Chapter 72 – Sword Art Online (40)
The first floor of Aincrad didn’t have a particularly unified design theme, so to speak, it was the 〉 floor with everything 〈.
The terrain is rich with grasslands, forests, moors, valleys and variations.
There are also many streets and villages outside of residential areas, and it greets players with a roar as if it were a fantasy RPG.
The 2nd floor is giving a unified design while everything has changed.
Several multi-floor table mountains surrounded by green pastures are connected, and most of the monsters that appear are animal types.
In the field of difficulty, the theme of the second floor with a relaxed atmosphere would be 〈 Ranch 〉, not about 1 floor.
And now, land that no one has yet set foot on. 3rd floor.
In a way, this was the beginning of the real SAO.
The reason is that mobs in full-fledged human form appear from this 3rd floor.
The kobolds on the 1st floor and the Taurus on the 2nd floor were also subhumans, and although they used simple sword skills, they were completely monsters themselves.
However, some of the enemies waiting for the players on the third floor were almost indistinguishable from the players outwardly.
It’s to the point where you really can’t tell unless it’s a cursor that tells you it’s a player.
Fortunately, however, there was no way to tell them apart. It was because he spoke the same way as the NPC and used a high-level sword skill that could not be seen on the 3rd floor.
In other words, this is where 〈 Sword Art Online 〉 really begins.
***
Behind the second floor boss room.
Climbing the spiral staircase to the third floor, Seo-joon murmured.
“Progress is faster than I thought.”
I attacked the boss faster than expected.
Argo’s virtue was great, but the fact that he alone cut the boss’s HP by more than half accounted for a greater share.
But Seojun didn’t really care.
He was more busy thinking about what would happen on the third floor.
How high did it go up?
They soon reached the stone gate leading to the third floor.
“Then open it?”
I’m sorry.
He vigorously opened the door.
Aincrad 3rd floor.
The design theme is 〈 Forest 〉. However, the size and power of the forest around Hornka Village on the 1st floor and the forest that seemed to be in the 2nd floor area were on a different level.
Even the smallest tree was one meter in diameter and more than 30 meters tall.
Old trees that could not even be described as giant trees were stretched out in front of me, and the sight of golden light pouring down from the gaps between the overlapping branches and leaves was fantastic.
“Wow, looking at it again, it’s spectacular.”
Asuna let out a small exclamation as she exited the stairs.
She seemed to enjoy the vast forest with all her might as she wandered here and there while bathing in the small sunlight.
The light gliding through her long chestnut hair was dazzlingly reflected in all directions.
Her nice body and amazing beauty made her think that she was not a player, but an elf living in the forest.
‘Well, it was worthwhile coming up.’
Seeing the girls wandering around, Seo-joon yawned loudly.
Perhaps because of my mood, even the air felt sweet. Is it because it is full of phytoncide?
I laughed at the fact that I could feel this way even though it was a piece of data. That’s because the SAO created by his intervention was so realistic.
“Well, then…”
Seo-joon opens the window while muttering, and quickly inputs a friend message.
Since the capture of the second floor has been completed, guide all players to open the third floor’s transfer door within an hour,” He sent to Argo.
It can be said that she also participated in the raid on the 2nd floor boss, but she somehow hid her appearance before the boss fell, so she was sent just in case.
I want to taste more of the feeling of being on the 3rd floor, but it seems like a mountain.
She couldn’t waste too much time. Even if you come up on a new floor, you have to do the same shopping, receiving quests, and leveling up as you have done so far, but what you have to do before that is because there are things to confirm with the tentative party members.
“Come on, everyone, stop resting and pay attention.”
Seojun called the girls together.
The activation of the transfer gate was entrusted to other raiding parties, including Diabel, who would come up later, and they moved first.
Then he walked and explained roughly what he had to do next.
According to my experience during the beta test, the appearance rate of monsters was suppressed considerably for about 30 minutes until the floor boss fell and the player who went up the stairs to the next floor activated the transition door to the new residence.
It would be one of several considerations not to be wiped out even if players who are tired from the boss fight fight trash mobs before unlocking the door of the residential area on the next floor, but unfortunately it is limited to the area around the street.
After walking for five minutes along the old road through the woods, she felt the air change around her. The bright and beautiful fantastic forest changes step by step into 〈 and 〉 that contain cold hostility.
“This is just me, Kirito, and Yuuki, so I’ll explain in advance. In terms of strength, the enemies that appear around here are not much different from those in the labyrinth area on the 2nd floor. It is mostly animal or plant type. However, as a common behavior pattern for all mobs, there is a little lure to the forest during battle. It was common during the beta to see the opponent’s gap and get lost when you won by just rushing.”
“Um, in that case, why don’t you look at the map? The walking part is brightly mapped, right?”
“Unfortunately, I cannot use it. Now, look at this.”
Seo-jun waved his right hand to summon his spear, and quickly moved the map marker so that they could see it together.
“… Is it narrow?”
As Sinon said, the map where most of it was covered in gray should have been slightly 3D visualized only where they walked, but now the display was narrow as if it was foggy.
Looking closely, I couldn’t tell which way it was.
“The area around here is called 〈 Forest of Wandering Mist 〉. It’s hard to see the map, and sometimes there’s heavy fog, so you really get lost. So, as a rule of thumb, no matter how much you fight, you must never get away from this road and party members. Just be careful with this.”
“Okay, okay.”
“Um, older brother Jun. I have a question.”
“What?”
Lyfa tilted her head and asked.
“Why do you have to come to such a dangerous place?”
“Ah, that.”
Seojun grinned.
“Because of the quest. The problem is that the place where the starting NPC is is a bit random.”
“Eh. So, do I have to keep wandering around this forest until I find that NPC?”
“Sorry. Still, it’s a pretty good quest, so it’s better to accept it.”
“Umm, if Jun oppa says so.”
Leafa nodded as if she understood.
How long did Seo-joon and his party travel through the forest?
“All stop.”
Seojun said.
Then I listened to him.
A very faint sound of metal clashing could be heard from beyond the thick forest.
When Seo-jun turned around, the other girls nodded as well.
“Let’s go over there.”
They risked getting lost, but confident enough to get back, so they ran in the direction of the sound.
Although it was far from the stone road, the soft, moss-covered ground was not so difficult to walk that the slightly sharpened sensation bothered me.
While avoiding the branches of the giant tree to the left and right, I moved forward towards the sound.
While running for about 5 minutes, the volume of the metallic sound in question increased considerably, and along with the sound of swords clashing, shouting began to be heard.
First of all, two NPC-colored cursors appeared in the center of Seo-jun’s field of view, and the life effect continuously reflected on the branches of trees was confirmed.
After passing one more giant tree, Seo-jun, who arrived at the battlefield he was aiming for, stopped his feet and stopped Asuna and other girls who were following closely behind him with his right hand. He raised his hand to his mouth and made a gesture of 〈 quietly 〉, hiding on one side of a thick wooden pole and simultaneously examining the situation on the other side.
“Ha!”
A tall man wrapped around one side in glittering gold and green light gloves.
Even the long sword in his right hand and the buckler in his left hand equipped by him seemed to be of a high level. The hair tied at the back of his head is a handsome platinum or blond man of northern European descent who seems to remind him of some of the Hollywood actors.
“Suck!”
The other wears black and purple gloves in contrast.
The saber that draws a gentle arc and the small kite shield are also black, but the equipment rank is as high as above. The smoke purple hair was short, and the slightly darkish profile of the face had a startling beauty.
The glossy red lips and slightly raised chest armor indicate that she is a woman.
‘Found.’
When Seo-joon found Dark Elf 〈 Kidsmel 〉, which had the same appearance as the one in the original, an arc was drawn.
Kismel
