less of a shut in, and make amends with Suguha.

The saddened boy walked into his room and shut his door, locking it. He threw his bag down next to his bed and sat in his chair. 'Come on Kazuto, get your head in the game.' He thought to himself. Now wasn't the time to be sad. He had to prepare himself as much as he could for tomorrow.

As tomorrow would be the official launch of Sword Art Online.

It would be a weekend, Saturday to be exact. The wait was over for the people who had camped out for weeks. They got their own copy of the game today. The only thing now was to wait until the server was up at 1:00 p.m. The black haired boy quickly clicked onto the internet and many links until all three of his monitors were littered with SAO news. The hype for the game had hit hard and it was all everyone was talking about now, not just the gaming community. News stations, commercials, interviews, everything. It seemed that everyone was excited for this brand new game that people were already calling 'revolutionary.'

It certainly was a fitting title. Kazuto himself had beta tested it and could say firsthand that the game was way beyond anything he had experienced before. Even back when he won the battle royale in RAIZE, where he himself believed to be the most fun he had in his life, would now say without a shadow of a doubt that he had at least ten times as much fun playing Sword Art Online. And that was just the first nine floors. Now that the entirety of Aincrad would be released, he could experience all one hundred floors and have a thousand times more fun than he had before.

Skimming over several articles, he found one that said that Sword Art Online was just the beginning. Soon, there would probably be dozens of games that use the Nerve Gear where people could dive in and play. That also made him excited, as he was interested in what other things could be done in VR. Still, that excitement didn't even come close to how excited he was for SAO.

He couldn't really describe it. Playing Sword Art Online had been another experience that he just doubted anything else could replicate. Even if a new game was released that was even better than it, he still felt like he would enjoy SAO more. It was like a strange attraction that had drawn him to the game.

Sort of like the world was made for him to complete it.

Kazuto shook his head. 'All there is to do now is wait.' He had every bit of information he knew about the game and every strategy he had formed packed into his head. There was no possible way he could forget a single ounce of information. 'Tomorrow will be a good day.' He thought.

---

"Today is a good day!" Kazuto said, bouncing up and down in his chair. He had woken up early and had been on his computer almost all day, waiting for the time the SAO server was finally up. He had already prepared some snacks and several drinks next to his bed so that he could log off quickly, feed himself, and jump right back in the game. Currently he was staring at several pages displayed on his computer monitors that all concerned SAO. One of them was a video of some of the people who had stood in line for weeks so they could get their hands on it. They all had a goofy grin of their faces, and he was sure his grin looked just as goofy.

He looked behind him, double checking his bedroom door was locked. He didn't want anyone pulling the plug to his Nerve Gear while he was playing this time. He had enough of that shit in the past, it wouldn't be happening now that the game was fully released.

Kazuto listened to the woman on the video speak inside his headphones. He could tell she clearly wasn't a gamer and was only talking to them because it was her job as a journalist. He decided to tune her out in favor of reading an article that was published just a few minutes ago. The article contained details about SAO and the one who created it. There was also a picture of the man himself, Akihiko Kayaba.

Kazuto was actually a really big fan of him. He was the one who had developed such a fantastic game, after all. Not only that, but the man was actually a genius. If someone spent the time to read up on his work, they could tell the man was decades above others in intellect. If Kazuto ever had to pick a career for himself, it would probably be some kind of creator, just like Kayaba. Of course, he was way to busy playing Sword Art Online to worry about something like that.

He saw movement in his peripheral vision outside of his window. It was Sugu running off to kendo practice that was held on the weekend. 'She's probably trying to train as much as she can for the nationals.' Speaking of the nationals, they would be coming up in a couple years. She would once again be participating in the junior's division, as she was still underage. He had snuck inside the family dojo a few times to see her practice, as it was practically the only time he would be able to see her nowadays. She was way better than he could ever imagine. The last time he had seen her was when he was still practicing over four years ago. Now, she was on a whole new level. He didn't know what happened, like a switch flipped in her and now she had reached heights he could barely fathom. He was sure she was already better than grandpa was in his prime. If he were honest, if he went up against her in a match, she would probably kill him in about half a second.

"She really is incredible." Kazuto muttered under his breath. Too incredible. It was like the sword belonged in her hands. "I wonder how she would fair in Sword Art." He asked aloud. The boy would never admit it, but if she ever played and got used to the games mechanics, it was be very likely that she'd stomp him. "Pfft, no way." Kazuto would never be able to live that down. She may be able to kick his ass in real life, but he would be damned if she beat him in a video game. "Wait, shouldn't that be the other way around?" He blinked a few times before shrugging. Oh well.

Kazuto glanced at the corner of his computer screen to look at the time. '12:55 p.m.' Five more minutes, and SAO would be open access for anyone who owned it. He started getting chills just thinking about it. He had his battle plan ready. Still, unlike other beta testers who could just load up their old character model, he would have to change his old one. The reason for this was that he purposefully chose a character with blonde hair and blue eyes so that when the real game came out, he could create his real character and no one would be able to recognize him by looking. It was his plan to get rid of all the people who kept following him. Unlike RAIZE, Sword Art Online did not show a player's name above their head, meaning no one could find him by that way. He had also deleted every person he added off his friends list so that it was empty, meaning they couldn't track him by using the friend tracker either.

'12:59 p.m.' His heart began pumping. He closed all of his computer tabs and took off his headphones before swan diving into his bed. Patting his hair down flat, he placed the Nerve Gear on top of his head. The boy looked at the corner of the lens the helmet had, which also had a clock. Any second now and it would be time.

He was the very best player in RAIZE and now...

1:00 p.m.

He would be the best in Sword Art Online.

"Link Start!"

---

Kirito spawned in the game with his newly created avatar. It didn't take him long to make because he already knew what he wanted to look like. He was only slightly taller than his actual body so that his balance wouldn't be completely thrown off. He had long, wavy, black hair and eyes that made him look like a hero you would see in a kid's story. This look wasn't strange at all as everyone in the game created characters that looked similar. Every guy was handsome and every girl was beautiful. Those were the benefits of being in virtual reality.

"Hmph." Kirito smirked, clenching his fist. 'Get ready world. Cause I'm taking you down.' Kirito was confident that he would be the one to reach the top floor and beat the game. He'd been super good at RAIZE, and after playing SAO for a couple months, he knew he would excel here, too.

And just like in RAIZE, he planned on playing solo.

He looked around to see if any other players had spawned in. Of course they had, as there were hundreds upon hundreds all seemingly circled together as they logged in a bright light, many looking at their own bodies in amazement and chatting with one another. Every one of them had a bright smile on their face as many of them were experiencing VR for the first time. Kirito also sported a smile.

It was great to be back.

Seeing everyone look at themselves, Kirito decided to give himself a once over. He looked down at his clothes. Even though you could customize your character looks, you couldn't customize your starting colors. Everyone started with the basic long sleeved shirt, pants, and boots, as well as basic leather armor that was colored a light brown. The boots were also brown, but the pants and shirt ranged in a variety of colors. Kirito didn't know why color's were randomized, but he speculated it was a way for the developers to tease them.

The gamer looked at his randomized colors. Both of his pants and shirt color were black. 'That's very convenient.' If he could have chosen their colors, he would have picked both of them to be black. Not only did it look cool, but it was his favorite color. That's why he also chose his hair and eyes to be the same.

He quickly walked to the nearest weapon stall to buy the «Beginner's Sword». It was a weak short sword, but it would have to do for now. The stall only had a limited number of weapons. There would obviously be more later in the game, but for a start, the short sword was the best choice for him. The only other bladed weapon in the stall was the «Beginner's Dagger», and he would much rather prefer a sword.

Kirito also chose his first skill, the «One-Handed Sword». It was just a skill that allowed the player to use swords as their main weapon. He saw other players at the stall too, already purchasing their weapons. 'Since these guys already know where this stall is, they're probably beta testers. I should separate myself from them so I don't draw attention to myself.' Kirito thought with narrow eyes, placing his sword on his back, rather than hip. He knew that their would be some noobs trying to scope out beta testers so that they could teach them about the game. He definitely did NOT want to be one of those guys. He had better things to do then waste time teaching beginners how to play. That and he didn't want to reveal his identity to no one.

He saw a player running down the street with a «Beginner's Sword» on his hip. The player was stopped by some guy with long pink hair who sounded like he was asking for advice. 'Yup, just like I thought. You shouldn't have been running in an open area pal. It's just gonna drag more attention to you.' Kirito nearly laughed, watching as someone had made a mistake he had just told himself not to make.

Looking away from them, Kirito began pacing himself. He made sure he didn't walk too fast, but quick enough so that he could still cover a good amount of distance. He took back roads and alleyways where no normal player would go to and made sure he wasn't followed. After spotting that no one was around, he took off. There really wasn't any reason to stay in the «Town of Beginnings». All it really had was some crappy inns and stalls like the one he used. For such a massive city, it was mainly just npc houses. There were some tutorial guides that counted as quests, but the loot from them was terrible. A complete waste of time. Simply walking out of the city and fighting the weak boars would give you better xp and loot.

As he ran, Kirito began drawing his route to the next town. Although the map highlighted towns and points of interest, it really didn't go into detail. If you wanted a specific path, you had to map it out yourself. The game made you explore the world for yourself, something he loved.

Without a second thought, he drew up the pathway that would lead him to his destination as fast as possible. He planned on going to «Horunka Village» to get his precious «Anneal Blade». It was the best weapon on the first floor, and for the next few floors after as well. It was his sword he had for almost the entirety of the beta. He only replaced it after the 9th floor when he had finally gotten the «Queen's Knightsword».

After running and grinding for a half an hour, Kirito finally made it to «Horunka Village». He immediately started the quest to get the sword, «The Secret Medicine in the Forest». It was a quest where the player had to help a mother's child get the medicine she needed to be cured. You get the item from fighting the «Little Nepents» that were just outside of the town. There was a problem though. The item would only spawn on nepents that had a red flower on it's head. Those nepents were super rare. Previously, it took Kirito days of grinding to get the item. Some players had to grind even longer than he did. He knew he would probably have to sit here grinding for days but in the end, it would be worth it.

Kirito ran outside of town and proceeded to kill the nepents. He had to be careful not to hit the fruit on a few of the nepents heads. If a player struck the fruit, it would draw every little nepent in the nearby area. Players could easily get swarmed and killed by doing so. It was extremely dangerous for a level one like himself. Players who've had higher levels still died to this quest from that. If he died, he would lose a good portion of col, items, and respawn all the way back in the «Town of Beginnings» church. He did not want that. Luckily, Kirito was a professional and never had any sort of problem like that in the beta. He wouldn't start having them now.

He'd been grinding for a few hours now. He was getting good drops and xp. In fact, he was getting pretty close to leveling up. No one else had shown up. It was kind of strange. He expected at least one person from the beta to make their way here now, but he was the only person there. 'Guess their all too busy helping noobs.' Kirito thought, finding more comedy in that guy's situation. With how fervent that noob sounded, he was probably still helping him out. The gamer was thinking just how far ahead he was of the other players when he suddenly began to glow in a blue aura. With that as his only warning, the boy was teleported.

'Huh?' Was what Kirito could think as he suddenly appeared back at the starting area in the «Town of Beginnings». 'Wait what? I didn't die or anything, why the hell am I back here?' Kirito was outraged. Even with his mapped out route to get to «Horunka Village», it still took half an hour to get there. That was thirty minutes of running all the way back. 'And I was just about to level up, too!'

He looked around and saw a bunch of other players who seemed like they had been teleported. Matter of fact, it looked like everyone single player logged into the game was teleported. 'A forced teleport? But why?' Kirito thought. People started chatting with each other.

"Why were we teleported here?"

"What's going on?"

"Is this the opening ceremony?"

Kirito looked up and saw Hexagons displaying the word "warning" and what reminded him of blood fall from the sky. It grouped together and formed a gigantic hooded figure who wore a blood red cloak with it's face shadowed out.

"Attention players." He began. "I welcome you all, to my world." The figure spread their arms out in a welcoming, god-like gesture.

'His world? So is he Akihiko Kayaba?' Kirito pondered.

"My name is Akihiko Kayaba." Called it. "And as of this moment, I am in control of this world." Players began muttering things Kirito couldn't care less about. He had his full undivided attention on Kayaba, staring at the giant pensively.

"I'm sure all of you have noticed an item missing from your main menus, the log out button. Let me assure you that this is not a defect from the game. This is how Sword Art Online was designed to be."

'Wait, seriously?' Kirito thought. Was that true? He opened up his menu and true to Kayaba's word, the log out button was blanked out. 'Huh... I didn't even notice that. Guess I was too absorbed in grinding. Besides, why the hell would I have wanted to log out in the first place?' Kirito pondered while closing his menu, the seriousness of the situation completely going over his head.

"What!?"

"Seriously!?"

"He's kidding, right!?" Were questions asked by the players wondering what was happening to them. Surely this was just an elaborate prank.

"You cannot log yourselves out of Sword Art Online. No one from the outside world will be able to shut down the Nerve Gear on your head. If anyone attempts to do so, a transmitter inside the Nerve Gear will discharge a signal into your skull, destroying your brain, and ending your life."

"Bullshit! This is stupid, we're getting out of here." A player said trying to leave. "Oof, what the? Hey, I can't get out!" He yelled after he smacked into an invisible wall. Several other players began to get angry and more and more people began to protest their thoughts out loud.

'He's right though. The transmitters in the Nerve Gear work just like microwaves. If the safety was disabled, it could easily fry your brain.' Kirito recalled this fact from the articles he read up on how Akihiko Kayaba built the Nerve Gear. 'And the power can't be cut either. The Nerve Gear has an internal battery.'

"Despite my warning, there have been friends and families of the players who have attempted to remove the Nerve Gear. This was indeed an unfortunate decision. Because of this, the game now has two hundred and thirteen less players than when it began."

"What!?"

"Your kidding!?"

"Two hundred and thirteen people!?"

"As you can see here." Kayaba said swiping his fingers down like a player would to open their menu. Several screens of real world footage began to pop up in front of him. "The news outlets have round-the-clock footage of everything, including the deaths of the players." One of them even contained a warning message saying, 'Attention! Do not remove the Nerve Gear on someones head! This could cause them immediate death!'

"It is safe to assume that the Nerve Gear being removed is minimal. I hope knowing this will inspire you to clear the game." Kayaba announced.

'Wait a minute, why does he want us to clear the game? Is it... for freedom?' Kirito speculated.

"It is important to know that there is no longer a way to revive a dead player in the game. If your HP bar drops to zero, the Nerve Gear will discharge the signal and kill you in the real world." The hooded figure stated, making hundreds of players simultaneously gasp.

'He added a death penalty?' Kirito thought with surprise. 'If we die in the game... we die in real life? How... interesting.' His interest was certainly peaked. 'Guess it's a good thing that I've never died. Even in the beta.' A smirk grazed his face, just asking Kayaba to come and get him.

"There is only one way to escape now. You must clear all one hundred floors of the game." The giant began to open his own map, revealing all the floors of SAO in a three-dimensional version. "Right now, all of you are gathered together in the «Town of Beginnings» on floor one, the lowest level of Aincrad. If you can get through all of the dungeons and defeat all of the bosses, you will clear the game, and obtain your freedom."

"WHY SHOULD WE BELIEVE ANYTHING YOU SAY!" The player who hit the invisible wall yelled.

"No, he's lying, he has to be!"

"This isn't real, no way."

"What!? Are you kidding me!? All floors!? Not even the beta testers made it that high!"

"Lastly, I placed a little gift in the item storage for every player. Please, take a look." Kayaba held out his hand, gesturing that he had given them something.

Kirito opened up his menu again. 'A mirror?' Kirito took out the mirror and looked at it. He stared at it for a few seconds. 'Is this suppose to do anythi-' His thoughts were interrupted when his figure once again glowed in a blue light.

After he was done shining, he looked back down into the mirror and a gasp of terror escaped him.

"No way." Kirito choked out, his own world shattering around him. This was... his real face. He looked down at himself and saw that he also had the same scrawny figure he had in real life. He also felt shorter, just as short as he really was. 'Oh no, people can see me!? What do I do!?' He began panicking, breathing faster. He was hyperventilating. People weren't suppose to see him! That was the point! He was suppose to be Kirito! not Kazuto! All of his felt strength, the power of Kirito, the one who could do anything, was now being replaced with the pitiful Kazuto. The weak, pathetic nerd who did nothing but stay in his room all day.

The boy felt his legs shake before they gave out under him. He collapsed to his knees. He couldn't breath! He was choking! His hands came up to his throat as he tried to get oxygen inside of him, but he couldn't!

Not his identity! Please! Anything but that!

He was blacking out.

Could he see?

What did he see?

...

Nothing?

Right when Kazuto felt himself passing out, a face came into his head.

It was his sister Suguha, smiling at him.

Just like that, all of the fear that had plagued him was washed away as his mind snapped back to reality. He blinked several times as his vision came back to him. He used his hands that were previously latched onto his shoulders to pick himself off the ground, his shaking long gone.

'Calm down dude. Chill man.' He placed a hand over his heart, breathing slowly. He took several deep breaths and analyzed the situation. 'The Nerve Gear probably scanned my face, and that's how it knows what I look like. As for my body, the body calibration we had to do was probably how he got our physical data.' Kirito analyzed.

He looked around at the other players. They were all panicking just as badly as he was, but over entirely different reasons. 'No one knows who Kirito actually looks like. They only recognize the name. Plus, everyone else had their real face and body revealed, too. I'm not the only one.' That made him feel more comfortable.

Kirito quickly thought of the girl who had snapped him out of his fear. 'Sugu... thank you.' Even if it wasn't really her helping him, just her face was more than enough to give him strength. His social anxiety had kicked up to eleven and nearly controlled him. He hated that. Still, he knew why he had that reaction. Half the reason he was scared was because he didn't want to be recognized as Kirito. The other was because he genuinely didn't want to be near others. 'Maybe... I have anthropophobia.' He knew his shyness was bad, but he didn't know it was that bad. It made him grimace.

Looking around cheered him up though. Seeing a bunch of previously female players turn into dudes wearing skirts was funny. He let out a small laugh. He could work with this. Sure, he didn't like it, but he had no choice but to accept it. The mirror he had dropped onto the ground had shattered, as did everyone else's. Kayaba's words began filling his ears once more.

"Right now, you all are probably thinking, why? Why is he doing this? The reason is simple. I created Sword Art Online so that I would be in control of a world of my own design." He spread his arms once more. "As you can see, I have achieved my goal. Players, I wish you all the best of luck." Was Kayaba's last words as his cloaked figure began to dissipate. He deformed and the red material went back up into the sky. The polygons displaying the warning message disappeared, and all that was left was an orange sky and white clouds.

There was silence, no one said anything. 'This man, Akihiko Kayaba. He created an entire virtual world just to be in control of it. He's a genius. Everything he had done was premeditated and he made sure there wasn't a single way we could escape. The only way we can get out now is to beat the game.' Kirito thought.

His thoughts were interrupted as players all around him began to scream.

"HELP US! SOMEONE PLEASE!"

"IT'S A LIE! IT'S ALL A LIE!"

"PLEASE LET US OUT OF HERE!" Was some of what Kirito could pick up among thousands of voices desperately yelling for their lives. He cringed as he cupped his ears in his hands, barely able to think over them. In the corner of his eye, he saw the silhouette of the invisible wall disappear.

'There's my exit!' Kirito began maneuvering his way through the crowd of people, occasionally stepping over someone who had collapsed from fear. Everyone was distracted right now. He knew that now would be the best time to get up and out the way instead of dealing with everyone trying to get out at the same time.

Kirito began running to the weapon stall again. He checked the durability on his sword and saw that it was running really low. There was no point in fixing it, so he just bought a new one. He also sold the unneeded drops he gotten from mobs and bought several low level healing potions. He then made his way out of town back into the direction of «Horunka Village».

It still irritated him that he had to spend time running back there, but it didn't really matter anymore. After all, he had all the time in the world.

Kirito was running down the mapped path when a smile crept up onto his face. It was a smile of pure bliss. He still had trouble wrapping his mind around what had just happened. 'I'm trapped... I'm trapped... in this death game...'

His eyes shined. "I'm trapped inside a game!" Kirito yelled out, overflowing with happiness! He didn't care at all what Kayaba just did! So what he tagged a death penalty to the game, big deal! He never died in here before and didn't ever plan to! He could play Sword Art Online as much as he wanted without ever having to leave! This was heaven! In a game, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week! Was it his birthday!?

A few laughs began to escape Kirito's lips as he just couldn't hold them back. Before long he was laughing as freely as possible. He escaped the real world and entered a video game utopia! Everyone else was scared to death, afraid because they were trapped and would have to literally fight for their lives to escape. But Kirito? He wanted this! It's exactly what he wished for!

"This world... IS MINE!" Kirito screamed as loud as he could with euphoria. If anyone else could see him now, they'd think he was insane. Why would you want to be trapped in a game, forced to fight for freedom? You could actually die! Nobody in their right mind would want to be here!

Nobody except for Kirito, who was completely apathetic to the rules of the death game.

It was simply the apathy of a gamer.