Lord Kirito: You Didn't Really Turn On Cheats, Did You?!

SAO's "Beaters" weren't limited to Kirito alone.

Back when everyone still treated it as just a game, resources were important, but no one felt they had to fight over them.

But the situation now was clearly different from before.

SAO was now a genuine Death Game!

In a game where you could only die once, every kind of game resource was a safeguard that could help you survive better in this world.

So it was easy to foresee that the limited resources in the starting village would soon be fought over desperately by all players!

This wasn't a matter of letting others have them or not. In this dangerous game world, who didn't want to become stronger and survive until the very end?

As a beta tester, Kirito naturally knew where the starting village's resources were, so he immediately wanted to bring Seiya and Klein along.

However, Klein said that he had entered the game with his good friends.

He also knew his own capabilities well. Acting alongside Seiya and Kirito would only hold them back, so he voluntarily chose to withdraw.

Seiya and Kirito respected his decision and rushed at top speed to the nearest quest resource point.

However, the facts proved that Kirito was far from the only smart person in this world.

By the time the two of them reached the nearest quest area as quickly as possible, all the quest resources there had already been cleared out by others.

Seeing this, Kirito could not help but let out a heavy sigh.

This was the closest quest resource location to them. If they had already arrived too late here, there was no point going anywhere else.

"Who said all the quests had been taken? Isn't that mercenary-looking man over there a quest NPC?"

Hearing Seiya's words, Kirito initially looked in the direction he pointed with delight, thinking that the Beaters had overlooked a quest.

However, when he saw the person Seiya was pointing at, disappointment immediately returned to his face. "That person you mentioned is indeed a quest NPC.

"But it's not that the Beater players don't want to take his quest. They simply can't."

Seeing Seiya's puzzled expression, Kirito could only continue explaining. "That NPC is called Mercenary Merchant Messi. What troubles him right now...

"...is that a pack of 'Dire Wolves' on the plains robbed him of his goods.

"If you complete this quest, he'll give you a fairly rare early-game one-handed sword—the Windflower Sword."

"Dire Wolves are monsters that live on the plains. They're much stronger than Raging Boars, and they're group monsters.

"The one that robbed Messi's goods was the 'Dire Wolf Leader,' a field BOSS-level monster.

"Of course, although it's a field BOSS, I know its mechanics very well. With the two of us, defeating it isn't impossible.

"But the only problem is that to accept this quest from Mercenary Merchant Messi, you have to pay a deposit of one Gold Kael."

After hearing Kirito's explanation, Seiya finally understood why he had said earlier that not everyone could accept this quest.

It had been mentioned before that SAO players only started with one hundred Bronze Kael.

Yet the deposit of one Gold Kael was a full ten thousand Bronze Kael. Where were players supposed to find that much money at the start?

During the beta, if they failed to challenge the Dire Wolf BOSS, the deposit would not be refunded.

Now that players only had one life, failure would mean dying themselves.

High risk came with high reward, but that enormous upfront investment alone was enough to deter most players.

Even during the beta, Mercenary Merchant Messi's quest was only accepted later in the game.

By then, players had already cleared past the Fifth Floor. Taking on a First Floor field BOSS was naturally effortless.

"Let's take this quest. We don't have any other choices right now anyway, do we?"

Watching Seiya walk toward the NPC, Kirito could only helplessly follow.

Kirito guessed that Seiya intended to haggle with the NPC, but he already knew what the result would be.

During the beta, quite a few people had shared the same idea. Unfortunately, all of them had ultimately been rejected.

"Are you adventurers here to help me snatch my goods back from those damned Dire Wolves as well?

"But my goods are quite valuable. If you reclaim them and run off with them yourselves, that would give me quite a headache.

"So you must first pay a deposit of one Gold Kael. There is absolutely no room for negotiation on that."

Hearing Messi's words, Kirito wore an expression that said he had expected exactly this.

Just as Kirito was about to tell Seiya not to waste time here with this NPC and to try their luck elsewhere instead, Seiya took out a glittering gold coin right before his stunned eyes.

"Mr. Messi, right? Don't worry, we understand the rules. Unlike those paupers from before, we're young nobles from a large city who came here to experience the life of adventurers.

"We don't care about a mere Gold Kael, and we certainly won't covet your little bit of merchandise."

After tossing a Gold Kael to the rather surprised Merchant Messi, Seiya then pulled out a large handful of gold coins as if performing a magic trick.

At the sight of the coins filling Seiya's hand, not only Mercenary Merchant Messi but even Kirito beside him was dumbfounded.

There were at least several dozen gold coins in Seiya's hand. Wealth amounting to dozens of Gold Kael was an astonishing fortune even on the Eighth Floor during the beta, let alone in a starting village like the First Floor.

As a full-dive virtual game, SAO had highly intelligent NPC AI as well. They did not merely recite fixed lines.

After Mercenary Merchant Messi saw the astonishing wealth Seiya had displayed, his previously disdainful expression immediately changed.

"You two adventurers... no, you two esteemed young masters, this lowly one was blind before. I mistook you for those poor adventurers from earlier.

"If you are willing to help, then honest Messi naturally trusts you. Forget about the deposit. I only hope that the two of you will patronize my business more in the future. I would be truly grateful."

It was no wonder he was called Mercenary Merchant Messi. Once Seiya displayed his astonishing wealth, his attitude and tone were completely different from before.

In the end, Seiya and Kirito not only successfully accepted the quest, but even saved themselves the so-called deposit.

After leaving the town, Kirito, who had long been unable to suppress his curiosity, finally looked at Seiya with utter disbelief. "Don't tell me you really did what Klein said and turned on some kind of cheating software?!"