Sword Art Online: Survive, Avenge, Overcome.

Chapter One: Without Saying Goodbye

"Mmm..." 

Dakota Price. The average sixteen year old boy; completely addicted to video games. Except, he wasn't quite normal. He was skilled; completely obsessed with video games. So skilled, that he was a competetor on XBox in nearly every game he played. Personally, Call Of Duty was his favorite. But, he also played PUBG, Fortnite, and Apex. He was in the top one thousand in every one, even though the game mechanics were so different. It was almost innate.

But this obsession controlled his life, more than the average teenage boy. When he heard of a full dive game, his interest peaked and he talked his family into moving to Japan. He told them he could win enough money to move them back after the game. He used to live in the California, but he left behind his entire life for a game. He spent some of his college savings to get the nervegear, the game, top notch internet, and the best PC that he could find.

Trevor, Noah, and Ruby were his friends in the US, and they texted and called constantly. It was his only social experience besides his family. He went to school, learned Japanese, and spent his time by himself and gaming.

Luckily for him, he was a Beta Tester for the game he had made such an effort to get. It was a total success. He had gotten very high, and seemed to be the best. But, one player had beaten him by two floor.

Kirito.

This one player, this one person, was the only thing pushing him to get even farther even faster than in the beta test. This is why he couldn't wait to get on as soon as it launched.

*

This was it. The hour before the release of the game. He had never been more excited in his life.
"Yeah yeah, it starts in like in an hour." His friends had called him before the full release to talk before he was dark for hours.
"Wow, I can't believe you are going to be inside the game! That sounds so cool!" Ruby exclaimed.
"Yeah, it really is. It is a totally different experience. Instead of my brain moving my body, it moves my character. I actually have muscle memory from the game. I could totally sword fight you all and win."
"Sure dude. You are forgetting I took fencing." Noah said, laughing.
"You are forgetting I killed 15 players by myself, all while they were coming at me. Didn't even manage to touch me." Dakota remarked.
"Your muslces would need to match your memory, if you aren't as strong or fast irl you wouldn't be able to do it." Trevor said.
"I have been working out and doing physical therapy. My sisted suggested I might have an advantage from irl muscle memory, so I have been practicing game techniques in real life. I'm almost as agile as my character was." Silence met Dakota on the line.
"I'll have to show you. Anyways, I have my elgato hooked up. The whole game will be streamed, so you will be able to peer into the game and be as dizzy as I was the first time I tried being an agile player."
"We know you can do it. We believe in you. You can beat the game!" Ruby exclaimed and Dakota smiled at his phone.
"Thank you Ruby. I'll make sure I win it for you three."
"We know you can." Noah said.
"Goodbye. I'll speak to you all at five. Make sure to watch me fight!" Dakota hung up and walked into the kitchen.

He walked in the kitchen to see his little sister making a sandwich. She was only ten and he had never seen her make herself any food at all, so his curiousity peaked.
"Whatcha' up to, Sophia?"
"It's a surprise!" His little sister replied. She was average height for ten, and a bit on the thinner side. But she could eat as much as she wanted, wouldn't grow even slightly. She had blue eyes and had permanently dyed her hair a dark blue. She was also super bright, she was fluent in Japanese four months before he was. She liked it in Japan. Dakota was glad he didn't ruin her life for a game.
"For?"
"For my big brother!" She said, taking the plate and climbing down the stool. She handed the plate to Dakota and he smiled.
"What if we split it? " Dakota asked, tilting his head at her exageratedly. She did the same to him.
"Okay!" His little sister was a bubbly little girl, nothing ever seemed to bring her down.
"I'm sure you are hungry from looking at all this food and putting it together, so you have the first bite." He said, handing her the plate and putting all of the sandwich stuff back into the fridge. Bella held up her end of the deal and took the first bite of the sandwich. She then handed him back the plate and he took a bite of it. Salami, Mayo, cheese, pickel, lettuce. It was pretty good for her first time making anything. He sat at the table and set the plate down, Sophia quickly pulled out her chair and sat on it facing him.
"Thank you for the Surprise, sis." She smiled at him.
"It is you big day, I thouht you would be hungry."
"You were right. You know me so well." Dakota said with a smile. One of the hardest things about the full dive game is his sister.