The Beginning

Kazuto Kirigaya ignored the splashing fluids, his sword thrusting forward directly. A cold light flashed, and the blade pierced straight through the opponent.

Even so, it continued to struggle. The Man-eating Flower's HP was quite high, but Kazuto Kirigaya applied a little force with his feet, and its struggles lessened.

He thrust his sword three times expressionlessly before finally finishing it off.

At the same time, an intense dizziness washed over him.

Kazuto Kirigaya frowned, rubbing his throbbing temples. He was already a person of strong mental fortitude, not someone who would simply faint.

He glanced at his blue bar, which was now completely empty. The berserk power also receded like a tide.

[Your level has increased to seven]

[System Notification: You have learned ???]

[???]

[Active Skill: Enhances all your attributes based on the Magic Power infused, with the degree of enhancement depending on the total amount of Magic Power injected.]

Kazuto Kirigaya thought for a moment and named the skill Berserk.

After resting for five minutes, a blue light suddenly enveloped Kazuto Kirigaya.

Forced teleportation.

A faint smile touched Kazuto Kirigaya's lips as he murmured, "It's finally starting?"

It was the familiar plaza, with Players appearing one after another in the vast square.

This was the Starting Town.

Kazuto Kirigaya, before the crowd thickened, quickly looked around for Asuna and Kazuto Kirigaya.

As more blue lights appeared, a large number of Players materialized in the plaza.

The game's gentle BGM, accompanied by a breeze, reached the Players' ears.

It proved that if there were background music in real life, people's moods would improve significantly.

Kazuto Kirigaya searched his surroundings and finally spotted a black-haired man in a secluded corner.

He stepped forward and grabbed the man, glancing at his ID. Kazuto Kirigaya chuckled, "You haven't changed, still using this name."

Kazuto Kirigaya was wondering who had grabbed him. He turned around and saw his older brother.

He ignored his older brother's teasing words and stated directly, "Big Brother, haven't you noticed anything unusual?"

Kazuto Kirigaya's smile faded, and he thought to himself, I've already been transformed from a pile of data into flesh and blood.

Seeing Kazuto Kirigaya's expression, Kazuto Kirigaya said, "You must know that the logout button has disappeared."

Kazuto Kirigaya comforted him, "It's probably a bug."

Kazuto Kirigaya sighed, "If it's a bug, this game might get a bad reputation. I had such high hopes for it."

Kazuto Kirigaya looked at the young man before him. Kazuto Kirigaya didn't seem to realize the seriousness of the situation yet.

After a brief chat, his gaze swept over Mito, who stood silently nearby, a giant skeleton holding a scythe. Kazuto Kirigaya gave a knowing smile, patted Kazuto Kirigaya on the shoulder, and said, "I'm going to find Asuna. You two chat."

As the plaza became more crowded, finding people became more difficult for Kazuto Kirigaya.

However, as he passed by, many Players turned their attention to him.

His handsome and refined face, with near-perfect features, a high nose bridge, and a pair of sword-like eyebrows that added a heroic air, his bright and spirited crimson-gold eyes, and the sharp aura that always clung to him due to his long practice with the sword.

The young man wore a simple linen outfit, just the starter gear. Although everyone wore the same thing, it looked completely different on him. His dazzling short hair was parted in the middle at the forehead, revealing his handsome features. He was an extremely handsome man.

In Japanese society, people's values often followed their appearance. Faced with such a young man, even in a game, it made the girls' hearts flutter. His aura held a fatal attraction for girls who had never seen anything like it.

Many male Players also approached, asking Kazuto Kirigaya to reveal his character creation secrets.

Kazuto Kirigaya's expression was cold. He scanned his surroundings and said faintly, "I'm looking for someone. Please make way."

The girls were flustered by his cold demeanor, blushing slightly. The male Players whispered amongst themselves. Kazuto Kirigaya's hearing was sharp, and he could roughly make out their conversation.

"What's the point of being good-looking in a game? He's probably a fat otaku in real life."

"Exactly."

Heh, Kazuto Kirigaya shook his head, ignoring the sour Players. He finally found a bewildered Asuna in a corner.

She was just standing there blankly.

Seeing Kazuto Kirigaya, she grabbed him as if he were a savior.

Asuna's face was serious. "Naoki, I discovered that the logout button has disappeared."

Kazuto Kirigaya nodded.

Seeing his calmness, Asuna became anxious. She whispered, "It's almost seven o'clock. Mom will scold me when she gets back."

Kazuto Kirigaya shook his head, sighing that even the grown-up Asuna still feared her mother.

Although Asuna hadn't realized the gravity of the situation, Kazuto Kirigaya didn't want to discourage her. He comforted her, "It's okay, it's probably just a bug."

Asuna, however, still wore a troubled expression.

She was led to Kazuto Kirigaya's side, and as more Players arrived, the plaza gradually grew noisy.

After all, quite a few Players had noticed something was wrong; many found that the logout button had disappeared.

Noisy sounds began to erupt from all directions, and the volume steadily increased. All one could hear were phrases like, "What's going on?" "Can we log out like this?" "Let me log out now!"

After a while, the clamor of the crowd began to take on an anxious tone, and angry shouts of "This isn't funny!" and "GM, show yourself!" could be heard.

Suddenly, someone's cry drowned out the surrounding noise.

"Ah... look up!"

Kazuto Kirigaya instinctively looked up and saw a peculiar sight.

About a hundred meters above, at the bottom of the second floor, the sky was painted with a crimson checkerboard pattern.

Upon closer inspection, it could be seen that the pattern was formed by two English words arranged alternately. As for those two words, written in vivid red, they were [warning] and [systemannou].

Is this the GM? Kazuto Kirigaya fell into thought. This was the first time he had seen a GM in real life.

The red pattern covered the entire sky. In its center, like a large drop of thick blood, it slowly dripped downward. However, the blood did not fall to the ground but suddenly changed shape in mid-air.

Appearing there was a giant, nearly twenty meters tall, clad in a deep red cloak.

He revealed a face from beneath his very low-brimmed hat—but there was no face there, only a void. One could clearly see the inside of the hat and the stitching along its edges. And within the long, drooping hem, there was also just a faint darkness.