Chapter 8 The Swordsman Who Has Not Put on Black Clothes
——The seventh floor of "Aincrad", "Monster Arena".
In the arena surrounded by NPC spectators, two teenagers were engaged in a duel around their respective tasks.
The two young figures waved the long swords in their hands and kept crossing each other. Occasionally, a bright light appeared on the weapons, which was a manifestation of the use of "sword skills".
"I said, is this the first time we have 'dueled'?"
Taking a step back, the ordinary-looking boy looked at the red logo on the other person's head and said.
"...Who knows? But since you have chosen different camps, this is also the way to play the campaign mode."
After adjusting the posture of holding the sword, the handsome boy looked helpless.
Probably because they were both in the first batch and entered the campaign at the same time, the two of them basically had a hostile relationship in every mission. Although they would be refreshed, they had to wait for a long time. In this world of closed and beta testing, where every second is a race.
Here, no one is willing to wait one more day.
Therefore, every time a mission is released, the two of them will almost crash.
But in this case, it can be regarded as no acquaintance without fighting, right?
For a handsome boy who is a solo player, this boy named "Yu" is already one of the few people he can communicate with.
And he also guessed that this young man who probably used his own face data to enter the game should also be an experienced player. Because the strength level is not much different, they have to fight for a long time every time they PK.
No, if I didn't have the advantage of weapon enhancement, I would have been distanced by him long ago, right?
Staring at the general-purpose weapon that an ordinary boy bought from a shopping mall, the boy named "Kirito" realized this problem deeply.
"In the end, do you still have to use this thing to speak?"
Raising the one-handed sword in his hand, "Yu" made an attack motion.
"The next strike is the decisive strike, 'Kirito'!"
"Ah, come here! "Yu"!"
Now that the health bars have dropped to the yellow zone, the two "protagonists" rushed towards each other again and struck their winning blow.
The next moment, the air waves from the clash of swords and halberds raised a huge cloud of sand and dust.
…
So why do two people who have never crossed paths appear here to fight? This requires moving the timeline forward a little.
More than a month ago, on the third floor of "Aincrad", on the outskirts of the ancient forest road.
Standing behind a giant tree, Yuuki is facing a choice.
After being separated from Argo, she was undertaking a mission called "Emerald Key", and this mission was also a camp campaign mission, which meant that you had to choose a camp to join.
Currently fighting fiercely in front of her, one was a blond male elf knight wearing armor, and the other was a dark purple-haired female dark elf with a plump figure.
But in Yuuki's eyes, it became a question of whether to choose the European camp or the African camp.
Although she really wanted to join the camp of white-skinned Europeans, her instinct kept calling her to help the dark-skinned Africans...well, Miss Dark Elf.
After hesitating for a while, Yuuki finally decided to follow his instinct...
Just when she was about to think about it, footsteps sounded from the other side of the bush, making her look over in surprise.
At this time, most players should still be thinking about how to defeat the third-level boss, and not many people will come here.
After pushing aside the grass, the visitor was quite surprised to find that someone else was already here.
"Hello."
"Ah, hello."
Nodding out of politeness, Yuuki looked at this somewhat dazed guy.
"Are you here to take on the mission too?"
"Uh, um."
Seeing the somewhat silent response from the other party, he must be an unsociable guy.
"In that case, I'll choose my camp first, is that okay?"
"Well. I've done it once before, you choose first."
It seems that he is still on the front line of strategy.
Without hesitation, Yuuki took the lead and rushed in the direction of the dark elf. The latter paused and ran towards the forest elf on the opposite side.
…
Seeing two people suddenly running out of the bushes, the two fighting elves stopped fighting and focused on them.
During the dialogue between the two sides to select the lineup, the elves, each joined by a player, started fighting again.
And the two people who were also hostile because of their camp relationship also started fighting like water.
When the elves handed over the mission props after each other's big moves fell, Yuuki also clearly saw the red logo and character ID on the opponent's player's head.
(Kir...ito?)
(…)
(Is it... is it you...)
She remembered that the other party did take over this task during the closed beta period, but she didn't know which time period it was.
Be it fate or farce.
On this day, "Absolute Sword" and "Swordsman in Black" met in different world lines.
In the arena, the cheers created by the NPCs sounded at the same time as the time bar at the top returned to zero.
Looking at the blood volume displayed above, Yuuki smiled at the boy who was sitting on the ground to rest.
"Kirito, it looks like I won this time."
"Ah...I know."
Standing up with a wry smile, Kirito didn't seem surprised by the result. This was not the first time the two had fought, and he basically lost more than he won.
Even when the closed beta was about to end, Yuuki was still holding a standard, or novice, long sword that could be found anywhere in shopping malls.
He didn't think that with the opponent's skill, he wouldn't be able to get better props.
Then there is only one reason.
"Yu, why don't you change to a better weapon?"
Just like the weapon he was holding was refined to +6.
"Huh? Ah, you said this."
Putting the sword back behind her back, an incredible smile flashed across Yuuki's face.
"Don't worry, I just want to hone my skills, so I don't change weapons."
Because she has decided to regard this world as the starting point for her growth.
"Forehead……"
Hearing this answer, Kirito seemed to recall something and smiled wryly with some admiration.
"It's almost over..."
"Um."
Looking at the NPCs who were still noisy, both of them sighed with emotion.
Because the two-month closed beta period ends tomorrow.
There is almost enough information to be collected. From the two of them, they should be considered the group with the fastest speed in conquering.
…
"Kirito, what do you think of this world?"
"——?!"
Just when the two parties were about to log out, although they didn't know why the other party suddenly asked this, Kirito, who lowered his head and thought for a while, still answered seriously.
"It's so real... so real that I'm willing to live in this world. When I go to school and when I go home, my mind is almost always filled with things about SAO."
Yes, he likes this world so much.
"Really? Although it is a very problematic statement for a young person, for the creator of this world, it is undoubtedly the highest praise."
"Then, we'll see each other again."
After waving towards the boy, Yuuki said something that he couldn't react to at the moment.
"I hope you won't be too surprised when we meet again next time."
"...?"
The character turned into a torrent of data, and the player named "Yu" logged out of the world. (To be continued)