Beta Testing

There was no other reason. In reality, Kirito was only fourteen. He already had a baby face, and his style was similar to that of his original body. The difference was that the original body had gone too far and had already become a cross-dresser. At least, one could tell that Kazuto Kirigaya was a boy, albeit a cute one.

However, Kazuto Kirigaya was clearly dissatisfied with his appearance, so he had deliberately created a more mature-looking avatar.

According to him, he had modeled it after the hero in his mind.

Although, in the eyes of Kazuto Kirigaya, he simply looked like an uncle.

An uncle without stubble.

"I feel like your avatar looks really strange." Kazuto Kirigaya struggled not to laugh.

Kirito curled his lip disdainfully and said bluntly, "Who uses their real appearance in a game? Big brother, you may be handsome, but aren't you afraid someone will come looking for trouble with you in real life?"

"Well, that doesn't matter." Kazuto Kirigaya smiled. You'll have to show your real face later anyway.

He knew that Kirito hated his own appearance. Like his original body, he disliked his somewhat feminine looks.

"By the way, where's the other person? Didn't you get two beta-test invitations? Who did you give the other one to?" Kirito asked, puzzled.

Kazuto Kirigaya looked around and spotted a reckless chestnut-haired girl. He called out loudly, "Over here!"

Asuna heard the familiar voice and turned her gaze toward it. She saw a tall, handsome, sunny-looking blond boy.

She couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. She walked a few steps forward, then ran up to the boy and said, "Naoki, you're here! By the way, what kind of ID is Roa?"

Kazuto Kirigaya chuckled. "He's an Eastern deity, just like Jesus in the West."

Asuna nodded and didn't dwell on the name. Only Chinese people understood this sort of thing.

Kirito looked at the beautiful girl in front of him with some surprise. "Who's this?"

Kazuto Kirigaya said, "A student."

Asuna shifted her gaze toward the boy. He was shorter than Kazuto Kirigaya by about half a head, and looked like a mature middle-aged uncle.

Although Kirito kept insisting that his appearance was that of a hero, Kazuto Kirigaya preferred to call him an uncle.

"By the way, Asuna, you're using your real appearance too?" Kazuto Kirigaya asked curiously as he looked her over.

Her chestnut hair was tied into a single braid, and her clear eyes naturally inspired affection. Asuna was an exceptionally beautiful girl, with delicate features, a doll-like appearance, and a slender, graceful figure. It was obvious that she exercised regularly.

She was currently wearing a set of white, coarse-cloth clothes as she stood before the two of them.

There was no need to say much about Asuna's looks.

She was simply an extraordinarily beautiful girl.

Kirito was slightly stunned. He gave his big brother an inquisitive look. "Does she really look like this in real life? I thought she would at least make a few minor changes."

After all, most people mainly adjusted their faces to make themselves more attractive. Making their skin a little fairer, their noses a little higher, or their eyes a little larger was common practice.

But appearing completely natural was genuinely rare.

At that moment, Asuna also fell silent.

She slowly asked, "So that was character creation? I just clicked confirm."

Kazuto Kirigaya was caught between laughter and tears. This girl actually entered the game with the default face.

No wonder she looked like this.

She looked exactly like a beginner.

After entering the game, Asuna had been looking around constantly, curious about everything.

Wait. A beginner.

Kirito suddenly thought of a very serious problem.

He slowly asked, "Asuna, have you ever played a similar game? A game of this type?"

Asuna looked somewhat bewildered. She turned to Kazuto Kirigaya and asked, "You didn't tell him?"

Kazuto Kirigaya shrugged and explained, "Asuna's mother is very strict. She basically never lets her play games. The only reason she's playing this one is because I forced her to come."

Kirito sighed helplessly. "All right. I was originally planning to compete with you and see who could reach the higher-floor boss first."

Kazuto Kirigaya snickered. "We can still compete. I'll help Asuna level up, and you can find yourself some helpers. Same rules as before: after one month, we'll see who has cleared more floors."

Kirito hesitated. He looked at Asuna, then at Kazuto Kirigaya. He sensed that there was something going on between them, but didn't think too deeply about it before leaving.

Kazuto Kirigaya turned to Asuna. "Do you know about sword skills?"

Asuna looked blank.

"Come on. I'll take you somewhere first." Kazuto Kirigaya grabbed Asuna's hand and pulled her forward.

Asuna was no longer the easily embarrassed Yuuki Asuna she had once been. Since Kazuto Kirigaya had tutored her for nearly six years, she wasn't very resistant to this degree of physical contact. She was even somewhat used to it.

In short, Kazuto Kirigaya was definitely not an honest man. Holding hands during tutoring wasn't excessive, right?

Getting a little closer during tutoring wasn't excessive either, right?

Besides, he had already taken all the little advantages he could.

The place they had appeared in was actually the Beginner Village, the Starting Town.

At the northernmost point of this floor stood a sturdy tower three hundred meters in diameter and one hundred meters tall.

Important location on the floor: "Tolbana" was the most prosperous town in a valley not far from the Labyrinth Area.

The grasslands surrounding the streets were frequently visited by animal-type monsters such as wild boars and wolves, as well as insect-type monsters such as worms, beetles, and hornets.

They headed straight south from the town. Soon, endless grasslands stretched out in every direction, with wolves and other creatures of various levels scattered throughout.

The Magic Wolves stood on all fours, their eyes fierce, but they showed no intention of attacking anyone.

Kazuto Kirigaya pointed at the small monster in front of them. "I'll explain what sword skills are first."

Kazuto Kirigaya drew the iron sword from his hand.

A series of small words appeared.

[Novice Iron Sword]

[Quality: White]

[Attribute: Sharpness I]

For some reason, Kazuto Kirigaya's system interface was different from Kirito's.

More precisely, the way it displayed equipment attributes was different.

They had the same piece of equipment, but the attributes displayed to the two of them were different.

Still, it didn't matter much.

After familiarizing himself with the system's sword-swinging mechanics, he quickly got the hang of it. Both his original body and his previous self had come into contact with swordsmanship, after all.

Sword skills.

They were special system-assisted techniques in SAO.

In SAO's special system, which emphasized physical sensation, triggering a skill after assuming the corresponding preparatory stance caused the system to assist the character's movements and speed, allowing them to perform superhuman techniques that would normally be difficult to execute.

Although similar movements could be performed without activating a sword skill, their power, speed, and accuracy were incomparable.

Conversely, because sword skills consisted of standardized movements controlled by the system, they could not be changed or stopped until completion. Therefore, reading an opponent's preparatory movements became an important skill in duels.

In short, ordinary players relied on sword skills to perform actions that were difficult to accomplish in reality.

However, using a sword skill involved a brief preparatory delay followed by a moment of rigidity, allowing an opponent to react and counter according to the skill being released.