The Far East, Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture.
"It's November 6, 2022."
Feng Chen glanced at his wristband. After confirming the time, he began searching for his target.
Sword Art Online—in short, SAO.
It launched on November 6, 2022. In other words, today.
"It's... 1:01 p.m."
So SAO had just launched?
"System, how do I get in?"
Four hours after SAO launched, he would...
"Please wait, Host. You'll be transported to your destination shortly."
The surrounding space warped and gradually began to change.
A boy lying on a bed appeared before him.
The boy wore a helmet on his head, one that completely covered his face.
Familiar with the original story, Feng Chen knew that this was a gaming device called the NerveGear, which could completely simulate a person's senses.
"Place your hand on the NerveGear and silently recite 'Link Start' to enter SAO."
"This room..."
Feng Chen seemed to have seen it somewhere before.
"Big Brother?"
A knock came from outside the door.
"Big Brother?"
Sure enough, this was...
"If you don't open the door, I'm coming in, okay?"
"Link Start!"
Before the girl entered the room, Feng Chen successfully entered SAO.
Seeing the boy on the bed wearing a NerveGear, the girl knew that her brother was playing games again.
"Seriously... Playing games again? Forget it, I'll leave him a note."
The note read: "I have club activities tonight, so I won't be back for dinner. There's food in the refrigerator."
As the girl left the note, she had no idea that her brother would end up lying there for two years because of this game.
"So this is SAO..."
The place where Feng Chen now stood was commonly known as the beginner village—the Town of Beginnings.
What concerned Feng Chen was that he had once again entered this