A journey to another world starting from a sword

If a player dies in the game, their brain will be burned by the microwaves emitted by the "NERvGear" game helmet in real life. Moreover, the helmet cannot be forcibly removed, otherwise the brain will also be burned.

The only way to be saved is for players to complete the game, that is, to reach the 100th floor and defeat the bosses on the 99th floor.

Then, at the top of this floating city, defeat the final boss.

I just don't know what would happen if I died in SAO.

The answer immediately came to mind: death applied to him as well; if he died in this game, he would also die.

Ah, but he doesn't have a brain that gets burned out.

He is now entering the game by replacing a blank account, so theoretically he is also a player.

Because the first batch of players was said to number 10,000, but there will always be some people who bought the game but couldn't enter it immediately, such as Koichiro, the brother of Asuna, the heroine of this world.

This led to the situation where Asuna borrowed her brother's game helmet and entered SAO.

Dante silently clenched his fist, feeling just like it was real, and could even assert that it was real.

His perception was different from that of players who received signals from game consoles. At least they would have the feeling of "Ah, this is a game," but for him, this was reality, and at this moment he was a resident of this world.

"Wow, we're finally in."

"it is good!"

"Hahaha......"

Because there was no need to create a character, Dante entered much faster than most players. Looking at the excited players appearing around him, he silently mourned for them.

Entering SAO was a bittersweet experience for him, but for them, it was a different story; it was more like an accident, a disaster that turned reality into a complete mess.

"Welcome, swordsman."

At this moment, a female NPC wearing a white dress and brown bra, with a dangerous hairstyle typical of married women, walked towards him. She was probably the newbie guide.

In terms of appearance, they are decent-looking, but not particularly attractive. Perhaps the game designers didn't want these ordinary NPCs to steal the spotlight from the players.

If you spend ages crafting a character's face and it's still not as good-looking as a regular NPC in the game, honestly, it's... pretty discouraging.

But then again, was this something that existed before? Dante wondered.

It seems there are no NPCs to guide new players in either the novel or the anime series; the only one that has appeared is in the theatrical version.

"Is something bothering you?" the female NPC in charge of the new player guide continued to ask.

"Um......"

Although I really want to tell myself to stay here and see if I can run into any acquaintances, I don't even know where the weapon shop is right now.

At dusk, Kayaba Akihiko will announce that SAO has become a death game.

Even if there's only one day left, before others realize it's a death game, quickly establish some advantages.

Even if they can't compare to those closed beta testers, they're still a step ahead of ordinary players.

First, you must familiarize yourself with how to use the weapon, otherwise things will get difficult later.

As if hearing what he was thinking, the other person continued to speak.

"This is the central square of the starting town. The commercial street with weapon shops and item shops is over there," the pretty female NPC said in a very routine beginner's guide.

Looking in the direction she was pointing, Dante nodded. "Okay, I understand. Thank you very much."

"Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Hmm..." Dante thought for a moment, then a thought suddenly popped into his head, "I'm looking for a friend, is he logged in?"

"What is his name?"

"Kirito."

"A player named 'Kirito' has logged into the game."

"What about 'Klein'?"

“A player named ‘Klein’ has logged into the game.”

Dante looked around and saw that the clock in the middle of the square pointed to 1:10 p.m.

Looks like I missed it. I thought I got into the game quickly, but those hardcore gamers were even faster.

"Then... what about 'Asuna'?"

Chapter 3: At this moment, this name resounds throughout this place.

"The player named 'Asuna' has not logged into the game," the female NPC replied as expected.

"Oh."

"Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"That's all." Dante shook his head. Although the other party was just an NPC, he still thanked him, "Thank you for your help."

"Then I wish you a successful adventure." The female NPC bowed her head slightly in a very interactive manner, and then turned and left.

It looks like he's going to find the next confused player. By the way, was he confused just now?

He tugged at the back of his hair and sat down at the foot of the clock tower in the center of the square, where flashes of blue and white light occasionally streaked across the plaza.

Congratulations, this is yet another victim who has entered the game.

"Hmm...it seems so..."

Muttering to himself, Dante raised his right index and middle fingers straight up, then swung them straight down.

This is the action of bringing up the game's "main screen window," which is the main menu.

Immediately, a rectangle emitting a purple glow appeared, accompanied by a bell-like sound effect.

The main menu UI is very simple, with only five icons. You can guess what they are or what functions they contain just from the icons: personal, team, chat, map, etc.

He clicked on the last gear-shaped icon, scrolled down to the bottom, and found that the logout button was grayed out.

From this point on, you can't leave the game.

Well, although he couldn't leave anyway, haha.

Just then, a rather pleasant voice rang out in the square.

"I'm looking for a friend!"

Dante looked up and saw the girl standing in a corner of the square in the warm afternoon sunlight of Aincrad.

Her temperament is gentle and graceful, like a white rose, elegant and pure.

Her braids were neatly combed, and the chestnut-colored hair shone faintly in the sunlight, attracting attention yet remaining understated.

Her eyes were a deep amber color, and they sparkled with light.

This chestnut-haired girl was strikingly beautiful, yet few around her seemed to marvel at her beauty.

Because this is in a game!

No way, no way, how could someone enter the game looking like they actually do in real life?

Not far away, the beautiful girl with chestnut hair was standing in front of the NPC who had just been guiding him, having a conversation that made people chuckle.

The content is genuinely funny.

NPCs have their own logic for acting, but no matter what, they are not real people. Their AI level is not high; they simply follow certain underlying logics to act.

It's clear that this chestnut-haired girl, new to the game, is a complete novice, naively treating NPCs as people to ask for help.

"A friend?" the female NPC asked, maintaining a polite smile.

“Yes, her name is Fukasumi.” The chestnut-haired girl showed a delighted expression.

“That won’t work.”

Hearing a voice coming from behind, the chestnut-haired girl turned around and saw a man wearing a white linen shirt and a black thick vest walking over. He looked like a college student or a recent graduate.

"What?" She tilted her head, somewhat puzzled.

The surrounding players looked on with expressions that said, "Someone has stepped forward."

Although some people have already started whispering and making comments about the chestnut-haired girl, such as "What is she saying to the NPC?" and "She's a newbie."

"This is the new player guide for SAO. If you want to ask her about the whereabouts of your friends in real life, she will not be able to give you an answer."

"Then what should we do?" The chestnut-haired girl, looking somewhat dejected, took a step forward and asked in confusion.

"Hmph~" Dante stepped forward and bent down so that their eyes were on the same plane. "Let me teach you the summoning spell in this game."

"Summoning?"

"Yes, Aincrad is set in a fantasy world, which means magic exists! As long as you shout out your friend's real name, the system will grant your wish and make her appear before you," Dante answered confidently.

Although a hint of doubt arose in her heart, under his serious gaze, the chestnut-haired girl naively believed him and nodded solemnly, "Okay."

The surrounding players all looked like they were thinking, "What is this guy talking about?", but no one was going to step forward, even if someone had tricked such a pretty girl.

As I said before, no one will believe that someone would enter the game with their real face, since there will still be malicious behaviors such as PK and monster stealing later on, and it's not very convenient to have a real face.

The girl took a deep breath, ready to fight, clasped her hands to her chest, and shouted towards the sky, "Fukasumi!!!"

“Yes, yes, it would be best to add a surname,” Dante encouraged.

"Fukasumi Usagizawa!!!"

"That's right, that's right, let's do it again!" Dante clenched his fist and waved it forcefully at the girl.

"Usagizawa Fukasumi!!!!"

The naive young girl, having believed someone's words, is now shouting her friend's real name in the central square of the starting town, the area with the highest foot traffic, where a group of players are still lingering.

This made everyone present wonder, who exactly is Usawa Fukasumi?

Just then, a tall figure walked through the crowd.

"Hey—! What are you shouting? Don't call people by their real names so loudly!!!"

He swiftly reached the girl's side and grabbed her.

Usagizawa Fukasumi, whose game name is Mito, consistently ranks first in academics at Eternal Girls' Academy, a private school in Tokyo's Minato Ward. She is also an excellent athlete, a skilled video game player, and a beautiful purple-haired girl in real life.

Although in the game she is now depicted as a burly, purple-haired middle-aged man.

He even forgot to utter a surprised "Why are you here?" Mitt was too surprised to be seen entering the game in his real-life appearance.

Because my friend, who was supposed to wait until the end of the semester to play SAO, appeared in the game and was shouting his real name in front of a lot of players!

They even included the surname!

She needs to stop this large-scale social death scene as soon as possible!

Otherwise, her name would likely have been widely circulated among players later, and might even have become a topic of conversation in player newspapers, thus being recorded in the game's chronicle and becoming an enduring legend!

"Ah! Ah..." The chestnut-haired girl, whose shoulder was suddenly grabbed, looked in horror at the tall man in front of her who spoke with a rough male voice, wore a mask that looked like bone, and behind the mask were eyes that gleamed with a fierce red light.

"Ah, is it because of the mask?" Mitt thought for a moment, then took off the mask, revealing a face that looked worse than if the mask were still on.

"Huh!!!" As expected, the chestnut-haired girl was startled and instinctively tried to look to the side, wanting to seek help from the kind person who had helped her earlier. She began to struggle violently, "No, no! Let me go!"

“It’s me! It’s me!” Mitt pointed to himself.

"Huh? Who are you?!" The chestnut-haired girl treated her like a complete stranger.

“Fukasumi.”

"I didn't know a guy named Fukasumi... Huh, huh?"

This man just seemed to have mentioned Fukasumi.

Mito switched the voice back to a real voice using the game menu. A soft, girlish voice, completely incongruous with his appearance, came from the body of this rugged man: "It's Fukasumi."

After Mito's careful explanation, the chestnut-haired girl finally believed that the terrifying-looking man was indeed her real-life female friend, Usagizawa Fukasumi, whose in-game name was Mito.

"So magic really does exist," she exclaimed softly, turning to look for the young man who had helped her earlier, but she couldn't find him anywhere.

"What?" Mite didn't understand.

"Let me tell you, just now..." The chestnut-haired girl began to recount what had just happened. A kind person had taught her a magic spell that could summon Fukasumi.

"Magic? Summoning?!" Mitt finally understood; this was the reason why his real name had been subjected to repeated torture.

Even as he listened to his friend praising the person's kindness, Mitt couldn't help but clench his fist, feeling an urge to thank the person in person.