If You Could Escape Reality

What separates reality from dreams or video games? Or maybe it's how much control you have over what you can do. I'm not quite sure myself...

An idea was formed in the head of a...mislead shall we say? man named Akihiko Kayaba. He allowed millions of people to insert themselves into a world of amazing monsters and stunning sword skills. It was super successful, that is until people became unable to leave. All of these people became trapped in this death game with no chance of respawn.

But in order for any of this to be possible Kayaba would have had to test and retest the system. More than one beta would have had to have been created. I guess I'm one of the unlucky contestant that got caught up in the first successful beta. They only just figured out how to get rid of the log-out button, trapping the original beta testers in a smaller version of Sword Art Online.

I DO NOT OWN SAO AND I DO NOT OWN THIS COVER OR ANY OF THE PICTURES I MAY USE!!! There may be language in this story. I feel I have to say it for those few people it may bother.
This takes place before Kirito's time, at least at the begining, so keep tht in mind.