Boss, This Newbie Begs You to Carry Me!

Kirito had every reason to be surprised. Since the game began, he had been with Seiya the entire time. There was no way Seiya could have gone off to complete any quests.

No... Even if Seiya had secretly been grinding behind his back, there was no mechanism on the First Floor that could earn him so many coins in such a short time.

So, simply put, this guy Seiya had definitely cheated!

"Hey, hey, hey, we're on the same side. Isn't it a bit much to accuse me of using cheat software?

Don't you know there's another way to acquire currency as quickly as possible in a game?"

Kirito was no fool. On the contrary, his mind was exceptionally sharp, and he immediately realized the method Seiya meant was "Microtransaction." He hurriedly opened the so-called Microtransaction interface.

Unfortunately, ever since Akihiko Kayaba had modified the program and severed all contact with the outside world, SAO's Microtransaction function had been removed.

Forget about using the so-called Microtransaction interface—Kirito had never even seen it.

After all, there had been no Microtransaction channel during SAO's closed beta, either.

A "closed beta" was a test version, one not yet released to the public. Naturally, it could not have had any Microtransaction functions.

Seiya's coins had come from Microtransactions, but the Microtransaction channel had now been shut down.

That meant Seiya had topped up back when the game had first officially launched.

If Kirito remembered correctly, the game announcement had mentioned the exchange rate: one yen was equivalent to one copper coin.

In other words, that pile of gold coins Seiya had just taken out was already worth several hundred thousand yen!

This lunatic had never even played the game before, yet he had dumped hundreds of thousands, perhaps even over a million yen, into in-game currency right at the start!

"Games are all about having fun. Use your salary to create happiness; if you don't have money, go screw yourself.

That saying has proven to be absolutely right."

Kirito had wanted to complain, but the words that reached his lips quickly turned into, "Boss, can you lend me some money?"

Kirito wanted to be a player with backbone, but the key issue was that if they had sufficient funds now, they could improve themselves much faster.

And by using resources that others could not yet obtain to leverage small gains into big ones, they could secure greater returns early on.

"I can lend you money, but not for free. At the very least, you'll have to pay interest. And when you repay me, I'll only accept Real World currency."

Hearing Seiya's words, Kirito's face instantly darkened. At that moment, he even felt that Seiya was more mercenary than Messi had been just now.

But when he thought about how having startup capital early on might not only let him grow stronger quickly, but also make a huge profit, Kirito hesitated for a while before finally gritting his teeth and accepting Seiya's exploitation.

"Thirty percent interest on the loan. One gold coin is worth ten thousand yen. When we return to the Real World, just pay me thirteen thousand yen."

Kirito had already prepared himself to be taken for a ride, but upon hearing Seiya's outrageous interest rate, he immediately started cursing.

"You call that interest? That's Usury! We're best friends who grew up together!

And this is your so-called conscience discount?"

But Seiya snapped irritably at the angry Kirito, "You think that interest is high? Believe it or not, if I shouted outside right now, there'd be plenty of people willing to pay twenty thousand, even thirty thousand, for ten thousand.

If we weren't such close friends, I might not even trade with you."

Kirito's teeth ached at Seiya's words, but he had to admit that Seiya was absolutely right.

Now that they were trapped in the game, money in the Real World was nothing more than a stack of worthless paper to them.

But currency in this world, especially amid the fierce competition for resources in the early game, could make their lives far safer even in amounts of just a few hundred copper coins.

Forget a one-to-two exchange rate. Even one-to-five, or one-to-ten—so long as Seiya wanted to trade, he would have no shortage of customers.

Of course, Seiya also knew full well that Kirito was broke. As a student in the Real World, he was even more so.

The reason Seiya had proposed such terms was simply to draw Kirito into his fold and use this early capital to make a fortune.

After all, Seiya had money but little game knowledge, while Kirito was exactly the opposite.

Seiya intended to establish a merchant guild in SAO, and he could not do without the help of Kirito, this Beta Tester, when it came to early operating funds.

Before long, while chatting, the two arrived at the grasslands Messi had mentioned and found the so-called Dire Wolf Leader.

The Dire Wolf Leader was one of the First Floor's field BOSSES. Not only did it possess stats far beyond those of ordinary Dire Wolves, its combat ability also exceeded that of normal variants by a wide margin.

What was truly frightening was its special ability, Calling, which allowed it to summon wolf packs from anywhere.

Before attacking the Dire Wolf Leader, Seiya and Kirito had clearly divided their roles.

At the start, the two would naturally attack the Dire Wolf Leader together.

When the Dire Wolf Leader used Calling and began summoning a wolf pack, one of them would hold off the wolves while the other continued chipping away at the Dire Wolf Leader's HP Bar.

As for the exact division of labor, they had not set a fixed plan. In the end, they only decided that whoever was closer to the Dire Wolf Leader would deal with the BOSS.

Just as Seiya slashed his sword into the Dire Wolf Leader's flank, the Dire Wolf Leader, whose HP Bar had fallen to half, let out an ear-piercing howl.

"Awooooo—!"

As the howl rang out, Dire Wolves much smaller than the Dire Wolf Leader emerged from all around amid flashes of light, roaring as they charged in.

"According to the plan, I'll deal with these pups. The Dire Wolf Leader is yours."

Seeing the several summoned Dire Wolves, Kirito moved at incredible speed, slashing each of them once before turning tail and running.

Having been attacked, those newly summoned "loyal underlings" of the Dire Wolf Leader were all locked onto Kirito by the aggro system and immediately led away by him.

Watching the Dire Wolf Leader become a lone commander once more, Seiya grinned and drew his sword again as he charged at it.

Though it was a field BOSS, the Dire Wolf Leader's attack patterns seemed quite simple to Seiya.

As long as he avoided getting caught between the summoned wolf pack and the BOSS, leaving himself attacked from both front and back.

In Seiya's eyes, the Dire Wolf Leader was merely an ordinary Dire Wolf with a longer HP Bar and higher stats.

"Clang—!"

Using Weapon Parry, Seiya took the Dire Wolf Leader's claw strike head-on.

As the Dire Wolf Leader's massive body was knocked backward by the parry due to the skill's mechanics, Seiya tightened his grip on his one-handed sword and lunged forward!

"Wenren Sword Style, Third Form—Army Breaker!"