Kayaba! You set me up!

"It's not an interesting story. Endou and the other two only approached me because they found out from the class contact book that I lived alone. They were very friendly at first and acted really envious of me living on my own. Then they started coming over to my room for get-togethers."

Wang Shui listened attentively. This was something he hadn't known.

"Since this place is so close to school, with the shopping street nearby, they often came to my room to change into casual clothes before going out. Then more and more clothes, shoes, bags, and things started piling up. Later, they even started getting dead drunk and sleeping at my place all the time."

With Shino's personality and habits, she really would have had trouble fitting in with them.

"They disrupted my life so much that I couldn't concentrate on studying. If I complained to them directly, all I got was 'We're friends, aren't we?' Until one day, when I came home, I heard lots of... people in my room."

Wang Shui was a little surprised too. "They had your key?"

"Yes. Stupid, wasn't it? Last year, I still thought that was just the price of making friends. Until they brought... other people over. I was scared, really scared, so I called the police."

Naturally, they couldn't remain friends after that.

"Endou and the others put a lot of effort into getting revenge. They soon dug up what happened three years ago. Pressure from the teachers kept them from spreading it around, but they started... blackmailing me, just because I was terribly afraid of..."

"Guns."

Wang Shui's sudden interjection made Shino's whole body tremble.

"Yes, guns. The key that triggers my stress symptoms. When I see the corresponding shapes or models, I get nauseous and vomit, or even go into shock, collapsing in a pathetic heap in my own vomit. That's how they've kept blackmailing me, though they haven't succeeded very often."

Shino's voice gradually went from tense and hurried to even. She hadn't calmed down; this was a normal response to releasing pressure by revealing a secret.

"Maybe one day, when Endou and the others get angry out of humiliation, the whole school, or even all of society, will find out about it."

Then Shino would be in far too much danger.

Society as a whole was like a beast lurking in the darkness. There was no telling when it would leap out and bite her, until it had chewed her to pieces and swallowed her whole.

"Don't worry, Satou. I'm still receiving psychotherapy and having my medication adjusted. The therapists often offer words of encouragement."

"If those worked, there wouldn't be so many American soldiers hooked on addictive drugs." Wang Shui's tone was a little heavy.

"That's just running away. Running away from reality is no different from being dead." Shino smiled.

With that kind of awareness, your personality, thinking, and understanding are all pretty mature, Little Shino.

"I'm very sorry. Now that I know the details, I don't think my abilities will let me do much to help you," Wang Shui said sincerely.

"You've already done plenty. I feel much better after talking about it. I trust you won't turn around and threaten me, Satou?"

"Of course not. I swear on the light."

"Ha, what kind of oath is that? This is all I need. I can only solve my own problems myself. As long as I grow stronger, the day will come when I overcome my fear."

If things ran their natural course, that would take a long time. One careless moment, and psychological problems could become a lifelong matter.

"What, don't believe me? I can already look at some gun magazines, you know."

Her dark brown eyes shone with confidence behind her nonprescription glasses.

Her resilient mental strength shattered Wang Shui's sense of superiority from knowing the plot in advance. That endearing determination to be strong really was...

"Such rare personal charm," Wang Shui remarked.

"What, do you mean me?"

Yes, you. You're nothing like a supporting character laid out in a literary work, already analyzed in exhaustive detail.

A living, breathing Shino, with a clearly defined figure and face, tiny expressions and movements,

and a cool, slightly husky voice. Being close to someone so charming and strong-willed really did feel healing. Wang Shui, who had been feeling somewhat agitated and depressed over the plot beginning to veer off course, now felt much more at ease.

"Thank you so much for today, Shino."

As Wang Shui spoke, he got up and went to the balcony kitchen, where he opened a plastic box. With some ice piled inside, it served as a makeshift refrigerator.

The classic Black Forest mousse had an even more delicate texture after a little chilling.

The closer a cake was to the temperature inside the mouth, the more easily a mouthful became tasteless, like chewing on nothing.

"Why are you thanking me instead? You're clearly the one who put in more effort." Smiling, Shino tapped her plastic plate with the toothed spoon in her hand.

"My story isn't nearly that long. I've just been feeling down lately, but Lady Shino's confidence just lit up my world. I feel much better now."

"You've already started calling me by my first name without a second thought? I never agreed to that!"

Their conversation grew increasingly familiar. Wang Shui had that sort of power, that kind of social skill: no matter whom he spoke with, he could keep the conversation going.

They went from psychology to food, from food to studying, then relationships with classmates, guns, and the requirements for becoming strong.

"So what exactly is this 'short story' that drove even someone like you outside to stand around? Relationship trouble?"

In the end, the conversation circled back.

"Hmm, is it your turn to counsel me now? I don't know whether I should bring something like this up. Let me organize my thoughts... Would you say taking a certain amount of risk to become stronger is worth it?"

"Stronger? Risk? To what extent?"

"Strong enough to survive, with death as the risk... Something like that."

"That extreme? Are you serious?"

"Of course... not. Does putting it that way sound a bit chuuni? More specifically, there's a certain chance that my future life will end up in trouble, and the way of struggling against it that I can think of also has a certain chance of leading to the same result. But if I choose to struggle, things might get better."

"Hmm, that's a little complicated. Are you torn between quietly waiting for things to get worse and taking action to change them? And taking the initiative might bring other rewards too, right?"

"Taking the initiative might directly make things worse." Wang Shui leaned weakly against the side of the bed. This problem exceeded what his gambler's mentality could handle.

Given Wang Shui's personality, he was more inclined to run away.

"Take the initiative!" Shino clenched her right fist and spoke emphatically.

"What?"

"I said take the initiative! Just like a ship sailing through a storm, you can't put the helm in someone else's hands! People shouldn't slowly rot away in comfortable self-deception. They should have the dignity of intelligent beings! We can move, so we should act. We can think, so we should find ways to solve our problems!"

Honestly, Wang Shui was inspired by the strong-willed girl before him.

"What magnificent phrasing. The parts just don't quite fit together." That was his first comment.

"I only saw it online yesterday. I never thought I'd get to use it today."

"Thanks... That did encourage me. Whew-fine, just this once, I'll take some initiative too." Wang Shui rubbed his face and made up his mind.

"Your determination sounds so weak~"

"Hey, don't knock me down straight away."

Their conversation gradually grew livelier and wandered further afield. The boy and girl chatted until midnight.

"It feels like finding a companion I wish I'd met sooner." Shino stood up and offered the first summary.

"I've heard plenty of similar comments before. Maybe that's my talent." Wang Shui walked Shino to the door and said goodbye,

"See you tomorrow, Shino."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow."

After the clingy little kitten left, Wang Shui didn't rest. Instead, he opened an online shopping platform and ordered some materials from nearby sellers that could deliver quickly.

Indeed, rather than staying in reality, trembling as he waited for Lord Kirito to make a name for himself, he might as well enter SAO directly-and then watch Lord Kirito slaughter everything in his path.

His unexpected conversation with Shino made the wavering Wang Shui decide to go into SAO and take a look after all. That way, even if he died, he would at least understand why.

But before entering the game, he had to prepare thoroughly. No, he had to overprepare!

As the orders were confirmed, Wang Shui's savings were practically drained.

The next few days were an utterly uneventful, comfortable stretch of school life.

But Wang Shui was no longer in the mood for classes. He began searching intensively online for armed combat tutorials and videos, especially those from back home. Traditional or modern, if there was text, he copied all of it down first. If there wasn't, he summarized it himself.

There wasn't time to learn it. He would memorize it first.

November 5, the day before SAO's launch, was an ordinary Saturday.

After three days of going to school and coming home with Shino, acting as her escort, Wang Shui received an invitation from her for Saturday.

It didn't feel like a date, more like good buddies hanging out together, right on the shopping street beside the apartment building.

Several leisurely hours flew by, and after having dinner together, they each went home. On that final night, Wang Shui finally finished modifying the NerveGear.

Since the original gaming platform, NerveGear, came equipped with a "brain-frying" feature, Wang Shui added a new protective module to the physical connection between its concealed battery and microwave sensors. It monitored the battery's output power to keep it within a safe range, actively adjusting the voltage and current. That way, even if he died in the game, his brain wouldn't get fried.

It sounded simple, but it actually took quite a lot of time, because the parameters marked on the NerveGear's motherboard were incomplete.

Next, Wang Shui planned to spend the entire night without sleep, rapidly reviewing all the material he had found.

The learning ability his talent granted him had improved his memory, but it was still nowhere near Photographic Memory.

So that night, Wang Shui felt as though he had returned to the day before his university finals.

Sunday, November 6, at precisely one in the afternoon.

Already wearing his NerveGear, Wang Shui gave a small shout the instant the countdown ended:

"Link Start!" (Embarrassing.)

The game's visuals began loading.

Wang Shui quickly skipped through the various options that only required confirmation. When creating his character, he used his preset real information and left the face model and hairstyle at their defaults.

Soon, the colorful glow of entering the game lit up. Lying flat on his bed, Wang Shui felt his center of gravity shift, and he "stood up."

A solid sensation came from the ground beneath his feet. The surrounding colors spread like mist, and almost instantly, an extraordinarily clear, realistic scene flooded his vision.

"Good grief, this technology. They had graphics processors this powerful in '22?"

Muttering, Wang Shui was already moving. He ran toward the street west of the starting plaza and plunged into the weapons shop-or rather, the general store beside it. Then he spent all the Cor (currency) he had on one black pen and one red pen, using the rest to buy the cheapest paper.

Being teleported back to the plaza later would be a nuisance, so Wang Shui simply stayed.

He ran to the entrance of a little café-like shop by the plaza, claimed a seat at one of the outdoor tables, and immediately began writing furiously.

The memorization test had begun.

Wang Shui had categorized everything he had memorized over the past few days alphabetically by title, making it easier to remember. Next, he had to reproduce it all on paper.

The pen tip glided rapidly over the somewhat coarse paper, producing a pleasant rustling.

Meanwhile, blue-white lights kept appearing in the plaza beside him. Vast numbers of players logged in one after another, and every one of them exclaimed in wonder at this exquisite world.

Most players immediately began exploring the town. Some charged straight outside in search of combat, while experienced players who had prepared beforehand began looking for quest NPCs mentioned in guides.

Some noticed Wang Shui writing furiously and approached him, thinking he was a special NPC, only to receive a vicious glare.

Time trickled by, the sky gradually darkened, and Wang Shui's body began to feel heavy.

The muscles in his back, neck, arms, and even fingers were sounding alarms. The aching, swelling, stinging sensations felt utterly real.

But he could still endure it. The pen tip didn't slow in its dance across the paper at all. Instead, the dimming light around him began affecting his vision.

Amid his frantic work, Wang Shui found time to bring his right index and middle fingers together and swipe a short distance downward in the air, summoning the system panel.

He moved the panel a little higher so it wouldn't obstruct his downward view, then continued writing by the light of the white panel.

At some point, the plaza gradually grew noisy. Numerous blue pillars of light flashed, and more and more people were teleported back to the plaza.

"What's going on?" "Can we log out this way?" "I'm reporting this game."

Such remarks stood out from the hubbub. Wang Shui spared them some attention, but his hand never stopped writing.

Then the sky darkened, and red light shone down.

So, was the main event about to begin?

"Players, welcome to my world."

Beneath a sky covered in a bright red checkerboard pattern, a nearly twenty-meter-tall giant in a dark red cloak spread his empty arms and addressed the future inhabitants of [Aincrad].

The players in the plaza gaped, utterly silent.

[My name is Akihiko Kayaba. I am currently the only person who can control this world.]

[I believe you have all noticed that the logout button has disappeared from the main menu. However, this is not a problem with the game. I repeat, this is not a problem with the game, because this is how Sword Art Online was originally designed.]

[From now on, you will be unable to log out of this game yourselves until you reach the top of this castle.]

[Furthermore, people outside cannot stop or disable the NerveGear. If anyone attempts to do so, the microwaves emitted by the NerveGear's signal components will destroy your brains, ending your vital functions.]

After those words came a brief silence, followed by a quiet hubbub, as though they still didn't understand what he meant.

Despite having prepared both mentally and physically, Wang Shui inexplicably felt a heavy sense of oppression too.

Of course, the pen in his hand still didn't stop.

[To be more specific, the brain-destruction program will execute only under the following conditions: the external power supply is disconnected for over ten minutes, the network connection is lost for over two hours, or someone attempts to damage the NerveGear itself or release its fastening lock. These conditions have already been announced to the outside world through our company and the media.]

[Incidentally, as of this moment, quite a few players' friends and family members have ignored my warning and attempted to forcibly remove the NerveGear. As a result...]

[-Regrettably, five hundred and seventy-three players have already departed forever from both the real world and Aincrad.]

The plaza erupted again, much louder and more densely this time, with many sobs mixed in.

Many people began hurling abuse at the giant in the sky, as though that could dispel their terror.

[There is no need to worry about your bodies in the real world. All television, radio, and online media are now repeatedly reporting this situation, along with warnings that numerous victims have already appeared. Thus, the risk of the NerveGear on your heads being forcibly removed can be said to have fallen considerably.]

Sacrifice, besides dying for one's beliefs, also carried the ancient meaning of serving as an offering.

[From here on, your bodies in the real world should be transported to hospitals or other facilities within the two-hour disconnection grace period while you remain wearing the NerveGear, and then receive careful nursing.]

[I hope you can rest easy... and simply concentrate your efforts on clearing the game.]

These words prompted another round of enthusiastic greetings. Some familiar special vocabulary began bursting out rhythmically, making it a little more interesting than mere noise.

[However, I hope you will pay particular attention to this: for you, SAO is no longer merely a game, but another real world. From now on... all resurrection functions will be removed from the game. Thus, the instant your HP reaches zero, your character will disappear forever. At the same time... the NerveGear will destroy your brain.]

Well, that made things much quieter.

The fear of death descended like the bright red barrier in the sky. The densely packed players in the plaza radiated a tangible aura of negativity.

Death in the game meant death in reality.

Those words cut off most players' courage to enter dangerous areas.

[There is only one condition that will free you from this game. As I mentioned earlier, you must reach Aincrad's highest floor, the hundredth floor, and defeat the final boss waiting there. I guarantee that, at that moment, all surviving players will be able to log out safely.]

Wang Shui had long since forgotten Akihiko Kayaba's death-game declaration. He had only watched this opening once in the anime over a decade ago. Even when he occasionally revisited the story afterward, he always skipped this part.

He had to admit the atmosphere was being built very successfully now. Every player below looked as though they had lost their soul.

Wang Shui, meanwhile, calmly continued guiding his racing pen, putting down hurried, connected, yet steady writing.

[Furthermore...]

[Among you-the two hundred and twenty-four thousand, five hundred and six players who logged in today and are still online-there is one clever fellow who seems to have discovered the hidden danger in the NerveGear. He used physical means to install a power limiter on its concealed rechargeable battery.]

Thump!

His heart felt as though it had been squeezed tight in an instant. The pen in Wang Shui's hand scored a deep ink mark across the rough paper.

[A very inventive fellow. It does indeed ensure the NerveGear's safety. Therefore, once your body has been settled, I will update your NerveGear's control system, activate the hidden jumper beneath the circuit board's reserve capacitor bank, and reconnect the battery-as a reward for a wise man, until the system update, you are the only player permitted to resurrect. Enjoy the game.]

At this point, the oppressive atmosphere of fear in the plaza finally enveloped Wang Shui.

[Lastly, let me show you proof that this world is now your only reality. I have prepared a gift in each of your inventories. Please take a look.]

A little mirror that restored their appearances, in a nasty little joke, making every player play with their real face. Was that the basis for calling this reality?

Wang Shui did not reach for the handheld mirror in his inventory. Tiny glimmers still shimmered across his face; it seemed he had already been forcibly restored to his own appearance.

[Everyone must be wondering why right now. Why would Akihiko Kayaba-the developer of SAO and NerveGear-do this? Is this a large-scale act of terrorism? Or a kidnapping for ransom?]

[Neither of those is my objective. You could even say that I no longer have any objective or reason. As for why... it is because, to me, this situation is the ultimate objective. To create this world and watch it-that was the very purpose for which I invented NerveGear and created SAO. And now, all my objectives have been achieved.]

[...This concludes the explanation of the official launch of "Sword Art Online." Players-I wish you good luck.]

As the final words lingered, the cloaked giant rose and dissolved into the sky, and the bright red checkerboard barrier gradually disappeared as well.

The Town of Beginnings returned to its original colors. Then the entire plaza began to shake with the uproar.