The scene opens up with gameplay then a defeated screen.

Patrick's point of view: "Ugh. Did I get defeated again?" How many times was that? Defeated... restart... defeated... restart... I threw down my controller and collapsed into my seat when the word "DEFEATED" appeared on screen again. The soft sofa should have eased my pains, but a subtle sweet scent in the air prevented me from calming down. "I'm no good at rhythm games... I maybe a gamer but there are some video games that I can't handle..." "Venting frustrations on a console manipulator will not improve your skills. "Ah. I'm really sorry... I didn't mean to do that. Hahahaha..." the petite girl held her HOMU doll and gave me her deadpan stare while emanating a powerful aura.

This is the St. Freya High School Valkyrie Dorms under the Schicksal Far East Branch. I'm a transfer student here studying abroad from America. I transferred here from America to help with training to fight against the Honkai and the Herrschers. But secretly to investigate Schicksal. I'm also the Herrscher of the Dragon with Drago and the Gem of Protection. I was in the 5th Valkyrie squad dorms with the girls. We're going to have a memorable XMas Eve party. My family was coming over for a visit so I can be with them on XMas. I was very nervous of them meeting the Valkyries.

"Subject: Patrick has first-rate APM and reflexes, but requires better coordination and timing." Explained Bronya. "*sigh* Please help me, Master Bronya." I picked up the controller and offered it to the girl prodigy with both hands as a sign of total submission. The Bronya accepted the offering. She remained expressionless, but I felt the awkward tension easing away. "The Bronya will only do this once. Observe carefully."

After observing:

That's how it is done. APM and reflex are not everything. Time the movements and match the tempo." The legendary video game virtuoso Alloy_Bronya calmly taught me the tricks of the game. I looked at the controller to see where she had left her fingerprints. "Your descent to the mortal realms must be tiring. I am always your most humble and loyal fan." 'Why did I have to say that? Not literally. But that's a way to thank someone for their help.' For a moment, I thought I saw her blush. Before I could take a closer look, the door flew open and Kiana stepped in.

"Where's the dragon? Where is that goon? Yay-uh! I found the westerner! Trick or treat!" "......" 'Why would she say that line? Is she that ignorant on holidays?' I spoke in my mind. "Kiana Idiotka. That line is for Halloween. We're about to celebrate XMas." "Oh? Aren't those two the same? Well then..." 'Those two holidays are not the same, Thanksgiving and XMas are the same. That reminds me of a certain movie involved with Halloween and XMas.' I spoke in my mind again.

"Gong xi fa chai! Now gimmie those red packets with money in them!" "......" Kiana's request made me shocked. Fu Hua came in. "Very good, Kiana. You remembered the Shenzhou New Year greeting, but isn't this kinda early?" Himeko came into the picture. "Kiana I hope you didn't forget your grocery errand. Since Fu Hua's around, I don't think..." "I am the super-duper ultra-reliable part-time errand eggspert hotshot Kiana! I don't fail at anything!" "Whatever, errand eggspert. I couldn't believe it when you said you still believe in Santa." "Santa? I believe in Santa!" Theresa shouted out. 'Theresa is 40 years old and still believes in Santa Clause. I can't argue about that with her.' I said in my mind.

"Existence of Santa is being challenged by a drunk and irresponsible adult." Said Bronya. "......" I said nothing. 'My mother and I still believe in Santa. It's still always fun believing in Santa Clause. What about you Drago?' 'So do I. It's still fun to believe in St. Nick.' Drago spoke to me inside of my mind. "Santa does exist, Master Theresa." Even Rita was here. She was visiting from Schicksal HQ to spend XMAS with us. "Remember those days at HQ? A blonde, greasy Santa would crawl through ventilation ducts to leave presents by your pillow." Explained Rita. "That sounds like a scary story designed to creep out little children. Besides, St. Nick is a huge guy with white hair and a white beard... Wait a sec, why is Rita showing up in the St. Freya High Valkyrie Dorms? Isn't she supposed to be at HQ doing her maid duties?" I asked.

"I invited her. HQ sent her to audit the Far East Branch annual reports. She'll be staying with us until we finalize that report. Can't let her running around and going through our stuff. Better let her stay here so we can keep watch on her." Explained Theresa. "You said your plan out loud, Principle Theresa." I said. "Apologizes for this minor inconvenience. I'll leave once the audit is over. One of my many tasks is to bond with every Valkyrie." Explained Rita.

Mei came in. "It's time to eat~ Bronya, Patrick, you shouldn't play video games more than an hour per day." Said Mei. "Ok we won't. Sorry Mei." I apologized. 'Mei is the best Waifu ever... considering how guys would favor Japanese girls with long black hair, pale white skin, the specific length and width of their bodies, attractive voice, having the right color of eyes, and chest size. Except that she's untouchable and Kiana doesn't want anyone touching her Senpai...' All of a sudden the lights went out. 'I will do everything I can to keep her smiling like Kiana would do the same thing...hey? What's going on?' "KYAAA! What happened?!" Screamed Kiana. "A power outage?" Asked Mei.

"I think I heard the breaker switch flip. Stay put, girls. I'll go check it out." Said Himeko. "I'll bring a flashlight." Said Fu Hua. "Master Theresa, it's alright if you're scared. You can hold me tightly, but not too tightly." Said Rita. "Stop treating me like a kid... Hik... hik..." Said Theresa. The sudden darkness caused quite a ruckus in the dorms. "Hmm... why is the TV still on?" Bronya's gentle voice attracted everyone's attention. It became deathly quiet. The glowing Tv was the only source of light. But it felt so natural that I didn't even notice the strangeness behind it all.

Suddenly the screen changed and text started to appear. "Come on! Lemme take a look!" Shouted Kiana. I began to read the text out loud. "TO ALLOY_Bronya, THIS IS A CHALLENGE YOU CANNOT REFUSE..."

"IF YOU DID NOT FORGET, THEN MEET ME AGAIN AT THE END OF THE ADVENTURE." Then the text disappeared and more text appeared. "THE DESSERT HOUSE BUNNY DREW HER BLADE. PHYSICAL DAMAGE DOTH THE FOREST SAGE MADE. THE TEA PARTY HATTER SEEMS INSANE, WHILE THE CHESHIRE CAT PLAYED THE ROGUE AGAIN. WHILE THE WHITE WYTCH GLOATS IN HER RIFF, SECRETS IN HER CASTLE DOTH THE RED QUEEN KEEP."

"A challenge that the Bronya cannot refuse?" Asked Bronya. "Bronya, this is obviously a trap." I said. "Interesting. No one has dared to initiate PVP against ALLOY_Bronya for a while." "Miss Bronya! Can you hear me?" 'She's not listening to me. She's gonna accept the challenge.' "Alloy_Bronya accepts the challenge." 'Gosh, can't they come up with something original? Alright, guys. Just bring the disaster on.' "What's going to happen? Are we gonna get sucked into the screen like what happens every time in pop-culture? Or is some portal gonna appear and suck us all in?" Instead all of us were starting to lose consciousness and we all collapsed down to the floor. Before I lost consciousness I saw a portal appear and then we all began to get sucked in slowly. 'Looks like this is the beginning. LINK START!' And then we all got sucked into the portal and then it closed.

(Imagine intro with Sword Art Online theme song Crossing Fields by LISA).

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

"...subject Patrick." "Need to sleep some more." "...subject Patrick." "2 minutes... make that 5." "Patrick... the Infinity Abyss is about to finalize." Finally the sentence form the mysterious voice made me wake up. "WHOOAAAHHH!" I Anime jumped up but sat down. My drowsiness left me at once. It felt like a tub of ice cold water dumped over my head. My senses responded to every stimulus and left a dizzying sting. The branches were devoid of leaves. Fine snowflakes were everywhere. It was cold, but it wasn't harsh. I looked over myself and found that I was wearing adventurer clothing and gear.

"Where is this place?" I asked. "The Bronya could not triangulate our current location." Said the voice. "...erm, scan and map nearby topographical features." I replied. "Sensors not responding." "Ugh. My head hurts. I thought I could hear a demon whispering to me while I slept." "Fact: subject Patrick and the Bronya are in a state of predicament." "Looks like I got myself into a sore spot. Wait, Bronya's here as well?" I suddenly realized that I was talking to the girl prodigy.

The petite girl was curled up before the camp fire. "Subject Patrick had slept for: 4 hours 39 minutes and 26 seconds. Subject Patrick spoke 12 lines during sleep." "Thank you. Those statistics are so useful right now. I'll need to learn more about your... outfit... and mine too..." "Role-playing is the essential element of any RPG title. The Bronya is now the Mad Hatter and must assume her role professionally." That triggered a memory inside my head. 'Wait a minute. Mad Hatter? Now where have I heard that name before?... It was the name of that character in "Alice In Wonderland." The Mad Hatter is male not female. Could this world be an RPG game of "Alice In Wonderland?...' "Subject Patrick." Bronya snapped me out of my thoughts to get my attention. "Huh?"

The girl prodigy took out a card from her pocket and gave it to me. I read it. ""You woke up in the middle of a snowy landscape. Have no fear adventurer. You are the Mad Hatter. Your task is to resolve the global crisis." Wow. This is indeed some serious RPG." I hand the card back to Bronya. "What about me? What character am I?" "Search your pockets and you will find out." I looked through my pockets and found a card then I read it. "You woke up with your companion the Mad Hatter. You are the main protagonist adventurer. Your task is to assist the Mad Hatter in resolving the global crisis." I put the card back into the pocket I found it in. "I must be the main protagonist, the playable character that players begin with when playing RPG games."

"So the Bronya... I mean, Mad Hatter, is this why you look so troubled? Because of the situation we're in now?" "Subject Patrick made a big mistake." "I think I did see..." "Subject Patrick made a mistake." "What do you mean I made a big mistake? I'm confused right now." 'Wait a minute.' "I probably should never have asked that." '...I think I'm pretending to be tough. Well, I won't pursue this matter further. I did see through the girl prodigy.' But she turned around and pretended to ignore me. I backed up from the camp fire. "Oh dear that's cute... if only I had a camera with me. I would of taken pictures with myself and the Bronya. But she probably wouldn't allow that." I said to myself. The Mad Hatter still pretended to ignore me.

Luckily I didn't trigger her bad side or she would of killed me with her Project Bunny. She would of went "Project Bunny, Fire!" Because Himeko instructed the girls and all Valkyries to destroy any possible threat. But now I must focus on the current problem. I pulled myself back to where I was and I asked, "This sounds ridiculous, but that weird challenge got us trapped in some RPG Dimension, right?" "Subject Patrick has finally grown up and learned to accept the extraordinary." "...I am surprised you managed to say all that in a flat tone."

"That reminds me. You ever heard of these movies "Spy Kids 3-D Game Over," "Jumanji Welcome to the Jungle," and "Tron: Legacy?" And did you and the girls ever watched this Anime "Sword Art Online?" "No, the Bronya nor my friends heard of those movies. But we've heard of that Anime you just mentioned. Why do you ask the Bronya?" "Because they're involved with the subject of being sucked into a Video Game with this tv trope called "Win To Exit." And it looks like we're in the beginning of the Anime." "Is that a good thing?" "A lot of people died as season 1 in the first arc went by."

I went back on topic. "Well then, Mad Hatter... what should we do now?" "The Mad Hatter has generated a number of hypotheses to be tested against. The Mad Hatter recommends walking around to reveal more of the nearby environment." "Reveal?" "RPG designers usually hide events in the dark areas. Players must walk over to reveal those dark areas first. Walking is important since beginners tend to lack horses or mounts. Gathering information and talking to NPCs are important in RPGs." The girl prodigy stood up and levitated towards the unknown as though strolling in a park. "Hey, Wait up!"

Before I ran to her, I noticed the strange greatsword plunged in the camp fire. It looks pretty wizard. Perhaps it has a 1-time super skill. Experience tells me that mundane early-game items must usually turn out to be super important later on. I looked around before I took out the greatsword. The camp fire extinguished. Perhaps it's a save-point reaction. 'A greatsword should be more useful than bare knuckles when dealing with unfriendly animals...' "Received: [Cleaver of Shamash] x1." The system spoke. "This looks like the sword that Kiana's father wielded. If the other Devine Keys are here then they could be useful. But I hope to find the others too." I ran after Bronya. "I feel like Kazuto/Kirito now. This will definitely be like in "Sword Art Online.""