A/N: So here it is! My first story. Hope you guys like it!

One - A New Beginning

Shino Asada didn't feel particularly lucky as she held the clumsy device. Three large letters were printed where they were clearly visible. NVG; the Nervegear. A feeling of worry and dread pursued her thoughts, as she let them run wild. Virtual reality… Sounded too good to be true… At the time. She had hoped it would help her escape her reality when she signed up for the beta test.. Her broken, fearful reality. She shook herself out of her depressing thoughts, and instead looked over to the box that was now sitting on her desk. On the box, in big blue letters, were the words [Sword Art Online], the first VRMMORPG to be released for the Nervegear. As Shino put on the helmet, she checked the clock in the upper left corner of the translucent screen. 12:58. The servers would be starting soon.

"Link start!"

The familiar rush of colour, light and sound invaded her senses. She had participated in the 2 month-long beta test, and had become one of the strongest players, reaching floor 30, alongside a few other players, though since she was a solo player, she didn't really know any of them too well. As feeling returned to the rest of her body, she opened her eyes to the same snowy blue strands of hair that had greeted her for the duration of the beta test.

As Sinon made her way to the NPC shop to buy some basic gear with her starting cash, she marvelled at all of the players in the «Town of Beginnings». The beta test had only contained about a thousand players, while as far as she knew, the full release of the game was populated by around 10,000. She needed to keep to herself, lest her past become known to the general public… Then it would be just like real life. Nobody would talk to her. Nobody would even look at her without scowling or sneering.

Kazuto had been waiting eagerly for 1:00 pm, as it was when the SAO servers started. Under the username [Kirito], he had become known as the best player in the beta test. Only he had made it up to floor 34, managing to defeat bosses only with parties of 10 or so other players.

The clock turned to 1:00, and Kirito logged into Sword Art Online. After he went through the motions of getting some basic gear, he decided to get in some basic grinding.

Meeting a frenzy boar, the simple floor 1 mob, Kirito settled into a familiar stance. Pulling his small sword up and holding it behind his head, as if resting it on his shoulder, his sword started to glow a light blue. As the boar charged, Kirito executed a perfect «Vertical», cutting the boar in half lengthwise. Kirito flourished his sword and inserted into the sheath on his back. While Kirito examined the window, he heard a voice call out to him.

"Oi! You look like you know what you're doing! Could you show me how to play?" A redheaded man yelled.

"Hmm? Yeah. Sure!" Kirito responded. "By the way, what's your name?"

"Klein."

"Kirito. Nice to meet you."

Klein and Kirito spent the rest of the afternoon training, Kirito trying to show Klein how to use basic swipes, thrusts, and sword skills.

"Oof!" Klein was head-butted in the stomach by one of the boars, and was sent flying.

"Come on Klein, you can't get good like that!" Kirito remarked, as he performed a simple «Slant», killing the monster in one hit.

"Whew! What was that, a mid level field boss or something?" Klein asked, exhausted.

"It's the lowliest monster you'll ever fight…" Kirito said. "It would equate to a slime in most other RPG games…"

"Seriously?!" Klein seemed genuinely surprised. "Well, thanks for the training, I'm sure it'll be useful! Anyway… I've got a pizza coming in about 5 minutes so…"

"No, it's alright," Kirito nodded. "See you later, hopefully." He turned around to take in the view from where they were standing, on a cliff's edge.

"Kirito, total noob question…" Klein's voice cut through his thoughts. "How do you log out?"

Looking confused, Kirito turned and opened his menu. "It should be right-" here? Kirito trailed off, as he saw that the button that should've said 'Log out' was blank. Ignoring the panic in the back of his mind, he said, "It must be a glitch, it should be fixed soon."

"Damn it! I hope they fix it before my piz-" Klein couldn't finish, as the two players were engulfed in blue flames.

When Sinon opened her eyes again, she was standing in the main plaza in the «Town of Beginnings». She heaved a sigh of frustration; she had almost reached level 2 in the fields outside of the town when she was teleported back before the final strike of her dagger.

A sudden change of colour in the surrounding atmosphere made her look up in surprise. Endless red hexagons tiled the sky, with 'WARNING' and 'SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT' written on each one. A thick-looking red liquid poured out from in between the tiles, and it took Sinon a minute to realize that it was blood.

Suddenly, her vision darkened, and all she could see was blood. Blood on her hands, blood on her legs, blood on the walls. Blood on the gun in her hands. The face of the man she had shot becoming gruesome and grotesque, almost like a zombie. Realizing she was crouched down, holding her hands to her ears in the middle of the town plaza, she tried to calm her frantic breathing. I'm not Shino anymore… She thought. My name is Sinon! She silently called out, willing for the blue hair and the dagger on her back to lend her strength.

As her breathing steadied, she decided to stand up. A huge figure, dressed in a red cloak had appeared in the air, floating above the plaza.

The hooded figure raised his arms. "My name is Kayaba Akihiko, creator of Sword Art Online and the Nervegear. By now, you might've noticed that the log out button is missing from the in-game menu. This is not a glitch, or error. This is a feature of Sword Art Online. I repeat, this is not a fault in the game. It is part of Sword Art Online." Multiple gasps sounded from the crowd.

"All 10,000 players that are logged into SAO right now are trapped in the game." More gasps. "Furthermore, if your HP drops to 0 and you die in the game, the Nervegear will simultaneously destroy your brain."

All 10,000 players were silent as what Kayaba had said sunk in. Sinon covered her mouth. That's not possible… No way!

Before the crowd could break out in chaos, the hooded figure continued. "You may think, 'That's okay, I'll just wait for someone to take my Nervegear off.' well, that's not an option either. Already experienced by over 200 players, if the removal of the Nervegear is attempted, the Nervegear will emit a high-power microwave, effectively scrambling your brain matter. The only course of action to take is to clear all 100 floors of castle Aincrad. When the floor 100 boss is defeated, the players that remain alive will all be immediately logged out of the game. Now I advise you to all look in your inventories. I've left a present for each and every one of you."

People started looking into their inventories, and taking out the present item. Sinon looked into her inventory. There was an extra entry. «Mirror». As Sinon selected the item, a small hand mirror dropped into her hands, and she was met with her own reflection, albeit with snowy blue hair, and sky blue eyes.

What's this supposed to do? Sinon wondered, before she saw all the other players being engulfed in blue flames, similar to teleports. Sinon started to feel tingly, and realized it was happened to her too. She temporarily went blind. When she opened her eyes again, they weren't blue. They were a dark brown. Her hair had returned to her natural black.

Sinon's eyes widened, realizing that she now looked like her regular old self. "-Eh?!" She shrieked. Shino had come here to escape her reality, but it seemed like her past followed her everywhere.

"Think of this as the end of the tutorial." The last words of the cloaked figure shook Sinon back to reality. As he dematerialized into blood again and receded into the sky, chaos broke out among the players in the plaza. Cries of indignation, non-believing, and fear could be heard echoing throughout the town. The only thing Sinon could process, was that she had to be strong to survive this death game.

Sinon ran through the Town, sprinting at top speed towards the town's exit. She already knew all the best spots for grinding, and how to become strong. She had the untouchable will to survive.

A/N: Whew! You're through the first chapter. The first thing you'll notice (if you've read A Different Love Story) is that this fic starts out pretty similar to that one. (Which makes sense because I'm helping to write it, therefore making it a large source of my inspiration.) Like the description said, I kinda want Sinon to be a tsundere-type character in this fic, instead of the usual timid-cute kinda thing. Also, I have no clue how to make the description retain formatting when you save it, so if anyone could tell me how to do that, that'd be wonderful... Which leads us into our next point! Reviews! If you guys like the story, (or dislike the story), feel free to leave a review to compliment my sh*tty writing, or some constructive criticism. Favorite if you really like it... It'll mean a lot to me.

Anyway, I'll try to update every week or two, if you guys are lucky maybe you'll even get 2 a week. Sadly I doubt that'll happen because I'm pretty busy at the moment, but yeah! Until next time,

-TheSilentSwordsman