Sword Art Online: Yuuichirou of Laughing Coffin

Chapter 1: It's Your Fault

"Good afternoon, passengers. This is the boarding announcement for flight JA9854 to London, UK. Please have your boarding pass and identification ready and proceed to gate three. Thank you."

The announcement was heard all over the airport. A handsome Japanese man in his twenties with thick medium-length orange-brownish chestnut hair and hazel eyes listened to the woman's voice and stood up from the bench he was sitting on and grabbed the luggage he kept in front of him.

"Man, I hope Asuna is enjoying the NerveGear," the man says to himself before sighing. "Ahhh~, I wanted to play the game so badly too, but I got called for a business trip!"

Kouichirou makes his way to gate 3, noticing the line to the gate. He sighs in relief to see the line wasn't long. He took out his phone to check the time. It is 3 PM JST, November 6, 2022. He looked at the line and determined that the flight would go off in ten minutes once everyone, including himself, is on board.

"Lemme text Nishiki and ask how the game is," he says before chuckling softly. "Bastard probably won't see the text for at least eight hours."

Just when he was about to open the Line app, an incoming call interrupted him. He looks at the screen and saw that his father was calling him. He raised a brow at this.

"What is it this time?" He asked himself before pressing the answer button and putting the phone against his ear.

"Hello, father," he greeted in a respectful tone. "I'm going on the flight soon, is there something you need?"

"Son, I need you to listen carefully and think before you do anything," he heard the stern mature voice of his father.

"Sure, what is it?" Kouichirou asked, wondering why his father sounded so serious. His father is always serious with him, but for the first time, this severe tone didn't sound work-related.

"It's about your sister," his father answered and paused for a few seconds before speaking again. "Have you seen the news?"

"What?" Kouichirou was confused by what his father meant. "What about the news?"

Kouichirou looked up at a large screen on the wall of the airport. The news was on, and he couldn't believe what the news anchor was saying.

"Ten thousand players playing the anticipated Sword Art Online on the new NerveGear virtual reality system are reported to be trapped in the game as we speak," the news anchor continued. "Please do not attempt to unplug or remove the NerveGear from the wearer, for it results in the death of the person wearing it. A record of 213 people has died from family members removing their NerveGear."

"We're at the hospital right now, so there's no need to worry," Kouichirou's father tries to reassure him. "Just get on your flight, and we'll take care of Asuna."

"W-Wait, which hospital, fa-."

Kouichirou's father hung up on him. He couldn't believe it. His little sister is probably in a comatose state in the NerveGear that HE let her borrow, and his own father told him to "not worry" and move on with his business trip.

"This is the final boarding call for all passengers booked on flight JA9854 to London, UK. Please proceed to gate three immediately."

Kouichirou turned his head toward the gate he is supposed to be going to. But instead of rushing to his flight, he ran in the opposite direction, running past everyone and towards the exit.

After he left the airport building, he ran towards the sidewalk and looked at the road, looking for any taxi drivers. When he managed to hail a taxi, he immediately got in once the taxi driver opened the door for him. The taxi driver took his luggage to the trunk before going back into the vehicle.