Evolution of a Girl

For example, in the game world, people can run for a long time, but in the real world, physical strength will limit this. If you don’t feel tired or painful when exercising, many people will not dislike exercise.

There is no lactic acid in the virtual world, and no discomfort from physical exhaustion, so everyone has a feeling of "I can do anything", even though this world is no different from reality.

Asuna stretched her body and looked around.

This is a world called "Aincrad".

Unlike other online games, which don't have all the content ready from the start but instead continually add to it later, Aincrad was a complete structure from the start, a finished world.

The game begins with an introductory story, which is told in the voice of an NPC in the game, whose name is "Lelouch".

In fact, the plot of this game was not very important at the beginning, it was more Japanese-style, and killing monsters and upgrading occupied a large proportion.

However, during later testing, the proportion of the plot became higher, and according to the statements released by closed beta players on the Internet, it seems that they can be fully immersed in it.

Oh, the news about the closed beta test mainly comes from abroad, because the domestic closed beta test players are not very vocal, and many foreign closed beta test players are just testing the edge of the confidentiality agreement, eager for more attention. Most of the news about Asuna is also learned from foreign websites - in the previous incident, Asuna also learned a lot of foreign languages.

"What a big city."

After entering the game, the first thing that appears is the initial town. It is a huge city, somewhat similar to the Middle Ages, but far more beautiful and wonderful than the Middle Ages. It is a place that only exists in fantasy.

A million people is a lot, but it is quite rare after entering the game. The huge city dilutes the huge number of players.

This was not actually Kayaba Akihiko's work, but Lelouch's idea.

Lelouch believed that the game was too crowded and not running smoothly, but having multiple servers was against the original intention, so he designed a series of quests to allow players to follow the quests in the early stages, thus dividing the number of players. Although these quests were different, they were actually similar, so although the workload was a bit heavy, it was not a problem.

Of course, there are some Easter eggs in these tasks.

This is not what Lelouch thinks, because in Lelouch's opinion, in such a game, players should have the same starting point at the beginning, so as to ensure fairness for everyone.

But Kayaba Akihiko prefers "uniqueness" and "adventure", so there are some special designs in the game.

"Is this a hidden mission?"

For example, Kirito who just entered the game.

At this moment, he has triggered a hidden mission.

This quest took place in the tavern where his quest began. It was a side quest that required the player to work in the tavern, but Kirito observed that no one else had received this quest except himself...

Chapter 514 The Death Game in Action

“Are there really a million people here?”

Asuna, wearing a gray hooded cloak, stood at the highest point of the city.

The game Sword Art Online has very few geographical restrictions, and players can do many incredible things in it, such as climbing.

After entering the world of Sword Art Online, Asuna felt liberated.

The knowledge once acquired in the virtual world now seemed to be completely free from its constraints, and the skills learned therein had now been completely reproduced in Asuna's brain.

Asuna had never actually used such a technique before.

But she always felt that she could do it.

She could easily subdue the strong man opposite her and climb a tall building with her bare hands without any effort. She always felt that she could do these things, but in the real world, she could not do so.

So in this virtual world that was close to reality, Asuna tried to use the skills she had learned and attempted to climb.

So...it worked.

Climbed up easily.

It was obviously an extremely difficult road, but I was able to reach the top very easily.

Asuna gripped the rapier in her hand, and a sense of security suddenly arose.

Just as the psychiatrist said, after entering this world, Asuna felt that she had returned to normal and to her best condition.

"One hour in the real world is five hours here. Well, I'll just go offline at night."

The time in the game is now exactly seven o'clock in the morning. Asuna is preparing to log off at this time in the evening. Twelve hours means only more than two hours in the real world.

She looked into the distance.

The city is huge, but there are many teleportation points in the city. Players can teleport to other magic circles in the city, or to external maps with teleportation points activated.

However, Asuna has never left the city, so she can only teleport within the city.

Asuna teleported to the city gate.

There are quite a few players here.

"Oh oh oh! Come on, come on! Kill monsters and level up! Level up team!"

"Hey, Boy, Here!"

"Ass!"

There are languages from all over the world.

This is what a world-class public beta test is like. Without a translation device, everyone can only communicate through such equipment.

Asuna didn't form a team, but simply left the city.

Among the monsters that appear around the city are quite a few goblins.

This is a quest monster.

At the beginning, Asuna's mission instructions explained that there was a goblin tribe outside the city lurking around, and that the goblin scouts needed to be wiped out.

In fact, at the beginning, the monsters outside the city were not goblins, but wild boars.

However, when Kayaba Akihiko and Lelouch were introduced in the dream world, the latter complained, "Since the world is so real, but the outside of the city is full of wild boars, isn't this too out of place?"

Kayaba Akihiko thought this made perfect sense, and from then on, he kept this in mind when designing plots and monsters.

After all, Sword Art Online, created by Akihiko Kayaba, is not just a game, but also a world, a world that belongs to Akihiko Kayaba himself.

"Huh, done. The feel is still a little different... but it's more interesting."

Asuna easily killed a goblin.

Despite its realistic nature, the game still has many gameplay elements. For example, the monsters all have health bars. While the monsters in the game strive for realism, it is an RPG after all, and RPGs have health bars, including monsters.

Asuna had expected to kill him with one strike, but that didn't happen.

Asuna aimed at the goblin's throat. She had imagined her rapier piercing the goblin's throat and killing it.

But the truth is, after Asuna hit the opponent, it only caused a critical hit, which only took away a quarter of the goblin's health.

But then Asuna added a few more hits, which were critical hits, reducing the goblin's health to zero and turning it into pieces.

"...I see. Attacking weak points is a critical hit, and it requires combining it with sword skills to inflict the highest damage..."

Asuna checked the game's help system and, combined with the guidance she had received during the novice mission, she understood all of this.

It's different from the real world, but Asuna feels it's more interesting this way.

Because if the enemy is too weak... then it's no fun.

Being killed in one hit wasn't satisfying, but being able to constantly unleash killer moves like this was awesome.

However, the goblin monsters at the beginning were still too weak. Asuna's consecutive attacks, as long as all the attacks were focused on the vital points, killed the opponents instantly, without any chance to fight back.

Because she hadn't used any sword skills, Asuna's health remained at full capacity. She continued to charge, making her way from the city walls to the depths of the jungle and mountains. Once there, Asuna discovered a nest. It was a goblin nest, as the system had indicated.

"There's actually a lair... Hmm, is it a dungeon? And there are difficulty levels. Normal... Hard... Real... Real difficulty with hidden health bars, a completely realistic design..."

The "copy" system was actually added at Lelouch's suggestion.

The so-called "real" difficulty is actually the recruit training system that Lelouch wanted. Kayaba Akihiko incorporated this system into the design, but in order to avoid affecting the game, Kayaba Akihiko only added this system in the dungeon.

But in fact, the "copy system" is also a compromise made by Kayaba Akihiko.

There was no other way. The number of people in the public beta test of one million was simply too large, but Kayaba Akihiko did not want to design multiple servers or multiple lines. He hoped that players could move on the same map.

But if that is really the case, the city map will become very large. However, after the initial stage, when players start climbing towers, such a huge map will become empty again, and the time spent on traveling may even be much longer than the time spent on fighting.

Akihiko Kayaba wanted to design an adventure story that everyone could experience just like in a fantasy story, full of passion and fighting, rather than a journey simulator.

At this time, the copy system that can "temporarily" divert players becomes a last resort.

"There's a teleport point... Let's go back and resupply first, the package is full."

Asuna was not very good at games at first, but Yuki taught her a lot of gaming skills, so although Asuna cannot be said to be an old driver, she cannot be said to be completely ignorant of games.

After selling the extra loot, Asuna went to buy some supplies, including the necessary blood bottles, a sleeping bag for the night, and so on.

I don’t know if it’s because of the influence of her previous experience in the virtual world, but Asuna is very concerned about survival.

Even though she knew it was just a game, she still wanted to do her best in every aspect.

Asuna did not try to suppress her emotions; instead, she chose to follow her heart.

Since we are in the game, there is no need to hide ourselves. It would be better to release these uneasy emotions.

"Restoration potion...Return crystal...Sleeping bag...Whetstone...Antidote...Backup weapon...Decoy skull...Yeah, I got them all."

Asuna bought a lot of equipment. Although it was a game, Asuna's thinking was somewhat different from that of ordinary game players. Her ideas were different, and her thinking was also different.

After preparing her equipment, Asuna came to the tavern to have a meal and give herself a long-lasting BUFF.

“…Welcome!”

As soon as she entered the tavern, Asuna heard a clear and lovely voice.

A sweet and lovely woman with long black hair walked over with a smile at this time.

"Hmm...?" This girl looks so familiar...

"Sir, what would you like to eat?" the other party asked with a smile.

Asuna subconsciously pulled up her hood to hide her features. "Are you a player?"

Players and NPCs have different logos.

The other party is obviously not an NPC, but a player.

"Ah, yes." The other party smiled and winked at Asuna, "This is a mission~"

"I see."

Asuna knew that when Sword Art Online was publicly tested, the promotional advertisements had said that this game had a very large quest system, with many one-time quests, hidden quests, random quests, and so on.

From this perspective, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with working in a tavern while wearing a maid outfit.

“It feels a bit monotonous.”

There were many dishes, and Asuna ordered a steak that could improve HP recovery. Although it tasted like steak, it was just "smell"—it had flavor, but it lacked soul.

"But this is good."

After adding the BUFF, you should go outside the city.

"Logout button... Does anyone know where the logout button is?"

Asuna was about to leave when she heard the panicked voice of a man next to her.

"Logout button?"

Asuna opened her system.

She looked at it for a long time and a look of surprise appeared on her face.

Because she also didn't find the logout button.

"It's probably a system bug. The official will probably fix it soon." The maid also noticed that the system had no logout button. But the maid was obviously a veteran of the game and didn't seem to care much about it.

However, at this moment, Asuna's eyes blurred, and then she found herself in front of the square.

Then Asuna realized she wasn't the only one there; the entire vast plaza was packed with people. This massive plaza, at this very moment, was also filled with players.

At this point, all players within the city had been gathered in the city square. There were many similar squares. The one Asuna was in was filled with Mud Bombs, and other squares were also filled with people standing by language and nationality.

And just above the sky above the square, a huge figure appeared.

"Dear players, welcome to my world." The voice spoke.

"My name is Kayaba Akihiko, and I'm the only one currently able to control this game. Players may have noticed that the login button in the main menu has disappeared... but this isn't a bug; it's simply how Sword Art Online is meant to be played..."

Asuna listened to the figure who called himself Kayaba Akihiko recounting the history.

"...If you lose your life...you will die..."