Sword Art Online - Volume 8 - Early and Late

by Reki Kawahara

  “Sukaan!”, as that groan sounded out, the pitcher portion was sliced from the stalk, flying off into mid-air by itself. What remained of the gauge was dyed in deep red, vanishing from the right side. As it turned zero, the Little Nepent’s large form was frozen in blue. And then, it burst out.

  With my sword still in the motion kept after the technique I swung out, I ceased movement. The indication of experience points, twice of the wild boar, being added floated into my vision. The battle took approximately forty seconds. If I were to continue this pace, I should be able to attain a pretty decent level of efficiency.

  With the drawn sword in my right hand lowered, I looked around the surrounding. Close to the boundary of the searching range, several Little Nepent cursors rose up. Those yet unseen by players.

  Before others catch up to these hunting grounds, I must gain as much as I possibly can. With such vigor that the POP of the area will reach the extent of exhaustion. That would be such a high level of egotism that it couldn’t be marveled at, even if I do say so myself, but it wasn’t time for the hypocrisy of a philanthropic solo player.

  Having decided on my next prey emotionlessly, I started running into the deep forest once more.

  Keeping it up for fifteen minutes, over ten Little Nepents were already slaughtered.

  Unfortunately, one with a flower attached had not appeared. In these «real luck-dependant», as referred so in gamer lingo—in other words, reliant on the factor of luck the actual player has—quests, there have not been many incidents where I have been blessed with luck within them in my memories.

  Even if it’s a source of irritation, players who can boast of their luck, obtaining super rare items with drop rates of 0.00 or so percent one after another, succeeding in their equipment refinement ten times in a row, and in addition, even getting along well with girls within games; these players certainly do exist. To go up against them, there was no method but to simply earnestly repeat those attempts over and over again. Of course, regarding those attempts, I meant the rare items, with absolutely no intention of spamming greetings whenever I meet with any girls.

  In the first place, due to what Kayaba, who could be considered a god, had done, the avatars in-game were presently matched to their appearances in reality, and the population of female players in Aincrad must have taken a sharp dip. It was helpful that one would have no need to doubt if the other party was actually a male «inside», but it must have been quite an ordeal for those intending to take up the role-play of a girl, choosing a name and initial equipment fitting of that. I can do nothing but hope that Kayaba had prepared a name changing item, quest or something of that sort of aid for their sake…

  Perhaps due to being ahead of schedule, but as I thought about such things in a portion of my head, defeating the eleventh plant monster, a light fanfare rang out within my hearing. At the same time, a golden light effect wrapped up my body. Along with what I had gained from hunting wild boars with Cline beside the city, before the start of the death game, I have finally exceeded the number of experience points needed to level up.

  If I were to be playing in a party, calls of “congrats” would probably be springing up from all around in that instant. Instead, while listening to the rustling from the treetops of the old trees ringing out, I stored my sword back into the scabbard on my back. I drew back my index and middle fingers, swinging them downwards, pulling out the main menu window. Switching to the status tab, for the 3 precious status up points added, I allocated 1 into Strength, 2 in Agility. In SAO, where magic does not exist, these two were the only visible statuses, so there was no real need to hesitate. In exchange, a huge number, covering all sorts of battle-type and production-type skills were set up—or so it seems, hence it will likely be a large cause of worry when the number of skill slots eventually increase.

  However, on this very day, to survive through this single hour, I have no choice, but to risk my life. Before thinking about the future, I must first ensure that I am adequate, level-wise, for a so-called, «safety margin».

  Finishing the status up process, I closed the window, and behind me—

  Suddenly, some sort of stiff clapping sound repeatedly rang out.

  “…!”

  I wildly jumped back, placing my hands onto my sword’s handle. Getting absorbed in operating the window while in the field, letting down my vigilance towards my back was a mistake that even a beginner wouldn’t make.

  Berating myself as I prepared for battle, what I saw was a being that should not have appeared within this forest, a humanoid monster—not; it was an actual human.

  And it wasn’t a NPC. It was a player.

  A man slightly taller than myself. Around the same age. His defensive equipment were the light leather armor and buckler sold at Horunka Village. Weapon was the same Small Sword from the initial equipment. That said, it wasn’t exactly drawn out. In a stance where his empty hands hit each other in front of his body, he left his mouth agape.

  In other words, the clapping sound effect from earlier was the sound of applause from this man—or perhaps boy would be more fitting—towards my level up.

  After I took a short breath as I lowered my hands, the boy showed an awkward smile, bowing his head down for a moment.

  “…S-Sorry, for startling you like that. I should have called out from the start.”

  “……No, me too… sorry for the overreaction.”

  Mumbling a reply, I stuffed my hands that lost their purpose into the pockets of my half coat. The boy, whose features gave off a first impression of seriousness, widened his faltering smile, and made some sort of gesture, bringing the fingers on his right hand up to around his right eye. As he lowered his hand with embarrassment immediately after, I realized. He definitely wore glasses back in the real world.

  “C-Congrats, on your level up. That was pretty quick.”

  I reflexively lowered my head towards the boy’s words. It felt off, as if he had seen through my thoughts of “If I were to be playing in a party” from earlier. I shook my head from side to side in a fluster.

  “It’s not that fast… —And if you are going to say that, you’re fast too. I thought it would be two or three hours more before anyone reaches this forest.”

  “Ahaha, I thought I would be the first to arrive too. The path to get here is rather confusing, after all.”

  The instant I heard those words, I finally noticed, though belatedly.

  He is the same as me.

  Not in terms of equipment and gender. Neither as the position of a prisoner in this death game of SAO players.

  β stands for Beta. Beta Testers are those who test a program or game for bugs. Beta Testers are always people who up till that point were not involved with the development of the program or game. This is because there are some bugs that people who are familiar with the program might have overlooked. Beta Testers can find those bugs because of their fresh experience with the program or game.

  This boy knew, just like me. The location of Horunka Village. The reason why it was better not to buy a Bronze Sword. In addition, the area with the largest POP of Little Nepents. In other words—he was an «original β(Beta) tester». Just like how I was.

  The world’s first VRMMO game, Sword Art Online, begun official service with ten thousand people gathered as players today, 6th November, 2022. However, three months before that, offered to a mere thousand people through a lottery, was the game’s play trial—that is to say, a β test was carried out.

  In that test flooded by tens of thousands of applications, that was the only time I had an unbelievable stroke of real luck (though it could be considered as terribly bad luck by this point in time), getting selected. The test period lasted the whole of August. With the summer vacation allowing it, I continued to full dive from morning to night—though to be accurate, it was from the afternoon to early morning, bustling about Aincrad, which had not yet become a cage of death, in a daze, brandishing my sword, and died. Over and over again.
/>   Through endless attempts, the trial and error method, I accumulated an extensive amount of knowledge and experience.

  The small paths and ways of escape not shown on the map. The locations of towns and villages, the stock shops keep. The price and specifications of the equipment sold there. The activation requirements of quests and how to clear them. The spawn areas of monsters, their powers, and also, their weaknesses—

  It was due to those bits and pieces of knowledge that I’ve gotten here alive—deep within a forest far from the Starting City. If I was a complete newbie that did not participate in the β test, I would likely not even think of leaving the city alone.

  The same could be said of the boy standing several meters in front.

  There was no doubt the one-handed swordsman with hair slightly longer than mine went through the experience of the β test just like me. Not just how he knows of the roads of this forest that resembles a maze, but even the stance he adopts as he stands too, shows a familiarization with the original VR engine used by SAO.

  The guess that I developed to that extent within several seconds was easily supported by a single phrase from the boy.

  “You’re doing it too, right? The «Secret Medicine of the Forest» quest.”

  That was unmistakably the title of the quest I received at the private house in the village earlier. There was no more reason to deny if he had already read my intentions that far. Upon nodding, he grinned while shifting his hand to those unseen glasses once again.

  “That’s an indispensable quest to one-handed sword users, after all. With that «Anneal Blade» reward, it can used all the way till the third floor’s labyrinth.”

  “…The appearance isn’t much to talk about though, that weapon.”

  As I added that bit in, the boy let out a bright “Ahahaha” laugh. After finally ending that laughter, he opened his mouth after a short pause. What came out were words slightly different from my expectations.

  “This is a rare chance, so how about working together on the quest?”

  “Eh… I do believe that was an individual-only quest though.”

  I replied so spontaneously. There are quests that allow all members of a party to clear it by running through it as a party, and those that do not, and the type of this «Secret Medicine of the Forest» belonged to the latter. There was only one of the crucial key item, «Little Nepent’s Ovule», hence only one would drop, and even when challenging it as a party, the number of items that need to be collected would end up having to be equivalent to the number of people around in the end.

  However, the boy gave a smile as though he had predicted my words.

  “Well, that might be true, but the rate of a «one with a flower» will increase if the normal ones get hunted down as much as possible. Pushing that to the extremes as a pair is more effective.”

  It certainly was just as he had said. I couldn’t aim for any monsters not by themselves as a solo, but with two, we could go up against two of them at the same time. Along with advantage of shortening the time spent choosing targets, the number that could be hunted down would increase accordingly—and with that, the chance of one with a flower should similarly increase.

  Just as I was about to nod in acceptance, I harshly stiffened my avatar up.

  That was because I thought about the right I had to form a party now, after having abandoned that cheerful single-edged sword user, Cline… the first friend I made, just a short hour or so ago.

  However, the boy took my hesitation the wrong way, and shook his head in a fluster.

  “No, it’s fine, you don’t have to feel any obligation to form a party. You are the first one who got here, so of course, I’ll concede the first key item to you. If we continue hunting at that boosted rate, the second will definitely drop soon, so if you can stick with me till then…”

  “Ah… aah, that’s right… then, excuse me, but…”

  With that incoherent reply, I nodded. If we were to fight as a party, all drops from monsters would go into not our individual storage spaces, but a temporary one instead, so technically, it would be possible for him to make off with the key item for the quest. That was likely what was thought as the source of my misgivings. Although that did not even cross my mind yet in actual fact, there was no worth in correcting that now.

  Towards my assent, the boy laughed once again, before he stepped up and offered his right hand.

  “That’s good to hear; well then, I’ll be in your care for the time being. I am «Coper».”

  If he was originally a β tester like me, it wouldn’t be odd if I knew him previously, but I had no recollection of that name.

  Of course, there was the chance that he might be using a different name from during the β period, and in the first place, his name wasn’t displayed on his color cursor, so it couldn’t even be confirmed that that was his «real name». Similarly, I could use a false name as well. However, I am horrible with character naming, so for me, having used a simple abbreviation of my real name in the various net games I’ve played thus far, there was no way I could do something like making up a false name in an instant.

  “…Do treat me well. I am «Kirito».”

  Upon giving my name, the boy—Coper lightly tilted his head to the side.

  “…Kirito… eh, just where did I…”

  Somehow, it seems that the other party knew me indirectly from the β period. Reflexively thinking that it might have a negative effect, I immediately spoke out.

  “That’s probably someone else. Come on, let’s get hunting. We have to get two «ovules» before the other players get here.”

  “Y…Yea, that’s right. Let’s go for it.”

  Nodding to each other, we targeted a couple of Little Nepents grouped together nearby and dashed towards them.

  As expected of an original β tester, Coper’s sense for battle was nothing to scoff at.

  He knew quite a bit about the distance to keep away while using a one-handed sword, the behavior monsters exhibit, and the usage of sword skills. In my opinion, he was focusing slightly too much on defense, but that was only understandable in this situation. We naturally settled into a routine with good synergy, with Coper first luring the target, and me striking its weak point with all my might, reducing our prey into polygon fragments one after another as a pair.

  The hunting went smoothly, but there was still one large irregularity that came to mind.

  Even until now, we did not exchange a single comment about the situation that SAO was currently in. Was Kayaba’s proclamation the truth? If we die here, will we really die? Just how will this world turn out from now on…? All of those questions must have occurred to Coper as well, but there was no talk of anything beyond items and quests between us, from the start to the very end. And despite that, our conversation truly flowed naturally.

  In other words—it must have been because both of us were heavy MMOs addicts. Even if the world were to change into a death game, even if the log out button were to disappear, as long as we are in the game, it’s the time for quests and experience earning. We are likely beyond help now, but thinking back on it, Coper too, went to the extent of applying for the β test as well, so there was no question that his very core was that of a net gamer. To put it simply, beyond the fear of death, we merely prioritized our urge to strengthen our characters…

  No.

  No, that’s not it.

  Surely, both Coper and I are still unable to look reality in the eye yet.

  Leveling up efficiency; exhausting the POP rate; even if we go through these near-sighted calculations, our thoughts on the foundation are still in suspension. Averting our sight away from the reality of the Nerve Gear discharging high intensity electromagnetic waves, frying our brains upon our HP reaching zero, and as an avenue of escapism, simply aiming for what is «ahead» without prior consideration. Comparatively, the players who remained in the Starting City could even be said to be significantly more calm in their understanding of the situation.


  However, if that was so—

  The fact that I was going up against dreadful monsters like this right now, fighting on my absolute own free will, would mean that I certainly was unable to comprehend the current reality. Unaffected by the anxiety of dying for real being the entire basis for why I am still able to dodge these pointed vines and dangerous corrosive fluids capable of killing me off, with the slightest of movements.

  The instant I realized that, a premonition came to me.

  Aah… that in the nearby future, I’ll definitely die.

  «An actual death», in other words, the first rule of a death game; to not understand that rule, was to not look out for the line that one must not cross. It was no different from walking at the edge of a cliff in the midst of darkness, entrusting all to fate. Thinking back on it, exiting the city on my own, stepping into this forest area with poor vision, was already a deed at the extremes of foolhardiness…

  *Gulp!* An intense chill ran down my spine, going all the way to the tips of my hands and feet, putting a stop to my avatar’s movement.

  At that exact moment, I aimed at the Little Nepent—just how many I had already downed escapes me—and swung my sword towards its weak point; if I had been frozen stiff for even half a second more, I would have definitely eaten a painful counter in return.

  Coming back to my senses, the re-activated sword skill, «Horizontal», sliced off the plant’s stalk in my precarious situation. A shattering sound rang out, and formless glass-like flakes passed through me, scattering into the air.

  At my back, battling another Nepent, was Coper, who fortunately seemed to have not noticed my abnormal behavior. Slower by five seconds and annihilating the enemy without any usage of skills, he turned around with a sigh.

  “……It’s still not out…”

  His voice was tainted with traces of fatigue as expected. Over an hour had passed since he started fighting as a team with me. Although close to over a hundred and fifty Nepents must have been taken down by the two of us already, the POP of the «one with a flower» has yet to happen.