First Day
Aincrad First Floor
November 2022
Death game.
It was not a phrase with a precise definition. If it were to be considered a «match involving bodily risks», then it would include martial arts, rock climbing and such, and even motor sports. What separates those dangerous sports from death games is probably just one condition.
That is, having the penalty of death, listed as one of the rules.
Not as the result of an accidental incident. A coerced death, served as the consequence of the player's mistakes and defeat, or punishment for the violation of rules and other reasons. In short, murder.
With this premise established, the VRMMORPG which became the world's first, «Sword Art Online», had now unmistakably become a death game. The game's developer, and as such, the ruler, Kayaba Akihiko, had personally made that clear declaration without the slightest hint of doubt, a mere twenty minutes ago.
That if your HP were to reach zero—that is, on «defeat», you would be killed. Or if the Nerve Gear were to be removed—that is, to «violate the rules», you would also be killed.
It didn't feel real. Not that it should have. Countless suspicions still swirled about my mind, even now.
—Is something like that possible? After all, it merely used «a game machine fit for households», the Nerve Gear; could it have the ability to destroy the cerebrum of human beings?
—In the first place, why do something like this? Holding players hostage in a virtual world, if a ransom was at stake, then it would still make sense. However, putting the lives of players at stake for the clearing of the game, that would serve absolutely no tangible benefit for Kayaba. On the contrary, it would make him lose all the reputation he had as a game designer and quantum physicist, degrading him into the worst criminal recorded in history.
I don't get it. I can't make any reasonable sense of it.
But at the same time, my instincts understood.
Kayaba's proclamation was completely true. The nature of the stage where SAO takes place, the Floating Castle Aincrad, had changed from a parallel world overflowing with passion and excitement, into a cage of death trapping ten thousand people within. The words uttered by Kayaba at the end of his tutorial earlier—[This situation itself, was my final goal]; that phrase was likely his absolute true intentions. That outrageous genius had, merely for the sake of realizing this death game, created SAO... and thus, the Nerve Gear.
Due to that belief, I—the level 1 swordsman, Kirito, am presently running with my life at stake.
All by myself, in the middle of the vast grasslands. Abandoning the first friend I made in this world.
All to keep myself alive.
The Floating Castle Aincrad was formed by floors, reaching up to a hundred, narrowly piled atop each other.
As the floors were wide in the lower portion and narrowed as they approached the upper portion, the entire castle took the shape of a cone. The diameter of the thus widest first floor amounted to up to ten kilometers. The «main city area», in other words, the largest city of the first floor, «Starting City», reached out in a semi-circle with a diameter of one kilometer on the southern tip of the floor.
Tall castle walls had been built up along the edges of the city, reducing the chances of monsters invading to an absolute zero. Also, the insides of the city were guarded by the «Anti-Criminal Code», making it impossible for your HP, that became the actual amount of life you had remaining, to fall by even a single pixel. To put it in other words, if you were to stay within the Starting City, then your safety would be ensured, eliminating the chance of death.
However, I decided to exit the city the moment Kayaba Akihito ended that initial tutorial.
There were several reasons. The lack of confidence in the «Code» continuing forever. The desire to avoid the discord and mistrust that would surely be born between players. And also, the tenacity to level up of an MMO gamer, ingrained in my very core.
This might be some sort of fate; I do have a considerable liking for death game themes in fiction, and had gone through many novels, comics, movies and such from all over. Of course, the games I have, tend to cover a large variety of themes, but I believe it to be a common theme existing within them.
In regards to death games, it was always a trade-off between «safety» and «progress». If the starting location is a safe area, there would be no danger to one's life if one were to remain there. But if one were to shrink away from danger before even trying to brave through it, it would become impossible to overcome the situation.
Of course, there was no way I had any heroic aspirations of cutting down those hundred boss monsters with my own sword, so as to clear this game. However, within the ten thousand players imprisoned, the portion of them possessing that mentality was probably not limited to only a small amount—there should be a thousand such people at the very least. Sooner or later, they would leave the city, hunt down the weak monsters in the area, and begin to earn experience points, whether as solo or group players. To increase their levels, upgrade their equipment, and get stronger.
And with that, there’s another problem.
In a death game, what opposes players is not limited to rules, traps, and monsters. They would find enemies in other players as well. I am unaware of any death games that did not turn out so.
In this SAO, when outside of towns, that is, when «outside the boundary», PK’ing is possible. That said, although it's unlikely for them to go to the extent of murder—that would result in them becoming a true murderer, after all—resorting to threatening others with weapons to steal away items, I unfortunately have not the confidence to say that not a single such individual exists. Just by imagining the possibility of some certain person with stats overwhelming my own becoming my enemy results in tangible fear and terror, leaving a bitter taste in my mouth.
And based on those reasons—
The choice of staying in the Starting City, abandoning the strengthening of myself for safety, offered no advantage to me.
Thus, if I were to aim to level up, there was no time to stand around idly. The relatively safe grassy fields around the city would likely soon be filled with «those who decided to venture forth», like myself. The monster POP of SAO was fixed to a certain amount within a certain time frame for each area. After the initial targets were hunted down, it would become a frenzy to search for the next POP, and from then on, occasionally stealing targets from others would likely become unavoidable.
To avoid that, for the purpose of having an effective rate of leveling, it is necessary to aim beyond the «relatively safe» area—that is, the «slightly dangerous» area.
Of course, in a game that one had just started, if one did not have any sense of direction, doing that would be tantamount to suicide. However, due to a certain reason, although it only applies to the lower floors, I am familiar with many things - such as the topography, and even the monsters that appear in this game, SAO, which officially went online today.
Exiting from the northwest gate of the Starting City, cutting straight through the vast grasslands, after escaping from a path similar to a maze within the deep forest, there is a village named, «Horunka». It may be small, but it certainly had an inn, a weapon shop and a tool shop «within the boundary», making it sufficient to serve as a hunting base. In the surrounding forest, there is no POP of monsters with dangerous skills that involve paralyzing toxins or equipment destruction, so it would be unlikely to die by accident even through solo play.
With the village of Horunka as my base, I will raise my level from 1 to 5 throughout today. The current time was six-fifteen in the afternoon. The surrounding grasslands were dyed golden in the setting sun from the outer circumference of Aincrad, and the forest opposite was bathed in a pale blue by the dusk. But luckily, even at night, strong monsters would not spawn around Horunka. If I continued hunting nonstop until the next change of day, I would probably be able to gain enough stats and equipment to head for the next location before the village is filled with other players.
"...Selfishness is a good point too, huh... I'm the very image of a solo player, geez..."
As I ran with all my might, that was first thing I whispered as I left the city.
If I did not express that in a humorous tone, then the fear and that other bitterness—self-hatred, threatening to force itself out from my mouth, would have no chance of being erased.
If only that well-natured cutlass user were by my side. Aiding with his leveling up, in addition to ensuring his survival; that moral action would probably be able to overwrite some of these feelings of guilt.
But I have deserted my only friend in this world, the one named Klein, at the Starting City. To be accurate, when I invited him to head towards Horunka together, Klein mentioned that he couldn't leave behind the comrades who were in the same guild as him in a previous game.
Then let's go with them, too. That proposal might have been possible as well. However, I didn't suggest it. Unlike the grasslands where only wild boars or caterpillars that could be easily defeated, even at level 1, appeared, the forest beyond had somewhat dangerous types of monsters spawning, such as poisonous bees and predatory plants. If the wrong response were made towards those special attacks, it would cause your HP to drop to zero in a flash... in other words, one might even end up dying.
The chances of Klein's friends ending up dead— no, the gaze Klein would give me the moment that happens— that was what I was afraid of. I didn't wish to have any unpleasant thoughts, I didn't want to be hurt; with that belief and nothing else in my mind, I abandoned the one who called out to me, and who invited me to play as a party for the first time in this world...
"...!!"
Emotions of disgust, unable to be covered up by even my self-torturing monologue, swelled up from the bottom of my mind, and I gritted my teeth, forcing my right hand onto the sword equipped onto my back.
In a clump of bushes slightly ahead, a single blue wild boar POP-ed. They were non-aggressive monsters, so I planned to ignore them all until I got through the grasslands, but out of impulse, I unsheathed the simple straight sword from my initial equipment, starting the motion for the single hit sword skill, «Slant».
Reacting to being targeted, the wild boar glared at me, and violently tore at the ground with its right foreleg. The motion for a charge attack. If I were to falter here, stopping my skill, I would end up receiving a large amount of damage instead. With mixed feelings of calmness and irritation towards myself, I stared at the monster, letting loose my skill while aiming at its weak point, the back of its head.
The sword blade faintly glowed light blue, and along with a sharp sound effect, my virtual body moved, half by its own accord. The system assist, unique to sword skills, was forcibly correcting the slashing motion. While taking care not to go against the movement, I consciously accelerated my leg and right arm, increasing the power of the skill. For the sake of mastering this skill alone, I once spent close to ten days using the skill for empty attacks on the practice dummies in the town.
The stats of a level 1 along with the specifications of the initial equipment was obviously extremely weak, but still, if a boosted «Slant» were to deal a critical hit at the weak point of the blue wild boar—its official name, «Frenzy Boar», the HP reduced in a single hit would be just a little more than what it has. The slash that I released head-on struck the mane area of the wild boar that came charging in, returning a strong recoil, and the beast with a total length of around a meter, twenty centimeters was violently sent flying backwards.
"Giiiiiii!"
Screaming as it bounced off the ground, it stopped in the air unnaturally. *Bashaa!* An intense sound effect, along with a light effect. Within the blue light, the wild boar turned into thousands of polygon fragments, before exploding.
I didn't even spare a look at the indication of the experience points added, or the dropped material items; on the contrary, without even stopping my feet, I walked right through the drifting light effect. I didn't feel even a fraction more refreshed. Plunging the sword into the scabbard on my back with vigor, I faced the dark forest I was finally nearing, and I continued running at the speed limit allowed by my agility stat.
Nevertheless, I had to take caution in the forest to avoid the reaction radius of the monsters about, but still I ran down the path as fast as I could and reached my destination, «Horunka Village», just before the setting sun went down.
I quickly surveyed the village of ten buildings, including both private houses and shops, from its entrance. The color cursors floating in my vision were all tagged as NPC's. It seems that I am the first to arrive, but thinking about it, that was only to be expected. After all, I did dash off at full speed with barely any conversation the moment Kayaba's tutorial ended.
First would be to head for the weapon shop facing the narrow plaza. Before the start of the tutorial—that is, when SAO was still a normal game, I hunted down several monsters along with Klein, so there were a number of raw material items saved up in my storage. I had no desire to increase my production-type skills, so I would just sell them off to the shopkeeper NPC. Using nearly all of my gold, which had just recently increased, I bought a brown leather half coat with decently high defense.
I touched the instant equip button displayed when I purchased it without any hint of hesitation. Above the white linen shirt and thick grey cloth vest that comprised my initial equipment, a leather piece of equipment that exuded a feeling of durability came into being, releasing light. I caught my breath for a bit, dwelling in the slightly increased sense of stability, then glanced at the large full-length mirror installed onto the weapon shop's wall.
"...It's... me..."
I unconsciously muttered, and the elderly shopkeeper polishing a dagger's scabbard at the counter raised his eyebrows, before returning to work straight away.
The avatar reflected in the mirror, aside from the height and gender, was a far cry from the «Kirito» that I went to great pains to create.
The body was thin and slender, without a trace of masculinity in the facial features. Long black forelocks hung down. The eyes, too, were black, or darker than that. An appearance just like mine in reality, reproduced with an astonishing level of detail—
Just from imagining this avatar, what the previous Kirito wore, equipping dazzling metal armor, a vehement spasm of denial surged through my entire body. Luckily, in SAO, even with lightweight leather equipment, speed-type one-handed sword users were able to attain sufficient defense. Of course, they were unable to become tanks, the ones who could draw monsters' attention to themselves, but there was no need for a tank-type build for a solo player.
From now on, I shall stick to leather equipment as long as the situation allows it. Not to mention those that are as plain-looking as possible.
Deciding thus in my mind, I departed the weapon shop. The only thing that improved was the Leather Coat. With the Buckler set aside for now, my weapon still remained the initial sword. Rushing into the tool shop next door, I bought as many recovery and antidote potions as I could, turning the money in my possession to an absolute zero.
There was a reason behind why I didn't have my weapon replaced. The one and only one-handed straight sword sold in the weapon shop of this village, «Bronze Sword», had more power than the initial equipment, «Small Sword», but its durability dropped easily, and it was weak against the corrosive liquid fired from plant monsters as well. If one were to face them frequently, staying with the Small Sword was the better choice. That being said, it's not like I could keep using the weak initial sword forever. Leaving the tool shop, I flew into a private house deeper in the village with a dash.
Stirring a pot in the kitchen, an NPC that truly gave the impression of a «Village Missus» turned to look at me and spoke.
"Good evening, journeying swordsman. You must be tired, I do wish to offer you some food, but I do not have any at the moment. All I can give, is a single cup of water or so."
Without missing a beat I answered, enunciating clearly so that the system could recognize it.
"That will be fine."
Actually, a mere "That's fine" or "Yes" would have been enough, but these things were for setting the mood. But, if I were to say the even more polite phrase, "Don't mind me", nothing would happen.
The NPC poured water into an old-looking cup from a water jug, and set it down on the table before me with a clunk. Sitting on the chair, I drank that down in a gulp.
With a slight smile, the missus turned back towards the pot. Despite something simmering, «not giving any food» was meant to be a slight hint. Upon waiting further, the steady sound of a child's coughing could soon be heard from the other side of the door to the next room. The missus's shoulders seemed to fall in despair.
After waiting a few more seconds, a golden question mark finally lit up above the lady's head. The sign of a quest's activation. I called out without a moment's delay.
"Is something troubling you?"
It was one of many possible phrases used to accept quests from NPCs. Softly turning to face me, the «?» mark atop the missus's head blinked constantly.
"Actually, journeying swordsman, my daughter..."
—And her daughter was stricken with a severe illness that was completely unfazed even when treated with medicine from the market (this was inside the pot) and there was no other way to cure her daughter aside from having her drink medicine procured from the ovules of predatory plants inhabiting the forest further to the west. The problem was, plants of that particular type were extremely dangerous; moreover, those that actually bloomed were rarely seen, resulting in her complete inability to obtain any. Thus, if only a swordsman was able retrieve it in her stead she would gladly offer a long sword handed down in her family as an expression of gratitude.
Which is the general synopsis of the missus's speech that she gave while gesturing, as I listened on patiently. The quest would not progress if not heard to the end, and I was unable to bring myself to harden my heart against the sporadic dry coughs of her daughter during her story.
The missus finally closed her mouth, and the tasks on the quest log displayed on the left of my vision were refreshed. I stood up, and crying out, "Please leave it to me!" —a line that was unnecessary, but it was to set the mood— I rushed out of the house.
Immediately afterwards, the time bell melody played throughout the town from the small watchtower in the middle of the plaza. Evening, seven o'clock.
Just what is the situation in the real world now? Doubtless, a huge uproar had occurred. Beside me lying down on my bed in my room with the Nerve Gear on my head, were probably the figures of my mother or sister, or perhaps both.
I wonder just what they are feeling right now. Shock? Doubt? Fear? Or maybe grief...?
However, the fact that I am still alive here, within Aincrad, is proof that my mother and sister have not forcibly torn off my Nerve Gear. In other words, they probably do believe in it. In Kayaba Akihiko's warning —and that I would return alive.
In order to survive this death game and return, there is no choice but for someone to break through to the top floor of this Floating Castle Aincrad that reaches up to roughly a hundred levels and defeat that monstrous last boss of a form that I can't even begin to imagine, to clear the game.
Of course, I don't even have a single thought of achieving that deed myself. What I should be doing, no, the one and only thing I am capable of: is to struggle for my life with all my might, that's all there is.
First of all, to become strong. At the very least, on this floor, regardless of the type and numbers of monsters coming at me... or perhaps to the point where I can protect my own life even when a malicious player assaults me. Anything beyond that, I can think about when the time comes.
"...Sorry, mother. For making you worry... Sorry, Sugu. For having something like this happen through the very VR games you hate..."
The words that unintentionally sprang from my lips caused me slight surprise. The last time I called out my sister's name in short-form was three years ago, or maybe even before that.
If— If I live on and return, I'll face her directly and call her «Sugu» once more.
Deciding so listlessly, I passed through the village's gate, striding towards the forest covered in the ominous night.
There is no sky within Aincrad. In its place, the bottom of the next floor stretching out for a hundred meters overhead is all. Thus, the only times that the Sun could be seen directly were restricted to the mornings and evenings. Of course, the Moon follows suit.
Even then, it's not as if daytime is dim with the night pitch being black. Area lighting is applied similar to other common VR spaces, ensuring there is ample gamma. Even in the forest at night, while obviously not to the level of day, a pale blue light illuminates all the way to one's feet, posing no inconvenience even when running.
Despite that, but the gloom in one's heart is another matter all together. Regardless of how much attention is paid to one's surroundings, the anxiety that something could be right behind still floats up every so often. It was only at times like this that I start to miss the sense of security from playing as a party, but I was beyond the point of no return. Both in terms of distance, as well as what the system dictated.
The number of «skill slots» allocated to a level 1 player was a mere two.
One of those slots I filled with «One-handed Sword» right after the start of the game at one o'clock in the afternoon today, and intended to consider carefully what to put in the other empty slot. However, after experiencing that nightmarish tutorial and leaving the Starting City behind, the chance to mess around with skills had been robbed from me.
For solo players, there are several indispensable skills. Among those, the most important ones are «Searching» and «Hiding». Each one of those two can increase the rate of survival. However, the former can also increase the efficiency of hunting, while the latter's efficiency falls slightly in this forest, due to a certain reason. As such, I chose the searching skill, deciding to add the hiding skill on my next slot increment.
That said, those skills were not focused on much, since manpower already increases the degree of safety —that is, the same effect could be achieved through sight by spreading out the searching range when playing as a party. In other words, the moment I took up «Searching», I had already chosen to forfeit all paths other than the one where I rush straight through as a solo player. At some point this decision might come back to haunt me, but at the very least, it wouldn't right now...
Within my vision, as I walked while thinking of such things in a corner of my mind, a small colored cursor was displayed. The reaction range was enlarged due to the searching skill; hence, I was still unable to confirm it by sight. The cursor was of the red that denoted a monster, but it had a slightly dark hue, perhaps closer to magenta, rather than red.
This reddish shade could be used to loosely determine the relative strength of the enemy. The cursors of the monsters that one cannot defeat no matter much one struggles, those with an overwhelming disparity in levels, were a dark crimson, more intense than blood. Most of those weak monsters, from which scarcely any experience points can be gained no matter how many one kills, are a light pink, close to white. Suitable enemies of equal levels are depicted as pure red.
Presently, the cursor appearing within my vision is a red, slightly more intense than average. The name of the monster is «Little Nepent». Despite having little attached to its name, it is a walking predatory plant with a stature of a meter and a half. It was level 3, hence the cursor seen by the level 1 me was colored purple.
Although it wasn't an opponent to be made light of, there was no need for fear either. That is due to the narrow yellow border surrounding the cursor, indicating that it is the target mob for a quest.
I stopped walking for a moment, and after confirming the absence of other mobs in the vicinity, I turned to the Little Nepent once again and dashed in head-on. Rear attacks are rarely effective on monsters without eyes, such as this.
Stepping off the small path, I circled around a grand, old tree and the monster’s form entered my sight.
On its lower body that brings to mind the Nepenthes species, countless roots were writhing about as it used them to move. Vines, with pointed leaves attached, twisted about at its side and it had a «mouth» for consumption of prey near where its head should have been, dribbling a viscous liquid as it snapped open and shut.
"...A miss."
Having seen that much, I murmured softly. Occasionally, one with a large flower blooming atop its mouth would appear. The key item needed for the quest received at Horunka Village, «Little Nepent's Ovule», drops from none other than a Nepent with that flower attached. And the rate of one with the flower appearing is likely less than one percent.
However, even if they are normal Nepents, as long as one continues defeating them, the appearance rate of one with a flower will increase. As such, engaging it in battle is not a waste, but there is an important point that cannot be ignored.
It is that, at a rate similar to one with a flower, a type of Nepent with a round fruit attached might appear. That one could be said to be a «trap». If the fruit is struck in the midst of battle, it will break off with a deafening sound, emitting fumes with an unpleasant odor. The fumes possess neither poisonous nor corrosive properties, but it has the extremely troublesome chacteristic of rallying together its fellow Nepents from the surroundings. Not many would be summoned if the POP of the area was running low, but given the current circumstances, an obviously immeasurable amount would be gathered together.
I focused my eyes again, and upon confirming a lack of fruit on the enemy, I drew the sword on my back once more. The Nepent noticed me at the same time, raising its two vines up high threateningly.
The attack pattern for this mob includes the use of the pointed edge of its ivy to slash and stab, like a dagger, and the disgorgement of corrosive fluids from its mouth. It has much more variety compared to the blue wild boar that simply charged recklessly, but as it doesn't use sword skills, it could be said to be easier than the demi-human mobs such as Kobolds and Goblins.
And above all, its ability leans a fair amount towards the offensive side, with its defense weak. Even in «the previous Aincrad», I was fond of these types of monsters. After all, as long as you don't receive any of the attacks, it is possible to take down several of them within a short time.
"Shuuuuu!"
And with that howl spilling out from its prey-trapping mechanism of a mouth, the Nepent thrust its right vine towards me. Reading its trajectory in an instant, I jumped towards the left to dodge it. Turning towards its side in the same motion, I drove my sword into the part joining the pitcher portion and its thick stalk —its weak point.
It was a decent counter. The Nepent's HP bar slumped, with more than a twenty percent decrease.
Letting out a voice of anger once again, the plant inflated its pitcher. The startup animation for the firing of the corrosive fluids. The range was as long as five meters. It was impossible to dodge even when retreating straight backwards.
Aside from HP damage and a drastic drop in equipment durability, thanks to its viscosity, the player's movement will also be obstructed. However, the effect is limited to a narrow angle of 30 degrees in front. After determining the timing to do so until the very last moment, the instant the expansion of the pitcher portion of its body stopped, I jumped with all my might towards the right this time.
A pale green fluid shot out in a spray with a *Bushuu!*, forming a white vapor as it fell onto the ground. But having avoided getting even a single drop showered on me, I touched down onto the ground with my right foot and brandished my sword, dealing a hard blow to the same weak point once again. With a scream, the Nepent's prey-trapping mechanism bent backwards as a yellow light effect encircled it. A stunned status. It might be strange for a plant to be stunned, but there was no way I could let this chance slip.
Once again, I forcefully pulled my sword towards the right. With that movement done in an instant, the sword skill activated, engulfing the blade in a faint, pale blue light.
"...Raa!"
In this battle— or perhaps for the first time since SAO officially went online, a yell welled out of me, and I violently kicked off from the ground. The single-hit, horizontal offensive technique to the neck, «Horizontal». The only thing about it that differs from «Slant», is whether it's slanted or horizontal, but this way made it easier to aim for the Little Nepent's weak point.
Right before the plant mob recovered from its stun, with close to fifty percent of its HP lost to the earlier two attacks, its exposed stalk was given a straight slash by the sword skill. Of course, I was boosting the force to its maximum with the movement from my kicking foot and right arm. Glowing with a light effect the sword blade cut into the tough stalk, facing what resistance remained for a moment—
"Sukaan!", as that groan sounded out, the pitcher portion was sliced from the stalk, flying off in mid-air by itself. What remained of the gauge was dyed in deep red, vanishing from the right side. As it reached zero, the Little Nepent's large form was frozen in blue. And then, it exploded.
With my sword still in the motion of the technique I had executed, I ceased movement. The indication of experience points, twice that of the wild boar, being added floated into view. The battle took approximately forty seconds. If I were to continue this pace, I should be able to attain a fairly decent level of efficiency.
With the drawn sword in my right hand lowered, I surveyed my surroundings. Close to the limit of my searching range, several Little Nepent cursors arose. Those yet unseen by players.
Before others catch up to these hunting grounds, I must level up as much as I possibly can. With such vigor that the POP of the area will reach the point of exhaustion. That would be such a high level of egotism that it couldn't be marveled at, even if I do say so myself, but it wasn't time for the hypocrisy of a philanthropic solo player.
Having listlessly settled on my next prey, I started running into the deep forest once more.
Keeping it up for fifteen minutes, over ten Little Nepents were already slaughtered.
Unfortunately, one with a flower attached had yet to appear. In this there is a «real luck-dependency», as referred to in gamer lingo—in other words, it is reliant on the factor of luck the actual player has. Where quests were concerned there hadn't been many incidents where I'd been blessed with luck as far as I can remember.
Even if it's a source of irritation, players who can boast of their luck, obtaining super rare items with drop rates of 0.00 or so percent, one after another, succeeding in their equipment refinement ten times in a row, and in addition, even getting along well with girls within games; these players certainly do exist. To compete with them, there was no method but to simply earnestly repeat those attempts over and over again. Of course, regarding those attempts, I meant the rare items. I have absolutely no intention of spamming greetings whenever I meet with any girls.
In the first place, due to what Kayaba - who could be considered a god - had done, the avatars in-game were presently matched to their appearances in reality, and the population of female players in Aincrad must have taken a sharp dip. It was helpful that one would have no need to doubt if the other party was actually a male «inside», but it must have been quite an ordeal for those intending to take up the role-play of a girl, choosing a name and initial equipment befitting of that. I can do nothing but hope that Kayaba had prepared a name changing item, quest or something of that sort, for their sake...
Perhaps due to being ahead of schedule, as I thought about such things in a portion of my head, upon defeating the eleventh plant monster, a light fanfare rang out within my hearing. At the same time, a golden light effect wrapped around my body. Along with what I had gained from hunting wild boars with Klein beside the city, before the start of the death game, I had finally exceeded the number of experience points needed to level up.
If I were to be playing in a party, calls of "congrats" would probably be springing up from all around in that instant. Instead, while listening to the rustling from the treetops of the old trees ringing out, I stored my sword back into the scabbard on my back. I drew back my index and middle fingers and swiped them downwards, pulling out the main menu window. Switching to the status tab, for the 3 precious status points added, I allocated 1 to Strength, and 2 to Agility. In SAO, where magic does not exist, these two are the only visible statuses, so there was no real need to hesitate. In exchange, a huge number of skills, encompassing all sorts of battle-type and production-type skills are in place —or so it seems; hence, it will likely be a large cause of worry when the number of skill slots eventually increases.
However, on this very day, to survive through this single hour, I have no choice, but to risk my life. Before thinking about the future, I must first ensure that I am adequate, level-wise, for a so-called, «safety margin».
Finishing the status up process, I closed the window, and behind me—
Suddenly, some sort of stiff clapping sound repeatedly rang out.
"...!"
I wildly jumped back, placing my hands onto my sword's handle. Getting absorbed in operating the window while in the field, letting down my guard towards my back was a mistake that even a beginner wouldn't make.
Berating myself as I prepared for battle, what I saw was a being that shouldn't have appeared within this forest, a humanoid monster —no, it was an actual human.
And it wasn't an NPC. It was a player.
A man slightly taller than myself. Around the same age. His defensive equipment were the light leather armor and buckler sold at Horunka Village. His weapon was the same Small Sword from the initial equipment. That said, the sword wasn't exactly drawn. In a stance where his empty hands hit each other in front of his body, he left his mouth agape.
In other words, the clapping sound effect from earlier was the sound of applause from this man —or perhaps boy would be more fitting— for my level up.
After I took a short breath as I lowered my hands, the boy showed an awkward smile, bowing his head down for a moment.
"...S-Sorry, for startling you like that. I should have called out from the start."
"......No, me too... sorry for the overreaction."
Mumbling a reply, I stuffed my hands that had lost their purpose into the pockets of my half coat. The boy, whose features gave a first impression of seriousness, widened his faltering smile, and made some sort of gesture, bringing the fingers on his right hand up near his right eye. As he lowered his hand with embarrassment immediately after, I realized that he definitely wore glasses back in the real world.
"C-Congrats, on your level up. That was pretty quick."
I reflexively lowered my head towards the boy's words. It felt off, as if he had seen through my thoughts of "If I were to be playing in a party" from earlier. I shook my head from side to side in a fluster.
"It's not that fast... —And if you are going to say that, you're fast too. I thought it would be two or three more hours before anyone reached this forest."
"Ahaha, I thought I would be the first to arrive too. The path to get here is rather confusing, after all."
The instant I heard those words, I finally noticed, though belatedly.
He is the same as me.
Not in terms of equipment and gender. Nor as the position of a prisoner in this death game of SAO players.
This boy had as much knowledge as me. The location of Horunka Village. The reason why it was better not to buy a Bronze Sword. In addition, the area with the largest POP of Little Nepents. In other words—he was an «original beta tester». [13] Just like me.
The world's first VRMMO game, Sword Art Online, officially went online with ten thousand people gathered as players today, on November 6th, 2022. However, three months before that, offered to a mere thousand people through a lottery, was the game's play trial— that is to say, a beta test was carried out.
In that test flooded by tens of thousands of applications, that was the only time I had an unbelievable stroke of real luck (though it could be considered as terribly bad luck by this point in time), by being selected. The test period lasted the whole of August. With the summer vacation allowing it, I continued to full dive from morning to night—though to be accurate, it was from the afternoon to early morning, bustling about Aincrad, which had not yet become a cage of death, in a daze, brandishing my sword, and dying. Over and over again.
Through countless attempts, via trial and error, I accumulated an extensive amount of knowledge and experience.
The small paths and ways of escape not shown on the map. The locations of towns and villages, the stock shops keep. The price and specifications of the equipment sold there. The activation requirements of quests and how to clear them. The spawn areas of monsters, their powers, and also, their weaknesses—
It was due to those bits and pieces of knowledge that I've gotten here alive—deep within a forest far from the Starting City. If I was a complete newbie that did not participate in the beta test, I would likely not even think of leaving the city alone.
The same could be said of the boy standing several meters in front.
There was no doubt the one-handed swordsman with hair slightly longer than mine went through the experience of the beta test just like me. Not just how he knows of the roads of this forest that resembles a maze, but even the stance he adopts as he stands too, shows a familiarization with the original VR engine used by SAO.
The guess that I developed to that extent within several seconds was easily supported by a single phrase from the boy.
"You're doing it too, right? The «Secret Medicine of the Forest» quest."
That was unmistakably the title of the quest I received at the private house in the village earlier. There was no more reason to deny it if he had already read my intentions that far. Upon nodding, he grinned while shifting his hand to those unseen glasses once again.
"That's an indispensable quest to one-handed sword users, after all. When you get that «Anneal Blade» reward, it's good all the way till the third floor's labyrinth."
"...The appearance isn't much to talk about though, that weapon."
As I added that bit in, the boy let out a bright "Ahahaha" laugh. After finally ending that laughter, he opened his mouth after a short pause. What came out were words slightly different from my expectations.
"This is a rare chance, so how about working together on the quest?"
"Eh... I do believe that was an individual-only quest though."
I replied so spontaneously. There are quests that allow all members of a party to clear it by running through it as a party, and those that do not, and the type of this «Secret Medicine of the Forest» belonged to the latter. There was only one of the crucial key item, «Little Nepent's Ovule», hence only one would drop, and even when challenging it as a party, the number of items that need to be collected would end up having to be equal to the number of people involved in the end.
However, the boy gave a smile as though he had predicted my words.
"Well, that might be true, but the rate of a «one with a flower» will increase if the normal ones get hunted down as much as possible. Pushing that to the extremes as a pair is more effective."
It certainly was just as he had said. I couldn't aim for any monsters not by themselves as a solo, but with two, we could go up against two of them at the same time. Along with the advantage of shortening the time spent choosing targets, the number that could be hunted down would increase accordingly—and with that, the chance of one with a flower should similarly increase.
Just as I was about to nod in acceptance, I harshly stiffened my avatar up.
That was because I thought about the right I had to form a party now, after having abandoned that cheerful single-edged sword user, Klein... the first friend I made, just a short hour or so ago.
However, the boy took my hesitation the wrong way, and shook his head in a fluster.
"No, it's fine, you don't have to feel any obligation to form a party. You are the first one who got here, so of course, I'll concede the first key item to you. If we continue hunting at that boosted rate, the second will definitely drop soon, so if you can stick with me till then..."
"Ah... aah, that's right... then, excuse me, but..."
With that incoherent reply, I nodded. If we were to fight as a party, all drops from monsters would go into not our individual storage spaces, but a temporary one instead, so technically, it would be possible for him to make off with the key item for the quest. That was likely what was thought as the source of my misgivings. Although in actual fact, that hadn't even crossed my mind yet, there was no worth in correcting that now.
Towards my assent, the boy laughed once again, before he stepped up and offered his right hand.
"That's good to hear; well then, I'll be in your care for the time being. I am «Coper»."
If he was originally a beta tester like me, it wouldn't be odd if I knew him previously, but I had no recollection of that name.
Of course, there was the chance that he might be using a different name from during the beta period, and in the first place, his name wasn't displayed on his color cursor, so it couldn't even be confirmed if that was his «real name». Similarly, I could use a false name as well. However, I am awful with character naming, so for me, having used a simple abbreviation of my real name in the various net games I've played thus far, there was no way I could do something like making up a false name in an instant.
"...Do treat me well. I am «Kirito»."
Upon giving my name, the boy—Coper lightly tilted his head to the side.
"...Kirito... eh, just where did I..."
Somehow, it seems that the other party knew me indirectly from the beta period. Reflexively thinking that it might have a negative effect, I immediately spoke out.
"That's probably someone else. Come on, let's get hunting. We have to get two «ovules» before the other players get here."
"Y...Yea, that's right. Let's go for it."
Nodding to each other, we targeted a couple of Little Nepents grouped together nearby and dashed towards them.
As expected of an original beta tester, Coper's sense for battle was nothing to scoff at.
He knew quite a bit about the distance to keep away while using a one-handed sword, the behavior monsters exhibit, and the usage of sword skills. In my opinion, he was focusing slightly too much on defense, but that was only understandable in this situation. We naturally settled into a routine with good synergy, with Coper first luring the target, then me striking at its weak point with all my might, reducing our prey into polygon fragments one after another as a pair.
The hunting went smoothly, but there was still one large irregularity that came to mind.
Even until now, we did not exchange a single comment about the situation that SAO was currently in. Was Kayaba's proclamation the truth? If we die here, will we really die? Just how will this world turn out from now on...? All of those questions must have occurred to Coper as well, but there was no talk of anything beyond items and quests between us, from the start to the very end. And despite that, our conversation truly flowed naturally.
In other words—it must have been because both of us were heavy MMO addicts. Even if the world were to change into a death game, even if the log out button were to disappear, as long as we are in the game, it's the time for quests and experience earning. We are likely beyond help now, but thinking back on it, Coper too, went to the extent of applying for the beta test as well, so there was no question that his very core was that of a net gamer. To put it simply, beyond the fear of death, we merely prioritized our urge to strengthen our characters...
No.
No, that's not it.
Surely, both Coper and I are still unable to look reality in the eye yet.
Leveling up efficiently; exhausting the POP rate; even if we go through these near-sighted calculations, our thoughts on the foundation are still in suspension. We averted our sight away from the reality of the Nerve Gear discharging high intensity electromagnetic waves, frying our brains upon our HP reaching zero, and as an avenue of escapism, simply aimed for what was «ahead» without prior consideration. Comparatively, the players who remained in the Starting City could even be said to be significantly more calm in their understanding of the situation.
However, if that was so—
The fact that I was going up against dreadful monsters like this right now, fighting on my absolute own free will, would mean that I certainly was unable to comprehend the current reality. Unaffected by the anxiety of dying for real being the entire basis for why I am still able to dodge these pointed vines and dangerous corrosive fluids capable of killing me off, with the slightest of movements.
The instant I realized that, a premonition came to me.
Aah... in the near future, I'll definitely die.
«An actual death», in other words, the first rule of a death game; to not understand that rule, was to not look out for the line that one must not cross. It was no different from walking at the edge of a cliff in the midst of darkness, entrusting all to fate. Thinking back on it, exiting the city on my own, stepping into this forest area with poor vision, was already a deed at the extremes of foolhardiness...
Gulp!* An intense chill ran down my spine, going all the way to the tips of my hands and feet, putting a stop to my avatar's movement.
At that exact moment, I aimed at the Little Nepent—just how many I had already downed I do not know—and swung my sword towards its weak point; if I had been frozen stiff for even half a second more, I would have definitely received a painful counter in return.
Coming back to my senses, the re-activated sword skill, «Horizontal», sliced off the plant's stalk in my precarious situation. A shattering sound rang out, and formless glass-like flakes passed through me, scattering into the air.
At my back, battling another Nepent, was Coper, who fortunately seemed to have not noticed my abnormal behavior. Slower by five seconds and annihilating the enemy without any usage of skills, he turned around with a sigh.
"......It's still not out..."
His voice was tainted with traces of fatigue as expected. Over an hour had passed since he started fighting as a team with me. Although close to over a hundred and fifty Nepents must have been taken down by the two of us already, the POP of the «one with a flower» had yet to occur.
To shake off the chills that have yet to cease reverberating throughout my frame, I gave my shoulders a firm jerk.
"It could be that the rate at which it appears was changed since the beta period... It's not like it's the first time I've heard of a MMO that lowered the rate of rare drops after it officially went online..."
"...That's true... —So, what now? We did manage to level up considerably, and the durability levels of our weapons have dropped by quite a bit, so returning to town for the time being might..."
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