“...213 players have retired from both this world and the real one.”

Those words rang heavily in my mind even after Kayaba’s declaration.

I wasn’t worried that I would die if my HP hit 0.

I didn’t care that the «Mirror» item he’d given us overwrote my avatar with my real face and body.

There was something far more important than that.

My friends.

I hadn’t seen them since three days ago. They’d been lucky enough to grab their copies of the game online, so I was the only one stuck lining up for days on end.

However, I had no doubt in my mind that they were among the ten thousand players who’d logged in on the first day. 

How did I know?

That’s simple. I only received a single message from them before I logged in myself. Normally, that wouldn’t have been a surefire sign for anyone else, but my friends and I were pretty active players of another MMO, and we’d promised to re-create our guild in Sword Art Online.

The last message that I received from them was “We’ll see you in game!” in the group chat we had, which meant that there was pretty much a zero percent chance that they weren’t stuck in here with me.

However, there was no way I could know whether or not they were part of that initial 213 short of tracking them down.

I had four friends who were planning on playing Sword Art Online: Masamune, Hiroto, Kenji, and Shizuka.

Oh yeah. There was my teacher Ryosuke who was probably trapped in here as well, but I wouldn’t call him a friend.

A series of thoughts was running through my mind, and none of them were savory.

Masamune’s parents weren’t that strict, but I couldn’t discount the possibility that they’d try to remove his NerveGear. They were the traditional sort, after all.

Hiroto lived alone with his younger sister since his parents were overseas like mine, but I had no way of knowing whether or not his sister would heed the warnings.

Kenji was... Kenji. He didn’t come from the best family, and his parents probably wouldn’t care if he died or not. They just didn’t want to dirty their hands. Whether or not they’d do something like flip the breakers to “accidentally” kill him off was something that I was currently worrying about.

As for Shizuka, she was like a sister to me. Or so I forced myself to believe. We grew up together in the same neighborhood, but she was big money. As soon as we entered school, she ended up attending some girls-only private school for rich kids. MMOs were the only way we kept in touch.

As for her parents, they were well-educated and level-headed. I wasn’t worried about her too much when it came to getting unplugged. Not as much as the other three, at least.

I felt a hand on my shoulder.

“Yo, you alright man? You’ve got a scary look on your face. I know this whole situation’s fucked up, but we gotta make what we can of it, yeah? We gotta get stronger if we wanna survive. Just how it is right now.”

Jin’s voice was dragging me back down to reality. 

Honestly, it was surprising how level-headed he was about this whole thing, especially since he no longer looked like a bishounen after using the «Mirror». 

He was just your average highschooler now, with dark brown hair and dark brown eyes.

Well, maybe a little above average. I was pretty sure he’d be able to pull some chicks if he really set his mind to it, but that was beside the point.

“Yeah... You’re right.”

“‘Course I am. People’re probably gonna start farming the mobs ‘round here, so we should book it to the next town. With any luck, we’ll be the only ones there along with a few other beta testers who know the way and maybe their friends.”

That was probably the best course of action. With the number of players we had here and the number of mobs in the field, their respawn timers wouldn’t be fast enough to keep up with players trying to grind out levels.

But I couldn’t go. Not right now, at least.

“I can’t. I gotta go find my friends. They got their copies online, so they’re bound to be somewhere in here. That asshole Kayaba teleported everyone here, right?”

Jin nodded. “Supposedly.”

“Then I’ve gotta look around. Don’t wait for me, alright?”

“...I won’t be able to come back easily, you know?”

“I know.”

He sighed. “Good luck, then. Remember to shoot me a message. I added you for a reason, y’know.”

I smiled. “Yeah, I’ll start spamming you for the safest routes toward town the moment I find my friends. I’ll introduce you to ‘em once we make it there.”

“Any cute girls?”

“Hm... Just one.”

“You damn well better introduce me, then.” He clapped me on the shoulder before beginning to turn away. “I’ll be seeing you.”

“Don’t die, Jin.”

“The hell? You know I won’t. I still gotta carry your newbie ass to the second floor, y’know?”

We both laughed and went our separate ways. It was a rough and abrupt parting, but both of us had things we absolutely needed to do.

For Jin, it was becoming stronger as quickly as possible. As for me, I needed to find my friends no matter what.

I pushed through the throng of panicked players who were still gathered at the plaza near the teleport stone. Most of them were milling about or cradling their heads in their hands, not knowing what to do.

But not me. I was a man on a mission, and it felt damn good to have a mission in this bleak situation.

That’s right. In times of trouble, it was best to have a clear direction that you could follow. A strong purpose.

That was the only thing keeping me from going crazy like a few of the other players right now.

However, even that small pillar of stability was starting to waver as I continued pushing through the crowd, looking for my friends. Since everyone had used the «Mirror», they’d look the same as they did in real life, right!?

But no matter where I looked or how long I spent in this panic-filled plaza, I couldn’t find them.

There’s no way that they were a part of the 213... Right?

No... Please, don’t leave me! Not like this! We didn’t even get to say our goodbyes! Masamune! Hiroto! Kenji! Shizu—

“...Akira?”

Shizuka...?

I whirled around, my eyes wide and wild. Standing there before me was Shizuka in all of her black-haired goddess glory. She looked just as beautiful as she did in real life with her elegant face, unblemished skin, and womanly curves.

My heart practically burst with the relief and hope that I now felt, but I couldn’t trust myself to speak. Not until I knew she really was real.

I stepped forward wordlessly and pulled her into a tight embrace. Normally, I would’ve been pretty embarrassed to perform such a raw display of affection, but this was different.

A second ago, I’d thought that all my friends had died in this damn world before I could even meet them, but right at that moment, Shizuka appeared like a ray of hope shining down upon me from the heavens.

I was so relieved.

“Um... Akira? T-This is kind of embarrassing... A-And people are staring!”

Those sons of bitches. Last time I checked, they were still busy panicking and fiddling with their menus in disbelief while trying to log out. Now that a beautiful girl is here, you’re all focusing on her!?

And hey, wait! What’s with those stares of envy!? Can’t I just hug a friend in peace after finding out she’s alive? Yeesh!

I reluctantly released Shizuka from my embrace. Pretty as she was, we both lived in different worlds. Even if she liked me, I doubt her parents would approve of her relationship.

That’s why I’ve always tried to only think of her as my dear sister. Call me a fuckin’ coward if you want, but it just hurts less.

But really, this relief spreading through my body finally made me understand something.

Sword Art Online wasn’t a game anymore. To us, this was now our reality.

A reality where any of us could disappear at any given moment once our HP hit 0.

“Sorry ‘bout that, Shizuka. After that whole announcement, I was just so worried. I spent the past thirty minutes searching for you and everyone else!”

Shizuka tilted her head to the side, confused. “Everyone else?”

“Oh, y’know. Kenji, Hiroto, Masamune. Those three idiots are somewhere in here, right?”

She shrugged. “Probably.”

After finding Shizuka, the tension in my body had drained significantly. My speech had become far more relaxed, and I could feel that my virtual muscles weren’t as tense as they were when I was pushing through the crowd.

But the way Shizuka was treating this situation was just a whole ‘nother level of calm. Like, she wasn’t even shaken or worried. At all.

Is she just mentally strong or what? She almost looks fuckin’ happy, now that I think about it. Welp, might as well bring it up.

“Yo, Shizuka. You, uh, seem awfully calm about this whole thing. This happen to you a lot or somethin’?”

I included the latter half as a joke, hoping she’d laugh, but she looked at me with a fiercely serious gaze instead. It wasn’t scary or hostile, but it had this sort of pressure that made me slightly unsettled.

“I wish.” She let out a massive sigh of relief that I wouldn’t understand at all until she continued speaking. “Right now, I’m completely free from my parents! I can do anything I want in this world, and there’s nothing they can do to stop me!”

Okay. That sounds a little sinister. I knew that her parents were strict, but I didn’t think they’d be that controlling.

“Anything? Like what?”

“Well, I can own a pet for starters! Oh, and I can adventure and go wherever I want! Maybe I’ll buy a house and then become a farmer, ahaha!”

I thought that she was taking this whole situation way too positively, but at least she was enthusiastic and happy. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her as happy as this.

She was pretty lively whenever we were gaming online, but whenever I managed to see her walking home from school, she had a very solemn and mature look to her. I liked that look, but never once did I think that she was in pain.

I quickly found myself preferring the smile she was wearing on her face now. It was genuine and infectious, and I soon found myself grinning back despite myself.

“You don’t even know if there’s a pet or housing system in the game yet!”

“C’mon, don’t be a spoilsport, Akira! It’s an MMO! Every MMO has something like that these days!”

I allowed myself to let loose and joke around with her for a few moments more before I returned to my mission.

I say mission because it was something that was more important than a task, and it certainly couldn’t be compared to a mere chore.

In fact, I guess I could call it my first real “quest” in this game. I wanted to see them with my own eyes in this virtual world. I wanted to grow strong with them, to clear this game, and to move forward.

“Shizuka.”

She must’ve felt a shift in the mood from the tone of my voice, because she now focused all of her attention on me. Her sunlight smile was no longer on her face.

Instead, a look of contemplation replaced it.

“Since you’re here chatting with me, I’m guessing you haven’t found the others.”

Shizuka shook her head in response. “I looked around for as long as you did, but I could only find you...”

I had thought as much. As excited as Shizuka was, she wasn’t the type of person that would just abandon her friends, especially after a creepy ass announcement like that.

It was obvious that she was genuinely happy about being freed from her parents’ influence here, but I could see now that part of it was just a mask for the worries that she felt, even though she specifically avoided addressing them whenever I poked.

She’d just segue to a completely unrelated topic like the type of pet she wanted to raise or the kind of house she wanted to buy. That alone was enough to tell me that she was just as worried as I was deep down.

Well, maybe not just as worried. She was awfully gung-ho about getting to be an adventurer. Don’t get me wrong. I think that’s awesome too, but I’ve got friends and family back in the real world.

No... My friends are alive right here in this world, aren’t they? They’ve gotta be...

I clenched my fists. 

Maybe I was wrong. Maybe they weren’t here because they just didn’t log on. Maybe they didn’t log in after shooting me that text because of a power outage, or they were called to dinner, or some other fucking convenient excuse!

Maybe I was just wrong about there being a “zero percent chance.” Yeah. They’ve gotta be alive, either here or back home. I just know it.

Apparently, my stressed out mental state was showing pretty clearly on my face or my body, because I could feel Shizuka’s hand on my forearm. She always did that whenever I was tense or upset.

I let out a sigh and relaxed my body, murmuring a quick thanks to Shizuka. She shot me a smile in return.

I turned my gaze upward, as if searching for something. The “sky” above the first floor was already beginning to dye itself a deep ochre hue, courtesy of the sun shining through Aincrad’s aperture.

I would have suggested that we look around the Town of Beginnings for a while longer, but the plaza was pretty much deserted now. It’d be pretty damn hard to look for specific people when everyone was spread out like this.

Not only that, but the longer we spent idling here meant that we were wasting time that could’ve been put to leveling up and getting closer to clearing this damn game.

“We’ll find them, Akira. Don’t worry.”

I blinked in surprise. I was just about to ask her if she thought we’d be able to find her. But then again, it’s not like this was the first time she’s been able to answer my unasked questions. She always had this uncanny ability to just know what I’m thinking at times, even when we were kids.

That’s how we ended up being friends, after all.

What a scary intuition you’ve got there, Shizuka.

I’ll place my trust in her for now.

“Yeah. Right now, we’ve gotta start leveling. A friend I met in-game told me that there’s a nearby town that’ll be better for grinding. You comin’?”

“Would you leave a beautiful lady like me behind if I said no?”

I grinned. “Obviously not.”

It was already night when we left the Town of Beginnings, but I wasn’t afraid. 

These first steps were mandatory if we wanted to move forward.