This was a very ordinary world.
A truly ordinary world in every sense.
Here, there were no monsters threatening humanity's survival, nor magi capable of protecting humanity. There were only ordinary yet prosperous cities.
The cities were filled with bustling crowds.
Vehicles traveled back and forth along the streets.
People lived ordinary lives.
People grew up in ordinary ways.
People experienced the hardships and smooth sailing of an ordinary life.
A modern world with no mysteries, much less magic—only reality.
That was everything this world had to offer.
However, if one were to say it was extraordinary, then it was extraordinary in its own way.
Because two years ago, an astonishing incident had occurred.
The full-dive virtual reality gaming device—"NERvGear."
The virtual reality massively multiplayer online role-playing game—"Sword Art Online."
These two creations had imprisoned ten thousand game players in a virtual game world, forcing them to clear a game where their lives were at stake.
Akihiko Kayaba, the renowned quantum physicist and genius game designer who had created these two technologies, had consequently fallen into infamy as the most heinous criminal in history, causing a sensation throughout the country and even across the entire world.
Two years later, even now, the incident was still widely discussed, and television news programs frequently reported on it.
For example, right now...
"After two years, the massively multiplayer online role-playing game known as 'SAO' has finally been successfully cleared, allowing the victims who had been lying in hospitals and kept alive to finally awaken and be confirmed safe."
"According to statistics, of the ten thousand players who entered the game at the time, 7,354 have survived. The remaining 2,646 unfortunately passed away over the past two years after losing their lives in the game, their brains destroyed by 'NERvGear.'"
"This was the largest