I wonder how long has it been?

The day I ordered the revolutionary Virtual Reality machine; the NerveGear.

The day I signed up for the beta test of the first-ever VRMMORPG, Sword Art Online.

The day I, along with 10,000 other players logged into the game for the first time on its official release.

The experience was everything I expected and hoped for, until the sky suddenly turned crimson red and the game's creator, Kayaba Akihiko emerged from above in the form of a red hooded figure, announcing that if a player were to die in the game, they would suffer real-world death. Or if the NerveGear were to be removed, it would also lead to their demise.

It didn't feel real at the time. Not that it should. Countless suspicions and thoughts swirled about in my mind. Is something like that possible? After all, it merely used a Virtual Reality machine fit for households, the NerveGear; could it have the ability to destroy the brain of human beings?

But deep down, I knew that the statement is true. Kayaba Akihiko had personally made that clear declaration without even the slightest hint of doubt.

The one and only way to free ourselves from this living nightmare, is to clear all one hundred floors of the game.

This is where it all started.

This is where my story began.

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Aincrad 1st Floor

November 12th 2022 / Medai Village inn

Akiri: You ready?

Asked a boy with raven black hair and blue eyes while he was readying his equipment in a small room of an inn, which was shared with his close friend.

He is wearing a red-coloured long-sleeved t-shirt with a leather breastplate over it for some added protection. A harness for his back-mounted sheath is strapped diagonally across his body.

He wears a pair of long black pants with a thick black leather belt to help keep it in place. A pair of dark red coloured boots and fingerless gloves completes the outfit.

Kirito: Yeah. Let's move

Replied another black-haired boy with grey coloured eyes, wearing the same type of equipment as his partner.

With everything checked and ready, the two walked out of the inn they were staying at and heads over towards the main entrance of the village.

«Medai Village» is one of the many small villages that the first floor has. A village of about twenty buildings, inclusive of both private houses and many kinds of shops. As they walk, they see the different players interacting with NPCs, buying and selling items, accepting side quests for Col and Experience Points.

About a week have passed since the death game began. The first floor has yet to be cleared and an estimated 500 players had already died.

After the sudden announcement made by the game's creator, Kayaba Akihiko, Akiri and his close friend Kirito, didn't waste any time and immediately made their way from the «Town of Beginnings» to «Horunka Village» to get a jump ahead of the others.

They have used their knowledge of playing the beta to their advantage. This results in them getting a head start on optimal monster spawn locations and necessary quests to complete, compared to others who are just starting out.

Using this experience, they have successfully completed the quest «Secret Medicine of the Forest» which rewarded each of them with an «Anneal Blade», in a single day.

Though encountering some complications along the way, the two gained even more of an advantage over the others, having acquired a powerful starter weapon, making the pair a part of the few higher-level players in the entire server.

(Timeskip)

Currently, Akiri and Kirito are at their usual farming spot, finishing up a battle against a group of enemy monsters, consisting of big plant-like creatures called «Large Nepents» and their smaller counterparts, «Little Nepents».

Kirito: Switch!

Akiri: Right!

After performing a three-hit sword skill «Sharp Nail», Kirito retreats back from the monster as it lets out a loud voice, enraged by the attack. At the same time, Akiri took his place and attacks with a series of four quick slashes.

Letting out a voice of anger once again, the plant inflated its pitcher. The preparation motion for the firing of its corrosive fluids. Recognizing this, Akiri perfectly dodges out of the way of the attack by rolling to the side, before quickly performing the single hit sword skill «Slant», finishing off the enemy as it bursts into thousands of tiny polygon fragments.

Akiri: I think that's the last of the higher level mobs. We should be able to take on what's left on our own

Kirito: Okay. I'll take the ones on the left, you'll go for the right

His partner just nodded in reply and the two split up to kill the remaining «Little Nepents».

Akiri rushes over towards one of them and quickly dismisses it with a two-hit sword skill «Vertical Arc» before turning to his right and attacks another one with three quick slashes before sidestepping to the right, narrowly avoiding getting hit by a corrosive liquid launched by the creature. He then finished it off with a quick «Slant».

He quickly ducks down to dodge an attack coming from a Nepent, which used the sharp pointed edge of its ivy to slash and stab, like a dagger. Akiri then counterattacked with the sword skill «Horizontal Arc», killing it instantly.

Meanwhile, Kirito uses the two hit sword skill «Vertical Arc» on one of the enemies, killing it instantly. He then went over towards a group of two monsters and uses the sword skill «Sharp Nail», killing two of them at the same time.

Kirito looks around him to see that he had already wiped out his side of the enemy monsters. He looked towards Akiri to see that the last of the «Little Nepents» was sliced apart by the blue arc of the single-hit «Horizontal».

Kirito: Looks like that's the last of em. It's gonna take some time before more spawn in

Akiri: Right

He replied while walking towards Kirito while sheathing his sword as Kirito does the same.

Akiri: Another grind session done. Good work today, Kirito

Kirito: Yeah. You too

The two fist bumped to celebrate the hard-earned Col and EXP they had gotten. Akiri looks up to the sky to see that it is about to get dark soon.

Akiri: You got what you need?

He turns towards Kirito, who was checking his inventory.

Kirito: Not everything... But this should be enough for a couple of decent upgrades

Akiri: Then let's head back

After double-checking their inventory, the two of them followed the beaten path back towards the inn.

November 13th 2022 / Medai Meadows

The next day, Akiri and Kirito went to the same spot as yesterday, ready for another grinding session. However, as soon as they arrived, they saw that there were significantly fewer monsters than usual.

Akiri: That's strange... All of the mobs should've respawned by now

Suddenly, they heard the sound of a «Sword Skill» being activated nearby and they looked over to see a group of players killing some monsters. By the looks of their gear and the equipment they're using, they seem to be one of the few high-level parties.

Akiri gritted his teeth and walks over to them and Kirito followed closely behind.

Akiri: Hey! This is our grinding spot. I'm going to have to ask you guys to leave

Player #1: Sorry. This spot belongs to us now

Player #2: Yeah! So buzz off, kids!

Enraged, Akiri gritted his teeth as his fist clenched tight.

Player #1: Oh? Whatcha gonna do? We can't feel any pain, so hitting us are just gonna lower our HP, making your cursor turn orange

Player #2: Yeah! There's nothing you could do to threaten us!

With furrowed eyebrows, Akiri's hand slowly lifts up towards the handle of his sword. But halfway up, Kirito grabbed his arm and Akiri saw him shaking his head.

Kirito: Let's go. Akiri

Akiri turns towards the players once more, seeing their smug grins only makes him even more irritated, so he turns around and storms off with Kirito following closely next to him.

Akiri: Maybe if we come back tomorrow morning, we could take it back

He suggested as they were walking.

Kirito: I doubt it. I recognize some of those guys. They're from a large party, so they're most like going to use that spot all day long. Taking turns with the other members of their party

Akiri: Damn it...

He cursed. He then takes a deep breath and exhaled, calming himself down.

Akiri: How the hell did they find our spot anyway? It was supposed to be one of the harder spawn locations to find

Kirito: I'm guessing they must've cleared that quest already

Akiri: So they've caught up to us...

Kirito: Yeah...

Akiri: Well, took them long enough, huh?

He joked, earning a chuckle from Kirito and the mood lightens a little.

(Timeskip)

The journey back to the inn was silent as the two were thinking long and hard about their next move. With their hunting spot taken by other players, they no longer have a sustainable source of EXP, meaning that their progress to level up is hindered.

A few moments later, Akiri suddenly stopped walking and looks at Kirito.

Akiri: You're thinking the same thing right? Our plan was to grind to a high enough level to try and clear the Floor Labyrinth. But with the level we're currently on, we'll still have a hard time getting through. We're gonna need a new hunting spot

Kirito: ...

He just stayed silent, thinking thoroughly about the decision.

Akiri: That means the only way is to use those smaller high-level spawn locations. If I remember correctly, Argo said there is one at the mountain region and one at the north-western edge of Horunka Woods. They should give just the right amount of EXP. But the problem is...

Kirito: It's only enough for one person. We would have to split up and take one each

Kirito continued and Akiri nodded.

Akiri: It's risky. But the reward more than makes up for it

Kirito: Yeah, but... I know that both of us could handle being by ourselves, but I'm feeling hesitant for some reason

Akiri let out a chuckle.

Akiri: We could always message each other if we need to

Kirito: Yeah. And I guess we have no choice. If we want to keep progressing

Akiri: It's decided then. We'll head out as soon as we get our stuff back at the inn

Kirito nodded in agreement as the two continued walking.

(Timeskip)

After returning to the village inn and readying their gear, the two stepped back outside of the inn. The orange tint of the sky indicates that it's getting late in the day.

Akiri: It should only take us about a week to reach a good level where we can tackle the Labyrinth. So we'll meet back up at Tolbana then

Kirito: Right. We're going our separate ways from here on, so I guess this officially makes us solo players now. Stay safe, Akiri

Akiri: Yeah. You too, Kirito

Kirito smiled as he puts up his fist. Akiri returned the smile as he lightly hits his fist against Kirito's.

With that, they turned around and walks off in their separate directions.

November 17th 2022 / Horunka Woods

(Akiri POV)

It had already been four days since separating from Kirito. During that time, I've been working hard, levelling up my character. Now, I have finally reached the optimum level required to start exploring the Labyrinth, meaning that it's time that I have to meet back up with Kirito.

I did have some trouble at first, but I eventually settled in on being a solo player, levelling up and collecting crucial resources all on my own.

The sun had just set a few minutes ago and I am currently going through «Horunka Woods», heading back towards the inn at «Horunka Village», where I had been staying recently.

Now that things, more or less, had settled down a little, I began wondering the motives behind the person who had trapped us in this death game.

In the first place, why do something like this? Holding players hostage in a virtual world, if a ransom was at stake, then it would still make sense. However, putting the lives of players at stake for the clearing of the game, that would serve absolutely no tangible benefit for Kayaba.

On the contrary, it would make him lose all the reputation he had as a game designer and quantum physicist, degrading him into one of the worst criminals recorded in history. Even though indirectly, he could still be considered a mass murderer.

I don't get it. I just can't make any reasonable sense of it no matter how hard I try.

Moving past that thought, I wonder how other people outside of the game is doing. I don't have parents, at least, not anymore, and I am an only child, so I don't have any family members to worry about. I'm also not that close with any of my aunts and uncles, so distant relatives are not a concern either.

There are only two people that came into mind. The first, is my butler and personal caretaker, Alexander, which I call Al for short. He had been serving my family ever since my father was young all the way to current time, where he has been taking care of me.

The other person, is my best friend, Yuuki Asuna, who is probably worried sick for me at the moment. I'm kinda glad that she doesn't really play video games as much as I do, and that I haven't persuaded her to play this game with me. Otherwise, she would've gotten trapped here as well, and the one who would be blamed for that, is me.

The two of us had known each other since childhood. Our parents are close friends with each other, and would often visit the other every weekend. During that time, me and Asuna would often go out to play at the huge garden of our house.

A smile grew on my face, recalling happy memories of the past. I released a sigh as I looked up to the night sky. Well, at least a part of it.

There is technically no sky within Aincrad; all that was in its place, was just the bottom of the next floor stretching out a hundred meters overhead, hence the only times when the sun could be seen directly was restricted to the mornings and evenings. Of course, the moon follows suit.

Even then, it's not like daytime is dim with the night pitch black, space lighting is applied like other usual VR spaces. Even in the forest at night, while obviously not to the level of day, a pale blue light illuminates all the way to one's feet, posing no inconvenience even while running around.

That may be true, but the gloominess in one's heart is another matter altogether. Regardless of how much attention is paid to one's surroundings, the anxiety that something could be right behind still floats up every so often. And the fact that higher level monsters are more likely to spawn in the dark, only adds to the feeling of uneasiness.

It was only at times like this that I start to miss the company and sense of security from playing as a party with Kirito.

Just as I finish that thought, I suddenly heard loud buzzing sounds nearby, which I recognized to be the distinct noise made by «Thrusting Hornets». But what made me curious about it, is that the much louder noises seemed to indicate that there are large amounts of them in the area which is odd for this particular part of the forest.

With an uneasy feeling, I went over to investigate the source of the unusual noise.

Getting closer, I could hear sounds of «Sword Skills» being used, so I picked up the pace, worried that someone might be in danger.

Sure enough, as I arrived at a clearing I saw two players, both wearing mid-level equipment. Their backs are against each other as they are surrounded by «Thrusting Hornets», a much larger and more dangerous variant of «Stabbing Wasps».

With only a quick glance, I could count ten of them, completely swarming around the two players.

???: Hold on, Koharu! If we want to get through this, we'll have to fight with all we've got!

The male player with brown hair speaks out as he got into a defensive stance with his one-handed sword.

Koharu: R-right! Leave it to me!

Answered a black-haired girl with emerald green eyes, holding a short dagger with a reverse grip in her slightly shaking hand.

The girl in particular looks familiar, but there's no time to dwell on that. Based on their equipment and weapons, they're probably haven't yet reached a high enough level to deal with these hornets, meaning that they are in mortal danger.

I unsheathed my «Anneal Blade» and rush over to the scene. As I was running, I kept my body low and bent forward while placing my sword in a parallel manner to my right leg and then drawing the blade back. This completes the «Pre-Motion» needed to activate the sword skill «Rage Spike» as my sword glowed a bright pale blue colour.

Letting the system assist take over, my virtual body lunged forward towards one of the hornets, closing the distance as my blade thrusts forwards towards the creature, dealing a decent amount of damage to it. After being in «Post-Motion» for a moment, I used the sword skill «Slant» to finish the job before it could hit me back.

I jumped backwards to avoid a sting from a hornet before delivering three quick slashes to it, dealing just enough damage for me to be able to finish it off with «Horizontal Arc».

I turned my head back towards the players and saw that they had a mix of shocked and impressed expressions.

Akiri: You two just watch each other's backs. I'll handle them

They nodded in acknowledgement and I turned back towards the enemy monsters, which were closing in on me.

With a deep breath, I entered a state of complete focus and concentration. Based on the dark red colour of the cursor that is floating above the creatures, they're of a higher level than mine, meaning that I would have a harder time than usual defeating them.

One wrong move, one misstep could spell certain doom for me and the two players. I couldn't let that happen. Not on my watch. Not as long as I'm still breathing.

Tightening my grip to the handle of my sword, I made my move.