A journey to another world starting from a sword

As she examined the silver coin in her hand, a glimmer of hope arose in Silica's heart.

Although it was only a silver coin, it was equivalent to three times all her possessions at that moment.

More importantly, that person wasn't lying.

A feeling of shame welled up inside her, and she hurriedly stood up, then lay on the ground, searching desperately.

Silica then spotted another one a little further away.

She quickly picked up the coin and found another one ahead of her.

As if guiding her, further ahead, in a corner buried by clutter, there was a wooden box about the size of a backpack.

Although the color is not eye-catching, its shape makes it undoubtedly a treasure chest.

She ran over quickly, praying that the box wasn't locked, and gently lifted the lid.

Inside this easily opened treasure chest were indeed nearly 200,000 silver coins, and a short sword with half of its red scabbard buried among the silver coins.

Overwhelmed with joy, she couldn't contain her excitement. She opened her friends list and sent a message to the first friend she had added in the game.

"The treasure chest has been found!"

"Great, now we need to get out of there safely."

Yes, if there are treasure chests, then there must also be a way to leave this place.

Suddenly, a "meow" sound came from above.

Looking up, Silica saw the gray cat peering down at her from the edge of a hole in the ceiling.

It really wasn't a lie!

Standing up, Silica put the silver coins and short sword into her inventory, then, with a joyful smile on her face, called out to the cat, "Wait for me, I'll definitely touch you!"

Afterwards, the two successfully met up at the transfer gate plaza.

When Silica found Dante, he was sitting on the steps, holding a piece of black bread, tearing off a piece with his fingers and throwing it into his mouth.

"Um... is this tasty?" Silica tilted her head and asked curiously.

"Very ordinary." After a moment of hesitation, Dante answered very simply.

It was hard and bitter, almost like rye bread, but even Russians wouldn't eat raw black bread; instead, they would add various toppings.

After taking a sip of the free water, he decided that unless absolutely necessary or under special circumstances, he should not include black bread in his regular food list.

Then, when it came to discussing the distribution of the treasure chest, Dante said nonchalantly, "We'll split the 20 kol equally, and you can have the short sword."

"Huh?" In an instant, Silica felt guilty, because if it weren't for the other person, she wouldn't have been able to find this treasure chest.

"Anyway, I don't use short swords," Dante said casually.

"Well, wouldn't you be losing out if you did that? You should just take my share of the money..." Even though she bought the short sword herself, that was Silica's plan.

After all, this short sword is a weapon that looks very rare, and it is a powerful piece of equipment that players cannot easily obtain at present.

“It’s alright. A good weapon is only worth about 1 kol right now, which is just a small amount compared to 10.” Dante shook his head calmly.

After all, the Resilient Sword that can be obtained from the first level is valued at only 15,000, and this short sword is not worth more than that.

“Without you, Silica, I wouldn’t have been able to get these 10 Coles.”

That's the truth, not to mention, this treasure chest was originally obtained by the "lucky one" Silica in front of us!!!

I could say I took away this girl's opportunity, even though we're splitting it evenly now.

“But…” Silica muttered hesitantly, like a child who had received a great gift—no, that’s more like it.

"What a good boy," Dante thought to himself.

“With that money, you can buy a good set of equipment and hunt safely near the starting town. 10 coins is enough to surpass other players and accumulate a huge advantage in the early stages.” He smiled gently, tenderly comforting Silica, who seemed somewhat guilty.

“Well, speaking of which, I haven’t formally introduced myself yet. My name is Silica.” Silica remembered something else.

"I am Dante, nice to meet you." Dante nodded slightly and extended his right hand.

The two shook hands firmly, then began to walk forward.

After following along for a few steps with her head down, Silica suddenly looked up and asked, "Buy the equipment and go fight the monsters, but is that what Brother Ding is planning too?"

He started off with an intimate address, though Dante hadn't used any honorifics since then. "Yes. Silica, do you also want to leave the town of beginnings?"

"Yes, if I had this short sword and this money, I could fight outside the city."

"Actually, 10 Cor is enough to live safely in town even without leaving. I will finish this game in two years, no, less than two years." After persuading him, Dante made a promise.

Although she didn't know why he was so confident, Silica felt much more at ease.

only......

"No, I want to fight."

She still hoped to find a place for herself through her own efforts, which was why she started playing SAO. Even if she was trapped inside, she didn't intend to give up.

“I see… I’ll stay in the starting town for a few days.” Dante revealed his plan. “My combat skills are still quite sluggish, and I need to move on to the next village as a base before more players leave the town. Time is of the essence.”

“…” Silica lowered her head again, looking at her shifting toes, lost in thought.

"Hey, Silica...would you like to join my team?"

"Huh? This... does this mean we're teaming up?" Silica suddenly looked up, her expression reflecting her surprise and delight.

"Hmm, two people can look out for each other. Besides, skill slots aren't plentiful, and it's impossible for one person to be good at everything during an adventure, so why don't you team up?"

Of course, the biggest reason for doing this is the same as before: the money that could give him a huge advantage originally belonged to the girl in front of him.

You can't take this money against your conscience.

Since Silica doesn't intend to stay in town, we'll have to take her with us for now.

Before she's fully familiar with the game, protect her, build friendship and bond, and fight and adventure together.

Unsurprisingly, Silica agreed.

"it is good!"

So Dante searched the main menu of the game and soon found the party button, sending her a party request.

Without hesitation, she pressed the "agree" button. In the upper left corner of their vision, below their own HP bars, the other person's HP bar and name appeared.

Dante and Silica.

Chapter 10: Don't come any closer!

Even though they've teamed up, their first battle won't begin until the afternoon. Before that, Dante tells Silica she can go check out the equipment and such.

Dante is very sleepy right now. Even with his enhanced body, he can't ignore the fact that he hasn't slept all night.

He set an alarm in the system, crawled into a cheap hotel with an INN sign, and fell asleep on the cheap wooden bed.

Compared to before, I don't need as much sleep anymore, but I had a very vivid daydream.

I dreamt of Asuna. We went on adventures together, building friendship and bonds...

Given that he currently does not possess any "precognitive" magic, he can conclude...

"That was a complete daydream," he clicked his tongue after waking up.

Moreover, because of the dream, the mind is still in a daze when you wake up, so this kind of sleep cannot be called high quality.

It would be great if he could sleep until he was full, but at this moment he has probably only slept for 4 hours.

It was already past nine o'clock when Silica met him in the square after getting the treasure chest and they finished dividing the spoils.

This made him think about whether he should learn meditation, not the "meditation" skill from SAO, but the kind from The Witcher that can replace sleep in the wild and also alert him to surrounding dangers.

"Good morning... no, it's already noon."

Upon receiving the message, Silica arrived at the hotel where Dante was staying and greeted him cheerfully.

"Ah, good afternoon." Dante stretched and raised his hands, then looked down at the girl as if he remembered something and said, "There are still five or six hours until dark, so let's eat first."

On the first floor of the hotel, they had a proper lunch in preparation for the upcoming battle, but to be honest, the hotel food was quite ordinary. The bread soup and grilled sausages were nothing special. They decided to go to a more formal restaurant for dinner and enjoy a proper meal.

Then, as they walked onto the main street, the bright sunlight had already enveloped the entire town. Even though they were on the bottom of the second floor, the light still managed to penetrate from the side of the castle.

Even on such a sunny afternoon, there were few people on the main road, and very few players were preparing to set off on an adventure. Perhaps those who wanted to go out had already left in the morning.

But this is still illogical for the starting town, where there are still nine thousand players gathered at this moment.

"How beautiful!" Silica exclaimed as she stepped out of the west gate and saw the scenery outside the town.

"This is only the first level. There will definitely be even more different scenery on the upper levels. Each level should have a different theme," Dante said calmly.

“If that’s the case, then it’s something to look forward to.” Silica smiled sweetly at Dante.

The two walked side by side toward the distant hills. The initial path was within the safe zone, where no monsters spawned.

"Let me confirm, do you know how to activate sword techniques?" Dante turned to Silica and asked just before the battle began.

"Sword skills, is that it?" Silica's face showed a blank and embarrassed expression, meaning she had no idea at all.

However, the rare short sword obtained from the treasure chest was properly equipped at her waist. Dante started by explaining to her from the beginning that to activate sword skills, one needed to first learn the "Short Sword" skill in the skill bar.

"To activate a sword technique, you need to perform a corresponding preparatory action, like this." Holding his two-handed sword, he immediately began to demonstrate.

A red glow emanated from the blade of the two-handed sword, which was raised high.

"Then after you swing down, the system will assist you in aiming at the enemy and hitting them."

He swung the sword down, and the blade traced a red arc with explosive speed.

"Is that so?" Silica held the dagger to her chest, and the exquisite dagger glowed with an orange light.

Then......

"what!"

With a powerful battle cry, Silica thrust her short sword forward and successfully activated the short sword's initial sword technique, "Side Bite."

Just like its name suggests, the short sword is not designed for head-on combat. He wouldn't be surprised if a sword technique called "backstab" or "kidney strike" were learned later.

"It's simple, isn't it?" Dante smiled at Silica, who was still savoring the feeling of what he had just done.

"Yes!" Silica clenched her fist excitedly as she regained her composure.

"However, you can't rely too much on the system's action assistance. Using your own body to further control the sword can greatly improve the speed and power of your sword skills," Dante instructed Silica earnestly.

“I understand.” Silica nodded, indicating that she understood.

But have we truly understood it? Let's put it to the test in real-world practice.

"Aaaaaah! No! Don't come any closer—"

After heading towards the hills west of the starting town for a few minutes, they soon encountered their first monster, but...

Silica showed a genuine reaction when faced with the wild boar charging straight at her.

"Don't worry, this guy is just a slime-level monster. Even if you get hit, you'll only lose a portion of your HP," Dante shouted to Silica, who was running away.

"But! But! This thing can move!" Silica exclaimed, a gasp that most players would probably make when facing their first monster.

Because from one's own perspective, it really looks like a wild boar charging towards them in real life.

"Help! Help me, Dante! Help me!"

Silica, who was still circling with the wild boar, sent a distress signal to Dante, who was watching the show.

In her frantic escape, Silica brushed past the wild boar. The girl stumbled, tripped over her own feet, lost her balance, and fell to the ground with a thud.

Of course, because it was soil covered with grass, Silica didn't feel any pain when her soft little bottom collided with the equally soft ground. In fact, she didn't feel any pain at all; she just made a muffled "plop" sound.

Dante stood in front of her at that moment, holding his two swords horizontally at his waist, blocking the boar's next charge.

The force feedback from the sword is roughly the same as a child wrestling with themselves.

So he turned back to Silica with some composure and said, "Now's the time to use your sword skills on it."

"Yes, yes!" Silica quickly got up and agreed, then walked to the side of the "Raging Boar" and uncertainly struck the same pose she had just practiced with her sword technique in the open space.

The light from the activated sword technique appeared just as she had hoped.

Next, thrust it out!

As he aimed at the wild boar's side, he extended his short sword, and his body seemed to be propelled forward by a force, causing the sword to thrust forward.