Chapter 60 – Sword Art Online (28)
That time when the terrible silence lasted.
Voices erupted from all directions.
“Clear?! 100 floors?!”
“Muh, how can you break it, that! I heard that even during the beta test, it was hard to climb up!!”
That’s true.
In the original work, only 6 floors were cleared in a period of two months. However, due to Seo-joon’s intervention, he went up more than 10 floors, but it was still difficult to be difficult.
However, Kayaba ignored such complaints and spoke.
[Then, finally, I will show you proof that this world is your only reality. There is a gift from me in your item inventory. To check.]
All 10,000 players in the square checked their inventory.
Inside it was an item called 〈 Hand Mirror 〉. When I took it out, people suddenly began to be enveloped in a pillar of light.
And when the pillar disappears again,
“Uh?”
“Lee, Lipa, your figure…”
“The color of Sinon’s hair…”
The avatar had changed to the real one.
Sword Art Online and Nerve Gear, whose performance improved thanks to Seo-jun’s intervention, perfectly embodied the appearance of reality.
“Is this what being real means? .”
Kirito muttered.
Seo-joon gave her her gaze for a moment, then saw her open her mouth again.
[You must be thinking ‘why’ now. Why did SAO and NerveGear developer Kayaba Akihiko do this? Could this be large-scale terrorism? Or is it a kidnapping case for ransom? Do.]
Kayaba shook her head.
[My purpose is none of that. Not only that, but now I no longer have any purpose or reason. Because this situation was the final goal for me. I made Nerve Gear and SAO just to create and appreciate this world. And now, everything has been achieved.]
After a short interval, Kayaba’s voice regained its inorganic accent and rang out.
[… With the above, the official service tutorial for 〈 Sword Art Online 〉 is over. Players, good luck.]
The last word disappeared with a faint echo.
A group of 10,000 players who had been watching the scene blankly reacted properly only after his appearance completely disappeared.
“Are you kidding me? What is this, is this a joke?!”
“Do not be ridiculous! Let me out!! Get me out of here!!”
“I hate it! I want to go home! I’m going home!”
Screams, roars, cries, curses, pleas, and roars.
In just a few tens of minutes, people who had changed from game players to prisoners sat down clutching their heads, raising their arms, hugging each other, or swearing at each other.
“… Jun-kun, what should we do?”
“Oh, brother.”
Girls looking up with tears on their faces.
Seo-joon gave them a sincere smile and slowly opened her mouth.
“Guys, follow me.”
He passed through this crowded plaza once.
***
As he walked away from the plaza, Seo-jun thought.
‘You’re doing it right.’
213 obituaries and news from Kayaba.
It was all fake No, it was right that it was both real and fake.
They weren’t dead, they were close to suspended animation. In simple terms, it means that he has become a vegetative state that looks like he is dead.
‘It’s hard to notice when you see it for the first time. Still, I can figure it out right away.’
In the original story, when his brain was burned by Nerve Gear, he died with blood and brain water spurting out of a hole in his face.
But now that he took action, it was different.
‘It was valid to send the information anonymously to the government and media.’
Asking for cooperation, he made a false report to deceive Kayaba.
Fortunately, the government and the media seem to believe his story well. Well, I’ve attached a lot of convincing information, so if something happens because I don’t believe it, it’s their fault, so I had no choice but to do it.
‘That doesn’t continue indefinitely either.’
In the end, there is a strong possibility that the death will be leaked through the victim’s family or others.
If that happens, Kayaba will notice and try to trick her.
But by then it’s already too late.
‘Because most of the system is over.’
It had been a long time since Seo-joon had taken care of Kayaba’s hands so that she would not do anything to her dog.
He has control over this world, but he couldn’t harm people with it.
Also, if you try to interfere with the program itself, the program made by Kim Seo-eun will prevent you from doing that.
‘I have insurance just in case.’
He had the means to log out at any time.
That’s why, even if you don’t have to clear it as a trump card, if you go outside and activate the master program, it will be automatically cleared, so there is no worry about the situation that will happen.
Look, it is the completion of a kind world where no one gets hurt.
‘Except for the red player, of course.’
In the original game, the cursor turns from green to orange when you harm another player or commit a crime.
Seojun added ‘red’ here.
The condition to become red is when you commit murder or a similar criminal act more than once to kill the same player.
Of course, there is also a response to situations where you are forced to become a red player by coercion or threat.
And unlike orange, red cannot return to its original state.
It is said that once red, forever red.
In addition, a huge penalty is given to the player who becomes red.
Prohibited from entering towns and safe areas, unable to accept quests, reduced item drop and call acquisition, increased proficiency and experience required for leveling up, increased level and stats required to limit equipment wear, permanent stat reduction in proportion to the number of people killed, attack power and defense reduction, etc.
I just put it in with the feeling that if you kill, you shouldn’t play the game at all.
‘Those who would do this would do it.’
Kill those who will kill anyway.
That’s why Seo-joon made sure that the output limit set in the Nerve Gear disappears when he becomes a red player.
In other words, when you die, you actually die like the original, not in a state of suspended animation.
‘I’ll have to clean them up so I can enjoy them later.’
For the Underworld part that will come later, those guys should be cleaned up.
By killing me here.
A few minutes after I left the plaza with that thought in mind.
Seo-joon led the girls into an alleyway.
“Whoa.”
He looked back
The heroines, including Asuna, who believed in him and followed him, were looking at him with terrified faces. They wanted an answer from Seo-joon.
Seo-joon, who chose his words for a moment, opened his mouth.
“I think something unusual has happened.”
After saying that, he looked at the girls and smiled, as if telling them not to worry.
“Don’t worry though. No matter what happens, I will return you safely.”
“… Jun.”
“Brother…”
“You really…”
Words delivered with a smile.
They immediately realized that Seo-joon was saying that from the bottom of his heart.
Moved by him, the girls shed tears. After grasping the situation fairly quickly, Asuna regained consciousness and opened her mouth.
“So don’t be depressed, cheer up.”
“… Yep, that’s right. Even if I stay like this, I will just walk in my own place.”
“Certainly, in order to get out in the end, you have to attack the 100th floor, and you need to be strong to do that.”
“If everything he said is true, in order to survive in this world from now on, you must strengthen yourself unconditionally. As you all know, MMORPG is a battle for resources between players. Only those who acquire the limited money, items, and experience points provided by the system can become stronger.”
“Um, so do you have any plans?”
“Perhaps Kirito knows better than me.”
“Uh, me?”
Kirito made a puzzled expression.
But Seojun knew. That she was the one who enjoyed this world the most than anyone else. At least after Seojun… No, she might know more than that.
“Mmm.”
Kirito, who received everyone’s attention, seemed to be troubled for a while, but then he told them that he had come up with something.
“… The fields around this 〈 start city 〉 will soon run dry as we hunt for like-minded people. You have to wait endlessly for the monster to regenerate. I think it’s better to use the next town as a base at this time. Fortunately, I know all the routes and dangerous points, so I can safely go even now as a level 1. And since Jun is there, everyone will be able to go safely, even against quite a few monsters.”
“Good. Let’s do as Kirito thinks. Is everyone okay?”
At Seo-jun’s question, the party all nodded their heads in agreement.
Satisfied with that, Seo-joon soon led Kirito to get out of the starting city. On the way, all the monsters they met were doomed by Seo-jun’s swordsmanship.
How far did it go
“Hey, it’s a village!”
Kirito pointed in one direction.
The joy on the faces of the party who saw the small village there comes to mind for a moment.
So they hurried to the village.
