Chapter 67 – Sword Art Online (35)
Aincrad’s 2nd Floor Residential Area «Urvas» is a village that was entirely dug out of a table mountain with a diameter of about 300 meters, leaving only the outer circumference.
When I entered from the south gate, [Inner Area] Was displayed on the clock, and the slow-tempo village BGM was heard. Unlike the music of each village on the 1st floor, where stringed instruments played the main role, the melancholy tone of the oboe plays the melody.
The costumes of the NPCs coming and going on the road are also subtly changed, so it makes you feel anew, ‘You’ve come to a new floor’.
“End with this.”
Seojun muttered.
He had just sent the fact that he had attacked the boss to Yuna and Argo, who were registered as friends.
Then the reply comes right away.
Seo-joon smiled at the congratulatory message and hurriedly led his party.
Heading straight north through the prominent streets of Urbas and reaching the plaza leading up a wide set of stairs, they approached a large central door.
Door… Even so, it was just a stone arch extending into the sky, and since there were no doors or lattices, you could see the entire opposite side.
However, if you look closely at the door, you can see that the space in the center of the arch is vaguely shaking.
It is as if you are looking through an extremely thin film of water.
“Then activate it?”
Seo-jun, who looked around right in front of the arch, said that and slowly stretched out his right hand on the swaying transparent veil.
The moment my finger wrapped in a leather glove touched the vertically stretched surface of the water.
A bright blue light burst out.
The light pulsates in concentric circles, spreading out over an arch about five meters wide.
Only when the space is completely filled is the opening of the transfer gate, that is, the 《Village is open》, but Seo-Jun and his party watched the magnificent phenomenon and pulled their bodies back slightly.
After a while, the inside of the gate lights up even more brightly, and the NPC orchestra on one side of the plaza starts playing the “Opening Fanfare” On high.
Immediately after that, countless players flowed out of the gate filled with blue light in different colors.
A person who stands in the center of the plaza and looks around. A person holding a parchment map in one hand, presumably bought from an information vendor, and running like a dart. And the one who raises his fist and screams, “It’s the second floor!!”
During the beta test, the same 《Town Opening》 was held many times, and each time, the raid party that defeated the boss of the previous floor lined up in front of the transfer door, and the players who teleported from below poured out generous applause and praise.
And now.
Seo-joon and his group, the “Openers,” Welcomed them.
“Is it those people?!”
“What is it, there are far fewer raiding parties than I saw?”
Buzz buzz.
Noisy people.
Standing in front of them, Seojun gave a light greeting.
“Welcome to the second floor.”
Only then did the people fully aware that they had attacked the boss cheered.
After being trapped here, players who were in despair now have hope that they may be able to escape this world starting today.
Hope is a good motivator.
After today, many players will resume their activities.
For a while, Seo-joon opened his mouth when he wanted to calm down.
“Guys, I am a beta tester.”
At those words silence came.
The word “Beta tester” Sharpens the eyes of many players.
But Seojun didn’t care.
‘I have to strike first before that bastard strikes.’
Seo-joon guessed that Dearbell would roughly make him a scapegoat.
Just as he asked Kirito right before he died in the original story. He didn’t like having his plans behind his back, so he decided to strike first.
Well, in fact, it took a bigger share than that to make the perception of beta testers good in advance so that you and the girls can enjoy it comfortably.
Anyway, no matter what the other players looked at, Seo-joon calmly continued.
The number of dead beta testers, and even the boss who almost got into danger because the information was different from the beta test.
Of course, the last one was a lie, but there was nothing to catch on because only Seo-jun and his party were the ones who attacked the boss anyway.
Seo-joon, who finished his brief explanation, added his last words.
To recap, it was this.
Beta testers are people like you, and there are people who are serious about attacking like you. So don’t reject it, let’s join forces and get out of this world…
It’s a mouthful
But what the beta testers did, who attacked the boss themselves, gave them a second thought.
The silence that had come for a while was soon broken by a small applause, which soon grew in size like a butterfly flapping its wings and transformed into thunderous applause.
“Okay! It’s all because of Kayaba that we’re in this situation!”
“There is nothing wrong with beta testers. Rather, there are not a few times when I have received help because of the information they have.”
“That’s right. If it hadn’t been for the guidebook that was distributed free of charge with information from the beta, I might have died.”
There were many positive responses.
He was just getting hope that he might be able to get out of this world.
Currently, there is a high probability that they will look at Seo-joon, the target of their hope, with the most positive gaze in any situation, and he just took advantage of that.
Of course, there were not only positive reactions.
However, now that the majority of players are responding positively, there was no one who could have the courage to voice a negative opinion.
Seo-joon, who drew a positive response from the players, took the girls and left the plaza, leaving behind the words that he would work hard to get everyone out.
After that, the sound of applause sent off.
‘Is this the end?’
The sutures were roughly sealed, and even if they were undone, they would be excluded from the aftermath.
On the way, there was something that caught Seo-jun’s attention.
One of the female players who had warped out of the teleportation door did not stop her legs and quickly ran to the western road.
With that alone, he didn’t look like a person rushing to the location of the weapon dealer or the NPC that started the quest, but the problem was the two men who appeared along the way.
For a moment, I look around, and as soon as I see the first person, this side also starts running in the same direction.
No matter how you look at it, it’s ‘a man chasing and a woman being chased’.
Even so, the crime prevention code is issued here, and I usually have no intention of interfering, but if the person being chased is an acquaintance, the story is different. According to the information, the golden brown curly hair and plain-colored leather equipment must be «Argo the Mouse».
“Argo is being chased?”
Saying that, Seojun pointed in one direction.
“Shall we go after him?”
“Wouldn’t it be nice to do that?”
“Okay, then let’s go.”
Seo-joon and his party deployed the agility parameter correction and ran, heading in the same direction Argo and the two men ran.
As Seo-joon ran, he swung his right finger to bring up the main window, clicked 《Search》 in the Skills tab, and selected 《Track》 from the sub-menu that popped up. When I entered the name [Argo] In the newly appeared input window, a light green glowing footprint appeared on the road stretching from the lower right corner of the clock to the left.
《Tracking》 is a high-level skill that can be acquired by increasing the proficiency of the 《Search》 skill. It is usually used to increase the efficiency of monster hunting, but even players can track it if they know its name.
However, because the proficiency is still low, the footprints that can be seen are only about a minute ago. I chase the small footprints that disappear in a side by side array with all my might.
Even so, the fact that the Argo of the extreme agility tree couldn’t shake it off, and the two men chasing it was not normal. They’re the ones I haven’t seen at the boss strategy meeting, but they must be top-class in terms of level.
So, for some reason, the footprints passed straight through the western main road and went out of the city gate. Urbas West Plain is a dangerous map with large wild monsters roaming around.
The situation became more and more suspicious, but fortunately, the footprints left in the grass gradually became clearer, and Argo’s distinctive voice resounded from inside the valley made up of two small rocky mountains.
