Now we begin this weeks' MMO stream!

As you can see, many people are in line to buy the new internationally renowned

SWORD ART ONLINE or SAO for short.

This virtual game has-

Izuku drowned out the rest of the news reporter's voice as he continued on his way to school. He had all afternoon to play sword art online after all.

He'd been a beta tester and got one of the first versions of the game.

It was something he'd been planning for, for months now.

In a world where 80% of the population had special powers, he was left behind.

His only escape was the video games he'd lose himself in.

Ever since he turned four, the only time he felt useful was in these games. The games in which he could be himself. Fight without people doubting him. Exist without being looked down upon.

It was the only time where he was considered something more than just an anomaly. Something other than a useless quirkless boy.

This brings us back to the present.

Midoriya had just turned twelve last week and as a present, his mother gave him the chance to participate in the beta of the latest virtual game that his favorite scientist created.

Akihiko Kayaba was the developing director and game master of most of the games Izuku played. However, he was also the creator of the new NerveGear.

A helmet who serves to read and send information and commands to the brain from within the virtual world. With this technology, players could dive into the game and play as if it was reality.

The man was a genius, he was innovative and made something that was closer to a dream become reality.

However, the real reason behind Izuku's admiration for the guy was one particular fact.

Akihiko Kayaba was quirkless.

Throughout his career, the man was overlooked and ignored. He was shunned and mocked for his 'unrealistic' ideas. Yet, he proved them wrong. He showed the world that no matter who you are, what your quirk is and where you come from. You can still achieve what you set your mind to.

That... That meant everything to Izuku.

___________________

Time seemed to pass slowly as Izuku counted the seconds for the bell to ring.

He wanted the day to be over. He wanted to just go home and get lost in his virtual world.

Yet, it seems luck wasn't on his side.

The moment the bell rang. Three of his classmates surrounded his desk. Effectively blocking the exit and cornering him.

"Deku" Kacchan snarled through clenched teeth. "Where do you think you're going?" The boy continued lowly, his voice gaining a dangerous edge.

"H-home Kacchan." Izuku replied hesitantly, not knowing if the boy's question was meant to be answered or not.

"What, so you're going to go back and play those silly games of yours huh?" One of Bakugou's lackeys called out.

"They're not silly," Izuku whispered, clenching his fist as frustration built inside of him. These games... They were everything to him.

"Hah! Stop talking back you freak!" The other lackey shouted, indignation clear on his features as he thought he was defending his leader's honor.

"Tsk, just ignore him. Let him go hide in his little fairytales and play hero. It's not like he can ever be one in the real world." Hearing those words coming from his old childhood friend made his heart ache. He ignored it though, Bakugou may have been his friend once but that was a long time ago.

Ever since he turned four and was declared worthless. His father left, his mother didn't believe in him anymore and his best friend turned into his bully.

Life wasn't fair. He learned that a long time ago.

By the time he focused back on the situation, the three were already by the doors.

However, it wasn't the end. Because just as they were about to step out. The blonde turned around once more.

"Hey Deku, if you like these games so much... maybe you should stay in them. Don't bother living in the real world anymore."

With that, they were gone.

Midoriya couldn't do anything but stand there and process the explosive boy's words.

Silent tears leaking from his eyes as the world pushed him down once more.

__________________________

"Tadaima." Midoriya called out as he walked into the small apartment he shared with his mother.

"Welcome home Izuku!" Inko called out from her place in the kitchen. "Dinner's ready, do you want to eat now?" She asked as she approached her son.

"No thanks mom, I'm just going to hang out in my room for a while... if that's okay with you?" He avoided making eye contact with her. Knowing fully well that as soon as she'd see his eyes she'd know that something was wrong.

"Izu... is everything all right?" Of course, that still wasn't going to work. His mom knew him well.

"Yeah don't worry about it! I'm fine!" He shot her his best smile, knowing fully well that it probably looked fake. "I just want to try out that game you gave me!"

Inko didn't seem too convinced but after a moment of silent contemplation, she relented.

Izuku couldn't help but feel grateful.

"Oh okay honey, go play your game. But don't stay up too late okay!" Sighing in relief, he made his way up to his room. However, before he ran up, he gave his mom a quick hug.

Finally, in the privacy of his room, he made sure everything was in place and ready.

Connecting the nerve gear to his computer and flopping down onto his bed. He closed his eyes in preparation.

He let a small smile stretch across his face.

This was it. This was everything he'd been waiting for.

"Link start!"

The world went white for a second before erupting in a display of bright vivid colors.

He went through the login steps and chose to keep his beta test character here too.

He no longer was plain old Midoriya Izuku.

Here, in this virtual world. He was Kirito.

Looking down on himself, he admired the format of his character.

He had the default gear on, the game automatically resetting his character back to zero.

This was the way to go if they wanted to be fair to all the players. Izuku liked this game already.

His avatar had raven black straight hair. He was tall and well built. A true swordsmen's body.

Excitement bubbled in his throat as he admired the world around him.

It just felt so real.

Everything from fields surrounding him to the small breeze blowing through his hair.

People milled around as they explored the game around them.

Being a beta tester, he already knew the in's and out of the first floor.

Gathering his wits, he got to work.

Running towards the exit that led to the open fields he made sure to avoid running into anyone.

"Hey you! Wait up!"

That was until someone called out to him.

He barely suppressed the urge to flinch as he slowed down to a stop.

The man stopped a few steps in front of him. Panting heavily as he took a moment to catch his breath.

"You're a beta tester right!" He exclaimed happily, not waiting for a response before continuing "It's just you're the only one who immediately took off! That means you know the game already right!"

"U-uh yeah.." Izuku replied shyly "Why do you want to know?"

"It's just I'm so lost man! I wanted to ask if you'd help me get the hang of this! Pretty please!" The redhead pleaded, his eyes boring into Izuku's own as he waited impatiently for a reply.

"S-sure okay... Just follow me then."

"Thanks bro! The names Klein! Nice to meet you!"

"I'm Kirito." He wasn't used to people talking to him without malicious intent. Maybe, just maybe, Klein would grow to be a friend.

______________________________

They spent about three hours together. Izuku teaching him the basics. Showing him how to hunt some of the low-level monsters and explaining the setup of the game.

Strangely enough, all the monsters they'd encountered had quirks. Whereas the players were only equipped with their weapons and the ability to strengthen their skills.

The boar they'd crossed was a low-level monster, which meant that his quirk was easily countered and his powers low enough for a rookie to beat.

However, given the game's setup. The higher the level the harder it will get.

"You're really good at this Kirito! How are you able to do that so naturally!" The redhead exclaimed excitedly "I keep forgetting that I don't have my quirk here! These swords are so hard to use! Do you have some kind of weapons quirk or something!"

"Practice? I guess. You'll get used to it eventually!" He replied easily, ignoring the pang in his chest at the mention of quirks. "Although, being quirkless does help." Getting the rejection over with now was better than later. He didn't want the hope of having a friend be ripped away from him later.

He braced himself for the worst.

"Whoah!" His eyes, which he'd only just realized were closed, shot open again. "That's even cooler! You're just a natural at this!"

He was about to exclaim his surprise when a beeping sound interrupted him.

"Ahh I'm late!" Klein suddenly shouted, panic overtaking his features as he looked at a reminder on his menu bar. "I ordered a Pizza and it was supposed to arrive one hour ago!" Izuku sighed in relief, not really knowing what to say. "Well, I should be going now! Thanks for showing me the ropes Kirito! It would be cool to play together again!"

"S-sure, if you have more questions feel free to message me!" The smile that stretched on his face was the first genuine smile he'd given in a while.

"Yeah, I'll be counting on it." The red head replied, holding out his hand to Izuku.

Slowly, Midoriya accepted the gesture, warmth spreading in his chest at the thought of having a friend.

With that, Klein turned around, sliding his hand down in the air as he reached for the logout button.

After a moment, the man tried again.

Nothing.

"I can't find the logout button!"

"Try looking in the menu again" Izuku offered as he stepped next to the boy.

"It's not there."

"Maybe it's a bug or-"

Before he could finish his sentence, a bright light erupted around them. Blinding them and overwhelming their senses.

After a few beats, it dissipated. The scenery around them had changed. They were no longer in the fields. Instead, they'd been teleported to the main area.

A forced teleportation

Looking around, it seemed the rest of the players had suffered a similar fate.

Their attention was soon focused on a dark red liquid that was oozing from the dome's ceiling

From the red substance emerged a giant hooded figure.

Scared whispers erupted amongst the crowd as they tried to see just what was the newcomer.

Its tone was deep, voice gruff as it addressed all of them at once.

"Attention players, welcome to my world." Dread filled Izuku's guts as he listened to the hooded man speak. "My name is Akihiko Kayaba. I am currently the one and only person who has control over this world."

Was that really him? Was this the man Izuku admired all these years?

"It may have come to your attention that the logout button was missing from your menus. However, make no mistake. This is not a glitch nor a bug. This is a special feature in Sword Art Online."

All around them people were checking their main menus. All of them concluding that the man was speaking the truth.

"At this moment, none of you can log out of Sao, and nobody in the real world can remove the nerve gear or interrupt the game. Should it be attempted, a powerful burst of microwave radiation emitted in the nerve gear will destroy your brain. Thus ending your life."

Most of the crowd was panicking now, shouts of denial and fear were heard as they tried to deny the reality they were in.

"That can't be true...right, Kirito?" Klein spoke from behind him, worry barely concealed in his expression.

"Given the structure of the nerve gear... it's not impossible." And this... this was terrifying, wasn't it? The mere thought of this being true. Of being trapped in a death game with no way out.

"As you can see here" Kayaba continued, pointing as various screens that appeared around him. "I've issued a warning in the media for all the player's families and government officials. Removing the nerve gear forcefully would result in immediate annihilation of the player. At the moment, 213 people have already suffered this fate, thus leaving both the real world and this one." They could see multiple news stations reporting the incidents, all of the footage seemed accurate. Heroes were flitting around the scene, a manhunt was launched hoping to stop this. It was all in vain though. Nothing could be done now. "It's safe to say that the danger of this happening has become minimal. I hope you will be all at ease and complete the game."

His heart threatened to beat straight out of his chest as the seriousness of the situation was setting in.

"From this point on, all methods of revival in the game will no longer function. If your HP hits zero, your avatar will be lost forever and at that moment..." Izuku didn't want to hear the rest of the sentence, however, despite his best attempt at blocking the voice out. It still echoed through his brain. "The nerve gear will destroy your brain and you will die."

His vision dimmed, his breath becoming more and more restricted by the second.

"If you want to be free and get out of this game. There is but one solution. Clear the game. You are all currently on the first floor. The lowest point in Aincrad. If you conquer a floor's dungeon and defeat the floor boss, you may pass onto the next one. Assuming you defeat the final boss on the 100th floor. The game will be cleared."

Exclaims of outrage filled the area as people cried out angrily.

For clearing one floor was hard. Clearing all one hundred of them was impossible.

Not even the beta testers made it past floor 10.

"Lastly, you may have noticed, but in this world, none of you have your quirks. This is but also a feature in the game. However, if you work hard enough, each one of you can hone and strengthen your skills. For a quirk is nothing more than a tool. It would be wise to learn to survive without them. Keeping in mind that every floor boss is equipped with a very powerful quirk. Each floor getting more dangerous than the last."

If the people were panicked before, it spoke nothing of their reactions now.

Screams of despair and fear echoed through the arena, as people scrambled to find a way out of here.

Their attempts were useless.

"Despite all of this, I've prepared a present for all of you in your item storages. Take a look" hesitantly, Izuku made the first move to open his menu.

There in the middle of the list consisting of his items. He found a particularly strange one. Labeled Mirror.

Curiosity getting the best of him, he pressed the button.

Instantly, he was accosted with a similar bright light from before.

When it dissipated, he was still in the same place as before. However, his field of vision was different. Was he... shorter now?

"You okay? Kirito?" hearing Klein's voice he turned around. However in the place of the redheaded avatar, now stood a black-haired boy. His body was taller and thinner than the previous one.

"Who are you?" He asked, not knowing what to think. Looking back at the mirror in his arms he almost choked on his own spit. There, staring back at him, was his own reflection. His familiar green hair sticking out from every direction, his eyes even greener.

So that means... "You're Klein!" The other boy exclaiming at the exact moment. "You're Kirito!"

It made sense. The nerve gear must have scanned their faces and bodies once they were calibrating the game.

Kayaba had gone through immense effort to make the game as real as possible.

"Right now, you're all probably wondering 'why'" Akihiko spoke up again "Why would I do this? Well, I already achieved my goal. In our day and age, all that you think of are quirks, villains and heroes. I am here to show you otherwise. The world shouldn't be ruled by those who are given power. But by those who earn it. Now, the official tutorial for Sword Art Online is done. Players... I wish you the best of luck." With that, the figure dissipated into a display of red smoke. Leaving behind a stunned crowd. Silence dominating the whole arena as the people tried to come to terms with the events that just transpired.

This is reality.

A genius created this virtual world and trapped us in it.

His declaration was the truth and nothing but the truth.

This was it. If they die here. They'd die in real life.

Determination filled his entire being as he drowned out the panicked crowd.

This was no time for weakness and emotions.

Izuku always wanted to help people. Maybe, just maybe, he'd help them get out of this alive.

He'd save them... no matter what.