Reality

Time flows like Water, days and months fly by.

The days of not being able to show off passed in a flash, and in the blink of an eye, two months had gone by.

Three months had allowed everyone to thoroughly understand the game mechanics.

A while ago, with the end of the closed beta, all SAO closed beta qualifications had also come to an end.

SAO had very high playability; even Yuuki Asuna would secretly log in when her mother wasn't around.

Thanks to everyone's cooperation, they had managed to climb to an extremely terrifying floor.

Floor 25.

Reaching this floor in just three months was truly not easy.

However, for some reason, perhaps because the storyline hadn't started yet, he still hadn't obtained the Power of Time and Space. These three months had only been for honing his swordsmanship and mastering monster skills.

And today, Friday, was the day SAO officially appeared in everyone's sight as the launch game.

SAO was immediately snatched up in stores and online.

As Kazuto Kirigaya skillfully logged into his account and initiated the NerveGear connection.

A familiar feeling washed over him.

It was still the familiar starting town.

He flexed his limbs, feeling their mobility and the incredible sense of reality.

Kazuto Kirigaya regained that familiar feeling.

Honestly, ever since playing SAO, he hadn't felt anything for other games.

However, he soon felt something was wrong.

He took out the beginner weapon from his inventory and swung it, feeling the System's assistance mechanism.

He quickly frowned.

This assistance seemed to have weakened considerably.

The System's default calibration had been reduced, but these were minor issues, as he hadn't planned to rely on the System anyway.

He subconsciously looked at his HP interface.

The code he had spent three years preparing would now come into effect.

He had personally tested it during the closed beta, and it worked. Because of this, he had secretly installed it for Kazuto Kirigaya, Usakawa Sumi, and Yuuki Asuna.

After all, one was his younger brother, one was his sister-in-law, and one was his disciple. If they were to die in the game, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself.

When the bug took effect, there would be a slight trace at the end of the health bar that overlapped with the outline of the bar. It was basically impossible to notice without careful observation.

He glanced at the health bar interface. Yes, good, it was still there.

However, the next moment, a series of System announcements appeared.

And this System was not that System.

[Detecting storyline activation]

[Participating characters: Yuuki Asuna, Kazuto Kirigaya, Sachi, Usakawa Sumi.]

[Scanning this world]

[Scan successful]

[Beginning to steal Power of Time and Space]

[Note: You will gain a certain amount of Power of Time and Space when you significantly alter the world or advance the plot.]

[System suggestion: Clear higher floors]

Seeing these, Kazuto Kirigaya's expression remained relatively stable.

However, as he read further down, his expression began to falter.

[Beginning world synchronization]

[Virtual world has been converted]

[Warning: You are currently in the real world!!!]

[Abnormal code detected, code has been cleared]

[System data loading]

[Loading successful]

Kazuto Kirigaya's expression froze. He couldn't believe it.

Looking at the prompts before him, he took a deep breath and glanced at his health bar.

As expected, the barely perceptible thin line at the very bottom of the health bar had disappeared.

Damn it, System, you bastard.

Kazuto Kirigaya was furious. Even if he wouldn't necessarily use it, why did the System erase the cheat he earned through his own efforts?

Three years of hard work turned to nothing at this moment.

Kazuto Kirigaya clutched his chest, heartbroken.

But he clearly hadn't realized the severity of the problem yet.

69🅂🄷🅄🅇.🄲🄾🄼

Before Akihiko Kayaba used GM Authority to forcibly pull players into a dungeon, he needed to level up quickly.

He wasn't worried about Kazuto Kirigaya and Asuna. After all, they had a cheat active, so what was there to fear with invincibility?

He was just betrayed by the System, which is why he was like this.

He didn't need to rush to tell them now. If he did, they might be discovered by the GM for some other reason and purged as an anomaly.

Akihiko Kayaba was definitely a genius. This ability could only be used to save lives, not for evil deeds.

He sighed and looked around, not seeing Kazuto Kirigaya. He wondered where that guy was off fooling around.

Earlier, Asuna insisted on returning the game helmet he had given her, saying her brother had the game and didn't need his.

Kazuto Kirigaya looked at her with complex emotions. He hadn't expected his brother to take the blame for this later.

However, knowing his mother's personality, if she knew her daughter entered a death game because of Kazuto Kirigaya, she would definitely go after him.

He still wanted to become her future son-in-law, so for his own sake, he had to let her older brother take the blame.

Taking a deep breath, he ignored the astonished gazes in the plaza and ran straight south.

He had to take advantage of the players currently familiarizing themselves with skill mechanics to level up.

His goal was the 100th floor.

To defeat the Demon King and save everyone from dire straits.

Kazuto Kirigaya opened his status panel again. The information on it had completely changed.

[Character: Roa]
[Level: 1]
[Strength: F]
[Agility: F]
[Stamina: F]
[Intelligence: E- (Stamina consumed by Sword Skills is converted to Magic Power here)]
[Luck: F-]
[Sword Skill: Basic Sword Skill Slanting Slash - Single Slash]

"It's become a System panel?" Kazuto Kirigaya mused.

But this was good too; it was easier to understand.

He sprinted towards the distant grassland and saw level 1 wolves.

He took a shallow breath, gripping the beginner's iron sword, feeling its heavy weight and the rapid beating of his heart.

He had to act before attacking them and drawing their aggro.

He positioned his sword at his waist based on instinct.

Stepping forward with his right foot, he slightly bent and straightened his leg, tensing the muscles in his right arm.

He exhaled and began recalling the essence of the Sword God Style - Sword Draw Style.

The movements had to be fast, the strike swift.

The not-so-sharp blade began to shimmer with a faint blue glow.

Sword Skill.

His movements were being corrected, and Kazuto Kirigaya felt an unprecedented clarity in his mind.

Suddenly, the iron sword drew a massive slash through the air. The iron sword, carrying the whistling sound of the wind, swept forward.

A cold glint flashed, and the level 1 wolf's neck was instantly sliced by the indifferent iron sword. Its body dissolved into a blue light and vanished.

[System Notification]
[You have learned a new Sword Skill]
[???]
[Charge, Draw Sword]
[Effect: Increases with charge time, up to 500% of the base sword move's attack at maximum charge.]
[Cooldown: 10s]

Kazuto Kirigaya exhaled, naming the skill Sword God Style - Sword Draw Style, then frowned.

Because he felt a trace of fatigue.

This discovery surprised Kazuto Kirigaya.

Then, as if thinking of something, his expression darkened.

It was nothing else; he already understood what the System meant by changing reality.

Everyone who finds typos or name errors can use the correction function.