First Arrival

Under the blazing sun, temperatures had climbed to 38 degrees, turning all of G Province into a giant oven. The streets, usually brightened by beautiful girls, were now deserted; most people had chosen to stay in air-conditioned rooms.

The clashing of swords and the dying wails of monsters rang out from Room 402 on the third floor of the men's dormitory at BJ University in G Province. A few moments later, a pleasant Japanese song began to play. Its volume gradually rose until it filled the entire dormitory.

As he listened to the lovely ending song, Wang Yang sat shirtless in his chair, his eyes fixed on the final scene of Sword Art Online playing on his computer screen. Only when the preview for the next episode appeared did he reluctantly turn down his speakers, which had been cranked up to maximum volume. He clicked his tongue and sighed, "There are far too few anime about virtual online games. There's never enough to watch."

Wang Yang was an avid otaku, and his only unusual hobby was playing basketball. Whenever he wasn't playing, he stayed in the dormitory, constantly searching for anime to watch. The genre he was most obsessed with was undoubtedly online gaming, but unfortunately, there weren't many anime like that.

So when this season's Sword Art Online came out, Wang Yang was immediately blown away. Every week, he kept his eyes on the release schedule, and while waiting for new episodes, he even looked up the novel. Unfortunately, after getting used to the online gaming novels on Qidian, he couldn't get into the Sword Art Online novel, and gave up after a few chapters.

And so he went back to waiting for new episodes of Sword Art Online. Just now, he'd once again watched the latest episode in full as soon as it came out, from the opening all the way to the ending. He hadn't skipped a single bit!

Wang Yang stared at the darkened screen for a long while before letting out a satisfied groan. He got up, stretched, walked over to his bed, and flopped down heavily.

It was mid-July, and the sun blazed overhead. The air was stifling, and the whole city felt like a furnace that could roast a person alive. In the university dormitory where Wang Yang lived, the only relief was the big fan spinning above his head; it did little to cool the room. Fortunately, Room 402 was well ventilated, which offered at least a little comfort.

"Jingle..."

A warm breeze would occasionally blow in through the dormitory door, swirl around, and sweep back out through the window, setting the wind chime tinkling pleasantly. Thanks to the steady circulation of the air, the room cooled down a little, despite the lingering heat. Even so, sweat still poured down Wang Yang's muscular, bare body, leaving him sticky and uncomfortable. He was used to it by now, though, and had no trouble falling asleep like this.

"Those bastards are probably trapped in the gym right now, yelling their heads off." Wang Yang stared blankly at the bed above him, imagining the scene in the gym. It must have been packed and lively.

"It's this hot, and they're still holding a cosplay event? They're asking for trouble. Sure, the famous goddess of the otaku crowd will be there, but I'd rather take a nap and then go play ball on the courts for a few hours." Wang Yang propped his hands behind his head and pursed his lips. After muttering to himself, he slowly closed his eyes. That was what he said, but if the cosplay event had been for Sword Art Online, he probably would have rushed to the gym the moment he finished watching the latest episode.

As he drifted toward sleep, an idea suddenly crossed Wang Yang's mind: if only he could personally play a virtual game like Sword Art Online. He'd have no regrets in life.

November 6, 2022, was a special day. The heavily promoted virtual game SAO had put ten thousand NerveGear units on the market three days earlier, and today, three days later, was its official launch.

At 12:55 p.m., in every corner of Japan, ten thousand players who had been eagerly awaiting the game had already put on their SAO-exclusive headsets, waiting impatiently for one o'clock.

"Beep!"

Like a trumpet sounding, when the clock struck one, thousands of beeps rang out in countless hidden corners. Along with the excited anticipation of ten thousand players, a few minutes later, the starting town on the first floor of the immense floating castle Aincrad welcomed ten thousand newcomers.

Except for Kayaba Akihiko, none of the ten thousand people who entered the game knew that the world awaiting them was no game to take lightly. Unaware of what lay ahead, the players logged in and began enjoying the virtual fantasy world.

Time flew by, and four hours passed in the blink of an eye. On the first floor of Aincrad, a player lay in the grass of the monster area south of the starting town.

Still groggy, Wang Yang slowly opened his eyes. He gazed blearily at the blazing orange clouds across the sky, not noticing anything amiss. He sat up, stretched his arms wide, and yawned, feeling refreshed.

"Sleeping is the best!"

After yawning and rubbing his eyes, Wang Yang felt completely rested and full of energy. He patted his cheeks, thinking he should get up, wash, and go play basketball. Just then, a rainbow-colored butterfly the size of a human head floated past him.

Its vivid wings beat, scattering flecks of sparkling powder. Only belatedly did Wang Yang notice the glittering dust shaken loose by the butterfly. His eyes suddenly widened. There was no doubt about it: this wasn't a butterfly. It was a giant butterfly!

But the problem wasn't its size. This butterfly looked like it didn't belong on Earth!

"Damn it, wasn't I sleeping in my dorm? Where the hell am I?" Realizing that he wasn't in that stifling dormitory, Wang Yang immediately looked around.

There was a vast grassland, a rock lying in the distance, and trees he couldn't name. Far away, he could just make out what looked like a wild boar.

He'd only taken a nap, yet when he woke, the world had turned upside down and become somewhere unfamiliar. Anyone faced with something like that would feel fear deep in their bones.

"Could it be... I've transmigrated?"

After letting out a few startled yells, Wang Yang sprang to his feet, his face full of fear. Suddenly, he felt something hard and strange against his limbs. He hurriedly looked down—and was even more shocked.

Transmigration was one thing, but he'd ended up in a dangerous world where he had to wear light leather armor and greaves! What kind of joke was this?

"Is this some kind of transmigration bonus? I don't want it!" Wang Yang raised his elbow in despair and looked at the pale-yellow gauntlet strapped to it, feeling his fear grow.

Wearing equipment like this meant that the world required fighting. Back in peaceful times, Wang Yang had sometimes gotten into scuffles with students from other departments over the basketball court; getting into a fight was nothing unusual. But this was real combat, a world away from a scuffle.

It turned out that even though Wang Yang had always fantasized about transmigrating, when he finally experienced the very thing he'd dreamed of, he felt not the slightest bit of joy. For someone who had lived in peaceful times, facing an unfamiliar world where he might have to fight could only fill his heart with fear. How could he possibly feel happy?

Wang Yang stood there in a daze, at a loss. He had no idea he was in a virtual game, much less that it was Sword Art Online, the game he'd dreamed of playing. At that moment, all he felt was fear. The world looked beautiful, but that did nothing to dispel the sense of strangeness clinging to his heart—especially since it was such a dangerous place.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

As Wang Yang stood there, frozen and unsure what to do, a clear, pleasant voice rang in his ear, like a bewitching melody. The dazed look in Wang Yang's eyes gave way to a sudden, strange brightness. He whipped around toward the voice, and his abrupt reaction startled the girl who had spoken.

"Are... are you a foreigner?" After getting a good look at the girl, Wang Yang's mouth fell open and he stared blankly.

The girl was tall and slender, with beautiful golden hair that fell to her waist. Her eyes were like emeralds, a deep green; her features were exquisite, as if she had stepped out of a painting. She was a beautiful girl, but something about her appearance still struck Wang Yang as vaguely off, in a way he couldn't explain.

Startled by Wang Yang's over-the-top reaction and baffling question, Arthurslin stumbled backward several steps and regarded him like a madman. Then she glanced up at the green cone floating above Wang Yang's head. Once she confirmed that he was a player and not an NPC, she asked, puzzled, "What nonsense are you talking about?"

Since SAO's open beta began, everyone had gone out to level up after spending some time in town—including her. As a Beta Tester, she had fought hard all afternoon and reached level two. She hadn't expected to encounter a player wearing only the default cosmetic gear on her way back to town.

The default cosmetic gear was the outfit players started with, usually a European-style warrior's attire. It provided no stat bonuses; only equipment and weapons bought from a cheap Equipment Shop could improve a player's stats.

This guy looked like a lunatic. More than four hours had passed since the open beta began, yet he still hadn't equipped anything, and he was in a monster area. Had he spent the entire time sleeping?

Arthurslin couldn't see Wang Yang's level, so she guessed maliciously—but, by sheer chance, she was right. After the previous owner of the body Wang Yang now occupied had entered the game, he hadn't gone to level up. Instead, he'd wandered around like a tourist, admiring the virtual scenery. Because of his low level, he couldn't go very far, so he'd found a patch of soft grass and fallen into a deep sleep. When he woke, his body had somehow been taken over by Wang Yang, who had arrived along with his soul.

"Wait, why are you speaking Japanese? And how can I understand you?" After realizing that the beautiful girl was speaking Japanese, Wang Yang raised his straight, striking eyebrows in confusion. A flood of questions immediately filled his mind.

Arthurslin furrowed her lovely brows, convinced that the Wang Yang in front of her was mentally ill. She decided to stop engaging with him and turned toward the starting town. As she walked away, she muttered, "Never heard of a mentally ill person playing SAO before."

"SAO!?" Arthurslin's parting words struck Wang Yang's mind like a thunderclap.

"Stop right there!" Wang Yang wasn't sure he'd heard correctly. His body trembled, and he shouted as he sprinted several strides toward Yulia.

The shout startled Arthurslin. She turned and saw Wang Yang's faintly twisted, terrifying expression, like a pervert about to attack a helpless little girl. She let out a terrified scream and reflexively swung the greatsword in her hand at him.

"Damn it! Ah!" Wang Yang could clearly see the greatsword's path, but he couldn't stop his forward momentum or dodge the blow. The thought of death filled his heart. Every hair on his body stood on end. Then he felt a sharp pain from his neck to his chest and fell to his knees, his eyes wide with fear. His limbs went limp, and a bone-deep pain made him cry out.

Death had suddenly come so close. Wang Yang's scream was heart-rending, and he felt utterly wronged. He'd only just transmigrated, yet now he was going to die miserably at a woman's hands. Was there a more unfortunate transmigrator than him?

Along with his fear, Wang Yang felt terribly aggrieved. He'd only wanted to ask a question—why did she have to be so vicious?

Fear swept over him in an instant. Then a cold voice rang in his ear, filling him with deep bewilderment instead.

"Your HP has reached the critical threshold. 'Paralysis' status activated. You cannot move."

Hearing the cold female notification voice, Wang Yang immediately forgot his fear and fell into a daze.

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