Chapter 2

[3 Days Later]

Riiiiiiiiiip...

Tearing off the small tape, I held in my hands the Nerve gear, I had used a portion of my savings to buy an SAO Promoted Nerve gear headset and a copy of the game. It was November 6th, 2023. I have improved my mental health and gone to anger management for quite a while now, going at least once a day to get myself checked.

After those sessions, I had seen myself getting better at controlling my outbursts of rage. I felt calmer, it was better than yelling out my frustrations physically. I looked at the headset, seeing that it took inspiration from a biker's helmet. The helmet looks okay...It's sort of...gray... I looked at the gray helmet, thinking it'd be a little more warming with color.

I shrugged it off, plugging my ethernet cable in and plugging it into my computer. Beep beep beep! It beeped as I looked at the lights turn on, Power and LAN. I looked at the third one, BLK but I didn't know what that did. So instead of figuring it out, I just inserted the small chip.

SAO came in its own game case but within the case was a small chip, a small pushing mechanism was on the side of the Nerve gear, right beside the BLK. Click! It opened as I inserted the chip.

I had set up a futon near my computer setup, right beside it as my bed was on the other side. Sitting down on my Futon, I took off my hairband, rustling my long hair as I moved my hands around my neck and split my hair down the middle, moving them to the front. This way my hair wouldn't be in the way... I put on my Nerve Gear helmet as I looked at my phone.

For some reason I felt a sense of hesitation, my hand shaking ever so slightly. I noticed this as I took a short and small breath, texting Emi.

"I'm ready to try this game Emi."

"Alright then."

"I'll see you in SAO Kanao."

"I'll see you too in SAO Emi."

Those would be my last text messages to anyone in the real world, shifting my nerve gear to adjust and fit it perfectly on my head. Attending to the chin strap and snapping it on, I would lay down and look at my ceiling, having a starry night sky painted on it.

The instructions said to close my eyes and say link start...

Taking a deep breath and closing my eyes, I let myself calm down a bit before saying the words that would trap me for two years...

"Link Start!"

I opened my eyes to see a black void, numbers circling around me as I saw a giant orb floating in-front of me, it then began to speak towards me.

"Hello player, please type in a username."

I looked down as I saw a small text box appear right in front of me. I looked at the prompt as I just stared at it for a while thinking.

[Please type your username here]

I took a while to think as I didn't know what I would want as my username. I could make my username a name I always wanted...or...I can use... It then came into my mind as I began typing out the username.

[Tohru]

That seems like a good use for my middle name...

I was fond of my middle name, although if I was going to hear my middle name a bunch of times, I was going to get annoyed by it fast. I liked hearing the word "Tohru" as it just sounded nice to my ears, as I repeated my middle name in my head multiple times, I then came up with an ingenious idea.

[Toru]

I never knew I was such a genius...

It was a foolproof plan! No one would expect or suspect my middle name without the h! I felt so prideful after that, clicking the teal blue button. I heard a chime sound as I looked at the textbox disappear then reappear in-front of my face.

[Username Registered. Displaying player models now.]

It then disappeared, displaying a bunch of male and female player models in-front of me, I walked up to them looking at them with awe. "All these models seem too perfect..." I said aloud, walking around a certain female player model base.

"We can also scan and implement a rendition of yourself if you are looking for an alternative option."

"Really now? That might sound nice."

I then opened my files as my computer was connected to my nerve gear, accessing my galleries as I had four options. One was me during my second year of middle school, my shorter stature and fake glasses, the second was during my first year of secondary school, being slightly taller and having a more rounded out physique, the third was near the end of my first year of secondary school, being more fit but noticing my legs were...a bit round than most years.

Then finally was the fourth image, a recent photo I took to compare my body to myself from the past, the most qualified option as I tapped the fourth option. It then rendered my full-body image down to the last detail, making my body into a fully rendered player base.

"Would you like to use this custom-made player base model?"

I saw two options come up as I looked at myself, looking down at the textbox with the two options. Without hesitation I tapped yes as it accepted my custom-made player model. I'll see you soon, Emi. I looked as the stuff around me began disappearing, seeing a bright light beginning to emit from the void, a large textbox appearing in-front of me.

[Username and Player model chosen, Welcome to Sword Art Online!]