Battle

The Player's benefits go without saying; just having pain reduced to a minimum, and being able to fight back even with just a sliver of health left.

But what about reality?

Let alone being low on health, even being at half health would probably cause a performance drop.

Thinking through the crucial point, Kazuto Kirigaya couldn't help but let out a wry smile.

The System's stab in the back was critical.

Not only did it erase his backup plan, but it also banned his advantage as a Player.

And he had to quickly grind monsters and level up to reach the strength needed to reach higher floors.

If he followed Kazuto Kirigaya and Asuna, taking advantage and leeching off the plot, it wasn't impossible.

But Kazuto Kirigaya didn't want to do that.

Was there any fun in doing so?

Kazuto Kirigaya felt there wasn't, nor was it necessary.

Things hadn't reached the worst point yet; rather, this was precisely the purpose the original body wanted to temper himself for.

After understanding all this, Kazuto Kirigaya breathed a sigh of relief and strode forward once more.

A cold light flashed, and sharp sword edges sliced through the necks of wolf after wolf.

Accompanied by splashing blood and the thud of falling wolves, Kazuto Kirigaya expressionlessly checked his level.

He leveled up, but it wasn't enough.

A warm current flowed through his body. Though not much, he could clearly feel his body changing.

His speed became more agile, his strength more robust.

It was roughly equivalent to a month's worth of his usual training.

This discovery surprised him, and he now had a bold idea: whether his original body could inherit this legacy after the game ended.

However, he needed to rest now before continuing to fight, otherwise, the fatigue from high-intensity combat would affect his fighting performance.

After resting for a while, his stamina gradually recovered, and his mana bar slowly refilled. This time, Kazuto Kirigaya had learned his lesson and didn't use the Sword God Style's Sword Skills.

Before, it didn't matter; using them only reduced his mana bar.

Now, it directly reduced his mental energy.

He would have to wait until his level was higher before he could go all out.

Drawing his sword and charging, the iron sword in his hand flipped, and wolf after wolf became a lost soul under his blade.

Not far away, wolves respawned at intervals.

These Level 1 Magic Beasts were easy to deal with.

As Kazuto Kirigaya's level increased, the Magic Wolves no longer gave him much experience. After pondering for a moment, he decided to sprint forward.

An endless grassland, his heart pounding as he ran, the smell of earth mixed in the air made Kazuto Kirigaya feel somewhat dazed.

Although SAO was advertised as a full-dive game, even then, it hadn't reached this level of realism.

The reason was that it minimized the Player's pain sensation.

After all, it was ultimately just a game, not reality.

If playing a game hurt like hell, probably not many Players would choose it.

Players wanted to experience the feeling of peacefully bathing in the morning sun after work, feeling the sea breeze, and stepping on soft grass.

In short, they didn't want pain; they only wanted comfortable feelings.

Although pain was reduced, many things were lost simultaneously.

The most common was the sense of touch.

This time, Kazuto Kirigaya immediately felt the difference.

This world could no longer be called a game.

A gentle breeze blew through his hair, and the sunlight bathed his body, the warm sun making him feel comfortable.

Honestly, he really wanted to bask in the sun and sleep soundly.

He checked the time; it was already twelve noon.

Kazuto Kirigaya had always had a habit of taking a nap.

This was something he learned from the original body. Both Kazuto Kirigaya and Roa believed that only after a midday nap would one's mind be more vigorous in the afternoon.

However, now was not the time to indulge.

Kazuto Kirigaya hurried towards the forest.

He had to go to the Man-eating Flowers to lure monsters and fight them, and maybe he could even encounter special small monsters.

That kind of small monster was a hooded rat, extremely agile, and it dropped very rare, top-tier single-handed swords.

This sword wouldn't be outdated even if it were brought to the third floor.

It could be called a Divine Item for beginners.

He walked for a while but then gave up.

It wasn't for any particular reason; there were too many monsters on the road.

It had already severely delayed his progress.

Even if he went deeper, he wouldn't be able to achieve his goal.

Moreover, the GM would probably announce the true gameplay at four or five in the afternoon, and he was still Level 2.

He couldn't be considered a high-level player at this point.

Kazuto Kirigaya could only kill wolf-like creatures and bees floating in the air on the spot.

Kazuto Kirigaya's luck wasn't good; he only got a piece of equipment after killing the twenty-third bee.

It was a relatively heavy longsword, its blade shimmering with a deep, cold light.

Just by looking at it, Kazuto Kirigaya's eyes lit up; this sword was definitely much better than his beginner's iron sword.

And in reality, it was indeed so.

[Steel Sword]

[Equip Restriction: Level 2]

[Trait: Sharpness (1)]

Although this sword still had a Level 1 trait, its stats were indeed much better than that beginner's longsword.

Kazuto Kirigaya continued to farm monsters to level up with the newly acquired weapon.

This time, with the enhancement of the sword's sharpness, Kazuto Kirigaya leveled up quickly. Relying on the original level advantage and the sharp sword in his hand, he could basically defeat monsters with one hit.

Soon, he arrived at the entrance of the forest edge again.

He glanced at the time; it was already 3:45 PM.

It was no longer suitable to go deep into the forest to farm levels.

But if he stayed on the outer edge, wolves, bees, or other crawling creatures could no longer bring him higher rewards.

Kazuto Kirigaya thought for a moment and decided to move forward.

He actually intended to try his luck and hope to run into that rare small monster.

If it dropped equipment, it would be good for Asuna.

The forest was vast, with trees that blotted out the sky, allowing only a sliver of light to filter through the leaves.

With a gust of wind, the dappled shadows of the trees swayed.

Due to the dim light, Kazuto Kirigaya's vision was also somewhat affected.

Sometimes he wouldn't see the appearance of a monster until he was five or six meters away.

His feet stepped on thick piles of leaves; withered yellow leaves were everywhere. Kazuto Kirigaya could still see some insects crawling on them if he observed carefully.

It was strange, these insects were not classified as monsters. Kazuto Kirigaya had even curiously tried to crush one.

Although it was a dense forest, logically, there should be a lot of mosquitoes in such a place, but Kazuto Kirigaya didn't hear any mosquito sounds, and the insects didn't actively climb onto him, but crawled on the dark ground.

Kazuto Kirigaya became increasingly curious about this world.

In the forest, a young man with dazzling golden hair strode confidently along a narrow path.

Kazuto Kirigaya had discovered this winding path during the closed beta.

The end of this path led to the BOSS's door.