Chapter 2: The Partially Activated System

Staring at the NERvGear virtual headset in his hand, Shengzai let out a heavy sigh after hanging up the call.

He remained noncommittal about his friend Kazuto Kirigaya’s recent rave reviews of “SAO.”

Full immersion experience, sword techniques feeling just like reality, powerful monsters and enemies that sharpen your sword skills—all that.

These so-called “advantages” were precisely why Kazuto Kirigaya had frantically pitched the game to Shengzai.

“That guy Kirigaya really went overboard to get me to play this game.”

“The game’s great, sure, but the danger is real—it’s a death game, after all. People are literally risking their lives.”

The reason Shengzai said this was simple: he wasn’t a native of this world—he was a transmigrator.

So he knew exactly what was coming next.

A certain obsessive, mad researcher had trapped 9,500 players inside the game on SAO’s public test day, turning SAO into a true death game.

As a transmigrator who knew the plot, Shengzai could have easily avoided this danger.

After all, though he’d been reborn in this world, he hadn’t gained the godlike supernatural powers that other transmigrator elites possessed.

But in this modern society, with his current record and grades, becoming a social elite after graduation was practically guaranteed.

Even if he didn’t want to work, he could just inherit his family’s dojo and barely scrape by—no problem at all.

In fact, Shengzai had originally planned to do exactly that, even intending to stop his friend Kazuto Kirigaya from entering.

After all, knowingly walking into a death trap? What else could you call that but an idiot?

Yet just as Shengzai was about to intervene and alter the plot, the long-awaited system suddenly appeared.

At first, the system’s appearance thrilled Shengzai—he thought his already perfect life was about to get even better.

But he soon learned his system was only half-activated, and it had appeared solely to warn him not to mess around recklessly.

According to the system, Shengzai could alter the plot’s direction—but he was strongly advised not to shake the world’s fundamental foundations.

In simple terms, the Sword Art Online world was built entirely around the initial SAO scenario.

If Kazuto Kirigaya didn’t enter SAO, the world’s foundation would be destabilized—and such destabilization could cause the world to collapse.

It was like a Yu-Gi-Oh! world without cards, or even without card players—the very meaning of that world’s existence would be undermined, even collapsing!

After all, if the source of the world itself didn’t exist, then the world would no longer be that world.

And if the world itself collapsed, then Shengzai, as one who had transmigrated into it, would naturally not escape unscathed.

After hearing the system’s warning, Shengzai wisely chose to listen and abandoned his original suicidal plan.

The logic was simple: letting Kazuto Kirigaya enter the death game was risky, but at least there was a chance of survival—and as the world’s chosen one, his odds were extremely high.

But if he stopped it all, he’d be shaking the world’s foundation—and then everyone would be dead.

Of course, as long as Kazuto Kirigaya entered the game, the world’s foundation wouldn’t be shaken; Shengzai himself, even without taking risks, would be fine.

But the system gave him a second piece of information: to fully activate the system, he had to play the death game alongside Kazuto Kirigaya and complete the prerequisite task.

This system task was not mandatory—Shengzai had the right to refuse.

He could choose to accept the task and fully unlock the system’s functions, or reject it and continue living as an ordinary, successful person in this world—it was entirely up to him.

Shengzai himself had hesitated for a long time before finally making his decision.

Hesitation was natural—after all, SAO was a real death game. Ten thousand entered; thousands remained trapped forever.

He wasn’t Kazuto Kirigaya, a chosen one—he had every right to fear for his life.

But after days of hesitation, Shengzai ultimately decided to take the gamble.

After all, he was a transmigrator—if he just lay there like a dried salted fish, he’d drag down the average level of the entire transmigrator army.

Besides, SAO was a full-immersion game; with his real-world swordsmanship, he’d be a top player in-game.

Combined with his relationship to Kazuto Kirigaya, even if he wasn’t the protagonist, he was at least a main-character-group survivor—how could he die easily?

After careful analysis, Shengzai decided this was worth doing, so he finally made up his mind.

After all, though he’d become a social elite after graduation, bluntly speaking, he’d still just be a high-end salaryman.

Now he had a chance to go OP in this world, with risks still within manageable limits—he had no reason to refuse.

After purchasing the NERvGear terminal headset, Shengzai took the train home; when he walked to his front door, he noticed a figure standing there.

The figure waiting at the dojo’s entrance was a cute girl with shoulder-length black hair, dressed in a sailor school uniform.

Seeing her tiptoeing, trying to peek inside, Shengzai, who had just arrived beside her, cleared his throat as a reminder.

“Cough cough—I don’t recall Suguha Kirigaya being the type to spy on people’s homes.”

“You’re giving me the vibe of one of those perverts from TV shows… uh, female pervert.”

Unprepared for Shengzai to suddenly appear and witness her disrespectful behavior, Suguha Kirigaya, still on tiptoe, nearly stumbled and fell from shock.

But Shengzai, quick as lightning, reached out and caught her just before she fell, preventing her backside from making direct contact with the ground.

“Shengzai-nii, why’d you come back so suddenly? That… no, listen, I’m not some pervert!

I’ve been knocking for ages, but no one answered, and my calls kept going to voicemail.

Mom made some little cakes, so I thought I’d bring some over for you to try, so I just…”

Hearing Shengzai call her a pervert, Suguha Kirigaya grew visibly flustered, waving her hands frantically in front of her and speaking urgently to explain.

(End of Chapter)