Having traversed countless realms, can you possibly be as clever as me?

Despite Ya Wang's boasting, very few people responded to him, and the players in the strategy group all chose to keep quiet.

Inevitably, some people were swayed by the narrative and came to believe that this was truly a problem with AI.

So what is the actual situation?

Kirito, who rushed over, saw this scene at first glance. Naturally, he didn't believe a word of what this fool who was stirring up trouble said, and simply asked Argo next to him.

The petite girl, draped in a cloak and resembling a mouse as her nickname suggested, frowned.

"I don't know what happened during the boss battle for the strategy team, but I'm 100% sure that the dungeon itself is no longer what it was during the closed beta."

"Will it be modified in the official version?" Kirito nodded knowingly. It's normal for the closed beta version to change from the official version. He remembered that the first boss in the closed beta was the kobold lord Ilvan Valley, which was quite easy. In fact, the boss himself was not as difficult as dealing with the mobs around him.

"It can't be that difficult, right? According to the first level's limit, unless there's a serious accident where everyone collapses, we should be able to rush through it."

MMORPGs are ultimately just games about scaling stats. Theoretically, the maximum gear level and level required to challenge the final boss of the current floor are absolutely beyond the stat limit.

Sword Art Online is an example of this. The more action-oriented the game is, the less likely the bosses are to have the kind of guaranteed-hit death sentences or wipe mechanics that are common in regular MMORPGs, where one person's mistake can wipe out the entire party.

Just as the noise in the arena was getting louder, suddenly, all the AI ​​script robots surrounded them in unison.

While still loudly spreading rumors, Ya Wang suddenly felt darkness around him. He looked up and saw a group of clones of gangsters standing in neat rows beside him. He immediately cowered in fear and said, his bravado masking his inner trembling:

"What are you trying to do? Kill me to cover it up! Even if you do that, I will make sure the truth comes out..."

ding dong~~~

The next moment, all the players present received an email, and the contents of the email were—surprisingly, a hexagonal crystal.

These recording crystals function as video recorders, and when they open the crystals, unsurprisingly, they contain recordings of the entire process of defeating a boss from the perspective of an AI script, either an assistant or a tank.

The recording begins with a door leading to the BOSS room being pushed open. As the thin layer of mist is cleared away, the complete BOSS is revealed to everyone.

However, what appeared before them was not the Demon King's room that everyone was familiar with during the closed beta. Instead, it was a vast, open, circular ruin that resembled a sacrificial ground.

The ruins were filled with all sorts of coffins on both sides, but the kobold lord was not in the center of the cluster of coffins.

What appeared here was a tall figure kneeling on the ground.

He stood there like a statue, wearing armor as thick as a boulder and holding a similarly gray-white halberd.

As the crowd approached, he slowly stood up, revealing an ancient spiral sword embedded in his chest.

Seeing this, many veteran M players already recognized what it was—what they should be wondering more is why this thing would stand up without drawing its sword.

And his name appeared along with his health bar the moment he stood up.

Gundyr, the Ashen One!

Having transmigrated, the only option is to kill, kill, kill! : 29. Gundyr Phase 2 and Kayaba's release.

Hey, hey, hey, aren't you sure there won't be any copyright issues doing this?!

Seeing Kodak suddenly stand up, Kirito couldn't help but make a comment.

But thinking about it, there's no need to worry about any damn copyright. Kayaba Akihiko, that madman, has already kidnapped over ten thousand people, and then he even impersonated Miyazaki Hidetaka at the beginning. Copyright and all that are meaningless now.

Rather, they should be more suspicious of whether Kayaba Akihiko is an abstract genius...

This was a solo boss fight, and the scene was much cleaner compared to the kobold lord on the first floor who was accompanied by several groups of minions. After the initial panic, the players who took on the challenge quickly began to try it out.

The forty-four people were divided into eight-person teams to approach the first level's boss, while Team A was led by Diabel. He took the lead, approaching the Ash Judgement even faster than the scripted tanks in the front line—

Snapped!

Gundyr moved much faster than anyone expected. Without warning or any skill activation animation, he instantly launched himself forward and kicked out!

This was supposed to be a T-shaped attack, but because Diabel was at the forefront, he took the hit squarely. One second he was boosting morale, and the next he was flying through the air and exploding, eventually turning into data and disintegrating.

—If you're going to show off, I'll make you fly!

The raid leader's sudden death obviously threw the entire team into chaos, but fortunately the AI's tank and support were completely unaffected. They surrounded Gundyr solidly, with one being kicked away and the other immediately switching in. Meanwhile, the support AI with the healing crystal managed to heal the tank while dealing damage.

Gundyr's movements are undeniably hyperactive. The AI ​​script's tanks wield relatively cumbersome great axes and heavy swords, which makes it difficult for them to perform effective actions. They can only repeatedly go through the process of being knocked back, switching, recovering, and then moving forward.

But they undoubtedly fulfilled their duties as tanks and healers, keeping the enemy aggroed and healing them; the rest was just a matter of DPS.

However, the performance of these DPS players was not good—in fact, it was quite poor.

Although Gundyr's activities are mostly restricted by T, his halberd-wielding combat skills are almost all area-of-effect attacks. Therefore, many foolish players who are greedy for output or do not have time to react are hit by the halberd and die on the spot.

It's clear that in this battle, the living were completely hindering the AI.

Ya Wang's lie immediately fell apart, and the players who were instantly killed in the video all showed expressions of shame.

Despite the chaotic situation, the team still managed to reduce Gundyr to only one-fifth of his health bar.

Gundyr roared and dropped his halberd, instantly stunning all the players!

—Is Phase Two coming?

Kirito wasn't the only one who thought this way. They assumed that a giant snake made of mud would soon burst out of Gundyr's body and begin a large-scale AOE attack. But to their surprise, the next moment, Gundyr suddenly picked up a player and threw him into the center of the arena.

The next moment, Gundyr and the top of his head both displayed an 'unharmable' status.

Or rather, this buff appeared from a perspective other than theirs.

Then—Gundar's name changed from Gundyr the Ashen One to Gundyr the Hero!

Holy crap, the boss transformed halfway through the fight?!

Could it be—Kirito's eyes widened, and then in the next instant, the player was abandoned by the hero Gundyr, whose attack speed was twice as fast, and was instantly killed by a single Iron Mountain Lean!

Next up!

Gundyr would then drop players into the middle one by one to fight him one-on-one, including the AI ​​that served as tanks and healers.

However, it was clear that their class, equipment, and sword skill system limited their performance. As the last AI fell, Gundyr still had one-seventh of his health remaining.

But can we blame the AI? Compared to them, these players' performance was truly appalling.

Basically, they wouldn't last more than two seconds, even if they weren't instantly killed. Gundyr's attacks not only dealt damage that guaranteed to kill them, but also required speed that challenged their reaction limits.

After watching the whole thing, almost all the players couldn't help but curse.

What kind of design is this, by some kind of idiot boss?!

One-on-one duel? What kind of designer could create such an overpowered stage in an MMO game?!

And this is the very first level, the first level boss already has such an outrageous mechanic?!

A strong sense of panic, accompanied by greetings to Miyazaki—no, Kayaba Akihiko's entire family—reverberated throughout the square.

But the video undoubtedly cleared the AIs of their stigma, while the players in the strategy team were questioned by others, especially noobs like Ya Wang who performed terribly.

But at this moment, more than anything else, everyone was desperate about how to defeat this BOSS.

The scene was silent; no one stepped forward to speak. Diabel, who had originally been the leader, was even more dejected and speechless. After all, his humiliating defeat at the very beginning made it extremely difficult for him to step forward and become a leader.

Just as the atmosphere among the crowd was sliding into the abyss of defeatism, Kirito's eyes suddenly reddened slightly, and then he stood up as if possessed.

He wasn't one to seek the limelight; on the contrary, he was even somewhat socially awkward. But at this moment, a strange feeling and an eerie power filled his heart and affected his state of mind.

"We haven't failed yet!"

Argo looked at Kirito beside her in surprise. For some reason, at that moment she suddenly felt an inexplicable and strong attraction to the aloof boy in front of her.

This attraction is not about looks or the charm of the opposite sex, but a natural and convincing charm that draws others in!

Just like Liu Bei and Liu Bang, they possessed an unparalleled charm that transcended gender.

Kirito himself had never imagined he possessed such eloquence; phrases that seemed completely out of character flowed fluently from his mouth, yet all conveyed the same meaning—

Guddar is not invincible!

In reality, they had already reached the final stage of the strategy, and the one-on-one stage was purely a matter of individual skill.

In a one-on-one situation, Gundyr loses his weapon, which means he loses all his area-of-effect attacks, so one-on-one duels only depend on individual skill!

"Easy for you to say. Who are you? What gives you the right to tell us what to do?"

Kirito's personal clown, Fang King, once again jumped out, making sarcastic remarks, while Kirito simply drew his sword and pointed it at him.

"Want to give it a try? My sword is just as effective as yours!"

After subduing the cactus clown, Kirito looked around and took a deep breath amidst expectant gazes.

He offered his own solution.

That's training!

Training with monsters outside the city, that simple bot mentality is completely useless in defeating Gundyr.

Although it's unclear how Kayaba Akihiko, whose household registration book only has one page, came up with the idea of ​​placing such a high-difficulty boss on the first floor, since Gundyr's final stage is a one-on-one grind where reaction speed is the only way to deal with it, the only solution is training.

He shouldn't be viewed as a PvE boss, but rather as a PvP opponent!

Therefore, considering all factors, the best way to handle all of this is—

With AI training.

These AI-controlled scripted robots are actually more terrifying than Gundyr himself, with their zero-frame counterattack speed and precise skill execution. However, it's undeniable that training with such AI is the best way to adapt to this high-intensity, high-frequency combat!

Meanwhile, Kirito also hopes that another group of players can farm monsters and equipment in other areas during the strategy team's training and selection process, and then the strategy team will purchase them at a suitable price.

With Cole now tied to the Japanese yen, this is by no means a futile task. In fact, providing supplies and weapon/equipment depletion for the front-line strategy team would be the most profitable business in the game. Kirito's words, which even surprised himself, successfully made those non-strategy team players show their interest.

If possible, uniting all players and taking action together is the fastest and best strategy.

Of course, some people have also suggested why the AI ​​can enter the dungeon as DPS and take on Gundyr in their place.

"Because players' tanking roles may not be able to seamlessly switch during Phase 1 to ensure the front line doesn't collapse, once a tank falls during Phase 1, the chain reaction will inevitably lead to a wipeout! Without a tank to hold them off, Gundyr's wide-range long-range sword skills will instantly wipe out the entire team."

"And—what if the second-level boss is designed this way too? This kind of training is inevitable sooner or later, and we must prepare for it!"

And so, Kirito, a black-clad swordsman who was actually somewhat socially awkward, became the new center of attention for players.

AI training is in full swing, and at the same time...

The true 'creator' of this world has finally logged into this game.

……

Kayaba Akihiko finally entered his game.

He was supposed to log in to the game on the first day it was released, but he was seven days late in successfully logging in.