Their commission was suspicious.

However, there's no rush; we still need to let the boss's health drop for a while longer.

As for the players who died during the period, Asuna and the others were not alarmed. After all, they had learned from Chen Luo that these people would be resurrected in the future, it was just a matter of time. Asuna couldn't wait to revive her friends.

After entering the second phase, the Boss pulled out a weapon from his lower back.

Kirito's pupils contracted when he saw the weapon.

"This weapon... is different from the one in the closed beta!"

During the closed beta, the boss's second-stage weapon was a scimitar, but now it has become a katana.

So is this what the developers meant by "please refer to the official server"?

At this moment, a sly glint of human nature flashed in the Boss's eyes!

"Oh no, retreat quickly!" Kirito knew what the boss was going to do as soon as he saw its movements, and immediately shouted.

"He's about to launch a group attack!"

In SAO, different weapons have different sword skills.

As for the katana... in the hands of the BOSS, it can be used with a sword technique that is completely different from that of the scimitar.

But it was too late, because in the game Sao, once you've assumed a sword stance, you can't cancel it and you have to attack.

The commander is now unable to control his body.

This setting is similar to how in a game where you can't skip ahead, you can't cancel the ultimate skill after pressing it.

So, are you going to add a cancel button for ultimate moves or not?

The boss, leaping into the air, dodged the leader's sword attack, and the katana in his hand burst into red flames.

High-damage, wide-range ultimate move, a universal sword skill for katanas – Floating Chariot!

After the boss landed, a shockwave swept across the area, sending countless players flying, including the raid leader.

Most importantly, the raid leader is now under a paralysis buff and can't move at all!

The commander looked on in horror as the kobold wielding a katana flew rapidly toward them.

A crimson light appeared on the kobold's katana!

[Go, Asuna, unleash Thunderbolt!]

In a moment of inspiration, Asuna seemed to hear a voice.

"Clap!"

The crisp sound of a coin hitting the floor rang out; a coin had landed in the boss's inevitable path.

"Boom!" Just as the boss's blade was about to slash through the raid leader's body, endless darkness surged from the boss's shadow, enveloping the boss!

The commander broke out in a cold sweat as he looked at the knife tip that was just a centimeter away from him!

If you zoom out, you can see Asuna making a throwing motion!

Chapter 1902 The World Consciousness That Doesn't Play by the Rules

The boss roared and struggled, but even Huanlong couldn't break free from the corrosive gold coins, so a mere first-floor boss naturally couldn't escape either.

Seeing the figure entangled, enveloped, and even slowly swallowed by endless darkness, Huanlong, whom Chen Luo had been using as a mere accessory, showed an expression of pity. Now, looking at that boss, Huanlong felt as if she were looking at her former self!

Pitiful, helpless, and with no idea what the future holds!

Your future fate might even be to become someone else's tool, even if you once possessed unparalleled honor, endless glory, and boundless power; ultimately, you will fall into ruin and become someone else's prisoner. You must not be tainted by worldly desires any longer!

Under the astonished gazes of countless people, the Boss was still dragged into that darkness until the katana in his hand disappeared into the shadows. Only then did the large shadow begin to shrink, leaving behind only a pitch-black coin lying quietly on the ground.

The leader can only move freely after the paralysis effect from the collision wears off.

Just as the leader was about to say something, the coin suddenly flew up, turning into a streak of light and hurtling towards the back of the group until it landed in the hand of its user.

One advantage of items in the game is that whoever throws the item gets the final effect; there's no need to worry about it being stolen, unless you encounter a thief with the stealing skill.

"Snap!" As the erosion coin fell back into Asuna's hand, a pink light flashed in the brightly lit boss palace, which was illuminated by countless rays of light.

Like fireworks after a victory, everyone was surrounded by countless specks of light, seemingly celebrating the clearing of the first level boss.

"This is... a special item?" The captain's eyes widened.

The guild leader's voice broke the boss's deathly silence within the maze.

"A hidden item I obtained by chance," Asuna said, under the gaze of everyone.

"...Congratulations, you delivered the final blow to the boss." The guild leader's mouth hung open for a long time before he smiled.

Although it wasn't him who delivered the final blow to the boss and received the special reward, defeating the monster was still a good thing. Moreover, if it weren't for this player's help, the raid leader might already be in grave danger.

In any case, this is a good thing.

As a beta tester who was able to organize a strategy group and take the lead in the early stages, if the guild leader survives, he may well become a guild leader who can rival Kayaba Akihiko's alt character, Heathcliff.

Or, if he had had an initial advantage, Heathcliff might never have become the leader of the largest guild.

Now that Kayaba Akihiko is gone, the leader really shouldn't have died, otherwise the strategy team would have no one to lead them.

The leader has enough personal charisma, as well as enough morality and willpower. Although he does have a bit of a desire to take damage, that's only human nature.

"By the way, could you show me the reward for landing the final blow on the boss? According to the distribution rules, that's your loot, but since the boss's attack method is different from the closed beta, I'm curious if the reward will be changed," the raid leader asked.

"Uh, sure." Asuna, who was being stared at by everyone, felt a little embarrassed even with her hood on, so she took out the items she had obtained.

"A resurrection crystal? That's great."

"This thing is quite expensive."

"Huh? Why is this crystal time-limited?" Asuna panicked after taking out the crystal and realized that the resurrection crystal in her hand was on a countdown.

Chen Luoke didn't tell Asuna about this!

With less than half a minute left on the countdown, Asuna considered sneaking off to another place to revive her friends, but Kirito said that only those who defeated the boss could go to the second floor and open the passage to the second floor, so Asuna couldn't leave yet.

And it's too late to leave now.

Feeling the gazes of all the players, Asuna gritted her teeth and crushed the resurrection crystal in her hand.

"What? There's even a resurrection crystal with a countdown? Does it mean they'll make someone die on the spot?"

"A useless thing!"

"Luckily, I wasn't the one who got the reward."

It's hard to say about the first two, but the last one is definitely just sour grapes.

Just when everyone thought that the resurrection crystal with a half-minute countdown was no longer valuable and would have no special effect, within 5 seconds of the crystal shattering, a beam of light descended from the sky, and a figure stood there.

Someone has been resurrected.

But this person is not part of the strategy team!

"I...aren't I already dead?" Mitt stood in the pillar of light, clutching his head.

Mitt felt as if he had a very long dream in which he fell off a cliff, his health dropped to zero, and he shattered and disappeared... After that, his memories were like chaos, hazy and uncertain.

"Mite!" Before Mitsu could even figure out what was going on, Asuna had already thrown herself into Mitsu's arms.

When all the players present vaguely understood the true purpose of this resurrection crystal, the strategy team instantly erupted in excitement!

Wasn't it agreed that players who died would be permanently killed if they didn't revive within 10 seconds?

What is the meaning of this special resurrection crystal?

"Clap clap clap!"

Applause rang out, echoing through the empty maze and interrupting everyone's chatter.

It's not that they don't want to talk anymore, but rather that they've suddenly become deeply paralyzed and can't speak anymore.

Everyone's bodies began to dissipate.

This scene is familiar to everyone; it's the light emitted during teleportation.

The concept of group teleportation should be familiar to everyone, as everyone experienced it just a month ago.

That was the beginning of the death game.

Just like a month ago, countless players, now ugly, were teleported back to the starting plaza.

And that familiar yet terrifying shadow of death reappeared above the plaza.

"After a month of hard work, congratulations to all players for successfully defeating the boss of the first floor." The applause from the mastermind sent a chill down everyone's spine.

Although clearing the first level was very exciting, the appearance of this mastermind made everyone suspect that he was up to something!

"Don't panic, everyone. I'm not trying to mess with you this time. I have some good news to share. With the completion of the first floor, Aincrad will unlock more features for you."

"For example... reviving players who have already died. Or returning to reality."

Chen Luo's words instantly caused a huge uproar among the audience!

Reviving a player who's already dead is one thing, but how can they be brought back to reality? Are you done with this death game?

But no one could help but be delighted by this news.

"However... to immediately revive a player who has died, you need to kill the floor boss. The first kill guarantees a drop, and the boss will respawn periodically, but the drop rate of resurrection crystals afterward is pitiful."

"Of course, if you are too weak but still have friends who want to be resurrected, don't panic, because they will play their own resurrection matches underground."

"And next is the condition for returning to reality that everyone is most concerned about: becoming stronger! When you fight monsters, you have a chance to obtain Trial Coins. After using the Trial Coins, you will enter the Trial Level and challenge the Tower Guardian. The winner will then have the opportunity to return to reality."

"After winning, you leave the game. If you do not wish to return, you will not be forced to, provided that you are willing to give up the readily available wealth, power, strength, and magical abilities."

No one says you have to fight monsters at higher levels to get stronger. If you want, you can even keep fighting the lowest-level wild boars after you've leveled up.

You can say that the Sword God of Shilipo develops slowly, but you can't say that the Sword God of Shilipo isn't strong.

"That's it, that's why I called you all together again. The world is about to undergo a massive change. All the guides you've acquired will become useless, your experience will be outdated, NPCs will no longer be mindless beings, and monsters will no longer remain unchanged... Strive to become stronger in this other world called Aincrad! Otherwise... you won't even be able to protect your own families!"

"Oh, by the way, if you can't defend this hundred-story tower, monsters might invade the real world as well. For details... please wait for the version update to find out."

The enormous phantom of the Grim Reaper began to slowly dissipate, and the blood-red sky gradually returned to its normal color, but the information left behind by Chen Luo made the starting plaza eerily quiet.

The sudden and dramatic change caught more than 8000 players in Aincrad off guard.

Will the monsters of Aincrad even come into reality?

……

"Don't look at me like that. I didn't want to either, but it's the decision of the world's consciousness," Chen Luo explained to Asuna and Kirito in front of him.

Asuna and Kirito had only just learned about what Chen Luo had said; Chen Luo hadn't mentioned anything about it to them the night before.

So after a moment of shock, the two of them immediately chose to enter the bar after being able to leave the initial plaza.

As for the second floor, it has already been opened by Chen Luo. Those with teleportation crystals can use them to teleport to the second floor at any time, but that is no longer the most important thing.

Whether it's a way to return to reality or a resurrection tournament for dead players, these are all major talking points.

Asuna and Kirito are not currently in the bar, but rather in a flower field within the game.

This isn't the flower field on the first floor, nor the second floor, but a higher floor—the 78th floor.

The transition from reality to illusion in Aincrad takes 24 hours, and the structure of Aincrad has already been materialized; now it's the monsters' turn.

The monster on the first floor was the first to be given sentience, which is why the kobold boss seemed so shrewd.

Now it's the 78th floor's turn.

Chen Luo was leading his guests up the stairs, one level at a time, allowing them to experience the sensation of switching between the virtual and the real worlds.

"Oh, by the way, congratulations on winning the revival match and successfully reviving." Seeing that Kirito and Asuna didn't speak immediately, Chen Luo gave them some time to process their thoughts, and then addressed the fourth person present.

She was a beautiful girl with blue hair. The game now depicts her real appearance, so there's no need to worry about her being misrepresented in photos.

Game nickname: Mit

A very strong player, if it weren't for the bizarre way he died—falling off a cliff—his future achievements might not be inferior to Asuna's.

But games have always relied heavily on luck; if you're unlucky and die, you're dead.

Thankfully, this game can now be revived.

"Th-thank you." Mito was flattered after learning the whole story of his resurrection from Asuna.

"Is this what the world consciousness thinks? But why would the world consciousness do this?" Asuna asked, puzzled.