Sword Art Online: Another Reality

As the only beta tester who had reached higher floors than anyone else, it was a massive shock for him to see a boy who appeared no older than himself stun a boss.

This was the first floor.

Items, weapons, or skills capable of stunning enemies shouldn't exist at this level.

While monsters and bosses could stun players, it was almost impossible for players to stun enemies, let alone a boss.

Kirito thought he must be dreaming, but it was real.

After pushing the snarling Kobold away and killing it with a stab to the throat, he turned his attention to Sharia and the boss.

Together, they all watched in shock as they saw the boss's health drop from its third HP bar to its last.

This was the moment when they were supposed to attack the boss together, but the person who had singlehandedly reduced the boss's HP to its last bar suddenly jumped back.

"Everybody, be on high alert; something's not right!"

Of course, not everything goes according to plan.

The one who had been dealing massive damage to the boss suddenly noticed it moving.

There were still about five seconds left before the stun should have ended, but Sharia was particularly surprised by Illfang's movement at this point.

"Don't tell me..."

Sharia's voice trailed off as he stared at the boss with wide eyes before, all of a sudden, "HN—UGURUOO!!!"

Illfang the Kobold Lord let out a loud roar, breaking free from Sharia's stun one second before it was supposed to end.

It threw its bone axe and leather shield, snarling at Sharia, then reached behind its waist to grasp a handle roughly bound in tattered cloth, pulling out its brutally long, curved sword—the «Nodachi».

'Ehhhh—I might be in trouble this time,' he thought before shouting out loud, "Everybody! Group A and Group B form a defence line."

"Heavy attackers behind the defence line, quick! The rest, make sure to keep the Sentinels away! Under no circumstance should you interfere!"

The entire party, which had been receiving commands from Diabel, now heard another command.

However, this time it wasn't from Diabel, but from the boy at the very front.

Sharia shouted his orders, making himself loud and clear. 'Dammit,' he thought.

It wasn't as if Sharia did this for no reason.

If he had known better, he would have waited until Illfang's HP was at its last bar.

"D… Don't do it, fall back!! Retreat quickly—!!"

Sharia heard a voice from a distance away—he knew it was Kirito, but he ignored it.

He watched as the boss leaped high into the air. Immediately, Sharia shouted again, "A dangerous attack incoming!"

In mid-air, Illfang twisted its body, accumulating power in its weapon.

As it fell, it unleashed a crimson beam of light, sweeping horizontally in a 360-degree attack.

Six vivid red-light effects appeared, resembling pillars of blood.

CLANK!

Thanks to Sharia's warning, the «Tanks» managed to block the attack, but a yellow icon appeared beside their HP, indicating a temporary stun effect.

"Tsk," Diabel muttered, worried about Sharia.

Everyone looked forward, but Sharia was nowhere to be found.

Most assumed he was done for, only to hear the sound of a sword skill being activated.

SHIEEN!

Although they couldn't move their heads, they followed with the corners of their eyes.

Sharia's foot was planted on a pillar for support.

Using it as a foothold, he jumped towards the boss.

However, with the boss's aggro already on him, Illfang quickly spotted him.

"Tsk, too slow," Sharia said, clicking his tongue, watching as Illfang prepared another sword skill from below.

Unlike Kirito, who knew most of SAO's skills...

.....Sharia only had limited knowledge and couldn't risk his safety to see what attack the boss would launch.

Why does it feel like he's quick to get into trouble?

Perhaps it wasn't just that.

It had almost become a cursed cycle.

Whenever he intervened in something, it seemed as though the game would do anything to get rid of him.

Just like what happened a month ago, and in the days that followed.

Sharia drew such conclusions with all these in mind.

As a bug in the system—no, as a bug in this world—it was only natural for the world to fight back against him, especially when he threatened its progression.

'But—! Fuck this world!'

Sharia thought as he parried Illfang's «Nodachi» Sword Skill.

As a wise sage once said in the comments, if you can't block, then just parry.

At this point, it had turned into a one-man raid, something that would make Blackie-sensei think twice before putting himself in such a situation.

'I'm getting pushed back.'

Sharia's eyes widened as he realised the boss was using sheer physical strength to push him back.

If he didn't break free from their clash, he was certain the boss would send him flying.

And that would be disadvantageous for him.

"Ha!"

Sharia drew his sword back, but as he did, the arc of Illfang's «Nodachi» came dangerously close to his torso.

"Argh, dammit!"

He quickly positioned his sword to block the «Nodachi», but he couldn't fully absorb the impact.

"Kuh!"

The «Nodachi» clashed with his «Centennial Longsword», as was sent flying downwards, his HP dipped into the yellow zone.

However—not only him had his HP that low.

[Illfang the Kobold Lord]

[65%]

That was the last bar, but the damn boss was already proving difficult to fight.

"Well, then, if that's the case," Sharia muttered as he quickly opened his main menu, pulling out his «Steel Sword» from his inventory.

'Sorry, Kirito, I'll be borrowing this move from you.'

Crossing his dual swords in front of him, Sharia glared at Illfang.

Currently, Sharia had no intention of gaining the Dual Wielding skill, nor did he want it.

The one he currently wanted was one that Kirito would resort to using after losing the Dual Wielding—

—an outside system skill: «Skill Connect».

Dual Wielding was also like a bug in SAO's system. Hence, after the game was deleted, even in the backups, the sword skill was no longer there.

Sharia chose Skill Connect because it was more useful to him.

While most Sword Skills cannot be used outside the SAO game, outer system skills can be used in almost any game...

...as they are developed by players exploiting loopholes in the system or simply by their ability to execute such moves.

Therefore, even if he loses his SAO data, he should still be able to use Skill Connect, since it doesn't originate from SAO but rather from within him.

Meanwhile, most of the party knew they couldn't interfere in the battle unfolding at the front.

No, they couldn't even keep up with the boss's erratic movements.

The boss seemed to have become even more feral, following its primal instincts like a beast. But that wasn't the real problem.

The real problem was the person fighting the boss—Sharia.

He had begun wielding two swords, using the «Steel Sword» to block the boss's «Nodachi» and the «Centennial Longsword» to deal damage.

But what really concerned everyone was how he was using sword skills with both swords simultaneously.

You see, before and after using a sword skill, there's typically a delay.

To activate a sword skill, a player has to enter a specific motion and hold it long enough for the system to recognize it before the system assists with the activated skill.

Once the duration of a sword skill ends, there's usually another delay before one can activate another sword skill with the same sword.

However, «Skill Connect» partially solves this problem.

While the first sword is on cooldown....

....one can immediately use the second sword before the cooldown for the first one ends, effectively allowing a continuous flow of commands using two swords.

Sharia had developed his own version of this technique, which he called—Outside System Sword Skill: «End Action».

His version of «Skill Connect» worked in a slightly different way, allowing him to chain sword skills together seamlessly.

Blocking another attack from Illfang in a way that would be nearly impossible for most players.

Sharia swung his «Steel Sword» in a counterclockwise manner just as Illfang swung its own weapon.

This move left the boss's right side defenseless.

"Yeah!" Sharia shouted as he moved in, thrusting his «Steel Sword» first and hitting the boss with a «Direct Thrust».

"UGAH!"

With a swift twirl, he then struck the boss with a vertical slash from his «Centennial Longsword», landing on his feet and letting out a heavy sigh.

"Haah."

Illfang froze for a moment, its body becoming transparent before bursting into fragments.

[Congratulations, you have gotten the last attack bonus.]

There was a particular, rare moment of silence.

Sharia, who had just finished off Illfang, saw that his health was dangerously in the red zone.

He quickly pulled out a healing crystal, crushing it to restore his HP.

"D-did we do it?"

"We... we did it!"

"Yes!" Cheers erupted as people celebrated their victory.

For most, it didn't matter how it had happened—they had taken the first step towards clearing the game.

However, not everyone was satisfied with the outcome.

"Hold on a minute!"

The celebrations abruptly paused as everyone turned to see Kibaou approaching Sharia, a scowl on his face.

Sharia mentally sighed, already knowing what was coming. 'Haah.'

"You..... you're a beta, right? There's no way you could have known the boss's attack pattern otherwise!"

Kibaou shouted, pointing accusingly at Sharia.

To most, Sharia's strength seemed unnatural, but he had defeated the first-floor boss—they should have been pleased with that.

However, human nature led them to question how he had become so strong.

At this point, they began to see Sharia's strength as borderline cheating. "Y-yeah, I thought the same."

"That's what I've been trying to say. There's no way someone could stun a boss."

"It's unreal." Murmurs filled the air as some of them looked at Sharia with a mix of suspicion and greed.

They knew they couldn't defeat him, but that wasn't their goal.

They were aiming to apply psychological pressure.

For most people, this would have worked.

But Sharia, who had nothing to lose and much to gain, simply laughed. "Hahaha. Interesting."

He had never planned to take Kirito's position, but if things were going to be like this, then he was going to freely express himself.

"Me? A beater?"

He questioned, still laughing, before his expression darkened with anger and contempt. "Don't make me laugh."

"W-what? What are you trying to say?" Kibaou squinted at Sharia.

He felt certain of his accusation but was now confused by Sharia's reaction.

"Here."

Sharia operated his main menu, then threw several items on the ground—these were the Last Attack bonuses he had received from the boss.

"This is what you want right?" He looked condescendingly at Kibaou.

"Unlike you fools, I'm not interested in Last Attack bonuses or whatever else you're after," Sharia said coldly.

"Unfortunately for you, this game has become my new reality, and I can't afford to be a filthy, greedy monkey like those that covert meager items like this."

"Kibaou. You disgust me."

Sharia knew he was pushing things too far, but this was the reality of the world they were in.

He didn't care about some item that would raise his stats for now, as he would definitely get better ones—his priorities were far different.

Sure, numbers are everything in this world, but Sharia had his own way of getting stronger, and that was his focus.

Besides, he had armor made from the scales of that python he hadn't even used yet.

He wasn't greedy, nor did he have the time for it.

An obvious silence followed. Kibaou stood in shock, and the other players stopped looking at Sharia.

Kirito, in particular, began to admire this person who seemed to be about the same age as him.

"Hey, Sharia-san, please wait a moment."

Sharia was already heading toward the staircase that led to the second floor when Diabel suddenly called out to him.

"Ah... I see you survived," Sharia said with a laugh, turning to look at Diabel.

"You were a beta tester, weren't you?"

"You wanted the LA bonus, right? I've dropped it for you."

Sharia's tone was laced with mockery, making Diabel swallow hard. It seemed as though Sharia knew his intentions.

"No. I've come to realize my mistake. I'm very sorry."

Diabel bowed deeply to Sharia, he planned on doing the same when he returned to his party.

"It was thanks to you that nobody died. The first Aincrad boss raid was a success because of you!"

Needless to say, everybody at the back were stunned speechless as they heard Diabel's voice.

"I ain't interested in your thanks. All I just want for you lots is to get stronger; we have a really long way to go."

Sharia's heartfelt words, opened Diabel's eyes once more.

He then looked at Sharia walking off as he thought.

'From here on. I shall dedicate my best to fulfilling your wishes.' From now on, Diabel has seen a man who was worthy of his service.

At this moment, several other people had found something in Sharia, something they could cling to, something that lies within that unreal strength of his.

For Argo. She had now again seen someone who she would wholeheartedly support his cause.

Kirito had seen someone—a figure that he could admire and chase because of his strength and mindset.

The cloaked Asuna had seen another hope to cling to in this world—not romantically, but someone who she now had hopes for.

Agil, like Argo, also wished to support him; at the very least, he would do anything in his strength to provide the necessity whenever this boy comes to his shop.

And to everybody here, they simply admired and hoped they could become as strong as the boy named.

Sharia.