"what is this?"

In the evening, Shota, who returned home early, looked at a large box placed at the entrance. The recipient's name on it was Kyousuke's name. The sender... was still from a place he didn't recognize at all.

"Mom, those at the door are..."

"It seems that Kyousuke bought something online, right? I don't know the details. Why are you back so early today?"

"Hasn't it been a long time since my family had dinner together? So I came back early because I had nothing to do today."

"Really? Well... then Mom, I have to make some curry today."

"It's up to you."

After finishing the conversation with his mother, Shota sat on the sofa and turned on the TV, switching channels boringly.

I glanced at the cardboard box that was still placed quietly next to the entrance. The three plastic strips on the left and three on the right simply bound it like a seal. However, just because of this, it produced a fatal temptation.

"Well, forget it, it's none of my business anyway."

Having a strong sense of déjà vu, Shota felt that there wouldn't be anything good in the box, so he gave up the idea of ​​opening it and dozed off while staring at the TV in a daze.

"I'm back. Hey, I came back very early today."

Not long after, Kyousuke pushed open the door and walked in. When he saw Shota who had changed from sitting to lying down, he said in surprise: "Did something happen?"

"It's nothing, I just miss you."

"Don't say such disgusting things to me."

"It's just a joke. By the way, there is your package at my feet. Did you order it online?"

Hearing Shota say this, Kyousuke just noticed a cardboard box at his feet. He looked at the shipping address and suddenly said, "It's probably the big one sent to Kirino."

"Eh……"

Shota groaned, and then quickly realized that this box had been under his mother's eyes for so long. If there was something bad in it...

"I'm back, eh? Get out of the way, why are you blocking the door?"

At this time, Kirino happened to have returned home. Seeing this, Kyosuke pointed at the cardboard box at the entrance and put his finger up to his mouth, signaling him not to react too much.

"Oh oh oh, what that guy said has actually arrived?!" Unexpectedly, Kirino suddenly became excited. She took off her shoes, picked up the box and ran directly to Shota's side in the living room, and then picked up the knife.

Just start unpacking the boxes.

"Mom is in the kitchen."

Shota reminded them kindly, but Kirino rolled his eyes. Kyousuke couldn't help but walked over to the two of them to check.

Soon, the contents of the box were exposed to the three brothers and sisters. What was inside was not some shameful doujinshi or otaku, but three helmets full of post-modern atmosphere...

"what is this?"

Shota was so curious that he picked up the helmet in the box and weighed it a few times. He found that it was heavier than expected and looked a bit like the pilot's helmet in the anime.

"y?"

"ha?"

When Kirino heard Shota's question, she looked like she was looking at an idiot. She asked, "Don't you even watch the news?"

"Occasionally."

"NERvGear, NERvGear." Kirino reported a word that Shota and Kyousuke didn't understand at all. Seeing their dazed expressions, she said again: "Then NERDLES knows about it, right?"

"Ah, what is the virtual reality technology that was exposed in the news?" Kyosuke reacted immediately and said: "Does it have anything to do with this helmet? I remember it is the kind of thing that allows people to experience virtual space.

?”

"Isn't it? When did science develop so fast? How come I don't know about it at all?"

Shota was really troubled this time. To be honest, he had never heard of this thing.

"You're behind the times, old man."

After Kirino casually criticized it, he continued: "This is the consumer version of NERDLES' game console. It is selling like hotcakes all over the world. Have you tried it?"

"Game console?"

Shota thought for a while and then said: "A virtual reality game?"

"Yes!" Kirino nodded and said with some expectation: "Although it's not available yet, I believe that there will be games like Meikong and Meicheng in the near future. I'm really looking forward to it just thinking about it. It's so vivid.

My sisters can appear by my side..."

"Hey, it's really amazing."

Although Shota has never tried it, he knows that this kind of thing is almost equivalent to the second world. If you are properly prepared and have enough courage, it is not impossible to make a lot of money in it, right?

"However, it is said that the previous games were not very good, so I stopped playing them."

Saying that, Kirino took out three small boxes of things from under the box, looked at them for a while and said, "You're lying, that big guy actually got this?"

"what?"

Shota took one of the things. Judging from the appearance, it should belong to a game CD, although the things inside did not look like a CD.

"sordartonline?"

Kyousuke read out the title above, and then asked Kirino: "GAME?"

"Yes! The NERvGear game that is extremely difficult to get now, SAO Sword Art Online!" Kirino said with excitement: "I'm not dreaming, I heard that a game that I might not be able to get after queuing for days and nights actually appeared in my store.

In front of me."

"Is this SAO that good?"

"You are said to be out of date." For some reason, Kirino seemed to be extremely happy after receiving such a gift. It was rare for her to explain so many things to her two brothers, and said: "This game is the best virtual game right now.

Reality game, and the open beta sold 10,000 copies! Oh, there are only 10,000 copies in the whole world! Ah, I remembered, the server will be launched at 1 o'clock tomorrow afternoon, right? Well, I get excited just thinking about it.

.Kayaba Akihiko is truly a genius!”

"Who is that?"

"The developer of SAO. Why don't you remember the most famous scientist right now?"

"Okay, but there are only ten thousand copies."

Shota looked at the three helmets and three boxes of games and said doubtfully: "Could it be that Kyosuke and I also have a share?"

"Well, I guess that's it."

Kirino nodded and said: "According to her personality, the black guy should also be involved."

"Hey... I'm a little interested after hearing what you said. Unfortunately, I have to go to the store tomorrow. Let's talk about it after get off work."

"Damn it, why do I have to study tomorrow?" Even Kyousuke seemed to feel a little regretful that he could not experience this cross-generational game for the first time. After all, which boy does not have the dream of wielding a sword to the end of the world? Ordinary computers

The sense of immersion in the game is too poor. If it were a virtual reality environment, it would be a very good experience.

"snort."

Kirino snorted and then said: "It doesn't matter. When you come online, as a senior, I will take you hunting."

Before she finished speaking, Kirino's phone rang. She took a look at the caller and found that it was the guy who gave the gift, so she rarely spoke harshly to him, but instead said a few nice words.

"Shouta, what happened to Kirino today?"

During dinner, my mother also noticed that Kirino seemed to be in particularly good spirits today, so she asked her eldest son, "Did something happen?"

"It's nothing, I just received a gift I like."

"Humph, uh-huh." Dad seemed a little curious about what kind of gift Kirino liked, but he couldn't help but ask in a low voice, so he had to use his eyes to force Shota to tell the truth.

"It's just a game console."

"Oh, I see."

There was no words for the whole night. Kirino seemed to be spending the night absorbing various knowledge about SAO and making some small gestures with the other two partners who had agreed to go online together. Shota did not think too much about it. After all, it was just a game.

It wasn't until the next afternoon that he realized that this was more than just a game.

"How is Kirino!"

With a roar, the ferocious-looking Shota kicked open the door of Kirino's room without caring that he was in his own home, and then panted heavily while scanning the people in the house.

The crying mother, the ashen-faced father, Kyosuke squatting in the corner, and Kirino lying on the bed, wearing that post-modern helmet on her head, sleeping like a princess.

"In the end, I brought it with me..."

Seeing this scene, Shota fell weakly to the ground. While he was still in the store just now, an extremely urgent news was suddenly broadcast. Several SAO players lost their lives permanently because their family members took off their helmets.

Soon after, someone revealed that there is no logout option in SAO. Unless you clear the game, this nightmare-like virtual game will never end. At the same time, death in the game is equivalent to death in the real world.

of death.

He only had time to call home to check on Kirino's condition, and then Shota ran all the way back from the store, but when he finally got home, he saw a scene that made him despair.

"What should I do, the child's father, you should say something."

My mother kept asking Daisuke's father for his opinion.

"I absolutely want to arrest that guy named Kayaba!"
To be continued...