Clang!
My blade shuddered against the armored hide of the giant, wolf-headed knight. The monster's roar echoed through the stone chamber, shaking the air itself. Its four crimson health bars glared above it, three already gone, the last hanging at a sliver.
"Almost there, Mikoto! Just a little more—!"
I heard my partner's voice—another tester, her spear carving arcs of light against the boss's legs. We'd been at this fight for nearly an hour, ducking its sweeping blade, rolling away from its devastating shockwaves.
I grinned, sweat dripping down my brow even though I knew it wasn't real. Damn, this feels real enough though…
This was the tenth floor's guardian, the highest challenge the closed beta of Sword Art Online had offered us. And somehow, we'd made it here—just two reckless kids swinging blades against a monster ten times our size.
I darted forward, green light trailing from my sword skill. The boss raised its massive cleaver to meet me, but I slipped under its swing and drove my blade upward, carving a glowing emerald slash across its chest. Its health bar dipped—so close.
The spear stabbed in from the side, knocking the beast to one knee. Its roar shook the room.
"One more combo!" I shouted. "We can finish this!"
I charged in, my partner right behind me. Our weapons lit up, crossing in a perfect X toward the monster's heart—
—and then everything froze.
The glowing sword skills, the sparks of impact, the monster's snarl—all locked in place like time itself had stopped.
A system message appeared in my vision, cutting through the battlefield like a blade:
[Thank You For Playing The Closed Beta Of Sword Art Onlime.]
[We Look Foward To Seeing You At The Official Launch.]
My breath caught.
"What—no, not now! We had it! Just one more hit—!"
The dungeon blurred. The giant boss, the glowing floor, my teammate's face—all dissolved into white light.
And then, silence.
—-
When my eyes opened again, I was staring at the ceiling of my bedroom. The heavy weight of the NerveGear helmet pressed down on my head.
I ripped it off, gasping like I'd run a marathon. My room was quiet, ordinary. Posters on the wall, a desk piled with schoolbooks I hadn't touched in weeks, the hum of the air conditioner.
But the phantom weight of the sword was still in my hands. The sound of that monster's roar still echoed in my ears.
I lay back against my pillow, staring at the ceiling. A weak laugh slipped out.
"Heh… so that's it. End of the beta."
The system had ripped me out right at the finish line. We'd been seconds away from victory—and instead, all I had was a bland little message of thanks.
I covered my face with my hand, torn between laughing and screaming. The adrenaline still coursed through me. My heart still hammered. My whole body ached with the longing to go back.
"Damn it… that world felt so real."
I closed my eyes. I could almost see the stone castles, the sprawling forests, the endless skies above Aincrad.
It was gone now.
But not forever.
The official launch was just around the corner. And when that day came…
I clenched my hand into a fist.
"…Next time, I'm going to conquer it all. No matter what it takes."
I paused for a moment.
Then wiped my sweat stricken forehead.
"But first, a shower."