Closed Beta Test

However, Kazuto Kirigaya was clearly not satisfied with his appearance and deliberately created a more mature look.

According to him, this was modeled after the hero in his mind.

Although in Kazuto Kirigaya's opinion, he just looked like an uncle.

Yeah, an uncle without stubble.

"I think your avatar looks weird," Kazuto Kirigaya said, unable to hold back his laughter.

Kirito sneered dismissively and said bluntly, "Who uses their real appearance in a game? Although you look very handsome, big brother, aren't you afraid of getting into trouble in real life?"

"Hmm, that doesn't matter," Kazuto Kirigaya smiled. After all, you'll have to show your true face eventually.

He knew that Kirito disliked his own appearance, that he didn't like his somewhat effeminate look, just like the original body.

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

Kazuto Kirigaya looked around and saw a clumsy-looking girl with chestnut hair. He shouted, "Here, here."

Asuna heard the familiar voice and turned her gaze over, seeing a tall, handsome, and sunny blonde guy.

She couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. She took a few steps forward and ran up to the young man, saying, "Naoki, you're here. By the way, what's with your ID, Roa?"

Kazuto Kirigaya chuckled, "It's a deity from the East, just like Jesus from the West."

Asuna nodded, not dwelling on the name. Only Chinese people understand this kind of thing.

Kirito looked at the beautiful girl in front of him with some surprise. He asked, "Who is this?"

Kazuto Kirigaya replied, "A student."

Asuna turned her gaze to the young man. He was shorter than Kazuto Kirigaya, about half a head shorter, and looked like a mature middle-aged man.

Although Kirito kept emphasizing that his avatar was a hero, Kazuto Kirigaya preferred to call him an uncle.

"By the way, Asuna, are you also using your real appearance?" Kazuto Kirigaya asked, curiously observing her.

Her chestnut hair was tied into a braid, and her clear eyes were endearing. Asuna was an extremely beautiful woman with delicate features and a doll-like cute appearance. Her slender and tall figure showed that she was not lacking in exercise.

She was wearing a simple white linen outfit and stood before the two of them.

Asuna's beauty was undeniable.

She was an exceptionally outstanding woman.

Kirito was slightly taken aback. He looked at his older brother with a questioning gaze. "Is she like this in real life? I thought she would have made some slight modifications."

After all, most people's primary goal when creating an avatar is to make themselves look better. Things like making their skin fairer, their nose bridge higher, or their eyes bigger are commonplace.

But a purely natural appearance was truly rare.

At this moment, Asuna also fell silent.

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

Kirito was amused and speechless. This girl had simply defaulted to the original face model when entering the game.

No wonder she looked like this.

She looked like a complete novice.

Asuna had been looking around since she entered the game, curious about everything.

Wait, a novice.

Kirito suddenly thought of a very serious problem.

He slowly asked, "Has Asuna played similar games before? Games of this type."

Asuna looked confused. She turned to Kazuto Kirigaya and asked, "Didn't you tell him?"

Kazuto Kirigaya shrugged and explained, "Asuna's mother is very strict and basically doesn't let her play games. The reason she's playing this game is because I forced her to."

Kirito sighed helplessly. "Alright, I originally wanted to compete with you to see who could reach the higher-level BOSS."

Kazuto Kirigaya chuckled, "We can still compete. I'll level up with Asuna, and you can find help yourself. It's the same as before. After a month, we'll see who has cleared more floors."

Kirito hesitated. He glanced at Asuna, then at Kazuto Kirigaya. He felt there was something going on between them but didn't think too much of it and left.

Kazuto Kirigaya looked at Asuna and asked, "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 shy Yuuki Asuna. After spending nearly six years together as tutor and student, she didn't have much resistance to this level of physical contact and had even become somewhat accustomed to it.

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

Getting a little closer during tutoring wasn't too much, right?

Anyway, he had already taken all the small advantages he could.

The place where I just appeared was actually the Beginner Village, the Starting Town.

At the northernmost end of this floor stood a stout tower, 300 meters in diameter and 100 meters high.

Floor Landmark: "Tolbana" is the most prosperous town in the valley, not far from the Labyrinth area.

The streets are surrounded by grassland where animal-type monsters like wild boars and wolves, as well as insect-type monsters such as worms, beetles, and wasps, frequently appear.

Head straight south from the entrance, and you'll find yourself in an endless grassland, with level-X wolf-like creatures everywhere.

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

Kazuto Kirigaya pointed at the small monsters in front of him and said, "Let me explain what Sword Skills are first."

Kazuto Kirigaya drew the iron sword in his hand.

Lines of small text floated up.

[Novice Iron Sword]

[Quality: White]

[Attribute: Sharpness I]

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

To be precise, the way equipment attributes were displayed was different.

Even though it was the same piece of equipment, the attributes displayed for the two of them were different.

However, none of this was a major issue.

He felt the System's sword-swinging mechanism.

Because he had experience with kendo both in his original body and before, he got the hang of it after just a short while.

Sword Skill.

These were special System-assisted moves in SAO.

SAO's special System, which emphasized physical sensation, would assist the character's movements and speed after triggering a skill with the corresponding ready stance, allowing for superhuman feats that would normally be difficult to achieve.

While similar actions could be performed without activating a Sword Skill, the power, speed, and accuracy were incomparable.

Conversely, because Sword Skills were standardized movements driven by the System, they could not be changed or stopped until completion, making it crucial to read the opponent's ready stance during duels.

In short, ordinary Players relied on Sword Skills to perform actions that were difficult to accomplish in reality.

However, there was a stiffening period and a startup animation when releasing a Sword Skill, allowing the opponent to react accordingly.