The crack did not continue to widen.
Lin Yuan sheathed his longsword, temporarily abandoning the idea of using it to test anything further.
This sword can withstand at least a few more normal strikes. As for whether a sturdier weapon can be found, we first need to figure out how the people here obtain their items.
He walked forward along the grassland.
After leaving the Town of Beginnings, the terrain gradually became undulating. Wild beasts were scattered everywhere, occasionally appearing out of nowhere on the exposed grassland. Lin Yuan did not continue to provoke them, but only observed the changes in the markings above their heads.
Wild boars will only attack when they get close enough. Once they are further away, they will suddenly give up the chase and return along the same route.
There is no hunger, nor is there any real territory.
They are simply repeating pre-arranged behaviors.
The sounds of clashing weapons could be heard intermittently in the distance. Several boys traveling together surrounded a wild boar. One of them suddenly wielded a longsword that glowed blue, and his body shot out at a speed far exceeding what it had been before.
The sword struck, reducing the wild boar's red lines by more than half.
The boy stood frozen in place after finishing his action, unable to turn around for a full breath. If his companion hadn't blocked the wild boar in time, he would have been struck by its tusks.
Lin Yuan stopped in his tracks.
The force of that sword strike did not come from the boy himself. After the light appeared, some kind of power completed his stepping, lunging, and slashing for him, even the position where the sword tip stopped seemed to have been predetermined.
It's powerful, but its weaknesses are also obvious.
Just as Lin Yuan was about to take another look, a bell suddenly rang out throughout the world.
when--
The sound came from the direction of the Town of Beginnings, but crossed the vast grassland and clearly reached every corner.
The group that was besieging the wild boar stopped at the same time. The leading youth raised his hand and slashed open the light panel. He had just said, "What's going on?" when a blue beam of light descended from the sky and enveloped him.
The same light shone on the others as well.
The next moment, the teenagers disappeared simultaneously.
Losing its target, the wild boar circled twice, its head marker turning from red to yellow, before quickly lowering its head and walking back to the grassy slope.
Further away, streaks of blue light rose one after another.
The people who were originally scattered on the grassland were all taken away by the pillar of light. Some were still fighting, some were sitting under trees, and some were reaching out to their companions, but no one could resist that power.
Lin Yuan stood on the open grass.
The bells rang again.
No light fell on him.
It was as if the order that covered the entire grassland had never noticed that there was still someone here.
Lin Yuan looked towards the Town of Beginnings.
The sky above the city had turned a blinding blood red. Hexagonal warning signs unfolded layer by layer, completely obscuring the already dim sky. Then, thick red light seeped out from between the signs, gradually converging into a huge cloak large enough to cover the square.
There was no one inside the cloak.
Only two dark sleeves, covered by hoods, hung in mid-air.
Lin Yuan sensed neither divinity nor magic. Yet, the fact that everyone had been forcibly sent back to the city proved that the figure was indeed in control here.
He turned and walked towards the Town of Beginnings.
By the time Lin Yuan passed through the archway, the red light that had enveloped the sky had disappeared. There were few people on the streets, but a chaotic commotion arose from the direction of the central square.
Someone was shouting that it was a prank.
Some people kept trying to bring up the menu.
Some people were crying out their parents' and real-life names.
Lin Yuan approached the square but did not squeeze into the crowd. Tens of thousands of people were gathered together, their faces bearing the same fear. Many of them had changed their original appearances; their height, age, and even gender were different from before, but their equipment remained the same.
The logout button is really gone!
"People outside will take the NERvGear off!"
"Don't pick it! Kayaba said he'd die if he did!"
"If you die here, your head will be burned in the real world too..."
Scattered whispers drifted from the crowd.
It took Lin Yuan a long time to piece together what had just happened.
This is a floating city called Aincrad, with a total of one hundred floors. They originally thought it was just a game they could leave at any time, but now they have been trapped inside by their creator.
To leave, you must start from the first floor and climb upwards, defeating the guards on each floor until you reach the hundredth floor.
Before this, whether someone dies here or the device called NERvGear is forcibly removed from the outside, they will truly die.
Lin Yuan looked down at his hands.
These people at least have a physical body located outside the body.
He didn't.
They can return to their original bodies by completing this game, but he can't even log out. Even if someone defeats the guard on the hundredth floor tomorrow, the system won't be able to find where to send him.
The cries and screams around them grew louder and louder.
Some people knelt on the ground, some grabbed strangers and demanded answers, and others began scrambling for the last remaining pieces of information.
Lin Yuan didn't go over to comfort anyone.
He didn't even know why he had been sent there, let alone that just because he ended up in the same place as ten thousand people, he would take the lives of ten thousand people on his own shoulders.
But one thing is already clear.
The cracks in the moving castle disappeared, the Town of Beginnings had no exit, and there was only one path that everyone could identify.
Lin Yuan raised his head.
Above the square, there is no real sky, only a black underworld that seems forever unreachable.
"Since the exit is up there..."
He turned and walked out of the crowd.
"Then let's go up."