A journey to another world starting from a sword

However, Silica stood in front of the door for a long time but never knocked on the church door.

What if something like what happens in a real school happens...

Thinking of this, she turned and ran away in the opposite direction from the door.

Just as she was hesitating about whether to return to the square, a small gray cat appeared in the alley in the distance.

"Bina?"

The cat looked a lot like the kitten she owned in real life, and she couldn't help but want to pet it.

Just then, the kitten turned and ran into the depths of the alley.

"and many more."

Without the slightest hesitation, Silica gave chase.

Wander through the winding alleys, climb over piled wooden crates, crawl under collapsed pillars, cross bridges over waterways, climb up small steps and then down again, and keep moving forward like this.

Until the kitten disappeared into the ruins.

"Ah, it's gone."

With a gasp, Silica watched the kitten disappear behind the wall and, without thinking, ran over.

Then you see someone desperately shoving their head into the wall, or rather, a player.

In fact, his head and half of his shoulder had disappeared behind the wall, leaving only his torso and legs outside.

The kitten that looked like Pina was sitting next to the player's hand, licking its paws indifferently.

"Um... are you alright?"

Becoming wary, Silica stopped walking and instead called out from a distance.

"!"

The half of the body outside the wall stopped moving instantly, as if it had given up trying or struggling, and simply lay down on the ground.

Then a male voice, which sounded somewhat muffled due to being blocked by the wall, rang out.

"Miss, could you please pull me out?"

"Excuse me, what are you doing here?"

Because it was so eerie, Silica chose to stand still.

"Well, this matter needs time to explain. Please pull me out first, okay?" the man pleaded.

"Um... are you really not a strange person?" Silica still didn't make a move.

"Big brother, I'm really not a strange person!" The man was a little agitated, uttering words that sounded to Silica like he was coaxing a child.

but......

"Aren't people who say things like that usually weirdos?"

"Eh?!"

Seeing the surprised movements his body made in response to the sound, Silica couldn't help but laugh.

"puff......"

Although she quickly covered her mouth with her hand, she couldn't suppress the laughter that welled up inside her.

He doesn't sound like a weirdo, and judging by his clothes...

With that thought in mind, she walked up to the other half of the body and cautiously asked, "Um... what do I need to do?"

"Okay, grab my foot and pull me out."

“Okay.” Silica grabbed the man’s ankle and said, “I’m going to poop.”

"Ok!"

Having received a reply, Silica began to pull the man's body backward with all her might.

"Ah, actually I can get out by myself, but with my hands inside the hole, it'll be a bit difficult to move around," the man explained.

"Yes, yes..." Silica replied casually, remaining silent, thinking to herself: If I had known it would turn out like this, I shouldn't have done it in the first place.

How could anyone squeeze themselves into a hole they knew they couldn't fit into?!

"Phew, finally out." The moment I stepped out, cool air rushed into my nostrils, and the sunlight was a little dazzling.

Dante rolled over and sat down against the wall, raising his hand to shield his eyes from the sunlight.

"Ah! Pina..." Silica watched as the kitten crawled into the hole she had cleared when the man came out.

"Hmm?" Dante glanced at the gray cat that had disappeared into the cave and couldn't help but think to himself.

This gray cat must have had no confidence at all; it didn't believe it could get the treasure chest.

“It’s you.” Silica’s gaze shifted to the stranger’s face, and she clasped her hands together in surprise.

"Ah... so you've been to the church?" Dante asked, looking up at Silica, who was bent over with her hands on her knees.

“Yes, thank you.” Silica bowed her head in thanks. Although she hadn’t chosen to join the church, the man had kindly informed her anyway.

However, she also became a little curious, "Um, what are you doing here?"

The other person did not answer immediately, but instead scrutinized him with a meaningful look, though his sharp gaze seemed somewhat frightening.

Just as Silica was about to indicate that she didn't care that much and wouldn't press the matter further, the man's gaze softened instantly.

“There’s a treasure chest here containing 20 Cor.” Dante casually pointed to a hole in the wall. “If you get it for me, I’ll give you half.”

"20?" Upon hearing this, Silica thought she had misheard.

is that a lie.

Although she didn't have a concrete concept of 20, she knew no matter how she thought about it, it was a large sum of money.

"It's true! This is an Easter egg designed by the official team, and the cat is part of it."

"Ah..." Silica murmured in realization. It was that little gray cat that looked like Pina.

Indeed, it's as if it deliberately lured itself here.

"Anyway, let's add each other as friends first." Dante opened the main menu and sent a friend request. "The exit is somewhere else."

Was the implication that he was afraid she would run away? Silica thought to herself, no, maybe it was just so we could meet up later.

Now she was starting to trust the man in front of her more or less.

“I understand,” Silica replied, and clicked the “agree” button.

This was actually the first friend she added in the game.

However, this means she will have to crawl into the hole.

Are you really sure... there's a treasure chest inside?

It's no wonder she hesitated, after all, this man knew such detailed information, even accurate to 20.

"You have to believe the cat." Without explaining anything, Dante pointed to the hole the cat had just crawled into.

"what......"

Yes, it was actually that little cat that looked just like Bina who brought her here.

With that in mind, Silica no longer hesitated and re-examined the small hole that she felt would be difficult for someone of her size to squeeze into.

"If you get stuck too, I'll pull you out."

"No way!" Silica shook her head vehemently, seemingly finding it too shameful.

"..."

Chapter 9: Dante and Silica

"Then I'll go." After crouching down to examine the hole in the wall, Silica crawled into it.

This hole is indeed a bit small, and only young players could possibly squeeze into it.

As she struggled to squeeze her body in, wondering if she would get stuck in the middle, she found herself already inside the cave and instantly felt that the surroundings were very spacious.

Standing up, Silica realized that this was a place like a small courtyard, surrounded by stone walls and buildings.

The stone slabs on the ground are mottled with age, mostly covered by weeds, and the corners are completely unmaintained and covered with moss.

She looked around but couldn't find the treasure chest. Even the little cat that looked just like Pina was nowhere to be seen.

Just as she walked toward the center of the courtyard, the stone slabs at her feet suddenly made a cracking sound and then, unsurprisingly, shattered.

Before she could even utter a cry of despair, she plunged into darkness.

Instinctively closing her eyes, Silica curled up, and for a moment even thought she was going to die, when her body suddenly bumped into something hard, probably... the ground.

However, the overwhelming sense of realism made her forget to breathe for a moment, and the HP bar in the upper left corner of her vision was quickly reduced to the dangerous yellow zone, which is below 50%.

After confirming with lingering fear that her HP bar would not decrease any further, Silica cautiously stood up.

Looking around, she realized that she was in a dusty basement.

The bookshelves and storage cabinets along the wall, which were almost decaying, were covered with countless spider webs. If this were a fantasy world setting, no one would have visited this place for decades or even centuries.

Is this outside the circle?

Judging from the decrease in the HP bar, it is indeed outside the circle, but no monsters have appeared.

There were no exits around, and looking up, gray light was shining down from an opening in the terrifyingly high ceiling.

She then realized that she might have been tricked by that person, and the treasure chest wasn't there at all.

Or perhaps he accidentally stepped into a trap and got trapped underground.

Probably no matter how much you shout here, no player will notice.

As expected, there's no such thing as a free lunch.

A sense of despair welled up from the bottom of my heart, and an indescribable sadness and self-doubt followed.

The thought even arose that they might be locked in this basement forever until someone reached the hundredth floor and defeated the final boss.

Just then, a system notification sound rang in my ears.

It was a message from someone; it was from the first friend in her SAO friend list.

Yes, she just added that person as a friend.

She swiped down to open the game's main menu, then tapped on Messages.

"Are you alright? Did you find the treasure chest?"

"What treasure chest?" Sitting on the cold ground, hugging her knees, Silica couldn't help but feel a surge of resentment.

On the ground, Dante looked at the message Silica sent, tilted his head, and wondered aloud.

If he didn't know the girl's character, he would have thought she had kept the treasure chest for herself.

So he sent a message.

"Look carefully, it should be near the basement."

underground......!

Silica suddenly looked up; there was no doubt that she was underground.

Just as I was about to get up, my shoe kicked something. Upon closer inspection, I saw something gleaming near my feet.

She picked it up with her right hand and looked at it, discovering it was a silver coin.

Even though the surface was covered in dust, the words on it were still visible, and the system determined that it was a silver coin worth one hundred kor.

To make the money feel real, SAO specially designed metal currency.

Copper coins are the most basic general equivalent in Aincrad, representing a face value of 10 Cor.

A silver coin costs 100 Cor, a small gold coin costs 500 Cor, a D-grade gem is about the same price, and the most valuable large gold coin costs 1000 Cor.

After all, if opening a treasure chest in a maze only reminds you that you've obtained something, it's certainly not as impressive as having a chest full of glittering coins.

It also generates a great sense of satisfaction, and this design is intended to increase the immersion of the game.