Starting Out as a Microtransaction Player?

Money creates happiness; no money, no fucking game!

Seiya had always firmly believed that. Rich people and poor people had completely different gaming experiences.

With just a flick of their fingers, rich players could enjoy the privileges of a supreme VIP, the thrill of one hit sending Monkey's HP flying into a string of QQ numbers—something ordinary people could never experience.

As a regular player, you either sacrificed what little hair you had left by staying up all night grinding, or prayed you were a chosen one with absurd luck, or a naturally gifted technical player.

Seiya was not exactly rich, but his family ran a dojo, and his grandfather had left behind a considerable inheritance. At the very least, he would not have to worry about food or clothing until he was thirty.

Looking at the payment screen before him, Seiya did not hesitate for long. He dragged the top-up amount to the maximum and pressed the confirm payment button.

Aincrad's currency was called Col. There were three denominations: Gold Kael, Silver Kael, and Bronze Kael, each exchanged at a ratio of 1:100.

Players who had just entered Sword Art Online started with only one hundred Bronze Kael. At the beginning, that amount could only buy a rusty iron sword and the smallest recovery potion.

There were a full ten thousand players, and there were certainly Whales among them. But the game had only just begun, so Seiya doubted anyone else was as insane as he was—throwing one million yen into the game right at the start.

Aincrad's exchange rate was one yen for one Bronze Kael. In other words, ten thousand yen was equivalent to one Gold Kael.

And just after starting, Seiya already had one hundred Gold Kael in his inventory.

Everyone else started with one hundred Bronze Kael, while he started with one hundred Gold Kael.

What did that mean? His starting wealth was ten thousand times that of an ordinary player!

If every other player was a non-spender, then all of them combined would still not have as much money as Seiya alone!

Of course, if anyone had seen him do this, they probably would have pointed at Seiya's nose and laughed at him for being an idiot.

But four hours later, they would find out who the real idiot was.

Four hours later, this game would become a genuine Death Game!

And for most of the players present, the hardest period would often be the very beginning of the game.

The panic of being trapped in the game, combined with their lack of experience and scarce resources.

That directly resulted in the players who died in Sword Art Online during the early stages making up the majority of total casualties.

Money was not omnipotent in this game, but having no money was absolutely not an option either.

Perhaps most high-level rare items and equipment could not be bought directly from shops, instead requiring players to defeat floor bosses for drops.

But money was still extremely important in the early game. Buying all sorts of recovery items and high-quality equipment could greatly improve one's chances of survival.

Not every player was Lord Kirito, capable of pulling off flashy moves and locking his HP.

Once the Death Game began, an emptied HP Bar meant the end of one's life.

At the start, having enough funds to buy recovery items and high-quality equipment undoubtedly meant winning right from the starting line.

While Seiya was still immersed in Microtransactions and unable to pull himself away, Kirito finally used the party location function to find Seiya, the "newbie."

"Just as I thought from the beginning, you really entered the game using your original appearance.

Well, with a face like yours, people would probably assume you customized it anyway."

When Kirito found Seiya, he spotted him in the crowd at once. Just as he had predicted, his friend had entered the game without changing his appearance at all, so Kirito recognized him immediately.

On the other hand, Seiya looked at Kirito, who appeared far more mature and stern than he did in real life, and blurted out, "No, brother, who the hell are you?"

"It's me, Kirito! Kirito!

No matter how little gaming knowledge you have, you should at least be able to see the huge character name above my head!"

Facing Kirito's complaint, Seiya wore a teasing smile. "Of course I know you're Kirito. I just didn't expect you to make yourself such a mature face.

So you also think your original face looked too soft, or maybe too feminine?"

Kirito was immediately annoyed by his friend's teasing.

When playing this kind of role-playing game, the most awkward thing was undoubtedly running into someone you knew in real life.

Because the character model you created would often become the other person's target for ridicule.

If everyone had customized their faces, then they could tease each other without concern. But the problem was that Seiya refused to play by the rules.

So now, Kirito was naturally the only one being mocked.

"If you keep babbling, then I won't teach you the tricks for quickly mastering this game or leveling up fast."

He was clearly the gaming veteran while Seiya was the newbie, yet he had barely met up with his friend before being teased. Lord Kirito felt thoroughly embarrassed and decided Seiya needed to learn who was really in charge.

Their casual conversation also caught the attention of a brown-haired man wearing a bandana nearby.

He was quite outgoing as well. After learning from Seiya and Kirito's conversation that Kirito was an experienced player,

he actually stuck to them like gum and asked to join Seiya in receiving guidance from the expert.

"What do you think?" As was his usual habit, Kirito asked his friend for his opinion.

"Nothing wrong with it. The more people, the more friends, and it'll be less boring too."

Seiya recognized the bandana-wearing man before him. He was one of the few friends Lord Kirito, the lone wolf, had in the game. He was loyal and had impeccable character, so Seiya thought he was worth getting to know.

Since Seiya had no objections, Kirito naturally had nothing to say. To him, teaching one newbie or two newbies was no different.

Besides, if it was only Seiya and there were no other witnesses, showing off later would be pretty boring for Kirito.

"My name's Klein. Since I like samurai culture, the moment I heard about Sword Art Online, a full-dive game centered around swords and blades, I immediately decided to buy it."

Klein was indeed quite outgoing. Upon hearing Seiya and Kirito agree to let him join, he hurriedly stood up and introduced himself with easy familiarity.

"Just call me Kirito." Kirito, who was rather socially anxious, was clearly a little unable to Parry Klein's enthusiasm, and gave a brief response.

"Wenren Seiya. I guess you could say I'm this guy's troublesome friend. I'm playing this game mostly because he dragged me into it.

You can call me Seiya. Nice to meet you, older brother Klein."

Compared with Kirito, Seiya was clearly much better at socializing.