-225- [ Sword Art Online ]

Six months ago, a helmet called the "NerveGear" was released on the market, claiming to achieve a miraculous feat. This feat referred to allowing the wearer's brain to connect to a virtual space created by human hands—the game world.

With this technology, people could transform their conscious minds into virtual entities and enter the game world, experiencing the wonders and entertainment within it, immersing themselves in a completely different world from reality.

Rozen still remembered, six months ago, when he saw this news on the internet, he immediately had a thought.

"Isn't this similar to Chaldea's simulated battles?"

Sending users into a computer-created virtual world.

This technology indeed bore some resemblance to Chaldea's simulated battles.

Of course, there were decisive differences between the two.

Chaldea's simulated battles turned participants into spirit particles and sent their entire beings into the virtual world, where they will exist there.

On the other hand, the technology behind the "NerveGear" simply isolated the user's brain from the external world. The user wore the helmet and lay in bed while their brain received simulated sensory information, allowing their mental entity to enter the game.

But compared to Chaldea's simulated battles, the concept of full immersion was what fascinated Rozen.

For one simple reason.

"This is a game, not a simulation for combat practice."

Since it was a game, Rozen had no reason not to try it out.

So, six months ago, Rozen promptly purchased one of these gaming gear and tried on the helmet to experience what it was like to play games in a virtual environment.

However, the results left Rozen somewhat disappointed.

Because while the "NerveGear" achieved complete immersion in a new generation gaming environment, the game software designed for this new mechanism lacked appeal.

Each of them could only be considered a well-crafted mini-game, like puzzles, educational games, street fights, and such. They were occasionally novel to play, but lacked the allure to keep one immersed.

In this way, even if the "NerveGear" could create true virtual worlds, what charm was there in exploring a tiny, enclosed world where you'd hit the boundaries after a hundred meters?

Given this, Rozen treated it as a pastime for when he had exhausted his magical energy, rather than something to become obsessed with.

Until recently, a revolutionary game was finally born.

The Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game, "Sword Art Online."

The emergence of such a game fully ignited Rozen's passion for gaming.

It was said that this game's stage wasn't a confined virtual world but a massive online game with an expansive universe.

The game's world consisted of a floating castle with 100 floors.

Inside this floating castle were grasslands, forests, streets, towns, each floor with a different environmental theme.

Players could venture through these levels using their weapons, leveling up in the wilderness training areas, taking on missions in towns and villages, battling various monsters, even engaging in player-versus-player combat. The ultimate goal was to find the staircase leading to the next floor, defeat the boss guarding each floor's pinnacle, and progress to the highest level.

This game boldly abandoned the elements typically found in fantasy adventure online games and instead included a near-infinite variety of special attacks.

The game company's reasoning was that they wanted players to utilize their own bodies, wield their own swords, and experience the full immersion environment's greatest allure.

In addition to combat, the game offered crafting skills like smelting, leatherwork, tailoring, and everyday activities like fishing, cooking, and music. Players weren't just adventurers, they could live in this vast world, buy their own houses, and live a life of farming and herding if they so chose.

With a game like this being released, one could imagine how enthusiastic the gaming community became.

Rozen was naturally no exception, he was positively bursting with excitement.

So when this game announced its two-month-long closed beta test exclusively for a thousand players, Rozen and Kazuto both decided on a whim to sign up for the recruitment.

Rozen remembered that at the time, a staggering 100,000 people had applied, almost half the number of "NerveGear" units sold.

Out of the 100,000 applicants, only a thousand were selected.

One could imagine how fortunate one had to be to succeed.

In order to secure a spot in the closed beta test, Rozen stared at the computer screen for a long, long time and finally decided to use some cheating methods.

Specifically, he unhesitatingly used his "Heaven's Eye" to watch the spinning wheel until he was 100% sure of winning, then pressed the enter key. In the end, he successfully won the closed beta test spot and even received priority purchasing rights for the official release.

It's worth noting that Kazuto was also remarkably lucky and got selected.

Both of them entered the two-month closed beta test together and spent a delightful time there.

As a result, Rozen completely fell in love with this game.

If it weren't for the fact that he needed to practice magic and study secret arts in reality, he might not have been willing to log out at all.

Furthermore, there were even times when Rozen played so much that he forgot to log off to practice.

The reason was simple.

It was all because Rozen had made an astonishing discovery in this game.

If things went smoothly, he could obtain powers comparable to that of a Servant. This wasn't just an empty claim.

Given this situation, in the blink of an eye, the two-month closed beta test came to an end, and the character Rozen cultivated was reset.

However, Rozen didn't feel any regret.

Because today was the official launch day of "Sword Art Online."

"The first batch of this game has a limited release of only ten thousand sets, meaning only ten thousand players can get their hands on it. Kazuto and I have priority purchasing rights due to the closed beta test, so there's no need for us to queue up three days in advance."

Rozen looked at the game helmet in his hand, a smile of anticipation appearing on his face.

"Let me see if the world after the official launch can still offer me what I'm looking for."

Saying that, Rozen placed the helmet aside and sat down cross-legged.

The official launch time of the game was at 1 PM.

It was still morning now, so Rozen had plenty of time to deplete his mana through practice before immersing himself in the game.

Yet, time spent honing his skills always passed quickly.

Not long after, it was already 1 PM.

"Alright!"

Rozen picked up the game helmet, sat on the bed, and tapped the wall beside him.

A moment later, tapping sounds echoed from the other side of the wall.

Rozen smiled slightly at this and connected the interface of the helmet, then put it on his head and lay down.

"So then..."

Lying on his bed, Rozen closed his eyes and uttered the command to initiate the connection.

"Link start."

With that, Rozen's consciousness entered the game world.

Rozen had never imagined.

That this dive would lead to him spending the next two years of his life entirely in the game world.

Although, thanks to this, Rozen would be able to acquire countless things.

So much that it would impact the trajectory of his life.

So much that it would influence the trajectory of his life.