A journey to another world starting from a sword

“I have about the same amount,” Dante added after he realized that Mitt had guessed what he was going to do. “Consider it a loan from you.”

"Well, I don't really care. Anyway, I can't spend all these Cors. If you really lose them all, I won't blame you. You can earn them back slowly later." Mitt sighed softly and materialized all the Cors in his inventory. A heavy bag appeared out of thin air, which made the NPC lady at the counter's eyes light up.

Dante then took out his share of the money, and the NPC immediately approached him respectfully, then spoke with great charm.

"Welcome, distinguished guests, to the Worubuda Casino."

Dante wasn't really interested in looking at the other person, because the way Mitt casually handed over the money pouch was just too cool.

He reached out to take it, moved. "Okay, with Asuna's 200,000, we'll have about 800,000 Cor."

Then... he realized that he couldn't carry the money bag; Mitt's hand holding the money bag wouldn't let go for a long time.

"Wait a minute." Mito felt a throbbing pain in her temples; she never expected this. "You even borrowed Asuna's money?!"

Honestly, she just naively thought she was the only one.

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"We can't let our guard down! When a tree spirit sapling is rooted and doesn't move, it's hard for even players with target acquisition skills to spot it..." Asuna found herself showing an extra interest in teaching others.

Of course, she also teaches her classmates about studying in real life, but it feels completely different from the game. She's much happier here.

Asuna, who was engrossed in explaining, suddenly stopped and drew her beloved sword "Winter's Arrival" from her waist.

She saw a slender, dead tree, much smaller than the ancient trees around it, with two holes at the top that emitted a blue-white phosphorescence like eyes, and branches that stretched to the sides that swayed like slender claws.

They maintained their posture of staring at the "eye" in the tree hole, which to onlookers would probably look like the two of them glaring at each other.

After a few seconds of waiting, the roots of the dead tree suddenly made a grinding sound and took a step forward off the ground—or rather, lifted its right foot and stepped out!

Then came his left foot, and he tried to take two steps toward Asuna. In the blink of an eye, his unsteady, shaky walk turned into a fierce charge.

The third tree hole beneath the eye-shaped hole opened like a mouth, and the monster roared "Moro oh oh oh oh oh!" from within.

"Well, this is a little disgusting," Lingyin muttered under her breath.

"Really? I think it's quite cute," Lisbeth muttered to herself.

About half a minute later, under Asuna's command, Jeliska raised the guild flag behind everyone. The frontal attack was blocked by Liz's shield, the branches on the left and right were cut off by Lingyin's sword, and the tree spirit that had cut open the tree hole with Xiaochun's "Emerald Dagger" burst apart while emitting a mournful cry.

"Hmm, I suddenly feel a little guilty." Xiaochun nodded in agreement with Liz's previous point of view.

"No, after you see this thing grow into an 'elderly tree spirit,' you'll definitely think, 'We have to kill it while it's still a seedling!'" Asuna said earnestly, sheathing her sword.

"Wow, Asuna-san is amazing! She knows everything!" After retracting the unfolded flag, Jeliska and her companions clapped their hands lightly to celebrate their victory, and then they put away their weapons almost simultaneously.

"That's not true at all," Asuna said with a puff of her chest and a smile, just in case; she had practically memorized the walkthrough for this floor.

Then she crossed her arms in a thoughtful gesture, looked around, and thought, "It should be around here."

"What is it?" Xiaochun looked around but didn't find anything unusual.

"There should be a dark elf and a forest elf fighting nearby. That's the trigger for the elf quest that leads to the ninth floor," Asuna explained, then decided to deviate a little from the main road. "Let's look around a bit."

That's right, she plans to lead the newcomers on this large-scale elven campaign mission with its generous rewards. The agility +1 ring she still wears on her right hand is a reward from one link in this long quest chain. Of course, what's more important for the newcomers is the experience points they gain from it.

"Okay." "I understand." "Don't worry, we'll definitely find it."

Silica's voice was the loudest; she had witnessed firsthand how the quest was triggered, so she searched with extra care.

However, Asuna, who was walking ahead, eventually noticed something amiss. She suddenly stopped and whispered, "Wait."

The girls behind them hurriedly looked around, but the persistent fog in the misty forest made visibility very low in the distance, and it might not improve until noon.

"I think I heard it too." Lingyin, who was sensitive to sound, put her hand to her ear and listened intently to the sounds in the forest.

I could faintly hear a sharp, metallic clang coming from afar, one after another.

Although the frequency was irregular, there was no doubt that the uninterrupted sound was—the sound of swords clashing.

Asuna waved to everyone to follow, and walked towards the direction of the sword's cry.

Until she was only a dozen meters away from the scene, she hid behind an ancient tree and looked towards the open space.

Her appearance and physique were exactly the same as the "Forest Elf Paladin" she had defeated before. She still remembered the rare item she obtained after killing the opponent, which was also the opportunity for Dante to transform from a calm, black-haired man into the dazzling blond handsome man he is now.

And the elf's opponent was a "Dark Elf Royal Guard" with black skin and purple hair... was it Kizmel?

But when the two changed positions, the dark elf's true appearance was revealed: his hair was combed straight back, and not only was he almost the same height as the opposing forest knight, but he also had many muscles on his arms, and his face was as handsome and fierce as the elves in movies and TV shows.

However you look at it, the other person is a man.

What? It really isn't their Kizil.

Chapter 142: Ke's Sword Worth Ten Million

"Eight thousand chips." The eight hundred thousand Cors were officially handed over to the beautiful NPC wearing a bow tie.

"Yes, ma'am." The NPC replied with a smile and went back to the counter to take out eight large chips.

"So little." Dante picked up the chip with "1000VC" engraved on its surface with his fingertips and looked it over.

It's quite exquisite, but the thought of exchanging a huge sum of 800,000 yuan for just these small chips that can fit in a pocket makes me feel a bit depressed.

The exchange rate between Cor and Chips is 100 Cor to 1 Chip. Money really isn't worth much in a casino.

In the center of the octagonal hall stands a statue of a goddess, her curves graceful, but it's unclear which goddess she is.

Behind it were three huge doors. On the right wall, there were stairs leading up, and on the left wall, there were stairs leading down. The stairs leading down were free to pass through, but the stairs leading up were guarded by NPCs wearing red coats and black vests. The stringed instrument music that had been playing in my ears since earlier seemed to be coming from up there.

"If it's the same as during the closed beta, the second floor is a VIP-only high-end entertainment room, the third floor is a luxury hotel, and I don't know about the fourth floor," Mitt kindly explained, noticing Dante's gaze.

"Can you use chips at the restaurant?" Dante asked curiously.

“Okay.” Mitt’s eyes moved from him to the stairs. “I remember the ingredients used in the upscale restaurant on the third floor are quite high-end, at least Grade B.”

The market value of B-grade ingredients ranges from several hundred to several thousand Cor. Dante recalled the fish and chips he had eaten at the Christmas festival, made from half-fish chips dropped by ugly fishmen on the fourth floor. The taste was unforgettable, but one serving cost five hundred Cor. In the end, many players still bought them. That night, the shop owner must have earned at least tens of thousands of Cor.

As for S-grade ingredients, they haven't appeared yet, but their market price is around 100,000 Cor.

"When does the first match in the Monster Arena begin?" Dante asked the NPC waiter.

"Nine o'clock in the morning," the waitress replied respectfully.

Hearing that there was still some time before the start time, Dante suggested to Mitt, "We still have some time, shall we go for a walk first?"

"Well, that's fine, but don't waste your chips on ordinary betting games," Mitt replied nonchalantly, standing casually with his arms crossed.

Dante quickly assured him, "Yes, I won't gamble. But it's fine to enjoy the atmosphere."

The two then walked quickly forward, bypassed the goddess statue, and arrived at the gate behind it.

Once they passed through this fully open door, the elegant music receded further and further away, replaced by a cacophony of noise and heat.

In the entertainment room, which was as big as a stadium, there were gamblers everywhere. Dante estimated that they were the only two players, and the rest were all NPCs, because there were no green buoys for players to be seen.

If Worubda were the main district, there would definitely be a bunch of lower-class players dreaming of getting rich overnight and flocking over through the transfer gate.

Unfortunately, Worubda is located in the middle of the path leading to the westernmost floor of the maze, and it is quite dangerous to move here from Reccio. Currently, only frontline players have the strength to get here.

Dante plans to stay on the seventh floor for at least a week, waiting for Silica and the others to finish the Elf Campaign quests. Of course, he also wants to make a fortune here first before officially entering the labyrinth area to plan the Boss battle.

The Aincrad Alliance is currently embroiled in conflict, and the progress of conquering the floors is indeed under the control of "Eternal Garden," so there's no need to worry about anyone disrupting their plans.

"The arrangement is exactly the same as during the closed beta." Mitt looked around, avoiding a drunken NPC who wasn't paying much attention to where he was going, and then said to Dante.

Most of the NPC guests gathered around the game tables. On the left was a dice game, on the right was a roulette wheel, and further ahead, in the middle, occupying the most spacious area, was a poker game.

Meanwhile, in the very center of the room is a coin exchange counter where you can exchange Cor for casino chips, and an exchange counter where you can exchange chips for items.

Since the chips cannot be exchanged for Cor, they can only be withdrawn by exchanging them for items.

And for this reason, Mitt's willingness to lend him almost everything showed a deep level of trust.

“Now that we’re here, let’s take a look at the prizes. I remember the most valuable prize requires 100,000 chips.” Mitt gently nudged Dante forward from behind.

As she walked, she joked, "Oh, but don't say anything like you want to gamble because you want to."

"Don't worry, we don't have much money to bet yet, so we can't waste it here."

After Dante shook his head, Mitt shrugged slightly. "..."

At the exchange counter, there were many female NPCs dressed in black vests. Behind them were luxurious display cases, from the bottom layer containing consumable items such as potions that could be exchanged for a few chips, to practical items a little higher up, and then a dazzling array of equipment items at the top.

Finally, at the very top, is an extravagant longsword that shines brightly under the crystal chandelier.

The blade was a beautiful silver like a mirror, the spine of the blade seemed to be inlaid with gold, the hilt was also made of gold, the grip was wrapped with red leather, and at the bottom there was a huge gem of at least grade A.

"As expected, this hasn't changed either," Mite murmured.

Dante heard her voice, blinked, and turned to ask the NPC behind the counter for a prize booklet.

The waitress maintained her professional, beautiful smile and reached behind the counter to take out a stack of parchment. "Here are the booklets you requested."

"Thank you." After thanking him, Dante opened the book, and Mitt also leaned in from the left to look at the contents.

The booklet was surprisingly accompanied by color illustrations, because printing technology did not exist in this world, and even the newspapers published in Argo were written word by word by NPC scribes.

So this illustration must have been drawn by the artist himself, how luxurious!

The reason Argo's newspapers are only in black and white is because color is too expensive, and lower-class players might not be able to afford them.

Unfortunately, Argo's prediction was correct, especially among lower and mid-level players. It became common practice for a team of players to buy only one copy and then pass it around.

"The Sword of Worubda!"

The final illustration on the parchment depicts the gold, silver, and jeweled sword directly above the display case, with the thoughtful label "100000 VC" next to it.

VC is short for "Voruk" used in large casinos, and it requires 100,000 chips, which means the sword is worth 10 million Cors!

This is a level of Cor that no player could accumulate in the early stages of the game. Even with some inflated prices, after seeing its description, you'd think that buying it for a mere ten million Cor is a huge bargain.

"It's a pity I don't use a one-handed sword," even Mitt couldn't help but say enviously.

Chapter 143: The biggest surprise today was your hug!

No, even if you learn the one-handed sword skill, you probably wouldn't be able to use this sword under normal circumstances.

"The sword of Faruhali, the hero who defeated the water dragon Saliyaga and opened up the path to Worubda."

However, Dante knew that Faruhari was not actually human, nor was he an elf, but a "Vampire," who was revered as the "Lord of the Night" in Aincrad.

This sword can only be fully utilized by the "Lord of the Night," including the ability described in the pamphlet to "heal the wielder's injuries, purify various toxins, and ensure that any attack will be a critical hit."

Just by looking at these descriptions, one may not know the sword's attack power or the number of times it has been enhanced, but its enchanted effect makes one feel that it is indeed worth ten million Cor.

Equipping this sword will automatically restore HP and grant immunity to various poisons, including the most troublesome paralyzing and damaging poisons. With this sword, Dante no longer needs to rely on the excruciating pain of stabbing himself to forcibly awaken his body after being paralyzed. At that time, doing so was only a last resort, and he didn't know if it would still be effective against more advanced paralyzing poisons. Immunity to poisons is the most useful effect in player-versus-player combat.

The effect of critical hits is also quite good. Dante remembers that the unlock condition for the unique skill "Critical Strike" is that the player needs to land 10,000 true critical hits in SAO! Not a weakness critical hit, but a luck critical hit, which belongs to an extremely low probability and mysterious event.

The conditions for achieving this are extremely stringent. Even if he himself could only land a true critical hit less than ten times a day, since two-handed swords are not weapons with a high attack frequency, it would be difficult to achieve 10,000 hits using ordinary means. At least in the original timeline, the player who had the best chance of achieving this legendary achievement was just a little bit short when the game was completed ahead of schedule.

It is said that the presence of wood in a weapon increases its critical hit rate. Theoretically, if a weapon is made entirely of wood, the critical hit rate would be maximized, making it the type with the highest critical hit rate among weapons of the same level. However, doing so would make it difficult to guarantee the weapon's attack power and durability. Dante himself would not actually do that.

Because of these benefits, the "Sword of Worubda" can be considered a game-breaking element, so it's quite reasonable that the conditions for using it are extremely strict.

Even Mitt was skeptical of the sword because its additional effects seemed unrealistically fantastical. "Does such a sword really exist?"

"Mite, you still want to know if that sword up there is real, right?" Dante said with a smile.

“Of course.” Mitt glared at him, crossed his arms, and struck a cool standing pose. “This sword can’t even be called a demonic sword anymore; calling it a divine artifact wouldn’t be an exaggeration. If it could be upgraded, it could even be used up to the mid-level, but that’s just too…”

That's too much of a cheat. As a closed beta tester, she knew all too well that Kayaba Akihiko wasn't a generous person. He had cheated and killed hundreds of original closed beta testers, and there were only a thousand closed beta testers in total.

Because he didn't want to see players clear the game so easily, Kayaba Akihiko changed the parameters of various monsters from the closed beta, killing the disappointed closed beta players in a way that was like discarding a used tool.

At this moment, Mitt began to seriously doubt the authenticity of the sword and gradually fell into deep thought.

"Well, there will definitely be some price to pay." Dante comforted Mitt by placing a hand on the back of his hand that was holding the booklet, and then flipped through the prize booklet from left to right.

The second prize to redeem is a beach villa worth 90,000 chips. Because it's a private beach for the casino, there are usually very few people on the beach. With this villa, it's like having the entire ocean to yourself.

However, Worubda's location is somewhat awkward. It's fine as a vacation spot, but it's not really suitable as a base for strategic planning.

Just like what Kizmel advised on the fourth floor—try not to stay in Yofer for too long, or you will become lazy.

Even if I do get this villa, I won't stay there for very long.

The performance of the various equipment and items that follow is also completely unknown, and their approximate performance can only be guessed from the descriptions.

However, items with special descriptions are relatively easy to guess, such as a necklace called "Dragon Slayer Gem".

The necklace features a large ruby, and its backstory is described as follows: "The Dragon-Slaying Gem was pried from the throat of the legendary fire dragon, offspring of Akira, the monstrous beast of calamity—Modrakh. This monster, while flying, had the gem stuck in its throat, causing it to suffocate and fall to its death on the Plains of Bones..."