First Chapter

The scorching sun and a temperature of 38 degrees Celsius turned the entire G Province into a giant oven. The streets, which should have been a feast for the eyes, were devoid of any beautiful girls. Most people chose to stay cooped up in air-conditioned rooms.

In room 402 on the third floor of the male dormitory at BJ University in G Province, the clanging sound of swords colliding and the dying screams of monsters could be heard. A moment later, a pleasant Japanese song began to play, gradually increasing in volume until it echoed throughout the entire dormitory building.

Listening to the pleasant ending song, Wang Yang, shirtless, sat on his chair, his eyes glued to the ending segment of Sword Art Online playing on his computer screen. Only after the preview for the next episode popped up did he reluctantly turn the volume back down from its maximum setting. He smacked his lips, sighing, "There are too few anime about virtual online games, not enough to watch."

As a typical otaku, Wang Yang's only unusual hobby was playing basketball. Apart from the time he spent playing basketball, Wang Yang would choose to stay in his dorm, constantly searching for anime to watch. What fascinated him the most was undoubtedly anime about online games, but unfortunately, there were very few of them.

So, when this season of Sword Art Online came out, Wang Yang was immediately blown away. He eagerly awaited the update schedule for Sword Art Online every week. While waiting for the updates, he even went to look for the novel version. Unfortunately, after getting used to the online game novels on Qidian, he simply couldn't get used to the novel version of Sword Art Online and abandoned it after reading a few chapters.

He then returned to waiting for Sword Art Online to be updated. Just now, he had once again finished watching the latest update of Sword Art Online in its entirety, feeling unsatisfied. He watched from the opening credits to the end without skipping a single moment!

Staring silently at the darkened screen for a long time, Wang Yang let out a satisfied groan, stood up, stretched, walked a few steps to his bed, and flopped down heavily.

Mid-July, the sun blazed high in the sky, and the air was sweltering. The entire city felt like a furnace, capable of cooking a person alive. The university dorm where Wang Yang studied only had a large ceiling fan rotating overhead, which was completely ineffective at cooling things down. Fortunately, room 402 had good ventilation, offering some psychological comfort.

"Ring ring..."

Occasionally, a breeze carrying a hint of heat gusted in from the dormitory door, swirled around, and then swept out through the window, playing a pleasant ringing sound on the wind chimes. Thanks to the constantly circulating air, even though it carried some heat, it slightly lowered the indoor temperature. Even so, Wang Yang's bare, muscular body was still drenched in sweat, making him feel sticky and uncomfortable. However, Wang Yang was long accustomed to this, and it didn't make it difficult for him to fall asleep.

"Those few jerks must be suffocating in the gymnasium right now, screaming their lungs out," Wang Yang stared blankly at the bed frame above his head, imagining the scene in the gymnasium, which must be bustling with activity.

"On such a hot day, why even hold a cosplay event? It's just asking for trouble. Even though the famous goddess of otaku is there, I'd rather take a nap and then go play basketball for a few hours," Wang Yang rested his head on his hands, pouted, and muttered to himself before slowly closing his eyes. He said that, but if the cosplay event was Sword Art Online-themed, he probably would have rushed to the gymnasium immediately after watching the latest episode of Sword Art Online.

As he was drifting off to sleep, a thought suddenly flashed through Wang Yang's mind: If only he could personally play in a virtual game like Sword Art Online, he would have no regrets in this life.

November 6, 2022. This was a special day. The heavily advertised virtual game, SAO, had released ten thousand NerveGears into the market three days ago. And three days later, today, was the official launch day of SAO.

At 12:55 PM, ten thousand eagerly anticipating players across Japan had put on their SAO exclusive game helmets, looking forward to the arrival of 1 PM.

"Beep!"

Like a fanfare, when the clock struck 1 PM, tens of thousands of beeping sounds echoed in various unknown corners, accompanied by tens of thousands of excited and expectant hearts. A few minutes later, the Town of Beginnings on the first floor of the giant floating castle Aincrad welcomed tens of thousands of newcomers.

Except for Kayaba Akihiko, the ten thousand people who entered the game had no idea that they would be greeted by a game world that was no joke. After logging into the game unknowingly, the ten thousand players began to enjoy the virtual fantasy world.

Time flew by. Four hours passed in the blink of an eye. On the first floor of Aincrad, on the grass in the monster area south of the starting area, a player lay on the ground.

Dazed, Wang Yang slowly opened his eyes. His blurry vision saw a hazy, fiery sunset sky. For a moment, he didn't realize anything was wrong. He sat up, stretched his arms forcefully, and let out a refreshing yawn.

"Sleeping is the best!"

After yawning and rubbing his eyes, Wang Yang felt his bones and muscles relax, and his spirit invigorated. He patted his cheeks, thinking about getting up to wash up and then go play basketball. Just then, a butterfly the size of a human head, with vibrant colors, fluttered leisurely past his eyes.

As its colorful wings flapped, specks of iridescent powder fell. Wang Yang, only then realizing what was happening, stared wide-eyed at the glittering powder falling from the butterfly. Undoubtedly, this was not a butterfly, but a butterfly monster!!

But the problem wasn't the size of the butterfly; it was that this butterfly monster was clearly not a product of Earth!

"Damn it, wasn't I sleeping in my dorm?! What is this place!" Realizing the world he was in wasn't his stuffy dorm, Wang Yang immediately looked around.

A vast grassland, rocks lying in the distance, trees he couldn't name, and an animal faintly visible in the far distance that looked like a wild boar.

He had only taken a nap, but when he woke up, the world had turned upside down, becoming a strange place. Anyone encountering such a situation would first feel a deep, bone-chilling fear.

"Could it be... I transmigrated?"

After a few panicked yelps, Wang Yang jumped up from the grass, his face filled with fear. He suddenly felt a strange, hard sensation on his limbs. He quickly looked down, and this sight terrified him even more.

Transmigrating was one thing, but to end up in a dangerous world where he had to wear light leather leg armor! Wasn't this a rip-off?

"Is this a free gift for transmigrating? I'd rather not have it!" Wang Yang raised his elbow, feeling like crying, and looked at the pale yellow bracer tied to it, his fear growing.

Wearing such equipment proved that combat was necessary in this world. Wang Yang, who lived in a peaceful era, would usually fight with students from other departments over basketball courts, and fights were common. But this was real fighting, a world apart from mere scuffles.

It turned out that Wang Yang, who had always fantasized about transmigrating, felt no joy when he actually experienced the thing he had dreamed of. For someone living in a peaceful era, facing such an unknown world that required combat would only fill his heart with fear, not joy.

Wang Yang stared blankly, at a loss. He had no idea he was in a virtual game, nor did he imagine that this game was Sword Art Online, which he had dreamed of playing. At this moment, he was only filled with fear. Even though this world looked beautiful, it couldn't dispel the sense of unfamiliarity that clung to his heart, especially since it seemed like a dangerous world.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Just as Wang Yang was spacing out and at a loss, a clear and pleasant voice sounded in his ear, like a captivating melody. Wang Yang's dazed eyes suddenly lit up with a strange brilliance. He abruptly turned his head towards the voice, and his overly reactive movement startled the girl who had spoken.

"Are... are you a foreigner?" After seeing the girl's face clearly, Wang Yang's mouth hung slightly open, his expression stunned.

The girl was slender and tall, with beautiful, waist-length golden-blonde hair. Her eyes were like emeralds, deep green, and her features were exquisite, as if she had stepped out of a painting. She was a very beautiful girl, but her appearance always gave Wang Yang a sense of inexplicable disharmony.

Arthurslin was startled by Wang Yang's overreaction and bizarre question, taking several steps back. She looked at Wang Yang as if he were crazy, then glanced up at the green cone floating above Wang Yang's head. After confirming that Wang Yang was a player and not an NPC, she asked doubtfully, "What nonsense are you talking about?"

After the open beta of SAO began, everyone would leave the town to level up after a period of time. She was no exception. As a beta tester, she had reached level 2 after a whole afternoon of fighting. She hadn't expected to encounter a player wearing only symbolic appearance gear on her way back to town.

Symbolic appearance gear was the default outfit upon spawning. It was usually a European-style warrior outfit that provided no stat bonuses. One could only purchase equipment and weapons that increased stats from cheap equipment shops.

This person, who looked like a lunatic, had been in the game for over four hours since the open beta started, yet he wasn't wearing any equipment and was in a monster zone. Had he spent the entire time sleeping?

Arthurslin couldn't see Wang Yang's level, so she made a malicious guess, which, by chance, turned out to be correct. The body Wang Yang had taken over had wandered around aimlessly after entering the game, not leveling up. He had admired the virtual scenery like a tourist. Due to level restrictions, he couldn't wander too far, so he found a soft patch of grass and fell into a deep sleep. He never expected that upon waking up, his body and soul would be occupied by the unexpected Wang Yang.

"That's not right. Why are you speaking Japanese! And how can I understand you?" After clearly hearing that the beauty was speaking Japanese, Wang Yang raised his straight, heroic eyebrows in confusion, a swarm of question marks popping into his mind.

Arthurslin frowned, her beautiful eyebrows knitting together. She was now convinced that Wang Yang was mentally ill and decided to ignore him, turning to walk towards the Town of Beginnings. As she walked, she muttered, "I've never heard that even mentally ill people can play SAO."

"SAO!?" Arthurslin's parting whisper struck Wang Yang's mind like a thunderclap, rumbling through his head.

"Stop right there!" Wang Yang, unsure of what he was thinking, trembled and shouted, then sprinted towards Yulia in a few large strides.

Arthurslin was startled by the shout and turned around, just in time to see Wang Yang's slightly ferocious and terrifying expression. It looked like a pervert attacking a helpless little girl. She screamed in fear and instinctively swung the greatsword in her hand towards Wang Yang.

"Damn it! Ah!" Wang Yang could clearly see the trajectory of the swinging greatsword, but his forward momentum made it impossible to stop. He couldn't dodge the incoming strike. The aura of death instantly filled his heart, and goosebumps rose all over his body. Then, he felt a pain from his neck to his chest, and he fell to his knees, his eyes filled with terror. His weakened body and the pain that penetrated to his bones made him cry out.

Death suddenly felt so close. Wang Yang's screams were heartbreaking, and he felt incredibly unwilling. He thought he would die miserably at the hands of a woman after only a short time transmigrating. Was there any transmigrator more tragic than him?

Amidst his fear, Wang Yang felt immensely wronged. He just wanted to ask a question, why was she so ruthless!

Fear instantly engulfed him. However, the cold voice that suddenly rang in his ears turned his fear into deep astonishment!

"Your HP has reached the critical level, triggering the 'Paralysis' status. Cannot move."

Hearing this cold, female prompt, Wang Yang immediately forgot his fear and fell into a daze.

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