Scalpers are the scum of the earth.

That’s why I’m stuck here at 5:30 AM and lining up in front of a store with nearly two hundred other people.

I mean, the limited copies were an issue, but it was really the scalpers that I was worried about. The last time I underestimated them, I ended up paying triple for what a NerveGear was originally supposed to cost.

I leaned to the side, peering at the storefront to see if anything had changed in the past two minutes.

Nope.

I’m still number fifty-seven in line. I know because I’ve spent the last two and a half days standing here in this freezing winter weather and believe me, it gets mind-numbingly boring.

Sure, it was self-imposed suffering, but it was also necessary suffering.

The road to not getting scammed by scalpers is paved with adversity, and that included subsisting off nothing but premade meals and energy drinks.

I yawned, and for a moment, my eyelids almost became too heavy for me to force open anymore. But “almost” meant that there was still a chance for me to stay awake, and with the aid of my incredible willpower, I managed to remain awake.

Falling asleep now would be a fatal mistake. After all, my salvation was arriving soon.

I sighed and I looked at my watch. 5:36. Twenty-four minutes more, and I would finally be saved from this hell.

“Well, well, well. Look who it is, skippin’ class for three consecutive days. I knew it was damn fishy when you called in sick.”

Even without turning around, I already knew who was calling out to me. Regardless, I still turned around.

A tall and lanky man was swaggering toward me with a lit cigarette in his mouth. He wore his jet-black hair in a ridiculous Elvis-esque pompadour and dressed in a fashion that made me actually shiver.

Holy shit, it’s in the middle of goddamn winter and you’re wearing what? A pink shirt matched with a white two-piece suit? Why the hell haven’t you frozen over yet!?

“What the hell are you wearing, teach?”

The man took a long drag from his cigarette and blew out a donut before flicking it against the ground and putting it out with his foot.

“You like my new kicks? Good eyes. Real crocodile skin, by the way.” He smirked at me, taking his sunglasses off and wiggling his eyebrows at me as if I was supposed to be impressed.

I sighed and turned away. There was no point in exchanging words with him.

Tachibana Ryousuke was my homeroom teacher and the advisor of the school’s karate club. He also had an unhealthy obsession with out-of-style and flashy fashion. Normally, you’d think someone as lazy and eccentric as him wouldn’t be able to make the cut, but we were just that desperate.

As it happens, I was the club’s vice-captain, so I was pretty familiar with him.

Even so, I doubt he was here just to chase me down for skipping school the past few days.

“Aw, c’mon now! You really gonna gimme the cold shoulder after I took the time to come see what you’ve been up to?”

“What about you? You’ve got work in an hour or so, don’t you?”

Ryousuke let loose a bout of roaring laughter that was so loud, I knew it had to be fake. He was either going to say an extremely stupid line or was just trying to draw attention.

“Ahhh, you who are still naught but a child,” Ryousuke said, wagging a finger at me. “I haven’t used a single vacation day ever since Sword Art Online was announced!”

And that was the very reason for my suffering.

Sword Art Online.

It was the world’s first VRMMO that would be released. It would utilize FullDive technology through the NerveGear, a device which was available to the public since last May. 

By using FullDive technology, the NerveGear could interact with the user’s brain and send it signals to emulate a full sensory experience. I’m probably not explaining this well, and that’s because I’m a goddamn high schooler.

Honestly, I don’t really know shit about technology and all that stuff. 

My academics are just barely average and I’ve poured the majority of my free time into my karate practice. But what I do know is that for the first time ever, I’ll be able to experience a whole new world in the comfort of my own home.

In other words, it was the ultimate training simulator that would allow me to experience true combat and bring my martial arts to a whole new level.

That alone was enough of a reason to suffer for three long days.

I now glanced at Ryousuke with an eyebrow raised.

“Even if you say that, you’re a little late, aren’t you?”

He wagged his finger at me again. It was getting kind of annoying. “Wrong! Unlike you, I am a fully-fledged adult. And you know what that means?”

I stared at him, waiting for him to answer his rhetorical question. Unfortunately for me, the smug grin on his face told me that he wasn’t going to do so until I prompted him.

I sighed, for the third time today. “What?”

“Money! I have money!” Ryousuke proudly roared. “I can hire someone to line up for me! In fact, they’re right there!”

My eyes followed the direction that he was pointing in, causing me to click my tongue in displeasure.

What an asshole.

Incidentally, Ryousuke’s supposed hire was ahead of me by four, which annoyingly put him in place number fifty-three.

I showed Ryosuke my middle finger and returned my attention to the captivating sight of the person who stood in front of me. I’d been staring at the back of their head for the past few days, and I had to admit it was getting real old.

Ryousuke gave me a pat on the shoulder and a wave as he walked off to change places with the man in fifty-three. I took the opportunity to open up my backpack and crack open another energy drink, but it was then that it arrived.

Salvation.

I could see that the store employee’s hands were shaking nervously as he retrieved the keys. There was no doubt that he was afraid we would all become rabid animals the moment the doors were opened. 

Honestly, this was probably the biggest crowd that he’d ever seen. The store owner really lucked out in managing to acquire a portion of the few hardcopies that existed for Sword Art Online.

Click.

The employee pushed the door open and breathed a sigh of relief as we remained standing stock-still, waiting to be called inside.

His worries truly were unfounded. 

This was our pride. Our resolve.

We had all patiently waited for this momentous occasion, and there was an unspoken agreement in the air not to tarnish it.

In an orderly fashion, all of us slowly filed inside the building, leaving with a copy of the game in hand. A few had come with friends and they waited excitedly to take commemorative pictures with one another.

Unfortunately for me, all of my friends had been lucky enough to acquire their copies via online sales. A few of them might even have their copies in hand already.

At last, it was my turn.

Entering the store was a unique experience to say the least. The air smelled of burnt dust and three-day old body odor. The former was probably from the heater that was just turned on, and the latter was probably from the fifty-six other people who had been in here before me.

I felt sorry for the shopkeeper, because I probably smelled the same. I didn’t feel sorry enough for him to leave, though.

Spotting the game wasn’t a difficult task. The copies were placed in a large, upright cardboard box with some art for the game featured on a cardboard standee just next to it.

I took a copy from the box, noticing that it was a little over halfway empty now.

Huh... So the store’s only got around a hundred copies and they’re already down by more than half. Damn.

As I made my way toward the counter, I cast a quick glance out the window. There were clearly more than fifty people out there right now.

I shrugged. Sucks to be them.

Purchasing the game was the most exhilarating thing I’d ever felt in my life.

The moment I tapped my card against the reader, I felt an instant rush of dopamine that was better than any energy drink that I’d consumed over the past three days. Every crash I suffered and powered through these past few days was worth this single moment.

With my copy of the game in hand, I immediately headed home. I don’t know if it was the adrenaline or the joy, but I didn’t even feel tired anymore as I power-walked to the station.

One painfully long train ride and I was home at last. It was a good thing that my parents were overseas this week, or I definitely wouldn’t have been able to stay out of the house for three days in a row undetected.

I dashed up the stairs that led to my room, almost tripping over myself in the process. I cursed and redoubled my efforts, taking my revenge on the last three steps on the staircase to my ultimate victory.

A grin grew on my face as I practically barreled into the room, plugging my NerveGear in and taking a moment to gently insert the game cartridge into my NerveGear, caressing the headset almost lovingly.

It was finally time.

I placed the NerveGear on the head like a warrior donning their helmet.

My body rested comfortably on the mattress of my bed.

I inhaled sharply before uttering the words that would inadvertently change my life for the next two years.

“Link start!”

HungrySheep

Some of you may be wondering why Sword Art Online was the choice of fanfiction I decided to create. Aside from the large number of Danmachi and Mushoku Tensei fanfiction I've seen on this site already, there have been no SAO fanfics much to my surprise. Sword Art Online was one of the series that really left an impact on me as a kid, but as I grew older, I always thought that it could've been better. The story didn't do the whole "death game" theme any justice. There was no build up, and many things were skipped.

This is being addressed in the "Progressive" series that has been serializing lately, but even so, those thoughts won't fade. I'm sure it's the same for many others, and so this is my attempt to rectify that. I hope you'll watch Akira's journey unfold and hopefully, it'll be able to recapture some of that magic we felt when SAO first released.